"Circadian Manipulation"

Darkness covered the vision of everyone present, the crowd, the players who were eagerly watching, the members of Relentless who rushed Night, all of them shared one common image of jet-black nothingness.

​​

"What's going on?? Are the screens malfunctioning?? Why is it all black? Anyone? I'm not dreaming am I?"

"You absolutely aren't, everything is dark, I don't understand what's happening...Wait! I saw something move! Something zapped past in one of the screens..."

"Perhaps we're all dreaming and you, my friend, seem to be in a bad condition, seeing something in the dark? what are you a child?"

"No, I swear!! I did, there was something! It was weird...."

As expected nobody could properly wrap their heads around what was actually happening, of course, it was weird to immediately come to the conclusion that it was Night's move. The situation inside was worse, it was chaotic, exactly like Nate predicted, it was his goal after all.

"Everybody stay calm!!!!" Ken screamed as he focused on sensing Night's presence, "I'm not exactly sure what's wrong but I can say for a fact that panicking isn't going to he-"

*SRRINK*

It was a sound everyone there was familiar with, especially Ken, it was the sound of Nights double-edged sword, Glacial Balance. Paired with the darkness and the anonymity of the situation as well as the sound they heard, it was obvious what just happened, one of their comrades was cut down.

'Gah! what on earth is going on??? How do we counter this?? How is he able to see in the dark?? what is this darkness???'

*TSEEENK*

*KTANNG*

*SRRINKK*

Sounds of slicing and slaughter echoed throughout the domain of darkness, nobody knew what hit them, and trying to understand what was happening was pointless, it was a hopeless situation in a way.

"Where are you!! Strike me I dare you!!" Ken roared, he was tired of these tricks and games.

In his mind Night was someone who was capable of going straight into battle against ten players, so if he indeed was responsible for this darkness, then what reason did he have to cast this domain? was it for insurance sake?

"Hahah, you're funny Ken," Night's voice echoed from every direction.

'Where!!??'

"He indeed is funny. Now, now Ken is that any way for the leader of "the number 1 clan", Relentless, to behave?" Nate mocked.

"Screw y-"

Just before he could finish, the domain of darkness that Night allegedly summoned or cast, broke down.

'There's no need for me to continue the domain for longer, 15 seconds and there are only 3 players left, not bad in my opinion' Night thought as he used his darkness to twirl around his double-edged sword, Glacial Balance.

"YOU! What did you do? What was that just now?" Ken dashed towards Night who was busy messing around with his weapon.

"Woah calm down, it was a skill okay? Besides, I feel like you should worry about your team before anything," Night said as he took a few steps back.

"..." Ken couldn't help but grit his teeth, the blood of his comrades, the blood of his clan members, splattered all around painting the floor red. There were only 3 people left alive including him and Nina.

'How could I let this happen? Was I living in a lie until now? Was all that strength I had a scam? Was it an illusion?'

"You Bastard!" Nina growled as she shot towards Night. 'I already know to watch your feet so your tricks won't work with me!'

"Mmh? Interesting," Night muttered as he stepped side aways before proceeding to jump, while he was in the air he kicked Nina's dagger away and moved back by flying.

"Huh? What happened...." Nina mumbled in confusion, she was sure she got Night but the second her opponent was nowhere to be seen and one of her daggers wasn't in her hands anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Turns out there is more to him than we thought huh? I guess it was stupid to think he would show us everything," Valerian sighed.

"Does that mean Nate has something similar as well? I mean those two are similar in that way right? That ability of his, perhaps it has something to do with his weapon aura?" Layla mused, "wouldn't that mean if Nate did have a skill similar, it would be something related to those elemental orbs of his?"

"That's actually....really smart...that makes so much sense, if that really is the case then we have a lot, I mean A LOT of catching up to do," Aurora said with a twinkle in her eyes. Ever since she witnessed Nate's control over the elements, she was somewhat jealous, while her control over the fire element was smooth and better, she couldn't manipulate the element and even if she could, it was nowhere close to Nate's level.

However, that wasn't the only thing, she envied Nate's ability to summon elemental orbs, they were versatile and flexible, it was like they had a soul of their own. Of course, that was just how well Nate controlled it.

"You're right, we do have a lot of catching up to do. However, this raises the question...just what are they? I understand the skills and whatnot, at least I think I do, but what do they have that allows them to use the skills they do? Didn't we all start at the same time? Night has always been a pioneer in some way or the other, Nate, however, only recently appeared on the leaderboards, and it was out of nowhere, it was completely random. What do they do that's different from the rest of us..."

The others understood what Valerian felt, it was unfair in a way, the group was aware of how hard they worked, and yet it was someone else on the stage and not them. However, it was at this moment that Valerian realized something and stood up from his seat.

"THE QUEST! The Ghosts of Linto...do you think such quests are what helped them reach the stage they're at? It might be too much of a stretch but for some reason, I think...it makes....sense"

"While I'm not sure what the actual truth is, I think it's fair to assume that such a quest is huge, and may very well answer a number of questions. However, that brings us back to our main point, Genesis huge, bigger than what we thought, if my theory is right then I wouldn't be surprised if Sephiroth was someone similar to Night," Layal said in a reassuring tone, she was calculative and ever since she lost to Nate she's been so even more.

"I remember....I think I remember Dr. Reed talking about Night on live television, I don't exactly remember the news channel but they said something about Night succeeding purely because he plays the game how he wants to and enjoys it. No wait, the exact word he used was "casually", he said that Night was someone who was causally playing the game. It's funny, doesn't that mean when he tries hard there's no hope for the rest of us? Is he truly capable of what Dr. Reed says he is?" Leo chimed in, up until that second he was busy sipping his ice tea with a neatly cut lemon and extra ice cubes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir, he actually used the skill.... We only just finished with the whole "Player Night is Kenny Smith's son" issue, with this, the accusations are going to flood us again...Thankfully, Nate didn't take part in this but I couldn't believe the fact that he actually let Night use the skill..."

"Haha I like this Nate chap, he's quite amusing, forget about it Reed, leave that for the others to worry about, we've done our work no? So let's just sit back and enjoy the noise. It's funny and scary. He hasn't even finished his Legendary class-change quest and he's already reached such a level, imagine the future?? I can't wait. However, that brings me back to the continent of Alexandria, they'll know what pain is, perhaps death is something they'll get accustomed to, actually, I hope they do,"

"Haaah, sometimes I worry when I think about that part of Genesis sir...I guess in a way the entire continent of Garcia is just a tutorial or trial? Alexandria is going to be something else, after all, there's a reason its nickname is "The land soaked in blood", anyway, it looks like Shade joining Night has caused an issue of some sort,"

"The land soaked in blood, personally, I don't think it's a good idea for Night to step foot into Alexandria until he's at least level 350 or more. Perhaps he's aware that there's is bound to be Titans and Giants in a game filled with gods and goddesses. Oh my personal favorite, what are they called again? Uh, Drakens? Oh, that's right, Dragon Borns, right? Haha, I can't wait!" Kenny said while laughing, his drink spilling all over the place.