Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Southern Lone Blade was quite shocked.

Gu Fei and Eternal Dominion had actually walked directly towards where they were positioned, which was quite the unusual move on their part.

Even though Southern Lone Blade had been planning to make off with Gu Fei’s dropped equipment for the longest time, his intention to do so had never been made known, so there was no reason Gu Fei should be aware that they harbored ill intent towards them.

So just what was his purpose in striding over towards them like this? If he was attempting to avenge his friends, why were they not with him? There was no way he was simply passing by randomly and the thought to take revenge popped up when he spotted them, right? Southern Lone Blade thought this was a possibility, but of course he would have never expected Gu Fei to come looking for him on business.

“And you said he was difficult to locate. This was a piece of cake!” Eternal Dominion lauded as he walked over.

“That’s what I’m telling you, there’s plenty of future in this job!” Gu Fei said.

The guess that Brother Assist and the rest came up with was correct; the seven players in Southern Lone Blade’s squad were all once in the ranks of the Ten Great Adepts, but they had all lost their placing the moment they lost their lives on their trip to Luori City.

Each of the seven players were all in the same predicament, having lost a level each after their trip. But these men were still confident in themselves when it came to their own skills, otherwise they would not have calmly continued to come up with a plan to take on the experts from Young Master's Elites. However, they were all caught off guard and their trains of thought were disrupted the moment they saw Eternal Dominion in Gu Fei’s company.

They no longer had time to conceive of an intricate plan, so Southern Lone Blade could only make eye contact with the other six men and convey accordingly, “Ignore Eternal Dominion and concentrate your attacks on the Video Mage.”

The six men nodded.

Gu Fei and Eternal Dominion came closer to them. Even though the seven men remained seated, Glue had already drawn his bow out in preparation while Flame Singed Clothes had begun to recite the first spell incantation he would be using silently.

“Don’t do anything first!” When Southern Lone Blade saw the two ranged players with them looked to be ready to deal the first strike, his hand quickly shot out to stop them and drew their attention over with his eyes.

Everybody followed his gaze, and saw the men taking care of the bar coming forward to greet the two men.

“What are you two gentlemen looking to order?”

“Oh. that’s right!” Gu Fei suddenly remembered something. “Don’t this beach here restrict players from PvPing?”

The color drained from the barkeep’s face and his expression hardened the moment he heard what the two were saying. “What business do the two gentlemen have with the establishment?”

“Why can’t we engage in PvP here?” Eternal Dominion asked, unprompted.

“Because that would affect their business,” Gu Fei replied.

“That’s right!” When the barkeep heard Gu Fei say this, he felt he must be the more sensible of the two, and his expression immediately softened quite a bit. “So if you are looking to fight, we hope that you two gentlemen could change the location of your battle.”

At this point, Southern Lone Blade no longer had any intention of escaping as he flashed a smirk, leering at Gu Fei provokingly.

Naturally, this was not done without reason. He had just suddenly realized that even though it would be hasty to act here, there were benefits if a fight really went down in this place. At the very least, the seven of them would not appear to be the antagonizers, while the two troublemakers Gu Fei and Eternal Dominion would subsequently suffer the combined wrath of the various large guilds of Linshui City hunting them down.

Southern Lone Blade would obviously embrace such a chaotic scene unfolding. He loved being the fish in murky waters in such scenarios; it was precisely what his intended plan of approach had been back when he set forth for Luori City. He did not expect to come round full circle and find himself in a similar situation after his failure back then, this time in his home ground of Linshui City!

Southern Lone Blade did not want to miss this opportunity, so he held his scornful gaze on Gu Fei in an attempt to provoke the man with that smirk. Southern Lone Blade thought to himself, Someone whose PK Value would easily skyrocket to the tens is bound to be hot-headed, so he is sure to strike recklessly.

In that case, even if the seven of them did not retaliate, the men from the various guilds were sure to act on their behalf. Even though they might be no match for the two experts, it would nevertheless create that chaotic scene he yearned for. Better yet, Gu Fei was sure to gain more PK points as a result of the battle! PK Value was something any professional larcenist loved, for it helped increase their chances of getting their hands on the target’s strongest equipment!

Southern Lone Blade thought about how wondrous that would be, so he continued to increase his provoking gaze. He saw Eternal Dominion point at him and say, “That’s Southern Lone Blade.”

“I know,” Gu Fei nodded.

“He’s looking at you with disdain,” Eternal Dominion noticed.

Gu Fei chuckled, “He’s about to die soon, I’m not bothered by him acting arrogant for a while…”

Southern Lone Blade felt a wave of sadness overcome him. But it was not because of Gu Fei’s disrespect. It was because he now realized that attempting to goad this man into action would be useless, since he did not care for such trivial matters at all. As such, the chaotic scenario that he hoped would come about was not to be, in the end.

But he soon heard Gu Fei speak to the three men tending the open air bar, “Gentlemen, I guarantee we will settle our business so immaculately that it will be no trouble to your establishment.”

There was no way the three would be easily convinced by such a claim, so they shook their heads vigorously in response. Furthermore, after hearing that the man they were looking to target was Southern Lone Blade, who had another six men with him at the moment, they seriously doubted the fight would be as immaculate as they claimed.

“We’re not gonna pry into the past conflicts you two might have with others, but this is our place of business. So please settle your matters in some other place.” The tone the barkeep kept with them was still civil. Men sure came in all varieties; had this been a guild from Yueye City, they would not have wasted so many words and simply slain any interlopers on the spot instead.

Gu Fei had hoped the man was as violent as the players of Yueye City, but he found it awkward to respond with violence seeing how polite he acted.

“Are you certain we can’t?” Gu Fei asked.

The man shook his head.

“Alright then!” Gu Fei had a helpless look, turning to leave with Eternal Dominion in tow.

The three men thought the two would leave, but the moment they let their guard down, Gu Fei suddenly turned around, raised his sword in a slant, and pointed it towards the sky.

“Descending Wheel of Flames!!! QUICK SCRAM!!” Flame Singed Clothes yelled out. In an instant, the table where the seven players were crowding around was emptied, as Southern Lone Blade and his squad reacted quickly and evacuated the moment they heard Flame Singed Clothes’ warning.

“YOU!!!” The three barkeepers had not expected Gu Fei would actually do this, and were naturally infuriated.

In the end, they watched as Gu Fei casually returned his sword to his dimensional pocket and calmly asked, “What’s wrong? Can’t I just strike a pose?”

The three men were stunned, turning around and seeing that even though the seven men had hastily beaten a retreat in seven different directions, there was not even a trace of flickering flames in the air. It seemed that Gu Fei had merely just raised his sword innocently, while the seven men had overreacted.

And since all he did was strike a pose, it was not considered to be an attempt at PvP...

Nevertheless, the rules on this beach were set by the players. It was not rigid like the rules set by the system, and was far more flexible in its interpretation. Even though there was no actual attempt, Gu Fei’s act could still be construed as troublemaking, which was still not condoned in any shape or form here. The three players in charge of the premises reacted accordingly.

“Looks like you’re here to intentionally cause trouble for us, bro.” With that, other players from the other bars rushed over as well, most likely players from the guild that owned the place.

Gu Fei shook his head in response, “Nope, I’m here to slay someone.” With that, he raised his hand and abruptly disappeared. The three men had never seen such a strange disappearance like this in all their time playing the game and were confused as to what happened, when they suddenly heard a surprised cry from behind. The three men quickly turned to the origin of the cry and saw that the man whom Gu Fei was with had already moved close to the table while everyone was distracted by Gu Fei’s actions.

After their evasive actions in response to the spell that turned out to be a ruse, Southern Lone Blade had not even managed to calm himself when he discovered Eternal Dominion was already dashing right up to where he was, eagerly engaging him with a swing of his fist.

Southern Lone Blade did not think too much on the matter, and raised his shield to block the punch. Unfortunately, the person he was fighting today was no ordinary gamer.

Southern Lone Blade had raised his shield in an attempt to block, but in doing so, not only was that punch blocked, his vision was obstructed as well. He did not know that that Eternal Dominion could still modify the punch he had thrown, changing into a claw as he clutched the side of the shield.

In response, Southern Lone Blade activated his Charge with his shield. Even though doing so reduced the distance and power behind the skill, it actually increased the area of attack applicable. When a Warrior activated their Charge, it was usually not done with the intention of damaging the opponent, but instead to proc the faint status onto their opponent, as well as to give a usually slow Warrior a sudden burst of movement in that instant.

There was no way anyone would be able to avoid a shield Charge in such a close range.

Unfortunately, the opponent Southern Lone Blade was facing today was Eternal Dominion; he had already anticipated Southern Lone Blade making such a move, so he immediately redirected the force of the Charge at the same moment his hand grabbed onto the shield, pushing Southern Lone Blade right past him the very moment he activated his Charge.

Southern Lone Blade’s Charge struck nothing but air even as he saw a figure blur behind him, and immediately realized he was in trouble. Sure enough, before he could even turn around the moment his skill ended, Eternal Dominion had already scored a hold on his waist.

Southern Lone Blade could only cry out in his head, Oh no! as he was flung into the air.

Just as a Warrior would be imbued with a burst of speed they did not possess when they used their Charge, Fighters would experience something similar whenever they activated their Seismic Toss. It did not matter how heavy the target player was, they would instantly become as light as a feather.

The three men at the bar turned round, and saw Southern Lone Blade being tossed. Even the other six men of Southern Lone Blade’s squad were unable to react in time, as everything happened too fast. By the time they realized something was amiss, all they saw was Eternal Dominion wrapping round behind Southern Lone Blade and getting a hold on the man in the next moment.

And it was not over yet...

Eternal Dominion had even specifically chosen where Southern Lone Blade would land as a result of his Seismic Toss, an empty clearing that would not disturb anyone. Gu Fei had blinked over and materialized there, even as his sword whipped out, the fiery glow that wreathed the blade flowing in a red hot path upwards. Southern Lone Blade wanted to reach out and block it with his shield, but he had unfortunately he been affected by a Fighter’s Seismic Toss, which meant Southern Lone Blade was unable to escape or even move before he landed on the ground; there was simply no way he could do anything to avoid it.

Southern Lone Blade landed in a cloud of dust. Eternal Dominion was one of the Five Unyielding Experts, and even though his care for his equipment was equally as nonchalant as Gu Fei, completely unlike the average gamer, it was at least not crude to the point it was negligible. Just from competing in so many system-assigned missions in Luori City alone had provided him with a rather splendid set of equipment, and since he was not sparring, it made sense he had them all on. In the moment Southern Lone Blade landed, he could feel his HP bar drain rapidly, even as that fiery slash came flowing past him.

White light followed...