[Congratulations for defeating the eleventh floor. Please choose one item as a reward from the followings:]
[Item 1: Aurora Gardenia]
[Item 2: Beast Core (Rat King)]
[Item 3: Rainbow Feather]
At the same time as the voice named the items, holograms appeared in front of Li Wei. He blankly stared at the flower, the core and the feather.
'All this hard work just for one material... They should all be of equal value but which one to choose...'
Li Wei did not know which one to choose. He did not know anything about materials or their value. After pondering for a moment, Li Wei ended up taking the Rainbow Feather. There was no particular reason for that choice, Li Wei just randomly chose that one.
Immediately after, the other 2 holograms disappeared, while a feather icon appeared in his inventory and the usual mist covered the arena once again.
A few seconds later, the mist slowly disappeared, revealing a well-built Paladin. The latter was wearing a shiny armor, holding a shield in one hand and a hammer in the other. He was walking like a soldier, making a loud stomp with each step.
The two naturally got into fighting stances and the usual announcement was heard.
[Would you like to begin the twelfth fight?]
"Begin!"
[Floor 12: level 12 Paladin. Begin the fight in 5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Begin!]
Li Wei immediately charged at the Paladin. He was a bit annoyed at the last round's reward and so, wanted to vent his frustration on the Paladin. He immediately activated [Strengthen] and raised his swords to perform [Blade Draw].
The Paladin raised his shield and stepped forward. As a result, the shield easily blocked the [Blade Draw], causing the Paladin to only take 5 Damage from the hit.
After taking the blow, the Paladin did not lower his shield, instead, he used his level 10 skill, [Charge] which allowed him to dash in a direction. The Paladin charged at Li Wei, with the large shield still in front of his body.
Seeing that, Li Wei quickly stepped out of the way. However, the Paladin stopped his charge right past Li Wei and turned to strike Li Wei with his hammer.
The latter immediately raised his swords in a cross shape to block, but even though the Paladin stopped his charge, the momentum was still there which forced Li Wei to take a few steps back, "-12".
'This is not going to be easy…'
As Li Wei was pushed back, the Paladin did not let him rest and immediately used another skill, [Taunt].
Li Wei immediately felt weird, he did not know what was happening but he became more frustrated and absolutely wanted to stab his swords at the Paladin. He instinctively attacked the Paladin, but as he stepped forward to attack, he was greeted by a hammer strike from the side. "-16"
'Crap, this game can even affect your emotions... I cannot let this last for long, I keep getting bad trades.'
After taking the blow, Li Wei's mind cleared a little, he immediately focused and quickly swung his swords towards the Paladin. The latter was strong and could hold his ground, "-2","-1". Small numbers kept popping on the Paladin, but they were not very significant since Paladins have high HP.
While Li Wei was still attacking the Paladin, he covertly activated his ring's skill, [Earth Wall]
The earth started to shake under the Paladin's feet. He tried to quickly step away from that position, but Li Wei used [Cleave] and forced the Paladin to block.
The ground finally raised a bit, causing the Paladin to trip. [Reinforce], while falling on his back, the paladin immediately used his defensive skill, knowing that he fell for his opponent's tactic.
And as he expected, Li Wei unleashed a barrage of attacks. The Paladin struggled but in this disadvantageous position, there was not much he could do. He eventually blocked Li Wei's swords and pushed him back, but he had already lost half of his Health in exchange.
As soon as he got back on his feet, the Paladin immediately went on the offensive, [Charge]. He once again used this skill; Li Wei was close and there was no way to avoid it.
But Li Wei did not avoid it. Instead, he used his other ring's skill, [Chaos Sphere]. The shield and the Sphere came into contact and the latter exploded. "-19" appeared on the Paladin's head. His charge was interrupted, and he was momentarily blinded by the explosion.
But that small window was all Li Wei needed. He quickly took advantage of that and moved diagonally to the Paladin's right.
[Howl] was swiftly used, slightly pushing the shield away, and swords quickly pierced through the opening. "-15","-14"
Li Wei did not stand still, he quickly drew back the swords and move around the Paladin to look for another opening.
The latter was prepared. [Taunt] was once again used, and Li Wei naturally attacked the Paladin
…
The battle continued. Li Wei was left with half HP while the Paladin only had a quarter left. But it was once again Li Wei's turn to be on the offensive.
Swords continuously struck the shield, not finding any opening. [Cleave], [Blade Draw] Li Wei launched these 2 skills one after the other, the [Cleave] was strong enough to push the shield a few centimeters away allowing the close ranged [Blade Draw] to hit the Paladin.
'I win' thought Li Wei, he was about to use [Howl] to continue his combo but he quickly noticed something,
'Crap... My mana...', after the consecutive use of skills, Li Wei's mana was almost entirely depleted. [Howl] cost 20 mana, but he only had 16 left and he could not use any potions here.
But fortunately, the Paladin's mana bar was also empty.
Not able to use his skill, Li Wei could only swing his swords continuously. The Paladin only had a sliver of HP left but he could do nothing but defend. Slowly but surely, in an unexciting way, the announcement was heard:
[Congratulations for defeating the twelfth floor. Please choose one item as a reward from the followings:]
[Item 1: Long Sword(Grade 1)]
[Item 2: Leather Boots(Grade 1)]
[Item 3: Light Hood(Grade 1)]
'Fioufff, that was closer than it should have been... I need to use my mana more efficiently from now...' said Li Wei in his heart. He then focused his attention on the holograms.
The 3 pieces of equipment were displayed in front of Li Wei, but he could not see any of the stats. All he saw was that they were all grade 1. Any of the 3 equipment would be useful to Li Wei as right now, he was mostly using grade 0 equipment. Li Wei picked the Long Sword after some thoughts. With his current style, offensive power was more important than defense.
The two other pieces of equipment disappeared, and the sword floated towards Li Wei.
[Long Sword(Grade 1)]
Damage: 9-12
Effect: Ignores 5% armor
'Not bad, it ignores armor effect is very useful,' thought Li Wei as soon as he saw the stats, he quickly put one of his actual swords into his inventory and grabbed this one. It was longer and heavier than the previous one, so Li Wei swung it around to get used to it while the mist rose out of nowhere.
...
The 13th ring appeared and this time, Li Wei's opponent was a ranger. In a slim leather suit, with a longbow in one hand, the ranger was calmly standing at the edge of the ring. He actually looked rather weak to Li Wei, but looks can be deceiving.
Li Wei stopped swinging his swords and took a stance from which he could easily break into a sprint. The most important aspect against rangers, was distance. As long as he was able to close the gaps, it was his win.
The arena remained silent for a few seconds, then came the announcement:
[Would you like to begin the thirteenth fight?]
"Yes!"
[Floor 13: level 13 Ranger, begin the fight in 5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Begin!]
The signal was given, and Li Wei sprinted towards the Ranger. The latter raised his bow, and quickly, arrows started to rain on Li Wei, about one every two seconds. The arena wasn't big, but Li Wei still took two shots and dodged another two before being able to reach the Ranger.
'D*mn… This battle will just be a matter of luck. As long as I can dod ge a few arrows, it will be fine but with my sh*tty luck. I can only hope for the best.'
He raised his newly acquired sword, [Cleave]. The sword was rapidly approaching the Ranger, but the latter was fast. He jumped to the side, avoiding the strike. He then quickly placed his bow onto his shoulder and drew a pair of daggers from behind.
Li Wei turned and swung his other sword towards the ranger. The latter raised his daggers in a cross shape and parried the attack. He then pushed back the sword and took a step back. At the same time, he threw the 2 daggers at Li Wei.
"Woosh Woosh", caught unaware, the 2 daggers embedded themselves into the shoulders of Li Wei, "-10","-9". But that was not all. Just after throwing the daggers, the Ranger grabbed back his bow and aimed at Li Wei.
[Earth Wall]. At such a close range, dodging was impossible. Li Wei was forced to directly use his defensive skill. "Takkk", the arrow hit the wall and cracks appeared everywhere on it. The ranger just used [Power Shot] that was almost strong enough to destroy the Earth Wall with one hit.
With a few seconds to catch his breath, Li Wei pulled out the 2 daggers from his shoulders and tossed them on the ground.
He then left the safety of the Earth wall and charged at the Ranger. The Ranger once again aimed at Li Wei, this time using [Precise Shot]. The arrow was released and flew directly towards Li Wei. It did not hit any vital part but managed to pierce Li Wei's hand, forcing him to let go of his right sword.
Li Wei frowned but he did not stop, the Ranger was finally into melee range. Even with one sword, he could deal enough damage.
[Strengthen]
"-19","-20". Two numbers popped above the Ranger's head. After taking the blow, the latter drew out 2 other blades from the back of his belt, but this time, Li Wei did not let him attack, [Blade Draw]. The air blade interrupted the Ranger's movement. "-14"
With only one sword, Li Wei continued to press onto the Ranger, swinging his sword, then immediately spinning and using that momentum to make a diagonal sword strike.
The ranger was left with only half of his HP but was still being harassed by Li Wei. However, the Ranger's boots started to glow for a fraction of a second, and from Li Wei's point of view, the Ranger just suddenly disappeared and reappeared a few steps back.
'Another equipment with a skill... Do all those above a certain floor have such equipment?' thought Li Wei. Just as he was thinking, he felt a sense of danger.
[Scatter shots]. 3 arrows flew towards Li Wei, each one aiming at a different part of his body.
Li Wei quickly reacted and instinctively moved his hands and shifted his body. With these movements, he swiftly avoided 2 arrows but was still hit by the third, "-14"
Li Wei raised his head to look for the Ranger. The latter was running away, creating distance between them once again. Seeing that, Li Wei grinned. With his free hand, he drew his throwing needles. 'You are not the only one who can throw weapons.'
Li Wei ran after the Ranger, focusing all his attention on the Ranger's movements. While charging forward, Li Wei threw two needles just in front of the Ranger. He did not aim at dealing damage, rather, Li Wei wanted to prevent the Ranger from running.
And sure enough, the latter reacted and turned around, drawing his bow. [Power Shot] was once again initiated, but that skill required a casting time and Li Wei would not let him have it. [Howl] was immediately used, interrupting the Ranger and shortly after, two needles flew across the arena and hit the Ranger, "-8","-9".
After that many exchanges, both sides had pretty low HP. The ranger had a little less than half while Li Wei only had 22 HP remaining.
Li Wei once again managed to close the gaps, [Cleave]. The ranger took the blow but at the same time drew yet another dagger with his free hand. He only needed to hit Li Wei a few times and it would be over.
And while Li Wei was swinging his sword, the ranger opted for a suicidal strategy. He took the blow but at the same time, stabbed Li Wei at his waist. "-14" appeared above Li Wei head.
"D*mn."
He could not help but frown. With only 8 HP left, he was in a dangerous situation. The ranger capitalized on that and jumped onto Li Wei, raising his dagger.
In such critical situation, Li Wei's instincts kicked in. He tilted his body and bent his knees, in a similar stance to a matrix move. At the same time, he stabbed his sword into the ground, making it act like a support. Pulling onto the sword, Li Wei propelled himself a few meters back, avoiding the dagger. The few centimeters he got by doing that matrix move was just enough to avoid the dagger.
He landed on his back but quickly jumped back on his feet, grabbing throwing needles in both hands.
The ranger once again charged at Li Wei, but this time, it was Li Wei's time to kite. "-7","-8". The needles slowly dealt damage to the ranger and then:
'Finally! Less than 25 HP'
Seeing the amount of HP the ranger had left, Li Wei stopped retreating. He let the Ranger get closer to him, close enough so that he won't miss.
The Ranger pounced onto Li Wei, holding the dagger with both hands. Unfortunately for him, Li Wei still had 1 skill left, [Chaos Sphere].
The sphere appeared in Li Wei hand. The ranger saw it, and let out a surprised expression, but there was nothing he could do to stop his jump. "Boomm"
The Sphere exploded, it was so close that even Li Wei took some damage, "-5", but the Ranger took the full blow and was immediately protected by a transparent protective layer.
[Congratulations for defeating the thirteenth floor...