By the time that he had reached the gate, he saw a large procession of people making their way there. Sam knew what was coming, and had no way to avoid it. Waiting in front of the gate were five of his captains, the ones with the greatest combat power. Eduardo, Lao, the Bear, Solitaire and Jeffrey. Standing next to them was Rax, whose tongue lolled out of his mouth excitedly. All of the five captains were carrying their own packs, and they looked resolute as they stood there, armored in George’s finest work. They all saluted Sam, and he saluted them back. The gate started to open with a creaking nose, and Sam turned around to the waiting crowd.
“We have defeated all threats that have come our way! We have defended our city from evil, and rose out of the struggle stronger than ever before. Now, my strongest compatriots and I will leave our city on a search for the Seven Seals, the most powerful weapons on Earth. When we return, for we will return, our position as the strongest faction on the planet will be cemented and our future shall become ever brighter. Farewell, my friends, for we march to our destiny!”
The crowd cheered, and Sam turned around, walking out the door without a single backwards glance. The captains and Rax followed him, and they passed through the shield without issue. It was keyed to the mana signature of those whose mana was being used to power it, meaning that any citizen of the city could pass through it. As soon as they were out of earshot of the citizens, Eduardo chuckled lightly.
“It seems as if you are getting better and better at inspiring speeches, Sam. You are far from the man that I met during the tournament.”
“Well, we are all quite different from the people who we were before the System came. I was a deadbeat working at a diner in the middle of America, for crying out loud. This new world may be a brutal and cruel place but it certainly reversed our fortunes,” Sam said, smiling.
Next to him, Solitaire and the Bear cleared their throats suddenly, both looking at one another in surprise. The Bear spoke first.
“I suppose it is time for you to all learn about my past. In any case, it will pass the time as we walk. I was not what you might consider a good man. My real name is Pyotr Nikolevich, and I grew up in poverty on the streets of Moscow, living day by day on whatever I could scrounge up. As I grew older, I drifted into organized crime, eventually forming my own gang. By that point, I was feared among the criminal underworld of the city, and they had a special name for me, based on my appearance. Belyy Medved. The White Bear.” Pyotr paused, and fidgeted with a tassel on his armor that was designed to allow it to expand when he used his signature earth armor ability. “When the System came, I was 27 years old, and a mafia boss. Imagine that. My subordinates died in the first minutes, swarmed by gremlins, but I survived. My friends died around me as I mowed down gremlins with a machine gun. Soon they came in overwhelming numbers, and I was forced to flee. Until the tournament, I was living on my own, eking out a living in the outskirts of the city, and gathering power so that I might one day get revenge on those who killed my friends.” The man flicked a massive hand up to his eyes, brushing at something small and glistening, that nobody tried to distinguish, out of respect for the man. His face was stony, but Sam could sense the anguish buried deep under the craggy visage. He stopped talking and kept on walking, not making eye contact with anyone else. Sam knew that any words of consolation now would not go down well, so he kept his silence until Solitaire filled the gap with his own story.
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“Ahem,” the man began as he started to take off his mask. “If this is to be realistic, then I will entrust you all with my true appearance.” Everyone looked over as the man exposed his face. He was hideously scarred, his dark brown skin lined with the remnants of injuries that the System had not bothered to heal. However, traces of a handsome man remained beneath that, and his deep brown eyes, almost black, twinkled with a deep seated kindness. “I am Addas Abadi, and ten years ago, I earned these scars. Not through hardship, through war, or though heroism, but through pure stupidity. I was a card shark, frequenting the various casinos of Monte Cristo, making sure to always take just enough to live comfortably, but not enough to become well known. However, there are only so many casinos in that city, and eventually I was found. That particular casino, the name of which I don't remember, was run by a branch of the Italian mafia, and they did not take kindly to me stealing their money. They gave me these scars as a reminder to never darken their doorstep again, and as a means of making sure that I would never gamble again. You see, a man of my appearance would draw attention, no matter whether I was cheating or not. I spiraled into homelessness, eventually being forced out of the city. No wealthy tourist wants to see a destitute man on the streets of their idyllic vacation spot, and a scarred one even less at that. When the System came, I developed an affinity for the element of Fate, and specifically a set of abilities that revolved around symbolic manipulations of causality, which manifest themselves as tarot cards.” The man snapped his fingers, creating a small ring of cards around his index finger, before banishing them. “Still, I made my way to the top through my skills, and now I am a member of the greatest faction on Earth. What more can a retired cheater ask for?”
“Damn, you humans really have some sorry backstories. What is up with your planet? It’s more depressing than the stories of a prostitute looking for a tip.” Jeffrey asked, chiming in for the first time.
“Well, you grew up in a palace, did you not?” Lao said, looking over at the man. “And one in System registered space as well. I would say that your upbringing was far more luxurious than even the richest of people on Earth could ever have dreamed of.”
“Alright. Point taken. Sorry about that. But still, I do feel a bit sorry for you lot. However you seem to really be taking that old saying of yours to heart, and are seizing the day.”
The others nodded contemplatively, not really wanting to talk anymore. Deep secrets and hidden truths had been revealed, and they simply walked for a while before they spoke again.