New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Astaroth laughed as soon as Khalor reappeared in the stands.

"Hahaha!"

"Man! You are something else! I can't wait to fight you!" He exclaimed.

Khalor frowned at his outburst. Not that Astaroth was wrong, but that was an unlikely take on what had happened.

He brushed it off as being over-enthusiastic.

"If you want to fight me, make it to the finals." Khalor replied, giving back a smile.

The smile was filled with confidence. Astaroth replied with a wide grin of his own.

Close to them, Azamus was fuming. They were talking like the rest of the players here didn't exist, and that pissed him off.

He was number one! No one looked down on him!

It was his turn to fight next, and when he appeared in the arena, his mood soured even further. His opponent was a weak player, that loved roleplay a bit too much.

The man standing tall before him was called Parthenon. He was a Human Warrior, that was playing a subclass called spartan.

And he dressed like one to match the class. It was ridiculous for most onlookers.

Parthenon was wearing a short leather striped skirt, with metal padding, and a metal-plated chest piece, sculpted to look chiselled.

He was also wearing a spartan helmet, with red crista included. He looked like he was pulled out of the movie Spartacus, and it was ostentatious, to say the least.

Parthenon had painted all of his armor gold and red, and he painted his shield with the logo of ancient Sparta.

'This guy is a joke!' Azamus thought, his teeth gnashing together.

He pulled out his sniper rifle and awaited the gong, which wouldn't ring for another fifteen seconds.

"Time to lose, little man! Bahahaha!" Parthenon shouted.

He opened his arms wide, showing he wasn't scared of the rifle, trying to ridicule Azamus.

"It's about time there is a change in the order of players! You are going down, all for the rise of this mighty man! Parthenon!" The spartan shouted.

"AHOU! AHOU! AHOU!" He then cried out, slamming his short spear into his shield three times.

As his arms opened on the third slam, the gong resounded.

*Gong!*

*Bang!*

The arena went silent. Azamus had his rifle stocked to his shoulder, eye in the sights.

At the other end of the arena, a cloud of particles was slowly dispersing. Where there was once a standing show-off was now nothing.

Azamus grinned, as he was teleported back out of the arena. He had used his strongest attack; Headshot, to end this fight in one move.

'That'll teach you, you moron.' Azamus thought.

He sat back down on his seat, grinning from ear to ear, as it instantly reminded the others why he had been number one in 'ToB'.

This man was an expert marksman. Getting in his sights meant assured death almost all the time. And he had just shown them why he was always so arrogant.

Strength was the only talking needed in these cases. And he had proved he still had that strength.

Khalor huffed to the side. He was no stranger to these kinds of shows of force.

But he had fought him before, and he was far from impressed. He would crush him again in the next round.

Athena, whose turn it was, was getting mentally ready. She knew the person she was fighting was not a pro player, but if he had made it here, he was still at least a worthy opponent.

She stood up, as the teleportation spell started working its magic, nodded to Astaroth and smiled at I'die.

"See you soon." She said, as she teleported.

Standing opposite her was a skeleton, wielding a short sword and a shield. He was looking at her with his glowing eye sockets, but seemed unsure.

There was no idle banter or taunting speeches said, this time, from either side. They both just braced and waited for the fight to start.

*Gong!*

With the signal, the skeleton started running at Athena, making a weird clacking sound with every footfall. Athena fired arrows at his body, which the skeleton blocked with his buckler shield.

When he was half the distance away, he quickly sped up, his shield braced forward.

Athena recognized this skill, and jumped back twice, before back flipping, her feet landing on the wall, and launching upwards over the charging skeleton.

Mid-flight, she spun her body, pointing her bow at the skeleton, and loosing a volley of attacks. Two of these attacks were not normal arrows, one spinning rapidly, and the other being covered in energy, forming a hammerhead.

All three attacks slammed into the back of the player's head, making him tip over and slam face-first into the wall. The concussive blow from the arrow and the wall stunned the player for a few seconds.

Athena used these seconds to flip in the air, and land safely, before resuming her offensive. She relentlessly fired arrow after arrow, hitting her mark with every one of them.

Although her opponent had significantly more health than her, she made quick work of it, winning her fight in a little under a minute. The crowd in the bleachers was cheering, impressed by the newcomer's agility.

Athena smiled as the last arrow lodged in the skeleton's head, the latter having no chance to attack at all. Athena had kitted him all around the arena, leading him around like a dog on a leash.

When the skeleton vanished in a puff of particles, she jumped up in excitement. She had won her first match in this phase, and it stoked her.

To her, it meant she was pro-player material. And that had been one of her hopes in life.

When she teleported out of the arena, she jumped in I'die's arms, who received her unwillingly, clearly blushing. Astaroth laughed at the scene as he patted Athena's shoulder, congratulating her.

She thanked him, still all smiles. She could barely contain the tears of joy forming at the corner of her eyes.

Astaroth recognized that face, as he had once felt the same joy when he won his first amateur tournament in 'ToB'.

Sadness again hit his heart, as he thought about his parents, that had been the ones cheering for him, and receiving him like I'die had received Athena.

He brushed the sadness away. This was a moment of joy, not melancholy.

The next battles were almost pointless for him to watch, so he started talking with his friends while they went on.

The next round would be much more interesting.