064 The Data Sovereign!

Morning Breeze was pushed onto the edge of the bed by the three beautiful women. Cheng Xue was the first to sit down beside him and said, “Morning Breeze, can I borrow your divine beast for a while? I’ve played this game for so long and never had a chance to ride a divine beast.”

Lin Shanshan, who usually liked to oppose Morning Breeze, suddenly changed her tune and took a seat on his other side. “Morning Breeze, let me borrow your two-headed flying dragon, just for a bit. I want to ride around the main city on it.”

“Morning Breeze, I have a difficult solo quest to complete. Can I borrow the two-headed flying dragon?” Zhang Xinting also asked to borrow his divine beast. She had believed her quest was impossible to complete, but with Morning Breeze having broken the seal on the divine beast and captured a ferocious two-headed flying dragon, she now thought she might actually have a chance.

Zhang Xinting used to be a professional player, so if even she found the quest impossible, it was clearly fiendishly hard. Morning Breeze couldn’t imagine just how difficult it must be for her to need a divine beast to complete it. Or, perhaps, his humanoid ghostly rhinoceros could have helped, but its level was too low to be of use.

Each national server had only one divine beast seal, and its origins were shrouded in mystery. It was easy to imagine how rare and valuable a divine beast was. Right now, it was impossible for the China server to have another sealed divine beast. Whoever caught one had truly struck gold; if they were willing to sell, they would make a fortune.

The divine beast incident had already attracted attention from other countries. Many wealthy foreign players were offering high prices to buy one; as soon as a player reached level thirty, the beast could be traded. Foreign players thought there were plenty of gaming studios in China, so with enough money, they should be able to buy one. Surprisingly, though, not a single divine beast was sold.

In-game, everyone dreamed of having a divine beast. Not only were their attributes monstrous, but they were also unique—if you could have one, you’d be unstoppable. Even Cheng Xue, who normally wasn’t fussy about gear or stats, wanted a turn with the divine beast. Everyone now understood: you could always get top-tier equipment, but a divine beast was almost unattainable. No matter how rich you were, if no one wanted to sell, you could never own one. The best pets in the game only had three or four skills, and none of them were special. Divine beasts, on the other hand, had unique special skills and passive abilities—they were truly peerless.

For players of Lin Shanshan’s caliber, riding a divine beast was something she’d never experience in her whole gaming life. Now that she knew Morning Breeze had one, she was desperate to try it. She just hadn’t expected Cheng Xue and Zhang Xinting would also be there, competing to borrow it.

“You can borrow it, but it’s only a loan. When I hit level thirty, I want it back!” Morning Breeze knew it would be impossible to refuse them. In any case, he didn’t really need the divine beast before level thirty; he still needed to train up his humanoid ghostly rhinoceros, so for leveling, he was using that pet most of the time.

Still, he made it clear: it was only a loan, not a gift. Since they all lived together, he wasn’t worried about them running off with his beast. Lending it was just to satisfy their vanity.

After dinner, Morning Breeze rested for a while and then logged into the game. Lin Shanshan borrowed the two-headed flying dragon to show off, and then handed it to Zhang Xinting for her quest. Cheng Xue borrowed the little demon dragon. In real life, women loved luxury cars and designer brands; in the game, it was rare pets and gorgeous gear—all the same.

At seven o’clock, Morning Breeze went to the main city’s warehouse. He’d planned to look for a player named “Data King,” but as soon as he arrived, he recognized him immediately. A human holy knight, his helmet didn’t show in-game, but he wore a pair of huge glasses—probably an engineering item. He looked a bit like a bookworm; even without seeing his ID, Morning Breeze could have picked him out.

“Hello! I’m Data King!” Data King greeted him as soon as he saw Morning Breeze. Morning Breeze was quite famous lately, so a lot of people recognized him.

“You’re looking for the holy knight skill books, right?” Morning Breeze got straight to the point. He was busy and didn’t have time for small talk.

“Yes,” Data King replied. As Morning Breeze picked out the skill books, Data King circled him appraisingly. “You like PvP. If you’re going to choose a race, humans are the best.”

“Oh? Humans?” Morning Breeze knew that of the four main races, humans had the best racial talent. They were weak early on, but became powerful later. Their talent, Self-Reliance, could remove any control effect, equivalent to a trinket in the Alliance, giving them an extra piece of gear compared to other classes.

Seeing Morning Breeze’s interest, Data King explained, “Elves are the worst choice for warriors. Human warriors are a bit weak at first, but after level thirty, they really shine—especially in global ranking matches. For warriors in PvP, human is the best, followed by barbarians. Elves have stealth, but their support isn’t great, and dwarves have better talents. For damage output, barbarians are the best, then humans and dwarves; elves are last. For tanks, barbarians and dwarves each have their pros and cons, humans are next, elves are the worst.”

“Not every class is worst as an elf; for hunters and rogues, elves are the best choice. But elves just aren’t suited for warriors.” Data King analyzed the classes using base racial stats.

Morning Breeze smiled. He knew elves weren’t ideal for warriors, but he liked open-world PvP, where elves were perfect for warriors. He could tell Data King didn’t have much experience with open-world fights. Judging by base stats, elves weren’t great for warriors, but with racial or talent enhancements, things might change.

“Human paladins are great, but dwarven paladins aren’t bad either. With the holy specialization, dwarves can remove persistent negative effects and gain extra armor—very good for survival.” Morning Breeze added casually. Many people chose dwarven paladins, but most of the guides focused on temple paladins.

Data King, seemingly very satisfied with his choice of class and race, said, “Dwarves are better for temple paladins, but for holy knights, survival is high enough. There’s no need to give up the human Self-Reliance talent for a skill that just makes things easier. I’ve calculated: of holy knights, restoration shamans, discipline priests, and holy priests, holy knights have the best mobility and survivability. Combined with the human Self-Reliance talent, a holy knight with Divine Shield can remove two control effects, and Lay on Hands will restore full health. In ranked matches, the most mobile healer is definitely the human holy knight.”

Paladins had two major trump cards: Divine Shield, which removed negative effects and made them invincible, and Lay on Hands, which instantly healed allies to full health—both extremely powerful. Human holy knights really were formidable, both in healing and survival. Even Morning Breeze found it tough to kill them.

True to his word, Morning Breeze handed over all the paladin skill books Data King could use, and they added each other as friends. Morning Breeze found Data King interesting—his computational skills were outstanding, though he lacked experience.

“How about a duel?” Data King was eager; he’d already studied all the battle videos of Morning Breeze on the forums, and if he had the chance, he wanted to fight him.

“No problem!” Morning Breeze was curious to see what Data King could do. A holy knight wanted to duel him?

When the fight began in the arena, Morning Breeze equipped two blue one-handed swords to even the gear levels. As soon as the match started, he charged at Data King, but just as he reached him, Data King immediately stunned him with Hammer of Justice. A fully skilled holy knight was impressive—he opened with a control skill, not saving it for a critical moment.

“Opening charge probability: 100%!” Data King had studied Morning Breeze’s habits; most warriors opened with a charge, so he shut Morning Breeze down right away. Since Morning Breeze wasn’t level thirty yet, he didn’t have the Alliance trinket and couldn’t remove the stun.

Judgment!

Data King’s Judgment also slowed movement speed. Stunned and unable to respond, Morning Breeze was slowed and Data King only struck him a few times symbolically before backing off.

Slowed, Morning Breeze was frustrated—he moved as if in slow motion. He tried to use Intercept to close the gap and burst, but found Data King was always eight meters away, preventing him from using the skill.

Kiting?

A great tactic against warriors was to slow them and keep them at eight meters—out of range for both Charge and Intercept. Movement restriction was a warrior’s Achilles’ heel; stuck at eight meters, Morning Breeze was on the back foot.

“Thunderclap probability: 80%. Heroic Leap plus Intercept: 20%.” The holy knight smiled, seeing Morning Breeze use Thunder Stomp, an advanced skill from Thunderclap with only a one-second interrupt—not much threat to a holy knight.

Thunder Stomp mainly reduced attack speed and, to a lesser extent, movement speed. One second was enough for Morning Breeze to try several moves, like Quickstep to close in and attack. But as soon as Data King recovered, he raised his shield to block.

“Bloodthirst probability: 100%!” Data King had studied Morning Breeze’s attack style. After closing in, Morning Breeze would always use Bloodthirst first for a chance at a free Whirlwind and to generate rage. Shield raised, Data King was ready.

“Shield Reflect: 80%. Windstep: 20%.”

With superior movement speed, Data King slowly widened the gap to six or seven meters. He used Holy Shock, which Morning Breeze reflected with his shield, then immediately followed up with Judgment to slow him again. Anticipating the shield reflect, Data King baited it with Holy Shock so he could safely use Judgment.

“Heroic Leap plus Intercept probability: 70%. Windstep: 30%.”

Heroic Leap! Intercept!

Seeing Morning Breeze use Heroic Leap to reposition and then Intercept to close the gap, Data King immediately dropped to the ground, causing Intercept to miss. Now close, Morning Breeze pressed in, but Data King rolled to the other side, trying to extend the distance again.

“Hamstring probability: 100%!”

Data King dropped his shield to his thigh, and Morning Breeze’s sword struck the shield, but Hamstring failed to slow him down as Data King was just getting up.

Once again stuck at eight meters, Morning Breeze stood frozen. How could Data King predict his every move? Warrior skills were limited, but there were still plenty of ways to mix them up. Yet every attack seemed anticipated, each defense already prepared. Morning Breeze’s strikes felt like they were landing on a cushion—no force behind them.

“Shockwave probability: 100%!”

Morning Breeze slashed out with Shockwave, hoping to stun Data King, but he leapt aside in advance; since Shockwave only hit in a straight line, it missed entirely.

“Avatar probability: 100%. After closing in, God Mode probability: 100%. Berserker’s Fury with Slam probability: 100%.”

Unable to close the distance, Morning Breeze was getting aggravated. Data King kited him using slows. When Avatar was activated, all movement restrictions were ignored; Morning Breeze charged in. Data King couldn’t turn his back to run, and he couldn’t move backward fast enough—soon Morning Breeze was in melee range.

God Mode activated, Berserker’s Fury triggered Slam!

Condemn! (Deals damage and prevents the enemy from landing critical hits for four seconds.)

Most of Morning Breeze’s damage came from crits. Recklessness increased crit chance, and Skull Banner boosted crit damage, but Data King’s Condemn took away four seconds of burst during God Mode. After two Slams, Data King’s health only dropped to 77%—not much damage at all.

Invincible!

Once Condemn’s effect wore off, Data King immediately activated Divine Shield, making himself invulnerable and rendering Morning Breeze’s burst useless. He quickly healed himself. Damage was halved while invulnerable, but Data King wasn’t attacking—he just healed.

“Shattering Throw probability: 100%!”

Rebuke!

Warriors’ Shattering Throw could remove enemy invulnerability, but it required a 1.5-second cast. Data King instantly interrupted it with Rebuke, putting Shattering Throw on cooldown for five minutes. Even if Morning Breeze could try again, after four seconds Recklessness would expire and his burst would be gone.

Frustration!

Fighting Data King in the arena, Morning Breeze was thoroughly frustrated. His powerful bursts were completely neutralized. Watching Data King, Morning Breeze felt as though he was missing something—yet he couldn’t quite say what it was...