Disclaimer: This chapter is more of a glossary of sorts to help me cover what has happened thus far. There is still some plot advancement and bonus material, but this chapter shouldn't advance all that much, so you aren't missing too much if you don't read it.
...
Who am I kidding, of course I want you guys to read it. Enjoy!!
*
"Crap, mister's packed up and gone. Looks like we are on own now, right, Tooth?"
"Grah!!"
The young child was walking companionably side by side with a lizard man the size of a dwarf. He was dressed in basic traveler's garb, and a long sword as tall as he is was slung around his back. He had little else other than that.
The lizard man was also poorly armed with only a short sword, and was carrying a small haversack which contained the bulk of his worldly possessions... Which wasn't much.
They were travelling alongside a young man who was armed with a spear without a spear head, but through a long process that is conveniently recorded somewhere (read the last two chapters!!), they were separated, and now the pair was left to fend for themselves in a cruel, cruel world.
Kindly do not mistake this as an attempt by the author to garner sympathy for our hero here.
The child stopped in the middle of the road, a confused look on his face.
"Now where do we go then, buddy?"
"Gah?" The lizard man (dwarf?) tilted his head in confusion.
Both were equally at a loss as to how to proceed from there.
"We could wait for Mister to come back, right?" the child naturally responded by going into a delusion.
The lizard man didn't say anything. Unsurprising since he can only communicate through squeaks and squeals and grunts. Instead, he sat down, took out a piece of jerky, and began gnawing it.
The child's eyes flashed.
"You sneak, you said that we ate everything..."
The lizard man, still chewing his jerky, was just nonchalantly sitting there with a smug look on his face.
Realization dawned upon the child as he viewed the relaxing sight before him.
"You know, you are right. Let's just wait for Mister to come back." the child took a seat beside the lizard man on a conveniently placed tree stump. The lizard man nodded sagely (or at least he thought he is) and slowly chewed on his jerky as if you would a twig on a relaxing day.
"I'm hungry... Say, Tooth, you got anything to eat?"
"Nah uh." The lizard man shook his head and shrugged, and finished off his jerky, settling back down, sighing to himself with a content look on his face.
Clearly, this child was delusional regarding his waiting for the man to come back...
**
Because at the moment, that man is... kind of indisposed.
"Heavy!!"
Burdened by a immense load, I staggered and stumbled as I slowly followed a knight. He... or rather, she was equipped with ornate steel armor and was holding up a spear. A triangular flag the shade of bloody crimson billowed out, buoyed by the wind.
It was like a scene from the medieval times; a noble knight accompanied by his trusty squire.
It was a rather impressive sight, but I was not impressed, mainly because I was playing the part of the squire (obviously).
This was meant to be fun, you know. But somehow or another, I end up being conscripted by this one man (lady actually) army.
"Don't you have men to help you with this? My back is breaking here."
"Now, now, let's not go over this again... Besides, the reliable squire must always be on hand to help the knight."
"Help? More like tortur- oh crap!!"
I tripped on a rock and fell, dropping my load heavily and falling flat on my face."
[You have lost 9% of your HP.]
Due to the weight of my current burden, I lost a rather large amount of hit points as a result. I correct my current statement, instead of torture, it was more like slave labor.
"Look, Combatante, just call out a few of your men and get this load off my back... Darn it, that hurt..."
"Eh heh heh heh.... It's not that simple. A leader must treat their soldiers with care, and account and care for his own belongings."
"And it's fine to torture me like that?"
"A spear man's path is fraught with suffering right?"
Regarding the manpower issues, the knight had under her command an entire platoon of soldiers, but for some reason they seem to have vanished after I had a fight with the knight (okay, just the soldiers).
"Anyways, I clearly won fair and square. The winner clearly should have the right to order the vanquished around."
1 against an entire platoon is fair?! And the platoon did most of the fighting, too.
"A group's achievements is clearly due to a leader's ability."
Somehow, I doubt that. But the way the group fought after she took command... Their movements suddenly became more coordinated and they suddenly took on a defensive formation that was really difficult to get past.
"Besides, that last blow wiped most of their health. They will need to rest and recuperate to heal off the damage."
In that fight, I used a recently acquired skill and successfully broke up the platoon formation, leaving them concussed and unable to move for a period of time. However, due to lack of skill proficiency, the skill took up consumed most of stamina and left me unable to move and thus make my escape.
Hence the situation that I am currently in.
"And they have gone... where exactly?"
"That, I have no idea. Now quit complaining and keep moving. We have to get to the next village by sun down."
"Right, right..."
We moved on in silence.
***
"He's not coming back, is he..."
"Gao..."
"And how come you are suddenly speaking in lion language?"
The child lay across the floor with a bored expression on his face. Tooth just stood there, his reptilian features somehow giving the "What am I going to do with you" look.
The Lizard Man sighed, his stomach grumbling from the lack of proper food. He had finished the last piece of rabbit jerky a couple of hours ago, and now he was feeling rather hungry again.
"Ah... this is boring. So much for having an adventure eh, Tooth?" The child looked up at the lizard man, which was a rather difficult thing to do considering his current position.
"Eh? Tooth? Tooth?"
Or rather, looked up at thin air. The lizard man had suddenly disappeared into thin air, driven by hunger in a bid to search for sustenance.
The child was left here alone as a result.
"Owhhh... Tooth too, then? I'm too tired and hungry to move... I can't be bothered to move."
The child just continued to lie there on the ground, his motivation at an all time-low.
****
"Say, Combatante."
"Please, call me Tante. That name is kind of embarrassing..."
"Ah, okay then."
Calling her "Aunt" is equally embarrassing as well... And such a drastic difference from the original meaning, too.**
We arrived at the nearest village much earlier than we thought. Upon arrival, I made to set up camp, but was stopped by Tantte here.
Incidentally, Combatante is the name of the knight. And she's not really a proper knight, and is actually of the Flag Bearer Class.
For all that noble talk about leadership and martial conduct, she seemed pretty embarrassed by that sort of thing...
That aside, that class was what I was wondering about.
It's not everyday that you come across another Hidden Class after all.
Aside from the usual classes such as the Warrior, Mage and Rogue, players in Royal Road are able to take on many other professions, from other job branches such as Shaman and Paladin, as well as craft professions like the Sculptor or Bard. And then there are the Hidden Classes, like Miss Flag Bearer over here.
Depending on certain conditions met over the course of your adventure, you would be given the choice to unlock such classes. I received my Spearman class through such means, although it was purely by chance.
To add on, perhaps I ought to make a quick distinction here. A Warrior is able to wield a spear, but is not exactly a Spearman, slowly specializing in a chosen weapon as they gain experience.
By contrast, despite the similarities in terms of equipment, a Spearman is specialized and locked into using pole weapons from the start. Also, a Spearman does not receive any of the Skills or Traits unique to Warriors, instead gaining several traits such as Nomadic Imprint and Instinctive Exploration.
In the end, I suppose that a Spearman is a mix between a Warrior and a Martial Artist, minus the ability to freely use a variety of weaponry.
But enough about my class. I was more interested in the Flag Bearer class at the moment.
From what I saw earlier, the creators clearly took pains to drastically change what would be a passive support class into an actively attacking vanguard after all. That was the beauty of game design, being able to take an idea and expressing it in an entirely new way.
"Assuage the curiosity of your loyal squire here. How did you become a Flag Bearer?"
"Ah, it's a long story..." Tante shook loose her hair as she took off the full face helmet that she usually wore, her long hair spilling easily across her shoulders. Her face seemed red out of embarrassment.
"I got time." I sat down and stretched my aching muscles, and continued setting up, working on making a spark to set up a fire by rubbing a stick on a piece of dried wood.
"Alright then. Where should I begin..." Her voice sounded rather muffled as she gathered her thoughts.
"At your own pace, then." I tore open a packet of combat rations and poked around the contents with a fork, pouring it in a small iron pan to heat it up.
"I guess it was when I first arrived at the game... As I logged in, the first thing I saw was an impressive castle in the distance. After finding out that I couldn't leave the city for a month in game, I decided that it was the easiest place to get through the time..."
That seemed logical. A castle is always looking for manpower for the sake of its maintenance and upkeep of its troops. I bit into a spoonful of rations... How the heck did they manage to put Japanese Curry in this?!
"I wanted to become a knight, so I signed up to become a squire for one of the knights working there. It took a while, but eventually I would follow the knight for his training, armed with a spear and taking on a role as a support spearman."
Ah, so that's why she took on the spear as a main weapon.
"Eventually the knight would coach me in the way of the sword as well. I learnt about the Knightly code of conduct, all the terrible puns about knights, and I was basically on the way to becoming a knight."
So instead of a single weapon speciality, it was a double weapon specialization, closer to that of a Martial Artist which can attain weapons mastery for all weapons. I haven't seen her draw her sword in combat at of yet, but I was suddenly reminded of a character from a certain fighting game that used this particular weapon combination. I wonder if the creators had took reference from that style of fighting. It was useful to note for future battles.
"So what suddenly happened?"
"Let me finish. That day, when I was due to become a knight, instead I end up in a long convoluted quest line involving saving a general from an assassination... Long story short, I was presented with a coat of arms, a flag and a bunch of rambunctious troopers that didn't quite listen to me at first... When I decided to attach the flag to the spear, I was presented with a chance to switch to a hidden class."
In the end, the requirement was rather simple, but it appears that the Flag Bearer was a sub-class for the knight. This game was deeper than I thought.
I finished my combat rations and got up, stretching tired limbs as I did so. It was best that I did this since the muscles will hurt like merry hell the next day if I didn't. Most likely I would be feeling this over the next few days.
"Tante, it's fine if I log off to take a break right? Or do you work your slaves to the bone?"
"You are not a slave you know... But you are part of my Crusade after all. As part of the Crusade, you are bound to me until I choose to let you go. Still, feel free to log off. I can afford to wait. I'll see you in the morning then?"
"Good to hear. I'll see you in eight hours in game. Night."
I logged off, the world around me fading and blurring to a dull grey as I left the game.
*****
Hang on... Couldn't I have escaped from my current in-game situation by logging off?
That realization struck me like a thunderbolt as I blinked once, my mind now back in the real world. If I purposely took a bit of time off in real life, Tante might just get tired of waiting and move off without me anyway.
Then again, it was only an assumption. If she actually had the patience to wait for me to log back on, I might pay dearly for my presumptuous behavior. Moreover, it wasn't using my time efficiently. There was barely any benefit to this and I had much to lose as well.
Oh well. It is always good to have a companion or buddy by your side during a journey anyway. Even if that companion or buddy works you to the bone.
I got out of the capsule and stretched cramped and tired limbs. I also felt really tired mentally. The time is about 4 times faster in game, and as such, in a way, the brain processes are accelerated at that pace.
As a result, it was not surprising to feel a rather large amount of mental fatigue after long periods of game play. While this can be alleviated by sleeping in game, it was still necessary to sleep for the usual number of hours in real life, to let the body and mind recuperate.
On the other hand, it was convenient. I had, in a way, more time to finish my home work in game as well. In fact, it was actually common for most white-collar workers today to meet up in game to discuss and settle deals due to the convenience and time saved, and it was as good as a face-to-face meeting.
Stretching done, I took the chance to practice, performing basic exercises to improve my footwork, strengthen the core and leg muscles.
It was important to maintain a healthy body as well, after all. I haven't forgotten the hellish teachings of the instructors at the Warrior's Guild in a hurry after all.
Also of note, it seems that the brain also retains the memories of certain martial arts that were carried out in game. I had noticed that my own reflexes in real life have improved after a short period of time spent playing the game.
There were news of martial artists going into the game in order to practice and hone their skills through the simulation of real combat. In fact, a Dojo teaching the way of the sword has recently included it into their training curriculum for their official trainees, going as far as to occupy the Basic Training Center for the 4 months while they were starting out.
It was truly a sad day for the many low-level monsters that roamed the outskirts of the city when the trainees could leave the city.
The bathroom was empty, so I took a quick shower. Following that, I went down to the living room. It appears that my parents are currently out at work. My sisters were also nowhere to be seen, and I assumed that either they must be in their rooms playing Royal Road as well, or they have gone out for a while.
I went to the kitchen and took out some ingredients from the fridge.
"Let's see... for today, I may as well make something quick."
Ever since I entered the game, most of my cooking efforts ranged from rather long to nearly instantaneous. I wanted something simple for a change. So for today, I opted for Fried Rice.
Into the wok with a bit of heated oil went a handful of chopped garlic, some shrimp and whisked eggs. I let the eggs solidify and broke up the omelette into little bits. The shrimps soon turned into a rather fluorescent pink and white.
I added frozen mixed vegetables (carrot, peas and sweet corn) and stir-fried the lot, finally adding the leftover rice (the trick to good fried rice was the rice, leftover and chilled and hardened in the fridge before cooking) and breaking up the grains to make sure it was separate and fluffy, making sure that the ingredients were well mixed with the rice as I brought the heat up to a high.
I ate a plateful of my cooking and cleaned up the kitchen. Always clean up after yourself, my mother would tell me, to the point where her nagging rendered my ears numb and unresponsive.
I made sure to change to clean and comfortable clothes, and settled back in the capsule in order to log back into the game.
******
When I logged back in, the campsite was still empty. Tante appeared to have logged off for the time being as well.
This might be a good chance to make an escape... probably.
Or I could just do some reflection.
As a Spearman, I had the Nomadic Imprint Trait, which generates a random skill if the conditions are met.
It was a useful Wild Card ability to use in combat since it added a random element to a fight, allowing me to generate a new skill in accordance to a situation.
However, on reflection from my last battle, the lack of Skill Proficiency was a major weakness of the Trait since the skill effect was obviously a lot weaker.
Thus far, I had generated a total of 4 skills using the trait, namely Combat Immersion, Berserk Impulse, Iron Constitution, and Stored Power.
In addition, I also had Pole Weapon Mastery, Identify and Repair.
At my current level, the number of skills I had learnt was average, but I wonder...
Is it possible to streamline the number of skills I learn?
The trouble, I feel, is that the skills generated by Nomadic Imprint didn't seem to mesh together very well. Most of the skills had troublesome requirements which meant that I could not utilize them together in an effective manner. It went against my ideal of building up strength by gaining as many small advantages as possible.
Moreover, there was an old Chinese Saying: "Be afraid not of someone who knows many techniques (Qianzhao) but instead a man who pursues only one technique (Yizhao)".
The above saying became the mindset for the Spear God Li Shuwen regarding his martial arts. Rather than learning multiple forms and techniques, he chose to build on his fundamentals endlessly. In fact, when he was first learning the spear, he eschewed more advanced spear forms(or kata), going as far as to walk 18km each day while practicing simple one-arm thrusts with a large spear roughtly 12 to 16 feet long (about 5-6 metres long).
Well, the only offensive technique I had was Stored Power. Well, technically it was a damage amplifier that builds up over the course of a combo.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Actually, what was the effect again?
"Skill Window."
Stored Power:
Builds up energy from the power of your attacks, increasing damage as the number of blows in a sequence increases. You may then use the energy received to perform two skills - Power Blast: channels some of your stored power and fires it in a projectile. Power Wave: channels all of your stored power and fires it in a wave.
Beginner Level 2/50%: +2% damage every 3 hits, stacks up to 10 stages. You may consume 1 stage to perform Power Blast: 200% ranged damage to one target, 50% splash damage within a 1 metre radius; You may consume 10 stages to perform Power Wave: 250% per stage of stored power within a 5 metre AoE.
It wasn't a practical skill, but extra damage is always helpful, and the ability to provide ranged support is invaluable to my class who is otherwise confined to simplistic melee attacks. Most openings rarely leave space for that many hits, limiting it to about 5 or 6 at the most.
Why is it that most of my skills have troublesome requirements??
Oh well, I'll just train them over the course of battle.
For now, I decided to focus on raising the skill proficiency for Pole Weapon Mastery.
*******
The armory was abuzz with activity as blacksmiths from all walks of life and different levels of expertise bustled to and fro, some carrying crates of weaponry, others working on various projects. In one corner, one man slowly worked on decorating a weapon, carefully cutting jewels to fit into set locations on the knife. In another part of the armory, a sculptor was slowly and carefully engraving the guild emblem onto complete works.
"Oi, Lilee, hurry up with that order. We have other weapons to craft. The frontline group will be leaving soon, and they can use all the help they can get." the chief blacksmith called out to a young woman, an impatient look on his face. He was an old man with a bulky frame, his hair balding in stages.
"Yes, yes..." the woman named Lilee as she concentrated on creating the basic shape for a sword, beating at the heated slab of metal with her hammer and folding it several times to strengthen the blade. Her long grey hair was bound by the bandanna that she normal wore around her head, keeping her hair from getting into her eyes.
In case you haven't realized by now, the guild was currently in preparations for a war.
The ultimate goal of the game was to become Emperor, and players (and by extension, guilds) are able to conquer and develop tracts of territory, commanding entire forces of both NPCs and Player Characters in a bid to do so.
The Howling Tempest Guild, which Lilee was currently a member of, has recently set its sights on the East that had recently been of interest to many, and is currently preparing a mass expedition to explore the area. In order to do this, a great amount of preparations are clearly needed. In this case, resources have to be gathered, supplies stockpiled, manpower trained, troops armed and ready for the trip ahead.
Therefore, as of right now, in terms of scale, the armory was only a small portion of such preparation. Still, a little bit goes a long way.
And of course, Lilee was a small part of this herculean effort.
However, she wasn't entirely focused on her task. The usually rhythmic beat drummed out by the hammer was irregular as she simply just struck the metal thoughtlessly.
Simply put, she was distracted right now, her thoughts currently focused somewhere else.
"With that, I'm off to the East. I wonder when will I be able to play this game alongside him?"
********
"28 ... 29... 30... 31... 32..."
Each number was suffixed by a simple thrust, the master hand lashing out explosively and pushing the spear shaft to its maximum length, supported only at the end by the hands held close together. The spear shaft was then drawn back as I retracted into a relaxed state, the spear describing small circles as I did so.
It was a simple exercise taken from the Bajiquan (Eight Extremes Fist or Hakkyokuken) system. Normally it was also important to focus on core fundamentals such as the Horse Stance (Mabu), but at the moment I decided to work on just the spear techniques.
The greatest advantage of the spear was its immense reach, but it was tricky for most practitioners to make use of it, as it requires superb control and precision that only comes with years of training.
As such, most players would simply utilize simplistic smashing or slashing moves that focused more on the weight and angular momentum provided by the weapon and not the length of the weapon. In other words, the spear wasn't being maximized to its full potential through this approach. As a result, it wasn't too much of a surprise that the spear was not a commonly used weapon, being eschewed for swords or axes which are much easier to handle.
Recently, I had been researching spear techniques over the Internet to better bring out the use of my weapon, performing and testing out the basics with a long bamboo pole used to dry clothes.
It was quite the study. From Chinese Martial Arts to Greek Hoplite formations to the Macedonian Phalanx to even Irish Spear Fighting techniques, it seemed to me that the spear had wide spreading roots in History. It was a bit of surprise as to how come many RPGs do not go into greater depth regarding spear skills.
I continued attacking until I reached a hundred repetitions. The spear shaft weighed heavily on my hands, but it wasn't so bad considering the far shorter than average length of my weapon (about 2.5m as compared to the minimal 10 feet or about 3m).
Still, I had to wonder at myself, why all that effort over a game? Wasn't it a waste of time? Didn't you say that you would quit by the end of the month? Was it fine that you would just give up your much cherished philosophy like this?
Troubled thoughts flooded my brain as I practiced in the cool morning air, the turmoil hidden under a calm and composed facade.
********
"In the end, I am forced to strike out by myself huh?"
The child finally got up from the forest floor. His expression was unreadable as he slowly riffled through his options.
"I don't have a single copper on me... and I'm out of food. Should I just return home to Mama? Or should I press on and hope to strike lucky with something? Or should I retreat to an easier location to stockpile..."
The child slowly considered all this as he moved back and forth, his face starting to give off a serious expression.
Growl...
That serious expression soon gave way to embarrassment as his stomach growled, the piercing look replaced by a sheepish grin. It was a rather churning feeling; his stomach felt like empty and threatened to turn in upon itself.
"Ooooookaaaay... I should go get food first. It's a lot easier to think on a full stomach..."
Wise words considering his age. The child made to get up.
"I don't have the ability to cook any meat I hunt. It has always been Mister who does this..."
Of course, having been dependent on Howard for food these past few weeks, he was unable to cook. In fact, he had next to zero knowledge regarding surviving by himself out in the wild. He could only fight, and yet his sword skill being rudimentary and simply passed on from a person who was a novice at sword fighting in the first place.
In short, he was in a bit of a pinch.
"Ah, where do we start?"
As a result, options and circumstances having been largely considered, he was at a loss as to what to do. He could forage for food, but he would be unable to tell if anything he found is edible or otherwise. A vivid image of a certain little girl who traveled through a fantasy land chasing a rabbit soon flashed through his memory.
He could hunt animals for meat, but he was unable to cook. And raw meat didn't taste very good.
"ARRRGH!! I should just go ahead and do what I always did. If you are hungry, hunt, fight and kill until you no longer feel the feelings of hunger!"
Growl...
[Your satiety level is falling dangerously low.]
Ah right... He could die if he didn't get any food. The thought of spending a day outside in the cruel world was anathema to him.
"I'll just eat the first thing that looks like it could be eaten and go hunt for something a bit more filling."
He cast off in a circle, desperately searching for food. Fortunately, the forest was abundant, and he soon found something.
A toadstool about several inches in diameter, its cap a vivid red with orange spots with a long stalk. It grew in batches.
"Ah... I shouldn't really eat this." The image of that certain young girl was still on his mind as he took a look at the toadstool.
Bright color are also used in nature not only as a means of attracting a mate, but also serves as a means of warning. Poisonous animals tend to sport such colors as a warning - even if the predator still goes ahead and eats that animal, it will go through an unpleasant experience, and in the future associate the color with that unpleasant experience and avoid eating others of the same species.
It was a little something that he picked up at school which surprisingly turned out to be useful in such a situation. He had no idea if that applied to mushrooms and fungi, however.
At this point however, he decided to channel the adventurous spirit of that little girl, and damn the consequences. He will have to deal with them when the time comes.
Eyes shut tight as though believing that it would all be a dream when he opens them, as though defying the reality of the situation, he took a bite out of the toadstool.
It tasted weird in his mouth, a dry and meaty taste slowly flooding through the mouth as he chewed. Overall it didn't taste too bad.
"I could use a glass of lemonade with it though. Still, it would hurt to pick a few more, just in case." He opened his eyes.
And saw nothing but a sea of green before him.
"... Eh?"
*********
[Skill Proficiency of Pole Arm Mastery has increased by 2%.]
"Ah, so it increases by a higher margin if you practice more advanced skills after solidifying the basics."
I twisted the spear inwards as I drew in the spear shaft again. In theory, this movement (na) was used to completely block an attack. An outward spin (lan) is used to deflect the attack instead.
Rather than blocking the attack outright, it was sometimes more favorable to deflect an incoming attack. This can throw an opponent off their balance and you are put in a good position to initiate an attack.
I had used this method against the Kobold Chieftain, who was armed with a giant two-handed mace that was near impossible to block, stepping into his swings and deflecting the heavy weapon to force him into jarring positions.
At other times, however, blocking and parrying the skill outright was better against lighter attacks that had economy of movement and barely enough weight behind it. Same thing, but different application.
Following the deflect, I fired off a series of thrusts (zha), jabbing and drawing the spear shaft in rapid succession. I had gloves on to avoid splinters, and I was able to do this about 3 to 4 times in a row now. Each blow had only a small amount of power behind it, but it was aimed at different spots in the anatomy to chip away at defense or at least aimed to cripple. Or at least, it was how I visualized it.
Following this, I aimed a simple thrust at the head, committing weight and most of the arm behind the blow, lashing out in an explosive punch. The spear shaft was extended fully to its maximum range, held at the end by both hands cupped together.
Incidentally, it was said that Li Shuwen was able to kill flies by jabbing with the spear and not damage the wall behind it. That sort of thing was only possible with an insane amount of training. It probably wasn't true anyway.
"Young man, that there, that was a good attack."
"!!"
I turned my head in surprise, and saw an middle-aged man sitting there with a toothy grin on his face. He was surprisingly well muscled despite his advanced age...
Wait, how long has he been observing?
"Young man, you need to make sure that you are being accompanied when you are practicing. Your mind is occupied when you practice, and you become ignorant to the surroundings around you. I made enough noise to wake up a drunken man and you still didn't notice."
So that was why then... Hold on, did he just manage to read my thoughts?
"However, that was not important. You seemed really troubled. Penny for your thoughts?"
That man was really sharp. Is he psychic?
"No, your thoughts and emotions are plain on your face."
Was I really really that easy to read?
"Yes."
"Quit it, damn you!!"
"No."
"..."
Why do most of the people I have met up with so far have troublesome natures and attitudes?
**********
In a canyon to the east.
A random encounter was afoot.
A cyclops, easily 3 metres in height and only one eye, with a level of 250. At its current level, it was one of the weakest of its kind, but it is still a mighty beast.Like most its kind, it favored a giant tree trunk as a weapon of choice, swinging the giant weapon around wildly while roaring angrily.
"Gosh, he's mad. You definitely made him mad. What the heck did you do?"
The Blader, head covered by a cowl, grinned confidently as he unsheathed two daggers and wielded them in both hands.
"..."
The Gladiator didn't say anything, his would-be stoic expression covered by the mask that he favored so much. He was well-muscled, and had a frame comparable to that of the cyclops that now opposed the party. He held a trident in his left hand in a one handed grip.
"Hey man, now's a time to go wild. We haven't cut loose for a while now, my zither's becoming off-tune."
The bard carefully tuned his zither and strummed a few notes, nodding to himself in satisfaction. He ran his fingertips along the zither, and started playing a song, the tune a stirring oriental one.
Suddenly he just rammed his hands onto the strings, and a high pitched note interrupted the song, a shrill noise that interrupted the rustic note.
At the same time, a slash mark suddenly appeared on the cyclops' arm, causing it to draw back in shock.
Calmly, as if isolated from the violence that he was causing, the bard continued to play out the tune, interrupting the song with wild explosive high pitch notes. The notes was suffixed with a slash mark suddenly appearing on the cyclops, the powerful beast slowly being cut into ribbons.
Bladesong - Eye of the Storm*.
"Oi, oi, don't keep all that to yourself, let us join in the fun. Hank, if you will." The Blader dashed in, his daggers screaming for blood as it drew a silvery circle around him.
The Gladiator, now known as "Hank", nodded and took out a net from his belt. He flung it at the cyclops, arms expertly winding the net to ensure that it covered the cyclops thoroughly.
The cyclops, who was expecting something to finally smash to a pulp, was caught by surprise, and was covered completely by the net. Panicking, he dropped the tree trunk and attempted to use his brute strength to break free from the net, but his efforts only served to entangled the cyclops further.
The Gladiator held the net with both hands, unfazed by the struggling of the one-eyed beast. His arms were like iron as he restrained the cyclops with the net.
"Hehehe, nice one. Now leave it to your big brother here." The Blader, saying this, rushed into the midst of the raging storm that was the cyclops, currently under siege from hidden blades and entrapped by a net.
"Wild Wolves set upon the prey, attack and tear up flesh!! Feeding Frenzy!!"
His daggers were like a whirlwind, slashing and stabbing at any spot that they can reach, cutting and severing meat from flesh from bones. Blood poured from the cyclops wounds like rain, the blood only serving to incite greater bloodlust from the blader, his wild movements only becoming faster as he slowly reduced the packed wall of muscle into a bloodied and quivering thing on the floor. All this while, he took care to avoid the "blades" that the Bard was sending at the opponent.
He finished off the cyclops at the peak of this frenzied assault, blades carving deep cuts along the severely wounded midsection of the cyclops and causing guts and intestines to fall out.
The cyclops collapsed, signs of the gore disappearing quickly in a grey flash.
"WOOOOOOO!! THAT FELT GREAT. HI-FIVES ALL AROUND, MY FRIENDS."
The Blader spoke up excitedly, veins still pulsing from the kill. His cowl had fallen back, revealing a face that was heavily covered in blood and obscuring most of his features. He had a crazed look on his face.
"Really, now... What are we going to do with you... Perhaps a woman would soften that bloody streak of yours." The bard spoke up at the outburst, shaking his head at the violent image before him.
"Nay, never had a woman, probably never will. Come on now, Hank, back me up here, we both are two-of-a-kind, forever alone, you know?" the Blader looked hopefully at the Gladiator, "Hank".
"...."
"Hank" said nothing. He never did. He slowly packed up the net that once covered up the bloody mess that now disappeared, leaving behind loot and coins. He carefully scooped up the coins, storing it in a bag that hung by his belt. Deed done, he moved on, leaving the other two behind.
"Oi oi, wait up Hank!! What's the rush?"
The Blader sheathed his two daggers and ran after him, his childlike demeanor restored. Only the blood that caked his face and clothes were the only sign of the violence that he embodied. The Bard followed behind, sighing at the two misfits that he had picked up.
As a group, they were headed East, "Hank" leading the way.
*********************************
Author's notes:
*The eye of the storm is, simply put, the area of mostly calm weather in the midst of a particularly powerful tropical storm. You can pretty much guess the metaphor.
*Li Shuwen was one of the most famous practitioners of the Eight Extremes Fist (Bajiquan or Hakkyokuken), a chinese martial art that is distinguished by its powerful punches and elbow strikes, but also includes spear forms as part of its system as well. His most famous quote is "A second strike is useless, so long there is one it will suffice", as legend states that he was known for killing most of his opponents within a single blow.
**Combatante is French for "Fighter". Her preferred shortened name means "Aunt". Thanks to RandomLeech for pointing this out (I confess to not knowing the french meaning of the words when I wrote this, only choosing it because I liked the sound of it and it sounded rather feminine...).