A shimmer of sunlight peeked through the open door. With a large screen emitting blue light, the dimly-lit building became brighter.
Motionless, Isaac was looking straight at the screen. The neck support was nonexistent, and neck pain was almost inevitable.
''Where it is…'' Sebastian was wandering around the arcade. For some reason, the shopkeepers and workers had disappeared. He could only bet where they went to.
The restaurant on the opposite side of the street was bustling. A large party was ongoing, and many were wearing uniforms. Some had a logo of World Strike on them.
Sebastian shook his head at their unprofessionalism. The building being empty also gave Sebastian more freeway to search thoroughly. He rummaged through cabinets, cupboards, and shelves until finally, he found what he was looking for.
A piece of fabric. A thin, soft, and small enough to fit inside a tight space. Sebastian went back to Isaac, carefully moving the Helmet, trying to be as careful as possible.
He didn't want the wires to disconnect and wanted Isaac's body to stay unharmed.
Once there was a tiny gap between Isaac's head and the Helmet. Sebastian stuffed the piece of fabric inside, moving it to the neck area.
The neck area was very loose, making Isaac's head bounce around. The store didn't seem to have a smaller Helmet, which was a flawed business move by the management of World's Strike.
The bouncing was significantly reduced once the fabric was placed between the back of Isaac's head and the Helmet.
He shifted his gaze back to the screen. The second stage was about to begin.
…
Isaac crouched beside the destroyed puppet. The wires, at first glance, weren't connected anywhere. They seemed to lead to the head. However, the head was empty.
He shook his head and hopped to his two feet. The heavy sword was taking a big toll on him. Beads of sweat were emerging from his pores, making his skin glow.
Swoosh!
From the forest, a puppet emerged with a rusty dagger. His limbs rocked around him, almost killing him several times.
Screech!
Isaac dragged the long sword behind him. Once the puppet was near enough, Isaac uttered all the strength to spin the blade.
At first, the sword started spinning slowly. Until the momentum kicked in and became a small tornado.
Except, this tornado would kill from a single scratch.
The puppet had no idea what danger meant. He ran blindly and was attacked by the incoming tornado.
''RAH!'' Isaac's powerful shout was a cue to send a final strike. The momentum reached its peak.
CRACK!
Pieces of broken puppet flew around, brushing past Isaac's head and body. He, however, couldn't even feel the sword contacting. The sword's momentum was strong enough to destroy everything on its path.
Isaac stopped spinning slowly. Once his body stopped spinning, the sword landed on the ground.
The handle had visible hand marks. Isaac's palms were red, skin about to rupture.
''Haahh…'' Isaac sat beside the long sword. However, his resting time came to an end.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Endless waves of puppets ran out of the forests. They wielded familiar rusty daggers that barely had enough strength to cut through a piece of steak, let alone a human body!
''Sigh…'' Isaac grabbed the handle. He stood up slowly. The sword was still lying on the ground.
He moved his second hand and tried to lift the sword with the help of his both arms. His hidden muscles emerged, blood vessels protruded, and thick veins popped up.
''Haaah!'' The sword slowly lifted up. The endless waves of puppets had a not-so-pleasurable meeting once they reached Isaac.
Instead, they had to greet the long sword, who didn't return the greeting and cut straight through their frail bodies.
With a single strike, half-corpses of the puppets flew across the air. The other half of their corpses stayed on the ground.
Isaac's feet left the ground as he spun around with the help of the sword's velocity. His hands slowly separated from the handle.
The rogue sword flew across the air, cutting through the puppets and near trees.
Bam!
Relatively early, the sword faced a tough obstacle in the form of a small hill. The sword crashed with the formidable hill. The momentum died, and the blade cracked.
However, the sword left behind dozens of corpses. The radiant, glowing eyes flickered before dying down.
''Huff… Huff…'' Isaac straightened his back. He stood in the middle of broken pieces of puppets. He was the victor, and everyone who would have witnessed the match would been amazed.
There was indeed someone who witnessed the whole thing.
…
Sebastian's eyes shook. Not very often would he feel amazed or shocked. He thought several times that Isaac would die.
'He can't possibly survive.'
'He is surrounded… This is the end.'
'How did he survive?'
'Wha— How did he do that?'
Thoughts riddled his mind. Sebastian was more than amazed at Isaac's survival capabilities.
He wasn't amazed at his combat ability but his tenacity and way of surviving difficult situations.
In his eyes, those were far more valuable than mere combat ability. The strong could keep fighting as long as they wanted, but when they come across a far mightier person than them, their strength would mean nothing without proper survival ability.
The leaderboard flashed, and a Player who goes by the name of Wraith started climbing ranks slowly.
…
Ding! Ding!
[Stage 1 over!]
[You Killed 22 Puppets!]
[22 Stat Points Acquired!]
[SP: 22]
…
''Interface.'' A light blue holographic screen emerged from thin air. Everything at first glance was as same as before.
Except, Stat Points.
Isaac quickly assigned the stats. He didn't stop to think. He already knew what was lacking.
________
[Name: Wraith]
[Level: ???]
[HP: 100/100]
[SP: 0]
[Class: Swordsman]
[STR: 40]
[AGI: 12]
[STA: 20]
_________
Isaac nodded and closed the Interface. He cracked his knuckles and started strolling toward the long sword. He needed his weapon before the next stage began.
However, his feet halted almost instantly.
Ding! Ding!
[Stage 2 Commences!]
[Stage 2 - Spellcaster!]
The long sword faded away. Grayish light particles floated away.
Isaac's clothing changed from heavy armor to more casual. The feeling of heaviness disappeared.
Crimson-colored robes tightly hugged Isaac's body. A long walking cane manifested in his hand. The walking stick was in the color red with a tiny globe at the tip.
A fire flickered inside the globe, increasing the warmth around Isaac. It felt like he was standing next to a fireplace.