Chapter 302 - Final Preparations
Rudra got back to the players lounge , where he was practically alone at this point , and started focussing on the match between nightmare and Khabib , the commentary was on in the background.
Derek Ray : It's a fight between two fellow dark faction players , Khabib the dark barbarian taking on nightmare the blood warlock , it's a interesting matchup .
Lee Dixon : Well , will this match be more evenly matched than the last one? Last one was a slaughter staged by Shakuni. What are your thoughts on this one Derek
Derek Ray : I think Khabib should have the advantage at close range Lee , and nightmare should have an advantage from the distance. The fight will come down to how one strategizes and plays to their strengths.
Lee Dixon : Well , of all the matches I have seen soo far , it's not a far cry to say that the most bizzare matches are the ones nightmare takes part in. His matchups never go past 3 minute mark , with first six matches ending under 1 minute. He has the fastest record coming up the rounds.
Derek Ray : Yes , his longest time of three minutes was in the group stage finals against the tank , '?burned accord ' , well it was just basically him defending all the time against the attacks of his opponent.
Lee Dixon : Well , the rules of the competition are clear , apart from the already equipped equipment on a player , a player may bring four vials of potions and three additional pieces of equipment in one's inventory.
Derek Ray : Well the choice of vials that nightmare carries is always clear , four vials of blood , which he bursts the first thing upon entering the arena. The blood then floating around him like water floats , which he manipulates with utmost precision , making sharp swords to attack , or flat shields to defend then . The penetration power , and defense are top notch. He is like a character straight out of a marvel film.
Lee Dixon : there are other blood warlocks out there , but noone can control even one pint of blood properly , unlike nightmare who can control rivers. It's just unreasonable his strength , some assume he recieved a legendary skill of blood manipulation , however all such things are just speculation , the real reason behind his strength remains unknown.
Derek Ray : Well , noone can underestimate the dark barbarian brawler Khabib either , his ruthless strength and excellent control skills , along with his semi legendary Axe makes him a extreme threat .
Lee Dixon : Well the opponents are just coldly staring at each other , unperturbed with each other's strengths , just staring down each other . No words exchanged unlike the previous match , where contestants riled each other up.
Derek Ray : The countdown starts ... Get ready ladies and gentlemen , if you blink , you will miss a critical move!
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Rudra was intently watching the match , Khabib was a player whose playstyle was much like Rudra , a dual axe wielder with high strength and close range attacks , he would learn a lot from this battle , regardless of who wins.
When the timer hit 0 , Khabib charged at Nightmare , who stood calmly , not moving a muscle . Four blood drops turned into four blood javelins , that went at blinding speed towards the charging attacker.
Khabibs eyes widened , he was forced to stop his charge , forced to defend against the attack. When the first javelin hit his axe , it was rock solid , however when the second javellin hit his axe , it splashed into blood , splattering all over Khabib , hardening instantly , and stinging him like pins.
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A small damage was inflicted on Khabib , however this made him loose confidence in blocking the path of the next blood lance , as he chose to dodge it instead. Which was a smart call , however the dodged lance immediately like a target seeking missile , changed trajectory and came hunting for Khabib again. This time he was forced to block.
Rudra's eyes widened seeing this exchange , such high and precise control over blood at tier 2 .... It was bound to have a huge mana consumption behind it , what nightmare was doing was almost like a double edged sword , going soo high in offense soo early , it may backfire on him when his mana pool bottoms out.
What Rudra did not know however was that , much like Rudra and his golden ratio , nightmare had specialized his class specific skills into broadening his mana pool.
He had three notable skills , first made his mana pool twice of a normal player.
Second made his mana recovery , three times faster.
Third was the only special attack skill under his pocket , which could potentially wipe out an enemy in one move.
Rudra was unware of these facts , hence he could only base his decuctions based on nightmare's performance in this match.
From Rudra's perspective , he wanted the two of them two push each other to their very limits , and unearth both of their trump cards. That way no matter who won or lost , there would be no surprises for Rudra.
Uptill now , the pressure from the four Lance's was high on Khabib , who was fighting it safely . Rudra was very impressed by Khabib , unless most barbarian class players who were only brutes and had no brain. Khabib was extremely intelligent. He knew his priorities and he used his brain in his fights , he was formidable.
He had lost only about 5% of his health , and was waiting on the opponents mana reserves to bottom out before mounting his counter attack.
The attacks seemed to slow down after 2 minutes , and nightmare indeed retreated his blood back around him. Khabibs and Rudra's eyes shined , as they thought the same thing , opportunity to counter!
Khabib charged in to deal damage.... However a grin broke out on nightmare's face , as if this is exactly what he wanted , Khabib failed to see this , but Rudra as a spectator noticed it ... A bad premonition spread in his heart.
/// Bonus chapter for hitting the golden ticket target , good job guys , the powerstones have slowed down a lot , I hope we can hit the target for powerstones too soon , soo that we may have more bonus chapters ///