New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Astaroth excitedly opened up White Death's status screen.

Status:

Name: White Death

Race: Dire Wolf

Grade: Special

Level: 29 (178'778/259'950)

Evolve: 0/5000

Stats:

HP: 24'500/24'500 / MP: 640/5640 / Stamina: 100

Strength: 37 (+4) / Agility: 58 (+6) / Constitution: 48 (+5) / Intelligence: 29 (+3) / Wisdom: 29 (+3)

Attack Power Str: 205 / Attack Power Agi: 320 / Magic Attack Power: 160 / Healing Power: 160

Natural Defense: 5.3%

Available stat points: 0

Skills: Ghost Claw, Soul Bite, Tearing Claws

Passive Abilities: Spiritual Body

It immediately stoked him to see the health value be so high. With this, he would have a very hard-to-kill ally at all times.

He no longer needed to put points in constitution as much. Meaning his firepower will keep growing this much more from now on.

Astaroth could also feel the flame of White's soul had grown a little stronger near his own. When he reached inward to contact it, his mind drifted to the pocket of void he had been in previously.

In front of him stood White Death, now at least a meter higher than he previously was. White looked down at Astaroth and grinned.

"I can already feel some of my strength has come back. Thank you, master." He said, bowing his head solemnly.

"Don't worry about it, White. I'm doing this for me as well, since you being stronger means I also become more formidable." Astaroth replied, putting his hand on the wolf's head.

Astaroth then closed his eyes, feeling his soul drift back to his outer body. He opened his eyes as Morticia stared at him.

They had been in a conversation until now, and Astaroth had suddenly just smiled and closed his eyes. Morticia just looked at him weirdly, before dismissing the event entirely.

They eventually returned to their conversation, with Astaroth explaining what they had been doing in the first phase with much details. Even though Morticia was his teammate, this would give her a good measure of fear for when they eventually weren't a team any longer.

He, of course, has that conversation in a low voice, to not give too many details to the other teams seated around them. The impact that had on them was quite visible, as some players tried to inch closer, to listen in.

Soon, though, the timer for waiting time ran out. It was now time for the second round of fights. The screen in the sky shuffled before showing the next round's team number match-up.

To no one's surprise, the first five teams to fight this time again would be the teams with the five anomaly players. But one thing was different this time around.

The teams that would confront them all had a pro Esports player in them. Whatmore, the pro players were all players that were high in the level ranking before the tournament.

The difficulty level was now much higher for the five players concerned, except for maybe Phoenix, one such player herself.

It was like the organizers of the tournament wanted to rapidly knock them out of the competition. No one complained, though.

Seeing as how the five players concerned had practically wiped the floor with their last opponents, they all felt like this was a balanced match-up.

This time, the first team to pass was I'die's team. Phoenix's team, Athena's team, Gulnur's team, and last, Astaroth's team would follow them.

Astaroth was disappointed to go last this time, but he didn't mull over it long. He would still get his chance to show off, anyway.

The four fights before his proceeded a lot slower, this time, seeing as their opponents were on a higher scale of strength and skill. It was touch and go at some times, but they all pulled through in the end.

The ones that had the hardest time were I'die and Gulnur, who both were talented players, but had not yet experienced quite that much. They pulled their own weight, but the wins they had were not as overwhelming as before.

Athena, in her fight, showed a very high combat intuition, and always seemed to be in the right position to fire her arrows.

She also evaded her pursuers' pincer moves on more than one occasion, making her seem like some kind of hidden expert.

It was like they were playing cat and mouse, but the mouse always eluded the cats. This impressed Astaroth a lot, and he started wondering where she honed these skills.

These did not seem like gaming skills, but a more real-life skill set, like she had been in similar situations before.

As for the mighty Phoenix, she crushed her opponent this time as well, showing off another impressive pyromancer skill. As soon as her fight started, she set the whole arena ablaze, making it look like hell.

Her opponents and her allies both started taking massive damage over time, as the flames burned their health away. It also made it hard for her opponents to find her amidst the inferno, making them unable to stop it.

It was over in minutes, and the only one left standing was Phoenix. Her teammates were very discontent with her methods, but kept silent, as she had won them the fight, anyway.

Astroth watched all the fights with a smile, as he internally praised them. He knew he would most likely have to fight them in the next phase, but that was what he wanted.

When Gulnur's combat ended in a very brutish tank standoff, with Gulnur eventually overpowering his enemy, Astaroth stood up. It was now his team's turn.

He looked up at the screen to see who they were against and smiled even more. His opponent would be a veteran pro player that he had always admired, even from a young age.

The ranger player, and ex-number-one e-sports player, Killi. As Astaroth lowered his eyes from the screen in the sky, he was teleported into the arena.

Not far away from him and his team stood their opponents. And at their head, was a tall, blonde man, wearing very nice full leather armor.

The way he stood there exuded confidence and a kind of noble charm. Like he was owed a victory, regardless of his enemies.

Astaroth stepped forward a few meters, as Killi did the same. They both stopped a few feet away from each other, gauging one another.

"It's a pleasure to meet one of the older Esports players out there, sir Killi." Astaroth said, smiling like a child in front of their idol.

"I'm flattered you feel that way, kid. Although I don't like being called an older player." Killi laughed as he responded.

"Pardon my words then, sir. I hope we both get to enjoy this fight earnestly." Astaroth said, giving a small nod.

Killi only nodded at the youngster as they both walked back to their teams. Not long after, the bell for the start of the fight resounded.

*Dong!*