Flame Blade; Rare

Aaylia hurriedly took note of the skill, brow furrowing in minor worry as the Abyss Watcher once again charged at the party somehow seeming even faster than before as he once again put the other Adamantines on the backfoot. She bit on her knuckle in thought as she racked her brain for possible skills or spells that could stop a [Solar Ray]. Yet the only ones she could recall were those only capable of being done by very high level [Mages], and the Abyss Watcher was by no means a [Mage].

She slowly back against the trunk of the tree, biting her knuckles in thought as she reviewed the notes so far.

From what she had gathered, his fighting style seemed to be to move fast, and strike hard, explaining the need for the light leather armour he wore. Of course, it wasn't like he had much of a choice in terms of what sort of armour he could wear considering his [Disciple of the Wolf] title which essentially rendered any form of armour that wasn't light useless. He also had remarkable reaction time if catching a ball of metal that travels faster than any arrow counts for something, although that can also once again be chalked up to his abnormal stats.

Looking back at the battle, the Guild Party remained on the back foot, the Abyss Watcher never giving them a chance to rest as he sped from one opponent to the other, the flames on his sword being flung outwards with each swing simply from the sheer speed of it. Aaylia raised an eyebrow as she added to her most recent note.

Flame Blade; Rare (Can throw flames outwards if swung hard enough)

As she looked back up towards the battle her finger twitched towards the black [Activation Crystal] strapped to her wrist upon seeing the Abyss Watcher narrowly miss removing Myrrh's head and instead only slightly burning her hair. She let out a sigh of relief, smoothing out her green cloak as she continued to watch the battle.

Worryingly enough, she hadn't seen the Abyss Watcher use any skills except for [Dash] and [Flame Blade], and they couldn't be the only skills he knew. Yet he refrained from using any others, making the whole point of this little venture begin to seem rather stupid. She shook her head to dispel the thoughts. This was a tradition that had gone on in the Adventurer's Guild for centuries, and as such it would continue going on for centuries.

"Aaylia, how goes the battle." Holly spoke through their [Bond].

"It goes much the same as the last time you asked me. Our guys are on the backfoot but aren't really losing. Now though the Abyss Watcher is using [Flame Blade] so it is quite the spectacle." She replied, wincing slightly as Yurem collided with a nearby tree.

"Hmmm, alright, but keep me posted if anything major happens." Holly said before cutting off the communication through the [Bond].

"You have got to be kidding me." A feminine voice suddenly said from behind her, causing Aaylia to freeze in place. She slowly turned her head to glance back to the voice, yet the fear on her face was quickly met with one of confusion as there was only empty air and tree behind her.

Tilting her head she turned her attention once again towards the battle going on, dismissing the voice as Holly not turning off the [Bond] properly.

Light blue eyes stared back at her. This was her. The blue haired woman that had been in the Adventurers Guild. And she was standing upside down on the branch above Aaylia. The elf in question remained dead silent as her brain whirred in a panic, not entirely sure how to handle the situation.

"You Adventurers get stupider every time I come here, you know that?" The woman said, shaking her upside down head in a manner akin to that of a disappointed mother.

Aaylia gulped, a bead of sweat forming on her head, "W-Who are you?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly. After all, the woman she was talking to was currently hanging upside down, not even her hair obeying gravity.

The woman grinned and stuck out her hand, "Name's Sapphire, I'm just your average everyday traveler."

Aaylia at first rose her own hand to take Sapphire's, but unfortunately became a bit confused as the woman in question was still upside down.

Sapphire, noticing this laughed sheepishly before rotating in the air until her feet touched the branch that Aaylia was on. "Sorry about that, it's kind of hard for me to keep track of which way is up or down in this place." She apologised, however it only served to puzzle Aaylia more, "There's no need for you to introduce yourself though, I already know who you are. And now it is time for the smackdown."

Aaylia took a cautious step back, the heel of her boot touching the trunk. If this woman wanted to give her a smackdown it didn't seem that there was much she could do. And so she decided to attempt to keep her talking. However, as soon as she opened her mouth Sapphire interrupted her.

"You guys are absolute idiots! Attacking the Abyss Watcher!?!? Seriously!?!?" Sapphire shouted, throwing her arms into the air in exasperation, "Centuries later and you guys still keep this stupid tradition! I don't know why people even still join your outdated institution! Although, I guess a stupid tradition appeals to stupid people. This system is corrupting your minds you know? With him though, you're only going to succeed in driving him away! And now I have to step in to stop it or else one of those idiots is going to get killed!" She then turned around, a frustrated look on her face as she walked off the branch and landed on the grass below, not breaking her stride in the slightest.

Aaylia hurried over to the end of the branch shouting at Sapphire, "Why do you have to step in!" It was a fair question. After all, this woman seemed to have little care for them from the what little she gleamed from their short conversation.

"Cause if one of them dies it'll be like kicking up the hornets nest. And looking for someone with an active hornets nest nearby isn't exactly ideal!"

The Abyss Watcher ducked as another metal ball sailed overhead, taking advantage of his new position to swipe at the knight's legs, the armour, while it stopped him from losing his leg, it didn't stop the knight from having his feet swept out from underneath them, causing him to crash onto the ground open to be struck. This opportunity didn't last however as another unseen fire rune exploded, forcing the Abyss Watcher to fall back once again.

It was then that he spotted the elf. Completely undefended as the knight was still trying to right himself and the dwarf was still shoving another metal ball into what the Abyss Watcher decided to call a boom stick. The Abyss Watcher [Dashed] closing the distance instantly and raising his sword to strike the elf down.

Metal clashed against metal as the Abyss Watcher's blade was halted, a sword similar of the katanas of his old world halting the Abyss Watcher's attack. A blue haired woman faced sideways away from the Abyss Watcher, one hand holding the katana while the other resided in one of the jacket pockets, a bored look donning her face.

"Alright, you guys have got to stop fighting him." The new arrival said, looking to each of the people the Abyss Watcher had been battling, "I don't give a damn about your levels or that you're from the Guild. You guys are just being too noisy right now."

The Abyss Watcher frowned as he looked at all of the people he was currently facing when his eyes widened as they landed on the elf. Particularly the Adamantine band around her wrist that was now visible with the sleeve of her blue cloak sliding back slightly as she had raised her arm in instinct to defend against the Abyss Watcher. They were adventurers. The most powerful adventurers in fact.

And the Adventurers Guild had sent them against him.

The Abyss Watcher's eyes flashed red.

Warning: Experiencing extreme negative emotions, [Abyss Corruption] is attempting expansion.

...

[Willpower] check successful, [Abyss Corruption] expansion stopped.

Applying new modifier...

[Abyss Corruption] successfully modified.

New modifier: -40 [Willpower]

HIs glowing red eyes flashed for a second more before fading back to their usual grey.

He glared past the blue haired woman to the damned elf from the Guild. Those bastards sent her and the others to fight him. Almost immediately after he had joined the Guild. He didn't understand. Every one of their attacks carried the intent to kill, and they had very clearly put in a great amount of effort during their attack.

Fine. If they wanted to attack and eliminate him.

He'd just kill them first.

He angled his sword and slid it across the woman's katana, catching her off guard. Using this opportunity he pushed past her, flipping his dagger to instead point at the elf, aiming for her stomach. He was then thrown off his feet as a force suddenly collided with his side, happening so quickly that he didn't even see what happened.

The tree he hit cracked in half, only barely staying upright. Groaning he stood up, looking back to his enemies. Only for his vision to be filled with the blue haired woman a frustrated look on her face.

"I said, stop fighting." She said, the last words causing an unseen pressure to fall upon the Abyss Watcher, who fell to his knees from the sheer force of it. "And when I say you stop fighting."

The Abyss Watcher strained to lift his gaze to the woman, eyes trailing up her body and to her face, which was filled with a mix of disgust and rage.

"You stop fighting"

The bottom of a boot filled his vision.