Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Oathless Sword and his men had plenty of manpower and torches in hand. Upon reaching the end of the tunnel, he could hear people shouting, “OH CRAP, STOP SHOVING, THERE’S NO PATH AHEAD!!!!”

Fortunately, they were playing an MMO, so they were also able to use something as public as the text channels to communicate. Had that person been solely shouting over everyone like in the real world, the people behind would most likely not hear anything and just one flurry of movement would end up causing everyone to become dumplings being dropped into a pot. Of course, more importantly was the fact that the previous dumpling had already given them a warning when they enter the place, the tunnel would end in front of them.

“Any of you got a light?” Someone asked.

“I’ll light your head!” Someone immediately swore.

“A torch, pass the torches from behind to the front,” Oathless Sword was now in front, just a step away from falling off the ledge. He was nervous, afraid that some unruly person behind him might just give a push, sending him to a disastrous end.

“Over here, move over here!” Broken Water Arrow’s team was already winding their way down, calling for Oathless Sword and the others by using their voice to direct them over. Apparently, Oathless Sword did not seem to be very confident about his ability to identify people’s voices, raising the torch in his hand as he tried his best to shine a line in their direction, “Who’s there? Who’s the one talking?”

“It’s us!” Broken Water Arrow was piqued.

“How do we get to you?” Oathless Sword asked.

“There are steps if you hug either side of the walls. Watch your footing,” Broken Water Arrow reminded. Gu Fei’s tragedy was all due to him walking along without being too careful with his footing. Nobody had told him that the steps would continue along the wall without turning in a different direction midway.

Oathless Sword tested with his foot, and sure enough, his foot caught a step to his side and he felt a lot more reassured. He then shifted his foot outward to feel for the other end of the step, realizing that the step itself was not particularly wide. The cautious Oathless Sword had his torch as low as he could lower it, wishing he could just clamp it between his legs, as that would have been the perfect height.

The players behind Oathless Sword were also prompted and all of them slowly made their way down. Broken Water Arrow and the other had discovered Thousand Miles Drunk’s position, but did not dare to continue groping their way down in the dark, They simply had no idea if their vicious enemy would take this chance to attempt something devious.

As more and more of the babylegged reinforcement entered through the tunnel, the number of torches in the confined space increased, and the light they brought appeared like a slow, rising sun against the pitch blackness around them. This was around the time when everyone could start to vaguely make out this place that they had only reached after making their way through the smelly drain from before.

It was spacious, and all sorts of smells thickly intermingle in the air. However, since all the players had already experienced the stink after making their way through the tunnel before, none of them had any difficulties adjusting to the stench. Under the light of several torches, their surroundings became slightly more visible, and they could barely make out a blurry silhouette of something in the center of this space. Players had no idea what that was, but Broken Water Arrow knew that it was actually the more important portion of the Yunjiao Lake Project.

But at the moment, what he was more concerned about was where Thousand Miles Drunk was hiding… There was a limit to the light that their torches could give off, and while they could see the silhouette of something so huge in the middle, Gu Fei’s figure was difficult to make out. Meanwhile, the men on his side were utterly exposed since they were the ones holding torches, and Broken Water Arrow felt that this was hardly an ideal situation to be in.

It’s best if we hurry up and get down there, Broken Water Arrow thought to himself. The babylegged players behind them were already nearing them. After they handed over the torches, the team of speedsters was finally able to pick up speed again.

“How high is it from here?” Someone beside Broken Water Arrow asked.

“Almost there…” This was the first time that Broken Water Arrow had been here, and he had only listened to Ye Xiaowu’s description of the place to have an idea of what to expect, but because of how poorly lit the place was, there were still plenty of things that Broken Water Arrow himself had not been able to match up!

“Where are the Mages? Get them to throw a few Fireballs to get a look,” someone suggested.

It was not a bad idea, and after several Mages echoed their agreement, all of them did not just throw out Fireballs, but had directly cast Descending Wheels of Flames instead; they were much larger in size, so they were able to illuminate a wider area.

Several Descending Wheels of Flames came crashing down as all the players stared down at the wake of the spell. As a result, not only did they see just how high off from the ground they were, they also spotted a black figure quietly standing by the side. While the wheels fell, this person casually ducked to the side and proceeded to meld back into the darkness once more.

“That’s Thousand Miles Drunk! He’s waiting down there!!” The players were spreading this frightening news to each other.

After the Descending Wheels of Flames disappeared, everything became pitch black below once more. Where was Thousand Miles Drunk? Nobody knew.

“Get the Mages to maintain their spells. The rest will get down there first,” Oathless Sword gave the order. And so, it was like the Mages all turned into street lamps, casting their spells as they shone the light for the others continuing down the path. Broken Water Arrow was also invigorated by this, for this method was far better than their torches.

The team quickened their pace as they made their way down, and seeing that there were not too many steps left, one of the players wanted to directly jump down, but none of them expected someone to suddenly appear and stab this person’s back while in midair. The other players saw this happen vividly, identifying the assailant to be Thousand Miles Drunk. They had no idea where he had appeared from, but everyone witnessed him materializing right behind the player that was attempting to jump down as a Twin Incineration blazed past. Adding the white glow from that player being insta-killed, the effect of all the lights coming together all at once was truly eye-catching.

Before any of the other players could even register what happened, Gu Fei had somersaulted and leaped up onto the steps. With lightning congealing in his left hand, he had already finished collecting his Palm of Thunder. He thrust his palm out, killing the player outright even as the Repulsion effect from that blow caused several of the players behind the victim to stagger backward and fall as a result. Of course, the person who had been leading this team down would naturally be the one holding onto the torch as well, and it instantly dropped onto the ground upon his death. Furthermore, given how these steps were not particularly wide, two of them actually ended up falling right down.

“Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno!” Gu Fei was not done yet, and quickly uttered another incantation. The souls of those players making their way down the steps figuratively fled in horror as there was simply no way for them to escape such a large AoE spell given how narrow the path was. With Thousand Miles Drunk’s spellpower, everybody knew that even if they were to survive…

“Descending Wheel of Flames!” Gu Fei shouted his second spell, and they were all in tears. At the moment, the only way for them to avoid the incoming spell damage was if they somehow managed to finish off Thousand Miles Drunk before his spells landed. Even though Thousand Miles Drunk casting time was rather long, none of them had any confidence that they could finish off Thousand Miles Drunk in just those seconds, so all of them opted for the alternative: Jumping off those steps….

They were already not too far from the ground by this time, and even though they would take fall damage by making the jump, it would not be enough to cause their death. Meanwhile facing both spells from Thousand Miles Drunk would most definitely be certain death, so everyone did a quick calculation of their circumstances. Just as they were prepared to make a righteous stand and jump into the darkness, Gu Fei had instead waved his arm to the side, and crackling and zapping sounds flooded their hearing: a wall of electricity was now helping prevent the players from ‘accidentally’ falling off the steps…

“That’s too despicable!!!” All the players wailed as the two AoE spells from Gu Fei finally appeared. Unable to retreat or press forward, the steps immediately turned into a sea of flames. The players of the speedster team did not have much HP to begin with, so flashes of white light soon appeared among their ranks.

However, despite the calamitous scene, there were actually not that many players that ended up dead since not many could squeeze along the narrow steps after all. However, after this batch of people had died, the players behind did not dare to advance any further, each of them yelling out to the players behind, “Back off, quick back off!!!”

The players on the stone steps were now in a state of disarray, with the front column of players wanting to head backward, but doing so was not as simple as calling out an order to retreat. The guild leaders were all in a hurry to make the necessary arrangements over their respective guild channels, instructing the players to go by the other route down on the other side.

Gu Fei originally wanted to give chase, but he soon noticed that there was still one man left standing in the area where his two spells had collided. The man raised his weapon and the mechanical sound of repeated crossbow fire could be heard. Five bolts came sailing right at him, and Gu Fei similarly had nowhere to hide while standing up on the steps. As such, he had no choice but to leap off from them with a backward somersault. Lifting his head, using the brilliant glow that his Electric Wall gave off, Gu Fei could make out Broken Water Arrow darting over in pursuit, currently reloading another cartridge of bolts into his short crossbow.

“To think that guy is still alive,” Gu Fei muttered under his breath, not exactly too surprised. Ye Xiaowu and his gang were so gathered for the sole reason of being Thousand Miles Drunk’s nemesis. Seeing as he was their only goal in mind, it was of course natural for Broken Water Arrow to come prepared with equipment that had fire resistance as a direct counter to Gu Fei’s spell damage.

Gu Fei avoided the five consecutive crossbow bolts that flew his way, ready to twist back and attack again when Broken Water Arrow turned his head back to shout at the mess of players behind him, “Don’t panic, Archers, come out and shoot! He’s going again!!!”

The steps were narrow, and this disadvantage was applied to both parties in this skirmish. However, Gu Fei had first managed to use this very point to create quite the impact against his enemies, causing all of them to momentarily short circuit as they mistakenly believe that they were the only ones who were subjected to the terrain restrictions. Broken Water Arrow had maintained his calm and properly considered their current predicament; with Thousand Miles Drunk similarly restricted by their terrain, he fired his five bolts in one go and sure enough, forced him to leap off the stone steps in an effort to avoid the potential damage.

The moment all the players heard this reminder, all of them snapped out of their confusion. Gu Fei’s two spells might have killed some Thieves and Archers, yet they still had plenty of them around, and all of them quickly turned around to begin their counterattack.

“Don’t bother finding out where he’s hiding! Keep attacking in front of you; Mages, come on over and blanket the area next to us with your spells. With the others behind, use this time to push forward,” Broken Water Arrow loudly commanded the players, even taking the lead to be at the forefront of this attack. The confidence of the players soared, holding their formation as they renewed their advancement. Several Archers followed right behind him, firing arrows unceasingly so as to prevent Thousand Miles Drunk from jumping up and doing what he did again.

In the end, a streak of lightning crashed onto a player’s head, as an Archer died on the spot from this one spell. The Archers were all alarmed by this, but tears soon fell: Thousand Miles Drunk was a Mage, a job class that could attack from range. Who was it that thought he could only attack if he was on the steps as well? He can simply stand below and chuck out spells.

“Come and jump down with me!!” Broken Water Arrow bellowed, directly jumping off the steps. The Archers were hesitant, so they closed their eyes and followed suit. Mages had already been given their instruction and expanded their attack range accordingly. The men were all hiding themselves beyond the AoE spells, safe behind the fiery red glow of the spell bombardment. Broken Water Arrow could see Gu Fei raise his long sword, so he quickly lifted his arms to attack, forcing Gu Fei to turn to the side to evade the bolt.

“Keep peppering him non-stop with your Homing Projectiles!” Broken Water Arrow ordered. However, the coordination of this handful of Archers was unable to demonstrate the effect that he had hoped to achieve. The five Archers presently attacking were all from four different guilds, and none of them even knew each other, so how coordinated could their attacks ultimately be? Hearing Broken Water Arrow give the order, they had all caught him say the two words ‘Homing Projectiles’, but ignored the word ‘non-stop’. The five men raised their bows in unison and fired together, sending five white glowing arrows flying right toward Gu Fei.

Broken Water Arrow was speechless. Expecting these players to be as accomplished and possess the tacit understanding that he and his war buddies shared was far too unrealistic, so all he could do was endure this.

“Quick, hurry up, those who can jump do so!” Broken Water Arrow beckoned to the players behind. There were still quite a few Archers and Thieves who were now all in front of the players, taking this opportunity to dash on down first.

“Non-stop! Homing Projectiles!” Broken Water Arrow was gritting his teeth this time as he emphasized the word ‘non-stop’, hoping the newcomers would understand what he was trying to do. It just so happened that these newcomers were all from Traversing Four Seas, so they were able to mesh well together coordinating their arrows. Upon hearing the order, they each took turns, one after another to send their Homing Projectiles at Thousand Miles Drunk.

Gu Fei was being inundated with all these arrows, and there was still the spell bombardment from the Mages right in front of him, leaving him somewhat at a loss as to what he could do. Then there were also the players up on the stone steps hurrying down; The Mages and Archers from the specialty teams of Carouse and Traversing Four Seas respectively were slowly able to coordinate with the forces tacitly. Gu Fei was spinning to his left and twirling to his right, keeping away from the encroaching flames but unable to find a chance to take the fight into melee range. He could not cast any AoE spells of his own in retaliation either, only able to cast his Thunderbolt at best as he was kept moving in order to avoid getting caught up in all the attacks. However, his Thunderbolts were soon made useless as well once the enemy’s Priests slowly joined in the fight.

At the end of the day, Thunderbolt was considered to be the weakest out of all the Lightning Affinity spells players could learn, and not everyone would be insta-kill by that one little spell. Now that they had the support of Priests Healing, Thunderbolt was no more than just a tickle.

“Push onward, move forward!” Broken Water Arrow shouted. He delivered all his tactical positioning via his voice, and he was not afraid of Gu Fei listening in. This was all because his tactics were all out in the open, so even if Gu Fei was unable to hear it, he could very well understand what was going on just with his own two eyes.

“Professionals sure are different,” Gu Fei was helpless. He simply could not find any opportunity now that he was being pressured from all sides. With a quick glance to his left and right, he quickly spotted an area of inky blackness and Blinked over, melding into the safety of the darkness almost immediately.

“He’s gone!” The players were all disconcerted.

“He’s around here somewhere!” Broken Water Arrow was rather alert. “Take note of all the dark corners.”

And so, all the Mages began to act like flashlights, tossing their Fireballs in every direction, throwing one to every bit of darkness in sight. The entire space looked like someone was setting off fireworks, a light show in every angle of the room; it would be dark over on one side while another lit up with a varying degree of brightness every so often.

Under this intermittently faint lighting, the players down below were finally able to make out the thing that was in the middle of the place… But all they could do was make out the device, and no one actually knew what it was. It was cylindrical in shape, standing up right. Upon closer inspection, they more or less realized it was not a cylinder, but several cylinders put together, some thick and some thin that went straight to the top. Nobody could see clearly beyond that, however.

“How are we doing the quest?” Wing had abruptly appeared beside Broken Water Arrow, asking him about their next step.

“Uh… I haven’t been here before. I’ll have to take a look,” Broken Water Arrow said.

“Is that how we’re doing this?” Brave Surge suddenly popped out of nowhere. Ever since the ownership of the quest had been decided, the guild leader who had plenty of ideas had been treading water, essentially invisible to the entire matter.

“Guild leader Surge, just what do you mean?” Broken Water Arrow messaged him in return because he was not speaking openly, but he had actually sent a message to Broken Water Arrow.

“Heh, I understand what you’re intending to do,” Brave Surge said.

“What do you mean by that?” Broken Water Arrow asked again.

“Blowing up that tunnel doesn’t seem to be the decisive aspect of this quest. There’s still more follow-ups to this quest, but it looks like only Colored Clouds can finish it. Does that not mean that there’s something else that Colored Clouds has that could only be used in our current situation?” Brave Surge said.

“That’s right,” Broken Water Arrow replied.

“However, you and Fleeting Smile have always been prioritizing Thousand Miles Drunk this entire time. The truth of the matter is, in order to stop him from completing his quest, aside from finishing the quest before he does, we still have another choice: Killing him,” Brave Surge said.

“That’s accurate.”

“And the two of you don’t seem willing to reveal information that neither of you should reveal. As such, in our current situation, you’re hoping to kill Thousand Miles Drunk in order to stop him from finishing the quest, and helping the city assaulters’ forces with this quest is actually the last resort you’re forced to fall back on after all your other options are exhausted. Am I right?”

“Yes…” Broken Water Arrow did not expect Brave Surge to have seen through his intentions, so he did not refute this. Indeed, under the current circumstances where they could take down Thousand Miles Drunk before he ruined the quest, Broken Water Arrow would then not be required to leak any information to the city assaulters.

“Heh, I’ll help you,” Brave Surge said.

“Oh?” Broken Water Arrow was a little surprised.

“That would also be an outcome that I would find most favorable as well,” Brave Surge said. “I’ve already sent for even more manpower to come over.”

Broken Water Arrow thought about this for a moment, and could only laugh bitterly. Humans! At the end of the day, all they care about is their own interests. Brave Surge did not wish for Thousand Miles Drunk’s quest completion to cause the city assaulters to fail the event, but at the same time, he was unwilling to let Colored Clouds or any other guild gain any sort of advantage. As such, he had been secretly watching the situation develop this whole time, and he had finally stumbled unto the opportunity that he had been waiting for. Broken Water Arrow believed that what Brave Surge had said just now was just him probing for a confirmation. The latter had not been certain if that was what the former intended, but it was very obvious that Brave Surge had already seen through what both Fleeting Smile and Broken Water Arrow wanted, so even if that was not what they had originally planned, Brave Surge had ended up hinting at Broken Water Arrow of the possibility at that moment.

With extra reinforcements making their way over, Broken Water Arrow was now reassured. He shall do his best to kill Thousand Miles Drunk right here, which was why Broken Water Arrow did not need to help Colored Clouds complete the quest any longer.

Flames were still being set off like fireworks, yet no one had caught sight of Thousand Miles Drunk anywhere. Broken Water Arrow looked over to the players occupied with their spellcasting and suddenly realized: Are they really trying to find Thousand Miles Drunk?

Each of them was running to the places that were lit up, touching everything, looking, tapping and searching…

They are not looking for Thousand Miles Drunk; they are looking for the quest… All of them had not given up the chance of prying the quest away till the very end.

So what about the players who were really conscientiously searching for Thousand Miles Drunk? They were all players from Colored Clouds. All of them knew the quest was in their hands, which was why they were completely focused on searching for their biggest obstacle. But honestly? If they were to locate Thousand Miles Drunk and finish him off, I would not be revealing anything about the quest to them instead… Thinking about this, Broken Water Arrow really wished to slap himself, for he suddenly felt that the role he was playing was utterly repulsive.

“What are you doing?” Someone was suddenly right beside Broken Water Arrow, talking to him. Turning to look, he saw that the newcomer was Young Master Han. He was momentarily stunned before he said, “I’ve never been here before, so I’ve only heard the description of this place. I want to look for the next link for the quest… but it’s too dark.”

I need to keep my distance from this person… Broken Water Arrow thought to himself. After he uttered that line, Broken Water Arrow ran off to find someone to hand him a torch, acting like he was looking all around the place to find the quest.

“What’s going on?” Gu Xiaoshang walked over to Young Master Han and asked.

“Is everyone here?” Young Master Han asked her.

“They are all rushing over here. What’s the problem?” Gu Xiaoshang asked.

“It’s that guy! Do you really think he’s searching for the quest? He’s actually trying to find Thousand Miles Drunk,” Young Master Han revealed.

“Why?”

“Because his real goal is to prevent Thousand Miles Drunk from completing his quest. Helping complete the quest for us is just one way for them to do so, and it appears as if he doesn’t really like this option right now,” Young Master Han explained.