“Ha?! Are you hitting on my sister or something? Want to die right now?”
“I-I was just asking if I could join your party since you seem to be boosting them," the player wearing a high-level knight set defended himself.
“What? So that you could get her number after? Not a chance pub, beat it, or I'll PK you right now!” Renz rudely dismissed him.
“Y-yes sir!” he exclaimed while hastily distancing himself from Renz like he was the plague.
Stop acting like a punk you siscon! This is the 4th time you picked fights for no reason at all!
Me, Clarissa, and Renz are all grinding together in a popular ghost town full of undead monsters suitable for our current level. Liz is sadly not with us today because she has guild responsibilities that Dust made her do. Quite shocking, but she is our guild leader after all, even if she doesn’t look like she does that much. A shame really, ‘cause she is a thousand times better company than this obnoxious guy right here.
“Why are you even here? We don't need your help grinding,” I irritably called him out.
“Hmph! I'm here for Clarissa, not you.”
“Clarissa doesn't need you either, she already has me helping her.”
“Ha!? What are you implying?!" Renz raised his voice, ready for another confrontation.
“P-please stop fighting! I’m sorry if you guys are arguing because of me. Sorry for being selfish, I just want us three to play together,” Clarissa mediated, tears welling up in her eyes.
Our attitude immediately did a 360 at that.
“W-were not fighting! This is just how we banter because we are very close, right Novo?”
“Y-yeah, that’s right! Your big brother and I are the best of friends and comrades in arms!” I happily confirmed.
“Right! Novo is the closest friend and best teammate anyone could ever hope for!” Renz stepped up his act.
We both praised while awkwardly patting each other's back.
"Hehehe, I'm glad I misunderstood. I knew you two do get along because you two are very kind," she made an angelic smile... how precious!
Renz and I both instinctively held our noses to prevent them from dropping blood.
“But I can't believe it. This feels like a dream come true. Novo and Big Brother knew each other and are working together in a single team! No wonder Brother said he has the best team in the tournament because he has Novo and Miss Lizbeth!”
“Of course, It's exactly as I told you right? Your Big Brother’s team is very strong!”
“He hehe,” she gave a cute satisfied giggle. “Of course, I never doubted you brother because I already know you will never lie to me. Oh, I almost forgot to ask. Novo, how strong is my brother? He’s the ace of your team, right? If he's stronger than you then it means he is super strong cause you’re the strongest player I have ever seen!”
Never lie my ass! What kind of nonsense are you spouting to your sister now? How can you say that you’re the ace of our team if you haven't even won a single time against Chu in all your 1v1 sparring matches that you forced on him?!
Renz for his part seems like he's sweating buckets with how easily I can refute his claims—a huge contrast to Clarissa's sparkling eyes full of expectation.
It seems like I have no choice but to go with the flow. All I see is a sister looking up to her elder sibling, I cannot, in good conscience, destroy that expectation.
"O-of course, your brother is the greatest CoA player I have ever seen in my entire life! He’s so skilled that he can wipe the floor with me with a blindfold on! You know he can even play in pro teams if he wants to!" I exaggeratedly confirmed.
“Wowww!” Clarissa’s sparkling eyes became even more shinier.
Renz for his part sighed in relief.
I looked at him with a piercing glare that made him wither. Renz, you better live up to the expectations you set for yourself. If you don't, I swear you will get an earful out of me!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-Lucy PoV-
“Aria, Earth to Aria!”
I called my best friend for the umpteenth time.
“H-huh? Lucy, what's up?” she replied, a bit startled at my voice.
"Don’t you ‘watsup’ me! I was calling you so many times!” I pouted.
“Oh, forgive me, I did not notice,” she replied a bit sheepishly.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Of course, you don’t. It's because you’ve been distracted a lot lately!”
“Am not," she instantly denied.
“You are! What are you even doing that got you distracted this much?”
“Just... chatting with an old acquaintance...”
“Is it the girl you seemed to be close the other day? The representative of the new allied guild?” I made a wild guess.
"Wha- o-of course not! I said ‘old acquaintance’, Novo is a new one!" she quickly denied, as if hiding something.
Hmm, suspicious, we have been friends since we were kids and I can tell when she is lying. I also know that I cannot get her to confess since she is stubborn as a mule.
I stared at her, suspicion evident on my face.
“W-why did you call out to me again?" she replied, composing herself in the process.
Changing the subject huh? Fine, I'll let it slide for now.
"It's time for our practice," I reminded her.
"Oh already? Just a sec."
She seemed to type something in the air before closing an app and judging by the looks of it, a messaging one. I frequently see her doing that a lot these days, how suspicious. One thing that has changed for the better in the past few weeks is that she has become more motivated to improve. She has always been a hard worker, but it is on another level these days, to the point of creating a routine practice session while dragging me in the process. But, as the best friend that I am, I have to help her out.
We headed to the huge training room of our guild where our practice sparring team was already waiting for us. The room was expansive, with high vaulted ceilings supported by sturdy stone pillars and timber beams. Large windows with stained glass panels adorned the walls, allowing sunlight to filter in and illuminate the space during the day. All four of them greeted us as we went inside. Meanwhile, their leader then went forward to speak with Ariadne.
“Miss Ariadne, are we going to have the same routine as yesterday?” Gerald queried.
“No, this time, four of you come at me all at once,” Aria bluntly replied.
“B-but Miss Ariadne.”
“Only two at a time didn't even pose a challenge in our last sparring match. How do you expect me to improve with my new weapon? Now, four of you come, I don't have all day.”
She must have hurt their pride a little with that as all of them are also top players in our guild. Their team almost got through the first day of the qualifiers, but sadly they were one match short so they became our sparring partners. Although knowing Aria, she likely thinks she is only stating facts. A blunt but truthful friend, one of the traits I appreciate about her although calling her 'harsh' sometimes is a huge understatement.
“U-understood Ma’am!” their leader signaled his members to get ready to fight.
“Lucy, if you will,” she in turn signaled me to buff her.
“Yes, yes, one haste, coming right up,” I cast the haste skill I had been holding since earlier.
Her opponents took it as a signal to begin the sparring match.
Aria stayed still, unmoving. It is as if she had disconnected.
One of her opponents, a rapier user, took the bait. He launched a fast thrust at her head for a fatal hit. Aria tilted her head ever so slightly, flawlessly dodging the attack before countering with four lightning-fast stabs with her dagger, all aimed directly at his head. The precision and speed of the hasted attacks were difficult to follow, even for me.
DarkRaven
HP: 0%
“Wha-!“ he stared at her in disbelief before he vanished into blue motes of light.
I sighed. When will he ever learn? Well, that’s one down, three to go.
Their leader, the only melee member remaining now doubled his caution, afraid of getting near her. A second later of composing himself, he signaled for a cooperative attack.
Their mage cast his channeled ‘Ice Spear’. This happened simultaneously with their archer firing an arrow and their leader, a skilled swordsman, charging to slash at her.
A perfect coordination of skills that is impossible for Aria to dodge all at once. I sometimes forget that they are a strong team on their own, Aria just makes them look weak compared to her.
Just as their coordinated attack was about to hit, Aria’s weapon shifted into a shield. She narrowly dodged the slash while blocking the arrow and ice spear at the same time with her new defensive weapon.
What an unorthodox weapon skill. I heard that she acquired the unique weapon with the help of the Concord of Heroes’ guild. No wonder she is so attached to them as they survived what I imagined to be an unbeatable dungeon. Adversity promotes camaraderie after all.
Aria capitalized on the disbelief of her opponents. She sprinted past the swordsman and then went to the mage. The mage, being the veteran that he is, quickly composed himself, ready to dodge her attack. Although he was caught off guard when Aria’s weapon changed into a spear, the extended reach piercing his head for another fatal hit.
JohnSnow
HP: 0%
Another look of awe and disbelief from the mage just before he vanished into blue motes of light.
What a broken weapon skill. It doesn’t seem flashy or strong at first but the utility and element of surprise it brings to the table is undeniable. It has no cooldown; the only downside is that it costs mana to shift. Coupled with Aria’s experience in using different weapons due to her being a player since day one and her creating many smurf accounts over the past few years out of curiosity in using different weapons makes it the best weapon skill for someone like her.
After dispatching the mage, her focus instantly shifted to the archer, then dashed towards him. The swordsman, noticing her intent went to intercept her. The archer in his panic used his weapon skill.
“Explosive Arrow!” he exclaimed.
The arrow flew towards Aria with the intent to blow up in her face, disrupting her charge. In the middle of the arrow’s flight, Aria’s weapon shifted again, now to a whip. With its incredibly long reach, she used it to detonate the arrow mid-flight. The explosion backfired as it hit the swordsman who was near the shockwave. Aria capitalized on their leader’s disorientation by shifting her weapon to a heavy-hitting mace. Coupled with the momentum of her hasted sprint, she bashed his head into next year.
*CLANG
Gerald
HP: 0%
The sound reverberated through the entire room. Even with the high vitality of their swordsman, it was impossible for him to survive a blow that powerful. He disappeared into blue motes of light, following his comrades in the guild respawn hall just into the next room
“I-I surrender!” the last opponent yielded, too afraid to continue fighting Ariadne alone.
Her concentration then shifted into a relaxed self-satisfied smile after the win.
No matter how many times I see it, her graceful yet deadly moves never cease to amaze me. Coupled with her newly acquired weapon skill, she is unstoppable. She is a talented player in her own right but is on a whole other level when hasted. A true protege of the strongest haste user who ever played the game and also one of the founders of our guild, Yuusha. Someone who both Aria and I looked up to. Sadly, she left us abruptly after the first AC without even a single word as to why. It affected the Paragon guild as a whole, but Aria more so. She was probably the closest member of our guild to Yuusha back then, barring the other Paragon team members who won the AC with her.
It is good to see her this lively now though, probably because of the big tournament the proteges of Paragons joined. Can't blame her, I am a bit giddy too. Feels like we are making history by taking the mantle of the legendary team.
“You guys bullying our members again? Why don't we just play rank matches to practice?” Blitz, Zetta’s protégé commented on the one-sided match.
[https://images-ng.pixai.art/images/orig/bd9b791b-bf95-4ac5-9855-ff16e41d0a6a]
“We cannot leak anything about her unique weapon skill. Someone might capture a video of her using it. It would be best for her to practice in private zones to avoid showing any of our cards,” Seer, Tactical's protégé and our team’s strategist reasoned.
[https://images-ng.pixai.art/images/orig/23893b48-7120-44e8-9a3f-b7755d4b3026]
I did not notice them arriving, how long have they been there?
“Hmmm... makes sense. Although I still think you're overthinking things, loosen up a little, will ya?"
His personality is lax as always—far cry from Zetta's competitiveness. I always wonder why Zetta even accepted him as an apprentice in the first place.
“Better to be prepared for every possibility than regretting it later.”
Seer, on the other hand, resembles Tactical more, always cautious and logical.
“Good timing both of you. I need the proper challenge to practice my new weapon, come at me, two-on-one while I'm hasted.”
“Whaaat... can we just relax for once? You've been so hardworking these past few days that I cannot keep up! Learn to take it easy once in a while. You might overtax yourself, you know.”
“No, I need to prepare as best as I can for this tournament. Besides, you two also need the training. It would be like hitting two birds with one stone.”
“We don’t have to toil this hard you know, I'm sure we can easily win the under-twenty tournament without any pro players around to give us a hard time.”
Aria stared at him thoughtfully.
“What if there was?” Aria suddenly blurted out.
"Huh?" Blitz tilted his head, probably thinking he misheard Aria.
“I said, what if there was a pro player in the tournament, what will you do?” she clarified.
That was a strange question to ask, how suspicious.
"Come on, that's impossible. The Under 20 tournament will be held in a LAN setting. Not a single pro player can sneak into the tournament and play in the main event without getting found out," Blitz logically analyzed.
“Is there something you're not telling us, Ariadne?” Seer posed a question of his own.
Seer, for his part, catches on quickly. I have known Aria for so long so I have an inkling that she knows something we don't, but not him. He understood it through pure deduction, I can tell that he really learned from someone as perceptive as Tactical.
"...No, it is just a what-if question. And it is exactly what you said earlier, we need to be prepared for all the possibilities. Someone as skilled as a pro player joining the tournament is one of those."
"Fair point," he acquiesced.
Hmm... she is clearly dodging his question. How incredibly suspicious.