On the fifteenth day of his arrival in the city of D'ram, a few minutes to noon, Reed was engaged in a light sparring session with a man who appeared to between the ages of 40 to 50, both of them wielding wooden staffs.
Both of them were wearing chestplates and helmets, but otherwise were dressed in loose clothing.
The man had a beard, but no moustache, shoulder-length black hair, and a small scar across his left cheek.
Reed tried to parry an attack, but his opponent quickly counter-parried and struck him in the side.
The moment Reed was struck, they stopped and pulled apart.
"Relax a bit, it'll take time to get used to the staff, try not to react too quickly, it will leave you open to a more experienced opponent."
The man was the one the weapon seller had talked about, and Reed was quite happy with his teaching ability, the man knew his way around his weapons, and he didn't charge too much either.
They resumed their session, and went back and forth a few more times, with a few pauses in between to see what Reed was doing wrong, and what he should be doing instead.
This continued for a few minutes, until Reed suddenly lost focus, and was struck heavily in the ribs by his teacher.
"Umgh!" Reed let out a grunt. The man pulled back.
"What happened? Why did you lose focus?" He asked.
Reed looked up at him. "I just remembered something I forgot about." He said. "That's all for today, thank you." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small pouch, which he tossed to the man.
The man caught it easily. "Are you sure? It's only been half the time we agreed upon."
Reed had started to leave. "Don't worry, I will let you know when I want another lesson." He did not turn back to speak, but continued with a hurried pace back to his room.
Once back, he pulled up his panel.
[The first 'Player-only' event is about to begin!]
[Will you participate?]
[Yes] [00:11:24] [No]
He looked at the announcement in silence watching the clock tick down, then looked at the small '?' in the corner.
'I hope it's a help tab.'
He tapped it, and information about the event appeared on the screen.
[An 'Event' is an activity organised by the system]
[This one is a 'Player-only' Event, so only other
players will be able to participate in it]
[Since 'Player-only' events only affect the players, the entire world will be paused once the event starts, until the event ends]
[If you choose to participate, you will have the chance to obtain rewards from the system, depending upon your placement at the end]
[Further information will be given once you enter the event]
"Record." He called out.
"Sir?"
"Can you make it so announcements like these appear in a non-intrusive manner? Like instead of appearing in my view and blocking my sight, can you make it so it appears in the corner of my vision, or just a soft notification sound?"
That was exactly what had happened, the announcement had popped up and threw him completely off balance, making him get hit.
"One moment sir, there, is that better?" Record asked, and Reed saw a small box pop up in the corner of his vision, accompanied by a small, but easily recognizable chime.
"Perfect, unless it's an important message, make it so this happens every time I receive a message or notification when I am in public, or busy with something. As for how to judge whether it is important or not, you can check my mind."
"If I am relaxing or alone, feel free to make it appear like before."
"Very well sir." Record replied. "Is there anything else?"
"Can you tell me anything about the events?" Reed turned back to the announcement. 'Nine minutes remaining.'
"Nothing about the 'Player-only' events that you already know, but I can speak about the 'Non-Player-only' events."
"Speak."
"Aside from this type, there are two other types of events, the 'Public' events, and the 'Restricted' ones."
"In a public event, every creature that is classified as intelligent life can participate, which includes humans, elves, dwarves, beasts, trees, etc. There is no limit on race or ability."
"In a restricted event, the participants must belong to a certain category. The category could be of a certain tier or above, a certain tier or below, a user of a certain magic, etc."
There was a moment of silence after Record finished speaking before Reed asked a question.
"So three types of events in total?"
"As far as I know."
"Hmm. Anything else?"
"Not about the events, but I have some knowledge about the nature of the rewards."
"Oh!" Reed was actually surprised at that. "Tell me, what are they like?"
"Depending on the event itself, the rewards can range from simple daily use items, like a limited supply of condiments, to the extremely powerful, like upgrades to a players personal panel, or access to hidden information."
"Hmm..." Reed held Record, and stared into the white circle.
"Sir?" Reed did say anything for a minute, then, he spoke.
"Can I die because of the event?"
"Not in 'Player-only' events, if you do, you will resurrected, and cured of any mental and physical trauma."
"So there is no reason not to participate?" He asked.
"None at all." Was the reply.
"Than let's go." He let go of Record, and pulled up the notice.
[The first 'Player-only' event is about to begin!]
[Will you participate?]
[Yes] [00:07:43] [No]
He calmly put on his armour, and equipped himself with his weapons and his brand-new shield, looking at the clock counting down to the start of the event.
'Here I go.'
Fully equipped and ready, he hit the 'Yes' button, and the world went white.
After the brightness disappeared, Reed looked around himself.
He was in an arena, and the arena was filled, but he could not make out a single figure or face from the crowd.
[The event 'Gladiator' has begun!]
He opened the notice.
[An opponent will appear in front of you, defeat them to progress to the next round]
[Rewards will be calculated according to the number of rounds won]
[You will be offered an optional break period of 1 minute between rounds]
[The first round begins in 04:12]
'A fight to the death?' He thought, thankful for the helmet to obscure his face. This way his opponents wouldn't be able to recognize him outside of the event.
He summoned one of his pistols into his right hand, his left equipped with the shield fastened to his forearm.
'Just need to be careful of the enemy also having a gun.'
He sat down, and waited for the countdown.
When it reached 30 seconds, another player materialised on the other side of the arena, 10 meters from him.
He couldn't see any details of their clothes or face, all that he could see was that they were carrying a sword and a steel tower shield, and were well armoured.
'Do I appear that way as well?'
He got up, and prepared himself for the start.