Chapter 138 - A Burden
"Yeah. Why aren't you fighting back?" everyone asked as well, staring at Gu Fei in wonder.
Gu Fei could only smile at the question, saying to Svelte Dancer, "Why would I? You would be long dead if I did that..."
"D*mn you! You arrogant prick!" Svelte Dancer shrieked in annoyance.
"Woman, you're pretty wild yourself," Gu Fei countered, smirking.
"Come on, then! I must have a match with you for three hundred rounds today," Svelte Dancer boldly challenged.
Gu Fei was not goaded to accepting the challenge, only asking, "You have an all-Agility build, right?"
Svelte Dancer nodded her head, "That's right. What about it?"
Gu Fei offhandedly said, "If we are casually sparring, I might not beat you. But it's a different case if I get serious… You might actually die from that." He was telling the truth. The speed Svelte Dancer had shown was a lot faster than Gu Fei's, so he was unsure if he could win in a casual melee confrontation. But if it was a serious PvP to the death, Gu Fei could just deal with her safely by maintaining a distance with her and using the chance of her closing in on him to instkill her directly with the Twin Incineration spell. However, there was a possibility that he could not instkill her with just one spell, so it would still be difficult to predict the result of the fight if Svelte Dancer managed to get close to Gu Fei. After all, she was wielding a dagger and he was using a sword; daggers were far more suitable for a combat at this short range.
Furthermore, Gu Fei's movement speed was not as fast as hers. It would be impossible to get away once she entered his personal space. While his movement speed was fast enough to shock people, Svelte Dancer's movement speed was even faster than his. Who knew what types of insanely OP equipment she was wearing. Boots were enough to increase a player's movement speed, so if Svelte Dancer had a body full of equipment that added to Agility, her speed would naturally reach an unprecedented height.
As for attack speed, the difference between the two was not as large as the difference in their movement speed, yet Svelte Dancer still held superiority over Gu Fei in this aspect. But to fully utilize the advantage of having a superior attack speed, one had to possess keen eyes and sharp battle sense beside having a pair of dexterous hands. Toward this point, Gu Fei fully believed that none could match up to him in his generation. He had trained for twenty grueling years, after all; the keenness of his eyes and the sharpness of his battle sense were already well-proven in his numerous in-game fights.
Gu Fei's honest words pissed off Svelte Dancer and she regarded him coldly, "Come on, then. No need for some casual sparring. Just attack me for real. It's fine if you slay me."
"Seriously?" Gu Fei pulled out Moonlit Nightfalls from his dimensional pocket with sparkling eyes.
Who could feel more strongly about PvP than Gu Fei? PvP was his intention for playing Parallel World, after all. Even if he ended up losing a level to Svelte Dancer, he would simply shrug it off as an insignificant loss. He was mainly worried that instkilling Svelte Dancer would not be good, but everything was fine now since she did not mind that possibility.
Of course, Gu Fei only considered her as 'having a chance to win against him' in melee after he had determined that she was indeed a woman of caliber. If she was the kind of person with limited battle experience that would flaunt her weapon mindlessly during a battle, then Gu Fei was confident that he could kill her off even with bare hands.
Since this was going to be a serious fight, Gu Fei could naturally use the most effective method to confront Svelte Dancer. He believed that she would not even have the chance to get into a close enough range for the fight to be in her favor. Thinking of all this, Gu Fei assumed his fighting stance. "Well since you don't seem to mind dying… Let's do this, then!" Gu Fei invited.
Relishing PvP and not caring about the losses, could anyone match up Gu Fei's calm and collected attitude due to his unique mindset in this situation? Moreover, his calmness was far too intense that it had already transformed into an attack to Svelte Dancer's psyche.
When Svelte Dancer saw all this, her heart began to thump in trepidation. If she was not confident before, she was even more so now. After all, she was pushed down by Gu Fei moments ago. "Hmph!" Svelte Dancer harrumphed, saying, "I almost got fooled by you. How is this fair if you can slay me worry-free while I have to anxiously try my best to not kill you? You're too cunning, indeed!"
"Nope," Gu Fei refuted, saying, "You don't need to stay your hand, either."
Svelte Dancer was in tears. This beast did not even give me a chance to back down from this fight! she thought to herself furiously. Seeing Gu Fei hold a sword in his hand, she suddenly asked, "You're a Mage, so why are you using a sword?"
"Don't change the subject!"
"You b*st*rd! July, you're about to talk to us regarding the guild versus guild tournament, right?"
"Hey!"
"Luo Luo, quickly bring me to that famous Ray's Bar once we are done with the meeting!"
"Sigh… Since you're afraid, I guess we can forget about it," Gu Fei sulkily kept his sword back to his pocket.
"Afraid?! Just who is afraid of whom?!" Svelte Dancer roared as she did an about face. Gu Fei had his sword magically reappearing in his hand. "Hmph! My current EXP1 is at 41.92; I just don't wish to lose two levels worth of EXP! I'll teach you a lesson once I hit level 42!" Svelte Dancer huffed in indignation.
This sounded logical. But if Svelte Dancer wanted to "teach Gu Fei a lesson", why would she even think about the penalty of losing a level? Gu Fei found this really amusing. Sigh... Women! Keeping his sword once more, he sighed deeply, "Forget it. Let's just leave it like this!"
Suddenly, he realized that something was not right in his surroundings. This room was filled with women besides Gu Fei, so his dejected sigh was tantamount to him asking for trouble! With that realization, Gu Fei immediately said, "Some women just can't live up to their words. July! I think we shan't let such people join our guild with the PvP tournament just around the corner. What if they become a burden for us during the ensuing battle?"
The people in the whole room went silent.
Svelte Dancer was one of the Five Unyielding Experts of Parallel World! To be called a burden, she was right on the precipice of breaking down but she managed to calm herself down in the end, "Hmph! Are you trying to provoke me into a fight with you? I won't fall for your tricks."
That was close! Gu Fei was relieved. He would not be so mean to her, especially since she was a fellow guildmate. Given the predicament he was placed into, he could only make her feel uncomfortable instead of making all the fifty or so ladies uncomfortable. It was better to make things awkward for some people than everyone else, after all.
It was a good thing that Svelte Dancer's skill at finding herself an out was second to none. Thinking of that, Gu Fei surreptitiously studied Svelte Dancer just as she furtively checked him out. Meeting each other's eyes, Gu Fei immediately removed his eyes on her as she indignantly turned her head away from him as well.
Only then did Amethyst Rebirth officially begin their meeting. Gu Fei felt a headache coming on as he sat through it and listened to the discussion. No one knew whether such battle preparation meetings were the same sort in MMOs or not, but July went through the various guilds in Yunduan City just like Brother Assist had done so. However, Young Master's Elite mercenary group was made up of experts; although there were just six of them, each of them was at the top of the game. Their goal was to be the champion, so Brother Assist only emphasized about Yunduan City's three strongest mercenary groups.
July was different. The strongest point of the Amethyst Rebirth's ladies was that they were low key and well aware of their shortcomings. Thus, July's presentation placed emphasis on numerous guilds that were around Amethyst Rebirth's level, making it hard to gauge when this meeting would end.
Gu Fei drifted in and out as he listened to her drone on and on about the various guilds. Just as he was about to mention something to end this mental torture, someone beat him to the punch, "A question, Elder Sis July!"
"What's the matter, Xiaowu?" The one who had raised her hand was Svelte Dancer.
"I heard that the guild versus guild tournament is elimination based. Since our opponents are chosen entirely by drawing lots, how can we be so sure that the standards of all these opposing guilds would be the same as ours?" Svelte Dancer asked.
"Of course, it won't be that coincidental. But if the guild's strength is above ours, we are obviously no match for it. If it is weaker, we will easily gain victory. What's the point of us analyzing the powerful guilds, then?" Clearly, July had given this question much thought.
"Your thinking isn't right," Svelte Dancer solemnly replied, explaining, "We should view the strongest guilds as our enemies as well. If we can deal with them, we can naturally deal with all the other guilds. Your method of only having eyes for the guilds around our level, that sort of thinking is too… too…."
"Limited in making progress," someone blurted out to help Svelte Dancer.
"That's right!" Svelte Dancer bobbed her head in agreement, and then she suddenly realized that the voice that that had helped her belonged to a man! Turning her head and seeing Gu Fei beam at her, she immediately twisted her neck and said, "No, that's not right. It's passive. It's too conservative."
"D*mn you, woman!" Gu Fei sighed inwardly.
"So what do you think we should do?" July asked her, helpless.
"Choose two or three of the strongest guilds in Yunduan City and brief us about them. We'll just treat them as our imaginary rivals in this upcoming tournament. What does everyone think?" Svelte Dancer even knew to seek for the crowd's input in this matter.
There was an old saying that went: 'Birds of the same feather flocked together.' This was a guild that was personally set up by July, so most of the guild members actually shared her way of thinking. They were not actually that competitive, and they felt that it was not necessary to visualize mock battles with Yunduan City's strongest guilds in preparation for what might happen soon. With nary having so much as a competitive spirit, no one dared make a sound when Svelte Dancer asked the question.
"Hmm… Xiaowu's words do indeed make sense. If anyone else think we should do as she suggested, raise your hand," July finally said.
Svelte Dancer looked around and did not feel so alone anymore as some people agreed to her thinking, albeit they were just two. Upon seeing that one of them was Gu Fei, she immediately scoffed, "How can you not have any opinion of your own, simply repeating what others say…."
Gu Fei was about to have a mental breakdown at the lady's immaturity. Seeing how she vented her anger on him at every opportunity, he could no longer be bothered with her and turned his head to look toward his fellow supporter. With a glance, Gu Fei felt that this world was truly ever-changing. The other supporter was actually Lie Lie.
These two ladies clearly had some grievances with him, so why would they actually stand with him now? Life sure was unpredictable!
July saw that the discrepancy between the two sides was incomparable, so she simply said, "If that's the case, let's continue learning about all these guilds that are closer to our standard. When that's done, I'll do a rundown of the big guilds, as well!"
Gu Fei felt like crying. At this rate, when would this meeting be over? With that, he unconsciously looked at Svelte Dancer's direction and saw her show a distraught expression on her face as well. Geez... Seems like this lady's thinking is completely the same as mine! What lies about visualizing a strong imaginary rival… She clearly just wants to end this meeting as well!
Chapter 139 - Afraid that the Opponent is Weak
Gu Fei drowsily leaned against the wall as July continued to address the Amethyst Rebirth's ladies at length. It seemed that even she had also grown tired of droning on and on about the various guilds, given how they were all largely the same with one another, as she shortened her words when she reached the so-called large guilds to: "Traversing Four Seas. Level 5 guild. Seven hundred fifty members all filled up. Guild leader is Oathless Sword."
Discrimination. This is blatant discrimination! Gu Fei thought to himself. This bunch of ladies was too casual with their dealings. When it was time for them to get serious, they instead opted to breeze through it.
Nonetheless, the basic information July had provided regarding the strongest guild in Yunduan City was enough to leave all the present ladies breathless.
The Amethyst Rebirth Guild was at level 2 and only had fifty-four members, including the newcomer, Svelte Dancer. To expect these women to fight fifteen members each during this guild versus guild tournament was simply too unrealistic. Seems like visualizing an imaginary foe like Traversing Four Seas for Amethyst Rebirth is truly improbable, Gu Fei thought to himself.
Gu Fei heaved a long sigh of relief once the presentation about all the average guilds finally ended. However, July seemed to have reenergized herself by breathing out twice just like what Gu Fei had done as she continued after a short pause, "Let's now talk about the situation with the mercenary group."
Gu Fei immediately raised his hand, "July! I don't have to participate in this discussion, right?"
Before July could even say a word, Svelte Dancer snatched the chance to remark snidely at him, "What gives you the right to not listen? Aren't you a member of the guild?"
"This bro right here is part of another mercenary group," Gu Fei patted his chest as he answered. This was the first time that he had felt proud and glad to be a member of Young Master's Elite mercenary group.
Svelte Dancer angrily retorted, "What is this?! How can you as a member not join this guild's mercenary group? Is such an act allowed here? Boycott your group! Absolutely boycott your group and leave it to join our guild's group. After that, listen to the report of Elder Sis July."
Gu Fei was enraged. This vicious woman clearly wants to drag me down to die with her from all this mental exhaustion. Fortunately, July stepped in with impartiality, "It's fine. Those who are not part of our mercenary group can leave first."
Half of the ladies moved to leave in a hubbub along with Gu Fei, leaving Svelte Dancer hopping in rage.
"Xiaowu, do you plan to take part in the mercenary PvP event?" As one of the Five Unyielding Experts, of course she would be eager to participate in something like this. However, July still maintained her measured and impartial attitude when she asked this question.
"Of course, I'm joining. I'll make sure to beat him during the mercenary PvP tournament," Svelte Dancer declared loudly.
"Do you not have a group of your own?" someone inquisitively asked. Logically speaking, one of the Five Unyielding Experts would surely have a mercenary group of her own and there was no need to join the newly formed mercenary group of Amethyst Rebirth.
"I have, but I'll immediately disband it!" Svelte Dancer answered. She then looked at Gu Fei who was about to exit the door and said, "I'll see you during the mercenary PvP tournament."
Gu Fei smiled, "I like this idea of yours. By then, you can't use the excuse of losing your level again to avoid PvPing me. Do your best!" Gu Fei bade her goodbye by nodding his head toward her. He then exited the Amethyst Rebirth's guild house.
He sprinted out of the city to begin his grinding once he was out of the guild house. However, it was not peaceful for him these few days whenever he grinded level. After fighting monsters for a bit, Royal God Call indeed sent out a cry for help to him. "Where!" Gu Fei glumly asked.
"Ray's Bar," Royal God Call reported. Most of the targets that required Gu Fei's assistance were found inside taverns. After all, Royal God Call could easily dispatch the targets that were on the streets.
"There? Is there no one in our private room? Ask that person to help you!"
"There's only Young Master Han, and he's as useless as a fart!" Royal God Call replied.
"I'll be right there, then." Depressed, Gu Fei began his trip back to the city.
Gu Fei could not see Royal God Call anywhere outside Ray's Bar when he got there. "Where are you?" He sent Royal God Call this inquiry.
"Inside the tavern!" Royal God Call answered.
Royal God Call would usually wait outside the taverns, as he could quietly take down the targets if they happened to exit the establishments, thereby eliminating the need to trouble Gu Fei. "Why's today so different?" Gu Fei muttered under his breath as he entered Ray's Bar.
He immediately felt annoyed when he swept his gaze inside Ray's Bar. It was no wonder that Royal God Call was not guarding the entrance today, as he was busy merrily drinking with two ladies!
The two ladies were precisely Luo Luo and Svelte Dancer. When she was trying to change the subject previously, Svelte Dancer indeed mentioned to Luo Luo her wish to visit Ray's Bar.
Gu Fei kept his rage in check as he walked over. While the two ladies already spotted Gu Fei a meter away, Royal God Call had yet to realize his arrival! Gu Fei's anger overcame him and he stepped up and grabbed Royal God Call, "WHERE?!"
"Ah, you're here. This person is—"
"Shut it! I already know her!" Gu Fei interrupted him angrily.
"Hmph!" Svelte Dancer turned her head away.
Gu Fei glared at her before asking Royal God Call once more, "Where?!"
"Don't be so hasty; let me have a look!" Royal God Call stretched his neck and looked around the bar. When he was intermingling with the two ladies, he inadvertently lost track of his target's whereabouts. Gu Fei decided right there and then that if the target was not in the tavern, he would slay Royal God Call instead. Luckily for Royal God Call, the target was still inside. Royal God Call pointed toward a table with six players seated in it, "That Thief over by that table."
"Ray," Gu Fei shouted as he tossed a gold coin over.
"Ah!" A frequent customer saw Gu Fei entering the bar. Seeing his next action, the customer immediately deduced what was about to happen and exclaimed aloud. Just as the customer had expected, Gu Fei truly darted over and kicked the table while yelling, "BOUNTY MISSION!" He was so incensed that his attitude was more violent than usual. The faces of the people occupying the table changed all at once as Gu Fei's sword punctured the Thief's body.
"Shoot him!" By the time Gu Fei shouted this, Royal God Call had already fired off an arrow. The Homing Projectile navigated through the narrow gaps in the room like a go-kart and nailed itself into the Thief's forehead. The target then disappeared into a stream of white light.
This method of attacking was used by Gu Fei and Royal God Call numerous times that it could now be considered as a combo that these two well-versed experts had perfected.
The remaining five players on the table looked on with mouths agape. As their brains were still trying to process what had just happened, Gu Fei already menacingly threatened them, "Leave if you've got nothing on! You'll lose a level if you die."
The hot-blooded players considered dropping a level a minor issue compared to losing face. Under the gazes of the people in the bar, how could they feel terrified of his warning? They felt that they should fight a few rounds at the very least before leaving, especially since two beautiful ladies were present. With such a line of thinking, the five babbled about attacking Gu Fei.
"I shan't be courteous, then!" As Gu Fei terrorized them further, he felt a gust of wind pass by his side. He then saw a figure appear right in the midst of the hot-blooded men. With a slash to the left and a cut to the right, two of the five men were instantly dispatched. The lithe figure pirouetted to one of the players' back and killed the person off with Backstab before scoring a pierce to the guy next to the person. With four dead, the figure pirouetted with daggers in hands once more. The figure's hands twirled and struck the fifth man on the back of his head with Bludgeon.
"Are you even a man? Bickering even when you're about to fight," Svelte Dancer threw a disdainful look at Gu Fei as she used her dagger to dispose of the last man.
Royal God Call marveled with all his might, "Beautiful! You indeed live up to your name as one of the Five Unyielding Experts!"
M*th*rf*ck*r! Gu Fei cursed vehemently in his heart. She truly is an unyielding expert. She unyieldingly stole my business just like that Mage guy before!
"Hmph!" Svelte Dancer coldly harrumphed at Gu Fei as she walked back to her seat superciliously.
Only Royal God Call cheered for her inside the bar that that had suddenly grown quiet. It took quite a while for the tavern patrons to snap back to their senses and begin their lively discussion. "One of the Five Unyielding Experts! Did you hear that?!"
"Svelte Dancer. It truly is Svelte Dancer!" The men leered salaciously as they hooted.
"What are you shouting for?! Haven't you seen a beauty before?!" Svelte Dancer turned her head to glare at these men, shutting their mouths instantly. Although she was a woman, she was still one of the Five Unyielding Experts. Moreover, they had just witnessed how powerful she was with how easily she killed the five men moments ago.
"Svelte Dancer is here in Yunduan City!" Everyone began to discuss in hushed tones as they sent messages about this fact to their contacts all over city.
Royal God Call continuously showered Svelte Dancer with praises for what she had just done. Although the brat would become reprehensible whenever he saw beautiful women, he was not blinded by it. Svelte Dancer's instantaneous assault on the five men was truly far more spectacular than Drifting's display of might.
Gu Fei knew that she was a full-Agility build character, so instkilling other players meant that her equipment's Attack Power must be frighteningly beyond comprehension. Anyone could also tell that she struck very concisely based on the flow of her attacks: The two low HP Mages were done in by a basic attack each, the Warrior by Backstab, the Priest by a simple stab, and the Knight by Bludgeon and a stab. The scarier fact here was the woman's fast reaction speed. Her steps did not falter even once as she instkilled all her opponents, completing that slew of attacks under the effect of Fleetfoot. Gu Fei saw someone use Fleetfoot to speedily deliver a stab on a person before, yet this was his first time seeing someone use Fleetfoot in a way that every step would result in an instkill.
This woman is really strong! Gu Fei already confirmed this. Just her reaction speed alone had already reached heights that the average human beings would never attain. It also seemed that her gaming skills were not below Sword Demon and the ilk's level of expertise. Furthermore, her ability to purchase top-grade equipment using real-world currency that others would not have access to could only be described using one word: abnormal.
"You've got moves," Gu Fei could only honestly compliment her after witnessing all that.
"Hmph. Are you afraid?" Svelte Dancer goaded.
"I'm never fearful of PvPing, except for one thing," Gu Fei replied.
"What?"
"That the opponent is weak," Gu Fei answered as he flourished his hands for effect.
"Tsk!" Royal God Call scoffed.
"Resume your quest!" Gu Fei kicked him.
Royal God Call glanced at the two beauties, fighting internally as he hesitantly walked away.
Not even two seconds had passed when Royal God Call darted back inside. Gu Fei even thought that someone seeking revenge had blocked his way out, yet he only saw Royal God Call come up to him and excitedly whisper, "There's another babe outside."
Just as he said that, the door to the bar was pushed open.
"Hello, Xiaotian," Gu Fei waved to the newcomer.
"Oh, you're here too, Violent Fei!" Xi Xiaotian exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
Royal God Call was dumbfounded, "Is there even a woman in Yunduan City you don't know?"
"He he! Men!" Svelte Dancer finally found a chance to use the same phrase Gu Fei had used on her earlier.