Chapter 208: Guda Sensei!
Laybit had wanted to drop by and inform his tribe before heading out again, leading those three fellows who had appeared out of nowhere but who didn’t look like bad guys to the Grayclaw tribe.
But before he could return, he had witnessed his own father being slain.
He immediately lost all rational as his impulse screamed for him to charge the enemy, only to be stopped by Vulcan.
After all, the Players could see levels—and since a Level 5 thrash like Laybit was never going to win against the Level 35 Tigerman Warrior, charging blindly was nothing less than a meaningless death.
That said, the Players did not have to worry about all that either.
If one were to call Edward’s party top Players for averaging above Level 40, Zonyan Grayclaw would be second-tier because of his infamous bad luck that prevented him from getting a party to farm dungeons, which also kept him at Level 38. Still, he was basically mainstream since most other Players remain at that phase.
Vulcan had joined the Church of Games at the same time as Zonyan, but he was just Level 37 because he was kind to newbies and often farmed dungeons with them. On the other hand, Terry and Jom who joined the Church of Games much more recently were actual newbies and therefore were only Level 20.
And at the moment, Zonyan had changed cla.s.s to Berserker Swordmaster while Vulcan had changed cla.s.s to Evil Blade Spirit Swordman. Joey himself had reached the level to change cla.s.s too, but he was too busy helping with the daily quests required for exchanging the t.i.tanic halfway through his cla.s.s-change cla.s.s and so remained a Ranger.
In level alone, the Players were clearly a cla.s.s above, with both Zonyan and Vulcan being superior compared to the Tiger Warrior. They would have an easy time beating him up if he were an ordinary monster.
The problem was that Zonyan could see that the Tigerman was a Saber-Tooth Warrior who had the bloodline legacy of his ancestors—just by observing the battle between him and Laybit’s father without really fighting him. Even if he wasn’t a Boss in the game system, he was an opponent with an elite module.
After all, it would take some effort to defeat an elite beast with a level difference of 3.
“Is that one powerful?” Vulcan asked Zonyan quietly since he wasn’t aware of the unique traits that sets different nonhuman races apart.
“An elite monster if my hunch isn’t wrong. The very-powerful type,” Zonyan replied.
“Are you going to be alright?” Vulcan became worried immediately.
“I’ll keep him busy. You and Joey hurry up with that Graywolfman and then come help—and relax, all Graywolfmen are a little crazy, taunt them and you’ll have an easy time,” Zonyan replied softly.
Zonyan nodded.
It was a common strategy for the Players to have their tank distract the Boss, allowing the others in the party to quickly get rip of the Boss’s minions before rallying to defeat the Boss.
“Be careful. Don’t get killed.”
“You too.”
The pair b.u.mped their fist, understanding each other perfectly.
While the Players did not fear death, they were in the Western Continent which had no Lifestone. In other words, they would be revived in the Eastern Continent even if they had the Ankh of Revival with them when carelessly drop dead. That would also mean they suffered the t.i.tanic’s sinking for nothing, and had to start all over again by exchanging a new boat…
Hence, Vulcan took Joey with them to try taking down the Level 23 Graywolfman, saving the Tigerman for Zonyan.
Meanwhile, the Tigerman sneered. “Kill me as tribute? You’re brave… It’s always been a pain for me seeing you Grayclaws throw your weight around—it’s time for us Mountain Tigers to take the crown of Vierlin!”
Zonyan understood his intention from those words immediately: That Tigerman was planning an uprising, and would even take a weak tribe like the Long-Ears under his wing.
Be that as it may, Zonyan kept up his tough act. “You say that, and yet you work for someone like Swordtail… You’re really not being honest to yourself, or could you be a tsundere?”
Zonyan had actually learnt the term ‘tsundere’ on the Player’s forums. Someone fellow with the ID ‘Call Me Ball’ coined it, and it somehow became widely used.
And despite not knowing what tsundere meant, a vein bulged over the Tigerman’s forehead since he knew that it meant nothing good from the context. “Mister Swordtail is one of the few whom has gained my respect. I’m willing to work for him before defeating him, while you, on the other hand…”
The Tigerman then lifted his chin slightly, poising himself as if a tiger prepared to strike. “I know who you are—Zonyan Grayclaw, the weak former chief! To think that you’re alive when Mister Swordtail presumed your death… with that being the case, allow me to reunite with the ghost of your ancestors, and remember to tell them that it was Roaring Mountain Tiger who had slain you!”
Meanwhile, Zonyan took a deep breath. He unsheathed his blade from his hip and handily flicked it over his palm, cutting a narrow gash over his palm for a buff.
“Grateful Dead!”
“You’re hurting on the get-go? That’s your strategy?!”
With that, Roaring Mountain Tiger did not say anything else. Every muscle over his body tightened like rubber bands pulled to its limit, and he shot forward like an arrow at Zonyan in the next split second!
Be that as it may, the Berserker skill branch was basically stronger when more HP was traded for Attack, which allowed them to end the fight quickly during quick farming and when facing weaker enemies. On the other hand, stronger enemies would end the fight quickly against a Berserker.
Nonetheless, since Zonyan’s aim was to buy time until Vulcan and Joey could come help him, he only used Grateful Dead at the beginning and didn’t keep using Berserker skills. Instead, he adopted the simpler style of parrying and knockback style of Kengyokus.
And that irritated the Tigerman very much.
After all, conflict between the tribal warriors of the Vierlin Plains were actually crude brawls where blows were plain and direct. In such cases, the great strength of nonhumans would always make up for the lack of skill against normal humans, and even the Swordmasters of the Eastern Continent would have a hard time fighting here—unless it was enchanted or possessed some unique trait, the blade would break no matter how excellent it would be, and that would be how one fighter could take ten alone.
Nonetheless, that was what would happen under normal circ.u.mstances. The Players know that their weapons have certain durability, and it wouldn’t break unless it parried a divine weapon or an enemy with divine trait.
And just after a brief trade of blows, Zonyan realized that he had worried too much.
In stats alone, Roaring Mountain Tiger was quite powerful after having awakened his Saber-tooth Tiger bloodline. He was equally matched with Zonyan despite being three levels below, and his strength was even a whole notch above!
But that was also all there is to it.
Combat skills developed without principles aside from bullying the weak was as much as a mess as it was inferior—Zonyan would always have the perfect chance to retaliate against every single blow.
It was just like how certain newbie instructors found themselves superior just because they were dueling with newbies in the Dark Souls series…