Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

At this moment, Skygazing Under the Tree from Disembodied Spirits Under the Tree had grasped a particular feature of this event that the rest of the guilds had no idea about, and it was how players had an upper limit when it came to dying! The moment a player"s number of deaths crossed this threshold, they would not be punished by being restricted from using the sp.a.w.n point in the encampment, but they would actually be completely removed from partic.i.p.ating in the City Wars event itself.

Skygazing Under the Tree knew that all of these guild leaders had their own qualms about hunting down Thousand Miles Drunk, and a good portion of the misgivings was because they were still skeptical about what they would really achieve even if they succeed in hunting him down and slain him. Thousand Miles Drunk would simply resp.a.w.n after dying, and would most likely take revenge upon anyone who committed the deed. Everyone had turned into cowards when going up against Thousand Miles Drunk, wis.h.i.+ng that lady luck would visit them and that the target for Thousand Miles Drunk"s aggro would not be directed over to them. Conversely, most of them would probably be secretly sn.i.g.g.e.ring if the man ended up causing trouble to the other guilds!

Take the time when Traversing Four Seas was being subjected to Thousand Miles Drunk"s retaliation back then; Carouse was most definitely more than happy about its occurrence. Similarly, Skygazing Under the Tree noted how Oathless Sword was in a positively good mood now that Carouse was the victim this time round

If I were to inform everyone about this particular feature, it would most definitely work like an adrenaline shot to the heart for everyone here. Once they know that they can eliminate Thousand Miles Drunk from the City Wars event after killing him a set amount of times, there"s surely a good chance that they would unite together over this. But the problem is that the rascal Skygazing Under the Tree did not wish for Thousand Miles Drunk to be eliminated. He was still hoping that Thousand Miles Drunk would be able to create enough of a mess out in Yunjiao Lakeside so he could capitalize on an opportunity to s.n.a.t.c.h the quest back!

While Disembodied Spirits Under the Tree was a small guild by definition, Skygazing Under the Tree had some very grand aspirations toward its development. Besides, he was unable to get a word in edgewise anyway. With how small his guild was, and with the hundreds of guild leaders here, he was largely considered to be a latecomer to the game. Were it not have been because he had quite a large network, he might not have received the message to gather in the first place. While he was present now, guild leaders of small guilds like him were pretty much just spectators, waiting for the large guilds to make the strategic decision going forward regarding another collaboration or otherwise. The privilege to speak up and address the crowd was basically reserved for just the guild leaders and some of the key players of the various large guilds!

Gu Xiaoshang was one of the guild leaders of the five level 6 guilds in Yunduan City, and a guild leader like her would naturally be specially invited for such a summit. When she heard that everyone was talking about dealing with Thousand Miles Drunk, and saw how most of them were flinching at the notion, her irritation toward such a display flared as she stood out and glared at the whole circle of men, "Isn"t this just hunting down Thousand Miles Drunk? My guild is currently doing it. Anyone who wishes to partake in the hunt can follow me. What"s the point of even setting up a meeting for this?"

When Youthful Reflection saw that Gu Xiaoshang had stepped up and was addressing the crowd, he immediately got a sinking feeling in his stomach, feeling as if things were about to take a turn for the worse. Sure enough, Oathless Sword immediately stood out and somberly rumbled, "That"s right. Thousand Miles Drunk is someone on the city defender"s side, undoubtedly viewed as our enemy for this event. Is there a need to discuss something like why we should be hunting him down? What a joke. Needless to say, Traversing Four Seas will not be letting him off if we catch a glimpse of that man."

"Heh. Are you guys the ones who can"t let Thousand Miles Drunk off, or is Thousand Miles Drunk the one who isn"t letting you guys off?" It was unknown where this statement of ridicule was uttered from within the crowd.

"Who said that?" Oathless Sword yelled, as that comment had undoubtedly poked an open wound.

"Guild leader Oathless…" Brave Surge had actually stepped forward to pat Oathless Sword on his back, his expression revealing a mutual understanding. He had also shared the same sentiment, akin to the sadness a fox felt when a rabbit died. Carouse was now in the same boat as Traversing Four Seas, both guilds having suffered quite the defeat at the hands of Thousand Miles Drunk. A thousand men were no match for a single Thousand Miles Drunk! Furthermore, his situation was much more tragic than Oathless Sword"s situation. Traversing Four Seas still had the conditions that were created by the trebuchets from the city walls to blame for the catastrophe back then, but Carouse had most definitely lost a 1v1000 situation. Even though it was a mistake in Brave Surge"s tactical layout that ultimately allowed Thousand Miles Drunk to escape, such reasoning essentially had no leg to stand on in front of the public. Furthermore, their defeat only amplified Thousand Miles Drunk"s fearsomeness; their encounter with the Mage had simply been a complete disaster with no redeeming quality to speak of at all.

"Everyone knows what happened between my guild and Thousand Miles Drunk. The fact that we got beaten is undeniable; there are no excuses for it. But I hope that everyone understands that Thousand Miles Drunk is not as frightening as everyone imagines him to be. Our failure was due to the mistake we made in the tactical strategy that we employed. The one, very important information we had on our hands about Thousand Miles Drunk the entire time was that his minuscule mana pool was his fatal flaw, and countless battles before our ill-fated confrontation had demonstrated this to be true. We could all tell that his mana only allowed him to cast four instances of Twin Incinerations or AoE spells at most, and the remaining mana that he had after would only be enough for a small spell like Fireball or Thunderbolt. We originally made plans to force Thousand Miles Drunk to waste his mana in such a fas.h.i.+on, but we did not expect him to have already solved his lack of mana when he faced us. This allowed him to deal a severe blow to my guild all thanks to this one mistake that eventually led to the loss of a good majority of our Thieves and Archers. People who are familiar with Thousand Miles Drunk would surely understand that the existence of these two job cla.s.ses is crucial when taking him on. We only chose to withdraw when we lost the effective support from these two job cla.s.ses. There are rumors going about now that seemed to claim that our entire guild of a thousand men had been vanquished by Thousand Miles Drunk single-handedly—It is not like n.o.body saw the battle out in Yunling, and everyone could more or less inquire about the truth regarding what actually happened. Thousand Miles Drunk is indeed a difficult foe to contend with, but as long as we work together and attack in as one, how could several tens of thousands of players be afraid of one man? Do none of you feel in the least bit ashamed when you entertain such a thought?"

"Brave Surge, I believe your words. But the problem is what I"ve heard about Thousand Miles Drunk, about how wily and merciless he is as an enemy; how he"s someone who would most definitely redress his grievances toward those who stood against him. Honestly, I do not know what every guild leader here is thinking, but I"m pretty afraid of becoming a target for his reprisals. It"s fine if this was confined to just during the City Wars event, since we would merely be losing out on earning some contribution score at most when he causes trouble for us. But what if he were to continue his reprisals after the event ends? What are we going to do if the man kills the guild members of the partic.i.p.ating guilds that he comes across right on the spot? Will everyone play the game together as several tens of thousands of players everywhere we go after? That"s impossible, right? We"re just a small guild with no more than fifty players. I doubt all fifty of us are even capable of taking him on like that. When that time comes, who"s going to protect us?"

This guild leader had expressed the words that were floating in many of the guild leaders" minds. That was the biggest issue with MMOs; the endless cycle of killing and being killed because everyone can resp.a.w.n, with anyone capable of seeking revenge after stepping out of the sp.a.w.n points. Why would Thousand Miles Drunk, the man who was numb from all the killing he did even care about all the small lives? Just what sort of a game would any of them be playing if they ended up having to worry daily just when that killer would show himself?

Brave Surge had wanted to laugh when he heard this, but before he could even speak up, someone else had squeezed out from the crowd and angrily shouted, "B*llsh*t, is Miles someone like that?"

Everyone turned to face the newcomer, and saw it was Svelte Dancer, a colleague of Thousand Miles Drunk from Amethyst Rebirth. There were rumors that she was a good friend of his, while the more distasteful gossip surrounding the two claimed that Thousand Miles Drunk was her lover, and the exquisite equipment Thousand Miles Drunk possessed was evidence of him being taken care of...

Svelte Dancer had squeezed her way out to speak up for Gu Fei, and July had followed right behind her. She was a lot more demure than Svelte Dancer, and seeing how everyone was staring at her flabbergasted, she gradually addressed the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, just like what guild leader Surge has just said, there are actually plenty of misunderstandings and rumors going around. Thousand Miles Drunk is a member of our guild, and we are very familiar with how he is as a person. This scenario which everyone is worried about is something that would absolutely not happen."

"Hahaha," Brave Surge hurriedly laughed and fawned, "Did everyone hear that? That is exactly what I had wanted to say; Thousand Miles Drunk is someone with an upstanding character. Right now, this is nothing more than a clash that the system had pitted us against one another. There would be no private grudges being held here, so what sort of reprisals would there be? If there are any guild out there who is still worried about it, all of you can just take off your guild emblem and keep your faces covered. There"s no fear of revealing your ident.i.ty if you were to take such precautions, right?"

Everyone felt that this was a logical solution when they heard it, and thus elicited much more voices of agreement. When Svelte Dancer heard such a reaction, she immediately scratched her head, "Hey July, what have we done?"

July grimaced, "We"ve proved Thousand Miles Drunk"s character, which is why n.o.body has any worries about the consequences after, and are now prepared to come together and kill off Miles."

"Oh, that"s great! I can"t let that rascal be so arrogant any longer!" Svelte Dancer was fuming. The players in guilds had fought painstakingly during this City War, and even Svelte Dancer herself had died thrice by this time. Yet, it was Thousand Miles Drunk who had broken away from the guild and went over to become some city defender instead, looking very das.h.i.+ng in the process. Going in and out of the city, the man had become the bane of the guild players. Svelte Dancer had always had a compet.i.tive streak against Thousand Miles Drunk, which was why she felt that she was being completely overshadowed by him at the moment, and she hated how it felt.

July sighed. "Well, it looks like our guild won"t be getting ourselves up on the leaderboard for this event, contribution score wise. Why don"t we just watch and see what Miles can unleash as someone on the side of the city defenders!"

"How can we do that, where"s your sense of virtue? We can"t just go easy on him," Svelte Dancer cried.

"Is there anyone here who is even thinking of accommodating to him?" July glanced around, and compared to how Svelte Dancer and her wanted to certify Gu Fei"s character, the players were a lot more interested in Brave Surge"s idea to remove their guild emblems and cover their faces, giving the order to do as prescribed while they got ready to mobilize against Gu Fei.

Brave Surge felt that he was leading the pack once more, and so he was rather happy, continuing to deliver his important speech. "Everyone, why don"t we settle on how we should deal with Thousand Miles Drunk right here? As long as any of us see him, no matter the size of our guilds, we will agree to spare no effort and attack him. We will eliminate him if we"ve got enough power on our side, or we can hold on for as long as we can if we don"t have the strength to do so. Upon receiving the information regarding where Thousand Miles Drunk is heading to, all the other guilds will head over and help as best as they can. With such an integrated action on our end, is there still a need to be afraid of just Thousand Miles Drunk alone?"

"Well said!" Everyone cheered.

"Okay then. I believe everyone should be very clear as to what Thousand Miles Drunk looks like, so from here onward, if anyone discovers Thousand Miles Drunk, make sure to inform the rest of the guilds!" Brave Surge declared.

The only people here for this meeting were guild leaders, and the guild members were still scattered all over in every direction of Yunduan City. The moment when the guild leaders relayed the spirit expressed during the meeting down to these people, there were instantly tens of thousands of pairs of eyes that were searching for Gu Fei. The very second the message was sent out, there were already 23 reports of Thousand Miles Drunk"s presence in every direction.

Dressing in black robes was nothing unique, and even though there were plenty of Mages in Yunduan City that did not dare to wear it for fear of being mistaken, it was nothing absolute. As for the sword, Moonlit Nightfalls, it was a rather small target. There was no way anyone could easily distinguish it from afar, and besides, Gu Fei might not be holding it in plain sight when moving about; he could store it in his dimensional pocket!

The guild leaders were all sweating when they received all these reports. But it was Brave Surge who was quick-witted as he immediately instructed, "Everyone, why don"t we all give the order for the Mages belonging to our individual guilds to avoid wearing black Mage robes, even if that means going naked."

"That should work," everyone praised, and immediately disseminated the order.

That was when someone went overboard and further suggested, "Why don"t we get all the other job cla.s.ses to change their outfit if they even remotely resemble it as well? This way, if anyone were to appear in the vicinity of Yunduan City wearing black, we would immediately know he"s Thousand Miles Drunk.?"

"Great idea!" Everyone praised, and continued to relay the order down the line. As such, all the guilds demonstrated solidarity once more, with many players changing out the equipment they had, while those without simply went bare. In no time, everybody around Yunduan City began their huge equipment swap meet, and anyone who had been wearing black immediately changed into something else.

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Gu Fei had been a little hesitant while moving around among the crowds of players. He was considering whether he should head back into the city to log off, or leave for Yunjiao Lakeside and continue to observe the quest. Suddenly, he noticed that the players all around him were doing something strange, and all of them were removing their guild emblems and pulling out cloths to cover their faces. Next, several s.h.i.+fty gazes swept over to him, and several more people began removing their clothing.

What"s happening right now? Gu Fei was a little confused as to the changes he saw happening around him. Many of these people who had changed their clothes were done, and he incidentally became the focal point of all their gazes.

Gu Fei reacted extremely quickly! The moment he realized that all those who removed their equipment or clothing were those who had equipped something black in color, he immediately realized they must be doing something that was specifically targeting him, so he very calmly took off his Mage robe as well…

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At this moment, Gu Xiaoshang had relayed the situation of the summit to everyone in her guild, keeping Young Master Han updated about what happened as well while she conveyed the series of amazing steps that they had taken regarding how they intend to identify Gu Fei. All she received was Young Master Han"s reply, "HAHAHHAHAHHA!"

"What?" Gu Xiaoshang asked.

"Changing out any equipment that"s black in color; that"s a rather cute idea! But what b.l.o.o.d.y use is that? Then there"s all the covering of faces and removing of guild emblems; Thousand Miles Drunk will also be removing his equipment and covering his face as well by that time. He could very well be swaggering in openly to slay that whole lot of guild leaders like this!"

Young Master Han had identified the flaw to this plan very quickly, and the guild leaders themselves were not too slow on their end either. Several of them were still feeling thrilled by this collective action that they made when someone finally realized something about their actions, "Uhm, if Thousand Miles Drunk were to also remove his equipment and cover his face, would that not mean we would never be able to identify him as well?"

"That… That…" Even the man who came up with the idea had realized the severity of this flaw, and was unable to give an immediate answer.

"Everyone, regarding the issue of Thousand Miles Drunk"s continued reprisals… The ladies from Amethyst Rebirth who were familiar with Thousand Miles Drunk have already helped rea.s.sured us about the invalidity of that claim. That is why I suggest everyone to remain wearing their own guild emblems as that will be the main tool we have to identify ourselves. We will then kill anyone who isn"t wearing the emblem, no questions asked. How about it?" Brave Surge said.

The entire crowd of guild leaders fell silent. Brave Surge"s suggestion this time had not received a resounding agreement, and only a scattered few had reacted positively to this. Upon seeing how the others did not make a sound, even the scattered agreement also instantly disappeared.

"What else is happening?" Young Master Han continued to ask Gu Xiaoshang about what happened during the meeting.

"Brave Surge had suggested everyone use their guild emblems for identification purposes, and no one"s making a sound," Gu Xiaoshang reported.

Young Master Han chuckled mirthlessly, "I knew it. There"s no way to expect anything from those people. Once their own interests cannot be protected under anonymity, none of them would be willing to try and expend any effort on this. Their selfishness sure is very disappointing, huh?"

"I"m returning," Gu Xiaoshang replied. She got up once more from within the meeting area and there was hardly a shred of anger on her face. Her expression was tranquil even as she said, "I"m leaving."

"Xiaoshang, where are you off to?" Oathless Sword asked, confused.

"To hunt Thousand Miles Drunk," Gu Xiaoshang answered.

"But we"re still discussing the details over here!" Oathless Sword said.

Gu Xiaoshang swept her gaze over the guild leaders around her with great disdain before she spat, "There"s f*ck all to discuss," before leaving just like that.

The whole lot of men were all stunned speechless. Quite a good number even stared at Oathless Sword, thinking to themselves, "Is this the kind of woman you fancy?!"

Oathless Sword was despondent. He felt that he was definitely not as cowardly as this bunch of men around him, but yet Gu Xiaoshang had viewed him as one and the same. There was no way he could stand it, so he glared at all guild leaders around him, "Wearing a guild emblem will be the indicator, and anyone not wearing one means they accept the possibility of being killed right where they stand. It"s settled. We"ve already informed everyone here about our intentions, so if anyone were to become an accidental casualty, don"t come blaming us for it."

"In five minutes" time, I"ll pa.s.s the order down to my guild. We"ll kill everyone who isn"t wearing a guild emblem, especially the Mages," Oathless Sword declared.

"The same will go for Carouse as well," Brave Surge got up and was now standing beside Oathless Sword.

With both large guilds making such a statement so openly, several other guild leaders were ready to act accordingly, looking all around to see how the others reacted. This was the time when all the small and medium-sized guilds that had established a good relations.h.i.+p with either Carouse or Traversing Four Seas each stood out and expressed their support. However, there were five level 6 guilds, and Gu Xiaoshang had already left. Foe-herder and Black Index Finger were still around, and neither had stood out to make their position known yet. And this was the reason why Oathless Sword and Brave Surge were both looking at the two men.

Black Index Finger sighed, stood out and said, "Both esteemed guild leaders, the two of you have suffered a loss at the hands of Thousand Miles Drunk. Must you really use us to vent your anger?"

"What did you say?" The two men were stunned. They had not expected Black Index Finger to say something like this all of a sudden.

"Honestly, I"ve crossed swords with Thousand Miles Drunk myself, and it seemed like the ladies from Amethyst Rebirth have already vouched for the man"s character, right? Hehe, truthfully, in front of everyone here, would any of you here not act prim and proper in front of beautiful women? From the impression I got going up against Thousand Miles Drunk the last time, I simply do not believe that he is that sort of upright and measured person all of you speak of. I"m convinced that he will be the sort who takes revenge for his death, which is why, for the sake of my guildmates, I will have to weigh the pros and cons of your proposal. You may say I"m being cowardly, or that I"m jumping at harmless shadows, I don"t care. The point I"m trying to make is that we do not mind wearing our guild emblems, but we would not be accompanying all of you in this concerted effort to attack Thousand Miles Drunk." Black Index Finger elaborated.

"D*mn, Black Index Finger, you"re a real *ssh*l*!!!" Oathless Sword fumed.

"Oathless Sword, if you"re such a man with guts, don"t drag in so many people. Lead your own guild and find Thousand Miles Drunk!" Black Index Finger retorted.

"Haven"t I already g*dd*mn*d found him before?" Oathless Sword was still furious.

"Hmm, you did. And so did guild leader Surge. In fact, you"ve both found him in very interesting circ.u.mstances. Next time, there"s no need for either of you to fight over which is the strongest Yunduan City guild. There"s no doubt that either of you can surpa.s.s Amethyst Rebirth." Black Index Finger very calmly stated.

"F*CK YOU!" Oathless Sword was really enraged by this point, pulling out his claymore and moved to cleave at Black Index Finger. However, Black Index Finger was already on his guard against such retaliation, and he raised his own claymore to block the strike. Black Index Finger took several steps back in retreat and Oathless Sword wanted to give chase, but men from Black Index Finger"s side had already stepped up to support their guild leader, as did the comrades beside Oathless Sword.

"Let"s leave," Black Index Finger actually had no intention to attack Oathless Sword at all, turning around to leave after uttering the two words to his men.

The men from the level 6 guild, The Black Hand Syndicate, had all departed… The remaining guild leaders who still had their doubts instantly saw the perfect strategy here; That"s right, I can simply get my men to wear their guild emblem, but did not mean we have to partic.i.p.ate in the hunt. This way, neither party would end up troubling me. This is it!

And it was on such a note which the second guild summit of Yunduan City fell apart yet again during the negotiations.