Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

“Quick, dodge!” Gu Fei shouted as he withdrew as quickly as he could. Youthful Reflection was no slower than either man, as he was an Archer who invested all his stat points in Agility. The movement speed that he possessed was higher than that of Gu Fei or Sword Demon if his equipment was not factored into the calculation. And with how adept the man was when it came to avoiding a Mage’s spells, he soon left the others in the dust as he bolted away, despite Gu Fei having been the one who first cried out the warning.

The AoE spell that the Mage had thrown was like a bomb that exploded behind the three men, with a host of Mages scrambling out of the cavity. These Mages were hot on their heels as they ran forward while throwing their spells right into the collection of trees without caring to target anyone. Young Master Han found it regrettable that the distance of these trees was a little bit too far from the cavity. Had it been a little closer, he could have eliminated them all with a single Spell Bombardment.

“How could this be? An ambush? But we’ve been squatting there for hours, why did they only make their move now?” Youthful Reflection was flabbergasted.

Gu Fei mulled over this for a moment before he said, “Perhaps they were specifically waiting for the two of us to show up!”

Tears from Youthful Reflection were streaking down his cheeks as he ran. Why did they not attack before? Because Youthful Reflection and his handful of scouts were not even considered to be human in the enemy’s eyes, and only those two experts were considered to be worthy foes.

“There are Stealthed Thieves in the trees here,” Sword Demon said.

Youthful Reflection looked at Gu Fei, “Don’t you know how to detect Stealth? Why have you not sensed it?”

“There’s a range too it…” Gu Fei said. Young Master Han had too thorough an understanding of Gu Fei’s capabilities, so he, of course, had a good idea of the range Gu Fei was capable of detecting Stealth in. He must have instructed his Thieves in how to prevent themselves from being discovered while Stealthed.

“In other words, they must have already realized that we were here when we first arrived,” Youthful Reflection commented gravely.

“But of course. What were you guys trying to do anyway?” Gu Fei asked.

“Oh no!!!” Youthful Reflection yelped, no longer paying attention to Gu Fei and Sword Demon as he quickly sent a message to Oathless Sword. Since Carouse already knew that there were players from Traversing Four Seas camped out here in the trees, that means they might have already guessed their ill-intentions and might already have been prepared for any sort of attack as a result. Thus, no matter what they do now, they would simply be lambs being led to the slaughter.

Oathless Sword could only sigh helplessly when he received the message, “Too late, those two guilds have already departed.”

“Don’t send our guys over yet,” Youthful Reflection said.

“That’s obvious. How’s your situation?”

“Fleeing for my life!!!” Just as Youthful Reflection finished saying his piece, Gu Fei suddenly pressed his head down, as a Snipe came flying past his scalp. Youthful Reflection was in a state of shock, quickly saying to Gu Fei, “Thanks a lot!”

Gu Fei was quite astonished. “Man, that was my conditioned reflex, why would I save you…?”

Youthful Reflection felt despondent hearing this, but he was also aware that Thousand Miles Drunk and Sword Demon could become very useful tools in dealing with Carouse here, so he sought to organize his emotions, “Don’t say that, actually we can be considered to be on the same side this time.”

In the end, Gu Fei did not hear him say this, but instead turned to Sword Demon after looking all around, “Have they completely surrounded this copse of trees?”

“We didn’t see anything when we were coming in, so they should not have had enough time to surround the place so soon. There’s no way that Archers and Thieves could keep us cordoned in here, but we gotta be quick!” Sword Demon said.

“Quick quick quick! Soldiers, to me!!” Gu Fei continued his mad sprint even as he called for the three soldiers still hiding over by their side of the trees. The soldiers immediately came running over to him, which left Youthful Reflection dumbfounded. Even though neither of the men paid any attention to him, Youthful Reflection continued to follow closely in their wake.

“Where should we go?” Gu Fei asked.

“We don’t appear to have any proper cover if we head out this way,” Sword Demon said.

“Follow me, I know a way!” Youthful Reflection had finally gotten himself a chance for the two to hear his voice.

Sure enough, they turned toward him and called out in unison, “Lead the way!”

Youthful Reflection was now in the lead, Gu Fei was to the left and Sword Demon to the right, both being slightly behind him. The Mages’ spell bombardment going off a distance behind them only got further and further as the three made a mad sprint away from the place. Even though the players giving chase appeared unceasingly, as long as there was no huge obstacle ahead of them, the three did not have too difficult a time escaping.

As they came charging out of the trees, now with his three soldiers following as well, Gu Fei suddenly had an idea, “Got it! Come this way!”

With that, he led his soldiers and Sword Demon straight toward the battlefield that was still ongoing several dozens of meters in front of them. Youthful Reflection had originally been leading them in a different direction, and before he could even say a word, he turned around to discover the others were no longer with him and were running off in a different direction.

“Hey, I’m over here!” Youthful Reflection shouted. How could they have made a mistake while following me? Do these guys even have eyes?

In the end, Gu Fei and Sword Demon simply turned back to glance at him, ignoring his call as they continued running off their own way. Youthful Reflection was annoyed, but he really wanted to try and borrow their strength, so he began following the two once more.

“Hey chiefs, where are the both of you running to?” Youthful Reflection was waving his hand shouting loudly as he ran after them, only to see the two men and three soldiers plunge right into the chaotic battlefield ahead.

Youthful Reflection was stunned and realized what they were doing. If those two were on the side of the system, that meant that the NPC guards on the battlefield would not be attacking them. Meanwhile, the players would treat them as players, so would see no reason to fight them as well. This essentially made the battlefield the ideal place of protection for them. But what about Youthful Reflection? Who would save him if he ended up aggro-ing the guards?

Youthful Reflection hesitated for a moment before he gritted his teeth and dove in as well. The players from the various guilds looked to be fighting harmoniously here, Youthful Reflection tried to avoid all the system guards even as he searched for the whereabouts of Sword Demon and Gu Fei. Along the way, players would always be hollering at him, “Bro, retreat!”Bro, your 3 o’clock direction.”Bro, lend a hand here!”

Youthful Reflection did not dare to refuse these people by claiming he was not here to fight, so he would answer these cries from time to time. Through this tough situation he found himself in and based on his superior observational skills, he kept heading in the direction where it was less dangerous, surviving so far that he managed to locate Gu Fei and Sword Demon here.

Shameless!!! Youthful Reflection unbearably cursed in his heart. Sword Demon and Gu Fei were both having a jolly fight with the three soldiers of theirs, but Youthful Reflection easily recognized the faces of the three soldiers to be the same three that Gu Fei had just been leading around. The NPCs completely listened to his orders, so the two were merely playacting!

Youthful Reflection eagerly looked out of this circle and saw that the players from Carouse had also chased them all the way here. However, when facing the chaos of this battlefield, all of them ultimately came to a halt and randomly searched around for traces of their quarry before turning back to where they came from.

It was around this time when someone who was caught in a fight backed into Youthful Reflection. As this player was busy wielding his sword to deal with the enemy he was engaged with, he asked, “Bro, what are you standing around here for?”

Youthful Reflection was about to raise his bow and support him when he watched as that player got knocked down to the ground by the city guard with a slash, killing him off once he was down on the ground. Youthful Reflection obviously had no wish to fight the guard now, finally understanding that Gu Fei and Sword Demon were putting up their show for the benefit of the players around them. Otherwise, hot-blooded players would surely call for assistance if they were to stand around blankly as he did.

“Here I come!!!” Youthful Reflection yelled. He did not dare to pick a fight against the stalwart city guards, so he headed over to where Gu Fei and Sword Demon were and chose one of the soldiers they were fighting in hopes of joining them to act out a 3v3 skirmish.

However, Gu Fei had no included Youthful Reflection when he first gave the order for their play-acted fight and adding to the fact that he was the enemy, why would Gu Fei’s soldiers have any reason to be courteous to Youthful Reflection? The moment the NPC saw someone attack it, it proceeded to strive for a return attack; how would Youthful Reflection even have a chance of surviving a melee confrontation? All he could do was wail in despair as that soldier proceeded to chase after him.

“Miles—Miles bro, quick save me!” Youthful Reflection was scurrying away with his hands hugging his head in his consternation. Gu Fei was laughing for a good while before he asked the soldier to halt. Youthful Reflection sighed in relief, no longer daring to make any sudden moves. All he could do was slide up to the two men, “Gentlemen, what do the two of you plan to do?”

“Why don’t you tell us what you have in mind first?” Gu Fei said.

“Uh, as I’ve said before, in some ways, we’re actually on the same side. I don’t have to know what your ultimate goal is, but as long as you can disrupt Carouse from completing their quest, I’m sure I can make things easier for you,” Youthful Reflection said.

Sword Demon wrinkled his brow. It was apparent that he still found the scheming and undermining of efforts between guilds that Youthful Reflection intended to be doing to be rather contemptible.

Gu Fei however, did not reveal any sort of emotions when he heard the offer, as he simply asked, “Oh, how would you do that?”

“Right now, the guilds Pike N’ Roses and Black and White, Life or Death Federation are both plotting against Carouse, and in this ensuing mess, could there perhaps be any chance for either of you to make your move?” Youthful Reflection said.

“Hmm, did you say Black and White, Life or Death Federation?” Gu Fei asked.

“That’s right. Miles bro knows this guild as well, I see!” Youthful Reflection beamed.

“Of course I do. The guild leader is White and Black, the guy who has a very particular undertaking when it came to his equipment!” Gu Fei said even as he stole glanced over at Sword Demon. The man was not showing any sort of awkwardness at this time either, and it was evident he was quite tempted, though this temptation he was feeling ran in the opposite direction of what Youthful Reflection yearned. The man was merely looking forward to taking down White and Black, whom Youthful Reflection had inadvertently sent over into his hands.

“Ahem, so what do you think we can do?” Gu Fei asked.

“Since Carouse has already discovered where I was, that means that they might have taken precautions against the two guilds’ mobilization. But no matter how it goes down, the resultant battle would surely be chaotic. Can’t the two of you complete your quest if you capitalize in all this pandemonium when it breaks out?” Youthful Reflection said.

“Possibly,” Gu Fei nodded.

“Furthermore, we’ve just run off. They would surely not expect us to come back for round two so soon,” Youthful Reflection postulated.

“That’s a little harder to say,” Gu Fei and Sword Demon were both thinking of the same person.

“Heh, there’s no way you would know if you don’t give it a shot!” Youthful Reflection egged them on.

“Fine, we’ll give it a shot.” Gu Fei nodded. “Where will those two guilds be appearing from?”

“I’m not too sure about that… Why are you asking about that for?”

“Since we now know that the enemy has made certain preparations for this invasion, why should we dive in headfirst into the enemy like this? We should first meet up with them and we can all think this over together,” Gu Fei said.

“In that case… But the two guilds might not be in one place together…” Youthful Reflection said.

“Well, we might not be able to intercept both guilds, so we should just stick to the stronger one. Which between the two would be the stronger guild?”

“Black and White, Life or Death Federation.”

“Great, then we’ll make contact with that guild. Quick, go find out what their current position is,” Gu Fei decided.

“I’ll try…” Fortunately, Youthful Reflection still had a friend in the Black and White, Life or Death Federation. He sent a message to his friend asking about their location, but that person simply refused to reveal any particular information about this. Youthful Reflection became frustrated in his annoyance by now, as he berated disparagingly, “Who do you think has no idea that you guys have designs toward Carouse’s quest? I’m trying to help you guys right now and happen to have brought men for a separate mission. I happened to have seen Carouse here appear to have set up in preparation for this and wanted to remind you guys to be careful, yet you are acting so ungrateful here!!”

“They’re prepared? How could this be? How did they know we’re coming?”

“The way I see it, I happen to have two good friends here with me. I’ll introduce them to you, and you guys can all work together. Who knows, you guys might just be able to turn the tables on them!”

“Just two friends of yours? How useful can they be?” the other man scorned.

“You don’t know sh*t; do you even have any idea who these two men are?” Youthful Reflection retorted condescendingly. He discovered how great a feeling it was to be standing beside experts, making him feel as if his own image had become larger than life as well.

This friend was quick on the uptake however, and immediately replied, “Could they be Sword Demon and Thousand Miles Drunk?”

“That’s precisely who the two are. Think about it. Carouse had gotten stirred just facing those two before. Do you still dare call them useless?”

“Aren’t they working for the system?”

“Are players working for the system still not considered people? Since everyone has the same goal in mind, why can’t you guys cooperate over this?”

“Fine, I’ll go tell my guild leader. I’ll send you our coordinates now. Head on over quick.”

“Got it!” Youthful Reflection called out to Thousand Miles Drunk and Sword Demon. “That guild is currently over at this set of coordinates here, asking us to hurry on over.”

“Let’s go! We don’t have much time,” Gu Fei took a look at the time and saw that they still had 20 minutes left for his quest. At the same time, he sent a message to Sword Demon, “Here’s our chance!”

Sword Demon replied, “It’s too shameless.”

“Are you coming or not?”

“Fine. Let’s just be shameless…” Sword Demon was a little despondent when he said this.

“We don’t have a choice. With your job class and the Faction you’re in, there’s no way that your quests would have any content that could be considered above board. You better get used to it!” Gu Fei consoled.

The two men followed Youthful Reflection as they made their way to the coordinates that they were given. When Black and White was made aware of the conversation Youthful Reflection had with that guild member, the man had gotten so much of a fright that he abruptly called his men to come to a halt. After all, he did not dare to clash head-on with Carouse. He originally intended to just bully the other party while they lacked the strength to defend themselves. But upon hearing that they had already made preparations for potential attacks, the man no longer dared to be reckless.

“Has everyone removed their guild emblems?” White and Black turned back to remind his men. He had not brought his full force for this operation as well, choosing only those whom he trusted, and at the same time, it was a force that he deemed would be sufficient to contend with Carouse’s team assigned there. The whole lot of them had removed their emblems and masked themselves, looking like a throng of sneaky bandits. Even White and Black had made the ultimate sacrifice, changing out of his trademark black and white equipment that he was so proud of.

White and Black and his men held their position as they waited, and Youthful Reflection soon arrived with Gu Fei and Sword Demon.

White and Black personally stepped forward to introduce himself, but before he could even say a word, Gu Fei and Sword Demon both suddenly leaped out from either side of Youthful Reflection. Gu Fei threw out a slash of Twin Incineration, while Sword Demon followed up with a stab of his dagger, sending White and Black off to the spawn point before he could even make sense of what happened. Gu Fei and Sword Demon immediately turned tail to run. By the time the rest of the men from Black and White, Life or Death Federation realized what just transpired and came chasing after the two all enraged, only Youthful Reflection was left standing petrified as men streamed past him, looking up to the sky in his stupor: Just what exactly is going on here?