Down the yellow brick road to Boundless Eternal Spiral they go.

Joshua had had a long day. He had just gotten home from school, where the teachers were trying to jam as much information into their students brains as possible. The school year was almost over, which meant that he, as a senior, was about to leave high school for a better life. Or so he hoped. Since it was the end of the school year, there would be final exams soon. So the teachers were trying to get their students ready for that, thus the cramming. Joshua's brain hurt just from trying to remember the things the teachers were trying to teach. He was a smart student, got great grades, but that didn't excuse him from studying. But it was Friday afternoon, and he had plenty of time to study all weekend. Plus the exams weren't for another few weeks. He could study later. He dropped his bags on his bedroom floor and walked over to his computer. It was always on, making it easier to get on the computer and logging on to the World. He sat in his chair, put on his vr helmet, and logged on.

Username: Blue fox
Password: ********

processing..........
logging on...
Welcome to the World.

Blue fox opened his eyes to the bustling root town of Mac Anu. It was always busy and was the most crowded and town in the entire game of the World. It sometimes amazed him that the server didn't overload from all the activity. Of course, there were places that weren't busy at all, like the secluded spot he had found and come to like behind the magic shop. Walking down the steps from the gate area, he was passed by many other players, hurrying to and fro, going through the gate and coming out of it. It certainly was a busy town. He continued over the bridge, turned right, down the stairs and pass the magic shop. But before he made it to the alley that lead top his spot, he recieved a flash mail. It was from Usagi, a female level three long arm who had recently challenged him to a duel.

He quickly read the flash mail and smiled. The duel was to be at Boundless Eternal Spiral. If Blue fox remebered how the keywords worked, this should be an Earth field. He turned away from his alley, heading back towards the gate. Unlike those from earlier, he wasn't in a hurry. He had plenty of time to get there and prepare. He had plenty of items and this player wasn't too much higher than he an level to make a significant difference in the outcome of the battle. Of course, the last time he had fought a level three player, he had lost. But it didn't matter.

He got to the gate and stopped before th gate, staring at the runes as he always did before using the gate. It earned him stares from other players but he didn't care. He was sure that he wasn't the only one who did this. He was planning on one day trying to translate the runes, but it would be a while before he did try that. Besides, he doubted that they said anything and he enjoyed just trying to guess their meaning. He finally came back from his contemplations and prepared to use the gate. "Boundless Eternal Spiral," he said to the gat and he was instantly surrounded by three golden rings, taking him to the field. He was right about the level from earlier. He had read the info on the area before acknowledging to go to the level. It was a level eight Earth area.

The rings deposited him onto the field. The rings disappeared into thin air as usual, eaving him seemingly stranded. There was rain here, not a storm, but a normal, medium strength rain falling from a cloudy sky. Why do I duel in so many rainy areas? he though to himself. He looked around, taking in the surroundings. There was little grass, just a bare brown landscape as far as he could see. All around, though, were what looked like the remains of castle walls. Here and there were dead looking trees with strange statues around them. It was an interesting field to say the least.

Blue fox walked over to one of the wall fragments with an arch in it. He stopped under the arch, leaned against the wall, and waited for his opponent.

SP: 20/20

EDIT: Added sp bar. (I'm terrible about that.)

“Oh my God, really? That happened?”

“Yeah, when she went back to her parent’s house to visit for her vacation, and he did it right there, and then it was over!”

She could hear them talking behind her back, Sarah blurting out everything that happened to her recently. She could just kill Sarah right now for what she was doing to her. Standing up from her seat, ignoring the fact that her professor was still talking, she walked over to her and got into her face.

“Stop talking about what happened with me and Ben. It’s none of your business.” And with that, she walked back to her seat, picked up her books, and stormed out of the room. She heard her teacher stop talking but she didn’t care. She just continued to walk towards the dormitory listings where she could ask the secretary there to change her room number.

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“Can you change my room?” Marian finally asked at the conclusion of her and Ms. Baker’s conversation. She had finally had it with Sarah and needed to leave.

“Yes, I can. You will not have a roommate for a while since we just had a room open up and there are no new students enrolling at the moment. Is that okay?”

“That is wonderful.” Marian said with a sigh of relief. She didn’t know if she could handle a roommate at the moment. She stood back up from her seat, signed the release form, and walked out of the office and to her dorm. She would begin packing after she received the forms from Ms. Baker.

She entered into the dorm and sat down at the computer and placed on the VR visor as if it were an involuntary action. Sarah would be back up into the room in about twenty minutes to play the game, but Marian was sure to be in her way and already in the process of playing it all.

USERNAME: Usagi
PASSWORD: *********

The long arm stood with her arms folded across her chest and a scowl across her face. Marian, or Usagi now, was still in a bad mood and needed something to bring her spirits back up. She then remembered her Duel that she and a fellow player of the World had agreed upon just a few days earlier. She turned to face the Chaos Gate and spoke the three key words.

“Boundless Eternal Spiral…” she whispered to herself. The three golden rings took hold of her body and sent her to the field. Anticipation ran throughout her veins as she began to think of her upcoming battle. The last one she participated in wasn’t the greatest time in the world that she experienced. She landed on the field and folded her arms once again, staring at her opponent that was standing there waiting for her to arrive.

“You Blue Fox?” She asked.

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30/30 SP

EDIT: I forget what my correction was for, but I know it wasn't the SP bar. I think it was a grammatical error of some sort.

Blue fox had been staring off into the field, his arms crossed over his chest. His spear had long ago been set down, leaning against the wall next to him. Staring into the gray sky of the field, he was lost in his thoughts. One thought that passed through his mind was whether or not he could see himself if he looked hard enough. The field was pretty much an endless loop, so you could never get lost, and walking in one direction would bring you back to where you started. But then again the field was covered in hills that would impede his view, plus the fact that you were unable to see that far. Another pointless thought was that, if you kept walking forward in the field and ended up where you started, was that still considered walking in a circle. Before long, with the pointless thoughts and the steady rhythm of the rain, he began to doze off.

He woke up to the sound of a player entering the field. He was looking in the wrong direction. Before he could turn around, he heard the player ask, "You Blue fox?" The voice was female, melodious, but had a hint of irritation in it. Great, I hope she isn't angry with me. Was I supposed to meet her in the root town? he thought to himself. He tried to rack his brain to find out if anything he had done could have gotten her angry, but he couldn't think of anything, and so he had to assume that it was the result of something else. This all occurred in the space of a couple of seconds.

He turned his head to face the player. "Yes, I am Blue fox. I assume you're Usagi?" he responded. He looked at her, trying to evaluate her body expressions. She was definitely upset and irritated by something, but from what he could tell, it wasn't from him. Well, that's a relief. I wouldn't want to face an opponent who was pissed off at me. He got off the wall, letting his arms fall to his sides. He gave a bow to her, as he always seemed to do when he faced a female opponent. Lifting up from the bow, he grabbed his spear. He then stepped out into the rain from beneath the arch to stand a bit closer to his opponent.

He assumed his normal battle stance, his left leg forward and same side pointed more towards his opponent. His spear was held in his right hand at the balance point, held strait along his arm. His arm was pointed at an angle towards the ground, pointing his spear the same way. His left arm was up, bent at the elbow, his hand in a relaxed pose. From this position he could swing his spear around for most attacks or parries he would need.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, waiting for her reaction.

SP: 20/20

2.

Another long arm, weaker and waiting.

“Yes I am Blue Fox. I assume you’re Usagi?” He said to her with a slight waver in his voice. She stood there silently with her arms still folded and a blank stare across her face. His voice gave a hint of insecurity and worry. She cocked her head to the side slightly, never once taking her eyes off him. She was reading him, seeing what could have been bothering him so much.

Had she done something to trigger this? That was probably it; Usagi (or Marian) was always one to scowl. Even back in the real world Marian had been told that she had eyes that could stab into any soul and just an all around intimidating look to her. Maybe that was why she was never real popular with people. But that wasn’t the case right now. The thing to focus on here was the battle and only the battle. There were no monsters or dungeons to enter, just two players standing in a deserted field, each waiting with anticipation. She then stepped forward and brought forth her spear.

Usagi had no traditional battle stance; it was just whatever was comfortable. Casually she stood with her spear being held gently within her hand and her legs slightly bent. The rain fell from the sky softly onto the top of her head, dampening her hair and clothing. Small specks of water dotted her tank top and pants, and some ran down the front of her face. It was nice and cool with a refreshing feeling to it. Closing her eyes for only a moment, Usagi gathered her thoughts and concentrated on one thing and one thing only: Victory.

"Are you ready?" She heard him ask her. She slowly opened her red eyes and looked to him with a mellow stare. She gave a slow nod and then lowered her relaxing stance even more.

“Yes…” She said quietly, her foot inching forward on the wet ground. Then, a shot of energy shout through her and Usagi lunged forward, giving her opponent no warning of any kind. She appreciated the fact that he asked if she was ready, but Usagi came here to win and take all aggressions out on someone or something. When she was just a foot or so away from the player, She swung her spear around, still keeping it spacious between the two, but also closing in any area to where he may try and escape to.

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30/30 SP

"Yes..." he heard her say quietly. He watched carefully as she tokk a small step forward with her foot. This instantly sent a warning to his mind. She was going to attack, and suddenly without warning. He could tell this because of the way she braced her foot in the ground, as though ready for an instant spring in his direction, like a runner would do. He instantly braced himself, legs spread apart in a balanced position, waiting to spring anywhere he needed to. He kept himself prepared for anything. If one were to look carefully, Blue fox would look like a spring, ready to release its pent up energy. Blue fox had never had experience battling a long arm before, but being one himself he knew what he could expect of her abilities. Even the slight difference of levels would not create to much of a handicap. It only gave her slighly higher stats and more sp, though she did have better equipment than he. Watching his opponent carefully, his eyes narrowed in anticipation of the attack, he waited. He would not be caught off guard.

The rain continued to beat down steadily upon the two opponents. Blue fox continued to wait for the anticipated attack, knowing it will come. but not when it will. It was a good thing to know that one will be attacked, but it doesn't help when you don't know when. In these brief few seconds, he pondered upon a course of action he should take. There was an assortment of attacks Usagi could use, many of which would be difficult to counter. But he was certain it would be a sudden attack, leaving no warning and little time to react. This narrowed down the atacks she would do, and so he was confident that he would be prepared for any attack she performed.

Suddenly, Usagi lunged forward at Blue fox. Blue fox nearly flinched, but he held himself until she got to where he wanted her to be. She came closer and closer, decreasing the time Blue fox had to react. AS she got within a few feet, she brought her spear around to attack him and watch for any aattemps at excape he would try. The end of Blue fox's mouth curled into a small grin then. This was just what he wanted. She seemed to be thinking that hewould try to escape, but that was far from what he planned to do. As her spear came closer, he reached out with his left hand, grabbing the spear just behind its head. Just as he grabbed it, he divered its path to slide by him on his left side. Then he slammed his elbow into his side, trapping the spear between his side and his arm.

Now that Usagi's spear was immobalized, he needed to strike before she could wrench her spear away or do something to escape. He swung around his spear, aiming for her neck. At this distance the only way he could do this was the fact that he was holding the spear at its balance point, which was just forward of the center of the spear. this shorten the length of spear that was heading toward Usagi at about the length of a long sword, just short enough to strike at her. The chance of him missing was very low at this range, but there where always possibilities. Thus, Blue fox decided to ensure atleast some domage was inflicted. Targeting the ground behind Usagi that would leave her in the range of the spell, but leave Blue fox out, he cast a spell. "Juk Rom!" he shouted, a torent of wind and leaves lifting from the ground in a mini tornado in an attempt to injure Usagi.

SP: 20/20 - 10 = 10/20

3.

He caught her spear in his hand and held it tightly as he conjured up a spell. Juk Rom, a wood spell, brought forth strong winds and pieces of earth to hit Usagi across her spody, lifting her feet off the ground and spinning her around violently. She hit the ground hard on her side and cringed in pain. She could feel that some of her Hit Points had been taken down a few notches from the spell and the hit, so she stood up quickly, supporting her spear firmly in her hand, pressed against her arm, and she swung while also screaming the word: “Repth!”

The healing spell hit her, bringing back a good portion of her Hit Points to her. Good, she needed it. Now, she would use some of Blue fox’s tactics against himself. She took in a deep breath and said the words: “Gan Zot!” Another earth spell, something Blue fox knew quite well, went straight for him and she hoped it would hit. And if the spell didn’t do her any good, maybe her swing towards his head would.

She then took a step back and created some distance between the two players. She stared at Blue fox hard, her eyes narrowing at his body. Different thoughts on how she could defeat her new opponent ran through her head, different strategies and different attacks came rushing through. She could run up to him and in a flash have her spear sticking into his chest, but she held her ground for the moment. Jus rushing at him would get her into another mess, she could feel it. It didn’t work the last two times, so how would it work now? Well…

Ignoring her best judgment she ran for him one last time and swung her spear violently in the air towards him. Her swings were filled with power and blind rage, something she could finally take all her aggressions out on. A smile slipped across her face, a violent and twisted smile, as she gave one last powerful swing going for her opponent.

Better hit…

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30/30 - 20 = 10/30 SP

As he watched Usagi go flying back from his attack, Blue fox stepped back a few paces. He knew that if he became careless and got too close to her as she got up, he could be attacked as she got up. He really didn't want to be caught unawares like that. He watched as she got back up. She was covered in cuts and looked slightly beaten from the fall she had taken. Blue fox knew what she would do, being beaten up like that. She would cast repth on herself to recover from some of the wounds inflicted upon her by his attack. Sure enough he heard her say, "Repth." A light surrounded her body and he observed some of her wounds disappear. She then turned to Blue fox and he prepared himself for an attack.

She came at him with a spell. It was a spell he himself was capable of using: Gan Zot. "Gan Zot!" he heard her shout. She really seemed to be in a horrible mood, and even though it was no fault of his own, Blue fox knew that he was being used as a way to vent, that method being beating him down with a spear and a spell. But that was fine with him. Her rage could be used against her. Anger in battle only caused one to make mistakes, which could be exploited by a good fighter. This was what Blue fox would do: try do do everything in his power to make her more angry and make mistakes.

As the spell took immeadiate effect on the very spot of ground Blue fox stood on, he jumped, trying to get out of the effect area of the spell. He made it out...barely. His feet landed just on the edge of the spell range and the rumbling ground caused him to stumble, as the ground in the area of effect began to buckle and jerk. If he were still standing there, he would have taken some serious damage. He still took some damage, though very minimal and unneccessary to treat at the moment, from landing at the edge. He was fine though and regained his footing.

Looking over at Usagi after catching his footing, BLue fox noticed that she had created some distance between the two opponents. She apearrantly was considering what attack to perform now. It then appeared that she had made up her mind as she charged at him swinging her spear wildly, with great power. This time he wouldn't be able to pull off the same trick he had earlier. Instead he decided upon a different course of action. As she got closer he became more set upon this course of action. He was going to react as a pikeman would in the face of a charging foe.

He set himself, braced as though to take the full brunt of the attack like that. His eyes were narrowed in concentration and focus upon the action he was about to take. In order for it to succeed, he would need to do it as late as possible to avoid her dodging the attack. As she came in for the final swing aimed at him, he ducked, bringing his spear aroiund in front of him. The point faced upward at her chest, the end braced against the dirt, mud, and his body. If this worked, Usagi would find herself impaled upon the end of his spear as though she had charged a wall of spikes.

SP: 10/20 + 2 = 12/20