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Five of them were standing, surrounded by cut down vines. None of them seem out of breath. They seem to be waiting for what will happen next. After a few moments the yeti-like humanoid taunts:
— Is this the best you have got?
As if in response to this, all the remnants of the vines, grew spikes on them. In the blink of an eye those spikes extended from length of a few centimetres to two meters. In a flash, all five 'volunteers' were impaled with those spikes. There were so many spikes that five of them were bound in one place. They haven't yet understood what happened. One of them tried to speak, but only blood came from his mouth and light gradually disappeared from his eyes. Blood started dripping from spikes. In a few moments it became clear that all of them were dead.
If this is a game, then it is too realistic. I still couldn't wrap my head around what had happened, so quick it was. As the blood continued dripping I felt more and more sick. I did play some war games in virtual reality, but this was different. This realism... It was sickening. I was about to vomit, when the voice starts speaking again:
— I hope this demonstration was a sufficient one. We will give you three days for acclimatization after which the tournament will start. We will time the rounds in such a way, that, unless something unexpected occurs, each of you will have one day break after a fight. You will not be restricted in any way during your free time, but you are not to fight among yourselves outside the ring. You saw what happened for violating the rules. For any additional information inquire your assistant faerie. They have all the information you might need.
After taking a small pause he continued.
— I expect all of you to deliver a great performance. Prove your strength! Obtain your dream!
Even though there are many things in his speech that I should think about, one thing bothered me more than the rest. Those words — 'Prove your strength, obtain your dream'. They were on the email I had received. Now I could be absolutely certain about one thing: I should not have replied to that mail!
After the speech finished I look around. There are some faces that have a look of surprise on them, but it seems I am the only one who is shocked by what had happened. My eyes wander back to five dead bodies impaled with spikes. Reflexively I lower my gaze and notice a puddle of blood under them. Somewhere in the periphery of my consciousness I note that it isn't crimson. There are parts of it that are bright red, but some parts have colours closer to orange and some to green. Turns out not everybody here has red blood.
Last thought triggered something in my head and I practically run out of the hall. I follow the green line, which I used to get here, and get into my room. As soon as I got in I wanted to ask Rue where a bathroom was, but I couldn't manage to form a coherent sentence.
— ...Bathroom. — It is the only word I managed to utter.
In response to this, a panel opposite to where I came from turned into a door. I ran into it and found myself in a normal bathroom.
Ten minutes later, slightly refreshed, I left the bathroom. The main question is — can I abstain from participating in this tournament? If I take into account all that has happened, especially typical fantasy cliches, then the possibility of my not participating is close to zero. Nonetheless it would be stupid not to try, so I started questioning Rue once again.
— Rue.
— Yes, Master?
— Is there any way of avoiding participation in this tournament?
— Unfortunately, the only way to do that is being unable to.
— Could you clarify what do you mean by that?
— A critical injury or a situation that prevents you from participating in a match. On the condition it was not caused during a match.
— So if I, for example, break my legs, I could avoid this tournament?
— No, in that case you would just be patched up in the medical bay.
— Eh? What would then fall under that category?
— There are practically no examples of such cases. The only realistic one is being affected by a rank one curse.
— How would I do that?
— Master would have to anger some divinity to get cursed like that. But there aren't any divinities in this world, so you would have to make a connection with a divinity outside this world.
How can that be considered realistic? There goes that option. Though, I am actually relieved. Traumatizing or cursing myself isn't something I would want to do, but I had to consider all options.
— Why am I even forced to participate in this? I wasn't even supposed to be summoned here. It was clearly a mistake.
— With all due respect Master, the system does not have any errors. Master has not been chosen accidentally.
— Then why was I chosen? What were the criteria?
— In each world there are different definitions of what you call 'strong'. Thus, in order to avoid confusion and summon only the ones truly qualified there is a fail-safe mechanism. From the list of the ones, whom people in Master's world consider the strongest in one way or another, the one with the strongest Ether Link is chosen.
Hurray for fantasy gibberish. Here comes loads of new terminology and 'unscientific' explanations of how the world works. This is the part I would like to skip, but alas no such luck. I have to study it, because if there is a way for me to survive, then it includes studying local magic. Not like I am that unwilling, but to do it in three days' time, I practically have to be a genius. And no, practice in different fantasy related games does not count. That's just wistful thinking. I know that all these fantasy book heroes are always geniuses at magic, but it doesn't really fill me with confidence. Whatever the case might be, I don't really have a choice but to do it. So I surrendered to my 'destiny'.
— What is this Ether Link?
After a bit of thinking Rue answers.
— Since Master's world is technologically oriented it doesn't really have the right vocabulary for explaining this. Basically Ether Link, or Link for short, is an ability to draw Ether from a world around. Every living being absorbs Ether from the world it belongs to. The more sentient the species is, the stronger the Link can become.
If I translate this into understandable format then this Ether Link is basically the same as intelligence in games. The more intelligence you have, the more MP you possess and the stronger spells you can cast.
— Then, if I have such a strong Link, why couldn't I use magic in my world?
— Having a strong Link is like having a socket with a high voltage, but without anything connected to it. When practicing magic, one is accessing energy of his world by using Ether Link. If one doesn't know how to do magic, then he won't be able to use it. Also, the magic isn't the only thing that a strong Link provides.
— What is the other one? Telepathy? Telekinesis?
— Close, but not exactly. Magic is something that can be learned. Even individuals with weak Ether Link can learn some minor magic. What sets people with strong Link apart are the special abilities. Depending on your personality, special ability might manifest itself among possessors of a strong Link.
— So you are saying that I possess some special ability I don't know about?
— Yes, Master. Everyone summoned here possesses a special ability. That is a criterion which was used to choose them.
Great! I see where this is going. Now I am just going to learn this special ability in three days and wipe the floor with everybody else.
— Like that's going to happen! — I retorted to myself, though I can't deny that in the corner of my mind I wished that to be the case.
— What is it, Master?
— Sorry, just talking to myself. So how do I go about finding out what that ability is?
— Meditative practices are the best ones for that. You can find all about them in the library.
Off I go exploring.
Chapter 2. Basic Controls / Moving around
— How did you make that awesome attack?
— I don't know, I just randomly mashed all the buttons
Ater I had left my room, a brown light lit under my legs. I started walking along this line to the library. The halls were monotonously grey, and there wasn't anything to distract myself with. So I decided to chat a bit:
— Why is everything here so grey and colourless?
— These are default parameters for walls and interior. No customizations have been made.
In a normal language her answer would sound like this: 'Nobody bothered to do anything about it'.
Not like it really matters though, I don't exactly have time to enjoy scenery. The thought about saving time raises a question.
— By the way, is it necessary to go to the library? I mean, can't you remotely access it and teach me what I need?
— Master is correct, I could.
— Then why didn't you say so?
— Master did not ask me to do so...
I don't know whether I should laugh or cry at this. The situation is so ridiculously cliche that it even brings me some comfort. But only a little. I was still angry with her. Even though I find it really hard to believe in the reality of this, it doesn't mean I have time to loiter around. The tournament will start in three days' time. At this rate my first fight will be the last one. I need to either find a way to avoid the fight or a way to win it. I was about to tell all that to Rue, but ignoring my internal struggle, she continued.
— In addition to that, learning from the information crystal is considerably more efficient, so I decided not to bother Master with unnecessary trivialities. Was I mistaken, Master?
— No, you were most likely correct. Don't worry.
Okay, that puts a big dent in my theory about this being a game. Her speech is way too realistic. NPC shouldn't be able to hold a proper conversation. Of course, there is a possibility she is controlled by a human or by a genuine AI, that was developed in secret then used here. Whatever the case the fact that Rue can hold a sensible conversation is still an argument for this being a real world. This, in turn, makes my mood drop. Any proof of the fact that in three days' time I will probably be killed doesn't really make one cheerful. In any case, getting information is priority.
— So, while we are walking, could you please explain to me how exactly is this tournament held. What is allowed and what isn't?
— As Master desires. — Answered Rue. — Though I have to inform Master that information I can provide at this point in time is very limited.
— It's still better than nothing. Tell me what you can.
— As was explained earlier, the tournament will start in three days. For the preliminary round Master will be pitted against three or four other combatants. Only one survivor will advance.
— Is that all?
— Yes Master. That is all.
That was too short! There was practically no information at all! Shouldn't this be the point where the tournament structure is explained to me? What is it with this crappy game design?
— At least elaborate on what you meant by "pitted against". I want to hear more details on where and how we are supposed to be fighting.
— On a randomly selected arena Master will fight against three or four other participants. No substitutions are allowed. Excluding that, anything goes. The fight will continue until only one is alive.
Not much information to go on with. The first round seems to be closer in definition to a survival game than a brawl. Though the fact that instead of one opponent, I have to survive three, is still depressing.
I wanted to ask more about the rules for the preliminaries, but at this point in time I left the building. It seems like I am in the middle of some kind of forest. I'm not knowledgeable about wildlife, so I couldn't really say much about the trees around me other than the fact that they are green.
What captured my attention are three trails going into the forest. It appears that long ago they were proper roads, but left untended, plants grew over them. The road itself is intact, but only partially visible. Parts of roots and bushes, as well as vines and leaves covered these roads. Although roads aren't cleaned, they appear to be used. So, on each of the three roads there is a visible trail which is clear of any junk.
I turned back to look at the building I came from. The doors were transparent when I was inside, but from the outside the wall appeared monolithic. The building itself appeared to be a grey cube with no visible windows or doors. At the very least there were trees around the building and green vines on the walls, so it wasn't as dull as corridors. Still, it was a pretty depressing sight: like those old abandoned ruins in games, but without cracks. They really should have given this place a bit more identity.
As for the entrance — there wasn't anything in the wall to indicate that there was a door, but it was still obvious. Why do you ask? That's simple. The vines were really thick and there were a lot of them. The only place that seemed free of vines was the place I came out from. Why bother making the invisible entrance if its location is obvious?
Whatever may be the case, enjoying scenery is not the reason I am here. The brown glowing line I followed to get here seemed to continue on the left road. Without further contemplations I start walking down that road. Looking at the scenery I suddenly realize that I haven't eaten anything since I woke up. It didn't bother me before, but as soon as I realized that, I became very hungry. I try to ignore it by concentrating on something else. Before I could come up with anything, my stomach disrupted my thoughts with a loud growl.
— Is Master in need of sustenance?
— Apparently, yes. You don't conveniently happen to have something to aid my predicament, do you?
She raised her arms forward. A glowing bluish circle with symbols in it is appearing in front of her. The diameter of the circle is about five centimeters. The circle starts glowing stronger and stronger until it becomes a disk of light. At this point Rue pushes her hands in it. As she takes them out, there is a red pill in them. The sight was pretty amusing, since the pill was basically half Rue's size.
Cool! Is that some kind of teleportation magic? Or is it a dimensional pocket? Either way, it's a really convenient ability. I want to have something like that myself. I would want to inquire Rue more about what she has just done, but hunger got better of me. I brought my hand up and Rue dropped the red pill in it. I examined the pill more closely. It seemed to have a powder inside.
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