Golden chains sprouted from the floor and air, putting Meredith in a unique zone.
It was, in fact, a mana barrier, a skill mages learned relatively early in their gaming careers. It helped them remain on the battlefields for as long as possible.
In Meredith's case, however, the mana barrier wrapped her in golden chains.
Meredith extended her hand forward and spread her palms wide.
She curved her lips into a confident, arresting smile. "Release."
The chains rattled before rocketing in Jake's direction.
He stood still, aware that she cast a simple magic to test him.
In an instant, Jake caught his bow's handle and crumbled into Formless Soldier Form. He drew the highest anchor, locking his eyes on Meredith's face. His Death's Lock drew a trajectory toward his opponent.
All he had to do was to tuck in an arrow.
Which he did.
At the same time, the chains converged on him. Jake knew precisely when they would hit him as he read them through his perception zone. He also knew how much damage they would do.
He nocked the second arrow. It was a blunt arrow with a flexible spine. It flew fast toward one of the many chains. Before this arrow hit its target, Jake rapidly released more arrows, each enough to take down Meredith's attack.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The volley of blunt arrows tackled Meredith's assault.
Meanwhile, Jake's first arrow met with Meredith's mana barrier. It spun against her barrier, causing sparks to splinter in all directions. A crack appeared on Meredith's chain, but the entire barrier came at the top against Jake's assault.
It was a draw.
'Both of us didn't show much—' Jake thought, only to have his thinking process disturbed by something holding onto his ankle, preventing him from releasing more arrows.
He looked down, noticing a black chain coiled around his ankle. He couldn't make a step and enter his soldier form!
Jake's eyes widened.
He felt an abundance of mana being ignited in this chain!
'This is bad!' Jake thought.
Wukong was beside Meredith's mana barrier, and his staff was behind him.
Both lurched at her.
[Ender has entered the battle.]
[Wukong has entered the battle.]
[Their respective battle cooldowns have been applied to them.]
Slamming his staff into Meredith's chain, Wukong entered the fierce form and repeated the same move countless times. His every attack sounded like a gong, and he was in a battle mood like never before.
He could feel that this battle mattered a lot to Jake.
The same went for Ender.
He sheathed his white beak in darkness before plummeting straight into Meredith's mana barrier. A few cracks spread beneath his little form.
He then took off and flew to the ceiling. Creating a darkness nest, he sank into it and came out from the floor! He weaved so many darkness threads around Meredith that she halted, clueless.
She was also wary of them.
Ender nocked himself on one of his threads and used them as a bowstring, accelerating his flight! He bolted like a meteor into Meredith, causing one of her chains to snap into two!
On the other hand, Jake was in a skid.
He had landed after using his The Feather Step, sheathing his arrow in a force of gravity.
His eyes twinkled.
'Battle of resources is not what I expected from you... but if that's how you want to play, I will play along and destroy your mana barrier!' Jake thought.
Meredith's perception caught his feelings.
She turned around and stared into his eyes.
A unique obsession swirled within his hues, making them look like the eyes of the abyss.
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She stood still, absorbed within them.