A Plunge and a Cage
Warren fell downwards, knocked off the cliff by the hound. Panic filled his mind and he tried to stop his plunge.
"Earth Manipulation!"
He created a platform made of earth, to stop his fall. He slammed into it... and promptly broke through it, while he recieved damage from hitting it.
"Plant Manipulation!"
Not many plants that grew on the cliff, but a couple stretched out and grasped at him as he fell. They were torn through.
"Entangle!"
The plants that remained grew larger and thicker, lashing around him. They were ripped out as he fell, their roots not strong enough to bear the weight and velocity of his fall. They only had the strength to make it so that he spun as he fell. Meanwhile, the hound drifted several meters above and snapped at him whenever his feet spun. Warren had kept a hold of his staff, so he swung it, smacking the hound and sending it spinning like him. With the hound thus distracted, he turned back to trying to slow his descent as he fell, desperate to stop himself from falling. He had been falling some 20 seconds now, and if Warren remembered his math lessons correctly, that meant he had fallen at least 200 meters. He had heard that after falling 50 meters, hitting water would feel like hitting pavement, and he was not eager to find out if that was true.
In addition, if he died he could lose some items and stats and skill levels, all things he had worked hard to receive. The reason he hadn't gotten this debuff before when the hounds had killed him was because he had just joined. Beginners were given a grace period of one day or so to let them get used to their body and how to move it. Of course, other players were stuck in starter cities for a month before they could go outside, unless they uncovered an illegal exit in the city, which would turned them chaotic if they got caught.
So, Warren was desperate not to die, as he fell with the hound spinning above his head, like an old-fashioned cartoon scene. Except he was certain this would be a lot more painful to him than when the cartoon characters got hurt. Scanning the cliff frantically as he fell, he spotted his last chance: an old tree perched some 20 meters above the water. Nearing it, he pinned all his hope on one last spell and cast it at the tree.
"Entangle!"
The tree branches suddenly thickened and stretched into this path as he plunged downward. His heart in this throat, he body slammed into it and was suddenly glad that his heart was in his throat and not his chest. A thick branch in his way slowed his decent, but he continued the plunge toward the water. As he did so, he caught a view of the tree branches whipping back up and catching the hound as it fell, catching and breaking several branches as it crashed through. Warren sank like a rock, unable to move from the pain in his chest.
You have gained Fall Resistance due to the amount of time you spend in constant proximity to heights and due to your experience in falls
Despite this, somehow Warren was still not happy. The water was surprisingly warm, with soft sand at the bottom, he had expected icy water with sharp rocks abounding. However, he did notice several things happening, important things. First off, he had survive the fall. Secondly, he was now floating on the surface. That was due to the branch he clung to when he crashed through the tree. Thirdly, he was now floating out to see, dragged by the current. Groaning he tried to move then froze, his chest feeling like there where several knives buried in it. At least, that's how much he imagined it hurt, all he could tell was that there was stabbing pains in his chest and it hurt like the dickens. At least the hound was dead.
No, the hound was floating along behind him, on the same current. Somehow,it hadn't fallen off the branches when it landed. But that didn't mean it was alive. Warren glared at it, examining it.
"F***."
The hound was breathing. Either they both had terrible luck or they both had great luck. They had fallen off an cliff, crashed through several earth platforms and plants, and finally a tree before slamming into the sea. But despite that, they had live, along with the other still alive. Still, his life was in the red with less than a tenth of his health remaining he had a headache, he suspected he had some broken ribs, and his tail felt broken. On top of that, he was floating out to sea. At this point, he half expected shark fins to appear. He floated for hours as his vision dimmed and he finally succumbed the call of sleep.
"Well, f*** you... dog. I'm gonna live... just... let me.. take... a nap."
As he drifted off both mentally and physically, he could've sworn he heard voices draw near, but by then he was too far gone into the darkness.
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Warren woke up, feeling much better. His head no longer spun, he tail felt great, his ribs hurt a lot less, and his health had been restored. He had all limbs attacked, so there hand't been sharks or the like. However, there was still some major problems.
Why was his gear all gone? And he was in a cage that was barely tall enough for him to sit up in?
He was naked and in an iron cage in a dark room with curved walls... no, Warren recognized this type of walls, though it was his first time to actually be within them.
He was in a ship. Or rather, more specifically, he was in a ship's hull.
And of course, the hound was there, bandaged and looking none the worse for wear. Seeing Warren look at him, it growled.
"Hey, it's your fault we're here. I was just enjoying the view until you showed up and had to throw us both off a cliff."
Warren didn't even bother to cast Animal Speak, he had a feeling the hound would go out of its way to be singularly unhelpful. Looking around, he noticed more caged, many more. Each held an odd beast, though he recognized some of them. Giant insects, gryphons, and other monsters moved their weight to the shifting boards and as time when by a square of light appeared, with a man walking through it, with a large pot at his side.
A doorway.
"Eat up, beasties! You'll need your strength when we arrive, where you're going!"
"And were are we going?"
Warren spoke after examining the man as he fed the caged creatures, deciding to ignore his own nakedness. After all, you came into the world naked anyways. The man was short and sturdily build, with a huge scar across his face from where it looked like he got slashed by a clawed creature. He was also the dirtiest man he had ever seen, reeking of sweat and grime, with dirt caked on him with pieces falling off
"Eh?! Looks like foxy here can speak! Ain't he the lucky one, hah! You'll sell well!"
"Sell well? Where?"
"We're aheaded to Caose! It has a grand arena there, you'll sold to them there."
"How am I supposed to fight?!"
The man shrugged as he reached Warren's cage, dumping a scoop of what looked like some sort of goop in his cage.
"Like you would for your life! After all..."
The man's cheerful expression and attitude suddenly vanished.
"Most are sold there to be killed in an amusing fashion. Only those that survive get a chance to fight."
The man turned and left, stopping at the door to sudden grin at Warren
"Remember, you aren't bought to fight well, that's only a bonus. You're bought to be beaten entertainingly."
The door slammed shut, erasing the light like it was never there. Warren sat there, in the darkness for a time, his eyes adjusting to the lack of light slowly. Mire suddenly appeared, he had been hiding behind a support column, so Mire feed him some of the goop while he ate it himself. It tasted awful, but it filled his satiety.
"I guess that means back to training."
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Several weeks passed while Warren trained. At least, he assumed it was weeks, he had trouble with time in the dark. Since he had trained his physical stats and he couldn't train his other stats, he decided to train his skills. Of course, in the small cage he was in, that meant he could only train his spells.
He choose to train Earth Manipulate, Plant Manipulate, Animal Speak, and Rejuvenation. He would manipulate the dirt dropped off of his jailer into shapes, play with any plants he found and sprout any seeds, and activate Animal Speak even though he didn't talk to anyone. He had to keep an eye out for the jailer though, he would occasionally poke his head in at odd times. Fortunately, Warren could hear him coming. Eventually he even developed a skill from doing it so much.
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Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:EavesdropBeginner112%Due to your constant prying, your hearing has improved. You can now hear everything within 5 meters.
You've developed a subset skill from Plant Manipulation, Eavesdrop, and Tracking!
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Plants Eyes and EarsBeginner11%You watch and listen through the plants.
Effect:
Can see and hear everything through any plant within 3 meters
Costs:
10 mana per second
These new skills he also trained, allowing him to easily hide the earth and the plants before the man came. But it was his Rejuvenation that proved to be the trickiest to level. He had Mire use Poison Body on him to take away his health, then he cast Rejuvenation on it to replace it, though he had to use it twice after he was poisoned to fully heal. The jailer nearly came in on him being poisoned several times before he got the new skills. To his surprise, he discovered that he would gain poison resistance from being poisoned for long periods of time.
Finally, after weeks, the jailer came in with the meal and announced that it would be the last meal before they arrived at Caose the next day. After that, Warren trained harder than ever, these skills could save his life. His skills leveled up and the next day, he gave his trained skills a god look over.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Earth ManipulationBeginner947%You can control earth within 6 meters of you.
Cost: 15 mana per second
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Plant ManipulationBeginner925%You can control plants within 6 meters of you.
Cost: 15 mana per second
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Animal SpeakBeginner456%You can speak and communicate with animals.
Cost: 5 mana per second
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:RejuvenationBeginner874%You quicken their healing with your energy
Effects:
+14 health per second for 5 seconds
Cost: 50 mana
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:EavesdropBeginner542%Due to your constant prying, your hearing has improved. You can now hear everything within 8 meters.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Plant Ears and EyesBeginner518%You watch and listen through the plants.
Effect:
Can see and hear everything through any plant within 7 meters
Costs:
10 mana per second
Suddenly, a square in the ceiling opened up and he saw clouds in the first time in weeks. Mire hid in his hair while Warren sat still in the cage, still naked.
He had arrived in Caose.
Ropes and chains were lowered and silent men attached them to the cages lifting them up via a pullry. Soon only the cages containing hound and him remained. Mire hid in Warren's hair as the hound's cage was lifted up, with Warren soon following after him. As the pulley carried him up, he looked over the city.
The city was a bright and cheery place to his surprise. He had expected a filthy and rundown city instead of the streets being swept clean, glowing stones hang everywhere, and the crowds hashing out deals with merchants. It looked like a thriving and civilized place. Of course, with Warren apparently considered a slave and being sold to fight in an arena, he had his doubts as to if the city was as civilized as it appeared. He saw money exchange hands with a man in a hat, whom he assumed to be the captain, and various cages were loaded onto wagons. His odd appearance causing quite a commotion. Obviously, he was a sight they hadn't seen before, being a Vulpine. An auction was set up for him in particular, but he ignored the details, taking in his surroundings. Finally, he was sold and loaded into a wagon.
To Warren's surprise he found the hound in the cage next to him. Oddly, it looked like patches of black were pasted on his fur, with its eye a deeper shade of red. It snarled at him as the wagon began to move, weaving back and forth through the streets, with a crowd of people following, cheering. Apparently, the people loved him.
Or perhaps they loved the hound?
He didn't know. A few minutes later, the wagon came to a halt and he looked outside.
He had arrived at the arena.
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