[̵̬̿S̸p̵̺͂e̴a̷̤̕r̴̸̪͑̆ o̷̪͗f̷̗͒ ̶H̴͗ͅun̷̗̉gḛ̵̛r̵͉̀ ̸̗͝I̶̟͋]̴̙͠
Aḃ̵ͅi̵̒ĺ̶ͅi̵͐t̷̾į̷̐e̸s̴̎ ̷͉̾Ǔ̸n̵ma̵s̸t̶er̴e̴͑d̵̿:̵ ̷̝̕
̷͂E̴q̵̓u̸ỉ̴p̴̂ ̷E̸̓f̵f̸̕ē̶c̶̒t̸:̴ ̵͗[̷͂C̴̽h̶ã̸n̴͝ǵ̸ĕ̶ ̵S̷̍p̵͘e̷̕a̴r̴̈ ̷̉(̵A̶͠t̴t̶͂a̷͒c̵k̸̈́)̷̓]̴ ̵̇à̴n̸͝d̷͑ ̶͠[̸V̷͝a̷͊m̵̓p̶ỉ̷r̸͑e̴̋ ̴B̵̏u̸ǹ̴k̷̒e̷͐r]̴̱͆
S̴p̵͑ë̵c̶ia̷l̴͘ ̸Eff̸ec̶t̴͝:̵̔ ̴R̷͗ê̷g̵e̸̿n̷̊e̷r̴̕å̷t̵i̵o̸n̴ ̵V̴,̶ ̷E̷X̴P̶ ̵D̴r̶a̶i̷͋n̷̈́
̵̦̊
̵̤̒A̷̯̓t̵͝t̶a̶c̸k̸̄:̵̒ ̷̾7̷̍50̸
̴͔̕D̷̞̏e̶̓f̵e̸n̷s̸̐e̵:̴͂ ̸͛5̵̏0̸0̷̉
"H̵͉̀å̵̱h̷͈̽…̶̰̏ ̵̣̆h̴̀á̵h̴̐a̵͛h̷̚ä̶́ḧ̸́a̶̐h̵̒a̴̎h̶̛a̷!̵ ̶̈́H̵͐A̸͒H̸̏Ä̵́Ĥ̸A̵̛H̴́A̸̔H̵̔A̴͐H̸͑A̵̽Ḧ̸́A̶̾!̸͍̓!̶̭̿!̶̰̄" Motoyasu laughed, grinning at the skeleton army. "O̷̔ȟ̶,̵́ ̴͒y̶͂o̶͒ŭ̸'̵̈́r̶̀e̶̚ ̸̓a̴̍l̵̂l̶̓ ̷̐g̷͊o̸͘i̷͂n̵̿g̵̿ ̵́t̶̅o̷̍ ̵̓b̵̓u̵̿r̴̔ń̶ ̴̈́í̴n̴̅ ̸̀h̷̿e̶̽l̸͠l̶̐ ̷̚f̸͆o̷̤͑r̶̙͘ ̵̗̃ẁ̶h̵͋ã̸t̷͠ ̷͗ẏ̵o̵̊u̷͋ ̸͊ȟ̸a̴̅v̷́ȅ̵ ̴͆d̵̈õ̷n̵͑e̷͑.̴̐"
He raised the surprisingly heavy spear and activated a skill.
"E̷r̸̽s̷t̴̐ ̸̓J̵́a̵v̸e̵͠l̸i̵̅n̷̓!" Motoyasu roared, throwing his spear. A loud explosion rang out as the entire tunnel exploded, tearing the skeleton army to shreds and destroying the passageway. Motoyasu turned to the other skeletons in the second hallway, already running at the injured Ren.
"I̶̧͙̥̒̀́̑ ̷̉w̶̥̍ͅö̴́n̴'̵̪́̅̀̈́͠͝t̷́ ̷l̶̦̻͍̘̀̆͠e̵ț̸̞̜̓͑͑͌͝ ̸̼̺̖̼̿̉̀̑́̒y̴̛ó̷͈̩̀̇̆͑͝ͅu̵̎̾͒!" Motoyasu screamed, swinging his spear. With just one swing, the army was flung back without any resistance. A few skeletons jumped through the broken and cracked roof and stabbed Motoyasu, but the sword shattered. The skeletons cocked their heads as they saw the dark withering effect spread through Motoyasu's body, but just a second later it disappeared without a trace.
"B̴͚̐e̸̮̹͗͠ḡ̸͓̀͜ő̴͇̈n̸̻̤̽̆ȅ̷͇̂!" Motoyasu yelled, punching the skeletons off of the fortress. The Wither screeched and shot skulls at Motoyasu, but they shattered upon impact, only leaving behind a ringing clanging noise.
"T̷̛̖̟͐o̵̳̹̕ọ̷͆͋ ̴̪̙́͆ẅ̵̧̻́̓e̸͕̾̑ȃ̴͔k̵̩̈́̐!̸̗͖̌ ̷̳̫̾̂Ý̵̡o̷̡͉̔u̵̡͂̄'̷̛͍r̴̖͚͊͘ḛ̸͋̽ ̵̉ͅt̸̿̚͜ȯ̶̧ö̶̺́͗ ̵̞̲͐͋ẅ̵̜́̍e̶͍̊̔a̶̢̰̋̓k̵̪̍ ̴̩̏̆f̶̱̽o̷̧̯͂̈́ŗ̷̓ ̵̲̆̏m̶̼͆̚e̵͇̮͆ ̸͕̹̇̐ñ̶̺̳͠ő̴̮͋w̸̠̄̂!̸̰͌ ̵̮͆M̷̹̙͊̈́e̵͐͜t̶͚̅͛e̸̯̼͊̌o̵͖̯͛̓r̴̜͝ỉ̶͈̱t̶͇͎͊e̵̻͓͝ ̴̺̅S̵̜̮͐̾p̸̻͗̕e̶̝̔̿a̴̧̞̿̎r!"
Motoyasu launched the spear at the Wither, but the white aura around it sent off a shockwave and destroyed the attack.
"D̵̯̘͔̒͑͌Ȃ̵̼M̴̫͉̓N̶͇̖͇͂̍ ̶̟̩̤̉̍Y̶̢̩͍͒O̶̦͑̑͒U̷͎͝ͅ!̸̱̰̉!̵̻̀̐͐!̵̨̠̃͂ ̷͉̪̖̉̑T̶̩̯̳̏H̴͚̦̏̀Ụ̶̹̃̉̇N̷̞͇̆́̚D̴̥̒̑͠Ĕ̸̗̫͂̈́R̷̯̟̮̋͐͘ ̷̤͕͕͐S̶̟̈͑P̵̬̝̎E̸͎̬͙̊́A̸̭̱̾̈͂͜R̷͙̞͊̌̆!̸̛̱̩ ̶̫̩́B̸̡̙̗̓̋́U̴̳̭̒̓R̴̙̤̀͠Ş̵͍̹̇̈́̕T̴͖̈̈͐ ̴̬͔̩̏L̶͔̕̚ͅÀ̸̗̻̈́͗N̴͈͚̹̋̓̎C̶̛̣͕̓̑Ę̷͚͛̈!̶̦̉͌̚" he screamed a skill after a skill, however, they all bounced off of the aura. Motoyasu screams in anger and begins to run towards the monster, but it sends another explosive shockwave, bouncing Motoyasu back. Several wither skeletons begin to dogpile onto Motoyasu, and he feels his skin begin to dry out and crack.
"C̶̱̙͒̈́̈́̂͌̃̋H̴̡̙̼̜̘̓̾͛̕Ǎ̵͎̥̔̃̓̓͛Ǫ̶̧̮̬̺͆̉͜S̴͙͙̔͗̉̈́̔ ̶̯̀̾̅̊S̷͚͉̠͕̑̀̐̿͠P̵̖̟͖̝̍͘Ḙ̶̛͉͌͒͂̐͠Ä̵͖͖̺̻͇̺́̈́̒͝͠R̵̻͈̬̕!" he screamed, blasting all of the monsters away. He coughed as he waited for his regeneration to kick in again.
D̵̊a̴̋m̵̓ń̸̩ ̶̋i̶͗t̸̉!̶̏ ̵M̷̆y̴͗ ̸͌r̴̔e̵͝g̴͌ẻ̴ň̴e̴̾r̸̈́a̸̝̓t̸̎i̵̔ŏ̵n̵̈́ ̷̒c̵͋a̶̧͊n̴͊'̸t̵͗ ̴̝̈́ḱ̴e̴̽e̸p̷͆ ̷̡̕ų̸̃p̷̉ ̶͛i̶̕f̶̐ ̴͊t̸̿ĥ̴ẻ̸͜y̵ ̷̼́a̵̛ṫ̸t̵̓a̵͌ć̷k̸̐ ̵̂m̷̟̽e̸̚ͅ ̸̄a̸l̷̠͝l̸̠̄ ̸̥͝ä̶̼́t̵̰̎ ̵̙̂o̶͕̊n̵͆ͅc̴̿e̸̗͛ ̵͊l̸͊ĩ̴k̵͙̚ẽ̷ ̷͙̿t̶͠h̶̀a̶̽t̵̫́.̴̅ ̸̠͘I ̴̃ṅ̷e̵̛ẻ̴d̶͚̿ ̶͘t̴͊o̴̓ ̸͖̆ė̶n̵̬͊d̵̅ ̷̾t̶h̷͇̐ī̴s̶͂ ̴̈́f̴i̴͠g̷͚͗h̴͂t̶͊,̴̀ ̴b̶̛̝u̸̇t̴̛ ̵̿h̵͑o̴͝w̴͌?̷͐!̸ ̴̆A̷̾l̴̉l̴͘ ̴ỏ̴f̵͒ ̴͆m̶̍y̴ ̸̞̂ǎ̷t̵̓t̸̊ȃ̵c̶ḱ̸s̴͐͜ ̸͝a̵r̵͙̋ȇ̷ ̷̩̅i̶ń̶e̶̛f̵͎͌f̸̒ę̶̑c̸̈́t̶́ì̷v̶̇ë̴!̶̚ ̵̈Ì̵t̶̍ ̴͛m̶̔u̸̍s̶̾t̸͂ ̷̆b̷͐e̷͗ ̸͝ã̷n̵̉ ̶̑e̸͊x̴́ť̷ȑ̶ê̴m̴͂e̵͒l̸̓y̵͗ ̸̓h̴͘i̶͒g̷͑h̶͛ ̷͘l̵͛e̷͠v̸̂e̸͐l̵͌,̶͛ ̶̆b̶̂ǘ̴ť̸ ̷͆I̴͆ ̷͊c̴͝a̷̽n̴̍'̶͝t̴̛ ̵͗l̶̂ẻ̸t̶͌ ̷̎i̴̊t̷̄ ̴͝l̴͘i̵̽v̸͒e̷͘ ̸̀å̴f̷̊t̵̏e̴͘r̴͘ ̵̅w̴͒h̵̄a̵͌t̶͑ ̵͘ì̶ẗ̵ ̴̾d̶͂ḯ̸d̵̚ ̴̾t̵͊ö̷́ ̴̍I̷̚t̶̋s̷̆ú̸k̶̈i̷̇!̷̮̽
Motoyasu tried to charge at it again and he dug his spear into the ground just as the explosive wave washed over him. He grit his teeth and began to run forward before its attack could recharge.
To his surprise, the Wither suddenly sent over a barrage of skulls that exploded in his face. He tried to continue running, however, some of the crippled withered skeletons grabbed his feet and began to pile on him again.
"G̸͙̓̇É̵̻Ť̴̥̳̝ ̵̣̓O̵̫̘͝F̴̡̤͖͋͝F̸̗̝͗!̶͙͋!̵̤̈́!̵̞̌͂̍" Motoyasu howlered, trying to push them away, but more of them grabbed him.
D̴͓̼̤͊͌̉̌͐a̷̧̜͌̓́̿m̷̗̮̋̌̕͠n̶̫̤͎̓̈́͋͂̈́ͅ ̸̼̹͌í̸̖͚̄t̷͓͍̉̈!̴͙̽̄̏ ̶̭̙̘̚T̷̛̗̲͖͇͙h̵̡̹͉̀̀̄̓ị̷̀s̶̰̙̜̪̩͗̈́̆̈́ ̸͚̦͂̓s̷̩̫̬̆̌̑͑͒p̴̝̰͓͎̪̿̅͒͘e̴̩̩̺͇͋̇̈́á̶͚̑͑ṙ̸̛̻͕̼ ̴̧̳̥̖̫̇͘͝í̶̧̮s̵̬̞͔̜̆̏͗ ̸͔̘̯̌s̶̢̥͙̀͆́̂ţ̷̘͖͘i̸̢̢̢͕͑͝l̴̤̳̪̝̔́͝l̵̺̯̦̅̓͘̕͜͠ ̸̢̳̖̺̰̕ň̶̨͓͙̜́͌͘͝ó̵̰͉̬͈̒t̷͖͍͗ ̵̧͔͚͕̼̇͂̍ë̸̗̲́̓n̴͇͉͉̓ǫ̶̜̝͖͚̑u̷̥̓̆̆g̶̹̔̾͠ḧ̶͚̓͆͆!̶̧͕̓͊͑̈̔ͅ ̷̡̺͔̀̇͊̃Ḯ̵͚̼͈̖̇͂̃ ̵̢̣̯̃͒n̵̤̿e̵̺̼̠̲̔̎̚e̶̫͓̹̺̘͝d̴̼̈́͌̚ ̷̖̦̯̜̂̐̈́ͅm̴͕̜̑̀̃ó̷̞̍͆͗ͅr̵̖̽̾̈́̌̒ȩ̴̧̟̘̘̊̈́̋͑̔ ̸͔̽̃̂͠p̵̝̦͖͐͆͘͜o̵͎͐̇w̸̧̞̭̉̂͠e̴̝͇͇̽r̴̡̋̈́͊̏!̵̢̼̩̼̳͑̀̓̂ ̷̠͉̹̒͋Ī̸͐̆ͅ ̸̘͇̕n̴̨̻͓̈̂́e̴͔̻̤̪͊́́ȩ̷̫͎̀̚d̶̹̤̖͇̽̎̈́…̵̥̪̺̥̓ ̵̮̦̰̯͇͋͘͝
The dark aura around him began to get denser and denser, whirling around his spear.
I̶͉̓ ̴̨̟̟͔͉͑͊̎͑̏̆͋̊͠n̷̢̽͐͐̍͐̈͆͒̈͘ē̵̡̦̬̟̈́̀̑̈̅̈͘ͅͅe̴̺͗͋̃̎̑̓͘d̴̪͎̾͒̇̎̆̀ ̴̨̡̧͍̟̫͚̦͙͎̺̒a̴͔̹̦̪̲̺͚̖͒̈̈̎̋͜ ̷̢͈̳̩̣̘̰͉̬͂̿͘s̷̰̗̄͛̚t̵̗̱̠̗̻̊̀̎͗̊͋̈͝ŗ̵̙͚̺̰̱̟̙̰̦̉̐̌́͛͋͌̀͛́͝o̵͎͋̂̋̈́̅̋͜n̷̫̠̪̱͎̖͋͌g̷̢̥͈̼̯̞̓e̵̡̬̺̲̹͆͐̌͌̚̚r̶̞̜̅̈̑͒̐͊̕͝͠ ̶̧̝̼͍͉̟̈́̏̿͑s̶̪̣͒̓p̵̼̙̫͍͕͙̤̉̑̒͐̆͘͝͝͠ͅě̵̛̺̙͍̀̂̓͋̑̂̓̃͝ä̸̧̗̹͍̲͍̭̠́͂͘ŗ̸̰̖̤̲̪̱̭͇̟̙̏̉…̷̛͍̬͇̩̜͉͇͎̰̒̑̒͒̉
̵̢̢̲̭͙͍̞̖̂̈́͑̀͒̎̐̉͠
̷̤̺̥́͐̋̕I̴͍̝͓̬̜̝͚̒̇̏́͑̑͛͐̕̚ ̸̜̫̽̋̆̈́̄̎̾͘͝n̶̥̐̓̉̏͐̈́̾̃̔́e̴̯̩͛͗͋͛͒͋̚̚ę̷̹̞̻̯̦̜̻̽͒̈͋͊̎͘̚̚d̵̡͔̳̟͈͒͝…̷̹̦̤͔̙͎̻̣̙̮͎̒̿̈́̊̔͝
̴̻̞̥͙̳̜͙̀́̒̀̾̏̀̚
̴͙̜̮͈̬̹̎͜M̵̟̤͍̫̓̀̍̊̚͜͠ŏ̸̧̜͖̘̮̹ŗ̶̡̦̞͑̿͋e̵̙̓…̴̡̨̢̮͔̝̳͖̽̊̎̈́͜
̴̧̙̲̰̮̥̿
̴̡̺̲̥̯̥̥̪̽͜P̸̡͕̣͔̗̗̎͗̅͊͑̄̕ŏ̷̺̼̩̘̖w̴̨̛̛͓̻̉̉͑̈́̓͒͂̂-̷̬̎͐
̶̧̣̫̦͔̠͐̑̂̐̋̉̅̍͘͘͝ͅ
"Hate reaction!" a scream rang out from behind him. Motoyasu gasped as all the withered skeletons began to walk away from him, ignoring his presence. He looked back and his eyes widened in shock.
"J̷̛̺͈͓̼̮̜̳̻̞͈̟̔͒̈́̎…̸̹̳̹͔͓̼́́̎́́̽̃͘J̴̧͔̭͍̣͈̟͊̾͝o̷̧͕̣͎̳̦͇͒͒̑̐̓̕ḧ̶̨̠̺̘̜͉̣́̓̈́̎̄͛͛ͅn̶̦͓̻̫̥̤̪͖͈͌̃́̇͛̅͊́͋?̶̻̦̰̜͊̅͂̋̈́̾̎̄̕͝"
John stood there with a creepy skeleton head surrounded by bones for a shield. He pushed Ren into a hallway and blocked it off.
"Motoyasu! I cured Ren! He's gonna be fine! Do you need any healing?!" he asked, raising his shield as the skeletons approached him.
Ṛ̵̗́̈́̈̀̓̚͠ͅȩ̶̝̰̙͖̳̂n̵̛͇͍̼͉̬̂̅͌̂̚͠…̶̛̥͍͕̺̮͊̍͠ ̴̨͉̝̭̋̍͌͋̎̈̽R̷̟̂̑͂̆͝Ė̵̹͎͙̲̜͐́̈́͋̀N̴͎͓̫̮͎̻̤̐͗͋̈́!̸̯̀̃̎̍̐
"Shoot! Where did you find so many withered skeletons? Erst Shield!"
John summoned a glowing shield as a platform off to the side of the fortress and jumped onto it. The wither skeletons began to pile onto him.
"J̵o̵h̷n̸!̸" Motoyasu yelled, slowly walking towards him. The dark aura around him began to dissipate, only swirling around the spear.
"Don't worry! I'm fine! Meteorite Shield!"
The wither skeletons were thrown away as John summoned his barrier. He summoned it and pushed the last few skeletons that survived on top of his barrier into the lava.
"Shield Bash! Motoyasu! Behind you!" John yelled. His shield began to glow and he was launched forward. He pushed Motoyasu down to the ground right before the Wither slammed into him, launching him back.
"J̵o̸h̸n̴!̴ ̵M̸y̵ ̶s̵k̷i̸l̸l̸s̴ ̶a̷r̷e̸n̵'̶t̴ ̵w̵o̸r̵k̶i̶n̴g̸ ̸o̴n̶ ̶h̴i̸m̴!̸ ̷I̴ ̵b̸l̴a̵s̸t̶e̸d̷ ̸h̸i̴m̶ ̶w̴i̶t̷h̸ ̶e̸v̴e̷r̴y̵t̸h̴i̴n̶g̸ ̵I̷ ̴h̶a̶d̴!̷"
"That's cause he is in his second phase. You have to hit him with melee attacks or he won't take damage!" John said, blocking the wither skulls with ease. "I'll try to keep him down, can you hit him with that spear?"
"I̸ ̴t̷r̵i̴e̶d̵,̵ ̸b̶u̸t̴ ̸h̴e̵ ̴h̸a̸s̵-̷"
"An explosive aura! I know! Let's see…"
John looked around as he blocked the attacks and an idea popped up in his mind.
"Portal Shield!" he yelled, but nothing happened.
"W̴e̸r̸e̶ ̷y̸o̴u̶ ̶t̷r̷y̷i̴n̵g̶ ̷t̴o̷ ̶r̷u̴n̴ ̸a̴w̵a̴y̷?̷ ̶A̸l̸s̷o̸ ̴h̵o̴w̶ ̵d̵i̶d̵ ̴y̸o̷u̷ ̶g̶e̴t̸ ̸t̶h̷a̵t̸ ̵s̶k̸i̴l̸l̷?̷"
"No, I set a portal here. Now join my party and get ready to run!" John instructed. The Wither screeched and more wither skeletons showed up.
"C̸h̴a̸o̷s̶ ̷S̴p̶e̵a̷r̵!̴" Motoyasu yelled, blasting the wither skeletons away.
"Back up and follow me Motoyasu!" John yelled, running down the broken hallway. He saw the party notification pop up and looked through his shields.
"I̷ ̴h̸o̵p̷e̴ ̸y̷o̷u̶ ̶k̴n̷o̸w̴ ̴w̵h̷a̷t̴ ̵y̵o̵u̴'̷r̸e̷ ̵d̴o̸i̸n̵g̷!̴" Motoyasu said, following John. Just as they were about to come to the end of the hallway, a skeleton skull blew up ahead and the roof collapsed, blocking the path.
"W̶h̵a̴t̴ ̴n̸o̴w̴?̴" Motoyasu asked in a panic. John looked back and smiled.
"Just a little more! Get ready to turn around and stab!"
"W̴h̷a̷t̷ ̶d̵o̵ ̶y̷o̵u̵…̴ ̶O̶h̴!̴" Motoyasu's eyes lit up as he understood John's plan.
The Wither began to float towards them and John raised his shield.
"Now! Shield Bash!" John yelled, dashing forward. He raised his hand and summoned an Erst Shield in the withers face, blocking its path. "Portal Shield!"
With a bright light, Motoyasu and John disappeared from the withers view. It looked around in confusion, until a bright light erupted behind it.
"SCREEEEE?!"
"D̵̢̨̦̜̜̓͊̂͊̑̀̎Ì̷̥̥̥̣͍̞̀E̵̳̥̗͖͒̾ͅ!̸̞̔̍͛̿̈́̈͑̋!̸͔̂́͌̚͝!̶̱̖̜͕̂̾̊̒̂̅͜" Motoyasu yelled, stabbing the beast before its aura could explode. It collapsed onto the ground, its middle skull shattered.
"P̴͈̔ḣ̸̞ě̴̖w̵̥͛,̸̯̓ ̶̝͂ț̵̉h̶̺͊a̴̗̿t̴̳̀ ̶̯̌s̶̫͘ȏ̵ͅḷ̷͗v̴͍̚ḙ̴̽-̴̝̆"
"ROPE!"
Two pieces of string wrapped around Motoyasu's torso and pulled him back just before the Wither paled and exploded, tearing what was left of the hallway to pieces. The tunnel collapsed and Motoyasu got covered in dozens of blocks.
"Motoyasu! You alive in there?!"
"GHAAAAAAAAA" Motoyasu screamed, blasting the blocks away. Now that the immediate threat was gone the dark aura returned with a vengeance. It wrapped around his whole body, and a thick coating covered the spear.
"Woah… buddy, I don't know what that spear is doing, but I think you should swap it-"
"SHUT UP!" Motoyasu howler, turning to John. His eyes began to glow a bright orange color as he grabbed his head. The spear started to glow brighter, radiating a dark orange glow.
"I̸͐f̴̿ ̵̓I̴̘̽ ̵̈́h̷̿ǎ̶ḋ̶ ̷̏b̵̳̈́è̷è̶ǹ̵̤ ̴̂s̶̉t̴̓ȓ̴͍ő̶n̴̍g̸̟̓ë̷r̷̃!̶̮͑ ̶̀Ī̴f̶͠ ̵̾Í̶ ̵̫̃k̷̓n̷͛e̷͠w̶̩̚…̵̈ ̸̐I̸͆Ḟ̷̢ ̵͠Y̶̽O̶̍Ȕ̵̠ ̴̌S̴̕H̸͛A̶̛R̷̆E̵̒D̸̈́ ̵̐T̵͐H̴̦̄Ě̸ ̷̒I̴̅N̸͂F̸̺̂O̷ ̸̯̈́S̵̈́Ò̴O̴̺͛N̷̖͆Ȇ̷R̷̃!̶͋ ̴̿Į̶͆F̶̊ ̷̍Ŷ̸Ô̶̫U̵̚ ̶̢̅D̸́Í̶̞D̴̈́͜N̵̍'̸́T̵͆ ̴͋T̸̻̃R̵̀Ÿ̴͈́ ̷̄T̵͊O̷͙͘ ̴̑R̷̈́A̸̅P̸̙̈́E̴̡͐ ̶̓M̴͊Y̴̮͑N̵̠͑Ḙ̸͒,̷̔ ̶̑I̶̅T̶̐S̶̿U̵̎K̸̛I̷͘ ̷̐W̷̬͌O̷̊Ư̷L̸̚D̷̂N̶͚͝'̷̭͝T̵͝ ̶͖́H̶̿ͅA̴̒V̷͔̐Ȩ̸́ ̶͓̓T̴̬͠O̷͔͛ ̸̙̈́D̸͕̆I̵͉̓E̸̝̔!̵͉̌!̷́͜!̸̺̃" Motoyasu yelled, swinging his spear at John. John summoned the meteorite barrier and swapped to the warden shield, taking the blow. However, the barrier shattered, and John was sent flying back. "B̷͖̈ȗ̷t̸̃ ̷̮͒I̸͋ ̶̆g̴͌u̶̗͆e̵͆s̸̈š̶ ̵̪̏I̵̓'̵̌l̶̉l̸̿ ̷̻̂j̴͛u̴̇s̷͝t̸̰̊ ̶̅h̷̏á̵̦v̷͂ȇ̶ ̶̉ͅt̶͗o̸̝̍ ̸͒t̶̂ā̶̠k̵͒e̷̎ ̶͇̌y̸͐o̴̍u̷͎͝r̷̛ ̶̳̚p̸͌o̸̩͠w̵̛e̶͋r̴̿ ̵͔͌t̴͂ȏ̸̹ ̵͝m̷a̵͘k̸͇̅ē̶ ̸͊û̵͈p̸̎ ̶̚f̴͜͠ỏ̸r̸̾ ̸͘i̵͑ṯ̸͛!̵̱̒"
Holy sh*t! I didn't take any damage, but that easily shattered my meteorite barrier and yeeted me pretty far! How much damage does that spear do?
"Motoyasu! I cured Itsuki already! He's fine!" John yelled.
"I̶͇̔t̶̖͛s̸̥͌u̵͚̓k̵͓̊i̵͚̔…̴̖̚ ̶̹͒h̶̗̍e̴̛͖'̷̗̒ś̷̭…̶̘͠ ̷͇̆a̸̰̓l̵̙̋ì̵̘v̵̢͆e̴͓̚…̶͕͌?" Motoyasu asked, the glow in his eyes growing slightly dimmer.
"Yeah! He's fine. He fell on top of me as I was crossing the lava. Shoved some milk down his throat, a healing potion, and he got healed," John explained. "I put him in that netherrack cocoon over there cause he is still unconscious."
"H̷̔é̵'̵̾s... ̶a̷l̴iv̵e̶?̵̮͑"
John looked at Motoyasu as the dark aura began to retreat into his spear, which turned back to the base spear. Motoyasu dropped to his knees and sighed in relief.
"He's… alive."
With those words, the spear hero collapsed onto the ground.
"ITSUKI!" Motoyasu yelled, raising his hand as if trying to catch something.
"Woah buddy, slow down there. You just fought the hell mode wither and used some dark spear. It looked cool, but I'm pretty sure the backlash must be enormous," John said beside him. Motoyasu looked at him in surprise as John was currently looking between a furnace and a crafting table, throwing items left and right.
"What are you doing?"
"Eh? Looking at my items and cooking raw food. Those dead bodies had dropped a lot of good loot," John replied, dropping several potions and other random items Motoyasu didn't recognize.
"You are looting the corpses?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Motoyasu yelled, trying to get up. However he stumbled back and collapsed, his body hit with a wave of exhaustion.
"What? It's not like they're gonna need it. And unlike the three of you, the king doesn't shower me with fortune 3 pickaxes and op god apples!" John complained, throwing a chestplate into the furnace.
"Well maybe you shouldn't have tried to rape his daughter!" Motoyasu fired back.
"Who?"
"Malty! Well, Myne is her adventure name, but her real name is Malty Q Melromarc."
"Oooooh, so that's why the trial felt so rigged and f*cked up. Her dad must have told her to frame me cause he hates me so much," John concluded, letting out a deep sigh.
"I think you're getting those mixed up. He hates you because you committed a crime, not him framing you for a crime because he hates you," Motoyasu corrected.
"No, he hated me way before. They have a whole religious symbol with only three heroes. Meaning that I was a religious enemy before coming here."
"Well, maybe the previous hero also screwed something up, so you guys don't have a great track record," Motoyasu reasoned.
"Ok, please, pray tell how the one weapon with support and guarding as its main role keeps consistently summoning rapists or criminals to save the world? You really think a holy spirit would just summon someone that stoops that low?" John asked
"You could have become that way after coming here!"
"In two days?!"
"You are looting corpses right now!"
"Cause I'm f*cking broke! I don't have a fortune 3 pick and egaps! What do you want me to do? Starve? Crawl in a hole and die?"
"No! Go do some missions or something to try to raise your reputation a bit!"
"Not how that f*cking works! Don't you know a man's life basically ends if he gets accused of rape. No proof is needed, just the accusation is enough to turn him into an outcast! The woman could later say she lied just cause, and get no repercussions!"
"That's not how that works! And why would a woman lie about that?"
"Clout, memes, allegations, just cause the guy is ugly. There was a whale size woman who accused 15 random men of rape at different times just to make an ex jelouse. She faced no punishment when her lie came to light."
"Well, maybe she was threatened to say she made it up!"
"Nah man, she was mad ugly. Like, I had a teacher half her size bend metal tables by sitting on them. I know there are messed up men who like chugus women, but there ain't no way 15 perfectly normal looking men looked at her and all had a fat fetish. Like, that is statistically impossible."
"They could have been attracted to her personality!"
"Her personality is the equivalent of zodiac signs, dyed hair and a mental patient. No sane men would put their d*ck in crazy. Some bastards like that just exist, and they wanna make people around them miserable," John reasoned.
"Ok… I didn't know your world sucked so much," Motoyasu mumbled.
"It's just america. Plenty of men go overseas to marry, as America is a scary place. Too many risks with relationships, and honestly too much stress."
"Ok, with that angry rant out of the way, why would Myne frame you for a crime like that?" Motoyasu asked, rubbing his temples.
"Daddy told her, deal with a religion, maybe she's religious herself? I dunno. For all I know, bribes could also be in the equation," John guessed. "To be fair it ain't that hard to hide my shield. And this world is still pretty similar to my game, so it won't be too hard to power up. Too bad I don't have many effects to transfer."
"Transfer effects? What do you mean?" Motoyasu asked.
"Special effect transfer. The weapon synthesis upgrade," John replied. He swapped his skull weapon form for a giant tower shield with a glowing orb in the center.
"Weird. I don't have such a method," Motoyasu grumbled.
"Why not? What do you have?" John wondered, shoving another piece of armor into the furnace.
"Well, smelting, two enchants, and passive mastery," Motoyasu replied, poking his spear.
"A hwat?" John asked, looking at his status.
"Smelting, you use ores on weapons to raise the smelting level. But the further you raise it, the higher the chance of failure. It completely resets if you fail. The others are just using enchants on the weapon form for stat boosts, and for the last one, the weapons stats raise if you get more familiar with your weapon form, like it's special effects and stuff."
"Yeah, nothing about any of that. And how come y'all get 4 methods, while I'm out here spamming one?"
"You are just using one? And you're already this strong?" Motoyasu asked. "You tanked the Wither attacks like it was nothing!"
"Well, it was basically nothing. But pretty much all of the shields stats are put into defense. You got a spear, so you can probably block with that or something," John muttered, looking at his stats.
"Yeah, my stats are spread between attack and defense, so I can't hit as hard as itsuki, and I'm not as fast as Ren."
"Lol, sucks to be you," John smirked.
"Hey! At least I have an attack stat higher than single digits!" Motoyasu fired back. John collapsed onto the ground and hit the netherrack with his hand.
"CURSE MY STAT ALLOCATION!"
"Woah, you alright? Do you really have a single digit attack stat?"
"3. 4 if I equip a specific weak shield. At this point my weakest counter does more damage," John replied. "But back to the topic at hand! My upgrade method doesn't even buff my stats! It just sends the first effect from one shield, into another shield. Like if I got a poison counter, but the defense is sh*t, I could slap that counter onto a shield with no counter, but a ton of defense."
"Oh, that's still kinda cool though. I have to focus on one spear if I want to get the best stats, and I have no way of adding new effects onto it."
"Damn. I mean, my job is to just hold out. You know, tank and all. All boss nuking is your job. So you three should pick up the slack a bit. If I didn't arrive, who knows what would have happened to you all," John sighed, looking around.
"Yeah. How did you get here by the way?"
"I paid a portal entrance fee and walked into this place. Then I just walked around until I found the fortress."
"You walked here?" Motoyasu asked skeptically, looking at the lava lake. John transformed his shield and stepped onto the laval. To Motoyasu's shock, John didn't burst into flames, but calmly walked in circles while T-posing.
"Wha… HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?!" he yelled, poking the lava with his spear. John rummaged through his inventory and pulled out a bottle of fire resistance, and tossed it to Motoyasu.
"Wait, where did that come from?!" he asked, even more bewildered.
"Hm? My player inventory. Why? Where did you keep your items?"
"I kept them in the weapon inventory… we have a player inventory?!"
"We got a weapon inventory?!" John yelled, staring at his shield. "I don't see it."
"Ok, let's start from the beginning. Weapon inventory and player inventories are apparently a thing for different weapons. We absorb or copy things for weapon forms, and our upgrade methods are different," Motoyasu listed, pacing in place.
"With the weird mismatched functions, it feels almost as if our weapons are from different mods, all shoved into one world. But by that logic, the methods would be shareable, but they aren't," John continued his train of thought.
"Yeah, I would have seen your synthesis method if that were true. I guess that we all have different methods to avoid overlaps? I mean, mine take ores like Itsuki's bow, but other than that, he can use any item to upgrade his bows, while Ren needs levels and time to upgrade his swords."
"And I need specific items to make the most off different effects," John nodded.
"I guess we are meant to give each other different things to help each other grow," Motoyasu concluded.
"Well, that's an interesting way to set up weapons. I'm off then, say hi to Itsuki and Ren for me," John waved and began to walk away from Motoyasu.
"Wait!" Motoyasu yelled. He absorbed the potion and ran after John. "Take this."
"Your fortune 3 pickaxe?" John asked, looking at the item.
"Yeah. I feel like you would put this to much better use than I would. Plus, I don't need too many ores. After a few smelting levels the chance drops so low that it isn't worth the risk."
"Oh. Well, if you're sure. You won't be getting this back even if you ask, alright?"
"Yeah yeah. Oh, and about the accusations…" Motoyasu began. John sighed and looked at the hero before him.
"I'm still not convinced that you are completely innocent, but you did save our lives. So just… don't screw up anything, alright?" Motoyasu said, patting John on the shoulder.
"Yeah yeah. I'll try to keep out of trouble, but I can't promise anything," John replied, tapping Motoyasu's arm. "Good luck big guy. Try to stay alive till the wave!"
With that, John walked off into the distance. Motoyasu heard a groan from behind him and saw Itsuki and Ren regaining consciousness.
"What happened? I thought I fell into the lava?" Itsuki mumbled, looking around.
"John stopped by and healed us. Me and him killed the Wither by the way," Motoyasu explained, sitting down next to the heroes.
"You guys took it down on your own?" Itsuki asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Turns out it was immune to ranged attacks in the second phase," Motoyasu answered.
"Are those wither skulls?" Ren mumbled, pointing to a small pile up ahead. To Motoyasu's surprise, there were over a dozen skulls with scribbled notes. Motoyasu picked it up and took a look.
Picked those up on the way down. How did you even piss off so many withered skeletons?
"Hey, Motoyasu, what happened to your armor?"
Motoyasu looked down at his clothes and saw that the armor was almost completely destroyed.
'Try to stay alive till the wave!'
"We need to get a lot stronger if we want to survive the wave. Let's sell these and go back to the capital to get better gear," Motoyasu said, walking back to the fortress."
"By the way, did the Wither drop anything?" Ren asked, but Motoyasu was already out of earshot.
"Sweet. With this maxed out pickaxe, I already got so much glowstone," John smiled and looked at his player inventory. A screech erupted from behind him and he felt something tap him on the back, followed by a wave of heat. He turned around to see a ghast firing another fireball and raised his shield.
*Clang*
As the fireball hit the shield, it began to glow and vibrate. A skull erupted from the center and slammed into the face of the ghast. It's skin began to darken and crack, and it slowly lost altitude, crashing into the netherrack below.
Oh yes! This new shield is epic!
[Nether Star Shield]
Abilities Unmastered:(40 Defense), (40 HP), (10 Regeneration), (30 SP)
Special Effect:C Skull Blast, Wither Immunity, Fire Immunity, Enhance Shield Bash, 20 Magic Resistance
[O, O, O, O, O]
Defense: 600
It has less special effects than the Warden Shield, but it has a better defense stat, 5 synthesis slots, and it is already immune to wither and fire effects. This is already better than the resistance of the warden shield, which needs to use two out of four slots for fire and wither immunity. It would be great if I could have a resistance for every type. Plus it has a wither skull blast that also applies wither effects. This will be my main offensive shield. Man, getting a bunch of late game shields early in the game is awesome. The waves are gonna be a breeze.
"Alright. Now… which way was the portal?" he asked out loud, realizing he had no idea where he was.