The tone hadn’t finished when the first attack came. Evidently the disguise failed or perhaps he was stalked and was to distracted to notice. In any case the knife now gunning for his back called for a quick reaction. A snap of his fingers and the attacker was blown back. He kept the blast weak, only knocking the dog man out, thought the idea of simply killing him crossed his mind.

The one saving graze was there would be no death, as anyone who crossed that line would be disqualified. An outcome that most didn’t want. So, Jackson had thought about simply killing the first fool to strike at him. That would end the farse easily, but Jackson was not a heartless killer. Yes, he had killed many times in the past, but he did not seek out victims nor take any joy from the act. His greatest regret after all was his first murder, which was in self-defense.

But Jackson had acted on reflex and now regretted this decision. Even if people didn’t know him, as most didn’t, a massive bang in a relatively peaceful city would draw attention. Jackson could already hear the sound of charging footsteps.

His neck victim was a young cat man wielding a broom. Taking his trusted dagger, Jackson disarmed the youth before punching his lights out. While retreating, the sister of the latest attacker now struck a wooden sword while a snake man friend tried to pin Jackson’s movements. Amateurs, Jackson thought as he escaped the coiling serpent.

“Sleep!”

On his order, the sister struggled to remain awake before ultimately falling to the ground. The serpent fell a top her a moment later, cursing him. But this victory was short lived as a human guard struck from Jackson’s blind spot. Quickly enacting a shield, Jackson then followed with a controlled explosion to the guard’s stomach. He used the slight pause in action to begin his retreat and the chase began.

The fights were not solely focused on Jackson. Throughout the town, suiters attacked one another along with people using the game as an excuse to get even with their neighbors and rivals. A state of anarchy and chaos was sweeping the city.

As the bells rang, Joseph found himself parrying attacks from three empire guards. They struck quickly with their lances but were not surprise when their blades were blocked. Instead they smiled.

“Sorry Master Hero, please don’t take this the wrong way but the prize is too tempting.”

One of the guards bowed his head as he explained himself.

“I don’t much care for the prize if I’m honest, I’ve just always wanted the excuse to test myself against you.”

Another admitted, blushing slightly as he readied his weapon. The third didn’t speak, looking slightly pained as he struggled with his decision. His stance was weak, and anyone could tell his heart was not in the fight.

“I understand. But you could have asked me to a duel, I would have said yes.”

Joseph joked, giving them a weak smile as he readied his unique golden blade. Franklin and Ms. Jinx stepped back, knowing Joseph would not struggle in this fight. Carley and Alice both cheered Joseph on as he knocked all three guards to the floor with a single, powerful strike that shook the room. Accepting their defeat, the guards bowed their heads.

“Not bad for an amateur.”

A mocking tone made the hero freeze. He turned slowly to see Thomas and Daniel standing there. Thomas as a crimson double-edged sword with a thin blade while Daniel held a sword staff with a glowing blue blade.

Joseph didn’t speak, instead he readied his blade at the pair. Thomas jumped down and took a high guard position. Compared to the hastily learned one that Joseph was holding, Thomas was clearly on a different level.

“Let’s see what the Kingdom’s hero can do?”

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Thomas struck quickly, stepping in and forcing Joseph to block. The power of the strike nearly ripped the golden sword from his grip. Thomas quickly moved into another strike, then a third. Joseph blocked each, trying to learn the movements and patterns Thomas preferred. He’d need to take it slow and stay on the defensive. Both the twins were expert duelist back home, partaking in competitions and shows. From what Joseph knew, they were quite famous in the dueling community, even being hired for a couple of films to choregraph fight scenes.

Daniel yarned, expressing his boredom with the affair. Franklin readied his axe, keeping his guard raised.

“What?”

Daniel asked, giving him a simple look.

“Aren’t we going to fight?”

“Why? The day is young and there will be many battles ahead.”

Franklin lowered his weapon slightly, wondering if Daniel would strike out at him. Daniel however continued to watch his brother with boredom.

Joseph made his opening when he pushed Thomas’s sword away and moved in for a thrust. Thomas back stepped and managed to get his sword back in position for a block.

“Not bad, for an amateur. In a few years you might be a challenge.”

Joseph could only growl in frustration. The advantage of being a hero was that you got heightened strength, speed and endurance. A hard task for a normal person could be done with ease by someone with the hero blessing. But when comes to rely on that advantage a lot. Joseph thought he’d overcome that failing but evidently, he had not. He thought of himself almost as a master of his sword, someone above the average person in skill. But now he was faced with someone with the same advantage, to an extent, who was far superior.

“When I get my hands on that little girl…”

Angela was fuming. Gypsy wasn’t much happier. Since hiding Barbara, the question of why had been floating around in their minds. Why Jackson? How did they even know each other? Jackson would have a lot to answer for when they found him. Luckily, their search was being made easy by several explosions in the distance.

As Angela sprinted around the corner, she ran head first into someone with white hair wearing a red cloak who’s only response was to scream. They toppled to the floor, rolling several feet and both were stunned for a long moment.

“You dead?”

Gypsy joked as she moved to help Angela up. Gypsy then had to stop her from stomping the boy’s face in.

“Watch where you’re going!”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I was in a rush.”

“So are we, let’s get a move on before Jackson gets killed.”

Gypsy didn’t care about Angela’s hurt pride nor did she like having some random boy on his hands and knees apologizing with tears in his eyes. They had greater concerns. But the boy then spoke again.

“Jackson? As in Jackson Ripper, my master?”

““You what?””

Angela and Gypsy both paused at the boy’s statement.

“My master, my teacher. He’s going to teach me some of his amazing magic.”

“When did this happen?”

Angela screamed, grabbing the boy by his neck and pinning him to the wall.

“Right after he saved me and some pups from a group of human haters yesterday.”

“Did you say anything to you about this?”

Angela asked Gypsy who shook her head.

“Not a word. Who are you anyway, aren’t you a Republic hero?”

“I’m Edward, and yes I’m a hero of the Republic. I was running towards the explosions hoping to help my master. I don’t know why Luna would do this. It makes no sense. She doesn’t even like Jackson.”

“Wait, wait, wait, go back to the beginning.”

Gypsy moved Angela back as Edward explained the events of yesterday.

Jackson was sprinting away from a small mob, using a mixture of magic and a rough idea of the area in order to stay a head of them. Knocking over a stand before quickly diving down a random ally, activating a shield to block the path before diving onto another grid like street only to put yet another shield up as a new challenger emerged. A human man with a long brown beard. Dressed like a merchant, he swung a dull blade at Jackson.

Jackson easily parried him, pushing him back before break from the fray just as the mob caught up. Another quick parry, a sidestep mixed with a little twirl to get around a blocker before snapping his fingers and knocking several pursuers to the floor. Several spells raced past him as he dived for cover and a moment to breath. His lungs and leg hurt, his arm was tired, and he was dripping with sweat even in the cold night’s air.

Another shield and he was off again. More explosion, Jackson hoped he didn’t over do it as he tried to delay them. He sprinted passed a large lion man who was strangling a humanoid rabbit while guards tried to pull him off. This was common, even though it had only been thirty minutes. This little game had created a riot, Jackson thought as he jumped over a human and a cat person fighting on the floor. Windows were being smashed in and looters took the chance to make off with random items while the owners chased them down with mostly blunt weapons.

“Stupid little girl.”

Jackson let his frustrations out as he ran down another ally. Finally putting some room between him and the mob, Jackson recreated his disguise and throw his hood over his face, pulling it low as he hurried away. He needed a place to hide and only one place felt safe. He’d just need to take his time getting there.