New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Back in the stands, Astaroth and Khalor had just finished their discussion, which turned out to be more of a monologue from Khalor. Astaroth was visibly shaken.

What Khalor had just told him was not only unbelievable, it was also inconceivable for anyone. Some things he said were so far out of the realm of the possible that Astaroth’s head was hurting right now.

The conversation was over just in time to see the end of Gulnur’s combat. Astaroth wanted to cheer his friend on, but his head was still processing Khalor’s words.

So he only watched in a daze as Gulnur started his offensive. He saw the whole chasing and shield charge, culminating to the shield lob and Gulnur’s ultimate move; Retribution Strike.

Astaroth was slowly snapping out of his daze, with every move his friend did. And for a moment, he saw hope.

Hope that Gulnur would come out victorious. Hope that a wild card tank would beat a highly experienced DPS.

But these hopes were rapidly crushed. When Gulnur’s hammer was about to pass through Blue Peacock, her form split up into four copies.

His strike whooshed through the form before him, but nothing solid, going through it like air. The other copies spun around him and he was soon covered in cuts.

His what little health was left, plummeted all the way to zero. He stood there, flabbergasted, as he turned to particles.

But not before he could boom out a laughter that sounded as genuine as they get. This made Blue smile.

She had to use a trump card just to get out of danger, because she had a sharp feeling that if that last hammer strike had hit her, she would have vaporised instantly.

She was teleported out of the arena as a wave of fatigue hit her full force. She was pooped from that high-intensity fight.

But she still had one thing to do, before she could relax until her next fight. She walked over to where Astaroth and his friends were sitting.

There was no sign of her habitual arrogance in her current attitude. It was like she was walking up a shrine’s steps.

When she finally arrived at their seating spot, she bowed deeply to Astaroth and the others.

“Your friend was an honorable warrior and a fearsome fighter. And I hope you can convey this message to him for me.” She said, bowed down low, before standing up and leaving.

All of them sat there, mouths agape, not sure what had just happened. Especially Phoenix, who knew Blue as a very arrogant and narcissistic woman.

This was so out of character for her that some people around even wondered if her whole arrogant persona was just roleplay. But she rapidly proved them wrong about that thought, as she went back to her usual self.

Khalor was the first one to speak about it.

“His tenaciousness and battle will must have impressed her.” He said, before standing up.

“As for you.” He added, pointing at Astaroth.

“Don’t forget what I just talked about. Things will get into motion after this tournament. Make sure you stay on top of your game.” He finished, walking away.

Astaroth only nodded, his face scrunching up again. His mind centered back on the conversation again.

He entered his thoughts again, practically ignoring the next combat. It wasn’t one he wanted to see anyway, as involved players he had no interest in.

Phoenix’s fight would be next after this one, and that one he didn’t want to miss, since she was fighting Morticia. He wanted to see how a psychic fared against a bona fide mage.

His master had told him that powerful psychics could give most mages a run for their money, even though mages had strong mentalities.

So that combat was one he wanted to see. He also considered Morticia to be an experienced player and a powerful psychic.

But for now, his mind was in all kinds of turmoil. He kept thinking back to what Khalor had told him.

‘What if what he said is true?’ He thought.

‘Wouldn’t that spell disaster? But how does he know these things?’ His mind spun, thinking about the repercussions.

Khalor had told him many things, but he had been so mysterious about all those things that he might as well have said nothing. Which was why Astaroth was so disturbed by it.

Phoenix saw Astaroth slowly spiral into thought and tried to help him.

“Hey. Are you ok?” She asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Hmm? Ahh. Yes, I’m fine.” Astaroth said absentmindedly.

“You don’t look fine. What is it you talked about?” She questioned, worry apparent in her eyes.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Astaroth said, trying to brush her off.

Khalor had told him to not repeat these things to anyone, unless he trusted them fully. And, although he trusted Phoenix to have his back in combat, he didn’t trust her that much otherwise.

He wanted to talk to someone about it, but he just couldn’t think about anyone that fit the bill. There was no one that he trusted this much, not anymore, at least.

In times like these, he missed his parents so much. A pang of pain assaulted his heart, as he thought about their death again.

Phoenix was not blind and saw the emotions flash in his eyes, but she didn’t push further. His business was his alone.

If he wanted to talk to her, she would listen, but she wouldn’t force him to talk. After seeing the pain flash in his eyes, she put her hand on his shoulder.

“If you need to talk, I will gladly listen. But for now, my turn is almost up. So I will leave it at that.” She said.

Right after saying that, Astaroth received a friend invite from her. It was his first friend invite, and he reflexively accepted it.

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She received a message in her private inbox from Astaroth, as she appeared in the arena. It only said two words.

‘Good Luck’

She smiled as her eyes met her opponents.

‘Time to show off!’ She thought, as she grinned.