120 Battle for Top 1 Part 1 : Overconfident?

... Shin is picking a fight not because he is an idi*t, but because he is aware of his talents. The more he fight stronger people, the stronger he become. And he also discovered that he still need to practice more. Especially when he battled with the High Ranker that he fought earlier. From the videos that he have watched online, his estimate is that guy should only be a newly promoted High Ranker from being an Official Ranker. It is because that guy's battle standards is only slightly higher than him. If it is a veteran High Ranker, then Shin might spend some more effort to battle that guy. And he might even be the one that become defeated if that was the case. And now he already find a chance to improve himself, so how can he let it slip by. And he can he can improve himself by a large margin if he had a battle with them, since these guys on his front have an almost the same battle standards as him. So without further ado, Shin and the Phantom Clone immediately rush forward, indicating that he is serious about taking the three of them by himself. And naturally, Shin is not stup*d enough to invite them in a separate one-on-one battle with his clones. That is because it is going to be a great toll on his mind if he battle with them separately. But still, fighting the three of them in a team battle is going to become a tough fight. ... Shin and the Phantom Clone accelerated forward before swinging their balzing swords on their front. Then a pair of blazing sword waves was sent flying forward. Swoosh! Swoosh! 'Extra Skill: Flame Burst' 'Extra Skill: Flame Burst' Then Shin use the sword waves to block the sights of his opponents as he skillfully entered stealth while the Eclipse Clone quickly takes his place. Exheart and Bryan dodge to left and right respectively, avoiding the blazing sword waves. After that, they simultaneously charge at each of Shin clones. Exheart thrust his spear forward while enfolding it with a bloody aura. 'Blood Spearman Skill: Soul Charge' The Phantom Clone swing the sword on its right hand in an outward circular motion as it use the surface of the sword to redirect the trajectory of the spear. Clang! After that, the Phantom Clone swing its right arm downwards as it use its sword to throw a powerful downward slash at Exheart. 'Extra Skill: Destructive Slash' Exheart immediately pulled his spear backwards before using its body to block the incoming downward slash. 'Extra Skill: Spear Guard' Cling! After that, Exheart immediately do a quick spin before throwing a back kick at the Phantom Clone. The Phantom Clone on the other hand immediately raise its right leg before throwing a forward kick at Exheart. Pak! Clang! Cling! Clang! Clang! Cling! Cling! Cling! Clang! At the same time, Bryan sprinted forward while channeling a berserk flame aura on his saber. And when he arrived in front of the Eclipse Clone, he swiftly swing his weapon downwards. 'Berserker Skill: Flaming Chop' The Eclipse Clone on the other hand enfold the sword on its right hand with a blazing aura before throwing a horizontal cut at the incoming saber. 'Slayer Skill: Solar Cut' Blang! After that, the Eclipse Clone immediately swing its other sword at Bryan, but the later is able to skillfully block the strike using the surface of his saber. Then the Eclipse Clone swing both of its swords at Bryan as the later block the sword slashes with his saber. After a slight exchange of some melee strikes, both Exheart and Bryan simultaneously hop backwards as if they already practice it for a lot of times already. Naturally, HellBan is not idle during the battle. He is currently busy chanting out a powerful spell when the four are busy dealing with each other. And when his chant ended, both Exheart and Bryan are already moving backwards. 'Do you think that you can deal with us with just the help of your clone alone?' Is what they wants to say, but the spell that they are waiting didn't come. They simultaneously turn their heads to their backs and see that HellBan was forced to cancel his spell because another 'Shin' appear in front of him. "Huh!?" "Eh!?" Shin chase after HellBan to prevent him from chanting out some more powerful spells. And the 'Shins' in their front take advantage of that slight distraction to enter stealth modes. 'Phantom Swordsman Skill: Phantom Assassination' 'Phantom Swordsman Skill: Phantom Assassination' And when the other two realized that, both of them immediately made their move. Bryan use the special trait of WolfKins that improves their senses. --------------------- WolfKin Racial Trait: •Wolves are known for their agility, hunting abilities and their very sharp senses. 1. Wolf's Senses: When this trait was activated, the Awareness Stat of the user will increase by fourfold for 5 seconds. ---------------------- After activating that trait, Bryan suddenly felt a presence on his left side. Then he immediately swing his saber towards his left, targeting that presence. Clang! Then the Eclipse Clone suddenly materialize at Bryan's left side. After that the two of them immediately enter another melee exchange. On the other side, Exheart took a more direct way to find his hidden opponent. He hold his spear in front of his chest in a horizontal manner, before twisting his waist in counterclockwise direction. After that, he tightens his grip at is spear before throwing a powerful full circle swing around him in a clockwise direction. 'Blood Spearman Skill: Circular Swipe' The Phantom Clone was revealed, but it materialize in the air while doing a spin-roll in there as it dodge the 'Circular Swipe'. Then the Phantom Clone use the momentum of the spin-roll to swing its sword downwards while forcing itself to descend on the ground. 'Extra Skill: Falling Lightblade' Exheart is gotten a little of guard when he saw the maneuver of the Phantom Clone in the air. 'Is this guy controlling his clones manually while fighting the three of us?' After that quick thought, Exheart immediately swing his spear upwards to counter the Phantom Clone. 'Extra Skill: Rising Talon' Blang! Ta-Ta! When the Phantom Clone landed on the ground, Exheart immediately pulled his spear slightly backwards before swinging it downwards in a very powerful manner. 'Blood Spearman Skill: Smashing Spear' The Phantom Clone had no time dodge the skill because the attack is too sudden. And it also can't block the incoming spear since it is already above its head when the clone landed on the ground in its awkward position. But before the spear successfully landed on the Phantom Clone's head, another figure suddenly appeared behind Exheart. It is the Eclipse Clone, and it is swinging its sword in a powerful manner as it target Exheart's head. 'Phantom Swordsman Skill: Phantom Steps' 'Extra Skill: Destructive Slash' Exheart hesitated for a moment because of the sudden appearance of the Eclipse Clone behind him, but he still brace himself as he continue swinging his spear downwards. There is a slight pause on Exheart movements because of his slight hesitation. And even if that pause is not enough for the Phantom Clone to execute a skill, it is still more than enough for it to swing the sword on its right hand in an outward circular motion and redirecting the spear trajectory. 'Epic Combat Technique: Infinity Edge' Clang! Bang! Pssk! -81 019(Critical)(Stunned) The spear landed on the Phantom Clone's right side on the same time that the sword of the Eclipse Clone hit its target. And during this exchange, Exheart manage to confirm something. And that is their opponent is manually controlling his clone. He come up with that conclusion because it is impossible for the AI of an ordinary Clone to execute that kind of perfectly synchronized movements. .... Meanwhile, Bryan just arrived when the 'Destructive Slash' landed on Exheart. And he immediately swing his saber at the back of Eclipse Clone who just executed an attack. But before his slash landed on the Eclipse Clone, the later immediately enter the void that suddenly appeared on its front. Then the Eclipse Clone appeared behind Bryan. 'Elemental Skill (Void): Void Steps' After that, the Eclipse Clone immediately swing both of its swords at Bryan's back. 'Self-Created Skill: Triple Slash' Bryan wants to turn his body and swing his saber at the incoming slash, but he don't have a time to do that. It is because a thrusting sword is quickly coming on his way. 'Extra Skill: Heart Seeker' Bryan was caught in a dilemma because both of the attacks on his back and front are perfectly timed. And forced with not much choice, he choose to block the thrusting sword while bracing himself to take the damage from the sword slashes that are targeting his back. Cling! -20 444 -45 667 -60 888 After that, Bryan immediately use a 'Charge' Skill to break the encirclement of the two. The Eclipse and Phantom Clones didn't immediately chase after Bryan after that. Instead, they simultaneously move backwards distancing themselves from Exheart. Exheart was forced to use his racial trait when he received the 5-seconds stun. -------------------- Blood Elf Racial Trait: •Compared to other Elves that have high affinity with Mana and Magics, Blood Elves are famous for their superior body strength. They can control their blood flow to achieve some amazing results. 1. Reverse Blood Flow: When activated, the blood flow in the user's body will run in reverse, removing all the negative buffs on its body. At the same time, the user will release a mini-shockwave in 3-meter radius away from him/her, stunning all of his enemies inside for 1 second. ------------------------ Boom!!! After that shockwave explosion, Exheart immediately regroup with Bryan and said to the later. "Hey, let's stop doing things separately this time. Those two are quite hard to deal with." "Are you saying that 'this new guy' is quite remarkable? Fighting the three of us while manually controlling his clones? Tsk! I admit that he is really quite skilled." said by Bryan while taking a look at Shin who is currently busy at chasing after HellBan. "Heh, so are you taking back the words that you said earlier? The thing that he just got lucky for standing on the same stage as us." sneered Exheart while doing some basic stretching. "I don't know who is this guy or where he came from. But one thing is for sure, this guy's battle standard is as strong as us who are remarkable Titled Rankers from our previous games. No,.... He might be even better than us on that aspect, since I can feel that he is still in a process of evolution." said Bryan seriously as he turn his head at the Clones standing few meters away from them. "Heh, it is quite rare for you to praise someone so I should take this guy more seriously now. And I know from the very start that I should be more wary of him." said Exheart as he takes his battle stance. Then he said to Bryan. "Alright, you go first, and I'll support you from the back." Bryan shrugged his shoulders before sprinting towards the Eclipse and Phantom Clones. At the same time, Exheart is following closely behind his back. Shin's Clones also rush towards the two when they say that. And another melee battle broke out. ..... Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, HellBan is having a hard time shaking off Shin. 'What the hell!? What kind of swordsman is this guy? He have a lot of movement skills to chase after his target. If not for me having my own movement skill, I might become a target dummy for this guy.' After casting another blink, HellBan immediately raise his bony-staff it the air as it release a dark aura. Moment later, HellBan smash the bottom of his bony-staff on the ground, making it to trembled violently. After that, a bunch of sharp bone spikes appeared on the ground while charging towards Shin. 'Necromancer Skill: Bone Spikes' Pssk! Crack! Crack! Crack! Shin use an unfathomable footwork as he skillfully dodge the bone spikes coming from the ground. Sometimes he is moving left and right, sometimes he is taking a slight step backwards while sometimes he is moving forward. He is also doing some slight turn sideways, and sometimes he is doing a full turn around. His movements looks slow but each of his steps are actually quite quick as he continuously use those steps to move towards his target. The unpredictable bone spikes coming from the ground can't even hinder him properly to prevent him from advancing towards HellBan.This footwork is the last Combat Technique that he had created inside 'Tiger's Altar Instance Dungeon', the 'Mystic Movement'. ---------------------- Combat TechniqueName: Mystic Movement Type: Movement/Auxiliary Rank: Epic Details: Move your feet in a mysterious way while using the four major directions and four secondary directions as your guide. You can use the momentum of you previous step to hasten you next step. And when you accumulate enough momentum, you can release all of force to shot forward together with a great speed. You can also feel the vibration on the ground to predict what is coming underneath, and your enemies' movements. Note: Combat Techniques are not categorized as Skills. They don't consume any MP or Stamina nor have a cooldown. But they put a great toll on mind and consumes a lot of Concentration. -------------------------- And while Shin is being block by his bone spikes, HellBan take advantage of that situation to raise his bony-staff once again before chanting out some necromantic words. And when he is done with his quick chant, HellBan swing his bony-staff rightwards, sending a ripple in the air. After that, some skeleton warriors started standing from the ground. 'Necromancer Skill: Call of Undead' Then those skeleton warriors immediately rush towards Shin after being summoned. But before they manage to reach their target, a lot of force were suddenly accumulated on Shin's right leg. Then he guided the force towards his right foot as he use it to stomped on the ground. Thump! Crack! Crack! The ground beneath his right foot greatly sank in because of that stomp. Then he use the force on his right leg to kick the ground, sending himself to shot forward. Swoosh! 'Epic Combat Technique: Mystic Movement: Discharge' Shin's body suddenly disappeared from where he stood. Then he passed through gap from the moving skeleton warriors with a great speed. And in just blink of an eye, Shin is already in front of HellBan, and the sword on his left hand is already approaching the later's head. But the Master Necromancer in front of Shin is not your average Potential Ranker either. He is a remarkable Titled Ranker from his previous game, so he already experience a lot of difficult situations like this. He calmly look at the incoming sword that is falling towards his head. Then he sacrifice 1% of his total HP as he click the thumb and middle finger of his left hand. Then his position was suddenly swapped with one of his skeleton warriors! 'Necromancer Skill: Sacrificial Swap' After that, he immediately raise his bony-staff in the air while shouting. "Entrap!" Then some bone spikes shot up from the ground and started forming a cage around Shin. 'Necromancer Skill: Death Trap' HellBan's skill combo is quite flawless when he started attacking. And that did not give his opponent enough time to react. Good thing that Shin's battle senses are quite sharp. The moment he saw the bone spikes started forming a cage, he immediately gathers some power of Eclipse around his body before forming a barrier with it. 'Slayer Skill: Eclipse Pulse' And once the bone cage was formed, all of Shin's other skill become grayed out, indicating that he was silenced. When HellBan saw Shin entrapped inside the cage, he immediately swing his bony-staff upwards before saying it down once again. At the same time, a large skeleton hand appear on the ground beside the bone cage. Then that large skeleton hand powerfully smash itself at the bone cage beside it. 'Necromancer Skill: Undead Judgment' BANG!!! HellBan smiled satisfyingly when he saw that and said. "Do you think that I'm just blindly running away from you earlier? Heh! I'm just setting you up..." He wants to say something more, but he immediately swallow it back when he saw Shin calmly walking out of the pile of skeleton fragments without getting hurt. Shin look at HellBan and said smilingly. "But I'm not that careless either. So how about let's start another round to see what is better, your cunningness or my battle senses?" HellBan's face suddenly become solemn as he look at Shin and said. "Overconfident Idi*t." Then he ordered his skeleton warriors to rush towards Shin. 'Tsk! Too bad I can't use my other AOE Sword Skills. And I should be more careful next time to prevent myself from getting caught on his another trap.' thought Shin to himself before charging forward. ...