The Gamer's System

"Come on now. Didn't you learn your lesson already?" Vask mentioned as Zeke's halberd throw didn't reach the Monarch. It just stopped right in front of him.

"Well you did say that there was a 2,000 kilometer's worth of space added right outside your body. I just wanted to see how far my throw could go." Zeke said in reply, failing to deliver and calling back his weapon which materialized on his hand.

Vask didn't waste any time. He distorted the space all around the battlefield once more yet Zeke's untrained eyes couldn't see this.

"What did you even gain from such an attempt?"

"Well, for starters, I learned that you can't touch the halberd." Zeke said in reply – making Vask raise one of his eyebrows.

"Now I really need to dispose of you." Vask stated. Thinking that the gamer was even more dangerous than he initially thought.

An hour has already passed since the two began fighting and, until that point, nobody has won yet. Vask had a natural supremacy over Zeke when it came to two things.

The first was the nature of the [Monarch's] spells. These weren't upright attacks nor defensive moves. These were distortions on space and ones that Zeke couldn't even see. Making the fight even more difficult than it already was.

Then there is the second advantage of Vask which is the flexibility of these skills. As Zeke himself experienced, his opponent used space in such a way that his slash attacks were moving at a seemingly random pattern. This wasn't the only thing that Vask could do with the skill and Zeke knew this. That was why he was threading carefully because, he understood that he could easily fall into a trap made by Vask.

However Zeke wasn't falling behind. Not by a long shot.

"Ahh these invisible distortions are ruining my rhythm." Zeke thought to himself. Using [Overdrive] in order to dodge every time the Monarch's attacks got too close for comfort.

Zeke had heightened battle senses because of all the passives he bought and accumulated during his 13 years of training inside the cave. Adding to this was the [Gamer's Mind] that allowed him to optimize all his movements.

"I hate to admit it but you're actually decently strong aren't you?" Vask commented as he successfully trapped Zeke in the middle of two walls that he couldn't see.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm still on a whole 'nother league." The Monarch continued, casting a spell that would crush the gamer.

"You should look at your surroundings more." Zeke said in reply; with a smile that seemed to say that everything was moving according to his plan.

Vask looked around but found nothing. That is, until two explosions came above him. Expanding so quickly that it would hit the Monarch in a matter of seconds.

Vask moved out of range immediately. Releasing all the skills that were imprisoning the gamer which Zeke found to be odd.

"I may have found your weakness." He thought to himself as he threw another bullet. Exploding right away but, this time, Vask didn't move away.

"Your tricks won't work twice on me." The Monarch commented.

"You should stop thinking all high and mighty of yourself." Zeke said in reply, raining down arrows on his enemy while also dispersing small blades within the battlefield.

The Monarch knew what these would e used for and so, he began sucking them all in using his black holes. Yet this was also part of the gamer's plan as he threw his halberd again. Almost hitting Vask who needed to move out of the way.

"I already told you. That won't work." The cocky Monarch retorted. However, the comment did not work on Zeke this time around. He smiled at his enemy, like victory was already his.

"There's one trick to your skill that you haven't hidden well." Zeke began, with his enemy waiting for what he would say.

"You can't activate all of them at the same time. The more complex the spell, the more you need to concentrate on it and so, you need to sacrifice on a few of your spells. Namely, the armor you coated yourself in."

"My, and how did you come up with that conclusion?" Vask said in reply, now properly interested in Zeke who was more promising than Quinn when it came to cognitive abilities.

"You activated that armor thing at the beginning of the fight to make me think that you are impenetrable. But ever since that instance, there were two occasions when you dodged my attack." Zeke said, raising two fingers.

"The first was when I used the exploding bullets."

"But I blocked that one did I not?"

"No. You dodged on the first instance and tried to cover up your tracks by accepting the second one head on. But you were only able to perform this because you dissolved the trap you've set around me. That's why I used the halberd to test things out again. Only throwing it after you've used up a wide range spell."

At this point the Monarch was sure. Zeke was a fearsome foe because of an entirely different matter. It was true that he wasn't at the power level of the Blood King yet but, he makes up for this lack by his quick perception and analysis. Integrating them in the fight without the Monarch even noticing it.

"You could've simply stayed put as, with the description you gave, those attacks would never reach you. And yet you avoided them. You keep on saying that you're better than me. But all you're doing is revealing your cards to me. While I avoid every fatality you throw."

"BRAVO!" Vask began clapping his hands., never was he entertained as much as he was at that moment.

"So why are you telling me all this? Would it not have been easier for you to win if I continued thinking that you weren't aware of these?"

"Of course that's true. But like I said, I need that kid alive. That's why I'm trying to avoid such a needless fight as this."

At this, the Monarch laughed his heart out. He wanted the gamer all to himself but it was too late. He already had a vessel and it was impossible to jump to another one without cultivating his soul for another 1,000 years.

"So are you going to return that kid to me or are you going to continue fighting?" Zeke asked. Knowing that there was a high chance for the Monarch to throw in the towel.

"Unfortunately, both choices you offered are wrong." Vask said.

"Suit yourself." Zeke replied as he went into stance again but, the Monarch would not allow this.

"I didn't expect things to turn out this way. You have impressed me mortal." Vask said, snapping his fingers and completely immobilizing Zeke.

There was no spell casted. No preparation made. There was no movement that indicated that something of the sort was being prepared. Yet, Zeke felt an amount of heaviness that was impossible to lift off.

"Don't bother. That is my strongest spell. One which abruptly distorts the space around my enemy."

"It's working too well don't you think?" Zeke said in reply. Forced to his knees as his legs couldn't bear the weight anymore.

'You probably would've been able to figure that out anyway. But you see, the only reason why I was able to quickly cast it was because the duration isn't even that long. In fact, you'd be able to break free from that in a couple of minutes." The Monarch furthered, swinging the sword on his hand.

Vask looked at his enemy not in triumph but in failure. The fight was already decided and, in fact, the Monarch lost.

He lost the moment his enemy found out about his tricks. He was running low on [Chaos Energy] and due to this, he couldn't force the swap with Quinn any further. If the fight continued the way it did, then Quinn would not only be able to force his way out but also, possibly, be extracted from the body of his host.

"I hope that we do meet again. Hopefully I'd be out of this vessel by that time so that I can release the full extent of my powers." Vask furthered making a swing in thin air and opening a dimensional rift. One which was just big enough for him to fit in.

"Wait!" Zeke shouted, not accepting the way things were ending. But the Monarch didn't turn anymore.

Vask simply raised his hand, bidding farewell to his enemy as he finally entered the rift. And in not less than a minute, Zeke was finally free of the binding placed on him.

He slowly got up, felt his body that was sore all over and proceeded to gazing at the sky as he said the words:

"That counts as a failure right? Damn I almost had him."

He didn't like the feeling of losing. But unlike Quinn, Zeke accepted these wholeheartedly as these also gave him an idea of what he still lacked. And, at that moment, he lacked proper skills that could be used against the Monarchs.

"Well it's not like I can do anything against him at that point. I should just consider myself lucky that he left the way he did." The gamer continued as he sat on the ground and monitored the progress of the mission. All the while thinking of all the ways he could win on future encounters but, even before he could properly rest, another problem came up as his [Voice Chat] opened up. With the voice of a worried Heron saying the words:

"Master Zeke, Morpheus is going berserk!"