Age: 16 years, 4 months

The two angel's stood watching each other when the announcer began. “Now we have yet another explosive match! Two double masters, and both are the first angel masters we've ever had! Suportano and Asura! Both wield the master sword Excalibur! Both have a second class mastery under their belts! Both have made it to their fourth round! But one of these amazing fighters are going down, who will it be?”

Once again the crowds erupted and the two watched each other. Asura slowly drew her sword and dagger, but Suportano left his sword strapped at his side. “Aren't you going to fight me?” she asked cautiously.

“I will. I'm just not much for melee fighting. I much more prefer this kind.” He raised both hands. “Tornado!” Winds suddenly picked up around her and began spinning. She jammed her sword into the ground and tried to outlast the winds. Her eyes went wide when she saw how much damage she was taking from it, B4hamutt's magic didn't hurt nearly as much.

“Not bad!” she yelled out before aiming a hand at him. “But you're not the only one who can do that kind of spell. Tornado!” Winds enveloped him. Instead of trying to resist them, the other angel flew up and soon escaped them entirely.

“I see your magic stat isn't that high,” Suportano said once the winds around Asura died down. “I'm guessing you decided to go full defense with your masteries.”

“Just the dragon. Its ability is great. Crescent flash!” Her body darted out to try and slash his, flying through the air to meet him.

“Ice shield!” the other angel called out and a wall of ice materialized between the two, blocking her attack, her sword cutting through the shield. He held a hand out at her. “Fireball!”

Asura shrieked and tried to jump out of the explosion, but she was too slow and sent hurtling. “O-oh yeah? Two can play at that! Fireball!” she yelled out before fire shot from her hand to envelop him. “We're both max level, my spells hurt just as much as yours!”

“That's where you're wrong,” the angel said once the flames died down. “Your second mastery is dragon. Correct?”

“Yeah. So?” Asura gripped her sword tighter and watched for an opening.

“Mine is demon. That means I've unlocked both the magical damage and magical defense cap. You've only released the defense and magical defense cap. Rock spear!”

Asura jumped out of the way of the piercing stone. “What is that supposed to mean? What cap?” She spread her wings and took to the sky before casting out another spell. “Storm!”

A black cloud enveloped the other angel and lightning crashed around him. While normally that was a rather weak spell, against a flying angel it was extremely dangerous. It only lasted about thirty seconds, but by the time it ended she was in position.

The cloud dispersed, revealing Suportano surrounded in an ice sphere. Asura dove straight down at him while the ice shield melted away. He turned to face her and, unable to cast in time, he fell backwards and drew his sword. Their longswords clashed before she drove her dagger down into his chest and kept shoving him. After a few moments they crashed into the ground below, her landing on top of him and driving her knee into his stomach for good measure.

“Heh. I've got you-- grk!” She was cut off as the man's free hand wrapped around her throat.

“Rapture,” he said softly. Her HP was cut down to about a quarter before pain flew through her body, eliciting a scream.

“O-oh yeah? W-well now you can't cast any more. I've got this in the bag,” Asura said before she stabbed into his chest, confidence swelling inside her. She pinned his sword down and smirked, panting lightly. “No more spells and I'm in close range.”

“Dark echo,” he said. Her eyes went wide before her HP plummeted and disappeared.

She disappeared in a shower of red sparks before returning to her waiting room again. Her mouth fell open while she tried to register what just happened. “He... he used rapture. He can't cast spells after that! It's part of the cost! His skills are locked for a while after that! How did he...” she trailed off and brought up her own spells and checked out the specifications. She’d never thought about it, but the final spells weren’t listed as spells or skills. The only marker they had was that they couldn’t be activated again for twenty-four hours.

“How did he even know he could do that? That’s such… ugh. Just the penalties for casting the spell. I can't believe I never thought of chaining them like that. I'm such an idiot!” She kicked her chair, though it only moved a few inches. A moment later she sat down and took a deep breath. “No. Calm down. He used the spell now. That means if I win in the loser bracket I'll get a second chance to fight him and win. He CAN’T use those spells again.” She took out the tablet and glanced through the winners. Well, none of her friends had been eliminated yet, but 5t4r D3s7r0y3r had been put in the loser bracket.

Asura went limp in the chair and closed her eyes, trying to think about what the other angel had said. “How does going demon give him extra magic?” she asked before she brought up her character stats. What she saw made her mouth hang open. Her base defense and magic defense were huge, nearly twice as high as her other stats. “How... these weren't nearly as high as when I first maxed the class. Even with the penalties from using the item pouch, my defenses are super high...”

“Figures. I spend all my time leveling other classes that I never even notice my first class getting stronger and stronger,” she said with a sigh. “Mutt and Scales are going to freak when I tell them about this.” The thought of that did make a little grin form on her lips. “It'll probably be common knowledge soon anyway, with all the new masters. Someone is bound to tell everyone about it. I wonder how many in the tournament already know?” Her cheeks then burned red. “Or maybe I should spend a bit more time researching the game, rather than just playing, like Mutt says. It probably already is common knowledge...”

Asura glanced at the tablet and let out a sigh of annoyance. It seemed some matches still weren't done and she was getting tired of waiting. She tried to send B4hamutt a message but found she was blocked off. “Come on,” she said in annoyance before leaning back. “There has to be something I can do!” With an exasperated groan, she jumped to her feet and began pacing. She glanced at her little teleporting stone, it still held the infinity symbol. “Ugh. I'm borrrred. Hurry up!” She gave the wall a swift kick. A moment later pain shot through her foot before she hopped around, clutching it. “Ow ow ow ow! Stupid force feedback!”

After far too long her teleporter began to vibrate as she took it out and glanced. Only a few more minutes and her match would begin.

------

Asura's next three matches went by easily. She didn't face any more double masters and the players she did face still weren't certain on how to best use their powers. She was able to crush them through experience and skill. To her displeasure, Suportano was knocked into the loser bracket two rounds after her.

After her third win in the losers bracket she was beginning to get confident again. Best of all, she had managed to keep both her end game spells in preparation for the final match. She only had to win a few more, and the pool of challengers was getting smaller and smaller with each victory. A few of her friends had already been eliminated, but she didn't worry to much. She figured whoever beat them likely wasted their mastery spells to do it.

When she was finally brought in for her seventh she let out a soft groan. “Another fae? You gotta be kidding me. I swear over half my matches have been against--”

“For this match we have another double master, folks!” the announcer yelled. “Asura, the double master angel! Versus Andremedia the master fae! Who will go on to the next round and continue their goal of attaining the championship, and who will be sent home for good? This is sure to be an explosive match either way!”

“Media? That's you?” Asura called out in surprise. The girl's fae form looked so... different from her leviathan form. While Andremedia's leviathan form had been a bit bulkier and strong looking, with thick muscles, the fae form was tiny and practically had tooth picks for arms. Realization dawned on her. “Of course. This is why I couldn't remember you. Your fae form is so much smaller and more... compact, than your leviathan form.”

Andremedia twitched slightly. “I hope you're ready for a tough match, Asura.” She drew her black bow, her eyes narrowed.

“Heh. I guess. You know after this match I need to ask you some things. So no hard feelings if you lose, okay? I really am sorry I had such difficulty remembering you,” Asura said before drawing both her blades.

“Sure. No hard feelings either way,” the fae said said before sending out three rapid shot arrows. The angel dove to the right, eyes wide in surprise.

“Wow, how did you shoot so- eek!” She dove to the ground and an arrow shot over head. The fae didn't let up, shooting arrow after arrow. Her right hand was a blur when she drew the string back again and again. Asura struggled to get out of the way, but there were just to many of them. “H-how can you do that?” She hated to do it, but she had no choice.

Asura reached into the little sack at her side and took out the speed potion. It was pink, thick and tasted like strawberries when she downed it. It wouldn't last long, but she didn't imagine she'd need too much time. She jumped to her feet instantly and ran at the woman, her movements far faster and responsive now.

Asura managed to dodge most the arrows by zigging left and right while charging at the fae. Within moments she was on the woman and stabbed straight at her chest.

Andremedia didn't falter. Her bow drove down and slammed across the side of the sword. Knocking the blade aside, she stepped forward and kicked the angel's feet out from under her while shoving Asura's shoulder, sending her tumbling forward. “Tornado shot,” the fae said before turning around and shooting another arrow straight into the angel's back, right between her wings. Powerful winds picked up and sent Asura hurtling away, moments before a flurry of arrows began to pepper her again.

“Gahhh!” Asura yelled. She crashed into the ground, moments before arrows lodged into her back. She rolled to the side and held out her hand. “Fireball!”

“Tornado,” Andremedia said instantly before jumping back. The fire was sucked into the spiral of wind while Asura stared in awe.

“I... I was not aware you could do that. That's-- eek!” Another arrow lodged in her chest, cutting her off. “Damn it!” Asura jumped to her feet and ran towards the woman again. This time even her zig zagging didn't protected her while the fae shot arrow after arrow into her. They weren't missing and Asura was beginning to notice something bad. The first few arrows did only a small bit of damage, but each one seemed to do more than the previous. Her HP was almost zero when she finally got within range.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Asura slashed forward again, except this time when her blow was parried she kicked out with her right leg at the woman's side. Andremedia flipped her bow around and drove the sword away while catching the foot with the edge of her weapon. “Gust,” Andremedia said before she drove her free hand into the angel's chest and sent her flying backwards.

Before Asura could steady herself for another attack, an arrow struck into her chest, followed by three more. Her HP disappeared to nothing and she disappeared yet again. A few moments later she appeared back in her room, mouth open. “How... when did... how did she... I...” She struggled for words before she plopped down on the chair. “How did she... I didn't even hit her! I was using a speed potion! How did she DO that?!” She let out a scream of rage. “Did that bitch hack the game? That had to be it! There's no way she could have... no. Calm down. There's no way she could hack in a tournament like this.” She hugged her knees to her chest and sighed, trembling while she struggled to let the rage flow away. After a few moments of deep breaths, she let out a soft sigh and accepted the truth.

She had just been outplayed. Outplayed completely. “I can't believe she beat me both at a distance, and up close. Ugh. She didn't even use fae-step.” She buried her face in her knees, reveling in her misery while she could.

Eventually, Asura sighed before finally getting up and leaving the arena. She lost, so there was nothing more she could do here. The longer she stayed, the worse she’d feel, too.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a message alert popped up. She glanced at it before paling. It wasn't a message sent in game. It was one sent to his online profile. A message from his parents. Short. Simple. Terrifying. 'We can't find you, which person are you?'

In her panic she almost sent a response, but quickly realized how foolish that would be as it would reveal her in-game name. Instead she logged out from the game.

Asher sent a message from his online profile. 'I got eliminated really early. You guys didn't miss anything, honest. Meet at the space station?'

He held his breath until he got a response. 'Okay, we're on our way.'

Asher sighed before logging in and soon he was standing in front of his parents. “In the other game, you said your name was Asura, right?” His mother looked a little anxious, but his father seemed distracted and seemed to be talking to himself, though no sounds came out. Asher figured he was probably on the phone with someone at work.

“Y-yes,” he said with a nervous gulp, his hands turning clammy.

“Which one? There were a lot of different fights, but the only one that was still playing when we got on was a young woman. We thought she might be you for a bit but... ummm, we wanted to be sure first.”

He gulped nervously before responding. “What? No! I got eliminated a while before you messaged me.”

“Oh! Oh, that's good. We were worried that you were, well, ummmm... never mind what we were worried about. We're just happy we were wrong.” He could see the relief flooding her face and couldn't help but feel a bit guilty and ashamed. There wasn't anything wrong with playing a girl, was there?

“Mom what i-” He was cut off when the entire world suddenly shifted. The colors changed wildly as everything nearby began to disappear. His breathing caught while he looked about in a panic. Was he having a seizure? Was he going to die? Was he... back in his room?

“--it. I tripped over the cord. Why are they all over the floor?” a man's voice said.

“Shhh! We don't want anyone to know you're here, do we?” It was a girl's voice this time. Jessica? What were they doing? Who was with her? Was he being robbed? Wait, he didn't have anything to rob. He weakly lifted his head so he could get a better view. What on earth were they doing?

“Are you sure he won't wake up?” the guy asked before he pulled Jessica into his arms and Asher could hear them starting to kiss.

“Nah, don't worry. He's just playing his little games. He'll be in them for hours. Even if he did come out he's barely even aware of what's going around him.” With those words he watched her shirt go up. Red heat filled his cheeks as he tried to decide what to do.

On the one hand, Jessica annoyed him near to death and he did want to get back to his game.

On the other hand, he was a male and the age filters on his head set prevented him from seeing anything like this. Could he really afford to pass this opportunity up?

“Maybe we should toss a towel over his head though. Just in case he does wake up...” Jessica said while stroking down the mans back. “He's kinda retarded, so he wouldn't be able to get it off.”

That certainly made the decision easier. He lowered his head back down and groaned. “W-what happened?”

Silence filled the room before she spoke up again. “Asher honey? You're up?” He could hear them shuffling about and struggling to get fully dressed.

“M-my headset disconnected... what happened...” He groaned and played it up.

“Nothing! Err, lets see. Ah, here we go.” A moment later his headset powered up, the loading symbol appearing over his eyes.

“W-who's that? Is he a d-doctor?” A malevolent part of him loved watching them squirm.

“What? Err! Yes! Just, checking up on, stuff and ummm, we need to go! Bye!” He suppressed the grin as the girl stumbled off, dragging her boyfriend behind her.

“Idiots,” he muttered before he felt the tingling sensation and he logged back into the game. His mom was in a panic when he arrived.

“What happened? Where did you go? I thought you had a heart attack again!” she yelled as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

“Easy mom, easy. The game just got unplugged, I was only gone five minutes,” he said while trying to push her away. “Why didn't you call the hospital then?”

“I did! I'm still on hold,” she said before he finally pushed her away. She started tapping some buttons. He guessed she just hung up on them. “What happened? Why didn't you say anything?”

“It was nothing. One of the nurses just snuck into my room to make out with her boyfriend and they tripped on the cord. Once I let her know I was there she plugged it in and left. That's all there was to it.”

“... Make out with her... in front of you?!” He suddenly found himself pulled into yet another tight hug. “Who did this? Who was making out in front of my little boy?!”

Asher groaned. “M-mom, stop it! I'm almost legally an adult, I'm not a little boy any more!” he said softly. His cheeks turned bright red when some passersby stared at the spectacle.

“You weren't trying to watch, were you?” his mother accused.

He turned bright red and looked around frantically. His father was nowhere to be seen, probably abandoning the boy to his fate. “N-no! Not at all! I-I told her as soon as I came back that she unplugged it! I didn't watch at all!” His voice cracked a little when he tried to defend himself.

“Fine... I guess. Which nurse was it? Was it the blonde one? Oh I never liked her. I always su-”

“No, it wasn't Amy!” He jumped in quickly. “It was Jessica, the red haired one. Don't worry about it though, I handled it.”

“Oh don't worry your little head honey. I'll take care of it with a phone call, okay?”

“Mom. I just said I took care of it. No need to make any phone calls. I got it.” He couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice.

“Now honey, no need to try being brave. I know how hard it is for you, I'll take care of it tomorrow, okay?”

“Are you even listening to... oh never mind. I give up,” Asher snapped in annoyance before he flung his hands in the air. “Where's dad?”

“Oh, he had to go. Apparently something came up at work, another strike. But he told me to call him immediately if you didn't come back on. I should probably give him a call and let him know you're okay.” Her mouth kept moving, but no words came out. Well, at least she was getting faster at changing who she was talking too.

Best of all, the sudden cut off had distracted her from the idea of him playing as a girl. He felt a little ashamed having to hide it from them, but judging by their reactions, he doubted they'd understand.

He leaned back against the nearby wall and waited for her to finish the call before she smiled to him. “So how about we try some nice mother-son bonding?”

“Sure,” he said softly and they began walking. “We can go see some more exploration things. Maybe a planet this time.” He added quickly when he saw the look of horror on his mother's face. “Nothing like the black hole.”

------

After a short planet visit Asher was left alone to do as he wished. He even got permission to stay up late to play his game. It wasn't long before Asura appeared back outside the coliseum and began hurtling messages to her guild rapid fire. “Who won? What happened? What I miss?”

“The dragon.”

“The guy who always wins.”

“I could have beaten him if I didn't get eliminated so fast.”

“The Eighth won.”

The guild responded quickly, though it took her a few seconds to realize what they meant. The Eighth. A high ranking dragon player. One of the highest ranking PVP players in the game and the winner of the 'Hunters of destiny' contest they had when the game began. It had been a contest/scavenger hunt/puzzle type thing where the players had to solve a number of riddles, slay certain creatures, and make certain items in order to advance to later stages.

She had, unfortunately, never gotten past the second riddle of the contest since she had no real interest in the cash prize. Not like she could have done anything with it. In the end the dragon player known only as 'The Eighth' won it. Since then he had been dominating the PVP tournaments and he was seen as one of the best pro players in the game. The fact he won the tournament wasn't a surprise, though it still annoyed her that she wouldn't get a shot at challenging him.

Her biggest annoyance was from something else. She took a look at her friend list before letting out a happy squeal of glee. “Andremedia! We need to talk! Meet me at Yggdrasil,” Asura sent the message before heading off.

Soon the two stood across from each other on, standing on the highest branches of the tree and far from the crowds. “You know why I called you here, don't you?” Asura asked, once again in her fae form.

“I can imagine so. I figure you're pretty mad that I beat you.”

“Well... I'm not mad. Just disappointed. I wanted to know how you did that? I've never seen anyone shoot arrows so fast! I didn't think it was possible! Do you do archery at home? Even if you do the fact you could do it so quickly is amazing!” Asura said in excitement, pacing the entire time.

“Oh, well, it's really easy actually. All you do is draw the string back, since the arrow forms by itself, so long as you already know the hand positions you can instantly move the arrow back and aim while you're still pulling it back. It also helps that I took a speed potion right before hand.”

That made Asura freeze. “Wait, you did? Why? Did you know I was going to be there?”

“What? No! I just took one before each fight. I bought a bunch before hand and I wanted to give myself a slight edge. Didn't matter in the end though, I still lost,” she said with a shake of her head. “The item pouch penalties made it a bit harder once my kiting failed.”

“Hey, you still trounced me. So what is the ability of the fae's bow, anyway? I bet it's something awesome.”

“It has another toggle. It either does high damage or allows the damage to increase with every arrow that hits the same target. Basically the more times I hit you, the more damage it caused. Great for kiting. Even if I just nick you, it still counts as a hit.”

“That explains a lot,” Asura said with a disappointed sigh. “Hey, I know this may sounds kinda odd, but do you think you can teach me? I mean, more about the fae class? You've seen my archery and my fae-step. I still need a lot of work before I can do it effectively. I know you're a lot better at it than me so... yeah... think you'd want too?” She couldn't help but feel a little nervous about asking for help like this. Especially considering she had been playing longer. But she hated feeling like there was something she just couldn't do, and if the only way to learn was to ask for help, then she'd swallow her pride and do it. No matter how frustrated she was, she couldn’t allow herself to pass up an opportunity to get better.

“Sure!” Andremedia said, looking shocked but a smile slowly forming on her lips. “It'll be fun. Don't expect it to be to easy though. There are a lot of little tricks I'd have to show you.”

“I don't mind!” Asura said and held out her hand. “I'm willing to work as hard as I have to in order to master this class!”

“Okay then. We'll start with the basics. Let's see if we can find you a broad side of a barn to hit,” Andremedia joked before taking Asura's hand and leaped from the tree branches, towards the world below.