GEOVRU: Repticatch

Lesson 7

I touched down outside the massive tower. I jumped out ofthe cockpit and put my hood over my head, pulling my scarf over my face. Themassive dust storm made it difficult to see, but I could still spot the darkblack tower. The surface of the planet was completely covered in one massivedessert of dust. Millions of years of wear and erosion on an ancient city fromconstant dust storms tends to do that. The only thing that remained werecountless towers that dotted the planet's surface. Once I stepped onto thebridge leading to the base of the tower, my suspicions were correct. Thematerial that Groftonites made their structures out of wasn't stone. It wasmetal. Each step echoed like the bridge was hollow under my feet. I traced myfingers on the ledges of the bridge, leaving a trail in the gathered dust. WhenI finally reached the massive door at the end of the bridge, I struggled to pushit open due to its massive size. I took a few steps inside and inspected mysurroundings. The tower was massive, at least ten stories tall, and all hollow.The door closed behind me with a massive clash. Each level of the tower wasdecorated like an old gothic style church, gargoyles and carvings on all thewalls and buttresses. "Whats up?" I hear behind me, I turned and looked up; agirl was sitting there, perched on a gargoyle. "What are you doing here? Shouldn'tyou be fighting up there?" she asked, pointed to the massive hole at the top ofthe tower, to the massive battle going on overhead just outside the atmosphere."Or... are you here for other reasons?" I took a moment to inspect her outfit.She bore a cloak that reached down to her ankles. She wore boots that went upto her knees, and torn shorts with a leather belt around her waist. She didn'twear much else other than the tattered cloth across h­er chest and the metallicscanner over her left eye, like Krystal's, except hers was red, simply aidingher obvious color scheme of black and red."I'm here for the Champion of Games. Where's Caedes?" Isnapped back at her.The girl gave me a smirk and opened her arms, crossing herlegs the opposite way. "You're looking at him."I thought for a second. "Y-you're kidding right?" I asked.The girl crossed her arms. "Look at my username if youdon't believe me."I focused on her, above her head popped a health bar and aname, next to a level.Caedes: lvl 100"No way... how are you a girl?!" I screamed.She jumped down from her perch, kicking up dust into acloud as she slowly stood up and sighed. "It's a long story."I threw a knife at him in anger as he walked towards me,but he just dodged it almost without trying. "You perv! You set the system tomake you a girl didn't you?!" Caedes shook his head. "No, the Atomiton won't allow it. Itreads your DNA, your blood, there's no way to change gender in VR, not unlessyou've got admin priviledges." A few seconds passed a hard tension between us,but Caedes seemed collected. He put his hands on the leather pouches that hungfrom his belt. "So, you want to take on the Champion of Games eh?""What else would I be here for!?"Caedes smirked, and opened his menu. "Alrighty then. Soundsgood to me." He replied calmly. Caedes scrolled through the menu. I knew whathe was doing, he was accessing the Game Master's menu. It was much like anormal players menu, but you were given access to the system's most innercommands.LEVEL 100!!! Shotacross my screen"Assign those skill points, and then we can fight on aneven playing field." He said this drawing the hilt of his laser sword out, justlike I predicted. I opened the menu and assigned the five points to thefollowing slots.SPD, ATK, DEF, STR, PWRI exited the menu and drew the sword from my back. "Let'sfight." I muttered.Caedes activated his sword and a red blade of energy shotout about 3 feet from the hilt, a shorter sword than my great sword, but nodoubt faster. "Are you ready?" he asked me."Of course I am.""Good. Short and to the point, no pointless monologue, Ilike it!" He darted forward, disappearing just before his blade reached me. Heappeared above me and I swung to block it. He was way too fast, inhumanly fast.There was no way to stay on defense, he was purely offensive, if I could landone good blow, he would surely die, to put that many points into speed, therecouldn't possibly be that many things into defense. I swung out in front of meto block another one of his strikes, and took the opening. He reeled back,doing a flip and vaulting back up onto the gargoyle."Hey you're not too shabby if you're reacting that fast!"he screamed."You're not half bad yourself!" I said, jumping up toanother gargoyle on the opposite side of the tower. "I expected no less fromthe Champion of Games."Caedes shooed me away. "Ah please, you're making me blush."He looked away shyly and then back at me, like some kind of taunt.I shook my head. "You're awfully level headed for what'sgoing on... you do know there's a battle going on for the fate of your raceright?"Caedes crossed his arms. "I am completely aware of the matter;I just know who's going to win. I have faith in my friends. They'll win. I'msure of that.""Faith isn't going to get you anywhere; it definitely won'twin you this war." I told him."I've been told that before, but I still pulled through.That situation was certainly worse than this one." He charged at me again andattempting to kick me.I blocked it, grabbing his leg and throwing him against thewall behind me. "You leave yourself wide open, Champion!"Just before my sword hit him, he vanished into thin air andI was hit in the back, knocking me down to the ground. "Same can be said foryou!" He screamed from above."How can he possibly beTHAT fast?!" I thought. "Andhe's strong too!" I stumbled to my feet, propping myself up on my sword. Iquickly used a health kit to restore all the health I had lost so far. "Focus Britt, FOCUS!" I screamed atmyself.I blocked another one of his attacks, then charged himmyself, delivering a furious onslaught of strikes, though he blocked each andevery one of them. He kicked me away from him and jumped into the air, an arrayof metallic wings came out from behind him, he initiated his jet-pack, the onething I didn't want him to do."Dang... you're tough!" he screamed. "Just those few secondsand you took out nearly half my health!" He pulled a health pack out of his bagand used it, consuming himself in the usual purple mist. He had access to themas well, I should have figured that, I would have to take him out before hewould get the chance to use another one, but there was no way I could get tohim if he was floating in the air. I jumped back up onto the gargoyle and studiedhim more as he floated there."You're not planning on coming down are you?" I asked."You're not planning on coming up here?" he yelled back."You've got one too don't you?""No, I don't!" I screamed.Caedes laughed, and rose higher into the air. "Come and getme when you figure it out!""Don't run away from me you coward!" I screamed, throwingmultiple knives at him. He easily dodged them.He disappeared over the top of the tower, still laughing."Dang it!" I screamed. I jumped higher up the tower,climbing it, but I wasn't even close to half way up, when I lost my footing andfell all the way back down. I used another health kit and jumped back up towhere I was. There was no way to get any higher. "Come down here and fight meyou coward!""Come up here and fight me!"The radio in my ear was still filled with chatter, peoplescreaming, and yelling at each other, from the sound of it, our team waswinning, but I still had to do my part. If I didn't take out Caedes, theneveryone could just keep respawning over and over again. But I didn't know howto get to him. I could climb the whole thing, but that would take too long, andthere were no good foot holds for me to use, which was dangerous. It was easyfor Caedes to do something like this, but for me, the closest thing I had to ajet pack was...I looked at the thruster pack on my back. It was stillthere, even if I wasn't in space. But it didn't serve much of its purpose onthe surface. It didn't give out enough engine output to use efficiently as ajump-pack. But I had never tried it before; most of the people who tried werewarriors, clad in heavy armor, not to mention they were pretty heavythemselves. I supposed that it wouldn't hurt to try. I bent my knees and jumpedinto the air, activating the pack at the extent of my leap, propelling me atleast 30 more feet into the air. I quickly grabbed onto a ledge and pulledmyself up. "Holy crap it worked!" "I told you!" I heard Caedes scream from above me. I peeredupwards to see him leaning over the edge of the tower just a few yards from me.I jumped again, and then activated the pack, propelling me over the top of thetower. I hadn't even noticed how high the tower seemed. I landed roughly on thesmall rim of the outside of the tower. The platform we stood on was no thickerthan two feet thick, it would definitely be difficult to fight up here. "Thisis way more like it!" Caedes screamed. "The two of us, fighting to the deathalmost ten stories above the ground! It feels like something out of an oldmovie doesn't it?!""It feels like I'm about to fall off!" I screamed back athim.He laughed again and drew out his sword, walking over tome. He put his hands on my shoulders and helped stabilize me. "It's like ridinga hover board, just keep your balance, you'll be fine as long as you don't lookdown. And especially remember, even if you do fall... you'll still wake up inyour dorm room."I looked him in the eyes, and backed up drawing my sword."Don't think that just cause you're a girl in this world you can get that closeto me!" I yelled.Caedes put his hands up in surrender. "Excuse me forhelping you out...""Pervert!""Not a pervert!""Then explain why you're wearing that!" I pointed at hischest, reminding him that all he was wearing besides that long cat and hood wasa ragged piece of cloth over his chest and high heeled boots. There was nomistaking that he looked rather on the sexy side of life."Have you been outside on this planet?!" he screamed. "It'sfreaking hot as mess! Minimal clothing is practically demanded! Let alone,living underground with 400 other people gets really, really hot!"I ignored his argument and stared at him down the point ofmy blade. He did the same."You ready to keep going?" he asked with a stern voice."Whenever you are." I told him in return, however I didn'tgive him the luxury of striking first, I had to go at him before he startedafter me, and if I could get him to go defensive it would slow him downimmensely. Our swords clashed furiously, his might have been made completelyout of energy, but it acted like a solid object creating sparks whenever itclashed with mine. We both struggled tokeep out balance atop the tower. Neither one of us could efficiently dodge, soCaedes was forced to face me directly. There was no escape, as long as I couldkeep up this barrage, I would win, either his stance would break or his healthwould drop to zero, but neither one happened first. He jumped into the air, andused my own momentum to throw me to my face; I quickly turned over on my backto block his next attack as he landed behind me. He had the upper hand at thispoint, and he relentlessly struck again and again. I kicked him away from meand jumped back up, charging again, then reversing the position we had thesecond before. I slammed down on him as hard as I could, then stopping to haveone final press of the swords."I will become champion!" I screamed. "I've come too far tolose here!"