“What do we have here?” LongJohn taunted from below. He placed a foot on Hamish's back, since the big man was completely restrained.

“I'll get you for this, you little bastard,” Hamish growled.

“Please boy,” the other player barked. “Your betters are speaking.”

“Betters?” Henry laughed from above, still unable to get free from the vine. “Sounds like this guy has a high opinion of himself.”

“I'll say,” Hamish called back from the dirt. “Must be nice to stay that confident with a face like a meat grinder.”

“Silence!” The player shouted, stomping on the warriors back. “I won't be insulted by a worm!”

“You must have hated the criticism from your parents in that case,” Henry chuckled. He longed for the trash talk of his favourite game lobbies, this was scratching the itch just fine though.

“How dare you!” The player shouted, sending a vine zipping towards Henry. It hit his ribs and bounced away. It hurt like hell, but he was extra clad for his choice in armour at that moment.

“I'll get to you in a moment,” he growled at Henry. “First, your dog.”

He started to move, so Henry put his rushed together plan into action. He activated his Hyper skills first,trying to buy himself as much time as possible. With a thought and a flex, he twisted into his Temple. His orientation was always consistent and continuous when he travelled between worlds, and he was counting on that fact. He appeared in his world upside-down, so he reoriented himself as fast as possible by just flipping around. Being able to fly in his realm made such a thing almost trivial, so he was quickly twisting back into The Hollows in no time.

He popped into existence in the same spot, just without being hung upside-down. He swung his sword in a downward ark as he dropped towards the player, but LongJohn was just fast enough to block. Henry grew anxious as the blade shattered on the player's forearm. That's what he got for using a T1 sword on a T2 player. The player turned his attention to Henry while he was still in the air, and he landed a punch directly into his sternum. Henry coughed, and flew backwards into a tree. The tree actually cracked with the impact. It hurt like crazy, and he was pretty sure he had another broken rib, but he still quickly pulled himself to his feet.

“Good try!” Hamish called from beneath his rooty prison.

Henry sprinted at the player. He was out of plans, he just wanted to get the superior player away from Hamish. He didn't think he stood much of a chance either, but he might be able to help his friend.

The player launched another vine at him, but he managed to side step it. At the speeds they were moving, Hamish looked nearly still. Coming in close, Henry noticed he had an opening, so he drove his fist into the players ribs at an amazing speed. Revenge felt sweet he thought, as LongJohn was launched through the forest to be stopped by a tree of his own. Henry quickly chopped Hamish free with what was left of his sword and pulled the big man onto his feet.

“I feel like you should get out of here,” he suggested to his tier 1 friend.

“Unlikely,” Hamish declared. “Bastard just got the jump on me.”

Henry nodded, and turned his attention back to the other player. He knew better than to try and change the big man's mind.

LongJohn was back on his feet, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry. The kid apparently liked the theatrics of it all. That wasn't a bad thing for the Henrys. It gave them a bit of time to think. They were both outmatched against their opponent, and they still had no idea what kind of skills he had outside of some kind of plant manipulation. Training had started to involve light sparring over the last 2 weeks, so Henry had a few ideas about tricks he could try. A fortnight of sparring probably didn't stack up against whatever experience LongJohn had though. He might have looked like a bratty teenager, but it was more than likely he was several centuries old at that point. His level alone required more essence than getting to tier 2, so the guy had some time under his belt. Unless he was a broken player like Henry, in that case they were probably screwed anyway.

“I like it when I get to play with my food,” LongJohn called from across the distance.

“Don't make this weird. Why do you have to make it weird?” Henry called back. “Can't we just talk shit and try to kill each other like normal people.”

LongJohn started darting forward with his arms behind his back. His gauntlets glowed brighter. “Don't be mad, bro,” he cackled as he closed the distance. “I'm going to make you beg for The Empty!”

The Hollow Henrys scattered to avoid being a single target. Henry shot a ball of screeching force in the player's path as he moved, but the ball moved too slowly to be a threat to a tier 2. It erupted in the undergrowth, tearing a part of the forest floor to pieces. LongJohn naruto ran directly through the rubble, surely feeling amazing in his action movie moment. Henry hated how cool it looked in slow motion. A ball of light shot from LongJohn's gauntlet directly in his direction. He tried to twist out of the way, but it struck him in the shoulder. He felt the burn immediately, followed quickly by the searing pain. He almost didn't want to see, but he had to look down. His shoulder had a crescent moon shaped hole in it that went all the way through. It was at least 2 inches wide and it had completely ignored his armour. His left arm felt weak all of a sudden, but he could still move it. That was a nasty trick. He had no idea how he was going to fight someone with LongJohn's abilities.

A popping sound echoed through the forest coming from Hamish's direction. LongJohn noticed the sound too and it caught his attention, slowing him down just enough for the big man's play to work out. Before anybody had much of a chance to react, Hamish charged their opponent. He moved faster than anything Henry had ever seen at that point, crossing the gap between himself and LongJohn in less than a second. There was a bright flash of light when they collided, and LongJohn was sent crashing violently through the foliage. Henry understood at that moment where the big man's title came from. For his part, Hamish was fine. He looked tired, but he held his ground well.

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LongJohn was less than fine after such a heavy hit. He was on his feet again, but he was moving with a limp. Henry decided it was good enough, and he closed the gap between them before he completely recovered. He sidestepped another ball of light, this time successfully. He ducked low when he got in close to dodge a wide punch, then responded with a punch of his own. He had to use his left arm, and his shoulder screamed in pain. It didn't hurt for him as much as it must have for LongJohn, since the other player nearly fell from the shock. Henry felt his strength stat go up +1. It was about time he saw some growth in that area. While he was celebrating his stat growth, he missed the blade that appeared in LongJohn's hand. He tried to pull away at the last moment, but the blade still flicked upwards and through his armour like a warm knife through butter. He felt his skin open up from his hip, all the way to his chin. It was a magnificent cut, and he could feel every part of it with his heightened perception. His armour shirt and rib-guard opened up as well, exposing his bare and bloodied chest. He tried his best to ignore the sting as he lunged for his enemy's weapon. They grappled, but Henry only needed to touch it. The blade cut his fingers, but he didn’t care. The moment he touched it, it vanished into his Temple.

LongJohn was shocked, and it inspired an idea in the desperate Temple user. He waited until LongJohn threw another punch, then twisted into his Temple. While he turned around, he twisted back into The Hollows. He was standing behind the other player just as he'd hoped, so he reached out and stole his opponent's coat. It revealed a well fitting black chitin armour. LongJohn spun to attack, another blade in his hand, so Henry repeated his trick. When he came back, he grabbed the other player's arm and stole away his gauntlet and rings along with the blade.

“Stop doing that!” LongJohn barked in a panic.

Henry pulled him close and stole his chest piece. “Don't be mad, bro,” he teased, grabbing a necklace around the guy's neck and stealing it into his Temple.

Something changed the moment he took the trinket. He felt an amount of power in the area disappear. If the panic in LongJohn's eyes was anything to go by, he had a feeling he knew who the missing power belonged to.

“Give it back. I'm sorry. Please give it back!” The wriggling player sputtered. Henry held him up and looked him over. The half dressed player was already crying.

Player: ‘Mushroom King’ XxLongJohn69xX

Level: 12

Tier: 1

PK: 36

He had dropped back down to tier 1. Whatever that necklace was, it was definitely going to be interesting. Henry made sure to take all of the players gear before dropping him back to the ground. He left LongJohn in nothing but his underclothes, and Hamish patted him down before holding him still. Blood was still running down Henry's chest, so he wanted to get the whole thing over fast. LongJohn had lost, and he knew that, but they still didn't want to take any chances. They questioned him without bothering to try and build a rapport.

They were pained to learn that he'd been successful in killing Andy and the scouts. He was there under guild orders to keep an eye on their troop, and the scouts had discovered his camp. Henry played nice as best he could with the guy that just admitted to killing his friend, but LongJohn was more forthcoming if he thought he'd be getting his rings and necklace back. He refused to admit which guild he belonged to, and without access to Player-Net they had no way of seeing it on his profile. His reluctance to admit what guild he was in was an ominous sign. They definitely weren't happy when they got to his camp and figured it out. He left his orders in a pack that he was using as a pillow. The roll of paper detailed clear orders from the Admin Guild to keep track of the location of Therveinia's youngest princess, along with the ‘players of interest’ she travelled with. They had gotten some attention from the wrong people after all. They found a speaking-stone among his things too. It was basically a crystal ball that let him speak to whoever was on the other side. Given that it belonged to the Admin Guild, they had no way to make it work. It had what amounted to a magical encryption on it, and they wouldn't be able to activate it without a Guild Token. The Guild Token was unique to a person and their medallion, so there wouldn't be any stealing one either. Henry still stole it into his Temple, along with everything else at the camp.

Reality sunk in for the snivelling player when Henry took his food and shelter.

Some players had the opinion that it was harmless to kill other players, since they would always respawn in the end. Andy had 2 days and 6 hours on his respawn timer. Meaning he would be wide awake and suffocating in empty darkness for over 2 days. It was a torture unfit for nearly anybody, nearly being the operative word. There were some players that got a kick out of the pain they caused to other players, or to the natives of The Hollows. They were the ones that deserved The Empty. Henry didn't know how long the Admin player had on his respawn timer, but he hoped it was longer than Andy's.

He tried not to think too hard about the pleasure he took from putting LongJohn on his knees to execute with the same blade he’d been cut with. The player begged him not to, saying that he would have nothing without his gear, but Henry didn't care enough. He didn't think the guy deserved his gear. If he had to start again when he came back, it still wouldn't be enough of a lesson. When he slit the throat of the crying man, he did feel a wash of guilt.

LongJohn slumped to the ground, and slowly stopped moving. Eventually, he crumbled to dust, leaving behind only his underclothes.

Henry used some of the dead player’s bandages to close himself up a little, and used a shirt he had in his Temple to cover up from the cold. The sun was dimming in the sky, and they still had a long walk back. It was already dark by the time they found what was left of Andy. There was no body, since all players turned to dust on death, but most of his gear was still there. Whatever was missing would already be in Henry's Temple after he robbed LongJohn. They retreated to his Temple, deciding it would be safer to walk back to camp in the morning. Hamish rolled Andy's respawn beacon in his hands as they sat by the fire. It was an expensive item from the Goblin Shop, and they could only own 1 at a time. It allowed a player to respawn somewhere other than a Tavern. There were a few items like that, but the beacon was the most affordable. The only downside was that it was only a single use. Hamish and Andy carried each other's beacons around in case they're ever separated like they were then.

Neither of them said much before retiring to bed. It was a heavy afternoon, and they both had some healing to do. The rest would speed things up considerably.

Henry drifted off to sleep by his own little fire while he stared at the notification that had haunted him since the afternoon.

ALERT:

* Congratulations! You're a murder. You have killed a fellow player in combat. You are granted a *2,200[E] first blood reward.

* You have unlocked the player kill counter. Other players will be able to see your player kills.

COMBAT:

* You have slain *1 T1 player. You have gained *2000[E].

COMBAT:

* Combat has ended. You have gained *2000[E] for participating in this battle.

* Your contribution to the battle was 57%. For this you gain an additional +57% battle essence.

* Your total essence for this battle is *3,454[E].