Morning"s warm light softly shined on the streets of New Casablanca. Fell was still in a deep meditative state and was unaware that the waves he had spread last night were reverberating farther than what he thought. He slowly rose from his mindful state as he felt his back bask in the sunlight. He opened his eyes and, contrary to what could be expected from someone who didn"t sleep, they weren"t groggy. It was the exact opposite, his eyes were fresh and didn"t seem the least bit tired.He got up from his bed and moved his limbs around to stretch his stiffened body. After a few seconds of light movement, his moves accelerated as he felt blood rush through his veins. His heart pumped blood faster, and the soft moves he executed turned into an adamantine thrust from his limbs. His leg would snap in front of him, disappearing before it reappeared, blowing the air away from the impact. After a few minutes, he felt as if his body had awakened and stopped moving around. He walked towards the mini kitchen that was at his disposition and served himself a warm cup of coffee. Although it had no effect on his psyche as the coffee wasn"t strong enough to stress his brain, he still enjoyed the beverage and found pleasure in drinking it.
He logged on the computer and checked the city"s intrnet before finding Battle League"s forum. As he was currently registered inside of New Casablanca"s network, the forum was only limited to the battle center where he stood. His eyes crossed the several posts while sipping his coffee, and between a few tutorials, he found a post that caught his eyes. The t.i.tle was short, but as he clicked on it, his sight saw a ma.s.sive wall of text that sang praise about a Battle Center"s user. His cheek glowed as he began being ashamed when he noticed that the player they were talking about was his own avatar, Stroke.
He spent the next five minutes reading the post"s comment, and after finishing his drink, he felt that he couldn"t take it anymore. It was as if they had completely missed the point. Between the unadulterated praises and the sarcasm from the numerous trolls, he couldn"t make his mind to read one more message. He shut down the holographic screen, and got up from the small desk before leaving for a stroll to calm his mind.
"What a bunch of dumba.s.ses… I hope they"ll finally log in by the time I come back.", he thought as he entered the elevator. Not even a minute after that, he was outside of the battle center"s building, breathing fresh air. He inhaled deeply as he savored dawn"s distinctive air. He stood still for a few seconds, feeling the wind softly brush his face. Before continuing his walk, his legs started going in a direction without any further thoughts and unknowingly directed towards his apartment. By the time he arrived, the streets of the main district were somewhat full of cars and trucks. The sound of their engines and horns filled Fell"s surroundings. It was still early in the morning, and most of the civilians were going to their jobs. During the travel, he had pa.s.sed through several police stations, but didn"t stop in any as he didn"t know where the a.s.sault team was a.s.signed to.
He thought about them and fell in reminiscence as his legs took him around the city. Soon enough, he arrived at his apartment and briskly stepped through the large hall. A few dozen seconds after that, he was already inside his accommodation; without thinking twice, he awoke a sleeping Wind from his dreams and began cooking a gargantuan meal. The two youths spent half an hour together, and Wind took this as an opportunity to get pointers for his training. Fell took the time to answer all of Wind"s question before telling him about Battle League and New Casablanca"s Battle Center.
The official"s eyes opened in surprise at his brother"s tale as he wasn"t aware of the game"s existence. His eyes glowed from excitement when he heard about that. Although he had been pa.s.sionate and hardworking about his training for the past weeks, he still didn"t get any experience when it came to fights. He was aware that as a cultivator, he would need to defend himself or his friends at some point. He had already found it odd that he wasn"t training in any specific martial art, and that all he had been doing was running and lifting weight. He didn"t deny that Fell"s methods showed incredible results, but he was always bothered by this matter. Even if his body was strong, even if his mind was strong, if he didn"t know how to fight, then in a life or death experience, it would be over for him.
His body trembled, Wind felt as if he couldn"t contain himself anymore. He asked with a trembling voice while avoiding Fell"s sight. "Do you think I could also play the game?"
Fell didn"t find any problem with it and gave his approval with a nod. Wind"s face elongated as a beaming smile appeared on his lips. He had been enduring tremendous loneliness during the past weeks. Although Fell had been with him during all this time, except for the meals and training session, he had been alone. It didn"t actually bother him too much, but he was still in his youth and needed to socialize.
"But if you skip any training session, then…", he added while snorting a cold wisp of air. He didn"t finish his sentence as he knew that Wind was aware of the consequences. They spoke about a few trivial matters while joking around before Fell got up from the chair. He readied himself to leave for the battle center, he turned toward Wind and added before leaving.
"Just give them my name, or try looking for a certain Tahlya…", he explained while talking about Battle League. "They"ll take care of you if they know you are with me."