Chapter 155: I Don’t Think So

Jaxir’s grin only widened as Bex and Orsa came at him together. Bex stayed slightly ahead with his shield raised while Orsa circled toward Jaxir’s open side, the two moving close enough that Bex could intercept anything aimed at his teammate without getting in the way of Orsa’s mace. It would’ve been a good formation, if only there were still someone forcing Jaxir to stay inside it.

Jaxir fired two quick Casts at Bex, then stepped away before Orsa could close the distance. Bex’s shield flashed before the first impact and erased the Cast completely, while the second struck half a second later and forced him back several inches. Whatever ability he was using clearly couldn’t activate twice in immediate succession.

Jaxir’s eyes brightened.

Orsa didn’t give him time to test it again, closing the gap with a heavy downward swing that drove mud outward when Jaxir slipped away. Two Magic Class players farther back took advantage of the opening and started forming spells at the same time, while another lifted a staff and shouted for everyone to pressure Jaxir before his mana recovered enough to suppress them again.

Then all three spells flickered and disappeared.

"What the hell?"

Jaxir turned his head toward them with a wide-eyed expression that lasted all of half a second. "Oops. I guess I forgot to tell you I did that on purpose." His grin returned as the pressure of his mana settled over the clearing again.

The moment that mage had explained the connection between Jaxir’s MP and the suppression Grand Archmage exerted over other Magic Classes, Jaxir had started feeling around for it. It hadn’t taken much to realize he could loosen that pressure instead of simply allowing it to rise and fall with his reserves, so he had deliberately pulled it back and let the nearby mages believe he was running dry. The bait had worked a little better than expected considering Ilyan had been a pain in the ass, but that problem was gone now.

Bex’s head snapped toward the failed spells, and Jaxir fired another rapid Cast before the Tank could look back.

The shield flashed and the Cast disappeared.

Jaxir fired again before the light had fully faded.

[-54]

Bex grunted as the second shot struck his shield and shoved him backward, but Jaxir could already see the pattern. That first defensive ability could completely negate a Root Ability if Bex timed it properly, yet it needed a brief moment before he could use it again, and the only reason it had been erasing Jaxir’s Casts so easily was that Jaxir had been firing them as quickly as possible. He hadn’t been giving Cast enough time to become much of anything.

So what would happen if he didn’t rush it?

Silver-blue mana gathered at the end of Jaxir’s staff without crossing into Channel. He simply allowed Cast to form properly, letting the mana compress and settle into the shape it wanted before releasing it at Bex’s shield. The Tank triggered the same defensive flash on impact.

BANG.

The flash shattered with the Cast.

[-187]

Bex staggered several steps and nearly lost his grip on the shield, surprise flashing across his face before he lowered his center of gravity and planted himself. Jaxir could feel the defensive change at once.

The man’s feet seemed to lock into the ground while his entire body became harder to move. It didn’t matter.

Fracture sank into him.

Crimson cracks spread across the mana reinforcing Bex’s shield arm and chest, following the strain Jaxir’s Cast had just introduced. Jaxir felt the weaknesses open clearly enough to know exactly where the next shot needed to go.

Orsa reached him before he could fire it.

The mace came across horizontally with enough force that Jaxir knew blocking it would be stupid. He recognized the rhythm now, though, the same commitment to every strike he had already seen from another Melee Class following this Path, and stepped inside the arc before turning around Orsa’s shoulder.

The entire attack depended on putting as much of the body behind the weapon as possible, which made changing direction after committing to the swing much harder.

Jaxir flicked his staff toward the back of Orsa’s knee as he passed.

[-96]

Orsa’s leg folded beneath him.

"Fuck!"

The Melee player crashed to one knee while Jaxir continued past him without stopping. Bex had only just recovered from the last Cast when Jaxir raised his staff toward his head. The cracks from Fracture were still glowing across his defenses.

"Bye-bye."

Jaxir waved with his free hand.

Mana flooded into the Reflection Staff and spun through Channel until the silver-blue light at its end grew larger than Bex’s head. Bex raised the shield again, but his negation had already been used and the fractures running through his defense widened the moment the charged Cast touched them.

Jaxir released everything at once.

BOOM.

[Critical Hit!]

[-684]

Bex’s remaining HP vanished.

―

[You have killed player "Bex"]

―

+1,963 Experience

+41,184 silver

+327 copper

―

Bex dissolved into motes of light while his shield, armor and several smaller pieces of equipment dropped into the mud. Jaxir glanced at the shield for a moment and made a mental note to grab it later, since an ability capable of partially negating Root Abilities sounded useful even with the limitations he had just found. Then Orsa scrambled back to his feet.

The man took one look at Bex’s equipment scattered across the ground and turned.

Jaxir blinked. "Really?"

Orsa ran.

"I don’t think so."

Jaxir leveled the Reflection Staff at his back, but instead of forming the usual bullet of mana, he let the Cast stretch. Light Mana narrowed into a dense beam while Channel continuously fed it, and Jaxir shaped the flow around the memory of those heavy arrows Ilyan had used to keep him pinned down. The result wasn’t the same Ability, but the principle was simple enough.

The beam struck Orsa between the shoulders.

[-211]

Orsa stumbled forward but managed to stay upright, only for the silver-blue light to continue drilling into him without giving his body time to recover. Every time he tried to take another step, the pressure drove through his back again and forced his feet deeper into the mud. Jaxir laughed when he realized just how closely it resembled what Ilyan had done to him.

[-224]

"FUCK!" Orsa roared as he forced one leg forward. "GET THIS SHIT OFF ME!"

"Now you know how I felt."

[-238]

Orsa crashed face-first into the mud.

His HP emptied.

―

[You have killed player "Orsa"]

―

+2,144 Experience

+100,936 silver

+218 copper

―

His mace and armor struck the ground as his body scattered into light, and before Jaxir could turn toward the remaining players, another notification appeared over the battlefield. The experience from the two Golden Fleece players pushed him across the threshold he had been creeping toward since entering the region.

―

[Level 8 > Level 9]

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