Greyfield Town. The only town of Pridol Kingdom that reside within the land with the least amount of Prana—is the Witherlands. Life in the Witherlands is odd. Plantlife looked decayed and shrivelled; animals were either stone grey or ash white or anything in between.
Everyone knows prana is the life force that’s inside every living thing. A place with little to no Prana tends to have little to no lifeforms. However, there are a few exceptions. The Witherlands is one of them.
Being home to creatures not seen everywhere else, the Witherlands is a land of unique variants. Variants that share similarities with their counterparts in places all over the world. But for humans to live there? It’s considered torture in and of itself. But as always, life finds a way. Some crazy moron decided to form a town within the area. Must’ve been for the minerals that lay underground unnoticed.
* Apprentice Mage
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(1st Person POV)
Is it just me or is my vision blurring? I grasped my chest to ease the pain in my heart, which did little to no effect. Gasping, I checked the state of my condition. Scars and stains covered my body, the reasons being a result of working in a hazardous job with little pay. Aside from those, numerous bruises were present all over my body. It was my fault. I knew this was going to happen.
Oh, and where are my manners? The name is Slaw. No last name or middle names. Just Slaw. A name that was given by someone I was close to. Keyword: was. How could I have forgotten to do monologues as if to entertain an imaginary audience that stemmed from my loneliness?
Oh, and how did I get into this situation? Well…
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3 days earlier
I could hear my stomach growling in hunger, but I forced myself to endure. However, despite my efforts, I couldn’t resist it.
Currently, I lay in my makeshift bed, consisting of a brown sheet and grey pillow. The former had stains and smelled bad while the latter also had stains along with tears revealing the ripped cotton inside.
Standing up, flies buzzed around me in attraction to my home. I had no urge to pay attention to them nor get rid of them. The only thing on my mind was the urge to eat. Walking around my humble abode, just a cave with junk spread all over really, I picked up a bag which caused a jingle inside. Its leather was worn out, but that’s not what’s important. I opened it, revealing the sight of 93 bronze coins. I sighed again as I left through the small opening of the cave.
The view outside wasn’t all too good. Grey trees and tall grey grass that towered over me surrounded the area. Ash grey birds chirp and squeak as they hop from branch to branch, but I knew better. I crouched down to my lowest and crawled through the tall grass.
These birds are called Rocs. Lesser Grey Rocs to be more specific. They stood at around 1 foot in length and half a foot in height. Their feathers were ash grey, though there are some with shades darker or lighter. Their pale beaks and talons may look harmless, but that isn’t the case in numbers.
I once heard of an incident involving a child that got lost in the forest and was found on the verge of death upon return. The cause of his injuries? Claw marks and tears were the results of a flock of Lesser Grey Rocs ambushing the poor child.
Though I had not believed it, my doubts were proven wrong long ago when I took shelter in the cave. The sight of them ravaging a grey rat that just happened to scurry along nearby had ingrained a lesson in my head that I’d never forget.
Gulping down my saliva, I picked up my pace. The chirps and squeaks grew fainter by the minute as I kept crawling. I opened a gap in the tall grass and double-checked my surroundings. With signs of danger, I got up and walked with steadfast steps. Eventually, I found a clearing as I exited the tall grass.
A wide grey grassland was all I see. That and the dark grey path of rocks that trailed to a town in the distance. I welcomed the sight with a deep breath before following the path.
Eventually, the town in the distance grew larger as I crossed. I got a good and clear look at it. Houses were made of greystone and wood, which were either brown or grey. A wall of bricks surrounded the town which wouldn’t do much to stop any flying creatures if it weren’t for the guards that stood watch, each equipped with a bow and a shortsword.
I entered the town. Its lively atmosphere can be seen as kids played around, armoured men conversed with one another and common disputes among teenagers were found all over. That is until a kid running bumped into me.
A boy with brown hair and common cloth, recognizable among a lot of the children, stumbled back and fell from the impact with an oof.
“S–sorry,” He said as he stood up from the ground. “Didn’t see you there mi–”
Jolting in surprise, shock was all I can see on the kid’s face before transitioning to that of fear. Probably afraid of getting scolded by his parents.
He backed up slowly before turning to a full sprint. The people took notice as everything stood still and quiet for a moment. Eventually, after an hour or two, they resumed whatever they were doing though with their eyes glued to me. Eyes filled with either cautiousness, fear or disgust.
Walking through these gazes is something I experience every single day. I think it all started by an accident or something that I did when I was younger, but sadly I don’t remember. I tripped and hit my head on a rock when I was running somewhere…
Grrooowl! My stomach had just reminded me of my situation as I picked up my pace. Looking around, people either avoided or tensed up my gaze. But I wasn't looking at them, no… Aha! Found it.
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I ignored their gazes as I stepped in front of a specific stall. The place was worn down, but what separated it from the others wasn’t its appearance.
“So, you gonna order the usual?” An old man can be seen behind the stall. His face had bushy eyebrows that hid his eyes and a scar that cut through his left eyebrow, going all the way to his left cheek. His usual grumpy expression was present as if he was always in a bad mood. But I knew better.
“Yeah. Two beef barbeque skewers like before.” I replied.
“Then as always, that'll be 70 briles.”
This old man’s Ross, a retired-mercenary-turned-street-vendor. Just a normal guy that sells barbeque. Unlike him, every street vendor out there would never even allow me to take one step near them. If it weren’t for Ross, I might’ve resorted to thievery long ago.
Standing in front of his stall, the sound of sizzling meat can be heard. The smell watered my mouth as I blankly stared at him.
Snapping back to reality soon after, I took out my bag of coins. 70 bronze coins… no Briles is the correct name. With only 23 Briles left, I could only kick the ground in despair as I’m on the verge of being penniless.
“Here.” As Ross finished flipping the skewers, he hands them to me. “Eat up while it is still fresh.”
Heh, what a softie. But I heeded his words and munched on the skewers and tore the meat out of it. Walking away from the stall, I waved goodbye with my right hand while holding both skewers with my left.
Ross, looking all serious and all, responded. “Come again sometime.”
Internally I sighed. Looks like I’m gonna have to work my butt off again the mines. Don’t wanna starve myself to death at an early age.
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Present Day
“Agh!”
With my arms straining from the pain, I winced. But even then I continued. Lifting my pickaxe with both hands, I mined the wall of rocks in front of me. In the background, many other workers aside from me can be heard as they swung with pickaxes of their own. We were all assigned to find iron ores and prana crystals here. For every 20 pounds of iron ore or 1 pound of prana crystals, 20 Briles will be given to us.
“Krrk.” Mustering what little strength I had from the long hours of mining, I struck. What resulted from such action was a green glow that blinded me.
What? This glow… could it be? I dropped the pickaxe I held and looked closer.
Rich green. Warm glow. In terms of brightness, it wouldn’t have blinded my eyes if it were not for working underground. Taking a closer look, I widened my eyes.
I struck gold…no, gold pales in comparison to this. Judging by how big it is, I could get out of my miserable state and live a more comfortable life out of town. 20 pounds just by seeing the surface of it, if I am lucky this may also be a 40-pound one. Just imagining the freedom I have and the shackles of poverty vanish is really making me excited. 400 Briles. Enough to leave for another town and start anew. Before I knew it, I was in a dazed state, not knowing how much attention the crystal has garnered. My greedy desires had drowned out my sense of awareness as multiple eyes have also caught sight of it.
“Prana crystal,” Someone nearby muttered as he too was in a similar state. “A big one too!”
“Should be around twenty pounds at most! Over a hundred Briles!”
“That’s… enough to pay my debts back…”
“No way!”
“Am I dreaming?”
Eventually, a crowd formed, all stuck in a daze. Though I quickly noticed them and realized my mistake.
“Stay back!” Standing in front of the crystal, I placed myself in a way that obstructed the crystal from their vision while shouting to the loudest of my ability. I picked up my pickaxe and flailed it between myself and the crowd. “I will kill the first person that tries to take it from me!”
Of course, that threat was a bluff. Everyone knew that it was a bluff. One by one, people took a step closer to me with every second. My weapon did intimidate a few but did little to those that brave and greedy enough. Especially those as desperate as me.
Dammit! What can I do in this situation? I sweated uncontrollably to the point of soaking my back. My hands trembled and my knees were shaking. All thoughts about the desired future I envisioned were fading with every passing moment.
The silence was at its peak for but a moment. Then the tension finally gave off as many ran towards the fortune behind me. Each person pushed and ran over each other with no mercy as they closed the distance between me in the blink of an eye.
I resisted to the end. But the overwhelming numbers swarmed all over me. I was pushed. Punched. Kicked. Ran over. All thoughts of keeping the prana crystal to myself had long since replaced with the desire for survival. A wish to get out of this place alive. But it wasn’t easy.
Crawling out of the pandemonium only got me ran over. Forcing myself through only got me in a fight between crazed maniacs. In the end, I could only fall to the ground in agony and despair as the area was now filled with screams of pain and struggles of conflict.
It didn’t take long before the nearby guardsmen unit broke up the mayhem. There are still some that kept fighting but had their lesson handed to them by getting beaten by them. But even then the damage had been done.
Many suffered severe wounds. The lucky ones only had bruises and graze. But some unfortunate ones have lost their lives during the chaos.
By the time the conflicts were resolved, many lied through their teeth as they all claimed to have found it first. Regardless, the guardsmen unit ended up having to take the prana crystal without acknowledging anyone to have found it. Everyone did not benefit from this situation as they could only do nothing but go back to work.
I, on the other hand, am just laying on the ground. Tears blurred my vision as I gasped for air. Grasping my chest, I stayed there on the stone floor. The sound of mining workers had come once more as I looked up with regret.
Is this my destiny? Am I gonna die working in the mines barely earning enough money just to live a few days?
With my hollow eyes unmoving, reflecting my thoughts of giving up on life, I muttered one word out of pure instinct.
"Crav... Craven."
{Ding! Dueling System has been activated! Initiating Start-Up Procedures...}
Wait... what?
{... Start-Up Procedures Completed! Finishing Synchronization...}
A rythimic pattern of ringing echoed in my head as I clutched it with both hands. I stayed there on the floor, eyes closed, writhing in pain while apperantly no one seemed to care about my situation. A few seconds passed before the ringing stopped while shortly after is followed by the absence of mental pain.
{... Synchronization Complete! Duelist System is enabled for use.}
Opening my eyes, a glowing blue screen greeted me.
Duelist System has been enabled! Welcome Duelist [Craven]!
... What!?