396 Chapter 396 - Not Knowing How (1/2)

The bluster both men had shown appeared to be a prelude to an earthshaking battle between them, but it seemed to be nothing more than a show of fancy yet useless moves to the other players watching. Although the battles in MMOs were not particularly terrifying, where bloodied flesh flew freely among combatants, the injuries would still visibly spill enough red to serve as an intuitive visual response for the players whenever they took damage.

Thus, it was not uncommon to have blood spurting, be it their own or an opponent's, after a few rounds of exchanges when it came to PvP fights. But given the way Gu Fei and Eternal Dominion had fought with their punches and kicks, everybody watching the fight instantly considered the duel to be of poor grade since there was an absence of blood to determine the progress of the match.

It was mainly the average gamer that had such thoughts, however, as most of the men from Eternal War mercenary group could comprehend the spirit of sparring the two were feeling, even if only a little. By now, there were no longer just people from either party watching this duel, as other pedestrians and random passersby had noticed that Eternal Dominion was having a duel with someone and had immediately spread this news across all of Luori City.

In Luori City, just a random underling in Eternal War would be able to to fight a 1v3. Whenever Eternal Dominion got involved, he would only be doing so to find some entertainment from the deed, and there was no way anybody would assume he was being serious. For someone who fought as true and serious as Eternal Dominion, it had been a really long time, at least ever since he first established himself in Luori City, when he was required to participate in a fight himself.

The news spread like wildfire, with plenty of players hurrying over to join in the fun and watch Eternal Dominion and Gu Fei face off.

But the current situation caused many of these players to become despondent instead, especially those who came specifically to watch the fight. In their eyes, there was absolutely no way his opponent would be able to retaliate now that Eternal Dominion had taken the initiative to attack.

Everybody had been looking forward to watching Eternal Dominion get his a*s handed to him, yet what they had witnessed thus far was the man arrogantly wielding his four appendages. Everyone wanted to cheer on Gu Fei, but they were also afraid that it would be an open invitation for those mercenaries from Eternal War to greet them with closed fists instead.

In all honesty, Eternal War's reign in Luori City was not anything particularly brazen or tyrannical, yet at the same time they were not modest or meek in how they acted. The mercenary group truly did not have to put anyone in their eyes, and that was precisely how they acted, so no one really favored Eternal War.

On top of that, considering the business aspect of Mercenary groups as whole, Eternal War possessed such insurmountable strength that the other mercenary groups were all left dispirited. Anyone who had competed against them and lost subconsciously felt as if they had been bullied. All it took was a round of malicious promulgation, and the Eternal War mercenary group got the image they had in the hearts of the players from Luori City.

In reality, if anybody were to grab a random player off the street to ask them for a time when Eternal War bullied said person, 99% of the time the players would not be able to give a direct answer. The feelings these people had towards Eternal War were very complicated. The situation they were in could be used as a case study to understand the feelings the poor would have against the rich when the disparity between the two was too huge.

These outsiders were all disappointed when they saw Eternal Dominion enjoying the limelight once more, and quite a few of the members from Eternal War were unable to see the profundity, revealing a look of jubilation now their leader was taking the initiative.

But Eternal Dominion did not share this sentiment at all.

He had been wielding his arms and legs the whole way in, yet Gu Fei had not fought back, opting to retreat as he kept stepping backwards. Eternal Dominion could tell that throughout this entire procession that Gu Fei have had at least four good chances of counterattacking. He had even went so far as to strengthen his defenses in an effort to avoid being taken advantage of.

In the end, it looked as if Gu Fe did not even have the intention to win as he retreated unhurriedly.

All he did was simple footwork, but Eternal Dominion was livid with how he stepped.

He could easily tell that the footwork Gu Fei was currently using was exactly the same as what he had learned. Every step that Eternal Dominion took forward, Gu Fei was already taking the second step. The moment he took his second step, Gu Fei would quickly complete his third step.

Once Eternal Dominion realized this, he quickly adapted and changed to four different sets of footwork.

Arrow Step, Slide Step, Opportune Step, and Ridge Step. These were all compatible with the Fire Dragon Fist style he was currently using.

But in the end, each and every adaptation he had made was seen through by Gu Fei. No matter how Eternal Dominion tried to advance, Gu Fei would unerringly step into the most ideal position, making it seem as if the two men were performing a ballroom dance, the pace of each and every step they made almost conventional. As for Eternal Dominion's attack, every step Gu Fei took resulted in him hitting nothing but air.

Eternal Dominion felt really helpless, because he knew why Gu Fei could perform at this level.

Aside from having an understanding towards footwork and fist styles, Gu Fei's movement speed was also superior to his. And this was not just the slight superiority he had over Eternal Dominion's attack speed, but a substantial increase in his movement.

To Gu Fei, there was more than enough time for him to carefully identify the steps Eternal Dominion was taking and act accordingly.

This was a disparity that the system had created, and it was something which Eternal Dominion had no means to change.

Furthermore, every move that the Fire Dragon Fist style Eternal Dominion was currently utilizing emphasized prioritizing footwork to lead, using the hands to supplement before the body came into play. Gu Fei had accurately pinpointed this particular fact, allowing him to identify Eternal Dominion's footwork and appropriately position himself afterwards. Eternal Dominion's attack was naturally neutralized without him even realizing it.

But how could Eternal Dominion not have made sense of all these reasons at this point? He was merely disgruntled. He had hoped that Gu Fei would make an error in judgement the moment he attempted to vary his footwork.

But in the end, he had exhausted the fourth set of footwork, yet Gu Fei continued to accurately step in turn without missing a beat. Eternal Dominion had almost forgotten to attack with his fists as his two eyes glanced lower and lower, staring at the two feet on the ground.

The two feet had suddenly stopped moving!