Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

He was truly a supreme being! Just opening his mouth and speak of something of such significance, and it was a task that seemed impossible to accomplish. With Thousand Miles Drunk, they would have a total of 6 damage dealers and finish off with 80 Priests. Just what sort of formation was that? It was like a formation that utilized flesh and blood to build the Great Wall; anyone who could be employed in a workshop, whether they had good or bad equipment, high or low level, rarely would they be gaming noobs. The moment they saw this party composition, they essentially understood what was going on here. The 80 Priests were in tears. This task would use them all as meatshields, suffering a baptism of attacks from all the Yunduan City players out there!

“So, are you guys confident?” Gu Fei asked.

“Not at all!” This answer was shouted loud and clear by them all.

“Well, you will have to get confident even if you are not. I’ve already paid.” Gu Fei had quite a good impression toward Aural Valley Wind, so he chose to believe in his character. Aside from the so-called incapacitation fee, he had already paid everything else upfront. Such a straightforward transaction gave Aural Valley Wind an excellent impression toward Gu Fei. That was why he did not continue to pester him regarding the incapacitation fee. Furthermore, he even stood up to help speak for Gu Fei. “There are only four NPC guards left defending the northeast encampment. Everyone should try their hardest to help support this assault. This matter really isn’t as difficult as what you guys have imagined.”

While it might be true that the task at hand could perhaps not be difficult, the thought that this task would create havoc for the other party still made it very agonizing for everyone. Someone suggested, “Almighty Drunk, why don’t you just hire more people for this and have a proper attack and defense line. That’s surely more effective than using the Priests to bear the brunt of the aggression, right?”

Gu Fei patted his own dimensional pocket, “I’m out of coins.”

Aural Valley Wind instantly became anxious, sending a message to Gu Fei, “You’re out of coins, then about the incapacitation fee...”

“You’re so gullible, how are you still in the workshop line of work?” Gu Fei disdainfully scoffed.

“Ignore what I just said then. However, what that guy suggested isn’t bad; if you form a party with a proper job class composition that could attack and defend, it would surely be more effective than this plan of yours,” Aural Valley Wind said.

However, Gu Fei shook his head, “Firstly, I don’t know how to take command of troops; secondly, there are tens of thousands of players on the city assaulter’s side, just how many players would I have to hire if I want to rely on conventional combat? And thirdly, I’m in a hurry here and I don’t wish to wait any longer.”

“Fine, I’ll leave you to it. Contact me if there’s anything else. Here is a name list of the mercenaries you’ve employed here. We’ll each have a copy, and I’ll make a mark for anyone who gets removed from the City Wars event after 25 deaths, so we can check against each other after everything’s done.”

“Would someone intentionally kill themselves just to earn more coins?” Gu Fei had his doubts.

“Are you kidding? Anyone who is employed by us, Soaring Cloud Workshop, would have to abide by our employee rules, and we have a particular stipulation for mutual reporting and monitoring. We would not tolerate any sort of behavior that seeks to defraud our clients. Especially since you are attempting such a large scale operation, we’ll make sure to send specialists out to keep an eye and supervise everything from the sidelines. You can rest easy; everyone here understands what’s the deal with your task at hand, and they would most definitely cooperate to the best of their ability to get this done for you. I guarantee you, even if you fail the task, it would purely be for subjective reasons.” Aural Valley Wind said.

“Okay, that’s good to know.” Gu Fei nodded. He then asked another question, “Which workshop are you from?”

Aural Valley Wind fell apart right there and then. After all this time spent together, the man actually had no idea which workshop he represented. He had not done a good job in establishing his image, so he quickly handed over his name card. Gu Fei took it and read it out loud, “Soaring Cloud Workshop’s Human Resource Assistant, Aural Valley Wind.”

“That is me,” Aural Valley Wind gave a slight bow.

“Why would human resources be selling teleportation scrolls?” Gu Fei asked.

“Our division of labor isn’t so strict. Since you’ve made contact with me, I ran over as the one in charge of representing the guild!” Aural Valley Wind answered.

“And you just so happen to randomly promote your human resource business?” Gu Fei asked.

“Heh,” Aural Valley Wind laughed dryly.

“What sort of relationship do you have with Remarkable Flair Workshop?” Gu Fei put the name card away as he asked.

“They are garbage,” Aural Valley Wind answered somberly.

Gu Fei instantly looked upon them more favorably, clapping his hand hard across Aural Valley Wind’s shoulder, “That’s great. I’ll come and look for you guys if I have anything I need doing.” Gu Fei had quite a good impression of this person, and he hoped that the saying about how birds of the same feather flock together was not true, and that Aural Valley Wind would not be as crafty as Five Nights. If not, dealing with workshops would really be a convenient and fastidious option.

“Let’s move out!” Gu Fei hailed the troops. He was not taking command, and was in fact not even the party leader. Someone else took up this job, but everyone was very certain about just who was truly in charge of them all.

“Is everyone here?” This time, it was the five damage dealers beside Gu Fei that were astonished.

“We’re all here,” Gu Fei said.

“Where are the Warriors?” Someone asked.

“What do you need Warriors for?” Gu Fei was nonplussed.

“Who’s going to tank the damage if we don’t have Warriors?” It was almost as if the five players blurted out the same question in one voice, slightly differing only in how they worded it.

Gu Fei pointed to himself.

“You?” The five were all in unison now, exchanging glances with each other in bewilderment. Even though he had brought so many Priests, with the frail body that Mages possess, was Thousand Miles Drunk enough to withstand an attack? Even having 8000 Priests around would be useless if he just ended up getting insta-killed! Even though the five knew that the guards present did not have that high of an attack, none of them had forgotten the fact that there was a total of four guards inside the northeast encampment.

The five of them had just organized their own thoughts and wanted to ask a follow up question, but Gu Fei had already strode right to the front of the troops. The 80 Priests did not have the heart to be in the least bit worried about this matter, silently following as they set off for their destination. Those five players hesitated and chased up to the front, ultimately asking Gu Fei just what was he planning.

“You’ll know when the time comes,” Gu Fei waved his hand off dismissively, too lazy to explain.

The northeast encampment was right in front of them, and Gu Fei had already called everyone to disperse and move in. Having all 80 Priests gathered together would be far too eye-catching.

“Do you guys have any questions regarding the battle tactics I’m employing? I’m not really the best when it comes to such things,” Gu Fei was reaching out for everyone’s opinion in a fair and democratic manner.

“You’re really bad at this. We need a T formation..a T formation!” The five damage dealers Gu Fei hired were yelling.

“Furthermore, why didn’t you get more damage dealers out here!? The more you get, the more effective this will be!” The others were also chiming in.

“You guys are really such nags! Fine, I’ll tell you guys why! I know what you mean by that T thing that you guys are all talking about; isn’t it just what people use to draw a monster’s Threat? I heard the Warrior job class would be capable of generating a huge amount of Rage. It firstly depends on their attack damage, and next is about their expenditure of said Rage, which would all be converted into Threat, right?” Gu Fei said.

“That’s right, otherwise, there’s no way for Warriors to maintain the monsters’ aggro. The key is to utilize the Rage to create greater Threat with the monster,” someone answered.

“Yes, it doesn’t matter what sort of system is in place here. Essentially, as long as I make my attack, there’s definitely no Warrior out there capable of generating any Threat,” Gu Fei said.

The five men were stunned but soon understood what Gu Fei was implying. Who was he? Thousand Miles Drunk! An insta-killing Mage whose spell damage was so indomitable, the damage output that he could dish out went well beyond what the people could currently unleash, allowing him to generate the greatest amount of Threat, and there was no way any Warrior of the present caliber could be able to snatch away the aggro given their damage output and expenditure of Rage. That was why Gu Fei had said Warriors gaining Threat to draw aggro was no more than a dream since they have such a powerful damage dealer like himself.

“As for the reason why we can’t have more mercenaries for this operation, that is entirely because I need to ensure I have enough space to maneuver. With too many people all crowding around, that would only limit the space that I can move about in, and if I do not have space, that means I cannot evade their attacks, and that would mean my death. Do you guys understand everything now?” Gu Fei said.

“We understand the first reason, but this one, not really.”

“That is why I said you guys won’t get it even if I tell you about it. But you guys will understand once the fighting begins. Has everyone gotten to their posts yet?” Gu Fei had gotten everyone to enter the encampment first. After all, none of them would draw any attention.

“I’m in...” The channel was alit with a series of messages.

“How are the guards distributed throughout the camp?” Gu Fei asked.

“The target at this coordinates here is the closest to the edge of the encampment. Let’s take him down first!” Someone informed Gu Fei.

“Good,” Gu Fei followed the coordinates and adjusted his path accordingly. Originally, the players were all afraid of their northeast encampment becoming dismantled. As such, they stationed a large amount of people there, but when they later learned that the city defenders were all completely suppressed behind the city walls, they no longer had their members waste their time there. Everyone went about their own business as they saw fit, aside from a handful of players who offered to stay back so they can skive off. The northeast encampment was no longer any different from the other encampments, and it was no more than a spawn point for players to continue their cycle of rebirth. Gu Fei had noticed how the defense over in this place had relaxed when he got out of the city, which was why he had come up with such a plan.

“Everyone will need to be ready the moment I head on over to the area,” Gu Fei said. What he meant by ‘ready’ was for these 85 players to have their faces covered. This would allow them to shake off any players hunting them down after the battle ended, and it was a critical method so as to prevent potential retaliation.

“I’m going in!” Gu Fei finally gave his signal, and without any of the city assaulter’s noticing, he very casually stepped into the already precarious patch of land.

There was an NPC guarding the encampment very near him, and the moment Gu Fei stepped in, the guard immediately glared in his direction, yelling out “A spy has infiltrated the encampment” as it charged forward with great ferocity.

“Hurry up!!!” Gu Fei was also bellowing his lungs out, not missing a beat as he dashed forward and executed a rotating Twin Incineration right onto that guard. The 5-man damage dealer squad was already awaiting orders nearby, and when they saw Gu Fei make his move, the two Thieves ducked right behind the guard and unleashed their Backstabs, while the three Mages sent an unending stream of Repeating Fireballs. Even though it dealt a small amount of AoE damage, it was nothing too huge, and with the 80 Priests surrounding them all around, they would truly be too incompetent of them to nitpick over a little damage.

“How much HP does an NPC guard have?” The team of five damage dealers had never done such a task like this, and they had never gotten themselves involved with the City Wars event. They were pretty much clueless to all these details.

“No clue,” Gu Fei simply replied nonchalantly.

The five men were vomiting blood, “If you don’t even know how much HP they have, how are you so certain that we can kill them in time?”

“Why else do you think I told you all to hurry up!? Stay vigilant; the other three guards will be arriving very soon. Priests, there’s no need for you guys to block them, just let them all in. That would save all of you the trouble of being attacked by them,” Gu Fei said.

“Pulling all four at once? Can you do it?” The five were surprised.

“That’s why I told you I need the space. Just watch! You two Thieves gotta keep up as well,” Gu Fei said even as he continued to slash at the guard, firmly controlling the tempo as he was determined not to put himself in a situation where his mana would be insufficient.

Just as Gu Fei had mentioned, the other three guards came sprinting over to lend a hand. All the Priests faithfully followed their orders and let the three NPCs in. However, the more urgent matter at hand was actually the numerous players on the city assaulter’s side streaming in. The encampment had once more informed all the players about the news of another attack, and the players in the northeast encampment had already pulled out their weapons. Where was the target? Perhaps they would originally have to search and identify the infiltrator, but at the moment, seeing the 80 masked Priests squeezed into a circle so prominently only made it apparent just where their target was located.

“Here they come,” all the Priests pumped up one another. They were not noobs, so they were all used to protecting and being protected when in a group. They had never once experienced being placed in the frontlines like a Warrior, however, so they could not help but be a little nervous at the moment.

The attacks had arrived!

The moment everyone saw the 80 Priests forming up into a circle, even the timidest player would have the confidence to act wildly. Players all charged onward, madly throwing out all sorts of skills and spells in their arsenal. The 80 Priests gritted their teeth and supported each other with their healing as the bright white glow shined to the point it was just a ball of light, contending with the flames, arrows, Stealthed Thieves and Charging Warriors...

“Valley Wind, can you get your observers to help me watch what the city assaulters are doing? Warn me if a whole horde of them descends upon the encampment,” Gu Fei sent a message out to Aural Valley Wind.

“I’m already here myself... 80 players really do seem a little too little!” Aural Valley Wind was also curious if Gu Fei was able to conquer this encampment, so he had come along to watch the ensuing spectacle. Seeing the whole pack of players that suddenly launched their attack, they appeared as if they had some difficulties fighting the 80 Priests at first. However, by the time everyone had begun to organize themselves, their attacks slowly adjusted and Aural Valley Wind felt that killing off all 80 players would barely be anything more difficult than blowing off a pile of ash.

“Crap, it looks like we won’t hold any longer!” the circle of protection created by these 80 Priests slowly began to crack and reveal an opening because of the relentless Charges from a bunch of Warriors. When everyone saw the herd of Priest formed in a circle, they already knew that they must be protecting something. Prying their way in, they could already see a small squad of men trying to slay the NPC guards assigned to the encampment, and these Warrior roared before running in to assist.

“Fall back!” Gu Fei shouted at the two Thieves, bringing the guards closer to the incoming Warriors with two steps, rotating his body to unleash a Twin Incineration. The flames spun out, and three Warriors got caught in the slash, heavily injuring two.

The two injured Warriors did not even hesitate; Both adopted the mettle of someone ready to sacrifice themselves for a greater cause as they whipped their claymores out and activated their Cyclones together. Nobody expected Gu Fei to be even quicker, upon seeing their sharp blades swinging right close to him, he lifted his finger and suddenly Blinked away, causing the two Warriors’ Cyclones ended up cutting right into an NPC guard behind Gu Fei. This guard was already locked onto Gu Fei, and it did not move away from the two Cyclones, turning around to chase after Gu Fei instead. The Two Warriors hurriedly canceled their Cyclones, clumsily stomping after in pursuit, but the five-man damage dealers squad was not here to watch the show. The five acted in unison, polishing off the two Warriors in a quick moment now that they were in low HP.

Gu Fei continued to lead the Guard away. The cooldown for his Twin Incineration had ended by this time and he dodged the three NPC guards with a twirling circular motion. Changing his position while he moved, even thrusting his hand out with a Palm of Thunder just so he could smack right onto the fourth guard’s head. By this point, Gu Fei no longer wished to kill off the guards, so he abruptly corrected his palm thrust as he guided his palm downward mid delivery, slamming that guard forcefully into the ground. Gu Fei began wielding his sword and flourishing when he landed on the ground, stabbing wildly and loudly. The damage dealer squad came forward and continued to help, as one of them shouted at Gu Fei, “There’s no need for you to keep doing that. We’re not going to attack those few since we can’t draw their aggro away. You can just focus on just one and that will do.”

“I’m doing this in passing,” Gu Fei chuckled, looking to be as easy-going as ever. Ever since the three guards were allowed to enter the ring, Gu Fei’s attacks had been very thorough, and the five-man squad that he had formed earlier had thought this was Gu Fei’s method at aggroing them as a group, thinking that it did not take him much or long to stabilize his Threat with the three guards given his superior damage output. From that point onward, all the five had to do was come together and consolidate their total power. But Gu Fei did not do that. His damage output, from start to finish, had been evenly distributed among the four NPC guards. Meanwhile, the five players bore witness to just how erratically Gu Fei would move and change his position by now. Just when it seemed evident that Gu Fei would be about to sidestep to the left, no one watching had expected him to duck to the right instead. As such, it was the two Thieves who had it tough, completely unable to keep up with their target as Gu Fei led the target taking seemingly random steps in varying directions at inconsistent intervals.

“What are the two of you doing? Must you pick that one target out of the four guards here?” The two Thieves ended up getting criticized by Gu Fei. The Thieves were startled. What’s wrong with concentrating our damage onto a single target to kill it off first? Wouldn’t it be a little bit too much to expect to kill the four at the same time?

“You three as well! Why are you just bombarding one with your spells?!” Gu Fei also shouted at the three Mages.

The three Mages were close to fainting; They were simply too lazy to justify their own actions when pitted against Gu Fei’s noob mentality. Since our boss has given the order, we’ll just have to act in accordance! Otherwise, if we fail at completing the task, we would be in serious trouble if he ends up blaming us for going against orders.

The three Mages began to evenly distribute their damage across all four guards, and Gu Fei expressed his satisfaction toward this end. The city assaulters were no longer blindly bullying these interlopers just because they were up against Priests. As more and more players gathered, they began to concentrate their firepower and were making significant breakthroughs. The Priests finally realized that their 80-man human wall was completely insufficient to hold off the enemy in their lair. The city assaulters were all completely capable of insta-killing each and every one of them once they began to focus their attacks. 80 Priests? So what even if it was 800 or 8000? Currently, what they needed was no longer the amount of healing to recover from the damage sustained, but a higher HP threshold to survive the attacks.

“Boss... I feel like your attempt here...” Aural Valley Wind had a clear view of the situation since he was an observer to this whole matter, and while his bias leaned toward Gu Fei a little, he could tell that the tide of the battle was no longer in sway from the scene before his eyes.

“Can you perhaps kill one with what little time you have left? If you can kill one now, that would be one less to kill. If you mount another attack after this, you can probably kill them off doing all this another three times,” Aural Valley Wind was already trying to plan ahead.

The Priests were all already overwhelmed by this time, and the outer circle of Priests had all been reaped. These players respawned back in the same encampment, though they were not in the same position as before. They found themselves spawning randomly in the encampment, all immediately becoming the targets of the mob since they were still covering their faces, which made it impossible for them to gather themselves to form up the Great Wall once more. All the Priests each felt that Gu Fei’s plan was truly too childish, to the point that it was no more than a joke. How could a mere group of 80 Priests be able to put up any sort of defense? It was apparent that while this man was capable in one on one PK, he was simply a total simpleton when it came to group battles.

Or perhaps all he wanted was to buy himself more time, killing them one at a time before giving it another shot after. That was what people were originally thinking, but when they turned around and peeked into the inner circle, what they saw left them hugely disappointed.

He was a simpleton! Truly a complete simpleton! He did not even want to concentrate all of our damage onto a single target, but had actually intended to slay the four guards all at once... While it would be quite a beautiful dream if he actually succeeded, the reality proves to be anything but cruel. There was just no way for the 80 Priests to hold out for a long enough time to do that, so unless they were able to finish the guards off during the time that the opposing players took to gather, the moment the enemy concentrated their hundreds and thousands of attacks at them, there was simply no way for any of them to survive.

That’s it. It’s over... The Priests all shared this same thought when they saw the throng of players that were packed in front of them. Aural Valley Wind was craning his neck, hoping to know if Gu Fei had managed to kill any of them inside.

“Remove your masks and disperse!” Gu Fei suddenly ordered.

Are we giving up now? Everyone was wondering about this, but none of them dared to ask it out loud. Their boss must be feeling rather down by this point.

However, the removal of what had been hiding their faces did not mean that the enemy would not treat them as foes, and they would still have to die at least that one time. Everyone removed them and kept their faces covered with their hands, waiting for their deaths before they would expose their face. This way, no one would dare to randomly identify them as the enemy, which would increase their chances to escape.

Fire, arrows, Cyclones, hacks, and stabs...

All sorts of attacks surged forth toward them, and the Priests had already given up putting up any sort of resistance, instantly vanishing from the spot when the attacks reached them. However, in the space that was created after the Priests had disappeared, there were four NPC guards, and these four stood and took the ample bounty of fire, arrows, Cyclones, hacks, and stabs...

“CRAP! STOP! EVERYONE STOP!!!” A player from the city assaulter’s side bellowed out loud in his anxiety.

Cyclones, hacks, and stabs could all be stopped. But the same could not be said with arrows and spells. With thousands of players that made up the city assaulters present, the wealth of attacks that came were completely gifted to the four pitiful NPC guards.