The Game Before the Fall

Chapter 57: On Route (Part 3)

**

Aria Friend:

"Okay let's break it down," I took over the replay controls, adjusting the view on the big screen behind us. We sat along with the panel members from the 1st day, being Erin, Dr Retch, VV and Tiara. Dr Retch and Tiara were the match commentators, while I and Erin oversaw explaining what the players were seeing post-match. VV kind of just pitched in wherever.

Erin looked at the chat that was constantly feeding in from the audience, "We're getting a lot of questions about how our player Veran is using his bow skills. Aria?"

I continued and highlighted Vanter on the screen, "Like in the round of 16, Veran is showing us a bit more of what he can do. In this round of 8 match against Yumi, Veran isn't activating skills via the system but naturally. This way he isn't held back by the slight time delay and as can be seen is proving to edge out the speed he needs to keep out of reach while whittling Yumi down."

The screen above showed Vanter dodging back as Yumi swung at him with a massive hammer. The player Yumi dominated the rocky stage and had bolstered herself to be close to twice her usual height. Vanter however had a neutral expression, and even while dodging was constantly firing arrows, targeting Yumi's weak points.

"The type of martial art Veran is using is a mix of the Elven Magistrate's bow arts and combined with real life experience of Zen's Extreme Martial Art, or ZEMA. Keep an eye on how Veran is loading and firing his bow. He draws three arrows at a time and fires each in quick succession. You can achieve a similar effect by using the Quickdraw, and Quickshot skills."

"Still," VV interjected. "The way Veran and A.Friend move is a step above everyone else in the World Championship. You mentioned it before but are they really not using skills via the system?"

Erin raised her hand, "Let me explain as I also just started to do the same. When you activate a skill from the system you can feel it guiding your body and in some skills, it forcefully moves your body. In comparison, Veran here, is moving with the system and thus activates the skill naturally. He's basically removing as much of the automation as possible."

Dr Retch laughed, "I get that, but just what type of training does he have to do to move like that? I can barely use the systems skills as it is."

I grinned, seeing the opportunity to make another plug, "I've toted this before, but being in tune with your real body helps to move your virtual body. For anyone who is thinking about getting better, try out some of the ZEMA videos. Anyway, let's get back to the match. Remember we'll be answering questions all day here so make sure to get involved."

"Yep," Erin smiled at me as I was becoming much more natural at speaking in front of the audience. "Now our next question is about Yumi...." Our part of the day continued and as I watched A.Friend on the screen, I could only have faith in Vanter that he'd pull through.

**

Veranvanter:

Vanter sat on the couch of the waiting room's common area. He was alone. His opponent for the round of 4 was Crozen who apparently would rather be preparing in his private space. If it had been the past Crozen, Vanter had no doubt he'd be here with him gloating about his inevitable victory. The current Crozen was different, more down to earth and though still a narcissist, could appreciate the effort of others. Vanter liked to think it was due to how many times he had been humbled and was looking forward to doing it again.

On the screen in front of him, the semi-final match between A.Friend and Bon-Hwa was in full swing. It was the much-anticipated rematch from the 1st day of the convention and the viewership across the world had peaked to its highest in the history of Areithia. Bon-Hwa was holding nothing back. Compared to their initial match where he hadn't used all his skills, he was chaining them together and using multiple in conjunction. He had also overcome the first wall of the game between who was professional and an amateur. He was activating skills through his body and not by interacting with the system.