Chapter 8 - Understanding the skill system

[Location - Skeleton Graveyard Map]

Li Haoxuan and Li Zhihuan had just finished their first run of Skeleton Graveyard Dungeon when Li Zhihuan noticed the message from Ye Xiu.

"Ah'Xuan, wait up. Mr. Ye sent a message," Li Zhihuan said as he started to read the content of the message. Because the message was sent privately, Li Haoxuan is unable to see it. Li Zhihuan scanned through the message before a complicated expression is formed on his face.

"What's wrong?" Li Haoxuan asked.

"Mr. Ye is asking how the skill system work. How to explain?" Li Zhihuan asked Li Haoxuan with a helpless look.

"…"

Now, Li Haoxuan also sported a helpless expression as he looked straight at Li Zhihuan. "Can we just tell him the skills goes 'Bam!' and 'Wham!' and…" Li Haoxuan executed a set of skills as he spoke before turning back to his brother. "Do you think he'll understand? I mean, he is the Glory Textbook, right?"

"… should we try?"

"Let's go."

After deciding on their next course of action, the twins decided to go and meet Ye Xiu's group. Qiu Fei and Qiao Yifan were busy killing the monster while Ye Xiu were still trying to figure out how to properly execute the skills efficiently.

"Mr. Ye," Li Zhihuan and Li Haoxuan greets him at the same time.

"You're here?" Ye Xiu didn't expect the twin to come over when he sent the message. He was still waiting for the reply.

"En. The skill system is… complicated to explain," Li Zhihuan said.

"Actually, we don't know how to explain. Earlier, we took two hours trying to figure out how the skills work but by the time we realized it… it just happened naturally," Li Haoxuan added. "So we'll just show it to you until you get it!"

At this, Li Haoxuan approached one of the monster nearby then quickly executed the battlemage level 1 skill, Sky Strike. The monster was knocked up and because of the disparity between levels, it died as soon as it reached the ground.

"Sky strike?" Ye Xiu asked and Li Haoxuan nods his head. "Xiao Fei, stop for a while and come here," Ye Xiu called Qiu Fei over. "You can execute Sky Strike, right? Try it on that monster over there," Ye Xiu pointed at a certain lone monster.

When Qiu Fei executed his Sky Strike, there was a difference between the two. Li Haoxuan's Sky Strike was fast and didn't have much animation lag between the action and the hit while Qiu Fei was much slower.

"Haoxuan, why is your Sky Strike appears faster than Qiu Fei's?" Ye Xiu asked.

"Ah… that, I cheated a bit," Li Haoxuan answered. "A normal Sky Strike is like this," Li Haoxuan prepared to execute the Sky Strike again. "You thrust your weapon forward and make a sweeping motion diagonally to launch the opponent up," Li Haoxuan successfully emulated the same Sky Strike that Qiu Fei used earlier.

"But what I did earlier was… Umm… I'll try to do it slower," Li Haoxuan said as he approached another monster. He waited for a while for the cooldown to finish and once it did, he began to move.

Unlike before, Li Haoxuan's weapon started at a much lower point. As he thrusts forward, the weapon also raised up at a diagonal. When the tip of the spear hits the monster, Sky Strike is already executed.

Ye Xiu's eyes never left Li Haoxuan and Qiu Fei was the same. Even Qiao Yifan stopped what he was doing to look over at Li Haoxuan's execution in the hope to get the inspiration in understanding the skill system.

"It looks like the skill system is not as easy as it seems…" Ye Xiu murmured in a soft voice. "Yifan, Xiao Fei, come here."

After being called, the two came over almost immediately. "Forget the skills' basic animation. When you move, try to imagine the skills you're trying to execute and nothing else. If you're thinking of Sky Strike, then just think of Sky Strike's ending animation. At the end, your stance must be the same as the ending animation of Sky Strike," Ye Xiu explained.

"What about the animation before it?"

"The starting animation all depends on each player's comfort," Ye Xiu said before he began to move. He approached one of the monsters and started to hit it with basic attacks. As he moved to dodge and attack, he continued to explain.

"The new system is reading our brainwaves. Each of our thoughts are being read and then computed into data. So when I think of Sky Strike the moment I do this," as he said it, Ye Xiu swiped his umbrella in a diagonal sweep and the monster was launched to the air. "The Sky Strike will be successfully executed. But if we start to think of each step, the computing will be slowed down and then we'll go past the time limit to execute the Sky Strike. Based on my understanding, you can execute the skills faster, but there is an upper limit to the amount of time you can take to execute them successfully."

Li Haoxuan and Li Zhihuan couldn't help but clap their hand at Ye Xiu's action, eyes filled with amazement.

Qiu Fei and Qiao Yifan carefully digested the information that Ye Xiu had just said. They now understood the execution but now, this brought another question.

"Master, if… the starting animation is up to a player's comfort then, does that mean there will be different variants of Sky Strike?" Qiu Fei asked.

"Yes. Each person's Sky Strike will look different. Thinking about it, doesn't that mean that the competition will become even more interesting? Someone may even come up with a feint. Two skills with the same starting animation," Ye Xiu said with a smile, already liking the new skill system in this virtual world.

"When this new system comes out in the future, the Glory world will have a drastic change. Hand speed will no longer matter. What matters is reaction speed, adaptability, and how well you can assimilate into the game," Ye Xiu added. "Right now, the place we are in is not just a game. It is another world, another realm. Here, we can really live in the Glory world that we have come to love."

After they had figured out the mechanic for the skills system, the speed of leveling for the three people became much faster. The twin, seeing that they are now focused on leveling up, decided to go back to the Skeleton Graveyard map to continue grinding the dungeon.

"Ye Xiu is really something, ah! I just show him three times and he already understood it," Li Haoxuan can't help but admire the older man.

"Right? God Ye is awesome!! And you will be his apprentice on using the unspecialized! I'm really excited to see it!" Li Zhihuan said as he hugged Li Haoxuan.

"If you like the unspecialized that much, why don't you be the one taking his offer?" Li Haoxuan asked.

"No. How can I when I want to be a milk dad, ah!" Li Zhihuan quickly answered. "I've also thought of the name that I want to use if we ever go to the competitive league!" Li Zhihuan grinned at his brother.

"What?"

"[Bai Long]. Don't you think it'll fit?"

"Then should I be [Hei Long]?" Li Haoxuan asked.

"[Hei Long] doesn't sound intimidating for some reason… how about [Xuan Long] instead?" Li Zhihuan suggested.

"Alright. Shall we continue with the dungeon?"

"Let's go," Li Zhihuan said as he began to stretch. Then, he stopped in his track. "Ah… wait, Ah'Xuan…" Li Zhihuan called Li Haoxuan nervously.

"What is it?"

"I need the toilet break…" the embarrassment could be heard from Li Zhihuan's tone but Li Haoxuan didn't mind it.

"Let's just enter the dungeon and log out there. It's relatively safe near the entrance than here in the wild," Li Haoxuan said to his brother who only nods his head to agree. They then entered the dungeon and logged out of the game. In the real world, Li Haoxuan helped his brother doing his business in the washroom. Before going back into the game, Li Haoxuan drank a bottle of water and went to the toilet to empty his bladder. Only then did they go back into the game.