"Okay, here's the plan," I said. "I'm going to [Charge] at the invader while you run a little ways away behind me. Once you see them, shoot a [Fire Bolt]. If you hit it, great; they'll probably be stunned by the hit so I can finish them off with a few quick [Thrusts]."

"And if I miss?"

"I dunno, just keep shooting?"

"That sounds like an awful plan."

"You got anything better?"

When she remained quiet, I grunted and started running, activating [Charge] as I did so. Crystal struggled to keep pace with me, awkwardly shifting her spear from one hand to another. I didn't have time to worry about her, though; I could see the enemy up close. I squinted through the snow as I lowered my spear point; the enemy was slim, like the {Archers} before but we hadn't been attacked by arrows. They must be of some other class then.

As we drew close, I signaled to Crystal to shoot. She didn't see it, though, struggling as she was to hold her spear while trying to form the [Fire Bolt]. So I yelled, "Invader! Shoot them!"

Startled, she jerked her hand and overshot the target by a mile.

I cursed and ran harder, fighting against the rowdy winds to reach the invader. They advanced as I did, pulling out what looked to be a curved short sword - a scimitar. The invader - it was a woman, now that I could vaguely see her properly - dashed toward me, holding the scimitar out to the side as if it was a great sword.

Was she going to try and swing the sword around? Yes, I could see her arm moving as the distance between us shrunk. Over the wind, I heard her call out two skills in quick succession. "[Blade Swipe]; [Critical Manuever]!"

Unfortunately for her, her choice of skills was poorly chosen. She hadn't gotten nearly close enough to use [Blade Swipe] on me with how short her weapon was. I grinned at the lousy mistake, activating [Thrust] as I lunged toward her, the scimitar passing harmlessly over the shaft. The spear plunged through her soft chest - yes, she wasn't even wearing armor - the point easily tearing through the shirt she wore.

The words Critical Hit! rose above her head as I yanked my spear back out. She fell to the ground, dead.

"Huh," I said, plunking my spear down into the snow. "That was awfully easy."

Crystal finally reached me, panting heavily as she clutched her chest. Her spear had been discarded, lying somewhere hidden in the snow.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"I'm not fit for running," she wheezed, bending over to rest her hands on her knees.

"I guess we'll have to work around that next time..."

I ignored her pained wheezing and opened up the newest notification.

For single-handedly defeating a Player one level below you, you have gained 30 EXP.

For repeating a specific action, you have learned the skill [Battle Sense]. Skill info: Collects information about an opponent during a fight. (Passive; More information observed each level). No SP cost.

For constant use of skills, [Thrust] has reached level 2. [Thrust] Piercing effect increased by 2%; Pierce's effectiveness is now 32%.

Ah, so that's what [Thrust] does. No wonder I couldn't pierce the first {Archer's} armor before.