Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Three violet shards of crystal flew by my head. All three of them thwipped into the Swordsmans torso, while a gout of flame emitting from Jinnys hand held the other at bay. I had to smile at the sheer devastation of it. Another three shards followed the initial trio into the swordsmans torso, all equally spaced, in what was probably an attempt to get as much coverage as possible in hopes of destroying the hivemind hiding within.

Fully confident Jinny could handle herself, I left her there and hustled to catch up with Nick.

Nick must have been digging deep into his reserves. If I didnt know better, I wouldnt have believed hed already been fighting for some time. Unfortunately, his excess of energy seemed poorly spent. He was taking big, almost sloppy swings at the giant swarm, yelling epithets and mostly dull insults. Talia was drawing aggression from the nearby archer, baiting out his shots and dodging easily as she waited for Nicks signal.

Every time the swarms axe landed, it was inches from doing serious damage to Nick. He seemed to be making a game out of dodging at the last second, even the blows with less force behind them that would have been much easier to block. Sweat poured down his forehead as he kept up the grueling pace.

No idea what he intended to do, but he's losing ground quickly. This isn't going to work.

My heart jumped into my throat as the swarm stabbed out with an uncharacteristically fast blow, aiming to catch Nicks neck with the pointed edges at the top of the axe. At his current speed, if he attempted to dodge that rather than block it

I blinked as Nick barely managed to get out of the way. It shouldnt have been possible. He had gotten a burst of extra speed from somewhere.

No, thats not whats happening here

Before I could fully form the thought, the large swarm roared, bringing the axe up and around in a brutal swing that I recognized all too well. It looked unblockable, and even if Nick dodged it, the resulting air-current would knock him off his feet, potentially landing him in an untenable position.

Get ready. I commanded Talia.

Only, Nick didnt dodge. He just stood there, watching the strike rush down at him, entirely unbothered.

What the hell?

His shield came up at the last second, the sound of the impact an ear-shattering clang that made me flinch. When his shield lowered, it was glowing bright red, and Nick was grinning like a madman. Take over! He yelled at Talia, held his shield over his head and braced as the big wolf used it as a launchpad. As soon as she was airborne, Nick spun and charged the archer. I sprinted alongside him, staying slightly behind and off to the side, my mind finally coming around to what he was trying to do.

The arena stopped rotating. My legs wobbled. It felt like I was on land for the first time in months, and still feeling phantom movements of the tide.





The others reactions looked as perplexed as my own, as we all navigated to read the description of the feat.



Its, uh, good to have? Jinny looked up from her screens.

Definitely helps on my end, Nick observed.

The feat wasnt the sort of thing Id ever spend points for or rely on, but it was certainly a nice grab, considering we were getting it for free.

Wheres the experience? Sae swiped through her screens, annoyed. That was way harder than half the fights weve been in. We should have at least gotten a level out of it.

Though leveling was slowing down significantly for me, I wondered the same thing. The dungeon allowed leveling between floors. Maybe the trial is withholding experience until the end?

For this level of effort, it better be more than just experience. Sae looked annoyed. Mid-tier threat my ass.

I kept it to myself, but I agreed with her. This room would have easily killed me if I was solo. Going through something this grueling had better be worth it.

As if on cue, there was a heavy grinding noise coming from the central hole of the platform. I looked down through the hole and saw a platform rising from the abyss, laden with objects, and silver coins I was almost certain were selve.