When both captains had submitted the name list, the system will have lock in their entries. The name list would not be modifiable any more. In the case where the battle team did not contain the players that was listed in the presented name list, the said battle team will automatically be forfeited from the battle without any discussion.
‘Ding! The battle of Silky Soft Battle Team VS Sky and Ocean Electronics Battle Team will commence shortly. Both opponents shall proceed into the battle arena. The battle shall start in 30 seconds!’
Zhang Yang immediately walked up into the battle grounds.
"It’s Zhan Yu!"
"Their ace in the first round!?"
"Zhan Yu! You can do it! Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Fervor from the audience could be heard from all the way up in the spectator seats around the stadium. Cheers from the audiences could be heard before the match starts. However, once the battle starts, the surroundings will be muted to allow the contestants to focus.
Zhang Yang turned to the audience and waved at them to express his thanks. The contestant from the other team had also entered the grounds. His name was To The Sky. Level 70, male Beastman, Sniper, HP: 19,340.
The crowd booed when they saw that Imperial Sky had not sent out One Sword Stroke in the first battle. "Who is this To The Sky?! Never heard of this guy! What a huge let down! We were expecting the strongest of both sides to have a face off!"
On the other hand, Zhang Yang was completely unfazed. To The Sky was the main Hunter in the Sky and Ocean Electronics Battle Team, in his previous life. Even though he was not in the top 10 Hunter list, his capabilities were worthy enough to be his opponent.
‘Ding! The battle will commence in 10 seconds!’
To The Sky gathered his composure and prepared to fight Zhang Yang. He knew that Zhang Yang would be his opponent in the first round, that was why he was sent to brush it off. This is a strategy that throws the tower over to waste an enemy’s chance. However, he was not satisfied at being the sacrificing lamb. Even though he knew that Zhang Yang was strong, he would go down swinging! Also, he was a secret weapon! Perhaps even Zhang Yang himself would be shocked to see it!
The horn of war was blown and the battle started. Zhang Yang lifted his shield and his sword up high and dashed towards his opponent. To The Sky controlled his pet behind him and shot a {Concussion Shot} at the 30 meters maximum attack range. The skill landed and stunned Zhang Yang for 4 seconds. A black panther suddenly jumped out from the side and attacked with lightning speed.
In the game, a majority of physical attack type monsters will have roughly the same attack interval rate, which was 2 seconds. Only a portion of the monsters could have higher or slower attack rate. The panther race possessed faster attack speed. Its attack was, on average, one attack per second.
The game was fair. The developers had made everything balanced. Under the same level, same tier, the faster the attack speed, the lower the attack damage would be. If the opponent was a class that wears Cloth Armor type, it is better to have faster attack speed pets. The low defense of the Cloth Armor would not affect the low attack damage of the pet. It also could prolong the spellcasters’ casting time! It could be as effective as prolonging a 2 second spell to be as long as 4 seconds.
However, to send out a fast attack speed pet to attack a tank class player would be extremely bad and unwise. With high defense, a passive damage absorption skill, and a passive damage reduction skill, the damage output of the pet would perhaps only be at most, 3 digits or even 2 digits!
Zhang Yang took a millisecond glance at the pet an turn his gaze back onto To The Sky. Black panthers are extremely common, they could be found at any random hill or mountain! It was not even considered to be at elite tier!
‘-0!’
As expected, the black panther could not even deal 1 damage to Zhang Yang.
The {Concussion Shot} from before had slowed him down. At his snail pace, and the black panther lightning speed attacks, Zhang Yang felt that it was wise to kill some time by using {Block}. Might as well use it for the sake of efficiency. {Block} would also grant him an extra 30 Rage for a successful parry!
{Block}!
‘-722!’ {Block} reflect damage.
‘1,479!’ {Shield Bash}.
Having only 12,000 HP, the black panther had 1/6 of his HP taken away.
"F*ck!" cried To The Sky from afar. Well-equipped tanks are really something. Not only were they as solid as rocks, they also could ditch out painful attacks!
Knowing Zhang Yang prowess, To The Sky did not waste any more time. He started shooting at Zhang Yang and was able to chip off a decent amount of Zhang Yang’s HP.
4 seconds later, the slow effect from the {Concussion Shot} ended. Regaining his normal speed, Zhang Yang leaped towards To The Sky. However, just before he could jump, he was stunned. Zhang Yang quickly checked on his status window and saw a debuff called {Maim}. He was stunned for 3 seconds.
Now Zhang Yang understood why this Hunter would, against the odds, bring a pet panther to fight a tank. It was all because of the skill {Maim}!
{Maim} is a pet’s passive skill that can stun the target for 3 seconds with a 10% chance on every attack. The black panther was brought into the battle, not because of its attack power! It was because of its high attack speed, it had a higher chance to proc a {Maim}!
Zhang Yang grined out of habit. He then quickly used {Warrior’s Will} and freed himself from the stun.
‘-8,672!’ {Destructive Smash}, Critical!
"Aurgh!" The panther cried in pain. The devastating attack was so strong that it left the panther with only over 1,000 remaining HP!
To The Sky’s face was drained of colors. The black panther was supposed to be his trump card. If it were to die, it should at cost Zhang Yang half of his HP! Panicking, To The Sky focused on saving his pet. He immediately shot a {Breaking Shot} to control Zhang Yang for 4 seconds! That was his intention. However, Zhang Yang was better. Right after {Destructive Smash} had struck the ground, he had already consumed a bottle of [Beginner Mobility Potion]!
The effect of the [Mobility Potion] is special. Only after consumption, it will grant the user the immunity to all movement restriction skill! However, if the user was stunned or dazed, the user could not consume the potion to dispel the debuff. It can only take effect after consumption! That was why, the user had to be sharp in predicting the enemy! Zhang Yang had made the right call.
He knew that the opponent would not sit tight and let his black panther be killed. He predicted that the opponent would do something to save the pet. Besides {Concussion Shot}, a Hunter’s other ranged interrupting skill could be {Breaking Shot}!
After consuming the potion, a rainbow color glow formed underneath Zhang Yang’s foot, granting him immunity from all movement restriction skill for 3 seconds!
{Breaking Shot} landed on Zhang Yang!
Immune!
"What!?" To The Sky yelled. Could the game be stable and have lesser bugs?! Give him a chance to live for once!
‘-2,184!’
Zhang Yang did not need to activate any skills. With a quick slice, the black panther wailed and dropped to the floor.
"Why did Zhan Yu killed the pet before the Hunter? A Sniper’s pet is not even strong to begin with, why would Zhan Yu waste that much time on the pet?" The same question started repeating itself among the audience, as none of them understood what was happening in the battle ground.
If it was heard by To The Sky, he would be sure to take off his boots and toss it to the crowd in a fit of anger. He may be a Sniper, but having the black panther with the {Maim} passive skill made it a very powerful asset indeed!
A Hunter could tame four pets at a time. However, only one pet could be summoned into the battle to aid the master in battle. During battle, the Hunter could not switch pets. Once the pet dies in battle, the Hunter would have to wait for 10 minutes before he is allowed to revive the pet, or to summon the other pets he had collected. To The Sky was all by himself now for the next 10 minutes! However, even if To The Sky could summon another pet into the battle, it would be meaningless without the {Maim} passive. A normal pet would only be like a kid hitting a castle with a wooden twig! Not only would the tank not feel a single thing, it would only be granting "free" Rage points!
Zhang Yang scoffed. He knows that victory was already in hand. With large, bold steps, Zhang Yang rushed towards his opponent. To The Sky was extremely disgruntled. He then begun to kite Zhang Yang. As expected, his skill was good. But whenever a Hunter attacks, he would have to remain stationary for a brief moment. Since the battle ground had a limited space to begin with, Zhang Yang was able to reach To The Sky in just few minutes. He was already 20 meters away from To The Sky in a jiffy!
{Heroic Leap}!
Zhang Yang leaped. As far and high as the God of War, he glided through the air and landed firmly next to To The Sky! The massive shockwave was so strong that it had shattered the ground beneath Zhang Yang. The slam had also sent countless of tiny debris flying in all direction with Zhang Yang at the center of the commotion. As the dust was slightly blown away by the wind, a massive crack was seen throughout the arena!
HOHO! This skill effect was really showy!
The skill was bought in the Ravine of Coyotes. It was a "buyable" skill like {Blast Wave}. Still, a majority of the players had yet to know about it. {Heroic Leap} could not cause any kind of damage. It could only stun the target. But, from the audience’s perspective, the skill display was so extravagant that everyone started cheering loudly.
It was just too darn cool!
"Again! Do it again!" the audience screamed.
{Heroic Leap}, 3 seconds stun.
One more!
{Blast Wave}, 4 seconds stun!
Seven seconds later, To The Sky had only 9,000HP, out of the 20,000 HP that he had! Once he regained his movement, he quickly flipped back and jumped 10 meters away with {Tumble}.
{Charge}!
Zhang Yang was again next to To The Sky and stunned him for another 1 second!
If he could cry and not be humiliated by it, To The Sky wished that he could just let it out! The guy was genuinely confused with Zhang Yang. Is he a Guardian or a Thief? How could a Guardian have so many long stunning skills! It was not fair!
After recovering from the stun, To The Sky bent down a little and planted a {Ice Trap}.
Traps are a Hunter’s specialty skill, with various kinds of effects. For example, the {Ice Trap} will trigger when a player steps on it. It will trap the target in a huge ice barrier, rendering the target immobile for 10 seconds. The target will be freed instantly if any amount of damage was received during the entrapment.
Zhang Yang smiled. He then moved around the trap and activated {Thunder Strike} to slow down To The Sky as he continued to attack him.
The {Trap} that was planted will always be invisible to others. However, Zhang Yang saw To The Sky planting the {Trap} with his own eyes. If he had still stepped on it, he would have to call himself a dumb pig!
7,000! 5,000! 3,000!
To The Sky was slowly being pushed to the gates of death and Zhang Yang sent him off with a {Killing Cleave}.
With that, Silky Soft Battle Team had just gained their first battle victory!
Zhang Yang gazed up at the audience’s seat and saw Wei Yan Er was pouting her lips. "Hmph! Noobie tank! What a loser! How could you take so long to kill a greenhorn? You sir, had just lost my respect for you! Bleh!"
She stuck out her tongue.
"Oh…my heavens…I am so saddened by what you had just said! Oh, my heart is so weary that I have to take a break from cooking ANYTHING at all! For at least 2 days!" said Zhang Yang while pretending to be a withering old lady.
Wei Yan Er jumped. She panicked and immediately pulled Zhang Yang’s left arm. While smiling innocently, Wei Yan Er said, "This little girl has learnt her lesson! Please don’t be angry. Big brother…"
"F*ck! Who you think I am? A weak-hearted lolicon?! Scram!"