As the rays of the new day's sun began to shine through the trees, the forest lay silent. No chirping of the birds nor the rustling of leaves as animals traverse through the bushes, nothing but dead silence, just like when a predator lurks through the shadows. Such comparison wasn't inaccurate for waiting behind the trees overlooking the clearing deep within the woods was a predator far more dangerous than the beasts, and worse, he's hungry for blood.
After relieving his excitement by tearing apart the fools who dared cross his path, Joe Nathan returned to watch the sparring matches from afar just in time to witness the young woman from the White Wolves defeat his weakling teammate with a marvelous move. It was almost instantaneous, but Joe's keen eyesight caught a glimpse of the woman 'jump' inside the shadow cast by that weakling Dom's outstretched foot before appearing from the shadow behind him. It was an almost instantaneous movement like that of the magic of some mages. While its use was somewhat restrictive, seems that it could only be used to traverse shadows, in the hands of an expert combatant, such mobility in addition to her precise and deadly attacks would be enough to give Joe a hard time.
A thought which puts a smile on Joe's face. It has been a while since he faced someone who could possible give him trouble. The thought of facing that fierce woman, chasing her down as she tries to maneuver around him, seeing the look in her eyes after realizing that whatever she does, it was all in vain, hear her cry in fear as he tore her body apart, then finally, the sight of the fear-stricken expression etched on her face as he plunges her own daggers in her chest and watches the life drains from her eyes.
Joe's blood sings as he barely kept himself from running off and slaughter more fools to calm himself, a choice that he was thankful he didn't choose to do for little he knew, the best show he has ever seen was about to come.
After that loser, Dom tried to strike down his prey, Joe almost jump in and tear that son of a bitch to pieces for his impudence, but before Joe could act, someone else sent took action. It was the unremarkable-looking man called Artreus. Joe knew his gut was right. This man, Artreus, was quite formidable. In just one attack, although it was hindered by some sort of invisible force which gave Dom enough time to put up a defense and block the attack instead of having his head kicked off his body, was still strong enough to send Dom skidding back.
Joe didn't know he could be more erect than he already is after witnessing what ensues after. Joe's heart was about to leap out of his chest as he watches the usually timid man turn into the embodiment of carnage. A man after his own heart, Artreus punished those foolish men that Joe calls his teammates for their arrogance, knocking off teeth, breaking bones, and showing them their place.
Which is under his foot.
Seeing how Artreus humiliate the two with cold fury, Joe barely kept himself from joining.
Joe couldn't believe his luck.
It was fate. After years of wandering, searching for a worthy opponent, Joe finally found him.
What's more, Joe could see that Artreus was still holding himself back. The man only used brute force, not showing even a single one of his cards. Who knew what skills, what techniques he would pull off.
Like a child unwrapping presents, Joe was full of glee with anticipation, excited about what Artreus is capable of, and how fun would their fight to the death would be.
Then, Joe was hit with melancholy as he realized that soon, this man would fall. Artreus' blood staining Joe's hands as he dies in his arms. Such was the fate of anyone that caught Joe's fancy.
Still, Joe would cherish their time together, how short it may be.
Alas, the show ended as the main actor fled from the stage, leaving his victims sprawled on the floor, their bodies broken, their pride in shambles.
Oh, how Joe wanted to chase after Artreus. To have their epic fight then and there. But the troublesome Guild Master seems to have sensed him even from afar, unleashing his energy to warn Joe to stay his hand.
Joe wasn't afraid of him. He was confident that he would come on top even if he faces the Guild Master with his troublesome ability. But Joe was the only one, and the Guild Master has people around him, attacking him would spell his absolute defeat, and Joe doesn't take chances that are against him, especially when he could just wait till his prey is alone before he strikes, and from what he could tell, Artreus often go deep into the woods just outside town with just the two brats and the redhaired woman to accompany him. If he uses the brats as hostages, it would be the best situation to force his prey to fight with all his might. He could even fight the woman alongside him as a bonus. Truly a great chance to sate his thirst for battle.
All that is left is for him is to wait.
And by the gods, to wait while those tasty morsels are just in front of him was torture.
Still, Joe endured.
Watching his prey run off straight towards the Inn, Joe was barely able to stop himself from sneaking inside Artreus' room and duke it out with him there. The temptation to sate his bloodlust was too much that Joe rushed towards the forest and stayed there for the night.
Killing pushovers wouldn't help him now. The only thing that would give Joe the satisfaction he needed is if and when he fought the one who stole his heart. So, to make their upcoming deathmatch even more memorable, Joe was adamant to abstain from killing anyone else. He would save his all so that he could pour it all on him on that fated moment.
Yes. He would endure so that the satisfaction when he finally plunges himself deep within his prey, would be the greatest. Just imagining how their fight would unfold and the many ways he would humiliate and destroy his fated opponent caused Joe's lower half to become so erect that it was unbearable. Still, he persisted knowing that every second of this torture would make the release even sweeter. Keeping that thought in mind to soothe himself through the night, Joe lies awake, cloaked in the darkness of the night, awaiting daybreak.
So he waited... And waited.... and waited...
Until the sun was already up and shining through the forest clearing.
It was then when Joe finally snapped.
"Where is he?!" He roared in frustration. While it was true that Joe didn't place much attention to the members of the White Wolves since the only one who he wanted to fight the most at that time was the White Wolf himself, but he could at least say that he had a small grasp of the characteristics of the people who piqued his interest, and from what he could tell after weeks of observing the two who were left in Mukala was that the unremarkable-looking man was a person who follows his daily routine like a man obsessed, every morning he goes here to probably train, every noon he goes to town for lunch, then he goes back to the forest clearing, only returning to town at afternoon to help people with mundane tasks before returning to the Sleeping Giant Inn at night. The woman on the other hand, other than accompanying Artreus throughout the day, often disappears at night.
The woman is not that important right now. All Joe want at this moment is to fight Artreus. For a man who sticks to his schedule, for him to yet arrive at this time of the day, something must have happened. But what could stop him from coming here? Could it be?
Joe, full of fury ran through the forest with all his might. The trees in the forest didn't slow him one bit, for like a snake, he slithered through the trees unimpeded, with only one thing on his mind. His idiot teammates must have done something to his prey. He knew those two... Even if they will do anything to get even with their opponent, even if they have to poison them, as long as they could strike back, they will do every vile and dirty trick in the book. Joe could only imagine what vile tricks they did to his prey. "Niel... Dom... You bastards. If you did something to my prey, I would kill you thousand times over!" Joe wasn't thinking straight at the moment, not realizing that his teammates would be unable to even land a strike against Artreus. His mind is only filled with the desire to fight.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Whether it is his fated opponent, Artreus, or his weaklings of teammates, someone will die today if only to keep Joe's sanity intact.
Joe covered one kilometer of distance to get out of the forest in just thirty seconds, then he avoided taking the bridge since the town guards that are posted there might try to stop him, which will sure irk Joe at his current state and he might slaughter them out of frustration. Something that he has to avoid at the moment, for he has a bigger fish to fry.
To avoid causing an uproar, Joe opted to jump across the river and over the town wall. Entering the town, he quickly rushed towards the inn where their group stays.
Bursting through the window of their room, he found his startled 'teammates'.
"Whoah! Why did you have to enter through the window, Joe? You almost gave me a heart attack. I thought that blood-thirsty savage has escaped and was here to finish the job." Niel let out a sigh of relief.
"Savage? Escape? What are you saying?" Joe was confused.
Dom was the one who answered him. "Didn't ye hear? That bastard, Artreus was caught by the town's guards fer murder." What? Artreus? That man was caught by mere town's guards? That should be impossible. With his strength, no mere warrior could even be a threat to him, unless it was a person of Joe's strength, the White Wolf, or the Guild Master himself which Artreus has faced in battle. How could he get himself restrained by weaklings? This makes no sense. While Joe was lost in thought, Dom continued. "I always knew that savage was no good. Hiding his evil nature by helping those filthy peasants while murdering the innocents out of the sight of the public. Anyways. It's good news fer us. Even if we do nothing, he would most likely be hanged by the end of the day after they find him guilty. We don't even have ta lift a finger to have our revenge. The heavens truly look after the just."
"No. That's not enough." Niel chimed in. "Him getting hanged by those loser guards will not sate me wrath."
"What are ye sayin, Niel?" Asked Dom.
"What I'm sayin is that we should be the ones ta whack him dead. ye hear? Maybe sneak up on him while he's in the slammer and shoot him full of bolts, or poison his food and watch him squirm as he dies. He must pay for what he did ta us." Niel smirked as he imagine all the tortures that he plans to put Artreus under. "With Joe with us, its sure ta work. Say Joe---" But as he turned towards Joe, Joe snapped his neck, instantly killing Niel.
"What! What are ye--- Urk!" As Dom was about to scream in terror, Joe's hand clamped his mouth shut.
"I have let you two run amok for the last time. It has been fun watching you two make fools of yourselves, thinking that you are strong when you're worth less than crap. Alas, you have reached the end of your usefulness. What's worse, you dare plan to lay a hand against the one I view as my prey? Unforgivable." Joe's grip tightens as he felt Dom's jawbones crack under pressure, causing the man unimaginable pain. "I've no more use of you two. Time to throw the trash away. But before I do..." With a smirk, Joe began to dismantle Dom. Tearing him Limb from limb, sating his built-up bloodlust. Once he was done, Joe cleansed himself and left the bloodstained room and went straight towards the Guard's headquarters if not just to watch them get crushed when his prey, Artreus, cut through them like a scythe against stalks of wheat.
There is no way that monster of a man, a born killer, would let himself get caught without a plan. Artreus must be thinking that it would be a pain to hunt that weakling down around town so he let himself get dragged to their headquarters so that he could deal with them all at once.
Yes. That should be it. That's what Joe would do, and Artreus was just like him so he must be planning something crazy.
Imagine his dismay when he arrived at the barracks and saw that there was no smell of blood, no broken walls and rubble-strewn about, no dead bodies lying on the floor with their face twisted in terror as they were being slaughtered by the man Joe deem as a mirror image of himself. No. There was none of that, instead, the place looks peaceful as ever with customary guards coming in and out either to man their post or to take a break from their work.
"What's going on here?" Joe exclaimed. No. Maybe the bastard was just biding his time, letting the weaklings think that they had him, then when they thought they have won... Bam! He will demolish them like the pieces of trash that they are. Yeah. That's right. After all, the feeling when you crush an arrogant person and seeing the look of disbelief on their faces as you end their miserable lives is the best.
Keeping that in mind, Joe crept towards the barracks where he could observe them while he himself is unseen.
Finding the best spot by melding with the crowd of people that formed by the peddler just a few meters away from the barracks, Joe watched in anticipation for when his prey would finally snap and destroy the weaklings who thought that they could bind them down, the strong.
But after a few minutes, nothing was happening. "What is he doing? He's just talking with him? Why doesn't he just slaughter them and escape? He's strong. Why is he just sitting there and letting them escort him behind bars? It doesn't make sense!" Joe grumbled.
"S-sir. May I ask if you could move away? Y-you're scaring the customers." The peddler asked him with a shaking voice.
Joe frowned internally, while he indeed forgot himself and let his bloodlust get the better of him, this weakling had the balls to request him of something. Still, he couldn't jeopardize his upcoming bout with his prey so he has to endure and stop himself from breaking the impudent wretch's neck. That could wait for later. But now, he must put on a mask. "Oh. I'm sorry, my good man. Lately, I am in a bad mood. I didn't mean to scare your customers. Here. For your troubles." He tossed a small pouch of gold towards the peddler.
After the peddler opened the pouch, his eyes widened. It was filled with at least twenty gold pieces, after all, something that will take the small-time peddler months if not a year to earn. "Oh, thank you, good sir. Please, stay here for a while. I will have my daughter fetch you some food and drinks." The man called for his daughter but Joe stopped him.
"While it would be my pleasure to partake in some food and drinks with you, I am about to meet a friend. If we meet again, then maybe I will take you on with your offer. But for now, it's farewell." Indeed, they will meet later, when Joe comes back for his coins and his life.
With that, Joe walked away until he was out of sight. Then he proceeded to search for where the guards have locked his prey in. After checking a few cells, he finally found him. Artreus was inside a reinforced steel prison, and upon touching one of the prison bars, Joe found out that it was rune crafted, with the steel absorbing mana upon touch. Indeed a prison cell made to keep in mages and augmenters who utilizes Mana.
Unfortunately for them, it's no obstacle for people who are physically gifted or Aura users. They could easily bend and break these bars with their bare hands.
Looking inside the cell, he found Artreus with his eyes closed. The bastard seems to be deep in meditation.
Is Joe correct? That Artreus is just biding his time, waiting for the chance to strike and humiliate these weaklings?
Unfortunately, Joe would never know, for upon seeing the one who caught his fancy, Joe was no longer able to hold himself back. He wanted to ask this bastard why he's not yet breaking out of the prison and heading to the forest clearing so that they can finally have the fight to the death that Joe has dreamed about for a day now.
So, to catch his prey's attention, Joe called out to him. "Hey there."
His prey then opened his eyes and stared at him with a questioning look. "Hello. You're Joe Nathan if I'm not mistaken."
"Correct. That I am. I'm glad that you know my name."
"Why wouldn't I? You're a member of those two blockheads who hurt my friend." The intense glare from Artreus almost made Joe want to fight him then and there. But he must stop himself. There are too many people here who might interrupt them. Their fight must be between just the two of them.
That means they must find an intimate place. A place where they could finally consummate their fated battle.
Breathing deeply to calm himself, Joe answered. "Indeed, I am a part of their group, but not once did I partook of said harassment of your party. Also, you no longer have to worry about those two. They would never bother you ever again."
"Why is that?"
"Let's just say I convinced them to leave you alone for good." Joe said with his customary smile. "Anyway, enough about those two. The reason I'm here is to ask why.
"Why what?"
"Why you haven't escaped yet. Don't tell me you can't? These bars wouldn't be able to hold you. Those guards can't even dream to stop you. So why stay here? Locked up like an animal for slaughter?"
"Indeed, escaping would be easy. But that would be counteractive to my goal."
"Oh? Could you enlighten me on what your goal is? That you had to demean yourself this much?" Here it comes. He is indeed planning on causing the greatest humiliation and destruction to those weaklings. Joe was eager to hear those words to come out of the one who he viewed as a mirror image of himself.
"You know, it's kind of weird that I am having a conversation with someone who is peeking from the window of my cell. But since you asked nicely, I think it would be rude of me if I don't answer." Artreus then paused before replying. "I'm here to clear my name."
What did he just say? "Clear your name? What do you mean?"
"If you didn't know, I was brought here under suspicion of murder. A crime of which I am innocent. I am staying here so that I could prove my innocence and clear my name."
"Why would you have to do that? You're an adventurer. The guild would vouch for you. Why demean yourself and let those weaklings decide your fate? You are strong enough to impose your will. Take it. Escape now, and let the Adventurer's Guild take care of it."
"You don't get it. If I escape, that is the same thing as admitting that I was guilty of the crime. Since I am innocent, what's left is just proving it and clear my name."
That doesn't make sense. He's supposed to be another version of Joe. Ruthless and domineering. Someone who takes what he wants and never lets weakling hold power over him. Why is clearing his name so important to him? Why does he even care what those sheep think? The strong make the rules, not the weak and powerless, their lot in life is to serve those who have the power to rule them.
This won't do. No... Joe must fix this. "Don't worry. I'll fix this problem for you. Just sit tight. It will be over in a minute." Joe stated before leaving immediately, not even bothering to hear Artreus' reply. Joe's mind is only fixed on one thing. He must have his prey. He doesn't care if he has to fight the whole town's guard for it.
Even if he becomes a wanted criminal here, he could just leave and go to another town. Who cares if those weaklings send people after him? He would just kill all of them if they come, and if the authorities somehow send someone strong, then it might even be worth it.
But that is for another day, for now, he has a job to do.
Joe was only a few meters away from the barracks' entrance when a group of people arrived. It was a group of three people. While one of them was clearly a pushover, and the other one looks like he could put up a decent fight, the old man behind them was undoubtedly strong. How strong, Joe couldn't be sure. It is not like the domineering presence of the White Wolf, or the suffocating presence of the Guild Master, no. Unlike them, this old man felt like a river, cool and calm, but at the same time, deep and dangerous.
Their eyes met and the old man spoke to him. "Why the serious look, young one? Do you have a business with the town's guards? If so, why not come along so that we could discuss it inside?" Then with a sharp glance, he continued. "This humble town of mine sure attracted many strong young people lately. I would be glad if I could have a nice conversation with young people like you. Maybe I could learn a thing or two."
The bastard! This old man is purposely letting his Aura slip out as if trying to entice Joe to charge at him. Wily old coot. While Joe would have wanted to accept the old man's invitation to fight, Joe was vastly outnumbered here, and with the old man staying in the barracks, it would be hard to break his prey out of jail.
Thus, Joe chose to withdraw without a word for now.
This town seems to be more fun than I thought. Joe thought as he added another target on his list of people he wants to fight. He couldn't afford to make trouble at the moment. For now, he will bide his time, and once he has a chance to fight even one of them alone, he will jump unto the opportunity.
For only the gods know how long he would be able to endure the heat that is coming up from his middle part.
For now, he must endure.