Intense staring

Welf saw the sword of Jason falling straight down at his head. And knew that he needed to block that attack.

So Welf used the skill he had only used in dangerous battles, it was like his trump card. He used his skill that he had learned from his mysterious sponsor. He still hadn't mastered it, but it proved to be very effective.

(counter-attack)

A formless clear energy seemed to surround his entire body. And that moment Jason's sword swung down with Mark's coming right after it.

The energy seemed to solidify into a golden and green amour. Both Jason and Mark's swords bounced off the amour harmlessly. And a blast of golden-green energy from the armor hit both Mark and Jason in the stomach.

The blast of energy hit both Jason and Mark square in the chest, dangerously close to where their hearts were.

Mark took the hit skillfully, regaining his wits quickly from the blow and using the momentum from it to let him temporarily retreat from the fight while landing perfectly on his feet.

Jason didn't fare as well, and the blast of energy sent him flying into the grassy plains. Jason was still in shock as his body plummeted towards the ground and his landing, was.... less elegant than Mark's, he landed face first and flipped around from the momentum 3 different times until he face planted in the coarse dirt.

[you have been dealt a critical hit -200 hp]

[you have broken 2 ribs, your speed, stamina, and strength have been temporarily reduced by10%]

Jason stood up and looked at himself. He saw the notifications but he didn't feel any pain like the last time he got hit.

He patted himself down, but then suddenly 10 seconds after he landed. A striking pain hit him.

Jason instantly stopped what he was doing, looked up at the sky, and started to yell in pain.

In Jason's headspace, he was screaming expletives that couldn't be repeated, but Boops was the one who had to listen to all of it. He had recorded Jason's "epic" landing though so he was satisfied after seeing that Jason wasn't hurt.

After Jason managed to let out every word he knew, he was able to calm down. It still hurt though, but Jason could still think and he tried his best to talk since he didn't want his mind on the pain.

"so, Boops how did I do?"

'ill be honest, that was pretty crappy, decent teamwork, but you got one hit in, ONE, also nice landing dude'

Jason gave off a snort at Boops's tease but it made him move his stomach, which made him stop for a moment and try not to scream again.

Jason flopped over and looked at the battle that was taking place that he was probably going to be out of thanks to the searing pain in his rib cage.

Jason still struggled to breathe in, every time he did so a strong pain assaulted him.

But enough of Jason's pain, the rest of the blue 2 team members besides Mark (he had sat down somewhere near Jason and started to tent to his wounds while keeping an eye out for it any bandits decided to attack them.

Thankfully it seems that the rose knight trainees and the defends of Muno were attracting enough attention with a full out assault that the bandits momentarily forgot about the Blue 2 team members.

The razor leaves that Charlie had shot out bounced off of the golden armor and Charlie's sword slashes did nothing to the armor. Welf punched out an energy blast that Ethan and his horse barely dodged though it seemed to graze the horse's leg making it cry out in pain.

Thankfully it seems the golden armor that Welf had, had a time limit and the armor seemed to fade out slowly.

Welf looked around to make sure that nobody else was near him and turned back his attention to Lyle and Colby who were trying to recover from the point-blank energy blast.

Well, in reality, it was only Colby who was trying to recover from the energy blast and when Welf turned his eyes to where they were Lyle had already shunpoed away with Colby to where Charlie was.

Now both sides were intensely staring at each other. On the blue 2 team side, Jason and Mark was slightly injured and it would be much harder for them to fight. But on the other side, Welf was poisoned with a few scratch marks here and there from some other attacks.

Plus the many (palm blasts) and the (counter-attack) skill that he used had depleted his Ki and he was now panting trying to recover as much as he could get while the poison seeped into his body.

Both sides intensely stared at each other waiting for one side to move.

In the end, it was Lyle who broke the stalemate of stareing. He raised his black sword in the air and shouted cheerfully

"again!"

and disappeared from view.

Welf tried to look for him but didn't see where he had gone.

Charlie facepalmed, shrugged, and charged. Ethan charged next to him on horseback and Colby was hurrying with them.

The group of 3 reached 10 meters away from Welf and they all suddenly disappeared.

Welf was evidently confused and quickly looked around. He didn't dare to close his eyes and spread out his Ki again. He already knew the consequences of that.

Jason and Mark watched everything with interest thinking that they were out of the fight. But suddenly Lyle appeared out of nowhere and shoved 2 vials of golden liquid into their mouths.

He screamed in an urgent voice

"DRINK"

and both Jason and Mark gulped down the golden liquid. Jason saw the notification pop up

[you have consumed a potion of "unidentified flower" your broken ribs have healed]

[you have fully recovered]

Jason quickly touched his rib cage in amazement while Mark stood up.

Lyle and Mark both looked at him both of them said at the same time while offering him a hand

"Are you coming or not?"

Jason gave a small laugh and took both of their hands letting himself get pulled up from the ground.

Lyle looked at both of them and grinned

"you guys ready?"

at both of their confirmations, his grin shifted to a devilish grin

"Alright, all aboard the kick bandit butt train"

And Jason suddenly had the feeling like he just left his body a few miles away and was just getting pulled along by Lyle.

When Jason got his bearings he saw that he was right behind the huge shirtless back of Welf. His tan skin with a few blood-red tattoos slightly intimidated him, and he half expected him to turn around and pummel them.

But before that happened Charlie, Colby and Ethan appeared in front of Welf at that instant with the Shunpo that Lyle had taught all of them. And fiercely attacked them. Charlie with a glowing green sword, Colby with a shield that had a protective layer of earth on it, and Ethan who was fighting with a sword and hoof.

Jason saw Welf pull back his arm to create another energy blast. But Lyle quickly placed his sword in front of Welf's elbow so when Welf unsuspectingly punched out. He created enough force for the black sword to cut through him.

Jason took this opportunity to employ the (precise strike) skill that had finally recharged and stabbed it into the wound that he had already created on Welf's back. Mark charged his sword with water mana and with an extremely sharp sword sliced at Welf's legs.

All of the events happened almost simultaneously and Welf lurched up and cried out in pain as his left arm, his already wounded back and his upper neck got serious injuries.

Charlie, Colby, and Ethan took this opportunity to unleash more attacks on Welf, and finally, His legs couldn't support his body anymore because of the injures Mark gave him, and he fell down.

Welf fell down on his knees and looked at his opponents one more time. He looked at each one and nodded and said in a deep baritone voice

"it was a good fight"

Charlie quickly interrupted him by saying

"wait, you can still be redeemed, I know you have a background of a battle monk, I have a heal spell and perhaps we can listen to your story in a court"

Welf shook his head

"I can't, but beware of B.a..."

Welf's words seemed to trail off then. But it seemed he mouthed something. Jason was behind Welf so he couldn't see it. But it seems Charlie saw it clearly since he was the only one who reacted.

Charlie seemed to be conflicted, but as he did so. Welf closed his eyes and seemed to let himself go.

And slowly he burst into blue flacks and floated up into the sky.

A notification came up to Jason

[you have achieved a breakthrough!]