"If you don't bring out your blade, I will kill you…" John spat, holding the katana longer than Shin's entire body vertically with both hands, glaring at the young man.
"You would expel yourself for the rest of the year?" Shin asked, anger flashing across his eyes as the attack wasn't a sanctioned duel within SGO.
There were sanctioned duels that prevented the players from killing one another, and the first to drop below 20% of their maximum health would surrender, and the duel would end.
The other method was to PK or player-kill them by attacking them without reason and intending to end their life.
PKing was the epitome of risking it big for the hope of a big reward. There were many cons to PKing, but there was always one major pro for the players who succeeded.
If a player attempts to PK, they are instantly flagged as a PKer by the system, and their name will appear in red versus the standard white text.
Next, retaliation by the player against the PKer will not result in a red-name nor any of the benefits from counter PKing.
If a PKer is successful in their attack, they can select one item from the player, regardless of wealth, location, or even if it was equipped.
Finally, if the PKer is successful, their name will be entered into the Bounty Registry and will be hunted until the bounty is claimed.
For every successful PK, the bounty will multiply explicitly until it is collected. Both players and NPCs can hunt down PKers for the bounty.
"There's no chance you're coming out of this alive, Shin!" John growled, twirling his katana around him and charging forward.
"Tch!" Shin clicked his tongue, leaping backward, reaching behind his shoulder, and gripping the hilt of his greatsword.
John's eyes turned red, blinded by rage, unleashing a flurry of quick slashes with his katana.
The young man dodged and avoided the attacks, pulling his blade off his back and unleashing a powerful counterattack horizontal slash.
John jumped backward, narrowingly avoiding the blade, and countered with his katana, swinging upward and knocking the greatsword off target.
Shin twisted around, flowing with the momentum of his massive sword, thrusting forward at John as he leaped at his foe.
The anima twirled the blade of his katana around the piercing lunge, redirecting the greatsword, and, using his massive upper body strength, performed a one-handed cartwheel behind the young man.
"It's over!" John roared as he repositioned his katana, preparing his final attack, "I've got you now!"
John unleashed a blinding twofold attack, his blade sparkling with wisps of flames as the double slash cut through the air.
Shin lowered the tip of his greatsword, jamming it into a small gap in the cobblestone, using the forward momentum to vault over his blade.
He twisted around, bringing his blade behind him as he faced John in midair, and brought the sword down, stopping inches from John's head.
Both men were heavily panting; John's katana pointed at the ground, his eyes fixated past the blade next to his face, glaring at Shin's eyes.
"Stop it!!!" Lucy shouted, running beside them and grabbing their shoulders, "You both could get expelled!"
"Nobody moves!" A loud voice boomed beyond the crowd, prompting the group of onlookers to scream and disperse in all directions.
"I don't even know why they still try…" A man wearing a pristine white lab coat sighed, shaking his head and pulling the glasses off his face.
He raised his gloved hand and snapped his fingers as every player fleeing was frozen in place as a layer of electrical stasis covered them.
"Director Kim!" Allison shouted as she ran toward him with James and Karina.
He returned his glasses to his face, pushing them up the bridge of his nose as he nodded at the three instructors.
"What seems to be the problem?" Karina asked as the trio stood before the man overseeing the entirety of Academia City.
"It seems some newbies have decided to disrupt the natural order of Castletown." Kim said flatly, turning to the boys.
He raised his hand again and snapped his fingers once more, forcing the fleeing players to be ejected from the server and approached the two young men.
"Oh no…" James groaned, smacking his forehead with his palm as he noticed John and Shin.
"Ehem, sir!" He shouted, running beside Director Kim as he pleaded with him, "If you wouldn't mind, I will administer the appropriate punishment to these troublemakers and ensure this never happens again."
"Oh?" Kim exclaimed, his golden eyes brightly lighting up as he stared wickedly down at the instructor.
"You wouldn't be intending on giving leniency to these two, would you, Professor James?" He asked, adjusting his glasses once more.
"O-of course not, sir!" James proclaimed, turning to the two boys, "They were just excited to try out their new weapons and didn't know about a duel."
"Be that as it may, they did break the rules of Academia City, and we do not take that lightly." Kim sighed, shaking his head and freeing the boys from their stasis.
"Yes, but sir. Neither of them was injured, and they are both the number one and two spots in the Fighter Course." James explained, adding to their defense.
"Hmmm…" Director Kim pondered, placing his hand against his mouth and directing his gaze at John and Shin, his eyes lighting up once more.
"Both of you." He ordered, snapping his fingers as he turned around and walked away, "Follow me."
"B-but why..??" John asked, shocked and confused, as Shin silently complied and followed the man.
"Go on now!" Karina said softly, patting John on his shoulder and shoving him forward.
He turned and looked to the professors as he reluctantly followed the headmaster, but their looks revealed the grim reality that they were no help at that moment.
He rushed forward and walked beside Shin, turning to him and asking hushedly, "Why do you also do what is asked of you?"
"Why resist? I prefer the path of least resistance." Shin answered flatly, staring at Director Kim's back as they followed him through the city, toward the castle.