eFate: An MMO Story Chapter 83: Gio vs Glaivewind

"Just two more matches and we're into the top thirty-two. So far this tournament's a piece of cake," said Eric, wiping the blade of his falchion with a cloth that Griffin had provided.

"You gonna be okay Eric? Your last match looked a little shaky," Ryan greeted him, returning from his own match.

"You're the one who should be careful. I've been watching your matches, and Seryllia's in your pool," Eric replied, wearing a vicious grin.

"You still think she's good just cause she beat you? As soon as she gets one of us as her opponent she loses," Jun said derisively.

Eric arched his brow, "You're underestimating her. She's fast, strong, and she's totally relentless. If you're not careful, she'll destroy you."

"Yeah right. Even Griffin will beat her easily, and that's if she doesn't lose before she fights one of us. If you can beat her, any of us can," Jun replied.

"Leave me out of this. Seryllia is scary," Griffin muttered.

"See? Griffin agrees."

"Whatever. Are there any strong fighters in your bracket? Are you and Rob gonna be able to make it to the top thirty-two?" Jun asked, changing the subject.

"We should be fine. There might be one guy?" said Rob tentatively.

"The archer?" Eric asked.

"Yeah."

"I can't tell if he's strong, or if his opponents are just weak. But yeah, he's the one I'm most worried about. There's also that Mikasa chick. She's pretty damn good for a dual-wielder, but she doesn't seem as good as the other guy."

"Mikasa? White elf chick with a pair of swords?" Ryan asked.

"Uh yeah. That's her. She part of your sword group?" replied Eric.

"Yeah. I wasn't sure if she'd be participating though. She's fairly strong. But she usually can't beat me unless I mess up. So you guys should be fine."

"Good to know."

"I'm up. I'll see you guys in a sec," Mark interjected, standing up and making his way over towards the opposite end of the arena.

"Have you guys been watching the group matches? Anyone that stands out there?" Eric asked, turning to the rest of the group.

"There are a few actually," Jun replied, an uncharacteristically serious expression appearing on his face. "The two who stand out the most are a blond archer chick with insanely good aim, and a warrior wearing a mix of leather and plate armour who's using a greatsword. Then there's a red-headed spear-user and a guy using hand-weapons."

"The blonde's a friend of mine. And the spear user should be someone I know as well, but the other two I'll have to check out after this match, be back in a second guys," Eric said with a grin, heading back to the arena.

Turning to Jun, Ryan looked at him with surprise, "You've been watching the group A matches?" he asked Jun, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah. I've already finished checking out our own group. Don't tell Eric, but Seryllia is actually pretty decent looking. At the very least Eric wasn't lying about her almost beating him. She's good," Jun replied.

"Tom's been teaching us moves in his spare time when we're done our work at the forge. Seryllia's his favourite student because she learns them all so quickly. I swear it's the only time I've ever seen her smile. She's scary," Griffin added, shivering slightly at the thought of facing his fellow blacksmith's apprentice.

"Is she really that good? I know she's been getting a bit of a reputation as a player killer around Tonbura recently. But come on, so has Gio, no offense Gio," said Ryan.

"Uh-huh," Gio replied. "My match is starting soon, I should get going."

Moving aside to let Gio out of the seats, Griffin gave Ryan an annoyed look, "You haven't watched her practice. She uses a huge axe, and she's really good with it," Griffin promised darkly.

"I'm more worried about the archer in Rob's group, and the assassin guy in Mark's group. I'm fairly sure they're here together too. They both sit together along with that greatsword guy from group A," Jun replied, watching as Gio made his way towards the arena floor.

"I can't believe someone's actually managed to play as an assassin. I tried using just daggers a few days ago, and it felt terrible against most monsters. Goblins were fine, but using it against anyone with a spear or sword felt almost impossible. They just have too much range," said Ryan.

"He's got a few skills that help him out from what I've seen," Mark added. "From what he's shown, he's got two different dashes, and at least one attack skill that seems to suit daggers. It's possible he's found a hidden teacher."

"Could be. It's not like we're the only group with someone that has a unique skill," Jun replied, looking at Griffin.

Seeing this, Griffin flashed Jun a grin, "Jealous?"

"You wish," Jun replied, turning back to look at the action below.

Laughing, the rest of the group settled down, getting ready to watch Eric's match.

Eric's fourth match was uneventful. His opponent was a mid level, younger player who'd gotten lucky with his matchups in the first three rounds, fighting various low level players who were even weaker than himself. Unfortunately for him, his road ended here as Eric was far stronger than his previous opponents had been.

Dispatching his opponent with a simple slash of his sword, Eric made his way off the stage as Halfthur announced the result of the fight.

"Erick Kysfyr advances to the next round! Blade Bladez is eliminated," Halfthur announced.

"Damn Eric. You're bullying little kids now?" Ryan teased as Eric made his way back to the stands.

"Didn't you beat a girl younger than him just last fight?" Eric retorted.

"She was a halfling, who knows how old she really was," Ryan replied innocently.

Rolling his eyes, Eric turned to check the projector, "How's Gio doing?"

This time, it was Rob's turn to reply, "He just started. He's against a guy who started in Hamour Village with me."

"He any good?"

"He seemed average. Did ok with the spear in the tutorial. But he never struck me as anything special."

Gio's opponent was a brown haired man with a ponytail who looked to be in his early twenties. Holding a spear and wearing light leather armour, the man could easily trade his spear for a laptop and he would not have looked out of place in a coffee shop, Eric thought as the referee approached to begin the fight.

As they watched, Gio's fight began. Charging forward, Gio used Shield Rush, a skill that combined Charge and Shield Bash, to slam heavily into his opponent.

Flying backwards, the man rolled to his feet, stabbing towards Gio with his spear as Gio attempted to follow up on his charge.

Blocking awkwardly, Gio's momentum was stalled as he was forced to turtle behind his shield. Slowly advancing towards his opponent's position.

"He needs to just bite the bullet and charge in. He had the right idea the first time," Eric commented.

Jun nodded, "Gio doesn't have enough offensive skills. He has to rely on Charge and Shield Rush to get in on an opponent with more range than him."

"His opponent's technique isn't anything special. But Gio's not really used to fighting spear wielders," Ryan added.

On stage, Gio was slowly forcing his opponent towards the edge of the stage. Taking another step backward, his opponent suddenly found himself out of room to retreat.

"Tsk," the man snorted, darting to the side in an attempt to escape his predicament.

Seeing this, Gio lowered his shield, swinging his sword to cut off his opponent's path. Raising his spear, the opponent countered, blocking the swing with a well executed Guard.

Tilting his spear, the opponent swung the butt of his spear at Gio's legs, slamming the shaft into his unprotected shins. Wincing, Gio instinctually took half a step backward, buying the opponent just enough room to dart past him, escaping from the edge of the ring.

"Damn," Eric sighed as Gio was forced to begin cornering his opponent all over again.

"Shit," Ryan swore, watching his friend's healthbar slowly lowering as the spearman landed the occasional glancing blow on Gio's exposed limbs.

Unable to take it any longer, Jun stood up, "GIO. CHARGE HIM YOU DUMBASS!" Jun shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth to make himself heard over the roar of the crowd.

Whether or not Gio heard him, it was unclear. But the situation in the ring remained the same, with Gio advancing and his opponent retreating, both attempting to shave off tiny slivers of each other's healthbars.

Activating Shield Rush once more, Gio charged forward, attempting to catch his opponent unawares. As if he'd been waiting for this, Gio's opponent activated a skill of his own, dodging to the side and thrusting his spear towards Gio's unprotected neck.

Chapter end