They continued fighting each other for a long time. They couldn't get tired or run of stamina in Origin, so they could keep going back to back without taking a break. They eventually got bored of using the same weapons, so they decided to thoroughly use one before moving on.
Sam was currently in full iron armor. It was a similar design to what a knight would wear in the early 16th century. His face guard was pulled down, and his vision was limited by it. In his hands, was a long crusader's sword and a wooden shield fitted to his left hand.
Xander, who stood on the opposite of Sam, was in the same clothes that he came in with. In his hands were two long war hammers. They ended up pushing a lot of the clutter away for them to have more space.
Sam started to walked towards Xander. Because he was wearing all of the armor, he could barely move forward much less run. In most of the battles, Sam was usually the aggressor, and Xander responded. There was some time where Xander just started running at Sam, but those times were rare.
After the first few rounds, they started to keep count of who won. They generally counted an injury that could kill someone as a loss. They did have to argue a few times because of this. For example, Sam was shot in his right lung, and he claimed that he would still be left alive if he could stop the bleeding. Xander didn't share Sam's sentiment and argued that they would bleed out anyway. In the end, they decided to not count injuries like that, and they agreed that they would keep going if they did come up.
At first, they tried not to injure each other, but they eventually got numb to the pain. After feeling so much pain and then having it disappear, made them start to zone it out. They could still feel every single thing that happened to their bodies but they were able to prevent it from affecting their thinking.
After they switched weapons a few times, skills were thrown out the window. Instead, they focused on speed and strength. If they could get to their opponents before they were able to defend, it didn't matter how they swung their swords.
As they fought each other more and more, they began to get a better understanding of their power. Before they began, there was always a small pause before their strength came in, but now that pause was no longer there. They also noticed that their power only affected one part of their body at a time. If they swung two blades, the one that got the power was usually the stronger hand.
Sam held up his sword over his head. Xander wasn't within range yet, but as soon as he was, Sam would swing down. Xander just stayed where he was and just watched Sam. The weapons he chose were specially picked to go through Sam's armor. War hammers were meant to put holes in armor.
Sam continued to walk forward and swung his sword just when Xander was close enough. Xander saw this coming and moved to the side. When Sam was still completing his swing, Xander took a few steps forward and swung his war hammers arming towards Sam's heart.
The two weapons make a "thump" as they hit Sam's shield. They left a deep scratch on it, but it wasn't permanent. It will only take a few moments for the shield to go back to the way it was. Xander, predicting the incoming sword, ducked down. Just a second later, Sam's sword flew to where Xander's neck just was.
Sam searched around, trying to locate Xander. His vision was terrible with the helmet, but he didn't have a choice but to wear it. Just the round before, Xander managed to win by throwing his war hammer straight at Sam's face. He looked around, but he was unable to find Xander. Sam took a guess that Xander was directly behind him. He quickly brought his shield over his head and hear the sound of something very hard-hitting it.
'I'm definitely losing the armor for next round,' Sam thought to himself as he tried to turn around. He felt something sweeping his legs, and he lost his balance. With nothing to help regain his balance, Sam fell backward onto his back. He clenched his teeth and braced himself. But nothing came.
Xander stood to Sam's side and looked down at Sam. He could tell how heavy that armor was, and he knew that Sam definitely couldn't get back up. He watched as Sam tried to get himself off of the ground. After a few moments, Sam gave up.
Sam sighed and said, "Fine, I surrender. Is that good enough for you? Now help me up."
"That's 23 to 17," said Xander with a grin. He bent down and helped Sam get up. "One more?" he asked.
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Once Sam was up, he took off his helmet. "Nah, I give up. I'm getting clapped," said Sam. It was getting harder and harder for him to win. In the beginning, he was the one that was winning more, but as time went on Xander got better and better. Even when they changed weapons, Xander continued to be better than him.
They put their weapons back, and Sam took off his armor. They went back to the elevator and pushed a button. After a few seconds, the elevator dinged open. When inside, Sam pushed on the highest floor, floor 90. The elevator closed its door and started to move up. Soft elevator music played in the background as they moved up. When the elevator opened, they found themselves in a familiar room. The room in front of them was the same as the one in the library with the large rock in the center.
They walked forward and touched the stone. As soon as they made contact, they were gone.
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Laina heard the sound of footsteps, and her head snapped towards that direction. She was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed. Stratus was walking around the area, sniffing and touching random things. The sun had set, and she started a small fire in front of her. Since she was pretty close to a village, she wasn't too worried about any bandits or thieves.
She started to feel nervous and started to get up in case she needed to run. Then she saw Xander stepping past a tree and started to calm down. Stratus was already in his arms. He walked over and sat beside Laina.
"What took you so long?" asked Laina. She had been starting to get worried when they didn't return for so long.
"Sorry about that. We kinda lost track of time," replied Xander as he petted Stratus. After a minute or two Sam walked in as well.
They started to cook their dinners and talked while they waited.
"How many more villages before we reach Carthage?" asked Sam.
"If I remember correctly, two," replied Laina.
Sam nodded his head and thought for a few moments. "So three more days of walking, then we reach our destination. I guess now is a good time to start coming up with a plan." He paused, trying to thinking of a good plan. "I guess the city is going to be populated enough that we don't have to worry that anyone will recognize us. We should gather information first. Then we can use the information that we have to figure out a way to take over Carthage, one way or another."
"Take over Carthage?" asked Laina.
"I don't want to become a dictator," said Xander.
Sam sighed and said, "I guess it's time to explain everything to you, Laina, and Xander, we wouldn't be a dictator, instead it will be an oligarchy. Okay, Laina, listen to me carefully, me and Xander are Warlords. We came here from a different world. As Warlords, we need to be able to command armies in order for us to survive. If we die, this world ends. Period. Is that clear?" asked Sam.
Laina had trouble understanding everything. She was especially confused about the words Warlord and world ends. "Not really," she replied. Xander, who was beside her was confused as well since he never heard his before.
"Fine, I'll start from the beginning again. Me and Xander used to live in a world called Earth. There were all sorts of cool things over there, like phones, airplanes, and donuts. But suddenly one day we used to appear in this city called Origin. The second that we moved from Earth to Origin, this place was created. While we learned what was what in Origin, this place was moving at a quickened pace. The speed is different for each world. When we stepped into this for the first time, the world consolidated and slowed down. It matches the time flow with Origin. Now, when both me and Xander die, this world will lose its connection to Origin. Slowly pieces of this world will fall apart until there is nothing left," Sam explained slowly, stressing each word.
"But we can't live forever. So does that mean that eventually this world will be gone?" Xander said in a said voice.
"Not quite," Sam sighed, thinking back to what he read a few days ago. "There is something that will happen far, far into the future, if we live long enough until then. Wow, the mood got real dark there. Moving on, the book I read vaguely mentioned some sort of higher being that set all of this up. I guess he is the closest thing to God." Sam looked up at the stars in the night sky. "Can't say that I am a huge fan."
They ate in silence, each one of them thinking about their own things. With a lot of each of their minds, they went to bed.
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They woke up the next morning and continued their journey. It seemed like Laina believed Sam for now. They make their way to the next village and a day later, the next one that followed. As they got closer to Carthage, they were seeing more and more people in the villages as well as the paths. Xander had to a lot of time with Stratus tucked under his shirt.
When they reached the last village, they started to smell the salt from the ocean. The smell only got stronger as they walked closer and closer to Carthage.
"There it is," said Sam as he looked in front of him. In the distance, Sam could see the top of the city peaking through the trees. As they walked more, it got closer and clearer.
They reached the city, and they walked right in. Near the outskirts of the city were where the slums were located. Their conditions were much worse than those that lived in the villages. There was filth covering the streets, and the roads were much more cramped.
The group walked through this place and made sure that there were on the main road. The main road was much cleaner and also safer than the rest of the roads that went into the slums.
In a short distance in front of them, was a short wall. Its height wasn't much, only 10 or so feet. Its main goal wasn't to keep people out or to stop attacks. It was just there to separate the slums from the rest of the city. The main road led to a door in the wall which was surrounded by a few guards. There was a line that was already formed of people that were trying to entering the main city.