The Usage of Trump Cards Pt. 1

Wham!

Wrock sent his fist into the gut of Steel. Doubling over Steel stumbled backwards. The pain was greater since Wrock used [Monstrous Strength].

Steel rolled back to avoid any further attacks. He clapped his hands together an reopened them. Wrock found himself being dragged over to him by a strange force.

As soon as Wrock was within range Steel shot a finger forward. It poked four different spots on Wrock's chest at an incredibly fast speed.

Whatever Steel did Wrock was now paralyzed. Steel raised his foot and kick Wrock's temple. At the moment of impact an afterimage appeared and mimicked Steel's movements, kicking Wrock's other temple!

A pain flashed through Wrock's head and he winced involuntarily. In this moment Steel thrust his palm towards Wrock's chin. His head snapped back and Steel used this opportunity to send two fist towards his chest.

Wrock was sent sliding back, however before he could even recover four flowing lines extended from his body. From the exact same places Steel had poked him! Steel yanked the lines and Wrock was forcefully pulled towards Steel. The glowing lines held the same properties as the poking, for Wrock was unable to even guard himself. Steel then finished this combo with a solid punch on Wrock's face, sending him sliding through the dirt.

The NPCs sucked in a cold breath, it was a brutal beating. One they were sure they wouldn't survive.

Now how had Steel done all this? Well because of his class! A hidden class of the pugilist path, Agility Chase. A class with low cooldown skills meant to stun the opponent. In exchange the skills do less damage than a normal pugilist's. However if used to its fullest potential, the opponent would never be able to fight back! Luckily for Wrock, Steel had yet to unlock all the skills. So the combo ended sooner than it could have.

Wrock positioned himself and managed to stop sliding. A bit of blood dripped down his forehead. He chuckled slightly, "One mean combo."

Steel cracked his neck, "It took me a while to obtain this class, I intend to use it."

Wrock nodded in understanding, "In that case. . ."

Wrock vanished an reappeared behind Steel. His fist landed squarely on their back. This punch was none other than [Mastered Basic Punch] as well. Steel bent awkwardly and was sent flying. Executing [Second Tempo Strike] along with [Thundering Impact] the shockwave slammed into the back of Steel. Sending them crashing into a cart.

Wrock winced, "Not the carts. . . ! Aw man I'm gonna get yelled at for that."

Steel flipped out of the ruined cart. He was bruised and battered, covered in splotches of blood. He groaned, "That one hurt."

"That was the intention!"

Steel took a deep breath to reset his mentality. Suddenly, half circles appeared around his wrists and ankles. At the ends of them was small little wings. The half circles and wings were colored bright white.

Steel's eyes focused as he entered a stance, it was time to ramp things up!

~ ~ ~

Tilia and Yielya were running through the city attempting to find the priest and defender. The only clue they had was that the defender's shield was in the shape of a crescent. It was unique enough to where they could be certain if it was found. However they haven't seen anything resembling the description.

As they ran they occasionally stopped to ask somebody about the crescent shield. However nobody had seen such a strange object.

As they were asking another individual Yielya spotted a defender and a priest walking towards a location. Since it had the same classes she paid extra attention.

The defender turned to laugh with the priest. . . and there it was! A crescent shield reflecting the sunlight.

Yielya excused the herself and Tilia from the stranger and quickly moved towards the targets. She wasn't sure if this was the right person, however she was quite confident.

So they followed them. Trailing behind the two as they casually walked through the city. It didn't take long for Tilia to catch on, so she followed along.

The targets stopped at a large building. The defender turned and asked, "This the place?"

The priest nodded, "Yeah, this seems to be."

"Well I hope you're right."

The two entered the property, Yielya and Tilia quickly followed.

~ ~ ~

Crumb walked through the hallway. At the end was a pacing baggy eyed man. They were nervously chewing their nails, until they spotted Crumb and Terra. They rushed over, "Finally! You're here! I am risking a lot for this! Do you know what I am risking?!"

Terra interrupted, "I don't care, you know what we came for."

The individual nodded furiously, "Yes. . . yes. I have it here. . . oh."

Terra was annoyed, "What?"

The person immediately ushered for Terra to calm down, "One moment! I had the information on me written down. I seemed to have placed it on my desk out of nervousness. . . silly me. Who misplaces crucial defense information?"

Terra was about to make a remark when a voice sounded behind him, "And I will be stopping you there!"

Crumb and Terra's heads snapped in the direction the voice came from. There was a girl as a defender, and. . . a boy?

Crumb frowned, "We were followed."

Terra rolled his eyes, "Well yes, I can see that. Let's take care of them then."

Crumb unsheathed his sword. Strangely large despite them seeming to be a Defender.

Sliding the shield off his arm he slotted it onto the sword. Making it into a large axe. Tilia murmured upon seeing this, "Not a Defender, a Berserker with a dissembled axe."

Crumb gave a shout and swung his axe towards Yielya. This attack was stopped short by Tilia's shield. Crumb saw this and called out, "A tank and a healer? You plan on dragging this out? Too bad!"

Crumb swung again, causing Tilia to slide back a few inches. Knowing that there was a different in stat management she immediately buffed herself.

After receiving another swing this time Tilia didn't move at all upon receiving the blow.

She smiled and pushed Crumb's axe away. She swung her sword and gave a clean cut on his shoulder. Crumb grunted before swinging his axe again. His attack was once again stopped. Like a crowbar trying to open a safe it was useless!

Terra healed the small cut with an easy healing spell. Yielya saw this and squinted. In the back the NPC was nervously wringing their hands, biting their lip.

She decided, the priest wasn't going to receive any help so she walked over to him. Terra frowned and threatened, "Don't come closer-"

Whack!

Terra was smacked by Yielya's staff. He immediately grew angry and swung his staff in retaliation. Yielya easily blocked the blow and counter attacked.

Despite being a healer she underwent constant training to be able to defend herself. Although not nearly as proficient as the other members of the Party, she was easily capable of defending herself.

However she was still a priest, so her damage wasn't much at all. However a trickle of water can slowly erode stone. So Yielya began to attack, slowly making Terra's health drop.

It took a few moments before Terra realized he was unable to fight back. He quickly called for help, "Crumb!"

Crumb turned his head to see what Terra was calling about, only to be shocked by what he saw. To make matters worse Tilia slammed her shield into him, making him stumble back.

Crumb and Terra aren't top experts. If anything they could be considered above average. Completed to Yielya's and Tilia's vast amount of fighting experience, it was essentially a one sided fight.

Terra realized this shortly after Crumb was hit with a shield. It was hopeless for them to continue, unless. . .

"Crumb! Use that!"

"I was waiting for the command!"

Crumb's entire body swelled, as if his muscles were inflated with an air pump. He became taller and more muscular. With a deep voice he roared and swung down onto Tilia. She raised her shield and blocked the blow. However the attack forced her down, smashing through the floor of the building.

She received heavy damage, before she could even recover Crumb swung down again. Sending her even further down into the floor, like she was some nail.

Yielya was keeping an eye on her health. Noticing the damage Crumb did now she quickly sent a heal towards Tilia. She then continued to beat down Terra.

Tilia activated [Counter Smash] on Crumb's third strike. Her shield flash and smacked into the abdomen of Crumb. He grunted but remained seemingly unfazed.

Crumb swung again, this time horizontally. Tilia blocked it but was sent towards the wall. Having freed himself from his obstacle Crumb went to help Terra. Tilia quickly freed herself from the rubble and rushed over. She noticed that whatever ability Crumb used to strengthen himself, it also slowed him drastically.

Yielya continued to passively beat the willingness to live out of Terra without batting an eye. Crumb raised his axe to slam down on her, but instead of dodging or attempting to block. She instead prepared to cast a healing spell.

Clang~!

Tilia stood underneath the axe of Crumb, the floor cracked underneath her. She had successfully blocked the strike. Not even a moment later the damage she received was healed by Yielya.

Tilia grit her teeth, "You aren't getting past."

Crumb frowned, "I beg to differ!"

His axe began to glow and he swung with even more strength than before!