Chapter 31 ’Parrying Stance’
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"Boss Died!?"
Gray Fangs' remaining teammates were so shocked at the system notification that they've got.
The crowd got confused on the trio's reaction. So they look at settling mist and see a silhouette of person standing at the center of it. And when the mist are gone, Shin's figure is reveal in thier view.
At first, they thought that Gray Fangs just entered Stealth. After all it is a perfect to use that kind of skill inside the mist. But the moment they saw the sheath sword at Shin's left hand and together with his inattentive attitude, they've got an idea on what have happened.
"Could it be!?" same thoughts run though the minds of the crowd. They pause for a second before burst out in an uproar.
And as the audience gone crazy, similar orders come down at the players eyeing Shin in the mix of the crowd. "I want 'Him' DEAD!!!"
That 'order' probably came from Gray Fangs, who just got revived on the graveyard.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A lot of gunshots are heard from the crowd, together with some whistling sounds accompanied by the flying arrows. The players from the subordinate guilds of 'HeadHunter Guild' opened fire at Shin.
The players of the crowd were startled because of the sudden development. Then they immediately move backwards to create more distance from the battle. They don't want to get hit by the stray bullets and arrows.
Naturally, Shin will not going to stand there and wait for those attacks to land at him unconditionally. He covered himself with the power of the Sun before dashing forward.
'Slayer Skill: Sun-Ray Dash'
-120
-98
-112
-123
...
...
...
A bunch of red numbers appeared on top of Shin's head, but he didn't give a d*mn on it. He continue dashing forward with a great force, planning to fight the remaining party members of Gray Fangs.
When the Human Knight and Berserker LionKin saw that Shin can't be stop by bullets and arrows and realized that he don't have a plan on running away, they immediately positioned theirselves on his path to block his advance and also to protect thier Magician.
But before Shin reach a meter away from the Duo, he immediately cancel the 'Sun-Ray Dash' and enfold himself with the power of the Moon, turning himself to be illusionary. Then he continue his dash and pass through the two in front of him.
'Slayer Skill: Moonlight Steps'
"F*ck! what kind of skill is that? He keep using it like crazy. That kind of skill should have a long cooldown!" same thought run through the minds of the Trio.
When the Magician saw 'that' blue light pass through his comrades and going after him, he immediately wave his staff to teleport away by using a 'Magician Skill: Blink'.
At the same time, the Human Musketeers and Elven Archers firing in the distance stopped their assaults, fearing to hit their teammates unintendedly.
Shin take advantage of that pause on assault and dash on a certain distance while thrusting the [Yamato] forward.
'Extra Skill: Charge'
And when the range players saw that action, they resume firing their attacks.
The moment the Magician landed on the ground, he is greeted by a thrusting sword towards his chest. "How!?" He become confused about how Shin managed to predict where he intended to teleport.
-2 490(Stunned)
-124(Burned Damage)
After stunning the Magician, Shin immediately turn his body around while pulling the [Yamato] from his opponent's chest. And during the process of his spin, Shin crouch his body while taking a little large step to the side with his right leg. From the looks of it, he is planning to circle around the Magician.
And as he get pass the Magician's side, he covered his Katana with a fiery glow before slashing it horizontally.
'Slayer Skill: Solar Cut'
-7 390
-370(Burned Damage)
The Magician want to use another teleportation skill to get away from Shin after the stun effect of the 'Charge Skill' wore off. But the moment he want to raise his staff, he realize that he can't move his body.
It turns out that Shin swing his sword downwards in a powerful manner the moment he position himself at the back of the Magician.
'Extra Skill: Destructive Slash'
-2 511(Stunned)
-126(Burned Damage)
The Magician is stunned for another two seconds immobilizing him. But that didn't make the matter worst, it is the bullets and arrows that are chasing after Shin.
Shin used him as a human shield, resulting for those attacks land at the Magician.
-2 123
-1 129
-500
-432
-1 321
-203
...
... f𝓇𝘦𝒆𝘄𝑒𝗯𝑛𝗼ѵ𝙚l.𝒄𝘰𝓶
...
A bunch of damages pop-up above the Magician's head, indicating that a large portion of his health have been rift off.
The entire process happened too fast not giving anyone to digest what have just occurred. Even the Musketeers and Archers don't have a chance to cease their attacks.
The Magician opens his mouth but no words come out because Shin give him a killing blow sealing off his fate. Then he turned into a particles of light.
And after killing the Magician, Shin immediately jump backwards to dodge the incoming bullets and arrows by doing a back roll midair. Some still manage to grazed his body but the damages they've dealt are negligible.
The firing pause for a moment when Shin landed on the ground. It is because that is the time they've realized what have just happened.
Shin raise his head and looked at his opponents. "So this is what Arthur meant when he said to treat this game as a reality. I can do whatever I can in Real World inside this game. It is as long as my body in here can keep up with my mind." said Shin to himself, as he reflect on what have just happened.
"Ahhh..." The Human Knight and Berserker LionKin shout madly while jumping high in the air, before descending towards Shin with a great force.
'Berserker Skill: Berserker Jump'
'Knight Skill: Heroic Leap'
From the look on thier faces, you can tell that they can't take this humiliation anymore. Especially the Knight who is responsible on protecting their back lines.
As for the Berserker LionKin? He felt like, he is being toyed by Shin since the start the battle. It is because from his perspective, Shin is ignoring him the whole time and not bothering to fight him since the beginning.
So it is understandable for them to get mad this way.
In the mean time, Shin doesn't care about what they are thinking.
"Since that is the case, then let me try something out." muttered Shin to himself before doing two consecutive jump backwards while drinking a Health Potion.
*Boom!* *Boom!*
The Duo land on Shin's previous location resulting for a double shockwave. 𝙛𝑟𝑒e𝘸𝑒𝗯𝘯𝗼𝘃el.𝒄𝒐m
At the same time, the Musketeers and Archers divide themselves in two groups before going to left and right side to have a clear vision for firing. This time they don't want to commit the same mistake as before.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Then they started attacking once again. Some of them even used their skills, and looks like they are frustrated too.
Shin took a deep breath while focusing his mind and activating his senses to the max. Then he looked at the incoming attacks with sharp eyes.
From Shin's perspective, those bullets and arrows' movements slowed down. Then he read their trajectories for a split moment before waiting for them to enter his 'Perception Range'.
And what comes after that made all the players on the crowd to dropped their jaws to the ground. Even Shin's assailant can't believe what they are seeing as they continue attacking. As for the Knights-Berserker Duo? They stopped their tracks and stared dumbfoundingly at Shin.
Cling! Cling! Cling! Cling!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Cling!
Shin swings the [Yamato] left and right deflecting the incoming bullets and arrows. He even redirect some of them to collide with each other while doing some sidesteps in the process to dodge the skills that he can't block.
At first some bullets and arrows manage to get pass Shin's defense and are grazing his body, but as he continue deflecting the attacks the more he get the hang of it.
Then the crowd become even more crazy and burst out in an uproar.
"Whoa!!! What the hell is that?"
"Is that even possible?"
"Who the hell it that guy!? Is he somewhat related to Sword God?"
"Is he!? I will also believe it, if he do! Only Sword God can do that kind of feat with his swords."
"Is he some kind of Godlike Player from previous games? Or at least a Titled Ranker?"
"Oh my! That was some kind of gutsy moves."
"Cool!! If only I can do half of it, I'm pretty sure that I can hook up some girls. No, maybe even one-forth of it will be enough."
.....
In the meantime, the Knights-Berserker Duo came back to their senses and planning to resume their attacks. But before they get in action, a bunch of City Guards and Patrolling Paladins arrived at the scene.
The players that are attacking Shin reluctantly stopped their assaults and want to get out the scene as soon as possible. But the moment they turned around, they've discovered that they are fully surrounded.
"Imprudent Beings! You dare to caused havoc inside the City? Men, capture these ruffians and locked them up on the underground prison for a week!" said the City Guard that looks like a the leader of the group.
The City Guards get on work when they heard their Captain's words. They captured all the players of the 'HeadHunter' subordinate Guilds, and Shin is also included. But before the City Guards capture Shin, the leader of the Patrolling Paladins opens his mouth. "Wait! You can't capture that young man. He is one of us."
The City Guards that are going to capture Shin stopped their tracks when they've heard that. They looked at the Leader of the Paladins for a moment before shifting their gaze to their Captain.
The City Guard Captain looked at the Paladin Leader before saying. "So what if he is one of you, Johnson? He is creating havoc inside the City so he should be arrested. I am just implementing the rules pass down by the Royal Council. So if have a problem on it, go to the Royal Court."
The Paladin Leader called Johnson smirks at the City Guard's Captain and said. "Heh, that is where you are wrong Robert. Those guys are the ones that attacked our people, so he is just protecting himself. You can ask someone on the crowd if you don't believe me. After all, there are a lot of witnesses in here."
Captain Rowell looks around before giving an order to his subordinate to confirm if what Johnson have said is true. Few moments later, one of the City Guards returned and whisper something to Rowell.
Captain Rowell give Johnson a side-eye glance before releasing a 'Hmph' sound while turning around. Then give another order to his men before leaving. "Take the others and locked them up in the underground prison."
The City Guards followed after Captain Rowell while bringing the 'HeadHunter' Guild subordinate people. Those players didn't dare to retaliate. And even if they do, they can't do anything about it. After all, the City Guards are Level 120 NPC Special Elites.
And while it is happening, Leader Johnson walks towards Shin and give him their Church salute before saying. "Young Envoy, sorry for our late response. Its just that we already passed this area when we are patrolling, so we came a little late because we came from the other street."
Shin sheath his Katana before waving his right at Johnson. "It's fine, you are just doing your job. You can go back to what you are doing and resume to your duties. And also thanks for earlier."
Leader Johnson give Shin another salute before resuming their patrol. At the same time Shin touch his chin with his right hand while muttering to himself. "So base on the exchange of words earlier. I still can't treat myself as a Noble of any City, because I'm still not an official Envoy. I guess I need to be careful next time."
After that, Shim looks at his system log while smiling brightly.
System: You have created a Defense Combat Technique. Please name it so that the system can record it.
Shin thought for a moment before giving it a simple name. "I'm not good at naming things so let's just call it 'Parrying Stance'."
*Ding!*
System: Combat Technique registered.
System: Congratulations! You have created a Rare Combat Technique rewarding you 200 'Fame' stats.
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Combat Technique
Name: Parrying Stance
Type: Defensive
Rank: Rare (Quasi-Epic)
Details: Swing your sword to deflect any kind incoming strikes warding them off. You can also charge their trajectories to send them off to your desired location.
Note 1: If the attack is too strong for you to deflect, then you are going to fail to use this technique resulting for you to take a double damage from the attack.
Note 2: Combat Techniques are not categorized as Skills. They don't consume MP or Stamina nor have a cooldown, but they put a great toll on mind consuming a lot of Concentration.
....
"Heh, at least I've got something good from that. But a 'Quasi-Epic'? Looks like my first Combat Technique is a little too strong. But it is also a double-edge sword, so it is better to use it in a proper time." muttered Shin to himself before opening the online forums to look for some information for his quest. "Hmm... The Seventh Outpost of Holy City is quite far. I need to travel 10 Km northwards from the 'Dark Swamp' and it is going to take at least a couple of hours if I traveled by foot, same goes even of I use my movement skills in succession."
"Tks, too bad I don't have any pets to become my mount. And I can't buy one either since it's too expensive for me, 5000 gold coins for a single pet, and it is the cheapest you can buy."
In ?Destiny's Fate? a pet can also act as a mount for players. It is as long as their pates can carry them, same goes for the flying mounts.
"Looks like there is a reason for the quest to have a 2 day time limit to get at the scene. If that is the case, then I think I should farm some EXP along the way. After all, it is going to be a waste if I don't use EXP Boost properly." Shin put more thought on the topic before turning around.
He walk towards the nearest blacksmith shop to repair his equipments. Then he walked out the City, and keep using 'Moonlight Steps' to shake off the players that are trailing him. And the moment he got in the forest, he immediately jump on the bushes for him to use 'Serpent Camouflage', turning him invisible.
And when Shin is at it, some players post his fight against Gray Fangs' group on the forums, making him to become viral once again.
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