Chapter 1.5 Meeting. Part 2.

Lilith and Daeron were staring at each other. It seemed to everyone that lightning was about to start flickering between them.

"Ahem," Schneider coughed, trying to get their attention.

"Act like adults. Be decent," Atkins commented more quietly. "We're not the only ones here."

Hearing her comment, Lilith left Schneider and with a flap of her wings went behind Atkins and hugged her, resting her head on the woman's shoulder.

"If only we were alone," Lilith whispered in her ear, but the whole room could hear it clearly. "Big sis would show you what it means to be indecent."

Saying this, she ran one hand dangerously close to the woman's breasts. Her tail wrapped around the woman's thigh. Atkins turned her flushed head and took a step to the side, instinctively trying to free herself from the demoness' grasp. But how could she free herself from an annoying hologram?

"Lilith! " Raised his voice, Schneider. "If you don't stop, I'll be forced to turn you off." And after a short pause, he added. "In all halls where meetings are being held this minute."

Lilith reluctantly released Atkins from her embrace and returned to her spot.

"Besides, our viewers might get the wrong idea about the upcoming game. It's called MMOGs and includes the word survival for a reason," Schneider added. "The world in the game has an extensive history that spans five millennia. And the last one and a half thousand years is the most recent history, which was created directly during the pre-simulation of the game's world. Only the strongest survive in it."

"True," Lord Daeron confirmed. "The world in the game is not as kind and playful as it may seem. It's even darker and crueler than the Earth world. We try, of course, to make it less dangerous for the weak. However, some races do not accept our rules and encourage segregation and slavery."

Daeron looked at Lilith, indirectly indicating who he meant.

"But that's a half-truth, isn't it? Slavery flourishes on your continent in human lands as well," she replied, looking out into the hall at the audience. "No one is going to throw rookies into the jaws of a dragon, much less take them into slavery. Everyone will be helped in the beginning, once they arrive in our world. From there, it will be up to you."

"Unlike your continent, we provide recruits with constant care and mentorship."

"It's called servitude and bureaucracy."

"And you have anarchy and debauchery!"

Lilith and Daeron began a verbal altercation, accusing each other of every mortal and unspeakable sin. Although there was something useful in their words. So, the audience finally learned that the game has five continents and nearly a hundred large and small states with a population of up to several hundred million NPC (non-playable characters). All states have a territory with varying degrees of danger, up to the forbidden land, which is forbidden to enter any living creature. One such territory occupies an entire continent and is flooded with the undead. The world's oceans are also inhabited by a variety of creatures, races, and states. Under the ground, by the way, there is life present as well.

At last, the altercation ended and there was silence.

"I want to draw your attention to one feature of our game," Atkins said after a pause. "All your actions in the game do not fall under the jurisdiction of our Earth laws. That is, if you are injured, robbed, or raped, you will deal with it yourself in the game. You will have to contact the local authorities. It's unpleasant, but also part of the concept of survival. The same applies to your crimes. These will also be dealt with by local authorities. And believe me, in some places the law will be harsh."

At this point, Lilith eloquently gestured to show just how harsh it is, running her hand down her throat, symbolizing the beheading.

"However, this does not mean that there is no way out of such situations. You must remember that you can always, at any time, leave the game. No one can take that away from you."

"But remember that artificial intelligence will react even to this. In some countries cowardice is considered worse than death," Schneider added to her words.

"Speaking of death," Atkins remembered. "You get one free resurrection every game day. If you die, you will be resurrected at noon at the nearest shrine. But note that if you die at 12:05 a.m., you'll be resurrected the next day and lose one game day. At this time, you will be in your personal subspace, which is a kind of buffer between the game and our world. In this subspace, the Internet and the game forum will be available. The language in the game and on the forum will be the same - English. Jump into subspace and back into the game at any time. Only one restriction applies - you cannot be in battle and must wait ten seconds without moving. During these ten seconds, you are defenseless."

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"In the game, each of you will have a moral compass, which determines your attitude towards good - evil and order - chaos. You all begin with a neutral attitude. As you progress in the game, your compass will change as well. Your moral compass directly affects how you interact with the characters in the game. Lord Daeron represents good and order, while Duchess Lilith represents chaos and evil."

"There is a separation in the game between your character's physical and magical power. Magical power is determined by the accumulated amount of magical energy. There are ten types of magical energy: fire, water, air, earth, metal, lightning, light, shadow, life, and death. All elements form five groups of elements that are opposite to each other. For example, the element of fire is in opposition to the element of water. The other four pairs are air to earth, metal to lightning, light to shadow, and life to death. Each magical element corresponds to its own color:

- Fire - red

- Water - blue

- Air - Milky white

- Earth - brown

- Metal - silver

- Lightning - light blue

- Light - yellow

- Shadow - purple

- Life - green

- Death – black"

"You will start the game with your Earth power and no magical energy. In the game, you will need to eat and sleep regularly. You will feel tired. You may get sick. Everything is just like in reality. Your senses in the game will work one hundred percent. But be careful, as there are spells and substances in the game that enhance or suppress your senses, as well as act selectively or on all senses at once. And another limitation has to do with your physical body. Anything you feel in the game, your body will feel too. And if you overuse it in the game, it will not endure, the protection of the capsule will forcibly disconnect you from the game. It will be an unforgettable experience," Atkins smiled at the last phrase.

"I think we should take a short break," said Schneider after a pause. "I hope Lord Daeron and Duchess Lilith won't refuse us a little demonstration of their skills."

"Gladly," Lilith quickly cheered.

"I would be honored to teach this evil demoness a lesson," Lord Daeron bowed.

"Dream on," she said and snickered haughtily.

Lilith flapped her wings, and in a second, she was in the air. Lord Daeron snapped his fingers, and a long-carved redwood staff with a large white ball at the top appeared in his hand. Tapping the staff once at the stage, a bright magical weaving appeared beneath it. Activating the spell, Daeron rose smoothly above the stage.

Looking at each other, they slowly increased the distance between them to almost the full width of the concert hall. And that's over fifteen meters. Turning in midair, they waited. Lilith removed a thin, coiled whip from her belt. Everyone in the audience froze in anticipation.

"If you're ready, you may begin," Schneider commanded.

Lilith was the first to act, lashing out with her whip. It rushed toward Lord Daeron, who wasted no time, and weaved a spell in front of him and activated it at once. A wall of ice formed within a couple of meters of him. With a distinctive "Boom" the whip hit the wall. Chunks fell, but the wall held. Lilith gathered the whip and struck again. A stronger "Boom" was heard, but the wall held on again. Then the whip struck again, and again.

"Ha-ha, even imps hit harder than that," laughed Daeron.

With a chuckle, Lilith quickly weaved a spell, and the whip in her hands blazed with blue fire. Daeron stopped laughing, his face grew tense. Lilith swung her whip, but instead of another "Boom," the audience heard the sound of broken ice. A hole the size of a man's head formed in the wall, and the elf had to fly aside. A couple more blows followed, and the wall finally shattered into pieces. Holographic chunks of ice fell onto the audience. Daeron continued to dodge the whip. After another dodge, he pointed the glowing tip of the staff at Lilith. She didn't hesitate long to cloak herself with her wings. The top of the staff struck a beam of light that blinded everyone in the hall for a few seconds. When the light faded, everyone saw that Lilith was relatively unharmed, only her left-wing smoking slightly.

With a snap of her fingers, the whip was gone from her hands. In its place was a two-meter sword, and a long, narrow shield in her other hand. Daeron directed another beam of light at the demoness, who shielded herself from it and folded her wings completely. The beam of light again blinded everyone in the hall, but this time only for a moment.

When the lights went down and Lilith opened her shield, the audience could see that she was unharmed, which could not be said of Lord Daeron. The clothes on his left shoulder were charred.

"How do you like your own spell, my dear? " Lilith asked.

"Great spell," Daeron affirmed, "Let's see how you do with the next spell."

He held the staff out in front of him, and after a short concentration, six magical weavings appeared in front of him. Activating the spells, six X-shaped ice boomerangs emerged from them. Soon they were spinning rapidly, and then they were headed toward Lilith.

All six hit her at the same time. Three she blocked with her shield. She dodged two and repulsed the last one with her sword. To her disappointment, none shattered. But now they weren't attacking at the same time, and she had a chance to defend herself. It went on like that for a minute. The boomerangs still couldn't do any damage to Lilith, but she couldn't get rid of the boomerangs. Finally, she got tired of it, and she weaved a new spell. First, her sword and then her shield was covered in a layer of blue fire.

In the next couple of seconds, she managed to destroy a couple of boomerangs. But the happiness was brief. Lord Daeron began to create new boomerangs and send them toward Lilith. In response, the demoness launched a fireball with her sword at Daeron. Now he had to dodge it, but he didn't stop creating boomerangs.

The exchange of boomerangs and fireballs intensified. The spectators sitting below were no longer able to see all the details of the battle. And soon the space was covered in ice and flames. Now it was impossible to see what was going on inside. All that remained was the sound of the battle intensifying.

And in an instant, all was silent. The audience held their breath, waiting for the holographic fog to clear and see who had won.

When the fog cleared, they could see that Lilith was behind Daeron, holding her sword to his throat. Her shield covered her back and her tail wrapped around Daeron's waist. The staff was still in his hands, and he tried to repel the sword with it, but probably not in time. Twelve ice swords levitated not far from them, most of them aimed at Lilith's head.

"Which one won," Melinda mentally wondered as she continued to rub her aching neck.

"A marvelous display of skill," Eric Schneider broke the silence. "Let's give them a round of applause!"