Chapter 56: Powerful Enemy, as well as a Level-up (1)
TL: Haku
Editor: Hungry Panda
Ian, who had won against Black Magician 'Kanjihoonie' and advanced to the finals, faced his predicted opponent.
'As expected, this user made it to the finals.'
It was the Assassin user Limlong, who had shown outstanding fighting power since the first preliminary round.
Ian was nervous.
'This round could really be difficult.'
For the duration of this arena competition, whenever Ian didn't have a match, he always went looking for Limlong's matches and spectated.
However, the more Ian spectated, the more he could only marvel.
'He didn't use any other skills aside from the basic Assassin skills to get up to here.'
That was the scariest point.
Despite having chased him around and seen all his matches, Ian didn't know a thing about Limlong's hidden cards.
The only ting Ian learned was that Limlong's control abilities were unbelievable.
On the other hand, Ian was in a situation where he had revealed everything in the match just before with Hoonie.
"Ian, I see. I watched your 8-player round match. It was impressive."
Limlong approached Ian first and extended his hand.
And Ian nodded his head while shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I also saw your matches well. I look forward to this match."
It was the final that would decide the rookie league's winner.
The match was held on the biggest, centre arena in the middle of the empire stadium, and a huge crowd came in order to watch the two people's match.
Since the beginning of Kailran, this was the largest number of spectators that had gathered for the arena's rookie league.
And within the anticipation of the people, a system message alerting that the match would begin rang out.
In a moment, the rookie league's last match, the finals for User 'Limlong' and User 'Ian' will begin.Cheers rang out here and there.
"Wow!"
"Somebody win!"
"Limlong, I'm a fan!"
"Ian, show him the potential of a Summoner!"
As it was the match between the two users who had shown the most outstanding ability in this arena rookie league, the anticipation of the spectators had reached its climax.
After Ian had summoned his Familiars, he studied Limlong.
Just like with all the previous matches, his expression showed no disturbance.
The eyes that were visible between a cloth that was tightly wrapped around his head looked incredibly sharp.
'No matter how much I think about it, Summoners are not good against the Assassin class. Especially even more so in the case of the hidden class, Taming Master, which specializes in taming and raising Familiars…'
The only way to deal with Limlong's Transparency skill was to maximize his senses to avoid his first attack using reflexes and reduce the amount of damage whatever way he could.
And he needed to win no matter what before the cooldown time for Transparency was over.
In 5 seconds, the match will begin. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Start!The match began, and Ian, in a very nervous state, kept his eyes fixated on Limlong.
But rather than casting his Transparency skill as soon as the match started like the predictions, Limlong didn't use it and with slow footsteps, he was approaching Ian.
'What the hell? Is he saving his Transparency skill as much as possible?'
The 'Transparency' skill that was no different from being an Assassin's life line was being evaluated as the best skill at least in 1:1 PvP.
It was a hiding skill that was optimized for when aiming to land a deathblow, but it wasn't without its flaws.
That was that its cooldown time was 10 minutes.
Once they reached a high level, it could be that they received a high-ranking Transparency skill, and it could be that the cooldown time would be reduced significantly then.
However, because an Assassin-class user that could learn a high-ranking skill still didn't exist, it was something they could not find out about.
'If I was him, I would also use the Transparency skill only when in the most danger. Since if I used the Transparency skill from the beginning and failed in assassinating, the risk would be incredibly big.'
Because Limlong had used the Transparency skill as soon as the match started in all of his previous matches, he naturally assumed that he would do the same this time as well.
'If he had fought like that because he thought up until now, they were quite easy opponents… Does that mean he considers me a little like a rival?'
While Ian was thinking of this and that, the distance between the two users became smaller and smaller.
And the one who initiated the fight was Limlong.
Ta-tat-!
As Limlong leaped into the air, Ian completely focused on his movements.
And as Limlong reached near Ddukdae, Ian let out a command hurriedly.
"Ddukdae! Ice Wave!"
Firstly, it was the top priority to tie down the Assassin's feet, as their movements were far faster compared to Ian.
As his movements were so fast, it was hard to successfully hit him with Current Proliferation.
Firstly, number one was using Ddukdae's AoE slowing skill.
Thud-!
Along with the stomping of Ddukdae's foot, an ice wave spread out in all directions.
However, just then.
"Shadow Movement!"
Pop!
Limlong, who was suspended in the air, suddenly disappeared.
'Wha, what the hell?'
Ian was taken aback.
He knew that it wasn't the Transparency skill.
If he had used the Transparency skill, his shadow should have disappeared as well, but the shadow on the ground remained as is.
And a moment later, Limlong, who surprisingly disappeared from the shadow of the floor, popped out.
"Huk-!"
Ian swallowed a gulp of air.
'He avoided Ice Wave?'
Ice Wave was an AoE skill.
It was a skill that couldn't be avoided at all if you were within its range.
However, due to the sun's angle, Limlong instantly moved to a far-off shadow in the arena and dodged Ice Wave.
And Ian realized.
'Shadows! It's a hidden class related to shadows!'
Amongst the basic skills of an Assassin, he had never heard that there was something like that.
He had predicted, but he was sure that Limlong had a hidden class.
While Ian was shocked, Limlong was quickly approaching him again.
"Ly, Berserk!"
Grr-!
And as if Ly was waiting for it, he charged toward Limlong, who was drawing closer, on an equal level.
Ian used the Current Proliferation skill and after making lightning spheres on each hand, he focused his vision onto Limlong's movements.
While avoiding Ly's attacks, he could roughly predict the route of Limlong's movements, and he planned on throwing the lightning spheres towards that direction.
Even if he couldn't hit him, if he could seal off Limlong's movements as much as possible, he felt a situation where Ly could bite him could be made.
And the moment that Ly and Limlong collided with each other, Limlong's body disappeared as if it sunk into the ground again.
'Is it Shadow Movement again?'
Ian slightly frowned.
As the opponent had a lot of variables, it was an opponent that was very annoying to face.
And as Limlong, who moved to the shadow on the ground, jumped up into the air, Ian threw a lightning sphere towards that direction.
'The cooldown time for Shadow Movement shouldn't have ended already.'
If it wasn't for Shadow Movement, there was no way he could avoid this attack this time.
Because no matter how high Limlong's Agility was, it was impossible to change his direction in midair. However, just then, Limlong spread his hand out towards the air.
Chwa-ra-rak-!
And seven flying knives were scattered in the air from his hands.
'What the hell is this now?!'
Ian was flustered. This was because Limlong hadn't thrown the knives towards Ian or Ly but just as described, he scattered them in the air.
To put it specifically, he had scattered them above Ian's head.
'Did he think that I would just get hit by the knives that drop from the air?'
Ian hurriedly threw his body towards a location where the knives wouldn't fall.
No, he tried to throw his body.
However…
"Huk!"
The shadow of the knife right in front of him flew towards Ian, moving as if it was alive.
It was a situation where he had no way of dodging it.
Bang-!
As you were directly hit by user 'Limlong's 'Flying Shadow Knives', you have received critical damage. You have received 4560 damage.Cold sweat dripped down Ian's spine as Ian suffered from the Flying Shadow Knives.
'What kind of Offensive Power is this?'
It was indeed unbelievable Offensive Power. On top of that, at the fault of his restricted movements, he couldn't avoid the falling knives in its entirety.
You have received 1075 damage. You have received 954 damage.Including the additional damage, an unbelievable damage close to 7 thousand came in.
'To have received this much damage from one move…'
However, he hadn't suffered alone.
Current Proliferation and Ly's attack also dealt damage to Limlong.
Familiar 'Ly' has dealt damage to 'Limlong'. User 'Limlong's Vitality has been reduced by 1795. 'Current Proliferation' skill has hit. User 'Limlong's Vitality has been reduced by 1085. User 'Limlong' has gone into 'paralyzed' state. Their movements have been slowed by 30%.If there was something that left much to be desired, it was that he couldn't use his Weak Point Capturing skill because he suffered from the Flying Shadow Knives, and so critical damage wasn't invoked with Ly's attack.
'Still, it's really a relief that paralysation was invoked…!'
Ian invoked Current Proliferation again, creating two lightning spheres in either hand.
And he threw his body towards Limlong, who was also running towards him.
'It's a head-on game. Since I still have about 40% Vitality, I'll act as a decoy and Ly's attack needs to go through accurately.'
To properly deal damage to Limlong, who suddenly appears and disappears, there was no choice but to put up with some damage.
It was a good opportunity as well as his movements were slowed through paralysis.
'Since an Assassin's Vitality is almost as low as a Black Magician's.'
Ian was planning on giving some flesh in turn for bones.
However, at that moment, Limlong's body that was running in front of Ian once again disappeared.
'What the hell? There shouldn't be a shadow that he could move to this time.'
Ian's eyes rounded.
This was because, as Limlong was running against the ground this time, Ian thought that he wouldn't be able to use Shadow Movement.
'Is it Transparency magic?'
But to say it was that, his shadow still remained.
'Where are you?'
Ian stopped his movements.
Suddenly, there was something that flashed through Ian's mind.
'Could it be my shadow?'
Ian trusted his intuition.
If that was the case, he had no time to be hesitating.
Just like that, Ian invoked his Current Proliferation skill behind him.
'Current Proliferation' skill has hit. User 'Limlong's Vitality has been reduced by 1217. User 'Limlong' has gone into 'paralyzed' state. Their movements have been slowed by 30%.His intuition was correct.
Limlong, who was moving while riding Ian's shadow, was directly hit by the Current Proliferation skill.
Chwa-ra-rak-!
However, Limlong had already reached Ian, and he as well continued with his attack calmly.
However, a variable that Limlong hadn't even thought of was hanging on Ian's back.
Familiar 'Bbookbbook' has received critical damage. 'Bbookbbook's Vitality has been reduced by 27."Huh!"
For the first time, a flustered expression appeared on Limlong's face.
However, his additional attack calmly went through successfully.
You have received critical damage. Your Vitality has been reduced by 1740. Your Vitality has been reduced by 1577.Limlong's continued dagger attack had skillfully avoided Bbookbbook and dug into Ian.
You have gone into 'Bleeding' state. You will receive an additional 315 damage per second."Damn it!"
Ian, who gave a sigh a relief as Bbookbbook blocked the attack, changed his stance while watching Limlong, who persistently succeeded his additional attacks.
'His skill utilization ability is not normal.'
Ian's Vitality had gone incredibly low due to the two critical damages that accompanied Bleeding.
"First Aid!"
Ian urgently invoked his First Aid skill.
However, it had barely recovered the continuous additional damage from 'Bleeding'.
Due to 'Bleeding' state, 315 of your Vitality has been reduced. Through 'First Aid' skill, you have recovered 843 Vitality.Limlong, who had successfully landed a critical attack, had distanced himself from Ian before he knew it, and was watching his movements.
"Damn it…"
He had lost too much Vitality due to the momentary exchange of combat.
He had checked the hidden cards of his opponent many times, but the difference between them had gotten too far to turn the tables around.
'But I still can't give up yet.'
Ian had been placed on the defensive during his battle with 'Kanjihoonie' as well, but had he not switched the outcome using the base?
Ian caught his breath again.
And right then.
Ta-tat-.
As Ian didn't die just through the Bleeding damage, Limlong began to move again as if he planned on dealing the final blow.
'Now, what are you going to show me?'
If he allowed even one hit, the match would be over.
'Now my opponent probably has no more hidden skills left.'
There was a limit to how many hidden skills a lv 50 could possess.
Now there were no variables.
Ian focused his concentration even more.
'There's only once chance, at one of Ly's critical hits, I could turn everything around!'
The two people's bodies grew closer and closer.
And the two people ran towards each other at the same time.
Limlong's sharp dagger came right in front of Ian's nose.
At that instant.
Ian's last move was invoked.
"Space Distortion!"
After Ian's body approached Limlong as closely as possible, he planned on succeeding Ly's critical hit using that as a bait.
Grr-!
And Ly, who had switched positions with Ian, took the hit instead and bit into his shoulder.
Familiar 'Ly' has dealt critical damage to 'Limlong'. User 'Limlong's Vitality has been reduced by 3150.As Ian watched Ly's successful attack, Ian inwardly let out a shout of delight.
'Nice!'
User 'Limlong' has gone into 'Bleeding' state. He will receive an additional 315 damage per second.Limlong's name began to flicker quickly.
Ian thought as he saw that.
Ever since he saw his shadow, he had predicted his opponent's skill to an extent, but it was a disadvantageous situation as he had received too large of an amount of damage from the skills he had never seen before.
However, if he dragged out the time and let Ly's Bleeding damage fully go through, his opponent wouldn't have much Vitality left either.
Now, Ian was confident in being able to deal with the attacks where he rode Ian's shadow and personally closed the distance like last time, and the only thing left was to not give him the distance. As if Limlong was showing that he knew that as well, he threw the blades that he was holding instead of using Shadow Movement.
Cla-Clang-!
And Ian, who had already predicted that, quickly turned his body and parried them.
'This persistent guy!'
If he withstood a couple more seconds and let the Bleeding damage completely go through, then the last move would decide the winner.
The situation that indeed caused sweaty hands continued.
Ian clenched his teeth and focused his concentration. However, just then, Limlong's Flying Shadow Knives was invoked again.
"Flying Shadow Knives!"
A dark shadow was cast over Limlong's knives that were flung away.
And they changed their direction and shot out again.
Whoosh-!
They rushed towards Ian on either side of him.
Clang-! Ian dodged one of the two knives and flung it away with Current Proliferation. He planned on blocking the other knife using Bbookbbook.
Ly and Ddukdae also charged towards Limlong.
In that split second, the slightly shaking knife suddenly let out a black light and moved into Ian's shadow.
Puck-.
You have been hit by user 'Limlong's 'Flying Shadow Knives'. You have received 1375 damage.The system message that popped up.
'Ha…'
Ian knew by intuition that the match was over.
And along with Ian's bitter smile, a system message alerting Limlong's win popped up.
As user Ian's Vitality has dropped below 5%, he is eliminated from the arena. User Limlong has won the match.And as Ian was kicked out of the arena, he slightly dropped his head.
'Ah… If only I was 1 second faster, no, if only I didn't start at such a disadvantage from the beginning.'
He fully admitted to his opponent's greatness, but regret couldn't be helped.
'I moved too offensively in the beginning.'
Ian blamed himself at the thought that he should have played more defensively in the beginning of the match and force Limlong to pull out all his hidden cards.
Of course, he did successfully counter, but because of the Assassin class' characteristic of drawing out explosive damage in one go, the damage he received in the middle was too big.
"Hoo."
A sigh filled with regret came out of Ian's mouth again.