Chapter 48: Meta

Jaxir laughed through his heavy breath.

"Fuck, that was fun."

He jumped and spun, his Twinkle Mana surging around him in a cyclone. He soared up at least three meters before he landed on the ground as gently as a feather.

He couldn’t help but wonder, if his Twinkle Mana got any better, would he be able to fly? That would be so cool.

His boots were definitely helping out a ton too, but if his Twinkle Mana Comprehension reached a better tier, it would definitely be far more beneficial.

Jaxir finally looked around him to see if there was anything of interest, only to find that there was just another white room.

Tayo rushed in soon afterward and Jaxir raised an eyebrow.

"It’s not finished yet?"

Tayo was looking at him with a glare.

"Well, that’s not very friendly of you," Jaxir said with a blink. "You look like you want to bite my head off."

Tayo’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t say anything.

Soon, the room began to shift and change again. This time, they appeared in an arena.

’Oh? Are we going to fight now?’ Jaxir wondered to himself.

Three eight-sided stars appeared above Tayo’s head and then a big red X appeared through one of them. The eight-sided star shattered and he was left with just two.

Jaxir smiled in understanding. Was it best two out of three? Or did he need to beat him three times?

Either way, it didn’t really matter.

Tayo extended a hand and a spear and shield appeared. His gaze became sharp as he laid his spear in a groove of his shield, steadying them both as he faced off against Jaxir.

—

[BEGIN!]

—

Tayo didn’t rush forward. He started slowly circling Jaxir.

’Is he a tank?’ Jaxir wondered. ’No, he doesn’t quite feel like a tank. He should be a melee class like I originally thought.’

There was an odd fluctuation around Tayo right now. This one didn’t come from the boost he received. Instead, it seemed to come from a skill he was using.

Jaxir had never seen it before, but he could tell what it did. It was actively increasing his defenses. If Jaxir attacked him now, a normal Cast would have a hard time doing more than three to five damage even if he Charged it.

’Not a tank, but still such good defenses. Must be some sort of endurance type Melee Class...’

Jaxir was exactly right. Tayo was a Melee Class of the Endurance Path, and the Ability he was using now was the L1 Ability Fortify.

’But he can’t keep that up forever. He’ll drain his mana to zero.’

Fortify wasn’t taking up a large amount of MP, but it was definitely ticking down by the second. What did Tayo think he could accomplish by just circling him like this?

All Jaxir had to do was stand here and Tayo would eventually burn himself out—

Tayo suddenly lunged forward, striking out with a surge of speed. His spear glittered with sharp, winding lines of Twinkle Mana. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Jaxir’s gaze sharpened. He felt like he was missing something. That attack didn’t feel too dangerous, but every fiber of his being was telling him that he didn’t want to be anywhere near it when—

Jaxir respected his instinct but the spear most definitely did not.

Just as he moved to dodge, a surge of gravitational force pulled him toward the spear. All the mana that Tayo had seemed to be dumping into his Fortify surged at once, becoming a blanket that yanked Jaxir toward him and toward his own impaling.

It seemed that Jaxir was not the only one who could be flexible with their use of mana.

Jaxir felt a strong tug on his chest. Caught off guard, he could only try to twist to a side.

The blade cut into his robes and chest, blood arcing through the skies.

[-37]

Jaxir tumbled to the side, his balance a bit off. He tapped a foot and managed to regain some footing, but Tayo was already pressing his advantage.

BANG.

[-7]

A shield slammed into Jaxir’s side just when he thought he might regain some of his balance and he crashed heavily to the ground.

Without missing a beat, Tayo raised his spear and slammed it down with such force the polearm curved into a crescent moon.

’Damn. It really only takes one mistake, huh?’

Jaxir suddenly realized how a lot of the opponents he was facing until now felt. He managed to catch them off guard, using unique methods in battle mostly because he had never learned the meta of the game so he didn’t know better.

But for the first time he was meeting someone who was skilled enough in using the meta that he paid for it.

’Well, you live and learn.’

Jaxir grinned. A new Vestigem Card had already appeared in his hand.

―

Name: Twinkle Rupture

Grade: Uncommon

MP Cost: 4

Description: Trap attacks, whether physical or formed of mana, twist and bend them, then erupt with a greater strength.

Recommended Classes: Magic; Tank

―

His eyes flashed as the circuits completed in an instant of time.

Twisting, spiralling lines of brass and copper twinkling energy caught Tayo’s spear mid-air. It froze for an instant, giving Jaxir just enough time to roll out of the way and back up to his feet.

BOOM.

The spear slammed against the arena grounds, missing Jaxir entirely. But what was interesting was that its strength was much greater than what Tayo had originally put into it.

’Twinkle Rupture stores energy. If I can’t take it for myself, my enemy’s attack will become stronger instead.’

Jaxir got a feeling that this one was a lot more complex than Twinkle Pulse was. It would take more than just two attempts to fully understand it.

Luckily, he had four.

Jaxir tapped a foot and made some distance between himself and Tayo. He wasn’t going to blitz through this battle. He had a feeling that Tayo had a lot to teach him...

And only one of the two of them was going to get whatever lay at the end of these doors.

Jaxir smiled. "Let’s dance."

He raised his staff.