Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

The scenes in all of Gu Fei’s battles thus far had revolved around subduing the enemies in one go, robbing Priests of a chance to react, or having several enemies conceitedly ganged up on him without the assistance of Priests. However, this time around, Gu Fei finally encountered a team with a Priest as its core. Vast Lushness would issue battle commands, while she simultaneously bestowed Heal on her teammates.

Under such a circumstance, Gu Fei’s 49% fire attack proc rate would serve as a disruption to his fighting tempo as well as Vast Lushness’ tempo. Whoever between them could persist without committing mistakes under such interruption would emerge victorious in the end. While it appeared as if the duel was between Gu Fei and the players encircling him, this fight was in fact between Gu Fei and Vast Lushness who was standing behind her guild members.

“Don’t let him strike twice with his Chinese broadsword! Keep up your attacks with one another!” Vast Lushness instructed loudly, reminding everyone of their positions.

Gu Fei could no longer focus his attacks on one person and spend most of his time dodging and fending off the enemies’ bombardment instead. On several instances, he almost got hit with Backstab by Thieves who had managed to sneak behind him. Although Gu Fei was able to slip a slash in between the opponents’ incoming attacks, his one sword strike, even if the additional fire attack got procced, was unable to insta-kill a player. Moreover, Vast Lushness steadily followed up Gu Fei’s attack with Heal on the side, rendering his sword strike useless.

Under Vast Lushness’ timely directives and fine-tuning, the battle had actually returned to its initial state.

The opposing enemies once again revealed carefree smiles. Someone among them even taunted, “Didn’t you say you’ll stop going easy on us? Why aren’t you killing any of us yet?”

All laughed in response to this, as they continued to swing their weapons in hands toward Gu Fei.

Gu Fei smiled lightly, seemingly not the least bit perturbed by their taunting, and appeared to be free of worries. He waded deeper into the enemy encirclement and swiftly struck a blow with his Chinese broadsword.

“Everyone, fall back! Double Tiger, use your Cyclone!” Vast Lushness commanded.

The rest retreated a few steps back, while a Warrior walked ferociously forward, unleashing a Cyclone with a roar.

There was a catchphrase in Saint Seiya: “The same attack never works twice."

That catchphrase could be applied to a kung fu master like Gu Fei as well, especially since the in-game skills were somewhat rigid. Take Cyclone for example, a player must spin his or her body around to unleash it; meaning, the skill would always lack the flexibility to be unleashed with the element of surprise on others.

Just as his opponent was activating the skill, Gu Fei already slipped his Chinese Broadsword inside the Cyclone attack. And with a loud clank, he was flung away to the other side by the attack’s force.

The way he was hurled outward by Cyclone right now was unlike how he had been thrown outward by Seismic Toss before. Whereas Seismic Toss’ force had a sort of paralyzing effect that had caused Gu Fei’s body to stiffen during the toss, Cyclone’s force had a sort of repelling effect that Gu Fei had taken advantage of, allowing him to retain his body control while being flung outward. Regaining his balance mid-air, he alighted steadily on the ground and viciously sent a slash with his sword to the opponent closest to him. Meanwhile, the Warrior called Double Tiger was still spinning on the same spot!

All the enemies gaped at what they had just witnessed. Just who’s this guy? He even managed to block Cyclone!

Everyone had assumed that brute strength was needed to block Cyclone, yet they just saw Gu Fei relying purely on technique.

“Master, you rock!” the Fighter Coward’s Savior yelled, as he continued to run around like a dog.

Those of Past Deeds had long figured out that only Gu Fei was a threat among their opponents, so they mostly ignored that Fighter. Gu Fei was not running around the battlefield like that Fighter and was confronting them directly, yet they were still helpless on dealing with him.

“What’re you lot gawking for?! Hurry up and surround him! Just make sure to leave an opening behind! Get ready, Archers and Mages!” Vast Lushness frantically healed those who had been cut by Gu Fei, as she continued to issue commands to them.

No one imagined that dealing with just one player would require the cooperation of the close-range and long-range job classes; thus, the Mages and Archers of Past Deeds had not joined in on this ongoing battle until now. With that last order, the Mages assumed their casting poses and the Archers adopted their shooting stances. They were prepared to attack any second now. But how could Gu Fei not anticipate this already? He nimbly flittered between his opponents, preventing the Mages and Archers from taking a good aim at him. Players had no immunity against friendly fire in Parallel World. Hence, the Mages and Archers dared not launch aerial attacks arbitrarily for fear of ‘hitting’ their allies instead.

The current fight was still in a stalemate.

“Mages and Archers, find a way to get atop the rooftop!” Vast Lushness yelled.

With a carefree smile on his face, Gu Fei continued to evade, block, and attack whenever he got a chance.

Vast Lushness was starting to get confused. If this carried on, Gu Fei would evidently be at a disadvantage. And yet, he was dragging the fight on. Vast Lushness felt as if she was forgetting something important. The more she thought about it, the more restless she got. She hurriedly ordered those chasing after Coward’s Savior to stop wasting their time on him and focus on encircling Gu Fei instead.

I think it’s the right choice to call for backup from the start, considering how hard it is to deal with this guy. Just who is he? Vast Lushness thought to herself. She then appraised Gu Fei when an opening presented itself.

Her Appraisal failed, so his equipment, level, and job class continued to remain unknown.

Vast Lushness became even more anxious. She urged the Mages and Archers to hurry up.

Right at this moment, an odd development occurred on the battlefield. A Thief let out a pain-filled cry and collapsed under Gu Fei’s Chinese broadsword. But before he faded away, the Thief threw a weird look her way.

Vast Lushness was stunned. When she saw Gu Fei slash someone again, she posed to bestow Heal on that teammate. It was then that she realized a vital issue: Her mana was all used up.

There was no elixir in Parallel World – or at least, no player had stumbled upon one yet.

Whenever players wanted to replenish their HP or mana during grinding, they would temporarily retreat to a side and remain in an idle state until regeneration kicked in; another way to recover their HP and mana was to consume food or fruit. Although regeneration would be available for players during a fight, it would only be minimal.

As for the ‘idle state’, players would not be considered entering this condition by simply standing still. An example was Vast Lushness; although she had been standing still all this while as she bestowed Heal on her teammates, the system did not consider her to be in an ‘idle state’.

To enter an idle state, players would have to stop attacking, moving, or utilizing their skills for thirty seconds.

Vast Lushness had a sudden realization once more: Ever since she started assisting by the side, she had not entered an idle state even once. This guy... Despite knowing that he was placing himself in dire straits, he still chose to continue with his attacks. This choice was not made out of his desperation to defeat his opponents but to prevent her from being inactive for thirty seconds instead, which would allow her to enter an idle state....

His every move was actually done with a purpose; it was to lure her into a trap.

By the time Vast Lushness returned to her senses, feeling shocked and sweating all over, a pain-filled cry had echoed once more on the battlefield. Gu Fei slew another one of her teammates.

The Past Deeds’ guild members turned their heads back, looking strangely at Vast Lushness.

“Lushness! What’re you doing?” somebody asked.

“She’s out of mana,” Gu Fei explained to everyone with a smile on his face.

He really did plan all this! Vast Lushness felt a slight dizziness overcome her, as she noted her inability to help her guild members who were currently being tormented by Gu Fei. Although she would soon enter an idle state and be able to bestow a Heal after her mana was restored enough, that Heal would be akin to a drop in the bucket. But if she waited until her mana was fully restored, many of her people would surely be dead by then.

But still... Even without my help, there’re still so many of my guild mates here. How will he dominate us all?

...It’s not the time to be thinking about that; I must hurry and restore my mana! Vast Lushness quickly pulled an apple out of her dimensional pocket. As was stated previously, eating fruit in Parallel World while in an idle state could speed up mana recovery. In fact, the effects of it would be visible after just a few bites. Vast Lushness quickly munched on the apple in her hand. Seeing her do that, Gu Fei smiled faintly and said, “Don’t you think it’s a bit late to start eating now?”

Vast Lushness could not comprehend his words’ meaning, so she just continued munching on the apple.

“Look behind you,” Gu Fei said.

Vast Lushness fearfully recalled something at that moment.

Will-low! That woman suddenly disappeared at some point after the fighting had begun.

Right now, Vast Lushness remembered that Will-low was a Thief. Thieves knew Stealth and could perform Backstab....

Vast Lushness had yet to turn around, but she could already feel a piercing coldness spreading on her back.

Will-low’s figure slowly materialized behind Vast Lushness. The others of Past Deeds screamed in horror, abandoning Gu Fei to come to Vast Lushness’ aid. However, it was all too late.

An Intelligence- and Spirit-based Priest lacked HP. In addition, the defense provided by a priest robe was similar to that of a mage robe – virtually non-existent. What made it even worse was that Vast Lushness had run out of mana; hence, she could not bestow Heal on herself. With her slow speed, she failed to dodge Will-low’s attack. She tried to flee after being struck with Backstab, yet Will-low immediately caught up to her and delivered three more stabs. Vast Lushness finally collapsed unwillingly onto the ground. She paid no attention to Will-low while she was dying, and instead she glared hatefully at Gu Fei.

“Ha ha ha! I finally killed you!” Will-low cheered, although she also very quickly died under the concerted attacks of the Past Deeds’ remaining members.

Will-low who had just killed Vast Lushness would of course have 1 PK point on her. Now that she was killed, she would suffer the PvP penalty of dropping by two levels. Even so, the smile on her face did not dim the slightest bit. Before she faded away, she yelled toward Gu Fei, “Thank you so much!”

Gu Fei waved at her in an act of sending her off.

Just before the fighting started and at that moment when Coward’s Savior was showing off to everyone on a rooftop....

Will-low asked Gu Fei softly, “Will I get the chance to kill her myself?”

“You will. But you’ll most likely end up dead yourself.”

“Perishing together? Fine by me!”

Gu Fei remained silent.

“When will that opportunity come?”

“When she’s out of mana.”

In the end, Will-low got her chance. She sacrificed two levels in exchange for taking Vast Lushness’ life – a worthy trade in her opinion. As for Gu Fei, he just earned himself 3 PK points. His chest was heaving right now, as he said to himself: PK value? To hell with that!

Seeing how the others were glaring at him with hate-filled eyes after they had killed Will-low, Gu Fei immediately took off Flaming Robe and put on Midnight Spirit Robe. He returned Sacred Flames of Baptism into his dimensional pocket and pulled out Moonlit Nightfalls next.

“F*ck, it’s him! He’s our guild leader’s killer!” someone who had participated in the previous skirmish with Gu Fei recognized his black robe and purple sword.

“That’s right! It’s me!” Gu Fei hollered. With a quick flourish of his sword, dust plumed off the ground and scattered all over, “Come on! You all want to kill me, right? Try stepping into my sword cordon, then!” Gu Fei had fallen in love with that phrase.

Nobody made a move. Suddenly, a few shadowy figures appeared on a rooftop; one of them secretly took aim at Gu Fei below.

Gu Fei turned around ferociously, with his sword already pointing at that particular someone on the rooftop.

“Fireball! Shoot!” Gu Fei yelled.

A ball of fire formed onto the tip of his blade and flew off toward the Archer nocking an arrow on the rooftop.

“So he’s a Mage. But it’s just a mere fireball...” The Archer smirked coldly, not bothering to dodge the spell, and began to draw his bow. Take a load of my Snipe... the Archer thought to himself.

He did not get a chance to fire that arrow on Snipe, though. Following the fireball’s explosion on him, he was directly sent back to the spawn point for Archers.