--- [Shin’s perspective]
“What’s your specialty?” – James
“I can summon swords of various elements. I might be able to expand on this in the future, but for now, I can only make swords of fire or ice.” – Shin
What?!
Why did I just say that?
I didn’t…
“Do you have any allies nearby?” – James
“No. I was scouting this area alone.” – Shin
What’s going on?!
Is this his ability?
I don’t mean to respond, I just do.
I cover my mouth with my hand.
“That won’t work, buddy. Do you actually think you could beat both of us at the same time, or were you faking it?” – James
I move my hand away, and promptly answer.
“I was faking it, but I’m still going to try my best.” – Shin
…
Well, there goes that plan…
This is bad.
His ability doesn’t seem to directly make him stronger, but information is crucial in battle.
I need to take him out before I let anything else important slip.
If they figure out our plan, it could all be over.
“Your ability never ceases to amaze, James.” – Nellie
“Thanks… What do you think, Shin?” – James
“Your ability is very dangerous; I plan on taking you out first.” – Shin
Shit.
“Well, now we know who he’s going for…” – Nellie
What do I do?
Should I continue with my original plan of taking him out first?
I mean, he’s probably the most dangerous one.
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But at the same time, now they know…
It might be better to switch targets.
But…
Gah!
His ability is so annoying!
Fuck it!
I’m going for him first!
“Do you intend to switch targets now that we know who you were going for originally?” – James
I start rushing towards them, and I summon an ice sword in each hand.
“Nope! You’re still going down first!” – Shin
Nellie steps forward and opens her mouth.
A pink gas surges out; I got a feeling I shouldn’t get near that…
I stop my attack, and makes sure it doesn’t touch me.
Luckily, the gas doesn’t go very far before fading away.
I don’t know if it’s dangerous to touch it, or only breathing it in.
Heck, I don’t even know what it does.
But I sure as hell don’t want to find out.
While I’m still facing down Nellie, James starts circling around me.
They’re going for a pincer attack!
They start slowly closing the distance, but they’re careful.
Other than her gas, which probably has some sort of cooldown period, I have the range advantage.
I point one sword towards each of them, signaling them to keep their distance.
They ignore my warning and keep walking.
They’re thinking things through carefully, and slowly approach…
Slowly…
Slowly…
!!!
Suddenly, they dash as quickly as they can!
I start spinning around, slashing in every direction, making them unable to reach me.
Nellie once again breathes out that mysterious pink gas, forcing me to move away.
James takes advantage of that and hits me square in the jaw.
My vision is blurry; I stumble backwards and land on my ass.
Wow…
So this is the power of a potential D-ranker…
Without hesitating, Nellie follows his attack up by once again breathing gas at me.
I roll away just in time, but it just puts me in an even worse position.
James kicks me in the side, launching me into a nearby hill.
I can’t afford to conserve my stamina anymore, fighting two people at once is too much.
My ability isn’t meant to be used like this, but…
I throw my swords at them, but they dodge them with no problem.
They start rushing towards me yet again, but before they can reach me, I make another pair of ice swords.
Just like before, I throw them right at them.
They probably thought when I threw my first pair of swords at them that it was a desperate last-ditch maneuver, so when I so quickly did it again, it took them off guard.
Put that together with the fact that they were running right towards me, it made it almost impossible to dodge.
Despite this, they managed to get away without being seriously injured.
The swords cut their sides, and froze the wound before they could start to bleed.
I throw another set of swords at them, but this time they’re prepared.
The swords miss…
I’ll have to fall back on plan B…
I quickly get back up, and run away in the opposite direction from them.
They chase after me, and due to the damage they dealt to me, they’re ever so slowly catching up too.
“Where are you going?!” – James
“Back to base. I need backup!” – Shin
--- [Illian’s perspective]
Sitting here all alone is a little frustrating…
There is still no sign of friend or foe.
Lett hasn’t returned with the flag, but the enemies haven’t come to attack either…
I feel useless…
I know my role is just as important as everyone else’s, but it feels like I could contribute more by being with them.
If only…!
“ILLIAN!!” – Shin
“Shin?!” – Illian
Shin is running as quickly as he can towards the base.
Behind him are two enemies.
“Help me out here!” – Shin
The enemies who were just mere centimeters behind him, suddenly come to a halt.
“Shit… We couldn’t catch him in time. Now we have to fight two of them!” – Nellie
Seems like now that they have two opponents instead of one, they’re being a lot more careful.
“Illian, listen… That guy can force us to tell the truth any time he asks us a question.” – Shin
Force us to tell the truth…?
Oh no…
That’s bad…
…
What if he finds out…?
“We have to take him out.” – Illian
“Yeah, I know! That’s why I ran back for help. I can’t beat them by myself.” – Shin