Ray dropped a couple of pellets at his feet.
CRACK-HISS.
A wall of thick, grey smoke exploded outward, swallowing the road in an instant. The bandits shouted in confusion, coughing as the alchemical fog blinded them.
"Spread out! Swing!"
the Leader screamed from somewhere in the gray.
"They can't see us!"
Ray stood perfectly still in the center of the cloud. He closed his eyes. He Activated Quad-Concurrent Partial Immersion, his innate passive skill Cognitive Network also activated to offset the incoming mental strain.
Ray activated the Serene Cultivator’s ‘Aetheric Perception’ skill and the Grizzled Veteran’s ‘Tactical Assessment’ skill. The world shifted. The smoke vanished from his mind’s eye, replaced by a wireframe grid of the battlefield. The physical world fell away, leaving only energy. He saw the bandits with glowing red heat signatures stumbling in the dark, their life force flowing, he can see they are panicked.
He reached out with his mind, with the ‘Understudy Protocol Resonant Link Communication’ Active.
Rina, listen to my instructions and we will deal with them. Try not to kill them.
Ray’s voice echoed in her mind, clear as a bell, cutting through the chaos.
Three targets. Clock positions 9, 10, and 11. Engage the 9. Leg sweep, throat strike.
Rina didn't hesitate.
To the bandits, she was a ghost in the fog. To Ray, she was a dancer.
She dropped low, spinning under a blind axe swing from the bandit at 9 o'clock. She hooked her leg behind his knee and kicked hard. He crumpled with a scream. Before he hit the ground, she drove the pommel of her dagger into his throat, hard enough to collapse the windpipe, not hard enough to crush it.
He went down, gagging and incapacitated.
Duck,
Ray mentally commanded Rina.
Rina dropped flat on the dirt. A short sword slashed the air exactly where her head had been a second ago.
Ray began to walk. He moved with the lazy, fluid grace of the Stoic Assassin as he used the ‘Flowing Shadow Technique’, his hands empty.
A bandit lunged out of the smoke, swinging a club wildly. Ray didn't block. He stepped into the swing, placing his palm flat against the man’s chest.
Using the World-Weary Healer’s ‘Anatomical Strike’ skill, he hit the bandit’s Solar Plexus.
As he hit the bandit pulse of disruptive mana shot into the nerve cluster. The bandit’s diaphragm seized instantly. He dropped the club, clutching his chest, unable to inhale, and collapsed silently.
Target at 6 o'clock,
Ray projected to Rina.
He’s rushing you. Use his momentum.
Rina spun. A bandit was charging her blind, sword raised. She stepped aside like a matador, grabbing his wrist and using the bandits momentum and her hip as the center she redirected and threw him.
The bandit flew through the air and crashed into another bandit, sending them both into a heap of tangled limbs.
From the carriage, Captain Svane watched. He had reinforced his eyes with mana to pierce the smoke. His jaw was slowly unhinging.
He wasn't watching a brawl. He was watching a single organism with two bodies.
Ray turned his back on an enemy because he knew Rina was already striking them. Rina dodged attacks she couldn't possibly see because Ray was her eyes. There were no verbal commands. No hesitation. Just pure, synchronized violence.
It was terrifyingly efficient.
Ray caught the Bandit Leader’s wrist as the man tried to stab him from behind. Ray didn't look at him. He simply pressed his thumb into a pressure point in the armpit.
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Anatomical Strike: Brachial Sever
The Leader screamed as his entire arm went numb and useless. Ray swept his legs, sending the man crashing into the dirt.
The wind picked up, dragging the last wisps of smoke away.
A blue translucent screen appeared in front of him.
[SKILLED APPLICATION DETECTED]
[EVENT: SYNCHRONIZED COMBAT]
[PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: INSPIRED]
[ANALYSIS: Host successfully multiplexed sensory data through the ‘Understudy Protocol,’ effectively converting a secondary ally into a remote-guided kinetic weapon. By layering ‘Tactical Assessment’ (Veteran) over ‘Resonant Link’ (Understudy), the Host achieved ‘Zero-Latency Command,’ allowing the ally to evade attacks outside her visual range. Furthermore, the effective application of ‘Anatomical Strike’ (Healer) to inflict calculated paralysis rather than healing demonstrated exceptional adaptability. Largest mastery gained.]
[Tactical Assessment +20% (CAPSTONE already reached, adding half of mastery gain to the next archetype skill 'Pain Suppression'), Anatomical Strike +15%, Flowing Shadow Technique + 10%]
[MASTERY CAPSTONE REACHED: 'Pain Suppression' at 100%.]
[You have transcended mimicry and achieved true artistry in this skill.]
[INSPIRED RESULT: Your neural pathways have adapted to the extreme load of split-stream combat command. Your innate skill 'Cognitive Network’ has improved significantly. Increasing the efficiency in offsetting mental strain cost.]
He dismissed the notification window.
Ray and Rina stood back-to-back in the center of the road. Around them, eight men lay groaning in the dirt. Broken noses, dislocated shoulders, seized muscles. None were dead. All were wishing they were.
Rina was breathing hard, her chest heaving, her daggers still in her hands. Her eyes were wide, dilated with adrenaline.
Are you okay?