Shrugging off the damage, Axl focused on unloading his daggers. Luckily, one hit, high on the calf as the scout put most of her weight on the leg. She stumbled, and with a leap from [Bolting Motion], Axl reached her, his sword stabbing up the bottom of her neck, into the brain.
Without hesitation at the influx of Karmic Energy, he put her body into his external ring, the motion draining his internal Mana stores more than he expected, likely because she had a dimensional storage that was now sealed inside his.
Axl quickly turned back to the convoy, having made it quite some way off into the woods chasing the F-Grade archer. He was puzzled, however, by how the dark mist remained, as did the intangible glyphs floating over his head. He'd figured the healer was responsible for one of these effects and the archer the other, but from [Mana Shroud], he was able to sense that both still had Mana being fed into them, even if he wasn't good enough with the Skill to sense where from, exactly.
He sighed as he used [Minor Telekinesis] to get his daggers back, realizing there was likely another hidden attacker. Either that, or the healer was far more powerful than he'd anticipated, dual-casting the two very different spells, even as he made it look like he was casting only one. This particular combination of mist and marking was not effective against him, since [Mana Shroud] let him largely bypass the effect, but that was sheer luck, so he had to be more careful with his next attack.
On the way back, Axl used [Minor Telekinesis] to pick up most of the special arrows the archer used against him, as well as some of her regular ones, at the very least wanting to examine the metal. He didn't delay much, however, since that would only give the convoy forces more time to rally a defense. The obscuring mist quickly dispersed over a few seconds, as if the spell or Skill was pulled back.
As he got closer, he approached slowly, even as he knew the glyphic marking likely meant the undead knew exactly where he was, but he wanted to see what kind of defenses they'd have raised. He expected full lines of soldiers circling the source of Undeath, but instead, those were far on the opposite ends of the convoy, and only the three last party members were standing their ground behind the rickety cart they were clearly protecting.
Even the carts nearby were a good distance away, as if their entire forces decided to make space for their F-Grade battle. Axl was pleased by this decision, finding it distasteful how the archer didn't seem to care about decimating her own forces in the forest's mist to get to him, a part of the reason why he didn't let her escape. The bigger one was that he didn't want to have that risk hovering over him as he returned to attack the party, of course, but her being such a dick helped.
The party waiting for him wasn't idle, however, since Axl saw two rings of talismans on the ground, encircling the cart, and the healer was using some form of telekinesis to set up a third. A translucent wall of Mana, like an oil bubble, surrounded the party and their cart, and Axl figured they would simply keep redoubling these defenses if allowed to continue.
Shit, this likely means they're waiting for reinforcements.
The realization hit him like a brick, and Axl charged, drawing in ambient Mana with [Mana Shroud] and rallying a large chunk of his internal Mana into [Attuned Drill Strike]. He'd not wanted to use either soul-based attacks or that Skill when doing this, to not risk the undead learning too much about his capabilities, but this was the only way he could break a powerful defense quickly.
He stopped shortly before the boundary of the array, left hand accumulating Mana to his side as he lifted his sword up with the other as a diversion, hoping they wouldn't notice the attack.
The armored healer's eyes widened in alarm, however, clearly noticing the buildup of Mana in Axl's fist. Gritting his teeth, Axl activated the attack early, while it was still at some half of its full capacity, not wanting to give them time to counter.
The cart's back flap lifted, and a massive undead leapt out, its body turning into a boulder of bone-white rock in front of the armored healer. Axl punched, the swirling force of earth-based Mana and his own forming a twisting vortex of force that pushed against the bubble of the defensive array for a moment before popping it. The attack continued to hit the undead holding the battle-axe, who was only partially protected by the massive undead’s white body.
A good third of the axe-wielder’s body was torn apart by [Attuned Drill Strike], but the massive boulder was only chiseled and cut up to reveal more stone underneath. The boulder then lifted from the ground and was forcefully thrown at Axl.
Axl ducked to the side, but [Mana Shroud] was still not switched from empowering his drill attack to boosting his Attributes, so he wasn't fast enough to fully dodge the large projectile, and it struck him in the left arm, deeply bruising his muscles and dislocating the shoulder. If it weren’t for his sheersilk armor, he would've lost the limb entirely.
Regaining his balance, Axl felt the surge of Karmic Energy from the axe-wielder dying, but the large undead was already moving. It was the skeletal form of a kobold, with a reptilian skull and humanoid body, towering one meter over Axl, his body covered in metallic plate armor that was partially made with Helkan Silver. Raising its arm, a large spike with a blue sheen materialized, and the creature jumped at him.
Axl activated [Bolting Motion], dodging the swipe from the spike, [Mana Shroud] sensing the powerful poison from the blue material, similar to one of the archer's better arrows.
Drawing [Webcutter] and empowering its strike with [Mana Shroud], Axl slashed at the giant kobold's knee, aiming for a seam in the armor. The creature grunted as the hit dug into the space between metal plates, but there was chainmail underneath, and so the strike was largely absorbed.
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Axl pivoted as he drew back his sword, keeping close to the large creature as he stabbed it with a [Venombite Fang], this one loaded with the calcium-depleting poison, aiming at an armor seam in the armpit.
He had to jump back as the kobold swiped at him again with the blue spike, but Axl kept pushing the dagger in with [Minor Telekinesis], trying to get the tip past the chainmail and into the bone beneath.
To distract the creature, Axl used [Bolting Motion] to duck underneath his legs and get to the healer, but the shield-bearer placed himself in front of Axl's target. He struck the tower shield with his sword with as much force as he could apply. The undead was pushed back a step, and Axl had to step aside to avoid the kobold lunging at his back.
The healer was pointing his stave at the kobold, and Axl noticed that his dagger's poison was fully delivered, but the large undead was not affected at all, likely the work of the healer. Not glyphic casting either, but likely a Skill.
The kobold threw his poisonous spike at Axl, the dangerous-feeling construct shattering mid-air into a rain of shards. Axl used [Bolting Motion] to lunge to the side, avoiding most of the shards, but a few hit his legs. They failed to pierce his armor, but some of the poison still started eating its way through his skin.
Axl rallied Bilesong to defend against the offensive poison, and he really felt the greatly reduced effectiveness of his poison-absorbing organ. He had to redirect most of [Mana Shroud]'s empowerment to Vitality and Bilesong to keep the shockingly powerful poison from eating his flesh up entirely.
The kobold seemed to have noticed Axl's weakness and redoubled his attack, his arm turning into a whirl of frosted wind, half-tangible, its physicality replaced with dense cold- and air-attuned Mana. Even as Axl backpedaled, avoiding the attacks, the cutting wind in each strike assaulted him. The sheersilk armor helped against the slicing air, but the cold still managed to seep through and attack his body.
How was this possible? The spike was clearly some powerful offensive skill, and now a dual-attuned attack on top of that? Not to mention the defensive boulder-producing Skill and the brand still on top of his head. I thought offensive Skills were supposed to be unusual.
What was even more puzzling was that the kobold himself didn't seem particularly strong, barely into the middle of the F-Grade, so what was it with this dizzying array of Skills? Even if divided between the kobold and healer, it was quite a lot more than what Suliana and Promenial mentioned was normal. Arrays and talismans could mimic such effects, but Axl absolutely didn’t see any of the two pull any of those out, not to mention the speed they were activated with, which certainly wouldn't come from a talisman or glyphic spellcasting. Were these two a rare elite like him?
At the thought, Axl grit his teeth and pressed forward, there being no other way around it. They had crazy Skills, but he had a clear Attribute advantage, especially if he managed to deal with the poison to get his boosting back. And those Skills sure looked like they took a good deal of Mana.
Steeling himself, Axl activated [Bolting Motion] to dodge one of the kobold's translucent strikes and again charged at the healer, planning to take out the supporting staff before the newest addition to the battles.
The shield-bearer was in front of him again, ready to rebuff Axl for a second time, but Axl wouldn't give him the chance. His left arm still flopped limp to his side, Axl stored [Webcutter] on his ribcage ring and took out an oversized vial of Centipede poison. He then leapt at the shield, using his elbow to push down over the shield's upper edge, and threw the vial straight at the man's face.
The toss didn't use most of his Strength, but combined with [Minor Telekinesis], the toss was more than enough to shatter the glass, the poison pushing past the seams of his full metal helm and down the front of his plate. With a flex of will, Axl redoubled his focus on [Minor Telekinesis] to grab chunks of the liquid that were uselessly splattered on the metal surface and guide them into the crags and crevices of the undead's armor. He screamed in pain and shook his head to the side, trying to escape the liquid in vain.
The shield-bearer then made a terrible mistake Axl hadn't even thought to hope for—he powerfully pushed upwards with his shield, letting Axl add to the momentum and launch himself up and backwards, away from the kobold and towards the healer.
The kobold didn't hesitate, but slashed at his screaming ally with a vicious strike, killing the shield-bearer instantly, most of the Karmic Energy flowing to Axl. This was a problem, as Axl was still falling, aiming to reach the healer when hitting the ground barely in range for a sword strike. But the kobold was already mid-strike, his arms now fully invisible behind the dense wall of Mana that replaced the limb.
Axl fully activated [Bolting Motion], unleashing the variant of it he really wished not having to use. A lightning strike filled the distance between his left foot and the ground in front of the healer, with the instant speed of light. With a flex of the Skill, Axl's body skimmed over the bolt, the tearing electric force more natural to his feet than solid ground, as if this was the true way he should move in the world. Above, the tribulation materialized, growing stronger from the external use of lightning.
Feet on solid ground, Axl continued the more normal activation of [Bolting Motion], the lightning now forcefully kept to his body, the restriction artificial, lightning wanting to course free.
The Skill activation paid off, however, allowing Axl to avoid the kobold's strike and remove [Webcutter] from his storage, the flowing strike less natural than from his scabbard, but still cutting into the figure of the healer.
His head popped off from his body, but as Axl continued his charge, he felt something off with the attack, the man's body having too much Mana in it, and the figure started to melt into an indistinct blob, the armor limply falling over it. Another slitting Skill.
Axl turned and had to jump forward twice more to avoid the kobold's attacks, but they were becoming slower now, his arms fading in and out, the Mana in them dimming considerably. Avoiding another strike, Axl put his sword back in storage and threw a dagger at the kobold with his next dodge, the dagger not hitting, but forcing him to stop his attack, raising an arm to block the projectile.
The poison in his legs still took much of Axl's [Mana Shroud]-empowered Mana to deal with, but taking advantage of the kobold's split-second defense, Axl redirected [Mana Shroud] to the Mana around him and empowering Perception. He quickly switched back before the poison could gain too much ground, having found what he looked for. There was a dim, poorly hidden Mana signature similar to the healer cowering inside the cart, right next to where the Undeath was coming from.
Turning back to the kobold, Axl noticed his approach was slower, not because his arms were now fully materialized, the dual-attuned Skill dispelled, or even because he was tired or running low on Mana. He was afraid, and Axl smiled, arm to his side in a fist, starting to power up [Attuned Drill Strike].
The kobold should've pressed on, since he most certainly would've been able to land an attack or two before Axl powered up his Skill, but instead, he paused. Literally, the kobold stopped, and that second of hesitation was all Axl needed to finish charging the Skill, and he fired at the armored figure's chest.
He started turning into a boulder again, but too slowly, only a part of the rock forming around him before Axl's spiraling attack hit, the bulk of his chest caved in, the metal armor twisting and tearing off at the sheer force of the strike.
$ shoutout.swap --stacked --clean
by BooksByMandiMay ● Sci-Fi / LitRPG
Maura ran a game store. Now she's trapped in a deadly multiverse tutorial and assigned a class extinct for fifteen eras: Technomancer. Half magic, half machine, zero instructions. She has to figure out powers nobody remembers and keep a group of strangers alive long enough for any of it to matter.
// todo: Try not to die.