Codex: Well, I think this should be interesting.
Siel: Are you seriously posting another story?
Codex: What do you mean?
Siel: I mean, you just posted a new story like a few days ago.
Codex: No I didn't *looks in the opposite direction*
Siel: H- You know what, I don't care anymore.
Luci: Aw, but that's no fun.
Codex: I know, right?
Siel: Oh, shut up.
Codex: Well, let's get to the story I guess.
~x1x~ First Impressions Are Everything
"Link, start!"
I was pulled into virtual reality, detaching myself from the real world. All the digital colors passed from my field of vision and it turned into a white, colorless background. Soon, I was looking up at the gray and blue sky of a city. The landscape was nothing more than buildings, gang ridden streets, and it left the taste of brown in your mouth.
"Ah, GGO, you never seem to change. Welp, let's go get some spray paint and enter another BOB. See just how many players think I'm cheating or something."
I walked through the polluted streets until I was meet with a run-down building that was only one story high. The building had a small, spray painted sign on the front of it, if that could even be considered a sign, that said 'From Above, To Below' in black and white.
I walked through the front door, accompanied by the sound of a small bell chime. The room wasn't very big, it just had a few items on the walls, a grandfather clock, and a man behind a counter at the far end of the room.
"Hey, this isn't a store for someone like you, little boy. Now, hurry along."
This is what I love about my avatar. It's an FT3000 model, which basically means I look like a short boy, which is really funny when I beat someone into the ground. Oh, it's so much fun to see the look on their face when they realize a "tiny little boy" just beat them.
"Oh, so you must be new than?"
"Yeah. But it doesn't take a professional to put together that a 12 year old shouldn't be here. Now, get."
"What, are you intimidated or something? Scared of me?"
"HA, you think I'm afraid of you? I'd kill you in five seconds in a 1v1."
"Is that a challenge I hear?"
"What, you think you can beat me?"
"How about this; we do a battle and, if you win, I leave and never show my face again, since I seem to be pissing you off a bit. But, if I win, you let me stay and do my business. Got a deal?"
"Fine by me, I like to see kids like you put in their place."
"Alright, let's go than. I know a place we can battle in. You should know it, you do work here after all."
"What do you mean? Are you saying you know this place for what it actually is?"
"Of course. Why do you think I came here in the first place?"
I started to walk over to the grandfather clock, leaving the other guy with his mouth slightly ajar. Once I was in front of the clock, I adjusted the hands so that the hour hand was pointed at the 5 and the minute hand between the 7 and 8. After doing so, I pulled the swinging pendulum down, resulting in the clock to move backwards, showing I had successfully done what I had set out to do. After the clock completely moved back, it slid up, revealing an elevator below it.
I hopped inside the room and waited patiently for the man.
Once he was completely in, he started another conversation. "So, 3'rd floor I'm guessing?"
"Nope, 7'th."
"I thought the 3'rd floor had the arena."
"It does. The 7'th floor is for gambling battles."
"Oh, so you want to die with people watching. I got it. 7'th floor it is than."
Once he pressed the 7 button, the room slowly made it's descent.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, I decided started up a conversation. "So, what's your name? I can't just keep calling you man or guy."
"Ugh, James." He verbally rolled his eyes. I could tell in his voice that he didn't want to waste his "precious time" battling a kid with no brains.
"Well, you sound enthused."
"You gonna tell me your name, or what?"
"What."
"What?"
"Look, you'll find out once we get down there. Which is right here."
The cart slowly revealed a room filled with the sounds of money hitting tables and the scent of cigar smoke and alcohol. I took a deep breathe in, held it for a second, and exhaled.
"Ah, this scent never gets old."
"Yeah, yeah. Now look, see the bartender over there with the green hair and black vest? That's Lenny. Tell him that we're-"
Before he could finish his sentence, I already walked off to Lenny, completely ignoring James' talk.
"Yo, L-ho."
"Alright, who said that? I swear, if I hear that name one more time, I'm going to-"
"Don't worry, it's just me."
"Oh, it's just you. What can I do for you?"
"Got a nooby here. Anybody using the arena?"
His straight face immediately lit up when he heard me say arena. "Nope, I'll get it set up. You want to go get changed?"
"Naw, I'll do it on the field. Got any new patrons since I was last here?"
"Yep, a lot actually. Well, I'll get it set up. You bring the guy to the grounds. You can make yourself a drink while we get it set. What drop do you want?"
"First impressions are normally good with 5, so let's do that."
"Okay, see you after he dies."
We waved off to each other, signaling that it was soon time for us to battle. So, I gestured for James to come over to where I was sitting. As he walked to me, he wore the same face he had when he first saw me do the thing with the clock. Once he sat next to me, I jumped over the counter.
"What, do you know how to make drinks too?"
"Want to test that before we go at it?"
"Just give me an Old Fashioned."
"Oh, don't want anything fancy?"
"Just make it."
"Hey, can I get a drink here?" I heard from the other side of the table.
I slid to the man and gestured for him to tell what he wanted. "A Rattlesnake Cocktail."
"I'll take A Kicker" A woman next to him said.
"Girlfriend?"
"Wife." He said with much prowess.
"Nice Adam. Glad you finally have a Misses. Let me make your drinks. Anyone else want a drink?"
"A Hill Topper please."
"A Cizzle Bizzle."
"A Bronx Silver Cocktail."
"Two Manhattans over here."
When I heard a few seconds of silence, I concluded that that was everyone's drinks called. So, I ran all the way across the floor behind the bar, making sure I had all the ingredients and the right glasses and shakers. After confirming I had all the right stuff, I did my own dance of pouring things into cups, catching glass before it hit the floor, juggling glasses filled with liquid, pouring the finished drinks into their correct glasses, garnishing them, and then proceeding to throw them right in front of the respected owners of the drinks.
After the last glass hit the table, the crowd that accumulated erupted in applause and cheers. I gratefully took them, and did myself a bow. Once the crowd drained back to the few people at the front of the bar, I hopped back over the bar, taking my seat next to James, who still wore that ajar mouth.
"But you're just a kid."
I chuckled, "Alright, you can finish your drink once our battle's done. Let's go down to the grounds, they should be done by now."
I walked through the crowds of people, stopping every few seconds to make sure James was still following me. When we made it to the stairs, he said he knew where to go from here, so he took the lead. Once we got a few levels down, I told him to go down without me.
"Why? Want to see if you can find your way without my help or something?"
"No, I just want to do something before we start. Now, go on ahead. You said you know how to get down there, so don't be late."
Before he had time to respond, I left him through one of the doors to the stairwell.
When I exited the stairwell, I found myself on one of the floors used for viewing the arena when in use. Looking around, I saw something I don't normally see: almost all the seats being occupied. However, I did manage to find a vacant seat close to the rails.
After sitting in my seat for a few minutes, the room went dim, signaling that it was about to start. From the center of the arena, a small platform rose up with a person on it. It was L-ho.
"Hello to all my wonderful patrons. We have a very good show for you today. By the amount of people here, I think you know who one of our contestants are. But, before we get to them, let's get to the other one. Today, we have James Peterson. He is sporting an… oh… he'll be rocking a PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II. This'll be a fun battle."
After saying that, one of the walls lifted up and revealed James with his rifle on his back and a pistol at his side. Above him, there was a screen that displayed all his stats and a picture of what he looked like. He had black hair and had a camo vest with a bunch of extra pockets and stuff, and on his back was his his sniper rifle with a pistol on his side.
HP: 1496/1496
Name: James Franklin Peterson
Stage: N/A
Rank: Soldier
Level: 36
Primary: PGM Ultima Ratio Hecate II
Secondary: FN Five-Seven
Wins: 28
Loses: 46
"And now, the main man, the reason most of you are here. Francis Spring, but you all know him by his stage name. The Colored Blade of the Future's Angel!"
After he said that, I rose from my seat, a spotlight immediately pinpointing my location. I jumped from my spot onto the arena, only accompanied by the sound of erupting applause. An identical screen to James' appeared above. In the picture, I was dressed in a white tailcoat with my hands in my pockets. On the actual coat, there were multiple splatters of paint on it and even a streak of paint that looked like it was sprayed on. Now, in the picture, I had my pure white hair covering my face so all you could see was one of my eyes, which were a deep blue. And my hair also had splatters of paint on it, similar to the coat. That however, wasn't the interesting part. What was, was the stats I had.
HP: 287/287
Name: Francis Brian Spring
Stage: The Colored Blade of the Future's Angel
Rank: N/A
Level: N/A
Primary: Искатель
Secondary: Цветные Пули and Окрашенные лезвия
Wins: N/A
Losses: 1
Now, a few things stand out. Going from top to bottom; I only have an HP level of 287. That already seems off. A normal HP bar, even when you first start the game up, is at least 800 something. But, with the make and model I have, body wise, it's drastically decreased.
Anyways, skipping down to rank, that's when you know you've picked the wrong fight. Now, people would think that N/A can only mean the lowest possible thing, right? Wrong, the exact opposite, actually. It means that you have a number, or rank in this case, that is so far off the charts that it is incalculable. This also applies for level and wins.
So then, there's primary and secondary. That means what your primary weapon and secondary weapon, or weapons, is. Now, it normally just says the name of the weapon that you have. But, my weapons don't really have a name. Or, more specifically, the names they do have aren't
[Bam info.]
I lifted my head up, keeping a calm face on. I walked towards the center, but stopped about halfway.
"Is it just me, or is there something I'm missing?" I asked in a sarcastically dumbfounded voice.
Immediately, I heard many people yell, "THE COVER!"
"Oh, right."
After hearing that, I opened my inventory, looking for the only piece of white clothing I had, even if it did have a splash of color on it. Once I found it, I picked it out and it turned into a small ball. I threw it into the air with little effort, only enough so I had time to pose before it hit me. Once it did hit me, it unraveled into a flowing white coat that had my primary and secondary weapons. Well, primary item.
[You'll understand once you see it.]
I made my way to the center of the arena where James and L-ho were standing. Once I was there, L-ho went on with his announcements before the fight. "Now, in a moment, you'll see a notice pop up. That is what will be used to gamble. Insert the amount you want to give and for what player. Whatever you pay, you'll get back, and then some, if that person wins."
From the audience, I heard a few "ooh's" and "ah's" being exerted. "However, if the person you voted for loses, half is given to the winners and the other half goes back to the winner. Now, you can also chose the option to give an amount and give it to the winner of the fight. It isn't too broadly used, but a few do like that choice. Now, insert your money's worth."
"And, one more thing, FATB is not liable for any currency lost in transit. It has only happened once, and we were able to get that patron's money back to them, but we do need to notify you of that. Now, feel free to give how much you want."
After he said that, I heard a bunch of dinging, indicating that people already had their desired amount of money input. "Now normally, we let the challenger pick the battlegrounds, but I felt that it would be nice to let a reigning champ, that's been out for a while, to pick it. So, when he first came to me earlier today, we conversed, and we chose battle arena number five, or more commonly known as 'The City Playground,' for those who don't already know."
Again, I could hear a few "ooh's" and "ah's" but I could also hear a few people cheering in the audience. I can't blame them though, it's a very aesthetically pleasing place to just look at. That is, if you're into falling buildings, crumbled statues, and stuff of that nature.
"Now, I don't think you want to be waiting any longer than you have to. So, how about we get to seeing a master at his craft. Let's get the field set, and then we get to the fun part. Would our 'contestants' please make their way to the east hallway door."
I started my way to the open gate, making sure I looked as badass as possible. I mean, first impressions are everything, after all.
Siel: Jeez, have you ever written that much before?
Codex: Not yet, I don't think.
Luci: Well, good for you.
Codex: Thanks, at least someone is appreciating it.
Siel: Oh, shut up.
Codex: Well, if you guys enjoyed, or didn't enjoy, let me know by leaving a comment down below.
Siel: You're beginning to sound like a Youtuber.
Codex: *looks to the ground* You're right.
Luci: How about you do some sort of shout-out or something?
Codex: Hey, that's not actually a bad idea.
Luci: Thank you.
Codex: Well, if you want a shout-out, leave a comment down below of what your favorite story of mine is and even what your favorite chapter it was. I'll randomly select a winner and say the name at the end of each of my chapters. And, it won't be just for this story, I'll do it for all of them.
Siel: Well, I think it's about time to wrap this up.
Codex: I agree.
Luci: Peace
Siel: Later
Codex: And, until next time, Libraries...
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Siel: Still sucks.
Codex: SHUT. UP!