Chopeck was rosed from his slumber to an unusual sight that day, for his prison was opened before he had even opened his eyes. To the majestic Chopeck it was a bitter-sweet beginning, for now he would undoubtedly not have any chance to hone his kicks on the usual hairy-egg-thieves. There was a chance that it could’ve been the Large-Egg-Thief and he would’ve been suppressed, but he still preferred to know. It was unlikely he would still get to train when the sun dropped in the evening, for it was nearly always the Large-Egg-Thief that came to imprison him.

With an annoyed hiss he then got up before exiting his prison/home to beginning surveying his kingdom. He noted as he passed his wive’s sleeping quarters how some of them were still asleep but it was understandable considering how early it was. He left them alone for now, for he could check in on them later in the day to see if they wanted to mate.

Coming out into his grand domain he then noted how his other wives were playing about and seemingly ignoring the pile of food and squirming worms.

The greedy girls must’ve already had their share, he noted with a hiss of disdain. It was unbecoming for his subjects to eat before their rightful mate who was also the lord of the herd, but these thoughts were then quickly brushed aside as he rushed forwards as hunger overcame his internal monologue. For Chopeck had spotted a particularly plump worm trying to futilely squirm away into some clumps of grass. He sprinted forwards so fast that he was tiny black shadow along the ground before jumping into the sky and performing a double summersault. Then he landed with a heavy thud of his three-pronged feet just before the worm and cutting of its escape, Chopeck then lapped it up with his dexterous prehensile tongue before rushing off to help himself to more succulent worms and chewy seeds.

A couple of minutes later and the great Chopeck was satiated. He quickly rose to his full splendor and puffed out his quills before letting out a challenging slurp for the world. Finding no answer to his challenge he then settled down to enjoy another mundane day.

But the great Chopeck was feeling an itch, an itch to fight, an itch to put his own body through its paces and the itch of battle. He had never had a battle like the one he had recently with the green-egg-thief. Just recalling it still left him feeling exhilarated just to think of the joy he felt when he was beating the green beast with his mighty kicks and the euphoria that flushed through him after he won. The increase in power that he noted the following day was just the perfectly succulent worm to his meal for the Great Chopeck. It was because the Mighty Chopeck truly believed that he grew to conquer but he lived to rule, no matter if it were females or foes.

He went to check on a few of the females that were out and about, but none would have him as they played their usual games of being hard to get. So the Great Chopeck retired to his usual spot below the great tree as he waited for some foolish trespasser to enter his domain.

And hearing the jagged and weirdly low braying sounds of egg-thief calls on the horizon, Chopeck licked the air in anticipation.

For it looked like a fight was coming to challenge his supreme reign once again.

Let all the egg-thieves come, for I shall vanquish them all! he thought with a triumphant hissing war-cry. But his roar was cut short as he added, except the Big-Hairy-Egg-Thief of course.

….

The small troop arrived at the compound without a single word. The Deitric Thumpers were still heavily out of breath and now mightily confused as to the purpose of this training that lead them to this Chitpulka coop, but none of them said anything.

Timothy who was also still wary of the whole story of Dornmit’s defeat to a Chitpulka scanned the courtyard but was unable to ascertain anything that could have defeated his friend. He did note of the particularly big black Mood in the corner that was idling about. But to Timothy, it was impossible that the small domesticated Chitpulka could have bested his rival and friend when you consider the difference in size.

Casting a small sideways glance towards his Orc friend, he was shocked to see that Dornmit was starting to sweat nervously whilst starting to breath heavily as he kept his eyes on the Mood. What the Realms is that kind of reaction? Timothy thought in shock as he observed his friend.

Gazelle Direclaw on the other hand, had no misconceptions as to whether the Mood defeated her student or not. For she had felt it’s bloodlust before her and her trainees had even got close enough to see over the fence of the compound.

It was impressive for the Mood to even become an Elite monster in the first place, but being kept on the Ranch must’ve stifled its growth and affected its ability to hide its bloodlust properly…. What a shame, Gazelle thought as she observed the Mood as it pretended to ignore them and inspect some tufts of weeds. Well at least it’s pretending to be nonchalant about it… Oh. looks like this boy ain’t half bad? For to her side she had noticed that the young Badgian was also keeping his eyes trained on the Mood with a serious look on his face.

“What’s your name Badgian?” Gazelle ordered, but not too harshly.

The question was so abrupt that it actually surprised everybody, especially the Badgian in question.

“Stuart Fessel-Den a Swashbuckler… but why now Master Defender?“ asked the Badgian who had been referred to this whole time as “boy.”

“Your band fought an Elite before boy?” asked Gazelle as she ignored Stuart’s question.

“Umm.. yes we have, it was also just a bronze-ranked monster like that Chitpulka, but in our case it was a Spline Elite that was two man-spans long. But it also had this… this feel about it,” Stuart tried to explain as he went back to looking at the Mood. It was no wonder that the Orc boy had been defeated, because the Mood was actually a true Elite, he added to himself.

He wasn’t able to properly articulate how he knew, but he just knew that the unassuming Mood was really indeed a dangerous variant of its kind.

“Hmm… not bad kid for having the sense, at such a young age like that,” Gazelle praised the young Badgian and meant it, for being only at steel-ranked and having the ability to discern Elite monsters with just a glance was something that could only be earned through experience and not something that could be gained by levelling. It was even more impressive if you take into consideration that he had gained the ability after his band had only faced one Elite.

“NOW LISTEN UP EVERYONE! What you have over there is a genuine Elite Chitpulka… and what we will be using for our exercise today!” she announced before pointing a clawed finger at the black Mood that didn’t even flinched at her gesture.

At this announcement Timothy finally snapped out of it but was left in surprise before a feeling of excitement welled up inside the boy. For this here was a real training opportunity against a creature that was stronger and faster than he was, and he relished at the idea of sparring against such an uninhibited foe unlike his fellow recruits and guardsmen. Plus now was the opportunity to show his worth to his foster-mother and boss who’s family had took him in and trained him and asked nothing in return.

But even as excited as he felt, Timothy did not speak out of turn.

The Deitric Thumpers on the other hand start to break out into concerned whispers as they constantly casted worried glances at the creature. None of them had their weapons with Jexnog being the only one who could effectively fight without any, considering he was a Pugilist. But they themselves knew that they would fair badly even if fully equipped against a real Elite. The mutant Sewer-Crevetkor in their promotion quest was on the cusp of being an Elite and they were still nearly defeated by it after having prepared for the fight. So with the prospect of fighting a true Elite , even if it was a Chitpulka, they knew were definitely in trouble.

“I’m sorry but what do you wish for my band to do against such a creature?” asked Deitric with a wavering voice as the little blond halfling took a step towards the imposing Leonid. He knew that whatever kind of training she had planned for them couldn’t be good, so he at least he asked in the hopes that he and band-mates could prepare.

“Nothing,” purred back Gazelle as pretended to pick off a speck of dust from her amble bosom. The Leonid then smile down menacingly at the little scar-faced halfling before casually ignoring him and walking towards the gate.

As soon as she unlatched it, many of the people there noticed that the Mood was now paying the Leonid it’s fully attention as it stood up straight before walking slowly towards her.

It was slightly ridiculous to see a Mood squaring up the Master-Defender, but nobody made any comment.

Gazelle paid the Mood no heed as she casually strolled towards the centre of the courtyard with a few long easy strides.

“I don’t want you and your band to come in here, but I DO want you to come in here.. one at a time and try your best to hold on against this Elite,” she declared as she turned back to face her recruits and exposed her back to the approaching Mood.

…..

Chopeck did not care for this new interloper upon his kingdom. It was not one of the usual hairy-egg-thieves and therefore not under the protection of the Big-Hairy-Egg-Thief and therefore, worm-food in his opinion.

And if it wanted to brazenly walk in and turn its back to him? Then it was insulting his greatness and it made this fight easier than it had to be.

He quickly sprinted before twirling out his tongue and whipping it to the left. Then quickly whipping back the tongue and lashing it to his right he jumped into the air before pulling back his tongue into his mouth to build torque, he then began to spin through the air with his right leg cocked and his left leg tucked inside as he opened with a flashy and dangerous attack.

But as he swirled through the air and was about to collide against the new interloper, an impossible thing happened.

The enemy simple shouted out in its guttural egg-thief speak before an expanding wall of force, with the creature at the centre, pushed outwards and crashed into Chopeck. It nullified all of his inertia and actually pushed him back before he regained his balance mid-air and safely landed on his feet.

Chopeck now realised that this was another foe at the level of the Big-Hairy-Egg-Thief and one that was beyond him. He hissed in indignant fury as he clawed at the ground as he wondered what to do now.

…..

“Now I want you to come in here and fight this Mood in this circle I have created for you as long as possible, you will not be allowed to hit first and only defend or react to its attacks. If you were to beat the Mood then I ask of you to not harm it any more than you have too,” explained Gazelle after the casual use of her skill that repelled the sneak-attack from the Elite Chitpulka left everyone in shock.

“What happens if it beats us up? How do we get out?” asked the little Jex nervously.

“I shall be nearby to ensure that you do not come to too much harm,” replied Gazelle as she smile at the goblin youth warmly.

“What’s too much harm?” whispered a worried Jam from beside her brother who was now sweating under the predatory smile of the Master-levelled Leonid.

“I don’t know,” he squeezed out from the corner of his lips as he quickly turned back to answer her before turning back to smile nervously at the Leonid.

“Will we be allowed weapons?” Methilda grunted.

Timothy shared a quick knowing glance with Dornmit who replied with nothing but a tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth, for the pair knew that it wasn’t in their Master’s style to make life easy for anybody whenever training was involved.

“None whatsoever, this will be an exercise for the situations where you are left unarmed. And as to the Hebdican Pugilist of your band, he shall only fight with one hand… the left one, because he is right-handed,” answered Gazelle cheerfully as she squinted at the Hebdican boy quickly before she walked back towards them. The Leonid woman ony walked a few steps outside of the ring she had created with her skill before turning to present her side to both the recruits and the angry looking Mood.

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Jexnog who was thinking that he was going to fair the best in whatever came in the training, now was left blinking his four eyes in shock and swallowing a large gulp of saliva at the prospect of being resoundingly trounced by a Chitpulka with the imposed handicap.

“First up shall be Stuart the Swashbuckler, please put on a good showing to my two trainees along with the our new guests and display what a steel-ranked can do,” Gazelle announced in an imperative bark without any hint of irony or sarcasm in her voice. But her smiling eyes betrayed the malice and glee she harboured at the thought of what was in store for these young kids.

….

Chopeck braced himself with bated breath for whatever was to come. He was used to being suppressed by the usual Big-Hairy-Egg-Thief, but he would never be cowed before any other interloper no matter how much stronger than him they were. Plus the females have now been roused and started to circle the courtyard as they formed an audience to watch their leader, mate and protector in action. He cannot display weakness here!

He watched with anticipation as the unfathomably strong Danger-Thief continued to only stand there.

But then out of the baying pack that stood on the threshold to his domain, another Egg-thief had the audacity to trespass upon his home.

He knew that the odds were starting to stack against him as the stripy and squat Egg-thief strutted towards him.

The Great Chopeck watched warily even as his mind raced with all the possible moves he would need to perform if he were to emerge victorious against the constantly changing scenario that was pitted against him.

The stripey-egg-thief walked into the middle of the marking on the floor before it took a stance.

It turned to its side and braced its legs as it assumed an awkward stance. With just one of its upper-legs presented to Chopeck and with the other hidden behind its back as it began to hop from toe to toe in some ridiculous manner.

The creature then spoke in its harsh and guttural noises that Chopeck had never understood nor would he ever try to besmirch himself by trying to do so.

But he slurped out his tongue before hissing back as he accepted the challenge, for even if he didn’t understand egg-thief, he would be a damn hatchling if he ever were to mistaken the taunt that was being issued towards him for anything other than what it was.

If the Danger-Thief will only watch, then I will have no problems dispatching this unruly chick, he quickly thought before shooting forwards.

…

Stuart was able to gain a tiny sliver of confidence and false bravado after he had proudly declared his family name and issued a formal challenge to the Elite.

It also helped that by doing so, he had fulfilled the requirements for his skill InformalFoe that he had luckily unlocked when he had reached steel-ranked. With the skill providing him a tiny stat-boost buff as long as he was in singular combat with a foe that he had challenged, but by all means Stuart had no illusions about the inevitable outcome of this fight.

For he had no weapons and even if he did have a level advantage against the Elite, he knew that it would without a doubt be outclassing him in terms of pure stats. He only had his experience and skill to rely on, but Stuart knew that it was hardly going to matter when faced against a creature of pure natural instinct like the Elite that was about to resoundingly beat him. But he still had hope.

The menacing little creature hissed before streaming towards him in a unbelievable fast blur as it accelerated at speeds that was faster than his visual perception.

But Stuart was already prepared for it, as he quickly followed the small explosions in the sand that was the creature’s footsteps. Whilst behind him was a small chorus of gasping and exclamation that proved to be slightly distracting, no doubt coming from the Thumpers.

The second explosive step in the sand was already deviating towards his left and betraying the Elite’s direction, so Stuart leaned on his right foot before levering his body towards his left side and facing towards the oncoming attack. He was prepared and ready to launch a punch using his Riposte skill, which would surely catch the monster off-guard.

And sure enough, the monster appeared before him like nightmarish visage that had followed a blink akin to a shadowy imaginary night-terror to a fretful child trying to sleep.

But he was poised and ready to receive the first hit.

The first contact that came was an unbelievable kick to upper part of his left buckler-arm that felt like a sledgehammer to his muscles.

But Stuart had already tensed the muscles of that arm before even receiving the hit and exhaled sharply with an angry shout, which helped to negate the worst of the damage. Before his brain was able to fully register the pain from his left arm, his right arm was already snaking out with the explosive force of his skill in retaliation.

He attacked back with his riposte coming in the form of his stubby clenched fist punching back at the Elite with his forefinger and thumb in the lead. For he had riposted without his usual rapier and stupidly stricken back with skill and muscle memory as if he was still holding onto his trusty weapon, but Stuart had no time for frivolous thoughts at that very moment.

What he did notice and made him glad was the shock that registered in beady little eye of the creature before he was about to connect with his own hit.

But just as he was about to strike back a perfect counter-blow and return the force and speed of the creature back towards it two-fold, the Elite whipped out it’s tongue blindingly fast and used it to swat his outstretched wrist and pervert the course of his attack.

Then the Monster shot out it’s left foot and used it to push off the side of his overextended punch and used it to springboard itself away from him and to safety.

Stuart was flabbergasted, for his carefully planned opening riposte was countered by a Chitpulka and one that he had never even used the skill on before…

Then as the creature began to emit a loud hissing, it dawned on him with dread that he was about to get divinely fucked.

…..

Chopeck was feeling a rush like never before!

He had never expected an egg-thief to be able to reply to one of his attacks so fast!

And that return attack, it wasn’t just some form of clumsy counter-blow! It had to be an actual move considering how the egg-thief absorbed his hit and struck back at nearly the exact same moment! But wait…. what if he tried to do something similar? Obviously after baiting that move out first…. It did look slightly dangerous even to me, the mighty Chopeck…

As his mind raced in the heat of battle he still registered the fact that he had nearly been had, but to then still be able to emerge triumphant over his enemy with his blinding wit and ability was just simply exhilarating.

The creature’s retaliatory move was so wicked and shocking that Chopeck had to give it some measure of praise, for it was something that he wished he would’ve came up with himself.

But sadly for you Stripey-Egg-Thief, the little surprise move you had hidden up you’re quills had been foiled by the Great Chopeck, he mused imperiously to himself.

And even if this Great and Mighty lord shall show you respect and honour by taking your devious move as my own, this Mighty Chopeck will not show you mercy! He loudly declared with a couple of slurps.

Then after his internal monologue Chopeck couldn’t help himself as he released a loud hissing roar, for before him was an interloper that had showed him a new move and would enable him to reach new heights as he pummelled it!

……

The Elite shot off to the side as it began to circle around Stuart in short little hops.

It left the Badgian circling round and round as he wheeled about to keep from letting the Elite have access to his back, which would prove to be a dire mistake in any fight.

But the circling Chitpulka was slowly tightening the noose as it began to creep closer and hop faster and faster.

Then it dawned on Stuart that it was now toying with him, but he would rather be damned then dishonour his band and buckle in to fear here.

Especially in front of these rookies.

He knew that he was going to get hurt, but hopefully he wouldn’t be disabled or maimed with the Master-Defender watching over him.

With his resolve steeled, he gritted his teeth and released his own angry hiss before shutting his eyes and waiting.

For Stuart knew that he was going to be hit anyways, so there was no point shuffling about and trying to defend from the hit, because if this creature wanted to hit him from behind there wasn’t much he could do to stop it. So he instead put everything into concentrating on best senses that had always been his hearing and smell. It wasn’t as if he was able to follow the Elite with his eyes anyways. Now he only had to concentrate on doing what he did best, which was to wait for the strike and hope that he could reply with one of his own.

…..

Chopeck was confused, first the Stripey-Egg-Thief declared its own war-cry in some broken attempt at speaking his language and he was ready for it to perform some sort of futile berserk-move. But then the creature simply just stilled… as if it had given up and submitted to him.

But as Chopeck sprinted around the creature, he knew better than to foolishly strike straight away. For even if the creature seemed to have stopped struggling, the egg-thief’s stance still radiated danger to him. To him, the Stripey-Egg-Thief now felt more like a clawed-foot that was cocked and ready to strike out with a lethal kick.

Your struggles matter not to me foolish creature… for in the end you shall be defeated by my brawn and my genius that is beyond the mind of your kind, Chopeck thought smugly before kicking off the ground and changing his trajectory mid-sprint.

……

Faster than any of the observers save for Gazelle could see, the Elite Chitpulka shot along parallel to the ground like and arrow loosed from its bow. It sped at an angle directly towards the front outstretched foot of the Badgian who had his eyes shut. But instead of smashing into the stripey trainee the Elite shot past, but not before slapping onto the foot with an outstretched tongue.

The reaction from the Badgian with his eyes closed was immediate as he threw a right straight-punch downwards past his knee and slightly outwards towards where the creature would’ve been.

But the Chitpulka had changed its own course mid-flight with the use of its outstretched tongue and now flew closer to the Badgian and under the thrown punch before sailing past him and getting behind.

Then with it’s flight speed bleeding away and now traveling at an observable speed for watching bronze-rankers, the black Chitpulka then whirled mid-air before softly landing on its feet.

With utter shock and bated breath they then all watched as it quickly twisted its body towards its left and away from the Badgian’s exposed flank who was still stuck in the pose of his missed attack.

…..

Even with his eyes closed and with the Elite surely behind him and ready to give him an unbelievably horrid strike, Stuart Fessel-Den was not worried.

For he was currently focusing every part of his being into his Riposte skill that had already just misfired once again.

He already knew he was in deep shit since his first normal riposte didn’t work, but in the middle of this fight he wanted to try something that he had never been able to try in the heat of battle before.

Stuart was going to try and evolve his skill by using it consecutively and breaking the cooldown barrier!

And when the half-expected hit came to the back of his left shin, he followed the automatic explosion of his muscular fibres all over his body as he wheeled round with his right fist as if he were to use his rapier to slash behind him.

Everything was perfect; his secondary Riposte had fired off perfectly with the twist of his hips, the explosion of shoulders that travelled all the way down his arm as he spun in a half-turn with his feet sliding along the sandy dirt floor that cumulated into him smashing his fist into empty air.

….

Chopeck had once again used his tongue to lash out and probe the Stripey-Egg-Thief and when the feint attack connected, he then pushed off the creature using his tongue and a small backwards hop as the creature begun to spin back to attack him using it’s weird move.

Oh you foolish thing, even a fledgeling knows that it is better to hide your better kicks for later just like you do now, he thought smugly as he then crouched low to avoid the upper-legs of the creature that went swinging past overhead.

From his crouched position and before he jumped upwards with his his own counter-kick, Chopeck felt a new rush of energy surge through him.

The Great and Mighty Chopeck felt a rush of power like never before, like he was about to perform the best kick he had ever done in his life.

He knew it was a new move, but he was in too much of a battle-rush to think about it.

So he braced his feet and his thighs just a little more before he exploded upwards, but not directly at the surprised Egg-thief. For Chopeck sailed up beside and then past the surprised creature before he began to spin in a forwards summersault. The Great Chopeck was spinning madly and making the air whistle to the sound of his quills slicing through it even as he reached the summit of his upward arc, before gravity began to slowly send him back down towards the gaping Stripey-Egg-Thief.

Chopeck was spinning so fast couldn’t even see or judge if he was going to hit or not, he just knew it was going to work.

Then at the very last moment, an outstretched foot from the impossibly whirling Chitpulka slammed into the shoulder of the Stripey-Egg-Thief.

….

The force of the blow sent a resounding crack through the whole compound, with the audience gaping in shocked silence and causing even the Mithril-ranked Gazelle to whistle in admiration.

The female Combs who were now fully awake and crowding around the edges were all hissing and slurping in adoration at the display of their flock-leader even as he hopped off the shoulder of the interloper before making a soft landing a few paces away.

Meanwhile before he blanked out from the pain of his cracked shoulder, Stuart was only wondering in chagrin, how did he lose?

He was nearly as strong. He pushed himself beyond his limits. He even evolved his skill mid-battle.. and yet he had lost to this clearly dastardly and evil Chitpulka! Were his last thoughts when he had missed his second consecutive Riposte and then was forced to watch as the creature sailed in the air above and before him, he also knew he was defeated even before the creature landed its finisher and his brain shut down in shock.

Then the young brave Badgian man slumped downwards before collapsing into a heap towards the ground facing the audience at the fence. His pointed snout slammed into the ground first with a sickening crack that sent some small spittle of blood flying away before the rest of his face and body followed as he met the ground.

The steel-ranked adventurer then laid there with his tongue sticking out, his arms awkwardly below his prone body and a possibly broken collar-bone in a horrible tableau of defeat.

And as the shock started to wear off in the trainees only to be replaced by a cold fear, their instructor barked out, “Alright who’s next?!”

….

The Great Chopeck was just about to take a step forwards to end the miserable Stripey-Egg-Thief, for it was a worthy foe and one he could NOT afford to challenge him again.

But even he had to steel himself as the previously inactive Danger-Egg-Thief shouted out in its barbaric language which gripped him with surprise and fear.

The Great me shall shall wait and see what comes next, he thought as he slurped angrily at a complete victory denied.

….

“Me,” Timothy answered bravely as his hand shot up, for the young boy himself knew he was walking into a horrible fate.