“...Mmm?”
“Yes, we were already doing that, but like, now we’re going to do it better! Surely you have some idea of why I asked you to not use any MP, right?”
“...Mhm.”
“That’s what I thought. You killed nine of them, so as long as we get to doing it right now, you should be able to respawn all of them right now, right?”
“...Mmm.”
Wait, they’re upset about that idea? It’s literally part of their class though? Or, maybe upset isn’t the right interpretation… or at least not upset at me for asking?
“You… you don’t want to? Why?”
“...”
More than anything, it feels like a sense of anxiety to me, which is… odd coming from her. Didn’t exactly strike me as the type to get apprehensive over things like this. Maybe a little bit melodramatic at times, but…not outright hesitant to do something?
“Is there any particular reason that you absolutely CAN’T use your skill?”
Cause it’d sure suck if this was one of those “you see their full power but can’t actually use it!!!” kind of situations. I mean, she LITERALLY used it not two hours ago when we were showing 3 buffoons the bite of virtual reality! So she better be able to!
Eyeing up the location instead of giving a “proper” response, my own sight is naturally drawn to the trail of her own. I figure there’s some kind of point to it, so might as well follow along…?
The numbers of the horde have certainly significantly diminished by now, but there are also still a lot of them. Most of which are currently engaged in combat against one of the guards that had accompanied the wagon insofar in groups of five or more per individual. The wagon itself remains unmarred by the rest of the battle, and those who remained stationed around the thing seem to be more focused on every other direction besides our particular locale, what not given the possibility of attack from other directions. I get it, I didn’t like having my ears blown out either.
Eventually, Jasper stops glancing around, bringing my gaze to the horde before me once again. Sagging with a characteristically characterized nigh-sigh, she gives me one final grumble.
“...Mmh.”
Am I… sure? Well shit, she’s doing the most to make sure I’m not! But at the same time, I really don’t see a reason to not have her use it. So… with a nod…
“Mhm.”
“...”
[Wild Hunt’s Call-X9].
I hadn’t noticed it the last time Jasper used the skill, but the shadows forming the summoned phantoms practically amalgamated into existence, darkness creeping and encroaching from out of sight despite the sun high in the sky on a cloudless day, what felt like a claw raking through my ear and a chill crawling through my entire being… Twas… twas rad as hell to be perfectly frank. That’s a cool ass skill Jasper.
Nine pitch black, yet otherwise identical copies of the spawn manifest in the wake of the bright sun, their forms eerily still without a command to guide them, though, not left to rot for too long, Jasper quickly takes a step toward the burgeoning horde, some of the monsters now pushing towards us and the wagon as the group is gradually trimmed down.
“Oh, right, wait a sec,” I snap as I recall the last thing I’d wanted to do in this particular instant!
Not wanting to slow the inevitable, I shuffle right up to Jasper and pop open a MP potion fresh out of the inventory. Without room for protest, I hold it up to her muzzle and tilt it. Having already realized what the potion was before it even got within a foot of her, she had obviously been ready. Though, that didn’t stop her from sticking her tongue out afterwards.
Probably bitter or something, I’ll figure it out myself if my MP gets low enough. Speaking of MP, given she should’ve used up forty five on her summoning, how much did she recover?
MP 35/50
Yeah, that’s about right. 30 MP for a basic potion, ja, ja, pretty much figured, just wanted to see.
“Alright, you’re actually good to go this time! Sorry about all the delays.”
“...MmMm.”
Jasper emphatically shakes her head, seemingly having changed her mind about something. Dipping to the left of my side, she quickly takes off running from her summoned creatures as I near stumble over her sudden movements.
Alright, what the heck gives with all of this? What’s the big deal with some shadow monsters?
Not a moment later, she turned just to hiss at me, her tail lashing in impatience. At the same time, the monsters that Jasper had conjured began to advance forward, their forms trudging forward with an uncanny valley feel to them, so frankly, despite the skill itself being cool…? Yeah I guess I could do with some distance.
I follow suit after Jasper without much hesitation, sprinting off of the beaten path and to her side much to her relief, given the falling of her previously subtly raised hackles. A moment later, she activates another one of her skills as the priorly summoned phantoms crash into the advancing horde.
[Phantom Assailant]
This time, there’s none of that same, well, darkness accompanying the creation of her copy. The inky black simply takes shape, and then runs off to the side of the rest of the summoned phantoms. Whereas the previous summons had screamed into reality, this one just went… pop! and boom, it was there.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
+6 exp!
Okay, so… don’t get damage notifications at a distance, but do get exp notifications? That’s mildly convenient. Anyways, why the heck are we leaving them to fight on their own?
“Jasper, why did we run over here?”
“Mmm.”
“Fine, but I do expect at least some level of an explanation later.”
But if it really was for nothing I’m gonna tuh-huh-weak!
—
45!
72!
76!
56!
46!
After some deliberating, I figured it couldn’t really hurt to go into the frenzy with Jasper, of course, a healthy twenty something meters away from the group of phantom summons according to Jasper’s whims. Every time we kill something, or at least almost every time, you know, as long as Jasper deals enough damage, another one is conjured over in the distance, adding to the now ever expanding horde, thirty something strong at this point.
Despite their heavily weakened stats, Jasper’s [Phantom Assailant] consistently maintains heavy dps, covering for the lack of damage output the other summons have and also keeping itself alive by consistently landing attacks, given each hit is worth about 60 damage from it, and thus an extra two seconds on its lifetime.
Frankly, I’m pretty satisfied with the display. Jasper’s MP stays at near tip top condition despite the doubled cost of her clone having to use her skills on her part given our distance from the group, and they’re constantly cutting down more and more enemies. Though, the rate of MP lost definitely outpaces the MP Jasper recovers without [Wild Hunt’s Mark] active.
Well, bottom line, things are dying really fast now! Yeah? Like, really really fast.
+7 exp!
+5 exp!
Two kills just off handedly, a claw and a sword parring flesh and a goon overwhelmed by the horde over in the distance. It’s great, really, nothing could ruin this for me right now. Absolutely nothing.
Yet despite that not being a challenge…
As the horde thins even further, the entire thing almost completely chopped, with some stragglers running away and the last few dozen quickly falling with their numbers depleted, somebody’s voice cuts through the crowd and calls…
“HUNT’S SHADE!”
Immediately, Jasper flinches, at a rather inopportune time given the pair of claws aiming to split her muzzle. Though, not realizing anything wrong, I unfortunately fail to react on that front, cringing as a rather nasty-41!-cleaves its way through her, sending her stumbling back with a grunt of pain.
Eyes widening, I instantly cast a [Recall] and dispel Jasper to prevent any further assault. Having done so, the initial assailant was left rather awkwardly positioned and completely open to a downwards chop,-141!-cleaving the thing in two from the face onwards. Also, holy shit, critical hit!? I didn’t even know you could hit those, good lord, they’re rare! But also, deserved!
Not quite one shotting it, but certainly leaving it disoriented from having over two thirds of its health annihilated in one hit, the next blow is easy to land, finishing it off with a crisp 45!
“Are you alright?”
“Mmmmrghhh… Mmmm.”
A grumbling retort at best, it’s not even all that coherent, but speaking immediately after the fact at all is good. I don’t think Jasper has any kind of pain reduction like a player would, so a direct blow to the face has to hurt… if it’s even programmed for her to feel pain, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was.
Now, what was that about a… hunt’s shade?
Despite the existence of a few remaining Spawn, multiple individuals, some battered and some bruised, already find themselves sprinting towards the blackened summons, brandishing blood and blade to the unresponsive phantoms. Out of the corner of my eye, I can spot the copy of Jasper fading into nothingness before anything else can happen, leaving the rest of the weak copies on their own to fend against the clearly aggressive attackers.
And for my part…? Lol, haha, I’m not getting in the way of that, lmao! I think I’m actually starting to uh, see, Jasper’s reasoning for being a little hesitant to use this skill? Cause why the hell did they scream “hunt’s shade!” and a dozen people started charging the group of now rapidly dwindling summons, their ranks hacked to bits by those present whilst the rest of the spawn slip away for the most part.
Before long, it’s just about over in rather anticlimactic fashion. Most spawn already far off into the distance and the shadows of the Wild Hunt cut down, leaving nothing in the way of the wagon. Of course, I now find myself asking; why did those need to get murderized exactly?
“Mmmnn…”