Starting from Zero

Book 4, Chapter 26

The Ace (Part 1)

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I dragged Merciless to the restaurant. I know the location in the unfamiliar city because it's just next to the teleport station, and that giant flag with a beer cup on it really attract your eyes.

"Hey what's the deal? I know you earned a lot but don't drag me like this!"

Despite his complaint I still pulled him into the door.

"Yowch!"

They say great joy is always followed by misfortune. Now I believe it. I bumped into someone behind the door. I was walking too fast so both of us got knocked onto the ground. And I assure you that dumping your hip onto the solid rock floor is not something to enjoy!

As for Merciless, he crashed into my back and stumbled back out of the door.

The opposite man knocked over a table before he can re-balance himself.

"Watch where ur going damn it!" He brushed his clothes. "Are you blind? Or are you looking for trouble?"

"Sorry sorry. I...didn't see you across the door. Are you hurt?"

That was my fault so this is not a good time to play tough.

"..." He froze up and stared at me for a few seconds before regaining his language.

"Beautiful...!" That was his first comment after the stare.

"I'm really sorry, my bad there. Do you need help? If everything's fine I'll be leaving."

I don't have time to explain my gender issue with a random passer-by.

But you know, things always go towards where you don't want them to go.

"Hey! You look brilliant! And I love your voice. Like an angel...!"

Shit. I know my throat can be a bit strange but it sounds like child voice at best, which is totally different from actual woman voice.

"You're mistaken. Excuse me but I need to go upstairs." I dragged Merciless again and headed up.

The man blocked my way. "Come on what's the hurry? I wasn't being polite back there. Would you have meal with me?"

I inspected this sudden intruder. 176 in height, ordinary look. He wears traditional oriental style kung-fu costume, must be a hidden class.

"Sorry, I have other business. Can you let me through? I'm taking my friend up there."

He looked over my shoulder to Merciless with a disapproving look.

"Hey kid, there's no way you can protect this chick. Go away, I'm taking her."

Crap. The retarded thought Merciless is my boyfriend! And what the fuck does he mean "chick"??

Merciless looked between us. "Ziri? You told me before but are you sure?..."

I knew it. He didn't believe me!

"Ahem!" I turned around. "Let's go somewhere else."

The man blocked the exit again. "Miss, my name is [Smokin' Ring]. I ask you to be my girl now!"

Merciless gasped behind me. I don't know for which reason but I don't have time for him now.

"Let's get this straight," I grabbed his collar. "listen, I'm a man. And I don't enjoy business between guys. I prefer women just like any sentient males out there. Now get away. And keep distance. You're making me sick. Smoking Ring right? If you don't leave me now I can beat you into a bloody donut instead."

"You know, you don't have to make up something like that if you just want to reject me. Oh please, don't hurt this sincere lover boy!"

He won't give up!

"What'cha doing brother?" A group came down from the stair. Must be his comrades.

"Ooooh. Where'you find this girl? Hot!"

"Your new wife?"

"Hey when did that happen? You didn't even tell us!"

None of them noticed what's going on. Oh kids these days...

Wait, I'm not really a grown-up myself.

"Can I go now? Or do you want a fight?" I'm losing patience.

"Ah, so not your wife." An uneducated looking guy snickered. "Hey chill gal. Do you know who muh brother is? He's da second place on the level rank, [Smokin' Ring]. He hit level 497 this morning, same with that Big Blade dude! He may be the second now but he can beat the hell outta Big Blade I tell you! Go with him and you can have your life however you want in Zero!"

"You rank second?" I'm interested. I've been improving myself in hermit mode for too long and I never knew how much I can do. He is the second in rank and claims to be the strongest...that means he's the best target to measure myself. If we can have a fight...

"Are you sure you're the strongest player?"

Smokin' Ring chuckled. "Do you ever check the ranking lists at all?"

Well, I certainly haven't looked at them for some time.

Merciless explained from behind :"There are different lists in [Zero]. The man in front of you is the 2nd place on the level ranking, and the tied 1st place on the overall combat rating list! You didn't know??"

"But I didn't find it in my Help menu." I asked in surprise. Is something wrong with my system?

"It's not in your Help. Ask any of the guards in cities and they'll tell you the newest lists. You don't even know this? How many quests did you skip?"

"What do you say?" Smokin' Ring looked at me in defiance. "Accepting my offer yet? I can give you a bright future!"

"I have a question first."

"Go ahead. I never refuse to talk with beauties!"

"You're tied first with someone. Who is it?"

"The system determines this rating with really vague calculations. There are many people on the first place. Three other people tied with me, so four champions in total.

[Not a Jerk], level 493 Grand Beast Wielder.

[Hydralisk], level 487 hidden class. I don't know what but he's good.

And [Wind Drifter], level 479 Fallen Angel. He's Divine Demon so his own attributes are pretty high. He may have the lowest level among us but he's probably the strongest one if we actually compete."

"I see..." I opened the note system and recorded his words.

"So have you decided?"

"Can I have a fight with you?" I dodged his question.

But he took my word in the wrong way. "So you'll come with me if I win?"

"Let's talk about that if you can win at all."

He'll see my identity anyway. I don't think he'll actually ask me out when that happens. Besides...I won't lose.

"Alright. You'd better keep your word for it. Let's get to the arena, so we don't get red names or lose level or items."

"No problem. Lead the way."

We paid a small entrance fee and entered the arena. It looks like those ancient Roman Colosseums, just a bit smaller. The city is pretty small for that matter.

Before we can start, the observations seats suddenly became occupied. His buddies called all kinds of people to watch! Oh crap. They're adding a lot of unnecessary trouble for me.

"You can do it boss!"

"Finish this quick!"

I saw Smokin' Ring's personal cheering team. There are a lot of girls rooting for him too.

"Smokey we love you!!"

Dang. Is he a superstar or something?

He looked at me :"I don't hold back when I fight. Don't blame me for hurting you."

"Do it. I'm not made of paper. And don't get cocky, I have some serious attacks. Don't take it too hard if you got insta killed."

I'm confident enough in my own skills. I'm wearing full Artifact set for cake's sake.

Ping! The system announced the start of the battle.

Smokin' simply charged towards me. I'm wearing my wizard robe so he probably thinks he can win this easily if he gets close.

I just watched as he approaches and waited for a chance.

But he didn't even attack me!

"Do you surrender?" He asked.

Huh? What?

"Why would I do that? We haven't started yet."

"You're a Wizard, and a Warrior just got to your face! Of course you lost."

Pfffft.

I grinned. As I hoped, he lost his guard for a brief moment.

"Surprise!" I revealed my attack. "[Heart Piercer]!"

This is currently my most powerful skill as a D&P Rider. I want to see if the so-called No.1 can survive this. It'll be a joke if he died for it. If he didn't, I'll have a good reason to carefully research on him and the other three elite players.

After an explosion, Smokin' was shocked far away without any defense prepared. His face went pale. He moved even farther away with several hasty backflips.

"That robe is a disguise? You're a Warrior?"

He no longer carries that girl hunter attitude. He sees me as a rival now.

I just smile. "Oh no you got me. So how did it feel? I prepared that big move just for you!"

He stuffed potions into his mouth while looking at me warily, fearing that I may ambush him again. And I know why he's scared. I can read his numbers from that hit: total HP 4,737, and my skill did 4,592 damage. Almost killed him in one shot. That's my best damage without a critical hit too, since the number is in red. He can't see that information, so he believes that I still have enough power to kill him if I'm lucky.

"Hey come closer! We're both melee classes, how do we fight like this?" I taunted as I saw his HP bar getting filled. Since I can't kill him with that, I'll have to be careful about his moves now.

"Still not coming? I'll shoot you then. Don't blame me for being mean." I aimed my right arm at him. I never tried to adjust the crosshair on my Revenger crossbow, now there's a perfect target.

I clicked my finger, a feathered bolt went out. He wasn't expecting a long-range shot like this so he didn't react.

The attack still missed. Uhmm. So the crosshair strays too left...

I began to tune my Revenger. This thing shoots every four seconds, after some exercise, the wall behind Smokin' Ring is filled with bolts. None of the audiences are cheering now. They are wondering why a Wizard took out a lance, then a crossbow, and with so much ammunition! The wall is loaded with over a hundred bolts now. None of my concern. I collected enough bolts to support my whole game career in that underground dungeon, plus there's no space limit for my bracelet, so I brought them all.

As I'm enjoying the shooting practice I heard a system message:

"[Revenger] crossbow leveled up. Attack is now 680-980, Attack Speed is 3 seconds per shot. Number of Soul Chasers increased to 3."

But there was no level up feature for Revenger?

Dark Dragon Lord armor set can be leveled up, and Reverger is merged with the set. That must be the reason.

This is a prize!

Smokin' took the chance and charged at me again. "[Leaf Sweep]!"

He knocked me off my feet with a spinning leg sweep. Cheering voices rose again. Oh fuck you all, you kept silent when I beat him up, now you all came back alive?

He didn't give me chance to regain posture. He kicked me higher with another leg sweep, then he jumped above me and punched downwards. I was wondering where his weapon is, now I see those metal knuckles on his fingers! That will be painful if it hits me.

"[Barrier]!"

I'm half Wizard. Of course I know this universal defense spell. Wizards usually fight like this: Barrier up -- attack -- re-barrier if it gets damaged -- attack. I don't use this skill because I have my companions to protect me, besides I'm half Warrior type too. But now I need to stay cautious.

Crack! His punch instantly shattered the barrier and hit my waist. That's was strong! The spell still dampened his attack. I only received a scratch damage.

I immediately retaliated when I landed. "[Heavy Bash]!"

This is the most basic but the fastest melee skill. And he can't dodge it with that kind of position.

"[Iron Skin]!" He used his skill and took that attack head-on. 1 damage!

Woah that's some serious Defense.

Humph. Let me see how much defense you can get.

"Night Shade!" I hopped onto his back. "You're not expecting a Rider to fight without a horse eh? Call your companions if you have any."

I took off my wizard robe which caused gasps among the audiences.

"A Rider huh? As I thought. I never saw Wizard carrying a lance."

He didn't summon anything. So he doesn't have any?

No that's impossible. The number two figure on the ranking list should find companions easily, and he got a lot of fans too. Someone like this is bond to have a lot of resources.

"You're not calling companion? Are you underestimating me again?"

"No. It's just my companion isn't good at fighting. It won't help." He took out another knuckle set and equipped it. "Careful now, I'm going to hit hard!"

He charged. I legged Night Shade's belly, he dodged aside with a quick hop. Smokin' may be fast but he'll never reach the same speed as Night Shade.

I ordered Night Shade to run towards Smokin' who just dashed past us.

"[Pole Pick]!"

Smokin' dodged my lance attack combo with several ground rolls. Man he's pretty quick on his feet.

Now we're the ones facing the other direction. Smokin' rushed at our back.

"[Cloud Pusher]!"

You should never slap a horse's ass but he did. His palm precisely hit Night Shade on the rear. The sudden pain caused Night Shade to perform the signature horse attack -- He supported himself using his front legs and bucked hard.

"AHHhhhh---"

Smokin' went flying as if he was hit by a truck. Boomsh! A human-shaped hole appeared on the arena wall.

The palm strike was obviously strong because Night Shade fell sideways after the kick. I checked his wound and noticed that deep hand-shaped hollow part on his rear-end armor. He's not going to run like that. I could only de-summon him.

Smokin' freed himself from the hole and dusted himself. "Nice horse. It still has the strength to kick after my best attack? And what's that on the hooves? The kick did piercing damage!"

I can see several small bleeding holes on his body, drenching his clothes. So those horseshoes are pretty useful, I guess I need to tell Night Shade to use his kicking attacks more often.

"You asked for it. If you touch horse ass or girl ass or whatever's ass again you might get kicked by who-knows-what."

I'm joking but I'm still serious about this fight. After all, I don't meet many people who can take down Night Shade in one hit.

"You're good. My mount is not just an ordinary pony you know."

"I can do better!" He rushed. "Fuuuugaaa Heaven Punch!"

I felt as if a wall made of air just fell on me, then I took countless punches. The speed of these fists is like raindrops!

"Gah!" I was sent flying and rolled on the ground. At least the impact is strong enough. I crawled back up and...700 damage? That's lame.

That skill must be used to cause damage using the great number of attacks. But the outcome is greatly reduced by my high Defense.

"Nice one. But your fists feel so weak. It didn't do anything."

Of course he knows how much damage he did. And it must have shocked him.

"[Feinting Lances]!"

This is a new D&P Rider skill I just learned. A wave of lances enclosed upon his body from all directions. He tried to dodge but there's no way he can avoid hundreds of attacks at once.

Without a way out, he used his Iron Skin again.

Got you!

The lances dropped to the ground and disappeared, leaving only one, which pierced his abdomen.

"Those were shadows, there's only one real lance. The name already told you those were feint and you still fell for it."

Smokin looked up from his would, painfully. "You...how did you break through my Iron Skin?"

"I can't. But my lance ignores Defense. Now give up."

I tried to pull the lance out of his wound, but Smokin' pulled at the tip and dragged it out from behind him instead. I was taken aback for a while.

Smokin' seized the chance and rushed close. "[Mountain Breaker]!"

"AH!!"

I was taken by surprise. The palm pushed me into the sky with a strange but deadly force.

I crashed on the ground hard, coughing up some blood.

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