While their preferred loadout may be different, every fighter and rogue trains with a weapon and shield. Either before they’ve chosen a class specialty or before.
Then, depending on their own preferences, they choose to enter battle with two weapons, one weapon and one shield, or with one weapon and a freehand.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Jinyoung preferred using a hand-and-a-half sword which could be wielded with one hand or two. Ever since his first year at the Academy, he had championed its use, often saying that anyone who bore a shield simply needed more practice with a second sword.
He was eating those words.
The wraith was immeasurably strong. Too strong to block with his sword, although he suspected that a shield wouldn’t help much. Thanks to his time in the Black Shrine dungeon, he’d gotten somewhat used to parrying.
WHANG!!
But even parried, the force of the wraith’s attack knocked him back four feet and he had to [dash] to avoid being crushed by the monster’s follow-up attack.
C@-eful, -in-ung.
The clan chat was barely discernible, but it wouldn’t have mattered. The wraith was too fast and too strong for Jinyoung to focus on anything else.
Hana had given him one job: find a way to give Willow an opening.
The monster’s wild swings were nearly impossible to see coming. Nearly. Having [scan+] gave Jinyoung a split second to react and move.
The monster was fast, but it wasn’t faster than the System.
Wai1 4or -t. Ta!- your t^me.
Finally, he saw it. The monster swung a wide swath with its left arm but had cocked its right behind it. Palm up. A second later, the System told him the next strike was coming exactly as he had predicted.
WHAM!!!
The wraith slammed its arm down like you might swat at an insect. It’s weight shifted forward behind the blow but at the last second, Jinyoung was already gone.
“Willow, now!”
From the corner of his eye, he saw the bright red flash followed by the shining arc of energy as Willow’s [arcane shot] flew past him.
For a moment, the wraith hesitated. Torn between continuing to beat down on Jinyoung or moving towards Willow.
And that moment was all Hana needed to reflect the setting’s sun’s light from the western exit to the wraith's face.
SCRYAAAHH!
The reaction was immediate. The thing started shrieking with smoke billowing out from where sunlight struck it. Behind the smoke, Jinyoung spotted brief pops of sparks.
“Now!” Hana shouted.
Seunghyo placed one perfect [charged bolt] at center mass pushing the wraith into the light of the opening completely.
The entire monster was engulfed in smoke in a second with sparks and small fires erupting all over it.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
It tried to claw at the ground, attempting to pull itself out of the light but Hana was there. A well-time [shield bash] pushed it back into the light completely.
The piercing shrill screaming got louder and just for a moment, everyone forgot where they were at and instinctively moved to cover their ears.
Chunk!
A clawed hand dug into the floor and the monstrous smoking, flaming heap that was the wraith dragged itself out of the thinning beam of sunlight.
The undead thing wasn’t alive in the same way humans are, but its lungs could only scream so long before there was no more strength to continue.
[Charge+].
Jinyoung moved in with his [dash]. He swung hard at the wraith’s body and instead of the feeling of a clean cut, it was a hammer blow that caught the monster in the ribs, knocking it backwards into the wall and putting some distance between it and the rest of the party.
Seunghyo took a breath. “We’re running out of time!”
He was right. The sun was setting quickly with only streams of light breaking through the horizon.
Jinyoung, you start this one.
The temperature was dropping, but Jinyoung could still feel the sweat dripping from his face.
“Let’s dance, you ugly bastard.”
Instead of dashing in, Jinyoung activated his [charge] and took two steps.
The wraith swung at him and, instead of blocking or dodging, Jinyoung thrust his sword forward. The point of his sword made contact and the impact threw the damned thing backwards, slamming it against the wall.
Immediately, an [arcane shot] flew in, striking the wraith in the body followed up by a [charged shot] to push it sideways back into the sun.
The monster didn’t have time to screech before Hana was on it, hitting it with a [shield bash], trying to push it outside into the fading sunlight and away from any shadows it could hide in.
The thin beams of sunlight cut into the monster and it let out a pitiful squeal.
Seunghyo took careful aim and let off two more bolts, hitting the monster and stunning it for a few precious moments. Hana’s plan was working. The sunlight along with Willow’s spells and his own [charged bolts] was enough to stun-lock the wraith.
He reached back into his quiver and felt empty air.
“I’m out!”
Jinyoung and Hana were too busy taking turns striking the monster and knocking it back and forth. The wraith’s body was pushed out the door, but it had dug its claws into the wide frame of the exit and braced its body against the steps leading outside.
“Willow!” Hana shouted. “Give it everything you’ve got!”
Willow closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. She focused on her mana and drove it through her veins into her palms, readying an [arcane shot]. But instead of casting it, she held the mana there and poured in as much as she possibly could.
Meanwhile, Jinyoung could feel his arms going numb. He’d hit it with so many [charged] attacks his hands were freely bleeding. A cursory glance at his sister and he knew her hands were the same. This was the home stretch, either they would end it or…
“Take cover!” Seunghyo yelled.
Jinyoung looked back to see a terrifying sight. Willow’s skin had paled, but her entire body was covered in a hideous red glow as mana burned into the visible spectrum. It took mana to charge a spell, but it also took mana to protect the caster against the effects of the spell while they were charging it.
Willow's mouth was moving. Jinyoung couldn’t hear her, but he could guess what she said.
[Arcane bolt].
The blast was deafening.
Willow’s spell hit the wraith in the chest and the explosion knocked Hana and Jinyoung back. The shock wave blew out of the ceiling and shattered the glass dome of the staging area.
For a moment, it was impossible to see what was left of the wraith. The rubble from the ceiling had kicked up months of dust and the cloud was too thick to see through.
“Did we get it?” Willow asked.
A shiver runs up Hana’s spine as she moves to answer her. “I don’t-”
FWOOM.
The frozen blast of air hit Hana before she could finish her sentence and threw her back ten feet.
Instinctively Jinyoung [dashed] forward and found himself standing upright in the same point he had started.
Sh!t.
The smoke slowly cleared revealing the wraith. Damaged, perhaps severely, but very much alive. From his position, he could see that the skin had the same texture as the dragon. It looked like it was slithering, perhaps even oily. Like it was alive.
But worse still was the sight behind it.
The sun had set.
They had lost their only advantage.