Extra's Path: The Eternal Frost Monarch

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

For that entire week Noah had focused heavily on training, carving out only small pockets of time to spend with his friends.

He pushed himself every day without much thought for anything else. Also used monster core to absorbed mana.

He also did some improvement in his weapon arts.

And then, just like that, the day arrived.

The VR battle that was also unit test for them. A chance to increase his rank. Though he was not much interested about raising his rank.

But he still want to do a good performance in this battle.

It was a first-year event, pitting the classes against each other one match at a time. Yesterday’s battle had already been held. Class B-2 against Class C-1. Draven and Regnar, both from B-2, had led their class to a win.

Today it was Noah’s class. Class A-1 against Class B-1.

Students had been told they could bring weapons into the virtual reality with them. Noah already had his sword and spear. He added a bow and a quiver of arrows to what he was carrying.

The students of both classes moved together toward the large hall where the VR capsules were kept.

The hall was spacious and long. On either side of the room, rows of capsules were set up, each one large enough for a person to lie down inside and enter the virtual reality. The sheer number of them made the hall feel like something between a medical facility and a military operation.

More than two hundred students stood in rows across the floor, the two classes side by side.

’It’s so huge. And how many VR capsules are there?’ Noah though as his blue eyes travelled over the whole room.

At the front of the room, two women stood facing them.

One was Morgana. Her expression was as cold and composed as always. The other woman was someone named Lucia. She had brown-haired, with a gentle smile that stood in quiet contrast to Morgana’s stillness. Beside the two of them stood several other people in white lab coats. Staff members, responsible for overseeing and monitoring the VR room.

Morgana’s gaze swept across the gathered students. Then she spoke, her voice carrying clearly through the entire hall.

"I see everyone is here. Good." She clasped her hands behind her back. "Then let’s go over the rules one more time."

"You will be fighting a war set inside a ruined city. Each class will be placed on opposite sides of the city when the simulation begins."

"You may bring any artifacts you wish to use inside the virtual reality, stored in your smart bracelets, rings, dimensional storage, or worn directly as accessory artifacts. The same applies to weapons. The system will scan everything you have on you and reproduce it identically inside the VR. This includes your smart watches and smartphones."

Her expression didn’t change. "And yes, I am aware that this creates an uneven playing field depending on what each student owns. But in a real war, you will face countless advantages and disadvantages that have nothing to do with fairness. Get used to it. Anything could happen in was. Remember that."

Lucia stepped in smoothly beside her, her tone warm but clear.

"Additionally, you cannot bring any food or drinks into the simulation. Items like those will not spawn with you even if they are packed inside your storage. We will be closely monitoring everyone’s physical condition throughout the match. Nerve stimulation will be running at eighty percent, which means you will feel real pain. However, you will not die. If at any point we determine that your condition has become genuinely dangerous, you will be ejected from the simulation immediately."

Morgana took over again without pause.

"Damien Ashworth will serve as commander for Class A-1. Travis Elensar will serve as commander for Class B-1." She let that settle for a moment before continuing. "The battle will run for five days within the virtual reality. The class that fully eliminates the other wins. If neither class has been wiped out by the end of the five days, the class with more surviving members will be declared the winner. Also killing the commander of opposite team doesn’t mean you will match. It won’t end there. Though the one who will kill commander gets more points compare to normal."

"Students in the winning class will each receive a set amount of points as a reward. Additional points will be awarded for eliminating enemy students. Monsters will also be present throughout the city, ranging from F minus rank up to E plus, with a small number of D rank monsters possible. The full point breakdown has already been explained to you previously in class, so I will not go through it again now. And we will personally give extra points to those who had done exceptional performance. "

She paused briefly, then added, "When your name is called, come forward, collect your nanotech suit, and proceed to your assigned VR pod."

Lucia raised her voice slightly, her smile still in place. "One final thing, there is a time dilation effect active in this simulation. One day inside the virtual reality is equal to one hour in the real world."

Morgana gave the room one last sweeping look.

"Class B-1 will take the capsules on the right side. Class A-1 will take the left. We will begin calling names now. Step forward when you hear yours. Does anyone have question or doubt?"

After explaining, Morgana asked if we had any doubts or queries but since none of us raised our hands, she nodded and continued.

After explaining, Yelena asked if we had any doubts or queries but since none of us raised our hands, she nodded and continued.

The staff members positioned on either side of the hall began calling out names in a steady, organized rhythm. Students stepped forward one by one, collected their nanotech suits, and made their way to their assigned capsules.

The hall filled with the quiet movement of over two hundred students shuffling into position, the low hum of the capsules powering up running beneath everything like a distant engine.

Noah stood in line with the rest of Class A-1 and waited for his name to announce.

He had his sword and spear already stored in his ring. The bow and quiver were there too. He wasn’t particularly nervous. If anything he was just ready to get inside and see how things unfolded.

After a few minutes a staff member on the left side called out clearly across the room.

"Noah Eldritch." His name was called.

Noah raised his hand briefly and stepped forward. He walked up to the staff member, confirmed his presence, and was handed a nanotech suit without any fuss. He moved toward his assigned capsule on the left side of the hall.

He stopped in front of it.

The capsule was white, clean and smooth, roughly the size of a large coffin standing horizontal. The glass panel on top was open, tilted back and waiting. Inside, a deep red cushion lined the interior, shaped to fit a person lying flat. It looked surprisingly comfortable for something that was essentially a machine.

"Damn! This is cool. Can’t believed that I will be entering a virtual reality." He muttered with slightly excited expression. It would be lie to say that he was not excited for this battle.

Noah swung his legs in first and lowered himself down into it.

The cushion gave slightly under his weight, firm but soft enough to sink into. He settled his back against it and got comfortable, straightening his legs out.

Then he noticed the helmet resting inside at the top of the cushion near where his head would sit. It was smooth and white, matching the capsule itself. He picked it up, turned it once in his hands, and pulled it over his head. It fit snugly, locking gently into place without needing any adjustment.

He lay back fully.

Above him the open glass panel began to move on its own, swinging slowly downward and sealing shut over him with a soft click. The moment it closed, he felt a faint vibration run through the capsule as it came fully online. A thin beam of light moved across him from head to toe, the system scanning him, reading everything on his person, cataloguing his weapons, his rings, his bracelet, all of it.

The academy’s AI system, it scan the stuff in his storage ring and convert it into data. After that, it would upload that data into the virtual world and stimulate a perfect reality.

So they could use their weapon with same strength and abilities.

The scan finished in a matter of seconds.

Ting~

The interior of the capsule dimmed slightly.

Noah stared up at the glass above him for a brief moment, his own reflection looking back at him faintly in the surface.

Then his eyelids became heavy as he closed his eyes.