Bick the Renegade’s Grimoire

‘Ouch, ouch, ouch…’

Qing Bai clutched her forehead, wincing in pain as she scrambled to her feet. The game’s pain sensory system was remarkably acute, or perhaps her pampered upbringing in real life had simply rendered her unable to endure the slightest hardship.

‘How utterly embarrassing, truly mortifying.’

She suddenly realized she had stumbled and fallen flat on her face in front of two other players, a blush creeping across her fair, pretty features.

‘Can someone really trip over nothing even in a virtual body?’ Yue Mingyan wondered, barely suppressing a laugh as he observed the clumsy mage player before him.

“Are you alright?” Tian Jiu asked timidly from behind Yue Mingyan, seemingly uncomfortable with strangers yet still offering a kind inquiry.

‘How could anything be wrong? I’m not even in combat, and besides, this game doesn’t have a health-loss mechanic for falling from a height; this wouldn’t even deduct 1 HP…’

Despite her internal grumbling, Qing Bai nodded awkwardly.

“No… I’m fine.”

“Thank you…”

Though her thanks were barely a whisper, they revealed her usual refined upbringing, and seeing her politeness, Yue Mingyan couldn’t help but feel a slight surge of goodwill.

“Are you in such a hurry because you’re after that field boss?”

Yue Mingyan gestured towards the field boss that had suddenly appeared not far away, offering his words with good intentions.

“Why don’t we form a party and take it on together?”

“No need!”

Qing Bai’s heart leaped when she heard Yue Mingyan seemed to be eyeing the boss, and she quickly refused.

“I can handle it on my own!”

“Oh, alright then.”

Seeing her reject his kind offer, Yue Mingyan could only respond with a helpless shrug.

‘It seems this boss drops some rare items, perhaps even a Companion-tier weapon.’

Yue Mingyan mused, understanding why Qing Bai had refused so decisively; it seemed she was worried he would snatch her spoils.

Since that was the case, he no longer insisted on forming a party to help her fight the monster.

Qing Bai turned, slowly approaching the field boss that had abruptly materialized.

In truth, she couldn’t be blamed for being petty (TL Note: A Chinese idiom, ‘xiaodu jichang,’ referring to someone who is narrow-minded or stingy with their possessions or feelings), as the equipment dropped by this boss was simply too crucial for her, making it impossible to let Yue Mingyan interfere.

This was a humanoid boss, its tall frame cloaked in a tattered black magic robe, clearly indicating it was a boss that would drop mage equipment.

As Qing Bai slowly drew nearer, the boss’s name appeared above its head—’Bick the Renegade.’

Qing Bai had no idea what kind of backstory the GM (Game Master) had set for it, nor did she have the inclination to ponder such trivialities at the moment. She only knew, from a whispered rumor, that defeating this boss would drop the Companion-tier weapon it wielded.

She had already chased this boss, which roamed between various small zones, through three different areas, finally cornering him here.

‘Hoo~’

Reaching the boss, she gently exhaled, casting all other thoughts aside.

She adored the game ‘Companion God Realm,’ so much so that even after accidentally deleting her previous account, she would immediately create a new character in a new server to continue playing.

Qing Bai gazed at the Level 20 boss before her, which was one level higher than herself, and slowly drew out her staff.

She loved combat in VRMMORPGs; the realistic sensations and fantastical world allowed her to temporarily forget the myriad struggles of reality.

Here, she didn’t have to play the role of a demure and charming young lady from a prominent family; instead, she could fully unleash the innocent and lively side of her nature.

“Divine Speed!”

“High-Speed Chant!”

“Combat Instinct!”

“Spirit Demon Chant!”

“Mana Recharge!”

…

“Oh?”

Yue Mingyan watched Qing Bai, who was layering buffs on herself not far away, with a flicker of surprise and interest in his heart.

She was, unexpectedly, a seasoned RPG player, exceptionally skilled at stacking all her enhancement buffs before initiating combat and drawing aggro. Among these, ‘Divine Speed’ was a gun-system enhancement buff skill, and only those intimately familiar with the game would know that some enhancement skills could still be used even if they didn’t align with one’s weapon.

For instance, the gun-system’s ‘Divine Speed’ could be used by mages, swordsmen, or even those fighting bare-handed; it was a skill without weapon restrictions, serving to boost one’s action speed.

Action speed, a distinct concept from both movement speed and casting speed, provided a certain boost to both, though the numerical values themselves wouldn’t change.

Simply put, when running, one’s legs would move faster, thus increasing movement speed. When channeling skills or spells, the staff would be wielded more quickly, leading to faster skill casting.

“Tian Jiu, do you see? That’s the classic combat style of an RPG.”

Alice had finally found a combat method that wasn’t as abnormal as Yue Mingyan’s, using it as a template to guide the novice Tian Jiu.

“A field boss won’t generate aggro towards a player until it’s attacked. Even if you stand in front of it and stack all your buffs, it won’t attack you. However, in a fixed-location boss room, no matter what you do, the boss will lock its aggro onto a player.”

“Aggro is calculated based on mana consumption: the higher the mana cost of a skill, the higher the aggro generated. Additionally, basic attacks and aggro-generating skills used by tank classes, such as ‘War Cry,’ will produce varying amounts of extra aggro.”

“If the player with the highest aggro is killed by the boss, the boss’s next aggro will randomly lock onto another player. This continues until that player is defeated, or until another player generates more aggro than the currently locked-on player. This is precisely why it’s so difficult for other teammates to survive once the tank falls.”

“For your Priest class, once you enter a boss battle, don’t cast any skills initially. Wait until the tank player has firmly established aggro with their skills, then you can focus on healing the most injured teammates. There’s no need for you to step forward and attack; by attacking less and casting fewer skills, you’ll reduce your own aggro…”

“Oh, I see…”

Tian Jiu listened intently to Alice’s instruction. After all, the fundamental reason her teammates had scorned her last time was her indiscriminate use of skills, which caused the boss to lock its aggro onto her. Once she fell, the boss’s aggro would randomly transfer to someone else, ultimately leading to her entire party’s wipe.

Just as Tian Jiu was engrossed in Alice’s guidance, Qing Bai’s battle had already begun.

“Burst Energy!”

Leveraging her own incredibly fast casting and action speeds, Qing Bai immediately unleashed a high-damage, five-mana-cost skill upon the boss.

Bick the Renegade, adhering to the excellent qualities of a field boss, absorbed the skill Qing Bai unleashed upon him while he had no aggro towards any player. He took the full brunt of the damage, and only after his health dropped by a tenth did his aggro finally lock onto Qing Bai.

“Ice Lance.”

Bick extended an arm from beneath his tattered magic cloak, a dark purple grimoire prominently clutched in his shadowy hand. He flipped through the grimoire, channeling three icy spearheads into existence in the air. These projectiles aimed directly at Qing Bai, then shot forth like arrows released from a bow.

“Ice Lance!”

Qing Bai remained utterly unperturbed, likewise casting the mage’s ‘Ice Lance’ skill. She raised her staff high, conjuring three identical ice lances in the air, which then hurtled towards the incoming attacks. The six ice lances collided, shattering into a flurry of frosty shards and cold air that gradually dissipated in the sky.

“Ooh, now that’s something. Using a one-mana-cost offensive skill like ‘Ice Lance’ to block an identical offensive skill is far more efficient in both effort and mana than casting the three-mana-cost defensive ‘Elemental Shield’ spell, which most mage players use.”

Yue Mingyan watched the scene, narrating and praising simultaneously.

“This is where VRMMORPGs hold more charm than regular RPGs: as long as the damage of the skill you cast is greater than or equal to the damage of the skill cast by your opponent, under the same nature, it can be nullified, or even pierced through.”

“However, do note that it must be of the same nature. For example, a physical attack, like a swordsman’s skill, can theoretically block other physical attacks with lower skill damage, such as those from spearmen and archers. But it cannot nullify a mage’s magical attack, unless their skill also carries magical damage.”

“Furthermore, this also demands a high level of precision in a player’s skill usage; this can only be achieved if your skill accurately strikes the opponent’s skill.”

Alice also joined the commentary, conveniently teaching this game mechanic to Tian Jiu.

‘Though as a novice and a Priest, Tian Jiu probably won’t even need this mechanic…’

‘This mage player seems like a high-tier player; dealing with this field boss should be a piece of cake for them.’

Yue Mingyan thought silently, only to notice the tide of battle had shifted.

“Wind Blade.”

Bick flipped through his grimoire, once again chanting a wind-attribute single-target offensive spell.

“Wind Blade!”

Qing Bai, following suit, cast an identical spell, attempting to nullify the attack before finding an opening to counter.

“Wind Blade. Wind Blade. Wind Blade.”

To her astonishment, Bick rapidly flipped through his grimoire, channeling three ‘Wind Blades’ within a single second!

!

“Elemental Shield!”

Qing Bai was instantly flustered, hastily deploying her Elemental Shield for defense.

“What’s going on? How is this boss casting magic skills so quickly?!”

Yue Mingyan was also taken aback; a Level 20 boss shouldn’t, by all accounts, possess such rapid skill-casting speed.

“It’s the weapon he’s holding.”

Alice, however, immediately spotted the problem—or rather, she simply told him the reason directly.

“That’s a Companion-tier weapon, ‘Bick’s Grimoire,’ and it massively increases casting speed.”

“Ah, well, aren’t you worried other players won’t be happy that you’re just telling me about someone else’s Companion-tier weapon’s characteristics like that?”

“It’s fine. This Companion-tier weapon is bound to become very famous later on, given its powerful attributes, so it really doesn’t matter.”

Alice merely shrugged, unconcerned.

“Alright, you’re right. The characteristics of Companion-tier weapons can’t be hidden forever; after participating in a few large-scale events and PvP battles, other players will inevitably learn about them.”

Yue Mingyan said helplessly, recalling his time on the old server. It was only after he earned the title ‘Greatsword Master of Frenzy’ that everyone learned he could severely injure multiple opponents with a single blow—referring to his Companion-tier skill, ‘Heavy Strike.’

These Companion-tier skills and weapons were akin to superpowers within this RPG, and once players used their ‘superpowers’ in battle, they could no longer keep them hidden.

That was, of course, under normal circumstances…

For someone like Yue Mingyan, it was likely that no player or boss could force him to use his active Companion-tier skill. Oh, and of course, his passive Companion-tier skill, ‘Nimble Control,’ was always active.

Yue Mingyan pulled his thoughts back, refocusing on the battle unfolding before him.

As soon as Bick’s advantage in casting speed became apparent, Qing Bai was immediately put on the defensive. She could only activate her Elemental Shield to block unavoidable magical skills and maneuver to dodge Area of Effect (AOE) skills, finding no opportunity to launch an attack.

Moreover, as a boss, Bick had no mana cost to contend with. Meanwhile, Qing Bai, despite activating the ‘Spirit Demon Chant’ buff which returned a portion of mana upon skill use, found her mana pool unable to withstand prolonged consumption.