Will wiped the sweat off his forehead. The combination of adrenalin, running, and physical weakness that came with eternity had made his face glisten like a ball of wax. Holding his breath for a few moments, he concentrated to see if he could hear any more glass crunching. That was as good as it was bad. There was a slight chance that the mirror copies had managed to delay or even defeat the dark crafter, but it was more likely they had been destroyed. That left the elite loose to attack however he wished.
“All set here,” Jace said as he and Helen ran up to Will from the other end of the hallway.
Helen held a short red sword with what looked like a metal capsule attached to the blade. Looking at it for a few seconds, Will then turned to the jock.
“I’ve been checking out stuff,” Jace said before the question could be asked. “One good pierce and the fucker will explode.”
The concept sounded more like coming from a movie, but Will wouldn’t have minded if it were true.
“Give me that.” Jace reached for the chain. “I’ll change it into—”
“No,” Will said firmly. “It stays as it is.”
“Why the fuck?”
“Any upgrade will make it lose its ability. Helen will have it.” He turned to her. “Can you fight with a sword and this?” he asked.
“I did well enough with a sword and a tower shield.” The girl reached out and took the end of the chain. “I’ll be fine with this.”
“Hold it.” Jace reached into his backpack again and took out a pair of gauntlets. They looked more like gloves than full gauntlets, but the focus on detail was impressive—definitely a lot better than anything he’d made so far. “For the spikes.” He offered them.
Helen smiled at the gesture, then put them on. Initially, they were a bit large, suited more for Jace’s own hands, but thanks to his skills, a quick upgrade later, they fit perfectly.
Everyone’s phone suddenly vibrated. Once the trio checked, all of them had gotten the same message from Alex: X.X
“He’s out of copies,” Will said. “Jace, keep your distance.”
“I know the drill, Stoner.”
“You don’t.” Will looked him straight in the eyes. “We need you close. Once Helen binds him, we’ll need you to disassemble his armor.”
“Right.” There was a hint of a smile on the jock’s face. “Got you.”
Will took the lead. From what he knew, the elite had to be on the second floor. From there, the only way to reach them was the staircase. Ideally, it would have been nice if the dark crafter had hidden somewhere. That way, they could just wait him out to die before searching for the boss. Such an outcome was highly optimistic and very unlikely.
“I’ll take the lead.” Will went forward. “Keep at least twenty feet behind. He’s already used grenades twice.”
As he walked, Will made a point to open the doors he passed by. If it came to it, the group would seek shelter in a nearby room to escape any potential blast down the corridor.
Ten steps from the staircase, the fragment in Will’s pocket twitched. There could have been countless reasons for that, yet his instincts reacted, making him leap backwards. Hardly had he done so when a spiked disk buried itself in the corridor’s floor. It had a large spherical object attached to it.
“Hide!” Will threw a knife at the weapon as he leaped into the nearest classroom.
His rogue’s sight had shown him the weakness of the device, and it was a good thing it did. As the blade made contact, the disk exploded, sending metal fragments like shrapnel in all directions. The damage prevented them from achieving their full impact, but even so, everything in a ten-foot radius was covered by sharp triangular shards.
A second device followed, but by then Jace and Helen had already found shelter in another room as well.
“Damn it!” Will hissed. The elite was fighting precisely as a crafter would—fighting from a distance and relying entirely on the use of intricate devices. All the needed materials were already on his body in the form of gear and armor. As long as he needed to use something particular, he could just go ahead and make it.
Taking his phone, Will quickly sent a text to Alex.
See him?
A thumbs up emoticon appeared.
Where?
An emoticon of a donkey and of a staircase emerged.
???
Bottom of staircase
Setting aside his thoughts on Alex’s manner of communicating, this was good. It meant that Will could do something about it. It wasn’t going to be easy, but his opponent had provided him with ample resources as well.
Taking out what throwing knives he had left, Will ventured into the corridor. The first thing he did was to throw them in the general direction of the staircase. Initially, there wasn’t any sight of the dark crafter, but after a few steps, the figure of the enemy became visible. The elite had cleverly positioned himself to be out of view from anyone further down the corridor. Being the only one equipped with makeshift grenades, he didn’t need to have a line of sight. Unfortunately, that also prevented him from immediately spotting Will.
Grabbing a piece of triangular shrapnel from the wall, Will threw it at his target. The metal fragment wasn’t the best to handle, but after enough experience throwing knives, Will had acquired a knack for it.
Metal pieces bounced off the crafter’s armor. It was considerably diminished from before. Entire sections seemed to be missing, likely consumed for other weapons. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to leave any bare spots. The fragments bounced off, merely forcing the crafter to take a step back.
Pressing on, Will continued forward, throwing more and more metal shards.
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Alex emerged on the staircase, less than five feet behind the elite. With lethal swiftness, he struck, stabbing the man in the back of the neck.
STAB
Surprise attack.
Damage increased by 1000%
A bubble of euphoria formed in Will’s mind, only to burst immediately after. Although flawless, there was no indication that the hit had inflicted a wound.
The dark crafter briskly turned around, punching the goofball in the chest. Blades emerged from the metal gauntlet, sinking in the boy’s chest.
“Alex!” Will rushed forward, throwing half a dozen more projectiles.
The goofball shattered into glass fragments, leaving only his knife to fall to the ground.
Another mirror copy? Will thought. He should have known that a thief wouldn’t allow himself to be caught so easily. It was he that was under threat now. In his urge to save his friend, he had gone too close to the staircase, placing himself in danger. Running back into the corridor from this point would only make him a sitting duck, which was why he leaped forward.
The armor surrounding the crafter’s right arm transformed into a large bulky device with several thin slots visible. The elite aimed in the direction of the boy, sending a series of sharpened disks flying.
With nothing he could use as a weapon, Will twisted his entire body midair. The disks flew past, at times mere inches away, as he twisted his body in an attempt to evade them.
Thankfully, the attack was interrupted by Alex, who fell from above, slamming a chair into the crafter’s head. As expected, the goofball shattered, proving it was another mirror copy. The chair, however, was very real, shoving the enemy into the corridor.
“Now!” Will shouted as he landed on the floor.
It was in moments such as this that luck had the power to win or lose a fight. Standing in the middle of the corridor, the dark crafter could easily see everything in both directions. One look behind would have revealed Helen rushing out from the room she was hiding in, red sword and spiked chain in hand. Yet it so happened that all the monster’s attention was focused on Will, who was rushing to the nearest door, in a desperate attempt to save himself from the disk attacks.
The lack of judgment made the crafter aim forward and send another cluster of disks flying, seconds before sensing the chain wrap itself around his legs.
BOUND
A heavy slam in the head followed.
KNIGHT’s BASH
Damage increased by 500%
The elite’s armor was too well made to outright shatter, but the blow rendered him confused, nonetheless. Seeing that she couldn’t win through brute force, Helen rushed up to the man and grabbed him in a bear hug. It was almost comic watching a school girl hold a full-grown adult in armor, yet classes had their benefits, rendering the man incapable of moving his arms.
“Jace!” she shouted.
“Don’t let him touch the sword!” Will shouted, having just narrowly avoided the final set of disks.
The warning wasn’t lost on the dark crafter. Armor peeled off his hands as he attempted to grab hold of anything that would allow him to create a new weapon.
“Almost there!” Jace yelled, rushing forward in typical football fashion, as if he were aiming to break through the defense of an opposing team. “Jump!”
Helen released the dark crafter, leaping up all the way to the ceiling. The very same second, the jock grabbed hold of the elite’s waist. The armor that covered him peeled off his back, transforming into a cast iron chastity belt. In doing so, the back and neck of the enemy were revealed.
No one had any time to react. Helen descended, thrusting her sword between the man’s shoulder blades.
KNIGHT’s BASH
Damage increased by 500%
Spine shattered
Fatal wound inflicted
A muffled explosion followed as the modification of the sword released the gas of the former fire extinguisher, causing the entire upper torso of the elite to burst like a water balloon. Only the lower part remained, held in place by the effects of the binding chain.
Then there was silence. For over ten seconds, everyone just stood there in disbelief at what they had done. Strictly speaking, this couldn’t be considered the toughest opponent they had faced so far, but his combination of skills felt the most challenging. One could without a doubt conclude that each and every one of the children were their own greatest enemies.
“Well,” Jace broke the silence. “At least he’ll fade away, so we won’t be covered in brain and guts for much longer.”
There was another pause, after which everyone just started laughing. Never in his life had Will imagined that something so witty could come from the jock, but it just had. All the pent-up anger and fear was let out in a single bout, as it dawned on them that they had actually won.
“For real!” Alex emerged from the staircase. “Good one, bro! That was lit.”
“Jace,” Helen began, “never make any experimental weapons ever again.”
“Fuck that! Even muffin boy found it cool,” the jock replied, although even he had to admit that the last strike was a bit of overkill. “So what do I get?”
“Your sword turned him into mush. How do you expect me to check?”
“His trousers are there. Try with those.”
Helen looked at the trousers. They were indeed intact, but the last thing the girl wanted was to reach into them. Instead, she just grabbed the chastity belt. All remains of the dark crafter promptly disappeared, leaving a tool belt to fall to the floor on top of the spiked chain.
“Tools?” Will asked, making his way towards the rest of the group. “Suits you. Though the belt was better,” he added with a smirk.
“Shut it, Stoner.” Jace reached down and picked up the belt. “I got some crafting bonuses. I can enhance items now, whatever that means.”
“Bro!” Alex gasped. “You mean all that till now wasn’t enhanced? That’s op!”
“I fucking hope so! After all this, I deserve something good!” He put it on.
“So, what now?” Helen looked at Will. “The explosions were probably noticed outside. I give it ten minutes max before the police and everyone else shows up.”
“Probably,” Will agreed.
“Do we try the boss or do we leave it for next loop?”
“We go for it now,” Will said adamantly. “Alex, go to the gym and restock with mirrors. We’ll head up to the harpy’s office.”
“There’s hardly anything there. Even most of the walls were blown out.”
“No. There’s a mirror.”