Tilia blocked another attack. She had already familiarized herself with Rooj's fighting style. As far as she could tell Rooj would always arise from the shadows before attacking, if the attack failed or succeeded Rooj would sink back into the shadows.
It was extremely easy for Tilia to get used to such a basic fighting technique. She was a bit dissatisfied with the battle, she had hoped for a challenge.
Dang~
Tilia blocked another attack but she realized something was off.
Dang~
Her eyes narrowed, she knew what it was. Rooj's attacks were slowly increasing in speed. The increase wasn't much in each hit, so she didn't notice until now.
This meant the battle would have to end soon. If Rooj's attacks kept getting faster up she might not be able to block properly.
Rooj arose from the shadows and stabbed towards Tilia. This time when Tilia blocked she activated [Counter Smash].
[Counter Smash: If an enemy strikes the shield in the (0.5 second) activation time. Automatically smash your opponent with your shield.]
The shield flashed for a short moment and Rooj stabbed the shield. The shield moved quickly and violently smashing into Rooj, making them collapse into the ground.
Tilia then drew her short-sword and repeatedly stabbed the fallen enemy. On the third stab Rooj sunk back into the shadows.
Tilia stood straight and prepared herself. Every time she blocked a hit she listened and watched. The shadows make a quiet, nearly completely silent, sound when Rooj arose from them.
She heard that sound, it appeared behind her. Tilia was prepared for this and spun quickly. Using her shield she battered away the attack and stabbed Rooj. This attack would have worked but Rooj quickly retreated into the shadows.
Tilia clicked her tongue, she was close. She would make sure her next attack wouldn't miss.
Relaxing her arms made them fall to her sides. It may look like she let her guard down, but it was the opposite. Releasing the tension of her body she allowed her minds concentration to fully focus on her surroundings.
Tilia listened and watched carefully, her eyes scanning the surroundings. It was at this point she realized something. The sun was setting.
When the party first arrived to fight it was morning. An entire in-game day had passed, and the shadows were increasing in size.
A normal in-game day was about 12 hours, half going into day and the other at night. This meant a day could pass in four real life hours.
This shortened the time she had to finish the battle. If Tilia did not end it in less than fifteen minutes, Rooj would have a much larger space to hide into.
Rooj appeared and attacked Tilia. Tilia smashed Rooj with her shield and stabbed him. The pink priest healed the damage and Rooj sunk back into the shadows.
Tilia realized the plan, since she was the last one with a battle the healer could focus all their Prayer into healing one person. This meant Rooj could fight as recklessly as they wanted.
Rooj kept swimming in and out of the shadows, both attacking and being attacked. Every time they got faster, Tilia had a hard time keeping up.
This was a bit frustrating. It seemed she let her guard down. Compared to the life threatening battles she faced in her previous world. In A World's Legacy where the harshest consequence is most likely an account deletion she never took it as seriously. After all her life was never truly in danger. Yet that same thing was leading her to her downfall.
Rooj had reached a point where she couldn't keep up, their attacks slashed at her. Every one giving her the [Shadow Disease] debuff. A sense of defeat was slowly baring its teeth.
Her party members looked at her. Truth be told Tilia's combat ability had always been low, she had been the defender. Jarvis was capable of dealing more offensive damage than her. Tilia's greatest position was in team battles, defending them from deadly attacks while simultaneously buffing their capabilities.
Kan'na looked nervously, worried a bit for her teammate. Yielya was concentrating on keeping Tilia alive. Akiol watched carefully and Jarvis was tending to his birds.
Tilia got pierced by Rooj's weapon. The damage was ordinary, but Tilia was disheartened by the fact. She was losing her ability to protect her vitals.
To further prove the point, the second time Rooj attacked they pierced her heart. The damage was critical, her health reached 1.
The only reason she was able to stay alive was because of a skill with an abnormally long cooldown time.
[The Heart of a Defender: Your allies must not fall. You must not fall. To further protect what you must, you will stand once again.
When health reaches 0, effect Stand Again is used.
Stand Again: Your health is left at 1 for 5 seconds.]
She was alive, she hadn't lost just yet. However she had five seconds. Five seconds of invincibility, she couldn't do anything in that time. It was hopeless.
Yielya healed her back to full health. However this would be the last time, Yielya ran out of Prayer.
Prayer worked like MP, it served as the source for healing magic. It had a much faster regen compared to MP, but there was no potion to recover it. Priests still had MP, for other spells such as Yieyla's [Paralysis]. Finally Prayer wasn't something that could be seen as a stat value. It was something a priest had a mental knowing of.
Tilia understood this, but it didn't serve as fuel for determination. She still felt down.
Akiol called to her, "We are waiting for you to join us."
She faintly smiled at that, ever since she joined the party she had been happier than ever before.
Ever since she was born she was an outcast to the elves. Born with a body that rivaled the strongest race, yet she couldn't cast basic attack spells. She had the affinity, just not the talent. She was made fun of, called a waste of talent behind her back.
Akiol came along with Wrock, Kan'na and Yielya. Kan'na figured out she excelled at a type of magic called 'boost'. Enchanting type magic was shunned by the elves due to it not being elemental in nature, so Tilia never came into contact with the magic. As the party stayed to visit the elves Tilia learned her own abilities. She found her path, her way of fighting.
With that she joined the party, swearing to protect them from harm. It was such a fun time. There was no taunting, no curses. Just a group of individuals who aimed to save the world.
As she thought about it, she came to a conclusion. Back then she never given up, so why was she doing so now?
She knew, it was because this was a game. A world where she didn't have to fight with her life on the line. She didn't have to take things seriously.
Perhaps that needed to change.
Be brought back from the brink of despair. Be in a party of 5 or more. Skill The Heart of a Defender activated.> [Enchanter: With powerful incantations you can enchant your allies and yourself. Note: Be the flag holder of the team!] Tilia laughed, to think that the game had such a side to it. She wasn't going to complain about the sudden power boost. For today she was the protagonist. "Armament Enhancement: Strength. Mobility Enhancement: Agility." Tilia spoke. Magic runes formed along her body, her speed and strength had increased. Rooj had been attacking this entire time, it had been 7 seconds so only one of their attacks were actually affective. When they attacked again Tilia blocked the blow. She bashed Rooj with her shield, as they fell she stabbed them several times. Knowing the pink priest would have healed Tilia activated a skill called [Shielding Dome]. [Shielding Dome: Creates a powerful shield dome around the user. Unless the dome is broken no spell or attack can enter or leave.] The pink priest's healing spells wouldn't be able to be used. Tilia would finish Rooj here and now. She smacked Rooj before they sunk into the shadows. They smacked into the wall of the dome and Tilia kept them afloat by pinning them with her shield. They violently fought back, stabbing her shield and her arm. But it was too late. Tilia repeatedly stabbed Rooj's ribs. Until, at last, Rooj fell to the ground dead. Tilia took a deep breath and released the [Shielding Dome]. Today it was her victory.