Living Life As A Game: Through And Through 160 Giving Needless Advice

Grade: Peak-tier Spirit Grade (Threatens the barrier to [REDACTED] Grade)

Description: Comparable to a High-tier [REDACTED] Grade legacy, this scroll contains an array of cultivation methods and techniques for s.p.a.ce, Time, and s.p.a.cetime pract.i.tioners. With 70% of the methods catered to pract.i.tioners of s.p.a.cetime, it's clear the creator of this scroll Majored in s.p.a.cetime.

Effect: Guides s.p.a.ce and Time pract.i.tioners to Consummate Tier Affinity. s.p.a.cetime pract.i.tioners have a very small chance to form Eternal Tier Affinity. Teaches: [False Teleportation], [Temporal Pulse], [s.p.a.cetime s.h.i.+ft], as well as several s.p.a.ce, Time, and s.p.a.cetime [REDACTED]]

'So, this scroll is the reason my parents lead their double lives...' Elizabeth finished committing the contents of the scroll to memory with Persephone's help just in time to hear her parents conclude the story of their past.

She tossed the scroll back to them and said, "Mhmm… So you were pract.i.tioners before I was even born… What about Grey and Zoey? I already know Liam is a pract.i.tioner, having met with him in the Warrior Stage Division of the Tournament, but I haven't seen those two."

"Zoey being both a girl and only eleven hasn't really shown much interest in becoming a pract.i.tioner, so we've had her stay in the Estate as the tournament went underway. As for Grey… You wouldn't know it as you barely interacted with him after 'the incident,' but he's been adamant about practicing since we introduced him to the concept of martial arts. Having been born with us providing him with both really good innate potential and all the resources he could ever ask for, he's actually already in the Spirit Realm. As the head of his own Martial Faction, you naturally wouldn't have encountered him until the Faction's Stage, but because you fell unconscious..." Kurt didn't have to continue as everyone knew where he was going.

"Mhmm… Speaking about me collapsing, what ever happened to the boy I was treating?" Elizabeth, only now thought of the possibility thatTristan was scooped up by his faction after she healed him.

"Oh, him?" Kurt asked as the hologram on the floor changed to display an image of Tristan. "He's been waiting for you to wake up since we told him what had happened. Apparently, his faction directly abandoned him after he lost the King Stage division, as they left without asking for him when the Factions Stage ended. But that hasn't seemed to bother him much as he shrugged them off in favor of asking what he could do to see and repay you. We told him that if you wanted to see him, you'd go to him after waking up and warned him to settle down until you decided what you would be doing."

"Mhmm… What about my faction? Have Atid and his dojo already left back for Miami, or are they waiting for me?"

"About that… After the Faction Stage ended, I held that speech I mentioned in our text message conversations. Anyway, to make a long story short, I announced that the winners of various Events would be invited to a new Faction comprised of the greatests talents across the Martial World. Since you kind of stole 7 positions, we had to change things to invite the top three of every event, and after you 'joined' our Faction, we promised to send you back to them in perfect health as our greatest talent. However, since you are a part of the family you've also technically become a member of my personal Secret Faction; just like your mother and two brothers… Oh, uh… the simple answer to your question is: they left, after we told them we'd take care of you… However, there were a couple of people from the faction that stayed back to accompany you when or if you decide to leave."

'It's probably Sun and Jane again...' Elizabeth thought as she said, "New Faction? Ahhh forget about it. I'll ask later… Right now, I guess I should explain myself. Now… before I begin, I need you to understand that what I'm about to say will sound ridiculous. You might think I'm insane, but here goes..."

"This all started about a month ago, I was browsing my computer for games as 'Adrian' when I stumbled on..." Recounting the moments that led up to her transformation, Elizabeth retold her story over a lengthy period of time. She covered everything from her encounter with Persephone, to her time in Atid's dojo, to her day in the Shadow Realm, to the trials and tribulations she went through in the First Stage of the Cataclysm, until she concluded with her experience in the Wus.h.i.+ Tournament.

With pieces of proof like her Gateway Magic and Yrre which could be picked up at any moment, Elizabeth could even use herself as an example as well, considering the dramatic change she went through in just a month. Nevermind her absurd growth in strength, her parents — as Spirit Realm pract.i.tioners —could tell that she was biologically female and according to Yrre, it was unfathomable what kind of power could transform one's body to that degree.

When Elizabeth finally stopped talking, she didn't talk about the descent of the Cataclysm on Earth. Though she may be socially immature, she knew people would need a second to process the ridiculous story that was the last month of her life.

A couple moments later, Kurt could be seen rubbing his eyebrows with an expression that conveyed he was thinking painfully hard as he said, "You were turned into a video game character and are now gaining strength to survive a 'Cataclysm' and face off against other chosen champions of real G.o.ds. Does that summarize your situation?"

"It sounds pretty stupid hearing you put it like that… but, in essence, yeah, that sums things up quite nicely."

"..." Seeing him unconvinced, Elizabeth asked, "Do you want proof? I need you to take me seriously as Earth will change again due to the Cataclysm."

"Change again? Are you meaning to say that the Celestial Phenomenon was caused by this Cataclysm?" Kurt quickly asked.

"Technically, I caused it as my rank increasing from 100th place to 11th place in the First Stage of the Cataclysm that caused the Celestial Phenomenon or Dimensional Upgrade as my 'video game' powers have dubbed it."

Kurt sighed, thinking ' This kid is unbelievable...' He dispelled the odd look on his face and asked, "What changes will take place in the near future..." The conflicting realities presented before him were making him waver, even with his soul that had begun tempering in the Spirit Realm. But, unable to explain Elizabeth's circ.u.mstances any other way, he forced himself to calm down and handle the situation as pragmatically as he could.

"For the next couple weeks nothing out of the ordinary will happen. But, a month after the Dimensional Upgrade changed the world, the Second Stage of the Cataclysm could bring some antagonistic force to Earth at any time. I don't know exactly what the force will be. It could be real demons, pract.i.tioners from another dimension, zombies, dungeons, anything could happen..."

"This antagonistic force… will it be stronger than the Martial Society of Earth at the moment? We have hundreds of Spirit Realm pract.i.tioners, dozens of which are above the first Stage." Kurt didn't dwell on the ridiculousness of a zombie apocalypse or the other things Elizabeth mentioned as he thought first and foremost about how he would compare in strength to these invaders; real or not.

"No, no, no… The antagonist force will invade Earth as fairly weak beings at the level of p.a.w.ns and Soldiers in the beginning. However, over time, stronger variants will come through whatever methods the Cataclysm uses to transport these forces and eventually they might be able to challenge Spirit Realm pract.i.tioners."

"Mhmm… Depending on the rate of their increase in strength and the limits of their growth, things could play out very differently… Do you have any idea what time it would take for them to reach the Spirit Realm?"

"Uh… no. But don't be too b.u.mmed out. This could be either a blessing or a curse depending on whether we prepare correctly. I mean if you guys prepare correctly… You see, with the arrival of the antagonistic force, the world will become a place where advancement in the Martial Path will become easier. The antagonistic force will bring with them techniques and resources not yet available on Earth and with the research and development of a better Martial Society, it will be possible for the Cataclysm to be less of an apocalypse and more of a Golden Age."

Elizabeth looked at her mom and continued saying, "We already talked about Principles during our first encounter and thought I can't help with Alchemy or Formations, I can spare some time to help our Martial Society on Earth learn about real forging, enchanting, cooking, and medicine. With your influence over the world all you will need to do is persuade some of the higher-ups to do what you can for regular civilians and have fewer casualties when the Cataclysm inevitably comes and it would be a dream to reach the highest Stages of the Spirit Realm or even higher."

"About that..." Kurt went into more details about the speech he gave out last night; the same one that added Elizabeth to the '"super faction" of the Martial Society. Simply put, aside from resolving the Tournament and introducing the new faction comprised of all the greatest talents in the current Martial Society, Kurt announced the results of the discussions held by the various world leaders.

With Earth entering a new paradigm where essentially 90% of the population could easily train martial arts, everything had to change. Without seeking out help from the pract.i.tioners that were already in the Martial Society before the Dimensional Upgrade, soon, civilization would devolve into anarchy as the guns and modern weaponry became obsolete. Thus, over the past couple weeks there had been several discussions about how the new world would operate and only after last night, where virtually all the major world leaders and higher-ups of the Martial Society gathered in one place, did the bulk of the changes become finalized.

As it turns out, Elizabeth didn't have to worry about the world being overrun as helpless civilians died to the ever-increasing strength of whatever antagonistic force the Cataclysm threw at Earth. The Martial Society and Earth's world leaders had already taken the steps to turn the world into one that prioritized personal strength; the Martial Society would become the new Society…

Elizabeth felt pretty stupid after giving her parents suggestions when they had thought about the topic for much longer than her and had already sorted things logically. What advice could she, a politically inept fifteen-year-old, give them, who had been running the world before she was even born and had discussed things with experts worldwide for the last couple weeks, that they hadn't already heard a dozen times over...