Chương 91: Chapter 86 - Carry

I emerged from the game pod to explosive cheers, loud enough to hurt my ears. The stormy mountains I'd grown accustomed to were now bright stage lights. Vertigo hit me, as if I'd walked out of hibernation. Amidst the blinding lights, I turned to Veyra's game pod. I ignored any and all suggestions or instructions on how I was supposed to behave post-match, as I stepped toward it. My surroundings were a total blur of cheers, lights, and bass from the stage's subwoofers. Aree stood beside Veyra's game-pod, shocked.

I walked past her, to Veyra's game pod. She had her eyes open. I opened the lid of her game pod, and we stared at each other.

"Holy…" I said.

"No way, Veyra. No way." Veyra nervously smiled at me.

"We won…"

"You did it," I said in disbelief.

"You actually crushed her." She just stared at me with her beautiful eyes.

"Are you feeling good?" I asked. She nodded.

"I'm good." I climbed and snuggled into her game pod. I hugged her, pressing my face against hers. There was hardly any space to wrap my arms around her with the game pod's walls squeezing us together like we were cuddled up in a coffin. The plan had not been to kiss her, but her scent hit me, and my lips found hers. This woman—she was just way too amazing, and her lips, they were the softest things ever. I hugged her even tighter.

"That," I said, "was the best play I've ever seen." Her warm breath hit my face. We couldn't have gotten much closer, not with our clothes still on.

"Uh," I said, realizing I had kind of invaded her game pod.

"Sorry. I should have asked before climbing in here."

"No." Her right arm wrapped around me, pulled me in, and with another kiss, she stopped my attempt to pull back. My heart raced in my throat, body as warm as a volcano. I'd never felt anything like this. This girl, who I'd randomly met in the wilderness, I just couldn't comprehend how amazing she was. I could have pushed on right there and then, until a voice from outside made us both pause.

"Everything okay?" Right… We just won the fucking finals. We had trophies to lift and stuff. I glanced out and saw Aree and some guy in a suit with a microphone—the announcer—watching us. Behind them, I also spotted a cameraman. Veyra flinched, face red.

"Sorry to interrupt," the announcer said, thankfully not into the microphone.

"Congratulations. Your opponent is ready to shake hands."

"Uh, give us a minute," I said and reached out to close the game pod's door. While still hugging Veyra, I said, "We, um, have a problem."

"What?" she asked.

"Are you too nervous?

""Uhm…" I would have thought she had felt it already, but then I remembered her lower body was paralyzed. She probably couldn't feel it. Maybe that was for the best.

"Uh, I'm going to need to calm down and imagine something tragic for a bit." I closed my eyes and got as far from her as possible and tried to detach from the urge to just kiss her again. The fact that a camera was recording us helped a lot in bringing my head out of dirty thoughts.

"Wait," Veyra said. She wheezed a laugh.

"No way."

"Yes way," I said.

"Sorry, give me a moment." I had my eyes closed. I could imagine she was giving me some sort of disapproving look. Her quiet tone sounded disbelieving more than anything.

"Was it really that hot? My play?"

"You're the one that's hot," I said and squeezed my eyes even tighter shut.

"Please stay quiet for a minute." She did, thank the lords. Any more words from her and we would have been here for the rest of the night.

"We actually won…" I said, bringing my mind to the competition. I opened my eyes. Veyra still had a disbelieving smile on her face.

"Yeah…"

"You fucking did it," I said.

"I can't believe it." We lay there for a moment longer, until the situation between my legs finally calmed down.

"I'll lift you," I said, and opened the pod again. Cheers came as I emerged from the pod. I moved to lift Veyra out of the pod. She helped by grabbing the handle and pulling a little herself. I was just tall enough that her feet got over the pod's opening. Some more cheers came. Aree had Veyra's wheelchair. Carefully, I walked there, and even more carefully, I lowered her to the seat. That was the trigger for the cheers finally erupting. I made sure Veyra was securely on. She smiled at me.

Then I raised my head to face the audience. I waved all around me. Annath and the Celestial Order stood by their game pods, waiting for the customary handshakes—as we'd been instructed for the post-match. It seemed like the plan would still continue, just a bit late. Awkwardly, I headed over for handshakes with Aree and Veyra following. I shook hands with Miko first and lowered my head a little to show I was sorry.

"Good match," I said. He smiled, accepting my handshake. I said the same to Prancer, who wasn't nearly as happy, but he shook my hand. Annath was last. I lowered my head slightly deeper for her, said, "Good match," and offered a handshake.

"Congrats," Annath said.

"You're skilled." I smiled a little. Even though Annath was very close to frowning, I knew she wasn't being sarcastic. It felt pretty damn good to hear that from one of the game's five gods. I tried not to rub it in, however, and made my face serious.

"Thank you." I moved out of the way. Veyra reached Annath. Veyra was too nervous to look up at her former guild leader.

"Sorry…" she said.

"For being an idiot."

"The past is the past," Annath said.

"It was a good match, Veyra. You fought well. Don't apologize." She offered a handshake. Veyra accepted. The Celestial Order exited the stage through the same walkway they'd come. Again, the audience reached out to give high fives, though the fence had been widened for the next event, enough that Annath could only give high fives to one side. Her team received a healthy amount of cheers on their way out.

A lot of people in the audience were silent beyond disbelief, with their eyes glued on me and Veyra, but nobody booed Annath. Veyra and I waited in the middle of the stage. The arena was silent and dim for a long ten seconds, until soft bass rumbled across the arena. A spotlight lit the entrance, showing what looked like a fancy serving cart with a trophy atop it. A woman in a black suit appeared next. The woman waved, and it took me a moment to recognize her.

That was Song Ji-soo from Wind Virtual's surveillance team. One of the most recognizable figures of Wind Virtual's officials. The music got louder as Ji-soo elegantly pushed the trophy cart. She moved up to the stage, then directly to us. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. We had actually fucking won. The trophy was right in front of me. Instead of a traditional cup, the trophy was a miniature monolith.

Around it slithered two black and orange dragons, their bodies extending out to form the handles. The base of the trophy had Wind Virtual's logo engraved with the text, "Worlds 2026 - Three Versus Three." Ji-soo stood proudly behind it and curtsied. I glanced at Veyra, whose seat was just high enough for her shoulders to be on level with the trophy. I knelt down next to her to match her height. I placed my left hand on one of the handles. Veyra grabbed the other with her right. In unison, we lifted the trophy.

The music was drowned out by applause, cheers, with so many sounds coming from the audience that I could only smile in the middle of it. I smiled at Veyra, then placed the trophy firmly on her lap, where she hugged it.

"Congratulations, Team Solo Mage," Ji-soo said to her microphone with a slight Korean accent.

"Assassin and Veyra, the winners of the three versus three tournament of Worlds twenty-twenty-six!" She bowed, and the applause continued. Ji-soo smiled, and the spotlight lit the casters' bench hidden off to the side of the stage. Beside it was a designated ring for post-match interviews with two couches—the type of place to just hold a casual chat in. We followed Ji-soo there.

Earlier, Helena had made it clear that we had the right to decline interviews, since our team hadn't signed a contract to make them mandatory. Declining a finals post-match interview was frowned upon by the community, however, and I didn't see any reason why we'd decline. I glanced at Veyra, who looked happy enough. Artonis and Leona, the casters, were already sitting on their couch. Cameras surrounded the station from the shadows in all directions.

We brought our trophy to the table in the middle, and sat on our sofa. Aree lifted Veyra next to me before quickly escaping out of view. We sat close enough for our shoulders to touch. The jumbotron already showed everyone sitting on the couch, with Leona and Artonis grinning and eager to start talking to us. Ji-soo made her leave. Leona was the first to speak.

"Team Solo Mage! Veyra and Assassin, you are the winners of the Worlds twenty-twenty-six three versus three tournament! Sweden, one more time, please give a round of applause to the first ever duo to take home the grand finals!" The audience delivered, with energy somehow remaining to cheer even louder than last time. When the cheers calmed, Leona continued.

"After a rough start of technical difficulties, and after a crushing loss against Annath in the winners' bracket, I don't think anyone expected you two to climb all the way back to the finals. But here you are, having defeated a god three times in succession for the best debut appearance Worlds has ever seen! It's only customary to ask: how do you feel?" Leona glanced at Veyra, whose seat was closest. Veyra looked down at her microphone nervously. I smiled, if that could give her some confidence.

She lifted the microphone.

"I…" she said softly before pausing at the volume of her voice.

"I, um, feel good, of course." Her face reddened as a light wave of applause came. She held her microphone up, looking like she had more to say. It took her a moment to start.

"I'm usually a bit pessimistic. I, um, don't really admit if I'm feeling good. But… yeah, I'm very happy to be here." A louder wave of applause. She placed her microphone on my lap. My turn now. If Veyra wasn't here, I would have probably said some stupid nonsense to make the crowd laugh. Instead, I tried to be serious.

"I'm amazed," I said.

"I'm not sure if I deserve all this praise, and I think luck played a big part, but I couldn't be happier to be here." I received cheers as well, while everyone on the casters' sofa smiled.

"We're so happy to hear that, and I'm honored to have been a part of casting these amazing games! We have a lot to ask, and a lot we wish to learn about you. I will leave the first question to you, Artonis." Artonis shifted his posture and faced us with an amazed expression.

"Veyra and Assassin A. You two have just shown me, without a doubt, the most insane match of my casting career, coming from players I had never even heard of before this September. Veyra, of course, has a lot of experience hunting in the wilderness behind her back, but Assassin, I must ask, where did this magical performance come from?"

"I don't know man, I just work here," I said, which drew a few laughs. I waited a few seconds for that to calm down. For a more serious answer, I added, "I guess my friends knew me as the rent money assassin. I never really had the levels or equipment to compete with, or even join a competitive guild. I needed a little push. So, I'll thank Mythforged and Fuhad for dropping a few good gear pieces, and I'll of course thank Veyra for making the assassination possible."

"Incredible," Artonis said.

"Earlier this year, you got target nerfed by Wind Virtual after a dominant performance in New York. That did not seem to have slowed you down. How did it feel, to duel a god of swordsmanship, with a level and a gear disadvantage, after only one month to learn and practice a new setup?"

"I don't think I was at a gear disadvantage," I said.

"Sablethorn was a pretty good purchase against Annath. With our mythic spellbook and the drops from Embridge, I think it was a fairly even match." Artonis leaned forward.

"Assassin, you might be the only person to say you're evenly matched while fighting four mythics items and dozens of legendaries, while still rocking epic gear. Not to mention being down twenty levels, and missing a member from your party." I just shrugged with a quick, "Eh. Someone has a skill issue, then." I knew the crowd would go crazy from that, and I was right. I gave another shrug and placed the microphone down, indicating I was done.

"Wow," Leona said.

"I think the final exchange of the fourth round is causing havoc on the forums just about now." She turned to Veyra.

"And I say the same for the absolute peak —Am I allowed to use that word? —the absolute domination that was the final minute of the final round. Veyra. Can you tell us anything about your process of perfecting quick-casting? How can you cast spells quicker than two mages combined?" Veyra thought about her answer.

"I, um… I don't think quick-casting is as convoluted as people think it is. It's just a skill you have to learn. I've practiced it for… like a decade now? Quick-casting is only limited because the community doesn't believe it to be useful." Her great insight got cheers, of course. She smiled nervously.

"A decade of practice," Leona said.

"I can certainly believe that. I can only think of one person who has rivaled your level of quick-casting, and up until this month, we all believed that person to have been a cheater. I'm of course talking about SevenStrife, your old identity." She spoke hesitantly, as if noticing she treaded a touchy subject.

"Finally, after these years, you've proved the allegations wrong, and shown to the community that you were never the cheater we thought you were." Veyra faced the ground, taking her time forming an answer.

"Yeah… I should have competed locally a long time ago. I'm sorry to everyone who I let down as SevenStrife. And… I want to thank Aiden for convincing me to come here. I'm back now. Hello." She waved at the camera, and the audience cheered.

"I have never seen someone as focused as you during the last round," Leona said.

"Could you tell us, what was going through your mind when you executed your final plan to trick Annath into overextending?"

"Eh, well," Veyra said.

"It wasn't really a plan. A thought just came to me, and I knew Annath would fall for it. Then I landed a few lucky hits."

"Lucky or not, that has to have been one of the best spell versus sword one versus ones I have witnessed," Leona said. She leaned forward, then asked.

"I could have sworn you were casting Time Freeze before your portal. Except, something entirely different came out. How… Just, how? Am I allowed to ask for your secrets?"

"It was just free-handed ice magic," Veyra said.

"I mimicked the casting animation with some particles around me. The actual spell I prepared was the ice spike."

"And that's possible?" Leona asked in genuine surprise.

"That is insane." From there, questions about our performance and history continued for about five or ten minutes. Veyra stayed humble and didn't boast about a single thing, while I gave a few more stupid answers about my thought process during the match and the practice schedules we'd followed. Eventually, Leona said, "Thank you so much Veyra and Assassin A. I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to cast your games, and I hope to see you two compete together soon in the future!

Do you two have any final words to your supporters and new fans?"

"Thank you to everyone who stuck out to watch this little match," I said.

"I'll try to get more clips for you guys next year. But no promises." I waited for the noise to calm down.

"To my sister and mom and my family in the audience, thank you for flying all the way out here, and I hope the matches weren't too boring. And… To all the members of guild Solo Mage, my most important supporters, thanks for showing up in my life just when I needed it the most." I leaned my head lightly on Veyra' shoulders for a tiny moment. Nothing too extreme under the spotlight. She smiled lightly. The sound that came from the audience was something between a cheer and an aww. Veyra's turn to speak came.

Her head was low, and she took her time thinking. Quietly, I asked, "Is your stomach good?"

"Oh, yeah," she said without the mic.

"It's not that." There was more silence. Someone from the crowd shouted, "Veyraaa! You're amazing!" She smiled a little, finally raising the microphone and facing the crowd.

"I thank everyone for coming as well." Her voice was hazy.

"And thank you, Aiden, for convincing me to come here. This… This has been amazing. Thank you." She sniffled and turned her head to the camera. A tear fell through a wide smile.

"And to mom, if you wake up, and if you see this, I hope you feel as happy as I do right now." She placed down the microphone and wiped her eyes, but she couldn't hold the tears in. Through sniffles, she kept wiping more and more tears. The audience began chanting in unison, "Veyra! Veyra! Veyra! Veyra!" I held my hand around her back.

"It'll go well. She'll live."

"Mm," Veyra said and leaned toward me, her face on my shoulder. We stayed there for a while, until Veyra asked, "You're my boyfriend now, right?" That caught me by surprise.

"Yes. And you're my girlfriend." I grinned.

"Want me to carry you out?" She lifted her head. She chuckled through her tears.

"There's no way you're strong enough."

"Really, now?" I asked with a smirk. I helped her fix her posture, then stood and grabbed our trophy. I placed it gently onto Veyra's hand, "Hug it tight." Into the microphone, I said, "Thank you!" one last time. Then I slid my left hand under Veyra's knees, my right behind her back, and lifted her. With Veyra hugging our first place trophy, I carried her out while the entire arena called our names.