EFate: An MMO Story Chapter 94: The Top 16

"d.a.m.n, Eric. You did Rob dirty," Ryan said with a grin.

Eric smirked, "d.a.m.n Rob nearly got me. Did you know that he could dual-cast?"

Ryan laughed, "Yeah he got a new wand like two days ago that allows him to do that. It takes a s.h.i.t ton of mana though."

"So he can't dual-cast without the wand?"

"Not yet. He can enhance his Stone Sphere without it though," Ryan explained.

"Poor Rob, losing to a s.h.i.tter like Eric," Jun lamented.

Eric rolled his eyes, "He d.a.m.n near almost got me. I was hoping to save my Multi-linked Wind Dart as a trump card against Hydrus or Jun, but Rob forced me to expose it early."

"Yeah, what was up with that? I thought you couldn't use that spell without collapsing from mana rebound. You got up way faster than you did that time against the Swordclaw," Mark asked curiously.

"It's not like I've been wasting my time studying with Lucy. I've been practicing my mana circulation and mana infusion techniques. I can cast it without fainting so long as I have more than half my mana. There's still a ton of room for improvement though," Eric explained.

"Well I've still got my trump card ready, so it looks like I'll be taking the win," Ryan said jokingly.

"Make it past Seryllia first. She took out Griffin, so you've got to be careful," Mark warned.

"Either way, he's going to be out before the top four anyways," Jun said.

"Because that's where he's going to encounter you?" Eric asked.

"Exactly."

As they joked about who was going to win, Halfthur finished introducing Grott and his opponent, a female adventurer with an enormous scar over her left eye who wielded a mace and shield.

Grott had a very orthodox fighting style for an archer. Maintaining his range, he bombarded his opponent with arrows, kiting the melee range fighter across the stage as he sniped at gaps in her defence.

As they watched, Eric and his friends searched for weaknesses that he could exploit should Grott advance.

"His aim isn't as good as Jun or that blonde archer chick's, but his fundamentals are solid," Mark admitted as he watched Grott land another shot on his opponent.

"He's not particularly amazing in any aspect. But he's above average at everything an archer needs to do well," Jun admitted.

"Ugh, he's the worst type of opponent. One without any flaws to exploit, just a pure skill matchup," Eric complained.

"Well if you were more skilled, then this fight would be easy," Jun shot back.

"Maybe you won't have to fight him? The adventurer chick's landed a few good hits," Ryan suggested.

"Nah, Grott's going to win. He's only allowing hits that let him trade for more damage. Unless she pulls out some crazy skill, she's going to lose in another minute or two," Eric replied.

Sure enough, a minute and a half later, the fight was over. Landing a Charged Shot just under his opponent's upraised shield, Grott watched impa.s.sively as the blue light surrounded his unwilling foe, whisking her away as Halfthur announced his victory.

"Well, looks like I'm up. I shouldn't be long," said Mark, flashing them a confident smile as he walked off.

True to his word, Mark's fight was over quickly. Mark hadn't neglected his mace skills, using a combination of efficient strikes along with his healing skills to keep himself alive as he dismantled his opponent.

Raising his mace in triumph, Mark walked back towards the tunnel, still casting healing spells on himself even as he left the stage.

"Mark's Divine Magic must be getting pretty high. He's really dedicated to practicing his healing spells," Ryan commented as they watched Mark disappear from the projection.

"I'm half afraid he's going to start hurting himself just to get more practice," Eric joked. "Or even worse, one of us."

This got a round of laughs as Jun stood to leave for his fight. Wishing him luck, the group watched as Jun faced off against Kifax Catclaw.

Kifax was an exciting fighter to watch. Wielding a pair of gauntlets with short claws extending from the fingertips, he used a hit and run fighting style to dismantle his opponents, catching weapons with his gauntlets, and ripping defenses away with the claws.

Unfortunately for Kifax, Jun's fighting style was the ant.i.thesis of his own. Maintaining a proper range, Jun accurately predicted Kifax's movements, landing arrows on the former Tidescout even when he attempted to dodge, and avoiding Kifax's attempts at creating an offence.

Jumping backwards, Jun dodged Kifax's lunge, loosing an arrow pointblank into his chest for his troubles. Staggering slightly, Kifax was unable to pursue as Jun backpedalled swiftly, launching another arrow at the man to deter pursuit.

"Shin lands another arrow! Kifax is in trouble now. He can't close the gap, and his health is steadily dwindling," Halfthur commented.

"Yes. Shin's ability to grasp his opponent's movements is incredible. At this rate, he's going to eliminate Kifax, one of the favourites to win this tournament, with only a few more arrows," Wavesun added.

As he said this, Jun activated Charged Shot, aiming carefully at Kifax. As Jun watched, Kifax began to dart back and forth, leaving slight afterimages as he approached Jun's position.

"And Kifax uses Nereide Steps to advance! Shin might be in trouble now," Halfthur shouted excitedly, secretly hoping for Kifax to turn the tide against Jun.

As Kifax advanced, Jun continued to adjust his aim, ready to loose his Charged Shot the moment an opportunity appeared.

Eyes darting from side to side, Jun turned suddenly, launching his arrow towards an empty s.p.a.ce several metres to the right of him.

As the audience watched in stunned amazement, Kifax suddenly appeared in the path of Jun's arrow, the Charged Shot slamming into his throat.

With an agonized gurgle, Kifax fell, the blue light enveloping him as silence filled the arena.

Breaking the silence, Halfthur cleared his throat, the spell that magically amplified his voice causing the sound to fill the arena.

"Ahem. And Shin Zedzir wins! With an absolutely spectacular performance, Shin eliminates Kifax and advances to the top eight, leaving only one spot left! Will the remaining Riptide member, Nelo Noire advance? Or will Seryllia Vespin eliminate another member of Riptide? It's time to find out!" Halfthur shouted, attempting to brush over his gaffe.