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Chapter 41 - A Message For Arthur

Lynd couldn't believe it. He just did the impossible. The battle took a harsher turn but he won. Luckily, he watched Seeker's stream on the previous boss-fight and remembered all the patterns and attacks that Seeker did. He also remembered the basic attack patterns which the enemy also did. There were several close calls as Lynd would even shout in fear. There were even times when Lynd would pause the game as he was panicking and would resume the game when he calmed down. Seeker was sleeping soundly in all of these. Various cries of anger and complaints were voiced in the chat room but Meryl was mercilessly berating the haters.

Luckily, LordChokeMeSenpai came to Meryl's rescue and defended Lynd on his game.

Kristine's constant cheering and commendation for Lynd was enough to push Lynd to pass his limits and concentrate to the extreme. Even when Lynd was almost hysterical in his fear and panic, Seeker provided no help. He was, in fact, sound asleep and was even snoring.

The last boss, who had an anticlimactic name of 'Dave', continued to attack with a variety of patterns that would confuse first-time players. The majority of the time of this battle was spent in evading. Lynd knew that one hit would kill him and crush Seeker's career down to the ground. The pressure that Lynd felt was great but he would occasionally feel a strange calming sensation and reacted accordingly on the most dangerous moments.

Lynd was well-aware of the harshness of facing this 'Dave'. Seeker said that in the future, Dave would be classified as the hardest boss on any game ever made. Its attack patterns were designed to be almost random. This was why the bets made against him rose all the way to 25,000 credits. But Lynd managed to persevere and got Dave's hit points down to half. It was then that the attack patterns became more intense. More viewers placed their bets at seeing the ruthless attacks. They expected Lynd to slip up and die at these attacks. But Lynd persevered. Slowly he managed to attack Dave and later, the number of his attacks started to increase. Nearly an hour later, the hearts of these gamblers were shredded.

They wouldn't have dared to agree to this gamble against Casual Carlean but since it was this stranger was a nobody. Who would have expected that this Lyndiculous man proved to be almost as skilled as Seeker?

"He could be pro." Cronus commended as Dave's hit points became critical.

"Join us, Lynd. Do you forever want to be under Seeker's wings? Best friends are also the best rivals."

Cronus offered. Everyone was shocked to see this offer.

"No way! Lynd would definitely join us!" LordChokeMeSenpai countered. Of course, she didn't do it because she wanted Lynd to join but because Arthur motioned that she move to take Lynd as well.

"We don't know about that Meryl. But this Lynd is also a monster. Pseudo Instant Calculation and Pseudo Millisecond Reaction. He has both." Arthur smiled. If honed, Lynd would be another figure that would rule the gaming world.

"The world isn't as small as it was after all." Arthur smiled.

As Dave's hit points fell to critical, Seeker's fans were cheering while those who placed their bet against Lynd were cursing.

The ending is as what Seeker expected. This was no gamble for him.

News reports of it circulated around the globe. The biggest gaming upset that has ever been streamed live concluded with the winning side being a young teen, Seeker Carlean. His official Gaming Handle was set at this victory. Every gamer knew of the name Casual Carlean.

Precept Gaming was blamed by many fans. The numerous fans accused that Precept Gaming was collaborating with Seeker Carlean and was using him as an instrument to promote their game. Right now, Piercing: Bullet broke several world records. Some of the most known records included; a game with the highest recorded bet, the game with the most purchases within one week, the most talked-about game on social media, and several others.

Precept Gaming released a public statement denying to have any involvement with Seeker Carlean. They denied even knowing of the bug that Seeker Carlean revealed during his stream and that they are immediately working on a patch to fix these errors.

When asked for a statement regarding Seeker's victory, Precept Gaming's President Hisashi Suzuki applauded Seeker's skill.

"We at Precept Gaming accept the faults that our game has. If Seeker Carlean was able to take advantage and exploit the bugs that were even unknown to us, then his victory is justified. Seeker's stream was monitored by our own dedicated servers and we can assure the public that there were no cheats or hacks detected. Much so, on the impressive gameplay by that Lynd Indigo."

While the world erupted in this news, a certain video call was happening to formalize the deals between Seeker and Covenant of the Strongest.

Seeker was happily tapping his fingers like a drum and had a glee smile on his face.

"Well?" Seeker smiled.

"We are willing to offer you two times my pay," Arthur spoke blankly.

Seeker continued to drum his fingers on the edge of the table as he sat down. Lynd and Meryl could be seen sitting on the back.

"Not a bad start. I'll take you up on that offer." Seeker smiled.

Kristine was surprised.

"I was expecting you to demand more."

"Oh. I can. I bet Git Godlike would offer me something close to four times Arthur's. Not to mention since whoever gets me, gets little ol' Lynd here. But I'm not greedy." Seeker smiled.

Arthur had a slightly grave look.

"So about the trip…" Kristine began.

"We'll talk about it after the Nations of the World E-Sport Meet. For now, the priority is joining your team and learning to play together as a team." Seeker smiled.

"Alright." Kristine nodded. A spark of excitement was in her eyes. They were sure to bring home the championship this year.

"Don't worry about our travel expenses. We'll go there on our own." Seeker grinned.

"That's good. If convenient, we would like to meet you on Monday."

"That's fine. Just send us the full details of our meeting and we'll be there by Monday." Seeker smiled.

"Let's talk more then. The gang and I have a party to celebrate." Seeker waved goodbye.

The video call immediately ended.

Kristine sighed. Luckily Seeker didn't make things hard for her and Arthur.

"You alright Arthur? I was expecting you to umm... talk."

Arthur shook his head.

"He was tapping his fingers…"

"I was curious about that Lynd though. He seemed like a nice kid." Kristine turned and noticed that Arthur's look was very serious.

"He was tapping Morse code. He was clearly altering the speed of his taps to make it look normal."

Kristine was shocked at this. Arthur was a master at many things. Morse code was one of them.

"You sure? What if he was just tapping playfully? I mean, remember the time you thought you were hearing some code and it turned out to be a baby banging his rattle?"

"Not this time. I was sure his message was 'Lennox Danger."

Kristine was shocked at the message.

Arthur opened the computer and replayed the video call. They recorded it in case any legal discussions would arise amidst the negotiations.

Arthur listened to the first part of the call.

"It's really it. I'm not being crazy this time." Arthur frowned.

"He knows your father?

"If he does, he should know the absurdity of what he just said. But the manner in which he said it was too precise. It's as if everything he did so far, was to get that message to me." Arthur frowned.

Kristine sat there silently. Her heart was in turmoil.

"Well at least we know now that he's not after your body." Kristine smiled.

Arthur simply shook his head.

"I'm not sure whether I should be relieved or terrified. If what he just said is true, then the worlds about to change." Arthur copied the file and deleted the one in the computer.

"Tell our sponsors that Seeker accepted and no legal issues were discussed. The fewer people who know about this video, the better." Arthur commanded.

News of the deal emerged online. Casual Carlean had officially joined the Covenant of the Strongest.

This news found its way to mainstream media as Seeker became the highest-paid E-sport player of all times without competing in any arena.

While the whole world was shaken by this, Seeker and his team continued with the celebratory party. It was late in the afternoon that they dined at Harker's restaurant and ate to their heart's content. But this wasn't the celebration.

Upon arriving at the abandoned factory, Alean, Charles and a very depressed Cliff awaited the three.

"Congratulations on getting in the team." Alean greeted Seeker. She then turned and gave Lynd a sweet smile.

Lynd blushed and nodded.

"Did you get the weapons?" Seeker immediately asked.

Alean sighed.

"It's inside. But first, I have questions about everything."

"Of course you have." Seeker smiled.

"This Unlocking thing. Is that how you did it? Your sudden rise to the top in the gaming world. If it is as Charles says, then if one second felt like five or more, you could easily dominate most sports."

"Yes. That's how I do it. Of course, I may have overstrained myself a bit earlier." Seeker laughed.

"Then why are you Unlocking me and Cliff?" Alean asked seriously.

"Well for you, Lynd likes you. So it's best to save you. After all, you do have quite a pitiful life growing up under your father. For Cliff, it's more of a whim I guess? I mean, I need someone to do the dirty work if you and Charles are busy." Seeker laughed.

"Save us?" Alean asked in confusion.

"These are troubling times Miss. The world will soon change. A war will occur and throw this world into chaos. No doubt you've heard of the reports. The secret wars between Africa and Russia." Seeker smiled.

A grave look surfaced in Alean's expression.

"So you know even of that, huh?"

"Dragon is the least of our problems. Why do you think Dragon's after your dad's tech? He's preparing for it. It's going to be a world where the unlocking would be your only option in order to survive." Seeker smiled.

"Now let's go see that weapon collection." Seeker strode into the main building to replace a collection of weapons hanging on various stands and laid out on a table.

Swords, spears, axes, maces, flails. It was an assortment of weapons. It was as if they entered a gladiators ring.

"Sweet. Looks like your contacts are very helpful. This collection pales from Charles' set. Be sure to give Charles some. He's got a thing for collecting weapons.

Charles gave a slight smile. He didn't dislike that suggestion.

Alean sighed and shook her head.

"Shall we get on with it then? The faster we get over this the better."

"Pick a spot and pick your weapons. First, I'll have one-on-one sessions with each of you. After that, we'll do what we did last night." Seeker smiled.

"Cliff. You're up first." Charles ordered.

Cliff's face paled at Charles' order.

Charles gave Cliff an 'I'm sorry' look. He dared not make the ladies go first. Nor did he have the courage to order Lynd who is a potential World Champion.

Cliff walked right in the center. His feet were shaking.

"Select a weapon, man." Seeker grinned.

Cliff went and got a spiked club. He was a baseball player and he was confident of using it as a weapon. He turned to Cliff and had a questioning look.

"Really? That one? I hope you're ready." Seeker picked a large halberd. It was so large that people would assume that no normal teen could carry it. But Seeker picked it up and dashed towards Cliff with an unbelievable speed. He lifted the halberd and just the sight of it made Cliff lose his wits. The halberd that Seeker carried was nearly two meters long with an obscenely large ax head.

Seeker hacked his gigantic weapon downwards on Cliff.

Cliff was paralyzed as he saw the falling halberd. Everyone watching unconsciously closed their eyes. They didn't want to see a halved Cliff. It was a grim reminder for them.. Another night of terror was to come.