~Cobb POV~

I was admiring the majesty of their lair, looking up towards the canopy. Though it wasn't quite dark out, the position of the sun was such that we were in the shade of the Great Tree.

"He's giving us a thumbs up." Jones said grinning. My attention snapped back to the situation at hand.

Looking around the flat area where the Geckans were wandering about I realized there was a pathetic amount of dirt. If we wanted to get through here without taking any damage something has to change.

Well I guess it's time I reached for more magic.

Whenever I played a VR that had multiple magics I liked to accumulate them over time, mastering one before moving to the next. In this case i'd consider Earth Magic mastered, my only grievance would be that I consider Animate a magic and I haven't mastered it. Unfortunately this situation requires a new type of magic. Seeing as how i'm in the Uncharted, supposedly unexplored forest from the looks of it so far, I opted for a magic that would be the most effective in this predicament. A cycled through a variety of techniques before I felt something. I searched inward, I grasped outward, I felt for phantom senses, I reached for the abstract, I tested my emotions, I sensed for many things but ultimately it was as simple as lighting a candle. Following the same vein as Earth Magic it felt so....raw.

I snapped my fingers.

New Skill: Fire Magic - Beginner 1 (0%)

The element of Fire is the most unpredictable and destructive of the Elements. Many practitioners are scarred or maimed in their early years but when a Fire Mage reaches their apex, they are near unstoppable. The number of Fire Mages has been at a steady constant for years, unfortunately practitioners of Fire are prone to early deaths but that doesn't stop young mages seeking power.

Effects:

+3% effectiveness of offensive magic

The flickering flame threw shadows across my grinning face.

~JST POV~

I wonder how many of their dicks I could rip off before they...

My eyes darted to a flickering flame across the clearing. Up, left, half circle, on, off.

He just learned the magic and he expects me to do that? Somehow I get the feeling I know exactly what he's planning to do. I think Warrior Bond had something to do with it.

Warrior Bond didn't just generate from fighting together with my brothers. That isn't what we were doing. What we were doing was something more. It's one thing to work with a team, shoring up a weakness that the team has by using your own strength. But to trust a team is a different matter, shoring up the weakness of an individual rather than the team as a whole has a much stronger effect. Something like that requires absolute trust, to watch an enemy charge straight for you, to place all your trust in an ally, to not even flinch knowing that if you do, the enemy charging another teamate will break though.

To show my brothers my most vulnerable areas so that they may be strengthened more than I ever could myself. That is what we were doing.

I looked back towards my wall, against were two dead Geckan Scoutsassins. Not far from those two were a group of three, then two, then another three, and another, further back there was even a group of six. Looking at the clearing in front of me I counted five Geckans, two yellow, one green, one orange, one red. Instead of thinking about what the colors meant like my littles bros might I trusted them to think for me. They were better at it after all.

No time like the present.

Steeling myself I vaulted over the roots concealing me. I debated giving out a high pitched indian war cry but none of my hands were free so I couldn't use them to get a better staccato. If not for the dirt layer I was wearing and the veil of shade from the Great Tree I might've been noticed earlier, way earlier if i gave the war cry. With swift feet I glided across the mass of tangled roots towards the first two Geckans, green and orange. Though I was expecting their speed, I was still met with a green and orange blur. It seemed that similar to their color that their bones were more solid as well, taking a few moments I realized these two were indeed more muscular, their green and orange bodies had a clearly defined muscle tone. Ten or so feet of Geckan meant a lot of muscle and if we weren't in the shade of their lair their scales would've caught the sunlight in brilliance. It was then I decided to name them by their colors and stop admiring their muscles. Green crouched low to match my height, but he didn't underestimate me which I then returned. Orange darted around me but I kept them both at the front my shield taking no chances. Quickly as Orange darted forward I called his bluff and moved to strike Green, my gladius cut his left hand off, but I didn't stop. I twirled into their guard using his momentary distraction, from there I launched a series of stabs and slices across Green. Not one to get distracted I caught the incoming forearm of a recovering Orange on my shield, but he was definitely stronger, we struggled for a few critical moments before I pulled my shield free. With the level of my STR stat and the fact its basically doubled because of Combat Savant I don't think any other player would currently have their shield right now. These two motherfuckers were not to be trifled with. Any of the other two variety of Geckans wouldn't have even tried that manuever. If Green wasn't caught up with his missing hand I would've been done. I retreated backwards, circling them so that one would always block the other. I kept Green in front of me but Orange pushed Green behind him.

Yeah that's right your friend missing a hand motherfucker? Where's your hand bitch?

I would need every advantage I could get my hands on and if they're intelligent that means they can get pissed off. I grinned and pointed to my hand smiling, flexing all the fingers so they could see, discreetly adjusting my grip on gladius in the process. It was hilarious. I could've imagined it but I think I could see them squint in anger. That is until I felt a sudden presence five or so meters from me. Quickly realizing the distance meant nothing at the speed these things moved I activated Hyperfocus and I ducked, fast. A whipping wind could be felt and it flattened my hair. As I straightened out I whipped out my sword and cut something solid, the presence swiftly left my Arena, the tip of my sword was dipped in scarlet blood. After circling each other initially my six o' clock was towards my brothers now. I slowly retreated towards them to stall for time, I wouldn't last with an invisible Geckan distracting me. Suddenly it was there again, it seemed to know I could sense it because it ran through my Arena and only flicked its long leg out in a sweeping motion, from a distance further than my sword could reach. I jumped backwards, clearing the limb, however I had to jump high and that meant hang time. Stuck unmoving in the air I kept Hyperfocus on realizing I was cornered, a battle at this speed capitalized on the smallest pauses. Green and Orange were already moving in and they wound up their arms. At this position I couldn't do anything but block mid air. Trying to twist and angle my shield I took the punches and felt the impact verberate through my left arm. I soared backwards and planned to absorb the crash with a single roll but in the end I needed to roll more than once. It was painful rolling across tangled roots especially with a sword and shield but it's something I had to pick up on and eventually master.

I took a deep breath as I rose slowly. I focused solely on my little bubble of the world. I centered my attention completely on The Arena.

The Arena - Beginner 10 (13%)

The Gladiator fights for a bigger dream. Fighting in an Arena has granted an awareness of your surroundings.

Effects:

+10 meter radius

Ten meters, ten meters of perfect awareness. Two buff Geckans almost twice my height. Orange matched me in strength so we're even there. The invisible one is the fastest and I dodged him earlier. Looks like the deciding factor is gonna be my skill or their numbers and tactics.

They were slowly advancing and because of my Class Skill I could navigate the roots without looking, stepping backwards and eyes forward all the while. They were herding me to my brothers like a fucking sheep. I was tense for battle but I stuck to Cobb's plan. I pretended to fall for their trap and backed towards my brothers but at an angle, veering off to the left of them. They were locked in combat with the two yellow Geckans. As it happened I was backing up into the two Yellows. Almost reaching the point where I would be completely trapped between them I did the unexpected and advanced on Orange and Green. Their rhythm was interrupted and they jerked to a stop. They obviously knew I wasn't stupid if I fell for it that easily they would've suspected something. Gripping my gladius I ran forward and dropkicked Green, he blocked well negating most of the damage but that didn't stop the force, he flew a good distance backward and did a good job of stopping my momentum. I propelled myself off his body and was able to reach face height with Orange. Midair I swung horizontally and carved a deep gash in his forearm, following it up with a quick diagonal, and a vertical slash as I descended. His right knee came up to meet my face but I stabbed his thigh with my gladius to hold on and blocked with my shield. As his leg lost its initial speed I held on before breaking its leg with an effort. It gave out a guttural clicking as it lost balance and fell. It earned my respect as it balanced on one knee and faced me with no fear. An offensive on his right side forced him to block and he lost his balance and fell over. I gifted him with a swift death, a slice to the neck as he fell, he was dead before he hit the ground.

By this time Green had arrived and wasted no time, his punches were slower and more powerful than Orange. The speed he lacked was made up for in technique, most counters I formulated were redirected, deflected or avoided. If I hadn't cut off one of his hands earlier I might've lost my shield a couple times. There were moments where a series of moves would position his hands near my shield, even though it seemed his most comfortable method of fighting he changed it to better adapt to his missing hand. However the problem was the difference in our reach. His arms and legs were long and even though I had a sword it couldn't match the length of his limbs. I don't know what he was planning but a few times an opening would present itself and as I was about to strike I could feel the invisible presence enroach upon my Arena. A split second decision and I passed up the opprotunity, dodging a flying hand, and ducking a kick.

After a trade of blows I made distance between us, we had moved farther from the Yellows, who seemed as exhausted as Cobb and Jones did. Acting seemingly like an idiot I backed up into the Yellows feigning exhaustion and retreating from Green, who although missing a hand turned out to be a bigger problem than Orange. A loud click came from Green and I feigned shock as I turned around to meet to giant yellow geckos. I turned back to Green and gripped my gear tighter, it began to feel warm. I tried moving but I was feeling uncomfortably hot all three Geckans had me in the middle of their triangle.

A loud whoosh and a second of unbearable, searing heat. That was what I felt before I opened my eyes and my world was a blazing inferno. I was in the middle of an expanding tornado of flame. Surrounding me in a triangle were the black remains of once coloful foes. A section of raging flames parted and my brothers walked through.

"FUCKING CHRIST MAN THAT WAS FUCKING HOT." I yelled as I approached.

"Lower your voice, fuck. My head hurts i'm at 10%." Cobb moaned, soft pain on his face. "I probably have enough for one more serious spell. Before I faint of course."

"Well fuck." Jones said, looking at me intently. Enemies?

Activating Hyperfocus, I walked forward before I could feel a presence slinking towards us. "Fuck that was really hot, if I didn't have these scales man.." I trailed off.

The presence approached behind Cobb and positioned itself to strike. As it was about to strike I felt four more enter my Arena rushing towards me and Jones.

"COBB WE'RE SURROUNDED." I shouted. Ducking under the first one and slicing open its belly.

The invisible enemies slowly appeared in the shade there were three solid black ones and the red one from earlier. I had assumed it got caught in the flame but apparently not. Immediately I was set upon and I had to work to dodge each attack, my swings barely nicked them. They were less skilled but their numbers made up for any lack of skill on their part, they seemed adept at covering for each other. Glancing over to Jones I caught sight of him over a dead Geckan materializing on the roots but his face was confused and he was looking towards my enemies. Focusing forward I wondered why they didn't take advantage of my lack of attention. They were more obvious in their stance but I could tell they were ready to recieve my attacks rather than take advantage of their superior numbers and try to wear me out.

What the fuck is going on?

"They're fake!" Cobb announced with confidence. "Watch!" A ball of flame launched into the roots off the clearing behind me.

An explosion burst from the impact point and charred roots flew from the area. Almost instantaneously the Geckans in front me dissolved and the one Jones was standing over did as well. Come to think of it these ones never really touched me, I never even touched them except for small nicks which I would never have felt. It was an illusion? Right when I attributed the magic to the red Geckan in the middle it also dissolved.

"The real one's over here." Cobb said taking his time to walk past me, his face was pained. "I could feel his heat." He added. Jones followed behind him shortly after. Befuddled, I followed as well.

In the pocket of burnt roots there was the real red Geckan, burned and scorched, it was alive but dying slowly, sputtering coughs came often. Jones was a strange one, at times he would be fine watching gruesome scenes such as this sometimes even dishing them out, othertimes he would be merciful as if he couldn't stomach it. Without waiting any longer he ended its life. Apparently Red was keeping a secret because a part of the surrounding roots it was laying on slowly dispersed and revealed a short tunnel.

"Wonder what he was hiding?" Cobb groaned, massaging his forehead.

"I call dibs." Jones said as he dived in, the tunnel went straight down but it shouldn't be a problem for him.

I started feeling the pain of the battle as the adrenaline wore off, the patches of missing scales and revealed skin I had were burned by Cobb's magic. I checked my top left peripheral, 80% Stamina and 75% Health, most likely from the punch and the burns. After acknowledging the fire resistance of my scales, and the slight weakness I felt from Overdrive I waited once more. The time ticked by and a few minute later Jones crawled out holding a book in his hands.

"Sorry, I was reading." Jones grinned.

"Reading? Reading what?" Cobb asked curious.

"Bro you read that in a few minutes?" I pointed to the thick book. "What is it?" I asked skeptically. I could clearly feel three brothers which wouldn't be a problem if I didn't only have two.

He held it up so that we could read the title.

Cobb leaned forward, squinted and read slowly, still groggy from the lack of mana. "Illusion Magic."

"Illusion Magic." Jones confirmed grinning madly before poofing into purple dust along with the book.

The real Jones was behind us somehow. "I'm still wondering which way I want my clones to poof out of existence." He tossed the real book to me. Cobb blinked and turned around still slow on the uptake.

Catching it in my hands I felt the smooth spine and cover. Cobb came to his senses and peeked over my shoulder. The pictures on the book seemed to be moving and changing constantly like a mirage. Curious, I opened the first page.

Skillbook: Illusion Magic (Used)

Illusion Magic is a Specialized Magic which can only be learned through special methods. Illusions are deceitful and underhanded, fake and tricky, dishonorable and disrespectful but most importantly illusions are beautiful.

Effects:

+Learn Illusion Magic

"A skillbook?" I raised my eyebrows.