Rivalry: Infinite Buff

Chapter 18- Left-handed Love

After napping for only three hours, Ivan was woken up by a noise coming from downstairs. His mind was racing as he tried to go back to sleep, he just tossed and turned so he decided to just get up. 

As he got dressed he was talking to himself, “This place is horrible. I am going to have to work really hard. Really, once the studio advances in the right direction, we should move to a better place. One where I have a damn bed. I am miserable here!”

It was a good time for him to work his way out of poverty, but too much pressure would not only hinder his development it could also cause regression. It was Rivalry that let Ivan see that there was hope. He knew it was very lucky that a person could find a job that he or she was interested in and had the opportunity to make good money. 

Ivan got a bowl of pasta from the kitchen, and after quickly shoveling it in his mouth he was full of drive and energy. He decided to get a shower but was suddenly distracted when he received a notification on his cellphone, “$19,800 was deposited in your debit card ending in 8860 at 10:35 am on May 20.”

“Yes!” Ivan yelled out loud. Though 1% tax had been deducted, Ivan still jumped up and down with excitement. The money was no big deal for the rich, but it meant a lot to him. If was the first large amount of money he had earned and it was definitely a good incentive to continue playing the game.  

“Thanks, Rivalry,” Ivan murmured genuinely.

He transferred $10,000 to Leo’s bank account. Ivan was a man of his word and never broke a promise, but he was still a little disappointed that half of his money was gone that quickly. Smiling with pride, Ivan put on his game helmet and entered the game. Knowing that he could earn so much from one night of gaming, he was confident that he had the capability to earn much more in the future. 

…

In the game, Ivan quickly checked his properties and equipment. Guru’s Heart still had 90% of magic left—it had a value of 90,000. It was his biggest trump card, so he needed to check it from time to time. As his level and skills advanced, the consumption of magic would increase accordingly so he had to restore it as soon as possible. 

The mission tip told him he had less than 20 hours for the task “Go to Loda”, so he opened the map and raced to Loda. It would be a quick trip as long as he didn’t run into any danger along the way. 

The road between Leaf Town and Loda was an official avenue with Loda patrols every so often. The strapping soldiers in simple armor were mostly above Level 20. Sometimes there were creeps with 10 to 20 levels popping up by the roadside, like brown bears and wild wolves, but most of them fled at the sight of the soldiers and dared not come near the avenue. Unless Ivan wanted to gamble with death and go deep into the mountains where there might be some creeps at the elite or chief level, he wouldn’t be put at risk. Ivan wasn’t about to risk a precious S-Rank mission with rich rewards. 

“Congratulations! You’ve found Flower Valley. AP(attack power)+15.”

Ivan ate two buns to restore his strength on the way. An hour later, he arrived at a secluded valley that was surrounded by mountains and gained 15 Aps. Even though it was a low amount compared to the 6,000 APs he got for killing Mirage, it still helped and the small increments would add up. 

The valley, ablaze with color, deserved the name “Flower Valley”. Beautiful flowers in all different colors littered the ground; red, yellow, blue, green, purple, white, pink. As Ivan was enjoying the scenery, he was a bit surprised that there was not a single bee, butterfly, or even an ant around. The valley was oddly quiet but then out of nowhere, Ivan heard the sound of a violent fight coming from the middle of the valley. 

No hesitating, Ivan ran toward to the battle and was shocked by what he saw. 

A huge ten-feet-tall creep was being hacked by a player of average build circling around it. Its upper body was human and gorgeous, even from a distance it was seductive and fascinating. Yet, only its upper body could entice others, its lower body was rather revolting. There were eight spider-like legs that were about the same height as a grown man. Ivan was chilled to the bone, he checked the names of the enemies; the creep was Hyper-toxic SpiderQueen and the other player was Left-handedLove.

“Hey, buddy, your ID is quite poetic.” Ivan approached the war zone and laughed. 

Left-handed Love was busy running and fighting. He was overjoyed to see someone here. “Buddy, don’t mock me. Give me a hand.”

Ivan cast a glance at his blood volume—only a quarter left. He was on the brink of danger, whereas SpiderQueen had lost only one-tenth of blood. He threw Heal at him and said, “I’m saving your life, not robbing you of the boss.”

Left-handed love replied, “Buddy, it’s OKAY. Let’s split the spoils fifty-fifty after taking out this chief-level boss. Yahoo, you happen to be a Priest. Please help me, haha.”

Ivan was moved by his generosity. “Don’t bother about the spoils. You’re a nice lad. I’d love to befriend you.”

Left-handed love was happy, too. “Great. I’ll add you. Let’s concentrate and knock off the b***h now.”

When he finished, Left-handed love raised the rapier in his hand which had a green gleam, and thrust it at SpiderQueen.

His attack was very simple, without fancy or complicated movements. He wielded the rapier in a way that not only corresponded to the aesthetics of attack but also did effective harm to the enemy and made several critical strikes at intervals. 

Ivan assumed that he was an old hand when it came to gaming. He confusingly asked, “Buddy, why are you using normal attacks instead of skills?”

Left-handed love responded with a smile. “Because I’ve transferred to Ranger and my master told me he wouldn’t teach me new skills until I became proficient at the basic skills. Thus, I can only employ three basic skills now: horizontal cut, s***h and thrust.”

Not he mentioned it Ivan didn’t notice Left-handedLove’s costume. To his surprise, he was dressed as a medieval knight and the weapon in his hand was the kind of rapier that most knights would use in TV dramas. The rapier was double-edged, but Ivan didn’t see the case because it was fastened on his back. In reality, a sword gave out no light, but in games, different weapons shone with different lights determined by quality.

“Cool. You have an ace occupation that appeals to girls. I wonder whether you can learn Parkour.” Ivan marveled.

“I’m just a newbie. How do I know? But I’ll try to find it out. In fact, I envy your occupation. A Priest is much sought after in battles against bosses and team fights. Let’s beat the creep,” Left-handed love said with a smile.

The two fought while chatting and half an hour later, Spider Queen had one-tenth of blood left. They were both very excited and ready to enjoy the fruits of victory until something unexpectedly burst out. There was a voice of another player not far from where they were, it was someone Ivan absolutely hated- SovereignWolf.