Markus had been trained to fight cold.
Anger was a distraction. Anger, complicated things, it made you act out, it made you sloppy. It wasn’t the only emotion he’d been taught to suppress. Sympathy, fear, guilt. It has been drilled into him that his place, when needed, was that of a cold, collected killer.
With time, Markus had learned better. Emotion had a place in a fight, but it didn’t get to be in the driver's seat. It was an engine, a force pushing you forward. A man fighting for the lives of his family and friends would put up a hell of a lot more than some emotionless specter.
So Markus didn’t squash the rising anger as he looked at Del. He didn’t crush the fire in his gut. Instead, he compressed it, used it.
The vampire didn’t fight like a person. It moved with a boneless agility as if its body was partially unbound by gravity. It’s slid around his punches, its entire torso contorting and twisting with a sickening fluidity.
And that wasn’t the worst part. The monster was strong. Each swipe, each rake across Markus‘s skin, drew a little bit more blood, and those were the ones he mostly dodged.
With his Meter over half full and Micheal’s Skill running through him, most things didn’t even break his skin these days.
It seemed an event boss was not most things.
He slipped to the right, narrowly avoiding a stiffened jab from those talons, and then went in for a leg sweep. The vampire jumped, clearing his sweep and slashing out with its other hand.
Markus dripped low and then materialized a quick handle out of Sap. He didn’t invest much Meter into it, just enough for him to get his hand around the sap.
He heaved, swinging off the sap and continuing his kick up and to the right.
He caught the vampire in the knees as it started to come down. It screeched with pain but immediately folded around his kick to slash at him.
Markus fell, and just before the claws connected, a green shield battered them away before vanishing. Markus scrambled to his feet as the vampire did the same.
“I don’t suppose you can understand English?“ He asked the thing. It cocked its head at him, ruby-red eyes sharp. 
“I do not spare words on food.“ And with that, the vampire rushed back in, a mass of claws and teeth and hunger.
~<>~<>~
Margie was having trouble thinking through her anger. That fucking monster's head ripped into Del, and Margie had been powerless to stop it.
It batted the woman away from them like a rag doll, and she’d been too slow to do anything.
But as Buford and Steven fought with the captain, Margie realized she was being stupid. Buford’s shroud could turn sticky, and one of their opponents relied on dodging a lot more than the other.
Between Vanessa and Steven's shields, they had enough damage to break Captain Bob’s armor. Buford was better against that vampire. Margie pointed and gave a sharp whistle. “Go help Markus, boy.“ Buford didn’t hesitate. He dodged an errant slash from the octopus and then took off towards the other fight, ignoring the spouts of water erupting around him as shields flashed into place.
As Margie focused on the vampire, a slash from the octopus made it through. Steven was pressed to his limit already, attacking and defending in a storm of emerald, and Margie was too slow to react in time. Water whistled through the air, and she braced herself for impact.
It raked into her arm and did… almost nothing. It hurt, sure. Felt like somebody had just whipped her without holding back. But it hadn’t cut her. With a portion of her Skills running through her, Micheal’s buff, and the faint aura emanating from the Anchor Shield, the attack hadn’t even broken skin.
Margie blinked. “Oh. Well then. That changes things.” As Vanessa rushed back in, Margie charged in with her. “Only block torrents for me, Steven. The octopus can’t even break skin!”
The man said nothing, but his shields shifted, the watery slashes ignored as he focused on the bigger threats.
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Margie began charging Hopscotch Hound. It strained her focus to hold it, but it was better than having the energy ripped out of her for a sudden activation.
The captain saw Margie and Vanessa closing in on him, and his eyes narrowed.
He lifted a hand, and water began to materialize. The wave dwarfed his previous attacks, stretching from one side of the room to the other and quickly building speed.
Well, shit. That must’ve been the Skill he used to rip the floor apart.
Margie braced herself. She should probably swap with Buford, but she didn’t want to endanger Markus by suddenly taking the dog away.
As the wave roared, Carla acted. The young woman sprinted up, arms pumping, hair flying. She jumped, pulling her fist back and putting all her weight behind it.
The air cracked.
Black and green lines spiderwebbed around her fist before thickening behind it. She drove her fist down, and a massive black hand ripped through the cracks. It looked like obsidian shot through with emerald, and when it blasted into the wave, a pulse of green power rippled out with it. The wave was blasted apart, evaporating as if it had never been.
Carla landed in a deep crouch, sucking in great gasps of air.
Margie gawked at her. “Why the fuck didn’t you do that earlier?“
Carla threw her head back. “Because I’m tapped for the rest of the fight.“ The woman gasped.
Well, fair enough. Margie turned back to the captain only to find Vanessa had never slowed down. She swung her hammer, and the captain shouted.
~<>~<>~
Steven nearly tripped over his own feet as the massive wave was stopped cold by a single colossal punch. He felt the hit land in his bones, the shockwave blasting out in every direction. The Skill had a feeling behind it that reminded him of his Anchor Shield or some of the more deadly attacks bosses had thrown out.
It pushed down on him, Making Steven fight to keep his footing.
Then the wave was blasted apart, and Vanessa charged through, her hammer raised and white light shining from its head. From the side, Del snapped, and white light enveloped Venessa.
Captain Bob snarled and tried to take her feet out with a torrent. At this point, Steven was surprised the boss even bothered.
A Hand Shield deflected the torrent before three more slammed into the captain from behind, forcing his cloak to contort behind him. Then Vanessa brought her hammer down. The captain crumpled. Bones broke, and blood sprayed as the man folded in under the weight of that blow.
Light blasted down and back like a flash bang, and Steven was forced to blink his eyes clear of spots.
He turned towards the vampire in time to see Buford reach it. It dodged him, of course, but it didn’t avoid his shroud. It stuck to the vampire-like glue, restricting its movements as the hound planted himself.
At the same time, Vern let out a burst of purple, slowing it further.
Then Micheal acted. Power gathered around the man’s neck and mouth as he shouted. “Look at me!“
Power thundered out of him, more than Steven had ever seen his taunt produce. It rushed over the boss and pulled his gaze toward the Damsel-like iron to a magnet.
Steven doubted the taunt would hold the vampire for more than a second, but Markus didn’t need more. His fist crashed into the monster's face like a hammer, amber light blazing as his muscles tensed.
The punch connected with a sound closer to a bat crashing against wood, then flesh on flesh, and the vampire's teeth shattered. Its nose crumpled, and it flew backward before it reached the limit Buford’s shroud would stretch and then pulled right back into Markus‘s rising uppercut.
The boss died with a ping that filled Steven with satisfaction.
Event cleared! Event cleared! You have cleared a hybrid event; rewards will scaled with increased difficulty. Congratulations!
“Not gonna lie, I kind of thought some of you were gonna ‘die‘ during that. Good for you. Let’s see if you can keep up the streak!”
You have gained the skill Far Caller.
Far collar.
Passive
Rare
Effect: increases the cast range of all shields by 10 feet.
Cooldown: none.
Energy cost: none.
Range 10 feet.
You have gained Shield Pivot
Uncommon.
Passive.
Effect: allows shields to be pivoted on their axis to a certain degree, before reaching its limit. You can willingly rotate the shields or allow them to be moved by force up to their limit.
Steven was so ecstatic about that first Skill that he didn’t mind how strange the second one was. He wasn’t certain what the point of it was. Was it for hitting harder? Maybe if he pivoted it into somebody at the end of a push or pull? He wasn’t sure, but Far Caller’s effect was wonderful.
Finally, a last notification filled his view, and Steven felt his lips stretch wide into a smile.
Level up! You are now level 14.