n

n

nThe next two days Eldrian simply took it easy while waiting for the developers to finish the arenas. For the most part, he visited the forums or simply watched some series or anime, having a great deal of them he needed to catch up on.

nAs such the days flew by, with Eldrian having gone online to visit his virtual home. He could immediately feel that something was missing here too. Almost similar to when he logged out of the game, but not really the same. Instead of something missing, it was more that an expectation he didn't know he had, wasn't being met.

nLuckily this didn't last long, only bothering him for a few minutes after waking in the opening in front of his little cabin. Looking at it and smelling the freshness of nature surrounding him, Eldrian was happy with what the developers had managed. He was actually quite surprised they had managed to release it so fast, with so many details.

nAfter getting used to his surroundings Eldrian decided to take a walk, finding that he did not have an inventory or even much of an interface. As the announcement had said, all he had available to him was logging out, or entering the development mode. Though doing the latter had limits, with the company saying it was to save processing power.

nIn the end, Eldrian simply walked through the forest he had made, those near his house being spare and easy to navigate. The further from his house, the denser it became, with the furthest ten meters of forest being a jungle of plants. One could not even walk through it all, not without cutting through them.

nEldrian naturally did not do this, he just wanted to figure out how things turned out. After that, he had gone looking for a few sticks he could use to go through a few routines. Quickly finding that his speed and stamina in this virtual home was not the same as that in the game. It reflected his real body far more.

nInteresting, did they do this because they wanted to remove the threat of affinity becoming a problem. Or was it simply the case that they couldn't bring magic into this virtual home? Eldrian wondered, leaning more to the latter than the former, though both could certainly have led to their decision.

nOn the day before the tournament started, with Eldrian not having made or joined a team for the team matches, he contacted Erik.

n

"Hey, have you set up your virtual home?

" Eldrian asked over the phone.

n

"Yeah, I was quite surprised by the detail we could add.

"

n

"Right, what did you in the end?

"

n

"A mix of a garden and forest, I didn't even make much of a house. I am a little bummed that my avatar for this place isn't the same as the one in the game.

" Erik replied.

n

"What do you mean?

"

n

"Like, I know they said that the plants won't have all the substance they had IRL or in the game. But I can't even feel them, it is something so natural in the game that it really caught me off guard.

"

nIs that what is going on with me, something similar. Am I feeling weird because of the lack of mana? Eldrian wondered, but did not drift too much into it.

"Still, it is a cool feature.

"

n

"Certainly, it will really help those who do not like the situation of ANW. While most players are fine with fighting, the realism of the game threw a large number of them off their comfort zone.

"

n

"True, and talking about that. The tournament, which matches did you sign up for?

" Eldrian asked.

n

"I haven't yet, I was going to contact you tonight about it.

"

n

"Then join my team, though it will just be the two of us. I don't think we will do too badly.

" Eldrian said, hoping that they could get first place, or at the least, he could get first place in the spear match. They just needed one to get the coin Erik needed.

n

"Alright, by the way, I think I am going to change my discipline.

"

n

"Have you finally decided?

" Eldrian asked, having talked a bit about this before.

n

"Yeah, while I still like writing, I really want to try and become a better healer. I can already make enough through the game to basically support myself.

"

nHearing this Eldrian whistled in surprise,

"Are you serious?

"

n

"Well, I mean I can't really afford much. But if I stay with my parents, then I can make enough to cover my own food.

"

nHearing this Eldrian laughed for a while,

"That isn't supporting yourself.

" He teased.

n

"Well it's better than nothing, right you don't even have to worry. Miracle is supporting you with a room, food, and even free services. You really do have the life, hey.

" Erik teased back, causing Eldrian to falter as he realized he really did have it nice.

nHis bank account was steadily growing from that of a teenager to that of an adult. He didn't even have expenses, so it grew much faster than that of others who actually had things they needed to take care of themselves.

n

"In any case, if we can claim first prize in the tournament it should help you convince your parents seeing as you will be able to pay back a year or two's cost.

"

n

"True, do you have any other people you have invited?

" Erik asked, this mention making him want to win even more.

n

"Ah, no... But I can probably ask Elizabeth, though I haven't talked to her in a long time. I wonder what they have been up to...

" Eldrian mumbled the last part as he thought back to how all those on the TRM mission had missed out on the Empire's recruiting. Back then quite a number of them had complained, though now most were actually happy it had happened.

nThe army had been training them too, and while the skills and spells they learned might be weaker than those from the empire, that didn't really take effect at their current Tiers. Instead, those left behind got training, weapons, armor, and quests. After reflecting they had found that they had come out on top.

nAfter talking with Erik, Eldrian found himself in the awkward position of realizing he didn't have Elizabeth's number. Going onto his forum he hoped that the developers had made it possible to talk with friends through it. Seeing as people wouldn't be able to get into the game for a month, he found this was a possibility. Luckily he also found that they have.

nOpening his friend list which was really lacking, Eldrian typed a message to Elizabeth. Asking if she wanted to team up with him and his friend. Then he waited patiently for nearly an hour before a reply came.

n

"Totally, if it is just you two, you will fit in perfectly.

" She replied, though Eldrian suddenly worried about how the rewards were going to be split. Looking at the announcement again he found that he couldn't figure out if the rewards for the team-based matches were per person, or per team.

nScrew it, even if we share it with them, it will still be a good sum. And first place should then be much easier to get. I can always also sell Gray if it comes to it. Eldrian though, quickly trying to figure out how it would work.

nAfter that, he talked a bit with Elizabeth, with them merging their teams not much later. Looking at the list of names now in it, Eldrian realized that he knew everyone. They were the same group he had sparred with before leaving the players and following Old Sword way back at the start of TRM.

n

"Hopefully we don't meet any good teams tomorrow, though the way the fights are going to be held is quite strange.

" Elizabeth sent after wondering who this Faust was, she knew Eldrian had not really played with any players. He was a strange player who she was certain had little or no player friends, heck she had not heard from him in over a month.

nShe felt he wasn't really considering this game as a game, being so involved with the NPCs and excluded from others. She hoped that adding him wasn't a mistake, since while she knew how much she and her friends had grown. She had no idea if Eldrian had grown, nor if this Erik would be useful at all.

n

"Right, do you know how it is going to work?

" Eldrian asked, not having managed to get that information yet.

n

"Yeah, they published it like half an hour ago. We will simply join a queue, and then our ranking will be determined by our wins and losses. Two teams who have fought, can't fight again on the same day. The same goes for the individual matches.

"

n

"Wait, then should you try to fight as many times as possible, or just win a certain amount?

" Eldrian asked, confused about how this was going to work.

n

"I assume they will have something weighing things behind the scenes. Most games with rankings have, to average out the wins and losses by comparing it to who you won and lost again... Or something.

" Elizabeth added as she wondered if the company would go that far.

n

"Right, well when should we try to be online? I'll let Erik know.

" Eldrian replied, Elizabeth quickly realizing that Eldrian knew this person in person, which made even more sense to her than him making a friend in the game.

n

"Let's aim for around ten in the morning, I hope we can claim three to five wins. I don't want to make it too much, since many of us also want to try the individual matches.

"

n

"Right, that should work,

" Eldrian replied, quickly getting back into the relaxed mood he had had all day. A few hours later he received another message from Elizabeth.

n

"Please come online, the virtual homes are online and visitors are now allowed. Also, contact your friend. It would be smart of us to discuss some plans before actually jumping into fights.

"

nOh, what a good use of the virtual home already.

n