Jerard Lumin POV...
I step back, attempting to re-establish distance. The craven keeps aiming for my wrists so I can't cast, the crafty thing. I don't know where the other two cravens came from, but this ones been here the longest.
The idea that the cravens can talk and are intelligent makes me worry. It means that I could be hurting innocent people. Still, every time I've seen one, they've either ran or fought.
Doesn't seem like innocent behavior to me! And how come they take up like 2% of the population but are like 70% of the fights I've been getting in? That says more about them than me, I swear.
I twirl my staff and attempt to strike him with the end of it, being met with a parry and another stab. I think just shooting at him worked pretty well last time, lets try that.
I go ahead and charge up a few blasts, despite my available mana beginning to dwindle. One towards the left foot, another towards the shoulder and the last for the chest.
He deflects the first with an upward slash, simply tanks the second and dodges the second. He then steps forward to stab me, not giving me a moment to breathe. Can't I just fight a mage for once? I just wanna win for once? Might as well forfeit control if it means I win...
"Merlin release."
My hair turns a nice and glowing white as I feel consciousness slipping away. A puppeteer takes my place, guiding me to a better future.
* * *
Arthur Ishviel POV...
The thrusting motion of my blade stops in its tracks before I pull back my arm. Something about this kid just changed...
As if in the universe wanted to confirm my suspicions, I watch as wires of mana for around him. It's an array of sorts, I think. He plucks on a string, causing a white blade of mana to fly towards me.
It's fast. Way faster than any of the other projectiles.
I step back and slash upwards, barely destroying the projectile before it reaches me. My concern grows as he begins to pluck the mana strings even faster, sending a barrage of cuts towards me.
He had to have gone from E+ to D, at least. Maybe it's a temporary buff skill... but he seems to have improved in more than strength. His manipulation is way finer, going from beams to wires.
Each time he plucks the strings, it seems to make a piercing sound. Instead of trying to block all of the attacks, I just channel mana into my legs before jumping really high.
As I see another barrage of attacks approach my aerial position, I realize that I've put myself in a bad spot. I don't have much aerial maneuverability at all, basically a falling brick.
I coat my blade with mana, igniting it before slashing down at the volley. An ignition occurs, sending a sizeable wave of flame down below. It cleaves through most of the projectiles, giving me enough time to fall back to the ground and charge again.
Unfortunately, there's already another barrage of mana blades. Hot damn, what a bullet hell. I'm forced to raise my guard and simply tank the blast, being knocked off my feet and nearly pushed into a different fight.
My arms are cut heavily, now losing more blood than I'd like. Like 60% of my available mana was used up from the fire slash, so I've gotta get this soon.
The front of my feet dig into the ground, the momentum just barely ceasing before I fall over. I re-adjust my footing before attempting to sprint again, keeping my body lower to the ground.
Another burst of slashes flies towards me, which I then perform a front flip over. Since they were aimed so low, I didn't have to jump too high this time, meaning I can land before the next burst.
Next, since he aimed higher than he should've I perform a slide before stabbing with my sword. It pierces his shoulder, where I twist it until I hear something snap. His hair turns back to normal, whatever super saiyan transformation ending.
I withdraw the blade from his shoulder, wiping the blood off in the elbow of my sleeve. Sword grandpa stands by my side, crossing his arms.
"Good enough... now go help everyone else," He states, turning to look at the rest. Gram is losing and Valory is winning.
"With what mana?"
Before I can exude any more sass energy, I fall over and onto my face. Mana exhaustion is crazy! Passing out (forced naptime) is becoming really common in this life.
* * *
Gram POV...
How am I even supposed to close the distance here? She just keeps making orbs of boiling water levitate around her! Fun fact, did you know that water orb mines exist? NEITHER DID I!
I unfortunately learned that they exploded the hard way. Ms. Living Minefield over here is a damn tough fight.
Every once in a while, she shoots a pot shot at me to put pressure. She's just camping in her stupid little explosive gravitational field or whatever! This is such a boring, stupid fight!
"Can you hurry up and do something?!?" I exclaim, taunting a little.
"Oh, if you insist!" An insidious smirk appears on her face as she charges me, the orbs moving with her.
I shouldn't have said that. I turn around and start running before the proximity mine magic can get to me, although she's nearly as fast as me. Now would be an awesome time for a ranged attack!
I dig my foot in and kick up some dirt, using it to set off a few of the charges. Just when I think I have an opening to spin around and slash her, 3 more orbs appear in their place.
Am I fighting the hydra of explosive charges or something? God, kill me now! It would be cool if she had more moves, but she's just spamming those stupid orbs!
Before I can internally complain any more, I feel the ground shake and watch some cracks form nearby. Valory's axe has just hit into the ground, hitting more like a hammer than a blade.
Is this what a proper berserker looks like? Oh hey! Arthur passed out... wait, Arthur passed out?
* * *