*** Astaroth’s POV ***

It had been close to a week in ‘New Eden’ since his *training* had begun, and Astaroth had become good at zoning out. But he was worrying about the tournament more and more.

He looked at the attendance board every day and it was filling quickly. This morning it had passed the nine-hundred mark.

Astaroth knew he would never have enough time to reach level thirty before it filled up. He had mostly given up.

He tuned that thought out of his mind and focused on his mental training.

‘Might as well become good at this faster, so I can shoot past the masses after.’ He thought to himself.

He focused on himself, trying to picture the world around him as inexistent. He could imagine the world around him becoming black, like the deepest parts of space.

He sat there, cross-legged, in the middle of nothing, focused on his breathing. He could stay in this state for hours now, due to all the practice.

He had tuned out every physical stimulus from around him. Sound, smells, vibrations, nothing could reach his mind at the moment.

It was like he was no longer physically in the cave with Aberon. In this state, Astaroth didn’t hear the notifications that rang in his ears.

*Ding*

*Your mind has reached a level of peace required. You have learned the Passive skill ‘Mind over Body’*

*Ding*

*Your thought process has evolved. You have learned the skill ‘Thousand Thoughts’*

Aberon from the side could see the trance-like state Astaroth had gone into. He could also see the mana particles around his head go into a frenzy, like bees around their hive being attacked.

From those signs, he deduced Astaroth had reached the point in training he wanted him to reach.

He rose to his feet and walked closer to Astaroth and leaned in. Once his face was near the boy’s, he whispered into his ear.

“Illusory Domain: Pandora’s Box” He chanted low, wisps of mana mingling with his voice.

“Now let’s see if you pass the test.” Aberon said, getting back up and standing to the side.

From Astaroth’s perspective, his surroundings changed. He went from sitting cross-legged in the void to lying down in his pod, awake.

He felt the change in pressure on his back and opened his eyes. He saw the inside of the pod with its lights flickering.

‘Did I get forcefully logged out?’ He wondered.

He opened up the pod, deciding to go eat and sleep since he wasn’t in the game anymore.

As he lifted himself out of the contraption, he heard some clicking noises come from his apartment door.

Was someone trying to break into his home?

He was still woozy from his many days in semi-stasis, so he couldn’t move too fast, but he raced to his kitchen counter and grabbed a knife.

He stood before the door, clenching the knife handle with both hands. Then he yelled.

“Whoever you are, leave! I have called the cops and I’m armed. Leave now!”

The clicking noises stopped. He sighed in relief, but it was short-lived.

*Bang!*

There was a gunshot outside his door, and something punched through the locking mechanism. Then the door flew open.

In came three people, all of which Alexander recognized. They were the three men that had tried to beat him up and take his IV bags.

The two big thugs had guns in their hands, and the last one just walked into the apartment, a look of disdain on his face.

“What a shit hole!” One thug blurted out.

“Boys, let’s get what we came for and leave.” The tall man in the back said.

“Yes, sir!” Both goons responded.

When they made their way toward Alexander’s pod, he walked in between it and them.

“That belongs to me! Leave now, before the cops get here and I won’t tell anyone what happened.” He said, his voice trembling a little.

Both men looked at each other, before laughing loudly. The one on the left then pointed his gun at Alexander’s knee and shot.

*Bang!*

The bullet tore through his knee and leg, bursting out on the other side like it was a hot knife through butter.

Alexander collapsed to the ground, his weight suddenly becoming too much for that leg to bear.

“AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!” He yelled in pain.

He let go of the knife and grabbed his knee with both hands, tears welling up in his eyes.

The two men then walked over his crumpled body and walked to the pod, opening up the back compartment.

They yanked out the remaining bags from the pod, which Alexander found weird. Had he not been disconnected because he ran out of IV?

He didn’t have time or capacity to think about that, as the pain in his leg was sapping much of his concentration.

Because of that, he never noticed the man walk towards him. Alexander felt his hair being grabbed and yanked back.

This brought him face-to-face with the third man. Alexander could now see him properly.

The man had long black hair, tied in a ponytail. He was wearing a branded butler outfit and black gloves.

His eyes were a deep shade of blue and looked at him with a haughty stare.

“You have been a pain to find, young man.” The man said, picking up the knife from the ground next to Alexander.

He then slid his gloved finger across the blade, smiling slightly. He took the knife and pressed it against Alexander’s throat.

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“Either you give us what we want without resisting, and you live. We might even drop you off at the hospital if I feel generous enough.” He said, lifting one finger in the air.

“Or. You can keep resisting like you are now, and I slash your throat open. Either way, we are leaving with those IV bags.” The man added, lifting a second finger, smiling devilishly.

Alexander was too scared to answer. His whole body was trembling, and he was close to fainting of sheer terror.

He looked into the man’s eyes and couldn’t see an ounce of sympathy. He could already guess that the man was going to kill him either way.

He had seen their faces already. There was no way they let him live after this.

He tried to think of a way out of his predicament, but he couldn’t think over the sound of his heart pounding in his chest.

His heart was beating at over two hundred BPM. He felt like it was on the verge of exploding.

That’s when he noticed something from the corner of his eye. On the inside part of the pod’s hatch, a red light was flashing.

He could make out writing from this distance, and it read ‘Caution! Heart rate elevated!’

His brain did a double take on that. How could it show his vitals if he wasn’t inside it?

That’s when he clicked. He was still inside it!

This was all just an illusion. It had to be!

That was the only rational explanation.

Time seemed to slow down around him. His heartbeat slowed down drastically, as he realized he wasn’t in any real danger.

That’s when he noticed them. The mana particles that were floating around him.

He was still inside the game, now he was sure!

He immediately tamed his fear and started thinking. Everything around him was moving slowly like time had slowed down.

But then he understood it was only his thoughts that were going at super speed when he tried moving and was going so slowly too.

He took in the situation and fought back. When he realized he was in an illusion, the pain from his wound faded away.

He looked back at the eyes of the man in front of him.

As time seemed to re-accelerate to normal speed, Alexander grabbed the hand with the knife in it, pushing it towards his assailant. He grabbed the inside of his elbow forcing it to bend.

The whole movement took only a second, and the result was a complete turn of the tables. The man ended up with the knife in his hand planted into his own throat.

He looked at Alexander with surprised eyes, as he choked on his blood.

A second ago, the boy had been shaking and close to pissing himself. Now he had a knife in his throat and was dying fast.

When all this happened, both thugs had been turning around. They saw the whole thing go down and couldn’t react.

When their boss fell back, his eyes still open, bleeding out, they finally reacted.

They both pointed their guns at Alexander and fired. But as the guns fired, the entire scene faded away.

The ground under Alexander disappeared and made way for darkness, the same as the walls and ceiling. He was back in a sitting position, his eyes closed.

Alexander did not see this change happen, as the illusion made the transfer seamless.