Game’s Dogma

‘I understand.’ Drako Yau bowed at Destiny. ‘Thank you for your gift.’

He then turned to look at Chris and asked, ‘Do I look for you here after I complete my quest?’

Chris nodded and replied, ‘Yes.’

At that moment, Drako Yau could no longer hold back. ‘Are you all humans or NPCs?’

Chris and Dex both chuckled and said, ‘Of course we’re NPCs.’ Chris then pointed at the name ‘Chris’ floating above his head and continued, ‘But, we’re also humans.’

Dex also added, ‘Child, don’t think about it too much and focus on overcoming the challenges before you first. As you grow stronger, things will gradually clear up.’

Drako Yau nodded in silence. Although he had been improving rapidly lately, he didn’t get arrogant and look down on others. Destiny, Chris, Yoda’s Castellan, and that mysterious purple weirdo, every one of them could easily erase him from existence. He was one of many humans trapped by a wall; the higher he jumped, the more he saw, and the more he realised how terrifying the people beyond the walls were.

‘I’ll be taking my leave then.’

Drako Yau left. Learning that he basically had a bomb planted within him didn’t seem to have affected him emotionally.

Destiny and Chris were both in a daze as they saw Drako Yau off.

‘Hey, this isn’t like you. That Cryoflame Jade, it’s an understatement to call it a priceless gem. You just gave it to that kid like that?’

Destiny sighed. ‘That child… he suffers too much. I’m not sure if he can bear such a heavy burden on his own.’

Chris shook his head and said, ‘If even you of all people can’t see his future, then it’s up to fate.’

Drako Yau wasn’t hung up on the issue. He was shocked about his body’s situation, but not desperate.

While the forces within him were violent, they also provided him with a great source of strength. If he hadn’t suddenly entered that weird state back during the fight with Nin, he would have died already. What he needed to investigate now was how to control the forces.

After returning to Yoda with a scroll, Drako Yau headed on to his destination—the Arena.

The soldier standing guard at the Arena’s gates saw Drako Yau approaching and asked with a smile, ‘Sir, are you entering the Arena as well?’

Drako Yau nodded, and he vanished from the spot the next moment. 

The soldier was the Arena NPC. Players could enter the Arena zone once they conversed with the NPC and confirmed their choice. Unlike cities and levelling zones, the Arena was a separate space which could be accessed through all three cities. 

Sensing solid ground beneath his feet, Drako Yau opened his eyes. He was in a grand, circular hall where countless players were walking to their own destinations. Many other players were conversing with the NPC receptionists as well. Unsure about what to do, Drako Yau spent some time asking the NPCs.

The Arena turned out to be pretty complicated. It was divided into ‘Solo’ and ‘Squad’ mode, and players could compete in ‘Casual’ or ‘Ranked’ battles. Casual battles were, as its name implied, casual and simple; two players would simply duke it out in a duel.

Ranked battles affected one’s rating, and many players fought hard to improve their rankings. It also gave rewards in the form of Battle Medals which could be used to trade for items with NPCs in the Arena. At the end of a season, players would receive bonus medals based on their ranking as well.

Squad battles were further divided into 3-versus-3 and 5-versus-5, but it wasn’t why Drako Yau was here for anyways. He took out his phone and opened up the Arena interface. After selecting Solo mode, he disappeared from the hall.

Wai Kiu shut his eyes and had a sneer on his face as he sat in the middle of the ring. In front of him was a long knife stabbed into the ground.

Wai Kiu was merely Level 19 and had yet to undergo his class progression, but the nickname ‘Wai Kiu the Crazy Swordster’ was fairly well-known. He was also ranked 432nd in Solo Ranked battles; it was an extraordinary feat to gain such a rank among millions of players. Furthermore, he was the only one ranked between 300 and 500 who had not undergone class progression.

Level 20 meant class progression, which also meant a great spike in combat strength as it granted more skills and more attribute points. However, Wai Kiu steadily maintained his ranking at Level 19. Many speculated that once he reached Level 20, his ranking would shoot up even further.

Anyways, Wai Kiu was feeling a bit grumpy today, so he didn’t participate in Ranked battles. Such was the difference between Casual and Ranked battles—it didn’t matter if he won or lost in Casual mode. There weren’t any penalties or rewards, so many players chose to hone their combat techniques in Casual mode.

However, Ranked was an entirely different thing. Everyone went all out for their own rankings, some players would even go to extreme lengths for the sake of their pride and honour. As such, when players felt like they weren’t in peak condition, they wouldn’t fight in Ranked to avoid dropping their rating pointlessly.

It was Wai Kiu’s seventh win in a row. The sweet feeling of destroying newbies soothed his troubled mind a little.

Soon, his eighth challenger appeared. Looking at the opponent at the opposite side of the ring, Wai Kiu’s sneer only intensified. The opponent wore a set of heavy armour, while his face was covered by a fiery red mask which was out of tune with his armour. He even wore a necklace with a clown totem.

That mask alone is pretty expensive, no? Wai Kiu shook his head and felt weary. His opponent was clearly a spendthrift who fooled around in the Arena with costly equipment—he had defeated so many of them that he had lost count already.

‘Surrender, I don’t want to waste time.’

Drako Yau was startled upon hearing what Wai Kiu said. Why does this guy act like he knows me? I even put on my Mask of the Hidden Dragon and the Necklace of Deceit!

Wai Kiu’s impatient temperament kicked in when Drako Yau simply stood there and ignored him. ‘I’m telling you, noob! Surrender! The Arena isn’t a place for you people to fool around!’

Drako Yau laughed. It turned out that the guy had mistaken him for someone who was all show and no go. Without uttering a word, he readied Moon Breaker and pointed it at Wai Kiu from afar.

Wai Kiu was so mad that he broke into laughter. He pulled out the knife before him and howled, ‘You picked the path of death yourself!’

Wai Kiu was nicknamed the Crazy Swordster because his swordsmanship didn’t belong to any style. It was all about speed—as the saying went, ‘In martial arts, only speed is peerless.’

Faced against Wai Kiu’s unrelenting streak of attacks, Drako Yau swung his spear and deflected every strike.

‘Brat, you’re a lucky one! Take this!’ Wai Kiu snickered.

He was starting to lose patience after attacking his opponent to no avail for so long. He moved forwards and slashed his long knife vertically from above at Drako Yau. However, Drako Yau evaded the slash with light, retreating steps using his Empyreal Dragon Step.

It was at that moment Wai Kiu showed an exhilarated smile on his face.

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