1 001 Reality

~Pant-Pant-Pant~

~Huff-Huff-Huff~

~Claaaaaaang~~Claaaaaaang~

Echos of labored breathing filled the starless night.

Atop this lonely plateau, the reverberations of twin swords clashing against each other composed a unique melody. It sung loudly accompanied by the harmony of bone chilling frost that warped the stagnation and ruin of the battlefield.

Their metallic cries were filled with pain and hate for one another. Having been borne by the same hands of the legendary blacksmith; they were made perfect, yet their journeys alongside different Swordsmen and the pursuit of their ideals changed their purpose.

A gold and black blade for justice.

A red and black blade for avarice.

They both illustrated their full power and the will of their owners as they continued in heated combat. Unfazed by the world around them.

Silhouettes of broken swords plunged into the earth decorated the plateau. Fragments of harsh battle from a forgotten past were scattered throughout this land.

Grave Of Fallen Hope

The perfect place for this fight.

Long swords and greatswords of all kinds who had suffered from both abandonment and the passage of time surrounded the two shadow cloaked figures as they rushed again and again at each other in the darkness of the night.

Sparks flying amidst their strikes; briefly if only that, illuminating their faces and growing injuries.

At first glance one would say that both the figures were locked in an even battle.

There was a trading and receiving of similar blows. An exchanging and blocking of strikes. A rushing forward and a pushing back movement in the stances that both legendary swordsmen engaged in.

However, those who possessed keener eyes would know the truth. The two persons were as far apart from each other in skill and talent as the sky is from the land below.

Tension was at an all time high as the two continued this mortal dance…no….as they continued this forgotten art.

Through it all viewers kept pouring in online from all over the world to witness who would claim the title of supreme in the first ever Sword Of Sacrifice Championship that was taking place.

Alexander or Tobi.

The long awaited clash between these two titans was finally happening on the greatest stage ever made and there was not a soul in the world who would miss this confrontation that was made possible by Chronos.

Five years ago in the year 2050 the fabled tech giant known as Chronos successfully released an item that rapidly forever changed the world.

The Chronosphere.

It was a legendary innovation. A large capsule like object in which the individual would climb in, seal and connect themselves via a headset to the private servers. This allowed for a full dive experience into the mythical worlds and an immersion that up until that point in time had only been fantasized about.

Through the use of electromagnetic waves and resonance, the user would enjoy a fully immersed experience. Unconscious in reality, yet fully sentient in full dive VR.

This leap in technology saw many applications but the biggest by far was its potential for fantasy.

Millions rushed to get the sleek high tech capsules despite their astronomical prices. For many, a chance to not just explore these other worlds but to live out another life was invaluable and worth any price tag.

No matter how old or young, everyone was attracted.

Soon after, several individuals figured out how to make profit by creating videos, guides, entertainment, and other content that would be beneficial for players and regular people alike.

Many viewed the content from the myriad of games available but very early on it became clear that only one game would stand out as the true diamond in the rough that it was.

Sword Of Sacrifice.

A full dive game which let players enjoy a classic fantasy RPG experience in complete freedom. While there were many like this, what set SOS above all other fantasy RPG's was it's brutally challenging difficulty and never ending story that could be altered by the significant actions of the players in Luna. The world which SOS took place in.

As users enjoyed maximum freedom and the opportunity to shape the world around them, they unknowingly also enjoyed the lack of interference from the developers which allowed for a smoother experience.

The devs took the motto

"You are what you can make of yourself"

To another level when they coded the game.

As such the developers quickly became little more than obsolete after SOS's successful release and were only there on the off chance that there was a bug which needed fixing. There never was thanks to Chronos' implementation of super computers to manage the game, servers, and code, but it made the devs feel better that they were still employed and perhaps still useful.

Thanks to all of this, Global conglomerates saw limitless potential and began pouring their resources into Chronos and SOS which caused wealth and value to begin shifting and shaking. The global economies created a space for commerce and transaction in SOS. Thus, a new booming industry firmly took ahold of the world.

As a result, In game currency finally had real world value. Therefore, more people began to purchase and join SOS regardless of the price tag involved in hopes of becoming popular and powerful players who could make a living through the game.

This technological advancement changed the daily life of everyone world wide and finally five years after its initial release, for the first time ever a world wide competition was being held to determine who is the Supreme player of SOS.

Alexander, who has been ranked one since the games release or Tobi, a newcomer who has been radically shifting the leaderboards and drastically affecting the SOS world in the past year.

The clash between these titans further ensued as viewership reached a record breaking high.

Tobi ducked the horizontal strike that was aimed for his neck and quickly countered with a high speed thrust straight at Alexander. His green eyes filled to the brim, not with hate but burning desire to be the best.

Without using any evasive footwork, Alexander effortlessly avoided a stab to the chest with a simple tilt of his body and quickly repaid Tobi with a perfect strike to his thigh. There was no burning desire reflecting off of Alexander's eyes like there was with Tobi. Instead there was a cold cruelty that came with the solitude of standing at the peak above all. This was what was reflected across to Tobi as blood violently shot out from the deep wound on his thigh.

Alexander had effectively incapacitated him for a few precious seconds.

A pained howl followed the gore. It was natural. Since SOS chose to pursue the highest degree of realism, pain was also incorporated into the game. However, only 50% of it was muted away. The other 50% was felt full force.

As the fight began reaching its climax, the online chat rooms were burning with streams of endless comments from passionate supporters, viewers, and players who were invested in this battle.

-This is it! The fight we have been waiting for!

-Unreal! How can they move with such speed?

-Go you two!!!!!

-I bet my entire life savings on Tobi! There is no way he will lose!!!!

-Well I'll bet my life savings on the fact that you will lose your bet!

-They're lucky I didn't join….I would have destroyed them already [~_~]

-Shut up and watch you wanna be!

-**** you! Piece of **** what do you know?!

-Chill my guy, we are here for the fight not your delusion.

-[Member ******** has been banned]

The online community was going mad with every second that passed by.

"[Flight of Justice]"

A skill was used by Tobi and soon the screens of the world were filled with flashes of intertwining gold and black energy blades which began pursuing Alexander.

Several attacks flashed across their screens in relentless pursuit. There was no where to hide in the open Plateau thus, the image displayed for viewers soon began shifting from a chase and into a massive explosion as energy blades made contact with the target.

The multiple staged attack was so powerful that the visual feedback to the viewers was recoiling with intense shaking.

E-Sports commentators chimed in when they could which added to the experience of the viewers as not everyone watching was a player or fully knowledgeable on the game.

"Tobi has just unleashed what appeared to be a hidden ultimate skill against Alexander. Based off of the movement patterns it's clear it was a targeted skill. Those are almost impossible to defend against. So that leaves the question, The one who has ruled as the top player in Sword Of Sacrifice since the beginning over five years ago, can he survive such an attack?!"

Tobi, hungry for the glory of victory followed up with another skill.

"[Erupting Madness]"

This baffled the commentators as it was unexpected brutality.

"…It appears that Tobi wants to secure his victory and is using a follow up skill to firmly gain the upper hand. Was he not confident in his previous attack?"

"I am sure he was but why risk it? What's another attack for safe measure? Besides from the looks of it, Tobi who has forever been chasing the peak of the world in SOS, may finally achieve his dream of being crowned Supreme after that follow up!"

"Definitely! No one could have survived that vicious combination!"

The renewed flashes of gold and black once again built up on Tobi's sword. This time they formed a series of ever growing orbs which flew and also sought chase towards Alexander.

In an unfair manner they reached their target within the second and a chain of never ending explosions filled everyone's vision yet again.

-This is it!!!

-Alexander will finally lose?????

-My life savings will finally make me rich!!! Go Tobi!!!

-There is no way right?! He is at the top for a reason right? He must have something left that is being hidden?

-I'm not sure, have you seen how Alexander has fought the entire time? It's subpar. People just overhype him for no reason. I bet he is struggling to live up to his inflated reputation [•o•]

Every online chat room was yet again ablaze as the images on their monitors would soon regale them with the impending defeat of the legendary Alexander.

Tense silence filled the seconds that passed by while waiting for Tobi's declaration of victory. Anxiety rose in the hearts of the viewers while they continued watching in disbelief.

As the smoke caused by Tobi's attack started clearing, a fairly undamaged Alexander began appearing on screen.

This shocking image was followed by his voice and the activation of an unknown skill that left the expert commentators and the online communities speechless.

"Forbidden art : [Eclipse Of The Vanishing Moon]."

In that instance all the darkness of the night gathered in a single edge around Alexander's red and black sword. The darkness of the night began shining brilliantly, blinding all who saw as it was collected.

This ebony light flew rapidly towards the sky and poured itself out to give off an illusion of a glimmering moon. Once it filled the expanse above, the dark moon started descending as it sought destruction.

To everyones eyes, it appeared as though the very sky fell in anger against Tobi. However the principle behind this attack was far more simple; a single slash which boasted frightening speed and power cut across the space between them and anything else that chose to stand before it in order to destroy its target.

Passion turned into despair and it filled Tobi's eyes as his body naturally readied itself to attempt to defend against this menacing attack.

After quick calculations, he became aware that the probability of him succeeding was as high as 0.01% but it didn't matter if those were the odds. He had no choice but to succeed.

So much was lost and endured to get to this point; meaning the only direction left to push was forward.

Tobi quickly pulled a full body shield made from black Mithril, one of the most rare minerals, from his inventory. As he took a defensive posture against the impending strike, he let out a cry of determination in an effort to embolden himself against the coming threat.

Alexander swung his long sword in a vertical manner and a vicious slash was unleashed. The fangs that decorated the guard of the sword almost seemed to come alive as the attack went through, giving the appearance of a dragon biting down its victim.

Rushing at full speed towards its target, the slash destroyed all the earth and even the air between them as it hungered for its true prey.

Tobi.

Just as it was about to make contact with him-

~Bzzzzzzzzz~~Tweeeeeeeooo~

The screen on a battered and cracked flatscreen Tv abruptly went black, devoid of life as it stood hanging precariously off of a damaged mildew infested wall.

"What-what happened? No-No-No-Nooooo! P-P-Please don't tell me the electricity was cut off! Not now! I just paid them last week!"

A desperate Illio frantically got up from the floor where he was at and rushed over from the kitchen area across to the living space. In his haste, he tripped over a stack of untidy debt collection notices and face planted into the stained hardwood.

It took a few moments to collect his bearings and when he did a loud cracking sound could be heard for a second if that. Taking a quick glance up only confirmed the horror growing in his heart.

Illio's Tv fell off the wall crashing violently onto the floor and splitting down the middle. To add insult to injury, the Tv created a massive hole in the wall in the process of its death.

"Why!?!"

Despair grew in his heart as he punched the dirty floor in frustration only to wince and pull back his fist from the pain. Being as malnourished as he was, Illio was no match for the floor and would not win any wood splitting awards any day of the week.

As Illio sat in silence, he looked around the cramped studio flat and drank in his reality.

A rundown pest infested hazard of a box was his home. It was all that could be afforded to accompany his solitude and reflected the dire state of his life.

A short humming that came from the tiny fridge soon came to a soft halt and confirmed that the electricity had indeed been cut off from a lack of payment.

This wasn't the first time it happened, but each time that it did made it more difficult to pay back the company as new re-activation fees would pile up on his account.

Misery and suffering was all that he had. They were his friends. In fact, they weren't just his friends but his best friends at that.

Just like anyone else, Illio had also tuned into the first ever SOS championship. Part of it was to fantasize about himself in SOS if he only had a chance and could afford the cost and fees, he knew he could make something of himself.

The other reason to even watch the event was simply to drown out his hell of a life.

Yet that too had now been taken from him…

If he only had a single opportunity. A proper chance at life like everyone else, he knew everything could be different.

Soft sobs echoed about as silent hot tears rolled down Illios face.

With the power out to his small flat, the heat started building up and a heavy sweat overtook Illio.

Soon his long curly hair was matted to his face while his shirt and shorts eroded with holes and held up by the sheer willpower of a single thread now clung to his sticky body.

He began doing what he swore not to years ago and started reminiscing the turn of events that landed him where he was at now.

While most would mourn or have hurt lamenting over the tragedies of life, Illio was different. His heart had become jaded long ago and now instead of agony to fill him, hate and determination had taken its place….

Of course when his heart of stone could no longer hold anything, a few spilt tears were also justified.

Over the course of his young life, Illio had suffered countless tragedies. He had lost both his parents in a horrific car accident involving a drunk driver at the age of 10.

They were coming back home from a night of secret gambling. The heavy rain muted all visibility and before long an intoxicated driver crashed into them while driving on a bridge over the bay. The accident caused both vehicles and all passengers to go over the railing and perish in the icy depths below.

There was no time to mourn over their deaths however, since he found out about their hidden lifestyle before news of their demise came to him and his twin sister.

They were coming home after gambling everything away in hopes of making it off big and clearing their debts.

Illio and Aiya harshly found out later that same day that the above average lifestyle they were used to was simply smoke and mirrors. Any money that was made through gambling and borrowed for it, was lavishly and irresponsibly spent and never paid back.

With an extreme poverty being forced over them, it quickly became a common sight to see private debt collectors stop by the house and take anything of value to cover for that months payment.

Before long the house, cars, clothes and even the pots and pans for cooking were gone. Anything that had any semblance of value was stripped from them both.

Each time more rage and hate filled Illio as he desperately tried anything to keep him and Aiya alive and functioning. From working every job he could to even selling illegal merchandise, Illio did it if it meant he could give a hot meal to his sister.

To add to this, he quickly became no stranger to bruises and black eyes as well. Often he fended off the greedy paws of men and women who lusted after his twin sister for the promise of a single dollar.

At the age of 10 and with school no longer being an option for either of them, they both worked and suffered through several jobs in secret simply to stay afloat but their parents debt was too much.

Every month because of the interest scams they would fall deeper in the red financially than make any progress towards green.

Now left with nothing except the street, Aiya secretly resorted to selling her body to those greedy hands that her brother had once fought. She swallowed her guilt and painfully prayed that Illio would never find out that she was betraying him like this…

On the surface it looked like she hadn't and yet Illio knew the truth and hated himself for being powerless to stop the situation. He could step forward and perhaps convince her otherwise but they were desperate for money, and this guilt ate at Illio every day.

Aiya was careful everytime she forced herself into the darkness of the world via those men and women yet at the age of 16 a trap was set up and Aiya was stolen away to be trafficked for her body.

Despite Illio arriving on time he was beaten black and blue and left lifeless on the side of a dumpster as he fought to keep her away from them one last time.

Choking back harder tears, Illio willed himself to stop going down this rabbit trail of pain. Once composed he stood up from the floor of this hell and made a vow to himself.

"Wait for me Aiya…I don't know where you are or how I'll do it but one day I'll find you and save you. Then we can finally move away and live a carefree life with no more pain...Just wait a little longer….please….I'll figure it out….I promise…."

With that, he put on his lightly stained jacket and headed out of the flat hoping to find a rich individual to pickpocket.