Dart isn’t the most intelligent guy in the group. But was the one that sought out the most knowledge. He could be said to be wise in that context.

The guys expected him to come up with a plan to earn more cash. It was clear to everyone that Sorp’s sadistic underground ring fights weren’t enough.

Multiple plans came forth from the group. Ranging from small time larceny to kidnapping big time rich folk. These ideas were well received.

When it came to planning details, things fell apart and only the easier jobs like robbing houses remained. Even those felt loose and unreliable.

The six man group all had a look of constipation on them. Feeling frustrated Kom, being who he was, felt it was a time for a break.

A break of course meant to go into the virtual world. Once it was brought up, the room felt lighter. It was if all of them finally relieved themselves.

Once inside, they gathered at Sorp’s Instance. It was like they never left the apartment. They found solace in it. Being antsy they couldn’t decide what to do.

Sorp wanted to fight. This much was obvious. So when it came up in conversation. They all remembered that most of their money came from gambling.

Gambling was simple. They could all gamble. And they already won two times in a row. It was obvious to them that they should just continue gambling.

It would be best to gamble that Sorp would win fights. But many of them also considered gambling with their wits. This was not a good idea.

Sorp was the safest bet. It wasn’t possible to ask Sorp to lose a fight voluntarily so they had to bet on him to win.

Once a winning plan was found they just had to find a place to fight and march Sorp in. Dart was elected to find a place.

They wanted to go back to the hexagon ring. Because in that ring, they won the most amount of Vcoin. Of course, them being stupid, they didn’t realize that the coliseum paid more percentage wise.

They weren’t all this stupid. And what is more is that they noticed after Sorp entered a smaller tier coliseum fight that the returns weren’t as good.

It had less favorable returns because Sorp had already fought in this place and won. They still have the data from every fighter that fought in their arena.

After Sorp won another fight. He got what was called a streak. With enough consecutive wins, he’d gain more prize rewards.

With this win their bankroll increased further. But they were now more experienced. If Sorp entered again and won, their betting returns would be even worse.

In actual fact, the coliseum would probably try to take Sorp out with an unfair matchup. They didn’t know that but that was not uncommon practice.

They might also approach Sorp and make a deal with him. Sorp could become their attraction. Their prize fighter, just like he was for the underground fights.

There are plenty of places to fight. Some specializing in it, some just using it as an additional attraction. They could fight for months and not run out of fresh arena’s.

Words does get around and people interested in the same categories do look at each other from time to time. Some might even have their fingers in multiple such Instances.

For now they can rely on Sorp being unrenowned. This allows them to maximize the returns of their bets. The more fame he accumulates the less favorable the returns.

Throughout the months leading up to the release of the game, the guys won bets after bets. Their total wealth staggering.

This amount of wealth generation can’t be considered alerting. But Perpetual Power did take notice. Because Sorp and his friends shouldn’t have the assets to create this amount.

While there are very few exploits found in the virtual world, they have existed and have been exploited before. Their team have tagged the group as suspicious.

To Perpetual Powers security team’s surprise, it looked like they were just betting on the same individual in fighting arena’s.

Perpetual Power could retain video recordings, and they have been monitoring the groups actions as of late.

Their shock understandable. It is not that haven’t seen a ferocious fighter. The twisted things that happens in the world are not few. But this is something new.

Fight after fight. Never any sign of fatigue. This beast of a man loses an arm and continues to fight. Not even his body is responding as they would expect.

This is because Sorp is very simple. There is synergy in Sorps wants and his bodies needs. They both just need to destroy what’s in their way.

This discovery leads to further digging. After gathering more fights, they see this is not fluke. Hundreds of fights. All ferocious. Not one loss.

The arrogance of the people betting. Every bet they throw their entire wealth behind the fight. Multiple times the Sorp just barely scrapes out a victory.

The compilation sends shivers down a person's back. The team confirms that there is no cheating, exploitation other than a social one or any other nefarious factor at work.

Compelled to share their discovery they share it with higher ups. Not only to inform them of something that might be significant but also just to share it with someone.

In this way Sorp became more famous by the day. There are many videos of people fighting to death in arena’s. But Sorp was more than just a fight. He was a spectacle.

His beastial screaming. His charming smile decorating his handsome face and out of this world physical attributes. It couldn’t be helped. Soon he became something of a celebrity.

The group also knew this. Dart brought to everyone's attention that Sorp was becoming too famous.

At first the group was celebrating. But then they realized they weren’t getting as much returns from their bets.

The odds became less and less favorable. They were still quite away from buying six devices. Four could still be achieved. But the way things were going. Six would be hard.

This was also not too much of an issue. They could take out a loan for the last two devices. It was no issue to pay it back together.

Their biggest regret was not being able to buy devices for their other family members. Many of their siblings would enjoy it. But their parents and grandparents would benefit the most.

Sorp could be considered an orphan. But he didn't see it that way. These people were his brothers and their siblings were his siblings.

Their parents had cared for him. In their own way. He couldn’t show the same affection but he would protect them with everything he had.

This was also a way an animals protect their own. These people were his, so he had to protect them from others. It was how Sorp was.

Even with Sorps fame, Dart continued to find fights where he was unknown or less known. But eventually it became dangerous. The fights became less profitable and more dangerous.

Sorp was known for a few things now, but what shone brightest was that he was undefeated. No man, beast or virtual human could compete.

There are people stronger than him. He had fought quite a few. They lacked that beastial thirst for victory. That undying perseverance. And a trademarked devilish grin.

It became obvious that the they couldn't continue in this way. Eventually Sorp might lose. And everything they worked for would vanish.

Many places couldn’t handle the amounts they were betting either. This cut further into profits. In the end Dart felt they should stop. Or make a deal with a large arena Instance.

Sorp let Kom and Dart make deals with Instance holders. They also set up their own little arena. It was plain but it promised fights with Sorp in them, that drew a crowd.

After a few organized fights Sorp fame grew even higher. The group’s own arena became well known. Aptly named Sorp’s domain. This was to use Sorp’s trademark to advertise.

What they learned was the biggest profit was acting as a middleman for Perpetual Power and sell their wares. This was drinks, food and any other substance available.

In a few short months they had a promising business. A steady income and a sense of satisfaction. They were really making it big in this world.

The guys didn’t become reserved. They were young. And now young with wealth. They strutt around arrogantly. Sorp’s name was used generously for any occasion.

Picking up girls. They would drop Sorp’s name. In a fight? They would not only drop Sorp’s name, but also call him over. And Sorp would be eager to help.

There were still cases where Sorp was busy and had the other guys put through. He proved who he was and they would back down. This was the power of fame and fear.

The worst side of effect of this newfound status was that their clothing only became more gaudy. Some of which was even tailored specially for them.

One positive thing came out of all of this. Their self esteem sky rocketed. They no longer hated being looked down. As they now felt people were looking at them in admiration instead.

There were still a couple of months away from the release of Perpetual Powers new world. Their Advertisement was at an all time high.

Sorp’s newfound fame was desirable to advertisers. Sorp’s fame leaked outside of the realm of fighting.

Sorp was after all something of an adonis. His handsome features with his enormous body made him popular.

This popularity was with both men and women. Once he leaked into the largest and most profitable consumerbase, women. His fame grew even faster.

This popularity made Perpetual Power reach out to him. They wanted him to advertise for them. This meant a small campaign. Small for their scale. Enormous for Sorp.

The money could be considered good. It overshadowed his profits in the arena by a large margin. It also meant he’d have to go around and do what they asked him to.

Sorp might be his own self. A beast and a brute. But he was still raised amongst normal humans. Ignoring their moral faults, he learned social interaction.

The group of friends thought this was a great opportunity. Sorp agreed and for two weeks he spent time in photoshoots and even a few mock fights.

To everyone that knew Sorp, it was surprising that Sorp could fight without killing a person. Going so far as to make it appear to be a close call.

And this was fighting against a skinny man that bordered on female. A delicate beauty. While athletic, it would be impossible to match up to Sorp’s fighting prowess.

Even with the mock fights, most of the time still went into photoshoots and small interviews. Sorp couldn’t be considered a talker. He could responds to questions if asked.

His stoic demeanor just labeled him as mysterious and deep. Both not untrue. But the truth wouldn’t be as glamorous as peopled could imagine.

Through the entire ordeal, Sorp’s friends stuck to him like a sticky grain of rice. Even scalding water couldn’t keep them away.

They were treated as his entourage. Which they were. But some felt it was strange that he had an entourage. Especially one that looked so suspicious.

Everywhere they went people would stare. Gaudy clothing and Sorp’s towering stature. But now they would look around with pride. They felt people were jealous of them.

Seeing as he had been working for Perpetual Power, there was always facilities to enter the virtual world. This was good because Sorp could make all the fights he was scheduled in.

Part of Sorp’s domain’s charm was that the servants were all friends of Sorp. They looked shady and acted shady.

They treated customers poorly. Sometimes they would try and swindle people out of things. People would even report that they had been scammed.

Of course reporting that they had been scammed didn’t have much meaning in the way of legality. It wasn’t exactly possible to do something illegal in a virtual world.

People had to agree to certain terms when entering an Instance. This would prevent people from destroying or stealing items assigned to the Instance.

But this being their Instance they could charge people whatever they wanted. Sometimes they pretend to put in the wrong amount and charge people.

People that fell for this were often inebriated, they might not pay it any mind. This kind of thing happened a lot. So often that the place got a bad reputation.

A bad reputation. Bad service. Dangerous. Scams. Exploitation. The list went on. But it only served to lure more people in.

People wanted to experience the dangers of Sorp’s domain. Exaggerated rumors sprouted from this environment.

People spoke about the place like it was filled with danger at every side. A person could be stabbed to death for looking the wrong way. Laughing at the wrong time. Anything was possible.

Many of the rumors found themselves into the ears of the group. They fanned the flames and even got some good ideas from the rumors.

This place should have been ran into the ground, yet it was flourishing. It got to a point where they had to expand the area. This meant they had to increase the Instances tier by one.

With more people, they had to hire more people. The people they hired had to be rough enough to keep up with the boys. This was difficult to find.

They didn’t hire any women. Everyone they hired looked like they were dragged out of a sewer.

This wasn’t a coincidence. They were literally hiring homeless people. These men lived on the streets in the most dangerous parts in the world. They were capable of deranged things.

To hire these men they had to supply them with a place to hook up. They ended up buying the entire building they lived in.

They had a lot of money now. Some light renovations didn’t hurt them too much. Before long the insides of their run down apartment building looked livable.

Dart had the buildings separated. They took over two entire floors for them and their families. They put up a proper security doors that opened into their part of the building.

The new hires were stations floors below them. It was lacking in protection but none of them complained. Not only did they understand who they were working for but were also grateful for a roof over their head.

These were men pushed to their edge. They either had one handicap or another. In the virtual world they could move their bodies.

One of the greatest perks was that detoxing their bodies became easier than sleeping off a hangover. Complete dissociation from the physical bodies makes this possible.

Just like the system allows you to control your virtual body, it shuts down any motor functions or connect to your own body senses.

This function is important to the virtual environment. Without it people could walk around as if in a zombie like state. What they did in the virtual the body tried to do in real life.

When they figured out how to completely shut down the physical bodies senses, they also found out a way to allow people that lived with chronic illnesses to disassociate from their bodies.

This included everything from a broken bone, severed limbs, phantom pain and all the way to burn victims. Drug dependence was of course included.

It was this discovery that made people acknowledge that the psychological part of addiction wasn’t as strong as previously thought.

These homeless men now worked full time in Sorp’s domain. Initially they were reserved. It took them a few days to begin cooking up schemes to scam people.

The medical applications continued further. For people that lost their limbs or had sever disfigurations. This could be managed.

Initially the solutions to a missing limb was a hard one. What they came up with is what they now call the Brute force method, or B.F.M.

The Brute force method was actually ingenius. It created an artificial limb. This limb would lie on top of the real body. It was not an actual limb that was connected to the body.

In the beginning it was heralded as an immense success, but it had its issues. One was the difficulty in controlling such limbs.

The mental fatigue could overwhelm the user if he used the limbs to do fast actions continuously. Something as simple as using a palm device became strenuous.

Another issue was the amount of strength it held. It varied and had to be configured specifically to each individual. All these faults aside, it was still never considered a failure.

It wasn’t until later that a more elegant solution came forth. This solution not only created a limb for the user but with great detail predict how a healthy arm should be like.

They would then not layer it onto the user but fuse it with the avatar. This method takes far longer to adjust to. Even for users that have only recently lost their limbs.

The fault of this method was the long adjustment period. In some cases they didn’t entirely adapt even after two years of testing.

But this method can be used without continuous effort. It becomes smooth and natural. Even for people that were born with deformities all over their bodies.

The legacy method, B.F.M. was still developed. But for other reasons. B.F.M. had the unique factor about that it used a part of the brain that was usually docile.

From extensive research Perpetual Power discovered that people could train this part of the brain like any other.

After years of rigorous testing they created incredible variations. Long since discarded it as a crutch and it became something like a sixth sense.

Not limited by physical contact. As it listened to a users input and acted accordingly. This mean they could make things float in the air.

It didn’t seem to have a limit. It is possible to make it an empty sphere. It is possible to pour liquid into this sphere and move it around.

Eventually it became the the fundamental part of the new world they were about to release. It was in a sense one of its main features.

This all being a virtual environment, it is easy to create miraculous things. Fire spawned from nothing. This is easy. But with the B.F.M. the interaction was tuned to a new level.

B.F.M. caused the tier of immersion to increase by a few notches. For anyone that used generic spells in the virtual world and then use the B.F.M. to do the same. The difference was clear.

The downside to the B.F.M. system is still clear, it is straining a muscle that is usually unused. This causes mental fatigue.

This mental fatigue is easily remedied. A light use of B.F.M. is recovered in moments, mediocre in a while but excessive use might cause the user to be feel faint, unfocused or powerless.

The part of the brain doing the heavy work, swells when used. Extensive swelling is still considered minor, but in relevance to the size of the brain it is anything but minor.

The larger the swelling, the recovery time increases exponentially. Multiple uses might still only be a few seconds rest, while one prolonged use could take tens of minutes to recover.

What is considered light and heavy use is dependant on the individual. But for most it is possible to use B.F.M. casually for two or three hours without issue.

The key word being casual. Proficiency in moving things with B.F.M. can make complex actions easier on the user. A beginner and a veteran will have vastly different results.

Casual also has the meaning that the action is easy. Not something like having a sword swing about or a ball of flame swirl around you or chase after an enemy.

Casual is a simple swing of a sword. A thrusting motion of an empowered fist or the straight flight of a projectile.

The easiest use of B.F.M. are simple strikes. Sword strikes down. Fist strikes forward. Arrow flies straight with force.

A slight increase in difficulty emerges when you want to change directions of a strike, the projected path of an arrow. This is easy to understand and all users will experience it.

While B.F.M. does cause their fighting and scaling system exotic. The limitations to their use made them consider using traditional thing as well.

The problem with things like power ups in a virtual environment is that a user granted even a ten percent increase in strength will have little way of using it.

Ten percent is already enough to make a qualitative difference. But any more and it becomes harder to use. The B.F.M. does great in mitigating this problem.

Combining the feeling of B.F.M. and normal synthetic abilities maximized the system potential while still taking the users senses into account.

Meaning the users of the scaling system won't feel disassociated with it and in time it will feel natural to summon spells or strike out with a sword, causing shockwaves through the air.