Gideon’s class was a hybrid mix of damage and survivability. He was similar to Arthur in that manner, with more of a focus on damage over robustness, contrary to the Audacity Knight. There existed Knight class variants that shared the Domain Warden’s damage hybrid role, but Arthur’s was not one. The issue Gideon often found was that he also frequently lacked the facilities to act as the defender for his group. He was a dedicated front liner, to be sure, but he was no tank. While he could act as a buffer between the enemy and his friends, he was only a buffer, and not a shield.
As the battle raged on, Gideon learned several things about the mysterious stranger. First, was that he was ridiculously strong, almost unfairly so. Every swing of his blade spelled death, and as far as Gideon could tell, he wasn’t even using any attack skills. The second thing was, despite his tyrannosaurus strength, he was almost definitely a tank focused class. He masterfully wielded his large and round wooden shield, and used skills that grabbed enemy attention with their eyes glowing a crimson hue.
“Hey, invite me to your party!” Gideon was taken from his reverie as the modified voice called out. “Hurry!”
As Gideon was the party leader, he sent an invitation to the armored individual, and his name was added to their party list.
[Viridian]
HP: 74,750 / 74,750
MP: 4,378 / 5,500
SP: 50,299 / 52,325
Before he could ponder the mysterious stranger’s name, he was overcome with a swell of something grand within him. It felt like a rising tide, power flooding out from within his heart. Gideon’s eyes went wide as dinner plates, and Aurora let out a long, shocked gasp. Ema, for her part, was more vocal than her friends.
“OH HECK YEAH!” she screeched, with a timbre befitting a B movie villain.
You’ve been affected by [Viridian’s]:
[True Heart of Devotion]
+50% STR, DEX, INT
+45% Health Regeneration
Enhanced base Mana Points
Enhanced base Stamina Points
Enhanced base damage
Although that was already a lot to process in the middle of a battle, it was only the beginning.
You’ve been affected by [Viridian’s]:
[Intricacies of Exaltation]
Enhanced damage to [Enraged] enemies
Enhanced Stamina regeneration
Enhanced Mana regeneration
Enhanced offensive skill cooldown
You’ve been affected by [Viridian’s]:
[Sentinal Aura]
Enhanced damage reduction
You’ve gained: [Sentinal Bond]
You’ve been affected by [Viridian’s]:
[Coordination]
Enhanced damage to [Enraged] enemies
You’ve gained: [Coordinated Assault]
Unable to stop and read everything that’d just happened, Gideon dismissed the screens and refocused on the fight. Aurora, on the other hand, had time to stop and read through all the effects she’d gained. She was levitating in the air above the battle, and therefore was out of reach of any enemies on this field. On top of that, her skills were chargable, giving her ample time to read through even the condition buffs they’d gained. She’d already been shocked speechless from the multitudinous effects they’d gained simply from partying the stranger. They were both complicated and potent, and she’d never seen anything like it. When she read the effects of Coordinated Assault, however, she went from shocked speechlessness to a very uncharacteristic exclamation.
“Holy shit…”
[Coordinated Assault]: Immunity from magical friendly fire from other allies with [Coordinated Assault]. Grants telepathic communication with other allies with [Coordinated Assault]. Grants limited sharing of Vaults between all allies with [Coordinated Assault]. Vault sharing must be consensual. Buff lasts as long as there is at least one enemy on the battlefield inflicted with [Enraged].
Lightning crackled around a savage grin far removed from her usual relaxed smile and she prepared to unleash the full power of her fully charged Lightning Bolt skill. She threw in extra stacks of static while she was at it. With all the information given by the alerts after inviting this “Viridian”, she shouldn’t need any more damage to add, but she did anyway. She knew that this would be the most powerful lightning bolt she’d ever released, and possibly, ever will release. She focused the sizzling and hissing energy, perspiration trailing lines through her dirt-caked face as the skill gained greater power between her hands. It bounced back and forth about her fingers, reaching a fever pitch of destructive power as a bead of sweat alighted on her dehydrated lips, invading with a salty taste. With eyes of lightning and a voice of thunder, she gestured towards the battle with an outcry befitting a goddess of the sky, and everything was consumed with light.
“Focus, Ema!” Gideon shouted, as another goblin fell to his dagger. “Don’t just sit there and read!”
“You can’t tell me what to do, Baldy!” She shouted back, but she dismissed the screens all the same.
Arthur was focusing on defense, keeping himself between the monsters and the woman named Ema. This didn’t mean he never lashed out with his blade, and whenever he did, he would often land his blow. His priority, however, was keeping those behind him out of harms way. His new mastery of the shield was rather helpful in that endeavor, giving him insights on how to best position himself. This was also to say nothing of the various methodology now at his command, which he also made full use of.
Method 1: A wide swing of the shield to slam the enemy. Deals moderate to high blunt damage but results in a moderate cooldown.
Method 2: A quick and short jab of the shield while keeping your guard up. Stuns the enemy for half a second. Short cooldown, but only usable when an enemy strikes your shield.
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Method 5: Swing at an enemy with the edge of your shield. Does greater or lesser bludgeoning damage depending on the spot struck.
The second method was a solid workhorse of his current circumstance. The blows being thrown at him were many and varied, but more than most met his unyielding wooden bulwark. Each time he’d block a strike, he’d use one of his favorite skills to date.
[You and Me]: Inflicts [Enraged] when an enemy strikes your shield. Expend a stack of [Audacity] to inflict damage in retaliation.
Once an enemy was Enraged, he wouldn’t have to worry about it attacking anyone but him. Whenever he successfully inflicted a goblin with Enraged, he’d move from keeping it in check to simply managing it as he’d move on to the next threat. A favorite combo of his was to inflict a goblin with Enraged and then strike it with the second method of Aegis Arts. Since You and Me was a skill that required a block just like the second method, he’d chain the two with quick succession. He found that if he did this, it would often give him time to find the next monster threatening to break past him and attack their healer.
He would occasionally opt for a first method shield bash rather than the short burst of the second method, as well. He would slam the goblins hard enough to cause broken bones throughout a good portion of their body, or even sending them blasting back entirely. Whenever there weren’t any other enemies attempting to break past him, he’d employ a three-pronged combination of skills that would usually result in the death of his opponent. It would begin with inflicting the monster with Enraged, following up with a second method shield jab, and then ending with a fifth method shield crunch to the goblin’s neck. With the Coordinated Assault condition active, he also benefited from a portion of the Enraged combination of skills he’d employed from the beginning. With that added damage, sometimes the monster’s neck would break, or sometimes its head would fly off entirely. It would always be dead, however.
Gideon was on the other side of Ema, protecting their support from the monsters on the other end of the battlefield. During this specific situation, he mainly stuck to his North Polarity, but would switch it up accordingly to shifting circumstances. For example, whenever a monster tried to make a run past him, he would promptly switch to his South mode to catch them out before they made it very far. With his current goal of holding one side of the battlefield, he employed a skill he rarely used.
[Force Pull]: Turn yourself into an event horizon, pulling enemies to you or pushing them away.
- [North]: Constantly pull enemies toward you, within a certain range. Enemies who fight against the pull take continuous damage. {Interchangeable}
- [South]: Constantly push enemies away from you, within a certain range. Enemies who fight against the push take continuous damage. {Interchangeable}
Force Pull was useful for this situation for its North mode capabilities, pulling the enemies that he was to keep from Ema towards him. Not only that, but because it had the “interchangeable” tag, he could keep it in its North mode even when he himself switched. He’d attempted to use this earlier to help Ema, but not only was the North mode useless in that situation, but the South mode only pushed the goblin riders closer to her rather than away. They were simply too fast for him to get out in front of them, making the skill useless. It more than made up for that failure during this moment, however, as it pulled the would be assailants away from Ema and into Gideon’s warm, welcoming arms.
Ema was like a spider in the middle of a web, throwing out spells, buffs and debuffs wildly. Her skills didn’t have any cooldowns, aside from specifics like her healing skill, but they did have other limits on their usage.
[Greater Salve]: Heal an ally for up to 60% of their total health pool. The more HP restored, the greater the mana cost. Low cooldown.
While her healing skill had a cooldown, most of her skills instead had mounting mana costs for their continued deployment. This allowed her to swiftly change any buff, at any time, on any person within her view and powers. Whenever Gideon would switch from his North to South modes, she would respond swiftly by changing her Empower buff on him from strength to dexterity. Once he switched back, she would also change it back to strength, or even to defense or vitality, depending on his situation. When Viridian was under attack from several enemies, she’d move her Augmentation buff from Gideon to him, and then back once he dealt with them. Such micromanaging required a deft hand and great attention to detail, both of which she had excelled at. With said attention to detail, she was quick to notice that Viridian rarely needed any buffs as he tore through the enemy easily on his own. The bright viridescence encasing his armor glowed and raged as he moved about, attacking and defending with a confident certainty that ensured he’d done this many times before. It didn’t escape Ema’s notice that if he were to go on a rampage, he could do much more damage, but he’d instead chosen to stay at her side and protect her. Her thanks were silent as she sent another Greater Salve in Gideon’s direction.
Suddenly, something on the battlefield shifted. The air felt tense and electric, almost as though oxygen itself had weight. The sky went dark and angry clouds blotted out the sun, leaving a cold feeling tingling down Ema’s spine. She looked up and saw her best friend, Aurora. Her eyes were welded shut, face twisted in intense focus as lightning crackled about her entire form. Above her, the roiling clouds whirled into a spinning nexus, like a galaxy made of charcoal black, streaked with occasional running electricity.
At first, Ema was frightened. She knew that if Aurora unleashed whatever she was charging up, the result would strike them as well, and likely fry them to a crisp. After a moment, however, she resolved to trust her friend. Aurora was one of, if not the, kindest woman she’d ever met, and she knew for a fact that she would never endanger them. Steeling herself with a deep breath, she pointed a broken-nailed finger at Aurora.
[Empower]: Grant yourself or an ally a boost to a stat of your choice. Lasts up to 20 minutes, with mounting mana cost. Stackable buff up to a maximum of 3 stacks, with mounting mana cost.
Boost granted: INT +10%
[Augmentation]: Grant yourself or an ally increased damage and damage reduction. Lasts up to 20 minutes, with mounting mana cost.
[Magnification]: Grant yourself or an ally enhanced healing received. Intensifies buffs currently on the recipient.
With 3 of Sasaki Ema’s buffs currently on her, Aurora’s mana usage would normally be far lesser. Aurora’s own class ate up mana like hot dogs at an eating contest, however, transforming the far lesser mana usage into slightly more than average mana usage. Just after her buffs landed on her friend, however, Aurora’s eyes shot open with the fury of gods blazing. Normally half-lidded and serene, the sight was almost as shocking to Ema as what happened next. Arthur and Gideon both looked up too late, as the entire world became noise.
A blinding light flashed. A cacophonous din exploded out of nowhere, nearly deafening even Arthur through his massive defense and vitality. It sounded like a booming crash and a bomb going off all at the same time, multiplied to unprecedented levels. The ground shook, feeling as though the earth ripped itself open to accommodate the noise alone. There was a loud ringing sound after the initial blast, as if the first noise hadn’t been grand enough, and the light faded. As it did, it began to rain, and the “battlefield” was revealed to the survivors and Arthur.
The sight was incredibly frightening. The earth had been ripped up, like an excavating crew had gone through with a vengeance. Abandoned buildings of the campus were blasted away, as though a tornado had been at the epicenter of the battle. Almost all of the enemies were dead, burned to a crisp or even blown apart entirely. The goblins that had been in the center of the gargantuan crater now decorating the campus grounds were likely disintegrated. While Aurora was certainly a powerhouse, such overwhelming might was normally far beyond her grasp. With Arthur, or “Viridian”, now joining them, her potency shot from threatening straight up to terror-inducing. The Enraged debuff had magnified her power’s threat greatly, and not only that, but the added effects of the Enraged combination had strange interactions with her abilities.
The Enraged combination worked by combining several factors of enhanced damage to supplement attacks dealt to enemies who already suffered from lowered defenses. With physical attackers, this would usually be on a one-to-one basis, with enemies not inflicted with Enraged being exempt. When the combination was employed by people who used singular and large attack spells like Aurora, however, that boost was applied in a stacking fashion to their singular attack. It allowed them to cheat, and effect enemies not inflicted with Enraged with the same damage buff as those who were, although they didn’t suffer the impaired defenses of the inflicted. This meant that all the enemies on the field were equally subject to the full brunt of Aurora’s wrath.
As the rain fell upon their skin, the survivors realized belatedly that they were completely unharmed. The lightning had passed through them harmlessly, and barring debris sent flying from the strike, they’d been protected from the overwhelming power displayed by their friend. That friend had begun slowly descending from the sky. She’d meant to use only some stacks of static in the attack, but couldn’t stop herself from using all of them, as though the skill itself had sucked them out of her. As she alighted on the ground, she panted and wheezed, prompting Ema to rush to her side. As her friend helped her up, Gideon joined them, and together they faced the mysterious man in armor, Viridian.
The radiant green shining from the man was no less intense than it had been at the beginning of the battle. His armor looked plain and rent, and so did his blade, but neither looked to have taken any further damage during the fight. The rain plinked against his steel visage rhythmically; the water running down his crude, dull grey helm providing a stark contrast to the bright, admittedly beautiful glow of his namesake viridian eyes. They gleamed and sparkled, like glitter in various shades of green trapped in a shaken up snow globe, with a neon green light shining behind it. Finally, Aurora asked the question all of them had been wondering from the moment he appeared.
“Who… are you?”