Chapter 1415 - The Hunter, the Swordsman, & the Monk (1)

A quiet hymn echoed throughout the world as the monk held up his staff and slammed it into the ground a second time. Yet another shockwave of spiritual energy was sent flying out, washing over Jake harmlessly from the looks of it, but reality was much different. He felt an insidious energy invade his body, making him use Scales of the Malefic Viper while also activating his boosting skill on the balanced 30%. He had no idea how long this would end up being, and he saw no reason to gas himself out early while still only trying to get a read on what the monk was capable of.

Flicking his wrist, Jake’s bow appeared as he took aim, not towards the monk, but toward the swordsman that had decided to target the hunter first. The Sword Saint was flying towards him, making Jake shoot an Arrow Storm his way, instantly filling the sky with arcane explosions.

A dozen quick cuts scattered the destructive energy as the Sword Saint kept coming, making Jake teleport away as he used One Step to appear further up in the sky. A thin beam of water came his way nearly instantly, seeking to poke a new hole in his body. Jake sidestepped it while shooting down another arrow, forcing the swordsman to deflect it, only for the arrow to explode and send him skittering to the side.

Not wanting to be left out, the Eastbound Monk raised his staff towards the sky as a large ritual circle of sorts appeared behind him, filled with the same odd scripture that surrounded him. The circle started shining brightly, getting the attention of both Jake and the Sword Saint as they looked over.

Staring at the scripture, Jake felt his mind wander for a moment, a sense of calm overtaking him, but just as quickly as it came, it was gone, nullified by the Pride of the Malefic Viper as Jake resisted it.

The Sword Saint also didn’t get affected, though he did change his target as a crescent wave of water flew toward the monk, who didn’t even look, as a barrier filled with scripture surrounded his body.

Jake also shot an arrow the monk’s way, but it was similarly blocked by the barrier. In return, the monk made the rings on his staff jingle, and as he did, Jake’s danger sense flared in warning, making Jake quickly fly to the side as some invisible force passed him. The Sword Saint wasn’t as lucky, as he was blasted back, a frown on his face as he clearly hadn’t detected what had struck him.

A second jingling came right after; Jake once more dodged as the Sword Saint raised his sword to block, only to still get struck by the invisible attack. Neither of them could see the attack, and Jake couldn’t even detect it with anything besides his danger sense, making it extraordinary for that alone.

Observing the monk, the man waved his staff in odd patterns as golden letters of a language Jake couldn’t recognize appeared in its wake; the occasional movement also making it jingle as another attack was sent out toward both his opponents.

Is it sound? Jake questioned, genuinely unsure. Usually, even something like a sound-based attack would be detectable, registering as more or less just a mass of energy moving through space.

This didn’t register as anything, even though something was clearly moving his way, which is why he could dodge it. Jake’s curiosity was definitely piqued, and he was inclined to allow the monk to make the attack over and over again until he understood its nature, but he was fairly certain that would be a bad idea, and the old man who was desperately trying to find a way to defend himself wouldn’t appreciate it either.

Nocking an arrow, Jake started charging an Arcane Powershot while easily floating back and forth to avoid the invisible attacks. The Sword Saint seemed to have given up, and rather than block, he simply moved all over the place, making him nearly impossible to hit unless the monk could predict where he was moving to next. Something he didn’t even seem to try, as he was focused on summoning the cryptic letters.

Arcane energy revolved around Jake as he continued to build up power until he eventually loosed it, wanting to strike before the monk got done doing whatever he was doing. That’s when something really fucking weird happened.

Raising his palm, the monk seemingly moved to block the Arcane Powershot that easily broke through his barrier and arrived at his body. Jake was ready to see the monk’s hand blown apart into a thousand fleshy bits, but instead, right as the arrow struck his palm, it disappeared, all the arcane energy alongside it also simply popping out of existence.

A fraction of a second later, the ground beneath the monk exploded, destructive arcane energy ravaging the terrain as the monk seemed entirely unaffected, shocking both Jake and the Sword Saint who’d seen it happen. The monk didn’t seem like it was anything impressive and gladly used the shock of the two to finish whatever magic he was conjuring up as the last letter appeared.

The many letters flew into the air and began converging as they formed what Jake assumed was a word. This word warped further, forming a mass of golden energy that quickly took the shape of a large bell suspended in the sky, surrounded by golden scripture.

Jake was once more warned by his sense of danger as the bell swayed to the side, before its toll echoed through the World of the Exalted Prima. Upon hearing the sound, Jake felt a dull pain in his mind, and he instantly realized why.

Soul damage? In the form of direct damage to my Health Pool, Jake concluded. It was technically the simplest kind of soul damage that could exist and barely qualified as a soul attack. Its effect also wasn’t huge, and the damage was minor, but the issue was that two seconds later, a second toll of the bell sounded, the same dull pain appearing again. Perhaps even a tiny bit worse this time around, making it possible that this attack would ramp up the longer it went on.

 The Sword Saint had also noticed the peculiarity of this bell, and the two of them shared a quick look. While neither of them was a fan of teaming up, the monk was the one who’d started attacking indiscriminately first, and they both knew that the bell had to be addressed one way or another. Jake did consider simply moving away from it, but as the monk floated into the air – seeing as the ground beneath him had somehow gotten destroyed by Jake’s Arcane Powershot – the bell also floated further upwards, showing it was tethered to him.

Still moving his staff around, the monk continued sending out his weird sound wave attacks as the toll of the bell rang out once more, causing damage to Jake and the Sword Saint. As far as Jake could tell, it was unavoidable using regular means, and while he could maybe handle it by pouring mana into Pride of the Malefic Viper, it didn’t seem worth the resource investment. Not yet, anyway. If it ramped up too much, it definitely would be, but neither the Sword Saint nor Jake planned on letting it persist for too long.

Nocking another arrow, Jake took aim at the bell while the Sword Saint charged the Eastbound Monk, intending to keep the man busy while the bell got destroyed. Seeing this, the monk ignored Jake and surprisingly willingly clashed with the Sword Saint as he blocked the blade with his staff.

When the sword hit the staff, a loud ringing echoed as the Sword Saint was sent stumbling back, frowning as he nevertheless attacked again. The monk blocked several hits, every single one resulting in the staff ringing out, until suddenly the Sword Saint’s sword struck the staff without producing any sound.

The Sword Saint smirked as the monk looked surprised when the swordsman wasn’t repelled. Swinging a second time, the same thing happened, and quickly, a dozen blows were exchanged, with the monk forced backward in the sky, the bell moving with him.

For a little bit longer, anyway, as Jake’s Arcane Powershot was soon channeled enough. Taking aim, Jake loosed the string, and this time around, there wasn’t a monk in the way as the arrow flew straight for the bell, penetrating into it as a toll louder than any prior rang out.

The shockwave of sound sent Jake flying back, and surprisingly, the Sword Saint and Eastbound Monk were also affected, forced to bend from the explosion, interrupting their battle mid-exchange. Trying to take advantage, the Sword Saint quickly went for a stab, but the monk once more did something weird as he blocked the attack with his palm, resulting in him getting pushed back as a deep, thin hole appeared beneath his right foot.

In the sky, the bell now had a large hole in its side, the golden letters surrounding it flickering in and out of existence before, finally, the entire bell began fading away as if it had never been there in the first place.

Switching targets, Jake took aim at the monk who was fighting the Sword Saint. It did feel a little slimy to team up with the old man, but again, the monk had started it by targeting both of them, so it was only fair for him to suffer a little. Plus, Jake had to admit, he seemed like a tough opponent.

The Sword Saint was supremely skilled in melee combat, yet despite the many exchanges with the monk, he’d yet to land a single hit. Every single blow was parried, blocked, or dodged, though the monk didn’t try to attack either, but focused solely on defense.

Unfortunately for him, while the monk was pretty damn good at defending himself, even he couldn’t handle it when arrows also joined the equation. He dodged and blocked a few, manipulating the golden barrier with odd letters on it, but in the end one of them made it through and hit him in the shoulder. Getting struck made him flinch slightly to the side, resulting in the monk being unable to fully dodge a slash from the Sword Saint, also leading to a laceration on his arm.

Pressing his advantage, the Sword Saint tried to land a follow-up, but the monk slammed his staff into the ground, creating a loud ringing sound that sent out a shockwave that forced both of the monk’s opponents away. At the same time, the monk went fully on the offensive for the first time, swinging his staff at the old man’s head, the staff ringing constantly throughout the attack.

The combination of the sound attack and quick swing caught the Sword Saint by surprise as he barely managed to raise his sword, but it still resulted in his own blade smacking into his face with its flat side, sending the swordsman spinning through the air.

At the same time, the monk twisted his body and held up a palm as yet another Arcane Powershot came for him. Yet again, the second the arrow struck his palm, it disappeared along with all its destructive potential, only for the ground beneath the monk to explode a moment later, forcing the man into the air.

Jake clicked his tongue at seeing how damn fast the monk was at pulling off that trick. He still wasn’t sure how it worked, but as far as he could tell, the monk somehow redirected the attack through his body and out through his feet, effectively “grounding” it. This in itself wasn’t a new concept, and Jake did something similar at times when blocking and whatnot, but what the monk did was simply on a whole other level. He didn’t seem to take any damage, and the speed at which he could pull it off was uncanny.

The monk looked up at Jake, who had already nocked another arrow, as something surprising happened. For seemingly no reason, the monk started swinging his staff into thin air, though it quickly made sense when the man spoke.

“Attract.”

Jake felt himself get pulled, and partly out of sheer shock, he didn’t even try to resist as he was dragged straight toward the monk who was swinging right into his flight path. Right before Jake could get smacked like a baseball, he avoided becoming a home run by finally using Pride to resist while also forming platforms of mana beneath his feet to kick off.

The monk once more looked surprised at Jake’s ability to dodge, though compared to him, Jake was far more shocked, with the Sword Saint also looking on with a hint of worry on his face. It wasn’t just that the monk had used a Word of Power to pull him, but that the way his Willpower manifested was borderline identical to that of the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord, making Jake ask almost instinctively while also preparing to shoot another arrow.

“Heartsoul cultivation?”

As the monk answered, his staff moved in a circle, and a barrier filled with scripture appeared.

“I have been told I’m a man of many talents, and I always find myself eager to learn,” he said, more unrecognizable letters appearing around him. “More than one Palace of the Dao Sect has welcomed me, all stays having proven themselves enlightening.”

Striking with his palm, the barrier in front of him exploded and formed a tunnel of light and scriptures that shot towards Jake, who reacted by conjuring a wall of arcane energy after feeling that dodging wouldn’t work for some reason. The odd energy washed over his wall, and nearly instantly forced the mana to scatter, but it had bought enough time for Jake to fly back and out of range.

The monk didn’t attack again as the Sword Saint sent out a crescent wave of water, making the man block with his staff. He successfully deflected the blow, but the swordsman was already charging once more, unleashing a quick barrage of cuts that formed a net of water in the sky.

Making the staff ring once again, an invisible shockwave dismantled the cutting net of water, but it was not enough to stop the true attack from the Sword Saint that had to be blocked. It was also only now that Jake realized why the staff of the monk had stopped ringing out every time the swordsman struck it.

Rather than actually follow through, the Sword Saint stopped his swing right before impact every time, barely making contact whenever blocked. The level of control something like that took was truly impressive, but also only what Jake expected from the old man.

The Sword Saint and monk exchanged a few more blows before yet another one of Jake’s arrows found purchase, wounding the Dao Sect member once again and allowing the swordsman to press his advantage. Their combined assault forced the monk back constantly, and while he did push them away at times, he had no reliable way of actually dealing damage after the large golden bell had been destroyed.

Seeing the monk constantly on the back foot perplexed Jake, as he seemed to just let the two of them pummel him, the damage slowly accumulating as Jake also felt his poison start to build. Yet, for two entire minutes, the fight had this odd dynamic where Jake and the Sword Saint just relentlessly attacked the guy, to the point where both probably considered switching targets, as it just felt unsportsmanlike.

However, after what had to be nearly four minutes of one-sided pummeling, the monk surprisingly hit his own staff with his palm, making it let out an ear-screeching sound that made Jake grit his teeth in pain, and the Sword Saint temporarily disengage.

Then, the monk lifted the same hand he’d used to hit the staff and formed a simple seal as he muttered a silent prayer. A green rush of energy coursed through and around the monk’s body, and to the shock of both the hunter and the swordsman, all of his wounds were healed, and Jake even felt his poison weakening, making him have a very valid reaction.

He’s also a fucking healer?