1 day until the Professional Competition starts!
Meanwhile players did some last minute preparations.
"Keep our heads cool, and things should go swimmingly."
"Aye!"
. . .
"Everyone's gear has been upgraded..? Good, let's get some proper rest before it begins."
. . .
"We got this in the bag y'all, so will you chill?"
"Well excuse me..."
. . .
"Remember the plans and our training. We won't lose until we make it to the big stage. Agreed?"
"""Agreed!"""
. . .
Meanwhile the party:
Akiol leaned back, "So we got everything right?"
Kan'na nodded, "Yep."
"I feel like we over-prepared for this."
Wrock chuckled, "Better to over-prepare than under."
Yielya piped up, "Except for cooking."
Akiol agreed, "Except for cooking."
Wrock made a face but said nothing.
Akiol looked around and asked, "Where is Jarvis? Haven't seen him in a while."
"He's gonna miss the competition because of some stubborn animal." Yielya joked.
"That actually may happen, why else does he go quiet?" Tilia added.
The party sighed.
Akiol then asked, "So how's this gonna work?"
Kan'na answered whilst drawing in the air with the magic whiteboard, "We are going to do a set of preliminary matches. This should go on for about a week. The matches are scheduled and if we fail to attend it is an automatic failure. How many we have to go through depends on our luck."
Akiol gave a slight nod, "Alright, what about afterwards?"
"Confident are we? After that we should get an invitation to the actual building or whatever they have. In which we will be told what would occur then."
Wrock casually asked, "Are we doing our cookie cutout battle strategy? Or something different?"
Kan'na shrugged, "That's on Akiol."
Akiol then passed the ball, "Yielya you go."
Yielya pondered for a moment before responding, "Why not just have one person go? I'm sure we all could test out abilities, and if they get in trouble I can evac them with my War Sight."
Akiol nodded, "A viable choice, if it doesn't work out then we could use our 'cookie cutout' strategy like Wrock asked."
Wrock nodded happily, "Excellent, nothing too complicated."
"You act like you can't follow complicated plans anyway."
"I can, but it's troublesome."
". . ."
~ ~ ~
Desk Guy was tidying his workspace when someone approached him.
"Yo, forgot to mention this to you."
Desk Guy looked up, "What?"
"That favorite team of yours is competing this time."
Desk Guy's face lit up in joy, "Wait, really?!"
"Yeah, I was supposed to tell you when I met with that Slime player. Yet I totally forgot."
"Well now I know."
"Also, management had finally finished with the third condition. You were chosen."
"Ah."
Desk Guy was shocked, but wasn't sure how to feel. The third condition set by player Akiol was a steady contact with a developer. They debated the reason for this, but nothing concrete was obvious. However he was thoroughly surprised that he was chosen. He was bound by contract to not give out information about the game, but it was his favorite team!
Perhaps the company was testing his loyalty, or rewarding him for his efforts. He did not know.
"Alright, I'll keep an eye out for the request then."
"Okay, I suspect we will see you in early tomorrow?"
"You bet."
The coworker laughed as they walked away. Desk Guy scrambled to finish his cleaning before checking the time.
He needed to rest! If he was going to get up early in the morning then he needed some early rest.
So he clocked out of work and headed home.
~ ~ ~
The next day:
The party was up early, having yet to log in. Yielya and Kan'na were preparing a large breakfast. Akiol assisted with his good arm occasionally.
Wrock slid into a chair whilst asking, "Jarvis, can we expect your arrival?"
Jarvis nodded sleepily, "I wouldn't miss it."
"Then let me catch you up in the plan."
A warm atmosphere formed as the party joked and ate. A very different scenario than normal people would have, as many would be nervous at the start.
The Competition wasn't anything of importance to the party. It was more of a way to pass time, or an event they didn't wish to miss. So naturally they didn't treat it with the same seriousness as others.
Yielya checked the time and stated, "Half an hour before it begins, finish up and log in! If we miss the beginning we miss out."
The party proceeded to scarf down their food and scramble to their devices. Wrock hung back to do a quick clean up before joining them.
Five minutes later the party was logged in and all at the entrance of their chosen Kingdom: Horos.
The Kingdom was bustling with energy, players and NPCs were all talking about the same thing.
Akiol whistled, "It's even got the NPCs riled up."
Tilia nodded, "Apparently some NPCs will be spectating the event."
Most of the party was taken aback. Jarvis asked in particular, "How? Isn't the official competition going to take place somewhere else in the real world?"
"Remember the Virtual Seat? Apparently in game there will be an Arena that we will fight in. Several NPCs will take some of those seats, apparently eyeing for some good candidates for their personal goals."
"Sounds ominous."
Tilia shrugged, "Perhaps it is, or perhaps it's an opportunity."
They walked into the designated building. It was massive to say the least. Just through the open doorways was a flood of people, but this room was merely a scratch in the surface.
Beyond the place was several arenas. Similarly to the place Akiol and Wrock went to for the Guild competition, these held special small worlds built as arenas.
Anyone could spectate these, players would be given an option to watch whatever match they pleased with a unique menu.
This gave an opportunity for fans to watch their favorite teams before the official match, if they made it that far.
Several receptionists were busy marking down the arrived groups, a constantly flow of chatter and footsteps filling the room.
The party joined a line, casually joking as they moved forward. The pace was quick, and it only took a quarter hour for their turn to arrive.
The receptionist asked, "Group name?"
Kan'na responded, "Six Lights."
The Receptionist flipped through a few sheets of paper then pressed something in the air.
As they worked there was a small ripple of attention to the name Six Lights, for a few remember them being the first to take down a Land Guardian.
The Receptionist nodded, "Alright you are all set up. Take this, it shall notify you of your next matchup and queuing room."
Akiol was handed a slightly thick rectangle. It looked like a small screen object, like a phone but the shape of a TV remote.
On the object was the word: Pending. . .
Akiol handed it to Kan'na, "Keep it safe."
She held it with a suspicious look, "Why are you giving it to me?"
"No reason."
"Mhm."
Akiol looked around and asked, "So we just wait?"
"Well the device says pending, so I would assume so."
"I see, then who's down for a game of Texas Hold'em?"
Akiol dispelled a stack of cards. Jarvis eyed them and asked, "Did you really get a pair?"
"I got a few pairs, I figured since we were going one at a time I would have something to pass the time."
Wrock chuckled, "I'm down, but who is going first to actually fight?"
Yielya shrugged, "We could do Rock Paper Scissors."
Kan'na immediately declined, "Wrock and Akiol have an advantage in that."
Akiol pondered before answering, "How about a roll of die?"
"That's more skill than luck."
Yielya suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, "What do you suggest then?"
"Why not have Givale choose?"
"Wouldn't she be biased?"
Akiol chuckled, "I'll tell her not to be."
Jarvis responded, "I have no issues with that either."
The rest of the party agreed. Though there was one voice of complaint.
'What about me?!' -Stars
'Ha, of course you would be biased towards your wielder. It's only makes sense to choose an unbiased Dragon's opinion.' -Givale
'What? If you had a choice to pick yourself, you would in a heartbeat!'
'As if! You have to save the best for last!'
'That is still clearly biased!'
"Alright calm down you two." Akiol warned.
Yielya looked at him puzzled, "Why do you always talk aloud to them?"
Akiol answered, "The link gets filtered sometimes, both their vision and my mind's voice. It's easier for me to speak aloud, until I get the hang of it of course."
Givale suddenly appeared. Akiol gestured to the group, "All right, pick whoever you want."
Givale furrowed her brows and examined everyone closely. Her piercing gaze would make any ordinary player uncomfortable.
Givale lifted a finger and pointed, "You, I choose you to battle."
A grin spread across Wrock's face, "Like a trainer eh? Still what an interesting choice."
At the end of Givale's finger was none other than Yielya!