Chapter 7 - Abyss

"I see the reason you got me into this game. You just want me to be a punching bag for all the slimes and help you to level up, right?"

"Well...Yes and no. That could be one of the reasons, but there's someone that I need you to meet and..."

"And? Who's that someone, Ming?"

O O O

"So this is who you want me to meet, Ming?"

I bit my bottom lip hard. My heart was throbbing really fast, so fast that I felt that it could have jumped out from my chest and dropped to the hard floor with a loud thud. In real life, I wouldn't have felt that way in front of him. But that time, it was really something else.

Standing tall in front of me was an undaunted elf, whose aura was so strong that it stench the whole place. All his clothes, boots, accessories and shadow were all pitch-black, except for his long sword which was glinting brightly amidst the pure darkness that surrounded him. His midnight blue hair was tied in a long ponytail that fell to his waist into curly locks. If it wasn't for his eyes, I wouldn't have recognized him.

Those cold blue pupils were still burning aggressively in his fearless eyes.

"Are you sure we haven't met? I swear I've seen you somewhere before..."

"Then you must be blind," I seethed, clamping even harder onto the mace in my hand, "Either you have met me in your nightmare, or else, we haven't met at all."

Zheng clenched his teeth, causing his fangs to protrude out over his bottom pale lip. My legs turned jelly-o.

What kind of elf is he? A vampiric kind?

"You really know how to talk!" The vampire elf pointed his sword in my direction, "Let's see if you can beat me!"

In a split second, he dashed towards me at lightning-speed. As I was going to avoid being hit, my left shoulder felt hot all of a sudden.

HP -76

I saw myself the shiny red fluid dripping from my shoulder and armpit. I was so stunned that I did not feel the excruciating pain on my left arm. My eyes just remained blank staring at the morbid redness on the bloody arm.

I realised that I was no match for him. In short, I was doomed.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, PSYCHO? RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Suai's shrilling shout quickly woke me up to 'reality'. When I was about to get minced into pork chop by Zheng, I threw myself onto the hard floor, just barely avoiding his sword. Without having even one second to waste, I rushed out to the dining area, hoping that at least someone would give me a helping hand to get rid of Zheng. I knew that it was an act of cowardice, but what choice did I have? I either had to be a 'damsel in distress' or die.

But it was the very last thing in my mind that wherever Zheng goes, there would always be 'cheerleaders' to add the insult to my injury.

"Abyss, go beat the crap out of him! Give him everything you got!"

"Kick his ass, Abyss! Show him that you're the boss!"

"You are our champion! You are our lucky star! We love you, Abyss!"

Even all the cheerleaders from my college were there. It was getting more and more ridiculous. The crowd was growing larger and larger in the tavern to see our duel. It made it even harder for me to move and run around. The audience were not going to let me leave too, since they looked and sounded very eager in seeing my backside getting kicked by Zheng.

There were no options left. There was just one thing to do. I had to face Zheng. Even if I had to do it alone, I would do it.

"Aren't you going to run anymore?" Zheng teased mockingly, "Or are you just thinking of what to say as your final words?"

"Dream on, Zheng! The worst thing that can happen to me is my level drops by one, right? Worse come to worst, I just have to die today and fight you another day!" I brandished my silver mace, "Ladies first!"

"You asked for it!"

Like a flash in the darkest storm, Zheng sprinted again towards his target- this time, it was my head. I immediately murmured the magic words that came just in time into my brain,

"Invisible shield!"

Tiang! Tiang! Kang!

My right hand was quite sore from having to hold the colourless shield and blocking every of his attacks. I was never a fast and strong fighter, since Suai forced me to use up almost all my experience points on 'Physical Defence'. Maybe two or three points were spent on 'Agility'. Or maybe there was none at all.

In conclusion, I was a pure defensive fighter or also known as 'the punching bag'.

TIANG!

To my disbelief, my shield broke instantly. It shattered into many crystal pieces, which dropped onto the ground and vanished into the thin air. My jaw also dropped to the ground, and I knew that I, like the 'expired' shield, would vanish into the thin air. Just like what I thought, Zheng kicked me in my stomach, forcing myself to spit a gob of fresh blood at his cold face. I began to pity all the footballs that were kicked by him. His kick was so hard I could hear a loud crack in my spine.

"Is that the best you can do, you good-for-nothing brat?" Zheng grabbed me by my collar and glared me in the eye again, "Do you know that whenever I see your face, it reminds me of someone I detest?"

I laughed in a painful delight, "Really? Then I need to thank her for pissing you off and punching your ugly face!"

In an instance, Zheng's eyes turned large into saucers of bewilderment. My heart skipped a beat. Did I just blurt out carelessly that I knew that the girl that he detested the most had given him a sandwich knuckle as his special lunch?

I wanted to kill myself right there, right then. But I knew perfectly that Zheng would do the honour for me.

However, instead of stabbing into my stomach and feeling the pleasure out of my misery, Zheng's gleaming blue eyes continued to be scrutinising my face, as if it was full of disgusting acnes and pimples. I stared at him in wonder.

"Does he already know that I'm actually a..."

"What's going on here?" A distinct roar echoed and broke the awkward silence, "You're not allowed to have any duels here!"

"Ouch!" Zheng had tossed me impolitely onto the floor, "Watch it! Ni si-"

My mouth stopped halfway. I was going to call him 'Wang ba dan', but that was what I always used to call him at the college. It would be too risky. If I was not careful enough, I may have revealed my own secret.

"Psycho!" Suai ran towards me as if he was never injured before, "Are you okay, dude? You look pretty in bad shape. Wolf-dage, can you heal him?"

"Not a problem."

After the half-wolf had spoken, it was only then I realised that he was the owner of the loud roar a short moment ago. In fact, I never noticed that he was actually a beast in the form of a wolf until Suai called him 'Wolf-dage'. I had been thinking that he was a human with some kind of skin disease or something.

"Xie xie ni, dage, (Thank you, big bro)" I flexed my left arm to check whether it was functioning well, "You're a very kind person."

"Bu yong ke qi, (You're welcome)" the wolf replied with smiling eyes, "But perhaps you should go now. I don't want my wife to see-"

"What is it that you don't want me to see, lao gong (dear)?"

A pretty girl in a beautiful robe suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Her once-rosy cheeks turned white at the sight of the tavern; its condition was already that bad that I did not think it could be repaired anymore without burning a large hole in the pocket. Most of the furniture was already ruined from the cuts and slashes, courtesy of Zheng and his stupid long bastard sword.

"Yu-lian, my dear," Wolf-dage smiled nervously, "Please calm down..."

From white, Yu-lian-dajie's face turned chilli red. This is bad.


*Dajie – Big Sis