Lucius burst out the door alongside Balos. They both had weapons in their hands, but Lucius still didn’t have a top on. If he was cut, there would be no stopping it.
They sprinted into the forest, where there was a cacophony of yelling, screaming, crashes, and the sound of metal hitting things. Lucius knew the situation wouldn't be pleasant.
They arrived at the source. It was pandemonium- there were people everywhere either attempting to run away or attack. Luna was already there, pushing the waves of people back, but even with her strength, she was getting pushed back. From what Lucius could see, there were people trying to get away from a scary looking mob with weapons of all kinds. Luna was pushing back the scary mob while letting the other people go.
Lucius felt a strange mixture of both fear and excitement. This was his first real battle; at this point, bloodshed was inevitable. It was kill or be killed.
Balos didn't hesitate. He jumped into the fray and heaved his sword, cleaving the enemies in two. He seemed strangely eager to get into the battle, and upon closer inspection, the people that were running seemed to be of the same race as him. The other people were humans and by the look of the armor, they weren't unarmed.
Lucius paused for a moment, then pressed both buttons on his blade simultaneously it became hot and cold and the top of the blade, which was heated, popped off.
He didn't jump in directly into the battle like Balos; he stayed near the side and back, using the elastically of the blade to pick off the people from a distance.
For some reason, he didn't feel much when he was killing. He never thought he was detached, but the fight with the Eloon seemed to numb everything.
The sharpness of the blade was unparalleled. It sheered through other weapons with ease and stabbed through their armor like it wasn't even there.
Lucius manipulated the trajectory of the blade to slice and stab things and when the blade returned, he somehow managed not to cut his hand off.
The battle was going fine until there was a sound of rustling behind him. There was a sound of a twig breaking and Lucius turned to see a human that had a sword in hand.
"What? A human that's working with these savages?" he asked, confused. Apparently, he was going to attack from behind, only to discover that Lucius was there.
The man grinned. "Here kid. How about we make a deal. You move over and I let you live. If you don't..." He toyed with his blade.
Lucius called back his blade and let it dangle to the side. "Come on, cornhusker," he said and started to spin the blade around into a deadly vortex.
"Alright kid, you get what you want." The man seemed a bit scared of Lucius's strange blade but didn't think much of it.
The man jumped at Lucius, but before he could land a hit, Lucius swung his sword at the man like a fishing rod. The sword slashed the man's cheek, but it was only a shallow cut. However, the fiery sword incinerated part of the man's mustache. It sailed past him and impaled itself in a tree. Small flames started to spread throughout the tree.
The enemy grinned and launched himself to Lucius and raised his sword. He brought the sword down, and Lucius was able to catch it on the sword he was holding. His movements were limited since the other end of the blade was lodged in a thick tree and didn't want to budge.
Lucius was hard pressed to defend and he could barely do it. The person he was fighting was a soldier that clearly got proper training- Lucius only could rely on what Balos taught him and his own instincts to survive.
The soldier planted his foot into Lucius's chest and kicked him, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him to the ground. He lay there, unmoving as his chest heaved to try to get the lost air. The soldier smiled a wicked smile and put his sword on Lucius's head.
"Bye bud," he said and raised the sword.
In one desperate attempt at life, Lucius did some breakdancing and raised his legs and smashed the soldier in his stomach, knocking him to the ground. He landed on his bottom and looked at Lucius, shocked. Lucius used this opportunity to put everything he had into one move- a 360.
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The sword was ripped out of the tree and spun like Lucius. The rope of the blade adjusted and when Lucius completed the circle, he let out a cry.
"Arggg!" Lucius swung the sword with all his might.
The extended blade of the sword cut through the man's head in two, instantly decapitating him.
Lucius stood there, shocked. He wasn't sure of what he did, but it was cool. But when he looked behind him, he saw the gored corpse of the soldier. When he looked at Balos and Luna, they were finishing up, and around their feet was a mountain of corpses that was littered all over the place.
He ran to the bush and vomited everything out of his stomach. It was a horrible sight, and Lucius knew he was guilty.
Luna patted his back. "First time killing someone of your own race?"
Lucius wiped his mouth with a leaf and threw it to the ground. "Yeah," he said and pressed both buttons on his sword. The blade returned to it's normal state and had no temperature madness.
"Did any escape?" he asked Luna and Balos. They nodded. "I don't think they really expected us to be here. We let the ones who ran away go," Luna said. She gazed around at the destruction. "I hate to see all of this. Staining this forest is the last thing I want to do."
"I guess we couldn't help it. They were going to wipe out over fifty people if we didn't intervene. Speaking of that, we should probably check up with the wolf tribe," Balos said and gestured into a cave, where the wolf-people lay hidden.
As they approached the cave, Lucius walked up next to Balos. "Don't the wolf-people have some way to fight?" In his world, the wolves were vicious when it came to fights.
Balos nodded. "I'm not sure what happened. Normally, a tribe of fifty wolf-men should be able to push that wave back. But for some reason, they ran around like a chicken with its head cut off," Balos said in distaste. "Whos knows what caused that madness."
They entered the cave and waited as their eyes adjusted to the dim light. They walked deeper and deeper until it was nearly impossible to see. Balos didn't seem to have a problem.
"Hey Lucius?" Luna said through the darkness.
"Hm?"
"Try charging up your weapon. It might give us light."
Lucius fumbled for the sword on his back and pressed on of the buttons. The sword slowly started to glow with a red and blue light that dimly illuminated the cave.
Luna and Lucius grinned. Apparently, the sword could do a lot more than just cut things in two.
Soon, the trio arrived at an opening in the cave. There was the entire pack of wolf-people, all huddled and scared. The light from Lucius's sword seemed to reflect off their eyes and make them glow.
They all looked from Luna to Lucius, but when they settled their eyes on Balos, there was an uproar.
"Balos! Is that really you?" Basically, everyone screamed at Balos. It was all increased ten-fold as the sound echoed in the cave, scaring every living organism. Including Lucius.
Balos quickly handled the uproar. "Yes, it is me. But can you guys quiet down? I need the details. What, happened?" He emphasized his last words.
One wolf stepped up. "We were attacked by humans. It was a massacre. They killed everyone that they could get their hands on," he wept.
"Tell me. How did this happen?"
The wolf-man gathered himself. Sniffling, he said, "They threw a bunch of light crystals with small explosives on them right into the middle of town, where the most people were. When they all blew up, we were all blinded. Then, there was the sound of many people screaming and the sound of running from every direction," he closed his eyes. He paused, then continued. "There were three hundred people living in that town. And only about fifty people survived."
A long silence followed. Lucius was taken back. They killed over two-hundred people! What are they even thinking?!
Then Balos walked up to Lucius. "Can the house contain over fifty people?"
Lucius shook his head. "No, but... are you planning to find a way to house them?"
Balos nodded solemnly. "That is the only way they can survive at this point." Then he scratched his chin. "How fast can you build... forty houses?"
Lucius thought for a moment. "Hm... well... how strong are wolf-people? Are they as strong as you?"
"Wolf-people are strong- we are one of the strongest races to live. If, let's say, forty people helped, we could build a house in about twenty minutes."
"What happens if we divide the work up? Maybe half of the group could go gather wood along with Luna, and you and I could be in charge of building and planning. How long would you think it would take?"
Balos paused, thinking. Then he finally said, "We could do it in about five hours or so."
Lucius grinned. "Alright, let's do it." Balos also grinned and prepared to tell the rest of the tribe the good news. But before he did that, Lucius stopped him.
"Do you have control over them?" Lucius asked, unsure. Balos nodded and Lucius released a breath.
"I rightfully should be their leader, but I left. They should treat me like a leader still."
Lucius smiled. "Let's get going!"