Chapter 1416 - The Hunter, the Swordsman, & the Monk (2)

Healing was probably the most overpowered kind of magic in existence, but it was also perhaps the most restricted. Freeform casting healing magic was pretty much not a thing, as the way it worked was more or less solely through the power of system-fuckery. Attempts to freeform cast healing magic were naturally made here and there, but the result always ended up with it either not working or the healing magic in question being so ineffective that it wasn’t worth the mana spent. In theory, one could use controlled life-affinity magic to restore someone else’s or one’s own body, but the mana used if it wasn’t done through a skill would be stupidly high.

That’s why no top-tier geniuses had any healing skills, besides those that were actually healers, such as Eron. Few became top-tier figures as healers, though, as the Path was inherently selfless and reliant on others. Even someone like the Saintess from the Holy Church was only considered top-tier when alongside other powerful members of her faction.

Then there were healers like Dina, who technically wasn’t even a full-on healer. She was more of a druid, with healing-support magic. While her class did revolve around life-affinity magic and provided her healing spells, her race provided her combat skills. Even then, it was clearly a trade-off, as Dina wasn’t as strong a fighter when alone compared to the other four in their Nevermore Party. Records had gone into parts of her Path being about supporting others, after all.

Yet here they were, as the monk had clearly used some kind of healing magic, meaning he inevitably had to have some kind of support class or maybe some odd variant profession giving healing spells.

“You’re a healer?” the Sword Saint asked, equally perplexed.

“I wouldn’t say that,” the Eastbound Monk shook his head. “I was a healer back when my Path first began. It’s the class I chose to start with, as all the others were about committing violence against others. It was only later that I learned the necessity of personal power. Paradoxically, the best way to avoid combat is by being overwhelmingly stronger than any would-be enemy.”

Hearing his surprisingly elaborate answer, Jake was really thrown for a loop, as that information had a lot of implications. Evidently, the monk wasn’t truly a healer anymore, but pieces of how his Path started clearly still remained. It wasn’t unheard of to start as a healer and eventually become some sort of mage or even get a paladin-esque class, but, again, that usually came with some massive trade-offs. Part of that trade-off came in the form of stats.

Clearly, the monk had high physical stats; otherwise, there was no way in hell he could keep up with the Sword Saint, much less also handle Jake’s arrows decently well. Based on how little his arrows penetrated into the body of the monk and the feeling he got from the poison coursing through the Eastbound Monk’s system, he also had pretty high Toughness and Vitality.

Yet now, he displayed healing skills, had used a Willpower-based attack, and had clearly used plenty of magic with the summoning bell and scripture bloody everywhere, meaning there was only really one answer:

High stats across the board... not unlike myself, Jake concluded.

If Jake were correct, the monk truly had the kind of Path that only a genius could attempt to walk. There was no other way to get high in all stats at the same time besides overpowered skills giving or amplifying the effect of stats – such as Jake’s Malefic Viper Legacy skills and things like Fang of Man – or a lot of good titles giving bonuses to all stats. In Jake’s case, and probably also the monk’s, both.

Realizing this, Jake couldn’t help but click his tongue, as knowing that the monk had some healing skills would make the fight a lot more complicated, even if his healing skills weren’t that good. Something that didn’t even seem to be the case based on how potent it had been when he had just used it.

Hopefully, it would have some sort of cooldown or restriction, but only time would tell.

“An interesting change in Paths,” the Sword Saint said. “But you are right. Power is the best deterrent. Just look at the top factions in the multiverse. If one was overwhelmingly powerful or another too weak, the balance would be upset, and carnage would ensue.”

“Unless the one wielding overwhelming power has no desire for violence or conquering,” the monk countered.

“So that’s your plan?” the Sword Saint smiled. “To become so overwhelmingly powerful that you can suppress all who dare attempt to create chaos?”

“Not quite,” the Eastbound Monk shook his head. “But overwhelming power would certainly make things easier... if not be a requirement when the time comes.”

“What does that mean?” the Sword Saint frowned.

“I’ve said too much already,” the monk sighed, pointing his staff toward the Sword Saint again. “Let us continue. I’m certain we all still have much to learn from one another, though I do believe that, so as not to bore our gracious host too much, we should stop holding back so much.”

Taking the initiative to do just that, the Eastbound Monk erupted with power, which was also when Jake and the Sword Saint both had a realization at the same time...

He had a really fucking good boosting skill. It had already been partly activated before, the same as Jake and the Sword Saint, but when it was seemingly fully unleashed, it was a massive jump.

There was only one real choice, as both the Sword Saint and Jake also erupted with power, activating their boosting skills fully. Arcane energy burned through Jake’s body, while the Sword Saint was embraced by a steady stream of energy that coursed through his being and made the surrounding area slightly distort.

Making the first move, the monk slammed his staff down into empty air, yet it struck an invisible platform, sending a shockwave in all directions. It washed over Jake, forcing him back and slightly dinging his scales, but the intent had clearly been to create some space for the monk to attack.

Stabbing forward with his staff, he went straight for the Sword Saint and unleashed a flurry of blows. The Sword Saint parried and blocked every blow, but yet again, whenever the staff struck the blade of the old man, a loud sound was emitted from the rings, meaning some damage was dealt no matter what. With the Sword Saint being the one defending, he couldn’t stop his blade in time when striking, though he did quickly start to adapt as he began redirecting with his parries and dodging more.

At the same time, Jake let his arrows fly, but the monk was incredibly quick and kept moving to use the Sword Saint’s body to hide behind, while occasionally smacking an arrow away with his staff in between attacks. He was doing an exceptional job, but no matter how exceptional he was, injuries were unavoidable.

Yet, despite getting struck, the monk didn’t even flinch, as he couldn’t let up his barrage of attacks. Unfortunately for the monk, the Sword Saint’s rate of adaptation was outright ridiculous, as after only a few dozen exchanges, he dealt with the staff while barely allowing the rings to chime and release sound attacks.

Jake, feeling offended at the monk ignoring him and knowing that a big Arcane Powershot would probably just get redirected, decided to let the monk know just how fast he could shoot. He activated the Rapid Fire function of Timeless Focus, and moments later, more than a dozen arrows were in flight towards the two fighting below.

Finally, Jake got a reaction as the monk was forced to retreat from the Sword Saint as he tried to deflect the attack, but there were simply too many, and underneath the hail of arrows he was struck several times, having to concede and only focus on defending his vitals. Naturally, the Sword Saint wasn’t a fan of letting the guy flee, resulting in a beam of water penetrating into the monk’s waist, piercing all the way through as the water mixed with blood.

Breathing heavily, the monk spoke a Word of Power before the Sword Saint could strike again:

“Repel!”

The Sword Saint was flung backward while the Eastbound Monk dodged and deflected the incoming arrows as best he could, quickly flying towards his attacker in the process. Jake continued shooting despite the charging opponent, realizing too late that the monk moved his staff in quite an odd way if he sought only to deflect arrows. He’d drawn a magic circle with his movements, and once it was done, he pushed into it with his palm.

A massive golden palm manifested in front of the monk, fully blocking all the arrows that struck it before shooting up towards Jake with frightening speed. He barely managed to dodge out of the way, only to realize that the magic circle wasn’t gone, allowing the monk to push into it several more times as giant golden palms filled the sky.

Successfully dodging them, Jake unfortunately couldn’t keep attacking at the same time, finally giving the monk some reprieve. He even got the chance to go more on the offensive as two of the palms that had already flown past Jake suddenly spun one-eighty degrees in an instant and shot back toward him.

Reacting quickly, Jake used One Step and teleported upwards, making the palms smash together beneath him, which released a shockwave of energy as they both broke apart, sending Jake flying even further into the sky. Once again, despite not taking a direct hit, Jake felt the damage to the very core of his being as his resource pools were slightly depleted, making him frown as he still didn’t fully understand how the hell the monk’s magic worked.

Beneath, a large crescent wave of water struck the monk, who had to focus on defense once more as the Sword Saint attacked with vigor, moving even faster than before. In fact, his movements seemed to speed up with every swing, and Jake faintly felt the old man’s time-affinity as, soon enough, he started landing hits.

Small cuts appeared across the monk’s body while the Sword Saint only sped up more, unleashing a whirlwind of slashes that not even Jake would have confidence in fully dodging. The monk focused solely on defending, magic barriers popping up around him constantly, only to be instantly broken, while his staff moved to block whenever possible.

Finally, the Sword Saint reached his zenith, and with a final swing, the entire area was filled with slashes as it looked like he executed several hundred within the exact same second, resulting in the Eastbound Monk getting launched backward, now full of wounds from head to toe.

It appeared that while the skill made the Sword Saint faster, it did come at the cost of power, as evidently every slash had been weaker than normal, but it had still done wonders.

Stumbling, the monk didn’t look distressed but instead smiled brightly as he looked at the Sword Saint. “Impressive.”

Lifting his hand, he formed yet another seal with his fingers as energy rushed through his body. His hundreds of injuries once more healed in an instant, making Jake curse internally, as evidently, whatever skill he used didn’t have a long cooldown. However, the Sword Saint quickly pointed out something Jake hadn’t realized.

“Different seal than last time. A progressive skill of sorts? Limited uses dependent on the number of seals? I guess I’ll find out,” the old man said with a smile as he charged forward to attack again.

“I look forward to what more you’ll show me,” the monk said, also throwing Jake a glance. “Both of you.”

Right after speaking, he blocked a swing from the Sword Saint as Jake hung back a little. He hadn’t attacked while the Sword Saint used his time-powered blitzing skill, and now, he was also watching to see how things developed before stepping in.

It was evident by now that the Sword Saint and Jake were effectively working together against the Eastbound Monk, which really felt wrong to Jake. For several reasons. First of all, teaming up when they were all similarly leveled B-grades felt a little scummy, but worse than that, it hurt his pride. Which really went well with the second reason why Jake didn’t like this... he wasn’t even sure it was needed. While the monk was definitely powerful, nothing so far had made Jake truly apprehensive about facing him alone. Sure, it would be a long fight considering he could heal, and he was sure the monk had more to show, but so did Jake.

The Sword Saint didn’t seem to disapprove either, as Jake simply watched the monk and old man have a bit of a duel. It was genuinely impressive how good the monk was in melee combat, seeing as the Sword Saint was recognized as one of the most talented there was. Sure, the monk was also a genius, but clearly, he had learned quite a lot of things, while the Sword Saint spent the vast majority of his time only honing his swordsmanship.

The exchange between the two was quite entertaining to watch as their weapons clashed over and over again, neither having any definite advantage. Only when one of them used a skill did anything happen, with the Sword Saint sometimes speeding up or unleashing more powerful slashes, while the monk kept using his odd magic to summon floating letters, create magic seals, or unleash sound waves that could rock the soul.

Based on how Jake wasn’t struck by even the larger sound waves, their range ending just before where he was sitting in the sky, it was evident that the monk purposefully ensured he wasn’t hit.

They seemed roughly equally matched for a good while before suddenly the Sword Saint appeared to have realized something. His pattern of attack slightly changed, making it harder for the monk to defend himself, and he activated some kind of skill that slowed down the monk’s swings, making things even more difficult for him.

Pressing his advantage, the Sword Saint slowly pushed the monk back, landing minor cuts here and there against the other man, who was trying to get away as he retreated towards the ground in a quite obvious way.

I guess that’s how it works, Jake thought, guessing the Sword Saint had reached the same conclusion. Ever since the monk had been forced into the sky, he hadn’t used that redirection ability of his, making Jake conclude he needed a medium to channel it into, with the air not counting. Seeing how the Sword Saint clearly didn’t let the monk fly downwards, he likely also believed this.

Slightly out of position after dodging a powerful cut, the monk had to awkwardly block with his staff, only for the Sword Saint to change his aim as he actually targeted the staff. He stabbed his sword through the rings and twisted his body while kicking the monk in the chest, sending the other man stumbling back as his staff was sent flying into the sky.

Disarmed, he appeared defenseless as the Sword Saint suddenly used another skill. Time mana enveloped his body, and all his movements seemed to flow in reverse in an instant, resetting him back to when he was just about to make the powerful cut that had forced the monk into a disadvantageous position in the first place.

Rather than launch the same cut this time around, the Sword Saint stepped forward into range of the stumbling monk as he prepared to slash upwards, the power of his Transcendent Skill partly activating.

“Glimpse of Spring: Stormcut.”

Jake frowned as he felt the extreme power gathering, knowing that the Stormcut had grown far more powerful after the Sword Saint had reached B-grade. His slash cut through space itself as his sword moved in an instant, aiming to cut the monk cleanly in two.

The Eastbound Monk looked at the blade as he managed to raise his palm just in time, making Jake’s eyes wide at what happened next.

A Transcendent-level skill, seemingly moving with unstoppable force, was halted dead in its tracks the moment it struck the monk’s palm.

And in the very next moment, a sword and an arm were sent flying through the air as a massive crescent wave of force cut the sky in two.