Virtual World: Close Combat Mage Chapter 45-46

Chapter 45 – Pursuit

Gu Fei managed to reach No Smile’s back unnoticed, as the latter was deep in his thoughts. Thinking that it would be boring to attack No Smile from behind, Gu Fei walked to his front instead, “Hey!”

No Smile raised his head upon hearing the voice and saw a face covered by a piece of black cloth. He jumped up to his feet like he had been stung and fled without putting up a fight.

“This has become more boring than fighting regular monsters,” Gu Fei sadly thought before rushing forward to slash at No Smile.

Thieves initially had an edge in terms of Agility, but No Smile had distributed a majority of his stat points to Strength. He had just dropped two levels as well, so his speed was inferior to a Mage who had distributed all his stat points to Agility. Although Mages did not have the upperhand for Agility, they at least did not suffer any handicap for that particular stat.

Gu Fei was rather jaded with the current process of chasing and slashing No Smile. No Smile’s mind was set on retreating to the safe zone, so he just kept on running desperately. Unfortunately for him, Gu Fei was the one with superior speed. Gu Fei sliced at No Smile with his every step. Although the Flames of Baptism’s fire damage did not proc even once, Gu Fei still managed to slay No Smile right before the latter reached the safe zone. Waves of exclamation thundered from the surrounding players after seeing No Smile go down.

Gu Fei sighed heavily. No Smile, who had respawned inside the Thieves’ Union for the third time, currently looked very pissed. No Smile began to utter profanities while he pointed at Gu Fei. Gu Fei turned a deaf ear to his curses, shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, and left the Thieves’ Union as he waved goodbye at No Smile.

“How was it, how was it?” There were at least over a hundred inquiries from Young Master Han and the others on the mercenary channel.

“It’s settled!” Gu Fei replied promptly.

“Did he drop any equipment?” Young Master Han asked.

“No,” Gu Fei answered.

“Really? What’s with his luck? Not one piece of equipment was dropped after dying thrice?” Everyone doubted Young Master Han’s real motive after he had said that. Was Young Master Han’s order to kill No Smile thrice intended to erode the enemy’s morale, or to acquire the enemy’s equipment for himself?

“Well one more time, then!” Royal God Call was more honest with his intention, “I’m still not convinced that he won’t be dropping any equipment every time he’s killed.”

“What’s his face like when he saw you?” Young Master Han asked Gu Fei.

“Afraid. Very afraid.”

“What about when he was killed?”

“Pissed. Very pissed.”

“What about now?”

“I’ve left the place. He’s probably currently calling for help to take care of me,” Gu Fei said.

“A level 30 Mage wearing beginner robe might draw unwanted attention. You’ll have to buy a random mage robe to replace what you’re wearing now,” Young Master Han said.

“If possible I’d like one with a higher defense; it’s even better if it boosts Agility or Strength. Any recommendations?” Gu Fei consulted the experts. Although he had become better informed about this stuff due to his previous research online, he would never dare consider his opinion to hold the same weight as these professional gamers.

“Shadowy Cloak usually boosts Agility, while Mighty Cloak usually boosts Strength; you can pick from these two!” Sword Demon offered his suggestion to Gu Fei, “These cloaks’ defense may not be comparable to a Warrior’s armor, but at least you can equip them. Armor is considered as heavy-type equipment, which can only be equipped if you’ve got enough Strength. You didn’t allocate points to Strength, right?”

“Nope. Not yet. Maybe next time!” Gu Fei said.

Everyone was speechless.

“Anyway, just get yourself a regular mage robe. Considering how cloaks are usually favored by Thieves rather than Mages, you’ll just be more conspicuous if you wear one. I guarantee that you’re the only Mage in this city who would even think of doing that,” Young Master Han said.

“A Mage wearing a cloak… Guys, I feel like crying…” Royal God Call said.

“Save your tears for later when Miles equips himself with heavy armor!” Brother Assist tried to cheer him up.

“As a Mage, your stat point distribution is all over the place. I think recruiting a REAL Mage is in order,” Young Master Han said.

Royal God Call lamented, “If only I had chosen to be a Mage….”

“Enough with all that. Let’s get down to business,” Young Master Han said, “We’ll head back to the city now. Miles, keep an eye on No Smile. If it’s possible, try to sound him out to see if he has given up on his revenge.”

“So am I supposed to buy new clothes or sound him out?” Gu Fei asked.

“Think about it yourself!” Young Master Han said in exasperation.

Gu Fei pondered about it, New equipment is available for purchase any time. But if I don’t deal with No Smile now, I probably won’t get another chance in the future. With that in mind, Gu Fei returned to the Thieves’ Union. He hid himself behind a nearby wall and took a peek. No Smile was still there, sitting and brooding by himself at the building’s entrance.

Gu Fei remained cautious, suspecting that No Smile had already called for reinforcement. After checking the surroundings for a while, Gu Fei made up his mind. He moved closer to the Thieves’ Union’s entrance, got into the shadowy corner of a wall when no one was looking, and quickly put on the cover for his face. Gu Fei then stepped out of the wall and appeared right in front of No Smile. No Smile quickly scrambled back into the safe zone in shock.

Gu Fei had a calm smile on his face; it was such a shame that nobody would get to admire it since his face was covered by a piece of cloth. He leaned on the wall and raised his head high to greet No Smile, “Hey!”

No Smile’s eyes were filled with hatred as he stared intently at Gu Fei.

The distance between them was just a single footstep. However, this single footstep was the difference between life and death in this VRMMO. Inside the safe zone, No Smile was able to stand tall and glare at Gu Fei as he said, “Just what do you lot want from me?”

“Haven’t we told you before?” Gu Fei said.

“But you—”

Gu Fei knew what No Smile was going to say so he interrupted him straight away, “You indeed stopped messing with Amethyst Rebirth, but you started messing with us instead! What you’re doing now is far crazier and more dangerous than before. We’ve got no choice but to kill you thrice to help you wise up a little. Now, the group has sent me over to ask you this: How’re things going? Have you wised up yet?”

“Just who the hell are you people?!” No Smile’s expression seemed like someone who was about to go crazy.

“What’s the point of asking that again and again? We aren’t kids anymore. Grow up,” Gu Fei said.

“Fine, grow up,” No Smile nodded, “Grow up, my a*s!” he suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs and plunged himself toward Gu Fei. Seeing how he dashed forward without even holding a dagger, there was no doubt he was trying to cling on to Gu Fei.

Gu Fei had known No Smile’s intention from the very start. He sidestepped and swung the Flames of Baptism horizontally with a reverse-grip. The Chinese broadsword slashed No Smile, and flames began to scorch his body. Gu Fei turned his wrist, and performed a downward slash onto No Smile’s back again. At the same instant, he raised his leg and kicked No Smile’s butt, using the momentum from it to retreat into the safe zone.

No Smile, who was in the middle of tackling forward, was shoved to the front forcefully by Gu Fei’s kick. Unfortunately for him, Gu Fei’s second slash inflicted another burst of fire damage. No Smile dove toward a few people who had positioned themselves to catch his falling body, yet all they grabbed a hold of was No Smile’s ray of disappearing white light.

Gu Fei glanced at the Traversing Four Seas’ emblems pinned on the different parts of these few people’s bodies and sighed, “The killing intent from you lot is too obvious!”

These people were still engrossed with what had just happened.

No Smile had arranged for his guild members to be around the area to prepare for the masked man’s arrival. He did not truly wish for Gu Fei’s death, as getting a good look of his face was No Smile’s main priority. Only this way could he find out who these people were and slowly plan his revenge.

Gu Fei’s sudden appearance had initially delighted No Smile. The reason No Smile had spoken to Gu Fei was to buy some time for his underlings to seal off all possible exits for the latter. His initial plan was to have Gu Fei grabbed by his underlings from the front and the back. However, No Smile had not expected Gu Fei to skillfully evade the assault. It even appeared as if Gu Fei had seen through his plan, managing to finish him off once more during the scuffle.

In the eyes of an average human being, Gu Fei’s movement just then was incredibly fast.

However, it was not actually Gu Fei’s speed but his tempo that was fast. He unleashed an attack at the same instant that he was dodging. As the first slash connected, Gu Fei changed the blade’s angle to another, allowing him to seamlessly follow up with the next strike. Before this second strike ended, Gu Fei’s kick shoved No Smile forward as the Chinese broadsword’s fire damage burned out his HP.

Simply put, regular players could unleash their attacks in four consecutive steps, whereas Gu Fei could actually execute two moves at once, forming a combo attack in the nimblest way possible. This attack method combined offense and defense instantaneously. Therefore, only one word could describe the others’ feelings upon witnessing Gu Fei’s attack: fast!

Gu Fei was currently in the safe zone, so the six players from Traversing Four Seas outside could not do anything to him.

No Smile, who had just respawned in the safe zone, seemed to have lost his mind. He roared and charged straight toward Gu Fei while swinging his hands in the air wildly, looking to pull off that black piece of cloth on Gu Fei’s face. But Gu Fei remained motionless this time, as if he did not see No Smile at all.

No Smile’s hands were about to grab hold of the black piece of cloth on Gu Fei’s face when they suddenly stopped mid air.

Gu Fei shook his head, “You didn’t read the game’s instructions clearly; we’re now in a safe zone used for logging off. It’s impossible for players to have physical contact with each other. What’s the point of having safe zones like this if you lot can toss me outside from here and beat me up?!”

No Smile’s arms trembled as they remained suspended mid air. He had died four times in a row, and now he was challenging the game’s system design. It was only normal for his attempt to break the no physical-contact policy in the safe zone to not work at all. At the next moment, an idea popped up in his mind, and he proceeded to puff up his cheeks and blew at Gu Fei’s face.

Gu Fei could not believe his eyes, “Are you an idiot? When I said physical contact is impossible, that includes blowing air with your mouth to remove the cloth from my face!”

Finally, No Smile was out of options and he sat down on the ground dejectedly.

As Gu Fei stared at No Smile, he started to sympathize with him a little. Gu Fei could not help but console him, “Just let this be man. You’re actually pretty lucky considering that you didn’t drop any equipment even after dying four times.”

No Smile did not react in the slightest way; it was a wonder if he even heard Gu Fei’s consoling words.

Gu Fei shook his head. He was about to leave when he saw a few players from Traversing Four Seas boldly blocking the entrance. Evidently, they were not planning to let Gu Fei escape.

Chapter 46 – Leaving with a Swagger

“Well, look at what we have here…” Gu Fei turned around and squatted beside No Smile. He pointed at the few people blocking the Thieves’ Union’s entrance, “It seems that you still don’t get it.”

No Smile stared at him expressionlessly, not saying a word. The people outside the entrance did not disperse, but instead increased in number. Gu Fei sighed as he opened the mercenary group channel, “No Smile sure is gutsy. I’ve killed him too many a time, yet he still dared to have me surrounded.”

“Why aren’t you dead, then?” Young Master Han asked.

“I’m squatting in the safe zone!” Gu Fei said.

“Can you get out?” Young Master Han asked.

“Let me give it a shot,” Gu Fei said as he got up.

“We’ll be there shortly,” Young Master Han reassured him on the conversation window.

“No need to,” Gu Fei said, “Their number will just keep on increasing. Even if we group up, we can’t go up against all the Traversing Four Seas’ three hundred members. It’s better if I fight my way out while there’re still few of them.”

“Alright, good luck then. We’re off to the bar,” Young Master Han agreed easily.

Gu Fei was speechless at his lackadaisical response.

The long robes of Mages had the tendency to drag on the ground, getting in the way of movement. So when he was getting up, Gu Fei picked up the hem of his robe and tucked it into his waist. With his hand still holding the Flames of Baptism, he said to No Smile, “I’m leaving!”

No Smile looked at him in astonishment. Ten players of Traversing Four Seas were now gathered outside the Thieves’ Union, with many more on their way, yet this person actually wished to face them head on… Did he think he was a GM?

Even those blocking the exit outside had not expected to hear such a bold statement from Gu Fei. They were prepared for a ‘seige’, either hoping for No Smile and Gu Fei to reach an understanding in the safe zone or expecting for the Mage’s companions to arrive and assist Gu Fei in engaging them into a bloody battle outside the safe zone. But as things stood right now, Gu Fei seemingly intended to solo them all.

Gu Fei slowly stepped out of the safe zone with his face still covered by the black piece of cloth. No one could see his facial expression, yet his aura unconsciously made everyone feel apprehensive. They had to constantly remind themselves, There’s nothing to be afraid of. We outnumber him! Although they kept on repeating this mantra to themselves, their minds still could not help flashing back the scene earlier when Gu Fei had made short work of No Smile. They could not fathom what method he had used to accomplish such a feat.

Gu Fei shortly arrived at the Thieves’ Union’s door. As soon as he got there, he launched himself forward.

Gu Fei’s one leap was akin to him crossing the realms of life and death. At the same instant, the Flames of Baptism started dancing in his hand.

For three reasons, no one was able to dodge Gu Fei’s ensuing attacks. First, he was a Mage with agile movement due to his allocation of all his stat points to Agility. Second, the attacks he unleashed were unfathomable and went beyond the abilities of everyone present. Last, Gu Fei was able to vary his attacks according to the battle flow even when they missed at first.

His first strike mercilessly rent the Mage casting a spell by the side.

Although Gu Fei did not learn Appraisal, he could still tell the job classes of these players with a glance. This was because their equipment was dictated by their in-game job classes. For example, Mages wore robes, Thieves donned cloaks, and Warriors equipped heavy armor. Through his knowledge of their gear, Gu Fei could easily tell the type of job class each of them had with great accuracy.

Gu Fei’s first cleave with his Chinese broadsword might not have insta-killed the Mage, but it at least disrupted his spell-casting. Although Gu Fei had a keen close combat sense, he was still wary of mage spells. This was especially the case with the beginner spell Fireball, which could track his movement and hamper his technique execution for a short amount of time.

Besides that strike with his Chinese broadsword, Gu Fei managed to kick another player as well. Even though the kick was not backed by a strong force, it was still able to drive the player a few steps backward, which in turn stopped the other two players at Gu Fei’s rear from rushing at him.

Once Gu Fei had landed on his feet, he spun the Flames of Baptism and hurtled it toward the Mage. The Mage was unable to deal with Gu Fei’s attack with his low HP and average speed. The magic staff in his hand could not block the attack as well, making the Mage frustrated with it. The last hit procced the Flames of Baptism’s fire damage. Despite the Mage job class’ high magic resistance, its weak physical defense and meager HP ensured that the Mage could not survive Gu Fei’s two attacks.

With the Chinese broadsword in hand, Gu Fei was completely fired up and itching for a fight. Even though the group of people that had been blocking his way out only tried to subdue him, Gu Fei still took the initiative and killed one of their own. No Smile largely contributed to his fellow guild members’ inability to deal with Gu Fei as well, since he had continually been shouting this instruction from within the safe zone, “Don’t kill him! Just take off that cloth masking his face!”

No Smile was worried that Gu Fei would be shredded to death by the concerted attack of his fellow guild members. If that happened, No Smile would be unable to find out Gu Fei’s identity, as the latter would be sent back to the Mage Academy’s spawn point. Hence, No Smile made the same mistake that Cao Cao did in the past.

As the story went, Cao Cao made the fatal mistake during the Battle of Changban of issuing this order, “Nobody fires an arrow. Capture them alive!” which gave Zhaoyun the chance to carry Liu Bei’s son across the battlefield in his bloodied robe and escaped.

However, Cao Cao made that critical error in judgment back then because he was greatly emboldened by his army of a million men. No Smile, on the other hand, only had ten men, yet he still saw it fit to emulate such a historical figure. Within the time-frame of his command, Gu Fei managed to kill off the Mage. The remaining nine men rushed to avenge their fallen comrade, but felt somewhat troubled when they heard No Smile’s order once more.

Normal players could neither control their attack to the point of consistently causing maximum damage like Gu Fei nor maintain attack with minimum damage. Hence, the Warriors carrying bulky weapons were at a loss of what to do, fearing that their immense strength would result into Gu Fei’s death.

Gu Fei was not a reckless fool through and through. Before making the decision to break through this blockade, Gu Fei had already judged that he was more than capable of dealing with these ten men. No Smile’s order had caused them to become hesitant in their attacks, staring at Gu Fei confusedly as they thought of how to deal with him. Gu Fei thought No Smile was being such a wet blanket, so he threw him a death glare.

That glare apparently meant nothing to No Smile as he continued to holler, “Grab him! Grab him! Take off that piece of cloth! Take it off!”

The men kept their weapons ready as they rushed forward, intending to tackle Gu Fei to the ground. Unfortunately, Gu Fei’s wielding of his Chinese broadsword was very dynamic; he weaved the Flames of Baptism in and out among them, quickly killing the two players with low HP. One of the Warriors, who had prided himself as someone with a substantial amount of HP, decided to bet on it as he forcefully attempted to capture Gu Fei. The whole situation evolved into a situation wherein Gu Fei was like a little chick evading the swooping talons of these players of Traversing Four Seas. But Gu Fei’s combat prowess truly outclassed these Warriors, resulting into them not even catching the hem of Gu Fei’s robe.

Two more fell from Gu Fei’s swordplay in the next instance, with one of them being the Warrior who had disregarded Gu Fei’s damage output with his high HP.

No Smile finally realized how terrible his previous command was. Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets now, and he could only watch everything unfold. In an attempt to avoid the ire of the people who had come to assist him, he shouted encouragingly, “Just hang in there until the reinforcement arrives.”

People would probably assume that Gu Fei was the one who had surrounded these people with a huge army after hearing No Smile’s words without the visual cues.

Gu Fei had heard No Smile’s words as well and considered the futility of his current predicament.

Gu Fei’s attacks were substantial as long as the Flames of Baptism’s additional fire damage was added into the equation. The problem lay with the attribute only having a 30% proc rate, which was something Gu Fei could not overcome with technique. This created a damage range he had no control over, making it awkward for Gu Fei as he fought on.

His single stroke in fact had contained a number of follow-up attacks that could extend his combo, yet the additional fire damage got triggered and immediately killed off the opponent. Another scenario was when he had used the Chinese broadsword to strike to his left, hoping for the fire damage to get procced and kill off the target, which would have allowed him to focus on another enemy on the right. Unfortunately, that did not happen and he was forced to adjust his battle plan accordingly.

The fire damage’s infrequency helped as well as disrupted the fighting tempo of Gu Fei, affecting his overall performance. While this was somewhat negligible in a one-versus-one fight, it was somewhat troublesome in a one-versus-many brawl like now.

Out of the original ten people blocking Gu Fei’s exit, five had been struck down. Yet he had eight more targets left to fight, as their number had increased once more.

It looked like his plan to wipe out all ten people was not very realistic. Even if he were to exclude the ones that just came in to provide support, just the return of the two Thieves Gu Fei had killed off once made continuing the fight seemed pointless. Since this was the Thieves’ Union’s entrance, they simply respawned and joined the fight with Gu Fei again. Furthermore, No Smile’s command to not kill him but find out his identity made everyone less pressured of having to achieve victory. In fact, the two Thieves had taken off their sets of equipment to prevent them from losing durability and fought Gu Fei topless.

Gu Fei’s attacks were no longer limited to his Chinese broadsword, as punches and kicks were thrown into the mix as well. He was doing everything he could to fend them off. Although the people were being summarily beaten by Gu Fei, they figured that they at least had him surrounded. However, they all failed to realize the truth of the situation; Gu Fei was not actually being trapped by them, but rather he was choosing to stay put. Now that he had made the decision to leave, he largely twirled his Chinese broadsword twice. The resulting gap due to the opponents’ evasion allowed Gu Fei to slip right through and escape the encirclement.

No Smile assumed as well that his plan to trap Gu Fei had succeeded. So when he saw Gu Fei breaking out of the blockade, he attributed it to these people’s blunder. He impatiently shouted, “Quick, quick! Surround him! Surround him once more!” He even risked his life and ran out of the safe zone.

However, Gu Fei had already bolted a few meters ahead. No Smile pointed at Gu Fei’s fleeing figure and hollered at the two Thieves, “Fleetfoot! Quickly activate your Fleetfoot!”

The two Thieves cried, “We just dropped a level so we can’t use Fleetfoot anymore.”

One of them cried even louder, “My Fleetfoot has already lost a bit of proficiency.”

No Smile’s heart chilled upon hearing the Thieves’ words. He had almost forgotten about his losses. Seeing that his level dropped by four and his equipment durability reduced to zero, No Smile could only thank his luck for not having lost any equipment yet. No Smile had grinded the level 30 skill Fleetfoot to a relatively high proficiency, but now it was all gone.

Just as he was feeling saddened by his losses, he saw Gu Fei suddenly stop fleeing ahead. No Smile lightened up and quickly ordered everyone to catch up.

Gu Fei himself started running back toward them, while seemingly mumbling something. Everyone was taken aback by this and all involuntarily slowed down. Gu Fei abruptly turned around and ran away once more.

“F*ck, we’ve been tricked!” No Smile bellowed in his anger. When they started to slow down before, the distance was increased further as Gu Fei ran off once more.

All were vexed as they once again quickened their pace. Suddenly, a fiery glow appeared before their eyes as a fire dragon formed mid air and changed into a mass of fireballs that flew toward them.

“Ahhh!” all of them shrieked in anguish as they got bombarded by the spell unceasingly.

All the Traversing Four Seas’ guild members besides No Smile suffered a number of slashes from Gu Fei’s Chinese broadsword, and they had yet to recover from those fully; hence, the spell just now sent two players back to the safe zone.

Level 30 Mage spell, Repeating Fireball.

Although the topless No Smile did not die, he was not able to escape the explosion’s range unscathed. As he fought back his tears, he could no longer hold back himself from heaving a long frustrated sigh, “Arghhh! I forgot that he’s a Mage!”