Tribulations change us, sometimes for the better, othertimes for the worse. Aside from the System’s scheduled tribulations, we make our own to battle and, more often than not, come out from them unrecognisable. This is where heroes and villains are made.

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age

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“People tell me my strikes sting too much,” Peng said, swaying slowly, his arms raised and his eyes trained on Josh. “But maybe you’ll be able to take some - I heard you have an ability to absorb magic.”

Josh ignored his posturing and dashed forward, wielding his shield like a weapon. Smirking, Peng sidestepped his charge and struck his obliques with an open palm, pushing him down. However, instead of falling, Josh used the force to twirl around and drive his shield into his opponent.

The Monk punched its rim and stopped the blow with a savage grin, before kicking Josh’s feet. Predicting this, the blond leapt and swung down in a short arc, finally catching Peng. It bounced off his bald head, and the Monk rapidly backed off while rubbing his scalp. Using the brief moment to glance around, Josh realised he would have to finish quickly if they were to have any chance of victory, all the while Peng sneaked up on him, trying to catch him off-guard.

The Antimage Brawler watched his progress through the corner of his eyes, and as he came into range, Josh flung his shield into his face and lunged forward. He caught Peng between his shoulders and drove, squeezing around his legs as he grappled him down. Although he tried to make use of the moment by attacking Peng’s face with a flurry of blows, it was a futile effort as the Monk guarded himself with his arms raised over his head.

Knowing that he had little time left, Josh decided to play dirty, sliding back and elbowing down, catching the Asian by his crotch. Yelping, Peng curled up, and Josh used this opportunity to dart off and fetch his sword and shield. He wheeled around and was about to charge again at the rising, snarling Monk when an icicle pierced through Peng’s chest and knocked him back down.

Shocked, Josh sharply sucked in a breath and offered a shaky thumbs up to Natalie. But he broke out of his daze as he saw Sabine heading for the Cryomancer. Her bloody gauntlets gave him pause for a heartbeat, but he forced himself into action and bound on towards her, fighting down his fear with every step.

“Sorry, Josh, but playtime’s over,” Sabine warned, ferociously grinning. She suddenly reeled to the side and dodged an arrow, giving Faris the finger without even glancing in his direction. The Mounted Archer proficiently rode down the slope, baring his teeth, but she gave him no attention, instead focusing on Josh who was now only a handful of strides away.

“Playtime’s—” Her right gauntlet exploded into shards of red and tore through his shield and into him. Although his Magic-Resistant Skin absorbed some of them, it immediately drained of strength and the remaining fragments shredded his arms positioned in front and speared into his body. Gasping feebly, he collapsed, thumping to the ground. “—Over.”

Bashing her fists together, Sabine split the remaining gauntlet between her hands and strode past Josh’s body without even a backward glance. She licked her lips as she feasted on the sight of Natalie wobbling back, her mouth agape, and eyes wide and shivering like damp moons. Levelling her fist to shoot another Crimson Blast, Sabine suddenly turned to a thunderous sound and saw Faris charging her down. She fired just as the Mounted Archer leapt off his phantom horse. The shards struck it, and it disappeared into thin air with a flash of light.

“Good job, Winnie,” he mouthed, releasing his nocked arrow. It barrelled through the air and plunged into Sabine’s breast.

However, she didn’t fall or even falter as her manic grin only grew wider, blood streaming from her chest to around her fists, building up her gauntlets once more. Starting towards Faris, Sabine grew euphoric as his thrilled expression broke away to reveal abject fear. He tried to scramble away, but it was all futile. He could not escape the Blood Fist; no one could escape the Blood Fist.

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He leapt up and began to run, achieving a single step before she fired again and he fell over, back prickled with bloody thorns. Giggling madly, she figured she might as well get Natalie now. She wheeled around but had no time to react as an icicle the length of her forearm rammed into her throat and threw her to the ground. In that moment, everything seemed so distant to her as she reached out, feeling so empty. Although her mouth tore apart for one final defiant scream, it never came as she fell limp, lifeless.

Her death went unnoticed for several moments as the various scuffles around the site continued.

A very bloody Dom booted Ernst square in the chest and sent him flying. As he clambered back up to his feet, Elise was above him, swinging down. Her axe split his elbow, and Dom followed with a crushing blow to his head.

Some parts away, Yuri struck away another foe as Iris cowered behind her shield. Things looked grim for the two of them until a collection of icicles gored their assailants in critical spots. Warily looking past her shield, Iris trembled as she regarded the scene and finally froze as she saw Josh’s body beside Faris’s and Sabine’s.

It was a long moment before she found the strength to move and sprint over, soundlessly screaming. She immediately started healing him but his eyes kept shut, remaining so when Yuri aided her and the other Healers at the site came over. Although they had come out of the battle triumphant, a sullen mood took the victors as they turned back to Riverside. They had won but at what cost?

****

By pure luck, Sabine’s attack had failed to hit Josh’s heart and the emergency healing had kept him from slipping into death grasp on their journey back. Back at the village, more Healers and Order mages burnt their mana on him and his wounds eventually stabilised. Although he remained unconscious, it seemed it was only a matter of time before he awoke.

Elise was made mayor again and all the recent changes to the village were reverted, erasing Sabine’s hand in Riverside’s management. This time they didn’t make the mistake of leaving the opposing faction breathing as Dom personally hunted down the dozen or so foremost members. Soon after, he upgraded his class to Black Knight and joined Silas, Natalie, and a couple of lower-levelled others in having a rare class. Another attack on the quarry was organised, but it was set for a few days later, at least after a sense of normality returned to the village.

Josh woke up a day later, dazed and disoriented. His memories were slow to come, but he immediately knew something awful had happened from the two stumps that now replaced his arms. News of his wakening quickly spread and his friends were swift to come and explain what had happened after his fall.

Given the state of his arms after taking the brunt of the Crimson Shot, it had been decided it would be easier to amputate him and heal his arms from the shoulders down than to do so from the ragged strips of flesh and shattered bone left behind. Although he initially thought this would take a long time, he learnt the three dozen or so Healers in the village could collectively do it in about two days.

However, his relief and joy were short-lived as he then heard of how Faris had died. Although the Mounted Archer had been in a similar state to Josh after the fight, the Healers had prioritised him, and in doing so, had effectively damned Faris to death. The more Josh thought about, the more he realised how large a part he had played in the Arabian’s demise.

After all, Sabine had told him she wasn’t going easy on him anymore, and he had known what her abilities were. She was bound to shoot him, but he could have turned it around by using his second ability: Arcane Deflection. If he had done so, she would have died then and there without harming anyone else. But he hadn’t, and a close ally had died from his negligence. The guilt overwhelmed him as he realised how ironic it was that Faris had ridden down from the hill to help him, only to get killed by his carelessness while he survived in the end. It was a tragedy, and one which he vowed to never repeat.

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Sabine Gantzmann, the Blood Fist, was originally a professional boxer from Germany. She was noted in the hard tutorial for her shaved head, tall stature, and overwhelming lust for battle. On Idroa, she was a founding member of Riverside, and despite supporting Silas Wycliffe’s, the Duellist’s, opposition at every turn, she herself kept out of his reach.

This low-key approach shifted as she grew in power and finally undertook a drastic change when she upgraded her class from Pugilist to Blood Fist after fighting off a Ratkin army. At this time, Silas had chosen to leave Riverside in the hands of others, and this prompted Michael Eze, the Gladiator, to make a bid for mayorship.

Incidentally, this gave Sabine the perfect opportunity to stab him in the back and snatch the grand prize from him. Having already convinced the rest of his faction to do the same, her betrayal went smoothly and she ended the day as the Mayor of Riverside. However, in a befuddling move, she did not punish or restrict her opposition at all after this and instead let them heal and grow stronger as if waiting for them to strike.

This came during an expedition out of the village as her opposition ambushed her and mercilessly killed her. The rest of her faction was purged alongside her that day, and Riverside returned to the hands of Elise, the Minister.

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age