advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/Ritesh_Jadhav0869
Victor said, "He told us he's a weakling, and watching our competition would be like watching gods fight. Plus, he's super busy with the console stuff right now. So he's not coming."
Cassius added, "And he's still looking for a house."
"Oh? He didn't have a house before?"
"No, he used to live in the shop."
"Really?" Cassandra stretched. "I actually wanted to meet this person. How can he create so many interesting things?"
"He said none of these things were his own ideas," Cassius explained. "They were all taught by people from other planes."
Cassandra hummed in understanding, then asked, "Did he tell you any clues about the seventeenth character?"
"No," both said in unison.
Cassius added, "He said it's most interesting to discover these things yourself. It loses its fun if someone just tells you."
Victor grinned. "Auntie, keep trying! The first person to find the seventeenth character can get on the First Clear list. And the first person to defeat that character on Nightmare Difficulty also makes the list."
Cassandra nodded, then called out to Victor. "You brat—one more round! And stop constantly spamming long-range attacks."
The seventeenth character in Super Street Fighter was, naturally, the hidden character Akuma.
Caelan had set the appearance conditions as follows:
Must be on Nightmare Difficulty.
Cannot lose a single round before the final stage.
At least six perfect victories (full-health kills).
Those were the only three conditions. No time or score requirements. However, because it was Nightmare Difficulty, very few people could even clear it—so no one had managed to trigger Akuma yet.
After playing Snow Bros with Nicole, they ran out of lives around stage thirty-three. The two didn't start another game, just chatting idly instead.
Cassius multitasked—waiting for Nicole's messages while browsing posts on the Game Forum.
"Which is harder, Elemental Contra 1 or 2? — Poster: I Love Daphne"
"How to kill all monsters with one snowball on Stage 31 of Snow Bros Expert Difficulty. — Poster: Frostpeak Giant Bear"
"Strongly demand that Stickfall Kingdom characters be added to Super Street Fighter! — Poster: Staff-Fighting Patriot"
This post was... interesting. Cassius clicked on it and found that only three people, including the original poster, were consistently bumping the thread. The other two also seemed to be from Stickfall Kingdom.
Why don't you just create a group chat? You have to bump the thread here.
"Little squirrels are so cute. Are there really such cute magical beasts on our continent? — Poster: Cute Little Squirrel"
"Everyone guess which country the Illusionist's next game will be set in. — Poster: Dragonspire's Future Pillar"
"One silver mark for a master from Winddrake City to help me clear Squirrel War. I'm a girl. — Poster: I Hate Mud"
After browsing posts for a while, Cassius opened his friends list. There were already over thirty friends on it. He found Caelan's avatar, clicked it, and drafted a message:
"Are you there?"
"Yes," Caelan replied quickly.
After a while, Cassius finally typed out his message: "Last time you said there would be a new game this week, and new characters for Street Fighter. When will that happen?"
"I'll release it after you've competed for the top thirty-two."
Cassius was a bit speechless. He slowly typed out with one finger: "I already made it to the top sixteen yesterday..."
"Ah?!"
This time, Cassius waited a moment before seeing Caelan's avatar flash: "Oh man, I've been so busy I completely forgot to follow your competition. I'll release the game shortly. By the way, Cassius—congratulations on advancing! Where's Victor?"
"He also passed."
"Okay, I'll go congratulate him now."
A moment later, Victor—who had just defeated his aunt's Chun-Li—saw a message from Caelan pop up and smiled. "Caelan congratulated us both on making it to the top sixteen. Said he's updating the game soon."
Cassandra perked up. "What game? What game?"
Cassius said, "It's not out yet, but Super Street Fighter is getting two new characters."
Victor laughed. "That Caelan. He released news about adding characters so early that for a while, the entire Forum was flooded with petitions. Everyone hoping to add characters with their own country's background. It was such a mess—the Forum was unreadable."
Cassius nodded. "I know. The people from Stickfall Kingdom were the loudest."
Cassandra asked, "Do you know who the new characters are?"
Both shook their heads. "No idea."
Cassandra was about to say something else when a message box popped up on her screen:
"New characters have been added to the game. Please update immediately."
Below it was a prominent update button.
"Hey, you two—the game just updated." Cassandra clicked the button. It finished updating in less than two seconds.
Both looked and confirmed it was true. Victor quickly clicked update as well, while Cassius immediately refreshed the Forum. Sure enough, a post by Caelan was pinned to the top:
"Super Street Fighter Updates Two New Characters, New Game 'Dragonspire New Century' Released."
"Caelan posted on the Forum too," Cassius said, clicking on the post:
Super Street Fighter Updates Two New Characters:
—The Eighteenth Character: Cammy (Amnesiac Killer Bee)Place of Birth: Unknown
Originally one of the girls kidnapped by Vega to Shadowlaw City and brainwashed into his elite guard. She suffered an accident and lost her memory while on a mission from Vega to assassinate the Archmage of the Phoenix Empire. She was later rescued and protected by the Archmage, and has since served the Phoenix Empire. After gradually recovering her sense of self in subsequent battles, she began a search for her lost memories. Who she truly is, what is the value of her existence... her fate remains unknown...
—The Nineteenth Character: Karin Kanzuki (Head of the Kanzuki Family)Place of Birth: Phoenix Empire
The young mistress and actual head of the Kanzuki Family, a top family in the Phoenix Empire. She participates in fighting tournaments purely out of interest in combat.
New Game: Dragonspire New Century
The background is set tens of thousands of years in the future, when the world's magic is depleted...
To put it bluntly, this game was a modified Cadillacs and Dinosaurs—but with the setting placed in the future world of the Dragonspire Empire. There was no other choice; sub-dragons and dinosaurs were too similar in many aspects, making them perfect for adaptation. All the firearms were changed to corresponding magic-guided weapons, and ammunition was replaced with mana crystals.
However, the difficulty of Caelan's adaptation was even harder than the original. Apart from the first three stages being easier, the difficulty skyrocketed from stage four onwards—especially the stage four boss. Its movement speed was fast, its attacks varied. Caelan had also improved its AI, so many people would definitely get stuck there.
Caelan didn't randomly assign surnames to the four characters, only stating they all came from the same orphanage.
Jack: Wears a white shirt and blue pants. While running, he can kick enemies' shins. While jumping, he attacks with his feet. His special move is the Spinning Uppercut. Overall abilities are balanced. His running attack—the sliding kick—can effectively deal with enemies that have high frontal charge power. A balanced type. His overall ability is the weakest among the four. Caelan's modification: slightly extended sliding kick distance, making him easier to use.
Hannah: Long hair over her shoulders, wears a red shirt and white pants. While running, she attacks enemies' abdomens with her knees. While jumping, she attacks with her feet. Her special move is the Spinning Kick. Her attack power is weak, but her speed is fast. She has the most skills and uses weapons best. Not good at aerial combat (be careful with pterosaurs and flying bosses). An agile type. Caelan's modification: when holding a dagger, her attack power and range are enhanced, and the dagger remains in her hand unless she's hit and drops it.
Mustapha: The most popular character in childhood memories. Jack's good friend. Wears a yellow hat, green shirt, and yellow pants. While running, he can kick with both feet. While jumping, he attacks with his feet. His special move is the Cyclone Kick. The most practical, fastest, and his attack power is solid. Various attacks—especially running attacks and special moves—allow him to effectively deal with enemies in the air or on the ground. Overall ability is the strongest among the four. An agile-balanced type.
Max: Wears a red shirt and green pants, with developed muscles. While running, he attacks enemies with both arms. While jumping, he can attack with feet or fists. His special move is the Meteor Punch. The slowest, but his attack power is the strongest. His attack movements are very powerful. Enemies with low health can almost be instantly killed with three punches and a throw. A power type.
Caelan thought for a long time but didn't feel Mustapha or Max needed any strengthening, so he left them as they were.
Other Easter eggs—like critical hits when at low health, and temporary invisibility when two players stand still together—were also retained.