World Online

"What are you waiting for? Why don't you attack me?" Jake asked, smiling.

The match had started, but his opponent, White Jade, still hadn't made a single move. Her staff was held tight by both her hands, and a green stone at the top of it shone with a bright brilliance.

She was a mage of the wind attribute, and certainly one of the Rare class considering that she was representing the Praetorian Guard.

"I am never the one to make the first move. As a mage, making the first move will take some casting time, and I will be rendered defenseless. I would rather you make the first move and then I will adapt accordingly." She shook her head.

"I don't know what all of you were thinking, sending a mage here instead of a swordsman. A swordsman can show his true power only against a swordsman. Everyone knows that." Jake shook his head.

"This is my decision. Please then, make the first move." White Jade gestured.

Jake did not move immediately though. He waited. This was going to be an important match for him as well, and he needed to win this match convincingly. And to do that, he needed to make all the right moves.

A swordsman could only defeat a mage as long as he kept in close quarters. He needed to stay right near the opponent, and within a sword's distance so that he could interrupt her casting.

But surely, they wouldn't send someone with a long casting time.

The longer the casting time, the more powerful the spell, but the more vulnerable the mage during the casting. For a duel like this, Horace would definitely have its pick of mages, and they would definitely pick a mage with short casting times, and quick, short burst spells that wouldn't take out the entire health bar, but do significant damage.

And this was not just going to be a battle of the classes. Jake's opponent was an expert, no doubt. To become a part of the Praetorian guard, she probably proved herself in many VRMMORPGs before.

So she was definitely going to be prepared for the tactics that Jake was going to use. Jake was going to have to improvise.

"Alright. You have to be quick and evasive." Jake told himself as he made the first move. He dashed toward White Jade, the most common move that anyone could use against a mage.

But White Jade's mouth curled with disappointment. She was expecting more from this guild leader, and he was only using the most common play in the book.

She waved her staff, and all of a sudden, a small circle of runes appeared a few inches in front of her, pointed toward Jake.

The circle lit up in a few seconds, and a blast of wind rushed toward Jake.

But the wind didn't connect. For Jake was no longer in front of the spell that was cast.

"Did you really think that I was unprepared for a quick caster? What? Do you think that you were the first Quick Caster I went up against in the game?" Jake's voice came from the side.

He was dashing toward White Jade, who retreated trying to create some space between her and Jake.

But the agility of a swordsman was a lot more than that of a mage. Mages sacrificed every single one of their stats for just the one: Attack.

And in this case, it was coming to bite her back where it hurt.

Jake appeared in front of her in a few seconds, his sword raised about to slash down, when she leaped to the side.

She raised her staff and pointed the mana crystal end toward Jake.

"Wind Blade!"

A sharp gust of wind shaped like a blade with a green tint dashed toward Jake, who was ready for this. He raised his sword and quickly blocked the attack, recovering as fast as he could.

But there were still a few meters between him and White Jade. He covered a lot of the ground, but he needed to get closer to her before he could launch an attack.

So he moved. And he started running toward a retreating White Jade in a zig-zag motion so that he wasn't a easy target.

But she was still a strong mage. She had a few wind blades up her sleeve. Mages of each attribute had one attack that needed no casting time at all. That upgraded with each class upgrade, but this was a mage's last option.

So that when the time came, a mage wouldn't be a lamb ready for slaughter. These attacks took a little more mana than usual, and a mage would run out of mana if he or she used this attack again and again.

And the attack did a little damage, but it wouldn't be threatening. All it would do was slow down the opponent.

For White Jade, this attack was the Wind Blade. And one of them hit Jake, pushing him back with a gust of wind. And now that she made a little distance between her and Jake, her staff's crystal shone with a bright light and her mouth moved slightly.

She was chanting, and not seeing a rune circle appear just yet, Jake knew that the attack that was coming was a big one this time.

He had to move fast to avoid whatever was coming.

He ran toward the mage in front of him, because he didn't know what was coming. It this was an area attack, then he would take damage no matter what. He needed to stop her from chanting.

Her eyes were glued to where Jake was as a rune formed in front of her. And then another.

Each one felt like a timer. It was a timer for when the spell would go off.

And for Jake, who was now a few feet away, the timer was about to go off.

"Despairing Strike!"

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