Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

‘Victuals’ was an archaic term, yet everyone present understood it. Right now, Young Master Han was treating their Priests as sustenance, like victuals, which somewhat made sense.

Even War Without Wounds and the others had only realized this at this point. It seemed that this was Young Master Han’s main reason for arranging them right outside the Priest Academy. His goal was to seal the enemy’s Priests within the spawn point and sever the three’s connection to their comrades. If those three Priests had not been previously sent to the spawn point by Gu Fei, Young Master Han would surely have planned something that would focus on taking down those three men at all cost.

Unless their enemies’ damage output had a significant edge over theirs, having three outstanding Priests on their side meant they were essentially invincible by comparison.

Meanwhile, Sniper God and the others could keenly recognize the method by which Sword Demon and Blackwater had ruthlessly targeted Xiaochen and Old Wu. Aside from witnessing Gu Fei and Gu Xian finishing off their comrades to date, the rest of the ex-soldiers had all died by such brutal and crude methods, despite their bravery and expertise.

These ex-soldiers were all completely clear just how powerful this was, yet they simply had nothing up their sleeves to turn the tide. Their opponents this time would recklessly abandon everything, all for the sake of surrounding and sticking to them. If this were in real life, perhaps they could patiently deal with this by evading and dodging the attacks to slowly tire out their enemies over time, but in Parallel World, the only thing that would be slowly diminished was just their HP. Thus, to avoid such an outcome, there was no plausany plausible solution these ex-soldiers could come up with besides turning tail and flee. Even Gu Fei felt very sorry for them. He was not afraid of facing such fighting methods because his damage output was insane, but if he were to be asked to grind out an opponent backed by a Priest without using any spells, he would not have any possibility of killing such an enemy, either.

With the support of a Priest…

Gu Fei was not the only one present who had thought of the key to the current battle; Sniper God’s group also came to this realization. Killing off Young Master Han and the other two Priests would be the victory condition for this fight.

Sniper God suddenly signaled, and the originally peaceful face-off between both parties was instantly disrupted. Sniper God raised his weapon and shot out a Snipe right at Young Master Han, while the two Mages Old Lightning and Thunder began to lob their grenades, even as Mountain Breaker Axe led the other melee job classes forward, all in an effort to kill Young Master Han in one single push.

A cold laugh rang out from Young Master Han. How could he not have been aware of what would crucially affect the outcome of this fight? The man kept bestowing his Heals on himself as he backed away; time and again, bouts of white light washed over him. Sniper God’s Snipe, Old Lightning and Thunder’s spells, and those men who had rushed to him with their crossbows in hand symbolically peppered him with their attacks; Young Master Han took each attack sent his way with great panache. Paddy Scent Pastures and Verdant Timber were seriously holding Young Master Han in their utmost exaltation by now! Priests, just like Mages, would have their spells rendered as useless if they cast them while moving, yet Young Master Han’s grasp of timing and tempo was to such a degree of accuracy that he could cast his Heals onto himself in the slightest pause he took with every step he made. As such, it appeared as if he was casting Heals onto himself as he continued to move, and adding how he had so perfectly added his stats points to Spirit and Intelligence to achieve that golden ratio, the speed of every Heal he bestowed was very quickly completed, which caused their enemies’ attacks to be unable to interrupt his casting.

War Without Wounds watched, dumbfounded. He could not help but exclaim, “What are we even fighting on for? Why don’t you just tank them all by yourself?

Sniper God and the others saw how Young Master Han had endured their assault with all his might and were secretly delighted at his foolishness. They might be noobs when it came to gaming, but even they knew that withstanding everything like what he was doing would surely be a huge strain on his mana, and death would be the result once he ran out of it. Even if he managed to stay alive and retreat, the Priest would still need to take some time to replenish his mana, and that period of time would be akin to cutting off a third of their victuals!

Mountain Breaker Axe and the others shared this idea, but having stormed forward as they did, these men were not satisfied with just exhausting Young Master Han’s mana, and their goal was to completely eviscerate him on the spot. Seeing their Warrior, Fighter and other job classes also rushing to rescue Young Master Han, Mountain Breaker Axe and the others roared as they valiantly advanced even closer toward their target!

“Wait a minute… WITHDRAW!” Taking the lead, Mountain Breaker Axe felt a little mystified as the involved party. Meanwhile, Sniper God had a clear view of what was happening with him standing in the rear. As if waking from a dream, their enemies had each reacted one after another and abruptly dashed over sequentially. From the start, Sniper God was scoffing at these gamers for being incomparable to professional soldiers like them, and their inability to show a lick of coordination in their execution. However, as he watched these people take those few steps as they raced over, Sniper God quickly realized that he was terribly mistaken! Their enemy was not disorganized; rather, this disarray was their order. Going by their stats, each had their respective starting time, so what initially looked like disorganization allowed these people get into position around Mountain Breaker Axe and the others at the same time in the end.

Mountain Breaker Axe and the other melee job classes were all caught in this trap, and they saw their opponents scrambling their way, yet because they did not want to let go of such a prime chance to kill Young Master Han, who was just a few paces away, by the time they heard Sniper God’s warning and registered the predicament that they had gotten themselves into, their enemies were almost upon them. Young Master Han continued to smile as he retreated. “Sorry, but it’s too late!”

War Without Wounds and the others did not rashly surround these ex-soldiers like what they had done to Broken Water Arrow and the others before. The group they were facing this time was different, comprising Warriors and Fighters, so there was a strong possibility of their formation getting disrupted if they simply went in without a plan. Currently, they were maintaining a short distance to their enemies, allowing War Without Wounds and Southern Lone Blade to have the space and time to counter with the same skills when the opposing Warriors used either Cyclone or Charge. Such a clash of skill usage would then depend on the system to determine the final Verdict, and the two experts with their better equipment would surely triumph given their higher Attack Power.

Mountain Breaker Axe and the others, who had already been warned by Broken Water Arrow, thought that their enemies would now close in and squeeze them to death. These were former soldiers at the end of the day, so unlike Broken Water Arrow and the other Archers, they were ready to activate their job class skills the moment their enemies used a sort of encirclement method on them. What they did not expect was for their enemies to refrain from stepping in and instead gave them a wide berth, seemingly vacillating between enclosing in on them or otherwise.

Descend Wheel of Flames!

This was when a fiery red glow appeared above them as the majestic conflagration came crashing down with a deafening rumble. Mountain Breaker Axe and those men wanted to duck for cover as they finally realized their enemies’ intention. While this circle was not an enclosure by War Without Wounds and the others that directly dealt damage on these ex-soldiers, it conveniently sealed off their movement within the set space. There was no conventional method for Mountain Breaker Axe and his comrades if they wanted to charge their way out. These gamers would simply ignore their basic attacks, blatantly taking the punches they threw out before restraining them in place with a hug from their two arms once they were done. The two Warriors beside Mountain Breaker Axe thought back to their unpleasant sacrifice this morning and could feel a shiver run down their spine. Thus, both men subconsciously avoided War Without Wounds and Southern Lone Blade whom they shared a job class with and chose to target Flame Singed Clothes, who was in the middle of spellcasting, when they activated their Charge.

As a Mage with no Strength to speak of, there was no way Flame Singed Clothes could hold them down even if they engaged in melee, and it just so happened that they could stop his continued casting as well. This was a sentiment both Warriors shared, both men believing that they had made a wise choice in their target.

When Flame Singed Clothes saw the two Warriors Charge right at him, he actually threw a glance over at Young Master Han.

He’s actually right!

Exclaiming that to himself in shock, Flame Singed Clothes waved his magic staff. A wall of Palatial Balefire was promptly raised right before him. The two Warriors Charging forward were astonished when they discovered a fire wall surge up in front of them. The only way for them to stop was to cancel their Charge – a proper action found in games that even a good number of gamers had problems performing, much less two middle-aged players newly introduced to gaming. The two men did not even think of doing this in their fluster, so they ended up ploughing right through the Palatial Balefire as their Charge connected with Flame Singed Clothes.

Flame Singed Clothes was sent flying, as a white light basked him in its glow at that very moment.

The two men were on fire, but no one paid attention to them.

Flame Singed Clothes’ equipment was above-average, so the two Warriors’ Charge were not enough to insta-kill him, and since the two Warriors’ equipment were nothing special, plunging through that flame wall Flame Singed Clothes had erected burned them greatly. More importantly was the fact that they had nobody Healing them; it was really unfortunate that they had to keep fighting despite their low HP.

At the same time that these two Warriors Charged at Flame Singed Clothes, War Without Wounds and the others took a huge step forward and shrank their encirclement. Eternal Dominion was capable of taking care of himself in the face of these enemies, so he unleashed his Spurring Meteor right at Mountain Breaker Axe. If this were just a normal player, Mountain Breaker Axe could put down the aggressor in two or three moves, but Eternal Dominion was no average Fighter. Accepting this invitation to battle, both men traded kicks and punches back and forth as they fought with each other fiercely. Although Gu Xian left him an indelible psychological scar, Mountain Breaker Axe had the strong mental fortitude of a professional soldier, so even though he knew he was no match for his opponent, he would not be so afraid to the point of backing off from the confrontation. It was just that he no longer demonstrated the same verve that came with his confidence from before, so he was more cautious when he fought.

The other Fighter became the focal point of War Without Wounds and the others’ ring. Just as they had expected, a Fighter’s skill would be particularly effective in breaking an encirclement, and someone among them was thrown out the moment they clashed. Unfortunately, this group of six men consisted of War Without Wounds, Southern Lone Blade, Brother Assist, Unrivaled Lucky Star, Paddy Scent Pastures, and Verdant Timber! This was more than enough to surround one person and have leftover to substitute. A single man being thrown out meant another would substitute right in, and the pitiful Fighter simply could not escape throughout this entire sequence. Thinking of using his Swallow Dropkick to leap out of the encirclement, just as he jumped, the encirclement of experts changed, and it became like a game of hopscotch; the Fighter leaped over from space to space, but in the end, he was still surrounded by these experts and could only keep punching and kicking. It was an extremely depressing sight.

The Fighter was not a job class that had plenty of HP, so after tossing a few of them and jumping several rounds, he tragically became the first casualty in this fight.

Besides the two Warriors and two Fighters, there was one Thief and two Knights that joined in this assault on Young Master Han, and these people had not been standing idly by. Their opponent was the frighteningly formidable Gu Fei.

These three, which were not too far off Mountain Breaker Axe in terms of close-combat expertise, were fighting Gu Fei with their daggers. Even though Knights could use swords, these ex-soldiers had never received training in swordsmanship, so they had no idea how to wield swords effectively, which made it better to use daggers – a weapon they were more adept with.

Fights broke out everywhere on the street, but it was this fight that was the most exciting to watch. The three men coordinated well with one another, advancing and retreating in order, so while Gu Fei would have an easy time if he was taking them alone, facing all three of them at one go made it impossible for him to end the fight quickly.

Young Master Han looked a little heated when saw this, and he could not help but yell, “What are you still dodging for?! Yours truly will grace you with a Heal if you’re struck!”

Gu Fei was having more of a proper fight on his end, which the three ex-soldiers were extremely grateful for. When their daggers were stabbed out, no matter where the attack was targeted, their opponent would always work to avoid the blade before he searched for an opportunity to counterattack. If the two brutish Warriors were in Gu Fei’s place, they would hardly even care if their stabs landed on their hearts or livers; just how infuriating would that be to fight against such opponents?

Still, when Young Master Han yelled this reminder to Gu Fei, his intention was to make the latter learn to be a little shameless. He could tell that Gu Fei would sometimes contort or change his posture because he had to avoid those attacks from the three enemies, which caused the slash that he would visit onto his enemies to change in direction as well. His meaning was for Gu Fei to just take the stab! With a Heal from him, any attack he took would essentially be erased, and Gu Fei’s sword could easily carve through the two men, silencing the world for them with a single utterance of an incantation.

In the end, Gu Fei just ignored his words as he continued to fight the three ex-soldiers rhythmically.

Young Master Han rolled his eyes and cursed, “You idiot! Trash!” The others were all blushing with shame when they heard him railed on. If Gu Fei could be considered a trash, what would the rest of them be? Microorganisms?

The conclusion to the various fights ended about the same time, and the situation was apparent in the blink of an eye. The two Warriors that had run through the Palatial Balefire dragged what remained of their HP and tried chasing Flame Singed Clothes, but the Mage was hardly as upstanding as Gu Fei. Seeing that they had Priests on their end, he simply conjured a Descending Wheel of Flames and Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno right onto himself. These ex-soldiers were already on the back foot having to defend themselves from the others as they engaged in melee; coupled with them momentarily forgetting that Mages could use such a despicable method, the two men ultimately met their demise under this pyrrhic assault from Flame Singed Clothes. It was really tragic for the two men as this marked their death for the third time today; that was already considered a rather amazing feat in the average players’ eyes.

The six men, including War Without Wounds, worked together to finish off the enemy Fighter, feeling quite amazed at their success. This was when they watched Eternal Dominion take on Mountain Breaker Axe without needing any help from anyone, while Gu Fei took on three men at once yet hardly appearing to be at a disadvantage. Gu Fei had heard Young Master Han call him an idiot and trash, and that made the others fear for the possibility of him losing his temper. Everyone was worried they would end up being collaterally killed in the event he erupted and performed his Twin Incineration revolution just as they came over to lend him a hand. All of them thought how hugely egregious such a fate would be, so they decided that it was best for them to simply stay away from him.

As such, these six men chose to charge imposingly toward Sniper God and the others.

Sniper God felt depressed right now!

He had formulated a plan to contain the battle using the combined firepower of him, Old Lightning, and Thunder while sending the other seven men to take down Young Master Han, but who would have thought that such a move ended up landing everyone into their trap again?

Their enemies were far more aware just what the point of victory would be in this battle, so they decided to use Young Master Han as bait, coming up with a counter-strategy that perfectly resisted the assault from Mountain Breaker Axe and the others; it was apparent that they had already preemptively planned for this eventuality. Flame Singed Clothes killing off the two Warriors all by himself and War Without Wounds’ lot only managing to defeat one Fighter were precisely the strategic response that allowed them to counter his plan.

There were originally ten men in Sniper God’s group; right now, three of them were dead, and the three men fighting Gu Fei would have long since died were it not for his refusal to use the gamers’ shameless method. This was also when Gu Fei saw that the situation was more or less under their control, and that his forces were no longer in any danger. If they were truly in crisis, he would not have been so preoccupied with refraining from being shameless. With the overall situation set in stone, it was like this was the time for advertisements, so it did not matter how much time he spent fighting his opponents as there was nothing obstructing him from having fun.

Stuck in the spawn point, Ye Xiaowu and the two other Priests were originally at the back of this mob of spectators and could not see what was happening in the fight, but the crowd knew how to act. Knowing that the three were related to the fight outside, all of them made a path for them to head out. Unfortunately for the three, just beside the Priest Academy was Glue with his bow, waiting for them to step outside! Sword Demon and Blackwater were nowhere to be seen on the battlefield as well, so there was no doubt that they were Stealthed somewhere near the academy’s entrance.

The three Priests would only re-enact what had happened before if they headed out, and there was no benefit to sacrifice themselves so pointlessly. These three men hoped that Sniper God and the others would rush over to the entrance as soon as they could and helped extricate them from their present quandary. That was actually another way Sniper God and his group could potentially find success. After all, the key to victory lay in the Priest, so aside from eliminating the enemy Priests, they could also attempt to rescue theirs.

Unfortunately, Sniper God and the others did not accomplish either. Broken Water Arrow’s psychological scars acted up once more when he saw his three comrades meeting a violent end, and how Eternal Dominion was demonstrating the forbidden technique of the Fire Dragon Fist again. The man was a very honest and principled kung fu practitioner this morning, yet his attack now was also abnormally vicious. Furthermore, with how Mountain Breaker Axe’s fighting capabilities were no match for Eternal Dominion’s, just like what Gu Fei had said, and only depended on that confidence-boosted verve to achieve that David-versus-Goliath result from before, the psychological burden Mountain Breaker Axe was feeling intensified. His vigor fizzled out over time even while Eternal Dominion became all the more refined with his fist technique, leaving Mountain Breaker Axe in an increasingly miserable state.

Meanwhile, Gu Fei looked to be emerging victorious in his match against the three ex-soldiers, and this was as a result of the three’s lack of adaptability. Fighting on the battlefield, life or death was determined in an instant; they would rarely find themselves embroiled in a brawl for an extended period of time. Alas, Gu Fei was different. Kung fu was more technical, because deadly kill-moves were prohibited from use and with the basis of their sparring done so that practitioners could compare notes with each other, most martial artists like him would not be in any rush to determine the outcome of the fight. Both parties would exchange kicks and punches, often finding themselves abruptly stopping in the middle of a fight to chat a few lines and converse a little. They would even take a break for a bit of tea and snacks when they got tired before continuing the fight. As long as the involved parties were still physically fit to continue, no one would have issues if two men ended up fighting for an entire day.

The difference between how Gu Fei and these ex-soldiers approached melee combat was what caused the current circumstance. As the three men kept going for the killing blow, they never once touched their opponent after all this time. This was something unheard of to the three, and their mood became all the more unsettled as they kept fighting. Ultimately, this affected their judgment and caused some flaws to begin appearing between their attacks. Gu Fei was the sort of martial artist that would catch these mistakes and proceed to exploit them. Thus, with a lift of his sword, one of the enemies was struck, and the following incantation swiftly ended his life in a smoke of fire or bolt of lightning.

Over on Sniper God’s end, he had the long-ranged casters Old Lightning and Thunder in tow. War Without Wounds and the bunch coming for them were all baby legs as well, so the three ex-soldiers could kite these people, but because that bunch had Priests to support them, attempting to drag things out as they did was all but a waste of time. Sniper God’s thoughts were to completely withdraw from the fight at this point, so he gestured the two to attack either Gu Fei and Eternal Dominion, both busy with their fights, in hopes of rescuing their comrades from the two kung fu practitioners. In the end, even his intention for this was uncovered. War Without Wounds and the others simply decided to give up on the three men and turned to engage with the others. Surrounding these remaining ex-soldiers like a gang of hooligans, everyone ganged up on the remaining targets one after another. Gu Fei heaved a long sigh as he clutched his sword; he still had not had enough fun yet!

Sniper God could tell that this was a huge defeat on their part again, and there was nothing they could achieve anything at this point with just the three of them left. This was when he received a message from Broken Water Arrow suggesting him to first retreat, so the three men could only get ready to withdraw. Sniper God was an Archer with superb movement speed, so he was not particularly worried. Even though Old Lightning and Thunder allocated their points to Agility, they were still no match for Gu Fei in the movement-speed department. Even Eternal Dominion, who had invested a portion of his points to Agility, could match their movement speed, so they were in quite a bit of trouble.

Sniper God knew that Broken Water Arrow and the rest should be hurrying over to aid them after being sent back to the spawn point earlier. Hence, as long as their group arrived in time and provided the necessary cover fire, the three should not have problem retreating.

Sniper God brought the two Mages and bolted away. War Without Wounds and the other baby-legs gave up on giving chase, while Gu Fei remained where he was. He did not harbor any sort of deep resentment for the ex-soldiers, so hunting them down from the tavern to this location once was enough for him. He had no intentions of doing this endlessly.

As a result, only Eternal Dominion leaped out to give chase. However, when he realized that he was the only one giving chase after running a short distance away, he quickly came to a halt and returned.

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