Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-173

Chapter 173 - Ice and Fire

Gu Fei did not say another word. It was not because Brave Surge’s rare magic staff had moved him, but because the opponent would fight him more seriously if there was something big at stake. That would make this PvP all the more meaningful! With that thought in mind, he drew a faint slash in the air with his sword, “Don’t be lenient. I don’t care if you kill me; I’ll still stand by my word.” Gu Fei knew from experience that showing leniency would hugely impact the actual strength that anyone could display in a fight.

Brave Surge smiled, “Come, then!”

Few people were online this early in the morning, so the streets were pretty much devoid of any onlookers or passersby. The men accompanying Brave Surge retreated to the side as they quietly surveyed the two men’s PvP.

Gu Fei inhaled deeply as his expression turned serious.

Brave Surge was ranked ninth on the Mage leaderboard and was considered as an expert Mage in Parallel World. Gu Fei did not dare treat such a gaming expert like Brave Surge so lightly, as there were many aspects in which he could not beat the latter.

The glow of Brave Surge’s magic staff was very eye-catching. It was obviously a top-grade weapon, so his spells could probably insta-kill players, too.

“Fireball! Shoot!” Starting the fight by firing off a ball of fire toward his opponent, Gu Fei darted forward as well.

“Fireball! Shoot!” Brave Surge fired off a ball of fire as well before waving his magic staff once more, “Frozen Ice Trail! Go!”

A soft rippling sound was heard before a one-meter layer of cracked ice formed on the ground. This ice crackled and flew toward Gu Fei’s feet.

Gu Fei had never seen such a scene before, so he could not help but feel stunned about it. However, he quickly recovered himself and took two steps to the side. The ice path created by the spell swept past where Gu Fei had been standing moments ago as it reflected the morning sunlight.

“What is that?” Gu Fei curiously asked as he casually swung his sword on the Fireball closing in on him.

“He he... I learned this skill from a scroll. Fireball! Shoot!” Brave Surge answered and summoned another ball of fire. Fireball formed on his fingertips, just in time to block the Fireball Gu Fei had shot at him. The two balls of fire collided and dissipated upon contact.

“That’s no easy feat!” Gu Fei praised. Casting Fireball to block another’s Fireball required excellent eye-hand coordination, which was more difficult than merely dissipating it with a sword.

“I am flattered,” Brave Surge humbly said as he tapped his magic staff on the ground once more, “Frozen Ice Trail! Go!”

Another one-meter length of cracked ice rushed over Gu Fei’s direction and he smilingly dodged to the side, “This spell is pretty nice looking, but it’s a pity that its speed is too slow. How are you ever gonna hit me with it?”

“Arctic Whirlwind! Spin!” Brave Surge merely casted this spell after summoning Frozen Ice Trail.

Gu Fei turned his body to the side to evade this spell as well, yet Brave Surge directed Arctic Whirlwind to Gu Fei’s new direction with a slight move of his magic staff. The caster could manipulate this spell’s movement for a limited amount of time at the cost of mana.

The speed of Arctic Whirlwind was not slow, and even the speedster Svelte Dancer was just barely faster than it. Naturally, Gu Fei who was a lot slower than her could not extricate himself from this frigid gust.

Furthermore, Brave Surge had a good control of the spell. During their guilds’ PvP match, he had flawlessly prevented Svelte Dancer from getting near Young Master Han with Arctic Whirlwind. Right now, it was hardly difficult for Brave Surge to hit Gu Fei with Arctic Whirlwind.

Seeing that he had no means to dodge the spell, Gu Fei decided to cleave the attack with his sword under Twin Incineration. In response, Brave Surge calmly raised his hand to cast Arctic Whirlwind once more and sent it toward Gu Fei.

Gu Fei could tell that things were looking bleak. Fighting mana with mana was a huge problem for him, as he could only cast Twin Incineration four times even with his full mana. Brave Surge must have seen through his weakness and was thus trying to intentionally waste Gu Fei’s limited mana.

Arctic Whirlwind was already upon Gu Fei while he was still pondering about the matter at hand. Helpless, he could only cast Twin Incineration once more to take care of it. He then pointed the tip of his sword forward, “Descending Wheel of Flames! Descend!”

“He he. You do know that your spell-casting time is very long, right?” Brave Surge asked.

“Of course, I do,” Gu Fei answered.

“You can’t out-predict me; I guarantee that your spell won’t hit me if I remain standing here. Still, I will take two steps forward just to be on the safe side!”

With that, Gu Fei saw the flame wheel appear and descend behind Brave Surge. Looking backward, Brave Surge smilingly remarked, “Indeed, my two steps are unnecessary. Your spell release is very precise.”

“You’re an expert alright,” Gu Fei sighed in awe. With his long casting time, anyone would be able to run away if the person saw him cast his spell. Therefore, he needed to predict the direction of movement of his opponent before attacking deceptively. Gu Fei had thought that Brave Surge would attempt to dodge his spell by retreating, so he had tossed the flame wheel to a position behind the latter to blast him off for good. Unexpectedly, Brave Surge saw through his ploy.

This had made him feel helpless. Gu Fei’s attack was dependent on instinct, while Brave Surge actually considered everything from a logical perspective. Because the Mages’ hands or weapons needed to point toward their targets when releasing spells or chanting, veteran Mages like Brave Surge could easily infer where the spells would hit just by looking at the directions the opposing Mages were pointing.

Using the terms in kung fu, Brave Surge’s eyes were fast enough, while Gu Fei’s hands were too slow. This caused him to miss Brave Surge entirely.

“Arctic Whirlwind! Spin!” Brave Surge once more summoned Arctic Whirlwind.

Gu Fei was ready for it this time and he preemptively sprinted out of its way. He could only cast Twin Incineration once more, so slashing out using it right now would mean that he could no longer use it again after.

The only thing he could do to evade the attack was to close in on Brave Surge before the whirlwind hit him. Alternatively, he could close in on Brave Surge just as Arctic Whirlwind hit him, so that his Twin Incineration would be able to takedown Brave Surge and Arctic Whirlwind together.

Gu Fei thought of these two options as he sprinted forward, yet a few more steps in front was the Frozen Ice Trail that Brave Surge had previously casted. The first path had already disappeared, but the second path was still around. Gu Fei did not dare step on it, so he hopped across it lightly.

It was at this moment that Brave Surge chanted once more, “Frozen Ice Trail! Go!”

The same rippling sound was heard, yet it now possessed a different speed. Frozen Ice Trail instantly covered the spot where Gu Fei would land from his hop. He tried stretching out his legs to avoid landing on the path of cracked ice, yet he was a step too late.

Ice crackled as his feet landed on the icy surface. In the next instant, a chilling sensation traveled up his body from the sole of his feet. His legs promptly became numb and Gu Fei found himself unable to exert the least bit of strength to even shift them by half an inch.

Brave Surge was about to gleefully say a few words when Gu Fei returned the sword to his dimensional pocket and took off Midnight Spirit Robe before pointing to the ground while mumbling something.

“What are you doing?” Brave Surge asked, perplexed. With his Frozen Ice Trail immobilizing Gu Fei on the spot, Brave Surge thought that his victory was as good as decided, so Gu Fei’s weird actions baffled him.

Gu Fei smiled faintly, “I’m chanting!”

“Eh?” As Brave Surge was trying to fathom what Gu Fei meant, flames suddenly sprouted from beneath the latter’s feet and enveloped him entirely.

Suicide? Is he trying to off himself so as to not lose by my hands? Or is he trying to bluff his way out? Brave Surge just thought of this when Gu Fei darted out of the ice trail, causing him to feel dumbfounded.

The spell’s freezing effect should not have been so short, yet Gu Fei seemed to have recovered his speed. Could it be that the Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno he had casted on himself removed Frozen Ice Trail’s freezing effect?

From a logical standpoint, it would make sense for fire to remove the chilling effect of ice with its heat. However, Brave Surge was not sure if the game had this sort of design. Even if the game did have such design, no one would probably do what Gu Fei had just done, considering that Parallel World did not provide players immunity from friendly fire.

The spell’s freezing effect and that raging inferno should have inflicted sufficient damage to cause Gu Fei’s death, yet he was puzzlingly still alive. Just Fireball could have freed Gu Fei, so why had he casted Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno?

While Brave Surge thought of Gu Fei’s spell only removing Frozen Ice Trail’s freezing effect, the latter’s Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno actually also evaporated the Arctic Whirlwind that was heading his way.

To think someone would think of doing such a thing! Brave Surge did not know whether to laugh or cry at this scene. Gu Fei had already made his way before him, yet Brave Surge did not get flustered and simply stated, “You’ve lost.”

“How so?!” Gu Fei asked, surprised.

“Aren’t you out of mana?” Brave Surge smilingly asked.

Casting Fireball once, Twin Incineration twice, Descending Wheel of Flames once, and Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno once, Brave Surge had calculated that Gu Fei’s mana should be depleted by now based on their PvP match the other day.

Gu Fei smiled faintly. “I can’t beat you in terms of spells since that is never my forte.” After saying this, he reached into his dimensional pocket for his Sacred Flames of Baptism and executed a downward cleave.

Brave Surge felt shocked. He had never imagined for this Mage to be such a person. To actually hide a Chinese broadsword for close combat when he was out of mana, he simply did not have the slightest bearing of a Mage!

As he was thinking of this, the Chinese broadsword had already swung toward him. Brave Surge timely raised his staff to block the blow, yet Gu Fei’s downward cleave was actually a feint.

Seeing that he had lured Brave Surge’s magic staff away, Gu Fei immediately shifted the blade’s path mid-flow and turned the cleave into a horizontal slash along Brave Surge’s waist.

Brave Surge felt at ease when he saw that the damage inflicted on him by that one slash was minimal. He actually thought that Gu Fei had some strange ability to his character, yet the damage the latter had inflicted on him proved that melee was not the Mage’s forte either.

“Ring of—” Brave Surge was just about to chant for Ring of Fire, yet another speedy slash of Gu Fei interrupted his spell-casting. Not only did Gu Fei interrupt his incantation, the Chinese broadsword also sent forth a fiery glow that ignited Brave Surge’s body upon contact.

“Additional fire attack!” Brave Surge exclaimed, stunned. This sort of attack style was popular for a period of time in Yunduan City due to 27149 using this method to crush a Thief.

That player was a Mage from Yunduan City as well….

Brave Surge finally lost his calm demeanor. Could it be that this Mage before him was the same person? If that was really the case, given his ability to destroy a Thief in close combat, it would truly be as he had said moments ago: spells were truly not his forte.

Oh, crap! Brave Surge’s spat these two words internally. He tried chanting another spell, yet he was once more interrupted by Gu Fei’s Chinese broadsword. The additional fire attack ignited him again. This worried him as a Mage’s additional fire attack was not low in the least.