Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-747-30041322

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

It was as if the dagger that Svelte Dancer used to stab the Miner in the eye was nothing precious, not wanting to hold onto it after she had stabbed the eye, leaving it lodged in its head. It was like the Miner had lost all its ability to speak, and all it could do was howl, madly shaking its head as a thick, dark green blood continued to ooze and spurt out. In this way, the dagger was slowly being shaken loose.

“Twin Incineration!!” Gu Fei lifted his sword and approached once again. In the eyes of a kung fu expert, the Miner was just filled with openings to exploit. Gu Fei chanted a spell while his sword swiped over, targeting the Miner as it forcefully shook its head toward him, the dagger that was sticky with the dark green blood stuck in his eye came flying toward Gu Fei’s face. Gu Fei turned his head to the side and avoided that dagger, but he could not avoid being stained by the green stuff.

If its saliva could cause damage, there was no doubt that something as disgusting as its blood would do the same. Gu Fei felt as if his face was on fire while he watched his HP begin to drop by the second.

“This green stuff is poisonous,” Gu Fei said to the three others. He turned around and saw that they did not seem to have any intention of coming over to fight anymore, watching from a good distance. When they heard Gu Fei pointing out this fact, Svelte Dancer quickly turned to face the other two, “Hey, did any of it splash on me?”

Royal God Call got close and carefully examined Svelte Dancer once over before shaking his head, “Nope.”

“That’s good. It’s so disgusting,” Svelte Dancer sighed in relief. She had gotten the fright of her life when the Miner’s blood spurted out as she stabbed its left eye. She panicked and only cared to retrieve her Dancing Dervish, not even wanting to take back that other dagger that she used to stab its eye with. Actually, even though that dagger was not as exquisite as Dancing Dervish, it was still a decent weapon. Now that she knew that her face had not been splattered by that disgusting stuff, Svelte Dancer hurriedly went to retrieve her dagger.

Gu Fei continued to fight with the Miner, but that stab from Svelte Dancer seemed to have triggered something inside the Miner. From this point onward, it continued to bleed generously with every single attack it made. Even when it bent its own joints and attacked, the Miner would also be sending its poisoned blood flying all over. Gu Fei knew what it could do, but it was very difficult for him to catch such attacks. As much as he tried, there were still times when he found himself being splashed by it.

As a last resort, Gu Fei began to slow down his attack tempo. From his experience over time, he discovered that even though this poisonous blood had a time limit, the effect stacked. When the stacks were low, Gu Fei could still rely on his HP regeneration rate and counteract it accordingly, but if the stacks increased, he would start seeing his HP drop drastically. They did not have a Priest among the four of them, and against such sustained damage, breaking out from combat to consume food would not be effective, since every second of damage that ticked by would end up interrupting the effect of consuming the food.

“Its blood will splatter, so be careful not to get any on yourself,” Gu Fei reminded the other three again.

“Of course,” the other three nodded. They continued to maintain a safe distance like before and watched the fight, none of them seemed to look like they had any intention of coming to his assistance.

“Say, if any of you have any equipment that grants you HP regeneration, you can still come and help out,” Gu Fei was dejected.

“I don’t have any,” both Royal God Call and Xi Xiaotian replied.

“I don’t want to. It’s so gross,” Svelte Dancer said. She had all sorts of equipment, but this fight in front of her was not a matter of its combat power, but the traits the Miner had. Seeing how the Miner would spit and spurt out its own blood everywhere, it was acting anything but gentlemanly, and Svelte Dancer really hated that.

“Now is not the time to nitpick such things!” Gu Fei cried out.

“Hang in there Miles, we’ll always be rooting for you,” Royal God Call had changed his job to become a cheerleader.

“Looking at this monster,” Xi Xiaotian was at least contributing in the end, carefully observing the monster as she said, “It seems like every wound that you create with your slashes ends up automatically closing up after spurting out the blood.”

“Oh? It would automatically regenerate?” Gu Fei very quickly connected the dots and pulled out a weapon from his dimensional pocket, and it was precisely his Sacred Flames of Baptism that could negate regeneration.

When that blade connected, the damage it dealt was nowhere comparable to Moonlit Nightfalls, but it had become a habit for the Miner to spurt out blood after it received an attack. Gu Fei did not really care just how much damage it was as he stared hard at the wound after the blood squirted out. In the end, the wound still slowly knitted itself after it finished spurting blood.

“It’s no use!” Gu Fei stowed his Sacred Flames of Baptism away in great dismay.

“Are you even dealing any damage to this monster with your attacks right now?” The other three were slowly having their doubts. They could see wounds created with every attack, but it was as if the wounds were not created as a result of being cut, but that it was borrowing the force from the slash to split open its wounds by itself, just like how it had bent its own joints. Gu Fei had been fighting against the Miner for quite a few minutes now, and he had been using his Twin Incineration constantly. Considering the damage output from Gu Fei, even if it was a BOSS, it should most definitely have lost quite a good chunk of HP by this time, yet the Miner still looked as frenzied and wild as ever, yelling as heartily as ever, and its movement still as nimble despite its breaking bones and spurting blood.

“Directly fighting it like this must surely not be the way. We need to search for the trick to beat it,” Xi Xiaotian deduced.

“Yes, we’ll perhaps need several people to come help,” Gu Fei was feeling rather resentful at how the three stood there watching and were not physically helping.

“Royal, head back into the Quarry and see if there are any more clues pertaining to this quest,” Xi Xiaotian ordered.

“Me? But, but the quest is Miles’! What use would I be heading over to help?” Royal God Call was skeptical.

“And what if it doesn’t work if we are not in the same guild? Miles’ actually from Amethyst Rebirth, and we’re from Extremely Heaven Defying, right?” Royal God Call continued to add.

“The more critical reason for your reluctance could not be the fact that you would get lost just making your way into the Quarry from here, right?” Gu Fei had helped embellish this one line as well.

“Hey, I thought we had already agreed…” Royal God Call very unhappily sent Gu Fei this message

“Hey you, head over to the Mine and check things out!” Gu Fei reassigned someone to the task.

“Who is this ‘you’ you’re referring to?” Xi Xiaotian was pissed.

“Whomever who responded to me,” Gu Fei retorted.

Xi Xiaotian had no choice but to head into Yunduan Quarry and check things out. Gu Fei continued to fend off the Miner, and Royal God Call kept shouting out his support. Meanwhile, Svelte Dancer was checking her own clothes time and time again, making sure that the monstrous Miner had not gotten any of its disgusting stuff on her.

Even though the Miner’s attack style was completely illogical, it was still something created by the system, so after fighting with it for so long, Gu Fei had slowly identified its cues and became better at dealing with it as time went by. After being tangled with it for so long, Gu Fei had also begun to slowly feel that there must be some special means to kill this monster, and he was afraid that damage alone would not be sufficient to do the deed.

Svelte Dancer had closely examined her own equipment for the umpteenth times, and it was only after she had finally confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that not even a drop of that disgusting blood had stained them, did she begin to focus her attention on the fight. It only took a moment before she suddenly called out, “Didn’t your quest log read that you need to stop it? Stopping it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to kill it!”

Gu Fei thought about it, and he saw the truth in her words as well, nodding, “Then what do you suggest I do?”

“Don’t you think you should first figure out what it wants to do? Ask him,” Svelte Dancer said

“Oh?” Gu Fei was stunned for a good moment, and therefore asked the monster even as he kept fighting it, “What are you trying to do?”

“Project..” The Miner had spat that one word out very ambiguously when it opened its mouth.

“What project?” Gu Fei asked again as he stabbed it.

“Mistake… Mutate… Revenge…” The Miner said these words unevenly.

“Do you not know how to talk?” Gu Fei wondered. When it had first heard that Guillermo had died, this monster had still been able to converse quite fluently.

“Revenge… Revenge…” The Miner had begun to repeat that one word, its dark green blood spilling all over.

“Yes, this is very simple! They were doing some sort of project, and later, they must have made some mistake in the process of its undertaking, like maybe there was a leak in the nuclear material being used. This, in turn, infected him, and mutated him into this monstrosity, which is why he wants revenge. That’s how the plot usually goes in movies anyway,” Svelte Dancer offered.

“What revenge? How is he going to take revenge?” Gu Fei pestered.

“Revenge… Revenge…” That Miner was still repeating that one word.

“Just what is the plot for this quest anyway?” Gu Fei was annoyed. Initially, the Vigilante Corps had sent him out to locate an NPC, rescuing it from the clutches of the opposing side did not require such a complex storyline. But now that the quest had introduced this assistant character, it suddenly seemed like there was some sort of background story to everything, and Gu Fei and the others were finding it a little difficult to wrap their heads around the situation.

“Just what sort of project is it referring to? Has it been mentioned before?” Svelte Dancer asked.

“Never! Oh, hold up a minute… Could it have anything to do with that underwater hole in Yunjiao Lake?” Gu Fei suddenly recalled.

“Hole?”

“There’s an opening at the bottom of Yunjiao Lake, our string of quests had led us to that place. In the beginning, the opening had a Water Enchantment spell sealing it off, and later we tried to think of ways to break it… That hole should be an important part of the quest’s plot, huh? Anyway, just as we wanted to continue, Guillermo died, and that’s when I got tasked with finding his assistant out of nowhere,” Gu Fei summarized quickly what happened thus far.

“So what you’re saying is that his assistant should also know what the hole is for?”

“Do you know about the hole at the bottom of Yunjiao Lake?” Gu Fei asked the Miner.

The Miner did not answer, but it was apparent his face twitched as a response. Evidently, Gu Fei’s question had poked him somewhere sensitive. The Miner gave a sudden bellow and its attack abruptly became all the more ferocious, attacking even quicker than before.

“D*mm*t…” The sudden explosive intensity caught him off guard, and Gu Fei had a very grueling time evading everything. The Miner’s arms were not breaking this time, but it had instead abruptly extended, and this was a growth extension that was anything but cute. Everyone watched as the muscle, skin, and bone of the two arms separated and began to slip off layer by layer, extending the arm out to a certain length. The now peeled back skin revealed muscles that were saturated with that dark green blood, bubbling a bubble or two from time to time.

Svelte Dancer could not stand it again, quickly turning her head to another side as she dry heaved. Royal God Call finally acted like a man at this point. Upon seeing such a weird move, he reckoned Gu Fei must surely be in a bad position, so he quickly nocked his arrow and fired. This arrow struck the Miner’s shoulder, and when the shot connected, the arm extension it was doing shuddered, causing its arms to deviate slightly before it nearly got a hold of Gu Fei. Without missing a beat, Gu Fei suddenly Blinked, but he did not flee. Instead, he actually appeared two meters forward as he pulled out his sword with a wave of his arm, chanting his Twin Incineration. Gu Fei’s strike targeted the weak point where its bone and flesh connected when it extended its arms.

A streak of fire was drawn in mid-air, and that connection of flesh and bones was indeed a huge weak point for the Miner; Gu Fei actually managed to slice it clean off. The portion of flesh that was dismembered immediately became rotted, breaking apart almost instantaneously as it plopped to the ground, bubbling as it continued to rot.

The Miner’s right hand was now left with just the bones, while Royal God Call, who had been getting ready to fire a second shot at the monster, had been stunned to the point of inaction after he witnessed this scene. Gu Fei was really bold, wielding his sword against the Miner directly on its skinless and fleshless arm. When his blade cut right into the bones, a shrill scream could be heard, and it was apparent that its skeleton was not as tough. Gu Fei had managed to shatter the bone despite only swinging his sword with his rather low Strength.

“This is the most disgusting fight I’ve ever witnessed…” Royal God Call had stowed his bow away, resolving to leave this repugnant honor all to Gu Fei.

Svelte Dancer had just turned her head away and recovered from her nausea and emotions. She was finally mentally prepared to see the bone and flesh connected arm extend itself, so she turned back and prepared to continue observing the fight, only to end up seeing a pile of dead flesh on the ground, rotting, as well as the splintered bone fragments flying in all direction after Gu Fei’s attack shattered it…

“I really cannot do this…” Svelte Dancer had fully turned her entire body away from this scene. The system had already warned her with a wall of medical jargon, which was basically their way of telling her that she would be forcefully logged out if her condition persisted.

That single swing from Gu Fei had utterly crippled the monster’s right arm, but at the same time, he had been wary of its left arm. He was ready to repeat what he had just done if the Miner tried to extend it like before. In the end, the monster did not let him have this chance, only relying on breaking that arm to attack. However, Gu Fei was inspired and was now carefully examining the fractures from all the breaking that arm had undergone. Finally, when it swung its left arm, breaking it to attack once more, Gu Fei seized the opportunity and very swiftly stabbed with the tip of his sword. Sure enough, the broken joint was a weak point; the skin and flesh, and even the bone of the Miner’s left arm came off this time.

With both arms gone, the Miner did not seem to know how to back off. It continued to flail at Gu Fei with its two severed arms, looking rather sad and pathetic. Gu Fei heaved a sigh and took several steps away and looked at the two, “Do you think this is more or less resolved?”

“What? Is it dead? Why do I still hear it making sounds?” Svelte Dancer asked.

“Don’t turn around,” Royal God Call quickly called out. “Unless you think you can stomach the scene of a living dismembered body.”

“Let’s just leave… Give up on this quest,” Svelte Dancer suggested.

“Hey, let me ask you this, just how are you intending to take your revenge? Spit it out, or I’ll just beat all your teeth out from you,” Gu Fei threatened.

“How inhumane!!” Royal God Call shook his head repeatedly.

“Revenge? REVENGE!!!” The Miner seemed to only know this one word.

“Hey, I’ve found something…” It was at this time when Xi Xiaotian’s voice could be heard. She was running over from the Quarry, and it appeared as if she had indeed discovered something from her search.

“Really? Can it complete the quest?” Svelte Dancer was elated when she heard Xi Xiaotian’s voice.

“What did you do?” Xi Xiaotian cried out in horror when she got nearer. She could see that the Miner was still struggling to walk, intent on attacking despite being limbless.

“What did YOU do?” Gu Fei was looking past Xi Xiaotian. She had not arrived all by herself and an innumerable amount of players were hot on her heels.

“It can’t be helped… It was like martial law there… I only managed to blend my way in and pick up this item when they became conscious of my presence,” Xi Xiaotian helplessly explained.

“What have you got there?” Gu Fei asked.

“Do you think this is the place to be discussing this?” Xi Xiaotian was holding onto a metal box, while the pursuers behind her were getting closer and closer by the second.

“What are we going to do with that?” Gu Fei pointed to the Miner.

“Technically, you’ve already stopped it, so let’s just leave!” Svelte Dancer yelled.

“Fine… Let’s leave…” Gu Fei nodded, so the four of them abandoned the Miner and fled.

When that whole pack of players ran over, they were all frightened by the sight of that monstrous Miner.

“Just what is that?” Everyone whispered and discussed this.

“What sort of quest is Thousand Miles Drunk and those people doing?” The various guilds were now all alit with their suspicions.

After the various guilds received word that Thousand Miles Drunk had appeared in Yunjiao Quarry, everybody placed great emphasis on the matter and sent what men they could spare over. They might not have any intention of picking a fight with Thousand Miles Drunk, but they were at least aware that his sudden appearance would not be without his reasons. Perhaps he could be on some vital quest, which was why they had all sent their men over to find out. In the end, what they ended up seeing was this monster.

“It’s coming over!” The players exclaimed. The monstrous Miner had turned its head over to them and was swaying as it made its way to them.

“Attack, ATTACK!!!” None of them believed that this monster would be friendly with anyone present so all it took was for someone to give this order and everyone showed their support. A myriad of spells and attacks were sent out toward it.

The Miner howled loudly. The four players on the run could feel their heart tighten when they heard the cry. Turning around, they saw how it was under heavy attack from the massive crowd of players that had gathered, and they could hear its cry becoming all the more mournful until it completely disappeared in the end.

“Is it dead?” Gu Fei sighed. “Sure enough, there is strength in numbers!”

“After being reduced to that state by your hands, it would be meaningless if it survived anyway,” Royal God Call said.

“Those players don’t seem to be pursuing us any longer,” Gu Fei said.

“Could it have dropped an item?” Royal God Call had Eagle Eyes, and he could see a little commotion break out from within that crowd.

“Crap, could it have been a quest related item?” Gu Fei asked.

“Well, it’s too late for that now…” Royal God Call sighed.

“What did you pick up?” Gu Fei asked Xi Xiaotian.

“I haven’t opened it and see what’s inside yet, but I do believe it should be somewhat related to the quest. I dug it up from the place where we first met him,” Xi Xiaotian said.

“Oh, let’s see then.”

The metal box was dirty and old, but Xi Xiaotian very easily pried it open. The mouth of the box was still shiny, and it was unknown if it was polished due to how many times people had engaged in the act of opening it and closing it after.

“A necklace,” Xi Xiaotian picked up the item inside the box.

“What is it?” Gu Fei asked.

“It’s a necklace!” Xi Xiaotian answered.

“I mean what’s the name that the system gave it,” Gu Fei said.

“I already told you, A Necklace,” Xi Xiaotian replied.

“Oh…” Gu Fei was despondent. The system always enjoyed playing such tricks on the players.

“There are these other things as well!” Royal God Call was quick, and he had scooped up all the remaining things still inside the box, which were plenty of small notes.

“Are you going up the mountain after class?” Royal God Call took up a piece of card and read it out loud. Underneath this line, with different handwriting, was another line that read, “No, I have to help the teacher analyze mineral samples from Morgan Mountain.” And right under it after, “Teacher seems to have a lot of interest in minerals huh?” Another sentence followed under, “Seems like it.” And then under it, “Is he looking for new building materials?” The sentence after read, “I don’t know either.”

“This… Don’t this look like the little notes that two students would pass back and forth with each other while in class?” Royal God Call was astonished.

“One of them must be the monster, while the other… Most likely it must be his girlfriend, right?” Xi Xiaotian was holding onto that necklace, examining it. It was not particularly exquisite, but there was no doubt that it was an accessory that only a girl would be found wearing.

“The teacher in the note, does it refer to Guillermo?”

“Guillermo doesn’t seem to be an old man,” Gu Fei said.

“But I heard you’re a teacher as well?” Xi Xiaotian asked.

Gu Fei was depressed… Thinking that a teacher would be an old man; such a logical correlation did not seem to hold water in this instance.

“There’s still plenty of notes in here, everyone should split up the work and read through them. There should be some sort of clue inside them,” Xi Xiaotian divided that pile of paper in Royal God Call’s hand into four stacks, each of them in charge of each stack.

“There’s a name mentioned here. Courtney!!” Royal God Call was the first to make a discovery. “Courtney, last night’s meeting was really interesting.”

“Take note of the handwriting, so we can determine who’s who,” Xi Xiaotian reminded.