Suppressing his shock, Stell looked at Felix as they ascended higher and higher.
After a while, Felix landed on a random street. Filled with excitement, Stell praised with envy, "It's truly a great ability."
"It's not bad. It also has combat applications." Felix grinned.
"It does?" Stell didn't think that walking in the sky could make a person versatile in combat. At most, he could stay out of the enemy's reach.
"You'll see." Felix's meaningful smile ignited Stell's curiosity. However, the thing that piqued even more curiosity was his own power.
Stomping, he felt a connection with the earth around him. Then, a small pillar had risen, high enough for him to sit on it.
"It's not bad, huh?" Chuckling, he inquired about Felix's opinion.
"It's intriguing. You can do so much stuff with it." Felix nodded.
"I know, right! It just allows for so many possibilities! I like versatility much more than the destructive fire element or the environmental water one!" Stell's eyes shined.
"There are other Common elements, though. Didn't you read about them in the pagoda?" Felix chuckled.
"The others seem even more boring or situational. Earth allows me to be versatile in almost every situation! It's also really strong defensively." Stell's excitement reached the roof. He finally managed to live his dream! He finally managed to get powers!
"So? What are we going to do now?" Stell asked Felix.
"Let's play another game. There's nothing else to do anyway." Felix immediately suggested his most fun activity.
"You are getting addicted to gambling." Stell shook his head.
"It's not gambling!" Felix didn't want to believe it. "It's just us playing games and earning a lot of rewards! Didn't you enjoy the last game?"
"I did." Stell could feel his heart racing every time he remembered the one versus one he won. "But it's also bad to get too addicted. We just got our powers. Let's familiarize ourselves with them. After that, we'll explore the city."
"I get the first part, but didn't we already explore?" Felix almost pouted. 'Why is this fellow so boring again? Let's just play and have fun. What's even interesting here? Just a normal city with a depressed population.'
"You think the city is boring, right?" Stell accurately interpreted Felix's expression. Then, he nodded. "Yes, it's boring for the most part, but there are places we haven't visited. For example... alchemy? Blacksmiths also seem worth visiting."
Although Stell said that, his priority was to actually find an array master guild or something similar. However, a guild required at least a Second Order person to form. He was having doubts about whether a new city like theirs had one.
"Alchemy?" With his extensive knowledge of reading novels, Felix knew that the alchemy facility was one of the more important facilities in every city.
"From Silver and onwards, we are allowed to bring items that we carry. Isn't it better to scout a potion-making factory and see if we can get ourselves a deal or two?" Stell tempted Felix.
Although Stell liked games, he felt like they weren't ready yet for the higher ranks. After all, after winning in Bronze III, they became Bronze V, the peak of the Bronze rank.
'Maybe Felix could deal with them, but I don't want to rely on him too much. I need to get stronger and get more experience.' Stell didn't want to get an easy start just to be left behind later on.
"Fine, let's explore." After an intense struggle, Felix decided to listen to Stell.
"We'll go to the pagoda next. But only to research and watch." Taking the opportunity, Stell mentioned, earning a grin from Felix.
***
"Is it broken?" Aaron murmured while entering through the games door. He already had two losses, even though he believed that a winning streak was inevitable.
"Status." After entering the White Room, he ordered his System.
[ Displaying Status ]
[ Username: Aaron ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Affinities: Shadow ]
[ Stats ]
After tapping on the 'Stats.', Aaron carefully observed every number displayed. Everything was better than an average person's. He even had a Shadow affinity, one of the rarest ones.
"Maybe it's because I only used one wish," he contemplated. The painful defeat he suffered in the last game left him feeling hopeless. No matter what he did, he was countered.
"If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that his opponent was a veteran player or an exile from another planet. What was worse was that he was defeated without even making his opponent use an ability!"
Then, there was the previous fight with Stell and Felix. 'It may just be a result of bad luck, but it's still hard for a System user to lose, right? I am a goddamn S class! How did I end up with a lose streak?
'Maybe the System is broken. There is no way that a blessed like me would lose another one, right?' Feeling doubts within himself, Aaron requested a new game.
"I lost a High-Tier Rare Rank wish. I'll farm with Mid-Tier Rare Rank wishes for now..." Having decided on the next course of action, Aaron waited for a new game to start.
It was a martial arts tournament. "I love how the platform pushes tournaments and battle royale so much in the early divisions." He curled his lips.
It was a simple sixteen-player martial arts tournament where each person was allowed to pick a weapon. Surveying the arena and his competitors, Aaron snorted.
Most of the people exuded an air of confidence. He saw a burly man that was surely above 6'5, a young man whose confidence rivaled Aaron's, and a serious-looking woman.
He noticed an interesting fact in the few days he had spent in an exiles city. There weren't many people with colored skin. Or rather, there weren't 'humans.' with red, green, purple, and other unusual skin colors.
After a lot of thinking, he realized that they probably weren't even humans, just that they happened to attend the same class as them.
Choosing a short dagger, he was called to step into the arena for the first fight. Observing that his opponent appeared weak, he grinned as he entered the arena.
As the referee started the fight, the opponent bowed slightly before lifting an ordinary sword. Aaron started running his opponent, unafraid.
Then, the opponent's eyes opened, and he slashed with the sword. Aaron didn't hesitate as he began sinking into his shadow, but the sword was faster!
With a slash, it cleaved Aaron's head, instantly transporting him to the White Room with a blank expression.
"How fast is that sword?! Why did I lose again?!" He started getting depressed.