“Then show me your status.” He said, going from suspicion to false calm as he began to slowly advance on me. Damn it, retreating had the opposite effect I wanted. Racking my brains as I backed away slowly, I concluded that I was absolutely screwed as the kid raised his stuff.

                “Uh…” I mean, if I did show him the gauntlets, it would be the best way to do it sure, but only for the short run. Long run, this dude could get me killed both in game and in real life. So, with that in mind, I came to a quick and foolish decision.

                I did the stupidest thing I have ever done in the game. Even outstripping the time when I tried to mine an ore with a pickaxe that had an obviously lower breaking power then the ore required for thirty minutes straight. I ran from a freaking mage.

                As soon as I did that, my mistake instantly bore me fruit, as a shouted “Arcane Missile Barrage!” flew at me, just barely missing me as I spun and dodged like a dancing fool between each projectiles. One even went past by my head, blowing up a part of the scenery effortlessly. I gulped at the sight but continued running. I mean if I could dodge it once, surely, I can dodge it twice. Right?

                Wrong.

                Immediately after I thought that a missile smacked me right between my shoulders, making me roll forward onto the ground. I groaned at the pain but stood up. I quickly checked my health, and paled. It was down by a whopping ten percent! I quickly ducked as another three missiles went for my head, burning my hair as they whizzed by, narrowly missing me.

                “Oi kiddo! Can we just calm- WHOA!” I screamed like a little kid as I barely twisted my head away from the missile that was aimed at my eye. It exploded behind me, and for a second, all I could think about was that the explosion would’ve been my head if I had not dodged it.

                Then the kid rushed me.

                He quickly infused his fists with magic, using a skill I realized was the reason why Mages were considered unique in OW. They could use their magic to do tremendous physical damage. I spat up blood as the kid smashed into my gut with a crap ton of speed. Something I was not expecting from him. I stumbled away from him, noting that he had his feet also magically infused. The kid had training, that was for sure. I fished out a tooth that had got knocked out from my mouth as I prepared.

                “Damn, you pack a punch.” I said, as I quickly spat out all the blood in my mouth from the punch. This kid was smart. It’s been a while since I fought. And after what happened last time… I was not happy to be in this kind of situation again. I quickly got into one of my stances, with Medicus also getting into a stance of his own. For a second, we were just standing there, waiting for each other to make a move.

                Then…

                BOOM!

                The ground trembled, as we launched at each other. Me yelling out my movement skill, and the kid also yelling out a spell as the ground below us began to crumble before us. I grinned as I felt the wind in my hair. Damn... I had forgotten how much I loved this skill!

                “BOXER’S DASH!”

                Skill: Boxer’s Dash

                Class: Boxer

                Effect: Moves in the direction the User is facing by 20 meters.

                Special Effect: When used with the “Boxer Stance,” effect’s effectiveness is buffed by 50%.

                Cost: 1% Stamina

                Cooldown: 0 seconds

                “OCEAN’S RAGE!”

                I blanched at the magic, but quickly realized it wasn’t a high-level spell, at least, not an attacking spell. It did boost his speed by a bit, however. And in fact, he seemed to be preparing another spell judging by how he was muttering something in preparation. I gritted my teeth at the realization and called out my current most powerful skill I could muster.

                “FIGHTER’S TRIUMPH!”

                Skill: Fighter’s Triumph

                Class: Miscellaneous

                Effect: Summons the Fighter’s Aura.

                Aura Skill: Fighter’s Aura

                Effect: All attacks with the User’s body are 10% - 500% more effective and can endure attacks 10% - 300% better. Buffs can vary depending on how long the User has been in a combat situation. However, after KO’ing an opponent or time runs out, the aura dissipates, along with all stats are reduced by 20%, and all cooldowns are quadrupled in duration for 1 minute, so use it with caution!

                Special Effect: When maximum buff has been achieved (3 Minutes) Grant a +200% to all stats.

                Duration: 10 mins or opponent is killed or KO’ed. Or until the user cancels the skill.

                Cooldown: None (But will slowly damage the player by a random number between 100 to 250 HP per second after the first use)

                Suddenly, my whole body, besides my head, began glowing in a red and white aura. Then, memories began pouring into my head. The first time I’ve used it. The time I had to use it in a last-ditch effort. The time I used it against the monster that had killed them all. I bit on my tongue to stop the memories, drawing blood as I unleashed the power, just as the kid unleashed his attack right back at me.

                “GOD’S TEARS!” I mentally cringed at the name. I knew the magic attack, and I couldn’t believe this kid managed to learn this magic. Oh… no.... That skill would be absolutely devastating, even with my buffs and him being a low-level player. I quickly slammed my feet directly into the ground and took up a defensive stance instead.

                “It’s been a while since I used this…’” I said to myself, chuckling at the irony as I quickly spread my feet wide and put my fists on my hips. With a glare, the kid yelled to the heavens as I felt the power overtake me. The calmness of the stance rolled over me, and I closed my eyes as I tried to relax.

                Stance: Annun Seogi

Class: Taekwondo

                Effect: +50% to defensive stats and reaction time. Buffs defensive skills by 50%.

The kid looked at me in overconfident amusement as he thrust his right hand forward. Suddenly, water magic began condensing in the air within seconds. And within those seconds they all began falling down at me. Giant teardrops were falling out of the sky, and when they landed on the ground, it didn’t just soak the land. It made craters due to how powerful the impact was.

                I breathed out calmly as the teardrop nukes began falling on me. Closed eyes opened to blue sparkling pupils as I stared at the attack with a sense of peace.

                “Blows of a Fighter’s Peace.” I said calmly, and my aura became from violent, roaring red to a calming river blue.

                Skill: Blows of a Fighter’s Peace

Class: Miscellaneous

                Effect: Can only be used while in a defensive stance and can only be used defensively. Deflects all Magic and Physical damage. Can be penetrated via special effects.

Duration: 10 Seconds

                Cooldown: 3 Minutes.

                As the nukes fell, I felt the aura around my fists double, and then…

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

                I unleashed a storm of fists towards the water nuke of a rainstorm. All the tears that were headed right at me were unleashed right back at the kid. The kid’s eyes went wide, then he smiled. I cursed as he unleashed a giant blue shield, which absorbed the deflected magic attacks. Then, the shield began growing and growing, until the kid transformed it into a water blade the size of a skyscraper.

                This was the power of a level forty mage?! Holy moly, if this was the extent of a well-trained mage that wasn’t even halfway to max level… I shuddered as I thought of what could happen if I fought against a level one hundred mage. Then I focused back onto the fight. I stared at the blade, which the kid whirled around his head. Then he swung it downwards.

                I barely managed to throw myself sideways when the ground below me exploded in a shower of dirt and grass. I glanced backwards, and my eyebrows skyrocketed as I paled. The blow made a slash so hard that the hole reached the underground barrier, as shown by the small piece of glowing blue forcefield at the bottom. That was at least a few tens of miles down! I glanced back at the kid and realized something with a jolt of hope as I was about to give up right there and then.

                The blade was… smaller? I stared at the magical attack in Medicus’ hand in surprise, for a second, trying to process what had just happened. Then I began formulating a plan. The blade was too powerful not to have something that limited its practicality, at least at this time and level. The blade seemed to be growing shorter, and less powerful every time it was used. I grinned as a plan began slowly emerging.

                It was just like this one fighter I fought a while back, who excelled in a short battle, but drawn-out ones were his weakness. I beat him with a strategy that I was going to use on this kid. Praying it will work, I enacted part one.

                First, I had to taunt him, as much as a douche-baggy gamer full of hate, toxicity, and hot garbage could. Luckily, playing other online games had prepared me for this.

Though... I never really expected to use my experience like this before.

                “Hey kid! Imagine using water magic!” I said in a mocking tone. The kid tried to keep up his calm facade, but I could see his left eye twitching as he prepared the blade once more.

                “Everyone knows that the other elements are way better! Even earth! Imagine choosing water magic, the lamest one- WHOA!” This kid had no sense of decency huh. Attacking someone while they were talking, millennials these days have no respect for their elders!

                “Oh, great. You’re one of those kids that can’t take even a bit of trash talking huh?” I said as I dodged another slash. The kid didn’t respond but seemed to attack me even more fiercely as if I had insulted his own mother. Wow, he really was a child huh?

                 Well, you know what they say. Fight fire with fire. Or in this case, Childish insults with this guy.

                “Hey Medicus! Why don’t you relax and drink your water magic? It’s the only thing it’s good for!” I know. That taunt was super unoriginal, but it seems to have made something in him snap, and suddenly, he started yelling out random curses at me, and even at this distance, I could feel the air vibrate with power as he suddenly began swinging the sword with wild abandon, and soon I was forced to bust out my best moves as I danced between the slashes.

                 CRASH! BOOM! CRACK!