"Y-Yur1?! What the heck are you doing here?" I ask in shock and relief. "I thought you said in the DMs that you're busy 'grinding' or whatever you're doing with your new [Familiar]. Speaking of which, did you get one?"
Yur1 quickly yanks my collar and whispers in my ear, "Yes, I did. And also, you should avoid blurting it out in public. You might accidentally reveal your powerful skill or something."
Oh, right... Glad he reminds me. But it's a bit too late for Saphi...
"As for your first question, I did a bit of grinding. But I can't exactly do that without multitasking," Yur1 says out loud before gently releasing my collar. "But I saw the notice when I came back, and I couldn't just ignore it when there was a big consequence that would happen if I did."
Glad he's on the same page. But why do I have a feeling he's not telling everything?
"I'm glad you're here anyway, Yur1," I say. "I need someone to be the swordsman, and I don't think Wind will be logging in on time to save this event."
"No problem. I'll be your sword and shield! Besides, I learned some new things while I was off [Familiar] hunting."
Yur1 helps me back up to my feet, and we face the enemy players who threw Saphi back in my hands before he could hit the ground.
"Two brats?! Damn, what kind of game would let two dumb brats into this MMO world?" The enemy leader smirks as his teammates gather around him, with one of the mages trying to heal him. "If you're thinking this is another one of your kiddie games, you're wrong!"
Yur1 chuckles while I keep a straight face, not being offended by his offensive remarks. "Kiddie? I think you're being mistaken here." He takes out his green crystal-like sword like Wind's [Sapphire Sword] and points it at the players. "Dude, you're the one underestimating us. Kaz!"
I don't know what kind of spell he wants me to do. But I know it might have something to do with distracting them. “Spirits that dwell the earth, heed my call! Lend me your power to manipulate the stones around me! [Stone Barrage]!”
I toss the stones towards the players. As expected, most of them block my spell while some dodge it. Question is if it's enough to give Yur1 some time.
"That's not what I imagined, but it will have to do." Yur1 raises his sword and puts two fingers on the blade. “Spirits of flames, show yourselves! Engulf me with flames to protect myself from danger! [Coat of Flames]!"
[Coat of Flames]... I heard from the wiki that this spell envelops the user in flames, protecting them from any area from extreme heat and damaging them when they are in contact with this state. But rather than enveloping his body, it instead envelops the whole blade. I mean, I'm not complaining about how he casts his spells. But I didn't know he could do that.
"This is for hurting my friend! [Cross Slash]!"
To my shock, I watch Yur1 swing his sword, creating a fiery X-shaped slash towards one of the players. When it hits the hunter, it engulfs him in flames, and his screams are enough to make me cover my own eyes. Scary scene aside, I can't believe Yur1 can combine skills and spells like that. Is that his [Sign] or something?
"Yo, Kaz. Heads up! You need to get ready while I deal with these small fries!" Yur1 calls to me. "We still need to take care of those runaway NPCs, so the less time we waste, the better!"
Right. I can't let his hard work go to waste. I raise my staff as I prepare my next spell. "I call the thunderous spirit of my aura. Let it dash through my staff with the power of the storms!"
"You *ssh*l*s! Stop being a wuss and attack them already!"
The enemy players don't take long to regain their composure from Yur1's fire show. But too bad for them, he has already given me enough time to finish it.
"[Discharge Bolt]!"
I fire the evolved spell from my staff towards the tank. It might not be enough to knock him out or chip off his [HP]. But there is a secondary effect whenever I cast this spell. When the spell hits, it releases smaller bolts that hit other targets nearby. And since he's busy guarding his allies, the smaller bolts hit the ones in the back, too!
"ACK! Who hit me?!"
"Hey! I thought you could block spells, too! Why are we getting hit, too?!"
"Why are you all looking at me?! I didn't cast any spell here! Don't go blaming me for friendly fire!"
Man, these guys aren't the type to learn teamwork or anything. But it still works in our favor. "Yur1!"
"No need to say it twice, Kaz!"
He jumps from behind and starts swinging his flaming sword at the enemies. "[Flurry of Blades]!"
The tank screams as he tries to block most of his attacks with his shield. "G*d*mn, these noisy..."
While he takes care of the tank, I decide to deal with the rest at the back. “Spirits that dwell the earth, heed my call! Lend me your power to use the earth to defend my allies! [Stone Wall]!"
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I summon the said spell from behind the enemies. This way, they won't be escaping from my next one since the tank is busy blocking Yur1's barrage of sword skills.
“Spirit of Sylph, I call the gale to conjure several arrows to rain down on my enemies to oblivion!” I summon several arrows made of wind above the enemy players before they can realize what I'm trying to do. "[Flurry Arrows]!"
With a swing of my staff, I let the arrows rain down on the players as I hear screams behind the wall. To my surprise, some fall under my spell before their bodies disappear, while others scream in pain while trying to rid me from their bodies. I'm guessing some of them might either be low-level players or I've gone overboard...
"Cr*p! That mage got most of our support?!" The tank exclaims. "I need to..."
"Too late!" I walk around the wall to see Yur1 preparing his final attack on the tank. "[Aftershock]!"
I quickly duck down just as I hear that familiar spell. When I do, he lets out a large energy wave from his flaming sword, cutting the tank down to his hips. Of course, I close my eyes despite the censors Wind placed on my settings, but that's gotta hurt...
"D-D*mn... These brats...are way out of o-"
That's the only thing I hear from him before I open my eyes in time to see his body disappear. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who is overpowered. Just how much training Yur1 did before he came back here?
"Huh... Guess I don't need my [Familiar] for these jerks after all," Yuri says before turning to me next. "You okay, Kaz?"
"Yep, all clear for the most part!" I salute. "But there's no time for that. We need to find those bandits they freed and get them back bef-"
"Not so fast."
My eyes widen upon hearing the voice. But as I try to cast another spell, someone grabs me from behind and covers my mouth while holding down my arm holding the staff.
"Kaz!" Yur1 shouts and raises his blade at what I guess is the enemy player leader. "Let him go or else..."
"Or else what, kid? Don't you know what will happen to your friend if you do anything to me?" The leader suddenly grabbed my neck and put his dagger right next to it. "Unless you want him to touch grass and out of this [Quest], you need to play smart here."
Crud... This guy is horrible! And it's all because I let my guard down for a second. I don't know his level at the moment, but I know he's way too strong for both of us to handle right now. Even if I use my [Sign], there's no way for him to kill him in one blow!
"Are you trying to bargain here? I know what you're trying to do, bub," Yur1 guesses. "When it comes to this kind of [Quest], there are no benefits for players staying alive, no matter which side they are on, other than defending or capturing the NPCs they're assigned to. If I ignore your threats, you'll kill him to make a point. And if I unequip my weapons and follow through with them, you'll just kill my friend either way before going to me next. In general, this is a lose-lose situation for both of us."
Yur1, what are you saying?! Don't tell me he's going to abandon me?
"Ha! So you have a brain after all," the leader chuckles. "Then I have a proposition..."
"That's why I went ahead and asked for help before I aided Kaz."
My eyes widen at what Yur1 has said.
"Huh?"
Before I can ask, I notice something burning right behind me and the leader.
"[Burning Lance]!"
A lance made of fire suddenly pierces through the leader's shoulder. He screams and holds onto his left side where the lance pierced him, allowing me to free myself and rejoin Yur1's side again.
"And by “ask for help”, I mean someone to fill me in and tell me to keep an eye on him."
"Eye on me"? Is he trying to tell me someone I know is worried about me? Wind isn't online, so the only one I know is...
"Well, you can say that."
I turn around and am shocked to see a familiar older mage approaching me with flames on his hands.
"Zale?! But I thought you were busy with..."
"My [Quest]?" He points behind him, and when I look at it, my eyes widen to see that the supposed bandit leader is now covered in burns and bruises around his face. "I got some help dealing with that guy. But he's incapacitated long enough to deal with your current issue right in front of you two."
Whoa... My reaction upon seeing the NPC is brief, but I hadn't expected him to deal with the powerful bandit NPC I've ever met before. He might be more powerful than the guys back at the [Force Blade].
"What the f**k?! How the hell did you beat the leader so fast?!" The leader of the enemy players exclaims. "You're just a measly [Elf] mage with no tanks of melee to back you up!"
"Hmph... I think you've underestimated us a bit too much, sir," Zale responds with a frown. "I think you're too focused on being the bad guy so much that you don't know the first thing about them."
"First thing? What the h*ll are you on about?"
"Well, for starters..." He snaps his fingers, and to my shock, electricity starts to cover most of his right hand. "The bad guy always loses. [Discharge Bolt]."
Before I know it, the leader suddenly gets electrocuted by said spell. But that's not what I'm shocked about. He didn't even say the spell's incantation beforehand, and he's not an [Insignis] to begin with! And yet, he has managed to cast it with no issues as I watch the player faint on the ground with his [HP] now dropped below 20.
"Huh... I'm surprised you can endure that, too. I only used the evolved [Lightning Bolt] spell with a few stat bonuses, though," Zale mutters as he releases his grip and lets the player drop to the ground. "I guess you're not as dumb when it comes to stats and [Masteries]. But you really need to start grinding if you want to keep up with the competition."
And just like that, everything was (almost) over. Yur1 and I watch Zale turning the enemy player over to the authorities and looking around before approaching us again. "It seems like the event is almost over."
"Uh... Not quite," I remind him. "I let those bandits loose thanks to those jerks interrupting me. They might be long gone now."
"I doubt it." He points to his right, and when I turn, I gasp upon seeing the same bandits those players freed now trapped in a cage made of [Stone Walls]. "I found them scurrying around to save their leader. Since they're your prey, I went ahead and captured them before they had any idea. Besides, it would be wrong for me to take what's rightfully yours."
Whoa... He even caught them while he was busy dealing with the bandit leader, too? I can't even multitask like him since I had some trouble fighting those players alone before Yur1's arrival. If this is what a high-level beta tester is, I don't know what it does.
"Hang on... Why are you doing this for Kaz anyway?" Yur1 ask. "You're not his brother, and I barely know you."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... All in due time. Now you better finish your [Quest], Magic Kid. I still need to take care of the leader before he starts thinking of getting revenge on me."
With that, Zale quickly runs off before I can ask anything about the incantation-less magic he did. Talk about a guy in a hurry...
"Yeesh... He's much antsier than your knight friend," Yur1 comments. "Do you even know him, Kaz?"
Good question. I know he's associated with the academy as a [Role Player]. But other than that, I have no clue...
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