As they entered the cyber café again, Andreza noticed Dmitry with Mirian and, misunderstanding the situation, greeted them with a big smile and open arms, "Already back? Missed us, didn't you?"
"Don't start. Can you get me a blank Empire card?" Dmitry asked, noticing Mirian looking around the place.
Andreza opened a drawer in the counter, took out a blank card, and handed it to Dmitry. After thinking for a few seconds, she asked, "Why didn't you do this before?"
Hearing this, Dmitry responded curtly, "It would have taken too long, and people might have lost interest."
"I understand," Andreza said, handing over the blank card.
Andreza, contemplating the situation, glanced at Mirian, who seemed too normal to have caught the attention of someone as disinterested as Dmitry. She asked, "And you, girl, do you need anything?"
"No, I have my own," Mirian said, smiling, and then she turned to sit at the table next to Dmitry's.
Dmitry inserted the card into the slot, and after a few minutes, a message appeared on the computer screen confirming the registration.
[Welcome to the Empire]
"Whatever you two do, just have fun," Andreza said, moving away from them.
"Well, shall we... what's your name?" Dmitry asked.
"Mirian, Mirian Seviler," Mirian replied, wondering if she had already introduced herself.
"Well then, Miss Mirian, let's start the game," Dmitry said, pulling out the chair at the computer next to him.
"Of course, Mr. Dmitry," Mirian said, smiling as she sat down.
'He's not perfect, but he's an interesting guy...' Mirian thought, then shook her head and blinked a few times. 'What am I thinking again?'
In a strange place with ice-covered walls bearing random inscriptions, there was an enormous marble throne covered by a thin layer of ice. A large number of stone soldiers with black and white blades stood in the hall. Among them were two people: a young man in an old fabric suit, holding a wooden spear with a piece of red cloth tied between the shaft and the blade. He had black and blue eyes and looked at the girl in front of him, who wore rather extravagant clothing.
"So, how does it feel to use a high-level character against a newbie?" Dmitry said, smiling as he twirled the spear and stuck its tip into the ground.
"Newbie? You practically wiped out an entire army just a moment ago," Mirian replied, wearing a dark green dress with a bear design on the cutout that showed one of her legs. Her hands constantly changed the color of the aura around them. With purple hair and orange eyes, she curled her finger, causing the green stripes on her dress from the waist up to begin glowing. "But to answer your question, I'm nervous because it would be embarrassing to lose to a newbie in my fight record."
"Hahaha, I'd say the same if I were in your shoes," Dmitry said, preparing to attack.
"Now that we're ready, we can begin," Mirian said, smiling. Seconds later, vines of a strange light red color, about 187 centimeters wide, emerged from the ground, cracking the thick ice layer. The vines moved behind Mirian like tamed snakes. "Well, none of them had their own army; they resolved everything face to face."
Mirian gave a slight laugh, speaking in a different tone than before. "I understand they were all too proud and foolish, but I can't complain about that."
Mirian extended her arm, pointing at Dmitry. All seventeen vines quickly changed their trajectory in the air towards Dmitry. "Why put myself at risk when I have everything I need around me?"
"Mages are really an annoying class, especially when you know how to use it," Dmitry said, standing still as he watched the attacks coming his way.
Mirian, keeping her distance and making it difficult for Dmitry to see her position, raised all the vines towards the ceiling and then brought them down simultaneously, aiming at the same point on Dmitry's body to avoid any chance of dodging the attack.
"I wasn't planning to dodge anything," Dmitry said, jumping towards the vines, now just a few meters away. He struck part of the spear without a blade, redirecting the vines to the side and causing them to hit the ground. In the air, with a smile on his face and holding the spear's shaft with missing parts, Dmitry spoke.
"I've always heard that professional players each have a unique way of playing, and those at the top are in a completely different world from other players," Mirian said, increasing the number of her attacks while preparing for a counterattack.
Mirian thought about Dmitry in the air, blocking the light coming in from outside and heading towards her, forming a beautiful image in her mind as she watched through the computer screen, mesmerized for a few seconds.
Dmitry spun mid-air as if he were falling, throwing his spear, which grazed Mirian's ribs before hitting the ground behind her. After landing, Dmitry struck the spear's tip into the ground, using it to propel himself forward, spinning and landing on his feet. He saw the vines he had knocked to the ground forming a barrier around him.
'For such a good player, that mistake he made even took away some of my interest,' Mirian thought, stopping her movements. With her health at ninety-two percent and both hands covered in a red aura, the vines began to heat up, forming an oven with Dmitry as the dish to be roasted.
"Mistake? What mistake? You're right where I wanted you to be, the same place since the beginning," Dmitry said, exuding a calmness that disturbed Mirian.
"The class ability," Mirian thought and started to move to get out of the place, but it was too late. The spear that Dmitry had stuck in the ground spun rapidly, cutting through Mirian's dress and her own body, taking away forty-three percent of her health. The spear flew towards the vine barrier, shattering the vines in front of Dmitry. Grabbing the spear with his right hand, he turned it around and positioned it behind him, with the blade's tip almost touching the ground.
Mirian, healing herself to avoid affecting her character's movement, saw a burning line starting right in front of her and ending at the tip of the spear blade. She saw Dmitry through the hole made in the barrier, now no longer heated by the low temperature of the place, entering the barrier.
[Invisible Thread = Every warrior cannot live without their weapon; after all, it is their means of survival. An old blacksmith alongside a wise mage created the Invisible Thread that imbued it at the moment of its creation, thus making the warrior and their loyal weapon inseparable - Mana Cost = fifty]
Dmitry, spinning the spear in his hand, began to change the shaft from simple wood to gray with small white spheres and black scratches covering the part not held by Dmitry's hand. The red cloth rolled up, covering the blade, making it twice as large with a vibrant reddish color.
[Hephaestus's Blessing = Your loyal weapon was granted by Hephaestus, temporarily gaining increased power - Your weapon gains a new appearance, and its attributes are multiplied three times]
"How about starting to take this seriously?" Dmitry said, swinging the spear to the left, straight, and back, cutting the vine barrier into pieces. Spinning the spear, he jumped forward, appearing in front of Mirian, who had just healed her wound, recovering ten percent of her health.