Starting Afresh

The ancient colosseum came to life with the furious clangor of steel and the cheers of rowdy spectators. Numerous combatants garbed in pristine armor fought unrestrainedly against their opponents while others studied the ongoing battles in order to understand their potential adversaries.

The colosseum's pairing system was unpredictable, so only a few devious and meticulous contestants managed to take the bigger picture into account and glimpse into its workings.

Primus was one of these few. His short sword danced through the battlefield and reaped the lives of average fighters, experts, and geniuses alike.

His elusive footwork confused numerous challengers who happened to stumble across him, and the occasional bursts of superspeed eliminated them all together.

Primus wasn't interested in the boring two-player duels but instead the open world battle royale which many elites frequented regularly.

His former guild, Occam's Razor, was one of the best worldwide. Their leader also happened to be a legendary first-rate player who ranked fourth internationally.

Primus aspired to become the co-leader of the Occam's Razor guild, but eventually failed to since when the current co-leader caught wind of his ambition he felt threatened and kicked him out of it.

Ever since then, Primus had only played for the thrill of it and began considering ending his career as a player.

When the virtual interactive game, Cosmic Retaliation, was first released, Primus was amongst the first to play it. He loved the game so much that he would spend his sleep time playing and lots of Credits on it.

He even bought a premium V-pod with most of his life savings. It felt so bad to have his ambitions crushed.

Primus considered joining another top-tier guild but found to his dismay that the co-leader of the Occam's Razor guild had tarnished his reputation by spreading false rumors about him, therefore making other guild co-leaders feel threatened too.

Primus really didn't want to stop playing Cosmic Retaliation, so he eventually decided to create his own guild, but the amount of Credits required to do so was too exorbitant.

He had almost given up when suddenly a new Cosmic Retaliation update was released.

***

Primus woke up early in the morning and had his usual cup of sugarless coffee. The bittersweet taste and texture of the grinded cocoa always invigorated him.

He rinsed his face hurriedly and ran down to the basement when he was done. Primus inspected his low-tech basement that was filled to the brim with many miscellaneous gadgets and broken equipment.

The basement was dirty and almost rundown. At a corner of it stood the premium V-pod he had spent a fortune on, its lustrous composite alloy surface shone like glittering comets.

Primus activated the V-pod with a biometric lock, its lid parted and revealed a comfortable interior with leather and aerogel cushions attached to different sections of partitioned alloy segments.

He wore a high-quality Fulldive suit and lay in the horizontal V-pod. The lid of the pod closed and pitch black darkness enveloped Primus, then the oxygen system came to life and filled the interior of the V-pod with fresh air.

A dull blue light evaporated the darkness and the user interface appeared.

[Cosmic Retaliation]

[New update available]

[Install new update?]

[Yes]/[No]

Primus was surprised since there wasn't supposed to be another update until the next three months. He willed for the interface to select the former option.

[Update installing...]

[Update installed]

Primus loaded the game and was soon transported to an all-encompassing field of whiteness that still managed to disturb him a bit. His avatar stood motionlessly at the center of that whiteness - at least that was what he thought. Primus couldn't actually determine the avatar's position in the field of whiteness since he hadn't seen its end - if it even had one - thus, he couldn't pinpoint its center.

[Welcome back, Silent Reaper.]

[Equip your avatar?]

[Yes]/[No]

Primus inspected his motionless avatar and sighed. He had whittled gray hair and eyes of the same color. His body was translucent and sported numerous black veins that ran along his skin.

'Yes...'

[Avatar equipped]

Primus' mind was transported into his avatar's body. The whiteness was a lot more vivid through his eyes and his body felt gaseous.

The scenery instantly changed from an apparently neverending field of whiteness to that of a bustling marketplace.

An array of bright stars lit up the night sky and contrasted beautifully against the stormy clouds that loomed over Shadowdale like an omen of death.

Rows upon rows of brick houses, wooden huts, and grass hovels filled the area with a feeling of incongruity. The vast expanse of land Shadowdale covered stretched farther than any map could chart - thankfully expert cartographers could access the CR database and convert the information into understandable data drawn on large parchments.

One might have expected everyone to be asleep at this time of the day, but time in CR was directly opposite to that of the real world. So while it was early morning in the real world, here, it was night.

Aside from the stars illuminating the Thunderbird's Guild Marketplace, there were also torches in the cheap stalls and glowing orbs for those who could afford them.

Many people traded different goods, offered different luxuries and services, and divulged information - all for the right price of course.

Primus strolled to a popular tavern famed for its unique brew, the Honeysuckle Leaflet. On his way to the renown taphouse, he inspected his status.

<Name: Silent Reaper>

<Level: 17>

<Experience: 7,893/10,000>

<Class: Assassin>

<Specialization: Runecarver>

<Race: Superior Ectoplasm>

<Abilities: Race - Mist, Shroud. Class - Critical Strike, Nightwalker, Obscure. Specialization - Imbue Power>

<Items: Shadow Blade, Holy Water, Potion of Elemental Resistance, Sky Keeper Armament>

<Familiar:__>

<Skill Tree: Locked>

Primus willed the interface to open the Skill Tree.

[The Skill Tree is inaccessible to you at your current level - Requirement: Reach level 20]

'Im still not strong enough.'

He stifled a sigh and swung the wide wooden door of Wildmer's Taphouse open. The torches in the tavern flickered as the wind blew against them, but the glowing orbs remained unaffected.

Primus walked in and everyone's attention was drawn to him. His unique appearance and detached demeanor caused people to reduce their voices to a whisper or stop their conversations entirely.

"Oi, if it isn't Occam's ghost. The bastard who singlehandedly put an end to an entire guild war but still failed to keep his position as an Elder. Marco should have left your head hung." A burly red haired giant stood to greet Primus.

"I've no time for your nonsensical babble, Avdan." Primus sat on a stool at the serving table.

"Says the lickle bwoy who got a thorough beaten from Samane." Avdan continued.

"Samane was our leader, of course I stood no chance against her. Rumors say that she's a level 279 swordsman specialist." Primus ordered two cold Honeysuckle Leaflets and handed one to Avdan.

"'Samane was our leader', gosh, do you hear yourself, Ghost? You sound like a little girl."

"Enough with the profanities Avdan. I came here for a reason. I have a goal, and you have no choice but to help me realize it."

They both drank the unique brew together and joked languidly before Primus got to the point. He was a hundred percent certain that Avdan was already intoxicated just by the looks of him. As for Primus himself, his ectoplasmic body distilled the alcoholic content of the brew until it was no different from drinking water.

"Where is she, Avdan?" Primus finally asked.

"Who're ya taking bout, mate?"

Avdan looked as though he was about to explode. This was about his thirteen round of Honeysuckle Leaflets.

"Samane. Where is she?"

"Who's that?"

"Samane, the Dragon Slayer."

Avdan's eyes glinted with recognition, "Oh, that one. The one who mopped the floor with your face last time right?"

Primus' face flared with restrained anger.

"Yes. That one."

"Well, if you must know... she's right behind you."

Primus instantly retrieved a short sword from his shadow and threw it behind him. He turned around to see if he'd hit the target but was shocked to see a short, old man yelping in pain.

"Ahhhhh, my leg!!!" The gnome cried.

'Oh crap... crap... crap... crap...'

"Got ya." Avdan laughed.

"Would you please just tell me where she is?" Primus pleaded.

The old gnome should have already been taken care of by now. Taverns like this one were less prone to accidents but still took them into account, so there were experienced healers on standby.

"Yeah, not a chance." Avdan stood to leave.

"I have armor..."

The burly red haired was instantly interested...