Skilled Combatants

A mecha's elemental attributes only appeared after it reached level ten and evolved once.

The known elemental attributes were Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Thunder, Light, and Darkness. They had certain advantages over one another.

There was no need to dwell on that for now.

"The battle's starting!"

While everyone watched eagerly, the two contestants didn't keep them waiting. Yang Bo piloted Wavechaser's Halberd and charged straight at Wang Xinghe's Dragon Hunter.

Wavechaser's Halberd didn't open with a skill. He already had a huge advantage, and his best option was to press forward head-on.

Dragon Hunter reacted quickly. Wang Xinghe moved one hand behind his back, and the curved blade in it vanished, replaced by two spinning, fiery-red chakram darts.

He swiftly flung them, sending the two blazing darts hurtling toward Wavechaser's Halberd from either side.

The darts were too fast for Wavechaser's Halberd to dodge, but he didn't panic. Blue light flashed across the trident in his hand, and a watery-blue shield enveloped him.

The darts struck the shield, setting off violent ripples, but in the end they couldn't break through Wavechaser's Halberd's defensive skill.

Though the chakrams had failed, Dragon Hunter didn't stop moving. He leapt high into the air, both blades in hand, and stabbed toward Wavechaser's Halberd from the front.

Wavechaser's Halberd swept his heavy polearm across, blocking the attack once again.

Then the two began clashing at close range. Their curved blades and long halberd struck one another with a series of metallic clangs. Without the barrier protecting them, no one in the audience could have endured the noise.

The two mechas fighting looked like a pair of master combatants trading blows, their exchange dazzling to watch.

Their movements, attacks, and defenses were all nearly the best possible choices for the situation.

The clashes between curved blades and the long halberd were thrilling. They were extremely careful with every skill, and made perfect use of each skill's mechanics.

Wang Qianduo watched the battle without blinking, unwilling to miss even the tiniest detail.

Though the two were evenly matched in skill, Wavechaser's Halberd had the advantage over Dragon Hunter. With his skills, Wavechaser's Halberd gradually gained the upper hand.

He was like a battle-hardened general, attacking with sweeping, powerful movements and making full use of his reach advantage.

Just as everyone thought Dragon Hunter was about to be crushed under the pressure, he seized an opening after successfully defending and suddenly burst into flames.

Two rings of fire bound Wavechaser's Halberd, making it difficult for him to break free.

Then the projection of an Ancient Fire Dragon appeared behind Dragon Hunter. He put away his twin blades, and in their place appeared a long, flaming sword.

The sword was deep red from hilt to tip. Flames shooting from its guard formed a pair of dragon wings. As Dragon Hunter swung it, the flames swept toward Wavechaser's Halberd like a Demon Dragon soaring through the sky.

Wavechaser's Halberd had just broken free of the restraints and couldn't dodge in time. The flaming dragon struck the right side of his body head-on.

Wavechaser's Halberd's Energy Shield was smashed through by the fire dragon, and his right arm was wrecked.

"What kind of weapon is that? How can it be so powerful?!"

"It's not just the weapon. It's also the way the skills work together!"

"It broke through all three layers of defense! That skill is ridiculous!"

To Wang Qianduo, a beginner, the situation on the field didn't seem particularly remarkable. But to the experienced players who understood the game, it was downright unbelievable.

The skill shield, the shield provided by the mecha's shield equipment, and the mecha's armor—he'd broken through all three layers of defense. That could only happen when the damage dealt was overwhelming.

They knew the two mechas weren't far apart in level, yet that skill had shattered everything they thought they knew.

"So that's why you baited me into this duel—you got an Ultimate Skill!"

Yang Bo, the pilot of Wavechaser's Halberd, studied his damaged mecha and spoke in a low voice.

"Mm-hmm! But I didn't expect you to be so easy to fool!" Wang Xinghe, the pilot of Dragon Hunter, replied with a hint of mockery.

"Heh. I lost this time, but I'll remember what happened today!"

Yang Bo admitted defeat without hesitation. With his defenses broken, he had no chance of continuing the fight, even if his opponent had already run out of mana.

His opponent didn't need to do anything fancy. He could just force a close-range fight and trade blows, and Yang Bo wouldn't have the slightest way to respond.

When Yang Bo conceded, the two mechas vanished, and then the energy field disappeared as well.

He didn't pay any attention to the incredibly powerful skill used in the latter part of the match. He could get something better and stronger himself.

But he couldn't help paying attention to the way the two of them had played.

"So mecha control can reach this level?"

Their fight had opened the door to a whole new world for him. He now knew that watching experts face off could be so satisfying—not the simple exchange of one hit for another that he'd imagined.

The two men before him were truly among the best in the game, and quite a bit stronger than Sword of Miracles and the others.

In truth, Sword of Miracles and the others weren't far behind them. But when they fought in front of Wang Qianduo, they were battling monsters, so they used far fewer techniques than they would in PvP.

The next afternoon

Wang Qianduo and the others from Sword of Miracles arrived at the place they'd arranged to meet Lin Qimeng.

"You're early. It's not time yet, is it?"

From a distance, Wang Qianduo and his group saw Lin Qimeng and two others already waiting there. It looked like they'd been there for a while.

"We had nothing else to do, so we came early. Did you all go do a quest together?" Lin Qimeng asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"No, we went into an Instance Dungeon!"

That morning, they'd used up all their daily dungeon runs and spent some of their stamina leveling up.

They'd also run all five dungeons on Nightmare difficulty, and the members of Sword of Miracles had improved quite a bit.

Wang Qianduo hadn't gotten much stronger, but he'd gained plenty of experience, which was good enough for him.

Besides, running dungeons didn't use up stamina, and it was one of the main ways to level up in the game.

He'd already run out of main quests, so he couldn't afford to pass up this high-experience method.

Compared with grinding monsters in the wild, dungeons had both better drop rates and more experience.

After five dungeon runs, Wang Qianduo was already close to level six—a pace most people wouldn't even dare imagine.

"An Instance Dungeon? You all know each other that well? And those four don't even seem to be from the same guild."

Lin Qimeng was still puzzled. How had these people ended up together?

She'd gotten to know the people behind Wang Qianduo through her companions' introductions.

One was the vice-captain of Sword and Rose, the other Great Qin's commander—both experts whom even their Mountains and Seas guild hadn't been able to recruit.

"More or less. Aren't you going to introduce the two behind you?" Wang Qianduo changed the subject.

"These two are Wang Ji and Li Fei, experts from the main guild of Mountains and Seas. Like you, they're new to the game and already over level five... Li Fei, what's wrong?"

Lin Qimeng fell for Wang Qianduo's change of subject and began introducing the two behind her. Then she noticed that something seemed off about Li Fei.

"Uh... Well, Li Fei used to be one of Great Qin Club's main players..." Wang Ji explained the reason to Lin Qimeng in a private message.

Lin Qimeng: "..."

She hadn't known about that. Li Fei had only been one of the players in the club she'd invited over. She'd told the company's gaming department she needed two experts over level five for a hidden quest, and they'd sent him over directly.

And yesterday, she'd only seen Song in the Clouds from Sword and Rose. Who could've guessed Great Qin had someone here too?

"Li Fei! How's it going? How's the new company treating you?"

Just as Lin Qimeng was about to say something, Sister Cat spoke first.

"Uh... Hi, Sister Cat! I'm doing all right! Just fine!"

Seeing Sister Cat address him, Li Fei managed to greet her.

Esports club players were traded around just like football and basketball players. It wasn't unusual for teammates one season to become opponents the next.

But Mountains and Seas had entered the scene differently this time. They'd been far too brazen in poaching players, making those who'd left feel like they'd betrayed their old teammates for money whenever they met them again.

That was one reason why Mountains and Seas was having such a hard time recruiting players now.

"Glad to hear it! Keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing you in the professional league someday," Sister Cat said with a smile.

Then, in an unspoken agreement, everyone stopped talking about the matter and began discussing Wang Qianduo's quest.