The vibrations from the impact took a few moments to stop, but when they did, the dust began to clear. Cypher and Alex had leapt aside in opposite directions, narrowly escaping damage. Before them stood a hulking man. He was three meters tall, heavily muscled, and wielded two fists wrapped in barbed wire.
Each of his fists was the size of Cypher's head, and he only let out low gurgles through the mask covering his face. His head was bald, but a headband of steel with two horns jutting out of it at odd angles and a grated steel mask protected his temples and bloodshot eyes.
Cypher and Alex were extremely confused. How had a man this large snuck up on them? Furthermore, how had he known where they were in the first place? They were sure that nobody had spotted them. Yet, here stood a massive enemy. They quickly ran out of time to gawk and think. The man suddenly spun in a circle, his hands outstretched, and swung hard at Alex.
His movement was ridiculous. It was like a tornado of flesh and steel, and Alex barely had enough time to dodge. From what the two of them could gather in those short instants, the man had a body at the peak of the second rank. Damaging him would be a challenge all on its own, however, the fact that he was also incredibly fast, and using such reckless attacks only increased the threat level.
Cypher prepared a spell and cast it as soon as he was able. "Solo, Verse 1, Temporal Pause!" The temporal spell seemed to take hold of the man, and his reckless spinning suddenly stopped. At that moment Cypher front flipped forward, his Saber appearing in his hand, and with a loud battle cry stabbed it into the chest of the massive man.
The blade was only able to pierce through a few centimeters of flesh before it came to a halt, despite the force Cypher had applied in his assault. Cypher tried to pull it free, but it remained locked in place. A set of wild eyes was locked on him and as the temporal spell ended, Cypher was flung off as the man continued his vicious whirlwind of motion.
The Saber remained stuck in place for a few moments, before it flew off into the distance and embedded itself into one of the downed obelisks all the way to the hilt.
Alex hadn't remained passive in those rushed moments. He had cast spells of his own and a line of six fireballs was hovering in a horizontal chain just in front of him. With a grunt, he had sent them flying forwards. They crashed against the hulking figure and wrapped around him tightly, restricting his movements. Another instant later they all exploded.
Another cloud of dust filled the area, but after the first two attacks, Cypher and Alex continued their assault. There was no reason to expect that to be the finishing blow, and so together, they leaped forward and stabbed their weapons into the cloud.
Their aim was true, and each blade sunk deep into the tough flesh of the man. The explosions had weakened his wards and, coupled with around 35% of their Zight converted into physical energy, allowed their weapons to penetrate his thick skin. However, even these wounds weren't fatal.
The man was mostly unscathed. Only a few burns covered his skin, and what little cloth he did wear was reduced to ashes. He roared in anger and lashed out with his hands. Both of them took heavy hits and were sent flying into the surrounding rubble. The barbed wire around his hands had left only scrapes and cuts, and oddly, despite the defenses layered around the body of the man, they held no enchantments of their own.
The real damage had come from the impact of the blows and the subsequent crash into the rubble. Cypher had broken two ribs and his right ring finger, but he had been able to block and prevent more serious damage.
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Alex suffered similar wounds, but his entire left hand had also been smashed against the handle of his Scal'tar and was bleeding profusely. He groaned in pain, a grimace upon his face, and popped a couple of pills, which healed the damaged hand and returned it to a working state.
Those pills were very expensive, and it had taken him a while to earn enough gold to purchase them. If he were a skilled botanist like Alvin he could easily reproduce them on his own. But he lacked that particular skill set. He hadn't used them on Rinn to heal her arm for that exact reason, but now was a crucial time to use them. He couldn't afford to be stingy against such an opponent.
Cypher used his Zight Stanza to heal the small cracks in his ribs, but that was only a stopgap measure. The conversion rate for that little trick was just as shitty as if he was using the energy to attack with. Lucky for him though, his Orrium was still over half full.
Cypher and Alex gave each other a glance and nodded. There was only one thing they could do in this situation and if it didn't work, they would be in serious trouble.
Casting spells would seem like the answer, however, given the defenses of this hulking man that might not be the best course of action. He had been injured slightly by the explosions of Alex's fireballs, but clearly, he had some kind of magick resistance in place.
No, spells would only drain them faster, and they still had an entire ruin to explore. There were battles still waiting for them inside, of that they were certain. Their plan, however, was not only energy-efficient but almost sure to work.
They had gone over a few strategies on their way there that would combine their respective abilities, and their inventories of items were also discussed at that time. Each knew what tools the other had at their disposal and from that knowledge, they could increase their battle effectiveness. They just had to get the timing right.
In the heat of battle, it was wise to pay close attention to the opening moves of your opponent. From that, one could see how the rest of the fight might play out. Pure spellcasters would, of course, lead with spells. Their only chance of winning would be through their magick proficiency.
When it came to Weaponmasters, their techniques and overall skill would be their win condition. If they could outperform their opponent, their weapons would do the rest. In cases like that, careful consideration, observation, and quick thinking would be key.
Spellcasters were quick of mind and able to lob spells easily, but they had their martial skills to back them up in tough situations. Weapon masters were swift, well-practiced, and knew the ins and outs of combat, but in a pinch, their spells could throw off an opponent.
However, when it came to pure berserker types like this hulking man, they would more often than not lead with melee attacks. Berserkers were wild, incredibly strong, and hard to deal with. Their tough skin made them walking damage sponges, and were often used at the frontlines of many battles. That said, they were highly predictable and unable to use either magick or focused skill. They were locked into only one course of action: Attack without end.
This would be a berserker's undoing.
Every battle style had a weakness. Berserkers were no exception. If this man had the assistance of at least a spellcaster, this battle would already be over for Alex and Cypher. Most parties of Conductors or adventurers balanced themselves out with people who could fill various roles. This would increase their chances of survival and almost always enable them to complete a mission or task.
However, since this berserker was alone, he had no one to coordinate his efforts with. This glaring weakness wasn't overlooked by Cypher and Alex.
Being Conductors, Cypher and Alex had both the skills of the Weaponmaster and the abilities of the Spellcaster. Their bodies also had attributes of the berserker and these three things in combination with their teamwork would carve a path to victory.
Conductors were simply more balanced overall than those who chose to pursue a single battle style. The only real downside to this was that their growth took longer. Someone who only trained their body in martial arts and weapons would find themselves with a rank-three body quite quickly compared to Conductors.
Likewise, someone who trained in magick and spellcasting would find their mind reaching the third rank quickly as well but their body would of course be lagging behind, limiting the power of the spells they could use.
One could say that Conductors combined the best attributes of all the fighting styles in the best way possible. This was why Conductors were so highly prized above simple warriors or mages.
Given all this, the two needed only to initiate their attack and the fight would be over, but the timing would be everything.