'…This feeling is, indescribable!' says Levon, as he realizes how quickly his wounds are healing. 'I'm regaining sight of my left eye… and my internal organs aren't bleeding anymore… Not only that! My blood is generating itself at an incredible high rate!!'
The sudden flow of fresh energy in Levon's body rejuvenated his spirit for a second, forgetting what had occurred in this past hour. But he recalls checking his stats:
· Unfortunately, you lost the duel!
· Health: 76%…77%…78%... (the percentage kept on rising exponentially)
· Experience: 13%
· Truth: 1.5%
· Completed challenges: 4
· Challenges remaining: 26
· Duel Record: 0 W/ 0 D/ 1 L
· Number of lives: 2
· Level: 1 Star (50%)
That was the full stat line of Levon's short career so far in the game, his rejuvenated health suddenly disappeared from his look. He recalled everything…
'… How ironic, you gain experience in a loss. Tcheh... What a stupid thing!' He bitterly tells himself. Suddenly, he hears the steps and voices getting closer! Levon immediately felt an inner fear and discomfort! So, he started running away to avoid any interaction.
As he was going full speed, he realized how he's covering lengthy distances with few steps, but he had no desire to compliment himself or even acknowledge it. He was thinking of something else, of that mysterious woman that helped him.
'…Why wasn't her name displayed? Could it be something special to assistants? If so, why is that…
And, why am I so concerned about her name?'
The look in his eyes as he turned from one turn to another shows how deeply he's thinking, but also how little information he has. Levon hasn't figured out yet how to deal with a world that he isn't one of the most knowledgeable people about.
Here, he's the every-man, or maybe even less.
After making sure he distanced himself, Levon stops in his track. He checks his watch again to see the following challenges he has.
Levon. 'Wait a moment, there's one missing from earlier!
Oh yeah!! Obtaining a healing potion… that is why I have 4challenges completed! I almost forgot that I only had 3 prior to the duel.
So it did count, even if I didn't actually obtain it myself… it's like a salty joke, whatever…
My next mission will be…this one.' Levon clicks on the "Objectivity vs subjectivity" challenge.
The watch then provides the location, fortunately it was a couple of turns away. Wasting no second, Levon gets going.
….
…
..
.
*Region: Lor, North east Aedificium*
On the complete other side of things and places, another cultivator is making his way up smoothly in the game. Zephyr Hanx!
Currently, he's already a 2star player, with 8 challenges completed and an experience of 20%!! Also, he's currently fighting in a duel.
Swinging his huge sword like it's a wood stick, his large smile and untiring look gives the strong impression that not only he's dominating his opponent, but he's enjoying it.
"HEEEEH, what's wrong with you?! Do you not know that there's something called offense too?" He ironically asks his opponent.
The latter was in fact a female! Holding two circular metallic sharp weapons resembling discs in both hands. But as Zephyr stated, she is only using them to barely stop his sword from cutting her dead. Her armor wouldn't have made a difference as well, it looked as it was there only to highlight her womanly features.
"You're too full of yourself, I'm only not focused because I was one of your fangirls!" She replies.
Suddenly, Zephyr stops attacking and retreats. In a cool way he puts his sword on his shoulder and with a confused look he asks her. "Hmm? Were you really?"
"..What do you mean?! You still did not recognize me?!" she asks, offendedly.
"Nah, not really. I have too many, can't recall every one of them after all can I?" He replies in an even more arrogant way.
Her offense got manifested clearly in her repulsive look, "Ho..How dare you!!" She screams at him. "My name is literally on top of my head, you forgot the many nights I passed with you after each concert!!?? Even before you got famous the way you did… You used to tell me that I make you feel the best!" she continued.
Zephyr takes off his cocky smile, lets his sword drop from his shoulder and takes a quick look at her name again.
"… Tresora Hafil. Tresora… Hmmmmm!! Oh, that Tresora!
Sorry, I really don't recall you…" He says with dead eyes.
At this point, Tresora loses it and switches from defense to offense. "THEN I WILL REMIND YOU!!!"
She launches the right hand disc first at an extreme speed and power. Zephyr takes the hit with his silver shield, but the disc did not lose the power on its spin, rather it keeps increasing!
"Interesting, why were you backing off if you had this power?" Zephyr willingly disactivates the silver shield and takes the hit now with his sword! The hard friction made the disc fire up, literally!! To avoid getting burned Zephyr jumps back then prepares a powerful one hand swing aimed to break her weapon in half!
However, Tresora sends his way the second disc after sneaking behind his back. "TAKE THIS ASSHOLE!!"
Zephyr first looks shocked, but a devilish smile gets drawn on his face as the two discs are about to cut him sideways!
He jumps high at the last second, the discs automatically follow him up there. Zephyr holds his sword with both hands tightly and lifts all the way to his back!
"You thought only your weapon can emit fire, right?" Upon hearing his rhetoric question, Tresora's eye widened as she saw his sword lit up with fire from tip to tilt!!
"YOU'RE WRONG!!" He swings it down so fast that her eye could not follow its movement. All she saw is a vertical wave of hellish fire, melting her two weapons to liquid!!
'It's…too late, my feet wouldn't move!!!' She says to herself.
The fire catches her, the shields helped protect her to some degree but not enough to escape being burned!
However, Zephyr swings once again!! Unnecessarily so, she was doomed already!
But it wasn't what it looked like, the second swing sent a wave of strong wind instead of fire, which actually put it down and saved her from death!
Tresora falls down in disbelief.
Zephyr slowly gets near her and extends his hand to help pick her up, as he says. "Tresora, of course I recognized you."
She needed some second to process everything, then her eyes got teary immediately as Zephyr helped pick her up.
"…W…Why?" She hesitantly asks.
Zephyr. "Why what? That I didn't tell you about it before or that I saved you?"
"BOTH!!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!!" Tresora yells.
Zephyr. "Well, so that you fight me with all your strength. Even if you were the one to first challenge me, I realized you were holding back from being uncomfortable. I wouldn't enjoy beating an opponent who's not focused and giving it his all.
As for saving you, I really don't know… I just thought instinctively.
You can say it's payback to how good you made me feel back then! Heh." He lets out a corny expression.
Tresora's eyes get even more teary and she starts crying, then she puts her head on Zephyr's armored chest and says. "You dumbass, you're always the same…
Well then, how about I pay you for saving me, by the same reason u did it." She changes her look from emotional and sad, to tempting and seducing in a heartbeat!
On the other hand, Zephyr does not even bother checking his stats and the arsenal he acquired. He's the same easy-going fuckboy of Babel.
"You wouldn't believe me If I said that… I let the fire burn you enough just so that some of your clothes get burnt?" He says while his eyes are looking elsewhere.
She looks at herself too, then back at him. At this moment, Tresora's seducing eyes hid nothing of her intentions to kiss him, and so they did. As for the rest, it's public sex with no one around to catch them.
Except, somebody was in fact watching them!