His nametag read, [Luxueux] Neige. The guild leader of the seventh best guild in the world, the rank 2 ranger player, and around twenty-fifth on the global leaderboard.
“Ah,” Neige said, spotting us. “So they cleared the dungeon. It’s the cheater duo.”
Crap, I thought, remembering that we’d spent a week in the Portal Mage’s Crypt now. I hadn’t really kept track of the top guilds’ progress. I had kind of just assumed nobody would reach this far yet. But as was always the case, certain guilds moved faster than others.
Another man stood beside Neige. One whose dark cloak I recognized well. [Luxueux] FunnyHahaDead. He spotted me, and pointed a dagger at my face.
Fuhad looked older now that I was face-to-face with him. Around mid-thirties, with a beard starting to grow. Both of his new daggers were nearly the size of shortswords with curved blades. A new playstyle?
“Fuhad, I doubt you want to fight this one,” Neige said. “They’re cheating.”
“Her casting is double the speed, so what?” Fuhad said, each R emphasized by a French accent. “Treat her as two mages in one. Her gamesense is lacking, and she is undergeared. Her spells do no damage.” He then turned to me, brows furrowing as he spotted Lichfang’s blade.
“And this assassin,” he said. “A one in nine chance to retrieve my dagger.” He stepped forward, facing me. “Should we duel, one to one, or will you get slaughtered by my guild?”
“A duel?” I asked.
The more important question was, could Veyra and I beat them two to four? Neige was far from a pushover. I’d seen his plays on the forums. He didn’t just shoot arrows; he knew how to position and predict opponents as well. With him, there was Sloudon, a top one hundred tank player, and ParseGod, a well respected arcane mage who used quick-casting in the top fifty.
They weren’t Annath level good, but against four top players at once, we’d have a chance of losing, at the very least.
“Last time was pure luck,” Fuhad said. “We’re fragile beings, assassins. A wrong move, and we die. One right move, we kill. Easy to get lucky. I’ll make it fair for you. One to one, or two to four. Your choice.”
So after I win, we’ll only have to deal with your three guild mates, I thought. I summoned my daggers. “Sure,” I said. “Duel to the death. No interruptions and no buffs from your guild?”
“My guild will not intervene. Neither will your mage. She casts, she dies.” He nodded at Neige, who notched an arrow, eyes on Veyra.
I glanced at Veyra and nodded as well. She stood back and said, “You have my word. I won’t cast anything.”
I noted that Lichfang’s passive was at 0/20,000 damage stored. But as Fuhad said, assassins were fragile. If I landed a regular critical strike, he would die. The same applied the other way around.
“I’m rea—” I was about to say, when Fuhad threw a dagger at my face.
The attack almost caught me by surprise, but I saw his arm flick into a throw from the side of my eye. He had good aim, the tip of his dagger pointing straight at my heart, and he threw using his own hands, without [Throw].
But I wasn’t a pushover either. I flicked the dagger aside with The Immortal. It rebounded, crashing deep into the stone ground beside me.
He used [Retrieve Daggers], and his figure turned to a shadow as he closed the gap between us with [Shadow Dash].
Simultaneously, he used [Isolation Shroud]. A thick black mist suddenly clouded my vision, as if a smoke bomb had blown up under my feet. I could barely see fifteen feet around me. Everything beyond was totally black.
Escaping the shroud would deal a heavy amount of psychic damage—I knew because [Isolation Shroud] was a popular assassin class skill. Unlike me, who placed all of my skill points into [Vital Strike], Fuhad actually used the assassin skill tree. I’d seen all of the skills in use many times, though. If I stayed inside, it was merely a visual distraction.
A sharp dagger came to sight, thrust at my chest. I side-stepped and immediately counter-attacked in the direction it came.
I hit nothing, and Fuhad’s body never materialized. Instead, eight afterimages spawned, circling around me. All of them looked equally fake with smoke-like wisps rising from their shoulders, skin slightly distorted.
Another popular skill. [Dark Mirage]. It was an evolved version of [Afterimage]. Fuhad frequently used it for his famous assassinations. He could remain virtually invisible inside [Isolation Shroud], tricking his targets’ senses until an opportunity showed in their defences.
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I couldn’t rely on eyesight against [Dark Mirage]. I paid extra attention to sound cues. In silent situations, throwing a dagger made a little whoosh in the game. If I heard that, I’d need to react with [Shadow Dash].
Give him a weakness, I thought, and he will bite.
I leaned ever so slightly forward, as if intimidated by the afterimage in front of me, leaving my back more open.
Not a second later, the sound cue came almost comically predictably, from directly behind. A little whoosh of a dagger being thrown.
I [Shadow Dashed] in the direction, swinging, and heard a cling as my dagger met his.
Fuhad gritted his teeth, now locked in melee combat, with his own [Shadow Dash] still on at least a two-second cooldown. For two seconds, he wouldn’t be able to escape.
He initiated first, slashing with his lefthand dagger.
I met it with The Immortal, easily blocking. Another followed right away.
Except, this time he used [Piercing Strike]. The most common damage-dealing ability of the assassin class.
Piercing Strike: Enhances a weapon slot with the user’s lifeblood. The next swing deals enhanced damage and significantly mitigates the target’s defence. Targets below 50% health take double damage. If the swing misses, the user takes damage instead.
Blocking that with Lichfang would have led to me getting crushed. I jumped back.
[Piercing Strike] missed, making Fuhad lose 10% health. He didn’t care and ruthlessly pushed forward.
I was about to throw an attack, when I suddenly had an idea. Why would I press the advantage on him, when I could just pretend to be weak instead? If I pushed him to a bad spot, he’d just use [Shadow Dash] and escape anyway.
Fuhad’s next slash came, and my blocking hand was ready to deal with it again. Weapons collided for a perfect block. The Immortal stopped it in place.
I continued pretending like I was struggling hard.
Fuhad tried to send a feint, attacking from different angles, but his daggers were so large that blocking them wasn’t much of an issue. He wasn’t nearly as fast as Annath. Not even as fast as SoulShadow, and not half as calculating with his attacks.
Hell, the Swords Of Time, the basic monsters of this dungeon, were more difficult to deal with. By stepping back and pretending to struggle, I could easily bait him into attacking me.
His dagger collided with The Immortal one more time, and finally, the effect kicked in.
[Immortal Parry - active conditions met!]
Fuhad’s dagger rebounded, posture blown wide open, utter surprise on his face. I had the easiest opening an assassin could wish for; I thrust Lichfang straight at his head.
Except, his [Shadow Dash] was ready to be used again.
Track him! I thought. Now was my turn. I could dash straight to him and press the advantage, since he wouldn’t have another escape.
He moved back, out of the shroud, and subtly to the left, where a certain mage was watching the fight.
Oh, you little shit, I thought.
I activated [Shadow Dash], controlling my shadow with much more speed and precision. I didn’t need to be a genius to know exactly what he was up to. I dashed to Veyra, and I thrust my dagger at the air in front of her.
Fuhad’s body materialized just in time to receive a dagger in the back. Lichfang pierced right through, but I missed the critical strike. I didn’t kill him.
But the spikes from [Chronorift] sure did. A slash echoed, and Fuhad died.
[You have assisted in slaying FunnyHahaDead. Experience divided.]
“Ugh,” Veyra said as he disintegrated. “Of course he tried the exact same thing again.”
I blinked. “No way. You predicted that as well?”
She shrugged. “I’ll just say I’m not stupid.”
I grinned at her. “Are we just too good, or are the top players bad?”
“Fuhad’s fighting looked solid to me. Just a bit cocky.” Veyra looked over my shoulder, at the doorway. “His guild doesn’t seem happy, though.”
Neige, the guild leader, eyed us cautiously. He had moved a step back from the spot he started watching at. He clearly wasn’t eager to fight.
“For the record,” he said, “I’m livestreaming. Although, I guess more proof isn’t needed.”
“So,” I asked, “who’s being accused of cheating this time and how?”
“Your Shadow Dashes are twice as fast as they’re intended to be,” Neige said. “Just now, Fuhad begun his dash a quarter second earlier. Not only did you guess where he was dashing with perfect precision, you arrived behind him before his dash was complete. You’re using a clear location tracker, and you’re manipulating Shadow Dash.”
And I still don’t know what the hell a location tracker is, I thought with a sigh.
“And what about the years of practice I have using this skill?” I asked.
“That’s not how it works,” Neige said. “You can’t just enhance the speed of a dash by practicing.”
“But you literally can, though?” I said.
Neige frowned. “As if a mediocre, underleveled assassin could be that precise.”
He kept a defensive posture, studying me. I just rolled my eyes and picked up Fuhad’s gear piece. I quickly checked its details.
Grip Of The Black Night
Item Type: Legendary Gloves
Required Character Level: 219
Stats:
-
540 Attack Force
-
100% Critical Strike Damage
-
+3 Dagger Proficiency
-
+4 to Vital Strike
Abilities:
Black Night (Passive): Attacks deal 30% more damage in the dark.
The base stats were insane. Three dagger proficiency and four to vital strike on top of another 100% critical strike. The 30% damage buff was nothing to scoff at either. Only in the dark, granted, but even without the passive, the item was genuinely fantastic. I equipped it right away, replacing my poor man’s gloves.
Fuhad just kept handing over these legendaries, huh? It wasn’t a unique, but still probably five grand at the least.
“When you get banned, Wind Virtual will recover everything you’ve looted,” Neige said. “You will be forced to return all of the money you stole and more.”
“I’m not cheating,” I said with a sigh. Then I got an idea. “Wait, if you’re livestreaming, my words will be clipped, and they’ll spread to the forums, right?”
Neige frowned. “Very likely.”
“Alright, perfect,” I said, facing Neige’s eyes as if they were a camera. “Everyone in the livestream and on the forums, I’m talking to you! You’re all wondering how my Shadow Dashes are so much faster than everyone else’s, right? I’ll tell you right now. Listen up, and I’ll teach you how all of you can stop being so bad at the game!”
20 chapters ahead on !