Three hours later…
Rex was seated in an exotic-looking office, with a predominant design theme of rich mahogany wood. The architecture of the office screamed wealth. Big-Boned was an elite player of Cosmic Ascendace. In-game wealth could be directly exchanged for material wealth. As a pro-level player his earnings from the game were upto 100,000 Credits monthly.
To put this in perspective, A family of four's monthly expense was about 10,000 credits.
As Rex admired the affluent and tasteful furnishing of Big-Boned office. He could feel a fire slowly intensifying in his heart as it spread across his whole body. His aim was to be ranked among the very peak of players in Cosmic Ascendance, and in a matter of hours, he would finally be able to take the very first step towards the realization of his goal.
"Heyyy, My very own birthday boy"
Big-Boned voice resounded as he made his way into his office, where Rex had been patiently waiting for Him.
'Rex's eyes formed very large O's in respone.
His jaws widening unconsciously.
He was completely unprepared for Big-Boned's sentence.
Today he was turning 17, the very reason why he could finally take steps towards achieving his goal. He had no idea how Big-Boned came to know of that.
"Ahh!!"
"Why do you look so surprised"
"Don't tell me you thought, that I love battles so much, that I would not care about important stuffs like this" Big Boned made his way to a section of his office, where the wall automatically slid aside. Exposing an assortment of drink and two Boxes, which he promptly brought out of the cold storage unit. Placing them on the table infront of Rex.
Rex studied the two Boxes, one was made from tastefully designed paperboard and held an abundantly vanillanized cake, the other box, was a metal case, with two buttons by the side, that seemed to be the mechanism for opening it.
"Well, Are you not going to open your gift, or you want me to do that too"
Big-Boned teased Rex, An action that got him to push down on the two buttons, that immediately activated the box's mechanism as it popped open, slowly disengaging in four directions. Exposing a pill-shaped bottle that held a glowing Sea-blue liquid that pulsed intermittently.
COSMIC ESSENCE!!!!
"Jeeeezzzz!!!!"
Rex exclaimed loudly.
The glass bottle that lay infront of him, was one very such wondrous item, that could be gotten from Cosmic Ascendance. When equipped to a Cosmic Pod. The custom Virtual Reality pod, that could be used to play Cosmic Ascendance. It directly augmented and improved body advancement from gaming on Cosmic Ascendance. It could boost the growth of players capabilities in game and improve the physical advancement of their body in real life.
"From your reaction, I am guessing you already know a bit about this, Right."
Big-Boned expression switched like as if he had just put on a mask, his stare carrying a flood-like intensity as his eyes bore into Rex's skull.
"Yes, I have" Rex managed to muster, under the overwhelming gaze of Big-Boned.
"Good, I will just make a few statements then"
The intensity of his stare decreasing a bit as his face took a more warm appearance.
"In Cosmic Ascendance, stamina is your currency"
"Once, your in-game stamina is depleted, your avatar would be forcefully put in a Rest-State. Until you have recovered your stamina to a certain level"
"Your stamina recovery rate, depends on a lot of factor, your avatar talent, class and level"
"But there's one external factor, that also play a role that can be controlled"
Rex's ear literally added a few millimeters as it opened widely, Pro-tips for Cosmic Ascendance were invaluable.
"Cosmic Ascendance, places demand on your physical body, which is why it is able to elicit this physical advancement."
"When your physical body's energy is depleted, it would actually also affect players stamina recovery rate, and the opposite is also true"
"If the physical body, is abundantly nourished, recovery rate is also improved"
"This liquid when equipped on the cosmic pod, will saturate every single fiber of your being with energy, and will keep on maintaining your body in this energy-rich state throughout your gaming session."
"This bottle contains D-grade rated essence, and should last you atleast a month, even with the most intense of gaming"
Big-Boned finished his explanation, with his intense gaze still completely locked on Rex.
A smile borne from the very core of Rex's being spread across his face. A month!, he knew a bit about Cosmic Essence and had even procured some with the help of his foster-dad.
An event that had left him as broke as a church mouse, and this was only for 5 F-Grade Essence bottle. A D-Grade bottle, couldn't be purchased by simply having the wealth, you needed the connection too, it was a rare resource even among high-level players.
Rex pushed down on the buttons that had unlocked the Box, an action that caused the box, to lock up again.
"Thank you" two words sufficed with Rex's appreciation, were uttered by him.
"Ahh!!!, Its nothing for my most entertaining student" Big-Boned mentioned with his hands waving in a dismissive gesture.
"With that out of the way, please tear open that creamy-looking cake"
Big-Boned's face was completely devoid of it's prior intensity as he oggled the birthday cake, he had bought for someone else.
"Hahaha" Rex giggled as he put his two hands on his face.
A gesture meant to let his teacher know how disgraced he is, about his shamelessness.
The tastefully furnished office, had a very warm atmosphere as A bulky figure more than 6 feet tall and an athletic build, handsome boy with a noble grace around him devoured a 5-inch creamy cake.
. . .
"Duuuu….."
An almost imperceptible sound borne from the workings of a dark coloured hoverboard that Rex currently rode on, resounded across the empty street of Maplewood Boulevard of Greenview District. As he made his way back home from the dojo.
He had come to reside in this modest housing district after being adopted by Edward Carson, his family's butler. This arrangement, dictated by his parents' will, followed their untimely demise in a devastating assassination.
The tragedy had turned Rex's privileged life upside down. A significant portion of his parents' wealth vanished in the aftermath as supposed family friends revealed their true colors, exploiting legal loopholes to seize what they could.
Edward Carson had been Rex's rock, guiding him through the turmoil and safeguarding a portion of his inheritance. While the will named Rex as the sole inheritor, debts mysteriously materialized, casting a shadow over his future.
"Zimm!"
A smoot zing sound resounded as Rex negotiated a turn, As the cool air of autumn eve caressed Rex's face, seemingly blowing away the dark shroud his recent train of thought had cast on his mind.
"That tiny glutton would gouge herself on this" Rex thought to himself as he sneaked a peek at his right hand were he held a gable box. The gable box contained the leftover of his birthday cake, the little he had been able to salvage from the voracious appetite of Big-Boned.
Tiny glutton was Edwards only daughter, Ella. Who had become his stepsister after his adoption.
. . .
Beep!, Beep!, Beep!
The X-27 security lock interface beeped as Rex punched in the keycode, to unlock his home's door.
Duuu…
A soft vibration resounded as the door slid open.
"Hey Rex!!"
Ella's voice resounded from the living room, where she lay on the couch with AR glasses over her eyes. She was currently sitting up on the couch, so that she could keep her eyes strayed at Rex.
"Any goodies for me"
"Silly Oaf" Rex threw the box that contained the leftover of his cake her way. "I know you can't ever have enough of sweet things, I kept this for you"
"Thank You". A sweet melodic voice sounded as Rex dashed upstairs to his bedroom.
"Rex and Ella had always been close. Ella had lost her mum at her birth, but that wasn't the last cruel fate dealt to her.
Soon after her birth, she was diagnosed for "Aethel Sndrome", A disease that left her with a suppressed immune system, low metabolic rate and weak musculature. A condition that resulted in her transition to becoming a Shut-in. A shut-in with mad gaming skills.
As Rex got within meters of his room door, it noiselessly slid open. An action initiated by "Home", the integrated structural AI.
"Zzzzzzz" Rex zipped open his back pack, pulling out a metallic box, that contained his D-Grade Cosmic Essence.
Rex stored it in his Cold unit, and fell on his mattress like a chopped log..
In mere moments, he had dozed off, the past exertions from his training was finally catching up with him.