When the monster looked at Jake and prepared to dash at him, the other members used Fireball to hit him. The boss grunted in annoyance since he couldn't repel so many attacks with its spear, so he dashed toward Jake and tried to pierce his stomach with his spear. Jake blocked the attack with his shield, but he still was pushed backward quite a lot… it had the same power as his Mana Blades, but the monster didn't have to spend any energy.
"You are a bit too close," Jake said to Lana. "Move away a little bit, or the next attack might make me to collide against you."
"It is all right," Lana said.
Jake didn't know what was all right, but then he understood when the monster tried to stab him again, but the impact decreased since she used Barrier. Jake used that chance to step backward and then jump, aiming at the monster's head. The creature blocked his wing with its spear. However, Jake forced the enemy to stagger since he used Bash, followed by Mana Blade.
The boss lost some precious moments thanks to that, and the other two groups bombarded him with magic attacks and arrows. Even Jake had to retreat a little bit when he felt the heat of the Fire Tornado squeezing his stamina. It didn't take long for the boss to recover from the massive wave of attacks and then turn to face one of the groups. He suddenly created some ice walls around him to block the attacks, and then he pointed spears toward Louise's group, but Jake was faster and tried to attack the creature's head. This time, the creature blocked his sword strike with its left hand. Thanks to it, the wound increased in size when Jake used Bash and Mana Blade. However, when Jake began to fall, the creature kicked him and sent him flying to the wall above the entrance. Somehow, Jake blocked the attack with his shield, but he still lost sixty percent of his health.
Before Jake could even fall from there, he spat blood and then saw the monster creating an ice spear and prepared to attack. However, Jake stopped him with a quick succession of Mana Blades on the boss' face. The spell was dispelled, and the two groups kept attacking while the boss looked at Jake with its vicious, red eyes filled with hatred. Jake finally fell to the ground, and he smiled in ecstasy while Lana was healing him.
"Hah… what a sight," Jake said.
"What a creepy you are…" Lana said, visibly troubled.
Jake got up even though he wasn't fully healed since the monster fired several ice arrows toward them. While he blocked with his shield, he still suffered considerable damage, and to make things worse, he felt the footsteps of the creature approaching. Without any other choice, he used Defense Mode. The next thrust still caused a lot of damage, but Jake wasn't pushed backward. Before the monster could try again, a Fire Tornado engulfed him. The boss began to grunt in pain when several arrows pierced his pain… to make sure that the monster would stay there for a long long, Jake used Mana Blade in a quick succession.
The monster's health was melting just like its whole body… the firepower of Clark's party astonished Jake once more, but then he finally realized why he had a weird feeling about them. He used Appraisal and then confirmed that their mana wasn't decreasing…
Jake had to put that aside for a moment when the monster went berserker and fired multiple ice spears toward the three groups. Jake blocked them with his shield and protected Lana. As for the others, they were protected by a light blue barrier that appeared in front of them. That was the Mana Shield Jake had told the girls… yet, once again, their mana didn't decrease. It was starting to get hard to focus on the battle when Jake was interested in learning what was going on with them…
Since the boss realized that only Jake and Lana couldn't be used that spell, the creature dashed toward them. However, Jake did the same to attack the monster's head yet again. This time, the creature didn't have time to block the attack, so Jake pierced its left eye with his katana. The monster swung its spear toward him, but Jake jumped backward, and in the midair, he used all his remaining mana to fire several Mana Blades. Since the creature was trying to stop the bleed with one hand, it failed to spin the weapon fast enough to block all the attacks. Jake's attack hit the enemy's head several times and made the creature dizzy. So, Clark's party used all of their best skills to finish off the monster.
You obtained 2500 coins.
Congratulations! The skill Swordsmanship has leveled up.
Congratulations! The skill Mana Blade has leveled up.
Congratulations! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up.
…
The battle ended quite fast since they had too many people on their side. Still, Jake felt that the reward had been fitting, given for how long the battle lasted. After copying Clark, his teammates began to celebrate the victory. As for Jake, he looked toward the crystal that still had a magic barrier around it… it was just like in the game.
"I am starting to think that you like to get beaten up," Lana said, and then she began to heal Jake.
"Tis but a scratch," Jake said, even though he was bleeding from his nose and mouth.
"I am starting to this that this plan of holding back our skills is madness," Louise whispered after she approached.
"It is better than getting unnecessary attention," Jake said. "Besides, we can't say for sure if they told us the truth. They might have told us that to make us drop our guards and reveal our true innate skills."
Unfortunately, the boss didn't drop anything, but Jake thought that perhaps that was for the best. After all, it would be hard to divide a single item among eight people…
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