by Aaron Oster
The rat came closer, its mouth parting slightly to reveal a mouth full of jagged and misaligned teeth. It cocked its head once again, eyeing the spear before moving its gaze back to him, apparently unconcerned. Roy shook like a leaf as it closed to within ten feet of where he stood, its nose twitching faster and faster.
The rat’s eyes suddenly flashed a deep crimson, and small flames spouted all along its sleek coat. It hissed, crouching, and opening its mouth to reveal a glowing inferno. It appeared that the Beast had decided he was at least worth killing, if for no other reason than to get rid of the competition.
Roy knew that he would stand no chance of whatever attack the Beast was preparing and that he had bare seconds to act. Stepping forward with a yell, he threw the spear right into the rat’s open mouth. He knew that had the Beast been any farther away or moving at all, he would have missed, but with the rat crouched so close with its mouth wide open, it would be hard for him to miss.
He let out a cry of triumph as the spear entered the Beast’s mouth. His triumph was short-lived, when the shaft, instead of penetrating the monster’s flesh, simply burst into flame, turning into a pile of ash in the span of a couple of seconds. The dagger blade lasted slightly longer – a full five seconds – before melting to slag within the Beast’s mouth.
If the rat noticed the molten metal sitting on its tongue, it didn’t care, as it continued charging its attack.
Roy stared in abject terror as a massive condensed ball of crimson fire formed before the Beast’s mouth. He had no doubt that the attack was infused with Qi, as he could feel his clothes smoldering and his body break out in a sweat. He stared at those flames, feeling the last of his hopes die along with his spear.
There was no point in running. He would never get away. He could feel a fresh wave of anger roll over him at the unfairness of it all. It seemed that he just couldn’t catch a break! No matter what he did, no matter where he went, it seemed he was destined for failure. The world was full of those stronger than him, faster than him, and better than him in every imaginable way.
Just for once in his life, Roy wanted to be the one on top. To have some advantage, no matter how small, against an opponent. He growled, knowing it was futile. But he wouldn’t go down without a fight. He might not be able to run, and he knew he had no chance of even scratching this Beast, but something within him refused to give up without putting up at least a token resistance.
This was just like when he’d faced down Ferry back in the Dungeon. He may have had both legs intact, but this Beast was about a million times stronger than she’d been. There was also no magnanimous Dungeon Core to stop her this time. There was no Irusaru to save him like when he’d faced the Crater-cat and no Aika like when he’d faced the deer. He was all alone out here, facing down death for about the thousandth time in a row.
Roy started to laugh. It was a high pitched, insane-sounding laugh tinged with madness. But he couldn’t help himself. The sheer unlikelihood of facing such hardships one after the next, followed by the terror of his impending death, seemed to have overridden his common sense. Not knowing how to react, his body had just picked the first and easiest reaction: laughter.
As the fire built to a roaring crimson inferno before the rat’s mouth, Roy laughed on, tears now streaming from the corners of his eyes. The flames condensed then, moving down to the size of a pinprick. Roy knew what would come next.
At least it would be quick, he thought, just before the blast of fire tore from the rat’s mouth, engulfing him in an inferno.
Roy’s laughter changed to screams of pain as his body was torched, burned, and turned to ashes. His muscles crumbled, his skin blackened, and his bones turned to dust.
At least, that was what he expected to happen. Instead, the rat’s head simply exploded, sending the wash of flame billowing upward instead of straight ahead, so that it merely singed his bare feet.
Roy stared in open-mouthed shock as the now headless Beast collapsed to the ground, blood pooling from the gaping wound where its head had been just moments before.
Oh, what now? Roy thought, already looking around for the attacker he knew had to be nearby.
Sure enough, a man walked out from behind one of the nearby trees a moment later, his eyes locked on the now dead rat. He was tall, well over six feet, and had skin so dark it appeared to be made of onyx. His chest was bare, aside from a necklace made of animal claws, and was rippling with muscle. His hair was wild and grew in long tangles halfway down his back. It also obscured the right side of his face, which, strangely enough, looked very…tired? Bored?
Yes, bored is definitely the right description of this man, Roy thought as he approached the Beast.
From what little of his face that he could see, he could tell he was quite handsome, if a bit dirty. He had a strong jawline and straight nose and eyes as black as coal. His feet were bare as well. The only article of clothing he wore was an animal pelt around his waist. There was no Belt tied there but Roy knew better than to assume anything.
This man was strong, strong enough to have killed this Beast without even appearing to try. He paid Roy no attention, as though he didn’t exist. Bending down over the Beast, he began to tear it apart with his bare hands.
Roy simply stared, too afraid to so much as move as the man extracted a glowing red Core from the Beast’s chest. This was the first time he’d seen a Fire Core. It looked vastly different from the ridged Water or gem-like Power Cores. It was mostly round, with sharp spines extending from all sides. It looked kind of like a sea urchin, if the urchin was made of glass and glowed red.
The man stared at the Core for a few seconds, before making a sound of disgust and then tossing it away.
Roy’s eyes widened in disbelief as the Core, likely worth several hundred Kinka, was so casually discarded. The man then went on to pull several strips of meat from the carcass, giving them a cursory sniff before slinging them over his shoulder, heedless of the blood. He then stood and began walking away, his business apparently finished.
“Wait!” Roy called out before he could stop himself.
The man just kept on walking, as though Roy didn’t exist, quickly disappearing through the trees. Roy stared after him for a few long seconds, before impulsively following. He did stop to scoop up the Beast Core, wincing as it prickled at his palms, even through the wraps. He tied a loop of the torn robe around it, then hung it from his waist, quickly hobbling after the man.
The man hadn’t been moving fast, so it didn’t take him long to catch up, even with his crippled leg. Roy stopped short of walking up to him, staying hidden behind trees, and trying to be as quiet as he could. If the man realized he was being followed, he didn’t show it, simply continuing on.
To Roy’s eyes, the man was a monster. Every once in a while, his fist would flash out in a blur. Then, he would abruptly change direction, walking off randomly before returning to the path. The first time Roy went to investigate, he found a mass of fur, bones, and a glowing green Beast Core shaped more like an oval than sphere and covered in small ridges.
Each time the man’s fist flashed out, Roy knew it meant the death of another Beast. And each time the man returned to the path, he was empty-handed. After collecting the seventh Beast Core he’d left untouched – another Wind Core – Roy began to wonder just what he could be searching for.
After the rat, he didn’t take any meat, simply killing the Beasts, ripping their Cores free, then leaving them. The more Beasts he ran across, the more Roy had to wonder at his luck at not having come across a single one up until the rat.
Were they all nocturnal, perhaps?
That seemed to be the best answer he could come up with, so Roy stopped questioning his good luck. He continued to follow the man at a distance, doing his best to remain unseen. Despite that, he was sure the man had spotted him several times when he’d suddenly attacked and turned, giving Roy no time to scramble and hide.
But the man didn’t say anything, continuing to pr
etend he didn’t exist. After following him for well over an hour, Roy soon realized where they were headed. They were going back to the campsite where he’d stolen the meat and water bottles. For just a moment, he debated giving up following this man and hightailing it out of here.
Roy knew he couldn’t do that, no matter how afraid of this man he was. He was in a forest infested with Beasts who could kill him without batting an eye, and this man was his best chance at survival. Sure, he pretended Roy wasn’t there, but simply being in the man’s proximity would be a lifesaver.
The trip back to the man’s camp took about another half hour, in which time he killed another two Beasts and discarded their Cores. The last one Roy retrieved was shaped sort of like a diamond, but long and narrow with two points on either end. It was faceted and widened out around the middle, before tapering back to a point. The Core glowed White, showing it to be a Light Core. His belt now felt as though it weighed a ton, and the Cores bounced against each other as he walked, making quite a racket. There was little he could do about the noise, and seeing as the mystery man didn’t care that he was being followed, he made less of an effort to keep himself hidden.
With the newest now tied to his waist, Roy had four different types of Cores, and nine in total. The money he could make selling these would likely be enough for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life. That was if he ever got out of this forest and could find someone who would buy them, rather than just killing him and taking them for themselves.
The forest opened up into the familiar clearing, and Roy stopped by the edge as the man headed into his camp. Just because he didn’t seem to care that he was being followed, didn’t mean he would be so uncaring if Roy waltzed right in. It looked exactly the same as it had when he’d been here several hours ago, which meant that the man had not yet returned here from wherever he’d gone.
Roy felt his heart skip a beat as the man’s eyes flickered over to his half-empty meat rack, then to the place where six water bottles had stood. There were now only two bottles there, and seeing as Roy had the other four tied to his waist, it would be abundantly clear who had taken them.
He waited with bated breath as the man stood there, expecting at any moment to have his head blown up the way the Beasts’ had been. But instead, the man simply dropped the meat he’d been carrying and went to start a fire. Roy leaned against a tree, blowing out a relieved sigh. It seemed the man didn’t care after all.
He had left literal tons-worth of meat simply lying in the forest, so Roy figured a little meat being stolen wouldn’t matter to him. He’d collected some of the man’s discarded meat and wrapped it in more of his robe, which was now sleeveless. Now all he had to do was figure out how to make fire. The man seemed to be able to, so Roy watched to see how he would get it started.
Unfortunately, the man didn’t start his fire in any way Roy could hope to. He simply snapped his fingers, and the dry kindling he’d placed there burst into flame.
Does this mean he was a Fire cultivator?
If so, Roy couldn’t understand why he would leave three Fire Cores just lying in the forest.
The man then set about drying the meat over the fire, then moving to hang them up on his rack. Roy had dropped all his items by then and slumped exhaustedly to the ground. He’d only gotten about five or six hours before he’d been awoken by that rat Beast and he was once again ready to sleep. He heard the sound of splashing water – likely the man washing the blood off himself – as his eyes began to close.
His upper lid barely met his lower lid, when his eyes were wide open again as a shadow fell across him. He stared up at the man standing over him, his bored expression still present, though his single visible eye was locked directly on him. Roy froze, unsure of what he should do, his eyes open as wide as they’d go.
Then the man stretched out a hand, pointing at the bottles tied to his belt.
“Those are mine. I’d like them back.”
His voice was lighter than Roy would have expected. He sounded just as bored as he looked, as though the man were exhausted.
Roy nodded vigorously, apologizing as he fumbled with the knots tying the water bottles in place.
“I’m so sorry. I really didn’t want to take them, but I had no way of storing water and I…”
His apology cut off as the man simply snatched the bottles from him and turned to head back to his camp. Roy stared for a few more seconds, more confused than anything else.
“Wait!” he called out once again.
But just as before, the man ignored him, heading into his small hut and vanishing from sight.
Roy sat awake for a long few minutes, wondering just how he’d ended up in this situation. But his tired mind once again reminded him of his need to sleep. The adrenaline from earlier had finally worn off, and so long as this stranger was around, he would be safe. At least, he hoped so. Leaning back against the tree, he allowed his eyes to close once again.
16
Tonde Hato stood atop a tall spire looking down on the arrayed forces below. A sea of color dotted the landscape of The Crater as her fellow clan members faced off against the arrayed forces of the Beast, Kyofu, and what little remained of the now defunct Moramor clan. This was a battle that had been long coming and one that would likely decide the outcome of the war.
The Tonde clan’s forced were over ten thousand strong, and not a single one under Base Orange. The gathered clans under the Beast, however, numbered well over double their current force, though their Martial Artists weren’t nearly as uniform in strength. Sure, they had plenty of Orange and Green-Belts, as well as the occasional Blue, but there was also a whole lot of Yellow mixed in there.
Her eyes flicked up to the lone figures standing on spires further across the open ground. These would be the opposing side’s most powerful fighters – those at 5th Dan Blue and above – though she failed to see the telltale Red of the Beast King. Not that she was surprised. Neither he nor her brother had bothered to show up. Why would they?
After all, a fight between the two of them would just wipe out both their armies, making this fight completely pointless. And, even if they should choose to, the victor would have no one to lord it over because everyone would be, well, dead. Lightning crackled in the sky overhead, lighting up The Crater for miles around, though no one paid it any heed. Lightning was as common as stone in The Crater, so that was no surprise.
“What do you make of this? Do you think we stand a chance?”
Hato turned to Grandmaster Chui, the woman staring out over their gathered forces with a critical eye. The Grandmaster was the highest ranked member of the Tonde clan after her brother, and thus, Hato had been tasked with sticking close to her during the battle. Her 3rd Dan Purple-Belt hung loosely at her waist, keeping the hem of her oversized black and white robes contained.
“We might, if that damned Irusaru would bother to show up!” she replied, practically glaring out into the distance, as though sure the old man could see her.
They’d sent a call to arms to all their Grandmasters, as well as the other Purple-Belts in the clan. They’d all come. All except for Irusaru. The old man had been mysteriously absent from the war so far, and Hato believed that he’d just up and left for parts unknown, abandoning his clan to die.
Chui sighed, patting her lightly on the back.
“There is nothing we can do about that now, child. We still outnumber them in sheer power, so the battle may yet be won.”
“I’d be a lot more confident if Irusaru were here. Another Grandmaster could tip the scale of the entire war,” Hato said as the two armies began making their moves.
Chui didn’t say anything, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. There really wasn’t anything to be said. It would be nice if Irusaru decided to make a last-minute entrance, but knowing the old man, he would already be here if he was going to show up. He wasn’t the type to leave people hanging, at least not when it came to something like this.
The ground rumble
d and shook as Earth Artists on both sides began shifting the battlefield, each trying to gain the advantage for their side and throw off the other. Gusts of wind shook the spires as they howled by, and jets of fire and water flew. The war truly had begun in earnest.
This was no small scuffle. This was a battle. One that would decide the fate of all those living in The Crater for years to come. A sudden warping of the air near one of the distant spires caught Hato’s attention, and she felt her heart skip a beat.
Already? It was too soon!
“Chui!” she yelled, but the woman was already on it.
Qi flashed across the woman’s body, collecting at an astounding rate, and coating her form completely in glowing green power. The air began swirling around, distorting with the amount of gathering Essence as it, too, was converted to Qi.
It was the Conqueror technique, the ultimate skill one created by combining all eight techniques of each discipline. Unlike the others, the Conqueror technique was perfected. There was no higher tier, no way to improve upon it. It was the ultimate weapon of any Martial Artist and why they were given such an austerity title as Master for creating one.
Grandmasters were even above that, having mastered the eight techniques of Qi, as well as Essence and creating a Conqueror technique with the purer energy, refining it within themselves and in the world around them to create a technique that could wipe an entire city from existence in a matter of seconds.
The only way to counter a Conqueror technique was with another Conqueror technique. And that was why Chui was preparing to use hers so early in the battle, despite what it would cost her. While massively powerful, the technique took up a lot of Qi. If she used her Essence-based technique, she might be able to use it three or four times. But a single use of this technique would wipe her out, effectively taking her out of the battle.
Hato clenched her fists as the stone around Chui’s feet shattered, the woman streaking across the distance to intercept the enemy Grandmaster. Judging by what she felt, the enemy would be weaker than her, but she would have to waste her energy getting there before they unleashed their technique on the unsuspecting Martial Artists below.
