Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Broken Water Arrow led a small team of players with fast movement and very quickly reached the destination, and none of the guild leaders were with them. Coincidentally, not one of the guild leaders of the large guilds in Yunduan City picked an Agility based job class, so they could only lead the distant babylegged reinforcements and attempt to catch up. Among the players that made up the team, each guild leader had sent their most trusted guildmates like Youthful Reflection and Folding Fan Invader. Each and every one was second only to the core members of the guild. Even though the quest would only end up in Colored Clouds’ hands upon completion, hope lasted forever, and the hope of a miracle that every player was holding onto would be all the more undying.

Broken Water Arrow’s team arrived in front of yet another tunnel, and the entrance itself was covered with tall, unkempt grass, the color of the soil in stark contrast with that of what was around it. Evidently, this soil was of a different quality very similar to what was found in Yunjiao Quarry.

“This is the disused tunnel,” Broken Water Arrow explained to everyone.

The player holding onto the quest item, Wing, stepped forward and scrutinized the entrance. His face was downcast, “This is a tunnel? Why do I think it just looks like a hole?”

The hole before him looked shallow, so shallow that sending three to five men would fill the space up inside. If anybody was to insist on calling it a tunnel, it would have been a very shallow one, one that had been mined very superficially.

Broken Water Arrow was unfazed, “You can all think of this as the place where geologists had first thought it to be a rich deposit of precious minerals, only to discover that the position was unsuitable for use when they began mining, so they had no choice but to abandon it.”

“So you mean if we were to continue mining this, it would allow us to connect it right to Yunduan City’s water system hub?” Wing asked.

“That’s correct,” Broken Water Arrow nodded.

“D*mn, is it really so realistic?” Wing was very unconvinced. This is just a game, was there really such a need to design the cause and effect of what is already in existence?

“Of course,” Broken Water Arrow nodded somberly. Actually, Broken Water Arrow was similar to Gu Fei in that Parallel World was essentially their first foray into the gaming world, but because of how close the man was with Ye Xiaowu, hearing the man day in day out had influenced him somewhat, learning plenty from what Ye Xiaowu shared with him. Almost every plot point and scene in Parallel World was designed based upon logic, and it was precisely because of this that its system was unique in how it would randomly assemble quests to carry on the overarching storyline. The changes in the circumstance would naturally affect the quest; when a quest progressed, it would similarly transform the scenario, creating new logic pathways between the points that would in turn establish new quests.

“What should I do?” Wing was of course not in the mood to discuss the finer issues with what Broken Water Arrow had just said, and was already in the tunnel searching all around as he spoke.

Broken Water Arrow was not Ye Xiaowu, able to immediately tell which position he needed to go; he still needed to go searching inside while holding onto the information that Ye Xiaowu provided. However, it did not take much time for them to do so in such a small tunnel. Broken Water Arrow was able to pinpoint the location soon after he went into the tunnel, and after digging into the side of the wall in front of him, he very quickly discovered the device that was in the soil nearby.

“How am I supposed to use it?” Wing had taken out the quest item at this time and asked. The others outside the tunnel were unable to squeeze inside, and so they were all staring right at it, watching Wing take out something small like a test tube, inside containing a liquid that did not seem to stop shaking. All of them immediately had the sudden impulse to duck for cover, and they tried their best to curb it.

“Hold up while I investigate this in detail,” Broken Water Arrow was of course uncertain about its usage. He had to read the information that Ye Xiaowu had passed to him as he pawed at the earth, searching for the spot that Ye Xiaowu had described.

“Oh, it should be around here,” Broken Water Arrow finally found the device he was looking for. It had a certain empty groove and its shape perfectly fitted the small test tube in Wing’s hands.

“Slot it in,” Broken Water Arrow said.

Wing gingerly placed the test tube into the groove, yet nothing changed. He turned to look at Broken Water Arrow, “What now?”

“Run!” Broken Water Arrow twisted around and was already bolting for the exit. Wing was startled as he quickly followed right after. However, he could not curb his curiosity and turned back for a glimpse behind him. Sure enough, there were already visible changes to the scene when he looked this time; the liquid within the small test tube seemed to be bubbling in effervescence, and that was when he heard the device rattle as the liquid inside the test tube was instantaneously drained. By now, Wing had already made it out of the tunnel and could no longer clearly see what was happening, and all he could hear was Broken Water Arrow telling the others to take cover as well. He did not dare to dawdle either, following suit as everyone ran helter-skelter. Some were puzzled deep down though, Blowing it up like that, wouldn’t the tunnel collapse along with it? Will we be required to dig out a way in after? Wouldn’t it have been better to just directly dig out a route?

Naturally, the ex-military man Broken Water Arrow was more than aware that leveling the tunnel with this one blast was somewhat unrealistic, but since this was just a game, there was no way of telling if the explosion itself would be normal, so he did not bother being baffled over it too much. After fleeing far away from the site with everyone, all the players quietly waited for the ensuing earthshaking explosion, yet all they saw was a sudden flash of light that shot out from the tunnel, and not a sound was made. Everybody figured this light was a precursor to the actual detonation since some people did not enjoy being shocked so suddenly like that, so all of them covered their ears.

But none of them expected to see the light gradually becoming brighter and brighter, and when it reached its peak brightness, the light flowed out from the tunnel, which was now completely enveloped in its glow. It then began to slowly dim, ever so slightly, until it disappeared entirely. Meanwhile, the earth shattering explosion everyone had been expecting never appeared at all.

None of the players knew what to make of this, each of them staring at Broken Water Arrow. Even Broken Water Arrow was very stunned by what he witnessed, so he decided to ask Ye Xiaowu.

However, Ye Xiaowu was very pleased with himself, “The detonation has happened, but it is not the explosion that you guys had imagined. This is a magical explosion; in other words, it was actually a magic potion inside the test tube, and adding it simply activates the magic array that was set up there. It uses magic, not explosives.”

“So it’s fine now?”

“It’s fine once the light is gone.”

“Okay,” Broken Water Arrow told everyone.

“Huh? Is the explosion done?” They were all flabbergasted.

“It’s done,” Broken Water Arrow was actually quite confused himself, but he ultimately trusted Ye Xiaowu, so he was the first to step forward and check.

Sure enough, the tunnel had been blasted open, but it lacked any signs of what Broken Water Arrow would understand to be the vestiges of an explosion. The device that had originally been where the test tube was placed had very simply disappeared, and a dark and dimly lit passage was now in front of everyone’s eyes. Broken Water Arrow approached to examine the sight, and the place that had been ‘blasted’ open looked like it had been built by someone.

The other players had also begun to step in, one after another, somewhat taken aback by the passageway that had inconceivably appeared.

“What happened to all the dirt and earth that got blasted away by the explosion?” Wing asked.

“This isn’t just your average explosion; it was magic,” this was the only explanation that Broken Water Arrow could give.

“Could it have been teleported? What had originally been obstructing our path got teleported away, which is how it revealed the passageway beyond?” A player guessed.

Broken Water Arrow realized that when it came to any discussions about the game, the intelligence that these players would demonstrate would outstrip that of his own. He had never considered that it was a teleportation array, to be understood as teleporting away the obstruction that was in their way. Even though Ye Xiaowu had not said it as so, it did seem like how the players had explained it made sense.

“We’re still racing against time!” Broken Water Arrow looked at the time and saw that their window was going to be tight. However, the passage ahead was devoid of light, and feeling their way along would obviously not work. This was not Xiawu City, so the players did not have the habit of bringing lanterns or torches with them. Asking all around, it was a good thing that there were two players who picked up the cooking profession and they had brought along fire-starting equipment, while another player had incidentally brought along a torch. Thus, they used the fire-starting equipment to light up the torch and the whole team clustered around that player with the torch, carefully beginning their journey deeper down the passageway.

The passageway was not flat, apparently not built for humans to make their way through. Furthermore, a smell permeated it, with plenty of puddles along the way in. Anyone who accidentally stepped into one would end up spreading the smell of mud that nauseated everyone even more. As players who lived in the era of comforts, all of them felt that they were suffering greatly having to make their way down such a passageway, but they were all willing to endure, for the sake of the quest!

Fumbling their way forward, this group advanced very slowly. Broken Water Arrow was extremely anxious as they no longer had much time left. He was afraid that Thousand Miles Drunk might be much closer to the end goal than them. Everything would have been for naught if Thousand Miles Drunk and his friends were to reach the final destination and manage to complete their task before this team of city assaulters. However, there was no point to his anxiety in any case; this was the first time that these players had encountered such an environment, so they could not be any quicker than what they wanted. This was especially true for the players behind who did not even have the light from the one torch to light their way through; everyone was just pulling on the clothing of the player in front of them as they crept forward while groping around in the dark, bumping into each other countless of times the entire journey. This small team of players with fast movement speed was hardly able to demonstrate their speed at the moment.

It did not take long for Oathless Sword and the other babylegged players to make it over to the tunnel. Having been informed of what to expect by the players who went ahead, they were at least able to make some minor preparations, bringing enough torches and lighting them before they entered the tunnel. They went forward just like the others, but because they had plenty of light in their hands, they were able to advance a little faster than the team of speedsters that went ahead before them.

“Everyone, we need to hurry up. If we are any slower, we would most likely have made the trip for nothing,” Broken Water Arrow kept urging everyone.

“How can we be any quicker going through such terrain!?” Actually, there was no reason that these players would not want to make their way through this smelly aqueduct faster.

“Even if it was Thousand Miles Drunk, could he be able to run fast in such an environment around him?” Someone mumbled.

Broken Water Arrow froze for a bit and saw the logic in that thought. In such circumstances, Thousand Miles Drunk would surely be having a tough time making any headway as well.

————————————————————

Gu Fei did not just have a tough time forging ahead on his path. The Magic Air Bubble gave him the capability to breathe underwater, while also providing a light source for him to walk all along the underwater tunnel. He could feel that passageway gradually incline as if it was sloping upwards. Finally, Gu Fei managed to surface from the water before his air bubble disappeared. However, the tunnel still continued on, and Gu Fei he followed along the route for a short while, and was dumbfounded. The Magic Air Bubble was no longer a tool for him to ensure that he has oxygen to breathe, but a tool to light his way forward. After it finally disappeared, everything around Gu Fei was pitch black, and he could not see a single thing at all.

Gu Fei did not bring any miscellaneous items like a torch, but he was a Mage, so he was able to cast some magic to barely illuminate his way onward. But if only the tunnel was actually a straight path forward, then a single Fireball sent out would be able to light up the space as it flew straight. The problem was that the tunnel he was in simply refused to cooperate; the path would get bumpy and winding every now and then, so there were times when Gu Fei would end up casting his Repeating Fireball right up to a wall, and the Fireball would end up exploding onto himself. It was with such grueling conditions that Gu Fei continued his way down the tunnel, and it was not really any better than what Broken Water Arrow and the others were experiencing.

However, Gu Fei was not really taking note of the time, and he had no idea how long he had been walking either, and it seemed as if the tunnel he was in did not have an end in sight. Gu Fei sighed and threw out another Fireball. This ball of flame flickered across the path ahead, yet Gu Fei could hardly make out anything along the way. He tried to hurry along, but the uneven ground that he was stepping through made it difficult to traverse. Seeing that this Fireball he threw flew ahead without connecting with any wall, Gu Fei was elated as he quickly sped up. It was rare for him to have such a straight stretch for him to dash across!

The Fireball extinguished after traveling not too far off, but this skill itself had a short cooldown, so Gu Fei could already toss out another once it went out. The path ahead was still as straight as ever, so of course Gu Fei was getting more and more excited, sprinting forward with glee. But who would have thought that in a short few steps, he suddenly discovered that the Fireball, which he continued to toss to light the path ahead, was now showing emptiness all around it? Gu Fei’s heart stopped momentarily as he quickly came to a halt. Waving his hand about, he threw out another series of Repeating Fireball out. This time, he was not in a hurry to move as he took a glimpse of light to take in his surroundings. That was when he discovered that the tunnel that he was in had already come to an end, and it had led him to a rather open space right in front. That bit of light from his Fireballs was completely incapable of shining onto the four walls beyond, which was why it seemed so empty around him.

Have I reached my destination? Gu Fei heaved a long sigh. He tried to step forward, only to find that there was nothing beneath his foot. He did not expect complete emptiness beyond that tunnel. Fortunately, Gu Fei’s reaction was astonishingly quick, so he was able to retract that foot that had stepped into thin air, forcing his waist and abdomen backward as both his hands shot out to either side, supporting himself by the walls of the tunnel and that prevented him from falling right down.

A dead end? Gu Fei muttered to himself. He reached his leg out to test, and sure enough, it was all just nothing but air when he took a step in front of him. Gu Fei wondered if there could be a steps he had to get himself up, so he shot his Fireball out again and this time managed to make out that there was indeed no way forward, but there was a path to the left which took a turn from the tunnel, requiring the player to stick to the wall as it wound its way down.

Gu Fei continued to accurately send his spells flying out as he hurried along his way when he suddenly heard a scream a short distance away, right across him. Turning toward the general direction of this sound, he seemed to see a patch of light that slipped down into the murky darkness, yet he was unable to accurately determine just where it had originally come from. However, Gu Fei had keenly heard the sound that was made, and he knew that there must be someone out there. As for the situation, it was most likely a player who had a similar experience as he did; carelessly walking out from the tunnel, that player must have taken a step out into nothing, only to end up being able to react in time as he or she fell down like that.

It must be someone from the city assaulter’s force… Fleeting Smile must have led them here, Gu Fei’s mind very quickly made the appropriate inference. Furthermore, he was very clear as to Fleeting Smile’s advantage; he was someone who did not require any hint from the storyline to get a grasp of what he needed to do for any quest. As such, Gu Fei was hardly surprised that he was able to direct the enemy over to this place.

“Just where exactly is this place?” Ever since Gu Fei started his quest, there had been a lack of relevant hints as to how to progress the quest. In all honesty, any average player would definitely not be bothered to carry on the questline if they did not have a clear idea just what rewards were at stake upon quest completion. Finding himself in a situation where he lacked the full knowledge of the circumstances, Gu Fei had made the very noob decision of taking a look at this place the moment the condition was offered. This was entirely due to the fact that he never considered what he was doing to be in-game quests, just like how he had ended up fighting with Giordano in Xiawu City the last time.

I wonder just how many men have arrived. Looks like there’s no way to run away from this fight… Gu Fei was a little excited. Ever since he arrived at this location and discovered that it was pitch black all around him, Gu Fei had been rather bummed this whole time that he was only able to use that bit of magic that he knew to bumpily make his way forward, and it was not until this point when he finally stumbled upon a bit of fun.

Gu Fei had no idea if the enemy had noticed that he was around, but the fact that the other party had just fallen likely meant that they must have only recently arrived at the place, so they must have not seen the spells Gu Fei had previously been throwing. Gu Fei had not given off any bit of light ever since that last spell, so it was with this thought that he decided to continue observing in the darkness, no longer using spells to light his way ahead and simply rely on hugging the wall with his body to continue his way down.

The walls were damp, and mud came off with every touch. Gu Fei was originally very carefully probing his way with every step, but he got more and more practiced with the act and soon realized that the path after leaving the tunnel was a lot more uniform. As such, Gu Fei’s steps became faster, until he took a step that was unexpectedly nothing but air once again. To his surprise, he quickly retracted his foot and twisted his waist, while his other hand wildly grabbed for support with the wall. This time, the wall did not cooperate and Gu Fei came away with a big lump of mud as he scrambled to find purchase. Now bereft of potential support, just twisting his waist was not enough for him to center his gravity safely, so he very tragically fell down.

Gu Fei had no idea just how high he was, and he had no clue if the fall itself would end up killing him. Not wanting to test his luck on this, he pulled out his Moonlit Nightfalls in mid descent and gave his sword a twirl, casting a Twin Incineration. This instant cast spell ignited quickly, though it did not last very long, yet this instant of light was all Gu Fei needed to see that the ground was not in sight. He knew that there was still a distance more, but his Twin Incineration was currently in cooldown and he was unable to use it a second time; Fireball and similar skills were not instant casts, so there was no way that he could cast them while he was plummeting down like this.

“Thunderbolt!” Gu Fei threw out another instant cast spell, but Thunderbolt was much faster than Twin Incineration. Gu Fei saw a blinding streak of light flash before his eyes and saw white, but was that white the ground below? Before Gu Fei could even determine this, the electric glow had already faded away.

I’ll just have to assume it is! Gu Fei gritted his teeth and was already about to cast his Blink when he felt a force travel up from the tip of his sword to his hand. Startled, Gu Fei realized that he was already making contact with the ground, and that his sword had plunged into the ground without any warning, and this force made it impossible for him to continue holding onto the sword. Gu Fei let go of the grip of his sword and swiftly pointed outward to cast his Blink. His figure blurred and materialized as he landed steadily on the ground.

As a martial artist, Gu Fei’s understanding of weapons was well beyond that of the average player. While the average player would only take note of a weapon’s damage output or its traits, Gu Fei had actually taken note of some of the more basic properties, even things so basic that the system did not list, such as the length of the weapon.

To Gu Fei, understanding this one property was even more important than Moonlit Nightfalls’ damage output or the amount of additional Agility it provided.

That was why the moment his sword touched the ground, Gu Fei already knew just how far away he was from the ground.

Letting go of his sword, he used the backlash force from the sword coming into contact with the ground to remain in the air for just that bit longer, allowing him to cast his Blink in the next moment and very accurately Blink to the ground without taking any fall damage.

Actually, there was no need for Gu Fei to react so exaggeratedly. Even if he wanted to Blink 6 meters, there was no way the skill would deposit him deep under the ground and the result would still be the same. However, Gu Fei did not use the system designs that were in place and used his own method instead to very perfectly complete his Blink.

“Fireball!” The moment Gu Fei had stable footing, he sent out a Fireball like a moving lightbulb, so he could quickly locate that sword of his that dropped.

Unfortunately, Broken Water Arrow had already seen that string of spells Gu Fei had cast from before, and the latter could already hear a string of cries from the distance.

“It’s him!”

“He’s already here!”

“Thousand Miles Drunk’s here!”

“Did he die from the fall?”

“Of course he’s dead, that idiot!”

In the end, his Fireball became the perfect answer to their queries: Gu Fei was not dead, and was down on the ground below, waiting for them!

The person holding onto the torch, who was walking along with Broken Water Arrow and the others, had lost his footing and fell to his death just now, so they had just been standing there without any light source at the moment. None of them were Mages either, so they were only aware that the path ahead required them to stick close to the wall. But at this moment, a bright bundle of light could suddenly be seen arriving from the tunnel exit. Oathless Sword and his babylegged reinforcements were here, and the torches they were all holding were finally here.