First Group Battle (III)

~.~.~

A/N: For readers who have already caught up with all the chapters by the time I post this, I updated the way gear works in the game so you may want to re-read the previous chapters in order to understand these changes. It's why it took quite some time for another chapter to be posted.

~.~.~

As we neared the center of the battlefield, I decided to quickly check the stats of the new swords I had just obtained so I could understand my new damage output and optimize my fighting efficiency.

[Carbonium Sword]

[Rarity: Uncommon] [Tier C]

[Description: A fine sword crafted from the light-weight metal, Carbonium. Featherweight and easy to wield.]

[Stats: +40 Attack Power, +20 Attack Speed]

[Durability: 83%]

I grinned faintly seeing its stats. Now, my Attack Power was standing at a staggering 220. Equipping 2 swords added an additional 80 attack power to my current 140.

The swords also boosted my Attack Speed by 40, which was a considerable boost to the 70 I possessed prior to equipping the swords.

'Targeting fatal points is now even more efficient as a strategy…'

I mused, doing some quick mental calculations in my head. With my increased damage and greater attack range, I was now a serious force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, even though all the enemies were at least 3 levels higher than me..

'Not sure if it'll be enough to take him down though…'

I thought, glancing at Captain Maximus for a moment. He had a lazy expression on his face as he gazed at the battlefield whilst on his horse. He hadn't left that spot since the start of the battle.

'I'll think about dealing with him after fighting these other guys…let's focus.'

My eyes locked onto the battlefield and swiftly analyzed its current state . There were about 13 enemies remaining from the initial group of 25 captain Maximus had brought. As for the mercenaries, their numbers had dwindled as well, with only 10 left, and none on horseback.

It seemed like the mercenaries were no match for the knights, which was understandable. After seeing the stats of the Carbonium sword, I firmly believed the mercenaries stood no chance against these knights ,even with the previous upper hand they had given us by attacking without a formation.

Honestly, now that I think about it, the mercenaries stood no chance at all right from the start because of the mages within the squad of knights. From what I had seen so far in the battle, their range was a little ridiculous.

The mage that shot the fireball at Ellie was nowhere near her at the time and yet, was still able to land a direct hit. To be fair, Ellie could've easily dodged it had she noticed it a second or two earlier, though that does not diminish the fact that mages in this game had incredulous range.

Currently, the battle at the center of the battlefield was divided into two fronts. One of them had 5 mercenaries struggling against 8 knights and mages while the other had the remaining 5 mercenaries locked in a stalemate against 5 knights.

I frowned slightly seeing this – it was a precarious situation.

I immediately decided on the most advantageous way to turn the tables – Ellie and I separating to support each group. Ideally, I would have preferred to fight with Ellie as my sub DPS as it was quick and incredibly efficient, however, I decided against doing that purely so Ellie and I won't have to share the experience gained from killing the enemies.

We needed to reach level 20 as quickly as possible so always fighting together was counterproductive. Additionally, we needed to gain as many levels as possible before fighting Captain Maximus. I don't know why, but I have this nagging feeling that fighting him will be arduous, even though he is merely a Lvl 15 Elite, not even a boss or higher ranked enemy.

"Ellie, we're separating. Take the right front." I turned to Ellie, while pointing my sword to the front with an equal number of knights and mercenaries.

I wasn't confident in Ellie's ability to fight multiple enemies since I hadn't seen her do so before. Therefore, I decided to send her to the right front, which was arguably the easier battle.

Also, Ellie was an NPC….a highly unique one at that.. I couldn't afford for her to die here – not when she had yet to officially join [♱Trinity].

Ellie just nodded emotionlessly and switched directions towards the right front.

'Alright, let's do this…'

I thought, increasing the strength in my legs and dashing straight into the left front – the one with where knights and mages outnumbered the mercenaries.

Since I was coming from behind them, the knights were unable to spot me so I easily picked my first target. It was a tall knight who was currently engaged in a fierce battle with a mercenary – a battle which he seemed to be dominating.

I inspected him as I neared him,

[Sir James Haydwick | Lvl. 12 | Knight of House Devont]

[HP: 3210/3500 (92 %)]

As I approached within a feet from him, I suddenly heard a shout,

"Oi, Watch out! "

The shout caused Sir James to stop fighting his opponent and notice me. I frowned seeing that and turned to the source of the voice – it was from a mage a few feet away.

"Tch.." I grumbled and immediately adopted a sword stance to engage in combat with Sir James. My attempt at a surprise attack had been botched and now it would be more work to take the knight down…not that it mattered anyways, he was still going to die.

My mind revolved rapidly, thinking of the easiest way to claim Sir James's life. A moment later, I glanced towards the mercenary and smirked. I had decided on the fastest way to dispatch the knight.

"Leave, go help the others." I said to the mercenary as I charged towards Sir James, slashing my left sword diagonally towards his neck.

*Clank!*

Sir James stepped backwards, met my sword head on with his mace and pushed me back with all his strength.

'Fuck, how strong is this guy?!'

I exclaimed inwardly as I grunted and added my right sword to resist the immense force Sir James was using to drive me back.

"Piss off" The mercenary coldly replied as I was getting repelled. I smirked hearing that. It was just as I predicted – There was no way the mercenary was going to listen to a lower leveled person.

As soon as he said that, the mercenary promptly charged towards Sir James and ferociously slashed his sword towards the knight's chest.

Sir James instinctively responded by shifting his attention to the mercenary and moved his mace to block his attack, leaving himself open to an attack from me.

'Heh, Thanks for the assist.'

I grinned and instantly slashed my right sword towards his neck within the split second he shifted his attention to the mercenary. Because of how quickly I reacted, Sir James was unable to respond to my attack and consequently, my sword sliced straight through his neck and decapitated him on the spot, splurging red blood everywhere in the process.

Whoosh! Slit!

[Critical Hit!]

[Fatal Hit!]

-4620!

[HP: 0/3000 (0%)]

[You have gained 350 Experience]

[You have obtained 60 silver]

[Your «Slash» mastery has increased]

[You have Leveled up (Lv.9 → Lv.10)]

[You have gained 2 Stat Points and 5 Skill Points]

I ignored all the system notifications and dashed towards the next battle in a flash, leaving behind a bewildered looking mercenary who was gaping at the now headless knight as if he had just seen a ghost.

I picked my next targets – It was a group of two knights and a mage going against 2 mercenaries. The mercenaries looked battered and had bleeding cuts and bruises all over their bodies. Smiling slightly, I inspected all the enemies.

[Kelos Terfont | Lvl 13 | Mage of House Devont]

[HP: 1500/1500 (100%)]

[Sir Aaron Brackliffe | Lvl 12 | Knight of House Devont]

[HP: 2650/3500 (76%)]

[Sir Olius Ladven | Lvl 12 | Knight of House Devont]

[HP: 2530/3500 (72%)]

Sir Aaron and Sir Olius were exchanging blows with the two mercenaries while Kelos, the mage, was standing a few feet behind them, probably waiting for an opening to cast a spell on the mercenaries.

Kelos noticed me as soon as I came within view and immediately fired a torrent of fireballs towards my direction.

'Let's deal with you first…'

I thought, looking at Kelos. He was wearing a blue hooded robe with what looked like the House of Devont insignia on its front. I dodged all the fireballs he sent at me skillfully, and bolted in his direction.

The fireballs were terrifyingly hot. I felt my skin burning as I narrowly dodged each one.

Kelos kept calmly casting fireball spells and sending them at me. I raised my eyebrows once I noticed how calm he was. Did he have something planned? Was I walking into a trap?

I frowned as I dodged the latest fireball, pondering on whether to rush towards him.

'Let's try something new…'

I decided on continuing to rush towards him, though I had an idea that could crumble whatever the mage had planned.

Once I reached just a few feet away from Kelos, he smiled and raised both his hands, seemingly trying to cast a dangerous spell.

"Oh no you don't" I chuckled, and used my left hand to grab a mound of dirt from the ground and threw it towards Kelos' face.

"Aargh!"

The dirt hit Kelos square in the face and interrupted his spell, causing him to yell and stagger back a bit.

[Kelos Terfont has been stunned for 3s]

'One down..'

I quickly closed the gap between us and proceeded to impale the man's neck with my right sword, piercing his throat and sending him to the afterlife…if it even existed.

Whoosh! Slit!

[Critical Hit!]

[Fatal Hit!]

-4560

[HP: 0/1500 (0%)]

[You have gained 400 Experience]

[You have obtained 75 silver]

More thick red blood bathed my leather armor and further dyed it in a tinge of crimson red. Though, I ignored it and swiftly moved towards the remaining two knights.

The other knights had heard Kelos's shout and noticed me. One of them, Sir Olius, pierced the chest of the mercenary he was facing –killing him in the process – and then charged towards me while slashing his sword towards my neck at blistering speed.

My instincts took over before I could realize it and I narrowly dodged the slash without taking any damage. His slash was astoundingly quick.

Unrelenting, Sir Olius redirected his slash and slashed horizontally towards my chest. I responded by crossing my two swords to clash with his sword.

Clank!

I could feel my hands numbing from the force created by his slash. I frowned as I realized that it was getting increasingly more difficult to fight these knights. If I hadn't possessed absurd reflexes, I would have immediately died to his sword.

'Time to invest my stat points…'

I thought as I resisted the force Sir Olius was repelling me with. All this time I had been fighting with my level 7 stats and I was yet to allot any stat points from leveling. It seems like I could only fight opponents around 5 levels higher than me and even then it was just barely and solely due to my synchro rate, which goes to show the level of difficulty in playing [Transcendent].

I jumped back from the clash with Sir Olius, quickly pulled up my status, and invested my stat points into agility, strength, and stamina. I did all this in one motion so Sir Olius couldn't capitalize on my divided attention.

[Your Strength has increased 14 → 16]

[Your Agility has increased 14 → 18]

[Your Stamina has increased 12 → 14]

As soon as I finished allotting my stat points, I felt completely different. I felt strength course through my veins, my body becoming lighter, and full of energy. It was quite the intoxicating feeling….I could definitely get used to it.

'Alright let's run it back'

I adopted a low sword stance and dived back into battle by slashing my right sword towards Sir Olius's neck. He responded by blocking my attack. The impact force felt weaker than before, probably due to my increased strength.

Clank!

Unyieldingly, I then slashed my left sword towards his chest, aiming to force him to shift his block downwards to free up my right sword. Sir Olius frowned, pushed me back using his sword, and jumped backwards, easily evading my attack in the process.

I was about to attack again but I noticed that the other knight, Sir Aaron had killed his opponent and was now heading towards my direction at full speed. I frowned seeing that, it seems like it'll be a two on one fight.

I switched directions and bolted towards Sir Aaron, causing Sir Olius to charge after me. Once I neared Sir Aaron, I waited for him to strike first so I could easily kill him and Sir Olius in one move.

Sir Aaron viciously slashed his sword downwards, towards my neck as I got within attacking range. I smirked seeing that, it was time to end this fight.

I halted my advance, leaped backwards and skillfully threw my right sword towards his neck, intending to pierce it as a counter attack. My left sword flew straight into his neck, perforating it in the process and killing him that instant.

Whoosh! Slit!

[Critical Hit!]

[Fatal Hit!]

-4530!

[HP: 0/3500 (0%)]

[You have gained 350 Experience]

[You have obtained 64 Silver]

As soon as I threw my right sword, I twisted my body mid-air to face Sir Olius and immediately unleashed a Cyclone slash on him.

He was caught off guard and thus, my Cyclone Slash easily eviscerated his body. Though, his physical defense reduced the damage I was able to deal.

-370! -500! -630!

[HP: 1030/3500 (29%)]

"AARGH!" Sir Olius screamed and dropped his sword as his arms and chest got lacerated by my skill.

'Goodbye.'

Without hesitation, I took advantage of his state of anguish as soon as I landed on the floor. I slashed horizontally at his neck with all my strength.

[Critical Hit!]

[Fatal Hit!]

-4560!

[HP: 0/3500 (0%)]

[You have gained 350 Experience]

[You have obtained 60 silver]

[Your «Cyclone Slash» mastery has increased]

[Your «Slash» mastery has increased]

Sir Olius's head flew through the air, sending streaks of blood flying everywhere in the process.

' 4 down, 5 to go….'

I thought, glancing towards the remaining knights and mages. It was time to end this battle once and for all…

~.~.~

POV | Ellie Vault

'Die..'

I thrust my katana savagely into the chest of the knight in front of me and slowly watched the light leave his eyes as he grabbed my shoulder and slumped lifessly onto the ground.

I flinched slightly as the blood from his chest wound splashed on my face. I was still feeling conflicted with taking people's lives…I felt sick and demonic because of how fearlessly I claimed their lives with no form of hesitation.

Killing was way more gory than I had anticipated and I didn't like this icy and sinister side I seemingly had but then again, should I really be feeling remorseful for claiming their lives? Isn't this the path I chose? Was I really so naive to think I could become a great warrior and adventurer without soaking my hands in the blood of numerous lives?

'Urgh! fuck this…'

I grumbled inwardly and discarded all these annoying thoughts. They didn't matter, and all they were really doing was distracting me and clouding my perception of reality. Who cared about whether I should be feeling remorseful or not?

None of it mattered. All that mattered was that there were enemies… enemies that needed to be crushed. It was either kill or be killed and I definitely was not going to be the one dying here…not when I had yet to make my dreams become reality. These knights were going to die by blade today….

I ran at full speed towards the last knight at my battlefront. Prior to now, I had brutally killed the remaining 4 knights and leveled up to level 9. The mercenaries were all useless and all of them had died off while fighting their opponents.

I couldn't believe I was intimidated by these weaklings. None of them could hold a candle to Tristan's battle prowess. Sometimes I wonder just where on earth he learnt how to fight like he does. It seems so experienced and it confuses me.

If he was so experienced in battling, how was he still level 10? It made no sense and I couldn't fathom how he was this seasoned in combat.

Thinking about all this, I frowned and tightened my grip over my katana. Once I got within his range, I slashed upwards towards his neck with all my strength.

Whoosh! Clank!

The knight had been anticipating my arrival and attack so he easily blocked my attack with his sword and pushed me backwards. Following that, he then stepped back and slashed diagonally at my chest.

I quickly side-stepped out of the trajectory of his diagonal slash and feinted a slash towards his neck as a counterattack. The knight fell for the feint and shifted his sword upwards in an attempt to block.

I immediately reeled my hand back and slashed horizontally at his stomach, cutting through his armor and landing a direct hit.

[Critical Hit!]

-497!

[HP: 2803/3500 (80%)]

As the knight yelled and grimaced in pain, I grabbed my sheath from my back, sheathed my katana and adopted a low sword stance by crouching.

'May you find peace in the afterlife.'

I thought, unleashing my quick draw skill on the knight. My sword slashed upwards at an insane speed and flawlessly decapitated the knight, sending his blood flying everywhere.

[You have gained 350 Experience]

[You have earned 60 silver]

[Your «Quick Draw» mastery has increased]

I flicked my katana and sheathed it as blood trickled down my leather armor. With the death of this knight, I had finished dispatching all the enemies on my front….I wondered how Tristan was faring.

'I'll go help him after I allocate my stat points'

"Status" I muttered, causing a translucent blue screen to appear within my view instantaneously.

[Ellie Vault | Lvl 9 | Warrior]

[Race: Human]

[Exp: 1,567/6,500]

[Title(s): N/A]

[Job(s): N/A]

[Stats]

[STR - 12]

[AGI -18]

[INT - 10]

[STA - 12]

[VIT - 10]

[Health: 500]

[Stat Points: 2]

[Skill Points: 0]

[Skills/Perks: Slash Lvl.3 (F) | Quick Draw (C) Lvl.2 ]

[Inventory: Goblin mage staff (x2), Direclaw Bear Fang (x3), Standard Leather Armor (Common)]

I assigned 1 stat point to strength and the other to agility. My fighting style focuses a lot on speed so I always try to keep my agility substantially higher than my strength. Though, balance is important so I ideally try to keep my strength within 10 points of my agility.

Once I was done inspecting my status, I glanced in the direction of Tristan's battlefront and immediately spotted him. He was currently fighting 3 knights alongside the mercenaries. His side view looked really….attractive.

'Sigh, this annoying emotion again.'

I sighed and shook my head, emptying it of superfluous thoughts.

'Right, lets' go help him…'

I then dashed towards his battlefront at top speed. As I moved, I couldn't help but think of how much my life had changed within a mere 2 days of meeting Tristan. It felt like I had changed so much within such a little amount of time.

I smiled thinking about it. I wonder what fate has in store for the both of us. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's something extraordinary and legend worthy….something transcendent…