6 Thunderbolt!
[3. . .]
[2. . .]
[1. . .]
[Fight!]
A heads up display appeared showing both Nick's and Ivan's health, and the virtual camera's perspective changed to a third person point of view, following Nick as he equipped the small wooden shield hanging from his waist to his now healed arm. He ran at Ivan, who had a yellow aura flare to life around him, an occasional crackle of cyan lightning coming off of him.
Rather than attack Nick with a ranged attack like Zack expected, Ivan began running, leaving his floating book behind, his seemingly odd choice of equipment now making sense.
'Rather than the traditional robe, Ivan's decided to avoid that class's problem with close range combat by equipping something that allows him to move more nimbly. I wonder what his game plan here is. . .'
The aura of lightning energy began to grow with intensity, more sparks flying wildly as Ivan continued to narrowly avoid critical hits, ducking, jumping, and side stepping out of the way of Nick's basic melee strikes.
"Alright, if I can't hit you like this then I'll change up my strategy!"
Nick then let out a ferocious roar as his muscles expanded, a shockwave of crimson energy bursting out of him. The shockwave caused Ivan to tumble to the ground, his aura flickering briefly as his health dropped by around two percent. Zack took notice of the fact that Nick lost twenty-five percent of his health.
'That must be a new ability. The berserk state I remember doesn't sacrifice health for a boost, but rather, it sacrificed defense,' he thought to himself, while crunching a chip in two.
Ivan's aura of lightning had seemed to reach a bottleneck despite the brief flicker, cyan tendrils of lightning having begun whipping out randomly in every direction, leaving behind ruts of various sizes in the ground. One of the lightning whips landed on Nick, who's health dropped ever so slightly upon that impact.
They both had a mystical aura now, and Nick's grew in intensity whenever he was hit by a stray whip of lightning, though it seemed he took more damage with each hit.
Ivan then began whispering an incantation as Nick charged at him, swinging his axe recklessly, each swing accompanied by a crimson shock-wave that threatened to disrupt Ivan's focus as he dodged, a handful of them hitting their marks and causing Ivan's health to drop steadily.
"May the lord of the skies heed my call and guide my strike to hit tried and true, and that his venerable father further empower it with almighty strength. . ."
Nick's eyes widened as he heard a sliver of the incantation, and his arm muscles bulged even further as he hurled the battle axe at Ivan, the crimson energy surrounding it making it take on the appearance of a disk of destructive energy.
Ivan was hit right in the chest, causing him to tumble backwards and hit the ground, his health points dropping to a critical level with that one hit. Ivan's aura did not falter at this though, and Zack couldn't help but put down his grape soda in anticipation. He watched as Ivan rolled to the side and got up as Nick stomped down, causing the rocky ground to tremble.
After successfully dodging, Ivan put a decent amount of distance between himself and Nick by jumping back. Nick then turned to see Ivan had stretched out his right arm, pointing his index finger out at Nick.
Nick had been bombarded with stray lightning whips throughout the duel, and his health was down to thirty-seven percent. Although Nick seemed to have an advantage, Zack second guessed himself.
Having attended Conquest Carnival's in person final announcement venue, he had the chance to try out all of the different classes available. While he didn't have a deep understanding of all them yet, he knew that the Elemental Sorcerer class had great potential in the right hands.
Though, he still figured Nick would win. Zack had understood the power of the berserker class thoroughly, figuring it paired well with his anger issues. Although Nick didn't share those issues, he certainly had a lot of stress to pour into the berserker's true potential.
The fight could go either way at this point, and Zack knew the finishing blow would happen soon.
"Tier Three Nascent Thunderbolt!"
The yellow aura around Ivan disappeared as the cyan bolts converged in front of his finger, forming a large orb of yellow energy that was surrounded by a veil of cyan sparks.
The ball of condensed energy then shot forward with a loud boom, the cyan sparks creating a spiral around the yellow energy as it closed in on Nick. Rather than dodge though, Nick took a peculiar stance, his left arm tucked under his now raised right arm.
"Piss off with that weak shit!" Nick loudly exclaimed in a cocky manner. With the thunderbolt just mere inches away from hitting him, Nick suddenly swiped his shield outwards. The thunderbolt clashed with the wooden shield and condensed into an oblong sphere, before being deflected away.
Rather than hit the wall of the arena like Nick expected, it enveloped the floating book that Nick had forgotten about. And Ivan, rather than stand in place after firing his spell, had quickly dashed to mirror the book, standing behind Nick.
"Let's see if you can handle this, you cocky dumbass! Amplify and fire!" With another loud boom, the thunderbolt shot for Nick, the yellow energy a brighter hue than before.
With Nick's arm numb from the previous parry, he had no choice but to dodge the incoming thunderbolt, knowing that if he failed parrying the thunderbolt he'd likely lose the fight. It zipped by him as he rolled to the side, but it enveloped Ivan's hand much like it had done with the book.
"Amplify and fire!"
This time, the yellow transitioned to white as it shot forward, and Nick had to dodge again. This went on for around thirty seconds as Nick attempted to dodge and escape the entrapment as the numb feeling in his arm went away.
No matter how he dodged, Ivan and his book would move in sync to keep Nick at a disadvantage, until finally. . .
Nick got up, and faced Ivan as he got ready to fire the amplified spell again. Nick began to assume his stance again, spreading his feet apart quickly in order to ground himself for the parry.
"Die already damn it! Amplify and fire!"
Unfortunately for Nick, he tumbled to the side as his left foot dropped into one of the larger ruts in the ground. Before he could curse in anger, the thunderbolt burst on impact in a grand display of white light and cyan sparks, and Nick was left on the ground shaking uncontrollably as a few sparks came from his body.
The heads up display vanished as text appeared on the center of the screen.
[DarkMatter42 Loses!]
Zack then paused the video and went back ten seconds, looking at the heads up display. Beside Nick's profile image and above his health bar was the username he'd just seen. He then looked to Ivan's and saw he was using his WiseBro69 account.
At the final announcement venue, they each won the privilege to have two accounts per IVR Kit in a raffle. Around three thousand people total obtained that privilege, while others received starter kits, rare equipment, or even special weapons.
Zack and his friends all wanted to gain fame and glory within the community, and while they didn't get the special weapons the lucky one hundred were allowed to choose, they were happy to get something out of the raffle.
Zack skipped back to where he was before only to find the video end in a few seconds. Thus, having finished the video, he was quick to send another text message, followed by the crunch of another salt and vinegar chip.
[Why the hell are y'all on the alternate accounts?]
[Sent At 7:49 P.M.]
*Ding*
[El Tres Amigos: Ivan]
[People that are logged on for an hour on the first day get something special, so you'll need to hop on both accounts ASAP!]
[Sent At 7:49 P.M.]
Zack then switched to the forums app and found the top post was about the special thing Ivan had just mentioned. Tapping on the post, he found that it was a set of ten randomized perks that ranged from cosmetic gear to titles or even mounts, with some saying they got a special familiar.
His eyes lit up upon realizing he could obtain twenty different randomized perks, some of which he could pour into his main account. He noticed a lot of people were complaining that people like him were being given far more items, but they were shot down seeing as most of the perks were just cosmetic and didn't give an unfair advantage in Player Vs Player battle, save for the rumored familiars, which were as of now, just a rumor.
No one showed screenshots of their familiars, so no one really gave credibility to the rumor. Having his curiosity sated, Zack sent another text message to the group asking if they got their second set of items yet, to which they responded with. . .
[El Tres Amigos: Ivan, Nick]
[Perhaps.]
[Sent At 7:52 P.M.]
Zack then ate his last chip and scrunched up the bag to the dismay of the person trying to nap behind him, putting it in his pocket until the attendant would sweep by with a garbage bag. He then unpaused his playlist and went back to looking out the window, looking at the bustling streets below and the other train tunnels, another train happening to pass by as he looked down.
'I wonder what I should get to eat. . . Maybe I should go visit Llamarada Tacos and see Mr. Arroyo.'
