Archery range initiating . . .
Target ascension initialized . . .
Targets set for: 30m, 50m, 60m, 70m, 80m . . .
Bull's eye!
Bull's eye!
Bull's eye!
Bull's eye!
Bull's eye!
In a span of less than a couple of minutes, all five targets were shot down. The bow used was a standard recurve bow with a draw weight of about 50 pounds, similar to the ones used in Olympic archery.
Hitting five perfect shots on targets increasingly further away was no small feat even for professional athletes, but the man holding the bow didn't even break a sweat.
How could he, when archery was what he'd been doing all his life?
Take away the bow, and he looked like your normal young adult. About six feet tall, hair black as a crow's feathers, his eyes not much lighter; almost pitch black mixed with a deep, swampy shade of brown. His complexion was pale, as you would expect of someone living in Scotland, and he could pass for either a young teenager or a businessman in his twenties.
He was slender and sleek, but nothing too much out of the ordinary.
Well, except for when he held the bow; his pose emitted strength, and the moments before he let go of the bowstring felt similar to the calm before a heavy storm.
He had lived alone ever since he was old enough to move out of his aunt's house back in London.
His father, Zachary Quill, 4 time olympic gold medalist and the UK's most renowned archer, died in a terrible car accident, along with his wife, Jocelyn.
Their fourteen-year-old son was the only one who made it out alive.
Seb had never quite been the same ever since, and didn't touch the bow for more than a year.
He barely ate, slept even less, and was on the verge of physical degradation.
This was around the time when Virtual Reality was going through breakthrough after breakthrough and was improving at a rapid pace.
A little while after Seb turned fifteen, a huge hit shook the VR world: Valhalla.
The first competitive virtual battleground, played by millions across the world, had just launched, along with the newest generation of VR helmets designed just for this game. It soon became a pop culture icon; everybody knew what it was.
A class-based PvP game with various game modes, either solo or in teams.
Long story short, there was a lot of money in it, and it grew to be just as popular as soccer or the Olympics themselves.
Professional teams were formed, sponsorships were made, players rose and fell.
Seb, well... he only rose.
The game, of course, offered a playable ranger class, and since his aunt bought the new VR helmet for his 15th birthday, he decided to give it a go.
The game rekindled his love for archery, and he soon began training again, pushing his body with physical workouts and his mind with Valhalla.
A year after the game's launch, it was time for the first Valhalla's Heroes Championship. A tournament, where teams fought through seasons and cups in the most popular, 5v5 game mode.
Seb was only 16 at the time, but he had already been a well-known archer on top of the leaderboards. This was when he and his best friend, whom he met through the game, Ace Brookmann, also known in Valhalla as Blade, decided to try to form a team for the Championship.
They were both regional superstars leading a lot of charts, but they were way too late to find a sponsor to have a chance at competing in the VHC.
Thankfully, their problem quickly got sorted out when another talented frontliner, Jack "Ryder" Goldmane, son of Gerard Goldmane, one of the UK's wealthiest real estate magnates, offered them partnership, and with the money he got from his father, the trio laid down the foundations of the biggest legend of Valhalla: Team Avalon.
Sebastian Quill, alias Zephyr, was the team's captain and Ranger.
Ace Brookmann, a.k.a. Blade, was their main frontline as the team's Knight.
Jack "Ryder" Goldmane was their golden melee DPS, their Lancer.
The two remaining slots on the main roster went to Jessica Dwight, a young and talented Summoner with the alias of "One Girl Army," and Killian Shore, an impulsive but no less skilled Assassin who became known as "Lowkey".
Avalon was a new team in the midst of well-established organizations, and although everyone knew that each member of the roster was considered a prodigy in one way or another, they had yet to prove themselves as a working unit.
Seb's group, however, did not disappoint.
They blazed through the Qualifiers and finished the first season of the VHC in first place in the global rankings, undefeated.
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They even won the first World Championship!
That was 7 years ago.
Team Avalon had won 3 consecutive world championship titles, making them the only team in the world to do so.
After the last victory 5 years ago, when Seb was 18, something happened.
The team was still performing well, but members began making their own decisions rather than relying on the Team Captain, leading to disorder and a noticeable decline in performance.
Individually, they were still top of the food chain, but Jessica, Killian, and especially Jack were getting increasingly angry about their poor performance, a noticeable decline that the trio, ironically, blamed on everyone but themselves.
Seb pointed out their mistakes, showed them the VODs, called out their reckless behaviour, and that was when Ryder decided he could lead the team in a much more efficient way.
Zephyr might have been their captain, but he was never the public face of the team. He didn't do interviews or shows, and the only revenue he was bringing in was from his performance; a performance that was slowly sabotaged by his own teammates.
That meant the general audience would never be on his side.
And fresh players, competitors with new potential, were flooding the scene.
Ryder forced Seb into a corner. He bought the majority of the shares of Avalon, and was ready to force him out, along with Ace and his sister, Cassie, who was a sub at the time. He even had the power to confiscate most of the revenue they made during the years they played in Avalon; the team was built by the wealth of the Goldmane family, after all.
So Seb offered him a deal: he'd give up his position, sell his shares for cents on the dollar, even sign a non-compete and a non-disclosure agreement, if Ryder let his friends leave the firm untouched, on their own accord.
Ryder was happy to take the deal. Sure, he was certain that Seb was the problem, the cause of their decline, but the chance of never having to face him as part of another team was too good to ignore.
And so, Sebastian was robbed of everything he had achieved.
He made sure his friends got what they agreed upon, and then he disappeared.
After season 6, the studio behind Valhalla, New World Enterprises, announced the servers' shutdown, which took the world by storm, but the creators revealed they were working on a brand-new technology that would "bring virtual reality as close to reality as possible."
"Soon a new realm will emerge, that's going to not just be worthy of Valhalla's successor, but will eclipse its glory tenfold," they said.
This announcement had happened about 3 years ago, and as of today, the whole world was holding its breath, since the "new realm" they were talking about was right on their doorsteps.
Seb let out a deep sigh. He spent about an hour in the archery range, the only modern one in northern Scotland, and as he was getting ready to leave, a black SUV stopped by the entrance.
A man stepped out of the vehicle: tall and muscular, with wavy, brown hair and a well-kept beard. He was wearing a matte-black suit and sunglasses despite the cloudy weather, which was pretty much a given in these parts of the world.
That was fast, Seb thought.
It was Ace, of course.
He messaged Seb two months ago, when the new VR game, Godsrealm, was announced. Sebastian wasn't sure he was ready to start over, he didn't even respond to Ace, but deep down, he knew it was only a matter of time before his old friend figured out his whereabouts.
He was still impressed that it had only taken him two months, despite him going almost completely off the grid.
"Long time no see, captain!" Ace saluted jokingly.
"How did you find me?" Seb asked, not really expecting a straight answer.
"I have my sources," he said, while taking off his sunglasses. "Besides, I messaged you, so you must have known this was coming."
"I did. But there's a reason I didn't respond, Ace."
He frowned.
"I know. I just wanted to see you after all this time," he smiled. "How are you holding up?"
"Look, Ace. You're like a brother to me, but small talk is not really my forte. Never was."
"Sure, sure," Ace held up his hands. "Don't need to be so unwelcoming, though. How about a beer?"
"I don't drink."
"A cigarette, then?"
"I don't smoke either."
"Do you do something fun?"
Seb nodded his head slightly towards his left hand, which was still holding the recurve bow.
"Of course. Your only drug..." Ace sighed. "Anyway. Godsrealm is here. There were only 2 million capsules sold for it in the whole world as early access. The first week is for the pioneers, baby!"
"I know, I was following the news."
"So you are interested then, aren't you?" he laughed.
"Curiosity got the better of me."
Truth be told, Seb was more than a little curious.
Even though his situation in Valhalla turned into a tragedy, he hadn't really been himself since he stopped playing the game. It was what he was best at, after all.
"Well, is there any way I could convince you to try it? I have been doing quite a bit of research on the teams and players who are about to join Godsrealm."
"And?"
"Avalon is coming too," Ace said after a theatrical pause.
It was Seb's turn to frown now.
"I know, I know," Ace continued. "But hear me out."
Seb raised his eyebrows, saying nothing.
"Avalon is joining one of the northern kingdoms, the Kingdom of Ravenloft. I have been scouting around for the last couple of years, and I have quite a big group who are willing to follow me and challenge Ryder's reign. I have decided to form a guild in Godsrealm."
"I always knew you'd be a leader one day, " Sebastian smiled. His friend had both the skill and charisma to create a successful team. Or guild.
"Thanks, but I was thinking that you could be the one to stand in front of the wheel," Ace laughed, then hesitantly continued after seeing Seb's expression. "I mean, you are a leader figure much more than I am."
"I disagree, Ace. Valhalla was different. It was a five-man team, and we needed quick decision-making. Leading 4 people is different from leading hundreds. I'm not qualified for that. You'd do a much better job. Your extrovert... lifestyle, your way with people... You're much more suited for a position like this."
Ace put his hands in his pockets and stared at the horizon for a while before answering.
"Maybe. But you were always the glue, Seb. No wonder Avalon could barely perform after we left. It wasn't me, or Cassie."
He sighed.
"Just think about it. Valhalla legends Zephyr and Blade, fighting against the tyranny of their old comrades. It does sound like an epic fantasy movie, doesn't it?"
"It sure has a nice ring to it," Seb smiled.
He was tempted, for sure. His life right now was going nowhere. He left behind his friends, he broke up with his girlfriend, said goodbye to his aunt, and retreated to this God-forsaken place to collect his thoughts and have some peace, but he was starting to realize this was not the answer. Still, he felt like he had to figure out his own way before getting dragged into something else.
"Maybe one day, Ace."
"You know my number in case you change your mind, boss."
"You will be the first one to know if that happens. Also, don't call me boss," Seb rolled his eyes.
Ace sat in his SUV and rolled down the window.
"You've got it. Boss," he winked. "It was nice talking to you, but I'll let you continue sulking and being all edgy. In any case, my Godsrealm alias will be Damocles. You can hit me up there, too," he said before speeding away, not even waiting for Seb's answer.
