Chapter 57: Chapter 51: “A Deal”

CHAPTER 51: “A DEAL”

 

Stunned by the female player’s words, Ai failed to sense or react properly when a rapid arrow made its way, faster than the eye could follow, from in between the shadows of the trees. Just in time, Morion managed to step in and deflect the arrow with the metal of his sword.

Ai flinched and felt his heart beating faster as he realized that a single arrow almost took him out of the event because he was being careless. Although, to be fair, it was understandable that he felt so surprised.

The mediator named LadyMaia tsked and sighed dramatically, shaking her head. “Ah~, should’ve figured that trick wouldn’t work on someone like the Villain of the Arena.”

“Your act was just too fake.”

From the thick shrubbery came another player, this time male. Compared to LadyMaia who was openly energetic and excited, her partner was more quiet and calm. The way he spoke and the aura he gave off was rather mild and unassuming. In other words, the perfect disposition for an archer class specialized in long distance battle and sneaking around.

The male player stepped away from the shadows and came to stand near his partner. He was slightly taller than LadyMaia with dusty brown hair, a round face and droopy blue eyes. In his hand was a wooden bow that had complicated runes etched into the material. Ai glanced at the unassuming weapon but didn’t let his guard down, those runes made him feel uneasy. 

The archer noticed Ai’s gaze on his weapon and gave him a smile. “Look, he’s also noticed my weapon, all our secrets are out in the open now.”

LadyMaia huffed. “Mine was accidental but you came out on purpose.”

The other player laughed and ruffled his partner’s hair playfully. “Come on now, you know our usual strategy would’ve fallen apart anyway with the Villain here.”

As the two continued their back and forth, Ai wondered if this was also another tactic they were using to let their enemies’ guard down. They were both so lax and carefree, in body language and speech. Ai took the time to peek into the archer’s stats.

 

Player Name: LemonRush

Race: Human

Class: Archer

Level: 45

HP: 2o,250

ATK: 3780 / MAG ATK: 1765

DEF: 730 / MAG DEF: 730

SPD: 389

 

This archer…though his defenses were even more pitiful than Ai’s, his ATK was almost as big as Morion’s and his SPD stat...looking at it was enough to make Ai break out into cold sweat. Almost 100 more points that Morion’s SPD stat, and the man was fast. Imagine how fast this archer was?

Once the cooldown reset, Ai used the skill on the mediator.

 

Player Name: LadyMaia

Race: Demon Kin

Class: Mediator

Level: ???

HP: ???

ATK: ??? / MAG ATK: ???

DEF: ??? / MAG DEF: ???

SPD: ???

 

What? How even…

 

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“Ah...you’re such a baby.” LadyMaia cooed. “That skill doesn’t work on fellow mediators, since we’re both technically the neutral third party.”

Just as she finished talking, another arrow zoomed from between the trees behind her, even faster than the previous one if that was even possible. Once again, Morion managed to deflect it, but still the arrow managed to slide past his cheek, taking a bit of damage. Ai tensed when he looked at the party menu in the [Thought System] and saw a little bit of Morion’s HP disappear.

He was so distracted that he didn’t notice the archer, LemonRush, had already returned back to the shadows of the trees.

Ai clenched his fist and felt his nails biting into the palm of his hand. His mind was all over the place, he kept getting distracted by things and that was a bad idea when you were in a battlefield. If Morion had not remained vigilant as always, Ai would be eliminated right now.

Ai took out a new recently purchased dagger he had and gripped it tightly in his hand. The weapon wasn’t any better than the low quality Mediator Dagger that he had, but it was still a much needed upgrade that he could use with his stats.

He didn’t let Athens out. Right now, the familiar was the one thing that would give him an advantage if he was in a pinch.

This was a rather new discovery. All this time, Ai had let Athens do whatever it is he wanted, so most of the time the beast roamed free in its bird form without much constraint. So he hadn’t known that the beast had the skill to hide within shadows. 

Pretty convenient for a PvP event like this.

LadyMaia witnessed her opponents getting ready, she chuckled gleefully then pulled out her own weapon. Ai tried not to get distracted again by the fact that the Mediator was actually wielding a sword. As far as he knew, Mediators was a scholarly class, so although they could wield daggers or maybe even a staff if properly built, they couldn’t use a fully offensive weapon like a sword or a greatsword. 

So how was it that she was using one?

Technically, all classes could learn a weapon skill if they found the right quest, but it was always a waste of time. A warrior couldn’t reach the needed stats to wield a staff or book, and a scholar couldn’t reach the needed stats to wield a sword, a claymore or a bow and arrow. 

Ai studied her.

Firstly, she was holding the sword hilt with both her hands. The grip was hearty, not relaxed and natural like the way Morion held his. She also didn’t hold her sword up, but let it get carried by gravity, the blade tip on the ground. So she couldn’t wield the sword like a warrior would, so this wasn’t her weapon. There was no way she made a mistake, so what was it?

Another arrow whizzed past, but this time, both of them managed to leap to the side and avoid it. Luckily they did, because when the arrow landed on a distant tree, it shattered into pieces and launched multiple sharp wooden needles that were once the arrow’s body.

“Ai.” Morion said curtly before charging towards the trees to go after the archer.

Ai unleashed two skills. [Biased Mediation] and [Persuade] but none of them were for their opponents. [Biased Mediation] was targeted towards Morion. Since he had a passive that would increase his ATK the more his HP dwindled, getting rid of a controlled amount of HP essentially buffed him. The second skill, [Persuade] was for the mobs around.

It wasn’t clear when they were looking around from on top of everything, but once they walked deeper into the forest, Ai noticed that there were a couple of mobs hanging about. They weren’t particularly strong or high leveled, but when the players are focused on attacking each other, the mobs could easily be a good distraction if utilized properly.

LadyMaia watched him cast his skills then laughed. “Ooh, not bad for a baby.”

Ai tried not to let himself get annoyed. He kept his face blank and didn’t speak a single word and watched as the skill managed to snag a random wolf beast. The wolf stopped in its tracks, growled and turned to face LadyMaia with killing intent in its eyes.

She glanced at the wolf but didn’t react. She didn’t dodge or even move an inch. Instead, she lifted the sword just an inch off the ground, then forcefully stabbed it back down. 

Ai froze. Nothing happened for a minute, but then he felt it. A rumble along the ground that was getting stronger by the minute. He looked at Morion who was chasing the archer in between the trees. Quickly, he let Athens out from the shadows and dodged away himself as the beast ran full speed towards Morion and pulled him out of LadyMaia’s skill zone.

There was silence in the air, then it happened. A blast of lightning flashing and striking the ground around LadyMaia, its bright flash blinding the area. Even not in the range of the attack, Ai still felt the stings of the skill all along his body.

When the blinding light subsided, LadyMaia was standing there with the ground around her charred but the ground where she stood was clean and untouched. Electric power thrummed through the golden blade of her weapon, almost completing the demon look she had.

Ai knew now. The weapon she was holding was not a weapon for her to swing around, most likely, she was using the weapon for its extra skill. The weapon might even be a Unique Weapon like Morion’s miasma sword judging by the skill it had.

“Like my gear?” LadyMaia grinned. “It took me forever to finally get the quest for this baby. It’s worth it, wouldn’t you say?”

Neither Ai nor Morion answered, both too staggered and surprised by whatever just happened. Athens leaped between both the mediators and menacingly bared its fangs.

“Is that a Shadow Familiar?” From between the trees, LemonRush gasped. “How on earth did you tame that?”

LadyMaia cocked her eyebrows in confusion. “What’s that?”

“Maia, you idiot.” LemonRush said exasperatedly. “It’s a really really really rare beast that not even you can tame.”

“Ohhh, is that so?” LadyMaia’s eyes gleaned over the beast then on Ai. She didn’t look as impressed as her friend, but Ai didn’t like the way her eyes looked. “Hmm a rare beast….elf...mediator….”

Suddenly, she gasped and looked at him with her eyes wide. “Hey, could you be the one who completed the Elf Beginner Quest at Rank S?”

Not expecting for that quest to be brought up all of the sudden, he nodded subconsciously. At his answer, LadyMaia looked visibly happier, even more than before. She dropped her sword to the ground and charged towards him fast. She gripped his hands and leaned in close, which made Ai slightly uncomfortable.

“Ai. Let’s make a deal!”