"Freaking guards," the {Great Warrior} growled, stomping toward us.
"Stay back," I told Crystal, brandishing my spear. "Hopefully, your spells can do more damage than my spear."
She nodded and I set off toward the beast of a man, triggering [Charge]. He was ready for me, swinging upward instead of from the side. [Battle Sense] told me his second ax was coming in from the right, so I dodged left, [Thrusting] my spear into his arm as I passed.
The {Great Warrior} snarled, spinning around with a speed he didn't have before. He overextended, though, and I ducked under the powerful swing, tilting backward as I did so. My gambeson nearly tipped me over but a quick [Burst] had me standing up straight and jabbing my spear at his armpit. When I began to retreat, his leg shot out and tripped me up.
Falling over myself, I just barely managed to plant my spear into the snow, stopping me from toppling to the ground. My eyes widened as [Battle Sense] picked up that I wouldn't get out in time to dodge his next strike, so I used [Burst] and [Toughen] in quick succession. The ax slashed at my chest before I could get far enough away, but [Toughen] worked as advertised; the blade visibly slowed when the armor projection appeared and I only received a thick cut to my gambeson.
At least the padding is thick, I thought, dodging yet another strike. [Thrust] scored me another thin gash on his arm and in return, he slapped the butt of his ax into my shoulder.
I winced as my shoulder blade cracked at the impact and triggered [Burst] twice to get behind him. I tried to use [Thrust] again to stab the small of his back, but the skill failed to activate and the spearpoint bounced off his skin. Confused, I tried again only for the same thing to happen.
He whirled around to face me, grinning savagely, and lifted his arm to swing. Triggering [Burst] failed the same way [Thrust] did.
My skills have cooldowns!
"Crystal!" I shouted, raising my spear to block the ax blade. "Shoot him now!"
A [Fire Bolt] slammed into the {Great Warrior's} back, making him stumble and drop one of his axes. The distraction gave me enough time to [Burst] around his side and jab my spear twice into his ribs, [Thrust] magically activating on the second poke.
He spun, swinging his remaining ax at me. I stepped around it, poked him twice again - it didn't do much without [Thrust] but it worked anyway - and retreated, throwing one fist back at Crystal. Another [Fire Bolt] flew past me and burst against the invader's chest. He took a few steps back, growling as he looked between me and Crystal.
I put myself between him and Crystal, thinking he might try to charge at her. Instead, he turned and ran off in the snow, leaving us alone.
Ooh there's gonna be some serious talkin now....
nice.
"..throwing one first back at Crystal..."
i'm guessing the author meant, showing a fist back at Crystal?
throwing a fist literally means punching towards someone.
yes, that's what was meant. Wish grammarly would catch that.
My skills have cooldowns!
More skills are better skills.