Chapter 403 - Brute Force

Julius finally got a look at the rest of the people who were a part of the mage's team. One was a man in a thick suit of full-body armor. Julius wasn't able to tell what he looked liked, the big ass helmet obscured his features.

The other member of their small team was a woman covered in robes, bearing a long staff with both hands. He was already quite confident that this was the woman who had saved the swordsman from before and was also a healer on top of it. He was able to sense powerful waves of life mana coming from her aura.

They didn't allow him to examine them any further, and without speaking a word to each other, they attacked him.

The man in the armor created another spear out of stone. It was much like the one he had thrown at Julius moments earlier. Julius watched as the man cocked his arm back and threw the spear at him.

Julius easily avoided the spear with a step to the side, but was suddenly attacked by the swordsman he had almost killed. The injuries the man had before were gone, likely healed by that annoying healer.

This time, the man didn't make the mistake of underestimating Julius. Powerful surges of mana pulsed throughout the attacker's body. He was faster than he was before and was much more careful about leaving openings. The man never overcommitted and prodded Julius's defenses.

He was wasting time and allowing the man in armor to help him. Julius used the blade of mana to parry the swordsman's strikes. It was clear from the get-go that his opponent was more skilled with a blade. His technique was more refined, but it wasn't like Julius didn't know what he was doing either.

He could handle himself with a blade well enough, and the combination of his skills allowed him to keep up with the swordsman well enough. He even managed to trick him and score a slash across the man's shoulder.

Unfortunately, he could already tell that the man had adapted to Julius's own Sharpness Concept. It would appear that he had a Sharpness Concept of his own and used it to rebuff Julius's. Unlike the mage, whose barrier wasn't about to protect them from Julius, this man found a way.

The barrier covering the swordsman's skin was suddenly much harder to pierce. It was very annoying, to say the least.

The swordsman did his job, though, and allowed his teammate enough time to come over to help. The armored warrior was already there and thrusting his spear at Julius's face.

Julius was forced to back away from the swordsman and smack aside the thrust with his forearm. The armored man was surprisingly nimble for someone that large and wearing armor that heavy. The weight of his blow was heavy as well.

It forced Julius to back off and gave the swordsman a chance to slice at his face with a blade covered in death-aspected mana. Julius blasted himself backward and took a moment to think about how he wanted to handle this.

They already seemed aware of his strength and were handling him with extreme care. It almost felt like they were treating him like a fellow Tier 4. Which made him feel better than the situation probably allowed for.

He thought about the biggest threat at the moment, and immediately his perception landed on the healer. It was hard to detect, but now that he had some time to look closer, the healer was using some kind of aura skill to passively enhance her team's physical abilities.

It was why the man in armor was able to move as fast as he could and why the swordsman suddenly felt like a different person. The best way to end this early would be to take out the healer.

With a plan in mind, he nodded to himself and blasted himself directly toward the armored warrior. He already had a vague idea what the man's skillset revolved around and had sensed a taunting skill being prepared.

He didn't care, though, if he could pressure the armored warrior, that would force the other enemies to aid their teammate. The spear-wielding warrior seemed surprised that Julius was coming at him on his own accord.

He still activated the taunting skill, though. Julius felt a wave of aggressive emotions wash over him. However, he used to block it out. The taunt had basically no effect on him.

Still, there appeared to be some kind of secondary effect that attempted to disrupt his own skills. It wasn't powerful, but it was definitely something that he had to place his focus on, which he suspected was part of the plan.

Julius brushed it aside and slid underneath the spear of the warrior, and slammed his blade into the warrior's knee joint. Unfortunately, like he had expected, the blade wasn't that effective. It managed to gouge the armor, but was unable to penetrate all the way.

He parried aside the swordsman who took this chance to attack him and dodged the bolts of mana from the healer. He then grabbed hold of the spear the man was holding and attempted to rip it out of his hands. However, he found that his strength was severely lacking and had to let go before the warrior slung him to the side of a tree.

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Julius didn't mind this. He had already achieved a part of his plan and had gotten close to the warrior. He molded the aura-woven mana into gauntlets and started to slam his fists into the plates of the thick armor.

If sharp attacks didn't work, he would simply use brute force to break his way through. He powered his strikes with his Force Concept and used his aura to aid in deteriorating the defensive aura he felt coming from the warrior.

He could tell right away that his strikes were doing more damage than his blade had done. The resonating nature of his Concept ensured that the power of his strikes reverberated through the surface of the armor and into the body of the opponent.

He could hear the groans as his fists slammed into the armored warrior's gut. He didn't even look behind him as he ducked under a sword swing and kicked the swordsman away from him.

The armored warrior was doing his best to get Julius off of him, but Julius was persistent. He was all over the man like white on rice. Even when the man managed to blast him away, Julius had already created thin threads of mana he would use to rocket himself back up close.

He was also using these strings of mana to wrap around the joints of the armor. So each time he pulled himself closer, the strings would cut deeper into the steel.

The man eventually got his meaty hands around Julius, wrapping him up in a bear hug, preventing Julius from moving. The man's grip was extremely tight, and Julius was able to wiggle himself out. The warrior jumped up and attempted to body slam Julius to the ground.

However, Julius simply used to get out of the man's embrace, and the man drove himself into the dirt with a massive explosion of dirt. While the warrior was confused about where Julius had gone, he used this time to pursue the healer.

The swordsman reacted very quickly. He had already seen Julius's skill in action and was heading back to protect their healer the moment he saw Julius vanish.

Julius was too fast, though; his arm was already swinging toward the healer with a blade of mana covered with his Sharpness Concept. The healer had a good reaction time and managed to protect themselves with a shield.

The shield was quite powerful as well. It was the same one that had saved the swordsman earlier. Its surface rippled as it barely withstood the attack, and the healer tried to get away, throwing up more shields to cover themselves. Only this time, he knew what to expect and was already preparing for another attack.

He knew that it was vital for him to take care of this healer before anything else. It was why he didn't care when the swordsman cut deeply into his chest. Julius stepped forward with , avoiding the strong shields placed in front of him.

The healer panicked when she saw Julius in front of her face, slamming a fist into her teeth. A barrier was quickly erected on top of her skin, but he overcharged his body for a brief moment to give himself the extra power needed to break through.

The barrier was shattered into pieces, but just before he made contact, his brows raised when his target was no longer in front of him. Where the healer had once been was now the armored warrior protecting himself with a shield of mana.

They had somehow managed to switch places without any hints of spatial magic being used. It was definitely a first for Julius.

His enforced fist still managed to slam into the warrior and blast them backwards. Julius could tell that it hurt them pretty badly. The frustrating part was that he could tell that the healer was already injecting the man with life mana, healing his injuries.

He shook his head and dodged the swordsman once more and gave one last kick at the downed warrior, who was staggering to his feet.

He then blasted himself toward the healer again. He was hoping that this skill had a cooldown, and if he were fast enough, the healer wouldn't be able to switch places again. He didn't give the swordsman or the warrior enough time to chase after him.

He was already closing in on the healer, and she looked scared as he approached with another heavily charged fist.

However, he groaned with annoyance as once more it was the warrior who took the blow instead. He looked over to where the healer was and spotted that the swordsman was now next to her, surrounding her protectively.

He gave one more kick to the warrior, who at this point was more of a punching bag than anything else. He also sighed and looked to his left.

"Are you just going to watch?" Julius asked for the empty space. He spotted that three enemies gave him confused looks, likely wondering what in the hell he was talking about.

He could have sworn he heard Doren munch on something as he responded. "I already saved your friends and am merely waiting for you to finish this up so I can get my payment."

"You'd probably get your payment quicker if you helped," Julius offered, trying to tempt the man into helping him out.

"You got this," Doren said encouragingly.

"Yeah, but it is getting annoying," he said with another sigh, avoiding the spear that had almost pierced his back. Honestly, it was. This healer and tank combo proved to be very frustrating. He had been hoping that the switch was on a cooldown, but if it was, then it was on a very small one.

He was about to switch strategies when he noticed that the healer was much more worried than before. Even though she knew the tank could switch places with her, there was fear in her eyes that wasn't there moments ago. Perhaps it was because he was talking to thin air or something else, but he had a feeling that there was another reason.

He also noticed that both of the men were much more careful about leaving her alone. The armored warrior had decided to head back over to them. This made Julius believe that there was some catch to using such a skill. There was no way he should be able to switch without a cost.

He was thinking about all of the ways and tricks to get around such an issue when he smacked his own forehead in realization.

He was so silly. Why was he so worried about dealing with the healer? He should be able to beat any one of them in short order. Additionally, it wasn't like he didn't have a perfectly good target when they switched. All he needed to do was take care of the tank if required. Simple.

He was too caught up in fighting smart when all he needed to do was break them with brute force. He grinned and looked at the three of them. Then, before they could react, he began to infuse his body with power, just as he had done with Savath. This time around, he would rip them apart before they could use any of their tricks.