'Hm? His gauntlets appear.. Redder than before. As if the metal is..'
"Ah.. So that's what it is."
'Then as he said it isn't exactly air. It's something like vapor. Hot vapor.'
Joseph tensed up.
'I'll have to avoid getting burned.'
The bulky man infront of him suddenly vanished.
'Shit!'
He then reappeared under him, readying an uppercut, vapor exhaling from some sort of exhaust socket coming from the gauntlet.
Joseph reacted quickly and moved himself back, narrowly hiding the dangerous strike.
"Oh~ You avoided that? I was told to be wary of you and it appears they were right!"
"Tch. A cheap trick like that is not going to get me."
'Can his gauntlets speed him up in some way? He was not as swift just a moment ago.'
Joseph readied himself yet again, seeking to properly gauge his opponent's level.
A flurry of fists soon followed, liver shot, jab, left hook, lead hook...
Joseph blocked one after the other, the sound of metal against metal ringing throughout the small, dark, and damp alley, yet, blocking this flurry of attacks came with a price.
"Ah.. It's time."
Joseph's weapon was starting to heat up, the metal itself slowly bending to the gauntlets.
'Tch. So that's what he was aiming for..'
Feint to roundhouse kick. Joseph was hit square to the temple.
"Gah!"
"Don't think I can only throw punches dumbass!"
Joseph backed up. His weapon was certainly starting to melt, and he was himself slowly amassing up damage. With blood and sweat trickling down his face, he resolved himself.
'Guess I'll have to use that, huh..'
What followed in Joseph's vision was the appearance of multiple targets. Targets showing him where skinning his prey would be most effective. He was a butcher, and he would butcher his enemy till nothing was left.
...
The hooded man slowly approached Hisgard, admiring his bloody nose and pained look.
"Ah~ That's it!"
He suddenly lunged forward, launching a powerful hook right on Hisgard's face.
Unable to even block the attack, Hisgard's is sent flying straight into the living room. Smashing a table in half.
'I couldn't even react.. How strong is he?'
Hisgard stood himself up, lifting his weapon up.
'I have to catch him somehow.. Otherwise I'll just be minced meat.'
The assailant suddenly spoke up.
"You know.. I don't necessarily like nobodies who struggle for nothing.."
He slowly walked forward.
"It pisses me off when weaklings like you don't know their place."
Hisgard suddenly felt the tension in the air rise, the man infront of him no longer had that goofy demeanor from just a moment ago, this was one of Hisgard's first real fights, and yet..
The killing intent he suddenly felt for the first time was tremendous.
'I'm done for.. Aren't I?'
Hisgard turned the gears in his head yet again. He realised winning conventionally had no chances of happening.
'My back is turned to the door, I'm not far away from it.. I'll have to distract him and make a run for it.'
...
'But what about my master? Will he be-'
Unable to think any longer. His opponent suddenly threw a dagger.
"What the hell are you thinking so much about? Huh~?
As Hisgard swiftly sidestepped the thrown dagger, the hooded man quickly jumped and kicked him full force.
"Gah!"
'I barely blocked it.. I nearly lost my foothold. What strength..'
Hisgard slashed at the man with his weapon, only for his attacks to be deflected and himself to be grazed at the cheek with yet another dagger.
"How many damn daggers do you have?"
The hooded man opened his cloak in response.
"A few~"
Hisgard took on a dumbfounded look.
"That suddenly made me think about how perverts do that."
The man infront of him did not appear amused in the slightest.
Hisgard slapped himself.
'Why are you even thinking about that?! It's life or death here!'
As Hisgard looked toward his opponent, seeing him seething in rage, he realised that what he said might have just worked as a distraction.
He made a run for it.
Smashing through the door, running thru the city streets as if there was no tomorrow, pursued by an assailant at dead of night.
He made it to the city center.
He shouted with all his might.
"GUARDS! GUARDS! ANYONE? HELP!"
And yet, with what would be many onlookers and guards on duty.
Not a soul answered.
...
Outside of the Anima, Leo, Chris's friend was getting increasingly worried. What was agreed on was a few hours at most. And now, more than twelve hours had passed.
Leo knew that Chris wouldn't have stayed that long in the Anima if it weren't for some issue or predicament inside the game, so something had to be keeping him in there.
'I guess there's only one way to find out.'
Not wanting to suddenly unplug the Anima, and potentially destroy Chris's conciousness as it was written in the manual, Leo decided it was time.
'Time to get an Anima myself.'
Leo's father was decently wealthy, having ammassed quite a bit of riches thru his moving company.
Now it was time to use that wealth built up in Leo's trust fund to buy himself an Anima.
'Sorry dad.. I really have to do this.'
Leo quickly found on the internet the closest shop near to him still open with an Anima available to purchase.
As he returned from his purchase with his dad's truck he took in the middle of the night, heading to his own home as there was no more place in Chris's apartment, and having plugged the Anima in and buying Viadium.
He lied down in the capsule.
Putting on the helmet included to connect himself to said capsule.
He launched Viadium.
And the robotic yet soothing voice that appeared to Chris also appeared to Leo.
"Welcome. You may call me Eldia; What should I call you, Player?"
"Leo."
"Is your name: Leo ?"
"Yes."
"Player Leo, here is your class selection based on the analysis of your body and mental archetype."
As Eldia said that, suddenly, a system window appeared to Leo, with a wide range of classes from knight to sorcerer, from sorcerer to alchemist, and from alchemist to monk.
"Hum... Eldia, was it?"
"What is it, player Leo?"
"Do you have any reccomendations..?"
He asked slightly nervous.
"No."
"Ah.."
Leo scratched his bald head.
'Well I guess you can't have everything.'
Leo scrolled thru his options, and one in particular caught his eye.
"Thunderling.?"
As Leo spoke outloud, Eldia ringed in his mind:
"Selection confirmed, class selected: Thunderling."
"Wait.. What?"
"Leo, You shall start in a storm cloud brooding over Soyo."
"Wait a damn minute! I didn't even-!"
"Launching VR transmigration in: 3.. 2.. 1.."
...
Hisgard felt rain trickling down his cheek.
A storm was approaching.
And thunder soon followed.