Family Reunion (4)

"I saw your magic, it was super cool"

Lennon sarcastically said to Josh, who was in a pretty bad mood.

"You wouldn't understand what happened even if I tried explaining it to you"

Josh and Lennon were sitting down in the stands of the colosseum, Josh was currently looking at the ground as if he was depressed.

"That person had a 67 win streak! 67! In ranked! Do you know how hard that is? That person must've been crazy good! And did you see those movements? No, could you even see it? It's as if-"

'I know, there will probably be an uproar in the forums again'

This thought entered Lennon's mind as he listened to Josh ramble on. There was bound to be someone who records the duel, or someone who recognises Tabsi's playstyle. That's why Lennon bugged Tabsi to wear a mask. Even if a guild wants to scout her, they would need to do it through the colosseum.

'Knowing Tabs, she wouldn't even give them time to talk'

"-and that skill! It did so much damage in a short period of time? She must've been a high ranker! Hey, are you even listening?"

"Yes, I'm listening, though I don't understand half the stuff you're saying"

"Forget it, I'll just queue again and hope I don't bump into her."

After that, Josh queued a random player and actually showed his skills to Lennon.

'He's not bad, but he lacks experience and he needs to find his unique way of fighting'

Josh was lacking experience, just like how he thought would hit the target no matter what. In Tisit, there is no spell that can directly land on the target, most of them would have a 100% hit rate in their description though. Under normal circumstances, they would definitely land, but Tisixa rankers developed a way to counter those exact spells.

To be specific, it was Tabsi herself who came up with the strategy, other Tisixa players just copied her. The way homing spells work in Tisit and Tisixa, is that after being aimed at a target and fired, they search for the nearest heart of the target in that direction.

Then, they will continue chasing that target, but they can't actually differentiate between different hearts. So, the player being chased by the spell can get close to another monster or player. When close enough, jump up quickly, perform a strategy and the spell will be redirected towards another entity.

Of course, the strategy requires a lot of skill, and it can't be mastered within a day. It isn't just about jumping up, you also have to precisely calculate the height and the distance between yourself and your target. The 'strategy' is while in the air, quickly calm yourself down and then immediately make adrenaline rush through your body. It's basically just to make your heartbeat fluctuate a lot, this makes the spell think of your heart as a bug of some sort and switches target.

None of the Tisixa players knew, but the developers were fully aware of this and did consider fixing it. However, they decided that they would leave it be as it was something extremely creative which was created by the players themselves. And since it was something anyone could essentially take advantage of, there wasn't a need to fix it. Of course, magicians would be quite angry if they knew about this.

This strategy was the reason many homing spells were considered useless in the colosseum in Tisixa. The strategy has already begun spreading amongst the top guilds, though not many people have even started to learn it, much less master it.

As with the unique way of fighting Lennon was talking about, it's something all professional gamers must develop to break through to the next level. The tutorials on how to get better at fighting are all over the internet, and anyone can learn it. They usually also come with how to counter these fighting techniques, which basically means that they're useless.

To develop your own way of fighting is very difficult. To simplify it, you know you've developed your own way when even a ranker cannot copy your style or predict your movements. Both Lennon and Tabsi have developed this long ago, and it is also something which takes months, or even years of error and trial to achieve.

Lennon watched Josh play a couple more ranked matches, they were both quite enjoying themselves. Lennon was happy he didn't have to talk to anyone, and Josh was happy because he thought he was impressing his cousin.

After losing to Tabsi, Josh continued playing ranked matches, winning here and there. Lennon watched a few before falling asleep in the stands of the colosseum.

"Wake up! Lennon? Wake-"

"I'm awake, I'm awake!"

"You are okay? Some people's bodies can't handle VR, when did you pass out?"

It is true that rarely, some people pass out after being in a VR capsule for so long. But Lennon, who had spent more than a decade playing VR games as his main hobby, obviously wouldn't pass out.

"Yeah, I didn't feel too well, but I should be fine."

"Are you sure? You know your health is more important than watching me duel right?"

"Yeah, I think we should head back to the restaurant now"

"Now that you mention it, they should be finishing up soon. I'll carry you on my back, get on"

Josh said as he squatted down and offered both his hands for Lennon to stand on. Lennon was feeling a bit guilty since he just fell asleep. He wanted to just log out, but his parents would probably rage if he wasn't there when everyone said their goodbyes.

"Alright, thanks, but put me down when we get back, I don't want my family to worry"

"That's alright, but make sure you take care of yourself when you get out okay?"

"I will, thanks"

Lennon made a grateful expression as he thanked Josh and got on his back, Josh then hurried over to the teleportation circle. It wasn't long before they got back to the restaurant.

"Where did you boys run off to?"

A random relative asked as they entered the restaurant.

"Ah, we just went to the toilet"

Josh replied, and he was obviously lying. There are toilets in Tisit, but players don't use them. Maybe some new players do, but it doesn't actually do anything. There's a reason why the recommended time for VR games is seven hours. Those who play for 7 hours straight will exit their capsule, run immediately to the toilet before drinking a lot of water.

'Finally, it'll be over soon, maybe I should play a couple matches in the colosseum after I get home'