Chapter. 12

A month had past since Rebecca had started coming to the fencing practice. each time she arrived Vincent walked the through each other movements of the other team members. Once the official practice was over Vincent would spent another hour to teach Rebecca what talked about before. When they were finished Vincent would drive Rebecca home who would silently ride with him each time.

The two were fighting as normal, Vincent was careful with his movement to not push Rebecca too hard as she learned.

As they practiced Vincent noticed Rebecca's moves were unfocused. She wasn't his equal but was getting better over time. Vincent stepped back and lowered his sword. "You okay? You're not moving like last time."

"I'm fine." Vincent only looked at her. Rebecca sighed and lowered her sword as well. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Vincent lend her to the benches. "Tell me what's up."

"You've spent all this time helping me but, I... I'm not sure this is for me."

Vincent felt disheartened to see Rebecca upset. "You okay. You're getting better I can see it. You just need some confidence is all." An idea occurred to him, he smiled as he patted Rebecca's back. "You play any online games?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No. I , don't have a lot of time for them."

"I got one I'd like for you to try. Though we'll need a cord." Rebecca quickly grabbed her bag and opened it, taking out a three foot cord and holding it out the Vincent. "Okay..."

Vincent took an end of the cord and connected it to his neuro-linker as Rebecca did the same with hers. "I'm going to give you a game I got almost two months ago. It's called Brain Burst."

"Brain Burst?"

"It's an online fighting game. I think it'll get you some confidence. Trust me. Nothing like ripping someone's head off to de-stress." The two watched the loading bar fill.

When it was finished a message appeared in front of Rebecca, welcoming her to Brain Burst. Vincent pulled out the cord and gave it back to Rebecca. "That'll do it. The game won't be playable till tomorrow after you sleep. I'll come by your place in the morning and tell you more about it."

"Oh, okay..."

"You okay?" Rebecca nods. "Come on, I'll take you home." The two stood up and walked to the locker room. Once changed they left the school and arrived back at Vincent bike in the parking lot. Vincent drove slower then normal to Rebecca's house.

Rebecca held on to Vincent as tight as usual. Vincent expected that her grip on him would loosen the more he drove her but that didn't seem to be the case. It took a few minutes longer to reach Rebecca's house. The two climbed off the bike and walked to the door. "I'll come by tomorrow morning. You have good rest of your day, alright?"

"Thank you." Rebecca hugged Vincent then quickly ran into her house.

...

An few minutes later Vincent drove home, pushing his bike into the garage then went inside. "I'm home!" No one returned his greeting.

Vincent sighed and went up stairs to his room. Inside he fell on his bed and connected to the family server. Running through the menus he found what he wanted and started it up. The world shifted to a shooting range.

Vincent felt a weight on his right arm, a replica of his duel avatar's blaster. "Let's get it right this time Vincent." Targets popped up from the ground, Vincent aimed and fired but missed the first set. "For fuck sakes come on!" The next set appeared and Vincent missed them all as well. "Come on!" He fired randomly as he shouted in anger. See he missed all of the third set Vincent took a long slow breath.

"Alright. Alright then, deep breathes. Focus." Vincent calmed himself then went to the settings. He pulled all the targets closer to him. "Okay. Just like with a sword. Baby steps. Baby steps." Vincent breathed and fired at a target, hitting the top area of it. He lowered his arm with each shop until he hit close to the center.

"Alright, think. Gauge it. Everything can be broken down to a science." Vincent aimed at another target and spot below the center. "It hits above my fist." Vincent held out his palm to the target then lowered it to fire. Hitting above the center. "Like casting a fireball." Vincent grinned as he repeated the motion, he never hit the center of the targets but was getting closer each time.

...

The next day Vincent pulled up in front of Rebecca's home once again. He sent a massage to Rebecca to let her know that he was back as he walked to the front door. He got to the door then raised his hand to knock when the door opened. "Hello Vincent."

"Hello. Can I come in-"

"Yes!" Rebecca grabbed Vincent's arm and pulled him inside.

"Someone's excited."

Rebecca pulled her hand back and held it. "Sorry! I... I, uh."

"It's fine Rebecca. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Okay."

"Now then, let's get started. Do you see the icon for Brain Burst?"

"Yes."

"Good, now press it and hit matchmaking." Rebecca did as asked. "Now press Eminence Tyrant, that's my name." The world shifted to an open grassy plain lit by a setting sun. "This is a nice looking area."

"Vincent?" The tyrant turned to his left and stepped back.

Before him stood a duel avatar of pale white armor almost as clear as glass. On her hip hung a black handgun and a sliver combat knife strapped to her leg. The helmet had two eye lenses instead of a full face visor. One lens was purple and the other was green, matching her real eyes.

"That armor looks good on you." Vincent glanced up to see her avatar's name. "Prism Rose. Didn't know Prism counted as a color."

Rebecca looked down at her body and started shaking. "What is this?!"

"Calm down Rebecca. It's fine. That's your duel avatar form. It's what you fight in." Rebecca looked down at herself again. "Welcome to Brain Burst. You find other players with this game, fight them and take points. The points you get is what you need to level up and get more power."

"Okay but... why did I get this body? Is it the default?"

Vincent placed a hand on his hip. "Do you remember having a bad dream last night?"

"Yes. I, I don't remember what it was. I only remember that it was bad."

"That's Brain Burst going through your mind." Vincent taps on the side of his helmet. "From what I learned it read your mind to find traumas, mental scaring and desires. Once a avatar is made it can't be changed."

"This avatar is a creation of my fears?"

"More or less. Face your fears, use it as your weapon and defeat any and all that stand against you."

"Why would people stand against me?"

"Because they want your points."

"My points?"

"Every new player is given a hundred points you win fights you take take their points. You lose they take your points." Vincent stepped closer and placed his hands on Rebecca's shoulders. "This is important. You can't lose all of your points. If you do Brain Burst will uninstall and you'll lose the game forever."

"Why would it do that? What are we fighting for to warrant such an extreme?"

"Because the points can, well... Brain Burst is not just a game. I've seen people fight tooth and nail to keep it. See, the points aren't just for getting stronger. They can be used in the real world."

"How?"

Vincent let go of Rebecca as he thought for a moment. "You know my bike? I got it thanks to Brain Burst. I'll show you when we get out of this. For now we should see what your duel avatar can do." Vincent stepped back and drew his sword. "Let me show you a few thing my avatar can do."

! #$%^&*()_+}"?:{

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