Game’s Dogma

Nothing dangerous happened afterwards. The giant apes were indeed annoying; they were fairly agile, could attack a wide area at once, could knock players back, and were plenty in numbers. Even so, they were but a hassle for the true elites.

Drako Yau thought as he ran, That’s probably it for the first elimination round.

The horde of players that flooded the hundred-metre-wide stairs was nowhere to be seen. Over eighty per cent of players had been eliminated, shattering the dreams of those who tried their luck. The giant apes’ attacks separated the strong from the weak.

After running for almost thirty minutes straight, some players who could evade the giant apes’ slaps were feeling their fatigue kick in—red alerts started flashing in their sights. Sure, they could continue playing after taking a break, but how could they rest when giant apes were constantly trying to hit them? Let alone sitting down, staying still for a moment was all it took for the apes to knock a player down.

“Boss, how does this red alert thingy work? They look tired, but I’m still feeling alright,” Danting asked naively.

He was the only person who knew Drako Yau’s identity as the genius graduate of the Faculty of Programming and Game Design. Game design-wise, he was most certainly a master.

Hearing Danting’s question, Drako Yau answered straightforwardly, “Mental fortitude, probably.”

“Mental fortitude?”

Although the conversation was between the two, they didn’t lower their voices in particular, allowing others to spy on the conversation as long as they tried. Powerful players from Myriad Blooms and even Empyreal Alliance perked their ears to hear what the almighty Mask had to say.

“I’ll use an example here. Imagine two humans with the same physical capabilities. If you make them race on the same track, a draw is the only possible outcome when considering only their physicality. However, it’s an entirely different matter when you factor in mental fortitude.

“You know, everyone has at least some potential within them. I’m sure you’ve met opponents in the Arena who suddenly fight a lot better when they’re about to lose, no? That is mental fortitude.

“With the same physical capabilities, mental fortitude will be what separates the victor from the loser. It’s a matter of enduring and pushing through. If I’m not wrong, those who get the alert sooner are those who give up more easily in the actual world. They’re people who surrender to their failures with less resistance. In other words…”

Drako Yau didn’t finish his sentence. As he went on with his deduction, the conclusion he reached terrified him.

This red alert, isn’t it testing a player’s way of the heart? A system that can test one’s way of the heart?!

While Drako Yau was aghast at his conclusion, others didn’t notice anything due to his mask. Instead, they were all nodding in agreement. Only those perseverant could make it here, which was also why they were top players in the game. They were the ones who stood at the game’s apex.

Countless players had made guesses on what the red alert system entailed. There were at least a hundred posts on this issue on the official forums alone; people even went as far as writing essays to prove their points.

If someone else proposed that the alert was a measurement of a player’s mental fortitude, no one would take them seriously. However, it was an entirely different story when Drako Yau, king of Yoda and alliance master of Dragon Alliance, was the one who said such words.

After forty-five minutes of stair-trekking, the main delegate of players finally saw their destination. Drako Yau glanced behind him; nothing but a black spot could be seen.

Just how high are we? I feel cold just from looking.

A pair of towering doors appeared before the players. Proportional to the stairs, the door frame was a hundred metres wide as well, with each door spanning fifty metres across and above.

The doors were already open when they appeared. Everyone entered without hesitation, and a giant courtyard welcomed them. Ancient Chinese architecture, marked by their tiled overhanging roofs and upturned corners, surrounded the plaza, with huge aged yet lively trees dotted between them. Having such massive trees next to a residence was an illogical sight, but they blended in with the entire building without a trace as if everything was together as one.

Rain-sized leaves—be it fresh and green or wilted and brown—poured down from the old trees. Glancing at his surroundings, Drako Yau guessed that this was a residential building based on his brief knowledge in architecture gained from reading countless books.

Only huge clans adopted such an architectural style. The buildings surrounding the spacious courtyard were the houses of the clan’s individual families, while the courtyard, a patio to be exact, was where they interacted. However, he had never seen such a massive patio; rather, it seemed more like a sparring ground.

What if this is actually a sparring ground? Everything clicked when he replaced “huge clans” with “huge martial clans”.

When everyone arrived at the patio, two people were already there. Sounds of battle, wolf howls, and bull moos rang throughout the patio. Seemingly exasperated, Zephyrwolf parried the girl’s axe with his scimitar. Yes, it wasn’t a wood-cutting axe, but rather a two-handed battle axe. The two duos of human-and-beast raced across the patio, clashing their weapons and trampling over the fallen leaves.

The girl looked somewhat comedic as the axe head was even wider than herself. Still, she was swinging it with technique, balancing between attack and defence with vigour. Her attacks were powerful, yet she held back enough to include some variations from time to time. The bronze-green cow aided her from the side by stomping its hoofs into the ground. With every stomp came an earth-type spell, such as Spiked Earth, Swamp, and Earthquake.

Her opponent, Zephyrwolf, only parried without counter-attacking. The scimitar was an unbreachable defence in his hands. He hadn’t been fooling around for the past few months; apart from training his proficiency in his current skills, he had also been cultivating the Vitality Mantra and kept learning combat techniques from Drako Yau.

While Drako Yau was no swordsman and couldn’t teach Zephyrwolf practical techniques with the sword, he had achieved enlightenment in the concept of martial arts itself. In his state, he could oversee all martial arts from above, and that provided a brand-new perspective for Zephyrwolf to break through certain bottlenecks.

Ever since befriending Drako Yau, Zephyrwolf had been improving dramatically. It was true that he was the weakest among Drako Yau’s companions, but that was precisely why he improved at the fastest rate.

Zephyrwolf’s swordsmanship appeared disorganised, but it contained an aura of roughness and wildness. The players spectated the fight because why not, yet soon they found their hearts turning heavy.

It was a pure contest of combat technique when both fighters refrained from casting skills. On the surface, Zephyrwolf seemed to be on the receiving end as he only stayed on the defence. However, when looked closely, he was dealing with the girl’s attacks easily with much room for breath while his defence had not shown a single opening.

Was this Zephyrwolf still the lackey who couldn’t make it big? Was this still the man who got complacent because he received a unique class from an encounter quest?

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