Shaman Warrior Aidarik

There was no denying it: the power of idols was limitless... The Beaconfire Team had fans everywhere, and without a word from their idols, the "Wolf Hairs" spontaneously formed an enormous "naval escort," turning the tables and flaming the War Hero Family to shreds...

One person put it like this: "They're professional players. They have their own servers set up by the professional league, so why should they hang around an online game every day? When the gods occasionally log in to interact with you, just be grateful, okay? You really think you're somebody? Have you no shame?"

The fierce flame war lasted three full days and nights, ending in the War Hero Family's utter defeat...

Ever since Kuang Dao started playing online games at fifteen, he had never been slaughtered so badly in any game. In the past, he had always called people in to wipe out others; this time, he had called people in only to be wiped out himself. How could he bear such a psychological blow...?

Fine, he had lost the fight, but surely he could vent with a few insults? Who knew those guys had so many "lackeys"-too many to count! War Hero's paid posters were skilled professionals, but the Wolf Hairs had no shortage of "forum bandits" who spent their free time flooding message boards for fun. There were enough of them to fill an entire outlaw stronghold!

Hopelessly outnumbered, War Hero's posters could only cry, "Mercy, mighty heroes!"

In this great flame war, poor Kuang Dao undoubtedly took the most abuse. This "ultimate sinner" was torn to shreds by the forum bandits-absolutely torn to shreds...

Those bored-out-of-their-minds forum bandits dug up every ultimate insult from every era and country. Drawing on their profound command of Chinese and Western language and literature, they assembled them into lavish essays, every word a gem and every sentence a masterpiece. Such literary brilliance... Even certain literary critics renowned for their sharp, exacting standards could only nod in admiration after reading them. "A personal attack this splendid comes along once in a decade!"

Kuang Dao was "extremely lucky" and did not read them all. After three hours of posting, he was already so furious that he smashed his gaming helmet, then stayed offline for half a month...

Wangying Lanxi, Xiaoxiao Xingxing, Deep Blue Temptation, Fire of the Fallen, Carefree Immortal... Those five names were seared into Kuang Dao's mind forever! They often left him unable to eat or sleep, longing to devour their flesh raw and drink their blood!

It would have been fine if War Hero Yi Yan had not mentioned it. The moment he did, Kuang Dao's eyes reddened again. After glancing a few times at the mage ahead, he suddenly charged forward, brandishing his blade and shouting, "The War Hero Family has reserved this area! All outsiders, leave immediately! Anyone who stays will be killed without exception!"

Of course, the other player could not hear him shouting like that. But what kind of man was their Brother Dao? He posted the same announcement in the area channel at the same time.

[Area][Kuang Dao]: Attention, everyone in the Donar River area. The War Hero Family has reserved this area. All outsiders, leave immediately! Anyone who stays will be killed without exception!

"Kuang Dao, what are you doing?!" War Hero Yi Yan hurried over, grabbed him, and tried to drag him back.

"Don't pull me. Just let me blow off some steam." Kuang Dao planted his feet and braced himself, and War Hero Yi Yan immediately found himself unable to take another step. Kuang Dao was a warrior, after all; his strength stat was far higher than that of a ranger like Yi Yan. Who would dare show off in front of a warrior when it came to tug-of-war?

"Brothers!" Kuang Dao suddenly turned and called out. "There's a clueless little mage up ahead ignoring War Hero's order to clear the area. What should we do?"

"Kill him!"

"Chop him up!"

"Fuck him, then kill him!"

"Chop his dick off! Let's see him act hard then!"

The members of the War Hero Ninth Branch Ninth Division were impressive indeed. Every one of them was overbearing and ruthless, fully displaying the swagger so common among members of major guilds.

War Hero Yi Yan and Kuang Dao had not brought many people this time. After all, not just anyone could come to the Donar River area. Dragonkin were rather difficult to level, and despite all the Ninth Division's efforts, only about a hundred of their members had reached level 13 or higher. That number included members of the "crafting group," too; the "combat group" actually had only a few dozen.

Of those few dozen, only twenty-odd had completed their class quests. They were all elite players of the Ninth Division, their prowess long acknowledged by everyone.

That was fine, too. Elites working with elites-if everyone in a raid was a high-end player, cooperating really did save a great deal of trouble.

Most quests in the Donar River area were only available after completing a class quest, so War Hero Yi Yan simply created a thirty-person raid and brought the guild's twenty-odd elite players here to explore new ground.

These people were all seasoned online gamers. The moment they heard their deputy division leader's tone, they knew a fight was coming-and a gang beating, at that! Why pass up an opportunity like that?

Seeing this, War Hero Yi Yan could not be bothered to intervene... The War Hero Family had always been rather domineering, and its reputation among players had never been good. This was hardly their first time monopolizing an area. He did not have to stop them every single time, even though he personally disliked this behavior.

"Go on, then. Finish up quickly so we can get back to leveling." Watching his raid members rush forward excitedly, the helpless raid leader could only wave a hand and pretend he had seen nothing.

Bang! Boom! Several explosions rang out in succession, and a level 16 elite scorpion about as tall as a person fell bitterly to the ground.

Ye Fengxing sank wearily to the ground, took a bite of Magical Rations, let out a long breath, and glanced behind him.

"Well, little mage? Are you still going to keep at it?" Behind him, a tall, powerfully built tauren man lay sprawled on the ground, his face full of mockery and his voice edged with sarcasm.

"Piece of cake." Ye Fengxing paid no mind to the man's strange words and behavior, nor did he snap back.

"You really are a strange Dragonkin boy..." The burly tauren sighed and fell silent.

"Never seen anyone like me before?" Ye Fengxing looked at him with a smile, then suddenly raised his hand and cast Flame Devours the Body at the level 17 Ghost Vanguard behind the burly man.

Damn it! These skeletons really did live up to the ghost part of their name. They moved like phantoms! Even with Ye Fengxing's keen perception, he could barely hear the air stirring as they approached. Had he been a moment slower, the burly tauren would have been in trouble.

"Do you really want to die here with me?"

"As you can see, the Dragonkin have true 'fighters,' too. What, do you look down on physically frail mages like us? Are tauren like you the only ones worthy of being called 'fighters'?" Ye Fengxing answered while fighting the monsters with all his might.

The burly tauren, with the words "Shaman Warrior Aidarik" hovering above his head, turned and said, "That's not it. I don't look down on Dragonkin or mages. It's just... a young man with combat skills as polished as yours should be a promising Dragonkin mage. There's no need to die alongside someone already doomed, like me."

Young, my ass! I'm several times your age! You stupid cow, you're lucky you ran into me. If it had been another player, you'd be dead already. You wouldn't have a chance to sit here yapping at me!

Suppressing his frustration, Ye Fengxing could only say, "That's my business. I've always loved adventure. You're about to die anyway, so can we skip the discussion about how I should live my life?"

"Suit yourself..." Adaric finally gave up trying to persuade him. He lay back on the ground without even looking at the little Dragonkin mage opposite him, treating him as though he were already dead.

"Good. You should've done that ages ago." While killing the Ghost Vanguard, Ye Fengxing found a moment to glance at Adaric and could not help smiling faintly. This big idiot was actually rather endearing! He'd tilted his head back, but both his bovine ears were standing straight up. So that was what he meant by "suit yourself"...

Some might have wondered: this was the Southern Islands, while tauren lived on the Western Continent. Where had a tauren like this come from?

Well, a few hours earlier...

Having finished resting, Ye Fengxing began killing with gusto! The monsters here occupied extremely strange positions: some were underground, some were up in the trees, and others were coiled around green vines overhead. They were impossible to guard against. He had to advance with extreme caution. These monsters were all above level 15, after all; getting bitten a couple of times through carelessness would be no joke.

The monsters' high levels were one reason this place saw so few visitors. Another was their sheer number...

Damn it! A tiny patch of ground only three to five meters across held a dozen or so monsters. Flying overhead, burrowing underground, crawling across the surface-they had everything! Besides, these creatures knew nothing of "honor among fighters." All they understood was "strength in unity," and they were fucking fearless, as if determined to prove that for every one that fell, thousands more would rise.

At the current average player level, ordinary players who wanted to venture here would have to gather friends and form a raid of at least twenty. Otherwise, they might as well be asking to die.

Of course, a freak like Ye Fengxing could not be judged by ordinary standards. He had been grinding here all afternoon and was still going strong. Though he could not claim that the monsters had never landed a hit, he had yet to encounter any genuinely dangerous situation.

Until that Flame Arrow flew...

After killing monsters for several hours straight, his vision had grown a little blurry and his attention had begun to wander. He was not a robot, after all. Besides, however strong ordinary monsters might be, their intelligence was very limited. He simply could not maintain the same intense focus against them that he did in PvP.

He fired a Flame Arrow at a monster, only for the surprisingly nimble creature to dodge it... And so a streak of fire swept through the air and plunged straight into a thick clump of tall grass.

Crackle! The sound of flame scorching flesh came from within, making him pause in surprise. There's something in there, too? How did I not sense it?

"Damn Dragonkin! Have you come to kick me while I'm down, too?!" A furious roar erupted like thunder. A tall, dark figure immediately shot out of the grass, moving like a flash of lightning at an incredible speed!

Ye Fengxing's eyes narrowed instantly. Even with his reaction speed, he barely caught the afterimage flashing across his vision! In the next instant, the figure had already charged right up to him! A ring of fiercely blazing fire suddenly flared, dazzling his eyes in an instant...