I loaded into a hot cave, standing atop steel gratings. Lava bubbled underneath, though the footing appeared solid. Tall cavernous walls surrounded the arena, roughly the size of a football field. The ground was flat, consisting fully of the steel gratings. Not the most pleasant surface to fight on, but my boots were thick enough to properly stand.

  It was a large arena. That was good, if nothing else. Veyra and I agreed that I needed space to run, considering what I was up against.

  The death knight stood on the opposite end of the arena like a boss monster staring down at me.

  Henrift’s character looked nothing like the middle-aged flanneled uncle in real life. He was much taller, with sharp and edgy angles covering the armor, so bulky that anyone in real life would be crushed under its weight. Demonic horns poked out from his helmet for a truly imposing look.

  This was how the top 1 death knight player looked. Just pure doom and despair. His sword was massive, of course, filled with red demonic energy.

  To the naked eye, he may have looked like a classic tank player, just ridiculously large and evil. I usually had a favorable matchup against tanks.

  Except, if I fought Henrift like I fought Oblivara, for example, I’d die in an instant to [Ascension Of Death].

  I was so concentrated I forgot to even stretch, or pay attention to the announcer’s yelling. Before I knew it, the announcer called, “Fight!”

  Heavy and imposing steps followed. The steel gratings shook every time Henrift’s boot slammed down on them. His sword dragged behind, not one bit concerned for the one-shots that every contestant before him had fallen to. And he had reason to. I couldn’t identify critical strike spots, except for the dark eye-holes in his visor, which he could easily block with his gauntlets.

  If he remained in his tank form, the fight would turn into the longest endurance battle the tournament had yet seen. He would not be able to hit me with his heavy and slow sword, and I would barely do any damage to his armor. Lichfang’s random critical strike chance would help, but even then, I had zero armor penetration in my build.

  If Henrift used his ultimate, though, this would turn into a volatile battle of two nukes.

  I slid Lichfang into Rathax's soul orb for the combination, since I’d never get the twenty thousand damage filled in a fight like this. Henrift kept approaching.

  Now, will he save it, or will he get cocky?

  Henrift lifted his sword and swung with [Ground Slam]. The skill tossed his character ten feet forward along with the swing, and he used it as a mobility skill more than anything. His sword crashed against the impenetrable gratings, shaking the arena.

  And then [Ascension Of Death] came.

  His plate armor suddenly pushed outward, each piece separating. Black wings sprouted from his back, and a loud demonic hissing of energy filled my ears as his armor fully disintegrated into energy, revealing ash-black muscles, red demonic energy flowing within.

  A red globe of energy now surrounded him. The inside of that globe was pure evil. Anything that stepped inside would have their health gradually drained, which would heal Henrift. The health he gained would then be stored inside the skill’s abilities, similarly to how [Curse Of The Lich (Passive)] worked, and Henrift could sacrifice the health to create a powerful pulse inside the globe.

  If I stood near him, the life-drain alone would kill me in under a second.

  I’ll need to get Blood Desperation active and one-shot him, I thought, and while Henrift was slowly approaching, I decided to step into the area for a fraction of a second to lower my health.

  A part of me hoped we’d calculated incorrectly. That perhaps Veyra wasn’t a genius after all, and that I’d actually have more leeway than we thought.

  Except, the very moment I stepped into the glove, the system pop-ups came.

  [Oblique Transcendence - Blood Desperation Active Conditions Met]

  [Straight Attacks Are 100% More Effective When Under 40% Health]

  It felt like my very being was being drawn of all energy, my health violently ripped out of me. My health fell rapidly, nearly instantly, below 40%.

  Holy shit. I [Shadow Dashed] back, realizing that if I stood in for a quarter of a second longer, I’d be dead. I escaped the radius, and Henrift kept running at me.

  I slashed with my dagger and activated [Curse Of Rathax], hoping to slow him down. Acid sprayed at him.

  He swung his sword, casting a powerful gust of wind which sent the acid everywhere but his body. He’d done his research.

  I ran, but he used [Ground Slam] again, gaining distance. The very edge of the demonic ascension radius grazed my back.

  Slash.

  [You Have Died]

  [Competition Status Assassin 0 - 1 Henrift]

  So… I thought. How the fuck will I win this?

  ***

  “It’s over…” Veyra said.

  She found herself hitting herself in the thigh with her fist repeatedly, because that was really the only gesture she could use to toss her emotions at. Next to her, Aree acted much more like a normal person, leaning forward with a serious look.

  “He can still win, right?” Aree asked. “He just needs to land all his damage to one-shot him?”

  Veyra bit her lip. It didn’t look good. Even if he'd had the amulet with resistances, Henrift would have been a tough matchup for Aiden. With the glass cannon build, he just couldn’t survive against Henrift’s constant damage, and she’d calculated that just [Curse Of Rathax] alone couldn’t one-shot Henrift. Aiden was still way underleveled. With [Blood Desperation] active, his critical strike would leave Henrift at around fifteen percent health.

  If Aiden had the resistance amulet, he would have had just enough time to run in, land a hit, and dash out, and to head back in after regenerating. Right now, however, he couldn’t do much other than hope to dash in and land a hit in 0.72 seconds.

  That was already difficult. The [Shadow Dash] to critical strike dash was hard at melee range. To dash in from outside Henrift’s aura was just way too precise. Veyra doubted Aiden could pull it off.

  Not to mention, he’d need to get [Blood Desperation] active as well, meaning that the actual window of opportunity he had to one-shot Henrift was pretty much a third of a second.

  “If he somehow stacks Lichfang’s passive up to seven thousand, it’s possible…” Veyra said. “Or Curse Of Rathax could one-shot if the phoenix double crit also hits. Without it, he won’t do enough, and relying on the phoenix crit is just up to luck!”

  Aree eyed her, slightly concerned, but she remained determined. “He will win. He must.”

  The livestream chat seemed to disagree.

  “Lol, so he’s just a noob slayer.”

  “Bad matchup for A.”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Rip, I was hoping he’d do something crazy.”

  You don’t know him at all, Veyra thought. Stop hating!

  The next match was starting, and she found her eyes glued on her screen. This time, it was a water-themed arena, but equally large.

  He had to do something. He’d been so confident all week, promising nonchalantly that he’d win. Surely, that wasn’t all just lies.

  The announcer called “Fight!” and the first few seconds proceeded exactly the same. Henrift walked closer in tank form without any fear for his life.

  This time, however, Aiden also stepped forward.

  What are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing?!

  You’re not taking the chance, are you?

  Henrift activated [Ascension Of Death], when Aiden did exactly what Veyra feared he’d do; he [Shadow Dashed] straight to Henrift.

  It all happened in an instant. Aiden’s [Shadow Dash] was like a missile aimed at Henrift’s neck. Fly short or wide, and it was over. He had to land exactly on his target.

  A dagger pierced Henrift, and a fiery inferno burst inside Henrift’s body.

  The death knight died with a resounding slash.

  Aree jumped from her seat, cheering. “He did it! He one-shotted Henrift!”

  Veyra’s heart pounded in her throat. The lucky phoenix crit had hit.

  The livestream chat shared Aree’s reaction. The messages went absolutely crazy.

  “LOLOLOL WTF”

  “Is that balanced???”

  “What happened? Where’s Henrift?”

  “He did it!” Aree repeated. “He’ll win, right!”

  Veyra took a deep breath to calm herself. “He got lucky. Even with the dice ring, that’s a less than twenty percent chance. If he relies on phoenix crits, we’ll lose.”

  The nervous mood spread to Aree as she sat back down to watch the next fight. There was a short break again, until both players spawned to a new arena. This one was themed like a large and open barn.

  Immediately, Veyra noticed something. The barn had target dummies!

  “Those have health bars!” Veyra called out. “Oh my god, target dummies can be hit! They can take damage”

  Please, Aiden, hit the dummies! she pleaded in her head while the match started.

  Thankfully, Aiden wasn’t stupid. He noticed the same thing. He ran for one of the dummies immediately, thrusting Lichfang into its head like some savage goblin.

  Henrift was already approaching with [Ascension Of Death] active. Aiden kept repeating critical strikes on the dummy, filling up Lichfang as far as he could.

  Now, land it! Veyra thought.

  Aiden [Shadow Dashed], and his [Curse Of The Lich] nuke blew up.

  Again, he hit Henrift perfectly in the face. The phoenix crit didn’t blow, but with Lichfang charged, Henrift was one-shotted.

  Aree laughed. “Yes, two to one!” She grabbed Veyra’s body and shook her. “He’s winning!”

  Veyra breathed out, her hand shaking. This was insanity. This wasn’t how tournaments were supposed to play out.

  The livestream chat was going utterly crazy. The confused type of crazy. Audiences were used to watching long battles of attrition, where top players not only tested who was better at the game, but also threw their hard-earned skills and stats at each other.

  But this battle? It was complete nonsense. A battle of two nukes.

  Aiden had one chance. To land a perfect [Shadow Dash] and a phoenix crit. If he missed, he was dead. If he hit too early, before [Blood Desperation] became active below 40% health, he wouldn’t do enough damage, all just for a chance to land a lucky phoenix crit.

  The audience didn’t understand that Aiden’s build was the ultimate glass cannon. He had literally nothing except [Vital Strike] and his goddamned monster avoidance stat, which did nothing. Really, Aiden’s build was a nightmare for the balance team.

  Vital Strike will definitely get nerfed after this, Veyra thought, taking deep breaths. Wind Virtual was known for allowing hazy balance into their game, but this was too much. The developers wouldn’t allow battles like these to continue in tournaments.

  But they couldn’t nerf his build during the match. Right now, this was all Aiden had. A crazy amount of critical strike damage, and nothing else.

  Veyra could hardly watch as the fourth arena began loading. “Please, more target dummies…” she pleaded. “Please, target dummies.”

  The arena was a perfectly flat sky arena with nothing but grass. No target dummies, nothing to give Aiden an advantage.

  “Goddammit,” Veyra whispered under her breath, and she knew Aiden only had one thing he could do.

  The fourth battle began, and Veyra didn't have a five seconds to breathe. Aiden repeated the trick from the second match, dashing in like a maniac for a perfect hit to Henrift’s neck.

  Miraculously, he landed again. Except, luck was on Henrift’s side. [Cry Of The Abandoned Phoenix] did not activate. Aiden didn’t do enough damage, taking Henrift’s health bar only to 20%.

  Immediately after, Aiden died an anticlimactic death to [Ascension Of Death]’s aura.

  “Ahhhh!” Veyra let out through her pumping heart. She pushed with her hand, plumping sideways to the left onto a pillow on her couch. She could see the TV, though the table blocked half of her view.

  “Two to two…” Aree said. She offered a hand to pull Veyra up.

  “No, move the table out of the way, please…” Veyra said. She buried her face into her pillow and hit the couch with her right hand, now watching sideways on her couch.

  She couldn’t blame Aiden, really. His build just wasn’t fit for this battle. Veyra hadn’t realized it was a single gearset tournament either. For both of them, this was their first tournament experience.

  But was it wrong to ask for a miracle? Aiden was really good at the game. Way more skilled than Henrift. That difference in skill couldn’t turn to just luck! Just landing one [Shadow Dash] like that was insane. The skill was known as one of the clunkiest movement abilities to maneuver in the whole game. He landed three insane dashes like that in a row.

  Aree tried to reassure her, but she sounded nervous as well. They both waited for the short break.

  The fifth and final that decided whether Aiden could go to Worlds or not.

  Please, more practice dummies! Veyra thought, watching intently, though sideways, as the arena spawned in.

  The arena was a throne room. The smallest arena yet with no room to run. No target dummies, no nothing, just a rectangular hallway.

  “Not fair!” Veyra yelled at the TV. “Who made up this map pool!”

  She could hardly watch as the match began. It all happened so fast. [Ascension Of Death] became active. [Shadow Dash] flashed, and Aiden’s figure—

  Wait, no. Something different happened.

  Two things.

  The dark shadow flashed to Henrift, who panicked, afraid. He canceled, [Ascension Of Death], turning back to his tank form. He blocked his visor with his gauntlets to block critical strickes, while slashing blindly at the dark shadow with his sword for a perfect counter-attack.

  Except, it wasn’t Aiden. That was [Afterimage].

  “Of course!” Veyra said. “Henrift doesn’t know what the chances for the double crit are! He doesn’t want to take the chance!”

  Now that Henrift was in his tank form, [Ascension of Death] had a one minute cooldown. Aiden couldn’t be killed for one minute, but he also couldn’t do damage. Getting through that armor was impossible.

  Henrift knew that as well. His response was ridiculously simple.

  He covered his visor with his gauntlets and just stood there.

  “This death knight piece of shit!” Veyra said, pushing herself back up. Aree helped her get straight, and Veyra pressed the side of her face on Aree’s shoulder.

  Henrift swung his sword blindly, using only sound clues, while Aiden moved around him. Aiden dodged effortlessly, of course, but what did he plan on doing? His daggers wouldn’t do enough damage.

  Aiden began slashing anyway. The daggers clinked weakly, doing no damage.

  But he kept hitting, while dodging the clumsy sword.

  Until a loud jolt suddenly came from Henrift’s armor, and he was knocked back by the force of Aiden’s dagger.

  “Oh my god, he’s using system Thrust!” Veyra said. “Lichfang gives him fifteen percent random critical strike chance!”

  Those random crits were amplified by [Vital Strike]. And now that Aiden had leveled up, even his random crits did do damage. Each one only did five percent of Henrift’s health bar, but Aiden attacked fast enough that another one landed soon after, taking Henrift’s health to 90%. He kept hitting and landed a third crit.

  “He has enough time!” Veyra said. “He can kill him before the ultimate comes back! And he’s charging Lichfang! Oh my god, he has a chance!”

  Henrift realized that as well. His strategy of hiding behind his armor wouldn’t work. He took his gauntlet off of his eyes, and the deep eye-holes of his death knight’s helmet became visible again, though he kept his left gauntlet near his eyes to block surprise attacks.

  What ensued was the most mesmerizing dance Veyra had ever watched.

  Aiden dodged, side-stepping with perfect precision, blocking lighter attacks with The Immortal. Henrift was on the offensive, but he kept getting hit in his armor, his health rapidly dropping to Aiden’s system Thrusts.

  Henrift wound-up an overhead swing, which hit the ground.

  Aiden jumped, and he landed on top of the sword, smirking at the tank.

  Henrift swung harder. He kept fighting. He just had to wait for his ultimate. Around forty-five seconds had passed.

  But he was swinging against The Immortal.

  The staggering effect finally came, which blew Henrift back. He placed the gauntlet on his eyes again. Aiden continued hitting system thrusts for more critical strikes.

  He then blasted [Curse Of The Lich], fully charged, at Henrift’s helmet. That took his health bar to 34%.

  A gush escaped from Veyra’s mouth—a sound she didn’t even know she could make—but she kept watching without blinking.

  Henrift gripped his sword with two hands. At this pace, he would fall. He had to do something. He swung calmly at the first thing he saw in front of him.

  That was Aiden’s afterimage.

  He paused, confused, when a dagger suddenly landed in his eye-hole.

  Slash.

  Henrift’s figure began disintegrating. He died.

  Silence. Nobody said a thing, the caster perfectly silent. Aree and Veyra stared at the television.

  “Yes!” Veyra rejoiced.

  Aree jumped off from her seat. She grabbed Veyra’s hand, then hugged her. “He did it! He really did it!”

  “He did it!” Veyra repeated. “That wasn’t luck! That wasn’t cheats! Nobody can call that cheats! That was just pure skill!”

  Victorious music began playing on the livestream, while the caster of the livestream hyped up the battle they’d just witnessed. The chat went crazy as well.

  “Mfer jumped on the sword wtf?”

  “HOLY SHIT”

  “That’s Dragrath level skills, no?”

  Veyra couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying. He did it. He got a Worlds ticket.

  “You’re going to Worlds together!” Aree said with a beaming grin.

  Veyra paused.

  This was real now. Every impossibility was covered. Her flight, accommodation, and Aiden’s ticket. They were going to Worlds together.

  She would need to show her real face to him.

  20 chapters ahead on !