Man Made God 003

by Brandon Varnell

  Daren_Daggerfall versus Adam.

  Once his face appeared next to Daren’s on the board, the crowd began to stir once again. Adam walked back onto the platform amidst the excited whisperings of the crowd. Everyone looked like they were anticipating this match.

  However, before the battle could begin, Daren shocked the crowd.

  “I forfeit.” The man raised his hand and surrendered. “Having seen you defeat the Spear God, I already know I’m no match for you. Rather than let myself be humiliated like Levon, I will instead surrender. Bwa ha ha ha! You are really skilled! I never imagined anyone but Lin Akamine would be able to defeat the Spear God!”

  Adam shrugged. “Since you’ve surrendered, I’ll thank you for giving me this victory. You are a very shrewd man, aren’t you?”

  “Not at all! I just know when to back off!”

  “W-well... that was... unexpected,” Sandra said. “But I guess I can’t fault Daren_Daggerfall for surrendering after seeing the way Adam fights. Anyway, let’s get onto the next round!”

  The next battle was between him and Fayte. The veiled woman walked onto the platform, stood several yards away from him, and waited for Sandra to start the battle. Adam likewise did not stray from where he stood as he watched Fayte with crystal clear eyes.

  “The last battle ended in surrender, and the previous one shocked us all! I wonder what surprises wait in store for this battle! Let the semi-finals begin!”

  Once the battle began, Adam walked over to Fayte, who watched him curiously. They had not decided on what to do if they faced each other. Maybe she was thinking of forfeiting, but Adam would not give her the chance.

  He knelt before Fayte like a knight kneeling before a princess.

  “I forfeit,” he announced in a loud voice. “I have already sworn to support Fayte with everything I have. There’s no way I could ever harm a single hair on her head.”

  His words sent the stage into an uproar, but it was not the boos and hisses like when Lilith forfeit to Adam. Everyone was going crazy over his words. Even Sandra was stuttering into her microphone.

  “I-I-I don’t believe it! Is this a declaration of love?! This is, isn’t it?! Unbelievable! Adam has declared his love for Fayte in front of all these people!”

  Adam did not care what Sandra said or what the others thought. He stared at Fayte, still kneeling, and waited for her to say something.

  “You don’t need to go this far,” Fayte said in a soft voice.

  “It is not a matter of whether I need to or not.” Adam shook his head. “This is something I decided on my own. It no longer has anything to do with how you helped me. I want to support you.”

  Fayte took a shuddering breath. Adam could even hear the sharp intake of air.

  “In that case, I will gratefully accept your support now and in the future. Please rise,” Fayte said.

  Adam stood to his feet, bowed to Fayte, and then walked off the stage. Fayte remained on the stage because she was going on to the last match, which was between her and Susan. However, Susan ended up forfeiting, and thus Fayte won the final round by default.

  Victory Buffet

  Levon roared as he threw his phone against the wall, shattering it. He had just logged off Age of Gods and his rage had not abated at all. If anything, the anger he felt bubbling beneath the surface had grown even more powerful, even more overwhelming. A red haze had been cast over his vision. He’d never felt such a violent desire to kill someone as he did now.

  “Damn him!!!!”

  Unable to quell his hatred with just that, Levon proceeded to smash his computer to pieces. He used his bare fists to do it. The pain he felt as his fists slammed into the computer, shattering the keyboard, busting apart the monitor, and denting the plastic casing felt good. It was a delicious pain that helped settle his mind.

  It was just as he withdrew his bloody hands that the door opened and Connor stepped in. The man paused in the doorway.

  “Whoa. Anger issues much?” he asked.

  “Fuck off,” Levon snapped.

  “Don’t think you’re the only one who’s angry,” Connor said, his voice no longer light, no longer arrogant. There was a coldness to it that even Levon had never heard before. “Did you forget about what happened to me? That fucker was also with my fiance. I don’t know what happened to Susan, but she’s never been defiant like during any of our marriage meetings. I’m sure Adam did or said something to make her this way.”

  “Fuck. I didn’t realize Adam would be so much fucking trouble.” Levon gripped bloody hands so tightly blood oozed between his fingers. “If I had known he was working with Fayte, I would have done everything I could to eliminate him.”

  “Speaking of eliminating, I just received a response from the Soul Reapers,” Connor said.

  Levon took several deep breaths, sat down behind his desk, and looked at Connor. “What did they say?”

  “They said they discovered who Adam is, but they can’t tell us.”

  The response almost made his anger flare up again, but he shook and shuddered until the rage was grounded and, through gritted teeth, asked, “Did they say why?”

  “They did.” Connor nodded. “Adam is apparently on their ‘Do Not Touch’ list.”

  Levon sucked in a breath. The Soul Reapers were a group of assassins who eliminate any player in the game so long as you could afford their price, and they did not discriminate against targets. Levon had used their services many times and was never dissatisfied with their results.

  There were only a few people they would not act against, and every single one of them was so powerful that acting against them was impossible. Even the Pleonexia Family was not on this list. That went to show just how powerful these individuals were. If Adam was on their “Do Not Touch” list, then it meant his background was even greater than Levon’s.

  “Only three other people are on their ‘Do Not Touch’ list,” Connor continued. “Lin Akamine, Spear God, and Euphemia Chrysos. For Adam to be on the list means he has power comparable to them.”

  “Why is there nothing on this guy?!” asked Levon. “Someone like that can’t just spring up from out of nowhere! He must have a history! A background! Something!”

  “About that… I think I might know who he is,” Connor said.

  Levon straightened in his chair. “You do? Who?”

  Connor ran a hand through his hair, lowered his arm, and said, “Do you remember the player three years ago who shocked the virtual world? He played in several tournaments and virtual games, beat every record, defeated every top-ranked player, and earned over one hundred million dollars in less than three months before disappearing. His in-game name was Adam.”

  “Adam…” Levon murmured. “You think this is the same Adam?”

  Connor shrugged. “Who else could it be? How many players do you know who can do what he did?”

  Sighing, Levon realized that this “Adam” was a lot more mysterious and complex of a person than he expected. Moving against him was not going to be easy.

  “Since the Soul Reapers refuse to work with us, we’ll have to rely on ourselves,” Levon said at last. “I want you to send out your men and have them track Susan’s movements. Susan is friends with Fayte, and Fayte knows Adam. They are even… intimate together. I’m sure we’ll be able to find something if we use Susan to track Fayte.”

  Connor nodded and, knowing that Levon was still angry, decided to leave and do as ordered. Once Levon was alone in his office, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. His face was as twisted and dark as the storm raging inside of him.

  “Just you wait. I don’t care how powerful you are. I will find you, and then I will take everything from you. I will make you suffer before slowly killing you.”

  To celebrate Fayte’s victory in the tournament, Adam decided to make a feast for dinner. He was standing in the kitchen with an apron tied around his waist. He was currently in the process of making dessert—strawberry vanilla cupcakes with lime i
cing. The main course was currently cooking in the oven.

  Fayte and Aris were sitting on the couch in the living room. They were playing Street King VII, and it looked like Fayte was winning. He could hear Aris whining in complaint as her character got the crap kicked out of him, which caused him to smile as he remembered when she did the same thing to him every time she lost. From his position, he could only see the two in profile, but Fayte was wearing an amused smile as she teased Aris.

  “I’m afraid you won’t be able to beat me. I might not be a match for Adam, but I have a lot of experience when it comes to playing Street King.”

  “Hmph! I don’t care how experienced you are. I won’t lose to you. Just watch. I’ll beat you in the next round.”

  Even though she said that, Aris still ended up losing the next round, which only made her more “upset.” Her anger would have been more convincing if her eyes weren’t sparkling with joy. Playing games like this was something she had not been able to do since getting Mortems Disease.

  The entree Adam created was sitting on the coffee table. Aris and Fayte would periodically grab a chip from the bowl, dip it into his entree, and chow down. The crunching sound as they chewed their food echoed through the room. He hoped they wouldn’t stuff themselves on his 7-layer taco dip since the last thing he wanted was for them to be too full for dinner and dessert.

  A soft ding echoed from the oven, causing him to turn his attention away from watching the two women as they played video games. He opened the oven, put on some mitts, and pulled the main course from the stove. It was a special recipe of his: chicken chimichangas with poblano cream sauce. Since dinner was done cooking, Adam placed the cupcakes into the oven and set a timer for 28 minutes.

  Adam placed a serving of chimichangas on three plates and brought them into the living room. They were presented on white plates. The chimichangas were quite a colorful mix of poblano cream sauce, cheese, radish, corn, and cilantro decorating the top. The inside was stuffed with black beans, shredded chicken, rice, and cheese. This version was a little healthier than the normally fried chimichangas because they didn’t have a deep-frier and he’d been forced to get creative, baking them with olive oil instead. They still had a nice and crispy golden-brown texture. He was sure they tasted fine.

  “Dinner’s ready,” he announced as he set all three plates down.

  “Oh, wow. That smells incredible,” Fayte complimented.

  “Are those chimichangas?!” Aris squealed. “It’s been so long since we’ve had those!”

  Adam shrugged as a small smile appeared on his face. “You couldn’t eat them when you had Mortems Disease because they’re so unhealthy. Since you’re cured now, I thought it would be okay.”

  “Hee-hee. Knowing I get to eat your chimichangas makes me even happier that I’m cured.”

  Because these chimichangas were covered in sauce, they had to be eaten with a fork. He also made them watermelon lemonade coolers because they were refreshing and went well with foods that had a nice kick.

  Dinner was filled with conversation and laughter, but most of it was between Aris and Fayte. It did Adam’s heart good to see the two getting along so well. Once she had gotten better, Aris had taken quite the shine to Fayte. He didn’t know if he would say they acted just like sisters, because he didn’t know how sisters treated each other, but he thought it was great that they were friends. Aris needed more people in her life than just him.

  However, while dinner was a lively event, Adam could not help but think about his battle with the Spear God. Those movements, those spear skills, and that attack his opponent used had all been so familiar to him. It had brought to mind the past. Lexi had moved in almost the same way as the Spear God. More refined and elegant, but far less deadly. Even so, he could almost see Lexi in the Spear God’s movements.

  Seeing those skills being used had plunged Adam’s emotions into turmoil, causing him to lash out and viciously attack the Spear God, but now that he’d had the chance to clear his head, he was beginning to wonder if maybe the Spear God was Lexi.

  He thought that person might be Lexi for various reasons, but the first was the Spear God’s clothing. This person wore a large cloak to hide their body. It was impossible to tell whether the Spear God was a man or woman, which meant it was perfectly viable for them to be a woman, and the Spear God’s stance was adapted for someone whose center of gravity was near their pelvis—in other words, it was designed for a woman. There was also their obvious mastery of the Seven Phoenix Forms Style and their ability to use Dance of the Sakura Blossoms. The Spear God’s attack had some variations from Adam’s, but it had still been almost identical.

  “Adam, are you okay?”

  “Huh?”

  Aris’s sudden question made Adam snap out of his daze. He blinked several times before turning his head to find Aris and Fayte staring at him in concern. Seeing them look at him with such worry caused him to force a smile onto his face.

  “I’m fine. Just thinking about something.”

  The two women looked at each other, clearly not believing him, but they didn’t pursue the subject either, which he was grateful for.

  “I know now might not be the best time, but I think we should talk about what happened between you and Levon during the tournament,” Fayte said, clearing her throat. “Adam, I won’t lie and tell you I’m not happy about what you did to him, because I am. I’m very happy. But I also don’t think humiliating Levon like that was a good idea. I hope you have a plan to deal with him.”

  Adam knew this conversation was coming up eventually. He’d already pondered how to answer Fayte and come up with what he believed was a suitable solution.

  “I don’t think we need to worry too much about Levon right now. However, he will probably try to find out our real identities. That was the reason why I had Aris and myself hide our faces. Aris and Adam are fairly common names, so he won’t be able to find us just from our names alone, and that’s assuming he thinks our in-game names are the same as our real names.”

  “But he could still stumble upon your identity, couldn’t he?” pressed Fayte. “Especially if he looks up a list of people named Adam who are living with a woman named Aris. You’re right. Those names are popular these days. But how many Adams do you know who live with an Aris?”

  Adam nodded. “You do bring up a good point, but that’s why I’m planning on having that information blocked. I actually wanted to talk to Susan about using her hacking skills to make the information impossible to acquire.”

  “You want Susan’s help?”

  “Is that a problem?” asked Adam when he saw Fayte furrow her brow.

  “I wouldn’t say it’s a problem… I guess I just don’t like the idea of using Susan for matters like this. You know how she is about telling people ‘no,’ and what you are asking her to do is illegal.”

  “Isn’t tracking someone using their driver’s license also illegal?” asked Adam, causing Fayte to blush. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on getting her anymore involved in our issues than this. I just want her help so I can guarantee Aris’s safety.”

  Aris remained the single most important person in his life, and he would spare no expense and effort to keep her safe.

  “I understand.” Fayte sighed as a resigned smile appeared on her face. “You can ask her to help you when we log on tomorrow. We’ll have our work cut out for us since we’ll be registering our guild, but you can talk to her about it once we have a place to stay.”

  Adam accepted that offer. He wasn’t in a hurry yet. There was still time before Levon could get any information on him, but they would need to do something within the week. The sooner the better.

  Fayte offered to clean the dishes after dinner since Adam had prepared the food. Aris stood up and offered to help her. After more than two weeks of being awake, Aris was now capable of walking without aid, but she still lacked the stamina to walk for long. Adam planned on taking her outside soon.

  Since Aris and Fa
yte were cleaning the dishes, Adam took a quick shower and went into his bedroom. He saw his phone sitting on the wireless charger and noticed he had a message. It was from Astaroth. The message was simple and only told him that the Soul Reapers had sent Levon a refund with a claim that they couldn’t give him any information about Adam because he was on their “do not touch” list, which was a list of powerful people who even the Soul Reapers would not act against no matter how much money was involved. This was a good way to throw Levon off the trail. He’d now assume Adam was someone with a background so extensive not even the most famous guild of assassins would touch him.

  Just as he was putting his phone away, the door opened and Aris stepped in. Adam turned to her and opened his mouth in greeting. He closed it seconds later and found himself staring wide-eyed at the sight before him.

  Aris was covered in nothing but a towel. Her wet hair looked glossy and droplets of water trailed over her shoulders and collarbone. The pale smoothness of her skin contained a slightly rosy hue, increasing her allure. His lips became dry as he stared at her. When she noticed his state, Aris giggled and walked into the room, shutting the door behind her.

  “Adam…”

  “Aris…” Adam restarted his brain and frowned a little. “You took a shower on your own?”

  “Was that a bad idea?” asked Aris as she sat down beside him.

  “No. I guess not. Sorry. I suppose I’m still a little worried about you. Your body has recovered well, but you’re still not at full strength. It would be disastrous if you slipped and fell.”

  He knew he was being overprotective, but just thinking about Aris getting hurt sent chills down his spine.

  “I’ll be careful,” Aris said with a smile as she leaned into him. The scent of her freshly washed hair and skin pervaded his nose and made it hard to think about anything other than how good she smelled. “Hey, Adam? Can you tell me about what happened between you and the Spear God now? I’ve never seen you get so angry before… it was a little scary.”