Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – First Taste of Battle

“My friend! You’ve finally arrived. I hope your first trip into the guild was very enlightening.” 

“It was! I almost forgot about our duel, but luckily I remembered before I went to the quest board. I’m so sorry about the wait.”

“All good! The quest timer was actually extended, so there was no pressure in the end. I truly appreciate your help with this quest. Most people ignored me when I reached out to them.”

KEVIN XYY HAS SENT YOU A DUEL REQUEST!

I mentally chose the Yes! that appeared in the center of my vision, and my surroundings faded a bit. A few fuzzy silhouettes walked in — seemed like other players were spectating the duel. 

“Now that we’ve gotten started, I can finally tell you some information, from one PvPer to another.”

My opponent drew a long, sinister blade from the scabbard. Looked like a katana, pretty edgy stuff. 

“Never trust a PvPer at launch.”

As the countdown hit zero, I saw five skill icons appear underneath his health bar. Comparing them to my own, I noticed that his icons were mostly red compared to the dull green on mine.

Before I could really contemplate the differences between the skill icons, Kevin XYY charged at me, his legs glowing a menacing dull crimson. He raised his sword above his head, an equally ominous but brighter red glow flowing around it.

Now why is that red oh OOPS —

“CRUSHING OVERHEAD SWING!”

Kevin XYY closed the distance in no time, and I rolled to the side — but not quite far enough. The shockwave from the skill reverberated through my body, tripping me as I recovered. Before I could fire off my Bolt in retaliation, my opponent was already back in my face.

“STEEL PIERCING THRUST!”

“Block!”

Out of sheer panic, I vocalized my block skill while raising my hand. The coalescing green energy clashed with the glowing blood red tip of the sword for a moment before shattering. I managed to turn my body a bit, but I couldn’t quite get completely out of the way.

My health bar dropped to less than a quarter.

DANGER! YOU HAVE LOST YOUR LEFT ARM!

DANGER! YOU ARE BLEEDING OUT. YOU WILL SLOWLY TAKE DAMAGE UNTIL YOU ARE AT 1% HEALTH.

New Player Tip: All physical damage will be healed at the end of a battle. However, you can still die and you will respawn at the nearest town.

Thankfully, virtual reality games did not make it a norm to replicate pain on a one to one scale. Unfortunately, it was all but impossible to get used to losing limbs. I stared in shock for a moment at my left arm, which was now on the ground.

“Ha HAA! You dumbass. Is this your first game ever? Just quit and never open a game ever again, you have no talent. HAHA!”

An ecstatic victory roar snapped me back into reality.

This ugly loser gets off on PvPing new players..?

A stabbing pain shot through my head and I felt my patience snap in half. 

I raised the stump of my left arm at the gleefully charging Kevin XYY, and felt the vaguely familiar rush of energy rushing out.

“BOLT!!”

Clearly the moron in front of me did not expect any further resistance, as pale silver energy slammed into his unguarded face. The red glow around his legs dispersed as he tumbled forwards, hitting the ground hard.

…Should’ve gotten a better weapon before I accepted a PvP duel.

Losing no time, I ran to my fallen enemy and raised my stick high into the air.

Slash!

I brought the stick down on his neck as hard as I could. 

Crack!!

YOUR WEAPON, A STICK, HAS SHATTERED!

Of course this game has durability.

I leapt backwards, opening my inventory to look if I had any replacement weapons.

YOU HAVE EQUIPPED, A ROCK. 

My eyes darted back to my opponent, who was still getting up from the ground. My remaining hand was a bit numb from the impact, but I could still feel my fingers flexing against the coarse texture of my weapon. 

New Player Tip: Destroying weapons through skill usage increases the effect, but will always cause recoil.

To make matters worse, Slash and Stab were replaced by new skills, flooding my head with more information to process.

DEFAULT FIST WEAPONS DETECTED. SLASH AND STAB HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY SWING AND PUNCH. DUE TO YOUR EMOTIONAL STATE, YOU SWELL WITH UNKNOWN POWER!

SWING IS NOW EMPOWERED WITH UNKNOWN POWER.

PUNCH IS NOW EMPOWERED WITH UNKNOWN POWER.

The two fist icons pulsed with an angry red hue.

“Ugh…”

Hearing Kevin XYY groan increased my urgency, and I decided I would repay his favor to me.

“What are you — agh!“ 

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Returning my focus to the bruised face on the ground, I shot a Bolt as his propped arm while walking towards him, knocking it out from under him. I stomped down hard on his upper back, forcing his face further into the ground.

“SWING!”

This time, the energy that filled my right arm was electrifying. The rock crashed straight through the thin green aura that surrounded my opponent’s body, and I could almost feel the joints in his left shoulder disintegrate from the impact.

YOU CAN NO LONGER USE THE SWING SKILL. 

YOUR WEAPON, A ROCK, HAS SHATTERED!

Clenching my now empty hand tightly, I aimed at the recently formed shoulder crater.

“PUNCH!”

It was at this moment that I genuinely appreciated the game’s skill enhancement feature. Despite my lack of practice, I could feel that my form was as perfect as it could be, as my fist plowed into tenderized flesh.

YOU CAN NO LONGER USE THE PUNCH SKILL.

“Bolt!” 

For good measure, I fired off another blast of condensed energy, admiring the tiny shockwave generated from Kevin XYY’s head rebounding against the dirt.

Suddenly, the adrenaline rush faded and I backed away, processing what I had done. My right hand was now completely numb, with my fingers going slightly purple. I looked around and saw that the crowd of silhouettes had gotten larger, and I was suddenly worried that I was going to get an interesting reputation in this game as well. 

“What the HELL was that for?”

Kevin XYY had gotten up while I was distracted, nose bloodied and nearly caved in. His left arm flopped useless at his side, and his health was now around 10%. My own health bar was barely larger than a sliver, the entire frame urgently blinking.

The justifiably angry and now noseless man picked up his fallen sword and began approaching me, blood dribbling down his chin as it bubbled up from his wounds.

DANGER! YOUR HEALTH IS CRITICALLY LOW.

I cursed the System pointing out the obvious, before realizing that Kevin XYY had already extended his sword, glowing a light green and pointing at my feet.

“Binding Vines!”

The ground erupted with thick roots, entangling my feet and legs in them. 

Out of options, I limply fired a Bolt from my remaining hand, the shot sluggishly deflected by a shimmering green wall appearing around my opponent. I glanced around, finally noticing how small the arena was. I shot a few more Bolts, with similar useless effects. Before long, Kevin XYY had his sword raised above me, ready for the final blow.

Guess it’s over. 

In a final act of pettiness, I sent a surrender request to the system. 

PLAYER Magnum D. HAS FORFEITED THE DUEL!

DUEL OPPONENT Kevin XYY HAS TAKEN 50% OF YOUR COPPER AS A REWARD.

DUEL OPPONENT Kevin XYY HAS TAKEN THREE ITEMS FROM YOU AS A REWARD.

YOU HAVE LOST: 3x Normal Quality Green Slime Goo.

Splat!

A glob of spit smacked onto the dirt in front of me.

“You play dirty, you loser noob. No one is going to play with you if you keep using dumb tricks. Disgusting, you’re poor too. What a worthless player.”

Kevin XYY scowled at me, his injuries healing as I looked at the technical winner. I realized I subconsciously moved my right arm to check my left arm. 

Thankfully it was fully there.

“I’m not the desperate new player stomper who nearly lost to someone who just started. How does your left shoulder feel? Nice and loose?”

My opponent scowled at me and spat at my feet again, before turning around and walking away. Someone behind me snickered. I turned backwards to find the source, noticing that my surroundings were now in focus. A blonde man dressed in a simple green leather tunic and brown linen pants stood there, giving me a slow clap as we made eye contact.

“Not bad for your first PvP, especially considering you obviously have the default skill loadout.”

“Thanks. I would’ve loved to win, knowing that I could’ve stolen some of his experience and items.”

“Nah, you would’ve gotten nothing. PvP players usually spend a ridiculous amount of copper on death protection scrolls. It’s actually common practice for PvP focused players to come back and new players when they’re low on funds, since they don’t earn much outside of the PvP Arena tournaments. Doesn’t help that the game is so new, that no one has really found a good farming option yet. Might be one outside of this region though.”

I briefly considered warning Felix, but I had a feeling he would actively seek out people to PvP for the sport of it. 

The blonde man suddenly smacked his own forehead, snapping my attention back to him. “Oh, where are my manners. My name is Seb. Thank you for the morning entertainment. Usually these duels are over within seconds, but you managed to attract quite the peanut gallery.” 

Seb motioned toward the rest of the dispersing crowd, reminding me that there were plenty of other spectators. I could feel my cheeks slightly flush.

“I’m Isaac. I’m happy that I managed to give a good show — it helps that I’ve had some PvP experience in other games. Probably the only reason why I managed to survive that first attack.”

“I could definitely see that. Your combo on that guy’s shoulder was pretty brutal. I can only imagine that type of inspiration comes with some dabbling.” 

Another uneasy pang flickered through me as I thought about my reputation again.

“Ah, I shouldn’t get too distracted. My hunting party is waiting for me at the north gate. Do you mind if I send you a friend request? I would love to spar with you once you’ve sunk some more hours into the game.”

Raspberry Tart HAS SENT YOU A FRIEND REQUEST!

I sighed in relief, silently thanking his prior obligations for breaking his train of thought. 

Guess I’ll get back to doing what I should have been doing.

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