Mareth slowly opened his eyes, beginning to awaken.
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[Ah, you're awake.]
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A white text box floated in front of him. He blinked and immediately shot up, the text box disappearing.
"Where the hell?-" He looked around. He was in a room that appeared to be a sort of infirmary or quarters. "Futons?" He mumbled as he looked down at his body. He saw that his midsection were wrapped in bandages, stained red.
The room just had futons laid out, a long with small boards with remedies on them. It was fairly simple and nothing was out of the ordinary.
The sound of a door sliding open caught Mareth's attention. On the other end stood a short woman with long black hair. She seemed to be a lizard person, having dark blue scales and yellow eyes. She wore a white dress that hugged her waist and was just long enough for her tail to be concealed.
The two blinked, the woman dropping the tray she was carrying with the same remedies. "O-oh my goodness! Master!" She ran out, holding the helm of her dress.
"Wait woman! Thing! Whatever you are!lizard woman!" Mareth yelled, standing up. He was completely naked. He looked around, trying to find anything to wear. He found clothes neatly folded on a counter, and upon seeing them, he threw them on.
Checking out the outfit, it turned out to be a gi. He didn't ponder it and immediately ran out of the room, already having lost the woman. "Shit, where did she go?"
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[Using Skill: Detect.]
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"What?" Suddenly, an orange misty path began to form, making a right at the end of the hall.
He blinked, confused about what was going on right now but continued to run down the hall. He continued to follow the path, maneuvering through people and creatures of various races and species, until a man blocked his path.
"Halt! You're not al-"
"Move it dumbass!" Mareth jumped into the air and spun around, landing a strong kick to the man's face, sending him through a wall.
"What? I swear I was holding back on that... What the fuck is going on?!" He yelled, continuing to follow the path. It led to some closed doors at the end of the hallway.
He opened the doors, his eyes widening as he was greeted by an unexpectedly beautiful sight.
Ahead of him stood a mountain range, a large, vast one. As far as his eyes could see, all he saw were mountains covered in blankets of snow.
"You're awake, huh?" A male voice spoke.
Mareth snapped out of his trance, looking slightly to his left as he saw a man wearing a black gi with a gray belt around it. The upper half was down and the sleeves were tied around his back, revealing the man's well-toned body. He had fair skin, short white hair, and stood at 6'8 it looked like. He turned around, revealing the silver eyes he had.
"Who the hell are you? Where am I?" Mareth asked, his tone aggressive as he saw the lizard woman behind the man, using him as cover. "And you! Why the fuck did you run!"
Mareth began to approach, but the man blocked his way. "Come, take a seat. I bet you have a lot of questions. Ipanka, you're dismissed."
The lizard woman bowed and immediately rushed away from the scene.
"I'm not sitting down. Answer my questions first." Mareth said, crossing his arms.
"Quite aggressive, aren't you?" The man leaned against the fence separating them from the fall.
"I have just as many questions as you. You suddenly appeared in the infirmary. You had several broken bones, impaled in two places, and your belly was cut real good. Though, of course, our medical term had no problems healing that. What surprised everyone the most is that you're a Verger. Not only that, I haven't seen you before, yet you're under me. I am Olkapo Tenric by the way. I am the God of Fists." Olkapo said, extending his hand for a handshake.
Mareth looked him up and down, noticing a large, circular scar on his chest. "First of all, what? God? You expect me to believe that? I'm an atheist."
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[Scanning Entity... Divine energy detected, in high concentration too. He is also not part of the games files. He is indeed a god.]
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The text box floated in front of Mareth, the screen itself being white and the keys being black in color.
Mareth began to chuckle. "Alright 'God of Fists-' How the FUCK DO I GET BACK HOME? Where even am I?!"
Olkapo put his hand down, sighing as he rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, Existence..." He mumbled as he turned back around, "You're in The Range. It's a world filled with mountain ranges. From normal hills to the size of planets. We usually host events and stuff like that."
"Oh well isn't that nice!" Mareth said sarcastically as he chuckled. "That doesn't answer my first question though."
Olkapo sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, until I feel that you're ready, you cannot leave this place without my permission."
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Mareth blinked before he began to chuckle. "Ahh, I see." He immediately threw a high kick at the back of his head.
Olkapo however, without looking caught the kick. His grip tightened around Mareth's ankle as he chuckled. "You're so eager to start training. Very well, I'll entertain it!" Olkapo yelled, throwing Mareth down into the snowy forest. The impact caused a large cloud of snow to kick up into the air.
"Agh. Shit..." Mareth felt no pain from the impact. He felt just fine. "What..?"
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[WARNING: This is a fight you can't win. Current objective is to survive.]
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Mareth narrowed his eyes. "Fuck..."
He stood up, looking around. Then suddenly, he felt a terrible guy feeling in his stomach and immediately dodged to the left.
As he did so, he saw Olkapo speed past him into a tree, the tree getting drop-kicked and getting snapped in half.
"The fuck?!" Mareth was taken aback by this. He was able to knock the bark off of trees with really strong punches, but he'd never seen anyone snap a tree in half by drop-kicking it before.
"Don't falter, boy!" Olkapo grabbed Mareth's gi, tossing him into the and grabbing his ankle, throwing him once more.
Mareth crashed through multiple trees and dodged out of the way of one trunk being thrown at him.
He turned around and started to run. "Fuck!"
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[Time remaining: 2:00.]
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Mareth ran behind a tree, taking a breather so he could process what was going on.
"C'mon, kiddo. Where are ya? You're just extending training time y'know." Olkapo stood in the snow, rubbing the back of his head.
"Sheesh... Didn't your father ever teach you how to be a man?" Olkapo said, sighing.
Mareth's eyes widened, starting to remember the things he had to go through. A sick, and starving mother, and a father who abandoned him at 8. The sole reason he became a gang leader in the first place was to make enough money for his mother, but in the end, it was all for nothing. If only his dad had been there, or done something. If only he had a real dad.
"The fuck did you say..?" Mareth asked, stepping from behind the tree.
"Oh? Did that get your attention? Looks like I pressed a button." Olkapo chuckled and looked at Mareth.
Mareth began to walk toward him. "Take back what you said, jackass." Mareth dashed forward, throwing a straight jab at Olkapo, who easily dodged.
"Good! Sometimes anger is the best way to fight, though it doesn't help you for long." Olkapo stepped back, ducking a kick from him. "See? You're getting sloppy, and you're wide open."
He said, striking Mareth's chest. His eyes widened once he saw that Mareth had blocked it, however.
Olkapo grinned as he saw this, dodging a kick from Mareth. "Your reflexes aren't half bad! You might be better than my previous student when he started!"
Mareth didn't talk. Only anger filled his eyes. "The hell do you know about my old man, huh?!"
Olkapo parried and dodged every single attack that was thrown at him. "Ahh, you're not thinking straight. Though, I must admit, it is impressive you fight this well while angry."
Mareth only continued to fight, throwing out punch, after punch. Kick after kick. He even used the environment to his advantage, yet he couldn't even land a blow on Olkapo.
"Alright, that's enough," Olkapo said as he struck Mareth's neck, knocking him out instantly.
"Good grief. Well, it doesn't matter, we'll have a lovely conversation." Olkapo said, carrying him up to a palace in the distance.
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[Mareth Imo]
[Level: 1]
[Race: Verger (Human Variant)]
[Health: 295/300]
[Mana: 400/400]
[Passives: Unknown. Analyzing racial passives...]
[Body of Potential: Due to being a recent Verger, not only are you immortal, unable to die from natural causes, you also possess extreme potential due to your background. Other passes will be available once you level up.]
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The box cut out as Mareth began to wake up, feeling drowsy. "Ugh..."
"Well... Look who's awake. So, I've decided. You need to learn a good amount of discipline, you let that mount of yours and your anger control how you act." Olkapo said, crossing his arms, sighing.
"..What's the point?" Mareth just sighed, staring up at the night sky as he watched the stars shine.
"Tell me, just what happened in your life?" Olkapo asked, staring off into the distance. The two were in a garden by a fire. Thin layers of snow blanketed the ground and flowers.
"Well, grew up poor, mom was sick, Dad was never there, turned to a life of crime... The usual." Mareth said, just looking off to the side as he contemplated everything.
"I see... So it's rather the way you were brought up. I can't relate to you, but I can sympathize. I had a relatively easy life till a few things happened down the road, but I've learned to move on and forget the man I once was." Olkapo said, sighing. "Now, I can help you with one thing, young Verger... There are things in this universe you simply just can't understand yet, especially since you were a mortal prior. So, I offer you this. You can choose to stay, and train with me to protect those you hold dear, or you can go back home and learn things at your own pace. What do you say?"
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[Olkapo is offering you to train under him. Doing so will grant you the Divine Martial Artist class, which can evolve to Enlightened Fighter.]
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Mareth gave it long and hard thought. On one hand, he could go back home and see if everyone was okay, and pass up on this one-time opportunity, or he could stay here and train to protect his friends and then some. Emopa and Vatel were the two who offered him a way out of those dark days.
"Do I gotta quit smoking?" Mareth asked, raising a brow.
"Yes. That would be optimal." Olkapo chuckled.
"Fine... I'll stay. To protect everything I hold dear." He said with a look of determination in his eyes.
"You seem like a good kid, just raised in the wrong setting," Olkapo said, standing up. "Alright. Let's get started."