Dual Class [LitRPG] – Current Vol 4

Chapter 262: Skills On Display

Drake gave a wry smile as he saw Haygur materialize outside the arena, his face three shades paler than normal and dripping sweat.

“Would you look at that, he really didn’t die,” Drake scoffed, “That could be useful,” he nudged Bjorn, who shook his head.

“No thanks bro, I know a fight I can’t win anymore when I see it. My growth stopped a while ago. Maybe a spar” he laughed, “But we both know it won’t end in a spar.”

“Fair…” Drake sighed, only to have himself shaken forward an ecstatic shouting Sah Ul’ next to him.

“Drake! Did you see that! They did beautifully! And those are new skills if only I had more time to train with them! They could have utilized it better!”

Drake smiled. Sarah had addressed him by his first name, showing just how excited and proud she was of them after just the first exchange in the fight.

“Yeah, they have the rest to think about now though,” he said leaning back into his seat, trying his best to push down his smoldering instincts to jump into the arena with each passing moment.

A shout came out from the monitors from the adventurers.

“They used a movement skill! It must have a long cooldown lock them down and take them out now!”

“Take em out! Or do you want to be embarrassed by some kids!” another shouted.

Atropos and Charlotte looked unperturbed by the hundreds of people they had forcibly broken through to kill Haygur.

And it seemed to be for good reason.

Another roar came from the front line of the adventurers and guards as a man was thrown careening into one side of the encirclement around the two women.

Kalik spat on the ground behind the small cloud of dust that had kicked up from the thrown man, his hands in his coat pocket as he raised his chin high.

“Oi! You forgetting about the strongest one here?! Ah?!” he pointed to the orc guardsmen, “You should be ashamed as warriors of the Rahk! Ganging up on two people! Kalik Tu’ the future Patriarch of the Rahk is right here and ready to beat you background characters into an early grave!!”

Drake couldn't help but laugh hearing the young teen’s declaration. But Charlotte and Atropos both frowned from their position.

“Who is the strongest?” Charlotte bemoaned.

“Certainly not the ruffian….” Atropos added sighing.

“There just kids! What are you waiting for?” someone shouted from inside the arena.

The signal snapped the surprised mob of people into action, spells firing, skills activating, and debuffs flying out from the crowd.

Kalik breathed out, taking a practiced stance and bending at his knees.

“Tranquility finds all, Blossom Rotation!”

His blood lit up with a silvery glow, his hands pointer palms out as the light quickly spread out in a sphere. Once it reached it seemingly max range covering the three, he began rotating his body quickly burning a small black spot into the ground.

The spells, skills, and projectiles clattered against the light and flung back where they came just as quickly. Fireballs, lightning bolts, shards of ice, arrows, bullets, and even some conjured weapons flew back into the crowd as the counter of the participants in the arena began counting down.

Kalik decelerated, bringing his hands together and breathing out once more, a wide toothy grin on his face.

“Just stand back like always and let your better do all the work!!” he howled, throwing himself forward into the now disorganized group.

Drake smiled from the stands, Sah Ul’ throwing a fist forward.

“Kalik! Why are you rushing forward like that! Ah! Be more aware of your surroundings!” she groaned.

“That rank-up really did a number on his personality huh…” Drake mumbled watching the fight as the crowd was a chorus of ‘oo’s’ and ‘ah’s’.

The spells continued after a moment’s break from Kalik’s skill, beginning to bombard the two women once more, this time a line of warriors running in with the spells and projectiles to begin a skirmish.

Charlotte twirled her spears in each hand, bracing herself for the fight, as Atropos began chanting, arching her hand.

“The night is all-consuming! Shadow Flame.”

From the flourish of her arm, Atropos summoned four dark purple magic circles surprising the crowd and Drake.

“She got a multicast skill?” he said wryly, “She’s trying really hard to be like me huh?”

From the magic circles, four black flames bloomed, in the next moment growing double in size as they were launched into the oncoming line of close-range fighters, setting two ablaze as the other two missed their mark.

But the first dodge of her spells only paused the result as the flames stopped turning to collide with the unguarded back of the two that had evaded.

“She’s some kind of hybrid spell caster, be careful!” a shout warned.

The remainder of the first line of fighters pushed past the fallen burning corpses turning into blue lights screaming with their weapons raised and skills being yelled aiming for Atropos.

But Charlotte intercepted easily, her spear deflecting the blades coming down on the Atropos with astounding expertise.

With practiced motion Charlotte slid her spear around the oncoming onslaught, parrying the blows with both her full-length spear and short spear, each one thrusting forward and finding vitals as the other deflected blow and blow.

“W-what?!”

“I can’t land a hit!”

“They’re just level 14! Overwhelm them with numbers!”

A cry rang out as the adventurers and guards began to become desperate.

Unfortunately for them, they had forgotten about the other three members of the teen’s group.

Quetz glided above lazily, two pistols in hand behind her head as she looked down.

“Quetz doesn’t think she even needs to bang boom, boooo...” she grumbled, only to have an arrow fly towards her.

But with a flex of her aura, the arrow changed direction passing over her shoulder.

“Ehhh! That’s dangerous you know!” she chirped, “Quetz was disappointed because the stupid annoying guy died so fast, but if you are gonna shoot at Quetz!”

She twirled in the air, her body going into a dive as she kicked off the air somehow flying down into the backline of archers, mages, and other support participants with a gust of wind, her pistols pointed at their heads.

“Then Quetz will just shoot back!” she giggled.

The sound of the guns cracking popped like firecrackers one after another as she emptied her bullets into the people around her.

“She’s out of bullets!”

“Nuh-uh!” Quetzal cooed, flipping backward as she dodged a lance of fire, twelve blue tipped bullets twirled in the air next to her as she emptied her pistol, turning in one fluid motion to guide the new bullets into the chamber of her weapons with her aura, snapping the chamber closed.

Firing off another few bullets she giggled, “See?”

“Slow her down! She has to be dexterity-based, get debuffs on her!”

Quetz frowned, her pistols shimmering away, replaced by a single-barreled shotgun with red etchings.

“Quetz doesn’t like ugly slow things!”

She pointed the end at the man who yelled out.

“The wind sings with the howl of a whipped storm.”

The barrel began to vibrate and glow green as the slide smacked and cocked five times, five slugs hitting the floor.

Quetz whistled, a beaming smile on her face.

“Howling Gale!”

The shotgun exploded forth, bright sparks as the empowered slug burst forth slamming into the man, tearing him into pieces as it pushed through him into several people behind him.

“You kids are getting ahead of yourself!” someone shouted from behind Quetz, forcing her to turn.

Behind her was a hulking man nearly the size of Bjorn, an enormous hammer in his hands raised high to bring down on the small avian.

The man roared motioning to slam the hammer down only to catch on something in the air, his face twisting into pain and confusion.

“W-what is this!?”

Beads of red dripped and revealed lines in the air, no, wires.

A growl sounded from behind the man’s head, Clotho suddenly on his shoulder his hand raised and quivering as he wrestled with the beast of a man with his metal threads, his face a feral.

Clotho’s canines gleamed in the light of the arena as he looked down at the man, his hackles turning his face almost primal from his normal androgynous expression.

“Y-you little shit! You think you can compete with a pure strength class!” the man roared, struggling.

The man groaned and shouted, fighting against the wires as his body shimmered in a red hue, but Clotho wasn’t sitting idly waiting for his wires to snap.

With his free hand, Clotho bent back a finger, flicking one of the wires connected to the man. The wire rang and vibrated a venomous green dripping down the shaking string.

The man no longer struggled, instead, his eyes tracked the green running down the wire.

“W-what is that!? H-hey stop!”

Clotho snarled, the venomous color shooting forward and encasing every wire entrapping the hulking man, turning his skin a pale gray wherever they touched.

His petrifying status condition was being accelerated.

Drake was again surprised, his leg beginning to bounce as he leaned forward.

“Crazy… He has a skill to accelerate his status conditions now and he can even stop a pure strength class above his level,” he smiled, “He’s really put in a lot of work to grow.”

Clotho howled, the man turned into a half-statue in a matter of seconds. And with a flex of his hand, the wires screeched and reeled back into the nails on Clotho’s hand passing through the brittle afflicted man with ease, his body collapsing into pieces.

The crowd howled with him, some beastkin joining his roar, while others cheered so loud it almost drowned out the clashing of weapons in the arena.

Quetz gave a happy chirp as she waved to Clotho.

“Quetz didn’t need it, but thank you CC!”

Clotho huffed, flicking his wrists as his wires shot out again, slicing and entraping those around them he couldn’t bisect in a single swipe of his wires.

The battle raged on, the teens fighting with the cooperation that should have outstripped both their age and experience to anyone who had seen them just a week prior. But they had not seen the fights they had been through and the trials they had overcome together while with Drake.

“They’re just kids! How can’t we take them? Their resources can’t be endless, they have to run out sometime!” someone yelled.

Drake scoffed. It was true their resources weren’t endless, but it wasn’t as if the teens weren’t taking damage as the battle went on. They had gained experience and prowess during the week they had traveled but they were still just in the process of being polished. 

However, no one seemed to notice the subtle scent and mana that was traveling through the arena as well as where it was coming from.

Landin had stayed out of the fight for now, letting Anima work her healing magic as he kept his aura condensed around them and constant to fuel her regeneration.

“You’re doing good sweety, keep it going steadily. It’s our job to let them shine for now,” Landin said, keeping his eyes on the fight.

But he could avoid the battle only for so long before people began to notice.

“It’s about time,” he said, turning to the oncoming group of plate and leather wearers that charged toward him.

“Looks like you think sending melees in to fight a support class is going to be an easy victory. Hate to tell you, but I’m not exactly alone.”

Landin snapped his book close, sliding it into a holster on his side as he put his hands into his robe’s pockets.

“Ifirit, Tundra Howl.”

A small wolf jumped in front of Landin, pale blue flames running down his legs and mane as a guttural growl formed in his throat.

The pup’s jowls quivered blue flames escaping its jaw until Ifrit released and opened his maw a breath of pale blue flames flooding forward, freezing everything it touched. The ground glazed over in ice and people were instantly turned to statues of frozen flesh in the blink of an eye.

But it seemed someone had slipped past as someone teleported behind Landin.

“You’re too cocky boy! Guillotine Blade!”

Without looking, Landin snapped his fingers, vanishing and replaced with Anima, who easily dodged the blow due to being one-third the height of Landin, making the blade pass over her bushy head harmlessly.

But it didn’t stop her from raising her flower-covered arms in protest at Landin who was now where she was just a moment ago.

“Sorry sweety,” he laughed, “Had to be done, and I knew you’d be alright.”

The rogue’s face paled as a tiny frozen rocket that was Ifirt slammed into him after missing his strike, tackling him to the floor.

Landin walked over casually, Ifirit’s jaw already clenched down on the man’s throat, freezing it over.

“No hard feelings right?” Landin said leaning over the man, “Don’t know what you guys were expecting when you got into this, but unfortunately for you that guard decided to rattle too many cages when he insulted Drake.”

Landin pulled his book from its holster unfurrowing it, “What he has done for me, for all of us is more than we can repay. He let me change, let us change and overcome. And that man, Haygur? Decided to take it too far. And it looks like either Drake or Natto decided to make an example of him and everyone here.”

The man was frozen from his neck up, Ifrit wagging his tail as he sat on the man’s chest, his tongue lolling to the side in satisfaction.

“Guess he can’t hear me anymore… Good boy Ifrit.”

Landin rolled to the side, a blade passing over his shoulder.

“What are you on about kid!”

Landin came to a stop, righting himself.

“Just making conversation and thinking out loud. It’s my process.”

The woman roared dashing forward holding two longswords in her hands as she slashed in a cross.

Landin jumped backwards, Ifrit trailing behind the woman doing his best to clamp down on her legs.

But the woman was adept, keeping her footwork clean and precise enough to both move forward as she continued to slash at Landin while dodging the small wolf pup.

“Why can’t I hit you! Are all you brats hybrids!” she growled with a downward slash.

Landin turned to the side, the blade passing in front of him.

“In a way, sure. But back to my point, I think Drake or Natto wanted even better odds than this.”

The woman huffed, “Shut up already!”

“See, when we were coming back we had to fight just like this,” Landin explained, dodging and slipping in and out of the woman’s strikes, “But that was much worse and we had less skills. But now? We have a few new tricks up our sleeves and as far as I see it this isn’t a battle anymore.”

The woman growled again her blades humming and shining green as she went for another cross slash. Landin couldn’t dodge this time, so he was forced to snap his fingers again, trading places with Ifrit suddenly behind her.

“It’s a display of skill,” Landin explained, “And of overwhelming power. And man, I have no intention of holding back like everyone else.”

“Ifrit, Let the bell toll!”

The woman swiveled on her heel bringing the sword in an arc around her. But Landin ducked continuing to chant.

“Ring the sound of victory, devour the branch of life-”

The woman slashed and hacked trying to land a blow, the magic circle below Landin growing as he continued to dodge.

“Grow and expand. Step forward into the light!”

Landin jumped backward, snapping his book shut and throwing his palm up.

“Summoner’s Enlightenment!”

The woman tried to shoot forward to catch Landin while he was in the air, but her foot caught and she stumbled.

Tumbling to the ground she winced, her hands going to her leg, or missing leg. Her foot was missing an icy stump remaining, the glassy skin slowly inching its way up her thigh.

A deep growl reverberated in her chest as she looked up. There the small wolf pup was replaced by a fully grown and enormous ice wolf, its fangs longer than her chest.

Her mouth opened but sound escaped her right up until the moment Ifrit bit her in half reducing her into particles of blue.

Landin patted Ifrit on the snout with a smile, the wolf growling lightly and leaning into his hand.

“Good boy.”

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