Scarlett was bored and had decided to go visit Novis for the weekend. She thought perhaps they could go watch a movie together or go to the park. As she approached Novis's house she rang the doorbell. A beautiful woman in her mid-30s answered the door.
"Scarlett, nice to see you." The women said.
"Hi there Mrs Talen, is Novis here?"
"hmm..." Mrs Talen said with a frown on her face
"Is something wrong, did Novis faint again," Scarlett said in a panic.
"Sorry, he went to the VSW training centre, I think he said he was taking classes or something, I don't know what's gotten into that boy."
"What!"
Scarlett was wondering what had happened to Novis. ever since he fainted in the dojo he had been acting strange. Novis was never the type to be interested in games, so what made him want to take a VR class all of a sudden.
******
Paul started by telling everyone about the history of VSW and why it had become so popular. VSW Concentrated on realism, it did it's best to try to make the environment feel as authentic as possible. If an attack made in VSW would kill you in the real world, then it would also kill you in VSW. Unlike many other games, you only got one life in VSW. This made VSW incredibly competitive causing professionals to push their skills to their limit.
VSW was currently the worlds number one Esport and was watched by 80% of households around the world.
The screen behind paul then started to display images of the game while he would explain the basic rules. There were two popular ways that VSW was played, either a solo match or a team match. The solo match would consist of two Warriors against each other. The game ended when either your opponent was defeated or you captured the flag from the enemies base.
Solo matches were more used as practice, the main attraction of VSW was the team matches. Each team consisted of five players who would start at their base. A red team and a blue team. Each base was located on opposite ends of the battlefield. The whole map was covered in forest land apart from 3 paths that lead to the other teams base. These were named middle, top and bottom lane.
At the base which was a castle, there would be 3 towers, one in front of each path. Further down the lane, there would be another tower down each of the paths. This was the same on both teams. The towers were set up to attack the first enemy within 20 meters. The goal was to use the ten soldiers as meat shields to block the attack of the towers. Once the ten soldiers died, another then would spawn down that path. Eventually allowing you to take down all the towers and capture the enemies flag.
The Team matches were what made VSW so popular, there were a lot of different strategies professional teams would use to win. While the solo matches would more focus on two warriors trying to defeat each other, most of the time no one would bother trying to capture the flag in a solo match.
Novis was beginning to find all the information interesting but knew there was a lot more to learn. Arthur also was listening to every word paul spoke.
"Novis, ask him why can't we go through the forest and simply take the flag?" Arthur said.
Novis raised his hand and asked the question.
"Good question, a lot of people chose to go through the forest but there is a problem once you reach the base of the castle. The three towers blocking each path are just close enough to still be able to hit you."
There were a few more questions that paul answered but after while he stopped and said, "The best way to learn is through actual practice, I encourage you all to use the VR headset's behind you, watch a few games of others even."
As the session ended people quickly went to the back of the room to start a few matches of their own. Novis looked around the room releasing that nearly everyone had already found a partner. Paul spotted that novice hadn't approached anyone and started to walk towards him.
"You're a beginner right, what's your name?" Paul asked.
"It's Novis, Yeah I don't know anything?"
"What made you want to play VSW?"
Novis put a finger towards his forward, honestly, he wasn't really interested in VSW and was doing it for Arthur. So Novis decided to give an answer he thought paul would want to hear.
"To become a professional."
Paul looked at Novis, he thought the boy looked like he was still in school. Most kids his age would have already been playing the game. Yet for some reason, Novis was here in his beginner class. Novis's response interested him and he wanted to know more about the boy.
"Why don't we play a game?" Paul asked.
As Novis was taking a moment to think, Arthur interrupted him.
"Is he strong?" Arthur asked.
"Well, he's a professional."
"I kept hearing this word, what is a Professinal?"
"A professional means he makes a living playing the game."
Adrenaline started to pump through Arthurs body as he thought he was about to face a strong opponent, someone who dedicated his whole life to a craft similar to his had to be strong but then Novis said something unexpected.
"Hey, Arthur do you mind if play this one."
Arthur was surprised at what Novis had asked him. he had worried about the boy. He knew that Novis had no hobbies or interests. Arthur was the type that thought everyone should have a goal in their life.
"Sure, as long as there be plenty of opportunities for me in the future."
Novis and Paul then went to one of the free tables at the back, each of them then started to put on their VR headset.
"Ready," Paul said.
"Ready"