"Mages have low agility; he can't get far! After him!" Skyslasher yelled as he chased Orson into the mist, immediately ordering his team to spread out and surround him.
"Skyslasher... watch out!" a teammate shouted.
With a loud crash, a massive tree toppled down in front of Skyslasher, nearly taking him out.
In *Infinite Dimensions*, the game's physics were almost as realistic as real life, with objects capable of being destroyed and environmental hazards that could deal devastating damage to players, especially during the early stages of the game.
Skyslasher laughed scornfully, "Is that all you've got? You think you can take down Dragon's Kiss Guild's future top tank with this? Pathetic!"
"You're overthinking it," Orson's voice echoed from the mist, mocking him. One by one, he knocked down several large trees, forcing Skyslasher and his team to dodge and scatter.
Everyone knew that mages were vulnerable in close combat; getting into melee range was usually fatal for them. But Orson had a clear strategy, manipulating the terrain to create obstacles that gave him optimal attack angles.
The fallen trees formed barriers ahead of Skyslasher and his group, while Orson slipped around like a ghost, hurling attacks from a distance. As one of the sword fighters tried to leap over the fallen trees, Orson hit him with a blast, killing him in seconds. His body vanished in a flash of white light.
"Damn it! What kind of gear gives him that kind of damage?" Skyslasher was alarmed, ordering his ranged teammates to cover him as he and his melee fighters charged at full speed.
Arrows and fireballs flew towards Orson, who calmly took a few steps back, letting all the attacks explode harmlessly in front of him. Unscathed, he taunted them with a smirk, "Your team's range is just as short as yours, bro."
The melee fighters gritted their teeth. In *Infinite Dimensions*, knights had the highest defense but were limited to about two meters of attack range, which made them similar to rogues in their short reach.
"The bastard's keeping us just out of range… but how is he hitting us from beyond normal mage distance?" one of Dragon's Kiss Guild's ranged players muttered in disbelief.
Everyone knew that some classes gained extra range when they advanced, but Orson was just a Level 8 mage!
Skyslasher pressed on, refusing to let up. Orson, however, kept a steady 21-meter gap, keeping them perpetually out of reach. Taunting them further, he launched another volley of fireballs, the scorching heat washing over his pursuers.
Skyslasher's tank, WarTyrant, was anxious. He remembered all too well how the L&H Guild's vice president had died horrifically to this mage's fireballs. And as tough as he was, even he wasn't sure he could survive it.
"Skyslasher, I'll cover you. Just grab the loot," shouted one of his teammates, a sword fighter, who charged forward to take the brunt of the attack. Unsurprisingly, he was immediately burned to ashes.
As he watched his teammate go down, Skyslasher roared in fury, "If I don't kill you until you rage-quit, I swear I'll eat dirt!"
Orson's gaze sharpened. It was no wonder Dragon's Kiss Guild had become the top guild in the U.S. in his previous life. Their members had a level of trust and coordination that far surpassed most other guilds.
After all, it took serious dedication for someone to willingly sacrifice themselves and lose experience points this early in the game just to cover a teammate.
"Impressive. You've earned a bit of my respect…" Orson said with a twisted smile. "So, I'll make sure you die quicker."
"You cocky bastard! You're dead!!" Skyslasher snarled, his eyes burning with hatred. Suddenly, Orson sensed a killing intent behind him—three dark shadows had slipped up, silent and deadly. They were rogues!
But Orson was no ordinary player. In the brutal hardcore mode, he'd survived for two years in nothing but scrap gear. His instincts were far beyond those of typical players.
In *Infinite Dimensions*, rogues had a stealth skill from Level 1 that allowed them to sneak up on targets for 10 seconds. If they landed a hit on vital areas like the head or heart, the attack had a high chance of dealing critical damage. However, due to their high equipment and skill requirements, as well as the sneaky nature of their playstyle, rogues were one of the least popular classes.
Still, encountering three rogues at once was unexpected, even for Orson.
One rogue closed in, his dagger gleaming coldly, so close Orson could feel the icy edge at his back.
Just as the dagger sliced through the air, the rogue realized something was wrong—the strike missed!
"Looking for someone?" Orson's voice came from above. The rogue looked up in shock to see Orson, his black hair flowing, floating midair with his staff aimed directly at him. A six-pointed star glowed on the rogue's forehead.
"A mid-air attack… What kind of move is that?!" Dragon's Kiss Guild members' jaws dropped.
ShatteredCrown arrived just in time to see the move, shouting, "Damn! Airborne kill!"
The girls in his party were equally stunned. The game had only been live for two days, and most players were still fumbling around with basic attacks. Yet here was Orson, dealing boss-level damage and outplaying the rogues, the mage's supposed worst enemies.
Most shocking of all was that Orson could multitask so seamlessly, even attacking mid-air. In a full-dive game like *Infinite Dimensions*, players' neural networks were directly linked to the game. Casting spells and aiming required concentration, or else they'd face magical backlash, failed attacks, or other penalties.
For Orson to pull off such stunts was beyond normal comprehension.
While top players from the SSR Guild could pull off impressive multitasking moves in other games, there was only one mage in *Sword and Conquest* who had taken it to this level: **Orgod**.
Two years ago, in the world finals, Orgod, the world's most powerful mage, had nearly single-handedly turned the tide with his ultimate forbidden spell, *Infernal Purgatory*, summoning eight elemental clones to launch a desperate attack that almost defeated the world champions.
"I feel like I'm seeing my master's shadow…" ShatteredCrown whispered, captivated. He'd watched that final match hundreds of times, memorizing every one of Orgod's moves. The second Orson had jumped, his movements had overlapped with those of his idol.
*Sighing*, Orson murmured, "Rogues and archers… my least favorite classes."
The two remaining rogues moved quickly to flank him, aiming to pin him down. Their synchronization and positioning were too well-executed to be amateurs.
Orson shook his head. "Guess I'll have to use my signature move: American Football Dodge."
Unable to dodge conventionally, Orson unleashed a series of fireballs at the ground beside him. The explosion propelled him sideways, putting a good ten meters between him and the rogues.
"Dude, is he a ghost or something?" ShatteredCrown muttered in shock.
"What the heck? He's using skills for movement…" Skyslasher's face went pale, his mind reeling at Orson's bizarre maneuver.
Orson couldn't help but chuckle at these newbies. The *Infinite Dimensions* combat system allowed for extreme flexibility, and using attack skills for movement was standard in hardcore mode.
Whether it was magic, weapon skills, shield techniques, or assassination moves—no matter how strong your stats were, if you couldn't adapt in combat, you were doomed.
Two fireballs later, the two rogues fell, dropping nothing but a handful of copper coins.
"Come on! Show me your moves. Let's see how many teammates you've got left to take the hits." Orson pointed at Skyslasher, who went pale. The damage, the agility, the control—this guy was leagues ahead of them.
Keeping a precise 21-meter distance, Orson continued to weave in and out, turning the hunt into an endless buffet at his convenience.