“You have improved a lot at utilizing the haste buff,” I praised Liz.
We had already taken the middle orb and are currently heading towards the bottom orb after we had learned that Renz lost against their ace. On the bright side, Chu won the contest for the top orb, netting us one orb advantage and a 3v1. We can regroup and take the easy win, but I don’t think Chu would agree on that kind of play. He has always been stubborn and prideful and I’m sure he would be offended if I were to even suggest grouping up against a single player in the first place.
“Yeah, it’s all thanks to you for giving a lot of pointers," she jovially replied.
“You're a natural too. I only helped improve your potential.”
“Really? Glad to hear it!” she bead at my praise, forcing to avert my gaze to avoid being dazzled by its radiance.
"Still, I'm a bit surprised how polished your knowledge on the ins and outs of movent-increasing buffs are," she pried.
"...I played another VR ga with similar chanics," I lied.
She didn't seem to believe my excuse but didn't pursue it nonetheless, which I'm thankful for.
“I do get why using haste is pretty hard though," she changed the subject. "It's like… when I’m picking a light object, for example, an empty water jug, that I thought was full and heavy, I would put too much force into lifting it and stumble. It is the sa but a hundred tis harder when hasted. I would put too much speed and force into an attack and after that initial attack, I would be out of balance and susceptible to counters,” she rationalized.
“Yes, I completely agree. It is one of the major downsides of haste… but let's save the topic for later, we have company.”
As I say that, a beautiful girl our age brandishing a red-thed broadsword appeared from one of the ruined ancient building.
“Terra... Frostia… Zephyr… I won’t forgive you for harming them! I will avenge my friends!” her voice trembled as she cursed our very being.
They’re still alive though! You know we're just playing a VR ga, right?!
I identified the newcor.
Blaze
Hp: 71%
Lvl: 95
Guild: Atelier Guild (Officer)
Duel wr: Hidden
Team Rank matches wr: Hidden
1v1 Rank matches wr: 76% (Rank 841)
Wins: 2839
Matches: 3712
id#:***********
Introduction: Feel the heat of justice as I blaze through the darkness with my flas for a brighter tomorrow!
Renz, you didn’t even get her HP in half and you have the gal to call yourself our ace!?
I sighed. It was a bad match-up for him to begin with so I can’t bla him too much. He was supposed to fight their archer and Chu was supposed to face off against their ace. I guess the enemy is one step ahead of us this ti.
“Be careful, Liz. She’s strong,” I called out to her in the team chat to prevent anyone from listening.
“I know, I watch her streams so I have a grasp on what she is capable of. No worries though, even if I lose here, we still have you and Chu.”
I nodded at her. She has a point; our enemy is the only one remaining and we still have three mbers of our team. Still, I hope I will not have to reveal the ace up my sleeve to win this match. I want to save it for the main event if possible.
“Want to cast haste on you?”
“No need. You already healed back to full health, besides, you only have mana for one more haste, right? Save it for yourself just in case,” she ssaged back in our team speaker mode to prevent anyone from finding out.
So she already has a grasp on the full range of my mana pool. Haste costs a lot of my mana pool to cast compared to white magic as my mastery of it is still not enough due to my level deficiency. No surprise that she found out, she is a veteran player after all.
“Fine, I’ll try to support you from the side with white magic, good luck,” I cheered her on.
“I don’t need luck if I have you with ,” she said as she walked casually towards our opponent.
What are you even saying?! We’re being stread so don’t spout out such embarrassing things!
When both of them were only a few ters apart from each other, Liz initiated the first strike. She used her weapon skill to launch a surprise attack. She teleported behind the enemy but was t by a sweeping slash before she even made her move.
“Ack!” Liz exclaid before disengaging.
Lizbeth
HP: 72%
“I won’t fall for those kinds of tricks so easily,” her opponent rebutted.
I underestimated her. I didn’t think she would be this good. Her skill with the sword is nothing to scoff at, but her ability to predict the opponent’s move makes her even deadlier. I think Liz will have a hard ti in this fight, she might even lose if she gets outplayed.
“He hehe… I guess it won’t be that easy. Looks like I have to do it the old-fashioned way. I'll just have to let my skills carry through,” Liz declared as she rushed at her opponent for a contest of skill.
The fight continued, Liz's agile footwork kept her opponent constantly on the move, her rapier darting in and out with calculated precision. Her opponent, with broad, sweeping arcs, countered each advance with sheer strength, forcing Liz to adapt swiftly. The clash of tal rang out, a rhythmic lody in the air as their blades t ti and again for the umpteenth ti. Witnessing the battle before unfold, I cannot pry my eyes off the two graceful yet deadly combatants… not that I’m planning to, of course. I still have to play my role and support Liz if things go south.
This went on until both of them disengaged to catch their breath from the grueling exchange, wherein none ca out unscathed.
Lizbeth
HP: 51%
Blaze
HP: 41%
“You’re really good, even though you know you’re outnumbered, you still play at your best,” Liz praised.
“Of course! I won’t ever give up. I won’t lose for the sake of my friends who all believe in !” she declared.
“Kyaaa! That was so cool! I’m a huge fan of your streams by the way!” Liz praised.
You call that cool!? Daring is what I would call it! I would never spout such lines even if it costs my life!
Our opponent seems stunned by Liz’s fan-girl mode. The imrsion broken from having her opponent as a fan seed to catch her off guard making her unable to respond properly.
“U-uh… thanks… I guess?”
“He hehe, no biggie… but sorry to say, I’m not gonna lose either. Sa with you, I also have friends who have faith in and support with their all. I vowed to not let them down again. I will play at my best and enjoy every match in the process!” Liz declared, ready for another round.
“Urk!” she seed taken aback by what Liz said.
Nice one Liz! Go beat her at her own ga! Fight fire with fire, and cringe with cringe!
Liz charged at her opponent. The clash of tal echoed through the battlefield just as Blaze parried Liz’s rush attack. Liz's lithe form weaved in and out, evading her opponent’s powerful swings with graceful finesse. Yet, Blaze’s relentless pursuit left no room for respite, putting the match at an impasse.
It seems that Liz suddenly shifted tactics, utilizing quick feints and sudden changes in direction to exploit Blaze's slower recovery tis. With precise lunges, she aid for gaps in her opponent’s defenses, seeking to pierce through and land a hit. Her efforts were rewarded by a thrusting hit in right in Blaze’s lower torso.
Blaze
HP: 28%
Taking the hit head-on, her opponent was undeterred. Blaze adjusted her stance with each strike, channeling brute force into every swing. Her movents were less agile but carried an undeniable weight, each strike aiming to overpower Liz's swift and calculated assaults.
The brute force of her swings caused Liz to stumble. The enemy capitalized on Liz’s misplay, bringing her huge sword down at Liz to cut her in half.
*WHOOSH
The swing hit the air. Liz used her weapon skill to completely dodge the fatal slash. She vanished, distancing herself to regain her composure.
But her opponent seed to anticipate her move.
“Got you now! You have nowhere to run! Crimson Blaze Slash!” she shouted, confident at her victory as Liz already had no ans to dodge after using her Blink skill.
Liz, instead of even making an attempt to dodge, charged right at the blazing pyro attack, facing it head-on as if intending to die.
I smiled. You really trust too much, Liz.
“Guardian Angel!” I exclaid.
Liz took the blow but was unscathed. It was all because of my white magic skill, Guardian Angel. It takes ti to pre-cast but gives invulnerability to the receiver of the buff for one second. It is extrely hard to use because it requires you to predict when your enemy is about to use a massive attack or your mana will be wasted. It also has a long cooldown and, therefore cannot be spamd constantly. I knew of Blaze's weapon skill from my information gathering so it was no challenge for at all to predict when her weapon skill would co.
In the heart of the raging inferno, Liz charges forward, undeterred by the licking flas that claw at her surroundings. With each quick step, embers dance around her, the white holy shield of the Guardian Angel skill protecting her against the scorching fire.
Blaze, after using her weapon skill seems to need a bit of windup ti after that kind of devastating attack. Capitalizing on her opponent’s fatigue state, Liz did a charging fatal thrust aid toward Blaze’s head.
It connected.
*KACHACK
Blaze
HP: 0%
“Ack!” Blaze cried in surprise.
What an outplay by Liz. Even though we did not communicate on that kind of maneuver due to ti constraints in the middle of the battle, she still baited the opponent’s weapon skill, risking it all for a do-or-die situation all because she had complete faith in my capabilities.
Her trust in paid off and her gamble won. I had already known her opponent’s weapon skill so I had already pre-cast the Guardian Angel skill. However, her capitalizing on the montary confusion of the enemy was solely from her skills and intuition. Honestly, she never ceases to amaze . To put your wholehearted trust into soone in a desperate situation is not an easy task. I can tell that from experience with my old teammate and partner. It honestly makes happy she has this much faith in . What a peculiar, yet endearing girl.
“Wha- I… we lost…”
“I told you before, didn’t I? I have reliable teammates by my side,” she stated while giving her opponent a gentle smile. “Good ga.”
“Yeah… it was a good match,” Blaze reciprocated Liz’s gesture before she vanished into blue motes of light.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-Rin's PoV-
“I... I’m sorry guys… It was all my fault we lost… I wasn’t able to win against them…” I sniffled as my voice trembled in admitting my shortcomings.
We were back at the GM-created lobby. The other team is currently celebrating their win, the creepy siscon being the loudest even though he did almost nothing in the fight and got eliminated early. On the other hand, and my friends are extrely solemn in comparison to them.
This is all my fault. I failed my team. They put their whole trust and faith in to carry them… but I still lost. Even though I know cursing myself won’t change the outco of the match, I still can’t help but to bla myself for my inadequacy.
“Nobody here thinks that way, Rin. You did the most work even in this match. If there is to bla, it is for failing to protect Lyra. Because of , we didn’t even get to eliminate a single player in the opposing team. I could’ve reduced the burden you had to shoulder, but I failed to do that,” Wren tried to console .
“It’s nobody’s fault guys, please don’t be too hard on yourselves, it can’t be helped that we lost. The enemy is just the better team this ti. Our informant did not even know their support was a dual caster because they hid it so well. They beat us both in tactics and skills so don’t feel too bad. I’m sure no one will bla us for this loss,” Lyra expertly pointed out.
“Yeah! If the managent blas us for not qualifying even though they lack critical information on the enemy, I will personally kick their butts!” Ellie tried to lighten the mood.
*Warning: ntal and emotional state fluctuating. Player is advised to take a break.
I ignored the notification. Their encouraging words made even more emotional. I am truly lucky to have them as my teammates.
“...Thanks guys…” I expressed my gratitude from the bottom of my heart.
“Well, enough of this dreary atmosphere. Let’s congratulate the winners, shall we? We have a reputation to uphold as mbers of the Atelier organization. We at least have to show our sportsmanship, yeah?” Ellie beckoned us by going to our opponent’s side to congratulate them.
We followed her as she led the way. Ellie stopped in front of one of our opponents, a black-haired guy with a custom Taoist set, whom I assud to be the one who beat her in the contest for the top orb.
“Hey, that was a good match, you earned the right to add as a friend. I’ll help you out sotis in training if you want. We can even play together in front of my stream viewers!”
“…Sounds botherso,” he replied unenthusiastically.
“What! You're kidding right?! Don’t you know many of my male fans would do anything just for to add them to my friends list? You don’t know how lucky you are! Or are you scared for a rematch 'cause you know you just got lucky earlier?” she taunted.
That seems to have gotten a rise out of him, the very first ti since they started talking.
“...Fine, I’ll take you on anyti you want.”
My attention was imdiately caught by a familiar dazzling figure who greeted before I had the chance to.
“Blaze, that was a good fight!” Lizbeth greeted.
“…Yeah.”
She analyzed for a bit. Then suddenly, her expression changed, giving a solemn look.
"Please cheer up. It was not your fault, I think you would've won against if I was alone," she tried to comfort .
Am I that obvious?
“I... no, you're too good even on your own... it felt like you were improving every second we exchanged blows. You would've eventually surpassed in that fight.”
She gave an unreadable look before quickly pulling for a hug.
"W-whaaaa-!"
I was caught off guard by her boldness. So this is what Lyra felt earlier when I did it to her.
“Don’t worry, we will carry the weight of your aspirations. Believe in us, my teammates and I will win the tournant so that no one could ever bla you for losing this match.”
My heart skipped a beat. They say I am a natural, but this girl… she is on a whole different level.
We stayed like that for a while, her gesture comforted even though we were in a VR ga and probably hundreds of miles apart from each other. We did garner curious stares from our opponents and teasing ones from my friends, but I didn't mind as much as I thought I would. I was too focused on Lizbeth's comfortable and calming gesture to even think about the other players' reaction for once.
After mustering up my courage, I finally asked her.
"Uhm... can we play again so other ti? I-if you're not busy practicing for the main tournant that is..." I asked nervously, afraid of being rejected on the spot.
"Of course! I always watch your streams, I'm a strear too so we could do collabs together if you'd like?"
Sharing our hobby through streaming and playing the ga we both love sounds... extrely delightful.
I bead at her. "I would love to!"
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