Virtual World: Close Combat Mage Chapter 352-353

Chapter 352 – Row, row, row your boat…

Xi Xiaotian’s ploy of tossing the coin pouch did not create any opening. It did not matter, though, as Gu Fei merely remained unmoving from his current position.

“Maybe, he’ll count the coins.” Xi Xiaotian was hoping that the man would make this rookie mistake. The man, however, merely lifted the money pouch to assess its weight before putting it inside his dimensional pocket. Xi Xiaotian’s 300 gold coins were thus expended just like that. Even if she killed this man after, she would have no way of recovering that money.

Gu Fei also revealed a wistful expression at this point. This was not due to them failing to create an opening but due to Xi Xiaotian giving the man money. He plaintively said to her, “You shouldn’t have given him money!”

He did not say this through a private message but blurted it out in the open, which clearly telegraphed to the man that Gu Fei was not planning to pay up. The man’s expression contorted with annoyance when he heard him say this.

“Speaking of which, have you thought such a situation through before?” Gu Fei was still smiling. “If someone pays while the others don’t, what will you do?”

The man’s face continued to twist, as though Gu Fei had just poked him on his sore spot. It was evident that such thorny situations happened more often than not during his extortion career, and they usually ended rather poorly, leaving him with a mental scar as a result.

Killing the players who refused to pay up after capsizing the boat and rescuing the ones who did… Such show of integrity would really go against a robber’s nature.

“It seems you’re not planning pay up, eh?” the man said this through gritted his teeth.

“That 300 gold coins you gave him will be for naught as you’ll end up in the water as well.” Gu Fei blatantly ignored the extortionist as he spoke to Xi Xiaotian. “Translocation! Blink!” He chanted the spell incantation the moment he finished talking to her.

Clearly, the man had got plenty of experience dealing with this kind of situation. Although Gu Fei could close in on his target faster than most players, the man’s way of dealing with this kind of matter had always been the same.

With his shield propped before him, the man moved to enter the water!

The person was apparently telling the truth; he could indeed very comfortable with being in the water. No matter how strong his opponents were, he was confident that he could circumvent them in his preferred environment.

“Twin Incineration!”

He heard Gu Fei chant, yet his body was already bending out of the boat.

He did not jump in, move to plunge into the water midair, or even dove into the water imposingly. All he did was simply lean his body forward in a great imitation of a man falling overboard and into the water. Although his posture lacked finesse, it was actually the most efficient way to get into the water.

Unfortunately for him, Gu Fei’s attack was much faster than that.

“Incinerate!” The incantation finished, and the man, who had leaned forward to enter the water, soon realized that he was actually falling in the direction of where heat was emanating from. When he lowered his head, he saw Gu Fei’s Moonlit Nightfalls came slashing in from an inconceivable angle and right where he was falling to, causing him to meet Gu Fei’s sword directly.

He wanted to dodge it, but it was already too late; with his body’s falling posture, he could not correct his position in time.

In the end, all he could do was look on as Gu Fei, who had also bent his body forward, fell toward the boat with his sword flashing out.

Gu Fei had anticipated the man’s move. No matter if the man jumped, fell, or slid, his body would still go sideways.

Gu Fei latched on to this sliver of chance and was prepared to send his sword out. His timing was impeccable as well; Gu Fei lifted his sword in the exact moment that the man was in a position where he could not re-stabilize himself immediately.

Whether it would be enough to insta-kill him or otherwise was the only thing left in suspense.

Although he could not utilize his shield to block Gu Fei’s sword slash, his high HP as a Guardian might be sturdy enough to withstand it.

Gu Fei’s hand sank.

The man fell on to his blade; if the man was insta-killed, he would turn into white light and quickly fade from here.

However, that was not what had happened. The Guardian glanced at his HP and saw clearly how close to death he was. The stone in his heart dropped as he waited for his body to fall into the water. All he needed to do now was to capsize the boat and finish off this arrogant Mage.

In that instant, this man planned out Gu Fei’s end.

However, he had forgotten something. He had a total of three clients onboard his boat, so he was not simply fighting against Gu Fei.

That moment Gu Fei attacked, the two ladies unleashed their attacks as well.

A black cloud formed at the tip of Vast Lushness’s staff, which swiftly contracted and imprinted itself on to the Guardian’s body. The Guardian had just slipped out of Gu Fei’s blade and was about to hit the water’s surface head-first when that attack turned him into white light.

Even Gu Fei was stunned by this. His left hand was emitting bluish light, but he never got to connect it to the Guardian’s body. Recalling that spell, he turned his gaze over to the two ladies behind him.

Xi Xiaotian was looking at Vast Lushness with a short bow in hand. She did not manage to fire off her nocked arrow as well; indeed, there were too many steps to accomplish before Archers could launch their attacks. Xi Xiaotian failed to complete the shot cycle given how quick everything went.

“Kiss of Death? You’re a Dark Priest?” the knowledgeable Xi Xiaotian asked Vast Lushness.

Vast Lushness nodded her head.

Priests could advance into either Light Affinity or Dark Affinity once they reached level 40, just like Knights. The character’s nature for either affinity would diverge with this advancement.

The first skill a Dark Priest would learn was Kiss of Death, which was an instant-cast offensive spell. While Priests were dependent on others prior to reaching level 40, Dark Priests were capable of solo grinding thanks to this level 40 skill. However, the healing capabilities of the Priests would greatly diminish if they advanced into a Dark Priest. Thus, Dark Priests were in a very awkward position as even placing them in parties became difficult to justify as a result.

The offensive skill, Kiss of Death, was nothing compared to the other job classes’ skills in terms of damage. As for the Dark Priests’ healing, it was simply not on par with that of normal Priests and even more so of Light Priests.

Having a job class that could attack and heal was actually not a bad thing, but if a party was looking to maximize the efficiency of each job class, it simply had no need for this sort of all rounder.

Although the game officials assured the players that the view toward Dark Priests would change once their level increased and they unlocked their full potential, but, at the moment, they were a still a symbol of loneliness. Those Priests who had chosen to become Dark Priests were vexed, yet they could only grit their teeth and hope for spring to come.

It was a normal for ladies to choose the Priest job class, but few of them would advance to the lonely path of the Dark Priest job class. This was precisely why Xi Xiaotian was quite surprised when she discovered that this lady Priest before her was a Dark Priest.

Gu Fei had limited understanding of support job classes like the Priest, so he was unaware of the Dark Priests’ current standing in the game. All he knew was that Vast Lushness’s skill was a great help and he nodded his head to express his gratitude for her timely assistance.

“Say, since you were planning to attack, you didn’t really need to wait for any opening, so why didn’t you just do what you did right away?” Xi Xiaotian was feeling the pain of losing 300 gold coins for nothing.

“I was waiting,” he replied.

“Waiting for what?”

“I was waiting for my PK value to drop to 28 points in two minutes before attacking; otherwise, it would jump straight back to 30 points and I need to configure the whole thing all over again. That would be really troublesome.” A squad of guards chasing after him was not an enjoyable experience. Although Gu Fei had managed to escape before, he did not wish to go through it all over again. He might be tempted to duke it out with them if there were just one or two NPC guards, but the system would regrettably always send out a full squad to pursue those with over 30 PK points.

His explanation only made Xi Xiaotian more rueful over her 300 gold coins. Her money had really been wasted. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” she asked bitterly.

“That man’s dead, so we’ll have to row the boat ourselves.” He ignored her question and merely said this. Standing by the stern of the boat and grabbing a hold of the double blade paddles, he paddled twice. The boat turned around in a circle.

“This isn’t as simple as it looks, it seems.” He wiped the sweat off his brow and began paddling once more, turning two full circles this time.

“Let me try.” Xi Xiaotian came over and tried a few times, but she only managed to turn the boat on a spot, except it was in the opposite direction of where the boat had turned with Gu Fei’s attempt.

“You are left-handed,” he concluded.

Vast Lushness gave it a shot next, but the boat also only turned around on a spot. They had been turning around so much that the three were beginning to feel nauseated.

“We seem to have a serious problem at hand,” he remarked.

The two ladies stayed quiet.

“That man should’ve threatened us with this, instead,” he lamented.

“Let’s untie the sculls and row this boat. That should resolve the problem!” Xi Xiaotian suggested.

This was something anyone who had been to the park and rowed the boats there would know. Thus, two persons each took the left and the right respectively and did their best to row the scull on either side, allowing the small, wooden boat to push past the waves. Cool breeze greeted them even as the water surface reflected the worry etched on Gu Fei’s face.

Compared to that hoodlum’s paddling from before, the speed at which their boat moved forward was far from ideal. The sculls were slightly long to work manually like what they were doing, making it very unwieldy. Right now, the water around them appeared boundless in every direction, which subconsciously took a toll on their morale.

“Which direction should we be heading?” the three did not know where their destination lay.

“Ask those guys on the ferry. We can’t go wrong if we chase after their coordinates,” Xi Xiaotian said.

“Must you use the word ‘chase’? I doubt there’s anything in this world slower than our boat,” he lamented.

“Not necessarily. Their ship didn’t move fast as well when it churned away from the pier before. Trust the system’s shamelessness,” Xi Xiaotian said.

Vast Lushness managed to learn the ship’s coordinates while the two were arguing, and their little boat forged ahead against the waves in the said direction.

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Chapter 353 – Danger on the Water

As the three became used to working the sculls and their rowing skills steadily improved, allowing the boat to gradually pick up speed. They had to thank the game designers’ choice to limit physical fatigue in game. The three took turns with the two oars purely for fairness’s sake as not one of them really felt tired.

Right now, the little wooden boat was no longer struggling with the waves but was actually riding the winds and breaking the waves. Gu Fei watched the waves broke through the water surface and splashed fitfully against the boat and nodded his head approvingly, “Perhaps, we can really catch up to the ferry.”

The three saw neither traces of the ship nor any land in the vast stretch of water that lay before them, which likely meant that the rest of Yunduan City’s players were still sailing along.

“We may even reach Linshui City before them.” He started to go overboard with his expectation.

Still, everyone was happy to have this expectation. It was rather boring to drift about like this, after all. This was even more so of their need to row the boat – only a child would find this particular task exciting.

Vast Lushness, who was currently lounging by the boat’s bow after swapping out to rest, spotted something moving up ahead. She quickly turned her head over and excitedly announced to the two, “There’s something up ahead!”

“What is it?” The two, who had their heads lowered and backs bent as they were rowing the sculls, abruptly lifted their heads to take a look.

Everyone saw a shadow ahead.

“It’s too small to be dry land.” Xi Xiaotian was the first to feel disappointed. With the current speed their boat was going, they no longer merely looked forward to catching up to the ferry; it was now more important for them to get on dry land.

The shadow became clearer the closer it got to the three. Eventually, the trio could tell that the shadow was moving – moving toward their small boat. Soon, another two similar-looking shadows began to appear in the horizon, and all of them were moving toward them.

“It’s a boat.” The first shadow’s current distance toward them finally allowed the three to identify what it was. The boat that they were seeing was similar to the one that they were currently occupying.

Since the first shadow was a boat, it was only natural to assume that the other shadows were boats as well. Standing by the bow, Vast Lushness counted up to five boats so far, excluding the possibility of more still hiding in the fog

“What’s going on?” The three curiously examined the boats as a sense of foreboding crept on them. The boats’ heading direction seemed to really be them.

The boats continued to draw closer to them. The three could now say with certainty that the boats were exactly the same as theirs. Four players were occupying each boat. Naturally, the approaching players were not each rowing like how Gu Fei and the ladies were; each of the approaching boats had one player assigned to paddle at the back. As for the three others on board each boat, they were standing by the deck and holding their weapons at the ready as they glared maliciously at Gu Fei, Vast Lushness, and Xi Xiaotian.

The first boat was rapidly heading toward their three-man boat without showing any signs of slowing down or turning away in the slightest.

The three had every wish to evade this incoming boat. However, while they could now easily row the boat in a straight line, they were still inexperienced when it came to their boat handling, unable to expertly turn it in other directions with ease. As a result, not only did they fail to evade, the three unintentionally exposed the side of their boat to the incoming vessel.

Besides the man who was rowing the boat, the other three players onboard were already hunkered down with their hands tightly gripping the gunwale.

Gu Fei and the two ladies were certain of these players’ intention from the action they took; these four men were planning to crash the trio’s boat by intentionally colliding with them. Since these players were expecting a violent collision, it only made sense for them to grip the boat’s edge tightly. Given the speed at which the opposing boat was gliding towards them, Gu Fei and gang would be in serious trouble if these players manage to capsize or even destroy the boat upon impact.

Moreover, even if Gu Fei finished these approaching men off instantly, the collision of the two vessels was basically unavoidable by now, as he had no way of stopping the inertia of the boat swiftly gliding in the water toward them.

Without a delay, Gu Fei reached for a coil of rope in his dimensional pocket.

Gu Fei had plenty of rope in his dimensional pocket, but this one he had just taken out was different from the others as it had a hook fastened on its end. Just like that sai he had, this metal hook was an item he had specially acquired from a quest to fashion himself a simple sky hook¹. This was also considered as a type of ancient weaponry with a long history. While most people would associate this item to thieves, who would use it to scale walls, it was actually an important tool used during war to defend a city.

Currently, this item no longer had any particular use unlike in wartime, but it could still be utilized as a soft weapon through kung fu.

At this moment, Gu Fei swiftly tossed this coil of rope outward and it easily found purchase on the gunwale of the other boat further away.

“Quick!” he cried out to the two ladies. The two ladies were jolted into action and reached out to grab a hold of the rope. Following this, the three firmly planted their feet by their boat’s hull and tugged at the rope with all their might. The enemy boat that was hooked by the rope was forced into a different direction when they pulled at the rope. At the same time, the trio’s boat was able to borrow the force behind their pull to avoid crashing with the enemy boat that was already bearing down on them. This enemy boat, which was supposed to collide with Gu Fei and company’s boat, could no longer alter its new heading direction. Barely grazing past the stern of Gu Fei’s boat, both vessels grinded against each other for the longest time and rocked violently as a result.

“Hold on!” Gu Fei called out to the two ladies.

Both did not need further prompting and just gripped the gunwale until their knuckles turned white. Gu Fei, for his part, swayed with the boat but never lost his balance.

“How did you do that?” The two ladies were astonished.

“Lower body kung fu.” He smiled. He would sound ridiculous if he said that this was all due to this practice with ‘Thousand Catty Press’ or anything of the sort. When he said ‘lower body’, he was actually referring to the stability and balance he had through limb support. The strength in the lower limb was important in counteracting the pressure being applied on it – just like how a player needed lower limb strength to defend the inside line position in the basketball court. Gu Fei was able to maintain stability amid the boat’s rocking motion as the strength he needed to counteract it was not much.

Thanks to inertia, after avoiding that collision, Gu Fei’s boat continued to drift in the direction of the hooked boat. The three no longer needed to worry about colliding with the hooked boat as the generated force upon impact would not be large anymore. At this moment, Gu Fei flourished his sword and cast Descending Wheel of Flames on the enemy boat.

The four players on the boat quickly huddled up as one of them raised a shield above their heads. With how slow the descent of Gu Fei’s flame wheel, the enemies were able to get into position and wait for a while. While the Guardian holding the shield aloft was shocked by the damage caused by his one spell, the four ultimately survived his attack. The Priest among them quickly started bestowing Heal on his comrades.

Realizing that his spell would not work, he quickly followed it up with Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno. He was guessing that the enemy players would likely find it hard to stand atop the shield while onboard a boat, yet he did not expect for them to abandon the boat altogether and threw themselves into the water without a moment’s hesitation.

Although the raging inferno continued to burn, its effect was significantly weakened on the water surface. This spell that should have lasted for five seconds only lasted for two or three seconds. The boat burned rather intensely, yet it returned to its original state after the five seconds ended. The four players’ heads emerged from the water surface. Grabbing a hold of their boat, they deftly clambered onboard and huddled together once more under the Warrior’s raised shield as the Priest kept his Heal up. All of them looked calm.

Besides the two aforementioned job classes, the other two players were a Mage and Archer respectively. Each had a job class that could damage and kill from afar. However, they were forced into a defensive position by Gu Fei’s initiation of an assault. So far, all these players had done was posing, leaping into the water, and clambering aboard after. Stabilizing themselves on a rocking boat was not easy; even experts might find it difficult to execute attacks while on board.

The enemy Archer was holding the gunwale; with only one free hand, it was impossible for him to fire off an arrow. The Mage managed to unleash Arctic Whirlwind with his staff, but the rocking motion of boat caused his body to follow suit. Although he did not wish to move the arm holding his staff, he was helpless in that aspect, and the rhythmic swaying of the boat caused his cast Arctic Whirlwind to forge a serpentine path outward. When the Mage saw that it would miss his targets entirely, he resolutely ended his cast, and the Arctic Whirlwind dissipated into the air.

Gu Fei took in the scene before him as the boat in front continued to bob on the water. The enemy boat that had closely brushed past Gu Fei and company’s boat continued along the same trajectory as before. The players onboard it did their best to steady themselves as they steered the boat around; otherwise, they would head in the direction of the pier that Gu Fei and the others had departed from earlier.

Three other enemy boats – just behind these two enemy boats – were currently rushing headlong toward Gu Fei and company’s boat, seemingly picking up speed as they did so. Given their precarious situation, Gu Fei unhesitatingly raised his sword and cast a spell. Lightning pealed from the sky, formed itself into a wall right on the water surface, and ran right before the bow of the three boats.

While fire spells would be weakened upon contact with the water surface, lightning spells would instead be amplified upon contact with any body of water. The splash of water on the web of electricity caused it to crackle and spark violently, the ensuing visual and sound effects adding to its grandeur. The players onboard the three boats did not know what it was, but the atmosphere it was lending made them hesitate to approach further. However, while the Electric Wall remained immobile, the boats continued to drift toward it, bringing everyone onboard them closer to the spell’s waiting embrace with every passing second.

These little wooden boats were not equipped with gear to halt their forward movement instantaneously. The players in charge of paddling these boats were already doing their best to reverse paddle, yet they were finally paying the price for being far too vigorous in their acceleration. Although their reverse paddling helped slow down the boats, the boats still continued to glide ahead. The players onboard the first boat kept backing away until they were gathered on its stern, causing the boat to become imbalance and capsize, dunking all four of them right into the water.

When the other players on the remaining two boats saw this, they did not dare to back out too far. Since the boats could not be stopped and that Electric Wall remained lying ahead, there was only one option left for them if they did not wish to get into direct contact with it: jump!

The sound of eight players splashing into the water was heard as their boats continued straight onward. Several of them began to swim toward the boats while circumventing the troublesome Electric Wall.

The result achieved by this one cast of Electric Wall was well worth celebrating. Gu Fei had used up all his mana by now, but Vast Lushness happened to be present. With a wave of her staff, she activated her Mana Sacrifice and Gu Fei’s mana began to replenish. He lifted his finger and cast Blink, appearing on the boat that was still steadily rocking its passengers.

“Twin Incineration! Incinerate!” Gu Fei’s sword slashed out. At such a crucial moment, he no longer cared about his PK value going up to 30 points.