Author's Note: Apologies, this should have come out before reset but I fell asleep for like half the day.
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Deployed Soldier simply gazed at Wee Cunt with a neutral glance and slowly unsheathed his Divine Sword, Purita. The majority of his fighting power came from this weapon, or at least what helped during this competition in particular.
After all, his Legendary Class was the Great Commander, and it was one that focused on leading an army. All of his class skills dealt with buffing and maneuvering a force under him, which allowed him to excel at his job as Umbra's highest-ranked military commander, but was obviously not as useful for a one-on-one PVP fight.
That was why Wee Cunt dared to taunt him, despite knowing that Deployed Soldier was a true blue core member and someone with power almost equivalent to Sublime within the framework of Umbra.
For that matter, Deployed Soldier's response to calmly unsheathe his elegant blade and point it at his foe with a serious expression was quite cool. Many core members nodded their heads in appreciation and respect for their Great Commander, while the crowd - regardless of gender - found themselves swooning.
Wee Cunt himself smiled shakily and began sweating. His core member opponent gave off an aura that made the Scotsman feel a dreaded sense of instant demise. After all, knowing his class' limitations, Deployed had made sure to train himself brutally in his technique with swordsmanship, and had even requested advance payment from Sublime to invest it all into acquiring the entire set of Draco's sword skills.
After both fighters had exchanged their 'pleasantries', Amber called for the battle to begin, and Deployed immediately blasted forward like a bullet, aiming the tip of his blade at Wee Cunt's throat. For that matter, the fellow simply leapt up and over Deployed attack like an acrobat and left something on the ground.
Justin Davis looked down to see what was there, only to see a little black ball that was lit with a fuse that was about to reach the end of its length. Immediately, he jumped back in retreat, just in time to avoid being caught in an explosion.
Wee Cunt, who had landed at another side of the arena, turned and grinned arrogantly, holding another black ball in his hand that was lit. He then tossed it over to Deployed Soldier's location, before he retrieved another one.
「Bandolier - Epic Class (Rank 3)
Skills: Acrobatic Genius (Passive), Engineering Genius (Passive), Dark Present (Active), Please Forgive Me! (Active), Barrage (Active).
Starting Stats: Str 10, Dex 50, End 10, Int 10, Spr 10, Cha 20, Lck 10
Exp gain rate: 170%
Rank up difficulty: 40%
Class weapons: Explosives.
Class skills: Any Dexterity.」
「Acrobatic Genius – Passive skill
Effect: As a master of dexterous movement, you are able to lift your body through the air in ways that would be impossible for all others. Your movement speed that should be great due to your innately high Dexterity stat is rendered normal, funneled into your jumping, flexibility, balance and reactions.」
「Engineering Genius – Passive skill
Effect: As a Bandolier, you possess all the engineering knowledge needed to forge a wide array of explosives for your purposes. You can also purchase explosives at any store for 10% of the price, and you can purchase raw materials needed for making explosives at 1% of the price.」
「Dark Present – Active skill
Effect: Present a lovely gift to your foe, one that might leave them obliterated in pieces the moment you step away! The effectiveness of this depends on the range between you and the target, as well as the difference in Charisma between your two classes.
Note: The damage done depends on the type of explosive presented in the package.
Cooldown: 1 hour.」
「Please Forgive Me! – Active skill
Effect: Beg your enemy for forgiveness, and then present them with an offering that will soothe their killing intent outward you. Once you jump back, this offering will light up in a spectacular fashion!
Note: Can only be done when at 10% HP or less.
Cooldown: Once per battle.」
「Barrage – Active skill
Effect: Throw out a great number of your stockpiled explosives at once, bombarding an area in their magnificent light as all those trapped within get turned to dust. Depending on the size of the area, your ammunition, damage, and accuracy will be affected.
Duration: 10 seconds.
Cooldown: 5 minutes.」
The Bandolier was a Dexterity and Charisma-based class where the Dexterity played a crucial role in their acrobatic movements and skill when throwing bombs, while the Charisma side worked on making sure their despicable and shameless tactics work out.
Yes, this class was perfect for one like Wee Cunt, which was why he had passed the Class Up objective on the first try.
Deployed Soldier frowned when he saw another of these detestable bombs thrown at him, forced to avoid it once more as he did not have a shield or any defensive skill, which put him on the back foot.
However, when Wee Cunt threw yet another bomb over, Deployed Soldier became irritated and cut towards the oncoming bomb with his sword. This made Wee Cunt sneer at his foolishness, only to be shocked when a long blade of light erupted from the edge of Deployed Soldier's blade, slicing through the bomb he threw out and rushing over towards him.
This sudden attack caused Wee Cunt to pale, as he was still in mid-air and could not move easily. Left with no other choice, he could only display a vicious expression and explode one of his smaller and weaker bombs meant for harassment, using the force of it to tilt his head away.
Deployed Soldier's unexpected slice only ended up taking away a chunk of his ear, but the pain from this was enough to make Wee Cunt feel slightly dizzy. When he landed shakily, he gazed at Deployed Soldier with shock and incomprehension.
"How did ye even dae that?!" Wee Cunt roared in fear.
After all, he had long known the abilities of this big boss, but he had never seen any skills or passives that would allow the fellow to make such a move, which was why he was caught completely offguard.
The only way Deployed could come to possess such a skill… Wee Cunt's eyes lowered to the marvelous blade in his hands. Deployed saw where he was looking and flourished his blade in a fencer's style, smiling slightly as he did so.
This told Wee Cunt that his suspicions were right! What made him even warier was that he didn't know the exact details of the blade and what other benefits it gave Deployed Soldier.
「Purita – Sword
Rank: Divine
Durability: MAX
Effects:
Passive 1 – Extreme Finesse: The user is able to maximize their swordsmanship to an extremely high degree while in possession of the sword. The speed of attacks is raised by 120% while the critical rate is increased by 60% per strike.
Passive 2 – Sword Light: Every attack with this blade can summon the light of the blade, a wave that can extend for as far as 1 kilometer in any direction and can take any shape.
Active 1 – Condense: Concentrate all sword movements into one strike, unleashing every single sword-related skill or technique you have on a single target. The power of this skills depends on the number of sword skills/ techniques known by the user. Cooldown: 1 day.
Active 2 – Speed: This increases attack and movement speed by 300%. Duration: 10 minutes Cooldown: 7 days.
Description: This is the legendary sword Purita, a blade lost in the history of Boundless and one of the first 10 ever created at the hands of Great Blacksmith God, Hephaestus. It has the ability to grant the user full mastery over swordsmanship when wielded, and increase their speed greatly on demand.」
If Wee Cunt could see this, he would despair and understand exactly how Deployed had been able to largely keep up with Slim Fatty and Essence during the earlier tournaments. The power of his Divine Weapon lay not in extravagant attacks, but suitably increasing the power of its wielder to bring out the best possible swordsmanship.
The only ones who knew the details of his sword were those who found it, the Five Generals and Essence, as well as his allies from the Central Country.
Wee Cunt gritted his teeth when he saw Deployed Soldier began to swing his sword at great speeds, sending waves of sword lights over at him that were shaped differently.
Knowing that he was in a tough spot, the fellow overcharged his acrobatics and began leaping about in a manner even more amazing than the Flying Graysons. Using his greatly buffed reaction speed and flexibility, he spotted the trajectories of each attack and maneuvered his body through the air to avoid them.
Deployed's eyes narrowed as the fellow with a kilt continued to perform this feat. It was clear that this could go on for a while, which Deployed had no intention of tolerating. As such, even as he swung his blade to suppress Wee Cunt, he approached the scotsman's general area slowly and steadily.
This also had the effect of giving Wee Cunt a narrower time window in which he could predict the trajectory of each attack and an even narrower window where he could meander through them.
Realizing that he was going to be slowly pushed out of the ring if this continued, Wee Cunt suddenly changed the way he moved. From moving sideways to avoid the attack, he began meandering forward, dodging the attacks while also closing the gap between him and Deployed Soldier rapidly.
Seeing this, Deployed felt that his opponent was up to no good and halted his own advance. However, it was too late, Wee Cunt judged that his distance was just enough for his plan to work.
As such, he activated his skill, Dark Present!
Unfortunately for Deployed, the skill passed the Charisma check since he had been investing stat points into Dexterity and Strength ever since he got the class to maximize his sword skills.
He was lucky that the Great Commander class was partially Charisma-based, which gave him much more than the average bloke, but it couldn't compare to Wee Cunt who invested in Dexterity and Charisma, decked out in supporting accessories on his body that boosted the effects of the two.
Immediately, the skill's 'animation' took hold. Deployed Soldier sheathed his sword and remained where he was while Wee Cunt walked over, also seized by the 'animation' of the skill, otherwise he would have just stuffed a bomb down Deployed's throat at this range.
Wee Cunt then smiled obsequiously and a thickly wrapped present materialized behind him, which he then presented to the core member who received it with a frown. Wee Cunt then rubbed his hand like a filthy merchant and bowed to Deployed, who merely waved him away.
The next moment, Wee Cunt jumped back and sneered as the package erupted in light, exploding with a significant bang as Deployed's eyes widened in shock.
The entirety of these actions was done automatically and against their will, from expressions, to movements. This was part of the charm and horror of Charisma-based skills.
Once Wee Cunt regained control of himself, his hooligan-like smirk faded as he gazed at the smoke from the explosion with a serious expression. He had used one of his Uncommon bombs in that one, which was the limit of what he could make on his own.
However, he paled when he saw Deployed Soldier walk out of the smoke wrapped in a blue shield. He had a cracked pendant in his hand which he grimaced at then tossed away.
The man himself was completely uninjured and gazed at Wee Cunt silently, flourishing his blade elegantly once more. The battle up to this point had left the crowd silent with trepidation.
Watching Wee Cunt's acrobatics was just the epitome of cool no matter how he looked and the feat of throwing bombs was endearing in a certain sense. There was also the cool, composed, and disciplined Deployed Soldier who remained unfettered throughout the fight.
Wee Cunt knew that he was in a situation of life and death right now with how close he still was to Deployed. If the fellow so much as jumped a little bit, he would be on him, ready to cut him to shreds.
Fearing this, Wee Cunt activated his Barrage skill. Suddenly, it was as if he had grown the Buddha's Thousand Hands as he began throwing all kinds of bombs he had kept in his inventory forward like a semi-auto gun.
He threw them in an arc to overwhelm Deployed from the top before throwing the rest head-on to prevent him from rushing over. This aerial and straightforward bombardment made Deployed's eyes widen in shock, and he gazed at the solemn Wee Cunt with a glint in his eye.
Despite being hurried, the stoic expression on his face stayed. He then spoke in a mutter, this being the first time he opened his mouth since the start of this match.
"To force me to use it so early... fine, let's see how potent it is in PVP."
Deployed then opened his eyes once more as an ethereal light surrounded his body. He had activated the second active skill of the Purita sword, Speed, which increased his attack and movement speed by 300%.
With a gleam from his brown pupils, he burst forward at speeds that created a small dust cloud behind him. Just as Wee Cunt had been surreptitiously avoiding his sword lights using acrobatics, Deployed Soldier did the same using the sheer speed he possessed, weaving through explosions occurring around him at all times, covering the entire arena sequentially.
Many bombs were dodged by Deployed as he moved like this while others were cut, but he had already blown past them before they could release their payload onto him.
Wee Cunt's face showed abject horror at his, seeing the fellow blaze throw all his attacks and near him at speeds he could barely keep up with. The crowd too had risen to their feet, everyone watching what was going on with anticipation, boiling blood, and shock.
Wee Cunt roared out and threw out all his reserved explosives he hoped to keep for his final blow, unleashing all his Uncommon Rank bombs. This failed to stop Deployed who had put all his focus into ending this battle.
As he neared Wee Cunt, he raised his blade and ignored the bombs that struck his body, as they were repelled by blue barriers that kept appearing around him manifested by ornament's the Great Commander wore on different parts of his body to ensure his safety.
His blade then began to glow with a resplendent light as energy was dragged into it. Deployed himself widened his eyes greatly as he activated Purita's first active skill, Condense, which allowed him to combine all sword skills and techniques into one ultimate strike.
As he possessed all 360 of Draco's Sword Skills, they were slowly compressed into the Divine Sword, from Sword Skill 1: Inclined Slash to Sword Skill 360: Counter Kill!
All of them compressed and condensed their energy onto the blade, forming a white light as Deployed blitzed through the arena, tearing the entire thing in half as he crossed it like a natural disaster passing through.
Time seemed to have stopped at this moment as the crowd were frozen with dropped jaws, even Wee Cunt himself who was watching this occur with a look of strange surprise. Deployed, who was coated in a white glow, maintained his calm face as his eyes connected with Wee Cunt who was now right before him.
He suddenly smiled slightly, which shocked the powerless Bandolier. However, once Deployed passed by his body and stepped right behind him, his skill came to an end as Wee Cunt stopped throwing bombs.
Deployed then casually sheathed his sword while lowering his head, which heralded time to continue moving. Immediately, Wee Cunt's body exploded in a white light as he suffered the effects of 360 Sword Skills simultaneously, destroying him thoroughly.
Deployed then calmly walked off stage while saying: "It is my win."
At this moment, the crowd erupted in cheers so loud that it shook the entire arena. The core members who had been watching on displayed various expressions, most respect, and horror.
Sublime tsked as she realized that the power balance between her and Justin Davis would become tenuous with this kind of display. Essence Stalker folded his arms with a smile, grinning widely.
"Interesting. I hope I get to meet him later. I might finally have an interesting match."
Eleventh match winner: Deployed Soldier!
Amber then came over and called up the next match, which was one that many fellows had been looking forward to because it involved two lovely ladies.
12th Match: Gentle Flower vs Maple Forest!
From the left, a svelte maiden entered the stage. Kamisuo's Guildmaster might not have had much in the way of endowment enter, but her face was oval and pretty in a refreshing way. In her presence, one would not really think of her in a sexual manner, but would still love to see her smile because it was a pleasant sight.
Her eyes were light black and her long, waist-length hair was a deep green color. She still maintained her simple sundress with a flowery embroidery which was as white as snow, just like her fair and smooth skin, along with a pair of sandals that wrapped around her ankles, perfecting her fresh and clean look.
To the right, was a caramel-skinned woman who was quite the sight for sore eyes. After all, Maple Forest was not your average everyday girl… she was a Latina!
As one could imagine, she came with the full package that made this denomination the Goddess in the hearts of many men, namely thick red lips, a slender face with eyes that were sharp, large, perky breasts along with a flat navel, wide hips and a voluminous peach that Rambunctious rated as S-.
Top that off with heavy eyebrows that were furrowed like she had something on her mind, and she was someone who managed to get the crowd hitting and howling like wild beasts.
The ladies gazed at the fellows with disgust, but the men also glared back with disdain. Pointing to their noses, they chastised the women for daring to look at them that way after making such noise when the male contestants had come earlier.
Feeling speechless, that those fellows dared to point out such an obvious double standard, the ladies remained quiet. This left the fellows feeling incomparably refreshed as they continued making noise for one lovely beauty and another sexy one.
(Author's Note: Gentle Flower looks like a slightly shorter version of Sakura from Fate/Stay Night and Maple Forest looks like Michiko Malandro.)