Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

That “what” was a response that Eternal Dominion gave subconsciously. Naturally, he would look over when Gu Fei shouted at him, and the first thing that he registered was how busy Gu Fei was, as he tried to resist under that heavy assault.

Of course Gu Fei was hard-pressed. Had he been able to get the situation under control, then he would naturally have been able to take care of Southern Lone Blade by himself. Eternal Dominion spied the fleeing Southern Lone Blade at the same time he looked over at Gu Fei, and quickly realized what he needed to do as he began to give chase while still up on the roof.

Eternal Dominion had not skimped in adding points towards Agility, so his movement speed was much quicker than Southern Lone Blade and the others. It did not take him long to catch up as he took a big step, leaping off the roof and landing on the ground.

But Southern Lone Blade was already watching as Eternal Dominion chased after them and had already planned his response. The moment he saw the shadow from the roof blur and Eternal Dominion just about to land, Southern Lone Blade stepped forward, extended both his arms and unleashed the ultimate kill move in a Warrior’s arsenal: Cyclone!

Even Gu Fei had suffered when facing this skill, especially since the dual-wielding Berserker job class Advancement became accessible to the players. A dual-wielding Cyclone was as good as a normal Cyclone that spun twice as fast, and Gu Fei simply did not dare to say with confidence that he would be able to take it head on.

Eternal Dominion was in mid-air at the moment, and an unarmed Fighter had no weapon that could utilize the same technique that Gu Fei often used against this skill. Gu Fei felt Eternal Dominion was in a worse situation than he might have been when he looked back. He watched as Eternal Dominion rubbed his palms together and shot out a single bare palm, right into the windy torrent that Cyclone created.

Could he be hoping to grab onto Southern Lone Blade’s claymore as he spun? Gu Fei knew that a Fighter could equip and use sparring gloves, so it might not be too big an issue for their hands to collide with an enemy’s claymore. But the problem was that there was bound to be a substantial disparity between the Strength of both parties. Even if he managed to grab on to the claymore, there was no way the Strength that Eternal Dominion had as a Fighter could compete with that a Warrior possessed, much less be able to interrupt Southern Lone Blade’s Cyclone.

-At that point, Eternal Dominion would just be tossed in the air by the Cyclone; would that not be even more crushing than being hit by the Cyclone?,- Gu Fei thought as both parties collided.

The palm that Eternal Dominion thrusted out connected with Southern Lone Blade’s Cyclone. In that instant, his palm burst out something that shimmered like a globule of water about the size of a washbasin. The moment the claymore cut through that globule of water, it broke and expanded into a mist that was left suspended in the air. Eternal Dominion was also thrown out in a trajectory that formed a perfect arc, flying past the roof and landing in the next street over.

Southern Lone Blade was also slightly stupefied by this reaction. But this was not a good time to be thinking over the matter, so he quickly ended his skill and hurried to flee with his three comrades. He turned back and caught a glimpse of Gu Fei back there still being harassed to no end by those small-time crooks, too busy to notice where they had gone. Only then did Southern Lone Blade finally heave a sigh of relief.

Southern Lone Blade was certain that Eternal Dominion must have activated a skill when he thrust his palm out like he did. He had never seen that skill before, but he was willing to venture a guess that it should have been the first skill a level 40 Fighter would learn the moment they advanced to a Qigong Master: Chiwave Shield!

There were not many Fighters in Parallel World to begin with, and there were a minute amount among those that were high level, with even fewer that chose to advance to a Qigong Master. That was because the other option for advancement for Fighters was to be a Brawler, which ran in line with the mind set of enhancing the combo features that Fighters had. Their main focus was utilizing speed to melee their enemies swiftly, which clearly meant a lot more striking, making it the more popular option. What people knew with regards to the Qigong Master option was largely confined to the official information released, and was not something Southern Lone Blade had personally come in contact with. He had not expected that the leading Fighter, Eternal Dominion, had actually chosen to walk the path of the Qigong Master.

By the looks of things, it looked as if, of the original Five Unyielding Experts, three of them had actually taken the road less travelled!

Even though the officials had claimed that each and every job class advancement was unique and equally balanced, the fact it was balanced would not change the players’ own preferences. The choice to advance into a Sharpshooter as an Archer, or the Assassin as a Thief, Berserker as the Warrior, the Brawler as the Fighter; these were all advancements that were far more offensive than the other option they were given. Most players liked these sorts of job classes, so there were clearly more people out there who leaned towards them.

But out of the original Five Unyielding Experts, Svelte Dancer had chosen to be a Rogue, Deep Waters had opted to be a Hunter, and Eternal Dominion’s Qigong Master were all choices that went against the grain. Southern Lone Blade could not help but think of Gu Fei, who despite not being among the Five Unyielding Experts, was evidently someone who was even more powerful than the five, and yet another player that had also chosen to be the less popular Lightning Mage.

M*th*rf*ck*rs! They are all hipsters! Southern Lone Blade cursed them all viciously even as he kept on running. He had finally gotten away from the mess by this point, so he immediately sent a message to the previously deceased Flame Singed Clothes, as well as Blackwater and Glue who had fled earlier.

Even though they had quite the hard time fending off the two men after them, he felt rather encouraged that they had only lost one out of their seven-man squad.

“Singed, what’s your status?” Southern Lone Blade asked Flame Singed Clothes.

While the battle before was complex and had plenty of changes, the fact was that it had only taken two to three minutes, and Flame Singed Clothes had only revived back in the Mage Academy moments ago. After observing the situation around him in detail, he reported, “I’m in the Mage Academy, and there are indeed quite a lot of enemies positioned around. But they are not in overwhelming numbers. No one really seemed to care when I walked out of the spawn point.”

“Then you should continue on your own. We’ll meet at these coordinates outside the city.” After Southern Lone Blade sent the message and coordinates over, he turned to regard the other five companions with him. “We’re gonna split up as well.”

“Split up?” Paddy Scent Pastures was in shock. He was just a Priest, so there was no way he could defend himself if he was on his own.

Southern Lone Blade nodded, “F*ck, I should have thought of this sooner. Moving out in a group like this is far too eye-catching, which was why it was so easy for the enemy to notice us. The targets on our back will be a lot smaller if we move by ourselves, and it will also be much easier to escape if people are hunting us.”

The five instantly realized what he meant, and understood the reasoning. Actually, their enemies would not be able to recognize all of them. The only reason they had drawn their attention was entirely because of how conspicuous they were when moving as a group.

“Let’s split up and make our way out of the city. Here’s the coordinates to gather at,” Southern Lone Blade said.

The five men nodded.

“You two, be extra careful!” Southern Lone Blade final words were for Paddy Scent Pastures and the other Priest. It was clear that their identities and lack of ability meant they would be in far greater danger using this method, so they would be the ones bearing the greatest pressure now that they were splitting up.

However, neither Priest had any input on this. Although there was a good sense of brotherhood in the squad, none of them ever saw the need to share a mentality of “One for all and all for one”. Their focus had always been about obtaining the biggest rewards or minimizing losses.

“You take care as well!” The two Priests gave the same well-wishes to Southern Lone Blade. The risk that he had to bear was realistically no less than theirs, since the people on his trail were quite possibly the two strongest players currently in the game!

Everybody said their goodbyes, and set off to find their own way to the meeting point.

------

Back in Linshui City’s Fourteenth Street, Gu Fei was still embroiled in the battle that had yet to end.

Southern Lone Blade and the others had successfully escaped, while Eternal Dominion had been thrown into the other street and it was unknown if he had survived. Gu Fei had run out of mana and was feeling immense pressure from having to deal with so many enemies alone.

Arrows continued to hound him even as the skies filled with spells endlessly.

Were it not for the fact the a Mage had a limited range capability, his enemies would have filled the entire street with flames. But the level at which they were constantly casting spells around Gu Fei was already enough to lock him down and prevent him from retreating. They were experienced, as their spells continued to land right behind Gu Fei one after another. If Gu Fei wanted to hide or escape, he would have to step into the AoE bombardment area that the enemy had prepared for him.

At the moment, in order to evade the enemy’s spells, Gu Fei could only take the initiative to close in on them. Nevertheless, he was very certain that while there was space for him to step forward and evade those attacks, the enemy would be able to align their AoE spells in a manner in which they could all be cast at once the moment he was close enough. He would no longer have anywhere left to hide from that assault, unless the enemy happened to have a bunch of Mages that had whimsical spell control, like the ladies from Amethyst Rebirth. But that was entirely unrealistic of course, since these people were bandits and robbers, it was more likely they would be much more fierce and aggressive.

Unable to retreat and with nowhere to hide, the only option Gu Fei had left was to attack. That saved him the trouble of thinking too much about things as he immediately sped up, wielding his Moonlit Nightfalls as he dove straight towards the enemy’s formation.

The interlopers were extremely surprised by this. They had not thought that their target would still be so unrestrained, despite being by himself, being so bold as to run headlong into their ranks, especially since he was just a mere Mage.

“Mages, get ready!” the leader bellowed. He had been waiting for this chance to take down Gu Fei in one move.

All the Mages lifted their magic staves, some pointing up in the air while others pointed to the ground. Yet, Gu Fei seemed to have heard the command himself as he raised his sword towards the sky, whirling the blade as sparks flew the moment the incoming arrows made contact with him.

“Watch the range! Release!” the leader commanded, and all the Mages started their respective incantations. Meanwhile, Gu Fei had also called upon a spell at the same moment: Thunderbolt, using the very last bits of mana he still had.

A single streak of lightning came crashing down from the sky, Lightning Affinity spells were always the first to be cast. A blue light arced and flashed through the sky, even as a Mage in the enemy’s formation raised his magic staff, a pose that looked as if he was calling that bolt of lightning onto himself.

The spell connected and the Mage was left blackened, yet he was actually still alive. Gu Fei was extremely shocked by this outcomel, but then he remembered that he was wearing his Flaming Robe, not his Midnight Spirit Robe.

By this time, the enemy Mages had already completed their incantations successfully. The sky above the entire street glowed red, with only a single patch of blue sky remaining visible, where that Mage must have been casting. Gu Fei made his way into that spot. Even though he still had a Blazing Tree of a Thousand Infernos beneath his feet, most Mages were unable to insta-kill anybody with just that skill alone. Even if there was someone out there that could, it might not necessarily kill Gu Fei, since he had the Windchaser’s Blessing on his neck. Just that item alone gave him twice the amount of HP of an average Mage.

Gu Fei, who usually thought the amount of HP he had was unimportant, could not help but feel a sense of security knowing he had such a piece of equipment on him.

Gu Fei was now near the enemy, and the front row of their formation consisted entirely of Archers, who quickly dodged to the side the moment they saw him closing in.

Gu Fei slashed to left and right, with flames and lightning occasionally bursting out from his falling blade. He was not looking to slay these players, as his goal at the moment was merely to escape from the quagmire he was in.

Behind the Archers were the Mages. Gu Fei leveraged on the fact that he had more Strength than the average Mage to execute his kung fu technique, “The Deft Touch of Eighteen Trips”. Two Mages had already been pummeled down to the ground, even as the other Mages scattered to the sides chaotically. Just like the Archers, the Mages were in disarray the moment they were engaged in close combat.

Behind them were the Warriors, Thieves, and other job classes that had not had a chance to contribute a single thing in this battle. Close quarters combat was their main focus, and Gu Fei knew that the difficult part of this encirclement had just begun.

A Thief was the first to tear straight for him, and Gu Fei stabbed his sword out to greet him. There was no doubt that the blow would connect, but the issue was that the damage he could deal was not enough to even pressure the enemy. Seeing the heavily armored Warriors right behind, Gu Fei felt that it might be a little difficult to break through the barricade of players in this narrow street they were now in. Thus, he did not recklessly charge ahead, opting instead to quickly retreat and bury himself back with the Mages and Archers.

Gu Fei thought to himself, I think it’s still best if I bully these guys first, before I take things as I go!