Chương 125: Chapter 123

His first task was to take a measure of the enemy and to see if he could figure out the plan. He wasn't expecting anything bigger than a few mages with CC skills that would try to stop him from moving, and then the rest of the people would blast him into smithereens. Granted, there was a chance that they found some kind of area of effect enhancement that would be able to lock him down, so he was keeping it low-key.

The person after him was a person of means, so it was realistic that they could be able to buy the best. But the question was: Would they do that? Sam definitely would, but according to Katie, her father wasn't that game-savvy. However, he was surrounded by people who were. So, recon it was. He had Lucky return to his shadow, and he covered himself with shadows while creating a small field of wind mana around him that swallowed any sound he would make.

Meanwhile, using his Mana Sense he kept track of the demonic assassins who were wandering around in a pattern that would have them cover a rather sizeable area. Probably, trying to maximize the chance that they would run into him. Sam spent some time just observing what he could, trying to create a complete picture of the enemies arrayed against him. While doing that, he spotted a group of mana signatures moving along the road that crossed through the area that was surrounded by his enemies.

But they vanished in short order after the local mana showed some disturbance.

'They're killing everybody. That's stupid…' he mused while continuing the observation.

'They would be bleating on the forums about it within seconds…' Moving to a different spot, a little higher to get a better vantage point, he couldn't help but chuckle.

'The guy probably hired some military expert who only played mobile games on the toilet. Genius on the field but fish out of water in a game…' Still, the number of players against him, who were more than likely higher-leveled than him was daunting. One-on-one it wouldn't matter, but quantity had a quality of its own.

'Right. Avoid direct fights. Now the question is, should I go higher and go over the mountains or try to find a weak point…' Suddenly, the assassin group stopped and turned on the dime, directly at him, causing Sam to curse heavily.

'Fucking divination…' The scrying probably wasn't very accurate, but it was enough to show his location. Sam immediately jumped into action, rushing away from the boulders he was hiding behind while heartily cursing the fact he had forgotten about the divination skills. He was proven correct when the assassin didn't change direction when he began running away, still heading directly to his previous hiding place.

'Hmm. If they have only one person who can cast the spell, then the cooldown is around a few minutes, assuming they have above-average mana control,' he mused while heading toward the next hiding place.

"Let's test it then!" he declared softly. The grin appearing on his face would have scared his enemies if they could have seen it. Alas, they did not… The next hour was spent by him running around and watching with his Mana Sense as the group of demonic assassins – who were undoubtedly very tired and annoyed – follow him around the mountainside and forest as he pretended to be trying to evade the people chasing him. The results were pretty satisfying.

It took the diviner around ten minutes to recover to cast the scrying spell. Which meant that no matter what, he only had a ten-minute window to act. While he was running around, he also made sure to check upon the forces trying to encircle him. To his luck, around halfway through his hide-and-seek the leader of the forces decided to shrink the encirclement, giving him an excellent view thanks to his Mana Sense. Most of the people were only there to create the circle.

They had average reserves that felt absolutely normal. However, at each cardinal direction, he could sense a team with a much stronger presence that radiated danger thanks to his Discerning skill. Added to this were several people seeded around the intercardinal directions. Probably mages to make sure they could slow him down if he decided to head their way. Unfortunately for his enemies, Sam could see precisely where those mages were hidden among the masses.

They were still at the beginning of the game so there weren't many mana-concealing items or skills, for example, he had nothing aside from his own iron control over his mana.

'I really need to speed up some acquisitions…' For a long moment he thought about playing an endless game of mouse and cat with them until the masses they brought along got bored and left, or the money ran out for the mercenaries, but he didn't have that time. So after relocating once again, he took a look at all the mages that were hidden, trying to choose one that would be the easiest to defeat.

'Let's see… That one is earth, so no go. Fire? Meh, could be. Wind? Could overpower them, but would give away too many secrets. A water one? In the middle of the forest? Probably trying for ice magic…' Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. He went one by one until he returned to the one directly to the southeast of him, in the direction of the capital city.

Any military expert would consider that one of the most logical directions to try to escape the encirclement and thus place the most powerful members there. But they would also expect that he would know the same thing. It was a gamble, but he felt up to it. He wasn't here to min-max and always use the perfect strategy for every situation.

'I play because it's fun. So, let us have some fun!' he mused while checking over his gear. He then started slowly relocating toward an ideal position from where he could attempt his break out. Naturally, he made a little detour, trying to make it seem he was going for a different point. And based on the movements of the stronger players, the enemy swallowed his fake out. Wearing a nasty grin, Sam couldn't help but feel gleeful. He couldn't even imagine how much money that asshole was spending on this…

'Just for little ol' me…' Despite his good cheer, he knew that it wouldn't be easy. No doubt there were a multitude of traps and other enchantments that would hinder and slow him down. He would have to take them as they come. Waiting in a hidden spot, he silently counted down, waiting for the disgruntled and agitated demonic assassins to follow him as the scrying spell was activated. Three… Two… One… And the direction of the assassin team shifted once again and Sam was off like a bullet.

He didn't use any of his support skills, wanting to reserve them for the big fight, so he simply used the Mana Body Enhancement, pushing it to the maximum while supporting it with Wind Manipulation, pumping any excess mana into his Mana Shield layers. He had around ten minutes to reach the area before they realized he was attacking, and by God, he would do it. He simply flew through the forest, using his Mana Sense and the trees' weak mana signature to avoid any collision.

By his count, it was around six minutes later when he reached an area that was more plains than forest with sparse bushes and only a few trees dotting the landscape. In the distance, he could see the dozens of players arrayed around some camping supplies. And as he got closer, he could sense something that was impossible to sense from a distance. A thin wall of mana covering the back of the 'army'.

'A shield? They need a keystone for that.' Not stopping his rush, he cast his mana in the direction of the crowd, trying to spot the keystone. To his dismay, he found it exactly where the mage was, practically sitting on it.

'So that's why I couldn't sense it… Clever…' But he couldn't stop. He started it so now he would have to finish it. He was around a hundred yards away from the crowd that was milling about listlessly, probably bored out of their minds, sitting there for hours on end when they noticed him.

"He is coming!"

"Sound the alarm!"

"Archers fire!"

"Where is my sword?" Instantly, the sky was filled with a cloud of arrows and several other magical properties, but the designated mage was silent. He just smirked and continued moving forward at great speed, ignoring the arrows heading for him. Suddenly, several walls of earth sprouted in front of him but he simply jumped on top of the first one, then launched himself up in the air, avoiding the obstacles and the cloud of arrows that landed impotently in the ground without grazing him.

The moment Sam was at the apex of his jump, he let loose a barrage of Wind Blades aiming at nothing in particular, just wanting to cause chaos. Then he had to activate his Shadow Transformation skill to avoid an incredibly fast Water Bullet that went through where his torso was a moment ago. Looking down, he saw the mage, a grumpy guy in deep blue robes holding a staff with a blue gem on it, looking up at him. Their eyes met, and Sam smirked.

Using his wind mana, he accelerated his descent as the mage continued to try to turn his upper torso into fine bloody mist and as he reached the ground he shot a Shadow Cloud forward falling directly into it. Before the players could recalibrate their aim, he was out of the shadow, as were several of his clones, all of them heading in different directions. This naturally caused a bit of chaos in the ranks of the enemy.

"Shit! Which one is the real one?"

"My skill says the left one!"

"Which left?"

"They are coming at me AAAAARGH!" Sam stood on the corpse of one of the players, the guy dead from a simple wind spear, among his foes. Granted, he was surrounded, but this prevented them from aiming at him with any big area of effect spells. Fate, however, lived to play with him. As soon as he stood in one place for a moment, the water mage let loose a torrent of water that swept through the surrounding scrubs, crying out before their digital lives were snuffed out.

"What the hell, man?"

"We are on your side!"

"Gurgle…" Sam took a solid stance, summoned a wedge-shaped shield made of wind mana, and hunkered down.

'Always be where the enemy doesn't expect you…' The torrent of ice-cold water surged around him, filling the area with said water, and battering his shield, but thanks to his constant reinforcement only a few drops of water fell on him. Then, a few seconds later, the tsunami subsided, but he still didn't move. Instead, he reached out through the ground and located the mage. He waited for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and launched himself forward.

In the first moment of the movement, he summoned a wall directly in front of the water mage. The next second, he cast Shadow Burst, enhancing his speed, which resulted in him reaching the wall extremely fast. As soon as his feet touched the wall, he used Ground Shake to explode it into the man's face.

"Aaargh!" the mage yelled out. In surprise or pain, Sam didn't know. But the momentary distraction was enough for him to condense some mana into a spherical vacuum and shove it into the man's surprised face. The explosion was a little gory but he just cast a Clean spell and began looking around for the keystone.

Spotting the big slab of rock under some artfully placed supplies, he took a look at the runes shining on it, nodded to himself after memorizing the runes for later, and then, with a simple swing of his sword, cut it into two. Instantly, the shining vanished and he could feel the shield coming down. Ignoring the surviving mercenaries, he let himself feel a small amount of satisfaction.

Turning around, he was about to head away from the battle when he felt the buildup of an enormous amount of mana right in front of him. Instinctively, he jumped back, raising a shadow shield as a giant flash blinded everyone in the vicinity. As the flash died down, so did Sam's smile. In front of him, arrayed in a circle, was a group of players ready to fight an army. Then the seriousness of the moment was gone as the person in the middle toppled over and fell to the ground.

One of the women in the group rushed to him and began taking care of him, but the rest of them were eyeing Sam like sharks. Most of them were wearing Steel Lion regalia, but Sam could see several players who were wearing this spring cult fashion in the back of the group. Hooded black robes covered everything and miasma radiated off of them. How the others could stand to be near them was a mystery to Sam.

"I swear they were like this when I arrived!" he called, indicating at the soggy ground as he stood over the remaining half of the water mage while the ground around him was littered by battered corpses of the mercenaries. As expected, nobody laughed.