Chapter 225 - Calm before the Storm
Gu Fei felt quite depressed as he logged off. He rarely had the chance to pit himself against Fighters, but due to him having an easier time beating them than the other job classes, now that he finally had a chance to go up against one, he somehow ended up giving the Fighter Gale Force a shock, and that was done without pulling out his Moonlit Nightfalls.
This was entirely due to Gu Fei's high standard when it came to kung fu. The Fighter job class in Parallel World was probably designed using the data that had been gathered from some real-life kung fu instructors. But since Gu Fei was a rare top-tier talent in the field of kung fu, those instructors would probably not even come close to his level of martial arts. Just the simplicity of the skills and concepts that they had provided for this game was enough proof that their kung fu talent was nothing to brag about.
Gu Fei went up the rooftop to practice kung fu after he had logged off from the game. Taking out a sandbag, he performed the various skills of the Fighter job class, such as Uppercut Punch, Thrusting Kick, Swallow Dropkick, Seismic Toss, and Spurring Meteor. Despite giving his sandbag a good thrashing, Gu Fei still could not help but sigh to himself, So simple! Truly, it was a pity that his execution of these skills could not generate any damage in-game. He did not even have the Strength to properly execute Seismic Toss. In actuality, without the system temporarily 'gifting' the Fighters the Strength to perform Seismic Toss on any sort of opponent whenever they felt like it, they would not be able to execute the skill, either.
While Gu Fei was busy practicing kung fu on the rooftop, Gale Force was still on the platform at the Martial Field in-game. He was trying to chain the very same skills that Gu Fei had so effortlessly performed before his eyes a while ago to no success… "How is this easy?" Gale Force sighed. Tempo… Canceling… He repeated these words to himself as sweat rained on the platform due to his exertion.
Meanwhile, on Yunduan City's forums, Young Master's Elite's consecutive wins in the mercenary PvP tournament had left everyone surprised.
The six-man mercenary group's journey toward the semifinals was nothing to scoff at, as the opponents that they had defeated along the way were real heavyweights in the mercenary PvP tournament. The level 4 mercenary groups Cloud Herder and High Cloud, another tournament dark horse Silver Moon, the budding mercenary group Amethyst that many considered to be worthy of being acknowledged as a dark horse as well, and the top mercenary group Four Seas that consisted of the elite members of the number one guild Traversing Four Seas… All these mercenary groups were not just any ordinary entities in Yunduan City. This was especially true of Four Seas. Although that mercenary group had fewer completed missions compared to The Black Hand, it was widely regarded as the strongest based on raw talent and power.
In any case, the final four mercenary groups in the semifinals were as follows: Young Master's Elite, The Black Hand, Water Flower (under Carouse Guild), and Rainbow betwixt the Clouds. Although the name 'Rainbow betwixt the Clouds' sounded fanciful, the mercenary group itself was average at best. What everyone could not fathom, though, was how Rainbow betwixt the Clouds had managed to reach level 4 despite being backed by just the level 3 guild Colored Clouds.
The level 4 mercenary group with its eighty members had truly been blessed for it had never once met a strong mercenary group or a dark horse in the mercenary PvP tournament. The most difficulty that Rainbow betwixt the Clouds had experienced during the tournament was when it had been matched up against some equally mediocre level 3 or level 4 mercenary groups. Nonetheless, during those times, they somehow managed to obtain a pyrrhic victory.
Others did not have much interest toward Rainbow betwixt the Clouds, as most of their attention was on how far Young Master's Elite could go in the PvP tournament.
With the conclusion of today's guild match, the semifinals opponent of Young Master's Elite was announced as Water Flower, while The Black Hand would be facing Rainbow betwixt the Clouds.
At this moment, Young Master Han and Brave Surge, the guild leader of Carouse, were together in Ray's Bar.
"So this group's actually your creation. Say… Why didn't you join Water Flower?!" Brace Surge asked, feeling rueful. Young Master's Elite's recent deeds were just too controversial. Even if people could not find out about all its members, they were at least able to find the name of the mercenary group's leader by looking it up at the Hall of Mercenaries. Most people would not know who this 'Young Master Han' was, but any members of Carouse Guild would naturally know. After all, the name of the guild Young Master Han belonged to was listed right next his name!
Young Master Han only laughed in response.
"This means that you already know that Mage!" Brave Surge stated. When Young Master Han did not deny his claim, he continued, "You saw how tough it was for us to find him, so why did you not say a word?!"
"He won't let me." Young Master Han easily pushed the blame on Gu Fei for this.
Brave Surge acknowledged his reason and said, "When the match is over, bring your friend to join our guild; it's more fun when there are more people!"
Young Master Han flashed him a wry smile. "In a small group like ours, we do everything by majority vote. I'm only the group leader in name, and I still need to discuss everything with everyone."
"Of course, that's a given. How about you invite everyone to have a drink with us?" Brave Surge persisted.
"How about tomorrow after the match?" Young Master Han would never reject an offer to drink.
"Have you done your preparations on how to face us?" Brave Surge casually asked. He more or less had a good idea of what Young Master Han was capable of.
"Not yet." Young Master Han smiled secretively, also asking, "How many men are you intending to send out?"
"I haven't thought of it, either." Brave Surge flashed him an equally secretive smile.
"I guess we'll talk about it later, then!" Young Master Han concluded.
"Yes, let's do that," Brave Surge agreed, saying, "I'll take my leave first; enjoy yourself!" With that, he waved his hand, "Ray, I'll take care of the bill for this table."
"Surely there's no need?" Young Master Han pretended to decline.
"No need to be courteous; we're in the same guild, after all," Brave Surge laughed boisterously.
Ray looked over to Young Master Han for confirmation and the latter nodded his head. Ray immediately brought the bill over to Brave Surge. The smile on Brave Surge's lips slightly wavered upon seeing the bill and he remarked, "You're quite the drinker!"
"It's better if I take care of the bill myself!" Young Master Han chuckled.
However, Brave Surge already said that he would take care of his bill, so how could a guild leader like him not be a man of his word? He instantly fished out his coin pouch and settled Young Master Han's bill of over 100 gold coins. The sum itself was not exorbitant, but this was a question of where the money went to. Brave Surge would hardly bat an eyelid if he spent that amount on equipment and such, but spending that amount on liquor made his heart ache. "You should drink less; it's not good for your body." Brave Surge advised with a slightly fearful voice before leaving in a hurry.
How the hell would drinking liquor in-game harm the body? Young Master Han calmly took the tab and asked Ray while scanning it, "Did you include the tab for the entire week?" As Ray nodded his head, Young Master Han said, "That's the sort of quality you should look for in a boss!"
Ray could only smile in response to this.
Nothing else happened that night. When Gu Fei got online the next day and made his way over to Ray's Bar for the pre-match meeting, he was met with a never-before-seen situation.
Inside Ray's Bar, Young Master Han and the rest were currently not inside their usual private room. Instead, they were sitting and drinking together in the bar lounge with Brave Surge and company whom their group was matched up with for today's round of the mercenary PvP tournament. Both sides were discussing about their respective strategies for today's match. What an awkward yet harmonious scene this was!
"This…" Gu Fei did not know what to say to this.
"We meet again!" Brave Surge flashed Gu Fei a warm smile, inviting, "Come take a seat."
"This…" Gu Fei repeated himself, not knowing whether to agree or decline the offer.
"I'm treating everyone to a round of drinks!" Brave Surge smiled pleasantly.
"Didn't we agree on drinking AFTER the match?" Young Master Han asked, puzzled.
"Drink now and expend all that alcohol in your system during the fight later; wouldn't that be better?" Brave Surge encouraged.
Young Master Han thought for a moment before smiling, "You're just afraid that I'll drink non-stop after the match!"
Brave Surge felt slightly embarrassed that his plot had been seen through. He was actually not a petty person, but Young Master Han's expenditure had truly given him a fright. How long had it been from the end of mercenary PvP tournament to their yesterday's meeting? For him to drink that much in such a short time, Brave Surge was convinced that Young Master Han could bankrupt him with his drinking if he was given free rein after the match.
Nonetheless, the sight of the two sides that would be fighting one another in today's PvP match harmoniously drinking together was just too strange. All the people present did not know what to say to this, so they merely chose to quietly drink the cups of liquor in their hands.
"Are we fighting you guys today?" Gu Fei asked Brave Surge, as he just found out about it now. As Brave Surge nodded his head, Gu Fei praised, "Your spell bombardment is really powerful!"
Brave Surge very humbly replied, "Oh, it's alright."
Gu Fei sent out a message, "Svelty! Lend me your magic resistance equipment again; I'm about to fight that guy with that strong spell bombardment."
Svelte Dancer came barging inside Ray's Bar before long. She also expressed her surprise at the strange sight of the two competing teams sitting and drinking together.
"Over here!" Gu Fei quickly called out.
"Big Sis Xiaoxi1!" Royal God Call was more excited than Gu Fei.
"Hi, Xiaowu," War Without Wounds faked a calm greeting.
Svelte Dancer waved to everyone before coming to Gu Fei's side and handing him the equipment. "What's all this about?"
"Guild Leader Brave Surge here is treating us to some liquor." Gu Fei chuckled.
Brave Surge recognized the one before him as the prestigious Svelte Dancer. He hurriedly greeted her and quickly called Ray to bring her a drink as well. Inside, he was wondering, This is the richest player in the entire server of Parallel World; does that mean the only worthy beverage in her eyes is the most expensive one?
Svelte Dancer was not passionate about drinking, so she was naturally not fussy over this stuff. She only came here to deliver the equipment Gu Fei had requested. After handing it over to him, she bade everyone farewell and left.
"Look. This coat right here has 73% magic resistance; pretty impressive, yeah?!" Gu Fei proudly showed the item to Brave Surge.
"Impressive..." Brave Surge affirmed, yet his eyes was not looking at the equipment Gu Fei was holding; instead, he was staring at the more impressive living thing before him.
Even if both sides were cordial right now, they were still going to fight against one another later. Why would anyone show such equipment with high magic resistance this easily? This guy… Just how high is this guy's self-confidence?! Brave Surge sighed in awe.
Chapter 226 - Where is the trap?
Inside Ray's Bar, the two teams drank liquor rather amiably. Gu Fei kept the equipment Svelte Dancer had lent him as Brave Surge busily made his calculations.
If the item truly had 73% magic resistance, then it would almost be like having a cheat. Normally, he would have to hit Gu Fei with Descending Wheel of Flames thrice to kill the latter off. If Gu Fei wore the coat, it would take eleven of those spells to finish him off… That was a really high requirement.
Although Water Flower mercenary group was under Carouse Guild, the strength of the guild and mercenary group was not really the same. This was mainly because of the member limitation each type of organization had. While Carouse Guild could create a spell bombardment consisting of over one hundred Mages, Water Flower mercenary group with its eighty members could not. Creating an all-Mage mercenary group was not probable as defeating a team that did not have a balanced job class distribution was as easy as pie. With such a condition, Water Flower would have a hard time employing a Mage formation.
Water Flower was already on the weaker side, but with Gu Fei bringing an item with 73% magic resistance, the group's Mages would be nothing more than match sticks for him.
How on Earth are we going to fight him? Looks like I have to come up with a whole new plan! Brave Surge started to ponder on the matter for a while.
Not much time was left until the match's start. All were constantly checking the time, wanting their involvement in this awkward drinking session to end. When someone mumbled, "It's almost time," the rest of them hurriedly voiced their assent and quickly stood up from their seats. Everyone said to either side, "See you on the map." With tacit understanding, Young Master's Elite left the bar via the left door while Water Flower exited the establishment through the right door. Both sides also took different routes to head over to the teleportation array.
The pre-PvP meeting that had turned into a quiet drinking session due to Brave Surge's sudden appearance had to be conducted on the road, instead. Since Young Master Han was a member of Carouse Guild, he provided the information about their opponents for today's match given that the members of Water Flower mercenary group were made up of the elites of Carouse.
All, except for Sword Demon, gawked at Young Master Han when he recited with ease the details of all the eighty members of Water Flower. Most of them zoned him out near the end, yet they were all impressed at Young Master Han's nearly eidetic memory. Even Brother Assist had to refer to his information booklet when giving out information.
"That's eighty people!" The six of them arrived by the teleportation array when they said this. Actually, Royal God Call was still counting with his fingers the number of players Young Master Han had mentioned as they entered the 'changing room', "Is that all eighty of them?"
"Yup!" Brother Assist nodded his head. Having ample knowledgeable of statistics and data collection, he could not help but exclaim, "It's such a waste for you to not do information gathering!"
"Any field that doesn't have me suffers a loss," Young Master Han said.
Everyone was no longer in the mood to praise him upon hearing his bragging.
"Since you have a good understanding of the entire Water Flower, does that mean that you are certain of our victory for this match?" Brother Assist asked.
"It's somewhat useful, but that's hardly relevant," Young Master Han replied, saying, "I just enjoy seeing you guys look on me with admiration as I speak!"
"Get lost!" Everyone immediately glared at him contemptuously, making sure to put as much hate in their eyes.
With not much time left until the match's start, seventy-two players of Water Flower hurriedly entered the 'changing room'. It seemed that the remaining eight members had something on and would not be participating in the match. In no time at all, the ten-second countdown ended and both sides were transported into the real PvP arena, officially beginning the semifinals of the mercenary PvP tournament.
"Where's the high ground?!" They all limbered up and impatiently asked this of Young Master Han.
Young Master Han snorted, "Many people thought they could see through me, yet they were sorely mistaken."
"Fine! We're all mistaken! Stop playing mind games with us and just tell us of your plan! Otherwise, I'm just gonna go and face them head on." Gu Fei could no longer stand his cryptic words.
"Follow me!" Young Master Han headed forward. The five men exchanged looks before following Young Master Han. Brother Assist once more tried to find some confidence from Sword Demon, yet he did not get his wish this time, as Sword Demon's current expression showed a hint of doubt. "Sword Demon…" Brother Assist's voice trembled as he called out.
Sword Demon offered without prompting, "There was this one time that someone had guessed his intention, so he intentionally changed the original plan to something else. After that—"
"Did you lose?" Brother Assist anxiously interrupted.
"No. We won. But our losses were greater than what we would have incurred had we stuck to the original plan. Even the guy who had figured out his plan was among the casualties," Sword Demon answered.
"Wow. He is really vicious!" Gu Fei, who was eavesdropping on Brother Assist and Sword Demon's conversation, could not help but exclaim this.
"Is he going to send us all to our death?" Royal God Call asked with trepidation.
"He can't do that if everyone's at fault! Didn't everyone shout at him just now?" Brother Assist asked.
"I didn't shout," Sword Demon replied.
"I, too," Gu Fei seconded.
"You're lying! I was right beside you, so I clearly heard your shout," Royal God Call exposed Gu Fei.
"Calm down, young man. While you only have the possibility of Young Master sending you to your death, I can guarantee that you will die if you insist on claiming I shouted at him just now," Gu Fei threatened.
"I'm not gonna live either way, anyway; each of you is more fiendish than the last." Royal God Call was in tears.
The five did not say anything more when Young Master Han brought them inside a forest. After a short distance, Young Master Han stopped and turned around. The sunlight filtering through the leaves of the surrounding trees illuminated his face. His expression looked even more sinister under that mottled light, giving the five men goosebumps.
"Alright. Climb up!" Young Master Han suddenly ordered.
"Up where?" the five men asked cautiously.
"Up the tree," Young Master Han slapped the tree beside him.
"Oh. Just up the tree…" The five men sighed in relief before hurriedly asking, "Why are we going up the tree?"
"It's a tactic!" Young Master Han answered.
"Tactic?" The five expressed their skepticism as they were wary of being tormented by Young Master Han.
Young Master Han decided to set himself as an example and had Sword Demon give him a boost to climb up the tree first. Once he climbed high enough, he looked around for a bit before calling the others to join him. "Miles and Royal, you two climb up first."
The two were stunned. Honestly speaking, they had been the most vocal in ordering Young Master Han to head to a high ground. Royal God Call was a teenager, so naturally he did not care about the volume of his voice when speaking. As for Gu Fei, being a teacher had made him used to raising his voice to get the attention of an entire class, so he somewhat failed to realize how loud he was. Is this truly a trap to take revenge on us? the two thought to themselves.
"I can't climb up the tree!" Royal God Call immediately tried to escape.
"I'll help you up!" War Without Wounds was naturally glad to see Royal God Call suffer, so he quickly grabbed a hold of the escaping Royal God Call.
"Wounds, you *ssh*le! Go eat sh*t!" Royal God Call cursed.
War Without Wounds was not bothered by his cursing and merely found a low hanging branch to toss Royal God Call over. Royal God Call attempted to jump down from the low hanging branch, yet War Without Wounds sadistically positioned the tip of his sword toward Royal God Call. Royal God Call quickly grabbed on to the tree trunk once he realized what would happen to him if he fell.
"Over there. Head over there," Young Master Han directed Royal God Call to a certain section of the tree.
Royal God Call carefully moved atop the tree, occasionally checking for an opportunity to drop to the ground. Unfortunately for him, War Without Wounds was keeping an eye on him from below. Gu Fei joined War Without Wounds in staring at him, even sending him a message, "Just check it out. Don't worry; I'll save you if there's danger." Royal God Call felt helpless in this situation. He could only cry bitter tears inside for having acquired such a vile bunch of friends.
With Young Master Han's direction, Royal God Call climbed higher and higher up the tree. He no longer had any intention of 'accidentally' taking a misstep and falling to the ground with how high he was up the tree. Instead, he began to gingerly test the sturdiness of the tree branches. He would not put it past Young Master Han to do something like make him stand on a tree branch that could not hold his weight.
Truly, deciphering Young Master Han's thoughts was a difficult affair. As Royal God Call safely got to his designated spot, his inbox immediately burst into activity. "So how is it? Is there anything unusual up there?" Gu Fei and the rest inquired. They used me as a guinea pig! Royal God Call was angry at everyone's inquiry.
"Miles, you should hurry up, too. Get over to that position right there," Young Master Han instructed as he pointed toward another location atop the tree. He then called out to the other three men, "Everyone, come on up. Randomly find a place to hide."
War Without Wounds had the highest Strength among them, so he officially became the helper of everyone to climb up the tree. Lifting Brother Assist and Sword Demon up the tree, he then turned his gaze over to Gu Fei.
"No need," Gu Fei refused his aid. Pointing his finger to a certain tree branch, he said, "Translocation! Blink!" With a swish, Gu Fei was already standing on that spot.
"I know you don't need my help; I want you to give me a boost!" War Without Wounds fumed.
Gu Fei glanced at his burly frame before neutrally asking, "Is that even possible?"
Indeed, getting War Without Wounds up the tree was problematic. Only after a few of them worked together did they manage to pull him up the tree.
Gu Fei sighed repeatedly once he saw War Without Wounds' clumsy posture on a tree branch, "I think it's best if you don't join us up here!" He then proceeded to lift Sword Demon up the tree as he continued to teleport himself from branch to branch.
"Good. Train your Blink skill a bit more. You'll be using it shortly," Young Master Han said.
"Okay. What now? What do we do next?" Brother Assist asked. Besides War Without Wounds, everyone else was already in position.
"We're waiting for Brave Surge to find us," Young Master Han replied with a slight smile.
"What if he can't find us?"
"Of course, he will. If Foe-herder could find us, why couldn't he?"
"Then, what do we do after that?" This was what everyone was really concerned about.
"This entire forest is a trap prepared for them."
"Oh!" Everyone sighed in relief. It turned out that Young Master Han at least had the decency to exclude them from this trap for Brave Surge and his men.