Elysium

When you arrived at the training hall, you were the only one there. Bored, you just continued to spam lightning bolt before summoning Lexi.

“Hi! Need something?”

“Not really, just bored. When can I unlock more skills?”

“You have to level up your rune to level 5. Every 5 levels you get a new skill.”

Checking your stat screen, you learned you were still at 1% of the way through level 1.

You glared at Lexi.

“Getting XP this way is close to pointless. I feel like I’m proficient enough at lightning bolt. I always hit where I aim, and I could use it in my sleep,” you complained.

“I told you, the dummies won’t give much XP, but you are right, you seem fairly comfortable with it. It’s kind of weird how good you are at aiming already. Did your old world have magic?”

“No…” you said. The real reason was from playing video games in VR. The transition really wasn’t that difficult.

The only other skill you currently had was lightning cloak, but you had already tried that once… Its primary use was to boost attack, defense, and speed. The first two required no practice, and the speed was too fast for the area you were in. You needed to run around outside the city to practice it.

A few moments later, the door opened, and you watched Remus and the others walk in.

“Who’s that? Victor asked, noticing Lexi floating by your head.

“Oh, this is Lexi,” you said, taking a moment to introduce them.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a fairy before. They’re a really rare race. I’ve heard they’re made entirely by magic, and known to be extremely knowledgeable.” Said Remus.

“Your right! I was formed by forest essence, and we’re born with all kinds of information. We’re not that rare though, we just live very far away and we tend to stay away from civilization. Your cities are way too big.” Lexi replied.

“I could see that,” Galen said.

“Anyway,” Vulas said, changing the topic. “We wanted to talk to you about something.”

“What’s up?” You asked curiously, taking a seat.

Following your example, everyone sat down and looked at each other.

Remus was the first to speak.

“We did some research about you today. Turns out you have a... Special ability.” He started.

You nodded, getting a bit nervous.

“Don’t worry, we don’t have any interest in it. What we’re curious about is your intentions.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, rumor is, you walked into the guild hall one day and signed up after gaining your lightning rune. Then you sought recruitment instead of becoming an adventurer and ended up here. Yet you’re still coming here to train. ” Remus said.

“Does that mean you plan to fight in Elysium? ” asked Victor, somewhat excited.

“Elysium? Like the mythological place heroes go to when they die?” You said.

“What? No. The arena, Elysium.”

“I have no idea what that is.”

“…”

“How do you not know what Elysium is? Remus asked. “It’s probably the most well-known thing on Velsia. Where have you been living all this time?”

“Oh, this is only Jason’s third day in Velsia,” Lexi said.

“…”

“Is that something we’re supposed to talk about?” You asked Lexi.

“Why not?”

“What do you mean only his third day on Velsia?” Vulas asked.

“Exactly what I said. He’s not from this world.” Lexi said.

“…”

The four of them sat silently for a moment.

“Well, that explains a lot, actually,” Remus said.

“You seemed to believe her rather easily. Has this happened before?” you asked

“It’s happened a few times throughout history. The most recent was centuries ago. Most people wouldn’t know about it, I just happened to have read a book on the subject.” Remus responded.

“Well, now I understand why no one has ever even heard of you before. With that ability, you should be famous,” said Vulas.

Everyone continued thinking for a few moments before Remus spoke up again.

“Well, I suppose we should explain Elysium. Victor, do you wanna tell him?”

“Sure! Elysium is a fighting arena where people can fight each other to the **** without actually dying. It’s pretty simple, really. You win, you go up in ranking, you lose, you go down. The rankings are extremely important. If your kingdom doesn’t have high-ranking adventurers, others will perceive you as weak and you’ll probably end up getting invaded. That’s why nobles try to get so powerful.”

“They aren’t becoming powerful to fight off monsters and protect the people?” You questioned.

“Hah! No way. Why would they put their lives in danger for that? That job’s for common adventurers.” Victor said.

“That’s why the nobles are so interested in your ability,” Remus said. “They can level up using you, then simulate combat safely at home for experience, and fight in Elysium with no risk to themselves.”

“That’s also why we’re so curious about what your intentions are. You have no reason to risk your life as an adventurer now that your nobility. You could battle in Elysium, but you don’t really need to. No one can replace your ability, so fighting in Elysium would just be for sport.” Vulas explained.

“That’s true…” Said Lexi. “You can hardly become an adventurer at this point. The Duke’s would probably be furious if you kept leaving on quests. If you want to fight, your only option is to join Elysium, and even then people wouldn’t be happy. You would need guards to help you level around the city.”

“Do you even want to battle in Elysium? If you don’t want to train every day, you could just focus on other aspects of life. What do you say?”