The news of the Virtual sword aiming to go Pro spread quickly, websites were filled with the information asking just when and what team would the Virtual sword god join.

Then the next big question arrived, just what country was the Virtual sword god from? The Esports Olympics was coming up in the next two years and VSG was one of the biggest events. The addition of the Virtual sword god player to any countries team would be an advantage.

Even though they hadn't seen how he could perform against the pros he had already become a celebrity and teams could use this to their advantage to gain popularity and sponsorships.

However as usual, still no one had any ideas about the virtual sword god apart from Hastam. It seemed like Hastam was gaining some type of pleasure holding all the secrets in. He liked being the only one to know that the Virtual sword god was based in England and was just a student.

"Two years huh," Hastam said reading one of the articles online. "What he would be around 18 then? it will be a tough road but maybe he'll make it in time.

*****

The next day it was school as usual for the Montem team, the students and teachers seemed to bother them less knowing the big event that was happening. After all, even the school was hoping the team could bring them fame.

Things that they would usually get in trouble for, like handing in homework late and such, were forgiven for the time being while the tournament was going on.

This was a saving grace for Novis.

The most important time in the day was three o'clock, this was the time that school would finish for them and club activities would start. From there every day the team had around two hours of practise time together before they split.

But today as they entered the club room, something strange had happened that also had happened once before. Each member had arrived at the VSW club but one person was missing, Dan.

As soon as the three o'clock bell rang Dan had sent them a message, saying he wouldn't be able to make it to practise due to personal reasons. Scarlett had a bad feeling about this and decided to head to his homeroom class which wasn't far from hers and Novis's.

And it was as she had suspected, Dan hadn't arrived at school today.

Back at The VSW club room, the members were deciding what to do.

"Well, if he's busy then he's busy, we all have our own lives outside of the game," Alex said, knowing better than anyone that outside affairs could affect them. "I will take Dan's place in the game, that way you guys can still get used to playing as a team."

They did as Alex said and continued to practise, while Scarlett couldn't help but have a tingling feeling that something had happened to Dan. A thought came in her head the last time this had happened, she had spotted him all injured and bruised, perhaps he was hiding something from the others that he didn't want them to know.

****

That day when Dan woke up, he got fully dressed to go to school as normal but when he looked at his phone, he had received a message from his brother Kyle.

"Meet me at the bay today."

It was short and simple but Dan knew that this meant it was gang business. Dan did as his brother had asked and went down to the harbour, before entering the harbour there were the two Noir members stood outside the entrance.

"Wait." One of the guards said.

"I'm here to see Kyle," Dan said half annoyed.

"We know, he's in a meeting right now and told you to wait outside for a little bit. You understand." The man said in a condescending tone.

Although Dan was the leader's little brother the other members didn't see him that way. They knew him as the person who had once abandoned and left the gang. If anyone else had done this then all ties would have been cut from the gang and he would have been severely punished.

A leg broken, or a few ribs, either way, they would get a beating that would cost them a trip to the hospital. However, when Dan had left there were no such consequences, many of the members thought this was unfair and now not only that but Dan was allowed back into the gang.

After waiting outside the entrance for a while, the two metal doors to the warehouse opened, and out came five men dressed in neat black suits. Dan could tell immediately these people were from another gang but didn't recognise any of them.

"Now you can go in." The man said.

He entered the empty warehouse and saw the usual members inside.

"Haha, long time no see," Kyle said as he walked towards him and gave a big old hug.

But Dan was not in the mood. Although he was happy to see his brother, he was at a crucial point with his team and friends. He hated thinking about how they might think he either wasn't taking it seriously enough or was deciding to do something else over practising.

"What do you need me for?" Dan asked.

"Before that," Kyle said as he took off his jacket and threw it to the ground. Now, all that could be seen was his upper body naked, showing off his well trained bulging abs and muscles. "Let's see if you've improved from last time."

The two of them got into a fighting stance, as soon as Kyle started to charge and pulled his fist back. Dan used all his strength and swung out his leg like a whip hitting Kyle's thigh. He tried to ignore the pain and continued going forward but then stumbled to the ground.

Instead of punch Kyle had no choice but to go for a tackle. Although the two were brothers they never took an easy with each other while fighting. Usually, the fight always ended up with one of the two of them seriously getting hurt.

The members watching started to gather around and were getting excited. When Kyle got close enough and was ready to tackle, Dan's instincts kicked in and he immediately kneed Kyle in the face stopping him in his tracks.

And as Dan moved to the side Kyle continued to move forward and fell to the ground. The people watching were speechless. They had just watched their strong boss who had never been defeated before, knocked out in a couple of hits.

And by a boy still in secondary school at that.

Even Dan himself was surprised, not only had he improved a lot from the little practice he had done with Tony but without him realising it, playing the game had helped him a lot as well. Constantly Dan was put in situations where it felt like his life was on the line and he needed to act.

Just now Kyle who he had seen as a bigger and stronger foe his whole life, seemed ordinary with no weapons in his hands. The reaction time of Dan got better, and the repeated actions he had been practised with Tony went on autopilot.

Kyle started to lift himself from the ground, his nose was all bloody and possibly broken, but he wasn't angry, instead, he was smiling.

"I knew one day you would surpass me," Kyle said, "You always have been a special one."

After tending to Kyle's nose, the two of them sat on top of an empty crate and started to get down to business.

"I suppose I should tell you why I called you here," Kyle said. "The people that you saw leave this morning, they were from the Ruman family."

At the mention of their name, blood started to boil inside of Dan. They were the same people who had kidnapped Scarlett back then.

"I tried my best to delay them this whole thing but the time has come. For years they have been trying to take over the south area and we are the only thing left stopping them. If they take over Noir, they basically own the whole town. The police are already under their pay check and it will only get worse. The Orphanage, I will no longer be able to support it Dan."

This whole time, the whole reason why Kyle had started the gang noir was to protect the orphanage. Kyle wasn't a smart kid. He never got good grades and failed all his exams. The most he could do was work in a minimum wage job and stay there for the rest of his days.

But he couldn't even do that, he would often let his anger get the best of him and would cause fights at work. Job after Job he just couldn't hold one down. So then that left him with the one thing he was good at, fighting.

"Instead of a gang war that will just cause huge losses on both sides, they want a one on one fight." Kyle explained, "Dan, I want you to fight in the match."