The Over-Break System

With his outstretched palm resting on the stone pillar, Brance concentrated on the particles the object was made from and began adding small amounts of his own Mana into the structure.

At first, there was no reaction at all. Still, after a few more short bursts where Brance released his own Terra Particles, the loosely packed particles began shifting slightly and opening up small pockets big enough for Brance’s significantly smaller particles to fill into place like a puzzle.

Breathing out slowly and opening his eyes, he activated [Mana Sight] and took notice of the small patch about the size of his hand that was an off-color of the deep brown particles.

[The ratio is scuffed…it takes approximately five to one of my particles to fill in the small gaps and reinforce the pillars. At this rate, I will burn at least 12% of my Mana per pillar.] Brance said after some consideration.

[Tsk, that only gives you eight complete reinforcements per tank. I only have six Mana potions. With the Obelisk pot only restoring 15% of our MP per use, even if we evenly split all our pots and gave them to you, we are running the risk of you still being low.] Rubbing his temples and dodging another Wind Blast, Cynrik lept into the air, spun around, and returned fire with another three condensed [BlackFire] spheres, all of which hit the creatures in different spots on their bodies.

-You have dealt 3500 damage to your opponent.-

The first attack landed smack in the leader’s face, causing it to slow down and reel back in pain.

-You have dealt 2700 damage to your opponent.-

The second collided with the weakest RaptorBasilisk’s shoulder, making it run off course and into the wall while screeching the entire time.

The final sphere, however, flew under the shoulder of the creature in the middle of the pack and hit it right between its armpit and chest, precisely as it was mid-breath.

-You have landed a critical blow and dealt 6125 damage to your opponent.-

-Due to the injury the opponent has suffered, it has gained the status effect (Bleed) and will lose one percent of its HP per second until there is either a blood shortage or the wound is fixed.-

“SHIT!” That was all Cynrik could say as he watched the scene unfold with a frown.

The creature’s reaction was horrifying to see as its arm exploded in a splash of flames and gore. Its right arm completely disintegrated into a mist and sprayed greenish blood in every direction; the pain must have been excruciating because once Dino-3’s brain registered its injury, the poor thing began flailing about insanely. Whipping its tail in every direction and slamming into its companions, Dino-3 broke away and crashed head first into the wall before rolling around on the ground.

BOOOM

Hearing the loud noise, Brance looked around the pillar he was examining only to see the mist of green blood floating in the air, followed by one of the RaptorBasilisk’s thrashings about on the ground in pain.

[Son of a bitch Cynrik, what happened to “keep them alive”!] Brance growled as he channeled the Terra Mana into his palm, forcing it into the pillar. By the time he thoroughly reinforced it, the stone construction was ten times more durable than when it began.

[Don’t look at me; that was all pure fucking luck! I hit a crit, and instead of only dishing out the original 3500, I nailed the bastard in a weak point for 6125 points.] Cynrik’s eyes narrowed as he controlled the Black flames from spreading too far and ordered them to cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding.

By the time the injury stopped bleeding, the creature had lost another 2381 HP, to which Cynrik could only shake his head and sigh.

[The first pillar is done, and I was right about the Mana cost. The problem is, in doing the reinforcement, I just wasted 1574 MP. That’s a massive chunk, and I have to keep doing that same amount for each pillar. As you said, I will only be able to strengthen eight, so seven more.] Gritting his teeth and ignoring the state of the downed creature, Brance moved to another pillar and started working on it.

[Status update, Dino-1, the one Gabby shot is chilling at a little over 14k, the one who was in the lead, which I have dubbed Dino-2, is at 14.5, and then…] Cynrik paused and looked over his shoulder at the one-armed RaptorBasilisk who was struggling to get back to its feet.

[Stumpy, formerly known as Dino-3, is at 9494 HP.] Nodding at his good naming sense, Cynrik motioned for Gabby to fire off a round of Bolts at Dino-1 and 2.

[Stumpy…Cynrik, stop naming the fucking dinosaurs. They aren’t even real, to begin with.] Rolling his eyes, Brance heard the faint sound of Gabby firing off two bolts and the subsequent howls of pain.

After releasing her Bolts, Gabby used a strand of Psychic Mana to draw back the string and load in another bolt before holstering the weapon on her right hip, as Cynrik took a mental note of the 1490 damage to Dino-1 and 1355 to Dino-2.

[Hm, I wonder…] Cynrik thought out loud as his eyes flickered from the sharp teeth of Dino-2 to the muscular back of the creature.

Sensing something was off, Brance hurried up, finished reinforcing the pillar he was working on and threw a narrow-eyed suspicious glance at Cynrik, who kept looking over his shoulder at the fierce and crazed creature running only a few meters behind him.

[DON’T EVEN FUCKING THINK ABOUT IT!] Brance screamed with his eyes turning bloodshot. It didn’t take a genius to realize that Cynrik was planning to try and ride the fucking dinosaur.

[What? Oh, come on, it was just a passing thought; it’s not like I would actually try riding such a majestic, scaley, feathered beast with large fangs that could disembowel me instantly.] Cynrik snorted without breaking eye contact with Dino-2’s back.

[Bull shit, you are thinking about how you could somehow wrangle it and use it as a mount, you aren’t fooling anyone, Cynrik.] Balling his hands into fists and knocking on the now second reinforced pillar, Brance imagined it was his brother’s face and punched it.

Despite Brance’s full strength, the pillar didn’t end up dented at all because of his reinforcement.

[Tsk, no fun at all.] Cynrik whimpered as he gave up on the hopes of being a Dino-rider for the moment and continued circling around the large room.

Sneaking a peek up at the jumbotron with the timer, Cynrik noticed he had been leading the creatures for a full seven minutes and decided to slow down his pace after motioning at Gabby to break off and head toward Brance.

After letting the creatures continuously chase him for so long, Cynrik had accurately gauged their top and cruising speeds and figured that kiting them was within his ability, so keeping his pace for as long as needed was reasonable. Still, when he noticed his Stamina drop below 85%, Cynrik pulled out a potion and downed it, topping off his STAM back to 100%.

Breaking off from Cynrik’s tail, Gabby made her way across the room by traveling high above the ground, using the pillars as a means of travel, and made it to her boyfriend’s side in no time flat.

“Hey, need me to do anything?” Gabby asked after giving him a brief hug.

“Yeah, I need you to start laying Mana lines down for me with generic Affinitiless Particles. Trace out straight paths from the spots I tell you; that way, I can easily swap out the particles for Terra ones when I am ready to spring my trap.” Brance said while tossing her a warm smile.

“Kay, just point out which ones you want me to do.” Bouncing up and down lightly like she was overly excited, Gabby replied.

For the next couple of minutes, while Cynrik was using the RaptorBasilisks as moving targets and training his Mana control, Gabby and Brance went to work laying the foundations for the trap. With Gabby following behind Brance as he reinforced the pillars and pointed out which one was connected to the finished product.

Finally, when the clock hit 45 minutes remaining in the challenge, Brance stepped back, activated his [Mana Sight], and chugged down two Mana Potions.

[Cyn, everything is in place; all we need is the dinos. I reinforced a total of 12 pillars with Gabby’s help and potions. Once you bring those three over, I can spring the trap and box them all in so we can have a short breather.] Standing back and analyzing his work, Brance dusted off his hands on his pants and motioned for Gabby to climb up to a safe spot where she wouldn’t be attacked.

Nodding in understanding, she took off with a burst of speed, planted one foot on a pillar, channeled Mana into her feet, generating a suction force, and ran up toward the ceiling.

Once she was in place, Gabby pulled a dagger from her inventory, wedged it between two of the bricks on the pillar, creating a foothold, and stood on her weapon while monitoring Cynrik.

Seeing that his girlfriend was out of harm’s way, Brance moved toward the wall, activated [Vanish], and waited for his moment to strike.

Across the room, Cynrik watched as Gabby and his brother got into position and smirked as he cut a hard angle, forcing the creatures to follow suit. Within the last few minutes, Stumpy had rejoined the group and ended up taking the lead, with its rage reaching a breaking point.

Kicking off a pillar and delivering a final scatter of attacks, Cynrik dropped all three creatures’ Health, with Stumpy at 3.9k, Dino-1 sitting around 3.75k, and lastly Dino-2 at 3.8 k HP. With a simple glance at each RaptorBasilisk, he realized just how wounded they were. Not only had the three significantly slowed down in their sprinting, but now they were covered with burns, scorched feathers, and caked blood.

[Everyone of them is under 4k HP, making the final loop around to ensure their Stamina is bottomed out. The less energy they have, the more likely they will not be troublesome little buggers.] Cynrik said as he rounded the final corner and lined up his approach with the area Brance hadn’t left since the beginning of the challenge.

Slowing his breathing and widening his stance, Brance extended his arms to his sides, palms down, and channeled Terra Mana into his hands and feet. With Narrowed eyes, he monitored Cynrik’s approach until his brother crossed the first Mana line.

Suddenly accelerating, Cynrik pulled away from the creatures, forcing them to pump their quivering legs harder to keep up. That was when Brance made his move.

Leaping up a full meter into the air and stomping down both feet, Brance instantly manifested the interconnected walls.

In line, there was one Terra construct connecting the first pillar to the south wall, and From that initial pillar, two more walls were raised heading northeast, uniting two more pillars in a diagonal line. Finally, the third pillar continued east until it reached the Eastern wall, with three additional constructs.

Overall, Brance constructed six Terra walls to tie together five pillars and the south and east sides of the room, leaving seven pillars as obstacles inside the oddly shaped trap.

With a loud BOOOM, the trap boxed off the area and slammed into the ceiling, draining Brance of nearly all his Mana and causing him to drop down on one knee while panting. However, before he could admire his work, Cynrik’s howls of rage entered the mind link.

[OI FUCK FACE, YOU TRAPPED ME IN HERE WITH THESE DAMNED DINOSAURS!]

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