VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

Chapter 324: A Most Peculiar Healer

Jason’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the bone spike screaming straight towards him. Time seemed to move in slow motion, as his mind moved a mile a minute trying to figure out the best solution, but his body moved in slow motion too.

He tore his hand from Valerie’s mouth, not caring about her teeth ripping through his skin or the blood that splattered from the dozens of new gashes in his hand. He lifted them both up, crossing his arms in front of his face just before the bone-spike hit him.

When the hand was ripped from her mouth, Valerie opened her eyes in confusion, just in time to see the moment of impact.

More droplets of fresh crimson splattered against her face as Jason’s body was thrown back from the sheer force of the projectile, sending both himself and the spike crashing into the wall behind him, which crumbled down on top of him.

An ear-piercing scream burst out of her communicator, as Lucy screamed bloody murder, while Valerie was simply stunned to silence.

Her eyes were locked, wide in confusion, horror and disbelief, at the crumbled pile of granite that obscured Jason’s body from view.

’W-what... No... He can’t be. He can’t be dead... He’s supposed to be the one that survives until the end. That’s... that’s what future boy said. He said Jason was there at the end.

Did... did I change it? Did I... kill him?’ Valerie’s mind reeled, polluting her mind with thoughts that she couldn’t accept, but she couldn’t shake either. She was completely frozen, forgetting entirely about her own injuries, as she stared at that pile of rubble.

When it shifted, her heart leapt up into her throat.

A few pebbles cascaded down the pile, before more rocks rumbled and bounced to the ground as a glint of steel burst through the stone and curled its fingers. It took Valerie a moment to figure out what she was looking at, as a hand made of pure metal clawed at the stone pile and dragged the rest of its body out.

Jason coughed up a lungful of stone dust as he pulled himself from the rubble. His skin, from head to toe, was covered in a film of shining steel. The only exception was his arm, which had a broken bone spike speared through it as blood trickled from the gaping wound.

Even his eyes and hair had glazed over with a solid metallic coating.

"W-what? How did you...?" Valerie stuttered as she stared in utter confusion, as the metallic coating slowly peeled itself off of Jason’s skin by liquidising and sucking itself back through the pores of his skin like he was sweating in reverse.

"You’re not the only one with a fancy bloodline you know," Jason replied with a pained, but cocky smirk.

"You never thought why I’ve never been injured before now? I know I’m skilled, but anyone knows to go for the healer first. So, why not let them face the indestructible healer." He laughed, as he wrapped his hand around the broken shard of bone sticking out of his arm.

He grunted and winced as he tore it out, before placing his hand over the gaping hole through his wrist and closing it in a rushed patch job.

His bloodline was simple. He could manifest a metal coating over his body, which was based on the different types of metals that he ate. Yes, he had to actually eat raw metal for it to actually work, but thankfully his bloodline made it easier for that to happen, although not more pleasant of an experience.

He had managed to activate his bloodline in time to save his life, but only after it had already pierced through one of his arms and slightly dented the second.

Valerie was about to speak, the joy sparkling in her eyes as she laughed in disbelief, before she winced in pain from another heavy drain from her mana. Beans’ transformation was bleeding her of her magic energy.

One heavy dose to activate it, and a continual drain to sustain it. At the rate they were going, he maybe had a minute tops before Valerie was completely drained dry. And that didn’t count her own expenditure.

Turning her body with a pained whimper, Valerie glared at the horrid abomination as it twisted itself through the different attacks of their party. Its healing factor was still going strong despite everything. Except...

Valerie narrowed her eyes, trying to focus her vision through all of the chaos of battle. There were some wounds that were still there. Small puncture wounds left by the undead warriors, most of whom had been returned to being normal dead at this point. Even the Thunder Fang was barely hanging on, but they were built to be disposable.

The blessings. It couldn’t heal from the blessed attacks. They had already killed one of these things before, under a divine decree. They had to do it the same way. There was no other way. If they kept up like this, they were going to die.

Valerie bit her lip, doing a few mental calculations in her mind, before she turned to Jason and asked weakly,

"How much mana do you have left?"

Jason glanced at the creature, before looking down at his sister as he narrowed his eyes.

"What did you have in mind?"

***

"This would have been much more helpful about thirty seconds ago, you know." Jason complained to himself. Well, specifically he was complaining into his communicator directly to Valerie, but since she wasn’t listening or replying, he might as well have been talking to himself.

He had a rolled up scroll clutched in his hand as he sprinted towards the abomination as fast as he could.

Beans had lost access to his transformation, reverting him back to the adorable ball of fluff he usually was, which massively increased the pressure on the remaining members. It was only because of Lucy’s blood-lusting fury that they hadn’t been overwhelmed, as she dual wielded an axe and a maul, crushing and slicing wherever she could hit and barely giving the beast a moment to breath.

Her main target was those irritating eyes.

Switching his communicator to the public channel with a thought, Jason spoke again as he closed the distance.

"Everyone, make some room and get into the circles. We’re going to need every single one of you to give everything you’ve got. Spooky, send the undead in. I need that thing pinned down in place."

Lucy’s bloodlust disappeared at the moment his voice graced her ears, her mood rapidly lifting as she paused her furious destruction for a moment, before leaping backwards. At the same moment Jason sprinted past her, his body sweating the liquid metal that quickly coated his skin.

The abomination screeched at him, before it was tackled by the Thunder Fang and forced to the ground as it was assaulted by more electrocuting bites that intentionally didn’t go deep enough to draw blood.

Jason adjusted his path and sprinted towards the abomination before planting a foot against it, stepping directly on one of its many eyes, as he springboard off of it. At the same time, he unravelled the scroll in his hands, channelled mana into it and spoke the words Valerie had told him before it immediately burst into golden flames.