Chapter 3.1

We were teleported to a forest map. the terrain is chosen at random but the map size and positions of the orb is always the same. This kind of terrain gives advantage to ambushes because of the thick bushes and high trees. How nostalgic I thought to myself. This is the terrain we had in the last match of the finals of Andarta Cup. I was bought out of my thoughts when Elizabeth suddenly issued the play.

"Romel and Beny go to the top orb, if you see Chu, play defensively and stall for time and don't let them take the orb. We will back you up after we get the middle orb. If the area is free, get the orb immediately and head over to the mid orb and back us up." Elizabeth's demeanor instantly changed as she ordered her battle plan.

"S-should I cast haste on everyone?" Beny asked

"No need, conserve your mp. This might turn into a battle of attrition."

Thats is the right call I suppose. Casting haste takes a lot of mp even for an mp built mage. And getting to the orbs earlier that your enemies won't be beneficial that much either since you can't capture the orbs after a certain point of time elapsed due to an electric field in the arena terrain. This prevents players from cheesing by using movement skills to capture the orb before the enemy gets there.

"And be very mindful of Chu, don't fight him solo."

"O-okay!"

"I'll dumpster that guy if I see him."

They both took off. I can see why Elizabeth grouped those two. Benny is a time mage, good support for buffing Romel, who uses a giant claymore. Speed buffs of Benny counteracts the slowness of Heavy weapon users. Claymore's heavy damage also more than make up for a time mage's lack of proper DPS. Her battle plan is also well crafted given the time she had preparing it. She instantly spots the greatest threat of the enemy team (Chu), and crafted a gameplan that will best neutralize that threat. She isn't too greedy either. She didn't split us up and only focused on acquiring 2 orbs. Also, judging by her demeanor, even if we were the one to encounter Chu in mid lane, she seems confident we can take him on. And if Chu is on Bot Lane, then this match will go smoothly for us. Her experience in team matches shows.

"Are you fine with supporting me Katherine?" she asked me.

"I'm fine with it." I replied.

She nodded then we set off into the forest for the mid Orb.

-------------------------------

We arrived at the Mid orb just as the field dissipated. It was an orb the size of a bowling ball guarded by a pyramid shaped barrier in the middle of a very large arena like platform. Surrounding the arena is the forest where we came from.

As we stepped into the arena, we were greeted by 2 players who had also just arrived. It was the 2 players flirting heedless of their surroundings back at the lobby, Dan<3Kay and Kay<3Dan. The boy, Dan<3Kay seems to be a knight focused on heavy shield, a textbook defensive support, while the girl, Kay<3Dan is a DPS mage, an ice-oriented mage if I would guess based on her staff.

"Honey, it looks like we have a tough opponent ahead of us." the mage, worriedly said while looking at Elizabeth.

"Don't worry Sugar, individually they may be stronger but together, they won't win against the power of our love!" The shield knight declared.

That's it, I'm gonna massacre these guys.

As I was getting near them Elizabeth suddenly called out to me.

"Katherine, let me go in front, stay at the back and support me from afar, I got this."

Oh yeah, I forgot that I was a support now. She has a point.

"Fine, but promise me you will give them the beating of their life!" I conceded begrudgingly.

"S-sure I'll do my best!" she replied, taken aback by my sudden enthusiasm.

Elizabeth then rushed to their mage and opt to ignore the knight. A common tactic since DPS characters tends to forgo survivability in exchange for more damage. She's fast. She wears a set akin to royal musketeer without the hat so her set didn't weight her too much. Her weapon of choice is a rapier. A good weapon for dishing out damage with fast thrusts. It also doesn't require you to overextend your attacks since it has a long reach and you can just thrust and back away if it gets too dangerous. A good weapon both defensively and offensively.

"I won't let you harm her! I'll protect Kay even if it costs my life!" the knight in shining armor proclaimed.

Just as Elizabeth was getting close to the mage, the knight situated in front of her in an attempt to block her. The ice mage had been channeling as soon as Elizabeth rushed them, and I'm too far away to help her since she rushed in.

"Shield bash!"

A blue aura manifested through his shield.

the knight tried to bash her with his heavy shield's weapon skill but she immediately stopped and took a huge step back to dodge it. The knight was aiming for that since it cut off her momentum giving time for his DPS to finish channeling. This is bad.

"Crystal Nova!"

A giant block of Ice suddenly materialized on top of Elizabeth. The spell casting was perfect. It was aimed precisely where Elizabeth would be after dodging the knight's attack. I have to give praise where praise is due, they both synergize well with each other. This makes it impossible for Elizabeth to dodge it under normal circumstances. I say normal circumstance because Elizabeth suddenly vanished.

*krasshh*

The block of ice crashed into the ground leaving a cold air breeze.

"Did.... did I get her?" the mage nervously asked her knight.

Famous last words I would say. A very nice jinx indeed.

"I.... think she vanish-!? Behind you!"

Too late, a strong thrust to the head, the most vital part that gives max multiplier in damage. Mages and other casters usually forgo adding HP in favor of int to increase their damage and MP. Coupled with the mage's incredibly low defense and Elizabeth's red weapon, she died instantly.

"H-honey....!" Her body suddenly transformed into motes of blue light then dispersed.

Kay<3Dan

Hp: 0%

"Wha-.... H-how did you dodge that!" Elizabeth remained silent.

What did he expect? her suddenly revealing all her cards just because he asked? I got an idea of what happened though but I'll save it for later. Right now, we have a match to win.

"Tskk!" the knight, out of options rushed towards me in an attempt to even the scales.

I'm unguarded so that is a good move actually but I'm not as helpless as he thinks.

"Thorn burst." little thorns suddenly contracted his feet to impede his movements, it slows him down a bit but he eventually broke free with brute strength due to his presumably high strength stat. So, this is the best this purple weapon skill... how depressing.

I have only defensive and healing skills though and my only cc is my weapon. At least it bought a bit of time because before he can get near me, Elizabeth thrusts him from behind.

"Grahhh!" he shouted.

Dan<3Kay

Hp: 76%

He is pretty tanky but he has no damage and no way to kill us. It's only a matter of time before we deplete his hp.

-------------------------------------

-Romel's PoV-

"Shit, shit fuck! this should not be happening!" I yelled

I was so frustrated, there is only one enemy and we can't even kill him! He only shoots arrows from afar and hides in the forest. What a cowardly tactic.

"C-calm down!" My teammate Benny said.

"Calm down? aren't you frustrated by his cheap shots?" I said to him

"There is nothing we can do about it, let's just play defensively like Liz said. If we go after him and leave the top orb, we might get caught in an ambush in the forest or someone might steal the orb while were gone!" Benny reasoned.

"Then just block his arrows while I capture the orb!" I suggested.

For us to capture the orb, the barrier must first be dispelled. while destroying the barrier, you can't take damage while channeling and placing your hand on the barrier for 1 minute. And my useless excuse of a teammate can't even protect me while I'm dispelling the barrier!

"I can't even predict where his arrows would come from! he moves instantly to a different angle every time he fires an arrow from the forest!" Benny argued

"Then think of something!" I exclaimed.

"Let's ask Liz for back up?" he suggested.

"What do you mean ask for backup!? Its 2v1 and you're a man. Have some fucking pride and don't just cry for help from girls!"

Just then, I felt a very miniscule pain in my back. I got hit by an arrow again shit! good thing the VR nerve pain receptors only goes so far or that would've hurt pretty bad in real life.

KingRomel

Hp: 72%

"This can't go on. We got to do something. He will just keep shooting at us and we don't have any healer. He'll chip our hp to zero if this keeps up!" I reasoned.

"What do you suggest?"

"Speed buff me so I can go after him while you protect the orb, he's probably shit in melee combat so he plays like a pussy!" I ordered.

"...But Liz said!"

"Hurry!" I shouted.

"A-alright already! Just get back if you think you cannot handle him. " Beny conceded.

"You're joking right? I won't lose to him." I declared.

Beny finished his spell and cast it on me. I instantly rushed to the last place Chu's arrow came from into the forest.

I searched for him for a while but I can't find any trace of where he had gone to.

Suddenly the team voice chat pinged.

("Help! Chu is here need backup!") it was Benny.

I immediately turned tail and ran back to the orb. What I saw when I came back was Benny dissolving into motes of blue light. Next to him is Chu holding a pair of butterfly swords in his hands and his bow at his back.

Honestly what a useless teammate, he can't even last for more than a minute by himself!

"Pretty dumb move leaving your support by himself." Chu tauntingly said.

"Seems like a good one to me. Now that you showed yourself, I won't let you escape." I say as I brandished my giant claymore.

"Don't need to, I can take you on easily."

He then dashed towards me.