Game’s Dogma

‘Dodge this!’ Tigeroar stared at Drako Yau and took in a deep breath, then roared at Drako Yau who was slowed.

Level 20 Berserker skill, Growl. Stuns enemies temporarily upon landing.

Did it deal a lot of damage? No. Did it have quick travelling speed? No. Some berserkers didn’t even bother using this skill, but for Tigeroar, this was one of his ultimate skills.

Roar of the Forest Tiger was a secret cultivation style passed down his clan that focused on enhancing soundwaves. Whenever he used Growl, he’d infuse his internal force into the skill, granting it devastating power.

Ordinary players only fired off an invisible wave when they used Growl. For Tigeroar, his Growl shattered the ground dozens of metres ahead of him as soundwaves gathered to form a lively tiger that was ten metres tall. It charged towards Drako Yau with unstoppable momentum!

A tint of shock reflected from Drako Yau’s eyes. Just how powerful is this combination of a cultivation style and a skill!

While he had achieved initial accomplishments with Cryoflame style, his utilisation of it was only limited to Flame Form and Frost Form. Materialising his internal forces onto his limbs or weapons was his limit for now. If it came to infusing his internal forces into skills or even materialising it as physical attacks, that was still beyond him.

However… Drako Yau snickered. His Flame Form and Frost Form wasn’t going to lose to anyone!

Tigeroar’s internal force synergised with his skill to become a powerful attack skill. On the other hand, Drako Yau derived Flame Form and Frost From from his internal forces, both of which were splendid buff skills. The two forms were why he could fight toe-to-toe with the golden-haired young man back then.

Though it was Drako Yau’s trump card, he had no choice but to reveal them now.

Boom!

Tigeroar’s shockwave bombarded where Drako Yau stood, scattering dust and shards of rock everywhere. It was hardly thinkable that a skill originally designed to control the enemy could contain such power! Still, Tigeroar showed not a tint of delight as he looked around him.

Whoosh!

A blast of flames shot out from the cloud of dust. Tigeroar focused his eyes.

Clang! Spear clashed against sword.

Shooting Star was burning violently while Drako Yau’s arms were shrouded in flames. His mask was instead covered in frost. Tigeroar could feel the aura of internal forces from him.

A buff type ability?

Tigeroar swung his greatsword heavily with both hands and sent Drako Yau flying with the strike. Tigeroar was an extremist; he invested every attribute point he had into Strength! As such, his Attack was exceptionally high, and he was confident that he didn’t require other attributes.

Unable to resist the tremendous force behind the strike, Drako Yau was thrown ten metres back. The two returned to a standstill again. But Drako Yau believed that he wouldn’t lose against anyone as he felt strength surging within him from the Eight Diagrams.

‘Powers of your internal forces? Not bad. Don’t think you’re the only one though.’ Tigeroar remained calm before suddenly roaring, his body flashing crimson for a moment.

Drako Yau frowned. He could see the flow of air with Frost Form activated, and he noticed that Tigeroar’s aura intensified greatly after the flash. Strangely enough, he knew this was supposed to be the Berserker skill Iron-Blooded from the Blood Ritual skill tree.

‘Level 30 Berserker skill, Iron-Blooded. Lower Defence by 20 per cent in exchange for a 30 per cent buff to Attack.’

Thirty per cent? Drako Yau saw the flow of forces through his glacial blue eyes. This is at least fifty per cent, no?

Tigeroar looked at Drako Yau with bloodshot eyes in disdain. ‘Though my internal forces cannot buff me directly, I can infuse it into my buff skills to enhance their effects.

‘Mask, you’re no match for me. If this was the actual world, you might come up on top, but this is a game. And skills are what matters in a game. A person like you, who only uses martial arts, can never win against me.’ Tigeroar took out a circular rock from his item bag and asked, ‘You think I’m a berserker?’

The rock was black and smooth. A pattern of three parallel lines connected by a vertical line through the middle was engraved onto it. Tigeroar continued, ‘You’re half right. I’m an even rarer existence than hidden class bearers—because I have two classes.’

‘Come, Chun Tin!’ He tossed the rock into the air. It gave off a bright golden glow, followed by a tiger’s roar that seemingly shuddered the heavens.

A three-metre white tiger descended from the sky. It had snowy white fur and scarce black fur on its forehead in the shape of the rock’s engravement.

Tigeroar caressed the tiger beside him. ‘My second class is Beastmaster. I can’t form a close bond like Zephyrwolf and his steed, but I can tame monsters up to a certain limit. With beasts on my side and my Berserker skills, do you still think you have a chance of winning, Mask?’

Beastmaster was an extremely rare hidden class comparable to Moonnight’s Singer. The class only had a few skills, all of which weren’t offensive at all. Among them, the Capture skill allowed players to capture a monster and rear it for combat.

However, Drako Yau was more relieved than worried. Beastmasters could tame their first monster at Level 20 and second at Level 40. If Tigeroar had been Level 40, he’d be caught in a one-versus-three, and in that case, he really would have no chance of winning.

At the same time, he was amazed by Tigeroar’s shrewdness and his ability to keep his cards hidden. Despite climbing up the ranks to number two on the guild rankings, Tigeroar had never once revealed his beasts. He was truly impressed by the feat, though he sighed at it as well.

Such a way of living was too tiring. Apart from himself, Tigeroar could trust no one. There were no such things as ‘friends’, only beneficial relationships. Everyone was a pawn that could be used.

Drako Yau felt grateful for having his group of good friends. Greenstone, Zephyrwolf, Windstrider, Idyllic Poet, Danting, Hades, Soulsmith… There were too many to count.

He looked up and glared at his opponent with a weird look.

For the sake of my friends, I must not die here!

The same futuristic room, the same pair of male and female seated on the levitating seats.

The room full of blue electrical circuits was suddenly contaminated by a glowing red spot. It stood out like a dazzling star in the night sky.

The duo swept their gaze at the spot and let out a cry together.

‘A Drifter!’

‘What! A Drifter?!’

The Drifter’s presence rendered them speechless and shattered their emotionless guise.

‘What do we do?’ The female was at a loss of what to do. Unlike Mavericks, Drifters were like a virus—no one knew what it could bring about, perhaps a disaster.

The male recovered slightly from the initial shock, just enough to speak. ‘Let the Castellans decide.’

‘But… It’s a Drifter… From the looks of it, it’s been here for a good while. Why did we only discover him now… Could he have destroyed everything already…’

The man, somewhat annoyed, interrupted her and said, ‘Don’t forget our duty. Unless they break rules, we have to treat Drifters fairly as well. We are neutral, for we maintain balance.’

The female nodded. ‘But Drifters are despised and not welcomed here. Even if we don’t interfere, the Dominator will still bring him trouble.’

The male didn’t reply. Instead, he was already busy communicating with the Castellans.

Even if the system did bring trouble to the Drifter, it wasn’t their problem. They performed their duties of being impartial, like a balance in equilibrium. As for what to do with the Drifter—it was up to the Castellans to decide.

The two were transcendent after all.

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