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World: MSS - Loading...
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
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As soon as the elf gave the sign to begin, my opponent charged at me.
He thrust at me with his sword but I managed to receive the blow on my shield. We repeated the same exchange a few more times, until he did an overhand swing and I tried to block it by holding the shield directly above my head.
Big mistake.
I think it might have been in a history lecture back in college. One of my professors had been a fanatic of the medieval era and he often taught us little fun facts. He was especially into medieval weaponry. A heavy and sharp enough sword -like the longsword or Zweihander- could decapitate men in a single blow with the proper swing. Of course, a full-armored knight with a shield was a different matter. But a regular person? They’d probably be cleaved down to their chest area if not the hips. That’s how heavy some of these swords were. Human skin and meat was simply unable to stand against the weight of the sword in combination with gravity.
But this wasn't limited to just swords. The art of war was a fearsome thing and humans loved to study the best and most efficient ways on how to kill their fellow man: Halberds, Axes, Katanas, Guns, Arrows and the list went on and on.
All basic weaponry acted the same way, they had a point of impact that carried weight heavy enough to rend human skin, muscle and bone. The place on the weapon that carried the most weight varied: for the arrow it was the tip, for the halberd it was the blade. For the longsword that my opponent was wielding, would be the edge of the blade right before the point of his sword.
I received that strike head-on with my shield.
My body was Coreless and probably had never seen combat before until I had fought against the Dokkaebis. The shield vibrated and I felt my right shoulder give, hearing something tear from the muscle next to my ear. I fell to one knee from the blow, desperately trying to get back up to my feet.
A smart swordsman might have lifted that heavy sword up and struck me with another overhand strike. Or perhaps he would have stabbed me in the throat or stomach, while I was on my knees with the shield over my head. Instead, the man pressed down harder, making this a match of raw strength.
Instinctively, I ducked in closer to his center of gravity and he stumbled over me.
“Just remember that he’s a regular person. Just like you.”
“AHHH!” I screamed and grabbed his waist, trying to lock up his arms. I didn’t succeed but I was successful in tangling up his arms with my own.
Clang!
I heard the sword drop somewhere behind me.
I stopped trying to tangle up his arms and got mine free. We both gained some distance and he lunged for the longsword fallen on the ground.
So I punched him in the temple with the edge of my shield. It had been lethally effective in the tunnels when I had my first tussle with the Lesser Dokkaebi. This strike had rendered a Grade-10 monster almost unconscious, it should have definitely knocked this man out.
But he raised a hand and received the blow on his arm instead. He stumbled but managed to pick up his fallen sword and swung it at me, but the swing went wide. There was no way it would’ve hit but I was running on adrenaline and in my haste to get away, fell on my butt while backpedaling. He pressed the advantage and tried for another overhead swing but I was already rolling on the floor to get away.
I heard some chuckling from some of the orcs and the more seasoned slaves.
They were laughing at how I was fighting.
To them I probably looked like an inexperienced fighter who didn’t know what he was doing, and to a certain extent they were right.
But right now I had to let go of everything that would hold me back in this fight.
Pride.
Ego.
Any semblance of doing something to look good.
I would let go of everything if it meant I could win here.
The man lunged again with his sword and I ran out of the way, much more so than needed and it was met with another round of laughter.
“Why am I so afraid? It’s just an injury, it’s just-” I had to roll on the ground again.
I figured out what I was afraid of.
I was afraid of getting hurt.
Of pain.
Not knowing what you’re afraid of and knowing what you’re afraid of makes a big difference.
Because now, I could rationalize it. Now that I knew, I could just accept that no matter what I did, I would get hurt. If I wanted to survive in this world, pain would have to become a constant companion.
When the man stabbed again, I blocked it with my shield and instead of stepping backwards like I had been doing, I took a step forward.
The man did the opposite and stepped backwards then tried another overhand strike. I wasn’t foolish enough to receive it head on again and there was only one thing I could do in this situation to stop him.
“AHHHHHH!” My scream was more bestial than human at this point, I couldn’t even recognize it anymore.
Charging straight towards him, I used my shield to try and punch him in the face again. He tried to stab me but I didn’t overreact and jump out of the way like last time. I felt the sword clip me on the shoulder but ignored it, tackling him to the ground.
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Then I bit into his ear.
“AGH!” This one definitely wasn’t my scream.
I used the shield to keep punching at his shoulder joint, eventually managing to grab both of his wrists and hold them down to keep him from using the sword. His ear slipped out of my mouth so I grabbed another mouthful and tried to bite it off. It slipped off again so I repeated it, trying to get a better bite each time.
“STOP HIM! AGH! SOMEONE HELP! PLEASE! GET HIM, AGH! OFF! AGH!”
Someone came and grabbed me by the armpits, holding me back. I struggled and tried to slam the person hold me with the shield in a backhand blow, but she caught my elbow easily.
“Easy there. Shh. Easy, Slaveborn. It’s over now.”
It was L’teya.
Eventually, I calmed down and looked around me.
L’teya’s eyes were clouded with worry and her friend Clover was standing far from us, her eyes wide with fear. The expressions on the face of the other slaves were much more varied.
Fear.
Awe.
Disgust.
Admiration.
Defiance.
Envy.
Lust.
But none of them were willing to meet me in the eye.
Lety’s opponents had been scalped. They were lying on the ground but awake. Their comrades had already dragged them away so I assumed that she was done much earlier than me.
Lastly, my opponent.
His ear was a mangled piece of meat-flap. He was clutching it and rolling on the ground, sobbing in small hiccuping gasps. When it felt like his ear had slipped out from between my teeth, what had actually happened was that I tore off a piece of it. Not knowing that I kept on going back, ripping off more pieces each time. Now there was nothing left on the left side of his face, except just a bloody stump and a blood-blogged hole.
“Agh..” He stopped rolling and just lay there, droplets of blood staining the sand.
I spat and looked at the glasses-wearing elf expectedly.
“Oh. Um. Yes. Congratulations!” He smiled at me and winked.
None of the slaves responded.
Only the orcs cheered, laughing and talking excitedly in their own language. One of them snatched a bedroll from the wagon-slave and handed it to me himself, slapping me on the back.
“That was a fight worth watching!” He laughed and piled some extra food on my bedroll.
I didn’t bother replying. I just nodded, thanking him. Wanting to clean myself I approached the crowd that was between me and the well.
It was the human faction.
They parted without a word.
I walked past them and found the scarred man sitting where he had been this whole night: a wooden stool.
“He sits on that thing like he’s king.”
I didn’t need to say anything, taking a piece of drumstick of whatever animal these orcs slaughtered, I ripped off a piece and swallowed it. The oil, meat-juice mixed with the blood around my mouth and dribbled down my chin.
He turned his head quickly.
I think I got the message across.
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After I cleaned myself from the well, I took my bedroll and food, choosing a boulder where I could set up. I also had a view of the matches that were happening. As expected, after Lety’s battle, the number of people challenging the ‘skilled’ became 0. I saw that the scarred man and the lizard beastman hadn’t fought yet, eyeing up the competition. But there were some other fighters of note besides the two, though none of them seemed to match up to Lety’s prowess.
“Lock Slaveborn!” L’teya climbed on top of the boulder, her food and bedroll with her. Clover heaved herself up as well, though with more effort.
“Let us share our meal together! To celebrate our victory!” She lifted up a skin that was either filled with water or wine.
I had drunk mine of course, but I couldn’t taste it back then. The only thing that the waterskin did for me was that my throat was no longer dry and I wasn’t heaving for breath.
Thump.
Thump.
My heart was still beating.
“I’m alive. I’m here. I’ll be treated better tomorrow. I took a step further away from death.” I clenched my fist, looking at the competition below.
“Lock?” L’teya repeated.
Something in me wanted to brush her off, tell her to get off the boulder but I suppressed the urge. I knew what was happening, I was acting emotional. I hadn’t fully processed what happened just now. Being thrust into this world of violence as a slave, this was the first time that I had a chance to really sit down, eat, drink and talk with others.
Like a normal human being.
“Heh.” I allowed myself a small laugh.
It was funny what these Orcs did to me. If I hadn’t been willing to take the lives of those Dokkaebis I would never have seen the open sky. If I hadn’t bitten off someone’s ear I would never have gotten to eat and drink again. Everytime I embraced a little bit more violence, my treatment became more humane.
“Not the orcs. MSS. That’s what this world is.” I shook my head. “I trivialized everything when it was on a screen. Now it’s real.”
“What is so funny?” L’teya asked.
I shrugged. “Nothing.”
I looked her in the eyes, trying to convey my sincerity.
“Thank you.” I told her.
She smiled and threw back her head, laughing.
“It is nothing! Twice we have overcome death! We are practically comrades!” She slapped me on the back. “Tell me, where did you learn to fight like that?”
I debated how to explain this. “Back in my hometown village, there was a fighter who made his money by brawling at the local tavern. He uh, he bit someone’s ear off.”
I saw Clover narrow her eyes.
“That was the most words you’ve ever spoken in front of us!” Lety explained, taking a bite of her food. Her lips, glossy with oil and meat juices, she continued. “I had thought you were simple!”
I ignored the casual insult, she was a barbarian after all. She probably meant nothing by it.
“Which village are you from?” Clover asked.
“...You wouldn’t know it. It’s very small.”
Clover opened her mouth to argue but L’teya spoke first.
“I come from a Tribe to the east of here! We have buildings that touch the sky goddess herself, providing shelter to pilgrims from all over the world!” Her eyes were looking at something far away, something we couldn’t see.
“Hm. There’s definitely some kind of story there somewhere.” I still couldn’t figure out why a Barbarian from the Delirious Jungle would end up here.
“Lety, the one you said to keep an eye on.” Clover joined in. “He’s finally fighting.”
I turned my attention back to the makeshift area. Many challenges had gone answered and just as many had gone unanswered. There were wounded among the slaves, dripping blood and eyes filled with hatred looking towards their aggressors. The condition of the victors varied. Their injuries ranged from heavy to light, but most of them seemed to be fine for the most part.
“Hierarchy. They succeeded. Simultaneously they created factions.” I understood now. “This must be to keep us occupied with infighting. Never thinking beyond the threat in front of us, keeping us from rising up together against them.”
It wasn’t like I was a historian, I had actually majored in Computer Science. But I had always enjoyed history classes. It was basically Lore for the human race. It wasn’t like the Orcs were dumb either. I could tell that this wasn’t the first time they had slaves. They had done this many times.
The one L’teya wanted to keep an eye on was the lizard beastman. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall. He towered over the group that had gathered around him. I saw him point to a tough looking dwarf who had just won his duel.
“You.” The reptilian beastman spoke just as I had imagined he would, a not-quite whisper that slightly tinged with hissing sound. “I challenge you.”
The dwarf scowled. “I ain’t one to turn down a challenge.”
The crowd around them dissipated immediately, leaving a circle in the middle. The dwarf hefted a huge warhammer that was taller than his own body. The lizardman brought out a spear from behind him, which was hidden by his height.
The glasses-wearing elf was ecstatic. “Begin!”
I had expected the lizard-man to lunge forward using his greater reach to his advantage, stabbing with the spear. Instead he whirled it around his body in wide arcs and the sound of cutting air whistled through the canyon. The people who had been nearest to him had to take a few extra steps backwards lest they be cut. He began to walk forward, the spear tip whirling around him and creating a barrier that promised lacerations.
But the dwarf didn’t flinch.
“AGH!”
He gave one loud yell and charged forward, bringing his warhammer around for a side swing. But the reach difference was too much and the lizard-man simply left a dozen tiny cuts on the dwarf. The dwarf charged the lizard relentlessly, bleeding from a dozen cuts but his opponent easily outpaced him, using his long limbs to stay out of reach. It was evident that the lizard was staying just slow enough to allow the dwarf to charge him and get cut, while speeding up when it seemed like the dwarf would strike him.
The dwarf yielded soon after.
“Is it just me or did that lizard look over here?” I hoped it was my imagination.
Just as soon as it started, the first night was over.
As Lety and Clover continued to chatter, I ignored their noise and plodded over to my bedroll. I wrapped myself in it and tried to sleep.
I started laughing despite the looks that Lety and Clover shot me.
All I could think of in this situation was how much more comfortable it was to sleep on a bedroll than back in the caves.
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