234 Chapter 234 - Faking the Surrender (1/2)
The students were deeply shaken by what they had just witnessed and were speechless for the longest time.
The fire was still burning brightly behind him when Gu Fei yelled out, ”Everyone, gather. It's time to return to the city!”
The students ran toward Gu Fei and lined themselves up. Those who had a better understanding of the game, including Ah Fa, were even more baffled by Gu Fei's recent display of power. Under the others' exclamations of awe for Gu Fei, Ah Fa reminded his teacher, ”Sir, the mission requires for us to capture the Brigand leader alive.”
”Capture alive? How do we do that?” Gu Fei was slightly taken aback. He suddenly saw the students' faces looking horrified as one of them hurriedly screamed, ”SIR, WATCH OUT!” His warning came a little too late, though, as this Boss, just like any other Bosses in MMOs, possessed extraordinarily fast speed than the average monsters.
While Gu Fei's Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno insta-killed all the normal Brigands, the Brigand leader managed to survive his attack. The Brigand leader sprinted out of the raging inferno and charged toward Gu Fei who was busy organizing his students. Gu Fei was holding the monster's aggro, so the Brigand leader aimed its saber toward him and struck.
The way the NPCs and monsters in Parallel World were programmed might be drab and rigid, but none of them would emit killing intent! Killing intent was something that the game was able to replicate due to its system being able to fully simulate the complexities of the human body. NPCs and monsters were entirely made up of data and numbers, so something like killing intent naturally did not exist in their formatting.
The sound of burning flames behind Gu Fei perfectly masked the footfalls of the Brigand leader. By the time the students managed to alert Gu Fei of the incoming attack, the Brigand leader's saber had already connected to Gu Fei's waist and had sent him flying outward.
”Sir!” the students exclaimed. Of course, they had Priests among them, and many of them scrambled to bestow Heal on Gu Fei. No matter how powerful the Boss was, its basic attack could not insta-kill a player. Under the students' quick administration of Heal, Gu Fei was able to recover from his critical condition and get himself back to his feet.
”Quickly dodge!” Ah Fa shouted.
”Dodge what?” Gu Fei used the side of the cliff to support himself, his face wearing a calm expression as he held Moonlit Nightfalls aloft.
Heal and other non-offensive skills could still attract the monsters' aggro based on their properties. In fact, casting this sort of skills would garner the monsters' aggro across a wide area, so in any normal situation, the Priests' constant usage of Heal would lure nearby monsters toward them. As for this Brigand leader's aggro, it was still focused on Gu Fei, proving that Gu Fei's Spell Damage was extremely high. Considering how any target that he slashed would usually be insta-killed, maintaining this Boss's aggro was an easy task.
The Brigand leader rushed toward Gu Fei in large strides and moved to slash him once more. To these students, the monster's slash was fast and vicious that it seemed capable of cleaving their teacher in half. They quickly bestowed Heal on to Gu Fei, yet he actually sidestepped to let the attack pass by. With a flip of his hand, he chanted a familiar incantation and a flaming arc flowed past the Brigand leader's head.
The two of them kept hacking at each other like this. At first, the students were somewhat worried for Gu Fei and occasionally called out, ”Sir, be careful!” The Priests were even more nervous and they would tremblingly bestow Heal on Gu Fei every time they saw the Brigand leader's saber come near him. The melee job classes wished to lend Gu Fei a hand, but the fight's fast tempo did not give them any opportunities to step in. The ranged job classes feared that they instead would accidentally shoot Gu Fei with how near the Brigand leader was to their teacher.
Ironically, the calmest individual in the whole group was actually the one doing the fighting. The Brigand leader had only managed to score a hit on Gu Fei before because it had not emitted any killing intent. Now that Gu Fei was fighting it head on, he was not at a disadvantage in the least. The Brigand leader's attack patterns were similar to any normal Brigand, except that its every blow was stronger, moves were faster, and damage was higher; this Brigand leader did not seem to have any unique or weird new skill in its arsenal.
Despite that, Gu Fei remained vigilant for any change to the situation. Based on his experience facing the Mountain Bandit Leader Sooto in the past, all Bosses should have an ultimate move that could turn the tide of a fight in their favor.
Gu Fei kept blocking, but the Brigand leader never once unleashed an ultimate move, causing his heart to be filled with confusion.
On the students' end, their emotions had long since settled. The Priests were no longer nervously bestowing Heal on Gu Fei, while the other job classes no longer strove to lend him a hand. Even Ah Fa changed his words to: ”Sir, slow down! Don't cut him down! We need him alive. Alive!”
”How do I capture him alive?” Gu Fei asked, somewhat frustrated. He really hated holding back.
”The mission did not mention this!” Ah Fa was shocked! Although the quest required for them to capture the Brigand leader alive, it never stated how it could be accomplished or the condition that would make the Boss surrender to them.
”Should we find some rope to tie him up?” The students began to discuss possible solutions for this problem.
”Knock him out!”
”But none of us knows Bludgeon!” The Thieves exclaimed. The skill could only be acquired by them at level 36, but even the highest level player in Ultimate Class 3, which was Ah Fa, was only at level 34.
Gu Fei, who was exchanging blows with the Boss, felt that its movement somehow slackened. Gu Fei's mana had long been used up, which was why this fight with the Brigand leader had lasted for a long time. The Boss would have long been dead had he been able to cast Twin Incineration.