'HAHaha. . . .', Rex laughter gently subsided as he spread himself across the forest floor. The two other wolf had scampered away with their tails in between their legs, after they saw their leader smash through several tree branches following Rex's punch.
As he slowly brought his breathing under control, he observed his body trying to take note of the possible changes that his upgraded level could have brought.
. . . . .After taking several moments, Rex did not notice any immediate change ON his body. "STAT!" Rex called out again, trying to see if he can bring up his player status. A status screen that displayed players current abilities and was the access point to several features gamers could access during gaming in Cosmic Ascendance.
Once again, a dark tab that softly darkened his view, popped into view:
"Temporaly Unavailable"
"Huh" Rex sighed in response, the situation did not trouble him so much, based on what he knew about Cosmic Ascendance. The trial phase was more like a tutorial phase for players, it often did not involve intense situations like what he had just experienced. His situation was different in that his death will result in a ban. While others their death would only mark the end of their trial.
"Cricchh- -Cricchh"
His train of thoughts were broken by crunching of leaves from calmly approaching footsteps. He was not yet feeling at his peak self, but he had recovered enough to atleast make an effort to escape if another battle was underway. Turning towards the direction of the sound he saw a lady with eyes the colour of emerald, skin like jade and a lush brown flowing hair clothed in a green cloak with gold embroidery flanked by two men. One of the men looked to be past middle-aged spotting a white well maintained goatee, his head adorned by a straw hat and the other looked young with a similar athletic build like his albeit a bit more muscular.
Rex recalling his previous encounter with the wolves was already simulating diverse escape plans in his mind for his immediate escape, if the second group of living beings he encountered in Cosmic Ascendance were as hostile as the first.
"Warbeings blessing, Prime". The pristine lady bowed her head as she greeted him. Rex's eye almost popped out of his skull in response to the greeting. Before he could make heads or tails about the greeting. The two men who were accompanying the lady were already in kneeling positions with their head touching the floor.
"Eeehhhh"
His mouth slowly parted open as he stared at the currently developing situation, all his pre-planned escape simulations offered him no solution to the rapidly developing situation. Recalling that this was a quest and how much the recent combat had strained him. Rex made a decision.
"You may Rise..#sth*xx#L" Rex spoke the last part of his sentence in an inaudible tone as he was lost as to what honorific to attach to his greetings. With an indescribable expression he glanced at the pleasant face of the standing lady, who in his better observation of her facial features, felt she was much younger than he had placed her to be. Then he glanced at the very respectful bowed pose of the two men, whose synchronous head tilt to his greeting, filled him with a certain sense of dread of his act having fallen through already.
After an awkward few seconds, the older of the men ended his bow and looked at Rex with an unreadable expression. He seemed to have made some deliberations and calculations in his head before he spoke.
"Greetings Prime, Sorry for our lady's intrusion on your training"
'Say what' Rex screamed in his mind.
He recalled the arrow that had slid into the alpha wolf the moment he had punched it. "That was definitely not a disturbance" he taught inwardly as he tried his best to maintain a poker face, while he chose the most appropriate response, per the act he had chosen to play.
"It was a good shot, although flawed," his voice sounded laced with confidence. He cringed internally to how egoist his voice sounded. He intended to play the role of a Prime, whatever it may be. But from how well his voice sounded, it seemed he at least had a backup career to fall on to if he was banned from Cosmic Ascendance. Movie Actors still lived pretty fine in the AI era.
A smile spread across the old mans lip as his mental conclusion, on the identity of the prime. Seemed to be on point. Such arrogance was as expected from a prime.
"Please, do not mind our lady at all. She has only recently awakened her Origin Arma. She is still filled with excitement about it, and is always itching for instances where she can employ it" The old man drew closer and spoke in a respectful tone.
". . . ." Rex was still trying to make heads and tails, as to the information he had just received but the Older man took it as a sign of dissatisfaction, he continued;
"We are residents of Alderom, the closest settlement around here."
The moment Rex heard the name Alderom, he was pulled into a brief trance, where he saw the village he had seen in his vision. His brows were raised slightly as he thought "Must be my target destination". Having concluded that Alderom was his destination, he felt more at ease. He would try and join or convince this guys to lead him there. They did not feel hostile in any way.
"Please Sir, are you the prime Bruce Lui". The older guy stared at him.
"Bruce Lui" Rex thought. His ears were being assaulted by several new information, he had no idea what to say and not say.
"Yes I am", He replied with a grin lacking in warmth.
The older man, nodded in realization and affirmation as his suspicions were confirmed. Even the younger guy's unreadable and still skeptical demeanor had a complete transformation as he smiled in realization.
Rex took a glance at the ethereal beauty that stood to the side, while he had been conversing with the older man. She was studying him and the men with confusion evident in her expression.
The younger guy, finally stood from his kneeling position as his grin widened. He had heard of the legendary prime Bruce Lui, A young prime, who was famous for his battle prowess. Their group had been observing the young man's battle. He had not summoned his Arma throughout the battle and had not even employed any Arma Art until the end of the battle. He had held his ground with nothing but his physical abilities.
Only Prime Warriors possessed that level of physical abilities, and with the battle prowess the young warrior had displayed, it was only understandable if he was the renowned Bruce Lui, that the only thing he cared for apart from battle was good wine. He had been apprehensive of the prime earlier, because he had identified him as a potential rival, that could develop an interest in Luna, but now he was much relaxed. All the tales about Bruce Lui, never failed to reiterate how he cared only for battle and wine.