Infinite Farmer

Chapter 63 Mixed Units

"mixed units. great." necia glanced around with a cautious look that immediately set tulland's nerves on edge. "well, at least i'm a blocker. that's the biggest component.""of… what? of a party?" tulland asked.

"of a party that doesn't die. there's classically three components. a blocker keeps enemies at bay, as many as they can. they absorb damage with vitality and armor that would be much more dangerous for someone else, and count on everyone else to do any other work that needs doing."

"so if it was just you two, you'd hold them back, and he'd sneak around and stab. or something. you handle the surviving, and he handles the damage-dealing."

"kind of. i'm optimized for incredible single target damage after a long period of information-gathering, in terms of seconds spent in a fight. and then i need to rest again or else i become just a faster-than-average melee combatant. you can use me either way, it's just important to note i have both modes." ley narrowed his eyes a bit in concern. "how do you not know this?"

tulland answered by using the infinite's handy contract function. a system screen that encompassed a pretty comprehensive oath popped up in front of them.

tulland lowstreet proposes an alliance with the following terms:

ley raditz, tulland lowstreet, and necia iroth will share any relevant or requested information about their classes and class function.information on another member's class may only be requested if a party truly believes it to be relevant, and may only be withheld if it clearly has no relevance to any immediate or anticipated situation in which a significant risk of harm exists.each member is bound by the confidentiality agreement until seven days after an official party dissolution.any member may withdraw from this agreement at any time. the other members will be notified by system message should this occur. no physical actions can be taken by either party to harm the other within three days of the dissolution of the agreement.

tulland would have been happier with a longer period of confidentiality after the end of the party, but the infinite simply wouldn't allow it. otherwise, it seemed like a pretty acceptable level of commitment.

ley agreed pretty quickly, and when it was done, necia looked to tulland, asking for confirmation that it was okay for her to speak. tulland nodded and sat back to watch the show.

"tulland's not supposed to be here. not like you or me." she motioned at his gear. "you haven't noticed how bad his gear is?"

"i have, i noticed it first thing. i'm an intelligence gathering class. i just assumed it was some plant world's characteristic armor or something," ley answered.

"he's a farmer. an honest-to-god farmer class. he fights with plants, just a little, but he's barely met other classes in his own world. he has no idea what you're talking about with all this. when he nods, it's because he thinks he gets it based on context. that's it."

ley's mouth dropped, and he looked to tulland again as if he was waiting for laughter to reveal it was all just a joke.

"she's not wrong. i have a few interesting things i can do, but only just," tulland said.

after that, it was a lot of explaining. for the better part of twenty minutes, tulland tried to loop both ley and necia in on everything he could do. even the heavily armored girl didn't know every single trick in tulland's collection. by the time he had covered his more hurty briars, his more holdy vines, and the exact way his weaponry and armor worked, both of them looked a little perplexed.

"hey, now, don't look so confused. i was counting on you to know what to do with all this." tulland lifted up one of his briars, which was wobbling in the air as it

"no thanks are needed. you've earned it. now, denlee, without actually hitting tulland, throw light punches. distancing blows. yes, that's right." tulland could now hardly see the gaps he thought he could still punch through before. denlee's punches weren't hitting him, but they were close enough to be concerning, and any one of them would bloody his nose. the fear of them was a distracting thing. "you see? from behind his guard, he can menace you further with his punches, and even though he isn't taking things seriously, he's paralyzed you."

"and this would work the same way for archers?" tulland asked.

"in a sense. if all denlee did was punch with no regard to his own defense, a similarly skilled boxer would use his defense to gain an advantage against the aggression. if all he did was defend, he'd be cut to pieces by someone else's offense. they would adjust, you see. and do you know what you need to adjust to someone else's imbalance?" experience new tales on empire

"your own balance." tulland's shoulders slumped. that made a depressing amount of sense.

"or at least the potential of it. now, there are variations of that theme, of course. terrain, weather, and fortifications all play a role. tomorrow, we will…"