Although Jack had to change direction, his speed still allowed him to arrive before Handsome Joe. But as he was about to deliver his attack, a looming shadow came over him. He turned and saw a very large but also very cool-looking robot by his side. One of its arms was lifted high before it was brought down at him.
*BAM!*
The ground shook and cracked. Jack had jumped away before the fist came down. He rolled on the ground away from the golem. An explosion was heard as he was at the end of his rolling. He quickly got back up to the ready position, only to see Mazin zooming in on him with extreme speed. He hastily crossed both his swords in front of him.
*CLANG!*
Mazin's fist slammed onto his crossed swords. Jack was thrown a long way back. He fell on his back and skidded on the ground for some time before he kicked the ground to bounce back into a standing position. He was expecting the golem to speed at him again, but it was currently running towards him.
Jack had received damage despite parrying using two swords. That spoke about how strong the Techno Golem's punch just now was.
'That just now must be a skill,' Jack surmised.
Handsome Joe's Spectral Projection was running alongside Mazin as the man followed again from behind. When Jack was about to meet them head-on, he heard a gunshot sound and felt a punch to his side. A damage number appeared. It was Wilted Tree who shot him. The bullet's speed was too fast to allow Jack to sense mana from the incoming bullet.
Wilted Tree fired again. Jack was not staying and being a sitting duck. He dashed off to the side, just as Mazin's eyes glowed.
'Don't tell me…' Jack thought.
The Techno Golem didn't disappoint. Its glowing eyes soon shot a laser beam at Jack. Luckily Jack was already in high gear. His fast-moving speed had him away from where the laser beam struck. But as Jack was running, he saw Mazin turn its head with the laser beam still shooting. The beam followed and came after him, burning the ground in an arc.
Jack used Shooting Dash. His burst of speed allowed him to escape the laser beam. The beam soon died down. Jack estimated it lasted around three seconds.
'That Techno Golem has two skills. For one at level 34, that girl is very resourceful to achieve that,' Peniel said.
Jack had used his first Shooting Dash to escape the eye beam. He used the second dash to return and activated Adrenaline Rush at the same time. With the attack speed burst, he performed the burst attack of Formless Flowing Sword Style.
Twenty Four slashes flooded both Joe's Spectral Projection and Mazin. The spectral projection could not stand the accumulated damage and burst as its HP zeroed out, while Mazin also received damage and was pushed back.
Both Handsome Joe and Wilted Tree were surprised by the feat. They had never seen anyone push Mazin back in a physical engagement.
Jack didn't let go of his offense. While Mazin was unbalanced, he followed with Blitz Slash. His body turned into a shadow and rushed past the golem, five instant slashes landed on the golem's body, each scoring more than 500 damage.
Jack's Blitz Slash sent him to the golem's back, arriving in front of Handsome Joe who was taken aback by Jack's sudden appearance.
Due to his surprise, Joe did not control his Spectral Blades to perform complex maneuvers. The two blades slashed at Jack on their own, which Jack easily swatted aside. Jack followed up with Cross Slash.
Joe had snapped back by now, he used a skill to face Jack's cross slash head-on. His sword bloated with golden light and crashed at Jack's Cross Slash. An explosion of light resulted and threw Handsome Joe away. He had lost the clash, he suffered damage that put his HP to half.
Another shot was fired and Jack was hit on his leg. He clenched his teeth and endured the pain. The heavy steps of Mazin were heard from his back. Jack moved to the side and spun around as another shot was fired. The best way to deal with a gun was to keep moving or find a cover.
Jack used the large Mazin as cover. His two swords danced and clashed with Mazin's fists as he put the large robot in between him and Wilted Tree. The girl couldn't get a clear shot. She tried to circle around but Jack adjusted his position.
Jack executed another burst attack again. The slashes caused Mazin to stumble while the combo damage built up. While Mazin was unbalanced, Jack stored his weapons and jumped onto the golem, he then started climbing. Once he reached its head, he used one hand for hold while the other re-summoned Storm Breaker. He stabbed at the back of Mazin's neck and caused critical damage.
Mazin tried to grab at Jack on its back but its bulky arms were unable to reach backward. It whirled around continuously to throw Jack off, but Jack hold on steadily, continuingly stabbing the golem. Wilted Tree fired a few shots, but because Mazin and Jack kept on spinning, none of her shots hit.
She had to forcefully control Mazin to stop and expose Jack's back to her. She then fired a few shots.
Those shots hit Jack's back but he ignored them and continued stabbing. His high HP and defense with continuous regeneration from both Superior body defense and Peniel's passive healing allowed him to tank the damage.
Wilted Tree was not an expert gunwoman, so she came nearer to get more accurate shots. She was targeting Jack's head to score critical damages. Handsome Joe had drunk a healing potion and was also coming to provide support.
Suddenly Jack jumped down and then used Charge which was already off cooldown. Wilted Tree was on high alert when she saw Jack approaching. She used Roll to evade just as Jack arrived. At the same time, Jack heard a familiar explosion sound. He turned and saw Mazin's back erupted. What looked like jet engine fire at the back of Mazin propelled the golem with extreme speed outburst.
Jack was ready this time. the Golem's punch pierced through Jack's image while his real body appeared near Wilted Tree. He slashed the unsuspecting woman, scoring a hit.
Jack flowing sword style never stopped with one slash. However, his follow-up slash hit only air. Wilted Tree used an unknown skill and her body turned to smoke. But Jack's mana sensing allowed him to identify her new position immediately. He sent Sword of Light at her.
The crescent light came at her just as she changed position, catching her in surprise. When the light almost hit her, a flying dagger interrupted. The dagger was smashed aside, but the crescent light power diminished. It hit Wilted Tree and almost took out her remaining HP.
She quickly jumped back with a scare. If the flying dagger had not come as it did, she would have lost her life.
"So, you finally think that I am qualified enough?" Jack turned to Anotherday.
"Yes," he said. Three daggers appeared in his hand.
'Three?' Jack wondered.
'He must have leveled up his skill to at least level ten. Every five levels allowed him to throw one extra dagger simultaneously,' Peniel explained.
Anotherday threw the daggers. All three came at different angles and targeted Jack's weak points. From that one throw, Jack knew Anotherday's expertise was not a joke.
The angles made it so Jack couldn't use his swords to deflect all three of the incoming daggers. He slashed and deflected two while moving to the side to evade the third. He immediately sensed another unseen attack from the side. He jumped just as a boomerang flew below him.
The boomerang returned to Anotherday's hand and he threw it forward again at the same time another three daggers appears in his hand.
'I thought the boomerang had ten seconds cooldown?' Jack asked as he stepped back to dodge the boomerang.
'If the boomerang didn't hit its target and returned to the thrower's hand, it can be thrown immediately without a cooldown,' Peniel answered.
Flying daggers and Boomerang continued to cover each other, preventing Jack from approaching. Every throw of the daggers targeted Jack's critical point.
"Damn it! Do you think you are Xiao Li?" Jack uttered. He decided to just force his way through. He let the boomerang hit him to activate the weapon's ten seconds cooldown. He was afflicted with the Dizzy effect, but his Purifying Pendant automatically negated that negative mental status effect.
Anotherday still managed to take advantage of that one second when Purifying Pendant took effect. Two of his three flying daggers landed on Jack. Jack's HP went down and he was afflicted by Bleed. Jack still tried to force his way through, but Anotherday sent another flying dagger before the 2 seconds cooldown. This one dagger flew with a speed much faster than the previous, taking Jack by surprise as it stabbed into him.
As if without stopping, Anotherday threw three daggers again right after. Only then did Jack remember that a Hidden Weapon Specialist used to be Archer class. Anotherday could still use Precise Shot skill but no longer needed a bow for it, it could be done using his flying dagger. The two skills were considered separate so each cooldown was calculated differently. Anotherday had used the Precise Shot skill to cover the 2-second gap in between his Flying Dagger skills.
'If utilized properly, this Hidden Weapon Specialist boasts the highest attacking rate amongst range classes,' Jack thought.
As Jack remembered Anotherday used to be an Archer, he was reminded of another of Archer's skill. He sensed danger coming at him from above. At the same time, Wilted Tree came out from Anotherday's back and supported him with gunshots.
Jack decided he could not risk tanking through all those attacks. He used Flash Step away from his position before rolling to put more distance. He saw a large eagle had swooped in at the position he was before. Missing its target, the eagle flew back and circled above Anotherday.
'That should be his pet, a Grey Sharp-winged Eagle,' Peniel informed the same time she used her Fast Heal skill. A soothing light enveloped Jack, bringing his HP back up and alleviating the bleed effect.
Mazin and Handsome Joe arrived at this time. Whirlwind Falchion disappeared from Jack's hand and was replaced by Rapid Dazing Staff. One rune was formed rapidly and Ice Ring exploded out.
Mazin was frozen while Joe was slowed.
"You finally use your second class," Wilted Tree said.
"Yeah.. The three of you are qualified enough."
