Sweeping away the competition like a rolling tide

The robots quickly learned how much of a threat John was as he took out another two of them with quick hits to the head. Brun was still standing behind him, looking dumbfounded at the speed with which he took out those enemies. Her brain seemed to reboot once he took out the fourth one with another dagger and her face went red with anger. The sword in her hands started to spark with electricity as she took out one of the robots coming for her with a downward slash, splitting it in half.

It seemed like his little 'headstart' made her pretty angry as she voiced a second later, "Fuck you and your stupid bullshit powers! How the fuck are you so much more powerful than yesterday?!? This is bullshit, I had to train for years to get to the point where I could pick up the sword, and you just stroll in here, get more powerful by the hour and act like you're the hot shit? Well, you're not, I'm gonna beat you, I'm gonna beat your damn spider, I'm gonna beat Astrid once we know what's going on with her, and I'm gonna beat that uppity ass of a Brighton at some point. Now, get as far away from me as you can, or you'll be on the receiving end of my rage!"

John was not sure if that last part was towards him or towards one of the robots that tried to come for her, which was quickly impaled on her oversized sword. He felt kind of bad for how quick he was growing in comparison to her.

But, on the other hand... Nah... This was way too much fun.

Getting some mental feedback from Gary, John was brought back to reality as he just received a punch from one of the robots.

-5 HP (Damage Reduction and Armor subtracted)

Wow, those things pack a punch if they can deal that much damage with a simple punch!

Quickly reacting to the punch, John rammed his spear into the chest of the robot, instantly killing it.

Vital Area! 4x Damage!
Physical Damage Multiplier: 4x
38 DMG + 23 DMG (Light)

Now, John could use Mana Charge as well to get the level of that up, but he was pretty sure that he would need all the mana for the amount of work ahead of him.

Enemies Remaining: 192
Time Left: 29:30
John N.: 5
Brunhilde G.: 3
Astrid G.:0

Ah damn, Astrid was pulled into this challenge between him and Brun? Pity for her EXP, but considering her high level, she probably wouldn't even gain that much anyway...

Checking the minimap in the corner of his vision was a weird thing since he couldn't really look at it without it moving according to his eye movements, but he could at least see the overall masses of enemies.

Brun was currently heading south of the alley and straight into some smaller groups of enemies, taking the closest enemies she could get. John, on the other hand, had his eyes set on another target: there was a large number of enemies concentrated on a spot a bit further away. With a rough estimate, John would say that there had to be roughly 30 enemies there, and that was well worth the detour since either he or Brun would have to go there anyway. Taking off thanks to Flash Step, he quickly made his way towards the spot, taking out straggling and single enemies on his way. He also used the time to do something different, namely trying to use his alchemy to make some bombs.

Please select at least two essences to create something:
Essence 1: Meager Essence of Element (Ice)
Essence 2: Meager Essence of Element (Lightning)
[Add Essence]

Select Result:
Bomb
Potion
Poison

Results:
Freezing Stun Bomb, Lv. 1, Qty.: 2:
Will release a storm of ice and lightning upon impact with anything.
Deals 5 DMG (Ice) and 5 DMG (Lightning) to every enemy in the area
30% chance to freeze enemy for 2-3 seconds
30% chance to stun enemy for 3-5 seconds
Radius: 3 Meters

Nice, not really that powerful, but it would be good enough to deal with a good portion of the robots, or at least keep them occupied for a moment until he whittled them down enough.

As he reached the supposed spot, John could immediately see why there were so many robots here.

In the center of a big and overgrown park stood a large, white structure that a lot of robots were connected to. The structure looked like a big needle with lots of wires coming out of it, both into the robots and from the top to somewhere in the southwest of the park he was currently approaching. If John were to give that thing a function, it would likely be some kind of powering station or central terminal where the bots got their orders. This place was even better because the robots seemed like they were on standby and since they were hooked into the machine they would need some time to cut that connection.

So, a perfect place to strike!

Getting closer to the structure, thanks to his Stealth and his little spider companion as a second pair of eyes, he was soon close enough to the structure to pull out one of the bombs. The bomb itself looked like one of the essences it was created from; the only exception was that it randomly twitched in a volatile way that looked like the thing was ready to burst. It was basically an overcharged Essence that was too powerful for its non-existent frame.

Taking the bomb into his off-hand, John, on instinct, assumed a pitcher's position and hurled the thing towards the construct of metal. The ball of energy flew, and once it traveled about two seconds or so John leaped after it to use the effects of the bomb to full effect.

The bomb impacted with the structure, erupting the close area in a hail of frost and lightning bolts. John wasn't sure what was more blinding, the electricity, or the plethora of damage pop-ups blinking up over all the enemies. Most of them read:

5 DMG (Ice)
5 DMG (Lightning) Elemental weakness! 3x Damage!
Stunned for 10 seconds

Okay, that made sense, seeing as how the systems of the robots could likely be overcharged with lightning. John then went to quick work on the remaining robots (some were hit by a Critical hit, killing them instantly), and with as little mana usage as he could to save as much as he was able to. Swinging his spear left and right, cutting through the enemies ahead of him, John soon stood alone in the park, in the middle of wreckage, with the only sound around being the humming of this station, and the clattering feet of Gary as he collected all of the loot. Sadly, not every robot dropped something, only roughly half of them did, but that was still a considerable amount of loot and materials he got.

Overall, the robots really were a joke, the only really concerning thing was the time limit and the possible quantity, but even that was a non-factor if you worked smartly...

Enemies Remaining: 130
Time Left: 23:48
John N.: 42
Brunhilde G.: 28
Astrid G.: 0

As he looked for his next better target, John heard a loud and deep cracking above him and saw that the dome above him started to crack under the pressure of the water outside. Thankfully, the glass still held and the amount of water entering the didn't increase yet. Personally, John wasn't sure if that was physically correct, but then again, if something involves magic and video game logic, there's no telling how little physical restrictions actually applied. Even if the time limit was nowhere near used up the dome started to crack, which was either a tool to intimidate the 'players' or was an indicator that things might get wet soon...