Chapter 2 : Tournament
As I logged in to the game, a weird screen came up and I was standing in the middle of a blank room. So, this is virtual reality.
Then an AI spoke, "Type a name and design a character."
A blank body appeared, along with a box to type in your name. For my name, I chose something that would influence awe or fear, depending on what I did in-game. Shadowflash. Perfect. I pressed the done button after setting the avatar with my eyes, hair - just longer - and a little taller just so I reach six foot. My world dissolved into a swirl of pixels. When I opened my eyes, a green grassy meadow with a small town appeared in front of me. The fresh breeze and smell of nature flooded my senses.
An info square arose, asking me to choose a path.
/ Water
Air
Fire
Light
Earth
Other: You may start without a path but with extra stat points /
'Wow, that was fast. It already wanted me to pick a path? What path should I pick? If I picked Fire - or Water - what happened then?' I wondered why there was no trial or something of the sort.
Something inside me was drawn to pick "Other", but why? Before I could do anything, my hand touched the 'Other' choice and the screen dispersed.
'Stupid, why did I do that?'
Now I didn't have any power and was at a disadvantage to all the other players. Well, at least I got extra stat points. I felt a sudden tingle on my hand and looked down in surprise to see it start to dissolve, and then watched as my entire body teleport-ed into a dark forest. All signs of life gone.
A strange man wrapped in shadows slowly stepped into my field of vision and spoke.
/ I felt the anger in you. The anger of revenge and hatred. So I have an offer… Would you like to walk the path of darkness? /
'Bit extreme but ok, what do I do? I was being offered a path, but do I accept?'
/ Pick now or never gain power. /
"Yes, I accept the path of darkness and chaos to gain power," I spoke trying not to laugh. Suddenly, a notification appeared on my screen.
/ You have picked a one of a kind path, the path of darkness. You have unlocked your stat screen, swipe down then sideways to access it. /
so I swiped down and then sideways to pull up my stat screen.
/ NAME: Axel Olson
GENDER: Male
PATH: Darkness
POWER: 10
STRENGTH: 10
SPEED: 10
ENDURANCE: 10
MAGE: 10
STAMINA: 100
MANA: 100
HEALTH: 100
LEVEL: 1 /
Well my stats seemed like they would start at this amount no matter what path I took, so no advantage after all. Only one thing to do. Ask questions.
"So how do I use the power of darkness and can I use spells?" I asked because who didn't want to cast powerful spells.
/ Your power increases as your level does and yes, you can use spells. In fact, you can pick one from three right now. /
Another screen popped up with three choices.
/ Silence arrow: Shoots deadly arrows at your enemy using 300 MANA.
Summoner: Can summon one animal or zombie using 200 MANA.
Shadow orb: Can shoot small orbs of dark MANA using 20 MANA per orb /
So which one should I pick? Good thing they were all range; I didn't like close combat style seeing as how today went with Ray. I made my choice. "I would like Shadow orb."
/ A smart choice. As you increase your level, the orb can do more damage. At level 100, the orbs do 1000 damage each. /
"Cool. So at level 50, how much health would I have?" I inquired.
/ You would have around 1000 if you spent your stat points correctly. /
Suddenly the man wrapped in shadows stiffened and spoke.
/ I need to go. Good luck. /
"Wh-WAIT. I have more questions!" I shouted.
But my voice fell on deaf ears as he melted into the shadows. So much for the help.
At least I had a path. Maybe I should test my spell out. I did a weird hand gesture that had popped into my mind and spoke,"Shadow orb!"
A dark ball of matter started to form by sucking little particles of stuff from the air, most likely MANA. I aimed at a nearby tree, and threw the ball. It took me a few tries but when it did hit, it was absorbed. My reaction was surprise until the tree exploded from the inside out a few milliseconds later. Wow, that's powerful! If that hit a player, the damage would be deadly. A notification popped up.
/ Level up! 5 stat points to spend. /
'I leveled up. Just by doing that? There must be XP in these trees'
I tossed a few more orbs until my MANA depleted completely and then a few more after. I leveled a few more times and now had 25 stat points to spend, so I pulled up my stat screen once again.
/ NAME: Axel Olson
GENDER: Male
PATH: Darkness
POWER: 10
STRENGTH: 10
SPEED: 10
ENDURANCE: 10
MAGE: 10 STAMINA: 100
MANA: 100
HEALTH: 105
LEVEL: 6 /
I spent my stat points on my MANA so that I could use more orbs.
/ NAME: Axel Olson
GENDER: Male
PATH: Darkness
POWER: 10
STRENGTH: 10
SPEED: 10
ENDURANCE: 10
MAGE: 10
STAMINA: 100
MANA: 125
HEALTH: 105
LEVEL: 6 /
Suddenly my world once again began to dissolve into nothing and when it reformed, I was back in the field with the small village, where I had first spawned in. I started to walk towards the village. When I entered, my eye caught a poster saying that there was going to be a tournament in three days. The minimum level required in order to enter was level three and the maximum level was ten. The winners of this would be transported to a major city based on your location.
Should I join? After all, I was at level six so I was pretty far up. Yeah, I decided I would join but just as a test to see the skill others have. I would have to find the registry first.
"Do you know where the tournament registry is?" I asked a nearby villager.
"Why yes, there is one located around the corner," he replied.
"Thanks!" I yelled as I rushed to the registry. I bumped into some NPC's who spit out curses at me as I ran. Finally I arrived and saw a very round guard.
"U-um I would like to register for the tournament," I spoke.
"Okay, just give me your name and level," the fat guard replied.
"My name is Shadowflash and I'm level 6," I said. The guard looked happy as he heard this news.
"You're one of our highest leveled players who are entering," he said. Cool. I'm one of the highest leveled players entering! Maybe I might make it farther than I thought.
"The tournament begins tomorrow at noon," the guard said breaking my thoughts.
"Cool, thanks," I replied. I started to walk towards an inn to log off. After I had found a room, I logged off. The screen went dark and then I opened my real eyes.
The first thing I noticed was that I was really hungry, so I made my way to the kitchen and helped myself to some frozen pizza. To sum that meal up, it tasted like cardboard.
"Honey, are you home?," my mom yelled from upstairs.
"Yeah, I'm home!" I called back. "Just gonna finish my homework then go to bed."
"You're going to bed when it's only four?" my mom questioned.
It's only four! How is that possible? I was in-game for the entire day and out here it's only been four hours!
"Yeah, I'm going to bed," I said. I rushed and finished my homework and then I put the nerve helmet on and whispered, "Spark."
The game loaded in and I found myself standing in the room where I had previously logged off. I checked the in-game time and saw that it was quarter to twelve. As I quietly swore under my breath, I rushed out the door and to the arena. I arrived with a few minutes to spare.
A voice spoke."There are plenty of players participating so we will start with groups of five to do a battle royal. You will also receive one weapon of your choice and will be teleported to an arena with four other players. That is all."
As soon as he stopped talking we teleported. When I opened my eyes I was in a lush meadow with a few trees and four other players. I made a dart for the nearest tree as everyone was getting their bearing's to avoid being spotted. The four other players all started to attack each other. I snickered at there stupidity. Two of them teamed up and took down the other two. They both had an average level of five. The two looked around for me but I was nowhere in sight. They must have assumed that I had been killed by the other players right at the start.
"Fools." I spoke under my breath.
They started fighting and after the second one fell, I stood up and went for the kill with my short sword, hoping to not use my MANA. I attempted to go for a downward slash but he deflected and countered with a swung for my head. Ducking, I swung at his legs, but because of the lack of ability, he jumped over the swing but then proceeded to landed on a stone causing him to be off balance.
'Unlucky' I thought as I made my move.
I went in for the kill and rammed my sword through his chest. The adrenaline was pumping through me and only slowed as I started to glow and teleport out.