--
The sudden 20% increase in TJ's strength upon hitting the conditions to activate the [Combo II] perk was definitely noticeable.
And obviously, it was the Dream Echo who felt it the most.
The force behind TJ's attack abruptly increased. Furthermore, the rapier hit the spot on the dream echo's gauntlets that had been hit before. Because of this, the rapier pierced through the steel and stabbed the arm.
TJ felt the familiar feeling of hitting flesh. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, he drove the rapier deeper to inflict great damage, but through desperation, the enemy disengaged by using a spell.
Fwoosh!!
A green curtain of light passed through the dream echo's legs, then the enemy's speed suddenly increased, almost rivalling that of TJ's. Because of this sudden increase in speed, the dream echo was able to safely disengage and breathe for a bit.
'A novice spell that increases speed,' TJ mused to himself as he flicked the blood from his rapier. 'Must be the [Haste] spell.'
[Haste] is a Novice-ranked spell that directly boosts the user's total speed by 10% for 5 seconds, which increases the higher its level goes. It requires at least 15 mana points to cast and has a 10-minute cooldown at level one.
It was certainly a mistake for TJ to let the enemy recover his bearings because by doing so, he allowed him to use another spell.
This time, a gentle shroud of green light covered the enemy's body from head to toe. The light was more radiant at his injured arm. And while the enemy's face was blurry, TJ had this impression that the dream echo's complexion became more relaxed.
'That's the [Heal] spell.' TJ's eyes narrowed.
**
[Heal (Lv.1)]: Heals minor wounds and very slightly recovers exhaustion
Cost: 20 MP
Duration: 10 seconds
Cooldown: 30 minutes
**
That spell negated TJ's advantage immediately, and that made him feel bad.
Yet at the same time, TJ was determined to not give the enemy another chance. With a single stack [Combo II] buff still active, TJ charged to the enemy, intent on ending this battle before this guy pulls out another spell from his pockets.
Clang!
And so, the clash continued. With the enemy healed and recovered, he was able to somewhat keep up with TJ's pace. However, TJ was still faster and more focused than before.
His lunges and stabs were quick and very dangerous. So much so that TJ noticed that the enemy was actively trying not to let him hit the same hole he made on the gauntlet again.
TJ noticed the moment when the [Haste] spell's effects faded from the enemy because he became a beat slower. At the same time, the duration of the [Heal] spell also dissipated from him.
Although they're essentially back at square one, there were some slight differences.
'This guy can't use [Haste] again for the next 9 minutes. He also can't use [Heal] for the next 29 minutes.'
The cooldown of novice spells, especially at Lv. 1, was long, making them almost not worth it to learn or use. For such minor boosts, their cooldowns shouldn't be this long.
However, this was on purpose; novice-ranked spells are the easiest to cast. There was no need for chanting or any overly complicated rituals to use them. So long as one's visualization and mana are enough, they can be used right away. As for the cooldowns, they improve as the skill level grows. But that's an exp dump that most find not worth it; that's why many people ditch the novice-ranked spells as soon as they can.
[Mana Enhancement], on the other hand, was one of the really good novice-ranked spells. It's a channeling spell, meaning that so long as one has mana to spare, it stays active. While it's active, it boosts attacks and defense by 10% at level 1.
The downside is that, at low levels, the drain over time and per hit was pretty high.
'His mana must be near empty with how much I'm hitting him, right? His [Mana Enhancement] has been active all this while. It shouldn't be long until it's forcibly dispelled.'
[Mana Enhancement] drains mana over time while it's active; getting hit by an enemy attack while it's active also does the same. The drain per hit depends on how hard the hit was.
And while TJ's attacks might not be on the strong side, he's certainly hitting him a lot, so the enemy's mana should be draining fast.
Besides, TJ just got the second stack of the [Combo II] perk, adding yet another 20% to his total strength. Now, each of his hits was both fast and strong, so it must be draining even faster.
Crack!!
That moment announced itself through the sound of glass breaking. TJ saw how the faint blue shroud covering the enemy's body faded to nothingness once he was hit after TJ attacked with the second stack of [Combo II].
TJ's eyes gleamed dangerously. He held nothing back anymore. Determined to end the battle through this opportunity, TJ went all out, using every ounce of his strength to eliminate the enemy.
The onslaught he unleashed at the next second was simply ruthless. TJ became a blur of speed, circling around the enemy and stabbing him wherever he could.
By the time he was done, the dream echo's body had turned into Swiss cheese. He's bleeding heavily from his wounds, and he fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
His fall didn't make a sound, but it might as well be thunderous in TJ's ears...or maybe that's his heartbeat that he's hearing because that final assault truly pushed him to his limits.
Staring at the fallen and disappearing body of his enemy, TJ felt overwhelmed for a bit. That was then followed by glee and relief.
"It's 1:1 now," he muttered softly.
His victory did make him happy, but only slightly. Deep down, TJ felt that this victory was hollow. He did, after all, postpone this fight until he was ready. In a sense, he cheated by doing that.
In a real fight, that won't fly. It's do or die. He won't wake up in his bed feeling horrible, unlike how it would be if he were defeated here.
At the same time, this reveals just how unreasonable Fusion Class holders were.
Remember, this dream echo was, at most, 1★ Novice, and he's not even as good as Lily, yet TJ needed the strength of a 3★ Novice and Advanced Basic Techniques just to deal with him. And even then, it was close.
If he struggled this much with this one, imagine what it would be like if he faced Lily.
"I swear, I'm going to get a Fusion Class Template on my first Class Transition. I can't miss out on the benefits anymore."
This declaration was certainly bold, especially for a novice like him.
One must know that Fusion Class Templates are strong for a reason, and although there are templates out there that are pretty common and affordable, one must meet the requirements first before they could transition to them.
The general basis is to raise the quality of both one's body and energy to nearly the same level. There are a lot of ways to do this, and most of them cost gross amounts of money. One that TJ doesn't have a lot of. Additionally, it becomes harder for those who didn't have the Fusion Class Archetype to begin with.
TJ's confidence lies on his [Boons]. More specifically, the [Dream Echo Battlefield]. Although he couldn't see the exact value, he knows that his mana had been increasing steadily as he defeated more dream echoes.
He could feel that he's close to reaching the standards to transition to a Fusion Class as soon as he reaches the Apprentice Rank.
The gap between Warriors and Casters against Fusion Classes is just too big, after all. And if TJ really wants to go far in his professional career, transitioning to a Fusion Class Template as early as possible is almost necessary.
This doesn't mean that being a pure warrior or a pure caster wouldn't take him far. They most definitely could; there are many out there who have done so. Some could even go toe-to-toe with Fusion Classes, but it would definitely require a lot of effort and hard work to reach that state, definitely not as much as simply being eligible for Fusion Class Templates.
Fwoosh!!
"!!"
TJ was awoken from his musings when he suddenly felt a blazing heat coursing through his body. He was surprised and pained shortly after, completely caught off-guard by this.
As time passed, it got worse. Now, he feels like lava is coursing through his body instead of blood. He had long since lost his train of thought; his mind was completely dominated by the pain.
He tried holding on to his consciousness as long as he could because that's all he could really do. However, he didn't last long at all.
When the pain escalated to the feeling of having a raging inferno inside, TJ was unable to take it anymore and lost consciousness.