Blitz followed Bumpy as he led the way out of the underground arena and back outside. He paused to conduct some business with the guard, who was clearly happy at receiving his money. The guard even nodded to Blitz, as he stood waiting for Bumpy to walk over. Bumpy took Blitz back through the alleyway and to the bridge, not too far from the steps, when the bell at the temple could be heard. Blitz looked up, and seeing the position of the sun, knew that it was the evening bell that had rung.
“Oh shoot, the evening bell. I missed the deadline for the quest..”Blitz looked at Bumpy and waved.
Hurrying off to the steps, Bumpy called out to Blitz,“Don’t worry about it, the Abbot won’t mind. Trust me.”
Whenever anyone said ‘trust me’ to Blitz, he always knew they weren't to be trusted. Blitz ran as fast as he could up the steps, and rushed to the pavillion where Abbot Fung and Master Ping were. Blitz waited and tried to hand in the quest to the Abbot, but he would not even acknowledge Blitz’s presence now.
--
Ting
Quest failed
You failed to deliver the Abbot’s herbs before the evening bell
-15 relationship with the Abbot
Blitz cursed to himself as he removed the herbs from his inventory. He set them down by the pavilion and walked away. He figured that now, he would have to probably wait another three weeks before he might get another opportunity. His stomach grumbling, he went to the temple kitchen to get his food. He was still allowed to get food, at least in compensation for his chores.
For the next few days, Blitz hurried and finished his chores earlier. Then he hurried for his rendezvous with Bumpy, who he followed to the arena. In the arena, Blitz was fast becoming a hit. In the last three days, he had defeated six fighters; some wielding axes, others with claw weapons, dual swords, one of them had a whip, which Blitz found rather challenging, but only for a short while. He was never hit by his opponents, they were outclassed in every respect. The foundation he got from performing chores were pivotal to his victories.
Blitz had accumulated a decent amount of gold, 20 gold in fact, while only being Lv6. He was very proud when Bumpy had approached him, saying he had set up the fight with the arena champion. Blitz was relishing the challenge, and thought that if everything went as smoothly as it had the last few days,it would not pose any problems.
The fight was scheduled for the next day, so Blitz decided to ask for information on the arena champ, only to discover that no one knew anything much about him. Bumpy could only state rumours and hearsays, some being how he never spoke, and seemed only interested in one thing, but no one knew what it was. This man with this singular interest, Blitz thought about how peculiar he sounded, as he was making his way back to the temple to get something to eat. He had spent most of the day fighting and was hungry. He ate, then logged off the game.
xxxx
After logging off, Hussain was hungry, and went to cook dinner. He ate, had a shower, then went to bed to rest for ‘work’ the next day. He awoke early, prepared breakfast, and made sure his mum had her medication. He had a shower, and then logged in. His mother was now clued in to the fact that he was using this capsule thing to make money. During the past few weeks, she had regained some of her independence and could do some work around the house, leaving Hussain free to get on with his plan.
xxxxx
Blitz was ready, and he felt prepared. His mind was in the right place,and he was full of confidence as he skipped down the steps of the temple. He had finished his chores early again today, which served as a nice warm up. The last few days had seen his base stats jump a great deal. He had a nice bank built up from winning all his fights in a spectacular fashion, all by knock-outs to the body. Soon, the four week restriction would be over and he could venture out.
Bumpy was shocked to see Blitz there waiting for him. Bumpy had arrived a bit late, so he quickly ran over to Blitz.
“Sorry, I’m late. I had to bring my savings to place a bet on this fight - this could make or break us. If we manage to pull this off, we’ll be made for life,”Bumpy was patting his money bag at his side and smiling.
“Well, let’s go and win this thing,”Blitz grinned.
Bumpy led the way. Blitz had, by now, learned the way to the arena, but he always liked Bumpy’s company through the dimly lit alleyways. They soon arrived at the door and knocked. The guard opened up nodded at them.
After letting them enter, he then called out to Blitz,“Good luck...”
Blitz looked back and smiled. He continued on his way to the arena. They entered the arena to the sound of loud cheering. It seemed a fight had just finished, and the old men who cleared the arena floor were dragging a man with his entrails hanging out from a slash across his stomach away. Blitz grimaced at the sight, but in the last few days, he had seen things that were a lot worse, and had become somewhat desensitised.
The announcer then walked to the centre of the arena and began talking,“Well, well, the time and match you've all been waiting for is here - on one hand we have the challenger hailing from the temple of Pusean and Abbot Fung himself. Though he’s a newcomer, he’s by far proven himself a worthy contender.”
Blitz started stretching and loosening up. He began jumping to get the blood flow going, and prepared himself. He then stepped out onto the arena dirt floor. The crowd cheered wildly. He held a hand aloft, acknowledging the crowd. He found it funny how he was not officially a member of the Pusean temple, nor trained under Abbot Fung. If it made him seem a better attraction, he’d let them say it. The money he would get from this fight would be the excellent launch pad to start adventuring.
“Then on the other side, we have the undefeated champ. Thaun, The Beast.”
The crowd went silent and still, the air felt heavy, and the tension was almost palpable. Blitz stopped jumping and looked in the direction of the dark tunnel. Walking out of the darkness was a gigantic man with such musculature as to look overweight when wearing a suit. His muscles were so dense, it seem like it could repel close range shotgun blasts. He had a grey/black afro, with facial hair looking like someone from a blaxploitation film era.
Thaun was shirtless, his broad hairy chest exposed, his abdominal muscles were beyond imagination, they were clear for everyone to see. He looked like a body-builder - imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger, but two of him, rolled into one - His shoulders were immense, his neck was almost as broad as his shoulders. His head seemed oddly muscular, and his jaw looked like granite. His arm, forearm and biceps were like steel. Scars were littered across his body from top to bottom.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Thaun walked with a grace that belied a man of his size. His legs were as hairy as his chest and arms, and he walked with the gait of someone who wielded authority. His fists were tapered with white straps. He had on black cloth pants, and was barefooted. He approached the ring, and the crowd was still silent, as The Beast jumped over the barricade of the ring and landed lightly, coming to a stop immediately when he was inside.
The announcer cleared his throat and started to back away to the outside the ring,saying,“Th-There we go fight fans, The Beast has arrived. Can the newcomer overcome this.. challenge today?”
Bumpy turned to Blitz, shrugged his shoulders, then looking over at Thaun, he backed away and almost ran out of the arena, saying ‘Good luck’. He did not even sound like he meant it. Blitz became unnerved as he looked over at The Beast, who had a bored look on his face. It appeared to Blitz that he was looking right through him, and staring at something many times more important than he was.
Ting
Quest
Slay The Beast
Defeat Thaun The Beast of the underground arena. No time limit.
Unable to refuse the quest.
Difficulty - Unknown
Quest rewards:????
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You have accepted the quest
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The signal to the start of match was heard, but still, there was no noise from the crowd, who were now firmly seated and were looking on with bated breaths. Blitz began moving slowly around the outskirts of the arena, heading over to where Thaun The Beast was. Thaun stood still, the only movement he made since stepping into the ring was to tilt his head slightly to the right and kept focus on the spot where Blitz had been.
Blitz kept advancing and was about to try a quick attack. He lowered his stance, about to run, when he noticed that Thaun was now looking at him, with his jaw flexed, tautly displaying the rows of muscles on his face. Blitz, sensing something to not be quite right, stopped his charge, and backed away. Thaun, with his arms down at his side, and with the same bored look in his eyes, slowly began walking towards Blitz.
Blitz instinctively jumped backwards. He felt a pressure unlike anything he had ever felt before from any of the other opponents he had faced in the previous fights - not even his first fight with the crimson warrior. He looked at Thaun for any openings, who still had both arms down, but could not see any. Blitz decided that this was not the time to overthink, and went for broke.
Charging at Thaun, Blitz tried to use his speed to his advantage. He moved to the left side, trying to get out of Thaun’s line of sight to perform an attack. Upon seeing Thaun moving in slow motion, Blitz smiled, as he knew he was faster. He tried for a body shot, he pulled back and let swing a right aimed at the solar plexus. Thaun’s arms were still at his side. As Blitz’s fist almost reached its destination,Thaun’s left hand instantly shot up and stuck it out in Blitz’s face, interrupting the attack.
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You have been momentarily stunned
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It felt like he had been struck with a sledgehammer to the face. Thaun’s tapered hand struck Blitz’s nose, causing his eyes to become watery, and dulling his vision. Blitz immediately ducked down and rolled backwards. He looked at Thaun to make there was no follow up attack. He saw Thaun only slowly bringing back his left hand to his side - the crowd still silently looked on. Blitz was shocked. His mind was in a daze, and he was trying hard to keep calm. He looked over at Bumpy quickly, only to see Bumpy with a sad look in his eyes.
Looking back over at Thaun, Blitz got back up and looked around for a weapon. He steeled himself. He wasn’t going to go down like some punk. He found a wooden staff, and picked it up. He remembered watching the monks train when he was sweeping the temple yard, and this weapon could offer him a better chance at victory. He did not care anymore about using his fists.
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You have equipped a staff
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Blitz twirled the staff a few times, mimicking what he had seen the monks do, and got into a stance. He watched as Thaun brought his right hand up to his mouth and bit on his tapered straps, then did the same with the left. Thaun then bought both hands up to his face, placing his fists just below his chin. His elbows were tucked in at his chest, forming what looked like an impregnable shield. He then hunkered down, and seemed to shrink to ¼ of his original size. The only parts visible were the top of his head and his eyes. His back seemed to come around and almost wrapped him. His legs were not visible. He looked like a ball.
Blitz was in such shock, that the staff almost fell from his hand. Then a noise came from behind, which sounded like Bumpy’s voice,“Focus!”
Blitz grabbed the staff tightly and was transfixed, as Thaun, now low, began bobbing from side to side. Blitz kept his eyes on him and inched a bit closer. But he jumped back when Thaun’s eyes looked at him with such intensity that his body seemed to be getting bigger. This stopped Blitz from advancing, and sent him retreating. He took a step back. Then suddenly, Thaun dashed, instantly closing the gap. Blitz hit out with the staff to the left, hitting nothing but air. Thaun bobbed to the right, and Blitz lashed out there, missing again.
A fist materialised in front of Blitz‘s face, who instinctively raised his hand to block, only to feel a sledgehammer-like blow to his body.
-
Your legs are wobbly, movement speed reduced -50%. You have taken 150DMG
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He felt like vomiting. He wanted to hold his stomach, but that would leave his face exposed. Another sledgehammer blow came to his abdomen. His vision was getting blurry.
-
You have taken 200DMG. You are momentarily dazed
-,
Gritting his teeth, Blitz tried to escape from the corner he was backed up into. He tried to dive to the left side, scramble away and catch his breath. But this was not to be, he received a shoulder check, pinning him back in the corner. Blitz was panicking. That shoulder check had hit him squarely in the chest, and it was like a truck had crashed into him. He saw a fist heading to his face, and he tried to get his hand up in time
Blitz felt something cool on his body. He jumped up and looked around. Remembering that he was in a fight, he lashed out, only to hear,“Oi, Oi, calm down. It’s OK, its only me.”
Looking up, he saw Bumpy holding an empty wooden bucket. Blitz then came to the realisation that he had failed, and hung his head.
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Quest Failed
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