"Ugh, where… am I?" "Wasn't I K.I.A today when they blew up that star?"
.
..
...
"what the hell, is this place."
As I was wondering where I was, I started to look around and noticed that I was floating in what appeared to be a void with a bunch of flickering lights, too many to count, they looked intangible but at the same time whole like there was something inside them, something conscious.
As I looked around I tried to inspect myself only to find out I looked exactly like the white lights I was just inspecting, I was drifting in and out of solid-state like when water turns to mist.
But when I started to think back on what I looked like before I couldn't remember anything other than I died and my service in the military but was now here, floating in the void waiting for something or someone to do something.
[WELCOME EVERYONE!!!]
As I was pondering on what to do I heard a loud and grandiose voice that made me immediately stop thinking about what happened and pay attention to what was being said because it felt like if I didn’t ill lose something important but I didn't know what.
[You all have come here today or appeared here today after you have died in battle or were once a great warrior and passed on.]
As the voice was speaking I noticed that it seemed to take on a nostalgic tone after it said battle and started speaking gentler than when it first started talking.
[You all have been chosen to join our Bounty Hunter Association which spans across a few universes and is run by gods, to help with managing our territories and hunt down those that may cause us problems and sometimes even harm.]
Towards the end, the voice started speaking in a grime tone but all she did was do a voiceless laugh because if what he said was true what could harm a god? But even if she didn't know it she would get very intimate with ways to harm gods.
[Now because we have so many of you, you all will be choosing a variety of skills and weapons and fight to keep your place amongst our ranks, and depending on how well you do you may be allowed to maintain or add to the skills and weapons you have already chosen to keep once you portal into the BHO association or Bounty Hunter Association Headquarters.]
[Now any questions?]
After he asked this out of everyone here which could've been thousands only one asked.
"What place do you have to get to urrrr… survive?" Asked a random light in the thousands.
[Oh an actual question, uh that's odd last time a got a question I smited him for wasting time asking about if there were elves in this world but this is good you need to get top 5 to survive and get a chance to enter the association.]
[Now… Begin!]
And with that, a screen of sorts appeared in front of her.
[
Name: Amaia
Gender: Female
Race: Human, Giant, Armadillo
Weapon Talents: Sword, Crossbow, Kusarigami dagger form, Mercury Hammer, Tipped Boots, Pike, Bow and Arrow.
Magic Talents:
Fire, Soul, Earth.
Please choose 1 or 2 weapons and one magical skill.]
As I was looking over my options I realized I was just given my name, Amaia.
Quickly getting over my sudden realization I started to choose the weapons and skills I thought were best because sulking over my name wouldn't get me anywhere.
While I was rummaging over my choices I wondered why there weren't any firearms, I didn't count a bow as one but I couldn't ask as it seemed like the voice had disappeared somewhere but that wouldn’t impede my choices.
Since I didn't know how to use a sword as well as people who have practiced since birth and as I had close-hand combat mastery along with a mastery over daggers from the army I just chose the Kursarigami and Tipped Boots cause I thought that I couldn't fight well if I was having to hold two weapons at once instead a one.
Also since I was mixed with a Japanese woman's DNA when I was created, when the woman was alive she knew that it was a chain with a dagger or spear at the end, so I could fight in close quarters and at a range and kill two birds with one stone even if I didn't know how to correctly use it. I could also use the boots if I didn't have the chain ready like if I threw it.
Selecting my options I went down to magic and immediately choose soul as if I make it and become a bounty hunter or whatever it was and it allowed her to talk to dead people, she could use it to gather information on where the person or people are. While Earth and fire are cool it doesn't help with finding the person first and she already has a lot of combat potential from the army but for some reason doesn't remember anything else from after the army which was starting to bug me, but decided to look into it at another time.
After finishing everything the screen dissolved into nothingness and I started to wait for what I assumed other people to finish.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
After waiting for about 15 minutes or at least what I think is 15 minutes as it's kinda hard for me to tell the time in this place the voice returned in its all glamorous annoyingly loud voice.
[Now that everyone has finished, I will teleport you all at random to your battlefields and you'll have a 5-minute grace period to get used to having a body again.]
[Now, GOODLUCK SCALLYWAGS!!!]
After the voice said that I and the rest were teleported elsewhere and when I opened my eyes again I looked around and seemed to be in a coliseum with walls going around in a circle but there was no roof and the horizontal walls went as far as the eye could see.
"Wait," I muttered unconsciously as I realized that as I looked at myself I wasn't in my old body, I was in what appeared to be a combat dummy with human appendages but no face and other defining features but she could still feel as she rubbed her hand over her arm, as I looked around I saw other people who appeared the same way.
Also now that I thought about it how could I see, hear, and talk the body of the dummies didn't have any eyes or a mouth from what I could tell as I looked around at the other contestants and I also wondered how I looked around when I was in the void as I didn't have eyes there either, As I was just a ball of light condensing in and out of reality. But I couldn't think about that right now as I was about to fight to the death with who knows how many people I hadn't even looked around that much yet, only at a few people around 10 feet apart from her.
Soon 3 minutes had passed and this is what I had gathered while also getting used to standing on two legs again, 1 everyone already had their equipment on and ready to go, 2 we'll be fighting on just a plane stone surface so there was nothing to hide behind, 3 there a timer counting down on everyone's wrist for when the fight starts, and 4 everyone was around 9-10 feet apart and there was around one hundred of them including me.
With how close people were together I knew things would get messy fast so I devised a plan to kill the people closest to me and run for one of the walls and wait it out as I only had to survive till the top 5 to survive and move on.
As I finished planning out my route I added to the plane to drag some bodies with me to hide under as in this panic-stricken environment no one knows better just like how people get trampled by mobs, people don't even notice they are trampling someone when panicked, and with a few seconds to go, I waited.
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[FIGHT!!!]
And with the starting bell, all hell broke loose as there were already cries of people being disembodied and killed and I wasn't idle at all either as the moment it started I twirled my chain and threw it at the person across from me which hit their neck and broke it along with the brain stem killing them immediately as in the army we were trained to aim for that specific part of the neck as if your neck brakes it isn’t always fatal.
After I immediately turned around and flipped over another person dodging the sword that was about to strike me in the back and kicked the person In the side of the head penetrating threw the brain and killing them.
Drawing my chain back she turned to face the wall closest to her and started running after she noticed no one coming to attack her.
Grabbing two of the corpses that seem to have both died from an arrow to the temple I lifted it on my back with a grunt before arriving at the wall and putting it over myself to use as camouflage and I waited.
After what I thought to be about 30 minutes or so she heard the same voice that was the same one from the void.
[The round is over Miss Amaia you've made it to the top 5 as 6th and 7th both killed each other when fighting.]
"Really? Alright then." After I said this I lifted her body’s off and looked around only to see 5 men 4 wore shocked faces and the 5th had an entire knight armor set on.
"This is BULLSHIT! How come she gets to win when all she did was hide and we had to fight for our lives to be here?!" One of the four men behind the night asked, he was holding a bow and arrow and was missing a few fingers as he was holding the bow with only 2.
"Settle down Drak all they said to do was survive not that you had to fight."
The man beside Drak said, he was holding a sword and shield with a few chips in the shield and an arrow coming out of his shoulder the other dummies just stood there and watched one with a greatsword and the other with some knuckle dusters.
Since they all look like combat dummies I couldn't see what he looked like but I imagined a guy with blonde hair trying to play the hero which made me want to barf my nonexistent stomach content.
Before anyone else could say anything the knight started to speak.
[Now that we have the final five you all will be transported to the BHA as we are holding an initiation ceremony to lay out the ground rules for the association and to sort you into your factions and only the top 1 gets to keep his weapon, top 4 to 5 get to choose armor.]
[But before that, we will be allowing you to choose body modifications or changes to your new body depending on your achievements in your past life but before that, I will be giving you all a few special modifications based on your greatest achievement in your combative lives.]
As he said this he pulled out what seemed to be a tablet from nowhere and started typing away after he seemed to find what he wanted he turned to, wait what's his name…. I'll just call him bow guy along with the others ill just call them based on their weapons.
[Okay Mr. Drak born on planet Xavia wanted to be a warrior like your father and trained to be one all your life, death caused by a sniper from 3000 feet away, greatest feat surviving a tank shot after losing power to your shield generator and saving your squad.]
[Mr. Eli was born also on planet Xavia as an orphan and to get money joined the army, cause of death backfire of a sniper rifle that exploded into his face killing him, greatest feat sniping a man from 3000 feet away.]
"OH, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" the bow guy said before tackling the shield guy to the ground and starting to punch him before being pulled back by the knight and having his leg broken so he couldn't walk anymore but that didn't matter as he passed out from the sheer pain.
[Please wait until I finish Mr Drak or I'll have to break more than that leg to move on.]
Ignoring the fact he was unconscious he talked to him and then moved on.
[Mr. Karter was born on planet Helix to fight for your emperor you sadly died after you were falsely accused of treason and hung, your greatest feat killing an enemy king and presenting his head to your king.]
[Mr. Gaven born on planet Earth joined the army to make your grandfather proud and joined the special forces, cause of death betrayal from your squad captain, greatest feat destroying a terrorist group that could've killed thousands.]
[Finally, Miss Amaia born on a spaceship from the genes of a giant, human, and armadillo you were forced to conquer worlds for your creators, cause of death Hama rays from a nearby supernova, greatest feat…. conquering 8 worlds and wiping out 11003 species of animals and plants in doing so.]
As the knight finished he was wondering what she looked like when she was still alive and what they might create when they let her into the association.
After he finished everyone else had their mouths agape at what they just heard and Drak was fine well he actually started foaming but he's fineeeeeeeeee.
But before they could do anything the knight started talking again.
[Now that everything is taken care of we will now let you choose what modifications you want and you will then be teleported to the ceremony.]
[Tata!]
Before anyone could react they were already in the void once again with a screen to decide what they want.
"Finally let’s have some fun with this!" I said to myself before I started to read the options.