Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-225

Chapter 225 - Calm before the Storm

Gu Fei felt quite depressed as he logged off. He rarely had the chance to pit himself against Fighters, but due to him having an easier time beating them than the other job classes, now that he finally had a chance to go up against one, he somehow ended up giving the Fighter Gale Force a shock, and that was done without pulling out his Moonlit Nightfalls.

This was entirely due to Gu Fei’s high standard when it came to kung fu. The Fighter job class in Parallel World was probably designed using the data that had been gathered from some real-life kung fu instructors. But since Gu Fei was a rare top-tier talent in the field of kung fu, those instructors would probably not even come close to his level of martial arts. Just the simplicity of the skills and concepts that they had provided for this game was enough proof that their kung fu talent was nothing to brag about.

Gu Fei went up the rooftop to practice kung fu after he had logged off from the game. Taking out a sandbag, he performed the various skills of the Fighter job class, such as Uppercut Punch, Thrusting Kick, Swallow Dropkick, Seismic Toss, and Spurring Meteor. Despite giving his sandbag a good thrashing, Gu Fei still could not help but sigh to himself, So simple! Truly, it was a pity that his execution of these skills could not generate any damage in-game. He did not even have the Strength to properly execute Seismic Toss. In actuality, without the system temporarily ‘gifting’ the Fighters the Strength to perform Seismic Toss on any sort of opponent whenever they felt like it, they would not be able to execute the skill, either.

While Gu Fei was busy practicing kung fu on the rooftop, Gale Force was still on the platform at the Martial Field in-game. He was trying to chain the very same skills that Gu Fei had so effortlessly performed before his eyes a while ago to no success… “How is this easy?” Gale Force sighed. Tempo… Canceling… He repeated these words to himself as sweat rained on the platform due to his exertion.

Meanwhile, on Yunduan City’s forums, Young Master’s Elite’s consecutive wins in the mercenary PvP tournament had left everyone surprised.

The six-man mercenary group’s journey toward the semifinals was nothing to scoff at, as the opponents that they had defeated along the way were real heavyweights in the mercenary PvP tournament. The level 4 mercenary groups Cloud Herder and High Cloud, another tournament dark horse Silver Moon, the budding mercenary group Amethyst that many considered to be worthy of being acknowledged as a dark horse as well, and the top mercenary group Four Seas that consisted of the elite members of the number one guild Traversing Four Seas… All these mercenary groups were not just any ordinary entities in Yunduan City. This was especially true of Four Seas. Although that mercenary group had fewer completed missions compared to The Black Hand, it was widely regarded as the strongest based on raw talent and power.

In any case, the final four mercenary groups in the semifinals were as follows: Young Master’s Elite, The Black Hand, Water Flower (under Carouse Guild), and Rainbow betwixt the Clouds. Although the name ‘Rainbow betwixt the Clouds’ sounded fanciful, the mercenary group itself was average at best. What everyone could not fathom, though, was how Rainbow betwixt the Clouds had managed to reach level 4 despite being backed by just the level 3 guild Colored Clouds.

The level 4 mercenary group with its eighty members had truly been blessed for it had never once met a strong mercenary group or a dark horse in the mercenary PvP tournament. The most difficulty that Rainbow betwixt the Clouds had experienced during the tournament was when it had been matched up against some equally mediocre level 3 or level 4 mercenary groups. Nonetheless, during those times, they somehow managed to obtain a pyrrhic victory.

Others did not have much interest toward Rainbow betwixt the Clouds, as most of their attention was on how far Young Master’s Elite could go in the PvP tournament.

With the conclusion of today’s guild match, the semifinals opponent of Young Master’s Elite was announced as Water Flower, while The Black Hand would be facing Rainbow betwixt the Clouds.

At this moment, Young Master Han and Brave Surge, the guild leader of Carouse, were together in Ray’s Bar.

“So this group’s actually your creation. Say… Why didn’t you join Water Flower?!” Brace Surge asked, feeling rueful. Young Master’s Elite’s recent deeds were just too controversial. Even if people could not find out about all its members, they were at least able to find the name of the mercenary group’s leader by looking it up at the Hall of Mercenaries. Most people would not know who this ‘Young Master Han’ was, but any members of Carouse Guild would naturally know. After all, the name of the guild Young Master Han belonged to was listed right next his name!

Young Master Han only laughed in response.

“This means that you already know that Mage!” Brave Surge stated. When Young Master Han did not deny his claim, he continued, “You saw how tough it was for us to find him, so why did you not say a word?!”

“He won’t let me.” Young Master Han easily pushed the blame on Gu Fei for this.

Brave Surge acknowledged his reason and said, “When the match is over, bring your friend to join our guild; it’s more fun when there are more people!”

Young Master Han flashed him a wry smile. “In a small group like ours, we do everything by majority vote. I’m only the group leader in name, and I still need to discuss everything with everyone.”

“Of course, that’s a given. How about you invite everyone to have a drink with us?” Brave Surge persisted.

“How about tomorrow after the match?” Young Master Han would never reject an offer to drink.

“Have you done your preparations on how to face us?” Brave Surge casually asked. He more or less had a good idea of what Young Master Han was capable of.

“Not yet.” Young Master Han smiled secretively, also asking, “How many men are you intending to send out?”

“I haven’t thought of it, either.” Brave Surge flashed him an equally secretive smile.

“I guess we’ll talk about it later, then!” Young Master Han concluded.

“Yes, let’s do that,” Brave Surge agreed, saying, “I’ll take my leave first; enjoy yourself!” With that, he waved his hand, “Ray, I’ll take care of the bill for this table.”

“Surely there’s no need?” Young Master Han pretended to decline.

“No need to be courteous; we’re in the same guild, after all,” Brave Surge laughed boisterously.

Ray looked over to Young Master Han for confirmation and the latter nodded his head. Ray immediately brought the bill over to Brave Surge. The smile on Brave Surge’s lips slightly wavered upon seeing the bill and he remarked, “You’re quite the drinker!”

“It’s better if I take care of the bill myself!” Young Master Han chuckled.

However, Brave Surge already said that he would take care of his bill, so how could a guild leader like him not be a man of his word? He instantly fished out his coin pouch and settled Young Master Han’s bill of over 100 gold coins. The sum itself was not exorbitant, but this was a question of where the money went to. Brave Surge would hardly bat an eyelid if he spent that amount on equipment and such, but spending that amount on liquor made his heart ache. “You should drink less; it’s not good for your body.” Brave Surge advised with a slightly fearful voice before leaving in a hurry.

How the hell would drinking liquor in-game harm the body? Young Master Han calmly took the tab and asked Ray while scanning it, “Did you include the tab for the entire week?” As Ray nodded his head, Young Master Han said, “That’s the sort of quality you should look for in a boss!”

Ray could only smile in response to this.

Nothing else happened that night. When Gu Fei got online the next day and made his way over to Ray’s Bar for the pre-match meeting, he was met with a never-before-seen situation.

Inside Ray’s Bar, Young Master Han and the rest were currently not inside their usual private room. Instead, they were sitting and drinking together in the bar lounge with Brave Surge and company whom their group was matched up with for today’s round of the mercenary PvP tournament. Both sides were discussing about their respective strategies for today’s match. What an awkward yet harmonious scene this was!

“This…” Gu Fei did not know what to say to this.

“We meet again!” Brave Surge flashed Gu Fei a warm smile, inviting, “Come take a seat.”

“This…” Gu Fei repeated himself, not knowing whether to agree or decline the offer.

“I’m treating everyone to a round of drinks!” Brave Surge smiled pleasantly.

“Didn’t we agree on drinking AFTER the match?” Young Master Han asked, puzzled.

“Drink now and expend all that alcohol in your system during the fight later; wouldn’t that be better?” Brave Surge encouraged.

Young Master Han thought for a moment before smiling, “You’re just afraid that I’ll drink non-stop after the match!”

Brave Surge felt slightly embarrassed that his plot had been seen through. He was actually not a petty person, but Young Master Han’s expenditure had truly given him a fright. How long had it been from the end of mercenary PvP tournament to their yesterday’s meeting? For him to drink that much in such a short time, Brave Surge was convinced that Young Master Han could bankrupt him with his drinking if he was given free rein after the match.

Nonetheless, the sight of the two sides that would be fighting one another in today’s PvP match harmoniously drinking together was just too strange. All the people present did not know what to say to this, so they merely chose to quietly drink the cups of liquor in their hands.

“Are we fighting you guys today?” Gu Fei asked Brave Surge, as he just found out about it now. As Brave Surge nodded his head, Gu Fei praised, “Your spell bombardment is really powerful!”

Brave Surge very humbly replied, “Oh, it’s alright.”

Gu Fei sent out a message, “Svelty! Lend me your magic resistance equipment again; I’m about to fight that guy with that strong spell bombardment.”

Svelte Dancer came barging inside Ray’s Bar before long. She also expressed her surprise at the strange sight of the two competing teams sitting and drinking together.

“Over here!” Gu Fei quickly called out.

“Big Sis Xiaoxi1!” Royal God Call was more excited than Gu Fei.

“Hi, Xiaowu,” War Without Wounds faked a calm greeting.

Svelte Dancer waved to everyone before coming to Gu Fei’s side and handing him the equipment. “What’s all this about?”

“Guild Leader Brave Surge here is treating us to some liquor.” Gu Fei chuckled.

Brave Surge recognized the one before him as the prestigious Svelte Dancer. He hurriedly greeted her and quickly called Ray to bring her a drink as well. Inside, he was wondering, This is the richest player in the entire server of Parallel World; does that mean the only worthy beverage in her eyes is the most expensive one?

Svelte Dancer was not passionate about drinking, so she was naturally not fussy over this stuff. She only came here to deliver the equipment Gu Fei had requested. After handing it over to him, she bade everyone farewell and left.

“Look. This coat right here has 73% magic resistance; pretty impressive, yeah?!” Gu Fei proudly showed the item to Brave Surge.

“Impressive...” Brave Surge affirmed, yet his eyes was not looking at the equipment Gu Fei was holding; instead, he was staring at the more impressive living thing before him.

Even if both sides were cordial right now, they were still going to fight against one another later. Why would anyone show such equipment with high magic resistance this easily? This guy… Just how high is this guy’s self-confidence?! Brave Surge sighed in awe.