Chapter 7 : Team Level/Battle Against Ray

"What the hell did you do to get that high of a level?" Tempest yelled once he saw my level.

"Why? What level is it," Astral asked and then looked at it, "Yes, please explain how the hell you were able to get to level 35 over the course of half a day." The Masked Player just raised an eyebrow but doesn't ask. Vortex just looked stunted.

"Well looks like we found out who our captain is." Vortex said.

"Well it was always going to be you shadow, for crying out loud, our team name is The Shadow Division," The Masked Player said, "also, we should head down to torny area."

"Ok, but first what can I call you as a nickname? The Masked Player is just too long to say." I asked.

"You can call me MP then." The Masked Player said.

"Alright, let's go." I said.

"What about you telling us how you got so strong over the day?" Tempest asked as we walked to the grounds. I sighed.

"So, since I didn't go to school, I stayed in game; this allowed me to be able to hunt a bunch of monsters in the woods. That alone got me to level 25 before a boss monster spawned…" pausing for effect. "I ran at that time but later decided to try and beat it. It turned out to be really easy because I was so fast. The boss gave me 10 levels and an awesome drop."

As I finished telling them my story we arrived. We were after the first battle. Like almost all stories, we made it to the final and won against that repulsive Ray, well, that's what I wished would happen. Sadly we faced off with Ray first. The groups walked into the stadium. As Ray caught sight of me he put his finger onto his neck and dragged it across, signalling he'll end me.

Lining up the announcer did his job and yelled out,

"Now, for the next battle, we have The Shadow Division against the obviously chosen team to win, The Black Cats!!" The crowd went wild at the sound of The Black Cats' name. I only heard one or two cheers for our team but were soon drowned out by the other teams' fans.

Once the cheering slowed down, the battle was signaled to start by a flash bang. Ray's team leaped into a formation, swords drawn in seconds. Meanwhile my team lined up in a formation that most games put you in. Close range out front, part Mage and part close range second, and finally full Mage in the back. With no time to spare, the other team charged I, being the highest level, was in the front with my sword drawn. I studied the charging team.

Their highest level was 22 other than Ray, who was hiding his level like me. Almost all of them where a good 13 levels below me. I guess the time I spent wasn't for waste. Rushing forward, I suddenly appeared in front of their lowest level, level 15, whose speed was way below mine. Using the element of surprise, I went into a thrust, stepping forward as I did. The enemy, not being able to stop it, sat there and got run through. The attack depleted half his health, only 70 HP left. Out of pure instinct, I leaped back, barely avoiding a slash from a long sword. That was a strike from Ray.

"S-so, how about me and you tango, s-stutter." He said, his voice laced with insanity.

"Fine, but first I want you to reveal your level to me," I asked, "it's the least you could do to a player who may possibly be beaten."

"I am level 30!" He yelled trying to get the crowd more siked for his team, "and how about your level" I grinned and said.

"Not as high as I would have liked, but I guess level 35 is ok." Everyone's jaw in the crowd dropped. I knew what they were thinking, How is this piece of crap a level 35! Ray probably looked the most surprised.

"How did a piece of sh-" I rushed at him, stopping what he was going to say. I swung my weapon of choice, a katana, in a deadly upward sweep, causing Ray to barely leap backwards in time to avoid it. So, it seems that his speed isn't on par with mine but is obviously close if he was able to avoid that strike. We both leaped forward exchanging blows as the sparks flew off the collisions. I was slowly gaining the upper hand but was struggling against his powerful blows. He must have put points into strength and speed… I thought as we caught our breath. Both of our endurance were equal. Summoning a lightning bolt, I willed it to strike. Using his sword, he was able to deflect the bolt into the ground. Trying another time, ending with the same result, I decided to change my tactics. Is it possible to imbue my katana with lightning? Only one way to find out. Summoning another bolt, I directed the MANA into the blade of my sword. The result was staggering. It caused my normal katana to transform into a personal item.

/ Lightning imbued katana personal

This item is bonded to the welder and gives +20 to speed and +10 strength. /

Looking at my now electrical blade I smiled and rushed at Ray. The difference was immense. With that boost, I was able to subdue Ray. I turned to absorb what was happening on the battlefield, I was surprised to see that two of my team members were still alive and kicking, MP was one and Tempest was the other. The battle didn't look like it was going our way because there were still four on their team against our two, not including me. Rushing over, I ran through the one I had pierced earlier, ending him instantly. The other three noticed that I had taken down Ray and the other player.

Examining my teammates, I noticed them at one tenth of their normal health.

"Boys, you can let me handle this now." I said, turning to the enemy.

"So you think that you can take on one level 26, one level 22, and a level 21 and win?" the middle one said, "There is no way you will win against three."

"We'll see." I replied. Rushing forward I swung my katana at the first one's head, who stepped back far enough to avoid being ended instantly and only suffered a cut across his forehead. Blocking the strike that came at my head, the enemy jumped backwards, allowing me to see the third member with an arrow notched at me. Lunging forward into an overhead slash, I cut through the arrow, not slowing down, I continued to rush at the archer who panicked at the sight of me almost teleporting in front of him. Using a slash across the chest, I ended him. Only two left. The two readied their swords. Suddenly they both disappeared and my two teammates stood behind the area they occupied.

"Thanks for that, I guess." I stated.

"AND THE WINNERS ARE THE SHADOW DIVISION," the announcer yelled out in astonishment, "NOBODY THOUGHT THEY WOULD DO IT, BUT HERE THEY ARE. THE NEWEST FORMED TEAM, NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO DEVELOP TEAMWORK, SOMEHOW MANAGES TO DEFEAT THE BLACK CATS! THEIR VICTORY WAS ALL THANKS TO THEIR CAPTAIN, SHADOWFLASH!" The entire stadium launched into applause as we raised our hands into the air after Vortex and Hydro got down to the arena after respawning.

"Well good job Shadow at getting us this victory. Now all you need to do is show us where you got all your levels." Vortex asked over the crowd. I nodded as we left and told them,

"I'll show you where I earned almost all of my levels. We can't have me doing 60% of work for the fights."

"Well sorry for not being able to take on four level 20-26 when all of our levels are below level 20, other than yours." Astral said sarcastically.

"Well actually I'm level 21." MP stated.

"I just recently reached level 20, too" Tempest echoed. Astral and Vortex looked depressed after hearing that so I started to speed walk, making them have to run to even be close to me.

"Let's go get you four more levels." I yelled behind.

Later in the forest I tell them,

"Alright all you have to do is walk straight into that clearing and defeat the boss. Since you all are fighting, the XP should split between all of you."

"What if it doesn't split and one person gets it all?" MP asked.

"That person will just sit out the next time so that everyone else can get XP." I replied. They all nodded in agreement and walked into the clearing. Now, time for me to figure out if I could infuse my black orb into my sword. Walking a short distance away, I unsheathe my katana. After looking at it for a few seconds, I summoned a orb and copied the move I did with the lightning. The first try failed and it exploded, sending me flying into a tree.

Ow. that hurt. So, first try fail. Try try again until you succeed or something like that. Getting up, I summoned the next ball of matter and this time instead of thrusting it into my sword, I gently eased it into the sword. Expecting another explosion, I flinched as a flash of light came out of the sword. Examining the blade I found something completely opposite to what I was expecting.

/ Lightning/Light imbued katana personal

This item is bonded to the welder and gives +20 to speed and +10 strength. Light element now gives you +200 in Health, +200 in MANA, and +200 in Stamina /

After that I examined my stat screen.

/ NAME: Axel Olson

GENDER: Male

PATH: Darkness

POWER: 10

STRENGTH: 45

SPEED: 130

ENDURANCE: 35

MAGE: 10

STAMINA: 600

MANA: 625

HEALTH: 640

LEVEL: 35 /

Swinging my sword, I found out that it left a light trail behind, disappearing after an instant. I should probably go and check on the group. Returning to the clearing, I found them all taking a break.