842 Almost Out of Mana

Heavenly Rage finally fell. In this brave struggle of his, he had managed to deal some damage to Lord Grim, taking a tenth of Lord Grim’s health with him.

However, what was more satisfying was that he knew he had done well to deplete Lord Grim’s Mana.

Lord Grim had drunk a mana potion in this match, the kind with the best effects that restored 20% of his Mana. Yet, by the time he had crushed Heavenly Rage, only 25% of Lord Grim’s Mana remained.

By then, not only Team Everlasting, but even the normal players had noticed Lord Grim’s trouble with Mana. They had realized in this match that Lord Grim’s mana consumption was terrifyingly high.

After all, one versus three was wasn’t rare in the pro circle or the casual one. Especially for players who played casually, the difference between the skill levels of different players was sometimes rather absurd, making one versus three more common.

If it was a sandbag style one versus three beating, there was little need to worry about mana. For Lord Grim, beating Heavenly Rage wasn’t nearly as absurdly easy as hitting a sandbag, but his advantage was absolute. Nearly running out of mana and having only 25% left after ingesting a mana pill under these circumstances showed how inefficient Lord Grim’s mana consumption was.

As the match went on, the audience had made some realizations, too. The reason why Lord Grim consumed so much mana was because his damage output was really quite low. The damage output to mana input ratio wasn’t high at all.

Some of the smarter players, the players who were rather skilled, had guessed Team Everlasting’s intentions from seeing Lord Grim’s mana and the course of the match.

Spellblade Go Forth had entered Team Everlasting’s side of the area. The results of the winning match of the Group Arena seemed to be obvious when looking at the characters on either side.

The players were clear about the Spellblade’s defensive capabilities. If beating a Qi Master required so much mana, then how was it possible to beat a Spellblade with just 25% of his mana left?

Team Happy had fallen into a trap!

The faceslappers who realized this were elated. There was no way anything would go wrong here. They could finally openly mock Happy now, right?

It was just unfortunate that the faceslappers present today were rather few in number. Even they thought that there was no way that Team Happy would lose with such an advantage. Another unfortunately thing was that though the group arena might be in the bag, Team Everlasting had to win the team competition as well to tie. After that, they would have to win an extra team competition to completely win against Team Happy. If Team Everlasting still ended up eliminated, then their mockery would be meaningless.

But why should they care so much now?

Seeing how Team Happy’s failure in the group arena was set in stone after falling for a trick, the spectating faceslappers began to excitedly cheer once more.

He An watched the audience’s mockery with a smile. He didn’t mind the audience’s blabbering. If even they had noticed, how could Team Happy’s experts not? It was too bad for them that they noticed too late.

Seeing the countdown start, He An took a deep breath, composing himself. By the time he had done so, Go Forth had been loaded into the match. The fifth round of the group arena, the winning match, was finally starting.

The map was still the same map. He An believed he didn’t need to do too much planning and preparations. A character without mana was like a sitting duck.

Go Forth wandered around the map, and He An even had the heart to start admiring the scenery of this map.

Red Flower Pavilion, huh?

He wasn’t very familiar with his map. It was rather beautiful, with red petals dancing through the air! However, it didn’t seem to have any special terrain effects. He hadn’t seen Team Happy use the map to their advantage in the previous matches either.

Thinking of this, He An suddenly felt uneasy.　That’s right, he hadn’t seen any terrain advantage from this map yet. Team Happy couldn’t have picked it so carelessly, right?

But… even with the map helping, what could 25% mana do?

He An calmed down as he remembered this. Go Forth walked forwards a bit and could see Lord Grim charging through the dancing red flowers from the opposite corner.

He came rather quickly. It wasn’t unexpected though. It wasn’t like Lord Grim was going to drag it out and attempt to recover mana naturally. With the speed at which he consumed mana, how long would it take for him to recover it that way? He An thought to himself and had Go Forth run over to meet the other.

Spellblades were like Qi Masters, their skills were mostly mid-range attacks. Against an unspecialized, they would usually attack last. However, He An wasn’t at all afraid of this, charging into Lord Grim’s attack range without care.

He An believed that Lord Grim wouldn’t dare use long-ranged attacks to play any tricks with him anymore. That sort of depletion of mana wasn’t something he could afford.

Just as he expected, Go Forth was only targeted by a few normal attacks from Lord Grim upon entering the latter’s attack range. No skills were released.

He An let Go Forth close in with confidence. The audience’s chat channel was a sea of mockery. Seeing Lord Grim in such a difficult position,, they were giving all sorts of ideas on how Go Forth should beat up Lord Grim.

He An, of course, couldn’t see these ideas. His eyes were still glued to Lord Grim’s mana bar, watching it even more closely than Lord Grim’s health bar. But since Lord Grim had only been attacking with normal shots, he hadn’t consumed any mana as of yet.

Normal attacks couldn’t prevent Go Forth’s charge. As soon as he got in the Spellblade’s attack range, Go Forth immediately sent a soul stirring Ice Sword streaking across the ground towards his opponent.

He An was just simply making fun of his opponent!

From this distance, how could a slow skill like Ice Blade hit it’s target? He An was just purposefully wasting a skill, shoving it in Lord Grim’s face that he had the mana to do so, unlike Lord Grim who had been using normal attacks the whole time.

Lord Grim sidestepped it easily, moving forwards and continuing to close in on Go Forth.

You still want to close in? With what little mana you have remaining, what’s the use of doing so? He An thought to himself, but couldn’t let Lord Grim close in fear of becoming a punching bag. So, he attacked once more, sending all sorts of Sword and Wave Formation attacks without care.

Go Forth’s Wave Formations immediately took up a large area of the map, but still didn’t manage to trap Lord Grim. Lord Grim’s movements were smooth and sleek and his knowledge of the range of the Wave Formations was precise, allowing him to slip by them and leave them behind.

Amazing!

Even He An couldn’t help but admit this to himself. His Wave Formation techniques were completely useless against Lord Grim, who slipped by as if they didn’t exist. But so what? Even if you charge right in front of me, can you defeat me?

Earthquake Sword!

Go Forth quickly sent out a strike. This low end skill activated quickly, but Lord Grim still gracefully dodged it, and then finally went on the offensive.

Anti-Tank Missiles!

After a sidestep to dodge the Earthquake Sword, Lord Grim’s Myriad Manifestation Umbrella’s tip opened and fired. Three missiles, aimed at three points, it was a Tri-Shot. With the current proximity, He An didn’t have the time to dodge. Go Forth strained to avoid them, but was still hit by two missiles.

Under the smoke of the explosion, Go Forth was pushed back by the shockwave. The Anti-Tank Missiles that hit him wouldn’t knock his character over, though.

A blade flashed and Lord Grim sped out with a Colliding Stab, catching up with Go Forth easily. With that stab done, a knock-up struck Go Forth and the combos started as he was suspended.

Falling Light Blade!　He An didn’t want to let Lord Grim just show off like that, activating Falling Light Blade even as he was knocked up. Go Forth swerved to the side in mid air, aiming to land a little ways away. Then, a blade flashed; Go Forth’s landing was somehow anticipated by Lord Grim. and a quick Sword Draw sent him flying again.

Slide Kick, Knee Strike.

Lord Grim used the two skills to catch up with Go Forth, not letting him land. Go Forth’s Falling Light Blade was still in cooldown as well and Spellblades didn’t possess so many intricate sword techniques. Both Sword and Wave Formation attacks were imposing and direct, with little finesse. Under such a intricate combo attack, Spellblades couldn’t do much to turn the tables.

Even worse, the current opponent was Ye Xiu, and he was using an Unspecialized with a combo that He An could barely keep up with.

Though Go Forth was helpless under this assault, He An was still very calm. With this fierce wave of attacks, his mana was quickly depleting. Looking at the rate his life was going down at, he knew that 25% mana was nowhere near enough to devour all his health. Let’s see what you can do after your mana’s all gone.

He An was thinking that, but Go Forth was being beaten rather badly. He An’s attempts were all futile, so he started typing into the chat to overcome his awkwardness.

"Is there any use? With that mana of yours, you think you can kill me?" Go Forth sent in the public chat.

"Haha." Lord Grim took the time to reply, but with this laughing response, it was like he was mocking He An, as if what He An had said was dumb.

"You’re still laughing? In a moment, you won’t even have the time to cry. Your mana is almost at red!" He An said. Obviously, the mana bar wouldn’t go red as a warning upon hitting 10% like the health bar would. He An was just pretending to be good natured and humorous, hinting that you only had 10% of your mana left and would soon be helpless.

It was at this moment, that He An suddenly felt Lord Grim’s attacks pause.

An opening!

Was he affected by my words?

He An thought this and his fingers weren’t slow. He quickly used a Falling Light Blade to land, and then jumped back several times. Turning back around to look, he immediately froze in surprise.

How come Lord Grim looked completely different?

That’s right, he was different, because almost all of Lord Grim’s equipment had been changed.

"Haha," Lord Grim laughed again as he spoke, "Gotta change my equipment since I’m almost out of mana."