Erik gripped the handle of his Flyssa tightly, feeling the sword's weight in his hand. The archer thug, Benjamin Chen, stood across from him with his bow and arrows at the ready. The awakener knew he had to be careful; one false move and an arrow could pierce his skin.
The archer stood back, drawing his bow, and sent arrow after arrow toward Erik. The young man blocked them with a swift movement of his sword, deflecting them with precision.
Meanwhile, Martha focused on creating a massive number of thorny vines, which she sent to the archer in the attempt to prevent him from firing again.
The vines writhed and twisted as they closed in on their target, but the archer back stepped, firing another arrow toward Erik.
Erik continued to evade the arrows and close in on the archer, his sword glinting in the room's dim light. The archer continued to back away, his eyes darting around the room as he searched for an escape route.
Martha sent another wave of vines toward the archer, but he slipped past them and fired another arrow at Erik. This time, however, the awakener was ready. He ducked to the side, avoiding the arrow, and swung his Flyssa at the archer.
The thug dodged the attack, but Erik followed up with a quick jab that caught the man off guard.
He stumbled backward, nearly losing his balance, and Erik took his chance to dash toward him, but the man rolled on the ground and quickly regained his balance and gained distance.
As the fight continued, the archer remained relentless. He deftly avoided Erik's attack with a graceful somersault and continued raining arrows on him.
The young man struggled to block and evade the arrows as they came at him in quick succession.
The sound of arrows hitting the ground and walls echoed through the room, mingling with the grunts and shouts of the combatants. Martha tried her best to trap the archer with her thorny vines, but he was too quick for her. He leaped and twisted out of the way, never allowing himself to be trapped.
Erik knew that he needed to close the distance between them if he was going to have a chance to strike. He waited for the archer to take aim, then lunged forward, his flyssa leading the way.
Benjamin, was caught off guard due to how fast Erik was, and how quickly he gained distance, but he managed to dodge Erik's attack with another nimble move. He quickly regained his footing and resumed his barrage of arrows.
Erik was already fatigued from the previous fights, but thanks to his new amount of mana, he was able to push Nathaniel's power to the limit, and thanks to that, he was able to cope with the speed disparity.
However, he had been dodging and blocking arrows for what felt like an eternity, and he wasn't sure how much longer his friends could keep up in their fight; he needed to help them if they wanted to escape.
With renewed determination, the awakener took a deep breath and charged at Benjamin once again.
This time, however, he pumped more mana through his neural links. Erik ducked and rolled as the archer prepared to fire, coming close behind him thanks to a burst of speed.
The archer spun around, and Erik's Flyssa sliced through the air, narrowly missing the archer's neck by a couple of centimeters. The man stumbled backward, a look of shock on his face. That was no 16-year-old power level. Erik pressed his advantage, but the archer was quick to recover.
He drew his bow and fired an arrow, which Erik managed to deflect with his Flyssa. Though Martha took her chance, she finally trapped the man.
She used a lot of mana, so he had trouble getting out of the vines. That was enough for the awakener, who closed the distance between them with a final burst of speed and plunged his blade inside the man's body.
[HOSTILE KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]
[3...2...1...0]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 3118 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]
Erik had just been able to kill an MI-ranked individual. That was no easy feat, as he was still at the RHO level. Nathaniel really had an easy life with his brain crystal.
That was all thanks to the system and his multiple brain crystal powers, but it was now clear to everyone that Erik was too strong for a kid his age, and since the others knew Erik's level, they immediately understood he was hiding something.
However, things didn't end there since he and Martha immediately rushed toward Benedict, Floyd, and Mikey, who were facing a woman who could summon a mana sword.
Erik decided they had to fight against her due to the power she possessed since Floyd would be able to slow down her attacks and reduce their powers severely, while Mikey would keep her at bay with his flesh-eating bugs, and Benedict could attack her.
The awakener chose the opponents carefully and decided that the team combination was the most appropriate one, so he told three people to fight her.
If he and Martha joined the fight, it was just a matter of time for five people to kill her and help the others struggling against the thugs, as not only were they weaker than the thugs, but they were also tired.
Erik quickly charged at the woman, and Martha used her vines to trap her. Though she sensed the mana shift in the air and avoided the attack by gaining distance, but she was followed by Mikey's flesh-eating bugs.
Erik and Martha quickly reached the other three, and Erik, Martha, Mikey, Benedict, and Floyd stood together, facing the woman. They were tired and wounded from their previous battles, but they knew they had to fight on.
The woman charged at them with the sword, and Erik rushed forward to meet her. He swung his flyssa, but she parried the blow with ease. She swung back at him, and Erik managed to deflect the attack by giving himself a strong push, thanks to Nathaniel's power.
Martha summoned thorny vines to ensnare the woman, but she sliced through them with her sword. Benedict tried to attack her from behind, but she spun around and knocked him back with a powerful sword swing.
Mikey used his bugs to keep her at bay and create openings while the creatures chipped at her flesh with their tiny mouths, but she seemed not to care about the attacks.
Meanwhile, Floyd impaired her movements thanks to his power, so fighting her became even more viable. That was their advantage over the average person.
They had very particular and powerful brain crystal powers to keep up with people with average powers, such as sword-conjuring ones.
The battle raged, with the woman moving fluidly between attacks and defenses. She was skilled with the sword and had spent years honing her skills despite ending up with a group of thugs.
The woman, Ava, spun around with blinding speed, launching a flurry of slashes and stabs at the five friends.
Erik was the main fighter; thanks to Nathaniel's power and increased mana, he could keep up with the woman, but he had to resort to using his metallization power to fight her, or she would have wounded him more than he already was. The wounds on his arm were not that painful or deep, but the one on the shoulder was, and he had to pay attention not worsening it.
As he activated the power, Martha, Mikey, Floyd, and Benedict noticed the weird mana traces again, so they knew he was doing something strange again, and it was clear he was using another power.
They were too close not to notice; however, too many powers were currently used inside the club, so the others didn't notice anything. Martha, Mikey, Benedict, and Floyd dodged and parried as best they could, but the sheer speed and power of the woman's attacks were overwhelming.
Erik kept preventing her from attacking the others, but it wasn't simple. He lunged forward with his Flyssa, but the woman easily sidestepped his attack and swung her sword at his exposed back. Martha conjured a wall of thorny vines to shield him, but the woman's sword sliced through them like butter.
Mikey leaped in with his Kukri, trying to distract the woman and give his friends an opening. She dodged his attacks with ease and countered with swift, brutal strikes of her own. Benedict jumped in again and attacked, but the woman parried the blow again.
Martha stayed back, firing her thorned vines again, trying to trap the woman.
"Fuck…" Ava said their teamwork was too good, even for her. The woman deflected most of the attacks with her sword, but a few got through and scored hits on her arms and legs.
However, Erik was the only one who seemed to be holding his own decently. He moved with fluid grace, blocking and dodging the woman's attacks with incredible timing and often saving his friends. But even he couldn't keep up forever. He charged again, this time metalizing his whole body without fearing to be hurt.
The woman attacked him, and despite Erik using much more mana than before, the attack still went through, and a wound appeared on his chest. However, it wasn't as grievous as the one on his shoulder. Martha seized the opportunity and summoned a thorny vine to trap her.
The woman struggled against the vines for a few seconds, but they held long enough for Erik to rush forward and drive his Flyssa into her eye socket. The woman died on the spot. freewebnove l.com
[HOSTILE KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]
[3...2...1...0]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 2523 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]
The group breathed a collective sigh of relief but knew their battle was far from over; they still had to help the others. Luckily, these fights took place in ten minutes at the most.
The most brutal fight was against the archer. Now that five people could aid the other eight, killing the remaining three thugs wasn't going to be hard. They had to be fast, though, or their friends would die.
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