Chapter 128: Healing Capitalism (Part 2)

A thundering ovation filled the stadium just as Henrik crushed the head of his second opponent.

[ Just look at him go! Henrik ‘The Basher’ Bauer has taken the First Blood–and the second! Is there not someone capable of stopping him tonight?! ]

Nicholas sighed after hearing the announcer. “He’s truly unstoppable, huh?” he muttered, and the guilder by his side chuckled.

“You say it as if it was a bad thing, Raven. Come on! Why don’t you cheer up a bit? Victory is upon us! And even if your stay with us is done by the end of the night, you’ll still join us to celebrate, won’t you?”

“You’re right,” Raven half-smiled. “I’m already looking forward to it. Drinking is my favorite activity after all.”

(Raven,) the Guild Master called him through Party Chat. (Are you done there?)

Nicholas placed his palm against his left ear and responded, (Yes, sir. Do you need me somewhere else?)

(Go to Henrik’s position.)

(All right. I’m on my way.)

The priest got up and patted the guilder. “There you go, all patched up. Anything else I can do for you?”

The young rogue shook his head. “No, thank you. You can go.”

“I’ll leave this in your hands then,” Raven said, caressing the 32-feet blue tower beside them. In the shape of a classic chess pawn piece, it hovered one foot from the ground. Nicholas then checked Henrik’s location on his User Interface before running directly to the woods.

On his way, he kept monitoring the squared-shaped map that gradually filled up by the second. Its composition was the standard for official competitions: Two rival bases in opposing corners, three main roads that connected the two territories guarded by multiple towers each, and plenty of unconquered territory to roam around and prepare ambushes.

Come on, come on… Give me a good excuse. A glimpse at the list of teammates revealed a fight happening nearby. A good detour.

(Guild Master! Schneider and Vermont’s HP bar are at the orange threshold.)

(I noticed. But their tower is still at 80%. They can handle it. Just focus on Henrik.)

(Sir, it wouldn’t take more than five minutes to–)

(I know you’re fast, but I NEED YOU to heal our ‘Carry’. Understood?)

(Let him go,)

Henrik’s gruff voice interjected. (I could survive another fight before my HP bar reaches red… You’ll catch up to me in a moment, right, Raven?)

Oh, is that ‘blind trust’ I hear? Endearing!

Raven followed, (It won’t take me long, Guild Master, I promise! We all need to win as a team, don’t we?)

Friedrich sighed. (Do it quickly.)

Perfect.

In a couple of minutes, Nicholas reached the middle outpost and started channeling mana. It would take him less than a couple of minutes to heal the injured.

“Thank you, Raven. And sorry for getting this hurt. We shouldn’t have pushed our luck if you weren’t around.”

“It’s okay,” he responded while pulling something out of his inventory. “Here are two red potions. So–Watch out!” Raven suddenly shrieked and dashed toward their defending tower, slamming his back against it to take cover.

“What is it?! What did you see?” The other two got to his side but after scanning the surroundings for a while they found nothing.

“I-It must have been my imagination. Sorry for scaring you, guys,” Raven said with a shy smile while his two hands kept getting stuck to the tower.

This should be enough…

Nicholas then resumed his previous mission and proceeded to meet with Henrik. On his way, he noticed a group of black clouds at a distance, and a magic circle glowing with energy. Ah, that would be perfect.

(The enemy has summoned an Earth Dragon,) Friedrich told everyone through Party Chat. (It’s heading toward lane 3… Henrik?)

(It’s mine.)

(Raven, come on! Before Henrik engages it!)

(I’m almost there!)

Nicholas met Henrik behind the ruins of a destroyed enemy outpost and started healing him as soon as he crouched beside him. The ground then trembled as the Earth Dragon passed them by. Its rider and three other guilders watched their surroundings thoroughly.

“Would you be able to handle it, Champ?” Raven asked in a faint voice, making Henrik snicker.

“Just watch me.” Henrik tightened his grasp around the hammer’s handle. “I’ll turn that lizard’s head into a pulp.”

I have no doubts about that…

(Everyone, the enemy team will surely attack the other two lanes in conjunction as soon as the Dragon reaches tower three. So be ready!)

(YES, SIR!)

(Aren’t you glad that I healed the ones at lane 2, Guild Master?)

Friedrich chuckled. (Thanks for that, Raven.)

This is what camaraderie is like, isn’t it?

Before committing to his next move, Nicholas took a long breath and calmed himself. He almost licked his lips but abstained himself in case Henrik took notice.

Don’t worry, Nick. His mind is in the battle ahead. He won’t notice a thing.

Nodding to himself, Nicholas placed his left hand on Henrik’s shoulder. “Tonight’s going to be memorable. Don’t you think so?”

“The big leagues, Raven,” Henrik replied, gazing forward. “That’s what’s awaiting us. I can almost feel the cup in my hands!”

(Once Henrik dispatches the dragon, we’ll all charge!) Friedrich proclaimed through Party Chat, and everyone responded with cheers and promises of victory, with the exception of Nicholas who was busy using his Eye of the Sage Active Skill to scan Henrik’s armor.

Perfect…

“All done. Go get them, champ!”

Henrik wasted no time and charged ahead, taking the enemy group by surprise.

“Shit! The Basher is behind us!” Nicholas heard one of the enemy guilders cry. The rival group then seemed to receive a new set of instructions through their private Party Chat, for the dragon’s rider urged the beast to sprint forward, leaving the others behind.

(The dragon is ignoring Henrik and will try to at least take our tower down with it! Don’t let it happen!)

The ones guarding that outpost prepared themselves while the pawn-shaped tower automatically fired enormous orbs of pure energy every three seconds. The bulky Dragon withstood the attacks and the ones from its defenders.

Meanwhile, Henrik crushed the skull of the one that did its best to buy the dragon some time. Henrik spat aside and got his sights on his next target.

(Lane 1 is under attack! They brought their famous Cryomancer! Guild Master, send Lena here, please!)

(Lane 2 is under attack too, as you expected, Friedrich! Mostly sharpshooters! No need to send backups, we can deal with them!)

(Lane 3 here. As long as Henrik kills the dragon, we can handle it!)

Nicholas almost cracked a laugh but contained himself. Good said, mate. As long as Henrik can do it…

(Raven, remain hidden but alert in case Henrik needs you.)

(Of course, Guild Master.)

When Henrik disposed of a third rival guilder, there was nothing more standing between him and the Earth Dragon. He dashed forward without hesitation, as if a demon had gained control of his body.

[ “Pentakiiiill! Basher is going on a killing spree! And… uh-oh! It seems he’s fully bloodlusted! Don’t avert your eyes for a second, folks! This is going to be epic!” ]

The dragon stomped, making the ground tremble and throwing everyone off balance; that special technique also spawned a pillar of solid rock that impacted the tower directly as if it was a sturdy lance, reducing its HP to 50%.

(Good job, Philip!) his Guild Master exclaimed through their Party Chat. (Take down the tower now!)

The dragon rider was salivating… One more push and they would even the odds against the Stormwatch Sentinels, but a warcry forced him to look back. The rider watched Henrik sprinting towards him, with his bloody war hammer in hand. “No, no, no!” the rider cried. What could he do? His dragon needed ten seconds more for its Special Attack ro recharge and he knew he was no match for The Basher, but the championship was on the line. “Damn it!” he hissed and pulled out his pistol.

Philip the dragon rider opened fire, knowing it was useless.

In every competitive game there is always a Meta… With time, players discover which are the most lethal weapons, the most powerful spells and the best classes.

The Novus was no different.

Users discovered that when you have super strength and also gear up with the best armor, you practically become a walking tank… A walking tank that can dodge, run, and take cover if they need to. Also a tank that can behead an enemy before they can pull the trigger. This caused firearms to fall from grace between the Novus’ competitive community.

Some still use them, especially middled-level Users, but if you pull out your gun in front of a fully-fledged Warrior, you would be laughed at. And yet, some just didn’t have a choice.

This PVP format demanded the use of ‘Assist Players’, those who focused their skills to stun, crowd-control, and annoy the enemy muscle heads. With time, the Beast Tamers became popular.

Sacrificing all of their stats, these Users empowered their beasts instead to accomplish certain tasks that other classes could not, like harassing enemy players in their early stages of the match to stop their advances, or in the case of this Earth Dragon, act as ‘Tower Destroyers’, something this species excelled at.

The only job of this Beast Tamer was to destroy at least two towers per match, and nothing else. People like him did not have the skill to engage in hand to hand combat, so their only option was to at least carry a firearm, knowing they could finish off the already wounded.

With all that in mind, Philip the Beast Tamer, shot three more times while cursing his luck. It was just a matter of time before he got his head crushed just like everyone else and hear the announcer say: ‘Oh, Philip Sanders was so close to destroying Lane 3 tower!’

But three seconds passed by uneventfully.

In shock, Philip saw Henrik kneeling, bleeding and with a pained expression in his face. Using the skill ‘Eagle Eye’, also revealed that Henrik’s face looked pale, as if he had been poisoned.

Philip let out an incredulous snicker and shot his pistol two more times, this time with the intention to kill.

[ Are my eyes deceiving me?! The Basher has fallen! I repeat, the Basher has been taken down by Philip Sanders! The Basher pushed his luck after so many solo battles, and now the Crimson Covenant has the opportunity to take the lead! ]

Embolden, Philip gave the command, and his Earth Dragon used his Special Attack once again, destroying the Stormwatch Sentinels’ tower.

(WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!) the usually jolly Friedrich shrieked through Party Chat. (Did you not heal him at all, Raven?!)

(O-Of course I did, Guild Master! I’m as surprised as you are! I fully replenished his HP to 100%. I swear!)

(Guild Master! Lane 1 Tower has been taken down!)

(Friedrich! The Lane 2 Tower–! I-I don’t know what happened! They somehow took it down with ease!)

(They must have an ace under their sleeve, huh?) Raven commented, trying his best to sound neutral, although from his place behind bushes, he was cracking a wide smile.

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