Chapter 26

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Book 4, Chapter 26

The Ace (Part 1)

I dragged Merciless to the restaurant. I know the location in the unfamiliar city because it"sjust next to the teleport station, and that giant flag with a beer cup on itreally attract your eyes.
　　
　　 "Heywhat"s the deal? I know you earned a lot but don"t drag me like this!"

Despitehis complaint I still pulled him into the door.
　　
　　 "Yowch!"

They say great joy is always followed by misfortune. Now I believe it. Ib.u.mped into someone behind the door. I was walking too fast soboth of us got knocked onto the ground. And I a.s.sure you that dumping your hip ontothe solid rock floor is not something to enjoy!

            As for Merciless, he crashed into my back and stumbled back out of the door.
　　
　　    Theopposite man knocked over a table before he can re-balance himself. 　　
　　

"Watchwhere ur going d.a.m.n it!" He brushed his clothes. "Are you blind? Orare you looking for trouble?"
　　
　　 "Sorrysorry. I...didn"t see you across the door. Are you hurt?"

That was my fault so this isnot a good time to play tough.
　　
　　 "..."He froze up and stared at me for a few seconds before regaining his language.

"Beautiful...!" That was his first comment after the stare.
　　
　　 "I"mreally sorry, my bad there. Do you need help? If everything"s fine I"ll beleaving."

I don"t have time to explain my gender issue with a randompa.s.ser-by.
　　
　　 Butyou know, things always go towards where you don"t want them to go.

"Hey! You look brilliant! And I love your voice. Like an angel...!"
　　
　　 s.h.i.t.I know my throat can be a bit strange but it sounds like child voice at best, whichis totally different from actual woman voice.

           "You"re mistaken. Excuse mebut I need to go upstairs." I dragged Merciless again and headed up.
　　
　　    Theman blocked my way. "Come on what"s the hurry? I wasn"t being polite backthere. Would you have meal with me?"
　　
　　    Iinspected this sudden intruder. 176 in height, ordinary look. He wearstraditional oriental style kung-fu costume, must be a hidden cla.s.s.

"Sorry,I have other business. Can you let me through? I"m taking my friend up there."
　　
　　 Helooked over my shoulder to Merciless with a disapproving look.

"Hey kid, there"s no way you canprotect this chick. Go away, I"m taking her."

c.r.a.p. The r.e.t.a.r.dedthought Merciless is my boyfriend! And what the f.u.c.k does he mean "chick"??
　　
　　 Mercilesslooked between us. "Ziri? You told me before but are you sure?..."

           Iknew it. He didn"t believe me!
　　
　　    "Ahem!"I turned around. "Let"s go somewhere else."
　　
　　    Theman blocked the exit again. "Miss, my name is [Smokin" Ring]. I ask you tobe my girl now!"

          Merciless gasped behind me. I don"t know for which reason but Idon"t have time for him now.
　　
　　    "Let"sget this straight," I grabbed his collar. "listen, I"m a man. And Idon"t enjoy business between guys. I prefer women just like any sentient males out there.Now get away. And keep distance. You"re making me sick. Smoking Ringright? If you don"t leave me now I can beat you into a b.l.o.o.d.y donut instead."
　　
　　    "Youknow, you don"t have to make up something like that if you just want to reject me. Oh please, don"t hurt this sincere lover boy!"

            He won"t give up!
　　
　　    "What"chadoing brother?" A group came down from the stair. Must be his comrades.
　　
　　    "Ooooh.Where"you find this girl? Hot!"
　　
　　    "Yournew wife?" 　　
　　

"Heywhen did that happen? You didn"t even tell us!"
　　
　　 Noneof them noticed what"s going on. Oh kids these days...

           Wait, I"m not really agrown-up myself.
　　
　　    "CanI go now? Or do you want a fight?" I"m losing patience.
　　
　　    "Ah,so not your wife." An uneducated looking guy snickered. "Hey chillgal. Do you know who muh brother is? He"s da second place on the level rank, [Smokin"Ring]. He hit level 497 this morning, same with that Big Blade dude! He may bethe second now but he can beat the h.e.l.l outta Big Blade I tell you! Go with himand you can have your life however you want in Zero!"
　　
　　    "Yourank second?" I"m interested. I"ve been improving myself in hermit modefor too long and I never knew how much I can do. He is the second in rank andclaims to be the strongest...that means he"s the best target to measure myself.If we can have a fight...

           "Are you sure you"re the strongest player?"
　　
　　    Smokin"Ring chuckled. "Do you ever check the ranking lists at all?"
　　
　　    Well,I certainly haven"t looked at them for some time.
　　
　　    Mercilessexplained from behind :"There are different lists in [Zero]. The man infront of you is the 2nd place on the level ranking, and the tied 1st place onthe overall combat rating list! You didn"t know??"
　　
　　    "ButI didn"t find it in my Help menu." I asked in surprise. Is something wrong withmy system?
　　
　　    "It"snot in your Help. Ask any of the guards in cities and they"ll tell you thenewest lists. You don"t even know this? How many quests did you skip?"
　　
　　    "Whatdo you say?" Smokin" Ring looked at me in defiance. "Accepting my offer yet?I can give you a bright future!"
　　
　　    "Ihave a question first." 　　
　　

           "Goahead. I never refuse to talk with beauties!"
　　
　　    "You"retied first with someone. Who is it?" 　　
　　

"Thesystem determines this rating with really vague calculations. There are many people onthe first place. Three other people tied with me, so four champions in total.

[Nota Jerk], level 493 Grand Beast Wielder.

[Hydralisk], level 487 hidden cla.s.s. Idon"t know what but he"s good.

            And [Wind Drifter], level 479 Fallen Angel. He"sDivine Demon so his own attributes are pretty high. He may have the lowest level amongus but he"s probably the strongest one if we actually compete."
　　
　　    "Isee..." I opened the note system and recorded his words.
　　
　　    "Sohave you decided?" 　　
　　

           "CanI have a fight with you?" I dodged his question.
　　
　　    Buthe took my word in the wrong way. "So you"ll come with me if I win?"
　　
　　    "Let"stalk about that if you can win at all."

            He"ll see my ident.i.ty anyway. Idon"t think he"ll actually ask me out when that happens. Besides...I won"t lose.
　　
　　    "Alright.You"d better keep your word for it. Let"s get to the arena, so we don"t get rednames or lose level or items."
　　
　　    "Noproblem. Lead the way."
　　
　　    Wepaid a small entrance fee and entered the arena. It looks like those ancientRoman Colosseums, just a bit smaller. The city is pretty small for that matter.

Before we can start, the observations seats suddenly became occupied. Hisbuddies called all kinds of people to watch! Oh c.r.a.p. They"re adding a lot ofunnecessary trouble for me.
　　
　　 "Youcan do it boss!"

"Finish this quick!"

I saw Smokin" Ring"spersonal cheering team. There are a lot of girls rooting for him too.

"Smokeywe love you!!"

           Dang. Is he a superstar or something?
　　
　　    Helooked at me :"I don"t hold back when I fight. Don"t blame me for hurtingyou." 　　
　　

"Doit. I"m not made of paper. And don"t get c.o.c.ky, I have some serious attacks. Don"ttake it too hard if you got insta killed."

            I"m confident enough in myown skills. I"m wearing full Artifact set for cake"s sake.
　　
　　    Ping!The system announced the start of the battle. 　　
　　

Smokin" simply charged towards me. I"m wearing my wizard robe so he probably thinkshe can win this easily if he gets close.

I just watched as he approaches andwaited for a chance.

But he didn"t even attack me!

"Do you surrender?"He asked.
　　
　　 Huh?What?

            "Why would I do that? We haven"t started yet."
　　
　　    "You"rea Wizard, and a Warrior just got to your face! Of course you lost." 　　
　　

Pfffft.

I grinned. As I hoped, he lost his guard for a brief moment.

"Surprise!" I revealed my attack. "[Heart Piercer]!"

This is currently my mostpowerful skill as a D&P Rider. I want to see if the so-called No.1 cansurvive this. It"ll be a joke if he died for it. If he didn"t, I"llhave a good reason to carefully research on him and the other three eliteplayers.
　　
　　 Afteran explosion, Smokin" was shocked far away without any defense prepared. Hisface went pale. He moved even farther away with several hasty backflips.

"That robe is a disguise? You"re a Warrior?"

           He no longer carriesthat girl hunter att.i.tude. He sees me as a rival now.
　　
　　    Ijust smile. "Oh no you got me. So how did it feel? I prepared that big movejust for you!"
　　
　　    Hestuffed potions into his mouth while looking at me warily, fearing that I mayambush him again. And I know why he"s scared. I can read his numbers from thathit: total HP 4,737, and my skill did 4,592 damage. Almost killed him in oneshot. That"s my best damage without a critical hit too, since the number is inred. He can"t see that information, so he believes that I still have enoughpower to kill him if I"m lucky.
　　
　　    "Heycome closer! We"re both melee cla.s.ses, how do we fight like this?" Itaunted as I saw his HP bar getting filled. Since I can"t kill him with that, I"llhave to be careful about his moves now.

"Still not coming? I"ll shoot youthen. Don"t blame me for being mean." I aimed my right arm at him. I nevertried to adjust the crosshair on my Revenger crossbow, now there"s a perfecttarget.
　　
　　 Iclicked my finger, a feathered bolt went out. He wasn"t expecting a long-rangeshot like this so he didn"t react.

The attack still missed. Uhmm. So the crosshair strays too left...

I began to tune my Revenger. This thing shoots everyfour seconds, after some exercise, the wall behind Smokin" Ring is filled withbolts. None of the audiences are cheering now. They are wondering why a Wizardtook out a lance, then a crossbow, and with so much ammunition! The wall isloaded with over a hundred bolts now. None of my concern. I collectedenough bolts to support my whole game career in that underground dungeon, plusthere"s no s.p.a.ce limit for my bracelet, so I brought them all.
　　
　　 AsI"m enjoying the shooting practice I heard a system message:

"[Revenger] crossbowleveled up. Attack is now 680-980, Attack Speed is 3 seconds per shot. Numberof Soul Chasers increased to 3."
　　
　　 Butthere was no level up feature for Revenger?

Dark Dragon Lord armor set can beleveled up, and Reverger is merged with the set. That must be the reason.

Thisis a prize!
　　
　　 Smokin"took the chance and charged at me again. "[Leaf Sweep]!"

           He knockedme off my feet with a spinning leg sweep. Cheering voices rose again. Oh f.u.c.kyou all, you kept silent when I beat him up, now you all came back alive?
　　
　　    Hedidn"t give me chance to regain posture. He kicked me higher with another legsweep, then he jumped above me and punched downwards. I was wondering where hisweapon is, now I see those metal knuckles on his fingers! That will be painfulif it hits me.
　　
　　    "[Barrier]!"

I"m half Wizard. Of course I know this universal defense spell. Wizards usuallyfight like this: Barrier up -- attack -- re-barrier if it gets damaged -- attack.I don"t use this skill because I have my companions to protect me, besides I"mhalf Warrior type too. But now I need to stay cautious.
　　
　　 Crack!His punch instantly shattered the barrier and hit my waist. That"s was strong! Thespell still dampened his attack. I only received a scratch damage.

Iimmediately retaliated when I landed. "[Heavy Bash]!"

           This is the most basic butthe fastest melee skill. And he can"t dodge it with that kind of position.
　　
　　    "[IronSkin]!" He used his skill and took that attack head-on. 1 damage!
　　
　　    Woahthat"s some serious Defense.

Humph. Let me see how much defense youcan get.

"Night Shade!" I hopped onto his back. "You"re notexpecting a Rider to fight without a horse eh? Call your companions if you haveany."

I took off my wizard robe which caused gasps among the audiences.
　　
　　 "ARider huh? As I thought. I never saw Wizard carrying a lance."

He didn"tsummon anything. So he doesn"t have any?

           No that"s impossible. The number twofigure on the ranking list should find companions easily, and he got a lot of fans too.Someone like this is bond to have a lot of resources.
　　
　　    "You"renot calling companion? Are you underestimating me again?"
　　
　　    "No. It"s just my companion isn"t good at fighting. It won"t help." He took outanother knuckle set and equipped it. "Careful now, I"m going to hit hard!"
　　
　　    Hecharged. I legged Night Shade"s belly, he dodged aside with a quick hop. Smokin"may be fast but he"ll never reach the same speed as Night Shade.

I orderedNight Shade to run towards Smokin" who just dashed past us.

"[Pole Pick]!"

Smokin" dodged my lance attack combo with several ground rolls. Man he"s prettyquick on his feet.
　　
　　 Nowwe"re the ones facing the other direction. Smokin" rushed at our back.

"[CloudPusher]!"

You should never slap a horse"s a.s.s but he did. His palmprecisely hit Night Shade on the rear. The sudden pain caused Night Shade toperform the signature horse attack -- He supported himself using his front legs and buckedhard.
　　
　　 "AHHhhhh---"

            Smokin" went flying as if he was. .h.i.t by a truck. Boomsh! A human-shaped holeappeared on the arena wall.
　　
　　    Thepalm strike was obviously strong because Night Shade fell sideways after thekick. I checked his wound and noticed that deep hand-shaped hollow part on hisrear-end armor. He"s not going to run like that. I could only de-summon him.
　　
　　    Smokin"freed himself from the hole and dusted himself. "Nice horse. It still hasthe strength to kick after my best attack? And what"s that on the hooves? The kick did piercing damage!"

I cansee several small bleeding holes on his body, drenching his clothes. So thosehorseshoes are pretty useful, I guess I need to tell Night Shade to use hiskicking attacks more often.
　　
　　 "Youasked for it. If you touch horse a.s.s or girl a.s.s or whatever"s a.s.s again you mightget kicked by who-knows-what."

I"m joking but I"m still seriousabout this fight. After all, I don"t meet many people who can take down NightShade in one hit.

"You"re good. My mount is not just an ordinary pony youknow."
　　
　　 "Ican do better!" He rushed. "Fuuuugaaa Heaven Punch!"

I feltas if a wall made of air just fell on me, then I took countless punches. Thespeed of these fists is like raindrops!
　　
　　 "Gah!"I was sent flying and rolled on the ground. At least the impact is strongenough. I crawled back up and...700 damage? That"s lame.

That skill must be usedto cause damage using the great number of attacks. But the outcome is greatly reducedby my high Defense.

           "Nice one. But your fists feel so weak. It didn"t doanything."
　　
　　    Ofcourse he knows how much damage he did. And it must have shocked him. 　　
　　

"[FeintingLances]!"

This is a new D&P Rider skill I just learned. A wave oflances enclosed upon his body from all directions. He tried to dodge but there"sno way he can avoid hundreds of attacks at once.

Without a way out, he used hisIron Skin again.

Got you!

The lances dropped to the ground and disappeared, leavingonly one, which pierced his abdomen.

           "Those were shadows, there"s only one real lance. The namealready told you those were feint and you still fell for it."
　　
　　    Smokinlooked up from his would, painfully. "You...how did you break through myIron Skin?"
　　
　　    "Ican"t. But my lance ignores Defense. Now give up."

            I tried to pull thelance out of his wound, but Smokin" pulled at the tip and dragged it out frombehind him instead. I was taken aback for a while.
　　
　　    Smokin"seized the chance and rushed close. "[Mountain Breaker]!"
　　
　　    "AH!!"

I was taken by surprise. The palm pushed me into the sky with a strange butdeadly force.

I crashed on the ground hard, coughing up some blood.

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