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4.32% New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live / Chapter 48: Preparation

Chapitre 48: Preparation

Alexander woke up in the Pod. His body was sore after laying down for almost five days.

His body was sweaty, and his bowels were excited.

He got out of the contraption and ran to his bathroom.

He felt liberated as he left the bathroom, since his body had been holding it in for days.

The next order of things was to eat a solid meal. He wasn't hungry that much, being on IV fluids whilst in the pod, but his body still needed some proper food.

As Alexander ate a bowl of cereal, he scrolled through the game forums with his cell phone, trying to find anything of interest.

He read a post about a function someone had found in their pod—phone linking.

The person found out by fiddling in their pod options they could link their phone to it and receive messages in-game from the phone.

It could even receive calls, although time dilatation issues were making the calls awkward for the person on the outside.

Alexander finished eating and went back to his pod, trying to find that option.

It didn't take him much time, as the post author had explained the setting location clearly.

Once he found it and linked it to his phone, he grinned. That would save him from being unreachable for days.

He wasn't able to test it because he was almost out of IV bags. There were only two left.

Alexander opened up the pharmacy's online platform on his phone, going to the medical portion.

He scrolled till he found the IV bags and gasped. The price increased from the last time.

The bags were now marked at two hundred and fifty dollars apiece. He bit his lip and ordered eight of them.

He tapped the delivery option and looked at the estimated delivery time. It would be six hours before he got them, so he filled his time up.

He looked online for Gamer Guilds, as the community called them. They were companies that had formed around in-game guilds.

If you wanted a sponsorship, they would be the ones to join. The companies paid players to push their brand into new games.

Most of them needed you to interview, and they all had strict hiring standards.

Alexander hated being under a microscope.

He still applied to all the ones in his current vicinity and decided he would bite the bullet if the need arose.

Alexander then went to take a shower to cleanse his sweaty body. He felt sore, like he had run a marathon, but he couldn't understand why.

Had he not been laying down for five days? He attributed it to being immobile for so long and discarded it as simply numbness.

He took a long hot shower, letting the heat relax his muscles and soothe his aches.

Once he was out and dry, he sat down in front of his television, watching the news a little, waiting for his delivery.

The news displayed was quite grim. People were fighting for pod supplies. The rich were trying to monopolize them.

The poorer, who couldn't afford even the cheapest pod, were still staying dangerously long inside the game with the helmet.

Some players had even died, because of health issues, caused by dehydration and injury.

Alexander felt like things were getting out of hand. If players started dying, the game would have to shut down, for safety reasons.

But the next bit of news threw him off even more.

While he was inside the game, 'Evo-Gaming' had opened up new shares on the market, on which many businessmen and women had jumped, to gain a piece of the pie.

The pricing on the pods enticed them so much. If more and more gamers bought them, then the return on investment would be monstrous!

The company had also given a press conference, announcing something else that would be a game changer.

They were introducing a currency exchange! Now players could trade their hard-earned money for in-game gold!

This would force a major power shift in the player community. The poorer players, even if good, would now have to compete with money to get better gear from merchants and auction houses!

He was lucky to be out of that struggle for now, as there probably weren't many players in the Ash Elf zone, anyway.

But that wouldn't last very long, as he would eventually have to venture out of that zone, to explore the wider game world.

Most of the higher-level zones were out of any countries if he believed what he could read online.

It was a matter for other people to wrack their brains with, since he didn't have any money left to spare, anyway. For now, he was mainly concerned that he wouldn't be able to make adequate preparations for the tournament.

He didn't have access to merchants at all in his starter village. But he most likely had an easier time leveling up.

The monsters here were a gold mine for low-level players, after all.

But that was beside the point. He needed to see if he could find gear for the tournament.

And skills, or spells, to bolster his arsenal. Finding a trainer that suits his needs would be tough too, unless he stuck with Kloud and Aberon.

He was almost certain that the only thing he would have time to do was the coming-of-age ceremony Aberon had mentioned.

As he watched the news and contemplated his options, time flew by. His doorbell eventually rang.

He rose from his couch and walked to the intercom. On the screen was a man in a delivery uniform, tagged with the pharmacy's logo.

He pressed the button to talk to the man.

"Hello."

"Hi. Is this Alexander Leduc's residence?" The man asked, looking at the camera.

"That would be correct." Alexander replied.

"I have a delivery from the pharmacy to your name. Can I come in?" The man said, showing his D/O.

Alexander buzzed him in and waited at the door for his order.

Once he had received it and signed off on it, he closed his door and went to set the bags in place.

He would return inside the game soon, to make as many preps as he could for the upcoming tournament.

He cleaned a little around his apartment and then got ready to dive again.

As he lay down in his pod, he heard the electronic voice welcoming him.

"Welcome back, Player Astaroth."

"Log in" Alexander simply replied, closing the lid on the pod.

*Launching 'New Eden'*

*Logging in*

*Welcome back player Astaroth*


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Galanar Galanar

If you liked my story, add it to your library!

This story is in the Fantasy Carnival, so it needs Power Stones to up-rank. If I get into the top 100, I will drop an extra 2 chapters that day. Another 2 chapters for top 50. I will up the stakes at 5 bonus chapters for top 20, and another 5 for top 10! Please vote for me! :)

Also, I drop an extra chapter on Monday for every 100 PS I accumulate in the event!

We dropped to 49th! We have barely been passed, but the next 2 spots are still relatively close. Top 20 is our next goal! Let's keep this going!

We have reached a cumulated of 400 PS! So you get a free chap on Monday, Gratz!

Also, since it's been 4 weeks straight that we reach our goal, I am upping the stakes. From now on, it will be 1 free chap for every 100 PS in the same week! So keep those stones coming! I have faith in you!

If you like the novel so far or think something could use work, don't be scared to leave a review :)

next chapter

Chapitre 49: Night Patrol

As Astaroth logged back in, he noticed it was dark outside his alcove. He hadn't counted in the time dilation and a little over twelve hours had gone by in-game.

It was still dark, and his clock showed it was close to midnight.

He went to patrol outside the village while the people were still sleeping. It would pass the time, at least.

When he passed the entrance to the village, two people were outside, standing guard. One of them was the healer that had healed Konnor during their first duel. The second was an archer he wasn't familiar with.

He nodded his head to them and kept walking further away, hoping to see an enemy or monster he could test out his new strength on.

Genie was tailing behind Astaroth at a slow pace, looking around her, searching for something to sink her teeth in.

As he hadn't fed her in a few days, she had hunted rodents and such small creatures to sustain herself.

Astaroth was about to pull a slab of wolf meat from his inventory to feed her when she lunged at a nearby bush.

He heard a slight squeal from the brush and then Genie came out of it holding a squirrel-looking creature.

She gobbled it up quickly, not even leaving enough time for Astaroth to scan the creature. He could guess it was a trash mob like most games had.

What made him curious about it was the possibility that their levels were low enough that he could have used those to level up early.

But it was already too late to think about this matter. He was now strong enough that he did not need to kill such small critters.

After eating her snack, Genie looked towards the north, her ears perking up.

"What is it, girl?" Astaroth asked, seeing her reaction.

Genie growled in the direction she was looking before darting away. All Astaroth could feel through their connection was anger.

He launched himself at Genie's pursuit, making sure he never lost sight of her.

Astaroth could hear fighting noises in the distance. The further he ran, the more those became clear.

They eventually both ran to the edge of a clearing and saw what was causing all the ruckus.

The unit that was on patrol was fighting a flock of giant red bats. The bats were almost a meter wide, and they were blood red.

Astaroth scanned one, to figure out if he should help or not.

Blood Bat

Level: 12

Grade: Common

Health: 350 Mana: 140

He surmised the monsters were of the swarming type. He scanned many more, but all of them ranged between Lvl 10 to Lvl 15.

Where the issue lay, and why he intervened, was in their numbers. They numbered in the hundred.

He couldn't possibly count them, but he could roughly guess by the size of the bats and the size of the swarm.

He remembered to upgrade White Death's stats and dumped the eighteen available points into agility. Then he used Spirit Meld.

His hair turned white, and fur grew on his arms and cheeks. Claws also grew out of his fingertips. Astaroth again felt the rush of being powerful.

He quickly glanced at his status window before lunging into combat.

Status:

Name: Astaroth (Fused to White Death)

Race: Ash Elf

Level: 30 (37'285/559'950)

Stats:

HP: 11'850/11'850 MP: 2'890/2'890 Stamina: 100

Mana Regen: 1/second in combat, 5/second out of combat

Strength: 48 (+55) Agility: 48 (+53) Constitution: 39 (+63)

Intelligence: 48 (+27) Wisdom: 31 (+27)

Attack Power Str: 515 Attack Power Agi: 505 Magic Attack Power: 375 Healing Power: 290

Natural Defense: 10.2% Armor Defense: 14%

Luck: 0 (Stat unaffected by Level up and free points)

Available stat points: 0

Available skill points: 0

Physical Condition: Normal

Mental Condition: Normal

Seeing his insane stats, he instantly knew he didn't need to pull out weapons to deal with these creatures.

So he decided against it, and went into full feral mode, tearing apart the bats with his claws. He tried biting one to death at some point, but the taste was so horrible, he didn't try it again.

The rush of tearing the enemies apart with his own hands exhilarated him, but he remembered to keep his emotions in check, always keeping his head screwed on straight.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Genie was also faring well. Even though she couldn't one-shot all her foes, she still dealt quite enough damage to them on each hit.

The battle went on for almost an hour, with the bats not always being in range for melee combat.

During all that time, he received many notifications about resisting confusion.

The bats had an attack called Sonic Cry that could inflict confusion, but apparently, his mental resistance was currently higher than their chances of confusing him.

The same wasn't true about his impromptu allies and Genie, as they sometimes started throwing attacks at their allies.

That forced the people being attacked to focus on defense and allowed the bats to dish out more damage. Astaroth even had to hold Genie a few times, lest she attack the others nearby.

She might not kill them, but she would render the situation more perilous, and that was less than ideal.

During the times Astaroth wasn't spirit melded, they also confused him a few times, due to receiving so many Sonic Cries at the same time.

It was a given that some would work, even with his high mental resistance. When you receive fifty attacks, one after the other, one of them is bound to succeed.

The feeling he got from the confusion was peculiar. While he was confused, when he looked around, all he could see were bats.

He couldn't tell where his allies had been seconds prior, and that resulted in some attacks from him hurting his comrades.

It happened less and less throughout the fight since the number of enemies was falling at a steady pace.

Once the last bat had died, Astaroth sat down, exhaustion catching up with him. They had been fighting non-stop for almost an hour, and they couldn't lower their guard even once.

Out of all the combatants present, only Genie looked like she was fine. That was normal, with her animalistic stamina, he thought.

The patrol unit thanked Astaroth for helping, before asking him what he was doing outside the village at this time of the night.

Astaroth brushed them off, saying he had woken up and needed fresh air. He added that when he heard the commotion; he went to check it out and found them fighting.

He couldn't in good conscience leave them to fight so many enemies on their own, so he joined in.

While they were talking, Genie strolled around, eating the hearts of the bats straight out of their chests.

That creeped out the fellow elves around Astaroth, and he could only chuckle wryly.

She enjoyed her meal for a while, before being full and coming to lie down near Astaroth.

He simply smiled and pet her back, while looking up at the starry sky.

It was a beautiful night, and the weather was cozy. After emptying his energy reserves this way, he felt like he could just fall asleep right there.

It was tempting to do so, too. But he couldn't know when other monsters would walk by him and decide to use him as a late-night snack.

After a bit of rest, he asked the patrol if they wanted his help for the rest of the night, but they politely declined.

What would they look like if they couldn't perform their duties without outside help, after all?

Astaroth didn't insist and walked back towards the village. He wandered around a little before deciding to go to a recluse corner and train.

He fought with his eyes closed, imagining enemies around him. He would fight with one weapon, then switch to another, and then another, cycling between his full arsenal.

The enemies, he imagined, all wielded different weapons, thus the weapon changing, to adapt to their shortcomings.

This lasted until the break of dawn, when someone walked up to Astaroth, watching him train with a critical eye.

Astaroth was the first to break the silence, not stopping his shadow training.

"Have you come to watch me, or spar with me?" He asked his observer.

"Simply to watch, boy. You have progressed in the art of adapting, I see." Kloud, who was standing there, told him.

"I'm still not at the point where I would feel comfortable doing it in actual combat." Astaroth responded.

"In due time. Nothing comes from rushing things, young man." Kloud said, nodding his head.

The smile on his face betrayed the pride he held, looking at his protege growing.

"I was told today was the day I venture to the capital for my coming-of-age." Astaroth said, opening one eye to see Kloud's reaction.

"Aye. Aberon has apprised me of such news." Kloud replied, nodding his head slightly again.

Astaroth saw the smile drop a little on his teacher's face when he said that.

"Is something bothering you, teacher?" He asked.

"Nothing for you to concern yourself about, young one." Kloud said, smiling again.

Astaroth knew he was hiding something, but he didn't pry further. He just hoped Kloud would eventually trust him enough to tell him his story. Who knows, maybe that would unlock a quest.

"You should go wash up and prepare for the trip ahead, lad. It is a long journey to the capital." Kloud said, walking away.

"Aye aye, teacher." Astaroth said, stopping his training and giving him a salute.

He then went to wash up and prepare.


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Galanar Galanar

If you liked my story, add it to your library!

This story is in the Fantasy Carnival, so it needs Power Stones to up-rank. If I get into the top 100, I will drop an extra 2 chapters that day. Another 2 chapters for top 50. I will up the stakes at 5 bonus chapters for top 20, and another 5 for top 10! Please vote for me! :)

I have changed format for the bonus chapters to 100 PS per week, since we are doing so good :)

We maintain 49th! We have barely been passed, but the next 2 spots are still relatively close. Top 20 is our next goal! Let's keep this going!

If you like the novel so far or think something could use work, don't be scared to leave a review :)

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