Mika nocked a Spirit Arrow on the Wyvernwood Bow Artifact and pulled the bowstring back smoothly. Simultaneously, he channeled a trace of energy into the Wyvernwood Bow, resulting in a cacophony of sounds. The Wyvernwood Bow roared aloud as if it was trying to escape the confinement of the Bow Artifact.
The Spirit Arrow vibrated violently as Draconic Power channeled into it from the Wyvernwood Bow.
Simultaneously, Mika activated Arrow Duplication and Pierce. His two older 4-Star Soultraits were at full display. Mika repeatedly used Arrow Duplication and used Pierce often enough to shroud the Spirit Arrow in a white hue.
Mika released the Spirit Arrow once he finished aiming. A quarter of a second later he activated his 3rd Soultrait. He purchased a third Soultrait from the Jungle Shop and upgraded it straight to 4-Star. Rapid Fire. The Soultrait accelerated his upper body's movements while simultaneously aiding more energy into the energy paths in his arms. This allowed him to retrieve another Spirit Arrow, nock it, and pull the bowstring back in less than a second.
The second Spirit Arrow was fueled with Draconic Power, and empowered with Arrow Duplication, and Pierce before at once. Mika released the Spirit Arrow.
Rapid Fire did not only accelerate his movement speed for a short moment. It also decreased the toll on his body and created the most efficient pathway to keep as much energy as possible while producing the strongest possible attack.
The pair of Spirit Arrows that whizzed through the air split up. Arrow Duplication turned the pair of Spirit Arrows into 4…8…then 16…and finally 32 before they poured down onto the Soldiers of the Zentika Empire.
Under normal circumstances, the Soldiers would have raised their shields to block the attacks. However, the Draconic Power within the Spirit Arrows increased their top speed. The Draconic Power acted as an accelerant, increasing the danger of the duplicated Spirit Arrows even more.
The Spirit Arrows amplified by Pierce, penetrated the Pyro Steel Armor Sets of the Tier-2 Soldiers as if the armor was made from butter instead. However, the attack was not over. The Spirit Arrows pierced deep into the Tier-2 Soldier's flesh and reaped their lives. Only then did the Spirit Arrows' power come into effect.
Mika received various powerful energy influxes. The energy influxes were more potent than usual, and they were not transferred straight to his War Rune either. Instead, Mika was given the opportunity to tap into the energy influxes and annex some of the energy to replenish his dried energy storage. The leftover energy was pulled into the War Rune where it was consumed to refine and strengthen Mika.
Mika didn't rely on the Spirit Arrows' special ability, but it was extremely helpful to refill his energy storage. He changed his tactic after a moment and focused on Rapid Fire combined with Pierce. There was no need to use Spirit Arrows all the time. Instead, Mika was ready to change his attack pattern as often as possible. He wanted to remain unpredictable.
Therefore, Mika turned over to make use of Elemental Might. Two Lesser Elementals chose to accompany him for today's battle. They charged his ordinary arrows and amplified them with Elemental Might. Simultaneously, they inserted traces of their energy into the Wyvernwood Bow to ensure that the Bow Artifact would continue to expose its Draconic Power
Even ordinary arrows would turn into deadly projectiles as long as Draconic Power, Elemental Might, and Pierce were applied to them. The arrows would burst apart after one or two uses, but Mika didn't plan to retrieve the arrows, either way.
He focused on his new Soultrait, Rapid Fire and Pierce as it drained only a little energy while the Lesser Elementals granted him the power he required to kill his enemies.
Mika managed to release more than 30 arrows in a minute with Rapid Fire. His accuracy suffered a little bit, but it wasn't a major downside. Mika aimed at the enemies' chests and larger vital points to cripple and weaken them instead of killing most of them straight away.
Once his energy storage dropped below 50%, Mika retrieved another Spirit Arrow. He used his remaining energy pool to use Arrow Duplication several times before he unleashed a barrage of duplicated Spirit Arrows once again.
The second barrage of duplicated Spirit Arrow didn't kill as many enemies as intended, but three energy influxes were already enough to restore his energy storage.
It was more than enough to continue fighting without having to use potions. He could keep his attention on the battlefield and aid the monsters on the ground and the Forest Elves behind him to decrease the Zentika Empire's numbers slowly.
Not many died from their bombardment of deadly projectiles, but hundreds, if not thousands of Tier-2 Soldiers sustained mid-to-severe injuries. Their attack prowess weakened, allowing the High Beast Horde and the Sacred Knight Temple's forces to eliminate the threats with more ease.
Opars didn't fare as well as Mika. He didn't have as many powerful Soultraits as Mika. Nonetheless, he had several Artifacts that suited his Soultraits perfectly. He used Energy Imprint on the Dryadwoven Bow Artifact, increasing the pulling force required to pull the bowstring drastically.
No one at the 2nd Tier should be strong enough to pull the bowstring back. Opars, however, could do so. He managed to solve one of his biggest issues by purchasing a particular Soultrait from the Jungle Shop. Herculean Arms. Opars upgraded Herculean Arms to 4-Star and uncovered that it was even better suited to his tactic than he'd expected.
First of all, Herculean Arms strengthened Opars' arms. The Soultrait adjusted the muscles in his arms and developed them until Opars' muscles felt as strong as tempered steel. However, the most important aspect was that Herculean Arms allowed Opars to alter his physique according to his will. It was quite difficult but studying the anatomy of the Forest Elves allowed him to make some additional changes, transforming his arm and back muscles into the perfect tools to pull the Dryadwoven Bow Artifact.
Ordinary arrows were not suitable for the Dryadwoven Bow Artifact. They would splinter upon impacting on the target. Opars had to switch to Reinforced Treantbranch Arrows. These arrows were made from the branches of Treants and they could be further reinforced by infusing them with energy. As someone with an exotic Soultrait like Energy Imprint, Opars could easily imprint energy into other objects.
He could easily penetrate the Pyro Steel Armor Sets of the Zentika Empire's Tier-2 Soldiers, and that was exactly what he did. He used his new toys and newly acquired Soultrait to obliterate as many enemies as possible.
Opars would have felt much better knowing that his attacks annihilated those who were partially responsible for Liopham and Pheli's death, but he had nothing against assaulting the Zentika Empire's forces either.
The Zentika Empire had been their cause of pain and suffering for years. Opars didn't forget the things they did to the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team when they were still official citizens of the Zentika Empire. They had been treated badly.
It was payback time!
Lilica wasn't different from the Mika and Opars. She tried hard to control her raging emotions, but she was having a hard time. The only reason Lilica stayed back was because she was worried about the other Forest Elves and both Mika and Opars. Mika had been hit the worst with the death of Liopham and Pheli. It took him the longest to regain his senses and return to training.
Opars may have been casting Soothing Wave on both Lilica and Mika, but his mental health wasn't all that high either. The EmeraldLeaf Adventurers were down and felt regret. They should have been stronger to protect their friends and beloved, but they had grown lax and laid-back.
The EmeraldLeaf Adventurers had been certain that their Soultraits would solve all issues. Even if they couldn't solve all the issues, Michael would solve them instead.
That was what they'd been thinking about for a while. However, the Savannah's Regional War changed their train of thought. They knew that Michael couldn't always be with them and that they weren't omnipotent. Their force was great given their Tier and Rank, but that was already it.
'We need more achievement points!' Lilcia cursed in her mind, using Weakness Detection, and Precise Aim to adjust her near-
perfect aim naturally and detect numerous openings spread all over the battlefield.
Under normal circumstances, these openings would be too small for anyone to hit. However, Lilica upgraded Presice Aim to 4-Star for a reason. Her aim was impeccable at this point, and hardly anyone could block her attacks even if they saw them.
Unfortunately, seeing Lilica's attacks wasn't that easy anymore.
Lilica bought Invisible Projectile from the Jungle Shop. Invisible Projectile was a bothersome Soultrait that nearly cost Michael's life at some point. It was a nuisance for every enemy and a blessing for the user…especially if utilized together with Weakness Detection and Precise Aim.
Lilica's arrows were camouflaged with 4-Star Invisible Projectile, allowing her to easily exploit the tiny openings in her enemies' defenses.
That was even easier with the use of the Silent Reaper, a Pseudo-Legendary Bow Artifact that blocks all vibrations, sounds and energy fluctuations. Lilica's arrows were not only invisible, but their energy fluctuations were sealed perfectly from the outside, and it was near impossible to hear or sense them.
They were among the lethal projectiles one could find all over the bloody battlefield.
The Forest Elven Elders and the families of Liopham and Pheli had decided to gift Mika, Opars, and Lilica three Pseudo-
Legendary Bow Artifacts as long as they dealt with the Council of Xylon.
Of course, the Zentika Empire was not the Council of Xylon, but the Heart of the Blazing Lion's attack was the whole reason Michael and everyone else couldn't barge into the Savannah Region to obliterate the Council of Xylon.
The Zentika Empire's forces had to be obliterated first!
