Lily, with her unreserved aggression, is the first to tire out. This was planned for though and she hops into the harness which closes behind her. While they had planned for this, that didn’t change what had to happen. Without Lily at his feet, Jason had to use war stomp. Not too much of a change, but it adds yet another drain on him.

This change does however allow for him to spread the damage around even more. He drives the yubs further back as petals rain down upon them. Still, Jason knew this wouldn’t last and signaled to the others.

Up till now they had continued to move through the yubs to prevent a buildup. With Lily dipping out, the trio change up the strategy. Jason and Rosha go back to back with Courtney moving between the two of them.

What Jason and Rosha are doing is simple enough. By being back to back, they can preserve their strength and focus attacking in front of themselves. Now if Courtney had joined them in this, it would work better, having less to focus on. However, she has a more important job. By moving around, she can respond to any sudden changes.

As the yubs ebb and flow around them, she ducks out from the protection of the other two so she can claw any brave yubs. Over and over she ducks down between the two, using her claws to shred and the drain to heal. All the while she monitors everyone’s health so she can respond to any dangerous dips that might happen.

Rosha takes to this new formation the best. With her grip centered on the staff, she can fend off the monsters with minimal movement. In fact, this style of fighting is much more relaxed for her.

Jason on the other hand is having a much harder time. Since his last life, all of his training has been focused on being a lone wolf. Fighting off in the wilds with no help. There was some training on how to fight in formation, this close-knit group fighting against the world style of combat is new to him. Every previous fight, even with the others, has been alone and now he is feeling the gap in his knowledge.

Jason isn’t the only one to notice this. Off to the side Peter smirks, ‘Finally, something Mr. perfect isn’t quite so perfect at!’

Of course, there is a difference between not being good at it and being bad at it. Having to stand his ground with an ally behind him prevents Jason from dodging around as much as he could if up against a wall. Still with his tough skin, he can use his hands and arms to deflect blows that others couldn’t. This is especially true with the yubs, as besides their teeth the rest of the monster’s body is flesh.

More time passes for them and by the time Lily has caught her breath they have killed a good three hundred jubs. Lily opens up the harness and jumps out to rejoin the fight. At this point, the group can’t go back to roaming around inside the herd. All around them the yubs have piled up, preventing any chance to escape. With that in mind, Jason shouts at Lily and Courtney.

Once again their formation shifts with Courtney joining the other two, going back to back with them. Lily with her smaller size is more able to fill the role, anyway. Hopping around the group’s feet, she is now more able to preserve her strength, striking out only as needed. Still, she isn’t fresh by any means and only lasts for another hundred yub deaths before she has to retreat to the harness again.

By now the group has been fighting for longer than two of any single fight in the past, and it is wearing on them. Jason shouts about going back to the previous formation, but Courtney denies it. Even just standing there, the constant fighting has gotten to her. Though it doesn't help that to attack, she has to duck down every time. With how tired she is, there is no chance of her being able to go back to ducking around the other two.

Jason sighs at this, but there is nothing he can do about it. As it is, he is at about the same point as Rosha. Even then that is only because of his stamina stat, otherwise Rosha would be the only one still fighting in top form. Though for how long, neither of them can guess.

One hundred, two hundred, and then three hundred more yubs die. However, with every hundred their killing speed drops. Lily joins in again but doesn’t last even fifty yubs and Jason tells her to stay in the harness at this point. The group is only 300 yubs away from the halfway point, but each kill makes that goal seem farther away.

As if by agreement, the group pushes on. They want that halfway point. At the start there might have been a glimmer of hope. That foolish idea that maybe, just maybe, they could do it. Now halfway is a stretch which drags them past their previous limits.

Two hundred more yubs die, and against Jason’s orders, Lily joins in on the fight again. Though being honest, at this point she is the freshest one in the group. Those two hundred yubs took almost as much time as the first five hundred did. Off to the side Peter is tapping his arm, waiting for them to call on him or for one of the group to fall.

50, 60, 70, 75 more yubs die and Jason is breathing like a bellow while Rosha is seeing spots. The only thing keeping Courtney standing is her constantly funneling the healing into her body. This isn’t quite able to restore stamina, but it is healing the damage being done by overdrawing herself.

80, 85, 90, 91 and Courtney’s shadow fur fades. 92, 93, 94, and Rosha is standing only with the help of her staff. They can’t go on for much longer and their health is dropping. 95, 96, and Jason sees the end in sight. With a furious yell, more Energy than actual sound, he drops to the ground and kicks both his feet out. Flowers start to bloom on his feet but almost fade before they can. Jason pushes through and blasts down six yubs.

Akhier

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