Sitting in the lotus position with his eyes closed, Cynrik ran through the previous battles in his mind. Instead of focusing on the opponents, his attention was directed toward his Masamune.
Having long since realized that his blade was sustaining heavy amounts of damage due to the collective power of Vinestra's Will in the form of Red Lightning, he knew it would be bad, but after reaching the final kill in his mind, he frowned deeply.
With this thought, Cynrik found himself searching for an alternative means of beating Wave Nineteen and potentially the Wave Twenty Boss.
'Tobs, how many more uses do I have to execute of my Susanoo before it gets registered as an evolvable skill?' Without wanting to show too many more things to the world, Cynrik decided it was time to work on the multilayered skill.
-Presently, the progress of your Base Form Susanoo is only at 25% completion. It currently provides a 10% damage reduction and a 5% STR/DEX/AGI Buff. As I've told you time and time again, you have to keep it active longer since the only way to increase Susanoo's proficiency is consistent use.-
'Yeah, but the drain is too high to be profitable. If I wanted to bleed out 15% of my Mana in a single go, it makes more sense to fire off a big attack. Damn it, why did I stupidly waste the durability of Baby. UGH!' Cynrik complained only to be scolded by Tobs in response.
-Because your stupid habit of second-guessing yourself and changing plans at the last minute came back to bite you in the ass. When you noticed how far ahead on the clock you were, you suddenly thought it was a good idea to push forward toward the Wave Twenty Boss after already committing yourself to kill a handful of creatures in Wave Eighteen with your Sword.-
-There was no conceivable way for your weapons to hang in there long enough to continue the fight. So aside from using something like UTBB, you've backed yourself into a corner that allows only something like Susanoo.-
'I know, I know, I promise I am trying to work on how inconsistent and flip-floppy I can be. Anyway, the current expenditure of Base Form Susanoo is 15% MP on activation and 6% per minute of use. Are you sure that upon reaching 100% Proficiency, it will transcend the Technique threshold and move into the Skill category?'
-110%, it was assigned a Proficiency paywall due to how powerful the skill will be upon registration with the CSH. However, bear in mind that even when it is registered, you will only have access to the Base Form. To unlock the other forms, you have multiple paywalls to breach first.-
-Oh, and once you "Master" or perfect Base Form, the cost of activation and sustaining the skill will reduce drastically.-
'One step at a time, Tobsie; if I'm already at 25% proficiency of Base Form, then I should be roughly getting 1% every 30 seconds or so of activation. Unfortunately, we haven't allowed the Chimeras to think or use any of their skills, so aside from seeing their Affinities by their Mana Signature, I have no idea what their actual move pool looks like.'
'Oh well, break times over; how am I looking on resource stats.' Slowly opening his eyes and glancing at the thin bars in his HUD, Cynrik nodded and saw his MP and STAM had recovered to 80% and 85%, respectively.
[Breaktime is over, Brancie; here's the plan. Since my Masamune is scrap metal, I will break it into two Nodachi. In doing so, I will be sacrificing Hidden Blades instead of my Kodachi.]
[But with each hit I land, a blade will break, shortening the length and durability further, from Nodachi to Okatana, katana, and eventually down to Tanto.]
[That leaves me seven hits with each Sword before I am back down to the basic Kodachis, which by my estimate, can only dish out two more attacks each.]
Reaching over to pick up Masamune, Cynrik triggered a few mechanisms and twisted the hilt clockwise twice, creating a loud CLINK sound before the oversized Odachi split into two smaller Nodachi.
[What you're saying is…we are advancing and throwing caution to the wind. Let me guess; you want to try fighting that boss…, don't you.] Leaning forward and gripping his greatsword, Brance examined the length of his blade and noticed it wasn't in good condition, but upon realizing how bad of shape Cynrik's Sword was in, he nodded.
[Pretty much, however, depending on how long your Sword holds out will determine if you need to shift from armed combat to hand-to-hand. With your insane STR stat, you should be able to deal a decent amount of damage to the boss. It's me I am worried about, to be honest.] Wielding the two Nodachi with half-outstretched arms, Cynrik spun them to test the new weight and length of his blades before walking over to the downed Chimera.
[Hey, save your attacks; I've got this one.] Jumping to his feet and rushing past Cynrik, Brance stepped up to the Chimera and raised his greatsword like an executioner's axe.
'Tsk, I only have 18 hits; he's got the better idea.' Cynrik complained before nodding at Brance and giving him the go-ahead to attack.
Upon receiving confirmation from Cynrik, Brance brought down his heavy greatsword with such force on the back of the Chimera's head that its skull exploded like a watermelon, triggering a wave of notifications.
Ignoring them, Cynrik and Brance spun around and faced the Egress Gate as not two but four heads fought their way through the Barrier between worlds.
"Well…that's new," Cynrik mumbled as he withdrew further from the incoming Wave and observed his new opponents.
Matching Cynrik's pace, Brance, too, fell back and waited for the command to attack, but with each passing second, his grip on his greatsword grew tighter, causing the hide wrap to creak and groan under pressure.
ROAR, SQUAKKK, SCREEEE, BWAAAK
The four creatures howled and glared at the brothers as if they had found their mortal enemies.
"Peak-Tier-3, tsk, it's nothing too intimidating." Wearing his trademark smirk, Cynrik flourished his swords and held the left against his right hip and the right over his right shoulder, his standard sword-fighting stance.
"One more, Brancie, and that record belongs to us. MOVE!" Finishing his statement by exploding forward with a burst of speed, Cynrik flickered in and out of sight as he accelerated.
Rolling his eyes at his older brother's antics, Brance sunk into the soft ground and began skating forward, and with some effort, caught up to Cynrik before launching himself airborne with a pillar jutting out from the ground.
Arching through the air like a speeding cannonball, Brance once again raised his greatsword and brought it down with a combination of his momentum, STR stat, and weight, popping the lead Chimera's head like a balloon and spraying blood, skull fragments, and brain matter in every direction.
-CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR TEAM HAS SUCCESSFULLY BROKEN THE LONG-STANDING SWARM EVENT NATIONAL RECORD.-
-PAVE YOUR PATH FORWARD, AND LEAVE YOUR MARK ON HISTORY BY CREATING A NEW RECORD!-
- Swarm Event National Record: 2 Hours 51 Minutes 22 Seconds, Round 19, 1 Kill.-
-Current Progression: 2 Hours 51 Minutes 22 Seconds, Round 19, 1 Kill.-
"Attaboy Brancie, ONWARD, LET'S EVISCERATE THESE GUYS AND SET A RECORD NOONE CAN BREAK!"
--JOIN US, JOIN US IN THE DISCORD, https://discord.gg/dcxKNJEMwg--
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