Game’s Dogma - Chapter 360: Phantasmic Realm Grass (2)
Little did he know, Ichor Hon was just as surprised.
This kid is improving rapidly! He can put up some resistance when he’s in that special state where he’s shrouded in sparks and ice.
Drako Yau’s Boiling Form forced Ichor Hon into revealing more of his strength. Naturally, he didn’t go all-out; his cultivation specialised in killing, and all his techniques were killing moves. Still, he glared at Drako Yau coldly at the thought that he was being recorded as a training dummy.
“You want more?” Ichor Hon walked towards him with sword in hand, seemingly not having enough of the one-sided beatdown.
Drako Yau turned to look at the Phantasmic Realm Grass. It was visible once again in the form of a plant, though it now had two leaves on it. One was crisscrossed in red and blue, while the other was entirely crimson, seemingly composed of blood.
“The Phantasmic Realm Grass is ready! Let’s call it a day!”
“Oh,” Ichor Hon said in pity.
Drako Yau felt chills running all over him. While he was all for fighting, he wasn’t a masochist who loved to be on the receiving end of a one-sided fight. He went to pick up the plant; a description was now available.
“Phantom capacity: 2/5.
Remaining uses: 10/10.”
Drako Yau couldn’t hold back his grin.
“Boss, are the bastards from the West making a move? Not often you gather us all in a hurry,” Zephyrwolf said as he rubbed his hands in excitement.
Drako Yau summoned all his companions, including Man Hing Yau, to the Arena. She joined Dragon Alliance because of Yim Ho and became one of his close aides. Thanks to the welcoming atmosphere and their strength, she came to love the group as she could train all she wanted with top players. Everyone here improved rapidly, which also served as a great motivation for them all. Just like that, the strongest fire and ice elementalists were under Drako Yau’s wing.
Anyways, the group looked curiously at the Phantasmic Realm Grass in his hands. He carefully placed it in the centre of the battleground and gently plucked off one of its leaves.
“Do you wish to use the Phantasmic Realm Grass? Remaining uses: 10.”
Drako Yau clicked “Yes”. The leaf in his hand immediately turned into a puff of rainbow-coloured smoke, which gathered to form the silhouette of a person. The misty figure left them all in awe; although it was blurry, its physique, cloak, and spear were identical to Drako Yau. It felt as if his shadow had been colourised, sliced up, and then rearranged randomly.
“This is the Phantasmic Realm Grass. I asked Strider for money today to buy this thing. It can store five phantoms that can only be used in the Arena. Once stored, the user can select which phantom to fight. The phantoms’ movement patterns are created based on the original person, though I’d say they are roughly twenty per cent weaker because they aren’t that pragmatic.”
Sasaki was stunned. He asked, “So it turns your combat style into a programme, then applies it on your clone and has the system control it?”
Drako Yau thought about it and found Sasaki’s explanation quite close to the mark, so he said, “Yeah.”
Everyone present was a veteran in the game. They instantly knew how useful the Phantasmic Realm Grass was. Windstrider murmured to himself, “Just a hundred million… I’d even pay three hundred million for it!”
“I’ll buy it even for a billion,” replied Drako Yau.
While Drako Yau sparred with his companions from time to time, he never went all-out. If he used Boiling Form every time he sparred, he might cause unintentional harm—to himself, that was. Boiling Form was a double-edged sword, after all.
With the Phantasmic Realm Grass, they now had a professional trainer, not to mention there was the ultimate boss, Ichor Hon. Getting Ichor Hon to spar with his companions would normally be impossible.
“There are three empty slots. The Phantasmic Realm Grass stores only the phantoms of victors when it runs out of storage. Simply put, defeat me and you’ll replace my phantom with yours.” Drako Yau paused to look around. “Who’s up first?”
“Me!” Yim Ho leapt out, eager to fight. He glared at the phantom and lunged in.
The three muscle heads, Danting, Yim Ho, and Zephyrwolf, were the most bellicose among them all. They might seem brainless most of the time, but Yim Ho and Zephyrwolf were actually just too lazy to use their heads, while Danting was genuinely naive.
“Puh…”
Yim Ho stumbled backwards while coughing up blood. The tip of a spear stopped right before his throat. Moments later, the phantom dissipated into thin smoke and returned to the Phantasmic Realm Grass.
Everyone, including Drako Yau, went silent. He was rather surprised that the phantom might be stronger than himself. What he meant wasn’t its combat technique but sustainability in battle. The phantom was merely a magical conjuration, so it had no limits like he did.
Flame Form, Frost Form, and Boiling Form all had their time limits. The first two forms could last long enough for most battles, but he could sustain Boiling Form for at most five minutes. However, the phantom wasn’t restricted by physical limitations and could maintain Boiling Form for as long as needed.
Everyone had seen Drako Yau in Boiling Form, yet they had never fought him when it was active, nor did he use it during sparring sessions. This was the first time they had fought against him in Boiling Form.
Zephyrwolf gulped and laughed in embarrassment. “I’ll challenge someone else, I guess. Isn’t there another phantom stored?”
The spar ended almost instantly. Zephyrwolf, covered in slashes all over, dropped to the ground on his back, his four limbs flailing in the air. Ichor Hon even had the leisure to spin coolly before returning to the plant.
Everyone gloated over his devastating loss with mocking laughs, adding a puff of redness to his pale face. Even Drako Yau couldn’t help but chuckle as he thought, Zephyrwolf did himself good this time. I cannot take on Ichor Hon even at full strength.
Knowing that the Phantasmic Realm Grass had limited uses, they all scrambled to give it a go. They were Drako Yau’s close companions for a reason: they all pursued strength and cherished the chance to fight other elite players.
Drako Yau smiled at his companions’ reactions. He then said to Windstrider, “The Phantasmic Realm Grass must be kept secret and stored with top-grade security measures. I’ll leave it to you.”
Windstrider nodded and asked, “What about the quota, boss? How should we split it among us?”