Spell 28 : The Pugilist

Most of the plants in these rocky regions were mostly just shoots or small shrubs that barely grew to much heights, even at the peak of their growths.

It was therefore almost impossible for everyone to satiate their dying thirsts. There was barely any dew around for them to collect in their gourds.

And yet, they still have no choice but to defend their position from the Wei prowess.

As we entered the camp, I was shocked at how anorexic some of the soldiers had become, and yet they were still able to bare their fangs at their enemies and defend their position.

I suspect not for much longer though; some of them don’t even look like they can hold swords anymore.

General Guan Yu was not quite what I had expected to see. His most noticeable feature was his beard, which was so long that it flowed over his chest like a curtain. His skin was almost crimson in colour, and though he looked even thinner than most of his men, his muscles were still very visible under his parched skin.

His choice of weapon was a yan yue dao, which was also known as ‘Reclining Moon Blade’ in English. It resembled something like a pole arm and spear at the same time; the blade at the top was curved. Curiously though, there was a piece of red cloth attached to the other end of his weapon.

When he saw us, the joy on his face was unmistakable. He was extremely overjoyed to see that help had arrived when all hope had seemed lost. He came running towards us, and in one big grab, he embraced Pang Tong and Zhao Yun together. The two of them had no choice to return the embrace.

Up close, I noticed that Guan Yu had suffered many grievous wounds, and some of them were even fresh. He shook ever so often, as though the wind itself was cutting into his grazed flesh.

I think if we were ever later than this, this camp might have already been wiped out.

After what seemed like a tearful reunion, Guan Yu had finally seemed to notice all the men that Zhao Yun and Pang Tong had brought. He resumed a dignified pose, and came over to the Shu soldiers, who were all looking at him as though he was a god.

Who could blame them? I mean, this guy’s history was already a legend itself. No one commanded more charisma than he himself. Every Shu commander was known to have his own virtue; this man oozes charisma like a well. When he’s on the battlefield, he literally boosts the stats of every allied soldier around him.

After interacting with some of the men, he gave them the order to make themselves at home in this camp. And then he finally noticed us; people who were not of Shu. His expression became guarded.

‘And who might you be?’ He asked, addressing all of us who were not decked in the green colours of Shu.

‘Lord Guan Yu, these are men whom we had found in the course of our journey to find our lost brothers. They fight valiantly, and if not for the two of them,’ said Zhao Yun as he indicated at Vanyssa and I, ‘we would not have been able to come to you here.’

Guan Yu, though his expression remained unchanged, took a step forward and read our faces. Particularly longer at those who were not human at all.

Luckily, none of Vanyssa’s friends had the sense to take on a freak’s appearances. Who knows what Guan Yu would do if one of them had been a troll or an orc?

‘Well, if they are anything like you say, we’ll see what they can do in the upcoming battles. Ping! Show these warriors where they can sleep! I have matters to discuss with Lord Zhao Yun and Commander Pang Tong here.’ He called over to a man, who was holding a massive blade made of stone.

This Ping, whom we later found out was actually Guan Ping, Guan Yu’s son, brought us to some uninhabited tents near what we assumed was a makeshift kitchen.

This Guan Ping was young, and like his father, he was modest and seemed to be as charismatic as his father as well. He had somehow appointed Vanyssa as our leader simply because she was of a warrior class. Admittedly, he had not seen her true appearance. Well, let that be a shock to him when he finds out the Dragon Knight was actually a girl.

We were pretty much left alone after that, and we made use of the time to make the tents more comfortable for us, though honestly speaking, we would not be sleeping here anyway. Not in virtual reality at least.

After that, Vanyssa and I were made to recount our adventures here so far. Kiry and Connor had their own bits to add in too, though none of us, I noticed, had mentioned Aeryssya at all. We regaled on how we had entered this world, and then made the decision to join Shu, thus stumbling onto Pang Tong’s camp. The story on how we rescued Zhao Yun brought much excitement to them.

At this, I felt like I could not go on talking anymore, and excused myself from the group. Nobody really seemed to mind; the attention was all on Vanyssa anyway.

I opened the tent flaps and walked outside into the scorching sun. It was really blazing hot, and I could feel all the heat waves emanating off the ground. Deciding that I had nothing better to do, I walked over to one of the sentry posts.

It was like a wooden platform perched on wooden pillars that held it up above the wooden barricades that surrounded this camp. The sentry had not noticed me coming up, and was still standing perfectly vigilant as he faced the mountain valley.

What I saw was completely unexpected.

The mountain valley was just a narrow path that went gently sloping up, but at every interval of a few kilometres at most were gates. Not just simple metal gates, but massive fortifications that served as blockers along the path. And behind each gate was a Wei encampment that provided supportive backup for the gate should it ever be breached. There were a total of 5 gates.

It was no wonder that even a mighty general like Guan Yu himself would be unable to cross this valley by himself.

‘Say, those gates are really well-guarded, huh?’ I asked, trying to start a conversation with the sentry.

When he said nothing, I looked at him, only to be doused in horror as I realized why he had been a wooden block all this while; he was dead.

There was a gigantic puncture at where his Adam’s apple used to be, and a vile, green liquid had poured forth from the hole. I looked over at the other sentry post on my right, and I realized that he, too, had suffered the same fate.

These men had been silently taken out, and there could only be one reason for it.

And then I saw it.

The mountain path in front of me seemed to be moving.

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The sand, dirt and stones on the mountain path were not actually shifting, but from time to time, I could see some of the rocks glide along in motion, as though a shadow that had meant to be there was not actually there.

Which means there was actually someone walking along the path, and camouflaged like a gecko into his surroundings.

And, it felt like it wasn’t just one person.

‘Cast Tempest Storm!’

A swarm of arcane energy appeared, swallowing up the entire path right in front of our camp’s own barricade doors. Within moments, I could hear screams of pain lick the air as weapons drop onto the path with metallic clangs.

People were starting to edge into vision; their cloaks of camouflage dissipating, and they were all dressed in violet colours.

The colours of Wei.

‘INCOMING ATTACK! TO ARMS!’ I yelled out, away from the Wei soldiers as I launched a Fire Strike into the air, causing it to explode with a loud bang.

That was enough to get everybody’s attention, and the camp was in an uproar as soldiers scurried to get their weapons and armour.

I had my back turned to the Wei troops, and I had not realized that there was someone who was behind me. A shadow loomed over me, and I turned back.

He was literally floating in the air. Covered in violet robes that had very fine cuttings, this man was dressed more for comfort than for battle. He was also wearing a purple ushanka on his head, and in his hand, he held a fan. Quick Time was activated, but I saw no incoming spells.

Apparently, this man’s presence was enough to spook my natural defences.

I shot a Frostfire Bolt at him, which he deflected with ease with just a swipe of his fan.

I shrunk back in alarm; this man was probably not much older than I am, and yet he was already more than accomplished as a magician. And that was not a weak spell I threw at him.

‘Another magician? You have skill, but how will your skills fare against a prodigy?’ And with that, he twirled his fan again, releasing a ball of dark energy straight at me.

I had only just enough time to release a fully-strengthened Barrier from one of my gems that I stored up. But it shattered immediately when his spell hit the air in front of me.

That spell he shot at me was so strong that it could instantly destroy my strongest Barrier.

This person was so strong that I was transfixed on the spot. At best, my level was only about 156, but this person had to be above 300 at least. He was an absolute monster.

I was in real danger now and I knew it.

The man’s eyes flashed in excitement as he prepared another spell. The air around me started to crackle with dark energy. Whatever he was doing, I knew I would not be able to block it.

Just then, a potent bolt of lightning struck at him head-on from the sky. He cursed as he had to stop his spell, and summon a shield of purple fire to block the lightning. I felt a presence materialize beside me, and I turned my head.

To my relief, it was Commander Pang Tong.

“There’s no way you can win this monster. Take the ground; let me handle this one.’ He said as he waved his staff to prepare another spell. I nodded to him thankfully, and used Blink to teleport to the ground.

The sky began to flash with different hues as the two master mages went into combat. However, they were not the only ones fighting.

Another had started at our camp’s doors.

My friends were already in the thick of the battle, trying their best to push the wave back.

With a yell, I went straight into the fray as well.

Guan Yu was like a god on the field; his Crescent Blade was like a whirl as he struck killing blows not only at the Wei soldiers who dared approached him, but also into the minds of those who saw it. All of his strokes were perfect; he struck quickly, and efficiently. 

'Dragon Force!' He cried out as he swung his blade repeatedly in a cycle, using just pure force to conjure up winds to knock back all of his enemies. Luckily, he stood all the way to the front, and so when he attacked, he only hit Wei troopers. With one cleave, he shot a line of pure force that went straight down the enemy lines, cutting through those who foolishly stood in the way.

He did all this while suffering from a state of undernourishment. If he was at full strength...

Zhao Yun was also holding on his own as well. He had led another platoon of soldiers himself up the mountain to attack the archers that were harrying us with their arrows. Those archers had hit on us pretty hard, but luckily Zhao Yun was able to take most of them down. 

It was chaos everywhere. And the sounds of the battle shook the air. The lines crumbled, and pretty soon Wei and Shu soldiers were mixed in a crowd. I could not use any of my wide area of effect spells, in case I hit an ally. 

Using my newly acquired Qi, I used Earth Spikes to attack the Wei soldiers. They were mostly only Level 120 foot soldiers, so they went down very quickly. On top of that, Earth Spikes was a skill that was primarily based on the Earth element. With Qi, the spikes grew bigger and began to shoot out like branches, reaching and killing off even more Wei targets.

The battle was still going smoothly, and things were soon turning in our tide. 

But I felt that something was very wrong. This was too easy. The Wei forces would not have sent a force like that on a suicide skirmish since they already knew that Guan Yu had reinforcements. And we took down their barracks in the south too.

I felt dread growing inside me as I realised something. This was no suicide skirmish.

This was just a diversion.

As I looked back, time suddenly seemed to slow.

An arrow flew past. But it's projectile was not towards any of us. 

It was aimed towards the sky. Towards the sentry post where I was standing on.

'Commander, watch out!' But it was too late. The arrow was already on its course towards Pang Tong's heart. 

But at the last moment before the arrow found its home, another came from the side and knocked it off course.

I turned to see who was our savior, but when I saw who it was, her name was lost somewhere along my throat, and all I could only do was croak.

There was no mistaking that lavender skin anywhere. 

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