Episode 4: To Start Over (6)

"Stay behind me!" As the vines slithered their way across the garden, Toriq stood in front of the party, taking out a sword from his inventory the next moment. Then, without wasting a single second, he leapt forward, cutting down the vines that were closing in on him.

At that instance, Derek and Penelope soon followed up from behind the old man, unleashing a full-on assault on the slithering vines. Whilst doing so, they slowly made their way forward, slashing, burning and piercing through the flower's limbs as they inched closer to the middle of the garden, where the boss monster was located.

"...hey, Lazy Eyes." While the three members of the group worked hard to battle against the white flower, Landon and Jace stood in their place, unmoving since the moment they entered the boss's room. "You're going to use the skill, right?"

"..." At Landon's question, Jace kept quiet, seemingly in deep thought. "...that depends."

"That depends on what?" he frowned. "The situation? Well, if you look at where we are, then you'll know that this fight is the perfect opportunity to test a skill out!" Averting his gaze away from Jace, Landon pointed to the boss monster that was haphazardly swinging vines over at his teammates. "So you better use the skill!"

"No, wait. Let me explain. The skill is rather..." Just as Jace was about to attempt the third time to explain to Landon, the latter began rushing forward, soon beginning to shoot out a barrage of bullets over to the vines. "...sigh. Seriously?"

Although Jace had resolved himself to finally go through with "Linking", there was still a seed of doubt looming upon him. After all, the very person who he had decided to link with wasn't listening to his explanation at all. As such, he remained hesitant to go through with the decision.

"Tch... Seriously. Just what do I do?" he frowned, turning his attention over towards the ongoing battle up ahead of him. "If I were to use the skill now... Just who knows what would happen?"

It was that very thought that lingered in his mind that prevented Jace from wanting to link with anyone. With no assurance or confirmation, Jace was left at a crossroads of decision. Does he take the risk anyway? Such an unknown answer was scary.

"Push forward!" Whilst Jace was in deep thought regarding the entire fiasco, Toriq continued to charge through the endless vines that were attempting to block his way, making a path for the rest of the party to follow suit. "Once we're all in range to attack the boss, I'll begin taking its aggro!"

"Got it!" Derek nodded his head, readying to lunge himself over to the boss at any given moment. "Give me a signal when you're ready!"

"This should be a good spot..." Meanwhile, Penelope and Landon stopped at their footsteps, positioning themselves to unleash a barrage of attacks on the boss. "Landon, you shoot first and I'll follow up with my spells."

"Right." Nodding his head, the blonde-haired man began pointing both of his pistols over to the giant flower before him. "This time, there won't be any misses!" The target was big and therefore advantageous for Landon. There was no way for him to miss his mark this time. Or well, so he thought.

Just as he pressed the trigger on his two pistols, the vines that were busy dancing with Toriq suddenly shifted their attention over to the bullets, blocking off the attack. Right after, they returned back to deal with the old man.

"W-What...?! Are you serious right now?!" Landon cried out.

"Just go closer!" Derek shouted out, piercing through the stem of the white flower. "Less chances of your shots being blocked then!"

"Ugh... Stupid boss!" he grumbled, soon taking a step forward. However, right at that moment, the flower began to move wildly, letting out a loud screech in the next second. "...ack...what the?!"

"...!" As the loud roar protruded out into the garden, the movements of the entire party abruptly stopped. "Fall back! Derek, Master Landon, retreat!" Taking notice of the dire situation at hand, Toriq's expression grew dark.

"I-I... Can't move?!" Derek cried out, looking down at his legs, noticing that the vines were beginning to latch onto them. "U-Ugh...!" In an attempt to struggle out of the flower's grip, he attempted to move his legs, however, it was already too late.

"Derek!" Penelope cried out, shifting her attention from the boss over to the brown-haired man.

"Tch... This is bad!" Toriq frowned, avoiding the sudden whip lash from the flower at that moment. "Penelope, burn the vines! Master Landon, move out of the way before the situation gets worse!"

"...yikes!" Just as the vines were about to latch onto Landon as well, he slid down onto the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack. "That was a close call!"

"Guys... The flower's looking directly at me here!" Derek screamed. "Penelope, hurry!"

"This..." Hearing the cry for help from Derek, Jace finally returned to his senses. "Ugh... This situation... Even if I link, would I even be able to do anything?" he bit his lips, frowning.

The situation was growing dire by the second. Was Jace going to stand there and continue remaining hesitant? No. There was no time to think. He had to make a decision now or never.

"Tch..." Finally taking a step forward, Jace turned his attention over towards Landon. "Hey, Landon, continue shooting!"

"Lazy Eyes?!" Hearing the sudden call from Jace, he nodded his head. "Alright!" In the next second, he began rushing towards the boss, moving past Toriq and Penelope.

"Huh? Hey, what are you doing?!" Penelope cried out whilst shooting out a fireball to the vines latched onto Derek's legs.

"Master Landon!" Toriq cried out.

"We're fine. Believe in Jace!" Landon screamed.

"...hah." Whilst running towards the middle of the garden, Jace took a deep breath, scanning around the field. "...I hope this works." Then, with eyes focused on the area nearby Landon, he blinked.

[ Synergist Skill - Phantom Mirage. ]

Right at that moment, Jace appeared right next to Landon who wasn't so far away from him.

"Landon, I'll have to warn you." The young man spoke out in a serious tone of voice. "This may or may not work."

"I don't care!" Landon replied. "We've already come this far, just do it!"

"...fine."

Turning his attention onto Landon who was before him, Jace took another deep breath, finally activating the long-awaited skill, [ Soul Channeler ]. At that very second, he felt a sudden pull of a thread connecting himself to the blonde-haired man.

"A-Ah...? What the...?" Though the feeling of connection was subtle, Landon took notice of it. "What's this?"

[ All link conditions with the Hunter "Landon" have been fulfilled! ]

[ -Current Soul Compatibility: 70%. ]

[ Soul Linkage may now be activated. ]

[ Do you wish to link? ]