Kicking off the ground creating a small shock wave, Cynrik charged forward at the screaming Myer. As he moved, Cynrik channeled Dark Mana into his hidden blades before unsheathing them, “Can take down an Elephant.” And jumping at Myer, who was angrily grabbing at his stump of an arm.
Cynrik ignored his body’s protest as he willed himself to exceed the limits of his adolescent body. Pumping his legs as hard as he could, Cynrik accelerated faster than ever before, leaving a trail of afterimages as he appeared in front of Myer and started rapidly hacking away at the man with his Darkness Mana clad hidden blades.
Myer, who was still in excruciating pain, lost his cool entirely and began trading blows with the boy, who seemed to move as if he didn’t even have bones. After landing a strike, Cynrik would bend his body at awkward angles and easily dodge the punches or kicks fired by Myer, causing the man to get angrier by the second.
What was frustrating him the most was how each attack he took seemed to deposit some kind of foreign poison into his skin. The small child dodged each of his attacks, causing Myer to believe the kid had eyes all over his body. No matter which way he threw a punch or kick, the kid would simply bend and dodge it while countering with two of his attacks.
With Frustration and rage spilling over, Myer activated his Killing Intent and Aura together in an attempt to slow the child down, but even that seemed to be useless.
Feeling the sudden increase in gravity, Cynrik dashed just out of its range and started firing off small fireballs until he saw the hazy mirage signifying the increased gravity disappear.
Contrary to the impression Myer had, Cynrik didn’t have a massive field of view or a multitude of different eyes. Instead, he accurately read all of the subtle muscle movements Myer was emitting. In the first couple back and forth trades of blows, Cynrik had already picked up on Myer’s fighting patterns and was using these to accurately judge the timing and direction of the incoming attacks before moving his body just enough to dodge the attack.
Unfortunately, Cynrik couldn’t keep this up for much longer, and he knew it. Flicking his eyes to the notification window floating just to his left, he caught sight of his current Stats and had to stifle a scoff.
: HP 209/650 :
: Mana 72/411 :
: Stamina 98/325 :
‘Fuck…’ He couldn’t help but swear after seeing how low his main three Stats were. Then, splitting his attention and doing a quick internal check on his body while once again dodging a swift snap kick that would have hit his head, Cynrik saw just how bad of shape he was in. ‘My breathing is labored, and it actually hurts to inhale; I must have multiple fractures or even a broken rib or two. My legs and arms feel like they’re on fire, and even my shoulders are screaming at me. This cant continue.’
Cynirk performed an aerial flip and delivered a kick directly to Myer’s neck, whipping his upper body to the left and taking him off his feet, catapulting him into one of the cell doors. While in the air, Cynrik glanced at Brance and saw his brother was struggling back to his feet before landing on one knee with his left leg extending out to his side.
[Brance, status report.] Getting a quick word in, Cynrik jumped back into combat and began trading blows with Myer again.
Brance had been lying face-first on the ground for nearly five whole minutes. The first minute or so, he was unconscious, but upon hearing his brother taunting Myer, he had woken up and spent the remainder of the time allowing his high VIT to rapidly recover his body and tossing hidden Minor Heals on himself, bringing his HP back to full but rapidly draining his MP.
In fact, he had even obtained a new passive skill in doing this.
-Minor Regeneration: Using the Mana, and Stamina of the user, automatically heals any injury they receive. Speed of healing increases depending on the users, VIT Stat. This skill HAS HIGH CONSUMPTION OF USERS MANA AND STAMINA.-
At first, he was excited by the prospect of having an auto-regeneration passive, but after healing all of his injuries and seeing how low his Mana and Stamina had fallen, he became apprehensive.
: HP 960/960 :
: Mana 106/326:
: Stamina 147/480 :
To heal all his injuries, he had nearly emptied his MP, and even his Stamina was reaching dangerous levels. When Cynrik finally spoke to him, Brance acted as if he was still in pain and slowly getting to his feet.
[I’m fine, MP and Stam are low as hell, but I can get back in the fight.]
This was all Cynrik needed to hear; by placing several well-timed kicks and slashes with his hidden blades, he was able to turn control Myer, so he had his back facing Brance and giving his brother a window of opportunity to launch a sneak attack.
[Good, I need you to pull some of this guy’s aggro, I know your shield is basically trashed, but your sword seems fine; get over here.]
Brance didn’t need any further instruction as he quietly dashed forward while scooping up his sword and charging at Myer, whose back was to him.
Entering the fray, Brance started by stabbing the man’s shoulder blade as he threw another Mana-infused haymaker at Cynrik.
Feeling the stinging sensation in his shoulder, Myer tried to whip around as quick as possible and kick at whatever just attacked him, but he didn’t count on Cynrik taking advantage of his movements and plunging his Dark Mana coated, hidden blade into his ribs.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO?” Flabergasted by how in sync the movements of these children were, Myer realized he was now at a disadvantage. He couldn’t fathom how two Tier-0 children were able to fight as equal with him, who had just evolved to Tier-2.
Neither, Cynrik nor Brance answered his question as they flowed in sync, dodging and counter-attacking Myer’s every move. This was only possible because, as they continued trading strikes, Cynrik was commentating each of Myer’s movements, allowing Brance to be brought up to speed on the man’s fighting patterns. Just like his older brother, Brance could easily spot these minute muscle spasms and read the clearly telegraphed techniques being thrown his way.
This wasn’t something they had just picked up on the fly but was instead that came from years of training and mixed martial arts experience. It had to be said that one of the best things their father had down for them while they were growing up on Earth was placing them in multiple different combat sports. From the time they could walk, they had been watching and analyzing professional fighters and had even competed in many kinds of martial arts tournaments.
Now, for the first time in years, they were using this set of skills; the only difference was the sheer strength both they and their opponent held. Instead of having to worry about cuts and bruises, if even a single strike landed flush with their bodies, the effect would be devastating. Unlike Myer, who was constantly underestimating them, Cynrik and Brance hadn’t underestimated him from the start.
Unfortunately, as time ticked by, the difference between the two boys and the Tier-2 man started to show. No matter how experienced the boys were, they still had the bodies of six and 7-year-olds. While they began to slow down visibly, Myer was starting to accelerate. Even though Brance had entered the battle and tipped the scales initially, Myer slowly took back the initiative and pushed them both back.
“HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA” Cackling loudly, Myer slammed his only fist into the ground creating a massive shock wave that flung Cynrik and Brance several feet away.
“EVEN AN ANT CAN BEAT AN ELEPHANT, YOU FOOLISH CHILDREN! DON’T YOU SEE, WHILE YOU SLOW DOWN, I ONLY GET STRONGER. THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE; YOU SERIOUSLY BELIEVED YOU COULD WIN A WAR OF ATTRITION WITH SOMEONE TWO TIER’S ABOVE YOU?” forming his fist into a claw and slashing out twice towards each of the brothers, Myer generated a wave of Plague Mana and fired it at them.
[DOWN!] Cynrik shouted in the mind link in the knick of time, and both brothers dropped to their bellies, barely avoiding the arc of Mana that flew over them.
[Cyn… I’m out of Mana, and I’ve only got 15 Stamina left…]
[Yeah, it’s not much better on my end.] Struggling to get back to their feet due to exhaustion, the brothers communicated through the mind link.
[Hehe, not a bad way to go out, though; it’s better than a nuke, at least…I think this is it, Brance.] Cynrik wobbled slightly as his body screamed at him to stop, while Brance had his hands resting on his knees, and he was bent over trying to catch his breath.
Struggling even to catch his breath Cynrik did the only thing that came to mind…and asked a single question to Tobs.
[Hey Tobs…before we die, I must ask, is there some kind of plot device you can throw our way here?]
[Seriously? Hahaha, you’re still treating this like it’s an anime.] Brance burst out laughing in the mind link at his brother’s last-ditch effort.
-……-
-Both hosts have reached the limits of the restraints placed on their bodies.-
-Requestion Permission to unlock ????-????? ????-
-…..-
-PERMISSION GRANTED, OVER-BREAK MODE UNLOCKED-
Both Cynrik and Brance made a surprised electric-mouse face at the notifications floating in their vision.