Chapter 14: A fight between lovers

"Now, all you have to do is put on your helmet." Sophia realised.

"Oh! How would I have realised that a helmet is meant to be worn?" Josh asked sarcastically.

"See you in the game." Sophia put on her helmet.

"This girl must trust me a lot." Josh sighed.

It takes a lot of trust for a girl as beautiful and endowed as Sophia to lay on the same bed with a guy, even if that guy was a friend of hers or even her love interest.

It takes an even greater level of trust for her to feel safe enough to go into a state where she could not see or feel her surroundings, in the presence of a guy who was not her brother.

'Do I deserve this trust?' Josh thought.

Although He was not some pervert who would touch a woman without her permission, he did not feel like he had earned her trust.

He, for instance, could not trust her with any of his secrets. Hell! He hadn't even told her he was able to use magic, telling her that to him was akin to setting up traps for himself.

Josh was still not sure of his feelings for her, and neither was he sure he could trust her.

"Maybe it's about time I open up a little bit. Living a life without having any people you trust and love around you can be depressing." Josh muttered to himself.

Once depressed, he knew exactly what it felt like to be alive and breathing, but still feel like he wasn't in touch with reality.

He once saw people as; evil, cruel and wicked. This led him into depression, isolating himself from the world and constantly telling himself that he was hated by everyone and that the world was a cruel place.

It wasn't until he met the person who changed his perspective of life, that he began seeing the world, and even himself in a different light.

'Is it worth the risk?' Josh thought to himself.

If he told Sophia about his being able to use magic, how would she react? She would definitely be surprised, but he refused to believe that she would tell everyone who cared to listen. He did not see her as the type of person. But you never really know people. Your best friend can also at a point become your worst enemy. Human nature is incredibly unpredictable. You can be friends with a person for years and suddenly grow apart.

But did telling her about his magic abilities really matter? It would only be a matter of time and she would know about it anyway. The only secret he was sure he would keep to his death was his having a system.

The only reason he would tell Sophia about his system is when he falls in love with her, if he ever does that is.

But would she forgive him then, for not trusting her enough with his secret?

'If I keep thinking about this I might need to visit Cecile earlier than estimated.' Josh thought and put on the helmet.

Josh appeared in a completely dark place.

"Am I in the wrong place? Wouldn't be a first." Josh shrugged, he looked around, hoping he would see even a glimmer of light and then a screen appeared in front of him.

[Name: ________]

[Pick costume]

[Pick magic affinity]

[Pick weapon]

Josh clicked on his name and inputted his name as "ISHOWSTRENGTH". Seeing that he did not get any message telling him that his name was not taken, he proceeded to click on the pick costume option.

The scenery around him changed, and he was suddenly in what looked like the closet of a Kung Fu master.

"Don't these people wear anything apart from robes?" Josh sighed frustrated.

He looked around and finally settled for a red robe with a beautiful floral design on it.

Now that this was settled, Josh clicked on the "pick magic affinity option". This time, the scenery around him did not change, but the pick magic affinity option disappeared and the different magic affinities replaced it.

Josh without thinking twice, clicked on the fire magic affinity option.

Josh clicked on the "Pick weapon" option and the scenery around him morphed into what seemed like a store where weapons were sold.

Josh avoided touching any weapon, for fear of picking the wrong one. After searching around for a few seconds, he picked up a sword.

[Do you want to wield this sword In battle?]

[Yes]

[No]

Josh didn't think too much of it and clicked yes.

The scenery around him changed, and he was suddenly inside a large stadium.

"How do i-"

[FrostQueen requests to be your friend]

[Accept]

[Reject]

"Oh, that's how," Josh said, and clicked on accept.

[Your friend FrostQueen wants to join your room]

[Accept]

[Reject]

Another notification appeared before Josh. He clicked on accept.

A beautiful girl in a white dress, that couldn't do too much to hide her generous curves revealed a huge portion of her cleavage. The dress had an icy aura around it that made it more domineering.

"Nice tiara." Josh grinned, looking at the White tiara on Sophia's head.

"Nice robes." Sophia too smiled.

"Your sword looks cool by the way," Josh said, admiring the icy white sword on Sophia's left hand that exuded an icy aura.

"Thanks." Sophia nodded.

"You bought it with real money." Josh figured as he didn't find anything like or even close to it.

"I did," Sophia affirmed his suspicion.

"Good buy. So, how do we fight?" Josh asked.

"You can choose the world search option, which puts you in fights with similarly ranked players," Sophia explained.

"How do I even check my rank or choose the search world option?" Josh asked.

"To check your rank, all you have to do is say, 'open status page'," Sophia said,

"My status page already opened, although you cannot see it, try yours."

Josh nodded, "Open the status page."

[Name: ISHOWSTRENGTH]

[RANK: Bronze]

[Consecutive wins till next rank: 0/10]

[Magic affinity: Fire]

[Weapon: Sword]

"I need to win ten fights in a row to reach the next rank?" Josh asked.

"Yep." Sophia nodded.

"Oh well, how do I close this?" Josh asked.

"Just say 'close status page'," Sophia replied.

The status page disappeared.

"It's that easy huh," Josh said.

"It is." Sophia agreed.

"Now how do we fight?" Josh asked.

"All you have to do is say 'Game mode'," Sophia replied.

Josh nodded, and said, "Game mode."

[Player search]

[World search]

[Online friends]

[FrostQueen]

[Friends in the room]

[FrostQueen]

"What do I do next?" Josh asked.

"Click on my name and select the send fight request option," Sophia instructed.

Josh nodded and clicked on FrostQueen.

[Send fight request to frost queen?]

[Yes]

[No]

Josh clicked on yes.

The scenery around them changed, and Josh was standing in a ring with Sophia.

"Guess it's time I give you that beating I've always wanted." Josh grinned.

"You wish." Sophia scoffed.

"How about we fight with just our fists?" Josh suggested, as he was more confident he would win if he used his fists.

"Fine by me." Sophia shrugged and threw her sword to the ground. Josh too did the same.

"How is the winner even selected?" Josh asked.

"As we fight our HP points reduce from two hundred. The first person whose HP gets to zero loses the fight." Sophia explained.

"Fine by me." Josh nodded.

"If I win then you call me daddy." Josh smiled.

"Interesting," Sophia chuckled, "What if I win?"

"I'll call you big sis," Josh replied.

"Fair enough." Sophia nodded and got in a fighting stance.

[Quest received]

[A fight between lovers: defeat Sophia Thompson in a fistfight]

[Reward: 550 Exp]

'Is this system messing with me?'Josh thought, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Sophia charged in with great speed going for the uppercut, which Josh ducked and countered with a front kick aiming at her stomach area, which she evaded by Making a backflip, as she landed Josh immediately went for the leg sweep, throwing her off balance as she couldn't evade the attack, not holding back Josh immediately went for another leg sweep which she ducked by rolling away.

Josh went in again hoping to give her a kick to the knee, as she got up and went for a spinning kick Josh ducked immediately and went for a double leg sweep which connected as she was thrown off balance again, he went again for a jumping forward punch aiming for her stomach area, which she dodged by rolling sideways as his fist connected with the floor some dents could be seen.

'I really did get stronger, time to end this.' Josh thought getting serious, as he made a short burst of speed which would make one suspect he was from a certain family in the big five who could perform amazing feats of speed seemingly effortlessly without the use of equipment.

He gathered momentum and spun around as he punched her in the head, throwing her to the floor, not a ding sound but two was heard by Hunter as he received two notifications.

[Congratulations!]

[A fight between lovers quest completed!]

[Reward: 550 Exp]

[Level up!]