Game’s Dogma

The spear’s tip clashed against Zephyrwolf’s Crescent Slash. Both weapons bounced off one another.

Two men and one wolf separated from each other and backed off to one end of the room respectively.

Drako Yau chuckled and said, ‘Not bad, work harder.’

Zephyrwolf pretended to flex his biceps and answered, ‘Of course, you better get your class progression done soon, or I’ll knock all your teeth out one day!’ He then left in high spirits.

The spar was just to test if he had closed the gap between himself and the crazy bastard. After realising he had improved, Zephyrwolf was more than delighted as he left. Meanwhile, Drako Yau was hoping to learn more about Zephyrwolf’s newly acquired skills to determine how good his class was. From the looks of it, the Demon Wolf Hero class was a very decent one.

Each skill was inextricably connected to another. Dash N’ Slash was a powerful double dash skill which was the bane of long range players. Once the man-and-wolf duo closed in on their target, it was basically over with very little chance of survival.

Interestingly, Dash N’ Slash had a close relationship with other skills. The ‘Slash’ part of the skill was actually Demon Wolf Strike. To cast Demon Wolf Strike, he had to activate Wolven Battle Spirit, which required the demon wolf king Nene to be alive and in battle. Simply put, Zephyrwolf’s class was trash without Nene. To compensate for that weakness, there was the passive skill Wolven Blood to bolster Nene’s survivability.

When a class had skills which were interconnected, it was extremely powerful yet extremely fragile at the same time. In a massive brawl, Zephyrwolf would be rendered useless once the enemy first focused their attacks on Nene.

Drako Yau scratched his chin. The class didn’t exist in his version of the game, but it was just as intricate and delicately designed.

Greenstone, who had been observing the spar the whole time, opened his mouth to say, ‘Why hold back?’

‘What?’ Drako Yau feigned ignorance.

Greenstone was still void of any emotion as he said, ‘The demon wolf’s dash, you had enough time to dodge it. Once dodged, the follow up strike wouldn’t have taken place. You’re holding back.’

Drako Yau shook his head and laughed before answering, ‘He just completed his class progression. He’s pretty confident right now, there’s no need to pour cold water over him.’ He then looked at Greenstone. ‘That time, thanks a lot. The Ghost Flame I mean.’

Greenstone shook his head. ‘The Ghost Flame was from the demon city, something we all earned together. Also…’ He then flicked his palm, revealing several eerie green needles between his fingers. ‘It was enough for me to make a dozen ghost flame needles.’

The next day, unfamiliar faces appeared in Howl of the Tempest Wolves’ guild base. Those faces were unfamiliar to Yoda, but their fame was by no means unheard of.

Underworld’s Hades, Soulsmith, Bloodless Bladester, Everlastor…

Sky Dominion’s Sky Chun, Fong Sai Yuk, Shum Hung…

Allurers’ Dakki, her beautiful ladies, and their protectors…

They were all well-known figures, but for the sake of staying inconspicuous and mysterious, they either wore capes or veils to hide their faces. One after another, they entered Howl of the Tempest Wolves’ conference room. Everyone was startled when they took off their face veils.

In Real World, players could choose to hide their player ID. The method was simple: they only had to cover their faces with an outfit item. Common choices included capes and veils. Of course, that wasn’t enough to hide one from other’s investigations. For example, there was no hiding from players like Clairaudiencer from Empyreal Spire who had detection skills.

That was unless one had Drako Yau’s Mask of the Hidden Dragon, a high-tier outfit item which could block all detection skills. Even if Clairaudiencer maxed out his detection skills, he wouldn’t be able to discern Drako Yau’s character information.

It was still in the early stages of the game. While there were quite a handful of players who had detection skills, those players were still fairly low in numbers. As such, when everyone finally saw each other’s true faces, they couldn’t hide their astonishment.

‘Ohoho, Master Chun, what a coincidence.’

Dakki covered her mouth with her delicate hand and chuckled. Up against her arch-rival, she naturally wasn’t going to give him a friendly look. However, she was all jaunty right now.

The reason was simple. On the guild rankings, Sky Dominion had always been superior to Allurers by a single rank. It was why Sky Dominion members always provoked players from Allurers.

However, after a series of events, their positions had swapped. It was all for another simple reason: Mask.

Fong Sai Yuk, because of his youthful indiscretion, gave the order to attack Drako Yau’s squad, only to be dominated with absolute authority and overwhelming power. For a major guild like Sky Dominion, having all of their core members lose a level was a massive loss.

At the same time, because Allurers joined hands with Drako Yau’s squad and defeated Nin, they had obtained the event title. Dakki didn’t let such a great opportunity slip. Just like that, she filmed a video of her guild members, all of them equipping the title.

Apart from increasing the chance of getting good stuff in the lottery, the title itself didn’t provide any buffs, which was worlds apart from Drako Yau’s epic title. 

However, it was proof of their strength.

Who could defeat Nin with a single squad? We, Allurers, could!

As one waxed while the other waned, Allurers and Sky Dominions had swapped positions on the rankings. When the underdogs finally made a comeback, they subconsciously vented their long-suppressed anger and frustration through an inexplicable haughtiness. For that very reason, the two guilds had fought plenty of times.

‘Hmph!’ Sky Chun didn’t look too good as he said, ‘You people defeating Nin? Impossible.’

Dakki was completely unbothered by his denial and squinted her eyes in a smile, silently glancing at Mask who sat at the head seat. It suddenly hit Sky Chun, who then asked, ‘Mask was the one who defeated Nin?’

Dakki answered airily while maintaining her smile, ‘Master Chun should refrain from making wild guesses.’

It was that airy tone which confirmed his thoughts. At the same time, he was regretting it dearly.

Back then, Sky Dominion encountered Mask’s squad prior to Allurers, yet they had chosen the despicable move—to kill the group and seize their area.

If that young man hadn’t been so greedy… 

Sky Chun gave Fong Sai Yuk a fierce stare upon reaching that thought. Fong Sai Yuk lowered his head in silence, but his heart was actually racing in appallment much like his guild master.

Being defeated with bare hands in the last fight with Mask was the darkest stain in his life. For that reason, he had been training hard. However, after watching Mask’s hundred-win video, he realised the gap between them hadn’t closed in the slightest; or rather, he was even further from reaching Mask’s calibre.

‘Is everyone here?’ There was nothing to be made out of Drako Yau’s dull voice which originated from the Necklace of Deceit.

‘Brother Mask, what might be the reason for calling all of us over?’ Sky Chun clasped his palm against his fist with a smile.

For every 1000, then 2000, then another 2000 Likes on all chapters (1000 -> 3000 -> 5000), there will be bonus chapters! Register a Penana account and start Liking now for more chapters!