Chapter 214 - Surround them! (I)
Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
Young Masterâs Elite mercenary group already took the lead with a score of 5 against 0 by eliminating the five enemies, yet High Cloud mercenary group still continued to run all over the PvP arena like headless flies. None of High Cloudâs remaining members seemed to know who those five were, and when Guild Leader Cirrus asked the five to identify themselves on the mercenary channel, the five did not even bother to reply to him.
Young Masterâs Elite was supposed to be at a disadvantage in this six-versus-eighty match, yet the six instead found themselves easily sweeping through the PvP arena and casually slaying any enemies they encountered along the way.
The High Cloudâs core members tried to gather their forces, but they could only muster a team of up to eleven men. While such a team would be enough to deal with any average six-man party, they were currently up against a group of top gaming experts. Therefore, the eleven men did not elicit even a sliver of apprehension in Young Masterâs Elite that had the indomitable Gu Fei in it.
Since the capable members of Young Masterâs Elite hardly sustained any injury as they took down the enemies on their path, Young Master Han rarely had to bestow Heal on them, so he merely continued drinking liquor to his heartâs content as he littered the map with his empty bottles. While his fellow mercenaries had no question regarding his capability to hold his liquor, they could not help but wonder as to how much liquid his stomach could contain. In the end, they concluded that this must be another area of realism that the system had decided to ignore.
Out of all of them, War Without Wounds was the most depressed. Gu Fei, Sword Demon, Royal God Call, and he were the damage dealers of their group, but he barely got any chance to kill any enemies since he possessed neither ranged attacks nor fast speed like the other three.
In no time at all, the participating players of High Cloud mercenary group dropped down to thirty, as the other fifty players were sent out of the PvP arena by Young Masterâs Elite. War Without Wounds only managed to earn himself two kill points all this time, while Gu Fei naturally attained the highest number of kills.
Gu Feiâs prowess, Sword Demonâs determination, Royal God Callâs opportunism, Brother Assistâs endless blessings, Young Master Hanâs alcoholism, as well as War Without Woundsâ forlorn wails created the identifying image of Young Masterâs Elite in the hearts of many High Cloudâs men.
Young Masterâs Elite barely encountered any new enemies now after reducing High Cloudâs numbers. But with a score of 50 against 0, Young Masterâs Eliteâs victory was as good as assured, so the six men were not in a hurry to pursue the remaining thirty players of High Cloud. Since the enemies took it upon themselves to scatter all over the map, the six men did not waste effort on employing the Grand Kiting strategy as well.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âArgh! Itâs been so long since we last saw anyone!â Royal God Call had become the unofficial scout of Young Masterâs Elite due to his Eagle Eye skill, and he continuously scanned their surroundings as their group leisurely proceeded forward. Royal God Call would often irresponsibly take advantage of his skill and ranged attack to sneakily shoot an arrow or two first at any sighted enemies before informing the rest of the group about them. Gu Fei and Sword Demon eventually learned to work with this; they would ignore anything Royal God Call said but would instantly become alert for any possible enemy movement once they saw him lift his bow.
âAh!â Young Master Han suddenly exclaimed, âIâm out of liquor!â His right hand came away with nothing after rifling through his dimensional pocket for a long time. As everyone gawked at him, he emphatically declared, âGuess itâs about time for our final showdown!â
âOh?â the five men expressed their puzzlement.
Young Master Han looked behind him, âIâve left a trail of empty bottles as we advanced. If they truly intend to deal with us, theyâll track us through those. Since the thirty of them have yet to show themselves before us, I suppose that they must be preparing for one final attempt to take us down.â
âDo you mean to say that our opponents no longer plan to fight separately?â Brother Assist asked.
Young Master Han nodded his head, âWeâve killed fifty of them. They should know by now that we are difficult to deal with separately. With thirty of them gathered together, it will probably take some time for them to organize themselves, since they have never worked together before.â
âSo how do you know that they are about to begin their final assault?â
âI donât. Iâm outta booze right now. I want us to quickly finish them off, so I can buy some,â Young Master Han replied.
âTsk!â everyone scoffed.
âSo how are we gonna deal with them now that they have gathered together?â Brother Assist asked.
âSurround them!â Gu Fei declared as he flourished his Moonlit Nightfalls that had already taken the lives of many enemies in todayâs match.
âThatâs a pretty bold move...â Brother Assist critiqued as his eyes darted to the rest of them, mainly lingering over at Young Master Han.
âSurround them... Mhm. Thatâs a pretty good idea!â Young Master Han actually expressed his agreement to Gu Feiâs suggestion.
This almost caused Brother Assistâs eyes to pop out, âLooks like even you can get drunk.â With that, he looked at the others. Sword Demon, Royal God Call, and War Without Wounds were eagerly rubbing their fists with a malevolent expression on their faces. War Without Wounds even declared, âF*ck, yeah! Iâll make sure to properly earn kill points this time!â
âHey, is this really doable? There are thirty of them and there are only six of us!â Brother Assist reminded everyone.
âYour fighting experience is really lacking, Assist. Itâs not even at the level of this noob Miles,â Royal God Call was wiping his bow when he said this. His eyes were steely and his body was firm. He had adopted a disposition akin to a hitman assembling the parts of his rifle piece by piece right before he made his killing.
Gu Fei had a placid smile on his lips as he pointed to himself, âIâm a professional slayer.â
âItâs going to be fine, Assist. Youâre being too cautious.â It was Sword Demonâs words that had finally assured Brother Assist, as he had the most faith in their partyâs most honest and reliable member.
âLook! Is that them over there?â Young Master Han pointed to a certain direction. While no human figure could be distinguished, dust could be seen getting disturbed in that direction.
Royal God Call exaggeratedly looked at the indicated direction with his Eagle Eye for a while before saying, âLooks like men are heading toward us.â
âLetâs go!â All lifted their weapons as they moved to advance toward the incoming enemies.
âMiles, take the 9 oâclock direction. Sword Demon, move to 12 oâclock as you clear a path for Royal to take the 3 oâclock direction. Wounds and Brother Assist, the three of us are taking the 6 oâclock direction!â Young Master Han commanded everyone.
Gu Fei, Sword Demon, and Royal God Call headed toward their assigned locations.
âBrother Assist, give me Blessing of Health!â War Without Wounds growled. His expression grew serious once the enemies appeared in his line of sight.
âGotcha!â Brother Assist nodded his head. A Knight actually held a more important role in supporting others during a PvP than a Priest. In Parallel World, every character could only receive one stat buff at a given time, so while any type of blessing was welcome, the blessing that would best increase a playerâs combat capability was still preferred. Unfortunately, even the most experienced combatants would not usually know which blessings would grant them best effects during fights.
A Knight that had limited exposure to direct clashes would naturally be hard pressed to determine this as well. Therefore, someone like Brother Assist who had a good grasp of all the job classes was crucial to solving this problem. However, it was not enough to just have a superficial understanding of the job classes and a player would also need to be well-versed in it. Such a harsh requirement made any Knights reluctant to claim mastery of their job class. Truly, being in the service industry was not easy.
The members of Young Masterâs Elite were fortunately experts that could tell what sort of blessing they needed at a given time, so each of them would inform Brother Assist of which blessing they wished to be given every time. Right now, Brother Assist was only focusing on blessing War Without Wounds, which should theoretically let him reach what every Knight always dreamed of: constant blessing swap.
Technically speaking, a Warrior would need Blessing of Strength when attacking, Blessing of Resilience when being attacked physically, and Blessing of Vitality when being hit by a spell... This way of providing support was theoretically possible but was realistically unattainable at present, so Brother Assist could only trail after War Without Wounds and grant the type of blessing the latter would request.
At this moment, the thirty men that were fast approaching Young Masterâs Elite spotted three men charging toward them in an imposing manner.
âRoyal, itâs time to act. What are you waiting for?!â Young Master Han sent out this message on the mercenary channel.
Royal God Call immediately began his assault. A small hillock was in his sight at the 3 oâclock direction. Assuming a half kneeling and squatting position, he intertwined basic attacks with his skills and unleashed an arrow on Snipe to the approaching squad of thirty men.
âOver there! Over there!â Royal God Call always targeted the weaker-looking targets with his Snipe, insta-killing a Mage this time with his high Physical Damage. Although the enemies were fearful of him, several of them still tried to rush toward Royal God Call.
âDonât go there! Archers, attack!â Cirrus, High Cloud mercenary groupâs leader, anxiously issued this order. The men who were about to rush toward Royal God Call hesitantly halted their steps, as their Archers began firing arrows at Royal God Call.
No matter how high Royal God Callâs Attack Power was, he was only one man. With the Archer job class restriction of only being able to shoot a second arrow after the first arrow finished its attack, Royal God Call could only use the Double Shot skill to fire off two arrows consecutively. Thus, he was easily suppressed by the opponents once they ganged up on him.
âSword Demon,â Young Master Han called out on the mercenary channel at this moment.