Cipher observed the corpse from his high position.
He then lowered the down using Mana Manipulation. Looking at the situation here, he figured the robots probably weren’t the main enemy. They probably attacked them because they intruded. Well, there was no talking to them, so for now they were going to consider them enemies.
He turned to look at his team.
Skills (6/17): Combat Mastery (A), Iron Fist (B), Enhanced Reflexes (C), Battle Sense (D), Voice Transmission (D), Fortitude (E)
Selene fought at the frontline.
A robot lunged at her from the left, and she sidestepped, her hand shooting out to grab its arm. She yanked it forward, using its momentum against it, and drove her other fist through its chest plate. The metal crumpled like paper under her strike.
Two more robots converged on her position. She spun low, sweeping one’s legs out from under it, then rose with an uppercut that sent the other’s head flying clean off its body. The fallen robot tried to rise, but she brought her heel down on its core, crushing it into the floor.
The robot’s magic core rolled on the ground for half a second before instantly disappearing. It wasn’t the first time she had seen this since they began fighting, she wondered if this was why Cipher said he’d handle resource collection.
At that moment, another robot fired an energy blast toward her. She activated her skill, causing her hand to let out a soft golden glow. With the glowing hand, she easily slapped away the energy blast. She then instantly closed the distance, grabbed the robot by the head with both hands and squeezed until the metal buckled and sparked. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ n0velfire.net
"~Don’t you have a weapon?" Cipher asked through transmission.
"~I find my hands much easier to use," she responded, not breaking stride as she punched through another robot’s torso.
Cipher nodded. The limit was probably her class. Despite how strong she was, she just had a basic class. Her strength was from pure hard work. Maybe she considered learning a weapon a waste of time that she could spend perfecting her other skills. And she’d done that quite well too.
He turned to look at Ryker.
Class: Magic Swordsman
Skills (7/12): Sword Mastery (B), Magic Reinforcement (B), Aura (C), Mana Blade (C), Lightning Step (D), Elemental Slash (D), Combat Sense (E)
Ryker’s sword blazed with blue energy as he slashed through a robot, the blade cutting clean through its midsection. He then spun, dodging an energy blast by mere inches before channeling mana into his legs and using Lightning Step to close gap to the enemy.
His sword came down in an overhead strike, splitting the robot from shoulder to hip.
At the same time, another robot was swinging at him. He was about to attack it when he realized that his sword was stuck in the metal. Before he could figure out a way to unstuck his sword, the other robot punched his lower abdomen, throwing him down.
Luckily, thanks to the crash, the sword got unstuck. He quickly recovered and slashed horizontally with an Elemental Slash, pushing the robot back a few paces and giving himself room to get up.
Cipher observed him. Despite having almost the same stats as Selene - arguably even better stats since he had equal all-around stats - he was performing much worse than her. He supposed this was the difference in experience.
He then turned to Dante.
Skills (5/9): Fortress (C), Shield Bash (D), Heavy Strike (D), Taunt (E), Regeneration (E)
Dante stood like a wall, his massive shield held firm before him. A robot that had slipped past Ryker fired an energy blast directly at him. Dante braced, absorbing the impact with his shield, the force pushing him back only slightly.
The robot charged. Dante met it head-on, catching its strike against his shield and immediately countering with a Shield Bash that sent it staggering backward. Without hesitation, he drew his heavy sword from behind the shield and brought it down on the robot, cleaving it in two.
Another enemy tried to circle around him to reach Maya. Dante shifted his stance, angling his shield to block the path. The robot collided with the barrier, and Dante used the momentum to slam the edge of his shield into its frame, denting it severely. He followed up with a downward slash from his sword, finishing it off.
Two more robots converged on his position simultaneously. Dante planted his feet firmly on the ground and activated Fortress. His shield glowed faintly and a light glow extended from it, forming a mana barrier around him and Maya.
He then waited for the right moment before exploding forward with a Shield Bash that knocked both robots back, giving him space to strike with his blade.
Cipher nodded as he observed him. Out of the three, it seemed Dante had the most experience in his role. Although Ryker was strong, he could use some work on his attacking role as he was letting some enemies slip.
Skills (5/7): Mana Recovery (C), Over Heal (D), Blessing (D), Water Shield (E), Heal (E)
Unique Skill: Timeless
Maya stood behind Dante, her hands glowing with soft green light every now and then.
Her eyes darted across the battlefield, tracking every movement. She raised one hand toward Ryker, and a shimmer of light enveloped him - his movements became slightly faster, his strikes slightly stronger.
Dante took a heavy hit against his shield, and before the impact even fully registered, Maya’s other hand was already extended toward him. Green light flowed into him, mending the strain on his arm and restoring his stamina.
Selene crushed a robot’s head, but not before its claws raked across her shoulder. Maya’s hands moved instantly, a healing pulse washing over Selene before the wound could even bleed properly.
Another buff toward Ryker. A heal toward Dante. A protective barrier around Selene. Her hands never stopped moving, never stopped glowing. Every minor scrape, every small injury was addressed immediately.
Cipher sighed. Although she was good, she was wasting too much mana healing injuries as they appeared. Maybe because of her Timeless skill that eliminated all cooldown and casting time, she had become much more active. The way Cipher saw it, healers shouldn’t work . She needed to wait for the damage to reach a certain threshold before using Heal so she didn’t waste so much mana.
At that moment, Selene crushed the final robot, and Cipher dropped to the ground to join them.
"Did you find out anything?" Selene asked.
"Yeah. But before that..." He turned to Ryker, Dante, and Maya. "I was watching you guys fight and noticed some things you could work on..."