Chapter 50

Toyo looked away, muttering. "And while you do that, the weak players will keep on dying."

Jae opened his mouth to retaliate. At that moment, a lizardman appeared in the center door. Covered in armor and holding a halberd that emanated a bluish glow, the monster's eyes glowed as it glanced down at them. For a moment, both Jae and Toyo were too surprised to move. Jae was sure they had cleared the area around them.

Charging forward, the lizardman hissed as it swung it's halberd down for an overhead attack. Jumping up, Jae was shocked at the speed with which the creature reached them. Unable to prepare an attack of his own, Jae twirled his spear as he braced to block the blow.

At the last moment the monster shifted its weight, sending its glowing halberd crashing down onto Jae's spear right in the center, not even an inch from where his hand was. An instant later, the spear exploded into a million tiny fragments. Stunned, Jae stepped backwards as the monster pressed its attack, swinging its halberd once again. There's no way, he thought, I made sure it was at full durability just this morning.

Toyo jumped forward as he brought Silverthorne down, hacking off one of the creature's arms at the elbow as he roared.

"Get behind me!" Toyo shouted, preparing his sword for a second attack.

Like hell, Jae thought, instead closing his hands into fists.

Before either of them could attack, the lizardman secured a grip on the halberd with his one remaining hand as he swung it around in an arc of before him with incredible speed

Forced to abandon their assault before it had even begun, Toyo raised his sword to block the monster as Jae prepared to jump back.

And then the halberd glowed blue again.

Suddenly realizing what he had to do, Jae leapt in between the halberd and Toyo's blade, praying that he could take the hit.

Though unable to stop the tip of the halberd from connecting with Toyo's sword, Jae was able to take the remainder of the blow. Though the pain was immense, the impact was worse. Smashing through his chest, Jae was sent flying across the room by the blow as his leather breastplate disintegrated around him. The wind knocked out of him, Jae had to concentrate in order to get control of his blurry vision in order to check his health.

It had sunk into the red.

Hearing Toyo scream in unchecked rage, Jae turned just in time to see his brother drive his sword up under the monster's chin and out through the top of its head.

Finally getting his bearings back, Jae stood up as Toyo ran over to him.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He shouted.

"I had to," Jae explained hoarsely, "That blue sword skill it had...it targets item durability."

Toyo took out a health crystal from his inventory. "I figured that much out when I saw your spear explode. Heal!"

His health brought back to the cusp between green and yellow, Jae waved Toyo away before he could use another health crystal. "Don't waste them all on me."

Toyo tilted his head irritably. "Then maybe don't go running into OP halberds next time. Heal!"

His HP fully restored, Jae bit back his anger. Would there ever be a time when Toyo would just do as he was told?

"I said don't waste them on me, dammit!" Jae glanced at the other doorways, half expecting a horde of mobs to attack now that he was defenseless. "And I already told you, I had to take the hit. If I hadn't, Silverthorne would be gone too and we'd both be unarmed."

Toyo pushed him angrily. "It's just a hunk of metal! I'd rather lose a fucking sword than my brother, you idiot!"

Jae was about to shout right back when he detected the unmistakable fear in Toyo's voice as he continued yelling.

"If we lose our weapons, we can just teleport back! You didn't know how much damage that thing could do to us. What if it had been a bit stronger? What if you hadn't been wearing that leather armor?"

"But it wasn't, and I was." Jae replied softly. "I did the math before I took the hit man. I was confident I would survive." He left out the fact that he hadn't been expecting to lose so much health, or his breastplate.

"Honestly man, I don't give a shit about your math. Don't do that again. I'm serious."

"Alright, alright," Jae was tired of being yelled at. "I won't, ok?"

Still muttering under his breath angrily, Toyo kept his sword in front of him as he looked out of each doorway.

"That thing's sword skill still hit the tip of your sword. How's the durability looking?"

Returning to the center of the room, Toyo accessed his menu, swiping screens until he reached his inventory. Without looking up at Jae, he answered.

"Nearly halfway gone."

*****

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