Author's Note - All is peaceful within the City of the Night. But there are those who are lurking within the dark. The last chapter before the beginning of the first arc!
Chapter Six - City of the Night [PART III]
"One order of boar meat and six trays of fried goblin tongue, please."
Keisuke peeked up from his meal to notice several trays laying in front of him filled with fresh steaming food. His eyes widened and reached out to dig in only to halt as a chuckle sounded beside him. Looking over, he met eyes with a bespectaled man who seemed a year or two older than himself. His dirty blonde hair was drawn back into a pony-tail with a silk black ribbon, emerald green irises and a rather warm smile. But there was something off. The aura about him, it screamed something but Keisuke couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"You must be famished with the way that you're eating," the man joked with a bit of laughter.
Keisuke blinked before catching on and laughed as well rubbing the back of his head.
"Thanks for the meal, I can pay you back for the credits."
"No need. Having a companion to eat with makes a meal taste much better. Ah, I forgot. My name is Nova, it is a pleasure to meet you."
"Keisuke, its nice to meet you too."
The two were wrapped in silence for a moment, the only sound being the crowd outside of the noodle shop and the clinking of Keisuke's fork against the bowl. Out of the corner of his eye, Keisuke couldn't help but observe the other man. He was rather tall, perhaps a head or two taller than himself and his body filled out the armor that he wore nicely. A silver breast plate, iron gauntlets and greaves, a white shirt and beige pants along with a jacket hanging off his shoulders with a symbol engraved onto it that looked like a roaring lion with a crown sitting upon its head and a broken chain around its neck.
"...You're a donator?" Keisuke asked with a hesitant smile.
Nova looked towards him before chuckling softly.
"A donator? There could be no possible way. This game isn't something you can simply buy your way into, Keisuke."
For a second, Keisuke sat in slight stasis before analyzing Nova further.
Nova - LVL 99
Keisuke's breath nearly caught in his throat, his eyes widening as he stared at the calm man beside him. LVL 99? That was unprecedented. The game had only been released for three months, there was no possible way someone could achieve such a high level in such a short amount of time. He could feel chills up his back and the aura that resonated from Nova was evident. It was one promising a swift and merciless death. Keisuke felt this chill resonating when he faced a boss in a video game, but this was different. His grim reaper could have been sitting right next to him.
Nova turned to meet his eyes evenly and Keisuke's heart could have halted in his chest.
"You know nothing about the other pieces of this world. So how could you hope to be of any use? What can you do when you understand nothing?"
His fingers curled into fists and he gritted his teeth trying to keep down the words that were bubbling inside of his chest. Nova turned his eyes away, the expression within them unreadable and stood to his feet turning to leave. Though the moment that he stepped foot to enter the crowd, Keisuke burst through the door of the noodle shop and glared with a snarl on his tongue.
"Who the hell do you think I am?!"
The crowd fell silent and began to spread out. Nova stood to his full height and glanced over his shoulder.
"A worm who should stay with his head in the ground."
Keisuke's teeth gritted together. The anger boiling in his chest was beginning to pour out. If there was anything that he hated more than a show-off was a show-off with bad sportsmanship. Drawing his sword, he pointed it towards Nova with malice in his eyes.
"..You really wish to challenge me? Very well, let your ignorance be your undoing."
Nova turned on the axis of his heel and drew a similar blade although his was made entirely out of wood. Some of the people within the crowd began to laugh at his throwing snide comments his way along with laughing at his serious demeanor. But Keisuke couldn't help but feel the chills running up his spine. A dialog box opened in front of his eyes.
[NOVA] has challenged you to a duel, do you accept?
YES OR NO.
Hesitating for a second, Keisuke's fingers curled into a fist before he punched the button that said yes with full force. A timer appeared immediately between the two of them counting down from ten. In those ten seconds, Keisuke asked himself a multitude of questions. Why did he allow his feelings to grow this far? What could he do against someone that was ninety-eight levels ahead of him? And the biggest question was, did he really care? Once the timer buzzed signaling that the round began, they moved.
Wood clashed against steel, and both fighters stood their ground without their eyes leaving one anothers. Keisuke could feel himself struggling to match the intensity of Nova's stare, the other man not taking a breath or even blinking since they clashed. Though in a flash, Keisuke could feel the weight of Nova's blade vanish and could feel a piercing pain against his back. Taking a second to look behind him, he could see the other man facing the other way with his sword held backwards stabbing inbetween his shoulderblades. Keisuke bit back a yell and quickly dashed away trying to make room between the two of them.
Though before he could move too far, he could only see the glint of his breast plate before a fist knocked into his upper jaw sending him spiraling to the ground. He coughed trying to regain his breath and his footing, pushing to his feet and turning to glare at Nova only to find the latter standing directly in front of him. Looking up defiantly, he couldn't help but choke as Nova grasped him by his shirt and hoisted him into the air so that his legs were dangling. Holding onto the sword tightly in his hand, he wasn't prepared for the onslaught of punches and jabs to his abdomen before he was released. Nova's hand shot out to grab hold of his face and squeezed. Keisuke could feel his head beginning to throb before he was thrown through the crowd into a nearby vendor's cart.
The breath left his body, his chest tightening struggling for oxygen and he fell to his knees staring blankly at the sky. The crowd parted almost like the Red Sea for Nova, and the older man stared down at him with a blank expression before taking his head in his hands. Leaning down, all Keisuke could see was the green of Nova's eyes and the cold hard truth about them.
"You can accomplish nothing in this world."
With that, he reared back and smashed his head against Keisuke's. Keisuke's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground.
[DUEL OVER! WINNER: NOVA. LOSER: KEISUKE.]
System Malfunction.
Force Log Out.
Keisuke's eyes opened and he took in a deep breath before shaking his head quickly.
"I.. lost..?"
