That was the only text Veyra sent me the next day, and she was true to her word, staying offline all the way until 1pm.
Despite that, I stared at my phone like an idiot, re-reading the text, while burying my face into my hotel pillow and just rolling around, recalling Veyra’s soft cheeks from yesterday. Her cuteness should have been illegal. I understood that she wanted to focus on the matches, but I found it tough to focus with yesterday’s kiss warming me up every time I thought about the competition.
Soon enough, my schedule forced me to head back to the event. Our first match was against Annath… That should have also been illegal. We had the unluckiest position in the entire winners’ bracket.
At the event, I logged into my warm-up pod, where I slapped myself in the face to remind myself I had to be on my absolute best performance today if we wanted to have any chance at all of defeating Annath. The slap didn’t work.
Veyra will be happy if we win, I thought, and that finally got me in the headspace to properly warm up. I cast [Shadow Dash] all around, testing my speed and precision. I was locked in. Not totally in the zone to start breaking limits, but we wouldn’t be losing because I missed a dash or a throw.
As annoying as Annath was, she was a true monster, by far the hardest opponent we’d have to face today. The five gods were called gods for a reason. They were just that much more dominant than anyone else. Even SoulShadow was hardly an opponent compared to Annath.
I’d need to get into her rhythm the instant the battle began, or we’d lose. Not to mention, she also had two allies from her guild…
I kept warming up, practicing, until the clock was about to hit one pm—the time of our match. I headed to the same backstage room of the miscellaneous stage.
The miscellaneous stage sadly didn’t have separate backstages for each team like the two main stages. If contestants wanted to talk privately before the matches, they were assigned team rooms nearby instead.
Annath clearly didn’t care. Her imposing figure stood near the backstage curtains, wearing a blue team jacket filled with sponsorship logos. She already looked prepared to casually roll through the whole tournament. Her two teammates were talking to their coach. One of them was a tall man, who could only be DJmikolele. He sent me a cute wave. Next to him was Prancer2. A good support mage player, but a lesser known member of the Celestial Order.
To my right, Veyra emerged from the accessible entrance, assisted by Aree. A smile appeared on my face, but I forced myself to look serious.
“Are you warmed up?” I asked.
She nodded. “You?”
“Ready,” I said. “Let’s win.”
“I doubt we can, but let’s try to get close at least once,” Veyra said.
If we win, I’ll give you another kiss, I wanted to say, but Veyra was focused. I had promised not to flirt now, so I kept a serious face. “We’ll knock her down,” I said. “She’ll climb the losers bracket, and we’ll meet her again in the finals.”
Veyra snorted, smiling. “Sure. If you’ve got miracles, now is the time to pull them.”
We sat next to each other. Silently. Not in awkward silence. Nervous, perhaps.
This time, however, I wasn’t staring at Veyra. I found myself glancing at Annath, recalling our last duel in-game. I had kept up with her footwork, and I had worse gear back then. Even now, her sword would still blow me into the air, but only at the start of the fight. If I started stacking defence with Sablethorn, my blocks would be strengthened. If I could just get into my own rhythm, I could keep up with her.
“Match starting!” the organizers finally called, and the walk-ins began.
Annath and her team stood behind the curtains first, ready for their turn. After a heavy thirty second wait, Artonis’s voice echoed through. “The untouchable swordmaiden, the goddess of swordsmanship, with the most charming back-line you will ever meet, give it up for team Celestial Order!”
Annath entered with perfect confidence, head high, as if she was commanding a whole army behind her. Cheers rang beneath the curtains, while Veyra and I waited. Music played as well, though we could hardly hear it through the cheers.
The noise finally calmed. More heavy silence followed, until Leona's voice followed, announcing us.
“The assassins of the wilderness, the cheater duo, who have proven themselves to be all skill, give it up for team Solo Mage!”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
We were nudged forward, and our walk-in began. I held Veyra’s hand. We glanced at each other. “Let’s do this.”
The stage lights hit me first, and the audience came into view over the edge of the stage.
The hall was absolutely fucking packed.
The cheers were much louder than in New York. Seats were filled almost to the very back, with easily over a thousand people watching, notwithstanding any livestreams that would definitely make it to the forums, regardless of who won this match. I spotted my mom and my sister on the front row, dad behind them. Near Anna, to the left, I saw the plump face of Greenwitch with a sign that read “Veyra <3 Assassin A.” Beyond them, the vast majority of signs were swordmaiden merch, praising Annath as the best of the five gods.
I didn’t have much time to admire as we already reached our game pods. We shook hands with our opponents, Veyra a bit more awkwardly, until everyone climbed in and logged in.
***
The three versus three arena was still the same mountain landscape, though the weather had changed to dawn, with a pretty sun poking its forehead above the clouds. I spawned next to Veyra, who was already checking out our opponents.
Only Annath loaded in. Solo.
We waited, trying to see if the rest of her team would be coming. Nothing happened for fifteen seconds, and suddenly, the five minute pre-match timer began ticking.
Veyra clicked her tongue. “She’s trying to show off.”
“Let’s kick her ass,” I said.
Veyra looked focused. She was already studying Annath’s equipped gear pieces. I did as well, checking her stats.
Character Name: Annath
Level: 296
Class: Sword Fighter
Stats hidden.
Footwear: Impenetrable Vanguard (Mythic)
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+300 Defence
-
+5,000 Maximum Health
-
+300 Attack Force
Impenetrable Vanguard (Passive): Resist knockback effects by 50%
Double Jump (Active): The air underneath turns solid for two seconds. Cooldown resets when landing on the ground.
Ring Slot One: Ring Of The Swordmaiden (Mythic)
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+50% Stamina Recovery
-
+500 Attack Force
Sundering Rhythm (Passive): Basic attacks generate Rhythm, stacking up to ten. Each stack increases attack force by 1%. At ten stacks, Perfect Flow becomes available.
Perfect Flow (Active): The next five basic attacks apply damage twice. Resets Sundering Rhythm.
Ring Slot Two: The Devourer’s Curse (Legendary, Unique)
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+300 Curse Resistance
Cursegiver (Active): Inflict self with Curse Of The Devourer for one minute. Damage that the wearer deals will spread Curse Of The Devourer to all targets for one minute.
Curse Of The Devourer (Passive): The Devourer seeks blood. Cursed beings must deal damage to live targets every second. If damage is not dealt, the Devourer will reap 5% Maximum Health curse damage from the cursed one.
Accessory: Warlord’s Amulet (Legendary, Unique)
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+100 All Resistances
Commander Of Warfare (Passive): Supportive effects are 25% more effective on the wearer.
Commander Of Warfare (Active): Charging in at the front of an ally formation grants 10% to all stats for one minute. Must have more than five allies behind.
Gloves: Moonlord’s Gauntlets (Legendary, Unique)
-
+1300 Attack Force
-
+6 Greatsword Proficiency
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+300 Defence
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+100 All Resistances
Weapon Slot One: The Celestial Runesword (Mythic)
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4700 Attack Force
Armorbreaker (Passive): Shred through armor with 30% defence penetration. This effect is increased to 50% with Straight Attacks.
Elemental Runes (Passive): All attacks deal an additional 5% elemental damage of all elements.
Celestial Slash (Active): Split the sky with an overhead swing, dealing damage equal to 1000% of the user’s attack force.
Weapon Slot Two: Occupied by Weapon Slot One
Headwear: Moonlord’s Helmet (Legendary, Unique)
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+7,000 Maximum Health
-
+500 Defence
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+200 All Resistances
Armor: Godsteel Armor (Mythic)
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+600 Defence
-
+10,000 Maximum Health
Lightweight (Passive): Godsteel Armor is classified as a lightweight armor.
Touch Of Godhood (Active): Ascend to Godhood for thirty seconds, sprouting wings and granting Light Flight. Become immune to all curse damage. Basic attacks become ranged, dealing 50% extra damage. When Touch Of Godhood ends, take 20% Maximum Health Damage.
And that was her full set.
“That’s a lot of defence,” I said. “No wonder we didn’t do any damage last time. She’s a tank.”
“And her armor is also lightweight,” Veyra said. “I’d say her chestplate is even more overpowered than her sword. The god ascension makes her immune to curses, which also lets her apply that curse ring for free. Then there’s knockback resistance, which makes it hard to interrupt her footwork.”
“I’m surprised she only has four mythics, though,” I said.
“All four are completely broken with everything else complementing them,” Veyra said. “And she has a lot of stat-stick items. She has enough attack force to rip straight through you.”
“Not if I steal her defence,” I said.
“She also has wings with a double jump,” Veyra said. “She didn’t use any of her item effects in our first duel.”
“She’ll probably get cocky and try to show off, though,” I said. “Let’s see how much we’ve grown.”
Soon after, the arena opened up, and the fight started.
20 chapters ahead on !