Akiol used [Dimension Skip] to create distance between himself and Unyielding Blossom. It proved to be a wise choice, for when her transformation was complete a large amount of needle-like bones shot out from her. Like a fragmentation grenade.
Akiol knocked away the few that flew his direction. Unyielding Blossom charged his way, her speed greater than before. Akiol clicked his tongue, it seemed like everyone had a Berserk skill nowadays.
However his own was still on cooldown. Granted he only had a few minutes left of it, he still couldn't use it right away.
Unyielding Blossom thrust her swords towards Akiol's chest. Akiol sidestepped and went to counter attack, yet was stopped short by a protruding bone. It had extended rapidly, like a third arm strike.
Unyielding Blossom followed with another attack, which Akiol blocked. The force from the blow made him slide backwards by a few inches.
Akiol bounced back throwing his own attack back. Unyielding Blossom, with her increase in stats, deflected the blow with one arm and thrust her sword towards Akiol's chest.
Akiol turned 90 degrees, letting the sword sail past. Sliding forward he kneed her open side. The damage was small, the force negligible.
Akiol sensed a change underneath him, backing away quickly. Where he previously stood lay a sharp large bone. Had he remained their for a second longer he would have been stabbed by this bone.
The bones were troublesome, they appeared from anything except air. Meaning all of Unyielding Blossom's weak points could be covered.
"He should see it by now, Unyielding Blossom's unique class lets her cover all her blind spots. This means she has almost zero weaknesses. It would be pointless to continue." Reverence said to no one in particular.
"Still to be able to last this long. . ." someone said.
Reverence couldn't deny that fact, "This player is indeed skilled, far more skilled than I had imagined. He could be a good talent to recruit."
Vengeance and Thrash were still stuck in the sealing area with their squads. Having no choice but to wait patiently.
Akiol had half the mind to test his [Dimension Change] skill, yet he felt like it would be a waste here. So he pushed away the thought.
The number one thing was the stat difference, it was always the stat difference. No matter what Akiol had to always face someone who was, or could be, stronger than him.
That was good, a challenge. Challenges are good, except he had a major one less than an hour ago!
Akiol would change styles then, it was time to go more aggressive. It was time to abuse his slime self.
Akiol charged forward, Unyielding Blossom sent some of those needle-like bones towards him. He smacked those away. As soon as he got close Unyielding Blossom swung her weapon.
Akiol blocked, he set his weapon to the point where the knock back wouldn't send him backwards.
The recoil sent his wielding hand to the side. Akiol then head butted Unyielding Blossom. Being stunned at the sudden brash move she subconsciously took a step back. Akiol didn't let this go and grabbed the deer skull helmet.
A bone pierced through his stomach, but dealt no damage. Akiol pushed forward, making Unyielding Blossom lean backwards.
Akiol swept the legs of his opponent, causing them to crash to the ground. A large amount of bones appeared. Many pierced through Akiol, making him into a sponge. None of these hit his core, one got close but that was it.
Akiol grinned and stabbed with his sword. The bone armor was tough, his attacks barely did any damage. Unyielding Blossom shrieked an unholy sound, several more bones then appeared around Akiol.
The all closed in rapidly, Akiol couldn't just take these. One of them was guaranteed to hit his core. Both [Dimension Skip] and [Dimension Dive] were on cooldown. So Akiol used [Leap]. He launched through the bones, many of them hitting him. By leaping through he minimized his losses, letting the bones hit only one side.
He came out of the encirclement looking like a porcupine. Quickly using [Body Manipulation] to remove all the bones.
Unyielding Blossom got off the ground. Readying her weapons to continue fighting.
Reverence meanwhile was angry that he had been tricked, a race near impervious to damage? No wonder they had been so confident. Had he known this fact he would have gone up himself, he had a skill meant for a situation like this.
Akiol's goal was accomplished, he had obtained enough time for [Aura Boost] to go off cooldown. He quickly activated it and went all agility. He had a plan to end this quickly.
With the increase in speed he dashed forwards. Unyielding Blossom attempted to stop his advance by sending bones through the ground. Akiol stepped through this easily, when he appeared in front of her he aimed his fist towards the deer skull.
Unyielding Blossom moved her arms to block the blow but Akiol never intended to follow through. Instead he spun behind her, his blade plunged into her back.
How was this done? In the last moment before impact he exchanged his buff for strength, increasing his damage drastically. Along with the damage buff he used [Dimension Pierce] bypassing the strong bone armor.
Along with the critical hit he dealt a large amount of HP. Yet Unyielding Blossom was still alive, simply because due to the contract her HP would remain at 1.
She had lost and Akiol won.
Her extra armor dissolved into air and she looked annoyed. Akiol reached out his hand and praised, "Good fight, it was quite tough."
While Unyielding Blossom was annoyed she hadn't lost her manners, "Likewise, I learned a lot from that."
Akiol turned to Reverence, "I do believe we had a deal?"
Reverence was angered, "Very well! What is your request."
Akiol smiled and showed his sword, "I want a good sword, not quite the best you have. Not some easily obtained on either however. Surely that is reasonable enough?"
"At least you know not to ask for much, the sword is easy. I'll have it mailed to you later."
The mailing system was simple, for a small fee you could ship almost anything to any player. Players could find their local inbox from the postal office. There was no chance of packages getting lost, but packages could be sent anonymously.
Akiol nodded, "Very well then, I will be heading off. Good luck to you all and have a good night."
With that Akiol teleported to Chalkworth, content with his exploration. Not only had he received a powerful object, but also a replacement sword. It was a win win for him.
Reverence on the other hand, "Have you realized your mistakes from battle?" He asked Unyielding Blossom.
She responded with respect, "I have some idea but would like further guidance."
Reverence nodded, "You rely too much on your skills, out of the entire battle you know what your opponent did the most? Use utility skills, not once was their an offensive skill. Meaning he did not need it, you will be put under further training with Lucifer. It would be best if you improve."
"Yes!"
Reverence looked at the spot where Akiol vanished, he would remember that name. The one person who caused him a bit of losses. Something he hadn't suffered from in a while.
~ ~ ~
Wrock clenched his fist, this was it. The skill he wanted from the beginning. His time had almost run out. Yet the game understood and his skill was created. With this he feared no one. A situation like the undead event would never occur again. He would make sure of it.
~ ~ ~
Kan'na decoded another magic circle, she sighed and stretched. She had barely completed a quarter of the large amount of magic circles, at this rate the barrier would be decoded by level 250-300!
She was determined to find what lied behind the barrier, though she wouldn't go herself. It was best to leave the final circle and gather the party here. But that wouldn't be until a long time.
~ ~ ~
"Alright moving on, what is some features the players are requesting?"
Someone stood up, "After filtering and collecting through the players want these three things. First, a rarity feature. Players complain about being unable to guess how good their stuff it without comparing with various shops and equipment on the player market.
Second, there was a request for more ways to obtain equipment. Some players were complaining about it being a 'buy and sell simulator'. Bosses that drop items are rare and aren't available to the majority.
Finally, there is a want for more passive classes. Besides the basic ones like blacksmith and alchemist. Players claim that they want to do more, regardless of how beneficial it is."
An executive nodded, "It seems like we should release that then, make an announcement for update 3.4 and release it today. Other than that this meeting is over."
Everyone gathers their stuff and left to fulfill the orders. Once everyone left the executive sighed.
"We're going through content too fast, we need something to slow down the players. . ."