Chương 119: B2 Chapter 26 - Art Of Steel

Very few olympic-level fencers or martial artists played Wonderwind, despite being incredible at fighting. Wonderwind was an MMO first and a fighting game second. Dragrath was absolutely a monster with the sword in real life, and a lot of ranger players were hobbyist archers before the game came out, but generally, the game systems didn't really cater to those who just wanted to fight people. Instead, professional fighters, fencers, martial artists, they all flocked to a different game: Art Of Steel VR.

A pure, fully realistic fighting game, sporting all types of fighting from boxing to medieval sword arts. The game wasn't quite as popular, and tournaments weren't as packed, but the level of competition was arguably just as insane. Legends like Mike Tyson had played the game when it came out, giving it quite a popular launch. These days, the most known name was definitely Julius Fischer from Germany, who was considered to be the best swordsman alive.

The chance of me matching against him in-game would be next to none, but there should have been no better place for just pure fighting than Art Of Steel. I headed back to my virtual pod and bought the game for sixty dollars. VR game files reached into the terabytes these days, making the download last for almost an hour, but I had time to create my character in the meantime. Interestingly, players in Art Of Steel fought with their real names visible.

I couldn't log in anonymously, having to use my real name of Aiden Miller. Maybe that was fine. Most people didn't know Faker's real name either. Changing any details like height or body shape weren't allowed either. Art Of Steel was a fully realistic fighting simulator, even more so than Wonderwind, and the game immediately reminded me of that before even allowing me to log in.

[Terms Of Service - User Agreement] [Art Of Steel includes intense combat scenarios and simulated battles to the death, which users may find disturbing or traumatic. By proceeding, you understand and accept exposure to such content.] [The developers of Art Of Steel are not liable for psychological harm caused by extreme combat.] Half a dozen more warnings followed, including one to remind me to spend time in virtual reality moderately, suggesting that no more than two hours were spent in the game at once.

I clicked through. Most of the warnings were just fluff to point at in case someone wanted to sue the company for whatever harm the content could cause. I took a peek at the game's forums while the game downloaded. I didn't understand much, but it looked like clips and memes were being spread around, just like in Wonderwind. It also felt like Art Of Steel players felt much superior to Wonderwind players. One of the first memes I saw had the caption: "Wonderwind players wondering where the Swing system is."

The comments were just about what I could expect. By Adam Fletch, 1445 likes, " My friend was top five hundred in Wonderwind five years ago. I was Platinum back then, so barely above average in Steel. I think he landed a single hit when we dueled with free weapons…" Reply By Mitch Lucker, 956 likes, " Wonderwind players sometimes have decent stances, since the Swing system promotes that, but that's about it. They're usually quite savage in Steel. You learn how to deal with their type of aggression very fast."

Reply By Mark Smith, 1271 likes, " Comparing the games is stupid. They're not even the same genre of game. Steel is about practicing techniques, mastering your weapon, and reading your opponent for a meticulous duel. Wonderwind is about buying items and seeing whose bank account is larger when they throw spells at each other. There's no Wonderwind player who could land a single hit on Fischer or even Erdinger. End of debate." Interesting, I thought, grinning at the comments.

In some ways, I agreed with the last one. Most Wonderwind players spent more time grinding levels than they did practicing fighting styles. The Swing system existed for a reason. But I would argue that the pace of Wonderwind combat was also much faster than in a realistic combat simulator. I would be really surprised if I'd lose to the average Steel player. I really did hope there were good fighters here, though. That was why I'd bought the game.

After a wait that felt way too long, I finally got to log in and start the game.

[Match Type: Free-brawl to fatal wound or surrender] Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. [Blood and Gore: Suppressed] [Arena: Natural, Large, Clear] [Weapon: Steel; free choice] [Shields: Not Allowed] [Armor: Not Allowed] [Your weapons, Steel Sickle, Venus Dagger (workshop weapon)] [Your Skill Rating: Unranked] [Estimated Queue-time: 1: 51] I stood in a calm, grassy mountain landscape. I spun the dagger and sickle, standing around in the menu-screen.

The sickle was just a generic one I'd found in the menu, but the Venus Dagger was a player-forged weapon with a long and slightly curved blade. I picked it solely because it was the most similar to the weapons I wielded in Wonderwind. Whether it would actually be good, I had no idea. With that, I queued into my first match. Art Of Steel used a matchmaking system, meaning that the game would pick an opponent of similar skill rating to mine. I just started the game, so my skill rating was unranked.

I expected to be fighting noobs for the first few hours. [Match Found] [Accept / Decline] I clicked accept, and the landscape around me dimmed as I was taken into a loading screen. Half a minute later, I appeared in a plain and perfectly rectangular field, surrounded by trees and a fence. Visibility was good, my footing was solid, and there was nothing in the environment to use to my advantage. From my short research on the forums, this arena type seemed to be the most popular for a straight-up duel with no tricks.

[Your Opponent: Frederick Goodman, rank Silver Apprentice] On the other end, I spotted my opponent with two firm hands gripping a sword. He looked to be in his late twenties and in good shape, with a harsh face of a soldier I could imagine seeing in a movie. He wore a medieval tunic, as if fully immersed in the mindset of a soldier. Immediately, he began jogging toward me. That, I heard, was also a common strategy upon a duel starting.

Players spawned in the edges of the arena, making it advantageous to run toward the middle of the arena to avoid being pushed back to the fence. I calmly walked to him and watched his footwork. As he got closer, his run stopped. I spotted him furrowing his brows. Then he burst out laughing.

"A dagger and a sickle? What the fuck? Am I being troll picked?" I spun my dagger, smirking at him.

"Are these off meta? It's my first match." He stayed in stance with his sword but stayed in place to talk. He studied me, as if to decide whether I was being serious.

"Ah, you're a Wonderwind player, aren't you?"

"Yep, I heard this was a good place to practice." His posture relaxed a little, like he knew he wouldn't need to take this fight seriously. He let out a long sigh, only to laugh again.

"A dagger and a sickle, bro, there's no way. Steel isn't the place to play ninja. This is real life. You'll face swords and spears only."

"Good," I said.

"Should be good practice. How long have you played this game?" Now he frowned.

"Two years. Even my sword is considered off-meta. Good luck, kid. You won't get far." I found it amusing how even in a fully realistic fighting simulator, people were using terms like off-meta. Frederick approached me with his sword. He clearly had experience, and his stance was solid. If I ran in to try and swing at him, he would have most definitely cut me down. He ran a step forward and took a heavy swing at the far end of his sword's reach. I immediately saw the angle to side-step and lunge in for a one-shot.

Instead, I hopped back to study him a bit more. His frown deepened as he approached.

"See?" he said.

"Daggers just don't have enough reach. Your options are to run away or get close enough to get cut down." He's exactly the type of opponent I used to assassinate… Frederick swung a little more aggressively, but still left all of my options available. I could have parried with one of my daggers, I could have side-stepped and lunged in, or I could very easily just dodge backward and try again. As always, the easiest time to kill an opponent with daggers was when they made a mistake.

That was what I was good at, and Frederick would have made it very easy for me. Daggers had the range disadvantage, but once I got up close, they were deadly. But I came here to practice taking the aggression myself. When Frederick recovered his sword, I hopped back like I'd been doing. He took a step forward, wanting to keep the pressure on. The very moment he initiated a step, I sprung forward, daggers aimed at his face. His rhythm was interrupted as he slashed at my lunge in a panic.

I canceled my lunge at the very edge of his range, not half an inch from getting my face cut down. I planned on hitting his sword hard to provoke him to the defensive. Until I got a random idea. I had a sickle now. I hooked the sickle on the edge of his blade. Having just missed a swing, he hardly registered me hooking his weapon. I pulled the sword a little to the side, and with my other hand, I threw my dagger into his brain. That was most definitely a fatal blow. There was no slash, being a different game.

Instead, my opponent merely collapsed to the ground, dying. Victorious horns blew, and a notification came. [You are Victorious!] [Skill Rating Increase: +31] [Rank: Unranked (4 more games required)] [Returning To Menu…] Nice, I thought. That actually felt pretty good. My opponent hadn't been good in the slightest, but that was understandable, considering he was the second lowest rank in this game.

The ranks went, Bronze Initiate, Silver Apprentice, Gold Novice, Platinum Adept, Diamond Expert, Master Elite, and Grandmaster, which included the top one hundred best players. The rank was determined by a player's skill rating. Frederick had been Silver Apprentice, and to be honest, I'd seen tank players in Wonderwind's top five hundred list who were worse than him. What about actual high-ranking Steel players, then? As player skill increased, so did the quality of my practice.

With high hopes, I queued up for my next match.