Kal'o Kir walked into the overseer's central camp. There were only two level 30s nearby, resting. All of the other vishan were out observing the humans or tending to other matters. She couldn't help but marvel at the structure they'd managed to whip up while also managing the humans.
The overseer camp was to be the center of their new village once the tutorial ended and all the humans were out of the way. So they'd been constructing the central structure since they'd arrived. In simple terms it was an arena, elliptical in shape with benches and walls constructed from the forest's trees.
The arena was a symbol. A reminder that no matter where they went or what world they found themselves in they would always remember their roots, the need to better themselves to fight in the wars and the struggles for supremacy that had given birth to their culture.
Val Kazar stood in the center of the open space, practicing the forms of his own war arts. As she entered he stopped, and his eyes narrowed in her direction.
"Hello, Val."
"Do you have any idea how badly you're ruining things?" His fury was writ plain on his face.
"I haven't come to argue. I'd like to make a trade," She reached into her inventory and took out an item before throwing it to Val Kazar.
He caught the small object and looked at it in surprise, "Where did you get this?"
"The humans have them in spades from what I've heard. Do you want to know how much those precious items cost in their terminal shops? 50 talons."
"That's all, for such a precious thing?"
"Indeed. It's almost too funny to bear, really. If we'd simply done our job as overseers properly we could have established reliable trade with the humans and gotten as many of those as we'd wished. Instead, we've cut off that possibility forever."
"I believe you mean you cut off that possibility forever, when you cleaved that human's head open for all to see."
"Don't act like they would have been any more amiable to talks of trade even before that with how you've been treating them from the start. Actually, if we'd only done our job right from the beginning we wouldn't be in this situation at all, would we?"
"Maybe you're right. You know, you should take that up with the chief when he arrives."
"As if I'd get a single word in before I was butchered. I'll pass, thanks. Anyway, back to my trade."
"And what is it you wish to trade for this?"
"Give me one of the sealing tokens."
Val Kazar bristled, "You know very well that those two objects are not equivalent in value."
"I have 20 more of those little things. I believe they'd be of great use to you in the case that things go poorly before the tutorial ends. Besides, you don't have any use for the tokens currently, do you?"
Val Kazar had to think on that. What she was offering was a huge incentive, but the sealing tokens were a limited item. They had only brought two of them into the tutorial and there was no way for them to acquire more.
"Fine." Val Kazar transferred the token before Kal'o Kir tossed over a pouch containing the rest of the healing items.
The overseer's leader tried to say something else before she left, but Kal'o Kir was gone in a flash. She had what she desired, and any more time spent in Val Kazar's presence only raised the risk he would spontaneously decide it would be best to dispose of her immediately.
Yesterday was the testing phase. Today we'll see if I can get some answers.
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Shit, I messed up.
Devon had warned him, but Trey wasn't always a good listener. The unity of Plainstown threatened to come unraveled at every new obstacle, so now more than ever he needed to be a symbol to bind them together. A leader.
Or maybe that's just my pride talking.
Either way, his ideals had led to his downfall. He'd left with a team of seven, five of which had been almost instantly subdued when they'd walked into a trap. He and the remaining hunter had been taken by surprise when the executioner had dropped down on them from the treetops.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
And now he and the other hunter were bound. The former overseer stepped close to him as it brandished its knife, "Tell me about the one called Devon. I know for a fact you spent time with them shortly after entering the tutorial."
"...Fuck you."
The knife was brought down on his left hand and he felt two fingers severed. He screamed in pain, but Kal'o Kir's hand gripped his jaw like a vice, forcing his mouth close.
"The only thing I want to hear from that useless jaw is answers. If anything, anything, else comes out this will never end. Now… again. Tell me about the one called Devon."
Trey smiled sadistically through the pain, "Fuck you."
"...I can already see that we're going to be here a while."
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Devon watched amid the crowd as a mutilated pair of hunters were carried into Plainstown. This was the third incident of its kind in Plainstown, the sixth if the incidents in Arkania were added to that total.
He'd anticipated from the start that Kal'o Kir was rash and acted on impulse, and had expected her actions to continue to invoke the human's ire. But these incidents were far beyond the scope of what he'd expected.
Our unexpected encounter in the mountains seems to have lit a fire under her, and she isn't content to simply wait for results from Val Kazar anymore.
Eve laying the accusation of Kal'o Dar's death had focused all of Kal'o Kir's rage on him, and it didn't seem like she'd stop at anything to get to him now. Every single person who returned to the camps from being tortured all had the same message; "Give up the one called Devon or I will never stop."
As much as he wanted to lay the blame for these incidents at Eve's feet for giving his name back in that cave, he couldn't truly blame her. She'd said the best thing at the time to get both of them out of that cave without conflict. Not even Devon had expected the ramifications of that encounter to be this severe at the time.
Still, Kal'o Kir's brutality only seemed to grow as time went on. Plainstown had never needed a true hospital area before due to the fact that the healing pills were capable of fixing most normal wounds received in hunting expeditions. But the former overseer's victims came back with wounds that couldn't be healed with only one or two healing pills.
Amputations, disfiguring injuries, and even scalpings were staples of Kal'o Kir's work. According to the last pair, the monster had even forced the duo to give up healing items so she could continue her cruel methodology without them dying in the process.
The cold and rational part of Devon's mind filtered all of the useful information from the horrific events. Seeing how far the human body enhanced by the system could be pushed before death occurred was good for establishing his own limitations. And one of the longest standing unasked questions had finally been answered.
The effects of a single healing pill were well known and extremely revered. Yet once a second pill was taken the recipient would lose consciousness as the healing takes place. What then would happen if a third pill was administered in this state?
The first pair of victims had been a husband and wife couple. The husband's injuries were extensive, far beyond anything anyone in Plaintown had yet witnessed. And so it was decided due to the extreme nature of the victim's condition that a third healing pill would be given.
And 20 seconds after that third pill was administered… the husband's body exploded.
One side of his mind registered all of these facts with the impassive calculation of a machine. But the other side of him raged.
One of the two that were being brought through the gates was Trey. He'd wanted to set an example, to show all the residents of Plainstown that they shouldn't be afraid to go outside the walls. Devon had been against it but Trey had been resolute, saying that they couldn't expect these people to follow him if he didn't show them he was somebody worth trusting.
Of the two, Trey was far more injured. Devon forced himself to not focus on the specifics of the injuries, lest their grim details completely blind him with rage. However, what he saw as they entered was enough to shock him out of his emotions.
There had been outrage when both of the other pairs had returned, but as Trey was carried through the gate there was only silence. Everyone looked upon Trey's ruined form with different expressions on their face. Some looked on with fear of the future, others with rage at the atrocity, and yet more with unreadable expressions.
Devon recognized Vanir as the one who was helping Trey along. Poor young Vanir beheld all of the faces looking his way in tense silence and stopped, cowed by the unspoken pressure of the crowd.
The sudden stop of Vanir's movement seemed to stir Trey into consciousness. He looked up and saw with one eye the faces of the crowd surrounding him. Trey looked upon all the faces and all the expressions aimed his way and spoke. His voice was quiet, but it carried through the crowd as loud as any speech would.
"Who are we?"
Several of the faces in the crowd turned to confusion.
"When we came here we were nothing. A sea of unfamiliar faces in an unfamiliar place. Death and despair assailed us at every corner, yet through grit and grime we carved out a place for ourselves amid this cruel and foreign world. So I ask again, who are we?"
Many of the confused faces in the crowd hardened. Devon saw fists clench and fear in the eyes of many give way to something else, something stronger.
Trey raised a mutilated arm into the air, even as blood ran down his exposed flesh. He clenched his fist and said, "We are the unbroken."
The crowd burst into cheers as Trey's strength gave out and Vanir continued to carry him away. The fervor of the people was infectious, but that wasn't what put the grin on Devon's face. He was lucky nobody was looking his way, because they would likely have been chilled by the expression of mirthful malice that he couldn't conceal amid the excitement of the crowd.
Oh, Trey. I'll admit, I doubted your capabilities for a moment when you went against me and went out there on a foolish venture outside the walls. But in the end, you know how to rouse the hearts of people far better than I do. You used this moment of defeat to evoke a passion from the people of Plainstown that I never could have conceived. Of all the people in the world, I truly could not have asked for a more perfect piece. For all the fear and hatred I can sow amongst these people, only you can unite those dark emotions and bend them to my will.