The Over-Break System

Six Cold-Steel-tipped arrows broke through the air silently, their destination, six unprepared Kobold Soldiers, who at that moment, were caught by surprise by Brance’s sudden parting of the steam cloud.

THWAP, THWAP, SHULK, THWAP, SHUNK, THWAP.

Each strike found its mark, violently piercing the skulls of six charging lizardmen through their eyes and popping their heads like watermelons. The sheer force behind these arrows was beyond what an average child could muster, but thanks to Gabby’s advanced Stats, each one carried a weight of over 180 pounds of pressure.

-Quest Updated-

-Subjugate Kobold Soldiers: 38/84- (incomplete)

-Your party member Gabriella Sanford has killed three level 18 Tier-1 Kobold Warriors.

-You have received 108,000 XP.-

-You have received 2 STR and 1 VIT.-

-You have obtained 3 KIN points.-

– A Tier-1 Fire Affinity and Two Affinitiless Codexes have been located.-

-Due to the restrictions in place by the Alpha Egress Core, you will have to remove the Codexes manually.-

– Your party member Gabriella Sanford has killed a level 20 Tier-1 Kobold Warrior.-

-Your party member Gabriella Sanford has killed two level 23 Tier-2 Kobold Swordsmen.-

-Your party member has killed (3) beings twice your level; rewards will be doubled.-

-You have received 172,000 XP.-

-You have received 6 STR.-

-You have obtained 6 KIN points.-

-Two Tier-2 Fire Affinity and 1 Tier-1 Affinitiless Codexes have been located.-

-Due to the restrictions in place by the Alpha Egress Core, you will have to remove the Codexes manually.-

Two things co-occurred when these six heads popped into meat paste, the first was a loud guttural noise generated by what Brance could only assume was the group leader, causing all 50+ Kobolds to stop in their tracks and form into a defensive stance. Then, the leader stepped forward and savagely kicked the corpses of his fallen comrades out of their path. The Second was that both Gabby and Benny screamed at the top of their lungs, “I HIT THE CAP!”

Seeing yet another one of his plans subtly fall apart, Brance couldn’t help but remember a quote he heard in the military, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” Seeing the actions of the Kobold leader reinforced this quote in his mind.

“YYELIAM, BROCADAS!” (RAISE SHIELDS!)

Before Brance could react to the Sanfords shouts, his eyes narrowed as the Kobold Leader waived his sword valiantly. His actions directed nearly a dozen warriors wielding large tower shields to step forward and take the group’s point, creating a wall of bone and stone.

Outnumbered and out leveled by an enemy who was now ready for combat, Brance did the only thing he could think of, [CYNRIK, GABBY, AND BENNY ARE CAPPED, WE NEED YOU OVER HERE!] He screamed loudly into the mind link for backup.

-You have completed a task.-

-Subjugate Kobold Villagers: 68/68- (complete)

[On my way.]

Cynrik’s voice came through emotionlessly, yet even hearing the tone caused Brance to feel elated. He didn’t have time to think about his brother’s current mental state; right now, all he could think about was keeping Gabby and Benny safe from the swarm of shield-bearers marching methodically towards them.

Instinctively, Brance jumped back several paces, combined his shields, and readied himself to use their special skill. Then, he concluded there was no point in running since all of the incoming beings were more robust physically and statistically.

“Benny, Gabby, Big Brother is on his way; get behind me NOW!” As he spoke, Brance’s eyes flicked to a panel showing his Cold-Steal Tear Mark 1’s special skill.

-Special Skill: Shield Wall

-Requires the use of two similar-sized shields; a Mana Barrier in the shape of an energy dome will be generated enclosing the user and the space 2 meters in diameter in its confines. This barrier will have base durability of 5,000 HP.

-Activation Cost: 100 Earth, Light, and Wind Mana. Infusing more Mana will raise the durability.-

Each step of the marching Kobolds caused the ground to vibrate as they drew closer. Although it wouldn’t take Cynrik long to arrive, they were still cutting it close. Sensing the Sanfords creep up behind him, Brance was forced to make a choice; with running out of the question, this only left defense and offense.

‘There’s almost 50 bodies and only three of us. [Inspect] shows the bulk of the group is sitting at Tier-2, with the remaining being at the peak of Tier-1. If Cyn were here, I’d be more inclined to slug it out; no holds barred, but that won’t work. Gabby and Benny haven’t completed their Evo and aren’t experienced enough in live combat to be totally reliable; they are a liability. This leaves only a single option, to erect my [Shield Wall] and hope for the best.’

Brance’s mind raced as he tried to channel his inner Cynrik and form an accurate plan for survival. Finally, his eyes flicked over his shoulder, where Gabby stood, bow drawn and wearing a nervous expression.

“Gabby, Benny, listen up. When they get close, I will use my shield’s skill, forming a transparent Mana barrier, to stop them from getting close. The only problem is this skill has a very high cost. So if you have any leftover Mana potions, I need to know now.”

Gabby’s ears perked up, and she immediately reached in front of her body and withdrew five Small Mana Potions out of her inventory. “Brancie, is this enough?”

On the opposite side of Brance, Benny emulated his sister and pulled out three Small Mana Potions and one Medium. This was everything he had on him. “I’ve got four pots; take them.”

Brance broke into a cheerful smile; he was impressed that neither of the Sanfords asked any questions or complained but instead simply gave him what he asked. But unfortunately, Mana Potions didn’t grow on trees, and much like his own family’s financial situation, the Sanfords weren’t well off either, so he felt terrible making this request.

Not wanting to get distracted by idle thoughts, Brance shook his head a couple of times before putting on a bright smile.

“Perfect, you guys are the best. Alright, when I ask for them, I need you to quickly pour the pots into my mouth for me since my combined shield requires both hands.”

Hearing his words, both siblings promptly nodded before directing their attention at the incoming group of Kobolds, who were only about 20 meters away.

Dropping into a horse stance and holding his combined CS Tear in front of his body, Brance began splitting all of the Mana in his Codex into three equal portions. The cost to activate his skill was 100 MP of each of his three Affinities for a whopping total of 300 MP, just for activation. But Brance wasn’t looking just to use the skill. Unsure how long it would take Cynrik to arrive, he opted to expend every ounce of Mana into his shield.

Thankfully, with Gabby and Benny on standby with potions, he was able to restore his tank more than once. Then, after a couple of seconds, a dome of multi-colored light representing his three elements erupted from the jewel embedded in the center of his shield.

This dome covered all three of them and extended out two meters away from where they stood. Using his [Inspect] again and ignoring the Mana fatigue he was experiencing, Brance stood firm and examined the dome’s durability.

-Shield Wall- Mana Barrier, Durability 20,000 HP-

A slight smirk spread across Brance’s lips as he realized he had effectively quadrupled the skills durability by expending an otherwise astronomical amount of Mana into its activation.

The Kobold leader was flabbergasted outside the small, newly erected Mana dome. Then, raising its hand and ordering its men to hold, it stepped forward and glared angrily at the shining, brown, green, and white rounded film standing in between him and the enemy.

Brance, Gabby, and Benny all watched with narrowed eyes as the three-meter tall, yellow, and orange scaled Kobold brought up its ax and slammed it onto the Mana barrier.

-Your [Shield Wall] has received 2100 Damage, current durability 17,900/20,000-

The notification from Tobs made Brance’s throat scratchy; with his right eye twitching slightly, he downed another Mana potion and directed the recharged fuel into the barrier, repairing it back up to 20k.

“Kwark, tssssssssss” Tilting its head to the right and flicking its tongue out to smell the barrier, the Kobold leader grimaced angrily at the Mana dome before bringing up his ax and swinging it forcefully into the energy shield once again. However, when his weapon came down, instead of causing a ripple effect like the first time, the Kobold was repelled by some kind of power and flung uncontrollably through the air several meters.

No longer worried about the invaders, Brance looked over his shoulder at Gabby, who was trying to quell the laughter boiling in her tummy. The sight of the Kobold leader flipping through the air like a puppet with its strings cut was oddly hilarious to her.

“Oi, you two, do your damn Evo’s, I can hold the fort down for a couple of minutes while we wait for Big Brother, so take this time to achieve Tier-1, that way when he gets here and pulls us back into his Shadow thingy, all we have to do is assign our stats by his directions.”

Brance’s chiding words pulled the little girl’s attention away from the Kobold leader, who had landed in a heap on the ground in a cloud of dust, and she quickly and obediently pulled out her Evo stone and sat down in the lotus position.

Settling down beside his sister, Benny did the same thing, and a few seconds later, they were both bathed in golden light.

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