50 Was It Real?
Jane led the way, and Arthur followed closely behind. Everything inside Frostpeak Academy looked the same. The buildings, the people, their personalities. It all felt so real.
Wisa waited for the two of them, and she looked angry.
“You’re late for our first class. Really? Where were you anyway?” she kicked the ground with her feet, which only made her boobs bounce.
“I slept too much. I’m sorry,” said Arthur, scratching the back of his head, ashamed.
“I’ll let this time pass, but don’t you dare to do that again. Understood?”
Arthur nodded, and grabbed the wooden sword Wisa tossed him. It was their first private class, and Jane stood by the side watching everything.
“Show me what you got!”
What did Arthur get? Basically nothing. He was a newbie, and that was clear for anyone who saw.
It was a strange feeling to have a weaker body. Inside the Frostpeak Academy, Arthur was still a human.
He trained with Wisa for an hour, and lost miserably every time, just like he remembered it. Jane giggled from time to time and enjoyed her time watching Arthur lose to Wisa.
“Don’t you laugh!” Arthur said, trying to look angry, but he couldn’t do that with her.
“Come on. You should take a shower to get rid of the sweat. I’ll buy us something to eat.” Jane left, looking for a place to buy food for them.
Arthur did the same and went to the room he used to live. It looked the same, every tiny detail. He showered and changed clothes to look decent.
Jane arrived soon after he was done, bringing two spicy soups. It wasn’t Arthur’s favorite food, but seeing how hungry he was, that was gold.
They ate and talked about everything. It was something Arthur missed dearly.
“I can’t wait to find her again… Wait, right? This isn’t real!” Arthur got up from his bed after realizing that.
The surrounding details made him confused, and for a moment he forgot it wasn’t real. It was an illusion created by his opponent.
“What’s wrong, Arthur?” Jane asked with a worried face. Arthur ignored her and thought about ways to leave that illusion.
He thought about killing everyone, but that wasn’t an easy to thing to do. Jane was his friend. He couldn’t do that to her.
“I should just kill myself then.”
Arthur still had the sword Wisa gave him as a present back then, so he took off the sword from the sheathe and stabbed on his heart.
“Noooo! What are you doing?” Jane ran towards him, scared.
The illusion that man created was sure real. The reactions were on point. After Arthur bled out to death, he was back in the arena, and The Illusionist was right in front of him.
Even though everything inside that illusion felt real, and took a long time, it actually happened in seconds. The Illusionist had a hidden dagger behind his back, hidden in his robe, ready to use it to kill Arthur.
Arthur did not even blink, and his opponent thought he was still under the effect of that illusion. It was the best opportunity for the fight.
The Illusionist got closer and closer. When he was about 3 feet away, Arthur exerted all the strength he could on his leg and dashed in his direction.
It was like a bullet. In less than 1 second, Arthur was already in front of him, and had his sharp black claws inside The Illusionist’s chest.
“What the fuck?” He couldn’t believe it. No one had ever escaped his illusion that fast. And every time he noticed when they did. His opponents would usually blink a few times and looked around to see if they were back to the reality.
Arthur? He didn’t do any of that, and it took The Illusionist by surprise.
Just like that, he was dead, and Arthur won another fight.
“He got out of the illusion? This man is incredible.”
“Did you see how fast he was? That’s inhuman speed as well.”
Everyone watching the fight screamed, especially those that had their money on Arthur. It was an amazing feeling to watch such incredible fight, but it was even more incredible to earn money doing so.
“The winner is Death Claw!!!” yelled the announcer.
Different from the first time, this time Arthur had suffered no injuries. The only injury was mental, as he had believed for a moment that he was not inside an illusion.
“At least that man made me remember how much I want to find my friends.” Arthur thought as he left the arena.
Back in the room where all the fighters were, they all gazed at the hall to see who was coming back from the fight. It was impossible to see or hear anything in there, so the winner was a mystery to them until the last moment.
Everyone did not even dream of The Illusionist losing. Those illusions spells were hard to deal with, and they had seen many strong opponents die because of them.
But it was Arthur, the one who returned. Everyone had shock stamped on their faces, and now they were sure Death Claw was not someone simple.
The same lady got back and gave him 100 gold coins. Fighting consecutive fights in one day granted more money, which was nice.
Just like before, it would take some time for them to call Arthur to fight again. He waited inside the room and rest.
Arthur sat in the corner, and when he gazed at the hall, he saw someone coming.
“Death Claw, please come with me.” the man said.
It was strange. He had just fought, so what was that about? With no choice, he followed the man through the hall.
On his way, he got to know what was happening. It was Runo, calling him in his office to have a talk.
“It happened quicker than I expected it. I just hope he doesn’t have many bodyguards, or else there’s no way I can get him now.” Arthur thought.