Chapter 3

—The Decimation

The biggest arena in the game's entire world, spanning around two acres of the play area and having a significant area of 125,000 square feet.

The outside of the arena boasted several huge purple crystals, shaped in the form of outstretched diamonds. Along the exterior of the area were also several huge billboards showcasing professional players and fights inside of the arena that were happening live.

Rows and rows of player-run shops and tents littered the outskirts of the arena, creating a market of its own, usually boasting some of the most expensive prices in the game. for new players, it is advised that you shouldn't do your shopping here.

Jay gives the arena a thorough look, noticing all of the developers' craftsmanship into it.

"Jeez, those crystals are so tacky!!" Axel says behind him.

"Well, it's just for show," Jay says.

"Looking at all of these prices, I'm glad we ate something before coming here," Ivy says.

"That's funny because you seemed worried about that near your dad earlier..." Jay jokes.

"Shut up! You didn't even eat what Jo-I mean Axel bought you!"

Although Ivy was right, Jay still took pride in his joke. The three friends approached one of the long lines to enter the arena. Players everywhere were coming here to see an event of their choice, who all had previously purchased an entry ticket.

Players choose what fight they want to see at the door, which Jay and his friends were ready to do, having already purchased an entry ticket. As they waited in line for their turn for entry, Jay remembers something.

They didn't even know who to watch!

"Uh, guys, who should we watch?"

The Decimation has around 200 different servers going on at once. Since the number of players logged in daily—and the demand for tickets—is very high, multiple fights happen inside the arena in different play areas.

Without having time to hear a response, Jay was the first in line. A small dose of anxiety started to flood in, and as he stepped one foot closer to the doorway, a flash of light appeared in front of him. Several polygon-Esque shapes materialized in front of Jay, and a robot-looking hologram appeared. It extended a device to Jay at rapid speeds.

>Welcome to the Decimation! Please scan your ticket(s) here!<

Jay motioned Axel and Ivy for their entry tickets, and upon getting them, quickly checked all of them onto the device as prompted to him.

>Who will you be seeing fight today?<

Jay blanked. Who would they be seeing? He looks behind him to see Axel shake his head and shrug. Things would get awkward if he held the line any longer, and their passes expire in two minutes!

'What do I do? What do I do?'

As Jay tried to collect himself and make a decision, a hand reached over his left side and rested on his shoulder, next to his sheath-strap.

"Isn't Helmet fighting today?" Ivy asks.

>Helmet will be fighting in ten minutes!<

"Let's go with that!" Ivy says.

>Verified and secured. Please grab your tickets. Your seat numbers will be labeled on them next to your names. Have a great time during your event!<

Ivy takes her arm off of Jay and grabs the tickets. As soon as she does, the hologram disappears and spawns next to the others in the line.

Jay sighs and turns to Ivy.

"Ugh, thanks for the save…" He tells her.

"You're such a worrywart, Magui-I mean Jay."Axel butts in.

Ivy hands everyone their tickets, and Jay is the first to walk towards the massive entryway into the arena. He sees several players enter the doorway, and as soon as they step foot into the opening, they seem to vanish.

Jay puts one foot into the arena and steps through. Players appear on the inside of the stadium that were not there before. This is because he had just loaded into the server for his event.

Ivy and Axel shortly follow suit inside.

"I can't remember the last time we've seen a fight in the Decimation!" Jay says.

"Me neither..." Axel says, putting his hand over his mouth.

The smell of grease—which was already present outside—was amplified as they went inside. Groups of people that had bought food from outside ate as they went to their seats.

Jay looks at his ticket to see his seat number.

'404-S2'

After traveling through the halls of the Decimation—following an arrow from Jay's ticket—the group finds where they're supposed to be seated.

There were so many people already seated for the fight, and the stadium practically looked full. Jay glanced over all sides of the arena and tried to count how many people there were. He quit after the first twenty.

"So, how long until the fight?" Jay asks his friends.

"We have two minutes to spare!!" Axel says.

Looking down at the playing field, it was a very generic turf. The Decimation and the arenas around the game world have the ability to shape different environments for each fight, like a modern city or even a jungle. This fight seemed to have a dirt pit and nothing more.

As Jay looked down at the dirt pit, the light around the arena dimmed. Cheers aroused from all corners of the stands, and Axel let out a loud whistle.

"*Is everyone here ready to see mayhem?*" A loud voice booms over the intercom.

The announcer sounded over the crowds of fans screaming across the arena, which only intensified their hype. Jay looked over and matched eyes with Ivy and Axel, and they all simultaneously cheered on.

"*In the first corner... he's well known for his fashion choices, and—lack of—his face! Ranking in the top five-hundred players worldwide, give it up, for the self-proclaimed bounty hunter himself..."

Jay saw a figure appear out of one of two entry points in the arena, which most likely led to the pre-duel lobby.

"*HELMET!!*"

The crowd cheered further. Helmet, the same person on one of Ivy's posters that Jay saw earlier in the day, walked out into the playing field. He had both hands inside of his large—but moderately thin—leather jacket. The top of his motorcycle helmet had a digital screen, which shaped digital eyebrows for him. His signature handguns were stowed away under his leather jacket.

As the crowd's cheers slowed, the announcer came in again.

"And in the second corner...I don't even know who this is or why he's here—but he's paid our sponsor's big money to be here!! Coming in at the top five-hundred...thousand... players in... this server...!!"

The crowd's cheers quickly turn into boos. Jay wonders, why would anyone pay to fight a losing battle?

"Give it up for," The announcer yells, "*DILLAN!!*"

The crowd at this point is questioning what they came here for.

"Who?"

"He can't be serious! Who's Dillan?"

"He's not even good!"

"I don't know a 'Dillan' in the league!"

As the masses only get madder, a silhouette emerges from the opposite doorway in the pit. This player had spiked purple hair in a thick mohawk but also had hair covering every other corner of his head appropriately. He was wearing an oversized fur coat, which opened up for the world to his giant chest. He had baggy brown pants and large black boots on. He sported a big baseball bat, with nails sticking out of it in every direction.

The crowd booed further upon seeing Dillan's fashion choice.

"Aw c'mon, have some class!" Dillan yells to the stands.

Several players even started to throw in empty cups and food trays that they hadn't thrown in their trash. Dillan didn't seem phased by it and opted to look on to his opponent.

"Let the fight...*BEGIN!!*" The Announcer said.

Jay saw as each opposing fighter starred the other down. Although Dillan was much larger build-wise than Helmet, he didn't stand a chance. Unless he had an insane...

"*Aspect, ON*!"

As Dillan shouted these words, a stream of poisonous purple clouds started to converge into a pulsating ball right above his right hand. Helmet looked on without flinching.

This strange power was Dillan's «Aspect».

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

—Aspect.

What could be considered magic in any other game, Aspect is a power given to all players. Its name comes from how it functions since whenever a player uses their Aspect, the aspect ratio/properties of the 3-d pixels that make up the game change to the player's benefit. Logging in for the first time, players are explained Aspect's power systems and how they work.

Aspect is the only part of the game that players own that they can't choose for themselves, like weapons or clothes. Instead, the LucidCast pairs with the user's NIE and reads the brain activity of the player. It then creates a power for them in The Nexus that is catered to them most extremely—In other words—It creates the perfect Aspect for the player without them having to make an option.

Although controversial, this choice has been accepted by players around the globe since their Aspect really does feel like it's theirs.

Aspect can be categorized into three fundamental forms:

—Element, Life, and Material.

Element Aspects can be anything from water condensing to ground manipulation. These are the most popular and frequent Aspects that can be found in the game.

Life Aspects focus around life as a concept and can range from health regen to beast conjuring.

Material is the least frequent of the Aspects and is more of a subclass. Material is anything that isn't producing energy/life, such as ore manipulation or even sound production.

It's common for players with an Element or Life aspect to develop traits of a material Aspect over time, but a player rarely connects the bridge between Element and Life. Those players are usually on the professional level of skill.

Aspect isn't based on player level, but it's like a muscle that grows over time. The game engine is run in a way—with the help of advanced AI—to create an infinite amount of Aspect capabilities. This gives each player a unique style of play, meaning two players with a Ground-Aspect almost always have two completely different Aspects in comparison.

Although Aspect isn't wholly based on player level, it runs on player's Aspect-Points (AP), and this value increases with player level. It allows more decisive moves and systematic strategies to be performed more often.

When a player wants to activate their Aspect, they either think or say the phrase:

"*Aspect, ON!*" Dillan yells.

'The purple clouds that emerge from his body are most definitely a poison-type Aspect,' Jay thinks to himself as he watches the scene unfold, noticing Axel and Ivy watching in awe as well.

"You think he has a chance?" Jay asks them.

"Hell no!!" Axel laughs.

"Of course not!" Ivy also laughs.

Helmet keeps on looking at his opponent without fear in his visor. Dillan gives him an extended smile, showing off his pointy teeth.

"Hey, you! Get ready for my signature move!"

As Dillan shouts towards Helmet, he holds the pulsating ball of poisonous gas in front of him. He readies the bat that he has in his right hand and takes a single step back.

"Home..!"

'Is he gonna drive it?' Jay looks on in interest and disbelief.

"*RUN!!*"

As Dillan yells the name of his signature move, he rolls the bat from his shoulder and smashes the ball of gas with colossal force. The poison ball shoots towards Helmet with tremendous speed.

"And Dillan sends a homer straight to Helmet! Is it going to be the last inning?!" The Announcer commentates.

Dillan smiles and mutters under his breath.

"You're out!"

Helmet sees the big mass of poison coming his way but still doesn't move. The poison ball nears ever so closer to him, and at the last second, Helmet side steps the smallest amount of distance and dodges the attack.

The crowd cheers on both players for their performances as the poison ball smashes the pit wall. A sizeable purple cloud forms over the impact. Jay stares at the action.

"*What!?*" Dillan screams.

Helmet's visor meets Dillan's eyes, and he readies one of his handgun's sights between Dillan's eyebrows.

"...strike one." Helmet says.

"Well, that sure was fast!" Jay tells Axel and Ivy as they leave the stands.

"I can't believe that Dillan guy thought he even stood a chance!! He should hit up the gym more!!" Axel adds.

"One bullet… a single shot!" Ivy says, still starstruck.

'And without using his Aspect! That guy really is one of the strongest players.' Jay thinks as he sees Ivy glorify Helmet more.

When the fight ended, even the announcer couldn't believe what had happened. Some players were frustrated that they paid to see a battle that lasted less than a minute, while most enjoyed seeing a pro destroy an amateur.

As Jay walked through the halls to try to find an exit, Ivy walked to his side.

"Where to next? Or do we wanna log off?" Ivy asks

"Um, let's log off once we've left the arena," Jay replies.

"Sounds good!"

Axel walks ahead of them, smashing his gauntlets together in frustration.

"Once I find him!"

Jay and Ivy watch in confusion as Axel starts to rant.

"Once I find that Dillan guy...I'm gonna teach him a-!"

Before Axel could finish his thought, he's cut off by several players' screams just up ahead.

"It's him!"

"Can you friend me?"

"Love the jacket!"

"Sign my scythe!"

Jay hears the commotion and goes with Axel to investigate. A crowd was starting to form in front of the exit. Jay passes by multiple groups of people, and so does Axel. Ivy stays back but quickly tries to regroup with her friends.

Jay looks next to him to realize that he had lost Axel, and the crowd starts to get thicker.

'I'm cramped!' Jay thinks.

Jay starts to push away players crowding all around him. What or who was so important to gather this many players?

Eventually, Jay pushes out to a spot where there weren't many people but accidentally runs into someone. He realizes what happened and backs up from whoever he just ran into.

"I'm so sorry! I was just trying to see what all the fuss was about-"

Jay stops dead in his tracks, and his mouth dries. His eyes widened. The person he just ran into and the one who had just gathered up a massive amount of players' attention...

It was Helmet.