Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

“Plus, the levels of these seventy-three players are not low. Twenty-seven of them are at level 40, thirty-nine at level 39, and seven at level 38. Since Young Master and I don’t really have any fighting power individually, this means that you will have to face eighteen players each,” Brother Assist continued to say.

Everyone was speechless. Even Gu Fei did not dare say that he could take on eighteen players by himself. After his experience with yesterday’s PvP, he now fully understood that this sort of goal-orientated tournament posed more problems for him than his casual PvP with unsuspecting ‘Bounty Mission’ targets. In this PvP tournament, even simply showing half of his head would invite the bombardment of the Archers’ arrows and Mages’ spells.

Evidently, Young Master’s Elite mercenary group with its six members would have no chance of winning if it faced this current opposing mercenary group head on.

“We must formulate an effective battle strategy to win this match,” Brother Assist said as he turned to face Young Master Han

Young Master Han nodded his head, “This is why I said that winning a match depends entirely on me.”

Everyone was speechless once more, albeit for a different reason.

“Alright. Let’s go!” Young Master Han majestically declared as he stood up, displaying the aura of being a leader. He theatrically said, “A mere Crowd Herder mercenary group will not stall the pace of my progress!”

“It’s Cloud Herder...” Brother Assist reminded him.

“That group is bound to fall by my hands, so its name is not worth remembering.” Young Master Han showed the other five men how the Cloud Herder mercenary group was beneath his notice by leisurely walking out of the room.

“Young Master sure is amazing!” Royal God Call sighed, saying, “I’m always confident with my ability to deal with strong opponents, yet even my confidence miraculously disappears with him around.”

“It’s like you lose all sense of security,” Gu Fei agreed.

Brother Assist and War Without Wounds did not make a sound. As for Sword Demon, the closest battle buddy of Young Master Han, he merely smiled faintly as he stood up and left the room next. The remaining four men stood up at the same time and exited the tavern one after another.

With the second round participants of the mercenary PvP tournament being substantially less than the first round participants and the teleportation array being opened three hours earlier, all the matches for the second round were able to start at exactly 7 P.M. It was unlike yesterday’s situation where a match would only begin once both parties’ preparations were done. Presently, the system automatically regarded players who did not make it to the ‘changing room’ at 7 P.M. as non-participants.

Because of this rule, quite a number of players entered the teleportation array earlier, allowing many to conclude their preparations and strategy meetings inside the ‘changing room’ for their respective PvP matches ahead of time. Hardly any players were left by the time Young Masters’ Elite mercenary group arrived in the square outside the Hall of Mercenaries, so its members were able to teleport themselves right away into the ‘changing room’.

“There’s still half an hour left,” Young Master Han said as he looked at the time. He then promptly sat down on the ground and reached into his dimensional pocket for a bottle of liquor.

“Anyone?” Young Master Han offered the bottle to the other five members.

“Go get drunk by yourself!” everyone collectively replied.

“No need to be courteous! I still have some on me.” Young Master Han brought out another bottle and showed it to them.

The five adamantly shook their heads and no longer bothered with Young Master Han who had opened a bottle for the others before proceeding to drink one by himself.

Brother Assist would call out the number of players of the opposing group whenever it got updated. “Fifty-five men... Another one, so it’s fifty-six... And it’s now fifty-seven...” This went on and on until Cloud Herder mercenary group’s counter remained unchanged for five minutes at sixty-eight men with just three minutes remaining before the start time of the PvP match at 7 P.M.

“There are sixty-eight of them. Looks like that is all from Cloud Herder,” Brother Assist finally concluded.

“That is still quite a lot,” Young Master Han stood up and carefully poured the remaining content of the bottle of liquor to the ground before tossing it over, “Prepare to move out. Leave your mercenary channel open.”

In flashes of white light, the six men were teleported straight into the PvP arena.

Young Master Han swept his gaze over the map’s terrain first before instructing his fellow mercenaries, “Sword Demon, Miles, Assist, and Wounds, head toward the four sides of this map’s boundary. Get to each corner and report your coordinates to me. Brother Assist and Wounds, head to the ones near; Miles and Sword Demon, go to the ones far.”

The four headed to the indicated locations without a complaint. Questioning the orders of the commander on the battlefield was a big no-no, unless one thought of himself or herself as a Power Xtreme Centurion1 that could reverse the course of events with his or her hands. Although this was but a game, one person’s recklessness could still negatively affect the outcome of a PvP.

“Royal, you might be our most unstable factor in this PvP match,” Young Master Han honestly told Royal God Call.

“Why?” Royal God Call asked, surprised.

“If I tell you a set of coordinates, can you find its corresponding location?” Young Master Han asked.

Royal God Call blushed redder than a baboon’s ass. His poor sense of direction was as outstanding as his prestige as the number one Mage in various MMOs.

“Stay with me for now!” Young Master Han brought Royal God Call with him to the middle of a forest by a small hill. At this same moment, Sword Demon and the rest reported their coordinates on the mercenary channel accordingly.

“Coordinates: 500, 500,” Gu Fei stated.

“Coordinates: 0, 500,” Sword Demon reported next.

“Coordinates: 0, 0” was said by War Without Wounds.

“Coordinates: 500, 0,” Brother Assist shared lastly.

“Oh. This map has almost the same measurements as that map I’ve measured before!” Young Master Han said, adding, “Nobody has gotten discovered, right? Wait a while and I’ll be able to monitor your locations shortly.”

Young Master Han and Royal God Call had reached the peak of the small hill by the time he finished talking. Young Master Han lifted his head and looked about as he muttered, “This hill is not as high as that hill over there, but the treetops over there should be about the same height!” He then walked about before finally stopping beside a tall tree. Looking up, he observed it left and right and said to Royal God Call while patting the tree, “Come. Give me a lift.”

“Huh?” Royal God Call asked, not understanding what Young Master Han wanted him to do.

Young Master Han pointed up the tree, “Up there.”

“You want to climb up the tree?” Royal God Call bewilderedly gave Young Master Han a boost to climb the tree. With his effeminate face, the alcoholic Young Master Han was still adept at doing things. Through Royal God Call’s assistance, Young Master Han adroitly clambered up the branches of the tree.

“What are you trying to do?” Royal God Call shouted from the base of the tree.

“Don’t shout. Remember to communicate through the mercenary channel if we are far from each other,” Young Master Han managed to send a message as he climbed further up the tree.

“What are you two doing?” Upon seeing his message to Royal God Call, the other four inquired on the mercenary channel.

“Oh. The viewing range from up here isn’t too bad!” Young Master Han exclaimed on the mercenary channel.

“What?” The five were left clueless with that response of his.

“Wounds, the enemy is heading to your location; 500, 0. Miles, you’re currently positioned far behind the enemy. Can you see them?”

“Nope,” Gu Fei replied.

“Head toward 428, 427. There is a mound in that location; do you see it?” Young Master Han asked.

“Yes... But how do you know its coordinates?” Gu Fei asked as he headed toward the indicated location.

“Talent,” Young Master Han answered simply, chuckling.

“Sword Demon, there’s a low ground over by 29, 476. Go there and refresh your coordinates when you can.”

“Got it,” Sword Demon acknowledged and moved toward the indicated location as well.

“...The players from Crowd Herder have gotten near our spawn point. Wounds, your coordinates,” Young Master Han informed after a while.

“59, 2. Also, it’s Cloud Herder!” War Without Wounds corrected.

“Do you see that wooden house over by 35, 64 yet?” Young Master Han asked.

“I see it. I’ll head over there now.”

“I’m not asking you to head there; the enemies are near that location. Is there anything around you that you can use to hide yourself? Keep yourself hidden first. I don’t really have a clear view of your location since some g*dd*mn trees are blocking my line of sight,” Young Master Han cursed.

“Mhm. There’s a large boulder here.”

“Hide behind that and report your coordinates.”

“54, 16,” War Without Wounds said after hiding behind the boulder.

Young Master Han adjusted his position upon the tree until he could find an angle where he could see the large boulder.

“Oh... It looks like you can’t hide there for long. Get ready to use Cyclone. Cut down as many opponents as you can!” The Cloud Herder mercenary group’s members just reached Young Master’s Elite mercenary group’s spawn point and did not discover a trace of the six men, so they began to split themselves into smaller teams to comb the area.

“Eight men are headed your direction, Wounds. Looks like you’ll be the first to sacrifice yourself for the team. We will remember you,” Young Master Han stated apathetically.

“F*ck*r, you guys better not lose!” War Without Wounds tightened his grip on his claymore.

“Naturally. Get ready,” Young Master Han warned.

War Without Wounds’ claymore was angled off the ground. It was in a position to unleash Cyclone and brutally rend through his enemies once they showed their heads to him.

“F*ck! You’ve already been discovered. Hurry and rush out,” Young Master Han quickly shouted.

War Without Wounds also noticed the fiery glow that that had appeared above him. The enemies evidently discovered that someone was hiding behind the boulder so, instead of coming over, they simply had their Mages directly bombard the area with spells. War Without Wounds bellowed as he rushed out. Although he managed to evade the Descending Wheel of Flames coming from above, the sight that had greeted him upon his emergence from behind the boulder left him completely discouraged.

The enemies had already taken precautions against an ambush coming from behind the boulder and maintained a fair distance from it. When War Without Wounds rushed out, he immediately received the concerted attacks of all sixty-eight men from the Cloud Herder mercenary group. Arrows, spells... Long-range attacks rained upon him. No matter how high a Warrior’s defense and HP was, surviving this barrage of attacks that held nothing back was simply impossible.

War Without Wounds had neither Gu Fei’s nor Svelte Dancer’s fast reaction and movement speed. Although his claymore managed to cleave a few balls of fire heading his way, he could not disperse all of them, especially that soon-to-land Descending Wheel of Flames. Under the enfilade of arrows and flames, War Without Wounds transformed into a stream of white light.

In the list of Young Master’s Elite mercenary group’s participating members, War Without Wounds’ name dimmed as the opposing mercenary group was awarded 1 kill point.

“Brother Assist, your location is a little conspicuous. Head over to a mound at 468, 101,” The circumstances looked dire, so Young Master Han increased his commanding tempo.

“Miles, have you reached it? Stay where you are.”

The Cloud Herder mercenary group finished splitting up the sixty-eight players into eight-man teams and headed around the map in eight directions. As for the remaining four players, they headed toward the highest points of the map.

“The opponents are about to obtain a high ground. Sword Demon, quickly head toward 128, 412 using your Fleetfoot; there’s a forest in that location!”

“Brother Assist, there are two teams heading your way, so move toward 399, 412. Make haste; there’s another team coming toward you from 178, 134. Get to that low ground before they arrive in order to get away undetected.”

“Miles, there’s a team of eight heading toward your direction.”

“Great! I’ll take care of them!” Gu Fei was raring to go.

“No, don’t do that. Another team is nearby in the 12 o’clock direction. If you engage those eight men, you’ll end up taking all sixteen of them!” Young Master Han cautioned, adding, “From behind that mound, head toward 426, 375. I shan’t have to worry about you with your speed, yeah?”

“Of course...” Gu Fei actually wanted to try facing off against sixteen men all at once. But since this was a group activity, he was first and foremost a member of a group.

“Mmm, Royal...” Royal God Call, who had been ignored all this while, was finally addressed by Young Master Han.

“What?” Royal God Call was already bored to death at this point. It was as if he had nothing to do with this battle at the moment. Running in accordance to coordinates was a simple task to the average players, yet this was literally the world’s most difficult matter for someone like him who was geospatially challenged.

“The enemy team in the 3 o’clock direction has already entered the forest,” Young Master Han said to him.

Royal God Call lifted his head and took a look. Young Master Han was hidden amid the verdant trees, obscured by leaves and branches. The location up a tree was truly a wondrous concealment spot. Regrettably, the trees around here were thick and high, so Royal God Call found it impossible to climb up one without anyone giving him a lift from below.

“What should I do?” Royal God Call asked. The surrounding forest was the most suitable terrain for the Archer to survive, a job class that excelled in ambushing others. However, Royal God Call’s poor sense of direction limited his ability to display the job class advantage here. Just how was it possible for someone without a great sense of direction to use the terrain effectively to deal with the enemy? If Royal God Call were to attempt this, let alone not knowing where the enemies were, it would even be possible for him to lose himself while making his way around the forest.

“Stand here. Turn right. Mmm, that’s good. Run straight in that direction!” Young Master Han said.

“Okay!” Royal God Call finally received Young Master Han’s instruction. Securing his bow on his back, he ran in the direction Young Master Han had just indicated.

Currently, the players of both teams were frantically making their moves all about this PvP arena.

Chapter Notes:

[1] Power Xtreme Centurion - A DC inspired TV show from the late 1980s. Think of Power Rangers, but each with individual mech suit and unique weapon or power.