Worm dragged her sword with both hands to parry the goblin, and it stumbled back as she jumped away. Lucy stepped forward—weapon glowing—and slashed.
Her sword connected with its arm, but it didn't rip it off. Evidently, even with a <Heavy Slash>, her attack hadn't been at least twice its defense.
"That's fine." She grinned, beginning to get into the tempo of this suffer-worthy game as her feet shifted.
The goblin stomped and steadied itself, sending a cut down, and she twisted her figure as her sword scrapped against its own. Since she didn't block it, merely misdirecting it, the low force of its attack took only a percent off her health.
She stabilized herself and slashed as she passed its side.
The Goblin Commander roared and turned to attack.
A sword pierced through its skull and its hp dropped to 54%. It snarled. Enraged, its weapon glowed as it spun the other way and Lucy knew what was coming.
"Dodge!"
Worm tumbled out of the way of a sword's beam. It ripped apart the floor and smashed against the wall of the dungeon, sending dirt afloat.
As she charged to meet the creature, Lucy checked below her own health bar to see her companion's fall to deep red in one sitting.
"<Small Heal>"
Their swords clashed and a light fell upon Worm in the distance. The girl, upon the floor, was missing a good portion of her left leg, a digital scar in place.
"I suppose Eclipse's aggro system isn't based on game mechanics but the intellect and personality of the monster. . ." Worm muttered scrupulously, managing to stand on her singular foot. Well, hop, really.
Lucy looked at her speechlessly as she gritted her teeth back at the Goblin Commander before her, their blades locked.
"Oi, you're not trying to fight like that, right?!" She asked and stepped back.
The goblin came in and swung.
She sidestepped and slashed her own blade, ripping across its chest before jumping back to avoid its counter.
"Of course I am," A reply came back. "I've been curious about what happens when two people attack the same relative area in quick succession. . .would it be a critical hit or something else?"
What nonsense was this girl on about all of a sudden? Lucy ducked out of the way of a sword that scrapped into the dungeon's wall.
"Aim for its neck, would you?"
As the Goblin Commander tried to pull its weapon out, Lucy circled around it and slashed. Her weapon crossed along its neck and it snarled.
"Switch."
She jumped back as a blade passed beside her, drilling into the creature's neck. There was a sound of a pop and a small burst of blue rose from the attack area, then died down.
"Huh?" Lucy blinked her eyes.
The creature's health fell drastically into its red zone till it reached 18%.
"Oh, so it becomes a sort of stacking amplifier. Maybe 1.3 times the power of both? Does it depend on how many attacks? What's the time limit between each successive one? My, Eclipse is rather refined."
"Dodge you fool!"
The two girls collided as Lucy dragged Worm down with her and a blade's light passed overhead.
"Sorry sorry," Worm chuckled. "I think I'll call it 'Damage Stacking' and 'Damage Burst'."
"I don't care what you call it!" Lucy replied, "Barrier me!"
"Fufufu, <Small Barrier>"
Lucy leaped off as that barrier covered her.
She slashed in motion, her weapon reaching the chest of the beast as her hp raised slightly. Then she stepped back, and its attack came readily.
Their swords clanged, both forces pushed against one another. Of course, this time she had a barrier, so her health points were not clipped.
"Switch."
Lucy forced the creature's blade away and it stumbled back.
A sword drilled into its chest.
"Switch!"
Worm jumped away on her singular foot and Lucy slashed her blade, hitting the same spot.
The beast roared and snarled as a pop rang.
"Third stack!" Worm seemed more enthusiastic than ever. All for learning the game's mechanics more. She might have been in the beta, but her experience with the current game told her that a lot had improved and changed, especially combat.
She hopped forward with shocking speed and stabbed towards the goblin that had just found its footing.
"Fourth, actually." Lucy grinned and followed her strike with her own.
In the end.
Two damage bursts popped off and the Goblin Commander's health fell to 0%, its figure exploding into blue particles with a last snarl.
[Goblin Commander killed!]
{Rewards: 300 + 300 exp, 600 Gild, Goblin Spice, Goblin Commander's Long-sword, Goblin Commander's Leather Pants, Goblin Commander's Leather Gloves}
[Congratulations! You have gained 6 Souls!]
[Congratulations! You have reached level 10!]
[Four new skills available for activation!]
[Congratulations! You have cleared 'Acron's Goblin Outpost'!]
A slew of notices dinged, then the server-wide announcement came.
[Congratulations! The party 'Eden'—composed of players 'Eve' and 'Worm'—has achieved first clear of the dungeon 'Acron's Goblin Outpost'! It is now available to find on all mini maps!]
Worm going for the true gamer move, focusing on discovering mechanics instead of the boss. That damage stack it's a very powerfull feature if used properly and I'm sure it will play a big roll later on.
On another note, Worm has a heck of a good balance to be able to exert any meaningful force while swinging her sword with only one leg.
Let's chock that up to having practiced fencing before *cough* something you do quite require a good balance with your body for and the ability to derive maximum power from your thrusts.
I just remembered what Daffy said a while ago. I wonder what he meant by "Armament"?
"Are you really a traveler? *quack* Where's your weapon?" It scratched its head and bobbed to glance over her. "You wouldn't happen to have an Armament, would you? Wouldn't think they exist at this stage yet, do they?"
Now, I'm not the writer of this story but, judging by how he glanced over and realized she doesn't have a weapon equipped and then thought she might have an Armament, then it's safe to say that an Armament could very well be a summonable weapon that doesn't have to be directly equipped on your weapon. However, seeing as he dismissed that theory immediately after due to the game being in its infancy, it's safe to say that it's a mechanic for later in the game's progression. They'll get to it, eventually, probably.
I'm not the author of this story, nope, nuh huh, but that is my conjecture.
@LotsChrono Hey, random reader, there's an "author" tag next to your name. You should probably send a bug report to scribblehub!
@Dradel Woah how'd that get there? Must be a bug indeed. Thanks for letting me know, I might do just that and report it!
@LotsChrono So it seems it's something similar to R.A.T.H.'s, then.
@Leon153 *softly* No. Probably. I haven't actually figured out how Armaments will work yet *cough*
@LotsChrono *snorts* All in due time, there's no rush.