( Sector S, House 3 )

As Luke entered the house, he was blown away by the grandeur of the building as weird electric sensations zapped him all over the body once he compared this house to the place where he lived.

The house was a literal villa! At Least occupying the same space as the foundations needed to build a twenty storey apartment building, however, it was only a two storey villa.

It had a seperate gate for entry, a private lawn that was not synthetic but real.

A real lawn in space!

Luke did not even understand how that was possible, however, this place had it.

A small miniature pool, and some aesthetic sculptures all around the house.

Even back on Earth, this was the sort of house that one looked from afar and understood that it belonged to a millionaire and that consistency had been maintained in space as well.

"Agh Luke, my man! Come on in" A familiar voice shouted from the first floor window of the house, as when Luke tilted his head, he found Cervantez grinning from the window grills.

" O, guildmaster you?" Luke said pleased, as he felt a huge burden being relieved off his shoulders as upto this point he was genuinely worried about what his 'Male Model' work might be.

As he entered Cervantez's home, he just took a deep breath and decided to ignore his ludicrous wealth as comparing his current living quarters to that of Cervantez would do him absolutely no good at all.

Just the main hall of Cervantez's house was three times the size of their three-room sharing apartment, with just his common bathroom being 75% the size of their entire apartment.

Not even mentioning the kitchen, the luxurious furniture or anything else, just the place itself was insane, however, as if just one floor was not enough, Cervantez was given a second floor in his house which was a pure slap to Luke's face of 'Yeah you are poor'.

On the upper floor, there were three massive rooms, with Cervantez being the sole occupant.

One of the rooms was his gaming room, the other one he converted into a private gym and the third was a massive private bedroom that could house 30 sector E people with ease.

Dressed in rich people free clothes from Earth, Cervantez casually ate what seemed like a fresh apple as when Luke arrived on the first floor, he tossed one to Luke as well and invited him over to the gaming room.

"Come on, I have to talk strategy with you. The next phase of this game has already started" Cervantez said, as he seemed preoccupied with some thoughts, as if he were a man on a mission.

"How did you get me assigned to your particular chore?" Luke inquired, as he took a bite of a fresh lucious apple, feeling invigorated by its fresh organic taste.

"MP" Cervantez replied, as Luke nodded his head.

MP seemed to be a very powerful currency in Terra Nova that could achieve almost anything, however, in his gaming experience so far, Luke had seldom came across opportunities to gain MP.

"So, first things first, tell me about the university you enrolled in and the path you're on" Cervantez instructed as Luke began to tell him everything.

Luke had joined the Knight's Academy just like Cervantez wanted and had done so using a token that apparently marked him as a master knight's apprentice.

For now, he was accepted into the university a week before the official semester began and this gave him an opportunity to fraternize with the son of the West Duke, Jerome Crowhead.

Luke told Cervantez about his fear regarding how his talent might seem inadequate once training started for the kind of hype surrounding him.

He also told him about the system quest that he had received and about the great tournament that was going to take place a year from now and how Jerome was eyeing a good performance on that grand stage.

Cervantez listened carefully to everything Luke had to say. He was a calm listener and did not interrupt Luke's flow at all when he was talking.

Only when Luke was done narrating his side of the events, did Cervantez finally nod and reply, as he praised Luke highly for his achievements so far.

"Get closer to the Duke's son, your friendship with him will be pivotal to our guild's future-" Cervantez instructed as Luke felt a little awkward for playing someone's feelings like that, however, he reminded himself that Jerome was only an NPC and that it was okay if he played with the trust of a character in-game.

"I'll tell you something today, but you can't tell it to anyone….. not Amanda and especially not your hot-headed brother

Reveal anything, even accidentally and the bracelet will zap you" Cervantez said, as he pressed his own ankle bracelet against that of Luke's, creating an administrator gratified oath.

"Well, this is just so that you don't get tempted to leak some hints to your brother, please don't take it like I don't trust you" Cervantez clarified as Luke felt confused as to what Cervantez wished to say which needed such a high level of secrecy.

"I'm only telling you this because I wish to make you the vice-guild master of my guild and because the future of the guild will be 40% dependent solely on your actions…." Cervantez declared ominously as he stared seriously into Luke's eyes.

" The next phase of the game has started and the focus for the next one year will be on skill development.

Everyone will rush to improve their skills, however, most won't know how to?

In Terra Nova, a normal player can only have 5 skill slots and regardless of the quality of skill that you learn from the skill scroll, the mastery of a skill is solely dependent on your own fundamental understanding of the skill and repeated practice.

A common grade skill, practiced to mastery will Trump an Elite grade skill with basic mastery anyday, so the mistake that one needs to avoid is learning unnecessary skills and not practicing with them enough.

However, here is what my advice for you will be:

Don't learn skills from skill scrolls….. only learn them via manual repetition, because skills learnt by repetition will be the only skills that you shall be able to use in real life" Cervantez said, as Luke felt like his ears were ringing.

" What do you mean? What use them in real life?

Terra Nova is just a game isn't it?" Luke asked, as Cervantez shook his head.

" Just a game? Ha-

I wish it were that simple Luke…..

Terra Nova is much more than a game.

The aliens, their motives and are much more elusive than what you or I believe" Cervantez said as Luke was taken aback by the implication behind his words.

"One year from now, the arc ships will cross the manaless dry part of the universe and reach the cosmic highway called the 'Rainbow Cruise'

Our gaming helmets will be replaced by gaming pods.

Pods that run on mana and have the capability to slowly reforge our bodies to match the strength of our character.

The skills are real.

The game is real…..

Terra Nova is much more complex than you understand" Cervantez said as Luke forgot how to breathe for a second.