It was morning in Dream City. My siblings sat at table eating breakfast. They were unaware of my arrival in the Real World. As they ate, I slowly walked down the stairs and into the Dining Room.
"Hi guys" I greeted.
They turned and stared at me in surprise.
"You're back San?! When did you arrive?!" they all asked at once.
"At about midnight yesterday, give or take a few minutes" I said.
"So what have you been up to lately?" I asked.
"You should ask Keiran. He was apparently challenged by Concordia to a duel last night" Saito said.
"Ho ho, so apparently you knew it was a duel now didn't you Saito?" Keiran said with a smirk.
"Don't even think of going cat mode here Keiran" Saito challenged.
Keiran sighed.
"Well, it wasn't a duel either. Concordia wanted me to help her train. She specifically wanted to develop techniques that would help her overcome my Whirlwind Wall Defense and your Gouen Tatsumaki Senpu" Keiran explained.
"Tell me you didn't actually teach her" I glared at Keiran suspiciously.
"Of course I did" Keiran said with a smirk.
"Are you an idiot or something?! In both our battles against Concordia, there was no decisive victory. Both our battles ended in a draw! Are you dumb enough to tip that scale in her favour?!" I asked Keiran.
Keiran smirked.
"Concordia would have overcome that wall eventually…even without my assistance. The very fact that she requested my assistance despite the gap in our experience shows that she's not completely overconfident of her abilities. If we don't want to lose, we're just going to have to become stronger as well" Keiran said with a sly smirk.
I sighed.
"Your intentions are entirely questionable but you are making a great deal of sense. What happens the day she takes what you have taught her and turns it against you?" I asked Keiran.
"Well…I don't mind a bit of friendly rivalry but the moment malice gets involved…well there's always that list of villainous techniques Dad tells us we must know but never use" Keiran said with a smirk.
"Idiot! Cross that line and you'll be known as the new Weaver Of Calamity!" I said and smacked Keiran lightly on the head.
"When you put it that way…I'm fine being a Dreamweaver" Keiran sighed.
"True that. Anyway, isn't there someone else who should know about your arrival?" Ariel asked with a smile.
"You mean Ciella don't you?" I said with a nostalgic smile.
"I'll tell her. It will be more interesting that way" Saito said and removed her cellphone.
She dialed Ciella's number.
Meanwhile, at home, Ciella was eating breakfast as well. Her phone suddenly began to ring. Ciella picked it up.
"Hello Saito? Goodmorning" Ciella greeted.
"Goodmorning Ciella. You'd never guess who is sitting beside me right now" Saito said.
"San? Is San there with you?" Ciella suddenly seemed excited.
"Well…I'm not going to tell you. Why don't you come on over and find out yourself?" Saito said.
"Okay, I'm heading over right now" Ciella said and hanged up.
Saito sent messages to Concordia, Mitsuki and Arlene as well. As we sat eating, my Dad walked down the stairs.
"Goodmorning kids. San, you're back already?" my Dad asked.
"Yeah, Gramps gave me the weekend off to spend some time with everyone" I said.
"You're just in time too" my Dad said with a smile.
"In time for what?" I asked.
"You know your Gramps and by that I mean your Mom's Dad's Game Studio and Concordia's Dad's Game Studio stand on two artificial islands here in Upper West Side Dream City right?" my Dad asked.
"Concordia's Dad's Game Studio? Don't you rather mean her Mom's boutique?" Keiran asked.
"Isn't that where we got San's cape from?" Saito asked.
"Yeah, that's exactly the place I'm talking of. Victoria's boutique also has a division where Face and his own company work on Game Design. You've heard of it. Concordia mentioned it earlier" my Dad said.
"You mean the 'Avatar Of Pain' Industries don't you? Don't tell me that's the name of Concordia's Dad's company. How does her Mom take it?" Saito asked with a laugh.
"It's actually surprising that nickname's lived on after all these years. I guess after all these years as Victoria said at your showdown with Concordia, the name has actually grown on her" my Dad said.
"What were you saying about the two companies again?" I asked.
"For a while now, we've been working on constructing a bridge to link the two artificial islands on which the companies are seated. The bridge was completed quite recently so there'll be an opening ceremony this evening to celebrate our collaboration as well as a joint release" I heard my Mom's voice and saw her descend the stairs.
"A joint release?" I asked.
"Of what?" Ariel asked.
Suddenly, we heard a knock on our door. Saito walked to the door and opened it. Concordia walked in with Arlene and Mitsuki. Saito led them to the Dining Area.
"Concordia? Looks like you're here and you brought Mitsuki and Arlene too. I was just telling everyone about tonight's event" my Dad said.
"He said it's to mark a joint release of some sort. What of?" I asked.
Concordia smiled.
"For the new release of Xcalibur AOP entitled Xcalibur AOP 2! Union Of The Worlds! It's the sequel to Xcalibur AOP! War Of The Worlds!" Concordia said with a smirk.
"What's new?!" I asked excitedly.
"Well, the major alteration to the game was the implementation of a clan based battle system in contrast to a solo based battle system. Clan Leaders are now able to coordinate Clan Members. Various Clans possess their own unique set of abilities and battle styles and the game heavily factors morale which can affect directives issued by Clan Leaders and how quickly Clan Members respond to directives" Concordia explained.
"Concordia's family did most of the design. For our part, we've integrated a certain special functionality into the game which is only accessible by Dream Knights" my Dad said.
"And how exactly is it that you managed to accomplish this?" I asked curiously.
"Your Mother and I were able to achieve this by linking our Pyrostellis Luminares directly to the Game Engine. The Pyrostellis Luminares possesses technical capabilities so we can make direct alterations to the Game Engine's Script Editor" my Dad explained.
"What exactly is this 'special functionality'?" Saito asked.
"It's a training simulation. It's more of an actual training programme. Dream Knights should be able to create unique training grounds that complement their abilities through codes generated by Concordia's family. We, the Dreamweavers are responsible for handling the fine tuning and minimizing potential psychological strain via our Pyrostellis Luminares" my Mom explained.
"Sounds interesting" I said with a smile.
"Psychological strain?" Saito seemed concerned.
"They are issues arising as a result of psychological incompatibility. That's why we've linked our Pyrostellis Luminares to the Game Engine. It's responsible for calculating and minimizing the risks" my Mom explained.
"Keiran should understand what I mean due to his knowledge of elemental control" my Mom said.
"I sort of understand as well" I reflected on my training sessions with my Gramps.
"I know the Pyrostellis Luminares possesses the ability to link the minds of Dreamweavers via neurone bonding as well as to calculate and minimize mental strain but how exactly does it minimize mental strain?" Ariel asked curiously.
"It does this via Wavelength Harmony. It's a technique in one of your training manuals. If you don't know about it, then you've obviously been slacking off" my Dad said.
Suddenly, we heard a knock on our door. Ariel headed to the door and opened it. Ciella stood outside.
"Can I come in?" she asked politely.
"Of course" Ariel said and ushered her into the Dining Room.
When she saw me, there was a look of surprise on her face and then she smiled.
"H-Hi San" she greeted nervously.
"Hi Ciella" I greeted her.
She approached and took a seat beside Ariel. For a while, there was an awkward silence.
"San's unexpected return is the perfect opportunity for a social event. I'm certain everything has already been set up. If we hurry there now, we might be able to get a sneak preview before the main event" Concordia said excitedly.
"As long as there are good games I don't have any objections. Besides, the new battle system sounds swell. I'd also like to try out the new functionalities" I said.
"Are you coming along Ciella?" Saito asked.
"Of course, I'm an aspiring Dream Knight so I can't afford to miss this event" Ciella said.
At about an hour later, they were at the dock beside a number of canoes.
"Was this part of town always like this?" I asked.
"You know of the occasional floods that occur in Dream City during the raining season don't you? Well…it is the raining season" Saito said.
"Also considered one of Dream City's major farming seasons. The floods are mostly as a result of new structures blocking major river passageways. To deal with the problem, dams are usually set up this time of year to block excess water. This time however, the Dream Knights and authorities redirected the flow of the rivers taking topography into consideration. The rivers were redirected to the lowlands while avoiding residential areas. This place happens to be one of the lowlands. Dad and Concordia's Dad were aware this was going to happen so they raised the level of the land on which their companies are seated thus creating artificial islands. By linking the structures via a bridge they are also able to further enforce the sturdiness of the two structures" Keiran explained.
"Dad was also crazy enough to integrate principles of flotation into the structure of both islands so that in case of massive flooding, the two companies will be transformed into two ships linked by the bridge so to speak. Pretty clever actually" Saito said with a look that showed how impressed she was.
Keiran, Concordia, Mitsuki and Arlene got on one canoe. Ciella, Saito, Ariel and I got on another canoe. Keiran and I steered the canoes to Concordia's Mom's boutique also known as The Pendragon Boutique. When we arrived, we descended from our canoes and docked them. We walked into the Boutique. All sorts of Designers were busy as usual. Concordia led us up the stairs to the second floor. There was a console similar to the one we'd used in our first showdown but much more portable. It bore the blue AOP logo as well as the Kenyah/Pendragon Family's symbol composed of a Sword stuck in an Altar with a bow and arrow on one side and a tomahawk at the other side. Opposite the Kenyah/Pendragon symbols were our family's KND (Kirisawa/Nightbane/Dreamweaver) logo. Below our logo was the image of a Sword severing a Chain which was the symbol of the Kirisawa Family. The logo itself was golden and had a fiery blade and navy blue blade at either side to symbolize the Dreamweaver as well as the Nightbane Family.
I whistled.
"Wow! Now that's some console!" I said with an impressed look on my face.
"You recall the main features of the battle system don't you San?" Concordia asked.
"Yes, it fuses mental conceptualization of techniques with actual body movements to generate custom combat techniques for each player. In a sense, it could be said that there'll never be two players with exactly the same fighting style…but that's the part of gameplay I look forward to the most!" I said with a determined smile.
"I'm not quite ready for our rematch yet so I'll be exploring the training simulations. Have fun" Concordia said as she raised her virtual headset and placed it on her head.
We all did the same and then the console was turned on.