"Oh-Oh-Oh! That"s the youth I know, highly spirited", the mountain"s coa.r.s.e voice entered Fell"s ears, making him feel even more shame than before. "Usually, those facilities can only be entered when one finishes his placement matches… But there is a hidden rule that can give you access to them before you finish your matches. And you are lucky because you have access to the first trial by fire!"His voice boomed through the mountains. Fell"s eyebrows rose as a puzzled look appeared on his face, "Trial by fire?". "What is a trial by fire?" he asked in a voice filled with questioning. He had never heard about a trial by fire in the game, and neither had he heard chairman spinters talk about it, nor did the player base of New Casablanca ever spoke about it.
"It is one of the means that player has access to for training. You only have one entry for each trial by fire!" the old mountain paused for a few seconds before resuming. "By achieving three wins, you have been granted access to the first Trial by Fire!"
"The rules are simple; it is, in fact, very similar to the first tutorial. But contrary to the tutorial"s first phase, the opponents you will face in each wave are nearly on par with a common individual from the tutorial"s second phase!"
As soon as he heard it, Fell felt his skin tighten as waves of excitation spread through his body. He was thrilled beyond excitation as he felt his blood boil in his veins. His desire to fight was going through the roof. He clenched his fists from antic.i.p.ation and swiftly sat down to prepare himself for the trial. He needed his mind to be on an optimal level, and he was going to meditate and refine his battle intent until it was the ideal moment.
"Youth those days…", murmured the old mountain soul to itself. "He didn"t even wait for me to finish my explanation, and he already closed his senses…"
"Well, not learning about the hidden dangers and the potential gains might help clear his focus…", he thought as he disappeared in the void.
Time pa.s.sed quietly as Fell spent an hour without moving a single inch from his spot. He focused on sharpening his will while regulating his breathing, and soon enough, he attained a state where he could stand in the midst of a storm without batting an eyelid. Every inch of his avatar"s body was under his complete control, and he felt that he was synchronizing even more with his avatar. Although the virtual body was his own in the game, there has always been a small latency when it came to the action he executed. A veil had always stood between his intent and his avatar Stroke. But now, after spending dozens of hours in the game, he felt as if that barrier was being broken. Every moment spent in the game brings down the latency little by little in his current practice. The difference may be subtle, and wouldn"t directly augment his speed or power. But it couldn"t either be ignored as it smoothened his connection with his avatar.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and a sharp glint was reflected on the black colored iris of his avatar. It was as if a blade was hidden in his gaze, ready to be unsheathed at any moment notice. He slowly breathed out a long breath before raising on his feet. He stood quietly for a moment; he felt as if his joints were stacked on, and standing didn"t cost him any physical resources. His hands were partially opened, relaxed, and ready to move without hindrance if needed. He lifted his foot and lightly tapped the tiles on the floor under him. PPa! Two distinctive m.u.f.fled sound resounded through the large mountain peak, and his figure disappeared before reappearing a few dozen meters in front of him. Except from the sound of his feet lightly tapping the floor, his high speed movement had produced close to zero noise, and it was more similar to him piercing through s.p.a.ce as the air resistance didn"t seem to hinder his movements.
"Senior Mountain. I"m ready.", his voice was calm, and there was no bravado or momentum in his tone, everything was deeply hidden in his psyche. An incredible confidence suffused from his tone. He even hesitated a split second for going through his fourth match right now. But he didn"t let himself be overwhelmed with his battle intent as he knew that it would be stupid to ignore the trial by fire. If he had found out about it, then his opponent would be in a similar position. Not taking advantage of it would be the worst call possible.
"Good! Go down that path…", Fell couldn"t see which direction the old mountain spoke about, but a moment after, he heard the words. He felt a movement in his surroundings, and a gust of wind pa.s.sed through him before continuing to his left. His neck turned around, and he saw it. It was as if s.p.a.ce and time had been breached, and a human sized hole stood in the middle of the fighting platform.
"Looks quite frightening.", a chuckle escaped from his lips as he grinned in front of the portal that appeared. Without a second thought, his leg moved, and he stepped inside, disappearing from the fighting platform.
"It is frightening…", the old mountain mumbled as it also disappeared inside of the endless void.
The first thing that entered Fell"s sight was the sky. A dark, obscure and obnoxious sky hung on top of his head. Billows of grey clouds rolled on the firmament as they produced flashes of purple lightnings and explosions. Then he noticed the over sized moon that quietly hung in the middle of the h.e.l.lish picture. The moon was blood red, and its size was humongous as Fell could clearly see the impacts and pits that traveled all over the celestial object.