11 Virtual World

Leo wiped the sweat on his face as he said, "This should be enough".

In front of him was a mirror that depicted a figure vastly different from reality. Standing at 175cm, his somewhat long obsidian hair with crimson tips draped the back of his neck. He retained his frosty blue eyes but changed his eyebrows into a sharp but broad blade. As for his physique, he did not change it as it might affect his training. Overall, he wasn't as handsome as he was before but he was still above average.

After an hour or so of avatar creation, he was finally satisfied with how it looked.

"Now for clothes"

For clothing, Leo rushed it since there weren't any amazing clothing for free. Thus he ended up with; a red hoodie, black joggers, and a pair of neon red shoes.

"This looks nice", said Leo as he found a great item in the accessories section. With a tap, a fox mask with a fiery motif materialized on his face.

With a smile, he tapped on a panel that said [Done].

[Please write your username:_]

He looked at himself through the mirror and then typed without much thought.

After a few moments, a brilliant white light suddenly flashed and Leo found himself in a new place.

"Hey, I heard…"

"I really wonder how…"

"What're ya gunna…"

"Dante…"

Random noise filled his ears as he suddenly found himself in a busy street.

[WELCOME TO VIRTUA, MR. REDFOX!]

[Would you like to turn on the noise filter? Y/N]

Leo pressed no and instead asked, "Can I lower the background noise volume?"

To answer him, the AI manifested a volume panel which Leo quickly scanned before swiping background noise volume into 30%.

'I heard that it was loud and noisy here, but I didn't know it would be this loud' said Leo as he scratched his head.

He lightly tapped the air and followed with a swipe, which caused a few icons to manifest.

With a clear mind, he finally had the chance to take in the awful view of thousands of people packed together. Fortunately it was only a simulation and everyone could phase through one another, otherwise everyone would feel extremely claustrophobic unless they were used to it.

He opened his map, before treading towards the place marked on it. With his destination set, he simply walked to it and admired the beautiful and odd infrastructures that surrounded him.

As he was nearing his destination, Leo saw a towering building that could pierce the clouds. Upon a closer look, one could see many people bustling through the entrance.

"So this is the so called Tower of Combat, it looks as glorious as it was described".

Once he entered the building, he saw various virtual panels showing off great figures by displaying their data; their rank, total wins, and total losses while also playing short highlights of their battles.

This tower was known as the Tower of Combat, however that name was nothing but a front as this was simply a virtual battle arena which anyone can participate in to experience combat. In fact, even civilians join in just to feel how it was like to be a mystic. How would that work? Well, even Leo didn't know since he had never tried it himself and has only ever heard of it from his online friends.

Once he was close to an empty reception desk, a beautiful girl materialized and said; "Welcome, Mr. Redfox".

Before the A.I. could continue its introduction, Leo cut her off and asked; "Can I register as a player for Tower of Combat?"

The A.I. said yes, before asking for permission to scan him.

After a few moments, she said; "According to the data that we have gathered, you have been detected to be a mystic. Would you like to use the Mystic-combat style or would you prefer the Skill-combat style?"

Before coming here, Leo had already inquired on the internet about all the stuff he needed to know about the Tower of Combat. Thus, he already had an answer.

Mystic-combat style was a combat style that allowed one to use the mystic arts they practiced, while Skill-combat style allowed civilians to participate in Tower of Combat.

On one hand, he could train his skill proficiency with Mystic-combat style. On the other hand, he could keep his skills from being analyzed if he chose Skill-combat style.

Leo thought, 'How else did the developers add these so-called "skills" in this virtual reality?'

"I would like to choose Skill-combat style"

Leo chose Skill-combat style simply because of one reason, 'Won't it record my mystic arts in their database if I use them?'

One of the many rules in most clans was to keep the clan's techniques private, even if they currently had many mystic arts it was still better that no one knew how it worked lest it get copied by other clans.

With that thought, Leo answered the questions that went after.

In a flash, two new panels materialized.

[Username: Redfox

Gender: Male

Rank: Unranked

Win/s: 0

Loss/es: 0

Draw/s: 0

Total Matches: 0

Total Playtime: 0:30

|Press to Copy User ID No.| ]

[Mystic Arts:

Essence Art:

*Elemental God Art — 1st form: Elemental Power

Combat Arts:

*Searing Hands — 1st form: Burning Touch

*Swift Rabbit Steps — 1st form: Wild Dash]

Most of his playtime was spent on deciding which essence art he wanted.

In the end he could only sigh, 'Why aren't there any similar essence arts?'

In truth, it meant that his essence art was never leaked to the outside world. Or even more simply, it's because his technique was simply unique.

In his frustration, he simply chose an essence art known as Elemental God Art. It went by such a domineering name, but it was one of the most widespread techniques in the universe. This all happened due to it being such an easy technique to master.

However, Elemental God Art was not completely without any advantages. In fact, it was actually the broadest essence art in the universe. With it, one can walk the path of elementalists, enhancers, and even mystiques. In other words, it could also be called Basic Breathing Method…

Leo simply shook his head and said, "I should probably practice first before fighting against anyone".

With a light swipe, his menu materialized and with it came a new icon—an icon that depicted a sky piercing tower.

After a few actions, he finally entered the so-called [Practice Room].

The practice room was a place devoid of any colors besides gray and the ones the player had. Upon the first entry, players can then on change how their personal training room could look.

Leo lazily made the ceiling into a beautiful night sky view.

"Ahh… that's better…"

He then tapped his cheeks a bit, flames lit up from within his eyes as he said, "Let's start!"