《A Frozen Conquest!》 Chapter 1 Ugh, my head''s hurting so much. Feels like it''s gonna split A young brown-haired slim man in his mid twenties was sitting alone at what seemed like his local bar as the depressing aura around him repelled even the bartender from striking conversation. He lifted his head up from the wall of whiskey bottles built in the past hour or two spent in the bar. It''s clearly not smart to spend hundreds on alcohol after losing your job but some people needed a way to relax from a shitty day or a shitty week. His head rose from the pile of bottles and drinks, the features once hidden had now become visible. Youthful eyes and raised cheekbones. He looked to be in his early twenties, messy brown hair with dull grey eyes placed him as not the best looking man, but average. that with his slightly muscular build he sported, he was bound to be at least someone''s crush at least that''s what he thought. Not long after lifting himself up, the door of the bar slammed open creating a loud slam, only to be quickly drowned out by the music playing. A group of three people strolled in, two males and a female. They looked around before they spot the man buried in whiskey bottles, "Hey Alex!" one of the males shouted from the entrance, waving his hand. ¡®Alex¡¯ turned from the counter leaving it at his back along with the whiskey wall, as he faced towards his three friends. Nodding his head, he spoke up in quite the bland tone while slightly slurring his words. "Oh. Hi.. Mark" Out of the two identical males, the one that responded seemed to be taller not by much but it was noticeable. They all made their way over as Mark sat on Alex''s right and his brother, James sat on the left. The female walking in between them ran up to Alex and gave him a tight hug. a slight blush covered his face as he said "Hey Sasha, how are you?" Sasha was too occupied being buried into his chest and wasn¡¯t able to respond. Eventually she had finally let go after what felt like too long of a moment for just friends. "How am I doing? Great, but it should be how are you. You never drink since you got that day job.". Her caramel hair shone in the light also revealing a small frame that carried around a tomboyish nature. "I''m doing fine, no longer got that job anymore so I thought I''d drink." He slurs out avoiding eye contact. Sasha raised her voice in a slightly annoyed tone after scoffing. "No, you''re not fine. What happened." she pouted her lips making the mood lighter as the group laughed lightly followed by a long deep sigh. They all know once Sasha wanted something she would never give up. Alex gave in before any more pressuring, to save himself a headache really as he was already under the influence. They began talking for the next few hours, Mark and James ordered drinks while Alex was intercepted and put in his place every time by Sasha whenever he attempted to order. A few hours passed and the stories came to an end. Alex had already started to sober up slightly while James and Mark were in awe and amazement to learn that one of their best friends was a celebrity. Sasha got visibly angry on Alex''s behalf after hearing what happened to him. She raised her voice abruptly after Alex finished speaking. "What absolute assholes. Not only did they team up to beat you, they threatened your guild members to betray you?! This asshole¡­ If I ever get my hands on this guy, i-i''ll shove my fist so far up his ass that people will think somethings trying to burst out of his stomach!" Alex blinked several times as he wasn¡¯t sure whether it was the alcohol talking to him instead of Sasha. He sighed loudly before standing up and deciding to leave, afterall, he had been sat there drinking for hours. As he was leaving, he heard the annoyed voice of Sasha almost screaming out. "You''re not going to let him trample over you like that are you!" A sigh escaped his lips once again as he murmurs under his breath. "What else can I do..." He found his way home after a long bus ride and a little walk before opening the door to his apartment. A neat place with two bedrooms, a master bedroom and a spare; a large bathroom that has a shower and a bathtub. A kitchen and a room specifically made for laundry and cleaning. For a twenty year old, he is living in a largely expensive complex to say the least. Moving into the living room he turns on the T.V, switching the channel before he reached a channel he urgently stopped on. The T.V depicted a war scene from the VRMMORPG game Conquest!. The notorious guild leader of Hell''s Gate, Hydra. stood in a corpse-ridden battlefield, alone. The once silver armour now in shambles, broken apart and covered in cuts and wounds. Dark crimson liquid seeped through the cracks of his armour onto the ground. He stood panting, his eyes darting around as the moon rises in the sky.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Player Hydra
Level: 100 sub-Level: ???
Class: Magi-Knight sub-Class ???
Guild Master of Hell''s Gate
A tall figure reveals itself from the darkness, the moonlight shone over him revealing the blonde locks and the bright red armour he donned, in his hand was a longbow; quiver by his side as he whistled a cheery tune unfitting for the dank atmosphere.
Player Red Star
Level: 100 sub-Level: ???
Class: Plated Archer sub-Class: ???
Guild Master of The Red Night
Blood coughed out as he sputtered "You finally showed up after sending waves of players after us, Red Star...." "Haha, why should we give up the number advantage Hydra?" RedStar chuckled, ending the sharp and playful whistling tune. A deadlock had spawned by two of the greatest players staring straight into each other''s eyes; only broken by the sounds of blades clashing in the distance, followed by a set of gazes darting over in the direction of the sounds. Hydra raised his blade towards the sky, his right hand gripped tightly on the handle of a tower shield by his side. The stained silver greaves dashed forward. Gripping the short sword, Hydra raised it as he ducked, dodging an arrow that spiralled past his right ear. Grunting, he powered forward splattering blood on his path as he readied his blade, a sharp whistle resonated through the air as another arrow flew towards Hydra. Soon to be a loud scrape as the shortsword clashed against the arrow, deflecting it to the side. Arrows began to scatter to his side leaving an abundance of iron and wood behind Hydra as he charged forward. His shield rose up slamming an arrow straight off of its course. A look of rage filled his face as he arrived before the man in red armour. "INTERCEPT!" echoed from the dark as a feminine figure appeared from the bushes. A bright red light flashed forward as Hydra¡¯s arm felt a jolt and began to spasm, ultimately disarming him and robbing him of his shortsword. Hydra eyed up the new arrival. "Finally showed up huh." The woman in green smiled lightly as the bright blue screen reveals her identity.
Player Sparrow in the Wind
Level: 100 sub-Level: ???
Class: Knight Paladin sub-Class: ???
Guild Master of Green Mellow''s
The T.V cut the video feed there as it turned to two people sitting in a well-lit studio, the room was very neatly set up. Standing in front of the camera was a woman wearing a sexy red one-piece dress. Her voice rang out "That''s all we are showing for the clip today as it''s a still up on the forums. It''s quite sad one of the highest ranking players and the highest ranked guild had to face three of the top five guilds..." In Conquest, when a player was killed, they received the penalty of losing a level and also have a chance to drop their equipment. The guild members of Hell''s Gate would have been spawn camped all the way down to level 1 unless they agreed to leave the guild and betray Hydra, the guild master who was previously known as "War General Hydra" because he had never lost a guild war. "One by one his guild members left and were forced to join new guilds leaving hydra and only a few people to defend the guild which made it harder to fight back. Only his most loyal members stayed and were punished along with hydra all the way down to Lvl 1 in the starting town." "Well enough of that... I happen to have news, we''re doing a special countdown till the year anniversary of Conquest. But not only that! I have some hidden news.... they are planning on releasing a new server when it hits midnight!" Alex paused his T.V screen in shock and rewinded it back, it started to play again as he confirms that it wasn''t in his head. This was incredible! A new chance had arrived for him to become the greatest once again! Alex got up and rushes towards his virtual pod or VP as most people call them and got in. The TV carried on playing in the background as the woman began the countdown to midnight. The crowd started to shout as many other players also did in their homes, this was amazing news and would bring in a whole new bunch of players who could now start from the bottom along with everyone else. "FIVE!" "FOUR!" "THREE!" "TWO!" "ONE!" The virtual pod starts up as a soft female voice responds to Alex who''s inside.
Welcome back Hydra Scanning account. Level One character found would you like to server transfer.
Chapter 2 Sitting in the pod, Alex soon stood in a white room like always. With just a flick of the wrist, he pulled up ¡°Conquest!¡± and looked at the greyed out function. Conquest! Unable to log in due to server updates His mind wandered as the soft caressing voice that reminded him of his mother entered his ears. ¡°Welcome back Alexander, starting time dilation.¡± The sound from outside the pod picked up by his ears started to warp into a blur. Outside, the five second countdown till the year anniversary of Conquest! suddenly elongated, the time taken from the shout of five to reach four took three seconds and then from four to three took five. A feeling of haze filled his mind as he started to relax his muscles. ¡°Asking permission to cut off senses so time dilation can expand further.¡± ¡°Permission granted Echidna increase the time dilation.¡± A small chuckle resounded in Alex¡¯s own head as he thought of the small pun he made when he had chosen his personal AI¡¯s name. The soft voice once again emerged in his head. His mind drifted away, thinking back to when he first entered the pod, a whole year ago. *** One year ago *** A robotic dull voice void of emotion or gender spoke. ¡°Thank you for using the VXT Reality Pod Sir Alexander. Would you like to set your AI up Sir?¡± The bland voice droned on, even making Alex feel slightly tired and drowsy. Alex ignored the voice prompting him to do it a certain way and instead customized the AI his own way, still using the format provided by VXT. Using the format provided he stood in a white blank room with a blue holographic screen showing him commands. He managed to not only skip the tutorial but set up his own AI, unknowingly he made the AI¡¯s voice fit the only woman he¡¯s close with, his Mother. Stood in front of Alex was a lady, spitting image of his mother. Reaching almost six foot and wearing a white one-piece dress that synergized with her snow white skin, she was a figure of beauty, especially for her age. Long blonde hair flowed down her back in an elegant manner. Her icy grey eyes seemed to be frozen. Confirm changes to AI. / He tapped on the icon as a bright blue light flashed over the woman, scanning every angle of her before she became a 3D entity with her own personality rather than a flat image on a holographic screen. She softly turned her gaze towards Alex. He gulped slightly in awe of what was before him. The AI looked directly at Alex as she spoke in a soft voice ¡°Hello Alexander, would you like to begin Time dilation training.¡± Confused, Alex¡¯s head turned tilted. ¡°Time dilation, that wasn¡¯t in the manual?¡± ¡°Yes, Time dilation, like the matrix. Time dilation is an application of slowing someone¡¯s brain, well not technically to put in terms it makes people think and act faster. The average human can withstand ten times dilation meaning time flows ten times faster while connecting to the pod. And as averages go, some people can handle even more while others can handle less. The lowest dilation we have found is five times any more than that would cause them problems.¡± The soft voice continued while giving visuals for Alex to enjoy of people doing the same set of tasks but at different dilations, this makes it looks like the set of tasks but sped up on the higher dilations. ¡°Problems? What kind of problems?¡± Alex¡¯s questions ¡°Medical conditions close to schizophrenia or dream-reality confusion, the first one you may be more common with but the latter is a closer representation of what the conditions you could fall under if going higher than your recommended dilation.¡± ¡°Dream-re-..¡± he questions again before interrupted. ¡°Allow me to explain it all, do not interrupt.¡± Alex sighed as he allowed her to so. ¡°Dream-reality confusion as you may not know is exactly what it says, it¡¯s when a person can not tell the difference between dreams and reality. For example, dreams can last up to hours but you would hardly remember them afterwards, but a person suffering from that condition will still think are in the dream they had, this applies to virtual reality condition. So we have added in safety features that ensure you are in a stable state and can tell the difference between virtual reality and real life.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. She took a moment as if allowing Alex to process the information that''s laid out for him before she relayed information like a machine once more. ¡°Now then, while you were processing that information, I ran some tests on your brain frequencies and surprisingly your allowed dilation is extremely high, in fact, you have the fourth highest allowed dilation. Currently, the highest record is twenty-five. Your allowed dilation is twenty, this means in the white zone¡± She points to the area that he¡¯s standing in ¡°You can increase time difference to twenty times, so an hour outside in real life is twenty hours here, the number may increase as your brain gets accustomed to time dilation. You should feel a slight pressure as we tune your dilation, don''t fret it¡¯ll be over in a moment.¡± Alex nodded to this as he sat back and waited, a sharp headache formed for about 3 seconds. Looking around after the dilation has supposedly happened but he didn¡¯t feel nor see anything different even the AI is still moving like normal. He opened his mouth to speak but quickly to be interrupted by the AI ¡°You will not see or feel any different. It¡¯ll adjust how fast you receive and do things if you were to compare both your in real life body and this body you would find that this body doesn¡¯t move twenty times faster.¡° ¡°Wait what. I won¡¯t be able to move twenty times faster? But increased dilation makes me think and move faster right?¡± She sighed and explained slowly as if talking to a child ¡°Time dilation is a very simple concept, you won¡¯t feel like you are moving twenty times faster, however, you and everyone else using VPs will be in a slower reality then the real world. Allowing you to save multiple hours of your lives and be as efficient as possible.¡± She flicked her wrist multiple times at the blue holographic screen in front of her before pulling up a client for a video game. ¡°It seems you already have the premium package for Conquest! This has allowed for your save file to stay intact. Your name is Hydra, correct?¡± Alex paused in thought for a moment. ¡°Hydra huh¡­ I suppose that¡¯s my Dad¡¯s doing.¡± He sighed. Before taking another moment, scratching his chin. ¡°Well it sounds cool and at least I don¡¯t have to buy it myself and come up with several new names just for them all to be taken.¡± She smiled, speaking once again ¡°Now then would you like to create and avata-..¡± before even getting to finish that sentence Alex interrupts her ¡°No, just make it me.¡± she blinked repeatedly in a stunned state at the quick response and nodded her head once again ¡°No changes to your original avatar, your avatar can change by doing tasks like you would for your body. Now then are you ready to enter and to give me a name?¡± He listened as he nodded his head in approval. ¡°Yea I¡¯m ready to ente-... Oh, yea I haven¡¯t named you yet have I¡­ erm how about Echidna then?¡± Echidna nodded her head as he tapped an icon on his screen. Thunder rang out cracking the surrounding as a lightning bolt strikes down near Echidna and appears a large man. Most like standing near eight feet tall with a body that even a Greek god would look upon with jealousy and by him is a large gateway. This gateway was so grand that it even put historical landmarks and cities to shame with its oppressive aura. An aggressive voice booms out of the statuesque person ¡°Now, this is an otherworlder that¡¯s fit to represent Xaecies.¡± The large man leant down and peered at Alex ¡°Huh, smallest out of the bunch even the females are bigger. But¡­. you fit the best. You seem to be the man capable of giving me the one up on Mariex! You¡¯ll do.¡± Alex stood bewildered by what¡¯s going on as the big man known as Xaecies speaks again. ¡°Xaecies, god of war; bloodshed and slaughters. If you were to think of with your own knowledge otherworlder, I am a more violent counterpart to the god you know as Ares. While Mariex is a weaker counterpart to the god, you know as Athena.¡± ¡°So why do we need a god to allow us to enter Conquest? Can¡¯t we play without you.¡± Alex asked the fierce giant that was towering over him. ¡°Well, Hydra, correct?¡± Xaecies pulled out a small scroll and opened it. He looked down on Hydra as if he was a baby begging for candy. ¡°You will be given the blessing of the god most fitting for you. Not only will this allow you to resurrect after death. You will also be given a bonus fitting the god you follow along with greeting you in your VP space. You could say that I am your guide who will help you along your path also¡±. I wonder what bonus he is talking about The giant gateway opened as a portal of sorts appeared within it. Xaecies roared from behind him distracting him for a second. ¡°Now enough faffing about and get in there!¡± suddenly Alex felt a heavy force landing upon his ass, flying forward he lightly yelped. His entire body engulfed by the portal. This time he wasn¡¯t sent into a peaceful, relaxing room of emptiness. Instead seemed to be a coliseum of sorts with heads of mythical monsters and beasts mounted on the stretching walls. In front of him was a huge collection of weapons on a showcase that would make an old-fashioned weapons collector cream. *** Present Day *** He was forced to return to his senses as the same thundering voice spoke once more ¡°Well well, if it isn¡¯t the headless Hydra¡± the same large man that went by the name Xaecies is now standing in front of him.
Welcome back Hydra Scanning account. Level One character found would you like to server transfer.
He walked forward to the now Gateway that standing behind Xaecies. ¡°A Hydra can regrow its head and what do you think It will do now?¡± he speaks without looking towards Xaecies. Passing Xaecies he¡¯s stopped by the thunderous voice keeping its cheerful tone. ¡° If you get a choice, choose the coolest place Hydra.¡± As Alex turned around to face Xaecies and ask what he meant, he was met by a large boot in front of his face that sent him rolling backwards into the portal. Rolling backwards he managed to spring himself up onto his feet without ruining his entrance as he turned to look at the surrounding. Surrounding him was a circularly shaped dome of walls reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum, the thousands of seats were completely empty though. Back in the same old area, I remember this place like it was yesterday. Chapter 3 Hydra looked around, eyes wandering over the same mythical beasts and monsters mounted on the walls. Everything was reminiscently the same, However, the two podiums stood beside the gate stuck out like a saw thumb. There were now statues placed on top of both podiums of a hooded figure. Walking over for a closer look, he stopped as he recognized the person stood atop of it. It¡¯s the current champion of Xaecies in the first server? What was his name again? The male stood on the podiums wore a deep red martial artist uniform that draped down to his ankles. The light cloth would allow for completely free movement but provided minimal defensive stats. The uniform merged into a cloak with a hood that covered his face, only revealing a radical grin over his pointed chin. He was heavily armed with two huge black gauntlets that were covered in blood coloured gems, the statue itself seemed to bleed. After a closer look, the particles were coming from the gems, dripping blood like some sort of vampiric particle effect. The figures were stood up straight with arms crossed as if looked down on the players stood in this room. The appearance of the statue seemed to remind Hydra of someone, but who was that fearsome figure hidden by the dark hood. A bloodthirsty aura that sent chills even down his spine reminded him of something, but he couldn¡¯t quite put a finger on it. He knew he had met this guy somewhere... A devil, that''s what it was. A devil that couldn¡¯t tell the difference between friend or foe¡­ Blood Fiend, wasn¡¯t that the title he was given. I¡¯m glad that maniac won¡¯t be here... Hydra¡¯s gaze turned towards the podium as he felt a bright shine slither into his eye from the golden plaque¡¯s vibrancy. The engraved title stood out as if scorched onto the plaque itself, ¡°The Blood Fiend¡± After a moment of Hydra being alone, players started appearing through sudden portals of light, filling the entire room with confusion and excitement as the atmosphere rose in tension. Appearing wasn¡¯t quite the correct term, more like thrown in against their will as most of the players landed on either their face or their own asses. The room soon was filled with absolute silence, as the loud voice of Xeacies echoed through the Colosseum, eyes of players roamed around before landing on Xeacies sitting on a throne above what is now four gateways. He made a slight hand gesture by flicking his wrist. Six other podiums rose from the ground as if an earth spell had been cast, creating a total of eight podiums with two either side each gate. The podiums were all empty and the plaques underneath didn¡¯t have any engravings, contrasting the first set of two with the statue on them. ¡°Now then. I won¡¯t give you much detail, I hate rattling on. But in front of you are four gateways, some of you here will recognise the statues in front of the one the gateway as my champion from the first land you otherworlders entered. Now, we gods have been allowed to send you to other lands. Walk up to the gate and you shall receive small information about the land beyond each gate¡± The gateways all simultaneously creaked open as a strong aura of light radiated from each entry. Hydra looked at them all and could see through after squinting a couple times. Each one looked identical to the arena that they were already stood in. After deciding he won¡¯t know until he walks over, he stepped up to one of the gates. The gateways all simultaneously creaked open, dark aura leaked out of each entrance, a glow of sorts. Hydra looked around him to see everyone was still stood still talking to each other, no one had moved yet. Spotting one of the gateways that seemed interesting, He strolled over to the entrance, it seemed to be freezing the surrounding area. A timid voice trembled from behind his shoulder, Hydra turned to look at the person talking. ¡°You¡¯re Hydra, right? Do you think I could¡­ I could get an autograph?¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. A small boy with dark scruffy hair and soft features. A stereotypical ¡®nerd¡¯ that seemed to be lacking the thick glasses, makes one wonder how he was selected to a representative of the god of war and bloodshed. Stopping in front of the boy with a look of disapproval ¡°How am i going to sign anything here?¡° A sigh comes from Hydra as he carried on talking so the kid leaves him alone ¡°If you managed to find me in game sure.¡± He turns back towards the freezing gateway and pulls up the information. Once again the timid voice trembled from behind Hydra as he continued on his business. ¡°My-.. My in-game name is Kleo, remember that promise!¡± Before Kleo even finished his sentence, ears started to perk up as the other players seemed to pick up on the conversation. Suddenly, a scream came from one of the more manly female players ¡°It¡¯s Hydra!¡± and people began to flood towards Hydra¡¯s direction, It was reminiscent of groupies flooding A-list celebrities in the real world. Hydra was attempting to hold his temper as he just wanted to read the screen in front of him. ignoring every player that was in his personal space, he desperately wanted to throw punches but held himself back. He knew players would only get in his way in this server. Hydra was attempting to hold his temper as he just wanted to read the screen in front of him. He ignored the groups of people that flocked to him, treating them as if they never existed, every now and then he would throw a few words into the crowd to please them as he read the information given.
-- Gateway of Frost -- A gateway to the coldest journey you shall ever begin.
Huh, if this is the gateway of frost then the others must be? Peering at the other three gateways he noticed a theme to the aura¡¯s that was leaking out. It had a relationship with what lay beyond the gateways, one was lightly lit up with small sparks flying about, the second gateway''s surrounding ground seemed to of had moss and vines sprouting out of the walls creating cracks in the stone surrounding the gateway, hanging from vines were flowers that seem to constantly bloom over and over again. The final gateway that had the two statues of ¡®The Blood Fiend¡¯ guarding it was emitting a light breeze. With luscious green grass sprouting in the dead stone of the Colosseum. It seemed like they were representations of the atmosphere and scenery of what laid behind them. Well suppose frost is the ¡®coolest¡¯ out of them¡­. What did he even mean by that though? While stepping forward he got another notification, quickly skimming it so he can get away from the groups of people and pressing the yes option on it as he steps through the darkness being the first to select a gateway.
-- Gateway of Frost -- You have selected this gateway. Would you like to begin the coldest Journey you ever will |
Arriving on the other side he looked around and finds himself in an identical space. The exact same Colosseum except this time, the edges were growing out ice shards and the weather had been changed to a light snow. The dirt ground now had a blue tint to as it looks like a thin layer of ice rested on it, the walls had jagged sharp edges as if to keep people from climbing up. Walking towards the middle, he spotted Xaecies sitting in a frozen throne in the viewing area as if a battle was about to take place. Hydra was already aware of this as he did the same thing last year. Xaecies offered a grin towards Hydra before icy blue flashes appeared and more people walked out from the black abyss that Hydra walked through, looking at the people he estimated that about a quarter of the players from the prior colosseum had entered. A belching rumble shook the stadium and a burst of loud laughter emerged as Xaecies stood up from the frozen throne to address the group of people. ¡°You have chosen my path of frost. Now you shall fight to be the champion of frost. Before you ask how first we will need to cut down the weaklings. First, you shall be given your status but then you shall brawl. You have five seconds to think after being given your status. That is all...¡± Groups of chatter began to erupt as lights descend onto each person. Hydra watched the light descend on him and like many others he said. ¡°Status show¡± Chapter 4
Hydra
Level: 1 Primary Class Type: Novice
Class: Novice Subclass Type: ???
Title: None
HP : 50
MP : 50
Strength 10 Dexterity 10
Stamina 10 Constitution 10
Intelligence 10 Spirit: 10
A small commotion occurred in the crowds as they began to talk before Xaecies bellows out once more ¡°Now you have received your status you can start the tournament.¡± Every single player looked cluelessly around scratching their heads as silence filled the arena, it was as if they were waiting for something to happen or they were expecting a signal. No one wanted to be the first guy to throw a punch, can you blame them? A signal of sorts did come, however, as a rough-looking young man with a dirty blonde ponytail yelled from the top of his lungs ¡°Hell Yeah! A good ol¡¯ fashion beatdown! Let¡¯s do this!¡± before his fist struck the nearest person and then what we can only call a street fight had broken loose. Players were punching and kicking anyone in sight, it was barbaric. Xaecies grinned with excitement while spectating the battlefield. As the fight went on, there were a few others like Hydra just sitting back and watching the fight going on. These players were like hyenas waiting to clean up the bloody fights. There were also players who would play like snakes and wait for others to be occupied in fights and then sneak attack them to finish them off. Among the crowd of around 80, a small minority were starting to form teams of small groups. This just helped them in the beginning but backfired on them as time went on. Human greed took over and the groups would start to fill with betrayal as it was obvious only one person would come out alive, everyone wanted that to be themselves. The groups would disintegrate. Eliminating a player caused their body to explode into tiny red particle effects which then lead to a bright pillar of light rising endlessly into the sky over the place of death, marking a death. The numbers started to drop down rapidly and in only 20 minutes the number of players remaining was halved. A small group of ten people were sat down leaning against the dome walls to the side, Hydra was included in this group that had an unspoken promise to not attack each other as they were either too scared to or didn¡¯t want to fight. More players began to notice them as the chaos from the start of the fight had started to slow down and it personally offended them leaving them enraged. One of those paying attention to the ¡®cowards¡¯ sitting out of the fight spoke up ¡°Get those fuckers! they¡¯re just sittin¡¯ on the sidelines while we do all their dirty work!¡±. Players began to sprint towards the group. The smarter players stood back, allowing the angry thugs to test the group of sitting players. One of the idiots rushed straight towards Hydra, blood was aggressively pouring from his nose from the previous exchanges of punching. He looked like an average street thug, decently well versed in fighting. Watching the idiot rushing towards him Hydra sighs as he stands up. The brawler swings out a fist, Hydra used as minimal movement as possible to twist his body to the side as he dodged and moved to the right of the brawler''s body. Hydra¡¯s right hand gripped the back of the man''s head and leg sweeps the man off his feet causing him to fall, adding onto the downwards thrust with his own strength Hydra pushed the man¡¯s head to make to fall faster. Sadly for the man that was falling, he doesn¡¯t hit the ground, but he must have wished that he did because then Hydra timed his grapple perfectly and made the man¡¯s head stop thrusting downwards just over an enormous icicle spike in the ground. Giving the man clear sight of his demise, the poor guy was met with a death notification as Hydra thrust his skull further and further through the spike, piercing his brain with blood spraying out like a hose. Blood dripped from the icicle onto the ground before a pillar of light flashed over the spot of death and the corpse dissipated into the wind. Those watching immediately gulped and took a couple steps back, still some watched and waited for an opening on him, while others returned to brawl in the middle or attacked the others watching on the side.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. As the fight started to wrap up nobody else tried to test Hydra. All the players were keeping a close eye out on him after that incident while attempting to clean up the others. The players still had no idea how to actually pass or how many people would pass through so they decided to attack anyone they could as it could be a kill count score. It¡¯s better to clear out the weak links than trying to pick off the boss. If the winners are those with the most kills then the weaklings would grant you a victory. So it¡¯s best to clear out the weakest and then move onto the strongest. Soon enough with still nobody to test him, Hydra became extremely bored. As time flew by so did blood, the arena was soon left with just above twenty, roughly around twenty-six. Hydra noticed that the timid boy from earlier was still alive and was shocked, despite looking cowardly and the type to hide in a fight, Hydra knew not to ever underestimate some.one *What was his name again? Kleo right?* It¡¯s as if Hydra was casting a spell since as the moment he thought about Kleo, the timid boy got jumped by some of the snakes that had been hiding waiting for easy prey, a slightly sympathetic look was placed on Hydra¡¯s face as it seemed the boy was only going to get this far without fighting, he must prove his strength to continue. A three on one as the snakes were teaming up trying to secure their own place in this fight, assuming that surviving until the last bracket was the way to go. This soon turned into a three on two as a voice came out from those still fighting ¡°It¡¯s not nice to pick on little kids! I, Albus will give divine judgement!¡± as the same dirty blonde haired brawler jumped out to join the fight A loud thud hit the ice, the snake attacking Kleo was slammed into the ground before Kleo stepped on top of him and began bludgeoning him, sending blow after blow to the face of the snake even after the body stopped responding he didn''t stop, only stopped when the corpse disappeared in the same flash as before. Meanwhile, Albus swung an uppercut to his opponent, stunning him allowing Albus to throw a deadly hook, defeating him in as little as two hits. They quickly finished up the two on two making a small amount left, at least under twenty. It soon became a deadlock, people were refusing to fight, even those who couldn¡¯t read moods knew it would a mistake to be the first to punch in this situation as it would leave you open for others to attack. There were seventeen people left now. The mood was so tense, Hydra was the only player who didn¡¯t care for waiting around but even he felt this was dragging on, standing up from the place he was resting and walked in the middle of the group. All of the player¡¯s eyes were following Hydra as he walked over into the middle and spoke towards Xaecies that sat losing his smile from the deadlock ¡°Old man, give me a coin.¡± Hydra demanded. ¡°A coin¡­ I like the idea.¡± Xaecies replied making almost everyone wide-eyed from the tone Hydra just spoke to a supposed god with. A gold coin contrasting the icy coliseum and slightly shiny flew towards Hydra. Catching the coin, Hydra then moved back so he could see the entire group and then spoke, his voice containing a harsh commanding tone like a drill sergeant talking to the new recruits. ¡°Heads or tails! Pick!¡± And after a moment of silence, he flipped the coin towards the sky. A few muttered their answers whether either heads or tails but some either didn¡¯t bother or couldn¡¯t comprehend what was happening. The coin landed in his palm and for those who could see, the side portrait of Xaecies¡¯ head laid showing towards the sky. The majority looked at Hydra before someone piped up ¡°Why do you get to make the decisions here, you watched us all fight while sitting back like a bitch.¡± Hydra looked at the one who spoke up, a woman who seemed to make the majority of the men here look tiny. Cracking his knuckles, Hydra looked at the player speaking to him with disrespect, he began to walk forward towards her while she responded with more taunts ¡°Look the little boy thinks he¡¯s tough, let me show him who he¡¯s dealing with!¡±. She raised her arms to the side of her body and lowered her point of gravity by hunching over, made sense that a woman of her size used some sort of wrestling fighting style if not sumo. Hydra still stood relaxed, arms by his side as he stood in front of the large woman, she dashed forward attempting to wrap her arms around Hydra to bring him to the ground most likely, but she got stopped as Hydra¡¯s knee raised up slamming into her nose causing her body to rise upwards from the force and blood spurt out of it. She tried to regain balance, Hydra began his assault by twisting his body into a jab that landed on her nose once again causing a crunch from the bones to sound out as she stood fully up recoiled from the two hit combo. Twisting once again in the opposite direction Hydra sent a sharp elbow into her jawline causing her eyes to rolls back, her body hits the thin ice layer covering the ground with a screech as she slides backwards slightly, making steam rise up. She stopped moving as it seemed the last hit emptied out her health points. The steam was covered by another pillar of light. Soon everybody realised that they couldn¡¯t move or talk any longer. And Xaecies spoke once again ¡°Well done, now sixteen of you are left. It¡¯s time to move onto the second phase, but first, you must all choose your weapons! Also, you will not be fighting alone so some sort of teamwork will be necessary!¡± Chapter 5 Bright lights descended down onto the remaining players, as Hydra regained his vision, he noticed that he seemed to be in a dungeon of sorts lit up by torches, weaponry lay around just like the first Colosseum they entered, looking around Hydra couldn¡¯t stop anybody else. Hydra closed his eyes and started listening closely to his surrounding, soon he was able to pick up an extremely faint cheering from behind the locked doors as Hydra tried to listen in more closely to pick out words his concentration was broken by the same dirty blonde haired youth that he noticed before. I wasn¡¯t alone¡­. This is going to be a pain dealing with an idiotic brute Looking around to spot the group of sixteen players it seemed the majority of them were not there as the only ones inside this dungeon are himself and that rough thug who started the fight in the Colosseum last time. ¡°Albus was it?¡± Hydra peered at the rough thug darting around the room. ¡°Where the hell are we?! Are those real weapons! That¡¯s so cool!¡± Albus was way too lively for Hydra. Trying to keep some sort of distance, Hydra began to look at the weapons, they seemed to be sectioned into types. One handed, two handed and then ranged weapons. Inside each type, there were selections of categories with several different variations. You name it, they had it available. It was like paradise for a weapons collector, even if they were all made of one of the weakest mineral, copper. Looking through the weapons, Hydra began to think about how he wanted to fight. If only I knew what will be in the test, maybe it¡¯s just two vs two duels? This caused Hydra to look towards Albus with a scowl while he walked over to one-handed weapons, playing a tank in the last server made Hydra get used to going sword and board. This led him to arrive at the short swords. This challenge was completely different from when Hydra first fought for the champion spot in the first year. It was just all-out brawl till the last person, this time it seemed to be more methodical huh? Hydra picked up a copper sword, a thick sword with a cross guard similar to a sai, When he gripped the handle tightly, it split into two. Hydra held out two old Chinese swords, the English name for these swords would be Butterfly swords, Weapons close to a machete in purpose, slashing rather than stabbing which is normally used with a martial arts style of combat that fits the weapons style. Placing down the butterfly swords for something more flexible, Hydra moved over to the short swords and started to browse. ¡°Try to get something flexible Albus. We have no idea what we are fighting.¡± Hydra offered advice to Albus reluctantly. He felt like Albus was ignoring his advice. Testing out the short swords, Hydra came across an old friend from Roman history, a gladius. One of the ¡®strongest¡¯ in history supposably, gripping it felt right in the palm. He performed a few slashes and stabs with the weapon to test it out. Nodding to himself, he picked up a scabbard for the short sword and attached it to the starter cloth you get when making your character. [Copper Gladius] Style: Shortsword Rarity: Common Physical Attack: 5-15 [A short sword made with the template of a Gladius currently summoned by Xaecies to be used him his competition] The gladius was the main weapon for the Roman empire during its prime, it was used by footmen. It was a stabbing sword as the guard on the weapon is small offering no protection to the hands if any, this meant those who used it were trained to deflect weapons using the blade. The gladius could use its full potential when used with a shield as it allowed the user to hide the point of the sword making it incredibly hard to tell where they would strike. It was a weapon that was easy to pick up as you just had to point it and push forward but one that needed the dedication to master.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Hydra didn¡¯t feel right without a shield so he made his way over in the one-handed section to the shields and since he already had a roman weapon might as well get a roman shield since they had great synergy with the Gladius like most shields do. Picking up three shields, Hydra let them rest in front of him as he began to think over the properties of each. Scutum is the best for defense but they lack mobility and were mainly used since the infantry moved as unit, a Parma would be the lightest and easiest to move out of all three but it doesn¡¯t give the best cover for the gladius advantage and finally cetratus, a mixture of the two but less study than both of them. They all had their own advantages and disadvantages but they allowed the gladius potential to be used After a few moments of deep thought, Hydra came to a decision. Out of the shields, the one that will benefit him in the majority of situations would be Scutum. The Scutum is a rectangular shield that if measured would go from the shoulders of Hydra to just below his knees. The width of it is just bigger than his body as the side also curves inwards towards him slightly. Copper reinforced edges around the shield provide extra sturdiness and make it flexible enough to be used as a weapon if he decides to smash it into people who are down, however, it makes the shield harder to handle due to the weight. Hydra picked up his new found weapons and looked at his reflection through the sword, his grin widened. He was ready for whatever was to come. Hydra started training with his new weapons practising directions for stabbing and his footwork with the new shield, soon what felt like an hour had passed. Hydra was wondering what''s going on and why the trial hadn¡¯t started. Xaecies never liked to wait. Soon Hydra found out why, Albus was running around like a child on his first Christmas trying to equip all the weapons he possibly could at once. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Hydra questioned the young thug. As he watched him carrying around several types of axes, maces, bows and all sorts of extra bits. ¡°Gettings weapons! Look at how cool this looks!!¡± Albus then dropped his collection onto the floor grabbing one of the two-handed weapons that was a katana, he swung it about like a child with a toy. ¡°Don¡¯t I look so fucking cool, like one of those samurais.¡± ¡°Are you serious? I told you to pick something flexible? Not to mess around with how ¡®cool¡¯ you look.¡± Hydra groaned towards Albus ¡°Why does it matter? I can use them all and when they break, I can move on the next one!¡± Albus started to hold the collection of weapons as if it was his life-saving. ¡°You can only choose a set of weapons most likely, for example, two daggers or a claymore. Xaecies most likely won¡¯t let us enter until then¡­¡± ¡°Fine, i''ll get something to punch with then¡± Hydra started to search around the one-handed area, picking up a pair of gloves. Similar to hand wraps boxers put on before a fight. Except one difference was that they seemed to have copper studded padding fastened into the knuckle area. [Copper Cestus] Style: Battle Glove Rarity: Common Physical Attack: 5-10 [A glove that will add power to your punches currently summoned by Xaecies to be used him his competition] ¡°Here try these, a better version of knuckle dusters, more flexible and slightly protects your arm.¡± Hydra tossed over the old fashioned boxing gloves to Albus. Albus strapped in the gloves onto his wrists making sure they fit tightly before saying ¡°Nothing more flexible than your own fists! A beast is in front of you? Punch it! Soldier with a shield in front? Punch him! I like it.¡± They were both ready, Hydra¡¯s face showed determination to win as last year he didn¡¯t do so well. This time was sure to be different, he had experience on his side. Albus was buzzing and ready to fight. It was time.
Do you want to begin the fight?
Hydra steadied his posture and calmed himself while Albus did the complete opposite, tightening his fist¡¯s grip and psyching himself up. They both replied immediately and simultaneously. While readying themselves for what¡¯s to come. ¡°Yes!¡± Chapter 6 After entering, the two were met with a harsh spotlight blinding them as cheering overwhelmed their eardrums. Regaining his sight, Hydra had a look around and to his surprise, he could see the Colosseum for the third time, this time Xaecies was surrounded by spectators and the whole stadium was filled. Walking to the steel gate that blocked them from entering further, Hydra peered through the gaps into the Colosseum. Albus had a face full of awe with his jaw dropped. It was a spectacular sight, to be honest. ¡°Woahhh, this is cool, I''m like a rockstar!¡± ¡°We will need to work together supposedly so please don¡¯t fuck this up¡­¡± Hydra¡¯s eye cast across to the other side of the Colosseum, there stood a steel gateway that mimics the one he was stood behind, clearly something was waiting, man or beast, the only way to find out was to enter. Cheering roared across the stadium giving a cold uneasy feeling. Albus was excited beyond belief however Hydra had an unreadable stern face. A loud thunderous boom echoed as the cheery voice of Xaecies spoke again to his second-in-command beside him. ¡°Ooh, great idea! Your trials have been changed!¡± Blinding light struck down lighting up the area, causing a temporarily blind status effect onto the two held in the small cage-like room. They stumbled forward as the gate opened with an extremely loud creak and shudder. Closely placing their steps and covering their eyes with their arms, they started to squint and regain their vision. This time no cheers or shouts from the crowd. The only thing able to be heard was the tweeting of birds and some insects as they crawled around. Sitting on his throne comfortably in front of a whole array of hologram. The light from the hologram¡¯s highlighted his childish grin, each portraying live video feeds of all the players. A total of eight live screens were showing third-person views on each team. A lot of the players seemed to be bickering and arguing over what to do now, to be honest, no one had even bothered to look around their surroundings yet but everyone seemed to be restless and unprepared for whatever was to come. The jolly voice echoed out once again as each person on the projected monitors seemed to perk up. ¡°This trial is just a little speed run. Get through the forest to the meeting point, the faster you arrive the more points to get. Simple, no?¡± After a couple of short moments, the steel gates started rising simultaneously as a stopwatch appeared on each players UI in the corner of their vision. Each group almost had different approaches as some sat back and took it slowly while others rushed straight forward. Xaecies enlarged one of the screens pulling up what seems to a group of two large men arguing with each other. The screen zoomed in on a man seemingly above seven foot, some sort of competitor for the world¡¯s biggest bodybuilder and his partner most likely competes against him. They were both wielding large great weapons, one a polearm, the other an axe. The large man carrying a polearm knocked away a few branches before shouting to his partner ¡°Oi, ya slow bitch hurry up! We ain¡¯t got all day¡± while pushing forward through the thick long grass and bushes in his path.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Surprisingly the jungle doesn¡¯t seem to mimic the ice cold frozen colosseum from before, on the other hand, it looks to be more of a vibrant tropical jungle. With large trees that tower over the surroundings, trampled vines cluttered the the path. As the two large men made their way through the clutter, the one with the axe stomped forward, taking the lead after being shouted out, it was a matter of pride. The two alpha males were clearly trying to show dominance. He cleaved the path apart with his huge axe as they continued forward. Shadows started to dance around their surroundings as the sunlight attempted to find its way onto them through the foliage. Xaecies spoke to himself cheerfully yet again while watching them. ¡°Ouch¡­ seems they can only blame luck.¡± The pair kept clearing their way through unbeknownst to what Xaecies was thinking. They finally came to an area that wasn¡¯t just greenery, there was a huge giant toppled tree ¡°blocking the way¡±. It looked like something had snapped the tree to force them to find another path. ¡°Ugh, Tony which way now?¡± The large man with an axe grunted. Tony replied ¡°What else would we do other than split up and go around it. Are you dumb Tom? Meet you on the other side¡±. Tom questions that call with a sharp voice and nervousness in it as well. ¡°You sure?¡± getting no words but a nod of the head as a reply. The two men split and went either side of the large fallen tree. Soon their sight was blocked and they could no longer see each other. The monitor screen split into two, to make sure it could follow each player. Tom continued to swing his axe clearing out the pathway in front of him. the dancing shadows shifted as the area was being opened up by his broad swings. The cutting of the tall grass allowed the light to seep further into his field of view. A large shadow flashed over one of the split screens and a moment later, a scream that alerted Tony followed. Obviously, Tony started to freak out and was extremely frightened and panicked, changing his direction and running back to the path Tom had cut open. Unable to make it in time, Tony found himself meeting a large flashing beam of red right particles soaring into the tree trunks as Tom had been mauled to death somehow. Then a screen notified him as a creature shrouded in the darkness of the shadows stood on all four legs, snarling towards him. Black fur glistened in the spotlight as it walked onto the path that had been cut out by Tom, there was no sign of him though. The teeth of the Black Jaguar dripped blood as he darted forward, Tony swings his polearm at attempt to strike it, the beast stopped its sprint as it smirks while watching the slow swing hit the ground way in front of it. Dashing forward, it leapt while clashing its glowing teeth against the bare neck of Tony and large bloody slash appeared while the beat darted past. Blood fiercely slid down his body and Tony fell down to his knees after his throat had nearly been ripped out. His body hit the ground with a shudder, staining the jungle trees roots a bright red colour, the same colour of the flashing red screen on Xaecies¡¯ monitors. Critical Hit -54 Damage taken The split screens closed themselves and the other seven enlarged slightly to fill up Xaecies¡¯ field of view. Xaecies scratched his chin as he pondered which screen to turn to pay attention to next, while skimming through, another screen flickered and turned off. Only six of the eight teams remained. And only 10 minutes had passed. ¡°Oh ****, I should''ve warned you! Your being hunted!¡± echoed through all the player''s heads as Xaecies leaned over. Some of the players took a moment to stop and looked around their surroundings while others turned their careful walk into a sprint-like pace. Xaecies then enlarged a monitor hosting two younger men, one with a dirty blonde ponytail wearing some form of combat glove, the other with a huge shield. They had piqued Xaecies¡¯ interest as they were the slowest group by far even though they had been told that the trial is timed. The same shadowed figure was dancing around the grass and trees, the light flickered through the tree trunks but only lighting their surroundings very briefly for an instant and then the whole plane of grass around the wary couple became engulfed in a shadow. It was time for the prey to be hunted. Chapter 7 Hydra¡¯s eyes instantly jolted around while scanning the bushes and tall grass for even the slightest movement. His ears acutely focussed on listening out for footsteps. He attempted to follow the shadow that originally dashed past them, but he couldn''t even track the shadow with his eyes. This lead to questionable looks from Albus before carrying on at their normal pace. Must of been my imagination, He did say we were getting hunted though. I¡¯ll keep an eye out. Keeping the slow pace, they kept walking with no idea of how much time had passed and when the trial would even end. Hydra took the lead using his sword to slice the heavy grass apart while also attempting to conserve as much stamina as possible. The pair came to a halt as a cold shiver was sent down their spines, this time both eyes darted around to again see a lightning fast shadow shifting around the darkness, this time it was not planning on leaving. Hydra instinctively noticed a pattern in what looked like random movements. ¡°Watch out, it looks like it is getting closer by circling around us and using trees for cover¡± Albus snarled at Hydra¡¯s words as he felt like he was treated like a child, he had already taken a combat stance behind Hydra positioning himself so that Hydra could guard against a sneak attack with his shield. Quickly forgetting his anger towards Hydra, he started to grin as his first battle was about to start. The endless possibilities of what he would be fighting against excited him to the point that he started to cackle under his breath. ¡°Haha! Hopefully they brought some food! I¡¯m starving!¡± With both of them on high alert and searching for the foe that was still prowling in the shadows, neither could make a move. Causing the fight to become a silent standstill, seconds became minutes. Five? Ten? twenty? Possibly even thirty? The wind blowing through the jungle-like surroundings became ice cold on their necks as the chills worsened. Albus started getting irritated and impatient as he had already suppressed his urge to break the silence. This impatience lead to a timid rowdiness as he stepped away from Hydra¡¯s immediate proximity. The emotions he had held back pushed him into a burst of energy, Sprinting towards the tree line, he planned to make the first move. ¡°Hold it! You¡¯re putting yourself-...¡± What lurked in the shadows leapt out instantaneously and struck his arm. Blood burst from his shoulder and forearm and he had been left in a state of shock. Only 2 metres away from Hydra was a huge beast, a black panther. There was no hope to escape now as Hydra had planned to. Albus quickly regained his balance after been thrown to the floor. He tightened his fists and gritted his teeth. Hissing from the attack, Albus returned a strike after dashing towards the Panther, trading blow for blow but the Panther¡¯s attack dealt ? of his HP whereas Albus¡¯ attack didn''t seem to nudge the HP bar hovering over the panther. Going in to finish the job it lunged towards Albus once more. Its claws made a sharp clashing sound as they struck a towering shield blocking the way, sparks spat out of the clash and the panther was starting to overpower Hydra resulting in his stance and balance to be thrown off. The panther¡¯s weight and strength flung Hydra to the ground. Hydra lay for a very short moment while in shock, Afterall, he felt his pride was on the line here especially in front of such a cocky new player like Albus. Its strength must be extremely high to be able to overpower this shield! It¡¯s gotta be at least level 5¡­ What is Xaecies thinking putting level 1 players against this! Hydra was unable to land a strike before but this time he planned to. He walked closer towards the Panther to attract its attention while Albus gathered his thoughts and was ready for another round of blows. Once Albus readied his stance to charge towards the Panther, Hydra instantly sprinted in a shoulder barge position while holding the shield out in front of him. The shield had successfully slammed into the Panther, restricting its attack movements while leaving it in a slight daze for a brief moment. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Thuud! Thuuud! Thud! Multiple squeals and yelps bellowed from the Panther following the charge as Albus took the opportunity to swing around the right side and strike the stomach with three uppercuts. During the barrage of uppercuts, Hydra stabbed the chest where the heart was in an attempt to weaken or distract the Panther from returning blows, also this was to draw the panther¡¯s aggression towards Hydra so that Albus could retreat safely. Hydra took a leap backwards while still holding his guard up, He had still lost ? of his HP from the knockdown before. Instead of attacking, the Panther retreated back into the shadows. The pair stood back to back in the bloodstained tall grass. This time they were focussed and dead set on survival. A growl echoed through the trees amplifying its terror, instinctively Hydra faced the direction of the noise while tugging Albus¡¯s sleeve signalling to stay behind him. Both Albus and Hydra took short quick breaths continuously as their stamina was running low. This time the Black Panther couldn¡¯t find any openings so it went for a head-on attack. The beast flung itself out of the shadows and leapt towards Albus. Hydra pivoted his feet while swinging his shield around as fast as he could to protect Albus. This time there was no screech of the claws scraping against the block of metal and wood but instead, blood splattered across Hydra¡¯s face and he was met with a blinding red light towering into the sky originating from where Albus was stood. The Panther dashed off to the side dodging Hydra after claiming its first victim. The shadows pranced around Hydra in a circular motion, it was like the panther was playing with its prey, trying to suck it dry of stamina and willpower before devouring it. Dammit, I''m not fast enough with these stats. I need to remember that I am level 1... I can¡¯t even overpower it with my puny 10 Strength. Damn, the panther still has half of its HP! Maybe if I can just time a few blocks perfectly, I might be able to turn this around by whittling its HP down. Hydra readied his shortsword and puffed up his chest before releasing a deep breath to focus on the next trade, afterall, one more hit would most likely kill him judging from the damage it dealt to Albus. He decided that the best course of action is to risk it all. If he could completely nullify the Panther¡¯s attack then he could force it to lose its balance and launch a counter attack. Hydra purposely left his back unguarded and left a weak point for the Panther to be lured in. By now he had already figured out the speed and pattern of the Panther''s constant circling. As predicted, it leapt out wielding fangs. It looked to be empowering itself with the skill as the teeth looked larger and had a glowing red aura surrounding them. Watching the Panther in the corner of his eye, Hydra spun around and started sprinting towards the endpoint. But knowing he couldn¡¯t outrun it, he put faith in his ability to dodge this attack and maybe then he could counterattack. Watching its prey run, the Panther growled as it chased after him, it seemed that leap attack trades in some mobility to increase its power. Grunting, Hydra ran as fast as he can, watching as the Panther slowly caught up and got in range. Trusting in his instinct, Hydra rolled to the side just barely dodging the fangs of the beast, quickly getting up he slammed the shield with all of his upper body strength into its head doing small damage but briefly dazing it by the looks of it to buy more time. Starting to sprint again towards the end point, he was able to pick up some distance from the Panther. The surroundings of thick foliage and jungle started to thin out and slowly become more scarce, almost like a field or plane of tall grass. Not having time to think, Hydra heard a low pitched growl turning his head he looked and spotted the Panther limping out of the foliage due to its injury which must of rattled its brain. Damn it, looks like that didn¡¯t do much, but it will take a bit of time to catch up. The Panther sped up having its prey in sight and started mad dashing towards Hydra. The distance decreased slower than before with the unstable jungle of obstacles and uneven ground not in the picture anymore. To Hydra this was a blessing as he could run at top speeds without worrying about tripping over thick vines or tree trunks. Soon the panther closed the distance but for some odd reason it wasn¡¯t using its leap attack. It seemed to be saving it or maybe it wasn¡¯t able to. Either way, Hydra couldn¡¯t get into combat with it. The growls got closer and closer from behind him leading Hydra to look behind and the Panther was almost at him. It¡¯s teeth sparkled and so did it¡¯s claws with a faint green glow that would be easy to miss. Fuck¡­ that¡¯s why he waited for so long, If it leaps from such a close range I won''t be able to dodge it in time with these stats. Attempting to roll at this range would lead to instant death... Watching the Panther jump towards him, Hydra cursed inwardly once more as he spun around to brace the attack. I can take a hit but that would put me on my ass and it can finish me off. I need to daze it like I did last time. Hydra raised his shield and swung it towards the Panther in an arc causing its head and claws to meet the shield¡¯s sharp edge sending the Panther a good 2 metres away and knocking it to the ground. [After purposefully repeated use of an action during a special condition a new skill has been granted]