The empty suit of armor had explained to Arthur that the interaction of two blades crossing was called a “bind”. In the old world’s media, the bind was often misconstrued as a static position. They would show it as a sort of standoff or resting moment for the two characters to talk, or push against each other in a test of raw strength. In reality, it was a high stakes, risky moment where you would need to either strike immediately or maneuver for a better position, depending on your weapon’s bearings. If your blade was in a position where you could freely stab forward or slice towards the enemy without their own weapon being in the way, that was considered a good position. If your weapon was on the opposite end of that interaction, however, and you couldn’t hit the enemy cleanly, that was considered a bad position.
Binds most often occurred when an attack meets a parry. Because of that, the defending side’s weapon is most often in the winning position, although this wasn’t always the case. In a good example of what one should do in a losing position during a bind, the Threshen twisted and wound Arthur’s blade away while moving his body away as well.
The two twisted and clashed, each of them circling the other with complicated footwork in a bid for superior positioning. Although Arthur was stronger than the Raid leader, it was only enough to compensate for his opponent’s greater speed. Their blades met a dozen times with no definable winner, as whenever either of their position ever became untenable, they retreated immediately. The sound of joining steel filled the air as their clashes became faster, the screech of sliding metal constant as various techniques were deployed to catch the other out.
After a particularly bad clash for Arthur, the Threshen warrior slammed him back with a shoulder check. Although his force application wasn’t enough to send him far, it was enough to make him stumble. As a warrior whose class was all about using and punishing the Fear condition, he was well practiced in taking advantage of his opponents being open for split seconds. He demonstrated this in a much similar way he’d demonstrated it the first time.
[Savage Barrage]: Aggressively strike an enemy with many hits. Damage scales off of melee damage, with the last strike inflicting [Fear] on the opponent. Duration of [Fear] scales off of exposure to [Bloodlust].
All three of the Threshen’s arms rocketed towards Arthur. Identical axes screamed through the air with deadly promise, one of which still being ethereal.
Arthur had insisted many times to both himself and the other survivors that he was a dedicated tank. While he was sure that he would continue to gain attack-type skills thanks to his Martial skill, he was determined to stay that way. To this end, every night he’d trained, he’d also practiced on ways to integrate his defensive capabilities from the Shield Martial skill into his Smite fighting style. Cognizant that he wouldn’t always be able or willing to use his shield, he’d practiced defensive techniques as much, if not more, than his offensive techniques.
His opponent was no longer so fast that he couldn’t react. Not like he was the first time.
Arthur adopted a hanging guard with his Alexandrian longsword, preparing to meet his opponent’s strikes. One by one they fell, each as savage as the last in pure intent to gut him. His blade met each, one after another, not even attempting to engage a bind.
One parry… two… three…
Arthur changed his guard from a hanging right to a low left, then a high right, supporting the blade with his other hand when needed.
Four parries… five… six…
The Threshen’s unerring disbelief was plain to see on his face as Arthur perfectly defended against seven skill enhanced blows in a row. He weaved with the seventh strike, landing a pommel strike to his opponent’s carapaced temple in response. His head rocked to the side, disorienting him as Arthur stepped forward while winding his blade back.
Arthur wasn’t a damage dealer; he was a tank. Even so, however, he intended to use the attack skills he did have. The Threshen race had a natural carapace that normal attacks wouldn’t break through, so Arthur would have to use more force than the empty suit of armor had trained him to.
His entire body twisted with the attack. While his legs stayed planted, his waist, chest, and shoulders swung with his arms, whose muscles bulged with the force they prepared to deliver. The Threshen’s weapons came up to block, but his wide eyes were enough to tell that he was not prepared for this attack. Arthur let his sword fly; it tore through the air with extreme speed and power, colliding with his opponent’s hasty defense.
The Threshen was thrown from his feet immediately, taking to the air with the force along with a good bit of gravel from the ground. They weren’t the only objects sent skyward, however, as Arthur had used a skill along with the swing.
[Burst]: Fire an energy wave from your sword to strike at a distance. Does minimal damage. Inflicts [Enraged]. Expend a stack of [Audacity] to increase damage.
[Audacity] Stacks: 54 ? 53
A verdant green wave of energy sliced through the air, pursuing its target in flight. It caught up before gravity could assert itself on the Raider, causing a localized explosion of emerald overhead.
Outside of the barrier, Gideon had prepared to fight off the encroaching mass of monsters. As Ema was focusing on keeping the barrier up and Aurora was still charging her skill, he thought he’d be alone for this fight. That was until a new ally appeared next to him with a flash of green.
[Puffy the Pufferfish]
Bound Familiar
Contractor: [Arthur Lindow] (Viridian)
As Gideon was in a party with Arthur, he could see Puffy’s information next to his name. He chirped with determination, ready to assist Gideon in staunching the horde.
From the first time Puffy joined their team, it was clear that his skills were tailored for AOE damage. While he could assist in single combat, he was far more potent in monster clearing. He shared this trait with Gideon, as his skills also nudged him toward war zones rather than singular confrontations. While the things that made him truly dangerous were annoying in single combat… they were deadly in a large-scale battle. The only problem was that until Arthur inflicted someone with Enraged, Puffy would be unable to unleash his… fetid potential.
[Bad Breath]: Puffy spits out a cloud of smoke, obscuring the area and inflicting [Puffy’s Poison] to any enemies within the cloud every seven seconds.
As Gideon was not his contractor, he would be vulnerable to friendly fire. As such, he would be restricted to Puffy Pow or Spike Pop when it was safe. Even so, he was a grand asset to the battle to come.
By now, many of the city’s fighters had come out to fight. Jumping over the edge of the wall, hundreds of people could be seen among the vast horde, fighting tooth and nail for their new home. Many saw this sneak attack as an opportunity or a rallying cry, and they answered the call. Monsters fell in droves, waves of goblins, echidnas, giant wolves and kobold crashed into teams of brave men and women who met the charge with vigor. Many fell; the human viscera only visible from the spots of red in the otherwise bloodless carnage. Gideon and Puffy wasted no more time in waiting for the monsters to come to them.
Arthur dodged and blocked as best he could. After taking such a heavy blow, the Threshen warrior opted for a speed blitzing strategy rather than a contest of pure skill.
Before closing the barrier, Ema had placed all her buffs on Arthur’s dexterity in an attempt to ameliorate the speed difference between the two. While this helped a great deal, the Raider was still faster than Arthur by a notable amount. Arthur’s dexterity sat around 230, while the Threshen’s was over 290 after the debuffs. This meant that Arthur could keep up with weapon swings and short clashes by bridging the gap with technique, albeit with difficulty. When it came to running speed and hit-and-run tactics, however, he had far less leeway, as he hadn’t trained for such a thing.
The Threshen’s slightly green-charred carapace darted about, landing light yet savage axe blows on Arthur’s blade and body. He did his best to defend, but it was hardly ever enough. The Threshen always found a way past his defenses. He would need to do something fast, or he would nickel and dime him until he lost his strength.
Arthur looked inward at his skills and options. Insurmountable Wall wasn’t a good option, as it’d increase his damage taken after the cooldown was over. Not only could he not afford such a thing in a fight like this, but it would get him nothing during its uptime anyway. He would be unable to move, turning him into a sitting duck that the Threshen could simply ignore until his time was up. Phalanx Demense wasn’t an option either because he’d need his shield to use it. The same was true for Aegis Arts, but…
Arthur’s eyes widened. He inwardly slapped his forehead as he remembered he had an item that ignored the Vault cooldown.
[Bangle of the Myriad Arsenal] (Legendary): A large yet simple iron loop. Many consider its plain front fallacious in nature, but in reality, it simply mirrors its creator’s simplicity.
- [Arsenal]: Allows the user to open their Vault freely during combat, without a cooldown. Grants additional storage in the user’s Vault.
Arthur summoned his shield from his inventory. Blocking the attacks became much easier, as his margin for error increased from a single longsword to a large bulwark that covered much of his body. He used You and Me whenever it came off of cooldown to add pressure, although he didn’t dare spend any stacks of Audacity yet. Having already emptied his tank before, he was wary of doing so again.
Eventually, the Threshen became frustrated, and Arthur saw an opportunity. During a particularly sloppy attack from the Raider, he responded with a 2nd Method strike from Aegis Arts.
Method 2: A quick and short jab of the shield while keeping your guard up. Stuns the enemy for half a second. Short cooldown, but only usable when an enemy strikes your shield.
After stunning the Threshen, he did the same thing the Raider had done to him; took advantage of his split second of inaction.
Method 1: A wide swing of the shield to slam the enemy. Deals moderate to high blunt damage but results in a moderate cooldown.
Arthur’s silver shield cracked into the Threshen warrior, sending him sliding back. While the attack was enhanced by a skill and bolstered by several facets of his suite of abilities, the enemy was better prepared for the strike, as it wasn’t the first big hit he’d suffered. Not only that, but Arthur had used both hands to swing his sword earlier, and using both hands allowed one to better bring their force application to bear. After gaining his bearings again, however, the Threshen couldn’t believe what he saw next.
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The armor had explained to Arthur that although he could ignore the forces of gravity or momentum with his force application, they were still very much relevant. Making attacks that made use of both would always be better than ignoring or fighting against either, as it would essentially mean you added your own strength to the very world’s. On this topic, the armor had taught him a slew of techniques meant to harness his own superhuman force application and weight tolerance, then utilize gravity and momentum to deliver devastating damage.
Many of these techniques were impractical for most. Some were even unusable for the armor itself, as its version of the True Heart of Devotion was tailored more towards attack than defense. As it had an eternity to hone its combat style, however, it’d formed the techniques nonetheless.
Arthur was a different story altogether. His True Heart of Devotion was defense focused, meaning he could power through counterattacks easier. Not only that, but he had skills that would transform the techniques from “impractical” to “unstoppable”.
[Not Today]: Expend a stack of [Audacity] to conjure a shield around an ally. Allies under the effects of [Not Today] have increased stamina regeneration and mana regeneration. Upon taking damage, the damage is absorbed, and the buff expires.
[Ironclad Will]: You are much harder to move, topple or stagger against your will. Physics still applies to the terrain. Can be broken by an enemy higher level than you. If [Champion’s Mantle] is active, grants a diluted version of this skill to allies within area of influence.
While the suit of armor had its own version of the Audacity Knight skills, its version didn’t do the same things Arthur’s did. The armor had grumbled all throughout the training session about how his Audacity skills were better tailored for its own techniques, to Arthur’s great amusement.
The Threshen, however, found nothing funny about the situation, as a spinning figured approached from a descending angle. The knight, his body in a horizontal line, was spinning down towards him like a Yo-Yo with a knife instead of a string. His body was twisted, primed and coiled to release a swing at the right moment. He had barrier of mellow gold encasing him, and the Threshen Raider felt instinctively that even if he could hit him during this insanity, he wouldn’t move, and it would still strike. He wisely chose to retreat, as his opponent twisted his body, releasing the potential energy built up from his coiled figure right as his sword met where the Threshen had just been.
The Aged Blade landed on the ground like a meteor. Dirt, dust, and rocks of all sizes flew everywhere as a huge crater was formed. Arthur, a tank focused class user, had just created a hole in the ground the size of a moderate pond with no attack oriented skills.
The Threshen, who’d just avoided the strike, shivered in wide-eyed fear.
Walker and Camille watched the battle with the Raid leader from the top of the wall, where they had been previously. There was much less space now; dozens upon dozens of people had made their way up to watch the action happening all around. As this was the spot nearest to the boss in the middle distance, this was currently the most popular vista. Nearly everyone in the vicinity was watching the battle on the horizon.
While the gargantuan dome was colored blue, the things happening inside were clear to see, even from this distance. The knight had been trapped inside with the boss monster, which had previously filled Camille with anxiety for the man or woman’s fate. Every boss monster she had encountered… no, every boss monster anyone had encountered had required entire teams to fight against, and even then, it was a dangerous thing. Fighting a boss tier monster alone was tantamount to suicide.
Camille had followed that thought process to the conclusion that the Knight class user had bravely sacrificed him or herself to stall for time. She didn’t know how much HP that titanic barrier had, but she was sure that despite its size, it wouldn’t survive a battering from the beast. She inwardly felt remorse, sadness, respect, and then acceptance. She respected the knight for their sacrifice and sent a silent thanks to them as the monster attacked.
But… the knight wasn’t pushed back immediately when their blades met. If anything, they seemed… evenly matched? The battle on the horizon didn’t wait for Camille’s confusion to catch up, however, as the combatants quickly engaged in what looked like… some kind of… superhuman… sword fight? Their movements were too fast for her to make out completely, as her dexterity was only barely in the double digits. They clashed again and again, moving around each other like they were dancing with the sound of smashing steel as music.
Her confusion finally caught up to her as she watched the knight and the monster trade blows. The… the human wasn’t losing. Far from it, in fact, as she watched him or her parry a string of attacks and respond with a wide, impractical swing that sent the monster flying. She recoiled, and the shock of the situation became complete when a damn sword beam left the knight’s weapon in the same moment, exploding against the bug monster midair.
“Erm… you’re seeing this too… right?” Walker asked, as stupefied as she was.
“Uh… y-yeah…”
Out of nowhere, a new voice interrupted in their conversation. “Do you even understand the significance of what we are witnessing?”
A man in a white robe plastered with light brown and burgundy moved up behind the pair. Uncaring of their personal space, they quickly moved out of the way instinctively as he and two Templar Knights flanking him moved up to the lip of the wall. He was old; seemingly in his 60s or 70s, his hair mild and thin. His wrinkled eyes locked on the conflict in the dome, showing far more sharpness than any old man should.
“Ooooh good, it’s you. Exactly what, ‘your grace’, are we missing?” Walker’s annoyed and disgusted voice did nothing to distract the archpriest of the “New Horizon”, a church faction that had sprung up even earlier than the current superpowers of the city. It was rare for him to show himself in public. Camille was surprised that he actually cared about the fate of the city.
“That man… in the distance… he is using martial prowess from beyond this world.” He spoke softly yet absolutely, as though certain of his words. “Fighting styles from Earth are unsuited for the edge ‘stats’ give you. What that man is doing out there… is using a martial art that is meant for superhuman abilities.”
“Archduke Cardigan? We… don’t actually know their gender.” Camille said, eyes unable to leave the battle in the distance. The knight had just brought a shield out of nowhere, and was now blocking the monster’s speedy attacks.
“It… is a male. I can feel it.” Cardigan’s voice had always sounded powerful and commanding, but now it had a strange edge to it. “His name is shrouded to me, but when I look into the Fabric, I see… a deep green that stains the world around it.”
Camille looked at Walker, who groaned dramatically. He had never liked Cardigan, and had never been shy about showing it. Before he could begin his tirade, however, the archpriest spoke again. He addressed the Templar Knight to his right.
“You. Go get any recording material you can find and bring it here. Camera, voice recorder, someone with a skill, I don’t care how or what, bring it here. Hurry.” The Templar Knight left without a word, rushing to the streets below.
Cardigan turned his head back to the dome, his eyes locking on the knight anew as he spoke to the knight on his left. “Once the battle is over… collect him and bring him to our New Horizon.”
The Templar Knight looked at the archpriest, then looked at the enormous crater in the ground the mystery knight had just made. They didn’t say a word.
The Threshen warrior blocked another energy wave, but unlike the other times, he felt something latch on inside him.
You have been inflicted with
[Enraged]
His eyes turned red. Suddenly, all he could see was that damn knight in front of him… charging toward him like he wasn’t nearly twice his level. He suddenly felt every setback he’d suffered at their hands, every wound burned like new. He wanted nothing more than to tear the… thing limb from limb.
But he didn’t. The Threshen warrior squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to regain control. As a practitioner of the Fear condition, he was well aware of what conditions did to others. It was part of why the knight had surprised him so with his gall earlier; not only was he trembling with Fear… he positively reeked of it.
The Threshen slowly opened his eyes. They were still red, but he was no longer out of control. He’d seen what the Fear condition could do; so he’d invested in the willpower stat when his own universe had gotten through The Quine. Willpower was a stat that became fully unlocked when The Quine Event completed, and resistances were part of its purview. Although Raiders were locked into only using stats the world they were invading had access to, some effects of the others would stick around. Resistances from willpower was one such effect, and it was thanks to his high willpower that he didn’t lose himself to this “Enraged” debuff.
He understood that he needed to attack the knight directly, and now. Despite retaining his wits, he would soon begin accumulating damage if he didn’t. Just because he was forced to attack, however, didn’t mean it had to be sloppy.
He rushed forward to meet the knight. Though his opponent was stronger, he was still faster by a respectable margin. Using that speed, he moved to attack from the human’s blind side, but their blades met again with another clash. As he swung his second axe, the human changed his guard to meet both blades and push them aside like last time. The Threshen warrior would not allow this to happen a second time.
Instead of the sword sweeping the axes aside again, a third axe swung from below to catch the human’s unguarded side. To his credit, he moved swiftly, strafing to the side and bringing his sword up in a counterclockwise motion to stop it. That was what the Threshen warrior was waiting for.
[Arms of the Swarm]: Maximum of 4 arms allowed.
Another arm sprung from the Threshen’s back. Bearing an axe identical to its ethereal sibling, it swung down at the knight’s head with all the strength the Raider had.
[Lacerate]: Slice an enemy with a bladed weapon or body appendage. Deals greater damage to enemies inflicted with [Fear].
As it traveled downwards, the Threshen prepared to bathe in his hated enemy’s blood, skull fractures and brain matter.
The knight shifted his guard again, catching his opponent’s hands with the hand guard of his own blade, then shoved all three upwards with all his might.
The Threshen’s guard was blown wide open. His arms caught like fish and thrown in the way of his own attack…. again. Surprise was quickly devoured by fury as the Raid leader roared, unwilling to retreat like he should. He swung downwards with all his arms as hard as he could, activating Lacerate with each one.
Arthur had already stepped in closer. He lifted his leg, landing a solid knee to his opponent’s gut. Taking advantage of his positioning, he then used his offhand to grip the back of the Threshen’s neck. His left leg locked behind his enemy’s as he shifted him off balance by applying pressure to both points. He then did something a normal fighter in the pre-System world could never do.
His offhand shifted around to grab the Raid Commander’s throat. As he’d lost his feet, Arthur’s greater force application allowed him to throw the man around as he’d wish. He indulged this privilege by swing him up… and then choke slamming him into the ground hard enough to make an indent in the rock.
The Threshen was snarling by now, almost completely losing his wits again. Despite the iron grip Arthur had on his throat, he spoke… he screamed.
“GrrRGH… HOW?! WHY.. WHY DO YOU HAVE A SYSTEM RECOGNIZED STYLE!? WHY ARE YOU SO STRONG?! YOU AREN’T SUPPOSED TO… EXIST HERE! THeRe ShOuLdN’t BE SOMEONE LIKE… YOU!! YOU…!! WHAT ARE YOU?!”
Arthur stared down at the Raider for a moment before answering in a soft, gentle voice.
“…Consequences.”
He put his foot on the Threshen’s neck, who swung all of his arms at him in desperation. Activating his suite of skills that would ensure he dealt the maximum amount of damage to an Enraged foe, he stabbed his longsword downwards. Not only did he impale him straight through the chest, but he pinned him to the ground beneath, as the blade traveled completely through his body. Blood gushed and pieces of carapace flew.
As the Threshen became Enraged, he could communicate telepathically with his party members through Coordination. He told Ema that it was time, and a flash of white engulfed the world.
Aurora Diné was an extremely powerful damage dealer. Even when charging her Lightning Bolt skill for a normal amount of time, the results were always grand.
Aurora had been charging a single lightning bolt since the fight began.
That, combined with the Enraged combination of skills, Arthur’s buffs, Ema’s buffs all landing on her at once, and her using all of her static stacks accumulated thus far… the result could only be described as cataclysmic.
Nothing could be seen. Nothing could be heard. The only thing that was real was the feeling of the very Earth shaking in fear. The sound finally came, a resounding catastrophe of noise that words do little to describe. People all around panicked, falling from the earthquake or out of sheer terror. Some ears began to bleed, unable to handle the ear piercing blast.
Arthur’s entire party was protected from friendly fire due to Coordinated Assault. The monsters surrounding the entire party, however, did not enjoy such a privilege, and all the monsters even remotely close to the origin point of the strike were practically turned to dust.
And the origin point of the strike was… of course… the Raid Commander and the knight.
Yet when the light cleared, and Camille looked through her fingers at where the dome used to be… at where the inexplicable, impossible knight had fought against a boss tier monster alone and won… There was only pieces of a charred carapace.
The knight was no longer there.
And although only he and the Threshen had heard his answer, only one of them knew that those “consequences” applied to both of them.