Gezi looked calmly at the player Huo Mie. Unlike other generals, Huo Mie was a player who did not use weapons; he fought using his powerful physique and mastery of elements.
The two sides looked at each other's panels and then prepared for battle. Gezi held his shield blade in his hand, while Huo Mie's fists were enveloped in terrifying, burning flames.
Suddenly, their expressions changed, and a blinding flash of light erupted. Their figures vanished from the arena.
A clash between level seventy players. Both went all out, their impacts creating constant sonic booms. Their figures reappeared in the arena. In his initial clash with Gezi, Huo Mie realized the opponent's strength was not inferior to his own, so he intensified his efforts.
The flames around his fists burned even brighter, forming fiery gauntlets. With gauntlets on, he unleashed a flurry of punches.
He instantly appeared before Gezi. Seeing the incoming fists, Gezi clashed his shield blades, creating a shield before him. The terrifying punches struck the shield with no effect. Just as Huo Mie moved, Gezi's shield blades swiftly parted, transforming back into blades. They slashed out, golden blades tipped with spikes heading for Huo Mie.
Huo Mie realized the danger and rotated his body sixty degrees, deftly dodging the shield blades. At the same time, flames enveloped his legs as he kicked towards Gezi.
Gezi's hands reacted swiftly, returning to defend. The face of the shield blade acted as a perfect shield, blocking the attack. Gezi then flicked his wrists, transmitting a powerful force that sent Huo Mie's legs flying back.
Huo Mie retreated, taking several seconds to regain his balance. Their eyes met. Gezi looked at Huo Mie, who was no pushover. With even more terrifying power contained within his fists, Huo Mie unleashed a fiery projectile towards Gezi.
However, Gezi slashed his shield blades, launching two golden blade energies. Explosions sounded, and they charged at each other again.
Terrifying punches swung from all angles, while Gezi's shield blades parried and attacked.
The Holy Shield Knight was a hidden profession. This class could attack and defend, unlike ordinary shield users who only defended, especially heavy shield users, who were purely defensive, meant to protect themselves and their teammates.
Even their skills were geared towards defense. But the Holy Shield Knight, being a hidden profession, allowed shield users to become offensive.
This was how Gezi's shield blades worked; otherwise, the shield could not be split into blades. Gezi's initial profession was a Heavy Shield user, incapable of offense, only defense.
After all, that was the game's design, but the Holy Shield profession compensated for Gezi's shortcomings.
They continued to clash. Huo Mie, spotting an opening, threw an uppercut towards Gezi's chin. But Gezi's combat awareness was sharp. His left shield blade moved to his chin, the blade's face meeting Huo Mie's fist. Meanwhile, his right shield blade, glowing with golden light, shot towards Huo Mie.
Seeing this, Huo Mie abandoned his attack and crossed his arms. Flames erupted, forming a red vambrace on his arms. With a clang, the impact occurred, but Gezi lifted his body upwards, performing a scissored kick. His shield blade grazed Huo Mie's vambrace, and crescent-shaped blade energies struck it repeatedly.
With a crack, the vambrace dissolved into flames, and Huo Mie retreated.
Huo Mie looked at the Yege player before him. This guy was no simple opponent! It looked like another tough battle.
Then, armor appeared on his body, leaving his hands bare. He preferred fighting with his fists, which was why he had not created any custom skills or used elemental ranged attacks.
In the game Chrono Era, players could deviate from their class settings. For example, Huo Mie simply preferred fist fighting, even if an Elf player's abilities didn't suit him.
This kind of multi-faceted gameplay had always existed. Why couldn't an AP character be built as AD, or a tank character focus on offense?
The game's logic wasn't fixed; the settings were fixed, but human thought was active. Only by constant thinking and exploration could one find the true joy of the game, right?
Huo Mie was such a person. Relying on his fists, augmented by flames, he had fought his way to the top position as a general solely through his combat prowess. While not purely fist fighting, his strength was formidable.
Then, Huo Mie looked at Gezi and said calmly, "I'm getting serious now. I hope you can keep up!"
With a whoosh, Huo Mie vanished. Gezi was stunned. Such speed; he couldn't even see him.
Instantly, Gezi's body was sent flying forward, charging forward, and then soaring into the sky, as if struck by something. But Gezi hadn't seen anything.
Meanwhile, Chen Tian, watching with his Divine Eyes, clearly saw everything. He turned to Shu Zi Wu Que Nan and asked, "Shu Zi Wu Que Nan, are there any race restrictions in the competition?"
"No restrictions. As long as it's an eight-person team, it's fine. What's up, Chen Tian?"
"This Huo Mie is interesting. Perhaps I can recruit him for my team. I have high hopes for him!"
Chen Tian said with a confident smile. The opponent's playstyle was similar to his own, yet different. Chen Tian felt that such innovative gameplay was something any individual could be recruited to form a team with.
In Chen Tian's eyes, the speed and Gezi's subsequent flight were all caused by Huo Mie. Huo Mie had compressed all his fire elements and unleashed them in a burst, using the force of the explosion to increase his speed.
This was why Gezi couldn't see him. The force generated by compressing and releasing fire elements could be more violent than a volcanic eruption.
Gezi couldn't react in time. Coupled with the opponent's combat skills, he was sent flying into the air, losing his ground vision. This left Gezi vulnerable to attack in mid-air.
Although the opponent's stats didn't show any custom skills, his combat awareness was too strong. Even Chen Tian might not be able to match it.
On the arena, Gezi watched his health steadily decrease, his body tossed about. He took a deep breath.
Then, his shield blades converged into a shield, which he slammed violently onto the ground. A terrifying wave of energy swept the surroundings, and Huo Mie instantly appeared before Gezi.
Gezi spread his glowing wings and flew above the arena. The rules didn't state that one couldn't fight in the air; they only mentioned that leaving the arena meant losing.
Huo Mie also spread his fiery red wings. Their eyes met. Huo Mie said calmly, "Breaking through with sheer force. A clever tactic!"
"You're not bad either. You managed to break all my armor and take 20% of my health. Your combat skills are far superior to mine!"
Ye Ge praised with satisfaction, but Huo Mie showed no emotion. They looked at each other.
They engaged in battle once more, this time with even greater intensity.
Gezi's shield blades slowly appeared on his arms as if fused with them. With each swing of his arm, countless golden blade energies shot out.
Then, Gezi rubbed his left and right hands together, one above the other. The shield blades aligned, forming a diamond-shaped golden shield before him.
He then pulled his hands apart. Weapon's third form: Shield Arm Blade!
Huo Mie watched the countless golden blade energies and swung his fists, deflecting them all.
Huo Mie looked at his fists, which glowed with a red flow. The flames solidified. The opponent also possessed the mastery of the Jun tier.
However, ordinary Fire Spirit Race players didn't use it as proficiently as Chen Tian. They had to pay attention to the elemental attribute, so they used it cautiously. Chen Tian, with his exclusive equipment, didn't need to worry and researched it obsessively.