Zarek's eyes flashed, a depth of flame flickering within them as he felt his Lurker's Godsfall surge.
He had to admit that of all the Godsfall Intents he had used in the past, Lurker's Godsfall was on the list right at the very top. Honestly, part of the reason he didn't immediately decide that his next plan of action would be to swap it out for Thalion's A Class Godsfall Intent Wind Elixir was because he wasn't willing to give up on his current path just yet.
The flexibility of Lurker's Godsfall was perfect for his current needs. He was lacking in raw power, so what he needed more than anything else was a base of power that gave him the ability to adapt to any environment, and a range of unpredictability that made it easy for him to take opponents off guard.
And now, his ability to do that had hit an entirely new tier.
A grin spread across Zarek's face as his pores opened up.
At C Class, he was already able to emit his Godsfall out of his body. With a B Class Godsfall Intent, that ability had increased exponentially—but it wasn't just that.
He was now able to forcefully catalyze ambient Godsfall into the Intent type he wanted. This was the power of a B Class Godsfall Intent.
Meaning…
The atmosphere and Zarek's body worked in tandem. In a blink, he was covered in a sticky blackness, his hair becoming tendrils of darkness that almost emitted a steaming night-like fog.
All that was left of the original him were those blazing amber eyes and a double row of teeth so white they seemed blinding.
The pillar of light was just barely beginning to wane, ready for another slam, but Zarek knew better than to slam it again. The first was already here.
—
Name: [Lyn Bohem]
Role: [XXX]
Profession: [XXX]
Core Stats:
> [Strength: C]
> [Dexterity: C+]
> [Intelligence: C]
> [Endurance: C+]
> [Charisma: C+]
Talents:
> \\[XXX]
—
The first to arrive was a woman, but Zarek was more shocked by the fact he could see her stats at all. There was no way she didn't have a rebuff Skill—he had felt it. He had only scanned her to cover all of his bases, not actually expecting to see anything.
'That feeling…'
Zarek couldn't think more about it, not when a twin cyclone of short blades was already approaching him in a whirlwind of violence.
The woman was petite, her ears sharp, her skin a delicate shade of green that reminded one of diluted herbal tea. Her quads, however, were like that of a python's. Zarek immediately saw the power they held with every step, and when she abruptly changed direction, moving from a forward attack to one to his side, it seemed as though she hardly lost any speed at all.
In an instant, her blade had appeared at his side.
A tendril of black lashed out from Zarek's back, connecting to a tree and pulling him back as he curled out of the way.
The blade passed by his neck.
His body flipped forward, the balls of his feet slamming into the tree with a strong pulse.
More tendrils lashed out into the world around him, connecting him in a network of webs that increased his forward speed. In an instant, he was before the young woman again, the lance having taken center stage in his hands.
The wind that should have restricted him became his calling card instead, and Lyn suddenly found herself on the losing side of a contest of speed.
She crossed her daggers before her chest, bracing herself as she mumbled something beneath her breath.
The trees that Zarek was using as leverage shifted, one of them swaying violently to one side and pulling him off course.
Caught off guard, Zarek's strike missed, a spiraling lance of wind passing by Lyn's body and missing her entirely.
All the trees he was connected to suddenly moved again, sending him whipping toward the next.
—
Name: [Vaugn Elheigm]
Role: [XXX]
Profession: [XXX]
Core Stats:
> [Strength: C+]
> [Dexterity: C]
> [Intelligence: C+]
> [Endurance: C+]
> [Charisma: C]
Talents:
> [XXX]
—
A heavy glaive was swinging at Zarek's head before he could even fully take in the status screen.
Immediately, he detached himself from the trees. But seemingly having expected this, Lyn had already changed her tactics, the trees closest to Zarek twisting their branches in an array of piercing thrusts that aimed for his back, cutting off his escape paths.
Zarek's grin widened.
Not bad, not bad at all. It was rare that he was caught off in battle, but he had also never met a C Class capable of controlling such ancient trees on such a large scale either. It was clear these geniuses were on another level.
Affecting the environment to this extent was something only a few B Classes could do, and something mostly reserved to A Classes.
But reading the tension and compression of Zarek's network of Lurker's Godsfall in the heat of battle and using it against him in a flash was on another level. Especially since she had even gone as far as to pretend like she needed to defend against his attack to truly catch him off guard. All things considered, she had had no need to cross her daggers before herself at all.
The cherry on top was that she had actually thrown him at her competition, forcing them into battle by giving them no other choice, and clearing her own path toward the Treasure Hub.
Before they even clashed, Lyn was running toward the Treasure Hub while the third participant to their battle royale was still a bit too far away to stop her, his enormous gut swaying from side to side as he rushed ahead.
However, Zarek's grin only widened. Especially when Lyn only managed to take half a step before a sticky substance slowed her.
She fell forward, crashing to the ground and barely catching herself.
BANG!
Zarek and Vaugn clashed in that instant, the former's laughter filling the skies.