World Online

283  Pride (2)

Jake glared at the haughty man's sword. His eyes were glued to its movements.

Every time it so much as shivered, he moved, readying himself for an attack.

Jake knew that a single attack in this arena meant that he would go back home. That was the problem with playing in the big leagues.

He had to be as careful as he could be. And even then, it was going to be tough.

Jake took a look up at the man's level.

[???? Level ???]

"Of course he is more than forty levels above me." Jake sighed and shook his head.

Jake took a side step, pushing the sword that was coming at him to the side.

The recoil alone pushed him a few steps to the right.

[-347 HP]

"If I take hits to my health from even recoil, then this is a lost cause." Jake shook his head and moved.

He appeared behind the now-stationary man, and swung his sword down.

Clang!

"Why is my sword so freaking heavy?" Jake cursed as he jumped back, barely missing a swing from the haughty man.

His right hand stung with pain. For a brief second, as he was swinging the sword down, his hand suddenly felt like it was being dragged down.

It was as if the sword doubled in weight.

"Why does my sword refuse to strike that guy? Is it a class effect? Maybe he has an epic class that I can't recognize." Jake thought to himself.

"You think too much." A voice came from the side.

Jake quickly put his sword to defend from that side, but he knew it was too late.

"Reflect!"

Immediately, he activated his last attempt at survival.

His armor shone as it readied to reflect the attack that was coming at him.

Clang!

As the haughty man's sword made contact with Jake's armor, blue and purple sparks started flying around.

It was the exact same scene that occurred when Jake had struck the haughty man.

"You… your armor is the same as mine! It also reflected my attack and- Who the hell are you?" Jake's eyes grew wide open as he looked at the haughty man.

"You are an idiot. To think that you still don't understand." The haughty man shook his head.

"That is why you are always going to be number two." He smiled as his figure suddenly vanished into the air.

It was like an after image, but Jake knew it wasn't.

The man just moved that fast.

Jake didn't even flinch when he felt a sharp pain in his waist.

He looked down, but all he saw was his armor?

"Oh wait. Is the world upside down?"

The world around Jake slowly started darkening, and Jake felt he pain subsiding.

"I died, didn't I? That guy was too strong for me to go against. But his armor, his sword, they are way too similar to mine. Is this related to the hollow knight that I met all those weeks ago?" Thoughts began to swirl around in his head.

[You have died]

[You have lost one level]

[Stat Points will be deducted]

[Do you wish to return to the game?]

Jake took a deep breath.

Dying was never an experience that he liked. And to relive it once again was exhilarating, to say the least.

"When was the last time I had this happen to me? Was it that dinosaur world?" He chuckled as he thought to himself.

Without even hesitating, his hand gravitated to the green button and the dark world around him started to warp.

Even in the darkness, Jake could see lines and waves.

"Why do they have custom screens for every death, I don't understand." Jake shook his head as he closed his eyes.

As the motion stopped, he felt light beaming on his face.

The roar of the colosseum returned, and he knew that he was back in Gaia.

He slowly opened his eyes and let the light around him overload his senses.

Slowly, Jake started walking.

He knew exactly where to go after he lost.

Just remembering what was next for him, he smiled.

"I almost forgot about that! I was so concentrated on trying to figure that guy out that I forgot what I had to do." Jake shook his head and kept walking.

There was a giant line that was piling up near one of the arches.

Jake knew that this was where people usually went to to go collect their earnings.

But Jake kept walking forward and went to the subsequent arch.

"Hey! How did it go?" A voice suddenly popped up.

Jake didn't have to turn to know who it was.

"Fine, actually. Just as expected. Tough opponents, but I did get two levels out of it." Jake just shrugged.

"The important part of this comes now." He smiled.

"Well, it still doesn't make any sense to me, why this is happening. Why did Nova have to make the NPC economy so self sufficient and realistic?" Myriad Arrows sighed.

"Whatever it is. It helps us, so don't complain." Jake chuckled.

They stopped walking and looked at a door that was closed.

On the door was a plaque.

[Manager: Colosseum]

Jake took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Knock!

Knock!

Two seconds later, the door creaked open on its own.

Jake nodded at Myriad Arrows and walked inside.

The room was much more spacious than he expected, but that was the beauty of a virtual world.

There was unlimited space.

In the center of the room was a table, and on the other side was a familiar face.

Jake nodded at the man and stretched his arms.

"So then, boss. How was it? Did you get much out of me? The match before must have brought confidence up a lot. How much did I get?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

076205