Kapitel 427: Clockwork
"It's not everyday you see someone who wields only a shield."
Tilia rested her tower shield on the ground, "Is it not?"
Thirn shrugged, "Usually you would use some sort of other weapon no? Pure defense isn't the best offense."
"I beg to differ."
"Ah well I'm not here to argue."
Thirn lifted a large crossbow onto his shoulder, carrying it like it was a pickaxe. It was made of a strange azure-tinted metal. It's size was greater than his torso, and looked more like a ballista than a crossbow. Slightly crouching he warned, "I think that's enough chatting!"
Boom-!
He launched to the sky and spun his crossbow, pointing it towards Tilia he let loose three bolts. Tilia angled her shield and they bounced off harmlessly, spinning rapidly to the ground. Thirn frowned at this, 'My bolts are capable of piercing even the strongest of metals, yet it just bounced?'
Rolling her shoulders Tilia focused her attention to the crossbow in Thirn's hands. She could feel the force they had. If it wasn't for her War Sight, they most likely would have proved to be extremely dangerous. Now that Thirn had shot his crossbow, there should undoubtedly be a moment needed to reload. Therefor the best opportunity to strike would be now!
Charging with her shield Tilia began to close the distance. Thirn did a series of leaps backwards in response to her actions while simultaneously reloading his crossbow.
Cr-thunk-!
Three bolts flew forward towards Tilia. Raising her shield she deflected them to the side without losing any momentum. Thirn began reloading while maintaining the distance between them.
His thoughts buzzed, 'She isn't even reacting to my bolts. Almost as if they're just casual projectiles. However her speed isn't all that impressive. If I can just get past her defense. . . !'
Sliding to a stop he fired his crossbow while swinging it horizontally. Three bolts spread out in a fan pattern. Tilia lifted her shield to deflect the only one that posed a threat, but she found its momentum slowing far faster than the other bolts.
The two bolts that missed slowed to a stop and rotated in the air, pointing towards the back of Tilia they shot forward with an increased speed! Tilia, now facing three bolts from different directions, slowed her charge. Twisting her body she spun at an incredibly precise timing. The very edge of her shield deflected the first bolt, she also managed to block the second bolt, and the third was dodged!
'As expected from an elf, her situational awareness is off the charts. Her timing is something to praise as well. Truly an excellent individual!'
Thirn reloaded his crossbow, 'But that level of defense isn't enough to stop me!'
[Clockwork Bolts: Eight Seconds]!
Cr-Thunk-!
Tilia deflected three incoming bolts and continue her charge. Thirn halted his retreat and instead. . . charged towards Tilia?
As the distance between them grew shorter Thirn leapt into the air. The sound of a ticking clock could be heard and his crossbow reloaded automatically! Flipping upside down he shot the three bolts directly towards Tilia's back!
[Clockwork Bolts: Watch Reset]!
Tilia turned around and blocked the three bolts, but suddenly and additional three bolts came from behind! Their distance from Tilia was so incredibly small she had no time to turn and block them, so she chose a different method of protecting herself!
Her shield morphed into the bronze semi-translucent energy and encompassed her in a split second. The bolts bounced off her War Sight harmlessly, but Tilia was more concerned about what had caused their appearance. There wasn't any signs, it was almost like they materialized.
[Clockwork Bolts: Five Seconds]!
Thirn landed on the ground and reloaded his crossbow. Charging towards Tilia he flipped over her and placed the end of his crossbow to the back of her head, "Your defense is impressive, but my bolts have triple the power at this range!"
Cr-Thunk-!
Tilia looked over, "Is that so?"
'What?! This level of defense is unheard of for Second Stage! This strange energy. . . it feels familiar!'
Tilia noticed a slight change in the air, three bolts appeared above her and descended directly towards her chest. They bounced off harmlessly, her War Sight yet to falter. But this singular action gave Tilia an insight to what was happening!
The two times the bolts appeared shared one factor! They appeared where Thirn had already shot before! The only difference was the delay! Reaching out she grabbed Thirn's crossbow, the bronze energy pulsating upon contact. Thirn, sensing danger, immediately retreated using a special Skill!
[Clockwork Bolts: Watch Rewind]!
He appeared a distance away with Tilia, his crossbow safe from her grasp. Exhaling he then doubled his concentration. This level of defense, he underestimated it! If that was the case he could no longer afford to fight normally. He would have to find a single opening and end it!
Tilia's War Sight warped back into the tower shield. It made a faint sound as she rested the end of it on the ground. As Thirn watched this happen he felt the strange energy linger around it. The strange familiarity suddenly hit him.
'A War Sight! It's actually a War Sight!'
~ ~ ~
"For you to pass by everyone else to target me, I assume you have a goal?", Pale asked.
Yuto rested his scythe against his shoulder, "Yeah, to see how strong these Aces are."
"An action worthy of praise. Do not bring down your team by deciding this."
"I think I would be supporting them quite easily, after taking you down that is."
Pale lifted her shield and mace, "It is good to have confidence."
"I like to think so too!"
Yuto swung his scythe towards Pale's neck, but found his momentum stopping abruptly. He frowned as he saw Pale's shield blocking his scythe, for he swore she didn't move! Pale gently guided Yuto's scythe away, "Your intentions are leaking through. I can easily see what your next move will be."
"What's the point in giving advice in the middle of battle?!", Yuto chided as he continuously attacked.
"The point of The Arena isn't just to prove who has the greatest of candidates.", Pale answered calmly while blocking his every blow, "Rather it is for the chosen warriors to gain more experience in battle. A way of fighting with everything on the line. I have no qualms against providing advice to the enemy, especially a new fighter."
"Are you calling me a newbie? I'll take that as an insult you know!"
"It is not an insult, rather a matter of fact. The way you fight clearly shows you don't have much experience in battle. It is not something to take shame in, rather it is something you must embrace to overcome."
Pang~!
Yuto's arms quivered as Pale deflected his scythe. The strength behind the movement was extraordinary.
In A World's Legacy it became obvious that Tanks should not base their build entirely around health. For the greater the strength difference not only would they take some damage from blocking attacks, but if the difference was large enough they would be knocked back quite some distance. For a main Tank, this would be like sentencing the party to death. Therefor Tank builds usually put everything they had into HP and Strength, as to properly block attacks. However because of this they lacked in just about every other department. Their speed was terrible, their MP reserves were the worst, and their Skill usage was very little. Despite this Tanks were still one of the most popular builds, no matter the variant.
Now why was this important? The reason was simple! These weakness don't apply to Pale! Her power was high across the board! As a Paladin she naturally had high reserves of Prayer. Her strength and defense was abnormal, and her speed was something that shouldn't be possible for a heavy weight class! For Yuto, this was terrible news! He, as a class that focused primarily on dealing damage, was actually going to be outmatched in every aspect he excelled in!
As he took a step back to keep his feet steady, Pale's mace suddenly slammed into his stomach. He doubled over as he slid back, barely staying on his feet. He wanted to throw up, such a powerful blow was sickening to endure. But that wasn't what angered him. The attack executed by Pale wasn't even a serious one! It was like she was saying he wasn't worth her time! One thing Yuto hated the most was being looked down upon!
"I really hate doing this! But since you're not even looking at me like I'm worthy of your time. . ."
Pale made an interested expression and slightly lowered her shield, "It seems you have another option, very well."
Yuto grit his teeth and grabbed his scythe with both his hands, like he was holding a guardrail. His muscles tensed as gripped onto it tightly, "Time and time again I was complained to, that this strength of mine wasn't my own, but rather my weapon's. As if the efforts I put it in to use this was for nothing. So I swore off of using it, to show those people!"
Pale shook her head, "A weapon is an extension of us. To intentionally not use it is akin to not truly fight."
"I'm glad you think that way, but don't regret it!"
Clank-!
Yuto's scythe was suddenly ripped into two. A chain linking the two parts formed. Spinning the chained weapon he did a few practice tricks. Pale watched as the chain seemingly grew and shortened in length. Bringing back the scythe to his hands he wrapped his arm in the thick chain, "It's not an exaggeration to say my strength triples when I use this. So perhaps you'll look at me like an opponent now!"
"I sense no greater strength in you, the only change was your weapon. It seems like your confidence stems from something else. So show me."
"Gladly!"
The scythe arced into the air as Yuto threw it. The chain constantly and endlessly extending. Spinning the handle he threw that as well, towards the main part of the scythe. Once they met he jerked the chain, causing them to head inwards and bounce off each other. Leaping into the air he started to swing and pull the chains in different directions. The handle and scythe began bouncing off the chains and each other, causing a chaotic web of chain.
Pale watched with an impressed look, 'This is not something that can easily be mastered. He's using the chains as platforms to continue building off of. Since the chains extend he doesn't need to worry about friction, and can intertwine them however he pleases.'
Yuto swung his arm, with both his hands and arms full of chains, and the scythe curved towards Pale. As she lifted her shield to block it, a chain suddenly jerked forward and deflected the scythe before it reached her. Bouncing off the chain and the ground Yuto caused his web to slowly grow larger and around Pale.
This all was because of his weapon, The Endlessly Chained Scythe! An ordinary player who comes into contact with Yuto's way of using it would quickly be overwhelmed! That was why he received so many complaints!
Despite him locking it away during actual combat, he still constantly improved his usage of it. Purely because he found it fun. Because of this his proficiency with the weapon reached a level even the weapon's creator didn't expect!
Pale smiled, "This is where your confidence stems from, a shame you did not start with this. If that is the case I will respond in kind."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein