Avalon Rebirth by Mitchell T. Jacobs Read Free Book Online Page B

before disappearing back into the crystal pillars surrounding the battlezone. Darin charged in after her, making swipes at the creature with the back spike of his halberd. Taji joined him after a moment, alternating bashes with his shield and cuts with his sword.
    Leah pulled out another arrow from her quiver and began to cast a spell on the tip, silently counting out the time before her other teammates were safely out of range.
    Like all NPC enemies, the crystal giant had a specific attack pattern that could be predicted and deciphered. Once they knew it they could move to exploit it. In this case they had a ten second window between strikes, where they could charge in and inflict damage without fear of retaliation.
    They needed it too, because the giant was strong enough to flatten everyone but Taji in one or two hits. Leah was relatively safe at this distance, but one wrong more or mistimed step would get Erika or Darin killed.
    “Fall back,” Darin ordered, using interparty telepathy to communicate the message to everyone. It could only be used by teams, but it allowed them to talk to each other over long distances without shouting.
    Leah watched them go, nocking and drawing back her bow. Once they were clear she'd hit the creature with a force arrow, hopefully staggering it in the process. Her fire blast arrows wouldn't be nearly as effective against the huge creature's tough crystalline skin, so she needed to rely on the others to do damage.
    None of them were particularly well equipped for the area, in truth. Impact weapons like warhammers and battle axes were most effective against the crystal creatures here, but that would mean they'd have to switch to unfamiliar weapons. Right now it was better to do less damage with a familiar weapon.
    Darin hadn't said anything to her, but Leah imagined this was all planned. It allowed them to explore battle tactics, giving them handicaps without putting themselves in too much trouble. If the enemy became overwhelming they could always run away, but just killing them instantaneously wouldn't help them to develop team skills. Better to take the time to learn their skills now than to rush about and be unprepared later.
    That went for both the present and the future. Now, if only she could get Darin to agree with that.
    Leah sighted in her arrow and fired.
    The shockwave sent the crystal giant stumbling backward, roaring in a low, angry tone. Leah pulled out another arrow and fired off a shot into its body, though she knew it wouldn't do much damage. One of the destruction spells, Crush, could hurt the crystal monster badly, but they were saving that for later. Right now they were just focused on figuring out how to fight it as a team.
    “Watch it. It's coming around again,” Darin warned.
    Taji stood in front once again and deflected the blow, though this time the attack drove him down to a knee. Leah noticed a significant chunk of his health bar fade away.
    But Darin noticed it too. Within a second he was already beside their tank, casting a healing spell to restore the bar and help keep Taji in the fight.
    “Do we end it?” Leah asked.
    “Hold off and heal for this go around,” Darin ordered. “We'll pick up our normal attacks after the next time it strikes.”
    “Got it. I'm going to hit it with a Fire Blast arrow,” Leah said.
    “That's not going to do much.”
    “I know. But I'm bored. Making a big explosion will liven things up a little bit.”
    She heard the others chuckle over the telepathy line. Good. They had a long way to go until they were a proper team, and even longer before they could even think about challenging for the D-rank tournaments. There were still plenty of challenges ahead of them.
    Leah drew back her bow and fired off the arrow. As it exploded into a ball of brilliant flame, she watched in satisfaction as the rest of the group pressed their attack. Their journey back to the top had to begin somewhere. And this looked like a good start.

5
    “