Age: 16 years, 4 months
Asura stood completely still, grasping Excalibur tightly in both hands. Only a few feet separated her and B4hamutt, who was wearing his gauntlets and boots. She was in her angel class and he was in his dragon class. A small crowd composed of their guild mates surrounded the two while they stood in the court yard of their guild hall. Bets were being placed while the two circled around the makeshift arena.
She dashed forward, slashing once with her blade at his left side. Rather then dodging, he instead lashed his left arm out and caught the blade. Both weapons were master quality so no flames exploded from the blows. His right fist shot out and tried to punch her in the face, but she let go of the sword with her left hand and dodged around to his left side, trying to circle around his back before she yanked her sword free. She nimbly slid into position and brought her sword down at his back. B4hamutt stepped to his right, barely avoiding the blade so it merely nicked his scales, dealing no damage.
“You've gotten faster, Mutt. You can almost keep up with me now. Almost,” Asura said before backing away.
“Maybe you've just gotten slower!” B4hamutt charged forward this time and slashed at her with both claws at once.
She ducked under the attack and thrust her blade forward, straight at his stomach. He leaped into the air, over her blade, and kicked. His foot connected with her chest, forcing out a pained groan when the attack triggered an explosion, sending her flying backwards.
Asura crashed down a few yards back, but managed to hold onto her sword. Her opponent charged straight at her so she quickly spread out her wings and took to the sky, holding out her right hand. “Ray!” A burst of white light shot out and struck the dragon in the chest, forcing him to stumble back. She moved her fingers along the air and after a few moments her sword split into two, allowing her one in each hand. She dove down and slashed at him.
B4hamutt dove down as well, disappearing underground so her blades hit nothing but air, and she was forced to pull up. She frowned while waiting for him to show himself. Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement and faced towards it. A small patch of dirt was shaking slightly, so she aimed her right hand at it, ready for him to spring out.
“Fireball!” B4hamutt's voice came from behind her. She quickly turned, but too late, before flames enveloped her. She let out a scream and hurtled towards the ground, though she was surprised to see her HP had only fallen a sliver.
“Clever.”Asura picked herself up and glared at him, standing a few yards from her, but she didn't charge this time. “Guessing that was a holy beast spell to make the ground do that?”
“Yep. Was a little worried you'd recognize tremor, but seems you haven't been studying their spells too much.”
“I have a lot of spells from four different classes, you can't expect me to memorize them all.” She gripped both swords at her side. “Guiding blade!” she yelled and the skill took over, causing her to cross the distance between them in a moment, her blades slicing through the air.
“Oh shi--” B4hamutt was forced to pull back and move desperately to attempt to knock the dangerous blades away, but they were too fast for him to block and a few slipped past his guard and one even exploded. Despite the assault he managed to maintain his footing.
“Ray burst!” Asura called out before she stabbed her left sword into the ground. She pushed her hand at the startled dragon's chest before a number of rays shot into him. He let out a pained grunt and was sent flying back.
“Ugh... nice-- agh!” The dragon pulled back when the angel charged forward, holding both blades again, and slashed at him over and over. He tried to block them, but from his downed position it was near impossible to stop them all. One blade sliced through his armor like butter while the other exploded in his face. “Burst!” he finally yelled out, flames exploding in front of him and sending her flying backwards.
“Heh! You know what? This exploding weapon is actually really awesome! But you still haven't told me what the holy beast weapons do!” she yelled to him before she readied her swords for the next round, panting with exertion.
“Well, I guess it's only fair I tell you,” B4hamutt yelled and got to his feet. “Life draining. Every blow I land heals me for part of the damage I deal. I'm not sure on the specifics yet, since different attacks seem to heal me for a different percentage of health. It's quite useful.” He charged once again. This time when he came close he flew forward to land on his hands and cart wheeled, feet first, into the angel. She was caught by surprise and, flinching when the attack hit, sent hurtling, her swords barely staying in her hands. Oddly enough, there was no explosion that time.
“Ow... someone's been watching a lot of kung fu movies...” she said before glancing at her health bar. “Wait... you disabled the explosion ability to get more damage, didn't you?” She leaped to her feet.
“Yeah, why?” B4hamutt jumped to his feet as well and the two began circling again.
“Nothing. I'm just surprised your attack dealt such a small amount of damage.”
“Well yours didn't do much either so shut up,” he snapped before charging forward. His gauntlets struck out again and again while she struggled to parry and avoid them. Unfortunately, he was pushing in very close and she found herself struggling to deflect his attacks with such long swords.
“Gust!” she called out and a burst of wind sent him back a few feet, though he managed to stay standing. She quickly sheathed her left sword and backed away. She once again tapped on the menus.
“Trying to go back to one sword? That won't help you much, Asura.”
“Nope. Something new!” The second sword disappeared before she reached behind her back and pulled out a silver dagger.
“You're going to lose your range? Isn't that kind of giving up?”
“No! I just need to do things like this!” she yelled before charging. She held out her left hand when she came within range. “Ray burst!” Rays of light slammed into the dragon, catching him by surprise, while she darted around his left side and brought Excalibur down on his back. Fire burst out from the blade and the edge cleaved through his armor easily.
“Ugh! Clever distraction but it-- gah!” Mutt pulled away when the dagger slashed at his front and then moments later, when the dagger was pulled back, the long sword went down on his shoulder and more flames erupted around him.
“Guiding blade!” she yelled before more slashes cut into him over and over while he tried to parry the dancing blades. With the two separate lengths he struggled to get a proper parry and the dagger slipped through again and again. “Crescent flash! Ray burst!” She chained her spells one after another before knocking the dragon's weapons aside.
Finally after her third ray burst B4hamutt stumbled back. “I give!”
She was a little too excited and struck him three more times before she realized what he said. “Oh! Right! Um, sorry. Heh heh. Got a bit to into it. So, what's that make it?”
“Four to three, considering our matches before our second masteries. You've gotten a lot better since then, with you chaining all those skills. Interesting switch on the dagger,” the dragon said as he panted, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Yeah. It's kinda hard to fight your fists with my swords when you get in close. It's too heavy to use in my offhand that quickly. It’s a lot better for magic, too,” she said before sheathing her blades. She ran her hands through her hair, shaking the sweat out. “Your axe I'm fine against using the long swords. I'm actually surprised how many combos it took before you finally went down though, usually it takes forever to cut through you.”
“Yeah. Your spells were just eating through my HP, but the weapon attacks really weren't doing much damage. I was pretty unimpressed. I figured you'd be hitting harder.”
“Well, the dagger isn't a master level weapon. It was still pretty good, but I guess it really cut into my combo damage. I'm getting better at dual wielding though! I'm actually able to kinda defend with them now. A few more weeks of practice and I might be able to use them like a master. Your hand to hand combat has gotten a lot better too.”
“Downloaded a new training game in preparation for the tournament,” B4hamutt said with a smirk. “Basically, it teaches you how to do all those complex and fancy moves you see in movies and stuff, without all the need to train your body to do them. Most of this stuff I'd end up killing or at least hurting myself pretty bad if I tried in the real world. But it's useful stuff to learn for the game. Been practicing the last few weeks.”
“Eh, I've heard those don't transfer over to games too well,” Asura said with a shrug. “Remember all those players who said they had mastered kendo and then got their butts kicked when abilities, game stats and spells got added to the mix?” The two headed back into the castle, a new pair of their guild mates replacing them in the practice field. “Which training game though?”
“'Not a victim', second edition. It's actually kinda cool because it teaches a lot of different introductory moves for games and real life. Apparently the series was started by a woman who played this game when it first came out,” B4hamutt said before he glanced towards some of the other training grounds. Plenty of their guild mates were preparing for the tournament, so it was filled with dozens of different players not including the spectators.
“Oh? She played a lot of pvp and decided to use real martial arts to give her an edge?”
“No. She had an abusive husband and learned self defense in the game so she could defend herself in real life.”
Asura went quiet, not really sure how to respond to that. After they walked into the hall in awkward silence, she finally piped up. “I... oh... I didn't mean to... I just...”
“What? Oh! No! I didn't think you, I mean, just... I was letting you know. Not like I know the person it was happening to or anything,” he said awkwardly before the two looked away from each other.
“So does she still play? I mean, have you ever talked to her?”
“No. I honestly don't know if the story about her having an abusive husband is even true. I mean, it could just be a marketing ploy. I could see how it would be true though. I know some people who use these head sets to get hands on experience for jobs now, so learning self defense in the beginning of this game could make sense.”
“Interesting. Maybe I should check it out. Do they have any weapon training in those?”
“No, not really. Nothing that would transfer into this game at least, it's mostly hand to hand fighting. Lots of moves on how to disarm someone though. But with all the magic spells a person can learn, disarming isn't always the best move.”
“That and you got kind of predictable after I watched you using it on the others during your matches. I've gotten better at not losing my weapons too,” Asura said with a smirk before she navigated through her menus again and her shoes disappeared, allowing her to walk bare foot through the halls.
“Yeah, you did pretty good that time. Last time we fought I remember smacking the sword out of your hand and then just decimating you, this time you put up quite the fight.” He rubbed his shoulders and grimaced. “A lot more than last time we fought.”
“Aren't still sore, are you? I know I was a little rough on the big strong dragon,” she said and ducked when he took a swipe at her.
“Shut up! Sheesh. You gotta log out though, right? You going to be on for the tournament?”
“After all the time I've spent practicing? Hell yeah!” the angel said before she opened the door to her private room in the guild castle, though this one linked back to her room at Sanctuary. “I'll be on early tomorrow in preparation. But for now I need to log, see yah.” With those final words Asura disappeared from the game world and Asher came back to his bed.
He took a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself for possibly the greatest fight he'd ever have. Trying to get his parents to let him get on early and stay on late for the tournament.
------
“Sure.”
“But mom, it's a once a year tournament and it's just the one day and I'll give up my game time for the next few days and-- wait, what?” Asher asked in disbelief, freezing in the middle of the space station's halls while his parents walked on ahead of him.
“As much as I hate these online games I've noticed you're...” Asher smiled while his mother struggled to find the words. “More yourself when you're on them.” Until she said that.
“Myself? What does that mean?”
“Before this started to happen to you,--” She never could call it by it's name, always just calling it 'this' or 'that' or 'incident' or something else. “--you seemed so full of life and excited. You always had hopes and dreams but once it happened you... changed. That's why we got you these games in the first place. We wanted you to be able to do things again. But whenever we saw you, you always seemed upset, tired or bored. We didn't think the game was actually helping you, instead just making you more distant.”
“But it was! Because the games fun and I can-”
“Yes. We know,” his mother said before crossing her arms. “You seem a lot happier when you're playing this than when we visit you at the hospital.” She turned and gave him a hug, startling him. “We just want you to be happy and if playing these games does it, then we won't stop you. Just please, sometimes, for us? Come into the real world.”
“Okay! Thanks! This is going to be the aweso-”
“And we're going to come watch it too, see what you're up to in that game of yours.”
The anvil dropped. He gulped nervously and his eyes refused to waiver from her. “W-watch? Y-you want to... s-see me play the game?”
“Of course! We'll be watching the entire tournament. Well, most of it. Some of it. What time does it start and end?” she asked him while a ball of worry formed in his stomach. “Well, your father has work and I won't be home until later. We'll come catch the end of the fights. Which one will be you?”
“I-I'll be Asura. The master angel,” he said before his legs began to tremble. He mentally cursed when he realized he should have told them he was B4hamutt. How was he going to explain he was a girl in the game?
“Asura? That's an interesting name, isn't it, honey?” she asked his father, who just gave a silent nod. “I bet you're playing one of those big armored knight men you see on all the covers of those video games, right?”
“... Something like that,” he mumbled. Well, some games. Some covers. He was so dead.
“Honey, is something wrong? You're looking pale.”
“Oh, it's probably just a graphical issue mom. Probably the resolution or something. How about another game of grav ball?”
“Sure.” Once again they began walking through the halls. For the first time since he heard about this tournament a small, very small, part of him hoped he didn't win. That he would be eliminated before they saw his secret.
After a few quick games his parents logged out and he was left alone to think. He logged back into Landasy Reality for a short bit to travel to the next city, but he still logged out early to rest in the real world and let his mind wander. What would they do if they found out? It was just a game, right? Lots of guys played girls in games. At least, they used to. Sure, times were different now and plenty of people played their own genders due to the force feedback, but there were still plenty of guys who wanted to know how it felt to be the fairer sex. The only reason he’d made her a girl was because he had wanted to be as distant from his real body as he possibly could.
What if they made him stop playing? What if his guild mates found out? Well, B4hamutt already knew, but he never told anyone else. Would they think less of him? Would his parents make him get a gender swap in game? Would they tell everyone and ruin his reputation? Those thoughts and more filled his mind while he tried to sleep, causing him to toss and turn as much as his body would allow.
------
He was woken up by a loud, sickeningly sweet voice. “Gooood morning sleepy head!” He let out a sigh of exasperation when her realized it was Jessica. “Are you ready for another day of fun and excitement?” What he wouldn’t give to have the strength to throw something at her.
Instead though, he just smiled and nodded. “Yes... is breakfast almost r-ready?” he managed to say slowly. “M-my parents t-told you I-I was a-allowed to play extra today, r-right?”
“Yes, they did. Though I can't say I agree, it's such a beautiful day! You should be out and playing in the sun, not locked up in here playing your silly little games.” He bit his tongue and resisted the urge to yell and scream at her. “But, they're the ones who decide, not me. And today we've got a special treat! Apple sauce with strawberry oatmeal! Doesn't that sound good?”
“As good as w-warm vomit...” he said under his breath.
“What was that?”
“N-nothing. Let's just g-get this over with.” He managed to eat most of his meal himself, struggling to hold the spoon and only dropping it a few times. After the fifth drop she finally took over and fed him. To her credit she only did the 'plane flies into the hangar' once. Namely because he told her he would throw the bowl of oatmeal at her if she kept treating him like a baby. Even if he didn’t have the strength for it, it seemed to work this time. It was the first time he saw her smile waver, so he felt quite proud.
He was soon back where he belonged, appearing in a massive medieval city. Stone buildings surrounded the streets which were filled with small stands ran by excitable merchants. Asura barely made it three steps before an angel ran up to her and tried to get her to buy a weapon. Unfortunately, it was an actual player. The neutral trade city of Basharz. Thousands of players came here and set up stands, namely because it was practically smack dab in the center between all six racial territories and one of the few truly neutral locations (at least, NPC wise).
Most players set up small shops and then ignored them, but a few of the more aggressive sales people would wander from shop to shop, buying and negotiating before selling their wares for even more. She'd heard of some players who barely made it to level twenty, but had managed to accrue more money than three of her. Frankly, she failed to see why someone would go through so much work if they never had a need for better items, but she guessed it took all kinds to play a game.
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Today was extra special. The streets were packed, more than normal, and even the roofs and skies were crowded with people flying in. She was just a tiny bit miffed at how many non-angels were flying by. Sure, she was in her fae form to show off her wings, but now other people could do it too. Everyone had come to see or participate in the tournament. Signs were posted all over the houses and shops while people slowly made their way towards the center of the city where a massive stone coliseum stood high above the ceilings of the many two story homes.
“It's awesome, isn't it?” a voice said from her left. She glanced over to see a golden wolf-man holy beast. On his hands and feet he had the same gauntlets and boots that B4hamutt had worn in their last fight. “You come to see the fights?” he asked with a smirk.
“What? No. I'm here to participate. See my wings? They mean I've mastered a class.”
“Oh, I know. But I figured you'd want to stay out and not humiliate yourself,” he said dismissively. Her eye twitch, just a little.
“What exactly do you mean by that?” she asked, though she struggled to not grind her teeth.
“Listen kid. I get it, you just picked up your first mastery and you think you're hot stuff. I mean, walking to the tournament in a different class just so you can show off the fact you have a mastery? Come on. It's obvious you-”
She growled, stomped on his foot and grabbed him by the front of his woolen tunic. “Listen, 'kid'. I'm not just going to enter this tournament, I'm going to win it. The moment I go up against you, assuming you make it that far, I'm going to pound your head so far into the ground you'll need at least three more holy beasts to dig you out!” She let him go and stormed off, fists clenched at her side.
“Sheesh. Touchy. Well my names Ripstern. I guess I'll see yah at the tournament then. Don't cry when you lose!” he yelled before sliding up besides another person. “It's awesome, isn't it?”
Asura kept her fists clenched the entire stomp to the coliseum, her anger threatening to boil over. She wondered if maybe B4hamutt was right. She certainly did have anger issues when in the game. She couldn't help it. When people were stupid or picking fights she just had to lash out. It was different outside the game. Even when he got mad, what could he do? Tell the people who angered him off? He could barely speak a full sentence and it wasn't like he could defend himself if they decided to push it further. There he just had to take it.
“Miss, did you hear me?”
“Huh?” Asura looked around in confusion and then ahead at the angel behind the desk. “Oh! Right! Registration! Sorry, could you please repeat it?”
“Do you have your competition code?”
“Yes, it's B6325922,” she said and was sent to a back room to wait. She changed her class back to angel and equipped Excalibur, with the powers of both her master weapons, and the silver dagger. She could hardly contain herself while she waited for the tournament to begin.
------
The crowds cheered while the participants were slowly led through the inner area of the coliseum and out the other end in a steady line. Every seat was filled, though Asura couldn't help but think most of the spectators were NPC watchers. There were a lot of participants, since the line went by slowly as the announcements echoed through the stadium. “To all those participating the rules are simple! Only a master class user may participate and they must use a class they have mastered! They may use any weapons or armor they wish, as well as spells! These are double elimination with the winner of the losers bracket going up against the champion! To all those entering, good luck and may the best contestant win!” More cheers followed the announcers explanation and after the cheers died the announcement started again.
The arena was huge, and by using special zones there were dozens of exact replicas. Those who wanted to watch could easily decide which match they wanted to see by selecting from a menu near their seats.
The contestants waiting to fight were sent to identical single person rooms to wait for their turn and given a small colored ball with a counter on the front. When the counter went to zero it would teleport them to the arena. She went over her inventory for the fifth time to prepare. Her item pouch had been stocked with different items this time, instead of all health potions she had put a speed boosting potion, a magic damage potion and a long term regeneration potion. Honestly, she disliked the speed boosting potions since they were really hard to control, but in a situation like this she couldn't give up any edge she could get. Especially considering the stat penalties using the item pouch caused.
Her room was bare except a mirror, a padded chair and a lamp. She grinned mischievously for a moment before going through the menus. After a moment she was staring across at the mirror, completely naked. Except black lines covered her more private areas, making her face palm. “Figures. Gotta love the under age protection system. Can't believe they remembered to put it on these mirrors too.” She navigated back to the menu and tried on some other outfits while she waited. A blue rather plain dress, a golden gown with multiple jewels sewn in through out it, a tight leather amazonian battle bikini. “Gahhh... owie...” Sexy or not, it rid up into very uncomfortable areas. She quickly changed to a different one.
While she went through the items something dawned on her. She really had collected a lot of junk over the years. Since cosmetic items and armor didn't take up inventory space, she had accrued well over a hundred different outfits, most of which she had never worn. She even had the first piece of armor she ever bought. A rather risque metal skirt that went down to just above his knees, and a low cut steel top that didn't even cover her belly button. Ugh, she remembered every time she got stabbed in the stomach wearing that. Frankly she figured the developers were kind of evil allowing such appearance items to exist in the game, but then making the armor covered locations and weight actually matter.
She stopped for a moment when one item caught her eye. It was a ring, a small ring that gave a small fire damage bonus to all her melee attacks. At her current level it really didn't do much, but that small item was what led to her being in the guild and meeting B4hamutt.
It was during her first few weeks in the game. She had been avoiding playing with others and was instead doing everything solo, namely because she felt awkward around other people. She hadn't been able to really separate her real life from her game life yet, despite all her attempts. Even making Asura a girl hadn’t helped to separate herself from Asher.
Her first meeting with B4hamutt was small and inconsequential. They both happened to be going for a quest to try to kill a powerful enemy and she had failed to kill it three times already, namely because she hadn't been as good a fighter then. He asked to join her to work as a team and she said no. Then she died again and he asked again. Then again. Again. Over and over. Finally she had enough and accepted his offer.
She hadn't wanted to admit it, but she felt good during that fight. She felt useful, her heals kept them both alive and in the end she was practically gushing and definitely bragging about how well she was doing. Rather than rolling his eyes at her comments, he instead let her have first pick of the loot and she chose the ring. She never thought she'd meet him again, even though they exchanged game information, but he contacted her a few days later for a dungeon run.
Every few days he would ask her to join him, and often times some of his other friends, for adventures through the world. For the longest time her favorite thing about logging in was just to see them and work on getting stronger together. Before she knew it, they had each hit their maximum level and were able to do some of the toughest areas in the entire game. When he finally made the guild she agreed to join almost instantly, and once the first mastery quests finished she got her first taste of fame. It was then she decided she wanted to become a true legend in the game. Even if in the real world she'd never be anything, at least in this one she could be something beyond herself.
All because of one tiny little quest. If not for that quest, if not for him being there to help her, she might have missed out on everything that happened so far. If not for B4hamutt pushing forward and not letting her isolate herself despite her best attempts. She may have quit the game ages ago and just moped in her bed until she slowly died. But not now. Not ever. Her fist tightened around her small timer stone. She would become a legend. She knew it.
------
“For the first round we have Asura, one of our first double masters, versus Beat you all!” It was B3atUa11, but she was actually impressed that the name was said right-ish. She wondered if the announcer was an AI or actually a person, or multiple people, doing the introductions. “A new up and coming fae master!” Cheers filled the stadium while the two stood apart from each other. The angel was wearing her normal white armor, while the fae was wearing armor with a similar design, but it seemed to have been crafted from wood rather than metal. She knew better than to underestimate it though, she had no doubt it was just as strong as her own. So it would do no good against her sword.
Armors came in multiple types. Heavy armor like theirs was the highest defense and made for players who wanted to take a lot of physical damage and still be standing, as well as gave the best physical stats. Unfortunately, it was heavier and impeded movements more than the other armors, so they did have that trade off. At least, until you got used to it. They came in two types. The type she wore was built around not having a shield, but allowing you to block with your left hand, namely for two handed weapon users. The other type had the armor symmetrical on each side and was designed for those who used a sword and shield. She preferred her type because she couldn't fight with a shield, she always smacked herself in the face with it or knocked her sword away.
The fae had a sword made of wood in his right hand and a wooden shield in his left, she imagined they were high level racial weapons. She was surprised to see he didn't use a bow. “Sword and shield? That's not very common for a fae. No bow?”
“Bows aren't too effective one on one,” B3atUa11 said. “Don't worry, I have both skills maxed out and I--” She charged. He raised his shield, a strapped arm shield, and she cleaved through the bottom part of it in a single swipe.
“My sword cuts through all non-master quality weapons and all armors. If you want any chance against me you'll have to fight all out. Don't worry, my other class isn't fae, so you might have a shot.” She tried to suppress it, but there was no way for her to keep the condescension out of her voice.
“Don't look down on me just because I'm not using a master weapon!” the man yelled before charging forward and swinging downwards at her. With a single swipe she cut his sword in half and held her blade to his face.
“I told you. You'll have to use a master weapon or you're just going to lose. Don't worry, I'll wait.” She took a step back and smirked. She had this one in the bag and she knew it, an easy win that she could show off with. Assuming she had anyone watching her match.
“Fine. You asked for it,” the man said before the shield and sword disappeared and a moment later a black bow with a red draw string formed in his hands. He double tapped once and... went backwards. She eeked and ducked down when an arrow shot over her head.
“How did you do that? I though you could only fae-step towards somewhere you were aiming?”
“You don't know how to aim behind you? You haven't played as a fae before, have you?” he asked before taking another shot, the arrow skimming past her arm.
“I've played them, but I've only been able to go forward. How did you do that?” she asked before charging forward. She dodged to the left and the arrow grazed her arm. Her eyes went wide as she looked to her arm and saw that it actually did deal damage. Even though it just grazed her, it still dealt damage through her dragon's scale ability.
“I'm not going to tell you in the middle of a fight!” he said before disappearing back again and pulling the string. “Tornado shot!” The arrow shot forward and embedded itself in front of her. After a moment the fierce wins whirled up and sent her flying backwards.
“Ugh!” she growled before charging at him again. Each time she got close, he would fae-step away or use one of his spells to send her flying back. She hated to admit it, but he was kiting her, a term for when a ranged fighter kept melee attackers at bay, very well. She wasn't used to it since most archers she faced she could dive around terrain to get at them. Here, there was nothing to get behind, just a wide open arena, and he was knocking her HP down slowly and steadily. Even worse, when she dodged an arrow so it just clipped her, it was still dealing damage. “You know, you're a way better shot than I am.”
“I've practiced a lot. I really thought--” he fae-stepped out of range again before shooting another arrow, “--that this wouldn't work so well. I guess I really underestimated it. Wanna give up?”
“Never,” Asura said before jumping to the right as another arrow flew by. She drove her hands down to the ground. “Dust cloud!” The dirt flew into the air and coated the area around them in thick dust, far too thick to see through.
“That won't work!” B3atUa11 called out before fae-stepping out of the dirt cloud and leveling his bow on it. He waited for the dust to settle and the angel to show herself. The crowd went quiet when the match slowed down. “Any second now...” he said before the dust finally began to settle. The angel was nowhere to be seen. “What? Where did you go?!” He looked to the left and right before finally looking up.
“Back here!” Asura said from behind him before she slashed into his back. “Guiding blade!” Her blades turned to metal blurs and sliced through the fae like butter. Even after the skill ended and his armor was shredded, she kept slicing with both her weapons. After a few seconds of getting shredded he finally managed to pull back with a fae-step. “Crescent flash!” She appeared by him a moment later and continued her assault. After a few more seconds the boy disappeared in a shower of red sparkles.
“The winner is Asura, the angel!” The crowd went wild when she lifted both her weapons into the air and let out her own little cheer.
“Yeah! Say my name! I'm Asura! I'm going to win this--” She stopped when she suddenly reappeared in her changing room. “Dang it! I was enjoying myself!” She sheathed her weapons before sitting down. She glanced down at her stone and saw the counter had formed two circles melding together. Infinity. “Guess this means some of the matches haven't finished yet.”
She sat down in her chair and looked around. A small end table had formed besides her. A small flat crystal was resting on it and she slowly reached out to pick it up. It was pretty much the games equivalent of a tablet, or small miniature computer, but made with magic. She ran her finger along it and the tournament roster popped up. She was able to see who had advanced to the next round and who had lost, but was unable to see who fought who or what class they used.
She was happy to see Scalios, B4hamutt, Andremedia and 5t4r D3s7r0y3r had all made it to the next round. She was far less happy to see Suportano had made it and almost choked when she saw two all to familiar names. Evalie and Yeana, the demon and fae players who tried to trick her and the other masters into missing the master quests. She wondered what kind of low down tricks they were going to use to try and win this time. She groaned when she Ripstern's name as well. Maybe he wasn't all talk after all.
The longer she went through the list the more names were added and in the end the winner and loser bracket each held over a hundred people. She thought for a moment and tried to calculate in her head. “I think... I need to win about... nine matches. Huh. Well, this is going to be interesting,” she said before looking at at her stone. The infinity symbol had been replaced with numbers that counted down.
Unable to keep still while she waited, she jumped to her feet and began pacing until the stone began to glow. A moment later she was teleported back into the arena. It had changed around, instead of a wide open and lit up area, there was now a dome over the coliseum with small circles of light. She glanced to her opponent and growled. Yeana. Except, she wasn't a fae this time, she was a demon. Just like her spider friend, except she went the traditional red skinned with horns variant.
“For this round we have two double masters! Asura the angel versus Yeana the demon! As each is one of the only six double masters in the game, this fight will surely be an amazing one!” the announcer called out as the match began.
“Wait, what? Six? But there wer-- eek!” Asura dove to the left before an arrow flew at her. The woman was wearing dark black armor, it seemed to be made of obsidian. The demon's bow was the same black color as the angel's previous opponent's. An arrow was shot at her again and she dodged to the right of it before charging forward. She crossed about half the distance before the archer disappeared into the darkness. “Crap!” she said before trying to catch a glimpse of movement in the darkness. After a few seconds of searching an arrow jammed into her back. She turned just in time to see the woman disappear. “You cowa... you know what? Clever,” she admitted before running back into the light.
She glanced to her mini map until the demon appeared back on it, usually behind her, and then jumped to the side before the arrows narrowly missed. Unfortunately, she had no way of counter attacking yet and when the arrows managed to graze her they still dealt damage despite her dragon ability. Even worse, the arrows were getting faster. Each time the demon shot one she would disappear and appear on the opposite side to shoot, her rhythm picking up.
Asura gripped her sword in her right hand and once again the girl appeared behind her. She didn't even turn when she moved to the right and held out her left hand. “Ray--” The woman appeared in the darkness in front of her. “-- burst!” The rays of light shot out before the demon had a chance to finish nocking her bow. The angel charged forward immediately and held out her left hand. “Flaming hands!” The light wasn't much, but it was enough to stop the demon's disappearing act. “Guiding blade!” She tore into the bow woman with lightning fast precision strikes as the skill took over.
Unlike her last opponent, the demon quickly switched weapons into a long black naginata and managed to deflect the last blow of her sword with the shaft, before fae-stepping away. “You know, your dragon friend was a lot tougher.”
“Well, if you wanna fight like that... fine then,” Asura said in frustration before activating her sword's explosive ability. She charged at the woman and slashed out to the left. The woman parried it with the shaft of the polearm and then pushed down on the blade end, bringing the edge down at her head. Asura brought her left hand up and caught the weapon, just below the blade. She then grinned wickedly before she shoved the naginata to the left and drove her sword forward. It struck the startled demon in the chest before exploding into open flame.
“GAHHHH!” Yeana yelled and fell back. Asura charged forward and didn't stop her assault. Using her left hand to hold the naginata below the blade, she knocked it aside and struck the woman over and over with Excalibur.
“You haven't had much practice, have you? This kind of weapon only works if you can keep the enemy out of reach!” she said and kept attacking until the woman disappeared in a shower of red sparks.
“The winner! Asura the angel!” Once again the crowd cheered for her and chanted her name while she raised her hands in triumph.
“Yeah! I'm going to take this tournament!” she yelled moments before she reappeared in her room. She quickly dashed to the chair and took a look at how everyone was doing. Already over half the fights seemed to be done and almost a quarter of the participants had already been eliminated. She could barely contain her glee. If it continued at this rate the entire thing might be over before her parents logged on and saw what her form was.
She almost dropped the small chunk of crystal when she noticed two who had been moved into the loser bracket. B4hamutt and Scalios. She tried to find out who they fought against, but it didn't show. Maybe two of the other double masters? She paced, nervously this time, around the room while waiting for her next match. “Who could have beaten those two? Well, other than me. But those two are brutal! How could they lose so soon?” She shook her head and closed her eyes. “A mistake. That had to be it. Someone used something they weren't prepared for, like the shadow meld ability or some kind of combination, and took them by surprise. That's the only answer. No problem. They'll make it to the finals of the loser bracket and we'll meet up there.”
She glanced at the stone and let out a soft sigh. Only a few more minutes and her match would begin. She took deep breaths and calmed herself and soon enough, she felt the gentle rush over her skin as her body teleported from her room to the arena.
Across from her she saw a very pleasant sight. The grin forming her face was so wide it threatened to split her head in half. “For this round we have Asura the double master angel! Against her, aiming to end her winning streak, is Ripstern, the holy beast master!”
“I gotta say, I'm surprised to see you made it this far,” she said before walking towards towards him. “It's going to be a pleasure to knock you out.” Confidence oozed from her voice.
“What? Y-you know me? Have we met?” Ripstern asked before backing away, clenching his fist and getting into a defensive stance.
“Oh yes we have... kid.”
Realization dawned on his face. “H-hey. No need to get upset. You were the dragon, right? I was just playing. You know, cut down on the competition. No need for a bunch of-”
“No, I was the fae! Just how many people have you been trying that little ploy on?”
“A few. Doesn't matter though. You can't beat me, I'm a black belt in karate.” Ripstern's confidence returned while he watched her approach.
“... So?” she asked with a sigh. “You're going to be one of those, aren't you?”
“”I have real combat training, it-- gah!” He leaped backwards when her sword tried to slice off his head.
“Good for you. But, actual real life training has limited use in this world. Namely since in real life things like this don't happen! Ray burst!” Rays of light shot at the man, hitting him straight in the chest, knocking him back.
“Regeneration!” he yelled and the slight wounds began to heal. He then charged and jumped into the air, kicking.
She ducked down and so he flew over her head, “Guiding blade!” Her sword slashed through his exposed underside and sent him hurtling to the ground.
“Ow... ow ow...” he said before getting back to his feet. “So you got lucky, big deal. I've still got this won!” Ripstern charged forward again and punched at her, she stepped back and sliced with her sword, but he caught the blade against his gauntlet and then struck out with his other hand. His blow connected and sent her sword hurtling from her grasp. His foot then lashed out and hit her in the stomach, sending her hurtling back.
“Ow...” Asura held her chest. She glanced to her sword, but it was too far away and the man was standing between her and it.
“So, give up?” he asked before stepping back and putting a foot over the blade. “Or do I have to beat you up some more?”
She spread her wings out and took to the air, flying above him, a smirk on her lips. “You don't play often, do you? How did you even get a mastery? Ray burst!”
“Gah!” Ripstern jumped to the right as the rays missed him, only to be hit by a second burst a moment later. “Get down here you coward!”
“Nuh uh, make me,” She called back and shot more bursts of rays at him. Most of them he managed to dodge, but a few managed to hit and slowly lower his HP. She flew around and slowly shot out the rays while making him run. With him sufficiently distracted she dove down and grabbed her sword before flying after him again. “Crescent flash!” she called out so her body teleported in behind him and slashed across his back.
“Gahhh!” he said before he turning around and slashing at her, but she had already flown back up out of reach. “Coward! Cheater! Noob!” he yelled.
She snickered before calling down, “Why don't you try using spells? You have them for a reason!” She quickly activated the explosive ability of her weapon. “Must not do much PVP, huh?”
“I... oh. Right. Rock sp-”
“Crescent flash!” she called out before appearing in front of him again and slashing with her sword, enveloping him in flames. She didn't stop though and began swinging into him over and over, the flames disorientating him and soon he disappeared in another flurry of red sparkles. Despite the cheers, she felt hollow inside.
She sighed and sheathed her weapon before reappearing in her room. “I can't believe I let him disarm me...” She walked to the magical crystal and looked to see who had been eliminated. Scalios wasn't listed yet, but she let out a sigh of relief when she saw that B4hamutt had not only finished his third match, but had managed to not be eliminated. She was a little shocked when she saw Andremedia's and 5t4r D3s7r0y3r's names, still in the winners group. Seemed the two were better than she thought, or lucky. “I'm going to have to ask her about fae-stepping backwards sometime.”
She looked through the list some more, checking up on some others. She grinned when she found out Evealie had been eliminated this round. She was then annoyed when Yeana's name popped up as having survived another round.
After waiting a while more, Scalios finally came up, having won his match. She glanced at the clock and let out a sigh. There was still an hour until she had to worry about her parents coming on, if they even showed and got on right away. She took a deep breath before readying herself for her next match. When the timer hit zero she reappeared in the stadium, opposite her opponent. Her eyes went wide. The wings. The robe. The way he looked at her with a bored expression. Only one person it could possibly be.
Suportano.