Supreme Archer: Taking The Game's Weakest Class To The Top

Chapter 259: The International Tournament (19)

Golden chains sprouted from the floor and air, putting Meredith in a unique zone.

It was, in fact, a mana barrier, a skill mages learned relatively early in their gaming careers. It helped them remain on the battlefields for as long as possible.

In Meredith's case, however, the mana barrier wrapped her in golden chains.

Meredith extended her hand forward and spread her palms wide.

She curved her lips into a confident, arresting smile. "Release."

The chains rattled before rocketing in Jake's direction.

He stood still, aware that she cast a simple magic to test him.

In an instant, Jake caught his bow's handle and crumbled into Formless Soldier Form. He drew the highest anchor, locking his eyes on Meredith's face. His Death's Lock drew a trajectory toward his opponent.

All he had to do was to tuck in an arrow.

Which he did.

At the same time, the chains converged on him. Jake knew precisely when they would hit him as he read them through his perception zone. He also knew how much damage they would do.

He nocked the second arrow. It was a blunt arrow with a flexible spine. It flew fast toward one of the many chains. Before this arrow hit its target, Jake rapidly released more arrows, each enough to take down Meredith's attack.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The volley of blunt arrows tackled Meredith's assault.

Meanwhile, Jake's first arrow met with Meredith's mana barrier. It spun against her barrier, causing sparks to splinter in all directions. A crack appeared on Meredith's chain, but the entire barrier came at the top against Jake's assault.

It was a draw.

'Both of us didn't show much—' Jake thought, only to have his thinking process disturbed by something holding onto his ankle, preventing him from releasing more arrows.

He looked down, noticing a black chain coiled around his ankle. He couldn't make a step and enter his soldier form!

Jake's eyes widened.

He felt an abundance of mana being ignited in this chain!

'This is bad!' Jake thought.

A small explosion rippled on the seventh floor. It hurled Jake up and caused him to fall down in a parabola. He then heavily crashed into the floor.

His perception bubble warned him about incoming attacks. A wave of chains rolled toward him. Their rattlings cackled like grim reapers.

Because of Jake's high endurance, he didn't lose his leg. He strained to stand up. On his two feet, Jake jumped away with the help of The Feather Step.

He stared at the chains converging on the spot he had been, causing a small smoke of dirt to billow.

[Archer Lv. 30 HP: 1986/2825 MP: 1261/1450]

'What was that black chain? Is it something similar to Odin's Arrow?' Jake thought as he stared at his health points. He contorted his face in disbelief, as Meredith's damage was too much! 'How many of them can she cast? And how did she slip through my perception zone! It's much better than before…'

Meredith used a trick.

Though the perception skill was usually a bubble, it couldn't go through objects in its early levels. At most, it'd go past them to scour the surroundings for its user.

Meredith's black chain, therefore, was like a mole that burrowed itself below Jake's foot. It emerged at the same time he was about to crumble into his form, making it seem like Meredith had utterly avoided his senses.

'Whatever she's using to deceive me, I simply can't stand still!' Jake landed on the floor. He immediately bolted to the side, releasing a few arrows.

Those arrows weren't meant to damage Meredith's barrier zone.

He needed more mobility.

'I will skid after each teleportation. I can and must be in a constant move,' Jake thought. 'Her chain magic is simple so far. The problem is her ability to restrict others. That's what makes Meredith the most dangerous. If she restricted my strength with that black chain instead of damaging me, I would have been in a huge problem.'

Meredith stepped forward.

The sound of her heels tapping the floor resounded across the battlefield.

She walked closer to Jake.

'Not a typical mage, huh?' Jake thought, curving his lips up. It was odd for a mage to walk into a melee range, but Meredith seemed too confident in her defenses. 'She will force me to waste more stamina and mana… Justin told me that the mana barrier can be perpetually up and only eats more mana when receiving damage from outside.'

Jake landed on the floor and skidded.

He was like an ice skater, weaving around Meredith, whose chains were zooming after him.

'Let's have a battle of resources, then!' Jake thought. "ENDER! WUKONG! STRAIGHT AT HER!"

Ender appeared in the skies with his proud screech.

Wukong was beside Meredith's mana barrier, and his staff was behind him.

Both lurched at her.

[Ender has entered the battle.]

[Wukong has entered the battle.]

[Their respective battle cooldowns have been applied to them.]

Slamming his staff into Meredith's chain, Wukong entered the fierce form and repeated the same move countless times. His every attack sounded like a gong, and he was in a battle mood like never before.

He could feel that this battle mattered a lot to Jake.

The same went for Ender.

He sheathed his white beak in darkness before plummeting straight into Meredith's mana barrier. A few cracks spread beneath his little form.

He then took off and flew to the ceiling. Creating a darkness nest, he sank into it and came out from the floor! He weaved so many darkness threads around Meredith that she halted, clueless.

She was also wary of them.

Ender nocked himself on one of his threads and used them as a bowstring, accelerating his flight! He bolted like a meteor into Meredith, causing one of her chains to snap into two!

On the other hand, Jake was in a skid.

He had landed after using his The Feather Step, sheathing his arrow in a force of gravity.

His eyes twinkled.

'Battle of resources is not what I expected from you… but if that's how you want to play, I will play along and destroy your mana barrier!' Jake thought.

Meredith's perception caught his feelings.

She turned around and stared into his eyes.

A unique obsession swirled within his hues, making them look like the eyes of the abyss.

Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e'-NovelBin.net

She stood still, absorbed within them.