Virtual World: Close Combat Mage Chapter 29-30

Chapter 29 – Repeating Fireball

Luo Luo held on to her own glass and walked toward Gu Fei and Fireball’s table.

“Is it alright if I join you?” Luo Luo said as she indicated the empty seat next to their table.

Fireball was very excited. Every time he sat with Gu Fei, they would take up two seats out of the possible three or four, leaving one or two seats empty to create such an opportunity.

Gu Fei felt rather surprised by her question. He had initially thought that the lady only greeted them out of courtesy, yet she unexpectedly asked to sit with them. Gu Fei naturally was not an inhospitable person so he nodded, “Go ahead!”

“My name’s Ruthless Falling Flowers1,” Luo Luo introduced herself as she sat down.

“That’s a nice name,” Gu Fei complimented.

“Is that the only way you know how to praise others?” Luo Luo snickered at Gu Fei.

Gu Fei felt embarrassed once he recalled how his flippant use of the sentence back then had caused that hot-tempered lady Lie Lie to send a fist his way.

“What’s your name?” Luo Luo asked Fireball gracefully.

Fireball stared at her for quite a while before he covered his face and wept.

“What’s up with him?” Luo Luo was perplexed.

Gu Fei tried his best to hold back his laughter, “He’s called…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but rather dipped his finger into his wine and wrote the name on the table.

“Oh, Fireball” Luo Luo laughed as well.

Fireball reflexively tensed up, yet Luo Luo simply laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not a Mage.”

Fireball heaved a sigh of relief. He immediately livened up and began unloading his misery to Luo Luo, telling her all the troubles the name had brought him. The way he said it seemed as if the burden of his name was so severe that it had formed a shadow in his heart, and that only a truly powerful surge of emotions, such as getting to know a lady like herself, could remove this shade.

Seeing that Fireball no longer cared to discuss with him regarding guild matters, Gu Fei simply chuckled as he stood up and said, “Keep chatting you two. I’m taking my leave first.”

“Go ahead! Bye!” Fireball thanked Gu Fei’s perceptiveness.

“Wait!” Luo Luo stood up, causing Fireball to feel as if he had fallen into a frozen cellar.

Gu Fei turned back to look at her.

“I’ve got something for you,” Luo Luo said.

“What is it?”

Luo Luo took out a small emblem from her pocket. It had a circular shape and a white background. The drawing was similar to the signage exuding a faint purple glow that could be seen hanging outside B17 on Charlotte Street.

“What’s this?”

“Guild emblem. Everyone in the guild has one,” Luo Luo explained.

“Ah? Drunk bro, you joined a guild? What guild is it? Why didn’t you mention it before?” Fireball already fired off all these questions with great intensity before Gu Fei could even speak a word.

“Ah! This… Actually, it’s a mistake. I’ll only stay in this guild for no more than a few days,” Gu Fei said.

“That’s not true,” Luo Luo laughed, “Xiaoqi doesn’t exactly dislike you. She might convince the rest of the ladies to accept having a male player in the guild.”

“Ladies? Male player?” Fireball muttered before suddenly asking, “What’s your guild name?”

“It’s the guild you were telling me about: Amethyst Rebirth,” Gu Fei said apologetically. Pain filled his heart as he sought for Fireball’s forgiveness.

Fireball suddenly sprung up and earnestly looked at Luo Luo and Gu Fei, loudly saying, “Sister Luo, since you don’t mind one, surely you wouldn’t mind two. I am Drunk bro’s junior; I’m like his shadow, so wherever he goes, I go as well. No one could separate us two brothers.”

Gu Fei felt embarrassed. He really wanted to declare to everyone that he did not know this man.

Luo Luo giggled impassively, “One more only makes two, so I don’t really mind.”

Fireball was elated.

“It’s a pity that I have no say in this,” Luo Luo added.

Fireball was on the verge of tears.

Gu Fei, on the other hand, gazed at the emblem that Luo Luo had placed on the table and said after a pause, “There’s no need to complicate things. I’ll just leave once you girls find a suitable person.”

“If that’s the case, so be it.” Luo Luo retrieved the emblem from the table.

Fireball was very bewildered as he stared at Gu Fei. He emotionally said, “Drunk bro, don’t do that. Since you’ve been given the chance, you shouldn’t just give up! You don’t have to care about my feelings.”

“You two can keep chatting, I’m leaving first,” Gu Fei didn’t even look at him as he turned around to leave.

Fireball carried on shouting, “Drunk bro, I understand your feelings. From here on, I’ve already decided! You’ll be my brother FOREVER!”

Gu Fei could no longer bear the crowd’s look of amusement as if they were watching a comedy duo’s live performance. He abruptly spun, raised his right hand, and hollered, “SHUT UP! Repeating Fireball! Fire!”

“Ah!” all the bar customers called out in shock.

Repeating Fireball was a level 30 Mage spell after all.

Despite Parallel World’s setting adjustment and the lowering of the experience points needed to ascend to level 30, some of the players did not reach that level yet. This was especially the case for Mages who were known for having a more difficult time gaining levels in the game’s early stages.

None of the players in the tavern had seen a level 30 Mage before, not to mention the level 30 spell. Hence, everyone was staring at the scene unblinkingly. In this virtual reality game, high attack, speed, or defense could not be compared to the coolness of a Mage chanting and releasing a spell. Many players only realized this after personally experiencing the game. Thus, for countless nights, many players cried into their pillows, “How wonderful would it have been if I had chosen a Mage job class back then….”

Gu Fei was probably the only person who regretted being a Mage in Parallel World.

The annoyed Mage aimed at Fireball and released the spell for the first time. Gu Fei might be the only Mage as well that got to level 30 without using spells all the time.

The crowd became filled with anticipation except for Fireball who was flustered and absolutely clueless. However, Repeating Fireball had yet to appear.

“What’s going on?” Gu Fei shook his finger with doubt. Magic could clearly be released with just bare hands; a magic staff only increased the effect of a spell, and incantations were not needed to be said either!

The players, originally preparing for a breathtaking performance, all jeered. They thought that the person must have not reached level 30 yet and was simply shouting out the spell to scare others.

Just when people lowered their guard, a flaming dragon left Gu Fei’s fingertip and explosively shot out in a stream, causing even him to feel frightened.

“F*ck, that’s a really long casting time!” Some rather quick-witted players already figured out what had happened.

The flaming dragon quickly circled and formed into a string of fireballs as it flew toward Fireball and bombarded him.

“Ahhh!” Fireball was enveloped in flames under the shocked gasp of the crowd.

The tavern became still and quiet. In half a beat, a series of wracking coughs broke the silence.

“That hurts like hell!” Fireball yelled as he wiped his face with his hands, which was now streaked with black soot.

“Eh?” everyone was astonished, “What trash damage! This guy’s nothing after all.” Although Mages were known for having the weakest physique in-game, the damage they could deal was staggering. Everyone knew that the level 30 spell could normally instantly destroy any opponent, unless the opponent had plenty of health or had equipment with high magic resistance.

Unlike Gu Fei who wore mismatched outfit, the others could easily identify that Fireball was a Mage from his attire. A Mage did not possess high HP in Parallel World.

“Does that person have high magic resistance gear?” someone asked doubtfully.

An expert with Appraisal quickly said, “Nope. He’s wearing common-grade equipment.”

Everyone’s attention therefore shifted toward Gu Fei.

Based on the current analysis, Mages would focus their stat points on to Intelligence and Spirit. These two attributes affected a Mage’s magic damage, casting time, and magic proficiency. Intelligence especially influenced damage and proficiency, whereas Spirit mainly influenced the casting time. A recent rumor even claimed that once Spirit reached a certain threshold, the cool-down time of the skill would be reduced.

In this case, Gu Fei displayed a long-casting time as well as a low magic damage.

Everyone could only feel their suspicions accumulate. How could such a Mage manage to survive and get to level 30?

“It must be because they’re friends, so the other one held back,” some player quietly analyzed.

“You’re right. Look, he’s not even carrying a magic staff.”

“But how did he have such a long-casting time?”

“Hey. Didn’t he add a few words before he casted the spell?”

“Uh-huh, it went like ‘Shut up!'”

“Could it be a hidden incantation that extends a spell’s casting time?” someone excitedly asked.

“Let’s go and try it out.” Many Mages got up and hurriedly left the tavern. After a bit, various shouts of “Shut up! XXX spell!” traveled back to the tavern from outside that gradually went away.

Gu Fei had also recovered at this moment. He felt that he was rather rash a while ago.

“You, alright? Fire… What’s-His-Name?” Gu Fei asked.

“I’m fine!” Fireball declared loudly, “Drunk bro, don’t mind it. We’re brothers after all! I won’t get angry no matter what you do.”

“Alright. I’ll take my leave, then!” Gu Fei could not stand Fireball’s antics anymore.

“Can you still leave?” a voice came from behind Gu Fei.

Gu Fei turned and saw a heavily armored Warrior; a sense of foreboding instantaneously filled him.

“It’s you!” Gu Fei laughed, recognizing the Warrior that had helped him with his burlap sack.

The female Warrior’s eyes were icy cold. Her right hand suddenly moved. Gu Fei had long expected the attack and he swiftly escaped outside while dodging it.

“Don’t you dare run!” The female Warrior brandished her huge axe and chased after him. Everyone from the tavern quickly followed the two.

Gu Fei did not run off very far and was actually standing just outside the tavern. His hand now held a weapon like his opponent. The crowd was shocked at the sight of the sword in his hand as they knew very well that he was a level 30 Mage.

“Lady, what happened? Let’s slowly talk this over,” Gu Fei earnestly said, albeit he did not let his guard down. Just from their exchange from back before, it was easy to see that this woman had a very careless yet stubborn personality.

Once she decided on something, she would go ahead and do it, just like when she decided to help him carry the burlap sack.

At the moment, she wanted to use that axe to cleave him in two. Since that was her intention, she would naturally act upon it. Why would she speak to him any further? For her to speak once more, Gu Fei would have to wait for her to relieve her anger by hacking him.

The woman truly did not listen to Gu Fei’s words and just swung her axe as she closed in on him.

Gu Fei dodged the blow and reciprocated by cutting toward her arm with a reverse swing.

Clang! Gu Fei’s heart froze for half a beat when he heard that sound.

The way the strike vibrated through his arm told him without a doubt that his sword did not even scratch the woman’s armor.

Gu Fei’s Mage body had no attack power to begin with; the damage he could deal came purely from the weapon he held. Now that he had Eddie’s Emblem, his Strength helped add a few more points to his attack power. Nonetheless, the fact that he was a physically weak Mage did not change. The extra 6 stat points to Strength that his Mage body had acquired was still not a match for a Strength-based Warrior.

Hence, penetrating the Warrior’s strong defense was not doable even with the combination of his 6 stat points of Strength and the common-grade weapon’s damage.

Gu Fei truly had no way of causing any amount of damage to this heavily armored Warrior.

Chapter 30 – Cyclone

Gu Fei finally encountered his first obstacle after having it easy playing the game so far.

Using kung fu to defeat the female Warrior opposite him right now might be easier said than done. The female Warrior’s defense was akin to that lower-half armor worn by Mountain Bandit Leader Sooto back then. She did not even budge as Gu Fei struck her with his sword.

The lady’s entire body was being concealed by her armor and helmet, and only her face was visible. Gu Fei felt that striking her face might be overdoing it, seeing as they just had a little misunderstanding. It was not as if a deep grudge existed between them. It was just a little misunderstanding caused by a burlap sack.

In reality, no matter how well-made a suit of armor, it could not safeguard a person’s entire body as there would always be opening near the joints. Those areas of the armor were deliberately given less reinforcement to provide a person a full range of motion or the ability to move freely. Unfortunately for Gu Fei, as realistic as the game’s simulation was, it was still not possible for it to be realistic in every aspect. The person inside the armor was unusually agile, and Gu Fei’s sword forcefully bounced back even when he slashed it at the joints of the body armor.

Gu Fei and the lady traded blows for a few more rounds. He came to the same conclusion when he tried attacking her right wrist, left knee, and left shoulder: The armor was impenetrable.

The harmless attacks had in fact reassured the lady. She was freed from all her worries now that she saw all the attacks, which Gu Fei inflicted on her, were ineffective. She swung her huge axe wildly, as she charged toward Gu Fei as if she was a huge windmill.

Gu Fei was left with no choice but to dodge the barrage of attacks as he tried to come up with ways to counterattack.

The curious spectators coming out from the tavern were so astonished that their jaws fell to the ground.

All formed the same opinion about Gu Fei in their minds: manly.

If a Mage that dared to clash directly against a Warrior with a sword was not considered manly, then no one else would be.

This manly Mage was a little foolish, however! Confronting the enemy’s strong point with his own weak point, how was that not foolish?

Everyone could see where this was going; Gu Fei could not harm the opponent with his common-grade sword and only managed to drag the fight with his agile movements. He continued to dodge every strike with little trouble, yet the Warrior remained patient while dishing out her attacks. She was not the least bit perturbed by continuously missing her target with her swings.

Gu Fei did not give up either. He focused on attacking the armor’s joints while he kept dodging. But it was still futile even after attacking five or six different joints on the armor.

Looks like this will be a battle of patience, Gu Fei analyzed. He was curious which one of them would be the first to become fed up with this battle since they could not harm each other.

The answer was revealed soon enough: It was the spectators!

Seeing Gu Fei had no chance of physically slaying his opponent, everyone began to wonder why he did not use spells during the fight.

“Spells! Spells!” everyone began to chant along after one of them started it.

It was a must have during a PvP for a Mage, yet Gu Fei needed to be reminded by others to use his spells. This led to a change of heart in him, Nothing wrong with trying spells now that my kung fu is not working. Gu Fei was not a stubborn and inflexible person after all.

He moved to a side to evade the incoming swing, and raised his sword and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Fireball!”

“Here I am!” someone nearby replied to him.

“F*ck off!” Gu Fei roared at Fireball’s direction, before turning back and issuing a command to the ball of fire he summoned, “Fire!”

The fireball flew straight toward the female Warrior.

She seemed to be a little stumped at first, but she swung her huge axe the next instant to tear apart the little fireball that was unleashed by Gu Fei.

The fireball exploded near the edge of the axe. Does it cause any damage? Gu Fei was not sure as he could not feel the sensation in his hand like physical combat.

“You are actually a Mage?” The female Warrior did not actually continue to swing her huge axe at Gu Fei like how he had anticipated. The lady rested her huge axe near her foot and sized Gu Fei up.

What an obtuse lady! It took her this long to realize I am actually a Mage, Gu Fei thought to himself.

To be frank, unless they knew about Gu Fei’s identity beforehand, nobody would actually think he was a Mage judging from the way he fought just now.

The female Warrior was a little alarmed at the moment. The person in front of her was not slow in terms of speed, and he could actually dodge all her attacks with ease. If he had maintained a distance between them and attacked with spells a while ago, she would have been dead by now.

“I don’t need you to go easy on me!” the lady blurted out what was on her mind.

“Go easy on you?” Gu Fei did not really understand this.

Am I being tricked by him again? The lady’s anger, which had been reduced by half through the battle, was immediately replenished as soon as she thought of that.

With her right hand, she lifted the huge axe that rested on her leg. She raised her left hand as well and held on to the axe’s handle.

It was a battle stance that the lady had not displayed previously! Until now, she had been wielding her axe with just an arm. Gu Fei, who possessed considerable real combat experiences, could tell that something was about to happen, A powerful skill is coming right up.

Sure enough, a whirlwind emerged from the ground and wrapped around the lady as she stepped forward with her right leg and turned her body.

“Ah! Cyclone!” someone among the spectators yelled.

The skill Warriors could learn once they reached level 30: Cyclone.

The rotation carried the weapon along to execute a 360-degree attack from every direction. While the skill’s damage output was dependent on the user’s proficiency, the skill’s duration was decided by a Warrior’s Rage points. Theoretically speaking, if a Warrior had unlimited Rage points, then this particular skill could be carried on for an infinite amount of time.

As for the Rage points, they increased the most when a Warrior was being attacked. They would slowly accumulate as well when a Warrior hit an enemy or slay an enemy. It was a stat unique to the Warrior job class.

Gu Fei had been slashing away at the female Warrior for god knew how many times already. The increase in Rage points caused by a single attack from Gu Fei was not that much since his slashes were basically harmless to her. However, the Rage points had been slowly accumulating. Right now, the lady’s Rage points bar was close to being full.

As she unleashed the attack, the spectators were forced to take a few steps back from the impact. It was as if the lady had spun herself into a vortex as a huge cyclone formed in the middle of the venue. Her huge axe could be seen turning into a black ray and mixing itself into the cyclone. The cyclone then flew toward Gu Fei’s direction.

It’s too fast!

Nobody would have expected that the clunky Warrior could perform such a high-speed spinning like this when she executed the skill.

Close-combat job classes are really the best after all! Gu Fei was still in the mood to express such a thought even when everyone was squealing loudly at his impending doom.

The Warrior’s Cyclone moved faster than Gu Fei as she spun like a whirlwind. It was impossible to avoid the attack.

Gu Fei could only raise his sword in an attempt to block the attack. Yet, pinpointing the axe’s trajectory inside the whirlwind was not a simple matter, and blocking it when it was spinning this fast was even more so.

Even though Gu Fei was confronting the skill with all his might, he knew that it would be impossible to stop the attack, seeing how her Cyclone was rolling with such force. However, giving up before the very end was not Gu Fei’s style.

A loud sound of breaking could be heard as Gu Fei’s common-grade sword split into halves. He lost his balance as the gusty wind blew over his body, and then he was swept upward and thrown into the air by it.

It was obvious just how much defense Gu Fei possessed with his beginner mage robe. He would have already faded away as a white light if he had not somewhat blocked that devastating blow just now. Still, death was inevitable for him, seeing how his body was bleeding all over and how his HP was diminishing at a visible rate.

“I failed to dodge it!” Gu Fei felt frustrated. He made a last ditch effort at the very end. Initially, he had planned to borrow the rotation force of the Cyclone to send himself outward in order to evade the attack. Yet, who would have thought that his sword would break apart at that decisive moment? Instead of dodging the attack by borrowing the momentum of the Cyclone, Gu Fei’s sword shattered and the axe hit him multiple times before he was flung outward. He barely managed to avoid a death sentence and succeeded in postponing it… for a mere two seconds.

“I would actually need a miracle to stay alive,” Gu Fei smiled bitterly. And yet, there was indeed a miracle!

A ray of white light suddenly appeared and shrouded Gu Fei. He thought it was a summon to the death, but his HP that was close to running out actually stopped depleting further and could be seen replenishing faintly.

Gu Fei who had never experienced it before was not aware that this was the most basic skill of a Priest: Heal.

As Gu Fei fell down from the attack, he looked around and managed to grasp the entire picture. He saw the lady called Luo Luo continuously bestowing Heal on him. However, Gu Fei was not safe just yet. His HP was still depleting, and an advanced Priest skill called Cure was needed before he could fully recover from his wounds. Unfortunately, there was nobody around with that skill at the moment. All Luo Luo could do was bestow Heal on Gu Fei repeatedly to maintain his health. It was a tug of war between a healing skill and the depleting HP.

Of course, the female Warrior was not happy seeing somebody interrupt the PvP between her and Gu Fei. But when she turned around and saw the one performing Heal, she was stunned, “Sis Luo Luo.”

Luo Luo nodded in acknowledgement as she slid her hand into her pocket and pulled out a few bottles of medication and a roll of bandage. She handed the items to the dumbfounded Fireball and said, “Go and get his condition stabilized.”

Fireball snapped himself back and rushed to Gu Fei’s side after receiving the items. He lowered his body down toward Gu Fei.

I’m saved! Gu Gei thought to himself, as he saw the items on Fireball’s hands, and how the female Warrior and Luo Luo actually knew each other.

However, Fireball just held on to the items without using them. Gu Fei stared at him with a puzzled expression.

“Hurry! Why are you spacing out like that?” Luo Luo was panicking at the other side. She was using Heal like crazy to restore Gu Fei’s HP which just kept on dropping. It seemed like Gu Fei’s injury was pretty serious. If this continued, her own MP would be depleted as well. By then, it would be too late to heal Gu Fei even if they used the medicine.

Fireball whispered covertly to Gu Fei, “Drunk bro, do you want to stop the bleeding with your acupuncture strikes first?”

Gu Fei was already about to curse at him, but he managed to endure the urge to actually do it. I am a teacher! Gu Fei calmed himself down, and said coldly to Fireball, “You read too many wuxia novels.”

“Oh? You don’t actually know how to do acupuncture strikes?” Fireball seemed to be in quite a shock.

“The medicine!” Gu Fei could not stand it anymore and he yelled at Fireball. His HP had dropped significantly when he got agitated and Luo Luo became frantic as a result.

“I’ll do it!” The lady who had wounded Gu Fei approached them.

“What are you up to?” Fireball said this righteously as he blocked her from getting close to Gu Fei.

“Oh, f*ck you! Just heal me already,” Gu Fei’s voice got weaker by the second.