The Earth After Rebirth

"Oh come, you aren\'t impressed, not even a little?"

"To be fair? When it comes to you and this game, there\'s nothing that can surprise me anymore. I\'ve watched you create the freakin sun Ki, there\'s nothing, absolutely nothing that can top that."

Kiro\'s answer was a knowing smile. He knew something that would break his mind, he was living proof of the phenomenon after all.

"I guess I\'m just too amazing." He said with a smug smile.

The others weren\'t quite used to this side of Kiro, they didn\'t know whether to laugh or hide their faces in shame. Lyle, as he always was, was the only one cheering him on to do more impressive stunts.

He was like a very loyal dog that could see no wrong on its master. Jorge was starting to get more paranoid, he didn\'t want his vice to end up quitting and doing something even he\'d be tempted to do, that is to join After Dark.

He could tell though that, even though they were strong and he would love to join them, they had already created a bond that he couldn\'t hope to reach.

He wasn\'t their age, he was much younger. Also mostly knew about Kiro through talkalot and nothing else. He first admired the guy when he heard what he\'d done to his kidnappers. He was a little envious of people close to him.

"Hey kid, don\'t daydream, the stage isn\'t ours anymore. Let\'s go." Kiro shouted after him.

Ding!

[You\'re required to take a short break, no the game will not be unlocked, it will remain as is. Don\'t walk far from the arena, that will get you a punishment.

The battle ground is, as you can see totalled, it needs some repairs, so take this time to do stretches or something. Happy hunting.]

"This is kind of lame, why does the battle ground need to be repaired." Kiro complained, he couldn\'t think of a time in his past life that they stopped the wars to fix something.

He just explained it away, with the fact that, with every different decision he had made so far, he also created vast differences between then and now.

Nothing was fixed, it can all be changed, everything. His newborn siblings proved that much to him.

"Hi, how are you holding up?" He walked up to Isla and yelled from behind.

Which almost earned him a punch in the nose, it was a good thing he had good reflexes, and that Isla wasn\'t a close quarter combatant. So he was able to stop the first with his palm.

"Sh*t. Sorry, ever since that stupid match, everyone seems to think it\'s a good idea to sneak from behind me, playing some idiotic game of who could capture the goddess." She sighed deeply, this clearly had been going on for some time.

Kiro noticed her very pink knuckles. He gave her a toothy grin.

"How many noses did you break?"

"About six."

"Eight actually." Saanvi inserted herself into their conversation.

"Is it? Lost count." She said with the biggest \'I\'m proud of myself\' smile.

Kiro gave anyone who dared to come close to Isla a death stare, they ended up not approaching altogether. He was proud of her, making herself a name and all, but the players were taking it too far. It was strange.

"Dammit, you guys are just stronger huh. We thought we\'d caught up to you. This fight was something else." Saanvi complained.

The rest of Dragon Tail looked at them with eyes full of hopes and dreams. They were already fans but their battle just now, made it more extreme.

"I-i-i just want to say, Hiro, sir, I admire you a lot. Even though you\'re a dwarf, you have strength that far surpasses my own." Von complimented, hoping he\'d accept his words and also his big outstretched hand.

Hiro was unsure at first, he thought maybe he was mistaking him with someone else. He didn\'t particularly stick out during battles, unless someone was specifically watching for him.

And for Von, it was something like that. He\'d thought that, since he was a dwarf, he was only there to fix their weapons and brew potions. He was very surprised when he drew his shield and axe, and charged in.

That\'s the first thing that drew his undivided attention to Hiro. Even though he was Knight and many people might tell him that he could take on a dwarf, he knew that with this one, it was different.

Hiro accepted his handshake, albeit sceptically. Von bent closer to his ear.

"Make me an armour and a weapon will you? I admire your craftsmanship as much as your fighting abilities." He asked hopefully.

Kiro had long excused himself, he was sitting at a corner. Lyle had joined him when he realised what he was trying to do. He wanted to enter the space with him again, even if he didn\'t spar with him this time, he knew the benefits of entering Paradise.

He entered at almost the same time Kiro did. He didn\'t need to be dragged this time, he did it all on his own. The scenery there always managed to take his breath away. The atmosphere was also nothing he\'d ever experienced before, it was just impressive.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kiro asked, slightly annoyed.

"I piggybacked off of you, neat huh?" He grinned.

"Haa, I guess so." Kiro made a thinking face. "Do whatever you want, but I can\'t play with you this time. Don\'t interrupt me." He finally said.

"Every time I see this world it\'s as if for the first time, what did you mold it after? Can I also be like you one day, create my own mental space?"

Kiro pinched his nose. It hadn\'t been a second since he said not to be bothered but this kid was already pestering him.

"I molded this after the Underworld I once explored. If you\'re a good boy, I\'ll tell you all about it and my mount Hubris." Kiro said, that hushed him up.