The Island Of Patmos (V): Maurice The Butcher

My opponent was rather large, and the axe he was dragging behind himself was nothing short of ridiculous. The handle alone was six feet long, and the axe blade was a meter wide double edged blade with a golden edge. I could see why this guy would be called a butcher. We were both on the long walkway that led to the battling platform, and the way I see it, there's no reason not to make use of my advantage and attack first.

As fast as I could, I nocked an arrow on the bow, pulled it back and shot at Maurice. This was just a shot to test the waters, so a skill was not used along with it. Anyway the arrow flew fast, but not fast enough that even I wouldn't have been able to dodge it. He leaned his head sideways, and the arrow wizzed past. He raised a green eyebrow at me, before hefting his giant axe into the air, and taking off into a running start, heading straight for me.

In most games, an archer would want to keep their distance and avoid any sort of close confrontation. It's a testament of skill, that an archer would be able to fight at close combat with just a bow and an arrow. Not everyone could be Legolas or Hawkeye, no matter how much they might wish for it to be true. And that's because virtual reality games, was not just dependent on how well you can move with your mind, but how trained you real body is.

While its possible to make moves in the game that you can't make in real life, real life moves could be executed with more than 300% it's original efficiency, making virtual reality games, and especially Lost Descendants online, a stomping ground for skilled individuals like martial artists, athletes and even performers with an active body life style.

Actors and singers who dance especially thrive in this sort of place, as streams of a celebrity's online adventures, is also quite popular.

As he ran towards me, I ran towards him. Pulling back my arrows and shooting them at him, with each subsequent shot getting faster and faster.

He was ten meters away and already on the platform when I noticed that his brows had furrowed in concentration and seriousness. This guy was not stupid, he knew everything that I've been doing so far was just to test the waters, and that I was a whole lot stronger than I looked.

He gripped his axe a little tighter, and a little glow began to show from the axe's edge. It took a lot for me to observe my opponent and attack at the same time, but that was an important part of all the combat forms I was taught. While I knew how to attack quite well enough, I preferred to always have my opponents act first, unless of course there's no choice and my advantage would be wasted if I don't make the first move.

I was passive aggressive, and would let you throw a punch, just so that I can twist your arm, and have that punch fly right back to your face. But to do so, I had to be able to pay attention to every movement of my opponent, down to the tiniest twitch of their face. That way I already know what was coming, long before the move was made.

Maurice held the glaive like axe with both hands, and swung it towards me. However, I already anticipated that move and took a leap. I'm not sure which stats was governing the abilities of my body, since all I had was attack, defense, speed and magic, but jumping twenty five feet into the air in one go was beyond terrifying for me. I almost forgot that with the execution of a skill, my opponent would be wide open. A bright beam of green light spread out from his axe, flying towards the place I had already vacated. But while he was making that move, I was making mine.

"Homing Shot!"

I shot an arrow, and behind it a silver glow could be see on it's feather. Thanks to precise aim, I knew exactly where I wanted that arrow to go. Maurice had over extended himself, and the animation for his skill was not yet over, so he could not muster up a defense. And finally since I was using a skill, the speed of my arrow was more than three times my previous speed without using a skill.

Homing shot would always follow the target, regardless of which angle he's positioned. And if you have a clear target, then all the more better. The arrow flew straight into Maurice's left eye, completely blinding him, as he roared in pain and took a step back, making the most rookie mistake you can ever expect from a fighter, he dropped his weapon.

[You have delivered a crippling blow to Maurice -30 HP, Maurice has been partially blinded, Maurice has incurred the debuff intense pain, Maurice is confused.]

I was already falling down from my jump, and I was going to be dropping right over Maurice's head. I nocked another arrow, and since Homing shot was still on cool down. I used shoot instead. This time the arrow was even faster, and my target was still the same left eye, that I had just blinded.

Of course I could just as easily take out his right eye, but I wanted to make a statement, and maybe show off a little. Since this was a competition where you could get sponsors, and more sponsors meant battle points. And more battle points meant better gear, weapons, and if possible a skill for magic, and maybe a sword.

He had both hands clutched over his punctured eye, bleeding green blood all over the arena floor. The next arrow, pinned both his hands on his face, as it seamlessly slid between both hands placed on top of each other, and back into the destroyed eye. I moved my bow to my left hand, and pulled my right hand back into a palm. I was using the free mode of the game to activate my skills, relying mostly on my jurisdiction and battle awareness. In the assisted mode, regardless of where you were, or the terrain of your fight, a skill will always give a set amount of damage.

But in the free mode, a lot of things would be considered and calculated to either increase the intensity of a skill or reduce it. I was falling from a very high point, definitely there's going to be a little bit of air resistance. What happend next was just as expected.

[Due to angle of elevation, inertia and speed, Vacuum Palm's power and range has been increased by 70%]

FOOOOOOOOSSSHHHHHHH BOOOOOOOOM!

[You Have dealt a Critical Hit! Maurice Has Been Slain. Due to nature of competition, all Exp rewards will be deferred until the trial of revelations is over.]

"urghhhh that's gross! This is a mess. I can't believe he died just like that. Isn't he supposed to be the Patmosian champion or something."

I was complaining as I raised my palm from his smashed skull, brain juice, skull fragments and blood were all over my hand, whoa is that his eyeball. I think I'm going to puke. I wiped my hands on Maurice's clothes, then stood up. Then I looked around, the Arena was a little too silent, weren't they supposed to be an announcer by now or something. Almost immediately, I heard the same voice that announced my entrance speak up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in the opening fight of the trial or revelations. The Patmosian champion, and one of the defenders of the realm, Maurice the butcher, hero of the battle of Condar has been totally decimated by the dragon elf man, Candidate Seven. Without even scoring a single hit...…..this is a totally unprecedented development...…..ladies and gentlemen I give you your your winner of the opening fight; Candidate Seven!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the gate with which I had used in coming here lit up, and shimmered. I guess that means I can leave now. I left the arena and Maurice's dead body behind. Just like so many people before him, he had underestimated me, and he paid for it.

When I got back into the waiting area, everyone that was there were staring at me. Dark horses were previously mentioned, but among those dark horses, I was the darkest of them all. They had all watched the fight, though I don't know what it would have seemed like from their perspective, I was sure I made a huge impression. One that they wouldn't forget. I made my way to my cubicle, where the hologram was replaying the highlights of my fight.

I had quite a long way to go before I'm at the level of legendary archers like Legolas, Hawkeye and Green Arrow, but I had to admit I was really good with a bow. I wonder how this people will all feel when the find out, I'm actually better with a sword and a spear. They'll probably trip.

This event was sudden, and coming on the heels of my mom's crazy update, there was barely enough time to prepare for it. However it was still being covered by media companies including Imperium, a rival called Star Sat, and a tiny up and coming streaming service ran by the national gaming and recreational talent institute of virtual entertainment, NGRTIVE also popularly known as Negative.

For reasons I don't know about, the holographic screen in the cubicle was connected to Lost Descendants official forum, and it was going wild.

Many people were wondering who I was, or if I was a part of a guild. Others wanted my contact information and some guilds tried to recruit.

I'm not going to be an arrogant ass and say or think that I wanted to start my own guild and that I would be on top of the charts conquering and beating everyone as the overlord of the game...…..that's just stupid. I get that I had to be stronger to find what was left hidden within the very fabric of this world by my mother, but I did not have to be a generic webnovel main character for that to happen.

If worse comes to worse, I would just ride solo until I find what I need. Starting a guild meant commitment, and that was something I was not yet ready for, if ever, not with what I have to do, but it's not something I can entirely disregard either.

Most of the people online have taken to calling me Seven. My name was Aaren, but I don't think that would stick now. Candidate Seven has given me a new identity, or a nickname.

But I didn't think it was a bad thing, this was a game, and even though I'm going to be approaching this like real life, there were still some things to be considered. A nickname like Seven built me the reputation that I needed, and got me the sponsors required to beat this competition, get my elephant and get out of town.

[You have been awarded 10 battle points for winning your first match. You have also received 80 thousand golden dollars from the gambling table due to your win. It is ten percent of their total gains over the bets made for your fight.]

Well they neglected to mention that I would actually be able to get money from the bets being made. I guess they thought I wouldn't survive or even be able to win any of my fights. Next time I'll make sure to bet on my self.

[You have received Three new sponsors. (1): The Patmosian Royal Family has sponsored you. You have received 50 battle points. (2): The High Elf Royal Mage has sponsored you. You have received 15 battle points and One Royal elven Longbow of Theran'ur'mekir Iron wood. (3): The Tree of Revelations has sponsored you. You have received 200 battle points.]

Well I'll be damned. If this doesn't get the attention of everyone I don't know what will. I mean come on, it was obvious from the start. This game knew who I was, my identity, and what I wanted from it. I know it sounded weird, but I had this feeling that the entire universe of Lost Descendants online was sentient, and it was watching over me and against me.

Testing me at every turn, and pushing me in a certain direction. I was told that the tree has never sponsored anyone before, it was not a relevant information to be known, but it was still told to me anyway. And now, I got that sponsorship......what were the odds of that just being a coincidence.