When Gregory clicked the item in his inventory to confirm its use, the screen dimmed. A familiar loading wheel spun briefly, the kind that raised every player’s pulse with anticipation, promising something new. Suddenly, the screen transitioned, and Gregory found himself standing amidst a sprawling training ground.
The castle in the distance immediately caught his eye. Its grey stone bricks were weathered yet steadfast, giving off the impression of resilience forged over centuries. From its walls hung red banners, emblazoned with a golden flaming lion, the unmistakable symbol of the Flame Lions Guild. The guild’s insignia glimmered in the soft sunlight, an emblem of strength and dominance.
The castle’s towers loomed high, their small windows like slitted eyes watching over the grounds. Battlements adorned the top, their design medieval and fortified, as if preparing for a siege that could come at any moment. The air was tinged with the faint crackle of mana, and the training ground stretched outward, a battlefield where heroes were forged and legends tested their mettle.
Gregory barely had time to admire the details when something glimmered in his peripheral vision. A delicate golden butterfly floated down gracefully, glowing faintly, as if it were alive yet ethereal. Its movements were smooth and deliberate, almost sentient, and it hovered about seven feet in the air before stopping.
Gregory squinted. The butterfly wasn’t just decoration. It pulsed faintly, releasing an aura that was impossible to ignore. A faint hum accompanied its presence, and before he could inspect it further, the sky darkened momentarily.
A loud crack thundered above, pulling Gregory’s attention upward.
Without warning, a figure descended from the heavens at breakneck speed. His silhouette grew larger as he neared, the sheer force of his descent kicking up a fiery trail in his wake. Gregory barely had time to brace himself as the Flame Prince landed with an earth-shattering impact.
Boom!
The ground around the prince’s landing cratered, fissures snaking outward as dust and debris shot up in a dramatic cloud. The force reverberated through the training ground, and Gregory instinctively took a step back to steady himself.
As the dust cleared, the Flame Prince stood tall in the center of the impact zone. He was completely unfazed, his posture almost mocking in its casualness.
The prince had landed on his feet, his arms lazily positioned behind his head like he had simply hopped down from a low ledge instead of crashing into the earth like a meteor.
His attire immediately caught Gregory’s eye.
Karlos Pov
The Karlos blinked, disoriented. One moment, he was simply… getting ready to shoot an arrow into a training dummy. The next, he felt a jarring shift, like he’d been yanked forward into something tangible, something real.
Except, it wasn’t him moving.
He hovered slightly above the ground, his form translucent and weightless. It was as though he’d been peeled out of his own body. The training ground stretched before him, vivid and alive in a way he’d never experienced before. Every stone in the castle wall, every ripple of the banners fluttering in the wind—they felt painfully real, far more detailed than he’d ever noticed in-game.
Then, he saw himself.
Standing just a few feet away,
He was noticeably different but still obviously the same person. For one he was taller like the size of his original self instead of the smaller version he adopted in game. His hair now had strands of silver. Most noticeable of all the changes was the silver aura surrounding him; the aura looked violent but warming.
His silver version was the picture of confidence and power. That high-collared white-and-red coat draped around him like royalty, the quiver slung casually over his shoulder, and the bow of silver flames resting loosely in his grip.
The sight was… unnerving.
“What the hell is this?” the Flame Mage muttered to himself, his voice echoing faintly as though spoken from a great distance.
The Flame Prince—his future self—wasn’t paying him any attention. Instead, he was pacing, cracking his knuckles, and flashing that cocky grin.
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The Flame Mage hovered, watching with growing unease as his Silver Flame Prince counterpart moved with precision. It wasn’t random. Every attack, every step, every motion was intentional—but they weren’t his intentions.
A flicker of light in the corner of his vision drew his attention upward. There it was again—the massive screen with Greg on it, his voice faintly echoing through the training ground like distant thunder.
Greg’s Voice (muffled):
“All right, chat, let’s check out the first skill animation. This one looks sick in the preview.”
The Flame Mage squinted at Greg, seeing his excited gestures and hearing the hum of his stream chat chiming in. It was as if a god had descended to this world, but one oblivious to the fact that its creations could sense it.
The Mage floated closer to his corporeal form—the Silver Prince, who was now taking up position in the center of the training ground. The red and white coat fluttered lightly in the wind as the Prince raised his hand, fire sparking between his fingers. A golden bow with sliver strings manifested itself. 3 silver arrows appeared in the Mage’s hand and he then shot those arrows
A low hum filled the air, followed by a sudden rush of heat as the golden-butterfly appeared in front of the dummy. The Silver Prince swapped places with the butterfly and punched the dummy.
Suddenly, the golden butterfly from before flitted into his vision, spiraling upward before bursting into light. The Mage shielded his eyes reflexively, but the voice that followed froze him in place.
Flame Prince:
“Hey, relax. I know this is weird, but you’ll figure it out eventually.”
The Mage turned, stunned, as his Silver Flame Prince version glanced over his shoulder with a knowing smile.
“You can hear me?” the Mage asked, his voice trembling with equal parts hope and confusion.
The Prince chuckled, drawing another arrow and casually aiming it at a distant target.
“Not exactly. I’m just a fragment of what you’re going to be. But don’t worry, you’ll catch up soon enough.”
Greg’s Voice ( Muffled:) The second card has a lion in the picture. It's an aoe I think.
Gregory POV
Gregory’s excitement was palpable as he clicked to activate the Flame Prince’s first skill. The animation was seamless: Karlos shot 3 arrows that struck true a glowing golden butterfly materialized, moving gracefully before swapping places with the Prince mid-attack. The dummy erupted into flames, the explosion so vivid that Gregory half-expected to feel heat through his screen.
“All right, chat, this is nuts,” Gregory said, leaning forward. His voice was filled with unrestrained awe. “That butterfly thing? Definitely not just for show. And that swap? Clean.”
His chat erupted:
I’m just here for animations: “This is the best skill animation yet!”
“I ‘m a Whale please believe me: Bro, that butterfly is broken—pay-to-win confirmed.”
I hate pvp 😡: “Imagine this in PvP, though.”
Habakkuk: what that skill be ranged or melee?
Horny&Honest: @ Habakkuk : Probably ranged tbh. He has a bow and the whole animation he attacks from 10 feet away besides for two seconds. Good question though.
User123: @Horny&Honest So you do actually play the game.
I love big number: Shame I’m going to have to go to bed without seeing those big stats.
Gregory’s POV
Gregory’s anticipation swelled as he prepared to activate the second skill. His finger hovered over the screen for a moment longer than necessary, savoring the chatter from his stream.
“All right, chat,” he said, leaning back slightly and cracking his knuckles. “We’ve seen how clean the first skill was. Let’s find out what the second card does. If the first animation is anything to go by, this one’s probably insane.”
As his thumb pressed the activation button, the screen dimmed momentarily before exploding into color. The Flame Prince, standing confidently in the training ground, raised his hand. A burst of flame coiled around his arm like a living serpent, hissing and crackling with energy.
From the fiery swirl emerged a spectral lion—its mane a flowing mass of golden and crimson flames, its eyes burning with fierce intelligence. The lion padded forward, leaving glowing embers with every step. It roared, the sound reverberating through the ground and shaking the training dummies.
Chat Reaction:
•WhaleGod69: “A lion made of flames? TAKE MY MONEY.”
•IWantPvPOnly: “Bro, I can already see this being nerfed in the next update.”
•AOEFTW: “This better be an area-of-effect attack or I’m uninstalling.”
Gregory couldn’t help but chuckle. His audience was losing their minds, and he hadn’t even seen the skill fully play out yet.
The lion surged forward with a grace that belied its power. As it neared the dummies, the beast leapt into the air, its body dissolving into countless fiery shards that scattered across the battlefield. Each shard descended like a blazing meteor, creating a series of explosions that blanketed the entire training ground in chaos and light.
Gregory leaned closer to his monitor, his voice trembling with excitement. “Chat, are you seeing this? That lion splits into fragments, and—wait, is that burn damage I see ticking on the dummies?”
Chat Reaction:
•Burn4Life: “YOOO, DOT stacking confirmed???”
•PaytoPlay: “No way this is balanced. My wallet’s ready.”
•SkillFanatic: “Does anyone else notice how fluid the transitions are? This is next-gen animation right here.”
Gregory swiped over to inspect the stats of the attack. Sure enough, each dummy was now smoldering, a persistent damage-over-time effect reducing their health steadily. But what caught his attention next sent a chill down his spine.
As the lion’s fiery shards dissipated, a ghostly silhouette of the lion remained, prowling near the Flame Prince like a loyal guardian. Its form shimmered, flickering between corporeal and ethereal as if tethered to the Prince’s will.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Gregory muttered, his eyes wide. “Chat, is this—does the lion stay on the field?”
Chat Reaction:
•I’mJustHereForGraphics: “No way. Is it a summon now???”
•PvPGrinder: “RIP melee players if that thing chases people in arenas.”
•CasualCasper: “Bruh, I need this card for farming mobs. Look at that coverage!”