BXBX NOVEL Chapter 130: Assimilation (1)
"But I love it! The melody of my heart!" Jake screamed in a joyous mood.
He didn't even know where his bow and arrows were gone. He didn't even recall holding onto them while swimming in the golden chalice of Dionysus—The God Of Wine! The legendary existence!
"Ah, here you are, my dear bow!" Jake summoned The Headless Hunter without realizing that he'd done the high-level trick his master had shown him once.
He wanted to embrace his bow and wield it as it was time to hear the whistle of his heart.
He cuddled with the bow as though it were his child.
"I love you, my baby!" Jake smiled from ear to ear. It was such a weird combination, as Joker's Mask made him seem like a devil, yet his words were genuine and soft.
He cradled his weapon like a toy and shook his torso left and right.
The enemy players stood confused.
"What skills does he have?" the mage asked.
While Jake's attitude was odd, the players must have already accepted that he was a drunk. The worst problem was that no one knew Jake's skills or how he could counter long projectiles.
Mages usually wore invisible mana barriers around themselves, but what about archers?
How did those players protect themselves from melee and ranged threats?
This question confused the enemy players more than Jake's defenseless and bizarre state.
"You ask me?! I have never seen an archer before! I mean, I saw those losers on training grounds, but I forgot about them until now! Wait! He's attacking!" the other player replied to his mage friend, only to see Jake taking a weird form!
His legs were joined, but not straight like he usually did in Soldier Form. They weren't also spread and bent like in Joker's Form, meaning Jake went to his fourth form—The Formless!
The form that combined all his experience into one powerful form!
Jake, however, was clearly playing around. He bent his back behind so much that he had taken half-bow form. His head dangled as he gazed at the players from an unusual angle.
A four-bladed arrow appeared in his hand as he motioned to nock his arrow. He drew the highest anchor point and widened his eyes, telling those players to prepare themselves!
The mage felt a chill running down his back.
He pushed his staff forward and channeled his mana into a skill.
"Snaking Lightning!" the mage shouted.
A chain of lightning sneaked out from his staff's tip. It was blue and fast, zigzagging toward Jake!
Though it may have seemed like a common and simple skill, it was the mage's strongest skill, taking a heavy chunk of his mana to be rapid and powerful! It surprised many players and monsters!
The Headless Hunter cracked!
Jake let his arrow go.
It whistled like an eagle.
The whistle made him close his eyes and moan.
BANG!
The arrow and the lightning connected. The deafening explosion aside, the arrow and the magic were both equal in strength, pushing against each other like two monsters fighting for an advantage.
These two hung midair, and it didn't seem like either would give up!
Jake moaned, "A challenge!"
He loved challenges.
Those would improve his archery much more, after all. He threw his upper body forward and took a normal, standing position while smiling.
While the sober Jake would have thought of using what he had practiced and learned through various experiences to overcome challenges weighing him down, the current Jake tilted his head and sneered.
His eyes turned into jade jewels as he thought about the newest legendary skill—Assimilation.
[You're eligible to assimilate with four existences bonded to you.]
[Fenrir, Wukong, Ender, Medusa.]
"My baby boy, Wukong! I'll count on your might for now!" Jake drawled.
Speechless, Wukong belatedly reacted and agreed to the terms. He left his entire existence in Jake's hands.
It was a smooth and loyal assimilation without any abuse or threats.
It was their friendship and love that made this assimilation perfect.
[You have assimilated with the legendary existence, Wukong.]
[Wukong has entered the battle.]
[Five minutes of cooldown has been applied.]
[You and Wukong are too weak to bear the burden of the assimilation.]
[The Assimilation between you and Wukong has been lowered from the legendary grade to the common.]
[The Assimilation lasts one minute.]
[Your stats have been updated.]
[Archer(Wukong) Lv. 23 HP: 2500/2500 MP: 1200/1300]
[VIT: 712 STR: 1803 INT: 200 DEX: 2304 END: 1631]
[You have temporarily unlocked The Monkey King's Martial Arts(Legendary)]
[Your body can't bear the burden of the new skill.]
[The Monkey King's Martial Arts has been lowered to the common grade.]
The tattoo of his monkey friend burned.
It expanded into a full-size tattoo that took over Jake's back! There was no spot for anyone else here! It was Wukong's spot that the prideful eagle, wolf, and snake couldn't encroach!
The tattoo was of a full-grown image of the monkey king wielding a staff. He was armored and stood straight, with a serious expression that glared at anyone who dared look into his eyes.
It was a cool tattoo Jake would love to keep permanent.
That said, the tattoo didn't only take over Jake's back. It sneaked past his neck to his face and drew its own unique design under his eyes and sides.
With his left eye shining golden, Jake threw himself into a motion. He didn't have time to check his stats or new skills, but his current state facilitated him to instinctively use all of them.
He ran so fast that reaching the four-bladed arrow took him a second. It was still driving its point into the lightning magic!
Jake grasped the arrow's spine and added his high strength to it! He spread his legs wide, added his back, and chucked it forward like an athlete!
The arrow tore through the lightning chain like a naughty and impatient kid ripping his Christmas present open.
With additional strength and speed drawn from Jake's muscles and grasp, the arrow flew even faster than before, lodging itself in the shocked mage's head.
The head easily cracked off the neck and flew toward the closest tree on which it embedded itself.
The player died in one shot.
The rest of the team couldn't even react to it.
What had happened was too absurd.
It was too bizarre!
"H-he caught the arrow and threw it?"
"Is that even an archery?"
Jake grinned.
He looked down on the enemies in front of him.
"Don't impose your shallow view of an archery on me! To be an archer means to wield a bow and arrows! It's all up to an individual how he interprets those words! It's all up to us how we wield and use the bow! It's all up to us how we make our arrows whistle, roar, and hit our targets! I'll make it—"
[You have been taunted.]
"Sure about that?" Jake sneered.
His bow and another arrow appeared in his hands as though a sleight of a hand or perhaps magic. Jake loaded so much strength and dexterity into it that The Headless Hunter cried once again.
After all, it was a bow that could endure up to two thousand stats. That said, it was a masterpiece of its kind. The bow wouldn't crumble just because the archer used more strength than it could withstand.
Its durability, however, was falling off.
Jake felt in his bones that those numbers weren't high. His bow wasn't threatened by demise… yet!
He could fight to his heart's content!
As the tank taunted him, Jake nocked the blunt arrow and sent it forth. It hit the man's shield perfectly in the center, spreading its might equally across his hands. Before the man's hands went numb and hopeless, the tank withstood the immense force behind Jake's arrow, form, and stats.
He was pushed behind at least several meters!
His heavy boots left two deep trails behind as though a car had just driven through him!
'This guy's not a normal player! He must at least have an epic class! No wonder he's an archer! If I got an epic archery class, I would also sacrifice myself to develop it!' the tank thought while immobilized.
He looked ahead, staring at his friends closing up distance with Jake.
Two swordsmen matched their pace to strike Jake from either side!
The taunt still encompassed him, meaning he couldn't dodge it!
"Sever!"
"Sever!"
The players slashed through Jake's leather armor. Their sharp blades cut open Jake's defenses, exposing his skin. In normal cases, blood would drip from their swords, yet Jake's endurance proved to be too difficult of a challenge.
It was not only increased by Wukong's assimilation, but the blood of a legendary existence flowing within Jake constructed him tougher. It was the blood that allowed Jake to assimilate with other legendary existences.
It was so undeveloped that it fell short of Jake's main stats.
But the legendary blood meant that it could excel even with lower stats!
Jake pulled another arrow on his bowstring.
It was a four-bladed arrow.
Its point threatened the numb tank.
"THE STEEL DEFENSE! THE WHITE MANTLE! THE SHIELD TOMB!" the tank screamed his defensive skill out of his lungs. He used all defenses simultaneously, increasing his armor's stats and endurance. His defenses against physical attacks became an aura that wrapped him like a curtain.
He stood in the silver-white wind, and that was his absolute defense!
Jake released the arrow.
It whistled. He smiled.
It tore through all defenses. He ran forth.
He dashed toward his arrow even while taunted, knowing all the tricks against the taunt skills!
The taunt effect waned during his run.
'Wukong's Martial Arts!' Jake inwardly shouted. read more at mvle_mp,y,r
He slammed his palm onto the arrow's end, driving his force into it!
The shield broke and halved.
The arrow didn't stop.
It went through the tank's heavy armor and drilled into his stomach!
The tank and the archer exchanged glances, deeply gazing into each other's eyes.
'Is this… an archer?' the tank thought as his health points were rapidly dropping low. It was as though a small monster had found its way into his stomach and gnawed on his organs from within!
Severe bleeding and loss of flesh took away a significant portion of the tank's health points.
At last, he died.
Jake turned around.
The two swordsmen… were gone.
Jake cracked up, "That was so fun! Haha!"