Chapter - 017 A New Path? Part 3

Message [Midas]: “[Announcement] A Player Cyan has unlocked the Floor 8 [Fighting Area], all Players now can access the [Fighting Area]”.

Meanwhile, Karla's eye keeps twitching.

[Karla]: “Newbie what did you just do?”

Seeing the twitching face of Karla, Cyan could not help but smile.

[Cyan]: “Senior, My name is Cyan, and I unlocked the Floor for helping out Boss”

Karla made a facepalm, and then she almost started to shout.

[Karla]: “I know that but HOW you unlocked it!”

[Cyan]: “Senior I just used my Credits and then I unlocked it, how else?”

Cyan ignore the twitching face of Karla in front of him as his phone was vibrating several times already, indicating he got a bunch new messages in a row, Cyan smile could not help but to grow even bigger as he read through his messages in his phone.

Message [Midas]: “Cyan is reimbursed 10% of his purchased, Player is advice to keep training”

This was no doubt all thanks to Willy’s help, and now with this, the Floor only had cost him only 90.000 Credits, and that’s was not the end of it…

Message [Midas]: “Player rewarded 100 Credits from [Ticket] Purchased”

Message [Midas]: “Player rewarded 100 Credits from [Ticket] Purchased”

Message [Midas]: “Player rewarded 100 Credits from [Ticket] Purchased”

Message [Midas]: “Player rewarded 100 Credits…”

…

Players of the Tower already are entering into the Floor, probably they want to do the new Quests and set new records to obtain the rewards of the new open Floor, and even though Cyan could not be the first one to enter the Floor, Cyan was still obtaining a valuable reward in the form of Credits right now, making him feel even happier, at first he was hesitating but with the Floor only costing him 100.000 Credits and then getting a 10% discount he will get his Credits back in no time.

Cyan checked his inventory in the phone app.

[Inventory]

Credits: 26.150

[Items]

Ticket for entry to Floors 5 to 7 x29

[Equipment]

School Uniform

Even though most of his Credits are gone, now a new Floor was unlocked by him and rewards will keep pouring in.

[Alice]: “Miss Karla doesn’t that mean that our faction as two dominions now?”

Alice could not help but to feel happy too, she also was feeling down for not being able to help and be a load for them, but now the problem was more or less resolved thanks to Cyan.

Karla, on the other hand, didn’t know if she was feeling happy or not, but whatever it was she was feeling, it was true that the newbie was now part of her faction, so that means their faction does indeed have two dominions now, after letting a sigh Karla returned to her senses, she never thought this would have happened.

[Karla]: “That’s right Alice we now have two dominions under our belts”

As she was saying that a wall of muscles appeared next to her, Karla then turned her head to look at Boss face.

[Boss]: “…”

[Karla]: “Yes Boss it was the newbie that unlocked it”

[Boss]: “…”

Karla shook her head.

[Karla]: “No, he has already joined our faction so now it is part of our domain too, and he says he did for helping out Boss”

Cyan may saw it wrong but he thought he saw a smile in Boss’s face for a second, but it was too hard to tell really.

…

At that moment Alice and Cyan felt curiosity in how these two were actually communicating.

Cyan turned to Karga, Karla twin brother.

[Cyan]: “Senior do you also understand what Boss is saying like Karla is?”

Karga could only laugh out loud at that question.

[Karga]: “As if, only Karla can guess what the Boss is saying by reading his face, the rest of us need to use text messages if you want to get more than two words out of him”

Alice and Cyan could only return their gazes to Boss’s face as they thought, “reading that face?”, until this point they only had seen Boss face move when he talks a few words a nothing more, trying to read that face was like looking at a brick wall and then said you understood what it said, they both tried and failed to notice any changed, they both could only smile bitterly at this revelation, it means that understating the Boss like Karla was actually an impossible task and it was an acquired skill of Karla, now they could understand one of the reasons why she was the second in command, her skills for reading people expressions was actually that amazing.

…

[Boss]: “…”

[Karla]: “I understand I will tell him”

Karla turned her head into Cyan direction.

[Karla]: “New… I mean Cyan, Boss wishes to know if you can sell us [Ticket]’s for Floor 8 at the discounted price, and also he says that all the rewards from that Floor are yours to keep and that if you want to form your own faction we would not stop you for doing so”

Cyan could only retort him his mind, “did Boss really said all that?” However, he didn’t have to think twice his answer.

[Cyan]: “Of course I will sell them to Boss, and I wish to remain in Boss faction, I mean I just joined today”

Boss nodded and transferred the Credits to Cyan, Cyan then bought the [Ticket] using the app and handed them over to Boss, at this time Cyan found out he could buy the [Ticket]’s for Floor 8 at a 50% discount, after their transaction was over Boss left area through the elevator, probably he went straight to Floor 8.

Noticing this Alice could not help but to ask.

[Alice]: “Miss Karla will Boss be ok? Is not the Floor 8 full of other Players of other factions right now?”

Karla gives Alice a palm in the back without saying anything else as if saying she doesn’t have to worry about it at all, or maybe she was also worried.

In the other hand, Karga could not help but to give his opinion out.

[Karga]: “I would worry more about the other Players in the Floor that try to mess with Boss training if I were you”

Karla clapped her hands drawing all the attention onto her.

[Karla]: “Well then, there were a couple of surprises but everything went as planned, now we should get started with the training of the kids already instead of wasting even more of our time in this Floor”

Karla stood up from her chair and turned to look at Cyan.

[Karla]: “New… I mean Cyan…, I thank you for helping out Boss”

Karla did a small bow and before Cyan or Alice could say anything she took Alice hand and drag her away to the elevator, leaving Cyan and Karga behind still sitting in the table.

Cyan turned around giving a question glance to Karga.

[Karga]: “Well she doesn’t give thanks that often”

Karga could only give Cyan a palm in the back showing him his thanks, he also doesn’t understand Karla actions either, even when they are twins and their actions similar as they don’t know how to express a simple “thanks”.

[Karga]: “I knew my gut instincts were right, they are never wrong”

[Cyan]: “About what Senior?”

[Karga]: “That… let’s leave it for later, now…I guess I will be the one in charge of your training kid hehe”

Karga started to smile in an evil way that made Cyan feel as his body was starting to hurt all over the place because of that smile, for some reason Cyan had a bad feeling about all this.

[Karga]: “Say, newbie, do you have [Energy] items with you?”

Cyan shook his head desperately as if his life depended on it.

[Cyan]: “I don’t Senior I already used them all”

Karga could not help but go “Tsk” while clicking his tongue in his mouth, however, Karga thought about something they could do.

[Karga]: “Then how about you buy some from the shop? You should be probably be swimming in Credits if you were able to unlock a Floor, it only cost 1.000 Credits for the drink and 1.000 Credits for the food, 2.000 the whole set, what do you say newbie how many sets can you buy right now?”

Cyan wanted to retort back that after unlocking a Floor it would be the opposite of swimming in Credits and that he was left with no Credits however he had the feeling that Karga could see through him and directly into the Credits in his inventory and he could not lie or he would make things even worse, he thought for a second while doing some math calculation inside his head, right now he could buy 13 sets of [Energy] items, but then he be left with almost no Credits, not to mention that he has the feeling he could not honestly say to Karga how many he could buy right now or he would force to use all of them in a single day, but then Cyan remembered his saving grace the [Shop], Cyan made out his mind.

[Cyan]: “Senior I can buy 13 sets of [Energy] items from the [Shop] however even though I will like to the [Shop] is still unavailable and it will unlock in 3 more weeks”

Karga smile didn’t disappear.

[Karga]: “Hum? Then why don’t you unlock it then?”

Cyan could only reply back what [Midas] had told him at that time.

[Cyan]: “I asked [Midas] what to do to unlock it but it says it would be actually unlocked during the fourth week, look”

Cyan then showed Karga the message, Cyan wanted to run away but he was being held by Karga by the shoulder.

…

Reply: “What I need to do for opening the [Shop] in the app?”

Message Midas: “Nothing, the Player [Shop] will automatically be opened for the Player during the 4 week of training on the [Training Tower], Cyan is advice to keep….”

…

Karga read through the message however he kept smiling while he said something while dragging his words that made Cyan realized there was way out now.

[Karga]: “Hey newbie… why don’t you… try asking [Midas] what you need to do to unlock the [Shop]… before that date and see what happens eh?”

Cyan felt all his body starting to tremble, that’s right, he had asked how to open it but not how to open it faster, Cyan thought inside his mind this is what Karla meant by “asking the right questions” to [Midas], Karga, on the other hand, keep smiling without saying anything as he already knew what will happen next, while Cyan last hope was fading away with each letter he tipped into his phone.

Even though he didn’t want to do, Karga was sitting beside him... forcing him?

[Cyan]: “Wait! Senior are you not being a little forceful here, aren’t you afraid [Midas] would charge you a penalty for that?”

However, Karga didn’t release him even when he said that.

[Karga]: “What are you talking about, newbie, this is all part of the training, not to mention you are part of our faction now, we are just bounding you see”

“Ah so it was like that” Cyan could understand how the other factions could “not force” a Player around as Cyan give up to his own fate, the only good thing was that he was in good hands right?

Reply: Willy how can I unlock the [Shop] before the opening date?”

Message [Midas]: “Cyan can unlock the [Shop] before the date by spending 10.000 Credits for it, do you wish to proceed?”

Karga was still beside Cyan looking at him while he tipped into his phone, he could not reject it.

Reply: “Yes, please unlock it”

Cyan wanted to include an extra (not) there but he couldn’t in the end.

New messages started to arrive while Cyan feel his eyes tearing up as he read through them.

Message [Midas]: “Cyan has unlocked the [Shop], Cyan can now access the [Shop] using his phone”.

Message [Midas]: “Cyan is reimbursed 10% of his purchased, Cyan is advice to keep training”

Message [Midas]: “Cyan after your first purchased in the [Shop] you will be gifted 1 set of [Energy] items, Cyan is advice to keep training”

Cyan felt like crying while screaming inside his mind at the same time, “Willy why you need to be so amazing right now!”, Cyan also wanted to ask what happened to [Midas] balancing system, however, the answer of that comes from the fact that because Cyan lost one week of training [Midas] balancing is now helping him out to catch up with the other gen 2 Players.

Without any other choice, Cyan opened up the [Shop] in the app and the tapped into [Items].

[Shop]

Weapon Armor Items …

[Shop]

… Items Lowest Energy Potion 5.000 Credits … … Energy Drink 1.000 Credits (Only available inside the Tower) Energy Food 1.000 Credits (Only available inside the Tower) …

After buying all the [Energy] items he could Cyan open his inventory once again.

[Inventory]

Credits: 550

[Items]

Ticket for entry to Floors 5 to 7 x29 Energy Drink x10 Energy Food x10

[Equipment]

School Uniform

[Karga]: “Alright with 10 sets should be enough for today, let’s go hehe”

While Cyan was unlocking the [Shop] he keep receiving rewards from the Floor so he ended buying 9 sets of [Energy] items while he got one for free from the [Shop], and even though he wanted to check out the [Shop] a little more now that he had unlocked it, the twin Karga didn’t give him any chance for that as he was dragged away to Floor 5.

.

.

.

When they entered the Floor Cyan could see Karla and Alice running in #10 track so he started walking in that direction however he was soon stopped by Karga.

[Karga]: “Where you think you are going”

[Cyan]: “To track #10?”

[Karga]: “This isn’t your school track kid, running with your girlfriend it is not the best way to train you up”

Cyan could not help to retort back

[Cyan]: “Alice it is not my girlfriend”

[Karga]: “Whatever you say, kid, you can play couples after we are done training, now come with me”

Karga looked Cyan with a condescending look meaning he didn’t believe a word of Cyan was saying, soon they reached track #30, it was as far as possible from Alice training track as they could have been.

There was nobody inside the track #30 either, probably most Players are in Floor 8 right now.

After they entered the track Karga turned around and looked into Cyan eyes, the training starts now.

[Karga]: “Alright kid listen up, Players are all different, their stats are different and the way they train inside the Tower also are all different, first we need to dig out your potential and see what are you good for, now, the first step, can you show me your stats?”

Cyan hesitated until now he didn’t have a problem to show his stats to Alice but… showing his stats to everyone would be a problem, after all, it was reflected how strong he was, and also how weak too.

Karga could only smile and nod to Cyan hesitation.

[Karga]: “You do well in hesitating, showing you stats openly is indeed a bad idea, unless of course you want everyone to know what your weak points are and where your strength lies, now, if you don’t want to show it to me, that’s fine too and I will not punish you for that, however bear in mind that it would help me to decide your training method and what stats we should be focusing first, understand?”

Cyan decided to trust Karga in the end, after all, until know they have indeed been trying to help them out, not to mention they were already in the same faction, so Cyan took his phone and showed his stats to Karga.

[Status]

[Information]

Type: Player Name: Cyan Status: Normal Location: [Training Tower] Level: 0 Profession: None Sub-Profession: None

[Stats]

Strength (STR): 17 Tier 0 Dexterity (DEX): 19 Tier 0 Endurance (END): 17 Tier 0 Stamina (STA): 21 Tier 0 Intelligence (INT): 12 Tier 0 Free Points: 21

Karga could not be more surprised, after all, he had seen Cyan running in the track once so he could guess some of his stats, but having such stats was something else entirely, the male average would be 10’s but he got 17 in STR, 19 in DEX, 17 in END, 21 in STA, Karga could not be more impressed with Cyan stats, however he had seen Cyan running on the track yesterday so how come his stats were like this?, not to mention his appearance look so weak, something felt off in Karga mind.

[Karga]: “Woah newbie you are pretty strong even when you look so weak, not to mention you had a lot of Free Point here”

Cyan took the time to explain to Karga what his initial stats actually were, and that his current stats was thanks to [Midas] and yesterday Player grow.

Karga could get a better view of why Cyan stats were like this, however, all his stats have increased almost equally, there was no main stat here.

[Karga]: “So it was like that, however, be your pitiful low initial stats or the current ones you have, they are still pretty well balanced, so your training are going to be difficult, this may become a problem in the future too, say kiddo do you have anything that you are good at?”

Cyan understood why is going to be a problem, he didn’t have something he excels at, be STR, DEX or STA or even his END, however, there was something he was good at, his studies.

[Cyan]: “Senior what about my INT stat?”

Even though his initial stats were very low his INT stat was very high actually, however…

[Karga]: “You can forget about that, I am supposed to give you math problems for you to solve kid? That’s not why I am here for anyway, so I can take you don’t anything else that you are good at?”

Cyan shook his head indicating he didn’t, while Karga let out a sigh

[Karga]: “For now you can think of yourself as lacking in every aspect and not being good in anything particular”

Cyan felt this assessment of him was right making him feel sorrowful, what else he could do? He tried to think into something but nothing came to his mind, he was happy with the idea of growing stronger inside the tower because he knew he was weak since the beginning.

Karga stopped to think what he should be doing now that he was stuck in how to train Cyan, he didn’t think it would be like this, and should he be asking his sister for assistance? No, asking Karla was not an option here she was busy training the other kid now, but Cyan was really an all stats Player here, meaning he didn’t excel at anything and his stats are well balanced, training this type of people was a pain and very hard to do, because he would have to train double even if he just wanted increase one of his stat, and triple for two stats at the same time, and if he wanted to train all of them it would become a nightmare of a training not to mention time-consuming, and their time inside the tower could not be called long either, so it would be just a waste of time if they train like this… or maybe not.

Karga smile as he thought of something.

Seeing Karga smile again after being with a serious face for a while Cyan could not hold back his curiosity.

[Cyan]: “Senior did you found a way to train me?”

Karga nodded

[Karga]: “Yes I have…”

[Cyan]: “Senior what stat we should be focusing first?”

[Karga]: “…All of them”

Cyan thought he had heard that wrong.

[Cyan]: “Senior can you repeat that again?”

[Karga]: “We will be focusing on training all of your stats at the same time kid”

Karga smile as he remembered about another Player he knew was also an all stats Player, the good for nothing Player, Boss.

“Maybe it really was fate after all” Karga thought inside his head.