“Better. A tenth of a second too long,” Destiny said.
The mage retreated, but the archer managed to unsheathe a short sword to engage me.
Jabbing at the archer's head, I cast an ice bolt of my own, impacting the archer’s foot. It was a low-level spell. Most of the spells of a spell-sword were about the same low rank, but it was enough to stagger him to his knees.
The mage was about to leave my short range, so I cast force field once again. He ran face first into a small wall of energy about the size of a dining plate.
My neck tensed at just the thought of how it felt. A tank would have just shrugged it off, but casters were fun to mess with.
St3alth decided to join us. Becoming visible behind the magic user, he slashed him across the neck, then stabbed him in the back in one fluid motion. For all St3alth’s complaining, it was rare that he wasn’t exactly where he needed to be.
Too bad they didn’t save the assassin for later. It may have been a closer fight.
The archer began to regain his footing. His eyes were locked on me. Without his bow, his class skills would be limited.
I bowed slightly, with a flourish from my sword, urging him to stand.
St3alth just stood back and watched as Chewme and I handled the remaining two players.
With his short sword in one hand and bow in the other, he stabbed at my waist, holding his bow up for extra cover. He was well practiced.
I stepped back, his sword just missing, and another ice bolt flew from my hand at his face. He twisted wildly, placing his bow between him and the bolt. Impressive agility.
Thrusting down, my blade pierced between the string and shaft of his bow, jabbing his thigh. Jumping back, I severed the bowstring with a flick.
Who could help but smile? I could almost feel new subscribers joining my gaming channel. If I entertained them enough, many benefits would follow. More followers meant more sponsors. Those not watching now would watch today's highlights later. Some followers would even donate money. Enough followers and I could attract one of the big sponsors and get a full ride to game for a living. That was the goal and my high school career was almost over.
“Focus, Lucius,” Destiny reminded.
As cruel as it might seem, I wouldn’t finish this guy off quickly. That would waste an opportunity. Nor would I make the fight look even. He was likely a semipro himself, so defeating him was just another opportunity for him to learn. I had been there before.
Casting an ice bolt at his feet, I slashed down from overhead. He was too slow to dodge them both. Choosing to take the bolt to the leg, I caught him on the same foot as before. This time he kept himself from falling to his knees. I took the opportunity to leave him a deep puncture wound to the shoulder.
Spell-swords were popular with new players but rarely played well. Unlike most professions that had very obvious strengths, we had a larger variety of options due to the ability to cast spells and fight with weapons. Most serious gamers dismissed us entirely. The spell-sword’s spells and sword skills were at the best average, except for one spell that you could max. When used in unison with the right build and strategy, the spell-sword was unbeatable.
He attacked next, realizing there was little chance to win. I shifted slightly, letting his thrust pierce my shoulder. The stinging sensation was nothing to laugh about because Gravel allowed the legal maximum of 40% pain. I literally felt 40% of the calculated pain for a maximum of five seconds.
Another thrust came, this one wilder than the first.
It was all a part of the show.
Parrying his thrust, I sidestepped as he passed, smacking him on the rear with the blunt of my sword.
When he turned, I was already casting a bolt, which hit him in the chest.
Still unwilling to give up, he threw his bow at my head and slashed at my knee. It would have worked too, but he collided with a quickly cast force field as he lunged forward.
You fought well.
My sword pierced him high in the chest, easily exiting his back.
He met my eyes as his health drained from his body. Knowing what it was to lose countless defeats, I bowed my head to acknowledge him as he disintegrated into pixels.
Chewme mocked me for honoring the enemy, but I saw no reason to rub a person’s defeat in their face.
“There he goes again.” St3alth joined me after my opponent had fallen.
Hearing the clang of steel, I knew what he was referring to before I even looked.
Despite what you might have seen in virtual movies or games, swords aren’t very useful against full platemail. This VR game, Gravel, had a real world physics engine, so despite magic and special skills, everything else was dependent on natural laws. Few people had the real life strength to pierce steel even with the sharpest blade. Chewme was an exception. Since our game characters were based on our real life bodies, Chewme was as massive here as he was in the real world. The game had no choice but to throw this into its physics calculations.
The man he faced barely held onto his two-handed ax. It drooped to his side, held by his only good arm. What had once been well-polished armor was now dented in from every angle. One arm showed divotted steel just below the shoulder. Blood flowed from the cracks at his elbow. If that was the only damage, then the guy would have been able to continue. His platemail at the thigh and knee was also crushed. Blood seeped out at the knee and boot.
Chewme spun. His claymore gained maximum velocity. The man braced with his good leg, taking the blow on his good arm. The ax fell from his grip. His armor was damaged near the wrist. Already blood was pooling into a drop at the tip of his hanging gauntlet.
Allowing the man to forfeit at that point would have been the sane thing to do. The open-mouthed smile on Chewme’s face showed he was too far gone to stop now.
“Stop, Chewme!” Destiny messaged. Group chat wasn’t the same as yelling where someone could actually hear you though.
Even with a weaponless opponent, Chewme spun again, this time elevating his sword and bringing it down from over his shoulder. The vicious blow crippled the man’s remaining good leg. He fell hard to his side, landing with his arm unnaturally underneath him.
It had gone on long enough.
“Chew!” I yelled.
He tilted his head to the side like a questioning canine. Placing his foot on the man’s shoulder, he leaned on him as he might a footstool.
“Oh. You guys are already finished?” he asked, smirking with mock innocence.
“End it.”
“Fine, fine.”
Before he could act, confetti fell from the sky like a colorful snowfall.
“Winner Guild Nexus!” declared the announcer.
Chewme’s footstool dissolved; the player had either died from his wounds or forfeited. It also meant that the bloodlust-loving bear of a man stumbled forward and almost fell over.
An annoyingly loud cackle came from St3alth.
Humorous or not, we both looked at him like he was mad.
Now that the fight was over we had the option to fight again, leave for the spectator's lounge or return to our guild base.
The first thing I did was check our viewer stats. Another three hundred people were watching us live. More importantly, twelve more people had followed my channel. It was a nice bump for a few minutes’ work.
“How much time you have left, Lucius?” Chewme asked.
With a thought, the real world time appeared at the top right of my vision. About 8:15 am.
“I still have half an hour before I arrive.”
“A few more matches then?” St3alth asked.
“Absolutely. As many as possible. I’ll be going through testing for the rest of the day.”
“Nothing to worry about. The hardest part is not getting bored.”
“Be sure to let us know how it goes,” Chewme said. “My testing is next Saturday.”
“I thought they have banned all galactic space walruses from trying out,” St3alth replied.