CHAPTER 110: EIGHTSOME

Alright, let’s take another look at these scrubs.

Marc guy was... The tank of the team, I guess. Who uses a longsword and most definitely is not using the tank class. So, he’s a kind of meatbag that thought he could fight back.

Trust me guys, do not multitask your class this early, you’re not good enough, and I say this in the kindest was possible. Pick a shtick and stick to it, from one gamer bro to another.

Rina was... In the kindest way possible, just the average ranger/archer that blends in with just about anyone else.

Mei and Pearl were mages, I wonder what path they’ll take... I’m thinking Witch and Wizard.

Broken record, yes, but this team wouldn’t last a minute in a dungeon.

I sat cross-legged on the gaming chair as I leaned in to the screen, watching Rina’s stream wobble as she drew her bow, ready for a fight.

The first orc came into view... A smaller one, but "small" meant still taller than Marc, apparently, now I get why women often find short men unattractive, kinda? I don’t know, it was a kind of masucline expectation ingrained into our biological and societal expectation, don’t judge me.

The orc’s tusks jutting like knives, dragging an axe that looked like it had chewed through too many ribcages, though, was still sharp and shiny.

Marc marched forward without hesitation, sword raised.

"Alright, one to test the waters. I’ll keep its attention, you guys hit it from behind me, I’ll try to not move so much."

Mei immediately piped up, her voice bubbling with energy.

"Or from the side! Or from the ground up, I have the earthbound spell that we got from-"

"Mei." Her brother cut her off, sounding annoyed already. "Stick to the plan, I’ll cast a shield on Marc, you two go ahead and damage it, see how much it can take."

The orc roared and swung, Marc caught it on his blade with a clang that rattled even through the stream’s audio, Pearl’s shield and his own sword migated more than half the damage that the Orc dealt. And through their struggle, I could faintly hear the sound of metal vibrating against one another as Rina took a very loud breath that muffled the ambiance of the farm site. She prepped an arrow and shot it forward.

At the same time, a magic glittered under the blanket of darkness. Mei formed from the tip of her staff a sharp tip of ice, almost like a lance, but the size of it was moderate, barely comparable to half the arm.

As they flew almost simultaneously, Rina’s arrow smacked right into Mei’s ice, shattering it harmlessly over Marc’s armor before it could reach the orc’s upper body. Only the arrow reached its mark, causing the orc to stumble back and loosen its grip, allowing Marc to swiftly disarm him.

"Not half bad... John Smith looking ass." I commented to myself as I watched.

Then, Rina and Mei met eyes.

"Hey!" Mei shrieked at Rina.

"You shot into my line of fire!" Rina yelled back.

"Mei, you’ve fought with a team before, you should know better." Pearl sounded exasperated. "You both need to look before you attack."

Mei pouted and casted another spell, a weaker shot but hits it target, though it didn’t do much to the orc, it did leave a gap for Pearl to shoot a fireball into its head, causing the monster to get down on its knee.

Marc didn’t even bother assessing what happened behind him. He grunted, shoved his blade into the orc’s heart, and Hailie’s healing glow washed over him. The orc crumpled with a groan, dissolving into nothingness.

"That was good enough for a buncha first timers, I’ve seen worse," I said as I wiped my mouth clean of milk

The second round went south.

Two orcs this time, heavier and faster, real challenge came in pairs... They practically strode to the team, one axe and one sword, their swing was with enough force to knock Marc backward a step and he must’ve lose a bit of HP from these burst heavy hitters, he called over his shoulder: "I’m fine, go ahead!"

Then... Hesitation.

Rina’s POV showed us 200 viewers that she drew her bow, and glanced over at Mei. Their eyes met, they were waiting for the other person to attack first to avoid mistake.

Which means the two orcs are going to die in roughly 2028

"I’m going to use a horizontal wind spell if that’s okay with everyone." Pearl said, showing them how it’s done, "Tell the team what you’re going to do."

Newer DPSes tend to use the wrong skill a lot, not maximizing their damage output or friendly fire, for example. More veteran ones would know to adapt and cast on the spot, especially in high-intensity situation. But for these guys, it’s best to state what you’re going to do first.

"I’m going to cast my free Ranger skill to spam at them." Rina said

"I’m going to cast another small shield on Marc for now." Mei added.

Pearl nodded and casted his spell first, as mentioned. He waved his staff in a left to right motion like a sword slash, and a large gust of sharp air came flying towards Marc.

Only, he aimed higher than him, and it would hit the towering orcs at their chest... So there was an advantage to a dwarf-ish tank, afterall. He should change his race.

Then, something no one expected happened.

"Rina, no-!" Pearl said.

At the exact same time that Pearl casted, Rina’s bow glowed as she triggered her rapid-fire skill, loosing arrows like a machine. It was called Speedy Shots, if I remember correctly, it will basically duplicate your shot, from one arrow you will make two.

In the span of two seconds, she managed to wildly draw and shot three shots, so six came out.

The only problem? This RinaWenswood streamer girl wasn’t that smart.

Because when the arrows came close to catching up with Pearl’s wind slash flying midair, they got pushed away.

Two initial ones were deflected, flying in two different directions two in the middle were slowed and landed on Marc’s calves before reaching target, and the last two actually hit the orcs, because Pearl’s wind had already connected to the target at that point and didn’t stop her arrows.

Two of the deflected went sailing straight into the distance, embedding into another orc far away, angering it.

"Fucking hell," I whispered, facepalming myself so hard my elbow shook the table and the milk sploshed around, "Now it’s a 5vs3, good fucking luck."

"I- I didn’t know arrow and wind magic interacted like that!" Rina explained, panicking a bit.

"It’s okay." Hailie came into the picture and patted the tall girl on her back, "Now we know! You should keep shooting! This must feel so alien compared to when we had less damage dealer and more tanks seperating fights in the other party, right?"

[These guys are going to get wiped]

The chat started speaking

[The game’s been out for months, what do you mean you don’t know lmao?]

[I’ll tell my friend to log on and will be ready to collect their loots lulz]