Drako Yau was surprised at how calm Idyllic Poet was. She had seen her bodyguard die right before her eyes, yet she showed no signs of panicking.
This woman…
“You, seem like a good opponent, hmm.” As her lips moved, a menacing atmosphere shrouded her.
Drako Yau’s gaze gradually turned grave. This is… at least ten times stronger… She’s been hiding her strength all this time?
Communicating through his thoughts, the two fire crystal giants thumped the ground and charged at Idyllic Poet with heavy steps. The mage took a few steps back and pointed her wand forwards, firing off multiple Fireball spells at the giants.
That’s not a mage, that’s a rocket artillery!
The endless streak of fireballs stiffened the giants. Idyllic Poet made a bewitching yet cold smile and swung her staff from left to right.
Ring of Rebounding Flames, a Level 15 crowd control skill for mages.
A crescent semi-ring of fire spread out ahead of her, knocking the two giants five steps back instantaneously. Another bombardment of Fireballs then finished them off.
In the spacious circular area where a sealing pattern decorated the floor, a male and a female stood opposite of each other on two opposite ends as they had a silent stare down.
A speech bubble popped up above Drako Yau’s head. “A worthy opponent.”
He had battled the Skeleton King for five days straight (even though the only challenge was fighting in Hell difficulty once a day), duelled the Fire Crystal Master, and barely survived the purple weirdo’s palm strike. Challenging fights which made him put his life on the line made him grow stronger at a faster pace.
He had come to a realisation: by fearing death, he was hindering his own growth. The more he was willing to risk his life, the more powerful he shall become. Battles of life and death tempered his soul and body.
After realising such, Drako Yau no longer felt fear in battles. Of course, he wasn’t going to challenge people who were way beyond his league, such as the purple man and the Castellan. They could kill him easily like squishing an ant.
What he needed were enemies of his level, or perhaps a tier or two above him. The woman across the room was a great opponent for this purpose.
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Idyllic Poet stared intently at the man. Even with the red mask covering his face, she could feel the man’s glare.
She had always been praised as a beauty, and she innately gave off bewitching air. As such, she had always received lecherous gazes from men who openly expressed their desire to make her theirs, be it in the game or in real life.
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Players in the game, even her guild master Booksy Swordsman. Her boss in real life, her colleagues, her past schoolmates…
But this man… His gaze reflected his intense desire as well, but it was not a lustful one—what he sought was her combat prowess. His desire was to fight her!
Being on the receiving end of a gaze that appreciated her abilities was exceedingly satisfying for Idyllic Poet who had always been longed for due to her looks. Before she could further entertain the thought, Drako Yau already made a move.
Idyllic Poet regained her composure and retreated backwards while casting Ring of Rebounding Flames. With how skilled her footwork was, she was clearly very familiar with how to strafe as a mage.
Ring of Rebounding Flames was a powerful defensive spell that gave Drako Yau a headache. Despite looking like an arc of flames, it functioned like a wall and made jumping over or crouching beneath the arc impossible.
The moment he was knocked back, a barrage of Fireballs came flying at him.
As expected, this woman has some secrets…
On Idyllic Poet’s tender left little finger was a quaint ring adorned with a red gem.
“Phoenix Ring (Tier 1). A reward from an encounter quest, it was a gift from the mythical beast, Phoenix. It is bound to the player and cannot be traded or dropped upon equipping.
Effect: Increases power of all fire elemental spells, and reduces cast time by half for all fire elemental spells.”
Naturally, Zephyrwolf and Sasaki weren’t the only ones who had received encounter quests. There were various encounter quests, and some gave relatively ordinary items while others were special like Zephyrwolf’s and Sasaki’s quests which provided an opportunity for a class change. Idyllic Poet’s encounter quest was by no means worse than theirs.
The Phoenix Ring was like a godly artefact for mages. It was precisely this ring that enabled her to reign far above other mages.
Fireball originally had a really short cast time, which turned almost non-existent after receiving the cast time reduction buff from her Phoenix Ring. Orbs of fire bombarded Drako Yau like artillery, making him scurry around to evade them.
He wasn’t going to let her bomb him without retaliating. He tried to break through the barrage, but Idyllic Poet calmly cast Ring of Rebounding Flames and knocked him back.
She decided that she was done probing her opponent with Fireballs. Immediately after casting Ring of Rebounding Flames, she started chanting another spell. It was perfectly timed so she could finish casting the second spell just as Drako Yau steadied himself after getting thrown back.
Toxic Swamp, a Level 18 mage skill.
Circular swamps appeared one after another in the spacious tower, with unknown gases bubbling from the dark green pools. It was obvious that falling into the swamps would be a terrible experience.
Drako Yau acknowledged her wits for not opting to cast a powerful damage-dealing spell. Mages had another Level 18 spell called Rain of Fire which was damage oriented. However, she used Toxic Swamp, a spell that couldn’t deal a lot of damage to the enemy. Her idea was simple—she was constricting his movement.
With the constant barrage of Fireballs and Ring of Rebounding Flames, it was already difficult to close in on her. Things were only worse now with a swamp between them.
Drako Yau had a chilly look beneath his mask. You’re underestimating me. He planted his leg into the ground after getting knocked back and propelled himself forwards.
Idyllic Poet’s legs never came to a stop the entire time. Unlike Drako Yau’s delicate footwork taught to him by the old geezer, she had developed her own footwork just from playing the game. She circled around the swamp in different directions, forcing the masked man to trespass the toxic swamp if he wanted to close the distance.
Toxic Swamp wasn’t as simple as it seemed. It was yet another important crowd control skill for mages who had yet to undergo class progression. Apart from poison damage, it came along with a crucial debuff—slowness.
Once you fall into the swamp… Idyllic Poet tightened her grip on her staff. I won’t let you out of here alive!