Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-168

Chapter 168 - This is not a one-man fight.

At a glance, anyone would think that War Without Wounds had released a skill that created a burning cyclone, since the flames that had spread throughout the ground seemed to sprout from his Cyclone attack, even though the flames were from a spell that Gu Fei had just casted.

The flames seemed to borrow the airflow that Cyclone had created, as Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno swelled with War Without Wounds at its core. The ladies happened to be trying to surround War Without Wounds, so they all ended up being swallowed whole by the raging inferno together with War Without Wounds.

Gu Fei’s AOE spell could even instra-kill the skilled players of Carouse, so these ladies who were caught in the resulting conflagration would naturally be killed off instantly as well. All the members of Young Master’s Elite only heard the steady ringing of the system notification, as it constantly updated them of the changes in kill points between the two sides. As white light constantly flashed within the sea of flames, Brother Assist could not help but gasp: “This is too OP! I better record this down!”

Amid the red glow, one figure rushed toward Gu Fei at a remarkable speed. Just as expected! Gu Fei cried out internally. Of course, the one who had rushed out of the firestorm was Svelte Dancer. She was currently wearing the equipment that granted 73% fire resistance, which Gu Fei had returned to her after the PvP match with Carouse. Learning that she had such an item, he had already expected her to survive his spell’s damage output.

Svelte Dancer rushed toward him as she took off the coat, just like what Gu Fei had done when he ‘flew’ through Carouse’s spell bombardment. Obviously, Svelte Dancer was planning to change her equipment into something that that would increase her Attack Power. With a full-Agility build, just depending on her top-grade dagger might not be enough to insta-kill her enemies, after all.

“Royal!” Gu Fei shouted. Svelte Dancer’s defense must be really low in that instant when she was taking off her equipment, so Royal God Call’s Attack Power should be enough to insta-kill her.

However, the sound of an arrow in flight did not echo about. Looking backward, Gu Fei saw Royal God Call staring with unflinching eyes at Svelte Dancer as his nose bled incessantly. Svelte Dancer was indeed the mightiest pay-to-win gamer out there; even her undershirt that became visible when she took off her equipment was very unique. It was form-fitting enough to accentuate her body’s curvature. Royal God Call, the impure lecher, was immediately petrified by the sight, his nose unceasingly bleeding. By the time he returned to his senses, Svelte Dancer had already put on her other equipment.

“Really?!” Gu Fei eyed him contemptuously.

Svelte Dancer’s movement speed became even faster now that she had changed her equipment. In the blink of an eye, she was already upon Gu Fei. He lifted his sword and slashed, yet the reaction speed of Svelte Dancer on Fleetfoot was simply inhuman. Changing the angle of her attack, Svelte Dancer let the sword pass as she plunged the dagger in her hand toward Gu Fei. While Gu Fei’s attack was deadly, his defense and HP were just like the average Mages. A simple basic attack from Svelte Dancer was enough to insta-kill him.

A victorious smile spread across Svelte Dancer’s face just as her dagger was about to puncture his skin. It was at this moment that a heavy blow connected to her nape. Svelte Dancer’s action instantly halted as she was forced to stand stock-still.

This… Svelte Dancer felt somewhat bewildered. Despite knowing the skill, she had never been the recipient of it before.

Bludgeon.

Sword Demon’s figure appeared at Svelte Dancer’s rear. Expressionlessly tossing a wooden baton to his side, he took out Frost Memories. The dagger’s Attack Power had already become quite average in the current stage of the game, yet Sword Demon was having a hard time finding a better replacement for it due to the weapon’s OP additional traits.

Gu Fei smiled at the surprised Svelte Dancer. “This is a group PvP, so why are you treating it like a duel?” With that said, he flipped his sword upward: “Twin Incineration! Incinerate!”

To prevent any accidents, Sword Demon also backstabbed Svelte Dancer with Frost Memories. With frontal and rear attacks, Svelte Dancer could only unwillingly resign herself to her fate as her body turned into a stream of white light.

As the system calculated the final score, Gu Fei swept his eyes through the PvP arena and saw that Svelte Dancer’s coat had been haphazardly thrown to the ground. “She’s so wasteful!” Gu Fei muttered. He then picked the coat up using his sword and settled it on his shoulder just as the system announced the final score. Young Master’s Elite decimated the entire Amethyst, yet the group did not get a ‘perfect’ score as it had one casualty.

White lights engulfed the five men and teleported them out of the PvP arena and into the square by the Hall of Mercenaries.

The ladies were nearby when those five appeared just outside the teleportation array, and they stared resentfully at Gu Fei. It seemed that they were a little hurt by how he had shown no mercy when he was insta-killing them with that one spell.

Svelte Dancer glared at him with short, quick breaths. Clearly, she was dissatisfied by Sword Demon’s ambush.

Gu Fei was unfazed by this and merely threw the coat over to her, “Don’t you want your coat anymore?”

Svelte Dancer’s expression slightly eased with the recovery of her expensive item, “Hmph! There’s still some conscience left in you, I’ll give you that.”

“It’s a competition, so I hafta do my best. Don’t you all agree?” Gu Fei called out to the rest of the ladies.

“Tsk!” All the ladies looked at Gu Fei with derision as they dispersed.

Royal God Call and War Without Wounds were ecstatic beyond belief. Gu Fei’s image to the ladies was not so high and mighty, after all. Brother Assist, being the pseudo-philosopher that he was, drew a moral lesson from this scene, “‘Never meet your hero.’ This expression holds plenty of truth.”

The mercenary group’s match ended faster than usual, so quite a long time was left before the guild versus guild tournament would begin. All of them surrounded War Without Wounds, “You mentioned you’re treating us to a round of drinks?”

War Without Wounds’ smile disappeared as he stared at Gu Fei, “What happened just now? Give me an explanation.”

Gu Fei had insta-killed War Without Wounds along with the ladies in the last skirmish. “I slowed my incantation to allow you to dodge my spell!” he fibbed.

“Did you really?” War Without Wounds asked, skeptical.

“Did you not see me wink at you?!” Gu Fei asked back, feigning surprise.

“Really?!” War Without Wounds’ pitch rose an octave.

“You can ask the rest,” Gu Fei wordlessly asked for the others’ support. The others automatically nodded their heads in agreement.

“Oh!” War Without Wounds finally believed him and was once more in high spirits. “Let’s go drinking, then! It’s my treat!”

“Wait a sec!” Royal God Call suddenly shouted.

Everyone thought at first that Royal God Call was up to no good, yet his voice soon quivered in excitement, “I – I’ve received a Special Reward!”

“Ahhh!” everyone exclaimed in surprised. Special Reward was randomly awarded by the system to anyone who had attained a win in the PvP event and would directly sent it into the selected player’s dimensional pocket. The system had stated that the chances of being rewarded would increase the further participants went into the PvP tournament. Today’s match was only the fourth round of the PvP tournament and, based on the players’ discussion over the forums, the chances of being given Special Reward were extremely low. Royal God Call was a truly lucky fellow to be awarded with it now.

“What item is it?” everyone asked anxiously.

Royal God Call carefully reached into his dimensional pocket and took it out slowly. It was a skill scroll.

“Permanent or one-time use?” Brother Assist asked. While both were scrolls, the difference in their value was similar the difference between day and night.

“Permanent!” Royal God Call answered gingerly.

“Wow…” all expressed their amazement.

However, Royal God Call’s expression drastically changed when he rolled open the scroll and checked the printed words over. It was as if he had ingested a ten-thousand-year-old poison as he furiously bellowed, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! A MAGE SKILL SCROLL?! System, are you blind?! Can’t you see that I’m no Mage, but an ARCHER?!” He forlornly cursed the heavens....

Brother Assist once more philosophized, “A thin line separates heaven and hell. Yet another adage that is true.”

“Here! Take it Miles!” Royal God Call languidly handed the scroll over to Gu Fei after expressing his vexation fully.

Everyone, including the game noob Gu Fei, felt absolutely shocked by his action. The value of a permanent skill scroll was beyond exceptional. Even if Royal God Call could not use it, he could at least fetch a hefty price for it at the Trade Exchange or Auction House. Knowing of this fact, he promptly returned the scroll to Royal God Call, “You should go sell it.”

“Sell, your *ss! Just take the scroll since you can use it!” Royal God Call tossed it back to Gu Fei.

“The system has boldly given you a mage skill scroll, so there might be a Mage out there that has gotten an archer skill scroll. You should hold on to this and swap it with that person!” Gu Fei tossed the scroll over to Royal God Call once more.

The online gaming expert Royal God Call had of course thought of such a possibility, but venting his frustration had been the only thing on his mind just then. Since Gu Fei had helped him a lot in these past few days, tossing the scroll to Gu Fei had seemed like a good deed that could make him feel better about himself and ease the frustration a little. Now that the rush of emotions he had felt calmed, he began to somewhat regret his impulsive action.

“You guys are really too brotherly!” War Without Wounds expressed his admiration. A really expensive item was forcefully being gifted by one and was solemnly being rejected by another. He felt that the two’s upright character deserved his praise.

In the next instant, however, everyone heard Gu Fei honestly admit, “I can’t use that scroll.”

“What?” everyone asked, shocked.

“It said I don’t have lightning magic,” Gu Fei explained.

So Miles has tried using the scroll upon receiving it! everyone realized this truth.

“Does this mean that one needs to be a Lightning Mage before he or she can use the scroll?” Brother Assist asked.

“Seems about right. But I want to advance toward a Water Mage. It is very useful to have the ability to reduce the enemies’ speed,” Gu Fei replied. He was very resentful toward those players who had a faster speed than him as well as those who could kite him.

“Royal’s dream of having a dual-job-class character through the use of skill scrolls isn’t possible, it seems!” Brother Assist sighed.

All nodded their heads in agreement.

“Since that’s the case, I guess I’ll hold on to it and see if anyone is willing to trade for it.” With this kind of development, Royal God Call felt at ease at taking the skill scroll back.

“Head over to the trade forums and put up a post. See if anyone is amenable to such an exchange,” Brother Assist suggested.

“Mhm-mhm!” Royal God Call nodded his head in agreement. He was also an old hand at this, so Brother Assist did not really need to point this out to him.

“We’ve been discussing this for so long, but just what skill does the scroll give, anyway?” Brother Assist asked.

“Electric Wall,” Royal God Call replied.

“The name sounds boring,” Gu Fei sighed. He preferred instant-cast spells, such as Twin Incineration, since they could be used with his kung fu.

“Tsk! Tsk!” The rest of them exclaimed, “Take the scroll out and let us see it again!”

“Oi! Are we drinking or not?!” Young Master Han asked impatiently.