Gripler shook his head, "I offered you a way out and you've rejected my kindness. You two seem to mistake my kindness for weakness but let me tell you... Those who don't comply can all just die!" Gripler lifted his hand in the air, giving the signal for his companions or rather underlings to begin their assault.

Out of the ten players surrounding Guan Yu and Zi Yi, six of them rushed over. Three of them were fighter classes and the other three were rogue classes. Out of the four players who stayed back and did not charge forward were one ranger, two mages, and one shaman. ​​

"Kindness? Laughable!" Guan Yu swung his guandao outward in a horizontal arc with a mighty force, causing the players who rushed towards him and Zi Yi to fly backward. "In that case, allow me to repay your kindness with gratitude!"

Name: Guan Yu

Level: 23

Class: Spear Enforcer

"Tch... The second-tier classes really are much more powerful than the first-tier classes." When Gripler saw the six players who charged forward get knocked back with such ease, his facial expression grew a bit more serious. "However... It's still ten of them up against just two players."

When players reached level 20 in RML they were able to upgrade their class to one of its various second-tiers. For example, Guan Yu originally started the game with the warrior class, but after reaching level 20 he upgraded his warrior class to one of its second-tier options, the Spear Enforcer.

There were numerous different directions a player could take their character when it came to second-tier upgrades, however, all the upgrades had one thing in common. They gave players a massive boost in overall combat ability compared to a first-tier class like warrior or rogue.

The Spear Enforcer class was a plate-wearing damage class that could also double as a tank if the situation required it. Of course, they could not compare to a pure tank class when it came to taking punishment, but Spear Enforcers were definitely capable of holding their own ground.

If a player wanted to upgrade their class, they were required to complete a class quest depending on what class they would like to upgrade to. Some were much more challenging than others but the payoff was often worth it.

The only exception to the class upgrades was the Combat Master class. Combat Masters were not capable of upgrading to a second-tier class due to the unique nature of their class. Then again, this was just something recorded by players who never really went in-depth when it came to that class.

"If you want to live, then protect me." Although Zi Yi believed Guan Yu to be a little simple-minded, she had to admit that his strength was not at all weak.

"Alright! But I'm only protecting you because it's what a man should do!" Guan Yu took a defensive stance and remained vigilant of the six individuals who were knocked back. They had regained their footing and was now looking for a proper opening to attack.

Zi Yi released the arrow that was resting on the bowstring and aimed right for the shaman that was now positioned at the back of the group for their own protection.

Shamans were a healing class and since it was already ten versus two, not including Gripler, having to deal with a shaman would just make things more stressful.

"Block it!" The Shaman could see the arrow heading his way. He was not used to fighting against other players and had just recently joined this group. So to suddenly be picked out as a target caused him to panic.

"Heh, you think such a simple arrow can go through my defenses?! Keep dreaming!" Gripler finally took action and stepped in front of the flight path of the arrow that was aimed at the Shaman. The arrow was moving incredibly slow compared to the way normal arrows soared through the air.

Gripler held his shield up to intercept the arrow, however, just when the arrow was about to touch his shield, it accelerated and vanished into thin air.

"Wha-!" Gripler was shocked by the arrow's sudden acceleration and thought that he was in trouble, but the arrow just disappeared into nothingness. Could it be that the attack was so weak that it still was unable to penetrate through his defenses?

"Heh, you almost scared me th-" Just as Gripler spoke, he heard a loud scream coming from behind him.

"Gaaah!" The shaman surprisingly had an arrow pierced right through his chest where his heart was located. There was a look of disbelief on his face. How could the arrow reach him? Didn't Gripler block it?

"How..?!" Gripler also had a look of disbelief on his face. He assumed that he had already seen every skill that the both of them had to offer. However, this was not a skill he witnessed Zi Yi use before.

"Hmph, I'm not done!" Zi Yi swiftly materialized another three arrows and shot them off in random directions. The strange thing was that these arrows were not targetting anything in particular. It really appeared as though Zi Yi was just shooting randomly and wasting arrows.

However, just like before after a certain period of time, the arrows vanished into thin air.

Name: Zi Yi

Level: 22

Class: Void Seeker

...

Izroth was watching the battle below unfold and was quite impressed by the way those two handled the situation. The thing that caught Izroth's attention the most were the arrows being shot out by that ranger down below.

'Those arrows would be quite tricky to deal with, even with my heightened senses. However, after the first two shots, the pattern becomes a bit predictable so I would not have any issues. But if they were capable of creating a more complex attack pattern then...'

This was Izroth's first time seeing other players fighting against one another. He observed the fight closely in order to receive a better understanding of the combat capabilities of players at the moment.

'Well, they may not have much of a problem eleven versus two but... It seems that the other side came fully prepared.'

Izroth swept his gaze over the area surrounding the location of the main fight. He could sense multiple other presences hiding away within the forest. The true fight had yet to even begin.

Izroth leaped from off of the tree branch with a carefree expression in his face.

...

Gripler's group had no way of defending against Zi Yi's assault. Every time someone would attempt to block or evade the incoming arrow, it would disappear and then before they knew it, the arrow would be sticking out of their character. How were they supposed to defend against something like that?

The six melee players tried to launch a pincer attack, but even with the rogues hiding in stealth mode, Guan Yu managed to react in time and kept to his promise of defending Zi Yi. The two of them together was like a small two-person army!

The shaman had already met his demise under Zi Yi's deadly accurate assault and she had just released another arrow that reaped the life of one of the other mages. Zi Yi already eliminated two players and not a single scratch had befallen her or Guan Yu.

"Enough! Obviously, you two don't know when to give up so let me make things easier for you!" Gripler whistled loudly.

Guan Yu furrowed his brows as a serious expression found itself upon his face. "Eleven versus two isn't enough so you have to call for backup! Can you be any more shameless...?!"

Zi Yi's facial expression darkened when she saw the players stepping out of their hiding spots nearby. Now, there was a total of twenty players! No matter how strong the two of them were, being up against numbers like this, it would be difficult to come out on top.

"You two should feel honored. Normally, a force of this size isn't mobilized. However, you two have something quite valuable and we just happen to want it. You can curse your own good fortune."

Gripler had to practically beg his guild leader for command of these players. He had already lost two of them due to his carelessness and so he had to make sure that the rewards were well worth it. Guan Yu and Zi Yi both were in possession of some rare pieces of equipment.

If they managed to obtain at least one rare piece of equipment from both of them, then he could ignore the two deaths and just reimburse them. However, if he returned empty-handed then his guild leader would not forgive him so easily. After all, his guild leader was a ruthless individual.

"You should run, I'll try to create an opening for you. There's no reason that both of us should die here..." Guan Yu spoke under his breath so that only Zi Yi could hear him.

"Hmph, since when can you tell me what to do? If I want to stay and fight then I'll stay and fight!" Zi Yi was determined to stand her ground rather than run away with her tail tucked between her legs. Zi Yi was many things, but she refused to be a coward!

"Well said!" Guan Yu brandished his guandao and took an offensive stance. There was no point in trying to defend against this many players at the same time. "I'll have to go all out so I won't be able to protect you, think you'll be alright?"

"These guys are just all bark and no bite, I'll survive." A small gust of wind formed beneath Zi Yi's feet.

"Then, I'll be going!" Guan Yu's right foot put so much pressure onto the earth beneath it that he left a deep footprint within the ground as he pushed off and charged forward at an incredible speed. This speed was not something that should belong to someone wearing plated armor.

"How fast...!" Zi Yi was a bit startled by how quick Guan Yu moved for his class type. But, she would not allow herself to be shown up. The wind beneath her feet shot her into the air, causing her to leap in an arc above the nearest group of players.

Zi Yi released a single arrow from her bow, but the single arrow split into two and the two split into four. The arrows kept multiplying until there was a total of sixty-four and they rained down upon the group of enemy players.

Guan Yu was heading towards the group's back line, but the original six melee players blocked his path.

"Out of the way!" A light blue aura encompassed Guan Yu's guandao as it swept outward in the direction of the six players. However, the guandao was not anywhere near close enough to hit them.

"Heh, what are you swinging a-" Just as one of the six melee players was about to taunt Guan Yu, he felt an overwhelming force crash into his body and sending him tumbling backward.

Woooosh!

Soon after, the other five melee players followed in his footsteps as they were all swept clear of Guan Yu's path with a single swing of his guandao.

A fierce fight broke out as Guan Yu and Zi Yi were each holding their own against the wave of enemies. However, the harder they fought the more fatigued they felt themselves becoming. It was not natural fatigue but one that seemed to be induced by an outside source.

"What's going on... Why am I getting tired so fast?" Guan Yu asked himself as his breathing became erratic and unsteady. Usually, he was able to fight for extended periods of time without feeling fatigue, but he had only been fighting for a few minutes and was already so tired.

Zi Yi was in even worse shape than Guan Yu. She was having trouble with a simple action such as lifting her longbow. Her accuracy had also considerably worsened and she missed shots that she should have been able to hit with her eyes closed.

Gripler had an evil grin on his face as he watched Guan Yu and Zi Yi battle it out against his guild members. "Keep struggling, the more you struggle the more your demise is inevitable." he muttered to himself.