Lamb and Epona looked at each other, momentarily confused.
“Sure go ahead,” Epona answered, motioning for the two newcomers to step inside the imaginary ring. Likewise, yellow subtitles appeared in-front of her waist, translating Epona’s speech from English to Modern Standard Arabic. She realized the fireflies that were always floating about were not actually fireflies, they were tiny language spirits, and they were the ones providing the subtitles. The language fairies were part of the magic of the land.
“Could we have a match against you?” Naseer clarified, nodding at Lamb.
“Go ahead,” Epona motioned towards Lamb, nodding, looking forward to spectating a bout.
“Chi’eng,” Lamb replied in Cantonese, motioning towards Epona instead. Subtitles appeared translating: “Go ahead.”
Epona was confused, “Me?” She asked.
“Today’s your last day.” Lamb declared, “She’s logging off tonight,” he announced to the group, “let’s show her a good fight!”
“Last day is it?” Nasser asked.
“Yeah, 5 days.” Epona explained.
Naseer drew a curved sword from his stealth.
“I see you two here all the time, I’m curious what you guys can do? Shall we have a practice match?”
Epona took a breath, psyching herself up, “We’re doing real combat simulation training, we fight all out, till one of us reaches half health.” She explained. Naseer nodded.
“I should warn you, I’ve hunted down several large beasts in the marshlands.” Naseer responded, after reading the subtitles.
“I’m not a monster, but I do bite.” Epona responded, taking a hunched low-stance. ‘My first real fight!’ She thought to herself nervously. She hoped she didn’t embarrass herself in front of all these spectators. Would Lamb want to leave their party once he realized what a dumb she was?
Naseer took a step back retreating as he slashed the air with his curved scimitar. A wind blade launched at Epona, it was taller than her, and left a large dusk trail as it shot at her. Epona barely managed to get out of the way, she was a little too slow, and the wind missile left a gaping wound in her foot. He drew first blood.
She recognized his scimitar, it was one of the default example weapons her game guide showed her during character creation. It was an elegant sword with a dangerous cutting edge and filled with wind magic. Wind along with illusion magic, were the two signature magical aspects of the Persian Empire. Due to the potency of wind and illusion magic in these lands, there were many available resources related to those magics hidden and scattered about the Persian Empire. Game guides were encouraged to subtlety incentivize Persian players to choose wind or illusion related powersets, in order to take advantage of said resources. Many game guides ignored the decree. Sure Epona and Lamb’s guide presented them with wind based weapons as examples, but Myrmex didn’t bother to push them.
Epona threw a couple blades at her opponent. They flew straight towards their mark, he swung creating a large wind vortex in front of him, deflecting her projectiles, ‘crap!’. He shot another wind blade at her, she defended with her blades, but her guard couldn’t stop the blade completely, leaving her slashed in several places. He retreated as he shot another one, Epona decided to change tactics and punched a qi blast at it instead, the two cancelled each other out.
‘She can do that too?!’ The shocked Naseer thought to himself in Farsi. ‘Did those two enter together and get the same powersets?’
Epona charged forward, Naseer had the range advantage, Epona needed to get up close and personal. Naseer shot another projectile which Epona managed to dodge this time. She threw another blade at him as she finally closed the gap. Her projectile was blown away with another defensive vortex, but it did it’s job distracting him.
Epona rushed in with twin blades, he slashed with his sword and their blades met. Epona was starting to get used to fighting Lamb, and compared to him— it was like Naseer was moving in slow motion. His slashes and swipes seemed way too wide and telegraphed; especially compared to Lamp’s subtle unpredictable movements.
Epona dodged and batted away most of Naseer’s attacks. However, though she was able to perceive them in time, her body was not fast enough to keep up with her fight senses; she needed to work on that. Naseer slashed her in the side then came down slashing at her chest.
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She was backing him into a corner, and he was getting tired, he needed to finish this quickly.
Epona brought both her blades up to block a fatal strike, she positioned the prongs just right and— snap! Naseer’s blade was trapped between her trident forks! Woohoo!
He tried to jerk his sword loose but it was stuck. Epona kept one sai attached to the sword, and brought up her right hand, switching to an ice pick grip, she stabbed Naseer in the shoulder, then she stabbed him again. She was close enough to hug him, she stabbed him in the chest, in the collar bone— she stabbed wherever she could find an opening, she kept stabbing until he eventually dropped to the ground.
The crowd erupted in applause!
“Now that was a fight!” Shouted Naseer’s large, imposing friend, flowing locks blowing in the wind. He stepped forward, brandishing a massive sword, its wide blade as long as he was tall, “The next fight shall be mine!”
“It would appear fighting monsters.. dose not always translate to fighting humans…” Naseer said as he finally managed to regain composure and pick himself up off the ground. “Thank you for the very good match.” He said, extending his scimitar towards Epona.
She returned the gesture, tapping his scimitar with her own blade, tinnggg.
“Well fought.” She said.
“My name is Naseer, it is a pleasure to meet blades. Let me buy you a drink!”
“I’m Epona and this is Lamp, I’ll take you up on your drink!”
“We’ll get drinks after my match,” Lamb replied, cracking his fingers. Watching Epona got him extra pumped to get in the ring.
“Come little blonde one,” Naseer’s large friend declared, “let us meet blade with.. um—… leg.”
“So be it!” Lamb answered, joining the large man. Suddenly, a large rusty pincer appeared on his shoulder. The metal was cold and smooth to the touch as he examined it with his hand.
“Hold on,” Jezebel said, with her machine-metal scorpion hand on his shoulder, “you guys just had a turn, before the two of you start mud wrestling, could the ladies get a match in first?”
The large man stepped aside, “I shall use this time to stretch.” He pulled Lamb into his big arms and pulled out a flasken of scented oil, “this good for your circulation, it very expensive.” Him and Naseer insisted on offering to strip him down for an oil message which Lamb politely tried to refused.
“Please it’s ok.. I already got two messages today” Lamb pleaded.
“Only two?!”
Jezebel just shook her head. Epona was disappointed, she kinda wanted to see the two large men on top of Lamb rubbing—- never mind…
“You and Nadia going to fight?” Epona asked gesturing to the two of them.
“No, no. My friend, she does not fight.” Jezebel replied, “You ninja girl, you and I fight.” She said, pointing her pincer towards Epona.
Jezebel wore a revealing Turkish bellydancer’s outfit, studded with shiny jewelry. The colourful clothe and rings accentuated her already curvaceous figure. She looked like she was ready to go on a stage, if not for her large mechanical scorpion arm. It was large and bulky, with bolts and metal parts running along it’s edges. It ended in a vicious looking scorpion stinger. The sharp metal tip oozed a mysterious liquid.
“In combat call me Jezebel. In play call me whatever you want.”
“In combat call me Epona. I don’t play.”
“You are not too tired from the man previous? If you are, I could dance with your friend, the little man, for a bit?” Jezebel proposed. Why were they calling Lamb ‘little man’? Sure he was a shorty pants, but he wasn’t that short. Everyone was a little man next to Naseer’s hulking friend.
“If you want to fight my friend, you’ll have to fight him for it,” Epona replied, tilting her head to the big man oiling himself.
“You’re cute.” Jezebel mused, licking the tip of her pincer with a hiss. It whipped out before Epona could react, almost cracking her on the head. The scorpion arm had a surprisingly long range (well over 2 meters - 7 feet) and whipped like a cobra.
Epona dashed to the side, Jezebel whipped again, Epona tried getting out of the way, but the stinger caught her in the thigh. ‘Again with the leg’. She dashed at Jezebel, but almost tripped on herself. Acid was burning her leg from where she was struck.
Jezebel attacked again, Epona lunged herself out of the way, her leg healed, but the phantom burning pain still remained. Jezebel took a big leap back and pointed her arm-stinger at Epona. KA-BANG! The stinger tip exploded and shot a spray of metal slugs at Epona. The blast nearly tore Epona’s face off. Epona was hurt, but she powered through. Apparently shotgun blasts was just something people walked off in this world.
Epona pointed both her blades at Jezebel and charged full speed, leaping into the air like a panther. Jezebel slashed from the side digging her pincer into the side of Epona’s back, missing her spine. Epona powered through the pain as bubbling hot acid seeped into her flesh. Epona grabbed her opponent’s stringer arm and stabbed it repeatedly 3 times before Jezebel managed to push her away.
Epona didn’t give her time to breathe, she grabbed her by the collar, pulled her in close, and started stabbing her in the back. Jezebel stabbed Epona back, but when she tried to attack, her scorpion arm felt flaccid and dull. Her stinger could barely penetrate the fabric of Epona’s leather armour.
Jezebel aimed and fired, the bullets came out as tiny floppy metal beads. They still burned Epona’s flesh, but she was able to brush these ones off with ease.
They tripped and fell to the ground. Epona got on top and turned her sai around in her hand. She started hammering down on Jezebel, striking with the side of the prongs. She stopped after 5 or 7 good hits. Epona stabbed her sai into where Jezebel’s mechanical arm connected with her body. Epona pried with her sai like a crowbar, then grabbed and pulled. With great effort, Epona tore the arm loose from Jezebel’s body. Blood and mechanical sparks shot everywhere. Epona held the arm in the air.
“Still think I’m cute?” Epona asked, spitting blood.
chapter end