Reivyn bounded to his feet as the seven enemies advanced. They didn't try to completely surround him. They moved in a formation, and Reivyn could vaguely sense a Mana tether binding them together. He didn't have time to delve deeper into what his senses were telling him was there. The enemy's advance was unrelenting, and they didn't give him enough time to analyze further. The first enemy strode forward and slashed with his sword without hesitation. Reivyn ducked under the swing and moved into the man's reach, his own sword thrusting forward to counterattack. His Danger Sense and Divine Sense Skills sent alarm bells ringing in his mind, though, and he cancelled the action in time to avoid the trap. Two swords thrust in where he had been previously standing from either side. Two more of the enemy soldiers further flanked him immediately, and he hopped back one more. The Mana tether between the seven warriors had somehow obfuscated his Divine Sense until the last minute. He had only noticed that they were in the general vicinity, but as soon as they launched an attack with intent, the mist covering his eyes was cleared and he saw the sword thrusts. He looked back and forth between all of the soldiers as they continued to advance on him. The Mage in the back was fully concentrated on pouring Mana into the strange device he was holding up. He wasn't actively engaged in the fight, so Reivyn temporarily put him out of his mind. He kept a small portion of his awareness on his presence though in case there was a change in the Mana fluctuations. Reivyn glanced behind him to get a feel of the land, trusting his Divine Sense to keep him aware of the opponents. While looking behind himself at the forest he had found himself in, his instincts were true as the enemy's simultaneously picked up their pace and dashed towards him. He focused his attention on his Divine Sense. He was a bit confused that they only appeared as vague shadows, but by pressing his willpower into the Skill, he was able to make out their shape and the position of their weapons. It was only a fraction of a second for the vanguard soldier to advance to a position to launch another attack at Reivyn, and he deliberately acted like he was unaware of their actions. The enemy warrior once more slashed with his sword at a slightly different height and angle. Reivyn wasn't thrown into confusion, and he empowered himself with the Traveler Affinity. He took a step backward and appeared behind the man's back with his sword already thrusting forward. His blade bit into the hard leather underneath the metal cuirass protecting the man's torso, and with a slight effort it penetrated further to pierce the man's flesh. Reivyn was unable to strike at the man where it would be an immediate lethal blow, but every tick of damage was worth it. The enemies reacted supernaturally fast, and almost before Reivyn could react, six swords collapsed on his position. Each one was at a different height, and they each had a slightly different trajectory. They came in as slashed and stabs, and there was almost no hole in the strike. Reivyn hadn't let go of his Traveler Affinity, and he took another step forward. He intended to return to his original position, but he felt a tug from behind. Instead of phasing through the vanguard soldier as he intended, he ended up another four feet backward. Reivyn didn't have time to ponder the issue. The soldiers immediately responded and advanced on his position. It seems like their Mana tether is allowing them to share their Stats and/or Skills, Reivyn thought. It's like their Perception and Dexterity are way higher than should be possible. That or they have some sort of magical enhancement applied to them, but I don't sense any kind of Mana fluctuations from their bodies other than the tether. Reivyn threw out a Sense Threat at one of the soldiers to try and ascertain whether he was right or not. ???: Tier 4 Lvl 70-100 Lethal Threat Yeah, their Stats shouldn't be too overwhelming. There's some sort of shenanigans afoot, here. The thought process and action of activating the Skill had happened in a flash. No time had passed at all. Reivyn picked up on the Mage adjusting his position with his Divine Sense Skill as he faced the oncoming soldiers. He was late to realize that he had wasted a perfect opportunity to pounce on the Caster. He had inadvertently placed himself in a position between the soldiers and the Caster, but they quickly rectified the situation. So that's how it is. Reivyn was done analyzing the situation he was in. Blood continued to drip from various wounds scouring his body from the forceful relocation through space, but none of them were too serious, and his body was already healing itself with his Regeneration Skill. If he needed to, he could amplify that effect with his Mana Healing, but he was holding that in reserve for the time being. Reivyn glared at the advancing enemy in the forefront, though he kept his concentration on his Divine Sense to alleviate the issue of them shrouding his ability to perceive them. It only put a mild strain on his mental powers, though he could tell he wouldn't be able to keep it up forever. Reivyn pretended like he had sunk into tunnel vision. He never let his gaze waver from the front-leading enemy. He moved forward to meet the man who acted like he hadn't just been stabbed in the kidneys. Mana flooded Reivyn's body as he used Mana Reinforcement. He didn't anchor the Skill, opting to use his Multi-Cast Skill to empower his sword with multiple Affinities. He wasn't done, yet, either. He summoned another, identical sword made out of pure Mana with his Mana Weapon Skill in his off-hand. He hadn't had too many opportunities to Level his Ambidextrous Skill in a while, but it was high enough that he could utilize a significant portion of his Weapons Master Skill with both hands at the same time. Reivyn found himself in the middle of a storm of steel as he didn't back away from the enemy's advance. He dodged, parried, blocked, and maneuvered around like a mini tornado. He was barely able to keep up with the fast-paced combat, though he didn't suffer any successful attacks from the bad guys. Experience with fighting groups of enemies in such a situation was a big help, but it wasn't what allowed him to operate at such a level. If he hadn't been so serious with his father over the past several months, he wouldn't have been able to handle the coordinated attack of the enemies. His nearly Level 100 in Weapons Master, coupled with the penalty for dual-wielding, was barely enough to keep up. The enemy soldiers were well-trained, too. He could tell that their Skill Levels were individually around 60, but the Mana tether enhanced their abilities by allowing them to coordinate in a way that synergized perfectly with their attacks. The combination meant that they were operating closer to Level 80 as a group. It wasn't enough for them to overpower him, but he wasn't finding too many opportunities to launch successful counterattacks at the enemy, either. This still wasn't his full-power, though, and with a split in his concentration even further, he began to fling Spells out of his hands in conjunction with their movements while attacking with his weapons. The enemy soldiers were completely unprepared for the first barrage of bolts and beams flung at them from such close range. Reivyn didn't use anything explosive, as the blast would affect him as well. He managed to knock some of them off balance, though, and that was all he needed. He immediately increased the tempo of his whirlwind attacks. He incorporated kicks into his repertoire, and he knocked one of the flanking soldiers on his backside. With two of the soldiers off balance and one knocked down, their formation attack became meaningless. A headache attempted to blast his mind apart as he layered Traveler Affinity further over his weapons, his ability to Multi-Cast being pushed well beyond his normal limits. His sword flashed out into empty space, but a line of red appeared on one of the soldiers a bit further away from him. The man stumbled and fell to one knee. He looked up at Reivyn, and Reivyn could only see determination in the man's eyes. There was no fear. There wasn't even any anger or hatred. He was bound and determined to accomplish his mission, and he struggled mightily to regain his feet. The drop in blood pressure from his sliced throat, though, was too much for him overcome even with the Mana tether. The man tilted forward and collapsed completely to the ground, never to rise again. The other soldiers never even spared their dead comrade a glance. The two soldiers that had been knocked off balance gained their feet and continued their assault, and the one knocked to the ground simply dashed forward on all-fours to try and tackle Reivyn. Swords once more came at him from all angles, though the loss of two greatly effected their ability to put pressure on Reivyn. The last one still on the ground wasn't completely out of the fight, however, and his mad dashing from such a low height still posed a threat to Reivyn. If that man managed to collide with him, he would lose his balance, and then it would be all over for him. Reivyn released the Traveler Affinity from his sword. He was unable to maintain so many Spells and Affinities at once any longer, and he resumed his fight. The loss of pressure from the enemy formation being broken allowed Reivyn a moment to think. I wonder... A memory from a previous battle flitted across his mind, and he immediately put a new plan into action. He danced back and stopped accumulating Manas for Spells. He didn't release the Mana, however. He just repurposed it. He reached out with his Mana and made contact with the Mana Tether. His will bore down on the Mana connecting the remaining six enemies. They weren't specialized Casters, so their ability to infuse their Will into their Mana was limited. Even so, it was like he had smashed head-first into an iron wall. Reivyn grit his teeth and grabbed hold of a sliver of the Mana. He wasn't trying to wrest control of the Mana away like he had in the past, instead he wrapped himself up in it in a similar was as the enemy was connected. Immediately he felt a rush of adrenaline as his Stats spiked further, and he felt as if his swords knew on their own exactly where they needed to be. He had successfully integrated himself in the enemy Mana formation. A grin split his face as he once more dashed forward. Instead of barely being able to keep up with the enemy, not only did his weapons seem to know where to go with every strike, he also knew in advance where the enemy was going to focus their attacks. The only downside was that the enemy soldiers also seemed to gain a new awareness and boost to their abilities, but their increase was considerably less than his. It wasn't about the Level of their Skills and Stats that was the key factor. It was that Reivyn was only one man with lower Stats while he was siphoning off six other men's superior Stats. Their Skill Level gained a significant boost, but their Stats were unable to keep up with it. Reivyn became a storm of death as he took advantage of the lopsided situation. Six people empowering him quickly turned into three as his his sword swept out to the end the lives of half of the opponents. Reivyn felt a bit sluggish for a second, and the enemy soldiers all stumbled as their Stats and Skills were adjusted downward. Reivyn had never experienced such a thing before, so he was a fraction of a second behind the other three enemies in acclimating to the change. It didn't matter, though, as they weren't strong enough to capitalize on their sudden advantage. Reivyn leaned his body out of the way of a fatal attack, and he managed to only suffer a couple of slight nicks against his sides. The Stat advantage I get from connecting to three of them is still worth it, Reivyn quickly judged. No reason to back out of the tether. I think I might have to once it's down to two of them, though. Their gain in Skill Level from me will outpace the Stat gains I get from them at that point. There was a simple solution for the enemy to negate the advantage Reivyn had secured for himself, and that was to cancel the Skill. They didn't do so, though, and they only had eyes for trying to kill him. Even with more than half of their numbers taken down, there was no fear or hesitation in their movements. They continued to advance on Reivyn, though it was obvious now that he was going to emerge victorious. A sound intruded on Reivyn's thoughts as he fought the three remaining enemies. He had forgotten about the Mage standing in the distance. There had been no significant change in the Mana fluctuations, so he had kept his focus on him relegated to the edge of his awareness. That suddenly changed. "... is a monster. We can't stop him! Send reinforcements, now!" The Mage screamed into a communication device he had pulled out. It operated on similar principles as the space-attuned artifact he was holding, so it hadn't cause any ripples in the Mana surrounding the Mage. Got to end this now! Reivyn thought. Reivyn feinted with a false lunge before jumping back. He cancelled his Mana Reinforcement and the Affinities applied to his weapons. He gathered his Mana and empowered himself with a huge burst of Gravity Mana. The three soldiers finally showed a slight expression of surprise as they were picked up off the ground and launched toward Reivyn. They didn't have time to maneuver their weapons around to take advantage of the sudden movement to strike at Reivyn, and Reivyn quickly slashed his sword through three unguarded necks. The Mana tether winked out of existence, and Reivyn was left panting, surrounded by the seven corpses of the men who had ambushed him. Reivyn looked up and made eye contact with the Mage. The Caster's body quivered and there was obvious fear in the man's eyes. Hmm, he seems a bit different from the others, Reivyn thought. He's the first enemy I've seen show any kind of fear. The Mage suddenly turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction. He never let up on flooding the artifact with his Mana, though, and Reivyn used that to his advantage. He had noticed that the Space principles of the artifact acted like Gravity Mana when he used his Traveler Affinity to move. He empowered himself with the Tier 4 Affinity, and he ran after the Mage. Even without using such a cheat ability, Reivyn's physical Stats far out-paced the Mage's. With the added benefit of each one of his steps taking him an additional three-steps forward, he caught up to the man almost instantly. Reivyn's blade flashed once more, and a headless body collapsed to the ground. The man's head stayed within the hood of his robe and tumbled forward, getting entangled in the cloth. The Mana from the artifact winked out, and immediately a portal opened right next to Reivyn. Serilla jumped through, sword at the ready. Kefira followed behind with her hands held up, Mana accumulated and ready to strike down any opposition. "Sorry, the party's over," Reivyn said with a grin. He had bloodstains all over his body, but he had already stopped bleeding. He had only suffered a couple hundred points of damage from the space-lacerations, and then hardly any at all from the combat with the ambushers. "Sorry, there was something blocking my ability to connect with this place," Kefira said, scanning the surroundings for threats. Serilla bounced on the balls of her feet as she spun around to fight any enemies that decided to suddenly show up, but none did. "I think these people were from a larger group," Reivyn said, sheathing his sword. "The Mage called for reinforcements shortly before I finished them off." Reivyn ignored the anxious state the two ladies were in. He walked over and picked up the Space artifact the Mage had been using. He tossed it to Kefira who deftly caught it out of the air. Her attention was immediately drawn to the object as soon as it landed in her palm, almost to the point of the exclusion of everything else. "I'm pretty sure that's the culprit for why you couldn't connect with this location," Reivyn said. "Take it and study it, it should provide some benefits to your understanding of Space/Time Mana." Kefira nodded her head absentmindedly. Serilla poked her in the side, and she jumped in startlement. She glared at Serilla before her expression turned sheepish. She pocketed the artifact in her space pouch before it could draw her attention again. "If they have more soldiers ready to attack, I think it's time we got out of here," Kefira said. "I don't know about you, but I'm not in the mood to find out if we can fight off a couple hundred enemy soldiers with the ability to lock Space down." "I agree," Reivyn said. "We don't know how many enemies there are out there, but we should assume it's more than the three of us can handle." Kefira nodded her head again and concentrated on her Mana. A door opened up in front of her, and Reivyn dashed through it. Serilla came through right behind him, and it was only after Kefira followed that she sheathed her own weapon. "I jumped us further west," Kefira said. "I think we should go a bit further away from the front lines with a couple more teleports before we resume our journey. No telling how far they can extend their influence to pluck one of us away through Space." "Good idea," Reivyn said. "Let's get to the nearest camp as soon as possible and alert them to the intrusion."