Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Broken Water Arrow no longer had any room to maneuver as he was sent to this point of no return by his own two hands. Now that he could not slay his opponent, all that was left was to be slain by the opponent.

Perhaps, he’s merely been waiting for me to make such a move ever since he jammed my trigger with that tiny wad of paper. This man’s not just fearsomely skilled but crafty as well.

The thought flashed across Broken Water Arrow’s mind as the tip of Gu Fei’s sword swept past him.

He did not feel great pain, and more importantly, this slash lacked that intense burning sensation that came with a Mage’s Fire spells. Broken Water Arrow looked carefully. He had no idea where the flames that originally wreathed Gu Fei’s sword when he cast Twin Incineration had gone, but that also meant that this cut he took was nothing more than a sword cleave from a Mage, and it was devoid of any spell damage.

Meanwhile, Gu Fei darted over to take cover under the eaves of a house; his back was propped against the wall and his eyes no longer posted on Broken Water Arrow. Instead, he was looking over in a different direction with great vigilance.

Someone came to my rescue! Broken Water Arrow understood that someone must have ambushed Gu Fei at this critical moment. It was simple to prevent a Mage’s attack, since all they needed was a hit to interrupt the spell incantation. No matter how skilled Gu Fei really was, there was no way he could escape this rule of the system. The only reason his attack had turned into a basic attack was due to someone out there interrupting his casting.

Nevertheless, he saw no one on the street, so it was probably a ranged job class that delivered this attack.

Is it an Archer from the guild? Broken Water Arrow was guessing the identity of his savior when he heard the extremely sharp whistle of an arrow in flight.

Broken Water Arrow involuntarily wrinkled his brows. He hated just how obtrusive the sound of an arrow was designed in this game, as it was clearly an audio warning for the enemy. Still, despite his hate for it, he understood its purpose. Sounds played a large part in games, and they were indications of powerful attacks.

Gu Fei nimbly spun under the eaves as that shot embedded itself into the wall. Linyin City’s houses were mostly made out of wood, so this shot even directly pierced the wall with almost half of the arrow shaft punching through.

“What a powerful shot!” Broken Water Arrow exclaimed. As a Sharpshooter, this was also the first time he had seen an arrow fired off with such ferocity.

Just like Gu Fei, he was able to judge where this shot had come from. Atop the wall near the other end of the street, an Archer was half-squatting by the eaves of a house, holding an eye-catching pose. Anyone could tell at a glance just how accustomed this person was when it came to such things.

After releasing a Snipe moments ago, what followed was a Double Shot. Gu Fei did a combat roll as the two arrows plunged into the ground. Gu Fei looked to his left and right, as if considering if he could finish off Broken Water Arrow before dealing with this unknown assailant, but his expression suddenly paled, and he did a backflip behind the sacks piled along the street to take cover from them. Following this, another red coruscating arrow came flying rapidly toward him. Gu Fei had originally avoided it, but who would have thought that this arrow would suddenly change its direction and drove after Gu Fei behind that pile?

White light flashed!

Broken Water Arrow clearly saw this flash of white light appear from behind that pile of sacks. His heart trembled. Quickly pacing over, he no longer saw signs of Gu Fei.

“Is he dead?” Broken Water Arrow was stunned, yet he was not particularly surprised. That was because, having eaten his own Snipe moments ago, Gu Fei’s HP was not at 100%. The Mage’s Blink skill was probably still on cooldown after using it earlier. More importantly, that arrow that was fired off just now unexpectedly had the tracking effect. Broken Water Arrow was certain that it was not a Homing Projectile, since the speed of the arrow from that skill was so slow that it could not even match the speed of a Mage’s Fireball. That shot he had just witnessed bore all the characteristics of a Snipe, yet it could also track its target. How would anyone be able to evade that attack?

Recalling how that red coruscating arrow looked as it whizzed past, Broken Water Arrow reckoned that it must be some new skill. Turning his head behind him as he thought of this, he saw that there was another Archer standing tall in the wind, looking dashing. Going by the figure he saw at this distance, it seemed that this Archer was a woman.

Following the death of Gu Fei, Sword Demon quickly retreated from his hiding spot behind a pile of sacks using Stealth with every intention of leaving. However, this was when a roar from a Warrior who had descended from a nearby rooftop was heard; the tremor from his landing shook everyone’s hearts. Raising his arms, the Warrior angrily unleashed his Cyclone right in the middle of the street as he came tearing toward the Stealthed Sword Demon.

A Thief’s movement speed was reduced while in Stealth mode, and this Warrior had the advantage of knowing Sword Demon’s hiding spot before he began his Cyclone attack. Even though he did not know the exact position where Sword Demon was, his Cyclone had essentially sealed off every possible escape route that Thief had.

Sword Demon’s figure soon appeared out of thin air. He knew making a getaway while in Stealth would be far too unrealistic. Sword Demon glanced to his left and right. Getting a running head start, he leaped onto a pile of sacks beside a house and used the momentum to bring his body on top of a roof. The Archer on the opposite end quickly fired off an arrow and struck his shoulder. Sword Demon shuddered, but he gritted his teeth and rolled to get his entire body to safety. He proceeded to activate his Fleetfoot and was soon sprinting across the rooftops.

“D*mm*t!” Broken Water Arrow heard that Warrior curse as he randomly tossed a sack against a nearby wall.

Broken Water Arrow was in a daze. He looked to the left, then to the right, and up that rooftop. There was no doubt that these three players were all experts. The destructive force of that Archer on the rooftop diagonally opposite him, the distinctive skill of that female Archer behind him, and the Warrior that consciously used his Cyclone to cut off the escape routes of his ambusher… They were all very remarkable. These players were probably not from Linyin City, as most of the experts here were either Hunters or the occasional Thieves. Rarely would anyone hear about the achievements of other job classes.

“Who are you guys?” Broken Water Arrow asked. He lifted his eyes, only to find that the Archer atop the roof had already retreated from sight, while the Warrior in the middle of the street had also sheathed his two claymores and stood there impassively. The female Archer from behind him was the only one who had come walking toward him.

“Broken Water Arrow,” this woman called out his name crisply.

“You people know my name?” Broken Water Arrow was surprised. He looked back. It turned out that ‘you guys’ was no longer apt of a description, for that Warrior had already turned and set off. This left just this lady to speak to him.

“We’ve had our eye on you for a while now,” she said as a form of confirmation.

“Who are you guys?” Broken Water Arrow asked suspiciously.

“Lone Eagle Workshop,” she introduced.

“A workshop?” Broken Water Arrow was still skeptical.

“We’ve only recently started; we’re still at the stage of talent acquisition, so we don’t really have much fame to our name yet.”

“You said you’re looking for me? What are your intentions?” Broken Water Arrow was naturally able to discern that these people had their reasons for approaching him.

“Should we continue our discussion here or find somewhere else to discuss this properly after we unmask ourselves?” One of the two had their face covered, while the other had facepaint on his face. They were both hiding their identities.

“That doesn’t matter,” Broken Water Arrow replied. “I thank you guys for rescuing me, but if you’re approaching me to join a workshop, I’m not in the least bit interested.”

“Is there a need to reject us so quickly? Let’s find a spot and slowly talk about this,” the lady invited.

At the end of the day, she had been a huge help moments ago; anyone would feel rather awkward to reject an invite so directly, and Broken Water Arrow was no exception. The man nodded, and the two left the street together.

“Where to?” Broken Water Arrow asked.

“The choice is yours,” the lady answered.

“This place will do, then!” Broken Water Arrow pointed to a tavern beside him. It was the best place for players to go and have a chat in the game.

Xi Xiaotian was a little astonished. She originally thought that Broken Water Arrow would be unwilling to discuss such matters in a place where other players would gather, yet he specifically chose such a place like a tavern. This kind of start was already outside the realm of her expectation. It seemed that this matter would not proceed as smoothly as she had first presumed it would!

Xi Xiaotian hoped to glean something from the look he had but ultimately failed because the latter had paint on his face. She even felt a little faint if she stared at it for too long.

“This place works!” She did not hesitate for long and quickly agreed to enter the establishment together with the man.

It was early in the morning, so while there were not exactly many players in the tavern, it was not particularly empty either. She chose seats in a corner for them, and the two sat down.

“Anything to drink?” The man took the initiative to ask this question.

She quickly processed this. Her face was still covered. Asking her about what she wanted to drink, was he trying to hint for her to take off the cloth covering her face? Thus, Xi Xiaotian bravely took it off without a moment of pause as she answered, “I’m fine with anything!”

Broken Water Arrow turned his head back and ordered two glasses of liquor. It was the sort that the average player would commonly be found drinking. Nevertheless, he did not make any attempts to wipe off the facepaint on his face and showed no intention of revealing how he really looked beneath it.

“This guy…” She noticed that he was exceedingly calm, emotionally speaking. He was completely unfazed by her actions or the activities in his surroundings. It was really difficult to get a grasp on what his type was thinking deep down. Adding the fact that his face was hidden behind all that paint, it was hard to even get a good read from any of his subtle expression.

Xi Xiaotian gracefully took a sip of her beverage. Just as she was wondering where to begin, she saw Broken Water Arrow lift his glass up before he started the conversation. “In any case, I ought to thank you still for you and your men’s timely help earlier.”

“No need to be courteous; we didn’t do it out of goodwill.” Xi Xiaotian was frank.

“A workshop, right? I truly don’t have any interest in that,” Broken Water Arrow said.

“Is that so?” She was looking directly into the man’s eyes. “Are you really uninterested or are you too satisfied with the current situation? Don’t worry; we offer great conditions when it comes to the treatment of our employees.”

“Treatment? That’s not what I mean,” Broken Water Arrow repudiated.

“Oh? What other requests do you have, then? I will try my best to accommodate them,” she announced.

“A workshop means becoming a professional gamer, right? I simply have no interest in such a line of work, so I have no intention of joining one.” The man was upfront.

“Is that so? But from what I understand, the work you’re currently doing is rather exemplary!” Xi Xiaotian said.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

“I’m referring to the work you’re doing in Deep Freeze.” Xi Xiaotian was all smiles. From beneath the table, she secretly unfurled the Memory Blackbox Scroll to activate it. In order not to screw up, everyone specifically asked Brother Assist to research about how this thing worked. There was only a single key point a user must take note when using Memory Blackbox. When it was cast as a spell, the caster ought to sustain it continuously as it would end the moment it got interrupted. If it was from a scroll, the user must keep the scroll unfurled the whole time, and there was no issue or need for it to be kept in sight. From the center of the scroll, any sound and video would be perfectly captured within the spherical square radius. As for the duration of the spell, it depended entirely on the user or caster’s mana. Be it in the form of a spell or a scroll, Memory Blackbox would eat up mana while it was in use. This meant that the more mana a player had, the longer the user could record with it.