Author's note: Sorry it took so long, school and family delayed it a lot. Enjoy!
A New Friend
"Wow, this place looks cool!"
Warren stood up then started running around, while the cultists stared at him. While everything had take quite some time for Warren and the demon, for they had started to think it had failed and they had wasted a sacrifice, but now the sacrifice was running around like monkey. The old cultist strengthened his heart and stepped forward. He might not know hat was happening, but he certainly was going to ask.
"What has happened? Are you a demon, lord?"
Warren paused at old man's words, before walking up and staring at him intently for a few seconds.
"You're old!"
"WHAT!"
The cultists all roared in confusion. They had been confused but now they know that he definitely was not a demon, most demons were vastly older than a human.
"The sacrifice must have failed, kill him!"
"I'm not that old!"
"Kill the sacrifice!"
"Whoops, I'm gone!"
Cackling, he ran for the tunnel, sprinting up with them hot on his tail. Eventually he came to a halt, stopped by the tunnel ending with a flat rock.
"I'll just smash my way through then! Iron Hand!"
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"Hey, did you hear that?"
"Sounds like people yelling in the stone?"
Several guards had caught the faint commotion from the arena room, where Warren had been held earlier. An older guard had his own theory about the noise.
"Must be the demons singing."
"What, demons?"
"Why the hell would there be demons?"
"I heard there are demons that live under the arena, occasionally dragging away a slave or a beast to feast upon. If they enjoy it, they sing a song. I know of a guard who tried to investigate it, he was never seen again. "
"That'd explain the missing fox-thing."
"Hey it seems like the noise is getting louder!"
One of the guards, curious, went to place his ear against the stone. He didn't make it.
"Iron Hand!"
CRA-BASH
Warren's fist, reinforced by Iron Hand, crashed though the stone and hit the guard knocking him out cold. Pushing through, he emerged in a cloud of dust.
"I'M OUT! Try to catch me now, old man!"
The cultists, raging at Warren chased after him, entering the room. Blistering words flew, promises to murder him made, and knives were drawn.
Then they noticed the guards, with drawn swords. Everyone froze, staring at one another, with their weapons drawn and Warren standing in between. In a rare moment of brilliance, he stepped out of the way.
"Ah... guards! Shit, run!"
"Those are cultists! Get them!"
Instantly, chaos ensued. The cultists had only daggers and some magic, but the guards had armor and swords.
"Fight fight fight fight!"
Warren cheered as the brawl continued, with the guards coming slowly out on top. The cultists either died or ended up surrendering. The problem became what to do with the cultists they had captured, as only three of the guards remained to the two cultists.
"Sir, what do we do with them?"
"Put them in a cell and guard them, the captain should arrive in a bit."
"That was AWESOME!"
In the confusion, Warren had been forgotten. Not any more.
"Another one! Get him!"
"Oh, you wanna fight! Let's go! Iron Hand!"
Warren charged at a guard swinging a sword at him, catching the sword in his hand! Warren then kicked at the guard, his foot swing in a beautiful arc, landing in between the guard's legs. The man crumpled, a slight whine emerging from his mouth. The other two guards backed up several steps, wincing in sympathy, while Warren examined the sword.
"A sword! Cool!'"
The guards tensed, as they watched their foe pick up a blow. He had taken out a guard with out a weapon and now he had one.
"Nah, killing people is wrong."
Warren tossed the sword away and turned back to the guards.
"Now let's fight!"
Several minutes later, the guards had fallen to Warren's fists. Planting a foot on them, he threw out his chest and roared in triumph.
"Victory! HAHAHAHAHA!"
-ding-
Defeating your enemies without killing any, gives you 1.4 times the experience.
-ding-
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Knock Out (Passive)Beginner--When an enemy's health is completely depleted, rather than kill them, they are rendered unable to fight. This only affects those you do not intend to kill, leaving you free to hunt.
-ding-
You have leveled up!
As Warren cheered and danced around, Mire fell out of his hair, where he had hidden the entire time. Curious, he picked up the slime and examined it. He didn't remember Mire's name, but he did have a feelings about the slime.
"You shall be Squishy and you shall be mine."
Proclaiming this, Warren returned the slime to his hair, where the newly dubbed 'Squishy' hide one more. As he did so, he saw keys on one of the fallen guards. Picking them up, he noticed the monsters in the cages, watching him.
"I've got a idea..."
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Gopea was a NPC captain of the guards, but in Shattered NPCs looked and acted the same as players, the only difference being that they didn't come back if they died. She arrived with reinforcements to the arena guards, having run as fast as she could from the barracks. A few arena guards remained outside the arena, keeping an eye on things as she arrived, with plenty of questions.
"What's the situation?" she called
One of the arena guards came up, young and sweating profusely as he answered. Gopea was a well-known figure among the guards, one of the few female guards in the city. She was known the Hound of the guards, having previously been a bounty hunter, and she had caught every target she had hunted so far. Having her involved was both a relief and a cause of worry, a sign of how serious the situation was.
"Unknown, sir- I mean ma'am! Nobody has come out and we've not enough to go in!"
"Well now we do. Hounds, move out!"
The Hounds, so nicknamed for her presence with them, roared and cheered before heading for the tunnel leading under the arena. As they did so, the doors burst open in a flood of newly freed monsters, with a single figure sprinting in front of them.
"BE FRREEE!!"
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Warren laughted as he ran, barely able to keep to his feet due to it. Barely 10 meters from the arena doors, he sank into the floor with Earth Manipulation, escaping the monsters chasing him. The monsters roared, angry with the escaped meal and turned on one another and on the guards.
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"Form up! Shields lock, the beasts finish one another before we move in! Where's that man!"
In the ensuing melee, no one noticed a hand reach out of the ground and snag the keys off of a fallen arena guard. Warren then emerged from the earth and ran back into the tunnel that he had emerged, using Iron Hand to stun any monster that strayed into his path. With his aid, the guards definitively gained the upper hand, but he didn't stick around. Warren, despite his new personality, had a plan.
Passing through the room with the cages, he headed into the arena itself. He had noticed that the room lacked any people held in it, and had come to a simple conclusion.
They were on the other side of the arena.
The arena was basically a large circle of sand and bare dirt, but on the opposite side of it was another tunnel. Entering through the tunnel, Warren found the prisoners in their cells, all men, crowed against the bars in their attempt to see what was going on.
"What's going on?!"
"How would'd I know?"
"What ever it is, it's loud!
"Hey, there's somebody! What's going on out there!?"
Warren paused and shrugged, before answering
"The guards and the old men were fighting. Now, the monsters and the guards are fighting."
"...what?"
"So, they're distracted?
Hey, go find the keys and set us free!
"Not interested."
""WHAT?!""
"I'm looking for someone who would join me. I wanna become the strongest man, so I need a crew of strong people."
Warren had been made to want become strong by Kalgara and it was only amplified by his frame of mind. After all, what child didn't want to become big and strong? So Warren was looking for someone to join his crew. And despite his frame of mind, he was certain he didn't want any of the men swearing at him and with the selfishness only the children focused on a goal can achieve.
Ignoring them, he walked up and down the cells, everyone one of the prisoners swearing him up and down before coming to a halt as he stopped before the last one at the end of the room. Inside it was a green-skinned woman who ignored him, her eyes shut as if she was asleep. She was tall and muscled, wearing rags that couldn't concealed her body and attractiveness
"Don't mess with that nutjob!"
"Oh, if she's getting out, I'm staying in here!"
That guy is so dead.
"Hey, join my crew."
"Not interested."
"Why?"
"I'm here to fight against worthy opponents."
One of the prisoners called out to Warren, fear evident in his voice at her words.
"She's Jade Blades Keira, she actually wanted to be captured and to fight here solely for the enjoyment of it. She fights people in the arena three times a day!"
"Hey, join my crew."
"Not interested."
"Why?"
"I'm here to fight against worthy opponents."
"Hey, did you even-"
"Hey I'm Warren, join my crew."
"Not interested."
"Why?"
"I'm here to fight against worthy opponents."
"You know what? To hell with it. To hell with the both of you."
This repeated nearly a dozen times before Keira cracked.
"I told you here to fight worthy opponents! I must be stronger!'
"Do you fear the guards?"
"What, no! I can beat them easily, only reason I'm here is to train."
"So can you escape?"
"Of course!"
"So why do you fight weaker people?"
"Becaus- wait, what?!"
"The guards only keep weak people, but you're strong. So, you aren't training, you need to train people as strong or stronger."
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Keira stared at him. Warren was absolutely correct. This strange, persistent, childish man saw this clearly before she did. Suddenly raising her hands, scythes emerged from her palms, single edged with bumps on the other side. They were easily as long as her arms and jade-colored, revealing how she had gotten her nickname. She then turned around, showing a double pair of insect wings. The outer pair was narrow, opaque, and leathery. They functioned as a shield for the hind wings while the hind wings are much broader, more delicate, and transparent. Those, she used to hover and for short burst of flight.
"I'm a mantic. Mostly human with mantis-like characteristics."
Upon hearing this, Keira expected this man to flinch. All men did, upon hearing she was one of the infamous mantics, who had lived deep within their enormous forest and hated men with a passion.
Long ago, mantics lived at peace with humans, but something had happened. Some said the queen of the mantics had a human lover who used her and ran away, others that a curse was laid upon them, nobody quite knew what. All that was known was that the mantics and all other races were locked in combat in their forest city. By the end of it, the mantics had carved out a bloody legend of their ferocity, with a bloodcurdling list of deeds against men in particular, but at a cost of most of their people . They disperse, the war coming to an end, but it was still a tale favored by many bards to tell. As a result, men of all races fear mantis women, who had committed almost the entirety of the deeds against men of other races.
"Ok. Join my crew."
Keira was surprised. Warren's face hadn't even twitched when she had told him. Someone this strong-willed, even if he was a little foolish... he could become something... something great.
"I'll join."
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-ding-
Keira has joined your party! You can have 10 more people join.
Warren unlocked the cell door and Keira stepped out, surprisingly graceful for someone who had spent time in a cell. Together, they turned and headed for the tunnel leading back into the arena, emerging into the light from the morning sun.
"Prisoners, hold it!"
A woman, that Warren recognized seeing earlier with the guards emerged from the tunnel opposite from them, where the monsters had been held earlier. Behind her was a troop of battered, but still eager, guards. Guards who had been substantially annoyed by the monsters Warren had lead into them.
"Grab them!"
"Move it Keira!"
Sprinting and leaping into the stands, the two of them raced out of the arena with the guards howling at their heels. It was only as they raced through the city gates, leading into the wilderness that the guards began to slow, collapsing from their efforts to catch the far lighter prisoners.
Gopea watch them race along the road, heading for freedom and cursed. Turning to a guard, she handed her badge indicating her position and headed back to her quarters.
She had prisoners to catch and she couldn't be weighed down by the city if she was to do so.
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