Chương 121: B2 Chapter 28 - Diamond Player

The final days at home passed quickly with loads of staring at the auction, playing more Art Of Steel, and sending memes to Veyra. I also ate dinner with my family for the first time in a while. Being so close to my flight, any conversation quickly turned to last second tips and tricks, with my mom berating me for only packing four different shirts. I told her that I'd packed every piece of clothing that was even somewhat wearable in public spaces, and that I'd be buying more clothes in Thailand when I'd need them.

Maybe it was just that my parents and I lacked common interests, but we really hadn't talked about anything lately. My parents lived in a whole different world, and it felt like they understood my world less and less by the day. Was that a part of growing up? I had no idea. My dad did lift his head when I mentioned I'd been playing Art Of Steel, though. He asked, "That's the combat simulator, right? Have you been fencing again?"

"No, I'm playing the free weapons mode. Duel to a fatal wound or surrender, gladiator style." Mom and Anna glanced at each other, a hint of concern on their faces, but Dad smiled at that.

"Mind if I try it out?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I mean, go ahead. The pod is all free while I'm gone. You'll need to buy the game and make an account, though." Sharing accounts in most VR games was banned, if not impossible. Not to mention, I'd be playing on my own account in Thailand still. I needed my account. I also told everyone that they could drive my car if they wanted so that it could see some light of day, before hiding myself up in the attic for one more night.

In Art Of Steel, the first notable progress happened later that night when I queued up to my 214th match. I loaded into the arena, which was a cloudy mountainscape this time, and turned to face the spear-wielding middle-aged man on the other side. [Your Opponent: Petri Mäkelä, rank Diamond Expert] Oh shit. Finally. My first opponent ranked diamond expert. I was finally getting into the higher ranks of this game. Diamond was the third best rank in the game with only the top 5% of players reaching it.

I approached the middle of the arena, weapons ready and eager for a good battle. So far, only a few opponents had given me any sort of trouble. Platinum players somewhat knew what they were doing, but only on a basic level. They still had plenty of flaws to exploit. Petri, my first diamond opponent, was tall and muscular, probably European. Seeing me, he smirked a little and said, "Sickles, huh? Interesting. Show me what you got." He took the aggression, approaching me with well-practiced footwork.

Like most people in the higher ranks, he fought with a spear. An annoying matchup, but possible if handled correctly. First step, find his range. I hopped back for the first few exchanges, letting him stab at me while calculating how far he could reach. Two-handed spears had an overwhelming reach advantage compared to any other weapon.

Spear users were very good at stabbing an opponent at the very edge of their range, where the tip of their spear could hit an opponent without a sword or especially a dagger having any chance of hitting back. Petri's use of range immediately separated him from those before me. He didn't fight at his maximum range. He got closer, intimidating me closer to my range, which increased the pace of the match. If I jumped back, he could increase his range and reach much further than one could expect.

I was forced to dance with his stabs, using my sickle as a threat to disrupt his weapon if he overextended. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Unlike most opponents so far, he didn't overextend. His stabs were quick and precise, and his footwork kept recovery times short and hard to exploit. Dodging his spear wasn't impossible, but that was because Petri wasn't committing hard.

He knew that if he missed and I managed to sneak too close, I'd kill him quickly with my daggers. Finally, someone who's good, I thought. He kept an eye on both of my weapons, not just my sickle, meaning that I couldn't just throw my dagger for a sneaky headshot. I'd gotten a few easy kills with that in earlier matches. [Recall Daggers] didn't exist in Steel, so throwing a weapon had much higher risk than in Wonderwind. But he still fights in a rhythm. How will he react if that's broken?

For Petri's next stab, I hopped back much further than on all previous hops. I saw a flash in his eyes as he shifted his weight forward to extend his reach, seeing a killing blow. I immediately hit his spear with my sickle, pushing it aside for just a heartbeat, enough for the tip to miss. I hopped forward and infiltrated his range. He realized his mistake. He fixed his posture as fast as he could and recovered his spear.

Even though I'd already gotten past the tip of his spear, yanking a spear back happened much quicker than a dash any human could make. He had time for one more stab in my direction. The composure in his eyes was remarkable. Lower-ranked opponents had panicked, pulling their spear back for defence or stumbling in panic. Petri recovered and stabbed, fully intending to kill me now. Aggressive as it was, his final stab was possibly the most predictable attack he could have thrown.

The moment his shoulders committed, I stepped off-line and thrust my dagger at his heart. He fell back in genuine surprise, sparing one glance at his wound before collapsing dead. [You are Victorious!] [Rating Increase - Calculating…] [Damage taken: Unserious wound - Lower left abdomen grazed] I paused at the last message, then glanced at the spot. My shirt was ripped, and a slight wound had indeed been inflicted on the side of my body. Wow. I really thought I'd fully dodged it.

Fighters were getting seriously quick already. Or maybe I just wasn't as fast as I thought. Either way, this was exactly the type of practice I needed. Within just a few days, I'd fought against dozens of fighters as strong, if not stronger, than the average Wonderwind pro, and my enemies' skill level was only going up. It was a shame that over half of the matchups were against a spear, but all of these were still valuable. The same concepts applied to most weapons.

[Skill Rating Increase: +42] [Rank: Platinum Adept] [Returning To Menu…] Still no rank-up, huh? I thought. I'd probably need to beat a few more diamond players before earning the rank myself. With a win-rate of 98%, it shouldn't take long. By now, I'd lost a total of three matches, all to stupid mistakes like forgetting that [Shadow Dash] wasn't a real thing anymore. As fun as Steel was, nothing could beat dueling in Wonderwind. Skills like [Shadow Dash] just added so much variance into combat.

A spearman's reach advantage wouldn't matter if I could just dash behind them for an assassination. I'll also need to spar against someone in Wonderwind later, I thought. For now, though, it was getting late, and I had more important things to do. I logged out of VR, triple checked all my luggage and my passports and such, before rolling around in bed for one more night.

I love airplanes. I mean, not really. Navigating the airport with all its checkups was always a pain in the ass, and this time I didn't have Henrift to guide me through the crowds of people, any one of which could have recognized me and asked for a picture or a signature. A lot of people did glance at me, and a few came to chat, asking if I was really me. Once finally in the plane, the window seat next to an elderly lady was cramped at best, and the pomeranian chilling in her bag didn't seem to like me.

The little guy growled at my hand the moment I tried to introduce myself. But the way the morning sunlight shone through my little window still felt magical while the plane rolled to its runway. Even though I had to squint from the sun being at just the right angle to blind me, I didn't once feel like complaining about having to sit inside this tube with wings for almost twenty hours. Because once the plane landed, I'd finally get to see Veyra again. I couldn't believe she was actually my girlfriend.

I sent her a few more messages before I'd need to put my phone into plane mode. Assassin:" In the plane now" Assassin:" Oh and what's your address? I'll probably be asked where I'm staying." She was offline and didn't respond immediately. That made sense, considering it was still 6am in Thailand. I'd hear from her when I landed. Once in the air, the old lady let me feed a few snacks for her pomeranian before I put on my sleep mask and dreamed of hugs.