TBATE - Brother's Once More

Subjugation(2)

Arthur Leywin

I watched as Jayden fell lower, bit by bit every passing second.

"Guess that tired him out for the first time in god knows how long. Woah!"

I just barely managed to slip under a gnoll's attack as I sliced it in half, continuing my way to the powerful mana signature in the rear.

These mana beasts... a gray skin tone, with more strength than normal and non-standard attacks that are too basic to be seen as killing.

And their movement patterns are consistent with the direction. They don't stop moving forward unless one of us gets in the way.

Chopping down the beasts one by one soon became tedious and troublesome, so I willed Fire mana to my legs as I burst upward.

[Piston Stamp]

Immediately, the mana signature which nearly compared to that of an S Class mana beast came into view, along with four more.

And that was enough.

As soon as I got through the army of mana beast fodder that stood in my way, I felt the presence of my other allies.

On the right, I felt Jasmine's and Kaspian's Wind mana, which followed an explosion of Wind as they burst forward.

On the left, the less familiar mages, Erica and Brett chopped their way ahead as I picked up on their Earth and Fire mana.

Right on time.

The four of them joined me together as we faced the five AA Class bosses.

"Your brother?" Jasmine asked.

"On his way." I wiped off the bloodstained edge of Dawn's Ballad with my cloak, eyeing the beasts while they simply idled, growling silently with their teeth bared.

"He might want to pick up the pace a bit, though."

The ground shook violently as a shadow loomed over us, an oppressive presence making itself known.

"Oh my..."

I infused mana into my vocal chords, gripping the handle of Dawn's Ballad tightly to keep me from running away.

"Arax. You might wanna get over here."

"Right here," a familiar voice entered my ears from behind.

"Woah, what the hell? I came over here the moment I sensed another strong presence, but nobody told me we'd be dealing with an S Class fucker like that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I feel like I'm gonna be torn to pieces from that mana alone. That thing isn't normal and we all know it. None of them are normal.

The bosses and that superboss aside, the mana beasts have a consistent movement pattern; nothing changes if we don't interfere. They also have simple attack patterns, it's as if they're trying to protect something."

Jayden looked at me, a sly reflection in his gaze.

"Look at this guy. If Guildmaster Kaspian knew you were gonna be this reliable on the field, he should've thrown you on the field with those guys."

I clicked my tongue. "I don't wanna hear that from you of all people, Mr. Battle Junkie."

"Are you two done?" Jasmine asked, eyes still on the opposing forces.

"Yeah, we're all good. You guys got your marks?" Jayden unsheathed a pair of daggers from his back as he walked forward.

Jayden Leywin