To Randidly’s surprise a hand settled on his arm gripping him tightly
Randidly turned eyes narrowing to find that the iron ball man had managed to latch onto him as he fell holding desperately onto him Another Sweep crushed the man into the ground loosening his grip But Randidly didn’t have the time nor the stamina for this
Most of the people knocked to the side were being healed and several other squad members were moving closer Worst of all a tingling on Randidly’s neck warned him that Decklan was finally making his move
Tsking lightly to himself Randidly spoke Agony
The pain smashed downwards around him and most people hesitated slightly but not Decklan His was a curved smile and blade and he ripped closer moving so quickly that Randidly wasn’t sure whether he could have kept up with him without a full stamina and mana pool
But in this case he didn’t need to
He sparingly use a pinch of mana using Root Manipulation to loop around an unsuspecting Decklan’s foot The Killer responded well instantly twisting and pulling away but Randidly already had a Phantom Thrust aiming for his chest
Righteous Bonds Donny yelled and strange golden runes appeared in the air around Decklan Ignoring it Randidly struck with all the force he could muster aiming to shatter several ribs But although Decklan grunted and was thrown back he didn’t appear to suffer any lasting damage
A gasp did echo out behind him and Randidly turned to see Donny covered in those same golden runes clutching his chest
Some sort of damage sharing huh ’ Randidly wondered idly Annoying ’
Abruptly Randidly decided to try something strange
Dropping Agony Randidly stood casually spinning his pole with the Raid Squad surrounding him His grin was long and slow
Tykes smashed into the ground almost stunned into unconsciousness by the force of the Ghosthound’s blow But somehow he bit his tongue and stayed awake managing to keep ahold of his trusty iron ball as well
Groaning he rolled on his side and then weakly rolled back and he felt some bones of his ribs shift
Holy fucking shit but the Ghosthound hit like a fucking truck
Feeling slightly foolish almost as if he was cheating Tykes removed a health potion from his pocket and downed it Instantly he felt better able to breath again He hacked out a wad of blood and tried to roll again only to fall back too tired
He supposed he was knocked out of the battle anyway so
As he lay there listening to the clash of weapons he just looked up at the blue sky hanging over them Even if they won if they lost Tykes was happy Donny would scold him for putting himself in such direct danger but it was worth it Tykes wanted to win He wanted to feel like he helped them win
So even though he was the only member of the Raid Party without a class Tykes had thrown himself in harm’s way
He had been one of the initial volunteers for Daniel’s skill program and had been part of the second batch with an indefinite timetable as NCCs But Tykes didn’t mind He liked Donnyton Liked its simple focused people liked the endless food even liked the constant presence of violence That at least hadn’t changed in Tykes’ life but now he was no longer on the receiving end
Until now that is
Gritting his teeth Tykes rolled over looking towards the Ghosthound He had struck Decklan but the rest of the Raid Team was closing in on his position All of a sudden tall thorny walls sprung up about 2 meters tall blocking off vision isolating most of the squad
Retreat Came Donny’s yell but it was too late
The first spell blasted outward igniting the thorns and smashing them outwards Propelled by the close blast of fire these flaming thorny walls knocked most of the nearby squad members over crushing them with heat inflicting dozens of small wounds with the thorns
As the smoke cleared the Ghosthound was standing alone surrounded by slowly burning piles of thorns Is that all Donnyton
Tykes was insulated from the blast based on where he was lying but the heat still burned his face Pressing his eyes together to force away the bitter tears Tykes just breathed for a long moment
Then he opened them and saw a beautiful figure upside down on the hill overlooking the arena She was slender and blonde with her hair twisting around her face She seemed young younger even than Tykes staring intently at the arena
He knew her she was the girl who had always had such a weird relationship with the Ghosthound the girl who was now somehow a town spirit the girl they whispered had died Lyra
To Tykes immense surprise she blew him a kiss
Almost unbidden Tykes blinked again and the girl was gone But the strange heat from that blown kiss had not
Tykes struggled to his feet hefting the iron ball We we are not done
Congratulations Due to your actions you have unlocked the Path Unyielding Will 0/10
Tykes blinked as the Ghosthound slowly turned In the Ghosthound’s green eyes Tykes saw a flicker of recognition which was oddly pleasing But when the Ghosthound smiled it was all ice
Then let’s finish this
With infinite slowness the Ghosthound began to step towards Tykes over the burning thorn walls Unsure of what else to do Tykes opened up his status screen
Tykes (Last Name Unknown)
Health(/R per hour) 93/355 (63)
Mana(/R per hour) 21/21 (7)
Stam(/R per min) 6/192 (20)
End 24
Str 24
Inteligence 9
Control 3
Focus 6
Skills Perseverance Lvl 32 Running Lvl 19 Physical Fitness Lvl 22 Endure Lvl 14 Farming Lvl 7 Woodworking Lvl 15 Leap Lvl 23 Animal Skinning Lvl 12 Hunting Lvl 7 Manual Labor Lvl 19 Cooking Lvl 6 Ball and Chain Mastery Lvl 20 Throw Lvl 27 Cleaning Lvl 16 Tailoring Lvl 9 Tough Body Lvl 13 Crush Lvl 25 Heavy Blow Lvl 18 Herculean Strength Lvl 34 Mana Bolt Lvl 9 Flail Lvl 15 Battle Sense Lvl 3 Heightened Perception Lvl 7 Dodge Lvl 14
PP 10
Tykes blinked very slowly then moved as if possessed 10 PP huh
He poured it all into his new path
Congratulations You have completed the Unyielding Will Path In the face of great adversity you do not bow Although your feet blister and rip and your eyes tremble as you tire you stand and continue forward For you realize that there is no choice but to continue on this path or die You have learned the skill Inexhaustible Will Lvl 1 You have learned the skill Unyielding Sword Lvl 1 Due to compatibility Unyielding Sword has changed to Rebounding Sphere Lvl 1 Vit End Str and Agi +5
Tykes barely had time to take the whole of the notification in before the Ghosthound arrived thrusting with his pole Scrambling backwards Tykes threw his iron ball forward trying to buy some time But the pole blurred smashing the ball to the side with pure power hitting Tykes in the gut
Gasping for air Tykes felt something strange in his gut that was familiar and yet strangely new An unwillingness to concede that caused warmth to flow outward into his limbs He straightened slowly recovering and he saw that he gained a level in Unyielding Will
With clear eyes he straightened all the way only to see the tip of the pole rushing for his face
The body slumped over lifeless and Randidly considered the young man briefly If given the chance he would definitely become strong Randidly almost regretted giving out all of his Blessings for this young man would be a powerful choice if untested
But at the moment there were other concerns
He turned slowly to face Donny Decklan Dozer Kayle and Paolo along with a gasping healer who was clearly overdrawn Under Randidly’s pointed gaze the healer paled and raised his hands then hurried out of the arena
Looking completely healed Donnyton’s 5 Classer leaders stepped forward
You can’t defeat me like this Randidly said quietly taking stock of himself Around 50 mana 400 Health and 90 Stamina He surreptitiously absorbed the remaining 150 stamina from the stones on his fingers Even still it was hard to keep his breathing under control to keep his mouth from curling up