The Over-Break System

“Um…hello, Teacher Yennifer, I am sorry you were forced to come here because of my lack of ability and talent.” Still slightly confused, Benny quickly greeted the Hologram woman with a bow and some respectful yet self-deprecating words.

|”Nonsense, your inability to pass the trial as quickly as the other members of your Faction has nothing to do with lack of talent or even skill but more so due to how you handle multiple opponents simultaneously.”|

Speaking with a pleasant tone topped off with a warm smile, Yennifer waved her hand and manifested four screens. On each screen, MyrkLys members fired off different Affinity skills and handled their opponents, which suited their individual fighting styles.

Benny watched as Cynrik disappeared, soon after re-appearing beside his enemies before hacking them down like chickens. The scene changed a few times and showed how Cynrik would sparsely choose to incinerate those creatures in his path.

Next was Brance, who, while wielding a Greatsword, would expertly mince his opponents so long as there weren’t too many. The more creatures that appeared, the different his approach became as he would rely more on his Affinity skills or even a katana, something new to Benny.

Benny was left in awe of Brance’s ability to switch between his standard tank approach and being a menace to opponents with lightning-fast slashes and stabs as he moved slightly slower than Cynrik.

Drifting away from the brothers, Benny locked onto Selene, who, even though she seemed to be struggling, had a crazed smile spread across her lips as she blocked every attack coming her way and countered with her spear. There were even times when the older girl would splash in a few limited Dark Affinity skills to trick her opponents into a false sense of security.

Sighing as he knew he should be fighting more like Selene than anyone else, Benny finally caught sight of his little sister, and his eyes widened in surprise. He had expected her to be fighting enemies on par with his own, yet she was efficiently working her way through the same Wave format in which the other three were participating.

As Gabby moved around agilely like a small cat, he noticed how fluidly she swapped between using her Affinity Skills to break down the opponents’ defense before killing them off with perfectly timed Crossbow Bolts.

|”As I am sure you have noticed, Young Benjamin, each member of your Faction has their unique way of handling each challenge they confront. Never once have any of them faltered nor overthought their situation. Instead, they all continued moving forward and found a way to win in a manner that suited them.”|

|”Although the time I have spent watching your fights is limited, you are not the first being I have seen struggle when it comes to battling multiple opponents. The habits you have formed from training and watching what I can only assume are the two brother’s battles over the years have left your growth stunted.”|

|”With a single glance, I can tell how inexperienced you are outside of solo combat. This is the reason I made some changes to your Twenty-First Floor Trial. Even if you are physically and technically more sound than the Tier-1 Opponents you have faced till now, and in theory shouldn’t face any difficulty with them, you get flustered when things don’t go according to your plans.”|

|”I believe that I have located this flaw early enough in your training experience that it can easily be corrected with a few simple words of guidance and the right platform. Thus, instead of moving up to the Advanced level of Floor Twenty-One, where you should be fighting more than 50 opponents like the other party members, I decided to allow you more time to adapt your style.”|

|”In doing this, I am letting you have the opportunity to find your flaws and correct them before it becomes too deeply ingrained, causing you to suffer down the road.”|

Looking down at his feet, Benny digested Yennifer’s words and, deep down, knew everything she said and had done to this point was for the sole purpose of helping him catch up to the rest of his friends; that way, he wouldn’t stay as the odd man out. Clenching his fists tightly, Benny turned his face up and met Yennifer’s gaze.

“What do I need to do? Where do I start, Teacher Yennifer?” Benny responded with resolve, causing a smile to form on the AI’s lips.

|”That’s the spirit, alright; first, let’s talk about how often you under-utilize your Water Affinity. For the first few Floors, you were nearly perfect in how you executed your skills. The same way your sister and Selene spice up their fights with their Affinity skills, you can do the same. Unfortunately, when you are put into an unfavorable position, you begin overthinking and, as such, fall back into what I view as training attacks. You stop treating your opponents as something that can harm you and instead act as if they are simply training droids.”|

|”You need always to remember that your control over the Water Element is one of the things that sets you aside from weaker beings. Water is one of the most Versatile Elements in nature, and as such, it can either be used to harm or heal. For example, you seem to rely too heavily on your shield for defense when it is clear to me that you wish to use it as an offensive weapon. You must find that sweet spot, the balance between the two. So try using your Water more to support yourself defensively, which will free up your ability to fight with your shield in the way you wish.”|

Nodding his head, Benny picked up the Tier-1.5 Iron Aspis from the ground near his feet and strapped it back onto his arm. Next, as Yennifer had just advised, Benny looked down at his arm, formed a thin layer of Water matching the exact size of his shield, and had it hover a few centimeters above his Aspis, creating a gap between the weapon and the Mana construct.

|”Good, that’s the way; now keep in mind, unlike your actual shield, this water construct will not be able to sustain as much damage as its physical counterpart. At your level of mastery, the best it could probably do is stop a few attacks from a Mid to Peak Tier-1 being. Still, practice makes perfect, so you should get used to the feel.”|

Nodding her head in approval, Yennifer moved on to her next topic.

|”After spending so much time with those two brothers, I am sure you have witnessed how they both like to toss their weapons for ranged attacks before using a thin strand of Mana to retrieve it. I saw you do this with your shield a few times in the early battles, but as more and more opponents appeared, you stopped doing it. Why is that?”|

Allowing the Water construct to collapse, Benny thought for a moment before answering.

“The primary reason is Mana consumption. Big Bro Ivar always told me that in a war of attrition, the side that manages its resources best is guaranteed to be the victor. So while creating tethers may not cost a lot of Mana, it will add up over time. That…and with more enemies around that needed my attention, I found it difficult to concentrate on using my Affinity Skills.” When Benny reached the part about losing focus, his cheeks turned pink in embarrassment.

|”I know their identities, so drop the nicknames, young Benjamin, but yes, to an extent, Student Cynrik is correct, but at the same time, this falls back onto the topic of you overthinking in battle. It seems you are twisting his words to justify your actions, which is the incorrect line of thinking. Unlike Student Cynrik and Student Brance, who have powerful offensive skills, you do not at the moment. So you don’t have to worry about Mana consumption until you acquire something that can cause devastation, such as Cynrik’s miniature suns. Even your [Water Whips] draw very little MP, so you are absolutely fine in using them whenever you wish.”|

“Yes, ma’am,” Benny said, hanging his head again. The more time he spent in front of Yennifer, the more difficult it was to look up at the beautiful AI floating not far away. Being surrounded by beautiful girls was one thing, but the maturity of Yennifer and her bold outfit made him feel slightly uncomfortable, so he kept looking down instead of sneaking shameless peaks.

|”As for handling multiple opponents, tell me something, how do Cynrik and Brance do it? In your eyes, what sets them apart and allows them to do what you can’t?”|

This time, Benny fell silent; his immediate response would be to say, they are them, and I am me. How can I possibly stack up to the two monsters who taught me everything I know about fighting?

But after giving it some thought, the one thing that stood out to him was the lack of experience he had when compared to the brothers. No matter what situation they found themselves in, Cynrik and Brance could keep calm, grit their teeth, and slog it out to the very end, something Benny had never had to do alone.

Anytime he found himself in a difficult predicament that he struggled to figure out, all he needed to do was listen to Cynrik, who could formulate an operational plan in seconds. If Benny found himself in the thick of things and was overwhelmed, Brance was right there to reduce the stress by taking part of it onto himself and saving him. Hell, even Selene had done the very same thing yesterday. When he had a lapse in judgment, she was right there to pull him back to reality and return the favor he had just done seconds before.

With his answer locked in, Benny fought back his raging hormones and looked back up at Yennifer.

“I rely too heavily on my party, and it shows in my every move; because of how intelligent and ruthless Cynrik is, he can manipulate the confrontations into the perfect setup, giving the rest of us the best opportunities for Victory. Brance is like the glue that holds us together and the firm wall that protects us in our time of need. Together, the two fill in any gaps Selene, Gabby, and I have. This has allowed me to become too reliant on their aid.”

“The same applies to fights where we have to handle multiple opponents. Cynrik constantly moves freely around the entire battlefield, using his stealth skills and maneuverability to dispatch any potential threats to the party before we become hindered by them.”

Pausing for a second, Benny considered how to explain Brance’s role in battle.

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