章 15: Chapter 2933

Mage God Gaia, a legendary expert who had risen during the middle stage of the game during Shi Feng's previous life, which should have been four to five years from now.

The rumours told Mage God Gaia was a man, but to Shi Feng's surprise, it turns out she is a woman. It made perfect sense; Gaia is the name of the goddess of life, why would a man call himself after a goddess?

Mage God Gaia's talent and luck were far beyond that of any ordinary person. When she was still a Tier 3 Great Mage, she found herself in a battle with a Tier 5 expert. However, she did not only hold her ground, but also managed to escape and survive!

The feat defied everyone's understanding of God's Domain and caused a great disturbance among the superpowers. It was an unanimously acknowledged rule that hierarchy among players was defined by their Tier.

The Promotion Quests to Tier 4 and above required the best resources and extraordinary talents. If there was a way defy this hierarchy and bridge the gap between Tiers, then this method was of utmost importance.

The various superpower investigated the mysterious expert, hoping to uncover the common-sense defying secret. What they discovered was that this Tier 3 Great Mage actually wielded one of the Ten Great Legendary Weapons.

From that moment forward, Ten Great Legendary Weapons had become a symbol of power and fear. The various superpowers desperately scavenged the numerous libraries of God's Domain for as single clue to one of these transcendental weapons. After all, whichever guild wielded one of the Ten Great Legendary Weapons, could transcend, not one, but two Tiers!

Shi Feng was very familiar with the power of the Ten Great Legendary Weapons as he had three of them. One was [Light of Two Worlds], the second was [Solomon's Sword], and third was the [World Staff], which he picked up from the Scholar's corpse.

As someone who had first-hand experience, Shi Feng had to acknowledge the Ten Great Legendary Weapons could indeed transcend Tiers, but only if the inferior player had also higher combat standards.

However, Gaia's feat to escape from the gap between Tier 3 and Tier 5? This was by no means an act of mere Attributes – No, this was the performance of a prodigy among prodigies! At the middle stage of God's Domain, Tier 5 experts had attained at least the Void Realm standard and were completely geared in Legendary and Fragmented Legendary Rank Items. This gap could never be bypassed by means of a single Legendary weapon!

One of the most indisputable iron rules of God's Domain told of the immense qualitative differences between Tiers.

Tier 4 experts who attained their Mana Domain could annihilated a 100-man unit of Tier 3 experts. However, Tier 5 beings were many times stronger than Tier 4 beings; it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

Tier 5 Spells were weapons of mass destruction, they had enough power to destroy an entire city, transforming it into a giant wasteland. For this reason, entire NPC kingdoms and empires feared Tier 5 beings.

If Tier 5 experts had attained their Mana Domain at the World Creation standard, they could suppress any Tier 4 player and could even massacre an army of about a thousand Tier 4 experts.

The impossible feat of Gaia, to fight, survive and escape from a Tier 5 expert, while still being a Tier 3 Great Mage, was nothing less than heaven defying. The incident shocked God's Domain because she had broken one of the game's iron rules.

When she promoted from a Tier 3 Great Mage to a Tier 4 Great Wizard, and crossed paths with the Tier 5 expert again, reports claimed it took her only a few seconds to massacre her opponent.

Afterwards, she joined the famous adventurer team Midnight Tea Party, and eventually become a Tier 6 God-ranked player known as the Mage God Gaia. As an unaffiliated Tier 6 God-ranked player, she became a massive headache for Super Guilds, she had even singlehandedly wiped several first-rate Guilds and Super Guilds from the face of God's Domain.

Shi Feng looked after Gaia as she entered into the combat zone.

Gaia has joined God's Domain much sooner during this life, or maybe she might leave God's Domain due to real life difficulties and returned 3 to 4 years later. Her talents have most likely not come to fruition yet, just like Violet Cloud when I first met her.

Anyway, the important thing is that she is here now and considering she is wearing an unfamiliar Guild Emblem means she hasn't been discovered by the Midnight Tea Party or isn't affiliated with any powerful background who might try to prevent her from joining Zero Wing. Furthermore, she hadn't obtained the Legendary weapon yet.

According to Shi Feng's knowledge, during the early stages of God's Domain, the majority of the independent team's members of the Midnight Tea Party had been unknown existences. The reason was different for every member, some never bothered to make themselves known to the public, some wanted to remain unknown and move in the shadows, while a few had yet to discover their astonishing talent.

Seeing Gaia's condition, it was clear to Shi Feng that she belonged to the latter category.

Midnight Tea Party was an extremely powerful adventure team, able to survive throughout a decade of God's Domain. Their combined combat power was enough to instil fear into Super Guilds' hearts. Shi Feng discovered that Endless Scars, the mythical expert who once ranked at number 1 of the Secret Pavilion's Expert List in the early stages of the game, was also a member of the Midnight Tea Party.

The adventurer team would have been a solid foundation for Gaia. If her loyalty was already intertwined with the Midnight Tea Party's members, recruiting her into Zero Wing would be extremely difficult.

For example, Violet Cloud and Cola were famous experts in the past; however, as they weren't affiliated to any guild, they readily joining Zero Wing. As for Aqua Rose and Gentle Snow, their loyalty already belonged to their respective guilds, they only joined Zero Wing after an internal calamity happened and their Guilds imploded.

Having a decade of experience in God's Domain, Shi Feng knew of an expert's loyalty for their guild. For this reason, Shi Feng didn't bother to poach experts already affiliated to a guild, such as Fithalia of Divine Tribe, in his previous life known as the Magic-eye Goddess.

I need to proof to her that Zero Wing would be a stable foundation for her to develop, which offers a bright future. Whatever trouble she encounters in the upcoming 2 to 4 years, Zero Wing should be able to support her in any way possible. I'll make sure of that.

Shi Feng then glanced to the young lady with long red hair – Rue.

As for her… I have no idea who she was during my previous life. But considering she is a close friend of Gaia, she is obviously welcome to join Zero Wing as well.

…

Gaia, who had stepped over the red line into the combat zone, glanced at her trusty staff.

[Inspect]

…

[Snowflake Staff] (Trash Rank)

Level 0

Equipment Requirements: Strength 1, Agility 1, Endurance 1, Intelligence 1, Vitality 1

Attack Power +1

Intelligence +1

Mana +5

Durability 5/5

Limited to Elementalist.

…

"Darn, speaking of Trash Rank…" Gaia mumbled to herself.

When she inspected her Bronze ranked Snowflake Staff, she discovered that it had been suppressed to Trash Rank, just like the Auction Arena rules had explained. If they win against these five experts, then they would receive a corresponding number of Auction Arena Points. These points could be used to upgrade her staff to the original rank, Bronze Rank, or exchange for an even better staff which she could take with her after the Auction Arena competition.

Gaia then quickly inspected her other equipment.

…

Novice Ribbon (Cloth Headgear, Trash)

Mage Apprentice Robes (Cloth Robes, Trash)

Copper Belt (Light-Armour Belt, Trash)

Embroidered Shoulder Pads (Cloth Pauldrons, Trash)

Magician's Replacement Gloves (Cloth Gauntlets, Trash)

Leather Wristbands (Light-Armour Bracers, Trash)

Cotton Legwarmers (Cloth Leg Guards, Trash)

Leather Shoes (Light-Armour Boots, Trash)

Leather Choker (Necklace, Trash)

The Drunk Wizard's Forgotten Ring (Ring, Trash)

…

Just as expected, all my Common, Advanced and Bronze ranked equipment is reduced to Trash Rank.

She heaved a deep sight.

Gaia expression was far from surprised. Even though she played God's Domain for only a month, her demeanour was that of an expert, she was calculative and analysed the situation calmly.

She then raised her eyes to her opponent standing on the other side of the battle zone. In between both fields was an illusory screen with a countdown time, counting down from 100.

[Inspect]

…

[Savage Bearclaw] (Berserker)

Level 0

HP 220/220

…

Savage Bearclaw's base health was 100 HP; however, he was armed with six pieces of Trash ranked equipment which gave +1 Endurance.

Seeing such a cute lassie stare at him so fiercely, all Savage Bearclaw could do was laugh out loud.

"Your group's Strength Rating is rated dead last? What a luck! I wish to thank you in advanced for the sweet Auction Arena Points." he snickered maliciously.

Gaia looked at him confused "Hm? Isn't your group's Strength Rating only one position higher?"

"Hehe, little miss thinks she is so clever," Savage Bearclaw chuckled "but the truth of the matter isn't as simple as you think. Didn't you recognize my Guild Emblem?" He pointed at his left chest, showing a small badge in the form of a crimson droplet.

Gaia recognize the Guild Emblem immediately; it was from Carnage Blood, a second-rate Guild who was an overlord in several NPC Towns. The town Gaia and Rue called home, Whitequartz Town, was also tyrannized and domineered by Carnage Blood.

Gaia's eyes widened subconsciously seeing the Guild Emblem. After a month being oppressed, fear for the guild had been subconsciously ingrained into the fabric of her soul.

Seeing Gaia's startled expression, a white light flickered across Savage Bearclaw's eyes "I see little miss isn't stupid."

Savage Bearclaw cleared his throat overbearingly "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Savage Bearclaw, Vice Commander of the Beast Blood Legion. I am actually a level 178 Tier 3 Berserker King and the supervisor of this group, assigned by Carnage Blood's upper echelons. The rules of this month's Auction Arena in Firewing Imperial Capital are a unique opportunity for new players. Therefore, Carnage Blood's Elders have decided that this is a good chance to introduce our workshop's new talents to God's Domain. All of them are close to Level 20, so they haven't even completed their first Promotion Quest. Apparently, the Auction Arena System has assigned a lower Strength Rating to our group because our average Tier is much lower."

"…" Gaia stared silently at him with a serene expression.

Savage Bearclaw creaked a sinister smile "Little missy, do you really think you have a chance against me?" he sniggered "But don't worry, I won't kill a cutie like you too quickly. We will have some fun first." He said before licking his lips unscrupulously.

"You sure talk a lot" Gaia said expressionlessly.

"You!" Savage Bearclaw gnashed his teeth "you, just you wait!"

The illusive countdown timer in the middle of the battle zone was already at 5.

…

System: Auction Arena match 1 commences.

…

As soon as the translucent barrier vanished, Savage Bearclaw stormed on to Gaia's side of the combat zone, holding his two-handed Sledgehammer in both hands.

Right off the bat, he utilized a characteristic Basic Movement Technique for low-levelled Berserkers to continuously steady his centre of gravity. This technique allowed players to run very quickly while holding their heavy two-handed weapons.

The Basic Movement Technique became redundant after Berserkers reached higher levels as their Strength Attribute could compensate for the weight of two-handed weapons; therefore, the movement technique was characteristic for low-levelled Berserkers.

Gaia, already aiming her staff toward her opponent, shot an ice shard.

The attack moved relatively slow, but the Berserker had all attributes suppressed to the point as if he had just created a new character, he couldn't dodge the attack because his agility was too low.

However, Savage Bearclaw wasn't planning to dodge in the first place, Elementalists dealt damage over time and fought medium to long-range, he had to close the distance as a soon as possible.

-16!

Seeing the small number, Gaia's pupils contracted.

Only 16 Damage? I need to hit him 12 more times?

Gaia's face became serious and shot another ice shard at the Berserker, who was only a few yards in removed from her.

-16!

[Blink]!

Blink was a skill exclusive to Elementalists. The skill allows the caster to instantly travel to a location some distance away, leaving an afterimage behind. The skill could be cast with a single thought, it had no activation gestures or incantations, making it extremely hard to discover.

Blink, as a Tier 0 Skill, had a teleportation distance of 15 yards; Tier 1 Blink, 20 yards; Tier 2 Blink, 25 yards; and Tier 3 Blink had a teleportation distance of 30 yards.

It was the best Lifesaving Skill of Elementalists, the only issue was the Cooldown of 12 seconds, which was very long in the high-speed battles of God's Domain. Thus, Elementalists couldn't cast Blink twice in a row, but had follow up with another Lifesaving Skill such as Ice Wall or Ice Barrier.

This strategy was exactly Gaia's plan, Blink, Ice Wall, Blink, Ice Barrier, Blink; then she should have hit her opponent at least 12 more times.

However, nothing happened after activating Blink.

What? I also have no skills?

But of course…

Savage Bearclaw used the momentum of his sprint to swing the Sledgehammer at her face. But due to her steady mindset and inherent reflexes, she dodged the sledgehammer in the nick of time, feeling the windflaw from the hammer along her face.

Now what?

She was an Elementalist, without any skills or spells, what is she supposed to do?

Savage Bearclaw was one of the few million veteran players of God's Domain, he had been playing the game since its release date. Some of his movements and attacks were Basic Combat Techniques, and his next attack was performed by means of such a Basic Combat Technique – Second Acceleration!

Savage Bearclaw immediately changed his footing, instantly turning his momentum around, and swinging the two-handed Sledgehammer at Gaia's back.

Seeing the sudden incoming attack, Gaia instinctively made a summersault, grazing past the Sledgehammer, which dealt 21 Damage to her.

What? So much damage from a scratch?

While still levitating weightlessly in the middle of her summersault, Gaia shot another ice shard at the Berserker.

-16!

Gaia managed to dodge the Berserker's attacks several more times, additionally landed another 5 hits on the Berserker, causing the Savage Bearclaw's health to drop below half.

However, while Gaia had excellent potential, she was still a beginner and had yet to be groomed into a true expert. She hadn't even developed the perception and coordination of a half-step Refinement Realm expert, and didn't know a single Basic Combat Technique. Even if the renowned Mage God Gaia of the past was born as a genius, nobody was born with inherent experience and prowess.

As the durability of Gaia's staff reached 0, it broke in two.

Gaia's health reached 0, and she, herself, transformed in yellow particles of light.