《A Gladiator's New World [HIATUS]》 A Gladiators New World Chapter 1: Number 1704 Chapter 1: Number 1704 Number 1704 did not posses a name or history, he was raised in captivity like an anime and bred to fight. The world had long since been a peaceful place yet he was made to live as a caged animal. After the third Great War were all nations abolished their nuclear weapons in favor of a new energy they called ¡°Mana¡±. As much as it sounded like something out of a fairy tale this energy was versatile enough to be called something as magical as mana. Mana could be harnessed into technology to create a stable energy for the whole world solving many of the world''s conflicts. It was also used in medicine which resulted in people leading longer healthier lives. But with such a powerful source of energy greedy and malicious people also arose leading to a new way for wars to be conducted. Every country would have one hundred soldiers, these soldiers would fight to the death or surrender of their enemies and the winner would have sovereignty over the loser. Thanks to this system many countries scrambled for ways to make the best soldiers. After hundreds of years the wars had stabilized leaving these wars as a form of entertainment for the public. Number 1704 was also part of that entertainment, except he was a gladiator raised for fighting not humans but genetically modified beasts, monsters made to imitate those from legends and myths. He was currently reading the information on his next opponent a so called dragon. Normally a gladiator would not receive any information on what they would be facing but Number 1704 had become a crowd favorite so they set him up against a beast that he would have no chance against while giving him some good information which gave him a slight chance of victory. The manager believed that a desperate struggle between their greatest beast and the strongest gladiator in history would bring in not only a great crowd but a rich crowd. Looking at the information on the fake dragon Number 1704 felt nothing, he had been raised for combat and threat is what he would do. Even if they made him fight a hundred of these creatures he would face them without flinching. Finishing with the dragon¡¯s information he placed it on the floor and picked up the one belonging he was allowed to have a dark leather book. This book was given to him by one of the largest sponsors of the gladiator program he was in so no one would dare take it from him. The book had no name but the manager told him that it was a famous myth about a poor man who reincarnated and became greedy thief who obtained everything he desired and never gave up any of his belongings to others. Towards the end of the tale when the thief was old and a young hero finally caught him he spoke one last time before being executed. ¡°All my treasures are mine and mine alone, even now I will never surrender anything to others.¡± As he said his last words the world distorted and the thief imploded into himself. The story had no deeper meaning or a moral of some sorts, there were no winners at the end and no one who obtained his treasure it was a simple tale about a man who people once believed excited. And while Number 1704 didn¡¯t find anything relatable in the book he did like the thief and the idea of freedom so he kept the book as his sole possession. Thinking about it he knew he would most likely die in his next battle and while he had no problem with that he also didn¡¯t want anyone to have his book so he decided to take it with him during his next fight. This was his one possession and he would take it with him everything he owned would be his and his alone. With those thoughts he fell asleep on the cold floor. ¡°Wake up! Get ready for your fight and may you die in glorious combat.¡± Hearing the manager speak to him Number 1704 quickly got up holding his book and walked out of his cell like room. No chains or restrictions were placed on him, if he decided he could escape at any time but he never did so as he was raised to fight in the arena. So he did the same thing he always did and followed the manager to the arena. His cell was under the arena so he quickly walked up to a familiar sight. The ground was nothing but dirt for three hundred meters with white ten meter walls making a perfect circle. Above the walls were thousands of spectators waiting to see his death. Having come out the crowd cheered their voices reverberating through the the whole arena. The manager tossed him a box and quickly closed the entrance behind him leaving Number 1704 alone in the empty field. The box contained the weapon that he would use, if this were a normal battle then he would get his choice of weapon but for more money the manager chose to allow the public to choose his weapon for a small fee, the weapon that had the most choices would then be picked for him. breaking open the box he saw a large claymore. He was neither happy nor disappointed as any weapon was deadly in his hands. Looking at the other side of the platform a large western dragon like creature made it¡¯s way out of the opposite tunnel. Seeing the large dragon Number 1704 began running towards it without letting out a war cry or anything of that nature instead he just followed his instincts and began gathering mana into his body and weapon. The dragon had long since noticed him and let out a blood curling roar, following the roar was fire. This was one of the things that he read about the dragon, in order to make it as close to the myths as possible they went as far as giving it the ability to breath fire. Without losing his composer Number 1704 jumper to his left and dodged the flame breath. Having dodged the flame breath he continued running towards the massive creature, the dragon from head to tail was about ten meters and had scales as hard as diamonds. Luckily for him in order to have maneuverability the scales had small gaps in between and he could use that to his advantage. Reaching the giant he dodged a tail swipe aimed at his feet and slashed his mana infused claymore at the torso of the beast in order to test it¡¯s durability. With a loud bang the sword was reflected, having been hit by the sword the dragon felt no pain but felt great annoyance and tried to take a bite out of the human how dared face it. Using his sword Number 1704 propelled himself away from the dragon and began his plan of attack sprinting once more at the dragon. Taking his sword he began stabbing into the slits between the scales causing the dragon to roar in pain, seeing him draw first blood the crowd erupted in cheers. ¡°KILL IT!¡± ¡°KILL KILL KILL!!¡± ¡°DRAGON SLAYER!¡± Ignoring all the cheers Number 1704 continued his assault on the dragon while wondering why it was thought that he would die in this fight. The dragon while strong to the point of being overwhelming had absolutely no fighting experience. It¡¯s defence could be considered close to absolute, it¡¯s long range attacks were devastating, it¡¯s speed was above that of any beast he had ever faced, and it¡¯s physical strength was enough to kill him in one hit if it were to land a solid blow but it had no idea how to fight human opponents. The manager of the arena was currently panicking, his prized beast was being slowly killed by a worthless gladiator. Sure he was the strongest gladiator in history but raising him and keeping him alive cost almost nothing and making a second one like him was possible with some effort but that dragon had cost him almost a fifth of his fortune. He called it the Azure Dragon and it was one of his four most prized beast, but it was being killed by a worthless gladiator who could be replaced at any moment. ¡°I say this is rather unexpectedly dull you promised a grand show and all I see is a one sided slaughtered.¡± The one who spoke was a sponsor on the arena and by his tone the manager knew that he wasn¡¯t pleased. As the manager he had certain privileges and authority but in the end he was a manager and could be replaced so if his reputation dropped so would his head. ¡°Haha¡­ Sir do not worry this is just the opener to let the people know of the strength of our greatest gladiator, the specs of the Azure Dragon were released now we will show you the true surprise.¡± The manager inwardly cursed he had the Azure Dragon made as one of four creatures the other three were going to be exhibited after the victory of his treasured Azure dragon as a side considering that they were below it in terms of statistical strength, speed, and defence. ¡°You come here and tell the staff to release the other three.¡± As the manager told this to a nearby servant he looked back to the battle hoping it wasn¡¯t to late to save his previous dragon. ¡°You have three more of those things? You know the regulations on that were drastic you''re going to face death after this.¡± The sponsor just laughed thinking about how the manager was able to secretly make three more of those monstrous dragons. ¡°No no I have no more of those dragons the regulations were quite strict even now the government wishes to take it from me but I have other creatures that compliment it greatly.¡± Looking down at his dragon Number 1704 had managed to peel away a single scale while the rest of the dragon''s body looked bloody from the numerous sword stabs. ¡°That gladiator is quite impressive they should put a regulation on him rather than your dragon, if he wins why don¡¯t you sell him to me?¡± Looking at the sponsor the manager wanted to curse him for even suggesting that his dragon even had the possibility of losing. ¡°Sir he won¡¯t live past today but if he does then I can assure you that we are more than willing to sell him. The only problem is that he was raised here and knows nothing but battle in this arena, it¡¯s so ingrained into him that we do not even restrict him simply move him from one battle to the next.¡± After he said this the sponsor frowned. ¡°Then give him to me at bargain price teaching if I am able to have him guard my son then I can feel assured of his safety.¡± Number 1704 looked at the opening that he had created by peeling off one of the dragon¡¯s scales and was about to begin his assault focused on that piece of flesh with no defence when he heard the roar of another beast to his left and the cry of a bird to his right. Backing away from the dragon Number 1704 looked to his left only to see a five meter long white tiger on his right was a three meter tall red bird, looking behind him he also spotted a large black turtle slowly making it¡¯s way towards him. With the three new beast entering the arena the crowd was astonished and began to cheer even louder that they ever had. They had come to see an epic struggle that could be spoken about for decades and instead saw a one sided slaughter, so now that the arena manager had increased the challenge for the gladiator they couldn¡¯t help but feel that they had spent their money wisely. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. A Gladiators New World Chapter 2: Rage Chapter 2: Rage Number 1704 almost frowned looking at the three new beasts but decided that I the management was hell bent on killing him there wasn¡¯t much he could do other than kill the beast or die. ¡°Well manager you''ve really outdone yourself if those three beast have only a third of the ridicules abilities that that dragon has then you''ve certainly killed that gladiator.¡± The manager had a smug look on his face as he saw that Number 1704 was not going to survive. ¡°Yes well, while they do not posses the dragon''s over all strength the White Tiger possesses almost as much speed, the Vermilion Bird just as much fire power, and the Black Turtle has much stronger defence. We made them based on an old chinese legend.¡± Seeing the sponsor nod the manager looked back to witness a horrid sight. Number 1704 was stabbing his sword deep into the area with the fallen scale. Using his sword Number 1704 stabbed the dragon while ignoring it¡¯s pained crystal and the cheers of the crowd, just when he was breaking to finish it off the white tiger had already reached his location. The speed of the white tiger wasn¡¯t something he could make light of, so he quickly pulled out his sword and parried the tiger¡¯s claws. Luck was on his side as the tiger despite being astonishingly fast did not have the same ridiculous strength behind his blows that the dragon had. The dragon seeing that the tiger had arrived looked around the arena and ran to the turtle as soon as it was spotted. Seeing it act this was Number 1704 confirmed a suspicion that he had about the creatures, they knew each other and would likely work well together. Being a Gladiator raised in the arena for the sole purpose of combat he had faced situations like this before but never against opponents with specs as high as the dragon and tiger, noting the other two he figured that they would have similar strength. Before he could begin his counter against the tiger it turned around and ran, while wondering if he should give chase to it or the injured dragon he heard a bird¡¯s cry behind him and instinctively moved all the mana in his body towards his legs while jumping away from his current position. His instincts seemed to have saved him as the area where he was standing a moment ago was scotched, apparently the bird could launch some form of fire attack. Looking down at the arena which now had a battle worth the large amounts of money that they spent the spectators erupted in cheers once more. ¡°Your dragon seems scared it ran for the turtle, the tiger must be fast but not strong he seemed to parry it¡¯s claws fairly easily.¡± The manager despite having his best beast out there cursed Number 1704 with all his might. Every one of those creatures what''s worth a fortune and could make more money in the long run than the gladiators could and now that they were out there with that monster clad in human skin one or more of them could be lost before they could take him down. In the worst case scenario after they killed the gladiator the beasts would come to fear other gladiators. ¡°The Azure Dragon is smarter than all the other beast it will lead the other three and use them appropriately fear is something it does not have.¡± Despite his claims the manager knew that it would take a while to have the Azure Dragon recuperate and ready for it¡¯s next public battle. Looking down at the fight the manager was pleasantly surprised by what he saw. The White Tiger adopted a hit and run method while the Vermilion Bird covered it¡¯s escapes by using fire magic the Black Turtle sold on standby to protect the Azure Dragon and the dragon would occasionally fire it''s breath in order to kill the gladiator. ¡°Your pets seem to be at a stalemate against the gladiator and I dare say that they would each fear him individually. The only one who hasn¡¯t been proven incompetent is the turtle and that seems to be only a matter of time.¡± Hearing his precious beasts being ridiculed despite the fact that he felt that they were doing well the manager once more began to silently curse Number 1704. The audience despite seeing the various close encounters that Number 1704 had with the beasts were beginning to grow bored after the stalemate continued for more than a minute. ¡°MORE BEASTS!¡± ¡°GIVE HIM MORE WEAPONS!¡± ¡°MORE GLADIATORS!¡± ¡°ACTIVATE THE TRAPS!¡± The crowd wanted a variety of things some wanted the beasts to win, others wanted Number 1704 to be the victor, while others made more neutral statements such as the activation of traps that could affect both parties. But a majority of the spectators wanted to witness the victory of Number 1704 as it would mean that a dragon slaying hero would be born and not only a dragon slayer but a true war hero who persevered against all odds like those in fables. ¡°The crowd wishes for the victory of the gladiator while you want nothing more than the victory of your pets, what will you do?¡± The sponsor was having a great time not only watching the struggle between man and beast but also the internal struggle of the manager. ¡°Then I should break the stalemate they seem to be in before the crowd and more importantly the fighter become exhausted.¡± The manager knew very well the stamina limits that each of the beast had and they would surely give out before the monster that they called a gladiator ever would. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Activate the traps make sure to aim at the gladiator, set off the occasional trap on the beasts to keep the audience thinking that it¡¯s a fair fight.¡± Giving his instructions to one of the guards the manager looked back at the fight between man and beast that continued it¡¯s stalemate only he had missed something as the tiger had a deep cut running down it¡¯s left side and Number 1704 was now charging straight towards the Vermilion bird. ¡°Haha you''ve missed the good part it seems you might be too late to save your precious pets.¡± While laughing the sponsor¡¯s eyes never left the ongoing battle. After being harassed by three beasts Number 1704 finally injured the tiger he took the opportunity to chase and get rid of the bird. While her an towards it he also crept a vigilant eye on both the dragon and the wounded tiger. The bird panicked seeing the monstrous human who could fight off the both it and the tiger at the same time and began to fly towards the turtle to seek shelter. As soon as Number 1704 noticed the birds intent he gathered all the mana he could into his right shoulder and arm to throw his sword. The Vermilion Bird not expecting the human to throw the one thing that protected him from the White Tiger had no thoughts of dodging a thrown sword. When he saw the sword hit the bird Number 1704 moved his mana to his legs to retrieve his sword. The bird on the other hand could do nothing but let out a defining shriek. Right when Number 1704 was only a few meters spears came out of the floor right underneath his feet, even with his vigilance and preparation he could not escape from the trap unscathed. Now with one leg badly wounded his speed and maneuverability had taken a drastic dive. Ignoring the pain in his leg Number 1704 continued towards his sword and the fallen bird, while he did so the tiger grew courageous looking at his injury and sprinted at it¡¯s fastest speed towards Number 1704. ¡°Your little beasts seem to be taking great advantage of the trap that just so happened to save their lives, even the crowd loves it.¡± Indeed most of the crowd was eating up everything they saw but some protested at the sight of what would potentially be the end of their favorite gladiator. ¡°I''ll come up with some reasons later, honestly those beast cost a fortune and that retch is ruining their prospects.¡± The manager, no longer concealing his hate for the poor gladiator who had been schemed against, was openly filled with anger seeing his Vermilion Bird in such a pathetic state. The White White tiger was now only meters away from the gladiator when it jumped like an arrow shot from a bow straight to Number 1704. Seeing this situation the manager couldn''t be happier, however the Gladiator would continue to disappoint him. Just before the tiger could strike Number 1704 turned around and used his left arm to parry the blow from the tiger. Unable to stop the blow from landing Number 1704 instead used the force of the blow to propel him even faster in the direction of his claymore. Upon reaching the claymore and the downed bird Number 1704 quickly stabbed the blade further in and circulated a third of his remaining mana in the form of a pure mana bomb inside of the distraught bird. Knowing it death was eminent and having some pride in itself the bird let out a sharp cry while looking into Number 1704 and exploded. With the sudden explosion all Number 1704 could do was cover himself in mana to form a sort of shield, he also circulated mana into his book to protect it from the explosion. Sadly it was not enough and the pages of the book quickly became ashes while he himself now had burns in both arms and legs, the strange thing however was that the black leather cover of the book grew into a coat. The coat seemed to be able to easily handle the fire so he put it on without much thought and waited for the fire to die down. While he waited his thoughts finally deviated from the battle. ¡°My book¡­ It was the only possession I had and was taken from be by a stupid bird!¡± Unbeknownst to him he finally felt his first emotion, rage. With the coat that seemed to allow him to ignore the fire and claymore in hand Number 1704 roared loud enough to scare the audience, a killing intent that almost physically manifested was felt by all coming from the hellish flames. Sweat dropped down the manager''s back as he looked at the dissipating fire only to see a black cloaked gladiator surrounded by a strange dark mist. The White tiger also feeling the mass of killing intent ran towards the Black Turtle for safety at it¡¯s fastest speed ignoring it¡¯s injuries. With all of his previous calm and rationality having left him Number 1704 began circulating his mana in the same way he had once seen a beast do so, what he was planning to do would kill all three beast but it would also more that likely cause his end as well. What he was creating inside his body was lightening with it circulating his body Number 1704 could no longer feel anything but pain. But for the price he paid the reward was more than worth it, when he swung his sword only a trail of light could be seen followed by the disappearance of the three beasts. After he released his strongest attack only he remained standing the three creatures had become nothing but ashes. A Gladiators New World Chapter 3: Bare Fangs Please read my small note at the end thank you! Chapter 3: Bare Fangs The manager stood dumbfounded staring at the arena, all his precious beast were dead without leaving a single trace of their existence. Looking at Number 1704 with all the hate in the world he didn¡¯t even have time to think about the coat that had mysteriously appeared and disappeared. ¡°... No no NO! How, this isn¡¯t possible, no human can do that. My beast, my fortune¡­ GUARDS KILL HIM!!¡± Having lost a large sum of money and resources the manager couldn¡¯t take the mental stress and began to contemplate killing that monster who considered itself human. The sponsor broke out into laughter thinking that he would be able to purchase such a monstrous gladiator to protect his son, all that was left to do on his part was keep the manager from killing the gladiator. ¡°Now now, we had a prior agreement if he won you would sell me the gladiator. If you don¡¯t wish for some of your more unsavory deeds to be known then let me take him off your hands.¡± Without even a shred of hesitation the manager pulled out his firearm and killed one of his biggest sponsors. The firearm was a relic of the past relying on gunpowder instead of mana and was considered useless by many but the manager always kept one. His reasoning was simple while a small personal energy shield could stop a bullet, as a surprise attack it worked wonders because of the lack of mana being used. ¡°Take his body and dispose of it. Humph, such over confidence coming here without a single guard just because he thinks himself a high Mage.¡± At this moment the crowd who had gone quiet form the sheer awe of Number 1704 power broke out into cheers with such might that it could be heard from the heavens. Unbeknownst to the manager and the crowd Number 1704 had died the moment he unleashed his greatest attack. By using his own body as the medium to create the devastating amount of lightning it had burned all his organs to ashes. If he had only released a third of the power and used the remaining two thirds of his mana to shield himself then he might have survived but in his rage he did not do so. As Number 1704¡¯s soul left his body he felt strongly at peace, he no longer had a body but his soul still held his consciousness, not caring or knowing that this was an odd situation he simply rested. ________________ High General Tal RavenHammer paced back and forth throughout his house walking everywhere just to distract himself. Despite being the High General of the Dwarven Kingdom his house was actually rather small with only five bedrooms, a kitchen, a small dining room, and a bathroom. The reason for this was simple, he was born a commoner and worked to his position all the while rejecting any title of nobility. His pacing back and fourth throughout his house was also duo to something simple, his wife was giving birth to their first child. He was not so much worried for his wife¡¯s health as much as he was for his child¡¯s gender and appearance. He was of the dwarven race, as a dwarf his body was fairly short and despite what anyone would say those of the dwarven race had an inborn height complex. But regardless of their height dwarves were known as one of the physically strongest race one the continent. High General Tal¡¯s height complex was much worse than that of most dwarves thanks to him being short even among their kind. Because of this he fell in love with a powerful and tall elven beauty by the name of Luna, it took him years to get her to fall in love with him but he succeeded in the end. What he was most worried about was that the child would be a girl and she would take on the dwarven characteristics, being a short masculine body almost resembling a dwarven male, what he yearned for was a son who would have the build of a dwarf but the height of an elf. Number 1704 after what seemed like years of quiet rest finally began to feel his body once more, thinking that he was in a recuperation tank he stopped any attempts to move. But unfortunately what he thought was a recuperation tank seemed to have different plans for him and began to slowly expel him. Not knowing what was happening, he did what felt the most natural and followed his instincts, after what seemed like an hour of being expelled from the recuperation tank Number 1704 let out a loud cry while looking around. What he saw baffled him, he seemed to be in a small room with three people two older males and a giant female. As much as he wanted to stay vigilant of his surroundings because of the new environment his body would not allow it and he quickly fell asleep. Luna looked at her baby who had just been born laying asleep in the hands of the midwife who assisted her through labor. ¡°Helga let me hold my child and bring in that husband of mine.¡± Helga slowly handed Luna the newborn and walked out of the room in order to bring in the distort general. Giving out a small sigh she glanced at the newborn. ¡°Hmm a boy, good I will teach you to be a real man. Hopefully you don¡¯t turn out like your father who knows nothing but forging and strategic combat theory¡­ That fool runs around worrying about the most nonsensical things, but you will be strictly raised by your mother so there¡¯s no need to worry.¡± as she finished saying her piece her husband High General Tal walked in looking nervous. ¡°W¡­ Wife don¡¯t say such things to our child. I¡­ Is it a boy or a girl?¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. In front of his wife who he spent years chasing High General Tal could not put on any airs in fear of his wife¡¯s wrath. ¡°It¡¯s a boy¡­ Now what other nonsense are you thinking?¡± Staring down at her fidgeting husband, Luna knew he was thinking of asking something beyond the scope of what normal people would consider proper. ¡°You¡­ You see¡­ I was wondering if he would take after me or you¡­ Or quite possibly have my build with your height.¡± ¡°To answer your question in the best way I can while not hitting you. I don¡¯t know. He resembles an elven baby but maybe babies all look the same, I''ve never seen a human or dwarven baby so you''ll have to wait a couple months or years, who knows. Now because he is a boy you may give him his first name.¡± While dwarves didn¡¯t have any naming traditions for their children, elves did. If the child was a girl then the mother would give the her her first name and the father a second one to match the first, and the other way around if it was a boy. But because High General Tal had been thinking nonsense for the last nine months he had forgotten to think of a name despite knowing this. Looking at her shocked husband Luna began to stare daggers into him only holding back from giving him a thrashing do to the fact that she was holding her child. ¡°Wife¡­ How could you th¡­ Think that your own husband wouldn¡¯t think of a name for our dearest child¡­ Fang, yes his first name shal me Fang.¡± Thinking himself clever Tal sighed in relief, Luna on the other hand while not having anything against the name also knew that her husband came up with it on the spot. After all Fang was neither a dwarven name nor an elven one, but because of tradition she would not fight her husband over the name he had picked. ¡°... Then his second name shall be Fae. Fang Fae, he who shall bear his fangs at those who dare bear there''s against the Fae. Hmm yes I like it more than I thought¡­ You did good.¡± Seeing that his wife was pleased Tal did the mental equivalent of wiping a cold sweat from his head. But he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what his wife was planning for their son by giving him such an extravagant meaning behind his name. ¡°Now then Helga, thank you for all your help.¡± Helga had stayed quiet the whole time dumbfounded by the way the heroic High General acted in front of his wife. To all the commoner dwarves the High General who chose to keep his status as a commoner was only second to their king and some held him in a higher position within their hearts. ¡°¡­ Yes I will be off if you need anything please send someone to fetch me.¡± Despite her state the midwife quickly recovered, showing her professionalism and made her way out accompanied by Tal. _____________ It had been two weeks since Fang had first woken up and he had for the most part recognized the situation he was in. The reason for this was simple, his one possession from his past life spoke about reincarnation. His book was the sole thing he owned and also his only source of information about anything not related to combat. According to the information that had been on the book his first priority was to learn the cutter and customs of his new environment. The first thing he learned was his name Fang Fae, and the names of his parents. After that he would simply allow himself to be carried by his mother and listen to her speak in order to learn the language. Fang also made various atempts to feel the mana in his suroundings but never succeeded, this he belived was caused by the fact that he was a baby and his body had yet to fully develop. Despite this he was never grew tired of his life as a baby in the same way that the thief had in the story. Unlike the thief who had been a poor begger in his past life Fang had no life experience or intrest to speak of, even fighting was only something he had done because of his survival instinct. As such he grew to like being held by his mother as she provided him with the first feeling of warmth and care from both his lives. From what he could tell his parents where vastly different his father was short and stocky while his mother was tall and had no body fat to speak of aside from the slight bulges on her chest that produced milk. And While being held by his mother was a confort to him when he was held by his father the same feeling was not replicated. Instead his father who Fang had seen being scolded by his mother on multiple occasions made him feel that his safety was questionable. All of this was done through following his instinct as he had in the past but unlike before were he would feel nothing but pain and suffering while fighting to become stronger he was gaining new experiences. Living this way was fairly easy and he found comfort in it as he slowly learned the languag. (Author¡¯s comment I guess: So the first two chapters were somewhat more action packed and the next couple of chapters probably won¡¯t because he¡¯s going to be a child and do children things like fight gods and ancient beings cause that''s what children do¡­ Na just kidding about the whole gods part but the action will slow down a little in order to get in some character development, hopefully I''m good at it. Also I need to give him a friend or maid or butler or pet, some sort of temporary companion. Sujestions on names or what to use would be appreciated. Thank you.) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 4: Lock picking Chapter 4: Lock picking A small boy with short pointed ears, long ash gray hair, and a thin body that seemed to contain no fat ran around a small house not caring for what trouble he may cause. That young boy was Fang, the small house he had lived in for the last five years contained many memories and new experiences including all the trouble he had caused by learning to talk at the age of one. After that his mother considered him to be her precious genius child and would show him off to everyone she knew. He had also understood that there was hardly any difference between male and female ¡°dwarves¡±. Because he had never seen anything other than humans and modified animals in his past life having new races to interact with seemed interesting. Most of his time was spent with his mother who would spoil him as pointed out by the dwarves that he interacted with alongside his mother. The reason he was spending time mindlessly looking around at the moment was that his mother left him at home today to take care of some business she had with an old friend whom she would be bringing over later. After waiting around a bit he decided to focus on one of his short term goals, breaking into his father¡¯s study. In the last four years he had not been able to learn much about the world and was fairly sheltered so every once in awhile he would attempt to break into his father¡¯s study. The study wasn¡¯t particularly well fortified but it was still something that had given him trouble with his current body, and to his dismay he was unable to sense mana. For the last five years this had been his greatest problem as he could not feel at ease while not at his top condition. Regardless that was something he could give some thought to later for now his priority was entering the study. Once in front of the large solid wooden doors that would hopefully lead him to some information about the outside world. The last time he tried to get in Fang used a chair in order to break the door down but not only did he fail he was also scolded by his mother so now he needed a more subtle approaching. For that reason he began to think of either smashing only the lock or somehow pick it. Picking a lock wouldn¡¯t be easy but the thief in his book had made a name for himself from this skill and Fang believed that he would be able to do the same with some practice. ____________ Luna walked down the road in a good mood, one of her long time friends were coming to visit her. As an elf her natural lifespan was around a thousand years so having friends from other races was sometimes hard depending on how long they lived. But because of her personality Luna had ventured out into the world outside of the elf village and made plenty of friends, especially some who she considered as close as family. One particular group that she traveled with had formed a sort sisterhood with. Today one of those good sisters was visiting her, Liz a human. Liz was generally busy as she had become a big shot in some kingdom''s political system. After reaching a shabby looking in that seemed to be in the middle of rotting, Luna smiled thinking of how her friend was a penny pincher. ¡°LIZ GET OUT HERE!¡± Many dwarves came out of their businesses and homes in the area wondering who would be causing a commotion in the morning. In response to Luna¡¯s shout a gust of wind shot out of the door, before anyone had noticed swords clashed. The gust of wind was revealed to be a mid sized well developed blond woman seemingly in her mid twenties wielding a black longsword. ¡°Your noisy as ever.¡± Holding her own sword, a short sword forged by her husband, Luna smiled. ¡°And your as violent as ever, it ruins your good looks.¡± Separating from each other the two old friends put away their swords. ¡°Ha! Your one to talk, back in the day everyone called you the berserk blood elf. So the last person I need to be lectured about my temper is you.¡± Hearing about her past Luna felt a mixture of pride and shame. Her strength was always something she would take pride in but some of her deeds could only be explained as the folly of youth. ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter now let''s head to my house and you can see my cute little baby I''m sure he¡¯ll steal your heart away the moment you see him.¡± Liz gave her long time friend an odd look, Luna who was once known for her fierce and destructive nature all around the continent looked like a maiden in love. ¡°You really changed haven''t you. Well anyway let''s head to your house so I can point out how he just looks like a stocky dwarf with a mustache at the age of four.¡± Despite Liz¡¯s obvious provocation Luna continued to smile while that walked. ¡°Well if you wish to go down the rout of the idiot parent then tell me about your boy and why he¡¯s so great.¡± As if some sort of switch was flipped Luna began to speak excitedly. ¡°You see he was running before he could even crawl and began speaking at one. Then he was so cute dragging a chair around in order to smash a door down, you should have seen his little struggle as he tried to swing it.¡± Letting out a small sigh Luna almost looked sad for a moment. ¡°But because breaking down the house isn¡¯t right I had to scold him and couldn¡¯t praise him.¡± Liz on the other hand couldn¡¯t help but feel shocked. She was not however shocked by the actions of the boy but the reactions of Luna. The sad face that she had shown was something that Liz had only seen once and that was at the loss of near a hundred comrades in a fight against a great mana beast. It seemed having to scold her son was on the same level as the death of several tens of comrades. Letting out a deep sigh while looking at Luna Liz couldn¡¯t help but comment. ¡°Now I know the level of your idiocy. But whatever that¡¯s amusing in it¡¯s own way, so does this great son of your¡¯s have a fitting name?¡± ¡°Yes I was able to turn the name my husband gave him on the spot into something great. It¡¯s Fang Fae.¡± Looking somewhat perplexed Liz stared at Luna. ¡°You didn¡¯t give him your family name nor your husbands? If I remember correctly he¡¯s a big shot here despite not being a noble and could in fact make your son a noble if he pressed for it.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°No that¡¯s not something I want besides Tal¡¯s family name is just a formality he took the name of his father¡¯s blacksmith shop as his family name to stop some whining dwarven nobles. And as for my family name I can¡¯t because I married into Tal¡¯s family according to elven tradition.¡± During Luna¡¯s little speech about the greatness of her son they hair arrived back at her home. ¡°Fang I''m home come greet your aunt.¡± Soon after light footsteps were heard coming from the second floor of the house. Liz upon seeing the boy was pleasantly surprised because he did in fact look adorable with large gray eyes, long ash gray hair reaching his waist and pointed ears only slightly longer than a human''s. ¡°Oh so he doesn''t look like your husband, but he is a bit small for his age don¡¯t you think?¡± The boy kept running until he reached the two and welcomed them With a slight bow. ¡°Welcome back mother, welcome aunt.¡± Liz while slightly surprised at the politeness shown by the boy considering who his mother was smiled. ¡°Hello Fang my name is Liz Wensworth the director of a magic academy in a human kingdom, you can just call me aunt Liz or Ms. Wensworth whatever your feel more comfortable with.¡± ¡°Okay aunt Liz, Mother I¡¯m going to continue playing for a while.¡± As he said this Fang once more ran off to the second floor of the house. ¡°Hmm what could he be doing.¡± As soon as Luna said this Liz began to shan''t a spell and was raped in layers of wind. ¡°Let''s check it out then we might see something interesting considering how mischievous you made him out to be.¡± As both of them made their way up the stairs Luna couldn¡¯t help but wonder what her little boy could possibly be doing to move away from her side. Fang on the other hand had not noticed the two who were watching him and once more picked up a fork and continued his feeble attempts to pick the lock. Liz seeing hm couldn¡¯t help but burst out in laughter. ¡°Fang what are you doing?¡± Fang¡¯s response however made her laugh all the more. ¡°Picking the lock.¡± After a short fit of laughter Liz calmed down and began to look towards Luna. ¡°And we''re did you learn such a thing? Oh and I guess the reason for you doing that is important too.¡± ¡°I learned it from a story about a thief and I want to read books so I was trying to go into father¡¯s study.¡± Hearing the discussion between her friend and son, Luna was awe struck that her baby boy would be able to do something he had only heard in a story. ¡°Before making that face you should explain to him what he did and teach him more things, he seems fairly intelligent just lacks wisdom and some sense.¡± being brought out from her delusions Luna once more donned the role of a strict mother. ¡°Fang Fae breaking into places is wrong and something you should not do. As for gaining more knowledge I shall personally begin educating you in the ways of the world, I hoped to start when you were ten but the impatient blood of the dwarves must be at fault here. Well regardless you still need to be punished for doing wrong¡­ Then for the next ten days stay in your room.¡± Hearing his mother speak Fang easily accepted his punishment and walked off to his room. ¡°So Luna, how often does that kid get out and play with others his age? Because when he said that he was planning to go play he went strait to pick the lock and I don¡¯t think he was lying or trying to misdirect us in any way.¡± Luna looked off to the side ignoring Liz¡¯s question. ¡°... You, oh you troubled mother, he has no friends and you¡¯ve been trying to keep him for yourself.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not old enough to be outside he can start going out when he¡¯s twenty and it will be with me around to supervise him.¡± Seeing her friend who seemed dead serious about her horrid statement Liz could only sigh. ¡°He needs to get out and for that reason tomorrow we¡¯re taking him out to play with other children his age, you can supervise him from afar and intervene if he gets hurt for whatever reason but that¡¯s it¡­ And before you say no think about the reason that you left your home to explore.¡± _________ Sitting in his room Fang thought about what his mother had said about it being wrong to break into places. His book about the thief had said something similar but at the time he didn¡¯t understand what right or wrong really was, even now it seemed like an elusive concept. ¡°Well the thief said that it¡¯s only wrong to get caught because in the end everyone has their own thoughts on the subject. And the worst thing anyone can do is take one of my belongings, that said I don''t have much and will need to learn how to be a great thief soon.¡± Thinking further, if his mother was going to teach him about the world he could also take from her standards. ¡°The only thing left is to find out about mana if I can¡¯t use it fighting will be difficult and I''ll have to switch to long range weapons but I¡¯m not particularly good with bows or guns.¡± While sitting and powering what to do to increase his battle strength Fang heard his mother shout. ¡°Fang tomorrow we¡¯re going out so we will suspend your punishment tomorrow temporarily when it¡¯s time to leave.¡± ___________ That day Luna and Liz spent the night drinking, with Liz comforting her friend who was depressed at having to punish her little boy. (Author''s note number 2: so I''m gonna give him some type of companion in this next chapter have him do some things and then see how I continue I after and I''m still not sure if it sould be a temp companion or really important plot development type. I have a good idea for the plot development type but how he meets he/she/it is keeping me from going forward with that. the main problem is that a random meeting with he/she/it and becoming friends for no real reason is kinda questionable to me for the future so yea. Also I just realized that my note is more of a my thoughts while getting ready to post this. Last chapter was kinda short of 2000 words which is what I usually go for so the next one I''m gonna go for 2500 to even it out this one is something like 2100. Anyway thanks and if there is a good sujestion for the companion in the next two days I would apriciated it. Thank you!!!). :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 5: Remember Fear Chapter 5: Remember fear The next day Fang woke up earlier than usual thanks to his new found aunt who woke him up saying something about needing medical care and a hangover relief. He didn¡¯t understand what a hang over was but brought her cold water and some breakfast consisting of bread and milk. After being praised a bit for his thoughtfulness he spent a bit of time listening to her talking about how much his mother had changed. From Fang¡¯s point of view his mother was caring and gentle while a little strict when he did something wrong. Aunt Liz on the other hand tried to point out that if she hadn¡¯t come along his little outing that was planned for today would have taken another fifteen years. ¡°Aunt Liz do you know where we¡¯re going?¡± Fang was more interested in learning from his mother rather than going out as he had done that before and it was always uneventful. Usually when he went out his mother would drag him around and speak to some female dwarves then buy food and return home. ¡°Hmm I''m assuming that there¡¯s some sort of park or area where kids your age play around if not I can just fly around until I spot a group of them and throw you there.¡± Having his questions answered Fang was somewhat content and walked away after saying that he was going to check on his mother. His mother was in a much better condition then his Aunt Liz and only slightly grimaced when she thought that Fang wasn¡¯t paying attention. ¡°Mother, Aunt Liz is already in the dining room eating breakfast.¡± Nodding in acknowledgement to Fang, Luna fixed her attire once more before leaving her room and heading to the dining room. ¡°Fang today we¡¯re going to go out and you will be able to explore on your own for that I had your father make you something nice, I''ll give it to you after we leave for now get some food and prepare to make some friends.¡± Not wanting to waste any time both Fang and Luna went to the dining room and ate their breakfast. ¡°Okay then since I''ve only been here once before on business I have no idea if the dwarven kingdom¡¯s capital has anything resembling a park or a place where children around Fang¡¯s age gather so what¡¯s the plan Luna.¡± Looking up at the ceiling Luna thought for a while then looked directly at Fang. ¡°Okay we are going to one of the few parks that the dwarves have but despite being open to the public it¡¯s generally only used by nobles so causing trouble would be bad that means no breaking things or finding locks to pick.¡± Fang nodded showing that he understood and the three of them went off with Liz giving Luna an odd look. Before the left the gates of the small house Luna stopped Fang in order to give him what they had talked about earlier. Taking out a small wooden sword from behind her back Luna handed it to fang who quickly accepted it. The wooden sword seemed to be made of some type of black wood with many intricate blood red designs carved into it. ¡°Now Fang Fae this is not something so that you can go around starting fights it is to defend yourself in case anything bad happens or if someone tries to hurt you, is that understood?¡± Fang nodded once more showing that he understood while placing the wooden sword between his belt. dressed with his green leaf patterned attire and a black and blood red sword and his side made him stand out thanks to the contrast. His mother was wearing similar attire while Liz wore a plain green robe. ¡°Then let''s get going he¡¯s not gonna make any friends standing here.¡± Having been prompt by Liz the three set of for the park where the two woman hoped Fang could make some friends. In truth even if an elf was not as doting a parent as Luna they would normal begin introducing a child into society at the age of seven because they matured slower than the other races. Whereas other more short lived races would begin leaving their families to start their own between the ages of fifteen to thirty elves would sometimes wait until the age of a hundred before contemplating building their own family. But because of his previous life experience though little it may be and his dwarven blood Fang matured much faster than the average elf. Reaching the park both Fang and Liz were amazed at the site, dwarves were known for their craftsmanship and crude behavior but the site in front of them did not portray that. A large piece of land was lightly fenced with a simple design on the metal used for the fencing, the park had many types of flower carefully placed around. Some areas were left as open fields like that of a grassy plain while other areas had trees, small hills, and even artificial mountains. Because this was originally meant as an area where parents could leave their children to play and interact with others their age safely the land was very diverse. ¡°Now Listen well Fang inside this area you are allowed to roam freely but don¡¯t fight with anyone or cause trouble, if anything dangerous happens then yell and close your eyes as quickly as you can.¡± Having understood his mother¡¯s instructions Fang nodded and ran off into the more forested area. After fang was out of sight Luna began fidgeting. ¡°Ahhh I should follow him and make sure he doesn¡¯t fall or hurt himself, did you see him running his little legs he¡¯s so cute.¡± Shaking her head at her old friend Liz looked at where Fang had disappeared. ¡°You know this place is unexpected, but why did you tell him to close his eyes after yelling.¡± Luna tilted her head as if confused on how her friend didn¡¯t know such a simple thing. ¡°Because I wouldn¡¯t want my sweet little boy to see me dismembering people it might cause him nightmares.¡± Without the strength nor the will to reprimand her for her overprotectiveness Liz just stayed silently vowed to keep anyone from being killed while she was there. __________ Having been allowed to do as he pleased with few conditions Fang was at a loss on what to do. Until he was reborn all he did was live in constant combat or read his book and it was that same book that gave him the objective of gaining knowledge. With that accomplished through his mother¡¯s promise to teach him all Fang could think of was to look around the park. While looking around with no particular objective he thought back on his book and what possible goals he could make for himself now that his primary objective had been met. Thinking back on the description of the thief¡¯s early life there was only one thing he could do until he was older, train to be a thief. The most important thing for a thief was not to be able to enter into any area but to be able to enter undetected. So hiding his presence would be important but it would be something new as this was not something he learned how to do as a gladiator because he always fought in an open field. To further his goal he decided to find some people and hide around them this should also fulfill his mother¡¯s condition of not causing trouble. Having made his decision on how he would proceed Fang once more ran around the park but this time in search of people. After finding some dwarven children who were playing near the forested area Fang made his way to higher ground to observe them while staying undetected. Remembering some of the beast he had fought and the ways in which they hid their presence Fang slowed his breathing and calmed his body to slow down and stop unnecessary functions. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. However as much as he tried he could not get his vitals down to a satisfactory level, this was due to the fact that his current body lacked training. Taking note of the reasons Fang moved away from the playing children and made his way to another open space where he would be alone. Once he had found a good spot he began doing simple sword training exercises with his new weapon. Because he could no longer feel and control mana at will he focused on training his body, something he had not done so in the past due to negligence and his constant attempts to get a feel for the mana in the atmosphere. As he swung his sword he did not focus on skill or strength but on control over his body. Skill was something that he had from his previous life it was ingrained in his very soul through the countless life or death fights he had been through. It was control over his body that he lacked, with perfect control over his body he would be able to take on foes much stronger than he was. The other reason that he didn¡¯t particularly put his all into the sword was because although he was fairly proficient with it, it was not his favored weapon. As a gladiator he was made to use every kind of weapon, even a brick in his hands was something to be feared, but his favorite weapon was a spell tome. A spell tome was an ordinary book that had the soul of a living being transferred into it, as a living being it¡¯s pages could then hold information with partial consciousness. Due to that one could release devastating spells by recording them onto the tome and activating them only when needed, this was his favored weapon for it¡¯s versatility and convenience. If he had a spell tome when the fighting the dragon instead of a sword he would have used it as a medium for the lightning rather than risking death by using himself. As he continued to swing his sword and move his body he heard a strong laughter from behind him. ¡°Hahahah an elf thinks that this is his playground and on top of that that funny to funny.¡± Looking back a group of dwarven children lead by a particularly well dressed boy laughed at the sight of Fang swinging his sword. ¡°Yea elves can¡¯t use swords!¡± ¡°You stink!¡± ¡°Let the young master show you how it¡¯s done!¡± Not fully understanding why they were mocking him, Fang felt somewhat annoyed at their intrusion. ¡°I am Bartolus Madawoe son of the noble Madawoe family. Your practice sword seems nice give it to me.¡± Hearing that they wanted to take what was his Fang¡¯s annoyance quickly turned to anger, but his mother told him not to attack anyone so he tried a different approach. ¡°No, this was made for me so it¡¯s mine.¡± After hearing Fang¡¯s response the argent noble child was infuriated. ¡°Hmph you better give it to me if you know what¡¯s good for you. As a noble you are far beneath me and live in this country by our noble grace so when I say do something you do it.¡± Fang having never learned about nobles didn¡¯t care for the child¡¯s words and instead focused on the fact that someone was trying to take what was his. ¡°No.¡± While his one simple word was said softly it was said with enough killing intent to scare a seasoned warrior. Feeling the killing intent all the children quickly grew scared and fell to the floor some even began crying. _____________ Feeling the great killing intent both Liz and Luna grew alarmed and ran to find it¡¯s source. ¡°What do you think happened?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know but if someone tried to scare my boy no one is gonna survive today.¡± ______________ Today was his seventh day guarding the young master of the Madawoe house. When the young master saw an elf boy with a splendid sword that even he would be envious of despite it being only a practice sword the new guard only watched from afar. But when a killing intent strong enough to leave him wanting to run away came from the boy he quickly rushed forth in order to carry out his duty. as he drew near the killing intent vanished and the boy began to walk away seemingly losing interest in the young master and his friends. As he reached his young master he couldn¡¯t help but be wary of the young elf who was walking away. ¡°Young master are you alright?¡± Shaking the young master out of his panicked state the guard worried what might happen to his pay for allowing the young master to experience such an event. ¡°You¡­ Your my guard¡­ He¡­ He humiliated me, take his stupid sword and break his legs for acts against the dwarven kingdom.¡± The guard knew that his young master was in the wrong but could not disobey and thought that he should at least give the boy a good fight before taking the splendid practice sword. ¡°Elf stop this is dwarven territory and you must follow dwarven law. You have disrespected a noble house and for that a price must be paid.¡± With his sheathed sword the guard was prepared to see the elf¡¯s level of sword play. Once the elf boy had turned around he quickly prepared his sword and took a firm stance. The guard was impressed that the boy didn¡¯t falter or begin to run, but despite his impression he would still have to hurt the boy for his blatant disrespect. The first to make his move was the boy whose speed was quite good for one so young. _______________ Fang was annoyed that the adult dwarf had stopped him and saw no other option but to fight. Seeing as he would not be able to escape if he simply ran Fang decided to kill. While charging towards the adult dwarf he readied his sword for a horizontal blow. But because his strength was vastly inferior to his opponent when he reached the dwarf the sword could do nothing. This situation was nothing new for him however as he had always fought beast who he would never be able to match in terms of physical strength. Changing his aim from slashes he prepared to stab into the dwarf¡¯s unguarded armpit. however before he could continue his attack the sheathed sword of the guard swept him away and threw him a couple meters back. _______________ When Luna arrived at the scene of her boy being swept away by a sword she didn¡¯t even bother to notice that it was sheathed and began moving the mana around her in preparation to kill. On this day the world remembered why it feared the blood elf. (Author''s note 3: So I was able to do the 2500 yay. Another thing is that I updated my computer and now it doesn''t do auto cap so if I don''t have some sorry I will fix it when I have more chapters along with the grader mistakes and wrong word placement. Aside from that I have almost thought of everything for the companion character aside from apearence race gender but I have backstory and al kinds of complication thought up for it so yea any suggestions would be appreciated for that thanks. On another side note I will write these slower in the future maybe one a week due to reasons. Thank you. ) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 6: Blood nightmare, Bahamut Chapter 6: Blood nightmare, Bahamut Liz ran directly towards Fang who had fallen on the ground. Seeing that he had only been knocked unconscious she determined that although saving the guard was now impossible she would stop Luna from killing anyone not involved. ¡°Luna he¡¯s fine! Just knocked out.¡± Although she had given up on saving the guard¡¯s life she still made and attempt to pacify her friend with the assurance that her son was fine. But her words either didn¡¯t reach the maddened Luna or were ignored. When Luna finished her spell nothing extraordinary happened but Liz knew that the guard would suffer a terrible death. Soon the guard began screaming and clutching the area around his chest, the other children around ran off in fear. To Liz¡¯s delight Luna did not chase after the children or kill them, although this was not something she believed would happen with her recent changes no one could know. As the now dead guard lied on the floor all the blood in his body began to burst out of all the orifices in his head. This was the reason Luna was called the blood elf and why she was so feared, over her long life she had learned to use water elemental magic to control blood. Because of this ability normally anyone with less mana than her or worse mana control would be killed with their own blood. Seeing the old sight of someone¡¯s blood becoming Luna¡¯s new weapon Liz was reminded of their old adventures killing beasts and hunting bandits for money. ¡°LUNA!¡± Getting her attention Liz began to make her move to stabilize her friend¡¯s condition. ¡°He¡¯s fine, just knocked out. So what are you planning to do and do I have to stop you or will you be reasonable enough where I can look the other way.¡± around Luna was now a blood pillar formed from the poor guard¡¯s blood reaching up into the sky and reverberating with Luna¡¯s mana. ¡°... I¡¯ll be reasonable this guard has an insignia on his chest that means that he¡¯s from a noble house so i¡¯ll just go find it then make them sorry for hiring the wrong person it might have been those kid¡¯s fault too. So I''m going with the sins of the child are the sins of the parent.¡± Not wanting to wait any longer Luna made a platform of blood and rode it into the sky planning on finding the noble house who would teach it¡¯s guards and children that it was okay to touch her little boy. _______________ King Balford held the bridge of his nose with two fingers looking at a report from one of his men. The blood elf, wife of his High General, was planning on ¡°teaching a lesson¡± to one of the noble houses of his kingdom. Normally this could be overlooked seeing as by normal standards the ones in the wrong should at most be reprimanded severely. But this was not a normal situation the house that was going to be attacked was of the higher nobles and the blood elf was known for being a crazed monster who could decimate an entire army alone. From the report he read that a guard under order or the young master of the Madawoe house attacked the blood elf¡¯s son. This was something that the king had always worried about but overlooked due to the fact that the blood elf was both the wife of his high general and a variable military asset in care of an attack from a human kingdom. For this reason he had someone shadow both the blood elf and her son at all times, he was never under the impression that the elf hadn¡¯t known but still continued the survive de despite it being discourteous. ¡°Bring in High General Tal¡­ NOW!!¡± The only thing he could do now was wait for the high general and hope that he could stop her from killing all his nobles or at least the ones on his side of the political spectrum. Looking at the report in his hands he couldn¡¯t help but remember a report involving the blood elf from fifteen years prior the incident that made the blood elf truly feared. It seemed that a human kingdom had somehow captured the blood elf¡¯s cousin in an attempt to make her his slave as she was known as a powerful individual at the time. For that mistake he paid with not only his life but the life of all his friends, family, and known associates. That year not only did a kingdom fall but several underground organizations, these were groups of people that would return if not dealt with properly but the blood elf and some of her friends decided that brute force was the best option and simply attacked everyone disregarding law and the powerful connections anyone person may have had. After that no organization or kingdom would dare offend the blood elf, he had also warned all his nobles when the blood elf came to live in his kingdom but that had been almost ten years ago. It seemed some of the nobles in the area didn¡¯t care for the other races and eventually their discriminatory ways outweighed their fear of death or loss. Around the time he was thinking this High General Tal arrived being led by a guard. ¡°King Balford.¡± Kneeling General Tal was confused as to why the king had urgently summoned him. ¡°High General Tal RavenHammer I will get straight to the point a noble¡¯s child had a guard hurt your son and now I''m afraid your wife will attempt to change the whole political scale in her rage. While I''m willing to give up on the Madawoe house if need be I can¡¯t have her killing all his associates as some of them are connected to me so i''ve prepared a list of individuals who will be beneficial to me if they are gone. Go speak to your wife and figure out a way to either direct her to them or stop her, if we have to mobilize our forces the losses will be too great.¡± Today the king would learn of one of three things his political enemies being destroyed, half his kingdom falling into ruin, or his High General somehow pacifying the monster known as the Blood elf. _____________ Fang made his way back home alone. His mother had instructed him to head directly to their house and not open the door for anyone. When he had awoken all the children were gone and the guard who he tried to fight was dead. The most peculiar sight however was his mother standing in a pillar of blood. Despite the changes his mother seemed calm and held her ever present loving aura towards him while instructing him on what to do. After arriving home he quickly fell asleep thinking about how he would strengthen himself if he no longer had access to mana. _____________ Tal ran as fast as his legs would allow him in an attempt to stop his wife from destroying the capital of the dwarven kingdom and starting a one man war that would only lead to the death of many including their family. Tracking her was fairly easy after he left the confines of the castle walls as her blood piller reached fairly high into the sky. Looking in the direction of the blood pillar his wife was most likely already outside the gates of the Madawoe residence. According to his king saving the noble house would be ideal but if it was necessary giving them up could only be counted as a reasonable loss. On the other hand if his wife went ahead and destroyed half the capital in a fight with the king and all his men that would be a disaster. Having ran at his fastest speed Tal arrived at the scene of what could only be described as disturbing. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The lifeless husks of guards who most likely attempted to stop his wife lay still and bloodless. Ignoring what he saw Tal made his way into the mansion following the screams of what he believed to be his wife¡¯s newest victim. Looking around him the closer he got to the screams the more the world around him began to resemble some sort of nightmare. While the guards were no longer being killed they were pale from lack of blood. On the walls were splatters of blood, but the splatters didn¡¯t just stay there instead it wiggled and pulsed as if alive. And the closer he went to the inner part of the mansion the less wall he saw and the blood. _______________ Luna was no longer in an unstoppable rage thanks to Liz¡¯s insistence that children make bad choices and the only one who should be punished was the parent and not some guards that were only doing their job. With that she stopped killing and instead chose to use fear tactics. By making the place resemble a living hell by splattering blood everywhere and controlling it to make it more frightening. ¡°You know they use you as a story in human kingdoms.¡± Listening to Liz talk about a random topic Luna was distracted from her ever decreasing rage. ¡°What do they say.¡± Liz almost laughed but took it upon herself to spare her friend¡¯s feelings. ¡°Well without going into the specifics your every little child¡¯s nightmare and only recently had that begun to decrease maybe the stories will spread to the other races.¡± Luna knew that Liz spared her the details because it would be either too hurtful or ridicules and pointless. ¡°Anyway now you''re not as mad as before and we probably won¡¯t have to call in the rest of the group to fight against the dwarven kingdom which is a relief. But what are you gonna do here?¡± ¡°Maybe scare the family head and have him publicly apologize to my son for having raised a brat, I could also make him Fang¡¯s butler or something so that he can see my son¡¯s greatness and then everyone will be happy.¡± Liz wasn¡¯t even surprised at her Crazy remarks. ¡°No bad idea and maybe everyone would be happy if this ended with just a scolding.¡± Luna no longer paid attention to Liz as she turned around and stood as if waiting for something. Not long after a particularly short dwarven man appeared, he was someone who Liz was very familiar with considering that the man had followed their group for years working to win Luna¡¯s affection. ¡°Wife! Please stop¡­ And is our son alright?¡± ¡°He¡¯s fine and I''m not as angry anymore because Liz insisted that I don¡¯t react to harshly but I still have to reprimand the head for raising a brat who can¡¯t see the obvious greatness of my son.¡± Tal looked amazed and grateful towards Liz for keeping his wife¡¯s rampage on a leash. ¡°Liz I and the kingdom can¡¯t thank you enough for what you have done.¡± Liz looked smug and before she responded a light flashed through her eyes. ¡°Then later you and I are going to have an interesting conversation at that point you wife¡¯s anger will be fun to see.¡± _____________ Tal felt a chill go up his spine listening to Liz¡¯s words. If he heard correctly she was planning something that would potentially bring out a great anger within his wife. But regardless he owed her a great debt for calming his wife this time and could not refuse. ¡°Wife I have a list from the king and some words.¡± Nodding to her husband Luna continued on her was to the Madawoe family head while accumulating more blood and listening to her husband speak on behalf of the king. Tal couldn¡¯t be more excited as his wife had agreed to take out at least half of the king¡¯s political enemies. When they reached the room where the head was hiding the blood that had been accumulating seemed to move on it¡¯s own to wretch open the door. Inside was the pathetic scene of guards and nobles cowering in the corner of a room. ¡°Pl¡­ Plea¡­ Please spare me I''ve never offended the great blood elf.¡± Looking at someone who he had worked with before cowering in the face of his wife Tal only felt regret as he knew that the had wouldn¡¯t get off lightly. ¡°Your son has committed a great sin and you must pay for his mistakes as his father.¡± The boy who was standing behind the head looked as pale as a ghost. ¡°No my son couldn¡¯t of possibly offended you to this degree and all he did today was steep to take something from a useless elf¡­ But you¡­ You''re different you are the mighty blood elf I did not mean an offense.¡± ¡°Humph that useless elf happens to be my son and your ordered someone to harm mine. Because you have not taught your son to handle his own matters and rely on an authority that means nothing in the face of my wrath¡­ We as parents will deal with the consequences.¡± Not speaking any longer Luna held out her arm and pointed at the Madawoe house head. Once the screaming was over it was evident that the head had not only lost a large amount of blood but his right arm and left leg were shriveled like that of a mummy. ______________ Bahamut soared in the sky when she felt an unusual killing intent. Besides the fact that it could only come from someone seemingly out of hell it had the presence of an ancient treasure hidden deep within it. Thinking that the treasure would further her mission Bahamut made her way prepared to fight some kind of monster for the treasure only to find a half elf child no older than five. ¡°Regardless this will make things easier¡­ Spirits of the world heed my call gather unto me and provide me with your knowledge of this plane and it¡¯s inhabitants I seek knowledge of thine own child.¡± Having finished her incantation and spell she was surprised for two reasons first was that the spirits had no information on the treasure and second was that the treasure had a soul bond with the child. ¡°Hmm this is gonna be annoying but I can have it in two years if I use that spell so I''ll do that and be on my way to finish my mission.¡± (Author''s note 4 I think: anyway so I''m going to try for at least one a day for the next week. This is strongly related to the reason I was going to slow down drastically. Basicly I was in a car accident and luckily I wasn''t killed, unluckily I had an important ligament ripped in my hand so I can either have surgery on it that will be months of recovery and 50% motion loss or wait until my hand becomes useless in a couple of years and endure pain. The insurance covers everything but typing with one hand is annoying and slow so I''m going to slow down after the surgery. I''m also working on another novel which will be more light hearted and in one of my favorite ways, a game like world. So that''s why I''m going to slow down at some point just some minor annoyances happening so I decided for now to try and go all out in writing chapters while I can still write fast. So enough about me and my issues the important part is that I''m going to introduce bahamut and then destroy her yay. Jk. I don''t know where I''m going with her it was a spur of the moment thing. Anyways thank you for reading and thank you for reading what I no longer believe can be considered a note.) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 7: Blood Tome Chapter 7: Blood Tome Fang woke up the next day to a strange site, a female humanoid creature with black scales stared at him. The creature was at least a head taller than his mother but strangely it did not seem mature instead it gave the feeling of an enlarged teen. She wore no clothes and didn¡¯t seem to mean him any harm regardless of her intentions whatever they may be, Fang could not just ignore her presence. ¡°Mother said not to allow anyone in¡­ Who are you and what are you doing here?¡± The creature ignored his presence and continued to stare at him almost in wonder. ¡°Boy, you are not afraid? Not even a bit?¡± She carried a pressure around her similar to that of the dragon he faced when he was a gladiator but regardless he would not be afraid. ¡°No.¡± The large girl seemed surprised by his answer and laughed. ¡°That must be an effect of the treasure. Taking it will be easy but I''m going to need at least three days to prepare. That elf was somewhat threatening but if my spell works it won''t matter. Well then boy I''ll see you in three days then we''ll see what ends up happening to you.¡± Saying that the larg girl disappeared without a trace. Fang was left confused by what had just happened but didn¡¯t dwell on it as there was nothing he could do. Going down to the kitchen he made himself a simple breakfast. After five hours his mother and father arrived and began to give him a rough outline of what happened and asked for his explanation of the events. Fang did not omit any details starting from the time he was swinging his sword to the time the guard knocked him unconscious. His mother looked at him perplexed as to why he chose to swing his sword instead of making friends but chose to stay quiet. ¡°Fang Fae this is what I warned you about, I told you that if you were to get into trouble then you should yell and close your eyes. You did not listen tell me why.¡± Fang thought about it but didn¡¯t really have an answer for his mother. ¡°... I never thought I was in trouble¡­ Because the man had no intention to kill me my life wasn¡¯t in danger.¡± Both Luna and Tal were surprised by Fang¡¯s answer and look at him in confusion. Finally Luna broke from her daze and spoke to Fang. ¡°Trouble can be anything from someone trying to hurt you to you being in an uncomfortable situation. Next time do not try to fight an opponent you have no chance against. Other than that I have two things for you and tomorrow we start your education.¡± Luna waved her hand and two books materialized. One of the books was pure white with a gold lock on the front of the book with various puzzle like pieces, the second book was an ordinary brown covered book. These were the first books he had seen for the last two years, as the last time his mother had shown him a book was when he was three. ¡°The white one is blank and can be used for anything it has a pattern lock made by your father without the right combination it won¡¯t open. Next is the brown one this has the basic information regarding mana and ki.¡± Taking the two books Fang was excited as he would be able to prepare a magic tome, what he lacked the most right now was mana control and sense but with the brown book he would hopefully solve that issue. The magic tome would become his greatest weapon and allow him to have a better way of fighting. One thing he was wondering however was what ki could be. In his past life it was never mentioned and considering the fact that it came in the introductory for mana Fang thought that it might be what he was missing from his ability to sense mana. ¡°Thank you mother, father thank you for the sword.¡± Tal hearing his son thank him for the sword that almost got him and the kingdom killed could only sigh warily. ¡°Son next time just give up on the sword I can make one of those without too much issue.¡± Without any delay Fang answered his father. ¡°No. What given to me is mine and will always be mine¡­ I might give up something to mother but no one else.¡± Hearing her son declare with such resolution and stubbornness for something surprised her and she was getting ready to lecture her son and show him that somethings weren¡¯t worth the trouble, but that was all blown away when he said that she was the exception. She only just resisted the urge to pounce on her son and shower him with love for the next couple of years. Instead she did the only thing that would allow her to keep her dignity as a good mother and wife in front of the two. ¡°Fang your father has some point but this time you did good and fought off an adversary with courage and ziel. For now go into your room and finish your ten days of punishment. Your lectures will begin after that instead of tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yes mother.¡± Having his lessons pushed back was a reasonable punishment and the talk about courage was to satisfy her husband and his dwarven nature that way she would not seem a liniment or abnormally harsh to either. Luna quickly ran out and went to find Liz to celebrate. Fang returned to his room and opened up the brown book to begin reading it and start his path to becoming strong in order to fulfill his goal of being a great thief. However after looking at the book it was like a bucket of cold water was dropped on him. He knew how to read due to his mother occasionally reading him simple stories but because of that he did not know any complicated forms of literature. Feeling dejected he continued to stare and try to make sense of the book but it was something that would either take a long time or outright impossible without his mother¡¯s help. ¡°I''m going to need assistance for this, the only thing to do now is make a blood tome with the blank book. The only thing I''m missing is a creature and a small amount of mana to use the blood rites spell. That dragon would have made a great spell tome.¡± Without anything to do he took out the blank book and a sharp piece of metal to cut himself with in order to make the blood tome. A blood tome was only slightly different than a regular tome as it mainly used blood as it¡¯s catalysts rather than mana. With this even if he could not sense mana he would use the creature he sacrificed and his connection to it as a medium. The other useful perk of this method of creating a tome was that it would have to layers of locks making it so that instead of killing a creature it would be sealed and turned obedient. cutting his finger with the sharp piece of metal Fang began drawing arrays one the tome. Covering the front, back, and spine of the book took more than five hours and a substantial amount of blood that left him feeling light headed. Once finished however he had nothing to do but continue his sword practice in order to gain full control over his body. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings._______________ Bahamut observed the strange boy who showed no fear towards her and the one¡¯s who lived in the same hose as him. There was a decent warrior and the blood elf. Regardless she did not believe that they would be able to sense or stop her spell when activated. Her spell was two fold, one part of it would make the boy her devout companion the other would damage the boy¡¯s soul but get her the ancient treasure. She believed that making him a companion would compensate to the damage caused on his soul as he would eventually heal and in her company he could at least grow to the level of a good warrior. But in her mind she knew that these were all superficial reasons. During her observation she noticed that he began a weird ritual with a book and his own blood. She did not recognize any of the strange arrays on the book or their purpose. Regardless it could not pose a threat to her as he was neither warrior or magician yet and anything he did was either useless or ineffective. _________________ Tal had a couple of days off from being at the palace and decided to check in on his son while his wife was away. He was curious as to how his son was training in the sword arts when no one had ever shown him how even as a genius as his wife called him it would be impossible to learn something you had never been exposed to. This would be his son¡¯s second day of being in his room so Tal figured that he should go and speak to him. Walking to his son¡¯s room it had a strange smell of blood but Tal ignored it thinking that it would be something that lingered from his wife¡¯s massacre. ¡°Fang I''m coming in.¡± Not waiting for a response Tal walked in on his son shirtlessly swinging his sword. ¡°Your form is good but you lack strength behind your blows.¡± Tal immediately gave his opinion and sighed a little on the inside his son showed some promise of growing more muscular than an elf but it didn¡¯t seem like he would have the full raw bulk and strength of a dwarf. ¡°I¡¯m trying to better my movements and control instead of strength.¡± Tal was surprised by his son¡¯s answer but quickly put on the face of a General looking at a soldier. ¡°Fang Fae you have the correct idea for now and developing your strength can come later but you should not ignore it entirely as a dwarven man your strength and build will showcase your ability.¡± Fang tilted his head to one side. ¡°Mother told me that I was an elf? Am I a dwarf?¡± Tal wanted to smack his head against the wall for never realizing that his son had no concept of different races or the pride each individual race carried. ¡°Your half elf and half dwarf and as such you must carry the pride of both sides so while you train in your control also train in strength for this is should have made you a more appropriate weapon like an axe or hammer.¡± Thinking about it it was odd for a dwarf to use a sword other than a claymore so Tal decided to get his son something more suitable. ¡°Anyway other than that you need to know when to relinquish some things and when to stubbornly hold on. I won''t say to give up your possessions but some that you don''t mind losing you will have to give away at some point or relinquish them to avoid trouble¡­ Although that should never be a problem in this kingdom for you.¡± Seeing his son was going down the path of the warrior instead of a mage, Tal was laughing on the inside thinking that he would be the one to train him and not his wife. ¡°Son can you sense mana?¡± Fang quickly shook his head. ¡°Not yet.¡± Tal looked at his son smiling. ¡°That''s right it should be another half year or so before we are able to determine whether or not you will be able to sense mana.¡± Tal was a dwarf and his son was half in the history of the dwarven people there were only a handful of them who could full sense and control mana the rest relied on ki. ¡°Then even if you can¡¯t we will train you in ki forming. For now continue your swings and I will watch you from here for a while.¡± His son seemed satisfied and continued swinging his sword and taking different stances that Tal had never seen, some of these were optimized for someone with a shorter stature. After an hour Tal Quickly left and began replicating the movements he saw. ________________ On the third day Bahamut was finished with her spell and ready to take the treasure. She appeared once more in front of the odd boy but this time it was not in her humanoid form but in a fully dragonic state. Her limbs were as thick as tree trunks and her body destroyed the room they were in. Despite this when she looked at the boy he was as calm as a still river. ¡°Boy do you not fear me?¡± The boy picked up his sword and the strange book he had scribbled on with his blood. ¡°No.¡± Seeing that she would have an interesting companion from now on Bahamut was slightly pleased. ¡°Boy you have something I want and need and I will take it but I will compensate you for it, but it will leave you robbed of your freedom. Boy what is your name?¡± As she spoke she activated her spell encircling both of them in a dome of spell arrays and black smoke. When she took another glance at the boy she shook from fright at the killing intent that came from the boy. ¡°Fang Fae¡­ No one will ever take anything from me.¡± As his words left his mouth a black coat that seemed to me made of the boy¡¯s, Fang Fae¡¯s, killing intent appeared around him. (Author''s Note/rant/ thoughts: so for an actual note portion the main will not be a small build person with a weak looking body he just ages slower due to his elf blood so he''s smaller then average from Liz''s point of view as a human. For a small rant I did do one a day like I had said so I will try to write a second one and get the encounter between Bahamut and Fang over and concluded. The reason I slowed is because well previous reasons. Also anyone who has any thoughts or a good secession feel free to send me a message or leave a comment I would be greatful. On a fine note I am writing a second story but will update it less as my atention is on this one. It''s Broken One''s new Life, it''s in first person perspective and I''m not entirely sure on how to do that right so some suport on that one would be great. And thank you for reading.) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 8: Coat of ashes Chapter 8: Coat of ashes Fang stared at the dragon with no fear just anger. This thing wanted to take something from him but he would not give it away regardless if he knew what it was or not. It even talked about taking his freedom and that was something he would never give up as a thief having his freedom was extremely important and being caught would only be allowed after he attained everything the world had to offer. Without realizing it the same black coat that had appeared on him during the fight in the arena appeared once more on him and protected him. With his sword in one hand and the blood tome in the other Fang quickly thought of a strategy to defeat his opponent. There was no way he would be able to defeat a dragon in combat in his current state so the only thing he could do was complete the blood tome and use the dragon as his imprisoned creature. That however would be a difficult task as it would require him to somehow draw a blood array around the dragon and have more at least half of the amount of mana that the dragon had. The first condition he thought he could somehow or other meet but the second was impossible seeing as he could neither move, store, nor use mana. Another and less likely way of getting the blood tome to imprison the dragon was to get it to agree to become his blood tome. Taking his sword in hand he cut part of his wrist and let his blood run down the edge of the wooden sword. ¡°... Fang Fae what sort of ritual are you trying to accomplish by spilling your own blood? I have seen various blood rituals and it is not something you should be doing.¡± Despite what it said he had no intention of halting his movements. In the past three days he had practiced control over his body to a great level and although he could not do much in terms of inner organ control making precise movements would not be too difficult. ¡°Fang Fae this spell of mine will take roughly two years if you ignore my words and continue with this pointlessness I have little problem with that but you will tire eventually and die of blood loss.¡± Fang had no plans to converse with the dragon instead he began swinging his sword and sending his blood to the correct places using his sword as a sort of long distance brush. ________________ Bahamut seeking that Fang Fae was ignoring her simply watched him spill his blood in the surroundings. She was not dumb she knew that his seemingly random strokes were forming a pattern but could do nothing as the spell required her to stay still if she hurried the spell it would not only further the damage caused to Fang Fae who would be her new companion but also might damage the treasure. So she simply watched confident that nothing he did could harm her. She decided to occupy her time by examining the coat of killing intent that had materialized on Fang Fae. It gave her a deep sense of dread that anyone below her level would likely colas from fear, this seemed to be the treasure but she did not believe that this was it¡¯s only function. If it was then the spirits would have known this, instead she believed that Fang Fae was incapable of using it¡¯s full potential. After about an hour Fang Fae¡¯s Array seemed to be nearing completion and he was looking pale from the abundant amount of blood he had lost. ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s about time you told me what it is you¡¯re trying to do after all from now on we¡¯ll be spending a long time together.¡± ______________ Fang finally finished the blood array and looked towards the dragon who had done nothing but observe him while he completed it. ¡°This is a special array to make a blood tome. Why haven¡¯t you stood be from completing it?¡± In his mind a blood tome while rare was not something that would have been kept secret, especially to a being that had the intelligence of this dragon and it¡¯s strength. ¡°Blood tome is it? And what does this blood tome do exactly?¡± Seeing as the dragon did not know what a blood tome was or did Fang saw no need to answer the question and tore a part of his shirt to stop the bleeding from his wrist. ________________ Both Tal and his wife stood outside their house staring at a dome made of tightly packed arrays. The two of them had tried various methods to break through the dome but nothing worked even with the combined force of the two along with Liz the dome never wavered. ¡°Luna, Tal don¡¯t worry I''m sure your boy is fine. Those are dragon arrays but if you look closely it has spirit and fairy arrays. A fairy¡¯s magic cannot hurt those of the Fae and Fang has elf blood making him one. Unless that is a royal fairy or dragon taught by the Royal fairies your son will be fine.¡± Neither of the two responded, that information was something that had been known to them for a while and the confirmation did not help them in the slightest. ________________ After Fang stopped answering her Bahamut began to grow annoyed at the boy who seemed to be fazed by nothing and continued at his own pace. Suddenly she had a strange feeling like chains binding her soul. The feeling intensified more when Fang Placed his bloodied hand in a circle of the array he had drawn and the blood scribbled book in another. Realizing what was happening Bahamut grew angry she was trying to soul bind Fang to her in order to take the treasure but Fang was trying to not only doing something similar with the exception that his aim was her mana and body. It her mana was stolen or sealed off her spell could not be completed and if he gained control of her body who knew what he could do. Most importantly she would never be able to complete her mission. ¡°FANG FAE DO NOT ATTEMPT WHAT YOU CAN NOT ACCOMPLISH.¡± Releasing her mana she repelled the binding spell array that Fang had set up around her. To her dismay however she could not destroy the array only keep it from binding her. At this moment Fang once again let his blood flow and began to strengthen the array by adding more blood. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Cursing on the inside Bahamut knew she could overcome the situation if she used her array at full power but did not wish to damage the treasure. Other than that she would have to wait and see whose binding array was more powerful. On one hand she had complete confidence in her spirit array on the other hand the blood array used by Fang was unknown and could potentially become a problem if allowed to take in more blood. Having full confidence in her ability but still following the side of caution she decided to speed up the process but not by a large margin. ¡°Hear me spirits and heed my call this one would request the guidance of the. Grant me success in mine endeavor.¡± Finishing her chant the array began to move and reform itself. Paying close attention to the spell and it¡¯s effect on Fang Bahamut was presently surprised to find that the spell did no harm to his soul or the treasure. Thinking that it would be okay she silently sped up the spell all the while Fang also increased the strength of his blood array. The two seemed to be in a race to determine who would end up serving the other. _____________ As the spell changed dread appeared on the face of Luna as she could now partly see inside the dome. Inside she saw her son covered in blood and what she believed was an adult dragon continuously chanting. In her mind she could think of nothing but the bloodied body of her son. She blamed herself for his current state after going around the world and playing to her heart''s content she lived a happy and peaceful life with her husband. That in and of itself was not bad but she had neglected her training and never improved. She had grown arrogant. If she had reached the pinnacle of mana abilities and me come a saint mage no one would dare touch her son, not even the dragons who lorded their power and intelligence over all the other mana beasts. At this moment she felt determined that if her son did not live through this then the dragon race would become extinct regardless of what methods she had to employ. _____________ Fang paid no attention to the dragon as the words coming out of it¡¯s mouth made no sense to him. Instead he focused on his condition, if he lost too much blood then he would die but if he didn¡¯t use enough his array would not work. ¡°Dragon I will seal you in this book and use your mana for myself. I originally planned to use and random animal for this but your strength is good. Submit and we will have a good relationship or fight it and we can argue about things for a long time.¡± Normally talking while locked in combat, whatever form it may take, was not something Fang would do but if the dragon submitted it would make things easier on him. ¡°Fang Fae clearly you know a powerful blood array but I will not be taken down so easily and my array is near completion witching the next couple of minutes your soul will be mine and so will that treasure of yours. While I''m at it I''ll have you give me that blood tome and in exchange I''ll teach you some ki arts.¡± Fang felt even more anger than ever not only was she trying to steal his treasure that he knew nothing about she was also after his freedom, his soul, and his blood tome. This was not something he could let go no longer caring he flexed his muscles and forced more blood out of his hand. If he could not keep his things safe and on him then he would take them with him. If he completed the blood tome and then die then that would make it so that the dragon would be sealed and the tome would be useless to anyone else. The dragon seeing his resolve let out a deafening roar to the sky and locked eyes with Fang. ¡°My array is complete you are lucky to be able to live through it. Suddenly a black shadow engulfed the two. With in the darkness a purple light raced towards Fang and crashed into him at full speed. Fang had no time to dodge and began to grow dizzy as the light began to aim at his soul. Suddenly the black coat that had been largely inactive disappeared and wrapped itself around Fangs soul protecting him from further harm. But it did not stop there the coat released ashes that overtook control of the array from the dragon. ¡°WHAT, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!¡± The panicking dragon lost control of the array and in the time she slipped control of her magic the blood array took effect. Not only had the blood array started to seal it¡¯s mana the dragon¡¯s own array began to overtake it¡¯s soul binding it to Fang. Because of the soul binding array not only would she be his tome she would also be his servant. Not going down without a fight the dragon began to thrash around but did not have much space to move due to the effects of both arrays. Fang had regained full control over himself and began to prepare for the final part of the blood tome sealing ignoring the strange occurrence with the dragon¡¯s array. The final part of the array was simple he drew to locks of blood and threw the book towards the dragon so that they could merge and become a living blood tome. (Author''s note: so because someone told me to do another I have yay. Not much for this but I was actually planing something different, in the end I chose this cause it seemed right. On a side thing would previews for the next chapter be a thing people want like teasers cause I can write like a paragraph or some amount of the next chap and post it as a teaser but idk. Other than that I don''t have much to say other than thank you for reading this and please check out my other work Broken One''s New Life. It''s a game like system world kinda thing and written in first person because I wanted to try that. Thank you) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 9: East and learning Chapter 9: East and learning Fang sat in a daze in the shadow dome. He had spent too much of his blood in order to catch the dragon. In the end he was only able to succeed thanks to something going wrong with the dragon''s spell. As for the spell he had no idea what had happened all he saw was a large amount of ashes and some embers overtaking it and redirecting it onto the dragon. He did not know that the treasure the dragon spoke of was the dark coat that appeared on him when his fury was released. But that was something he could figure out another time for now he had to look for his blood tome that contained the full power of a dragon. After searching around the floor filled with blood and ashes Fang found his book. The blood tome was no longer a simple white book with his blood arrays drawn on it, it had taken a different form. The cover was now layered with black dragon scales and on those scales were multiple arrays including his blood array. ¡°The other arrays must be what the dragon was trying to do to me. It might have changed the tome slightly but it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± Determining that the blood tome had been completed Fang brought it up to his head and established the final connection. as he did this the dome of arrays around him began to collapse. ¡°Now dragon wake up we need to talk.¡± With his command the being inside the tome seemed to stir as it did Fang began to feel it through his mental link. Another reason why he wanted a blood tome was to supplement his ability to sense mana, the dragon seemed to be using incredible amounts of mana so his ability should restore to that of his former self¡¯s with some practice. ¡°Dragon what¡¯s your name?¡± Seeing as the dragon was fully awake Fang wanted to know more about it after all it would be his lifelong companion from now on. However something out of his expectations happened the book began to tremble and change forms going from a dragonic blood tome to a small ferret looking black scaled creature. Opening it¡¯s mouth it yawned. ¡°Hmmm my name, I don¡¯t know¡­ Who are you?¡± Looking at the confused creature Fang didn¡¯t know what had happened to his blood tome array but because he could still use the mental link he knew that this creature was under his control. ¡°I¡¯m Fang Fae, your master because you are my blood tome. From now on we are companions that will be together for life.¡± The ferret creature tilted it¡¯s head but felt that what fang said was correct as if something pushed it to believe him. ¡°Then master give me a name. I''ll need something cool or powerful sounding cause I''m strong.¡± Fang didn¡¯t mind that the creature didn¡¯t remember anything, after inspecting the mental link and the creature¡¯s state of mind he found that it was not lying about the fact that it could not recall anything. ¡°Then I''m going to name you¡­ East, do you like it?¡± The creature, East nodded vigorously. ¡°Yea, master why is the sky falling?¡± Looking around it really did seem that the sky was falling but in fact it was just the final phase of the array crumbling away. ¡°It¡¯s an array that was set up that''s falling apart.¡± ______________ Luna was standing outside the dome when shadows in eloped the inside and obstructed her view of Fang. When that appended she lost control of herself and began chanting a spell that would destroy the dome but in the process take out more than eighty of the nearby houses and their inhabitants. But just as she was planning to unleash her spell the dome began to break apart on it¡¯s own. She would normally not entertain the idea of facing a dragon as it was an opponent that could threaten even the strongest of magicians but her son was inside with the dragon and it had to die for hurting him. When the dome completely crumbled and the inside was fully visible Luna was more than shocked at what she saw. Fang stood at the center of a large amount of ashes with a scaled creature sitting around his neck like a scarf. Run at full speed to her son Luna was almost in tears to see her son alive, the only thing keeping her from crying was the vigilance she crept in case the dragon was still around. ¡°Fang! What happened!? What did the dragon want?¡± Fang however was in no condition to talk and fell asleep as soon as he was in his mother''s arms. Chanting the few recovery spells she knew Luna made sure that fang wasn¡¯t in mortal danger. When Liz arrived she was looking intently at the creature draped around Fang¡¯s neck. ¡°... Luna, that¡¯s a dragon.¡± ¡°No it¡¯s form is different it might have dragon blood but it¡¯s not a dragon.¡± ¡°No, this is something that isn¡¯t well known but most dragon''s take the appearance of lesser dragons or even other creatures when they are young. That dragon it might have left it¡¯s child with Fang.¡± Luna then began to examine the creature but she could not find any difference between it and any other dragonic beast or lesser dragon. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary she wanted to refute Liz¡¯s statement but then Liz continued. ¡°If not how else do you explain that Fang survived an encounter with a dragon, if it was truly hostile then there would be no way of helping him from outside the array it had set up. the only explanation is that it got into some type of trouble with other dragons and had to hide it¡¯s child¡­ Maybe it saw something in Fang that made it chose him.¡± What Liz said made sense to her as there was no other way for Fang to survive an encounter with a dragon who could use not only the inherent dragon magic but spirit and fairy magic as well. ¡°... Still that¡¯s somewhat hard to swallow but if it¡¯s true then Fang will have a good companion to help him as he gets older.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon._____________ The next day instead of repairing the house the three moved to another similarly built house after seeing Liz off. She was on break from her duties but couldn¡¯t really afford to stay in another kingdom for a prolonged period of time. ¡°Well then visit some time and sent your son to m academy I''ll make sure to take proper care of him, he can even meet a nice girl.¡± After saying her farewell she disappeared into the wind. Luna on the other had began to mutter some incomprehensible words about how no one would take her boy. _____________ In his new room Fang sat while holding East in blood tome form. Through the tome he was now able to sense mana and use it, although not to the degree of his previous life it was still a vast improvement to what he could do before. As for what he had told his parents about East, it was close to nothing as they seemed to come up with their own thoughts on the matter. he finished his practice early and walked to his mother¡¯s new study where he would now be learning from her. Knocking on the door Fang waited for his mother¡¯s response then entered. ¡°Mother I''m here.¡± The inside of the study was small with only one large desk for Fang to sit in and a chair from which his mother would instruct him. ¡°Okay now let¡¯s begin with the different races. In this continent there are four races the humans, elves, dwarves, and the beast kin. The continent does not have a collective name but has many kingdoms in it. We are in the Dwarven Kingdom. As for the different races the humans are the most numerous, the elves and dwarves have only about a fifth of the people compared to the humans. And the beast kin are plenty almost matching the humans but are scattered throughout the continent without their own kingdom.¡± From there he learned about the various human kingdoms and the fact that they were always at war with each other because of their lack of unity. The elves seemed to keep to themselves with rare exceptions like his mother because of their long lifespan. And the beast kin were humanoid creatures who had some resemblance with any beast, some of the more prominent ones were the wolf kin and the bird kin. But because of their ever growing diversity the beast kin would most likely never unite under a single banner. His lessons only lasted an hour a day and his mother began to take him to the park more frequently but he would either play fight with East or practice hiding from others instead of finding children his age to mingle with. East had shown her superior dragonic abilities in close combat using her tail as a sword and whip. Fang had also practiced controlling mana but was nowhere near his previous level and most spells he knew could not be used, such as body strengthening. Do to this Fang was eager to learn how to use this world¡¯s system of magic and what ki could do. From his father he learned that ki was essentially just refined mana that could be circulated in the body without causing harm. This greatly interested him as he had damaged himself plenty of times in his previous life by circulating raw mana in his body. Eventually his body did adapt but it would not be his first choice if something better was available. During his studies with his mother and his small outings two months had passed without much excitement, until he received an interesting bit of news that he couldn¡¯t fully comprehend his feelings for. He would have a sibling, it was unknown whether it would be a boy or a girl but this news made him strongly excited. His heart that had been rarely moved or phased by anything was confused. His mind and heart had been thoroughly calloused over the time he spent fighting in his previous life but in this one he grew as a person and was able to experience new emotions. Which he felt was a good thing. The only remaining mistook he had was the black coat which he didn¡¯t understand and the ashes that seemed to come out of nowhere to help him. While he was thinking this his mother called him. ¡°Fang!¡± Running to his mother Fang was anticipating what he would be taught. ¡°Fang we have covered a good amount about the different races now I''ll teach you about mana and ki. In the not too distant future your father will be taking you to have your mana affinity checked and whether or not you have talent for being a maga or a warrior.¡± Remembering that his father had previously spoken about a test to determine whether or not he would be able to sense mana on his own. ¡°If you have the talent to sense mana without outside help then I will teach you mana minipulation and various spells if you can¡¯t then your father an I will be teaching you combat techniques and ki refinement.¡± (Author''s note: so this one is like 100 words short of 2000. I''m sorry. Well the next one is gonna be information about the magic and ki system for mages and warriors. Other than that I''ll try to make the next two a little longer. I''ve also decided to include a link to my other work because someone said to and I thought it was a good idea so thank you. The next few chapters might be a little lacking in excitment but I need to do a little world building and plant some foundations for later things. http://royalroadl.com/fiction/5877/ Broken One''s New Life it only has one chapter because it took me forever to figure out how to do a decent status menu. On top of that I''m working more on this then I am that one so it might go slower. I will try to get another chapter of this one out later today but I''m not sure if I can. Anyway thank you for reading and have a nice day.) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 10: Mana and Ki Little author''s note: Sorry this was suppose to be out yesterday but I had to finalize some of my thoughts on the world building aspect. Chapter 10: Mana and Ki Fang woke up early in the morning, grabbed East and headed to the house¡¯s back years to get in some morning exercise. Because of his young age there wasn¡¯t much he could do other than running and sword practice but it was enough to to prepare him for the day. After that he had a quick breakfast and headed to his mother¡¯s study to wait for her to begin her lesson for the day. ¡°Fang you¡¯re early. Well I guess it makes sense as today I''ll be speaking about mana and ki.¡± This was the reason Fang had finished up early, today his mother would teach him about the mana and ki of this world. After using mana through East in her blood tome form for more than a week Fang had noticed that the mana had a fundamental difference from what he remembered. When fang was a gladiator the mana around him was like a raw and wild energy that he forced under his will. And the mana in his current surroundings while seemingly raw and wild seemed to follow a set of rules and deviated slightly depending on one¡¯s surroundings. Even areas that seemed normal enough would have different variations of mana in one place. This is what had been preventing him from dominating the mana around him and bringing it under his will. As for ki his father had only roughly explained it as refined mana that wouldn¡¯t cause direct harm to the body. ¡°Then I''ll start with mana, mana is the energy that is used by mages to cast spells it is also used to power various magic tools. Mana is everywhere in the atmosphere but certain places will have higher densities of mana. These places make it possible to do various things but mostly they produce mana beast much faster.¡± Up until this point these were things that Fang had either figured out on his own or managed to hear from his father. But this would still not explain the reason why he could not control mana in the same way as he did so before. From his understanding mana control came from two things the body and one¡¯s understanding, or experience. His body while not having a great connection with mana was something that could be worked on, he had done so in his past life, the only problem was that doing so would take years off his life. But that didn¡¯t really bother Fang much as his mother told him that his life span would at the very least be around five hundred years so losing ten or twenty years wasn¡¯t a big issue for him. As for his understanding of mana it was already at what he considered a high realm, or at the very least world''s above what he was capable of now. ¡°Then going into the details of mana. It can generally be divided into four kinds fire, water, earth, and air, all mana has a property and is guided by the laws of that element.¡± Fang grew confused for a second but realized his mistake. In his previous life mana was a raw energy with no properties whatsoever, even when he used the Lightning attack or when the bird shot out fire it was converted into that element. In this life mana in the atmosphere was already in the form of an element and followed certain laws. This explained the patterns he saw while the mana was seemingly free and wild. ¡°Then under each element there are variations such as my blood spells, they are a form of water mana being manipulated as a variant. Other elements also have variants such as lightning being a variant of fire or metal being a variant of earth.¡± To Fang this was something new and also the final piece of what was restraining him all he had to do now was separate the different variations of mana and use them independently for their own purposes. ¡°Then it¡¯s also important for you to know about ki, ki is used by those who aren¡¯t able to sense mana on their own. A ki refiner or ki warrior is someone who with some external help is able to refine mana into ki and use it to strengthen his or her body.¡± ¡°Do not think that ki refiners are weak as any could be deadly in close range and a higher level ki refiner would be able to kill even at a distance. Even some who can sense and manipulate mana chose to refine some ki as it is the only way to strengthen the body beyond it¡¯s natural limits. That is because a living being can only be so strong and mana in it¡¯s raw form as used by mages to cast spells would be extremely harmful to the body.¡± This was something that Fang knew all too well, as a gladiator he was forced to do anything to kill his opponent even things as dangerous as using raw mana to strengthen himself, eventually his body did adapt but not until he had suffered greatly. Even know while he was planning to undergo that same hellish anguish to strengthen his body¡¯s connection to mana he would take it slow to allow some recovery. ¡°The other important thing for you to know is that those of different races have different aptitudes for different elements. The humans have an average connection to every element, although there are exceptions such as your aunt Liz who can only use the air element.¡± ¡°The beast kin also have a good connection to every element but that¡¯s only if you consider them as a whole, individual tribes of the beast kin might have good aptitude for curtain elements and not others. Another thing about the beast kin is that while they are able to sense mana, they are not able to manipulate it enough to cast spells, therefor they were the first ki refiners and the one¡¯s who introduced it to the other races long ago.¡± ¡°Dwarves are in general unable to sense mana and become ki refiners, there is the odd one or two but there are exceptions to everything, they are only able to connect to the earth and fire ki. As for elves we are split into two groups one group is proficient with a variant of the earth and water element that creates the wood element while the other is proficient in the wind element.¡± Fang suddenly had a thought, his dwarven blood must have run strong because he was completely unable to sense mana without the help of East in her blood tome form. if not for that although he would have still had problems with mana having it¡¯s own property then he would have at least been able to fight the guard of the noble child off. ¡°Then now that we have covered mana and ki for the most part I''ll explain how a magician and a ki refiner are ranked.¡± This was something new to Fang as his previous life never had a ranking system for control over mana at most it would depend on how large a force you could fight alone. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Magicians or mages, some even like to call themselves witches, are ranked depending on the level of spell the or she is able to cast. First there are the level one through four spells with level four spells being the strongest. Those are generally anything like a level one fireball to a level four firestorm spell.¡± ¡°Then after level four spells is the level of understanding a law, usually at this level a magician will create his or her own spell with the understanding of one of the laws that the element they use follows, this will also be applied to and strengthen all his or her previously learned spells.¡± ¡°The level after that is the domain level were the magician creates an area around him or herself where that person is in complete control over an element, this is the level which I am currently in. the last level is the Saint level, every major power has at least one or two public saints that will protect them, at this level one is not limited to an area but is said to control their element completely.¡± Going by this Fang wasn¡¯t sure we''re he would place if he had his former strength because the mana in his previous life did not contain laws and although he could freely control the mana around him he had to store it in his body for it to be truly effective. However using it that way ended in his death. ¡°Ki refiners also have various levels the first is core refinement were one refines ki and creates a ki core to store and further refine his or her ki, in this level other than creating a core the body will strengthen but not much else. The second level is when one can circulate the ki from his or her core throughout the body without causing damage as the ki circulates through the body the ki refiner will grow considerably stronger.¡± ¡°The third level is when the ki refiner is able to project the ki in his or her core outside of his or her body, making it possible to use more devastating attacks. After that is the change or adaption of properties in which the ki in one¡¯s body changes from it¡¯s standard form into the properties of one of the elements greatly increasing it¡¯s strength.¡± ¡°The sixth level is understanding of a law and is similar to the understanding of a magician. The seventh level is the brake level in which one breaks his or her core and infuses it into one¡¯s body, the effects of this make it possible for the ki refiner to have monstrous strength. and lastly ki refiners also have a saint level but it has only been seen in the strongest of beast kin tribes and a well guarded secret. In this aspect the dwarven kingdom gets along by finaly raising the few magicians they have into saints and having a large number of brake level ki refiners.¡± Everything said was new to Fang and it was taking him longer to process all the information at once. The concept of a core was completely foreign to him but made a lot of sense because this way instead of needing to use and outside object as a medium one could use the ki core. In an ideal situation even his final lightning attack would not have previously killed him, as long as he held back some and used just enough force to kill his enemies. This was something he had to do this way having a core and combining that with his plan to allow his body to withstand raw mana his power would be unimaginably high then his previous life¡¯s. ¡°Mother, as a half dwarf half elf what is my elemental aptitude?¡± This was important as his body determine what elements he could use, if he forced a different element onto himself it would be detrimental. Although he would eventually still reach the peak of his previous strength and even soar higher it would be that much harder to accomplish. ¡°Hmm I''m not entirely sure we will have to test it in a few weeks until then the only thing to do is see if you can sense mana on your own. If you can not it isn¡¯t a problem that just means you¡¯re more suitable to be a ki refiner. then today¡¯s lesson is over that was a lot of information so go to your room and digest it.¡± Fang nodded and walked back to his room. _______________ Luna watched her son walk out of the study and let out a sigh after he had closed the door. The reason of her new worry was Fang. According to her husband fang could not sense mana, in reality any child with aptitude for it would show signs at the age of four early five being the latest. In the dwarven kingdom that would not be a problem, after all none of the dwarves could sense it. But everywhere else ki refiners were looked down upon. Especially those who becam ki refiners without a choice. Some ki refiners who could sense mana but chose the rout of a ki refiner were still somewhat respected but those who were born unable to sense mana and then became ki refiners through outside help were not looked upon all that favorably. Of course Luna did not have the same opinion one of her old comrades was in that same group and could fight any of them off in his worst condition if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that her blood control was so special and vicious Luna would have no confidence against him. But to reach that level required great sacrifice, luckily Fang had elf blood in him and could afford to spend one or two hundred years on his ki refinement. Even some elves who had stagnated in their path as a magician would turn to ki refinement for a hundred years or so and made great accomplishments before returning to their original path. With some extreme luck luck Fang would inherit the blood element variant from her and even as a ki refiner he would never be looked down on. (Author''s note: so this did take longer then I thought and it''s an explination chapter. Also for those that wanted to know why Fang was haveing trouble with mana control. It might seem shorter but this is a little above 2000 according to word count. Other than that I shall continue to ask people to read the first two chapters of way other work Broken One''s New Life http://royalroadl.com/fiction/5877 and thank you for reading. Comments are helpful especially if there is something I''m missing. Such as the reason for Fangs lack of control with mana. I know there was a comment about the coat or ashes in it''s chapter but I''m waiting a bit to revival more on that. For now it''s the cover of the book when it turned into a coat in his fight with the four beasts.) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 11: Temple visit Chapter 11: Temple visit Today was a special day, today was the day Fang would be taken to the Temple of the Elements by his mother and father. The Temple of the Elements was not built for a religious group or run by some kind of cult, it was a temple set up in almost every city run by the local government. in the temple one could find out his or her elemental affinity. While this didn¡¯t have much of a purpose for most as they would have an inclination towards the element of their respective race, it was a good way to find variants among the populace. It was also something important for the dwarven race as it helped them find the few magicians among them. This was because a child who underwent the test would be asked certain questions so as to ascertain whether or not he or she could sense mana. Fang already knew that on his own he could not sense mana, but his father had told him not to worry saying. ¡°Ha despite the fact that we can¡¯t sense mana we are only second to some of the higher class beast kin in ki refinement because we haven¡¯t figured out how to reach the Saint level. Other then that we also have the blessing of the land and seeing as you can¡¯t sense mana I''m sure you have it as well¡­ You see Fang the blessing of the land is one of the reasons we can¡¯t sense mana but still have a connection to it and our connection to it is shown by the vast strength we have.¡± Fang wasn¡¯t sure if he had the blessing of the land like his father had said but regardless he didn¡¯t mind any of that considering that within a couple of years he would be capable of sensing mana on his own as long as he persisted with his training using his blood tome. He had not begun to run raw mana through his body because the harmful effects while his body was still young outweighed the benefits. Instead he decided that he would start once he was twelve and in his growth period, when his body became the most adaptable. He still however practiced getting use to the difference between the mana of his past life and the mana of his current life. because he now knew the difference it was much easier to work with mana and if he decided to he could use the flame element to shoot simple fireballs. If anyone were to know they would be astonished as a five year old already using simple spells would be extraordinary. What would be even more surprising was the fact that that child was not using the commonly used system in the various kingdoms to imply magic. To use spells one would need three things a firm image, a meanly constructed array, and manipulation of mana. To help with the first part being a firm image most spells used incantations or chants. Mental constructions of arrays were the hardest part and because they became more complicated for higher level spells some would be stuck at being able to cast level three or four spells. And lastly being able to manipulate mana was a must, and being able to manipulate the correct element for a spell was even more important. After all if one worked hard and learned level four arrays while having a perfect image of the spell if that person used the wrong element it would be pointless. Fang on the other hand simply directed fire elemental mana into a page in his tome and shot out a fireball. ¡®Master when you use mana the most comfortable one is fire. Use that one and none of the others.¡¯ Looking down at the tome in his hand s that had just spoken with him through his mental link Fang smiled. ¡°East I need to be able to use a variety of spells and your help is necessary to do so.¡± ¡®But master the other elements feel weird¡­ And you¡¯re wasting pages by recording those weak spells. You make so many bad decisions.¡¯ Fang just shook his head and stood up throwing East into the air and began walking towards his parent¡¯s room to see if they were ready to take him. East in the short amount of time took a liking to either attempting to criticize Fang or argue with him. Unknown to him this was good for his growth and something Luna had been happy about, as he would do some immature things from time to time such as throwing East into the air or arguing back against a pointless problem. This wasn¡¯t so much a problem before as she had always thought her son was a little mischievous but when she thought back she realized that most of the things he did were towards a goal or thought out. Instead of enjoying his time playing with her he would rather work on his sword techniques or train in what she believed to be some sort of spy game. Turning back into her ferret like appearance East cried out. ¡®Master don¡¯t throw me! Humph see if I help you if you don¡¯t start treating me better.¡¯ As she said this East jumped onto Fangs shoulder and moved her body to hang around his neck like a scarf. This was her usual place of rest if she wasn¡¯t in her tome form. Knocking on the door to his parent¡¯s bedroom Fang called his mother ¡°Mother, are you and father ready?¡± Hearing a small chuckle within the room Fang tilted his head to listen. ¡°Fang you¡¯re rather impatient about this¡­ But to not leave you in suspense, yes we are ready. Wait outside we¡¯ll be right out.¡± Walking down to the entrance to the house Fang was waiting patiently, because today was a special day fang wasn¡¯t wearing his usual leaf patterned green clothes. Instead he wore a white shirt and pants, this symbolized the fact that his element was unknown and would be revealed after the test. Not many people kept tradition but because his mother insisted on it and he didn¡¯t particularly mind he wore the clothes. ¡®Master why are we going there didn¡¯t you already tell me that even you felt it was easier to control fire elemental mana than any other kind?¡¯ It was just as East had said Fang had long felt it was easier to control the fire element than any of the others but that didn¡¯t mean that he knew for a fact and that also wouldn¡¯t tell him if he was a variant or not. ¡°I want to know if I am a variant or not, from what my father told me even saints are wary of mother despite her not reaching their level because of her variant mana.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Thinking along these lines Fang didn¡¯t much care if he had an actual variant mana or not, in the end he planned to master the Lightning attack of his previous life. ¡°Fang let''s go.¡± Once his parent¡¯s arrived the three headed out to the temple. When they reached the temple Fang was impressed by the size, although not as large as the arena he fought in, it was still an impressive building. The inside of the temple was mostly empty aside from some pillars coated with magical arrays. Walking for about five minutes the three rached one of the inner rooms where multiple children were waiting. It was not odd to have a couple of children come to the temple daily after all it was a fairly large kingdom and many went to the capital for their children to be inspected at the greatest temple ever built. the temple was created by the early dwarves and was made to be a grand thing. ¡°Hmm now that¡¯s most likely all that are going to show up today, welcome parents and children. Today the young ones will have their affinity tested any special or variant children will be given more attention by the kingdom but this is not a bad thing it will only mean more opportunities. Of course if you wish to educate a child in the ways of ki or mana if your child is lucky enough you can do so but I recommend letting the kingdom do so.¡± The one who spoke was an elderly dwarf who despite his age and white hair still gave off the feeling of being stronger than most in the room. ¡°Now then we will start first you will place your hand on this array, it is connected to the rest of the arrays in the temple and will give you the most accurate form of your mana affinity then I will ask you some questions in order to see if you can sense mana or not.¡± The first child to walk up to the small array was a young female dwarf. She seemed very gear and energetic quickly running with her stubby legs to the pedestal that held the array. When she placed her hand on the array an almost holographic image of a mountain appeared above the girl, the mountain wasn¡¯t extraordinarily large but it was very vivid and life like. This was the main reason the dwarven people would travel to the capital for the chance to have their children¡¯s affinity checked. For the children this would be a great and unforgettable memory. This was also one of the envies of all the other kingdoms as the dwarves were the only one¡¯s with something so vivid. Normally other Countries or kingdoms would use a single stone pillar with arrays that would demonstrate a change of color signifying a certain element from there a powerful magician would be assisting the array in order to check for variants but this method wasn¡¯t foolproof. The only reason Fang was allowed to use this dwarven only relic was because of his father¡¯s contributions to the kingdom and his mother¡¯s earlier rampage. In a similar fashion the children provided, an interesting one of a burning stone mountain appeared and excited the elder but he refrained from speaking out too much at the moment. Next up was a particularly large dwarf his age should have been the same as the others but he was at least half a head taller than the others. With confident strides the dwarf walked up to the pedestal and placed his hands while smiling. This time a much larger image appeared it was at least the size of a medium two story house. The one who placed his hand on the pedestal smiled while looking up at the image of a burning volcano spewing and endless stream of lava. ¡°Haha the young prince is indeed impressive. We will have to inform his majesty of your great variation. Does the young prince know if he can sense mana or not?¡± The elder was now clearly excited while looking at the child. ¡°Esteemed Elder this one can indeed sense mana and I have previously spoken with my father. While I wasn¡¯t too sure of the variant mana I had an idea of its possibility through my connection with the mana of fire.¡± The prince was actually just boasting as he knew he had a variant mana and had only just recently felt the presence of mana a couple days prior but he wanted to look like an exceptional talent in front of the small crowd and especially in front of the blood elf and her son. His father had spoken to him about the blood elf and her son being incredibly powerful, at least the blood elf, and how he was not to pointlessly provoke either. But he was the son of a king he had to show his superiority and the power of his kingdom, especially the fact that the royal line had someone who would grow to be powerful enough to not have to stand threats from a single person. The three, Luna, Tal, and Fang had no idea what the prince was thinking and didn¡¯t much care. Instead they were thinking about Fang¡¯s potential in Mana or ki. Luna couldn¡¯t stop praying for a minimal to happen and for her son to inherit the variant blood mana because even in ki form it would be feared. Tal on the other hand wanted his son to have both the earth and fire affinity similar to the previous child because that was where his affinities lied. (Author''s note: so I''ve decided on somethings and the big one is that I''m bad at first person writing so I''ll stop the other novel until I feel I''ve improved thanks to any one who read the first two chapters. Other than that I''ll try to get out at least three chapters a week, that''s at least. I''ll continue this until May when I''ll be having two surgeries on unfortunately on my left hand, I''ve been practicing typing with one hand and feel it won''t be too much of a problem so not to much going on there but I will probably slow down during mid May. So for now I''ll try to go all out in writing chapters next one should be late today for my time zone that''s around 8:00 pm so in about six hours if nothing comes up if it does then at 10:00 pm thanks for reading) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 12: I wish to become a Thief Chapter 12: I wish to become a Thief ¡°Fang Now it¡¯s your turn.¡± After his mother¡¯s words Fang walked up to the pedestal. The prince watched with bated eyes, in his mind he would not lose to the son of the blood elf who was neither a full blood elf or dwarf. If the prince had not been instructed by his father to not actively provoke the half dwarf he would have already caused a ruckus in the temple. Fang, not knowing the thoughts of the prince, walked with confident strides to the podium. Unlike the confidence of the prince his strides were a natural thing built up over time in his fights. The elder smiled slightly at Fang as he watched the way he carried himself. ¡®This boy has the bearings of a warrior. He must take after his father well, however seeing the blood elf in person is interesting.¡¯ As Fang reached the pedestal everyone had a variety of expectations, but Fang himself already knew he had at least an inclination to the fire element and anything else would just be a bonus. As he placed his hands on the pedestal his mother and father waited with bated breath. But after ten seconds passed nothing happened and they began to grow anxious. The prince was jumping in joy thinking that the half dwarf had somehow failed. But these thoughts were short lived from the ceiling the phantom image of ashes falling appeared. This seemed to be some form of fire element variation. As the gray ashes fell they seemed to fill up a large portion of the hall being a match for the prince¡¯s volcanic eruption. In between the ashes small amounts of black electric currents flowed but this was only noticed by the elder. Fang¡¯s parents didn¡¯t know what to make of the ashes, on one hand almost all elemental variants were looked at favorably on the other how much could he achieve with ashes. Ashes were the remains of burnt creatures or objects and this signified that he was most likely under the fire element, and while the fire element was known for its explosive strength ashes were a different thing entirely. Fang although not immediately did take note of the small sparks of electricity with East¡¯s help. ¡®Master your elemental affinity is rather odd and i just realized that I don¡¯t like it. That¡¯s why you should just go ahead and use the electricity instead of the ashes.¡¯ Fang had no intention of using only one aspect of his power and although he didn¡¯t have a solid idea of what to do with the elemental variant of ashes he could eventually think of something. ¡°Young man your mana variant is rather interesting stay with your parents and come with me along with the prince after your speaking with them shortly.¡± Hearing the elder speak Fang removed his hand from the array and walked back to his parents calmly. The prince on the other hand looked towards Fang and almost jumped in joy, the child he considered his enemy had lost in their little one sided contest. Although he was the only one who knew of it the prince was still happy. After all he was not only one of the kingdom¡¯s few variants he was also one of the extremely rare dwarves who could sense mana. In this way he was sure that he had won after all his volcanic element variant was sure to be better than a variant that made one rely on ashes. the dwarven elder took note of the prince¡¯s small victory and sighed inwardly at the childish antic then began to speak to the group. ¡°Well then the only thing left is to test each of you to see if you have the capability to sense mana those who already know and those who do not wish to participate may leave.¡± Luna and Tal looked at their son with some worry, they could not think of what to say. ¡°Mother the elder asked us to stay and accompany him after this along with the prince.¡± Looking at his mother who didn¡¯t know what to say Fang could only be bewildered by their actions. Nodding to her son Luna decided that it would be unnecessary for the dwarven race to train him in an unfamiliar element, so she along with her husband would do it. Above all Luna didn¡¯t wish to send her son to an academy full of noble dwarves who would cause nothing but trouble. Turning her head Luna looked towards the elder and spoke. ¡°Elder we thank you for your good intentions but teaching my son will be my duty.¡± After nodding once more towards the elder She took Fang¡¯s hand and began to walk away with her husband not far behind. ¡°Hmm I wonder if the blood elf saw the electric sparks, well no matter the important thing for the kingdom is the prince and the lad with the burning mountain¡­ He reminds me of our high general.¡± Back in the their house the small three person family sat quietly while eating, none speaking of Fang¡¯s variant element for various reasons. It wasn¡¯t until after the three had finished their meals that Tal spoke up. ¡°Fang, son, while I don¡¯t know how ashes will help you fight others in the future for now I''ll give you some lessons on refining ki. I¡¯ll also give you a tool that will help you gather mana and convert it into ki. We¡¯ll go to my study and I will explain everything in further detail there.¡± Having spoken Tal got up from his seat and walked to his study in order to prepare everything necessary for Fang to begin refining his ki. With the only two left being Luna and Fang there was an awkward silence that Fang didn¡¯t seem to notice. ¡°Fang, from now on when you are presented in front of some people they may not understand your strength but in the future with some hard work no one will be able to look down on you. So for now you must remember to preserver.¡± Fang didn¡¯t quite understand what his mother was getting at but he nodded anyway. ¡°Now then apart from those things to be able to preserver one must have a goal. Is there anything you wish to do? Or maybe something you wish to become, like a knight or a merchant¡­ Maybe a spy?¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Fang did not even have to think about his answer, it was something he had been preparing for his whole second life. ¡°I wish to become the world¡¯s greatest thief, I''ll own everything the world has to offer.¡± This was said in the most resolute way Luna had ever heard her son speak, so she knew he wasn''t kidding. But because of that she felt rather troubled, a thief wasn¡¯t a noble profession or could be considered decent in any way. ¡°... Fang Fae, do you know what a thief does and what it means to be one?¡± Luna was hoping that her son was just having a misunderstanding of some sort and read a story book wrong or held a misinterpreted view of what a thief was. ¡°Yes mother, a thief is someone who takes everything he desires and keeps his things to himself.¡± Luna was beginning to see where her son had the idea that he would never surrender any of his possessions to anyone. If he was to be some sort of greed driven thief then his desire to never surrender any of his things made sense. ¡°Fang who put this idea into your head?¡± Although she was speaking in a calm and gentle voice, on the inside Luna was ready to go on another rampage and destroy whoever fed her son these things along with at least three generation of that person¡¯s family. ¡°I read it in a book.¡± Looking at her son who couldn¡¯t possibly be lying to her Luna looked up to the approximate location of Tal¡¯s study. ¡®If he has books venerating the actions of thieves I''ll send him packing.¡¯ Without another word she rushed up to her husband¡¯s study and began to look through his collection of books. Not finding anything she turned to her baffled husband. ¡°Husband do you happen to have any books on thieves I could borrow?¡± Despite her calm tone Tal could sense an impending dread But none the less answered her question. ¡°No¡­ Actually there might be some on bandit subjugation protecall but that¡¯s all I can think of. Why?¡± Seeing his wife¡¯s fake calm demeanor Tal couldn¡¯t help but shiver as he asked. ¡°... Do you know our son plans to be a thief when he grows up¡­ He said he read about it in a book, and he looks determined.¡± Tal was now sporting a large frown, as the high general he received reports about bandit subjugations and the execution of various criminals. He knew first hand what could happen to a person who chooses a life of crime. ¡°Does he understand what a thief is?¡± ¡°He seems to know the jist of it but nothing concrete. I was wondering if you might have had anything that influenced him.¡± Tal just shook his head and sighed. ¡°For now let¡¯s talk to him if we reach a compromise or have him understand what a criminal is then it might be simple to change his mind, maybe we can show him something more interesting.¡± Having come up with a good enough solution for the moment Tal continued looking in his desk for an item he bought specifically for Fang¡¯s use. It was a vest that would help one feel the flow of mana and convert small amounts of it into ki from there it was up to the individual to learn the process and continue on his or her own without the aid of the vest. While his parent¡¯s were conversing about Fang¡¯s future he was calmly collecting the plates and promptly began washing them. As he washed the plates he seemed to not have any care in the world about the big commotion going on in the upstairs study. ¡®Master why do you wish to become a thief? It¡¯s not exactly something you want to do if you plan to live a good life.¡¯ ¡°Because that¡¯s the only thing I can think of to do, nothing else seems interesting.¡± At first Fang had just been following what happened in the book as a sort of guide but along the way it had turned into his own interest. ¡®Well no matter whatever you do I''ll be there to laugh at you for doing.¡¯ ¡°Fang Fae! Get up here!¡± Hearing his father call him he left the dishes in there place, washed off his hands and ran up to his father¡¯s study. Entering the study both his mother and father had very serious expressions. ¡°Fang Fae Your mother has told me that you wish to become a thief, for now I''ll overlook that as a child¡¯s misunderstanding and will tell you this. If you ever become a thief be prepared to receive a hundred lashings when I catch you. And the sadness you¡¯ll cause your mother will be unfathomable.¡± Fang nodded strongly showing his understanding. ¡°Good that you understand. Then take this vest and wear it for the next week. After you are able to feel the ki in your body feel for the change that happens when mana is converted into ki. When you are able to convert mana into ki on your own I''ll teach you more about ki but for now that¡¯s everything.¡± Taking the vest in his hands Fang looked at his mother and father making a silent resolution in his heart. ¡®I''ll never be caught.¡¯ Seeing the resolution in his son¡¯s eyes Tal believed that he had done a fine job of deterring his son from a life of crime, at least temporarily, and making him focus on something more important, ki refining. In his head Fang heard the seemingly never ending laughter of his dragon in tome form, East. She was the only one who truly understood what both sides were thinking and did not clarify for anyone, instead she just chose to let it be. (Author''s note: so this is the second one for today just before 10:00 pm. Something unexpected did happen, I feel asleep. Sorry. But anyway thanks for reading. I don''t have much to say this time) :) A Gladiators New World chapter 13: A small match Chapter 13: a small match Tal watched over his son as he put on the vest and sat down in order to try and precise the ki that was entering his body. ¡°Fang, the first level of a ki refiner is care refinement. As you know this is the time in which a ki refiner creates his ki core in order to contain and self replenish his or her own core.¡± Seeing that Fang was listening to him Tal continued. ¡°For this level it is normal that a child spends at least five years. The reason for this is simple, you want your core as large as possible. Although some may be able to form larger cores than others the normal period of time for one to spent on this level is five years. This is not something that can be changed, even if you feel that you¡¯ve reached the limit of what you can do before the five years are up you are to still continue. After you move on to ki circulation your core will be set and you will no longer be able to grow it.¡± Seeing that his son understood Tal sent him to his room to begin his ki refinement. For a normal five year old child this step was considerably difficult because one needed focus and a certain amount of discipline in order to focus on ki refinement and core creation. Creating a core in itself wasn¡¯t that difficult because the vest would help lay the groundwork and the rest was just patience, but that¡¯s the part that would trouble children. Patience was rare in a child and often times a child would have a small ki core because he or she couldn¡¯t wait to circulate his or her ki. Tal had no droughts that his son was a mature child and wouldn¡¯t do anything so detrimental to his growth but as a parent he still worried. ______________ It had been three years since Fang had received the vest. Sitting in his bed he let out a small sigh. ¡®Master it¡¯s been almost half a year since your ki core stopped growing. Why don¡¯t you just move on to the other levels with your control over mana you should be able to move up to at least the third level in an instant.¡¯ Fang shook his head disagreeing with East. It was true that his ki core had stopped growing, it was however by no means large. Although he didn¡¯t know how much compared to others Fang felt that his ki core could be bigger. Currently it resided just under his diaphragm and was the size of a small nut. According to his father the speed of his core¡¯s growth was exceptional but that was only because he had East assist him in manipulating mana while converting it into ki. ¡°No I feel that I could make it grow more, also I promised father and mother I would wait until I was at least ten.¡± ¡®Fine but don¡¯t blame me when you waste two years instead of moving on to the higher levels of ki control.¡¯ Fang looked at East who rested on his lap and smiled warily. She had in her body a large flow of ki but no core on top meaning that she would have to have at least reached the break level. Sadly she only had limited access to that wealth of power. On top of which she would, from time to time, show exceptional control over mana and multiple arrays. ¡°That¡¯s no problem. Were we doing a thing today?¡± East hearing him say that shook her head. ¡®Master your father is going to beat you with a stick. Last week he told you that he was planning to take you to the palace in order to meet the king and the prince. Apparently he was there when you had your aptitude checked.¡¯ Remembering his plans with his father Fang quickly got dressed in his most formal attire. He wore a set of elven clothes his mother had specially prepared for him. His pants were a normal blackish gray color, his shirt was lined with the images of leaves turning to as but devoid of any fire, and his coat was similar to his shirt but with the exception of having a black flame lining the bottom. Although they seemed odd he was one of the few half elves with the fire element and the only known ash variant in history making it somewhat difficult for his mother to make something appropriate. Running down stairs to the carriage that had already been waiting for him Fang quickly got in and told the driver to depart. ¡°Young man I don¡¯t mean to criticize but next time you might want to be on time your father will be upset if you don¡¯t arrive on time.¡± The driver was the same one that would pick up his father from time to time so Fang had met him on more than one occasion. ¡°Yes.¡± With the carriage reaching the palace didn¡¯t take long and he would still be on time to meet his father if only just barely. Once in the palace he was quickly guided by a guard who had been sent by his father. ¡°Fang you''re just in time, I was afraid you had gotten caught up in something.¡± ¡°No father I arrived here smoothly.¡± Tal nodded and began walking while taking his son with him. ¡°Now we will meet the king, as the high general normally I would meet him in the audience chamber but the prince insisted that it would be better to meet in the king¡¯s study, in a more private place. So while most formalities can be dropped he is still the king and you are to behave properly. Is that understood.¡± Fang nodded, his mother had taught him basic etiquette and the baring he would need to show according to his status. ¡°Yes mother taught me the basics.¡± Tal nodded but immediately had another thought. What could his wife who would never bow her head, even in front of a saint magician know about etiquette? following this thought he began to sweat on the inside and thanked the prince for insisting on having a private meeting. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.________________ King Balford sat with his youngest and most promising son, prince Baldare. His pride in his son was something he took great joy in. After all his son had great potential and with all the backing of the dwarven kingdom it was almost certain that he would reach the Saint level. Even now he was considered a young genius having learned to use level two spells after three years of studying under one of their elders. His talents weren¡¯t limited to only that however as he made great progress in both earth magic and fire magic all the while learning to harness his variant magic of lava. And although he could only cast two or three level two spells before tiring out it was still praise worthy for someone to do so in three short years. The king however didn¡¯t understand his son¡¯s small obsession with the boy Fang, from what he knew the boy made steady progress but didn¡¯t show anything great enough to equal him to the prince. ¡°Son why do insist in meeting the boy, Fang? It¡¯s something I can¡¯t understand.¡± The prince looked excited as he sat there waiting for the high general and his son to arrive. ¡°Because father, you told me not to provoke the boy due to his mother but he shouldn¡¯t have any special rites after all his father despite being the high general isn''t a noble. And while that has gained him trust and the favor of many nobles they should not be allowed to do as they please so I''ll just show him that without his mother to protect his he can¡¯t do those things on his own¡­ Don¡¯t worry I won¡¯t go too far, just a friendly challenge.¡± While the king worried a little he didn¡¯t fear for his son¡¯s life, even if he were to upset the blood elf the royal family had a saint magician and hundreds of break level ki refiners. And while a great number of them would be lost in a battle to the death the blood elf wasn¡¯t that crazy, at least he hoped so. Hearing a knock on the door the king signaled his guard to open the door. The guard let in two men one being the very familiar high general Tal and the other being a young boy of a medium build with ash gray hair and carried himself with a very strong demeanor. the high general gave a slight bow before speaking. ¡°King Balford thank you for having us here.¡± The boy simply nodded showing little respect for the king or the prince. The King frowned inwardly, he was not a warrior king for having fought political battles but wars against humans. And while he usually acted to avoid wars at all cost because he had seen what happens in one he couldn¡¯t help but want to hit the child who showed him no respect. ¡°Nonsense you are always welcome here and you should also bring your wife along next time I have only met her once during your wedding.¡± The prince was just staring at Fang with a visible scowl. ¡°Humph, Fang Fae was it, you should show respect in front of your king and prince.¡± _____________ Fang looked at the prince who had spoken to him and nodded to him as well in acknowledgement to his words but did not change his attitude one bit. ¡®Hahaha master I think you made him mad.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t exactly sure what he had done but he was almost sure that he had yet to say anything offensive. As for bowing and kneeling his mother had clearly instructed him to never do so to another. Her reasoning was that the world was in the end run by power. a kingdom could tax and rule over it¡¯s people because it had an army to promise security for it¡¯s citizens or to dominate them. Organizations were run by those in power and those with influence. And because she was considered very influential in the grand scheme of things he would never have to kneel in front of any kind of person, only those willing to sacrifice a great deal to deal with her and her friends who would follow. ¡°Ah that¡¯s an interesting pet, what is it?¡± Sensing the tension that his son was starting The king spoke up. ¡°Her name is east, I''m not sure what she is, mother says that she¡¯s a lesser dragon.¡± Both the king and the prince were surprised at hearing that Fang had with him a lesser dragon. ¡°... Who gave you a lesser dragon?¡± This time it was the prince who asked as he wouldn¡¯t believe that Fang had captured and tamed a lesser dragon on his own, after all no matter how small the creature still had dragon blood within it. ¡°I caught it.¡± The prince not believing Fang¡¯s words spoke up once more. ¡°Ha that¡¯s a funny lie next time why don¡¯t you try a better one.¡± Fang not feeling irritated by the prince¡¯s words in the least simply shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Hmph, you think you''re special and can tame a dragon then prove it. Have a match with me, the palace has special training grounds we can use.¡± Tal looked at the prince who seemed irritated and wanted to stop his son from fighting him. In his mind his son was fairly good at ki refinement but the first level of ki refinement was considerably weaker than what a level one magician could do, on top of that the prince was capable of using level two spells. Unfortunately his son spoke before he could calm the situation. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Fang had only one thought and that was that he would have his first fight against someone other than East. While east was strong and had a variety of spells she could use he had long become use to her patterns. (Author''s note: so nothing to say really I might do the next chapter today but that''s questionable. So thanks for reading and happy day.) :) A Galdiators New World Chapter 14: The Kings Tone Chapter 14: the King''s Tone Fang stood thirty meters from the prince ready to start their spar, holding his training sword that had been reformed by his father to be so what longer than an average short sword. The king had called over a special Royal guard who would be acting as the referee. The Royal guard was at the break level and would be able to stop either one of the participants from suffering an injury due to an accident. ¡°Fang let''s see if you have the strength to back up your arrogant attitude.¡± The prince muttered this to himself fully confident that he would not be beaten by a first level ki refiner. It was common knowledge that for the first five years of training a ki refiner would be only slightly stronger than an average person, this wasn¡¯t even counting the fact that Fang didn¡¯t have the full innate strength of a dwarf. The prince believed that if the two were compared he would still win in a contest of physical strength despite not being a ki refiner. Fang on the other hand had no extra thoughts and focused solely on the spar. From what his father had briefly told him fighting the prince at a distance would put him in a disadvantage, so the best thing to do was close the distance quickly. The referee looked at both children noticing the intensity in the eyes of the prince and the focus in Fang, nodding he began the spar. ¡°Start.¡± With a wave of his hand that signaled the start of the spar, Fang dashed towards the prince like a bullet. The prince also made his move as soon as the referee gave the signal, he back peddled and began to cast his first spell. While the prince made his attempt to move away Fang ran at his fastest speed forward quickly closing the gap between the two. Once he was only five meters away the prince completed his spell. ¡°Earth Cage!¡± With a loud yell the prince unleashed his first spell, earth cage. Normally this was one of the weakest level two spells that could be cast without much effort, unfortunately it also consumed more than half the prince¡¯s mana. Earth cage as the name implies would create a cage similar to a bird cage made of the stone or ground one was standing on, the prince did not however aim his spell at Fang. Instead he trapped himself making a protective barrier around himself. With a somewhat worn out look the prince still managed to smile thinking he was safe from anything that fang could do. The earth cage did have gaps between the bars but they were not enough for fang to get through or slow him any sort of advantage. One he thought he was safe from harm he closed his eyes and began to prepare his strongest stack spell in order to win the sparring match. The prince however underestimated Fang far too much. When fang saw the prince surrounded by the cage his thoughts whirled and immediately came up with a solution, in this situation someone might have given the victory to the prince but fang was different. Although he knew in his mind that he was no longer in the arena, the notion that defeat meant death never left him. Fang quickly removed his shirt and tied one end of the sleeves to the handle of his sword while holding the other end. Both Tal and the king were confused by Fang¡¯s actions as they seemed pointless. The prince not knowing what was happening was close to completing his spell, unfortunately his concentration was destroyed when he suddenly felt the pain of being bashed in the head by Fang¡¯s wooden sword. He opened his eyes in a panic wondering how Fang had managed to enter into the earth cage. To his surprise he found Fang shirtless brandishing his sword at the end of a cloth as if it were a whip. Just as he was thinking about the strange sight the sword came down on his head a second time, with no time to dodge the prince once more felt his head being bashed by the wooden sword. Because the referee had not stopped the match Fang continued his attacks while the prince made a desperate attempt to dodge around in his cage. Realizing that being stuck in the cage had been his greatest mistake the prince was just waiting for the referee to end the match as his dignity would not allow him to forfeit. ¡°... Stop!... Winner of the sparring match Fang Fae.¡± When the referee came to his senses and stopped the match the prince had already taken quite a beating but luckily for him fang stopped as soon as he yelled out. Although the referee knew it was his fault for not stopping the match earlier he couldn¡¯t help but glare at Fang, the one he was mercilessly beating wasn¡¯t just anyone he was the prince. Normally one would either give a good fight and then lose allowing one to receive a favorable impression but this half dwarf/elf didn¡¯t give any consideration to his opponent¡¯s position. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the king and high general were standing to the side with indifferent looks the guard would have already given the boy a solid beating. Contrary to the guards thought the two were not indifferent but dumbfounded, who would have thought that in the fraction of a second Fang would have come up with that kind of strategy, it was so fluid that it almost seemed that he had anticipated the prince¡¯s strategy and prepared his counter beforehand. Around the prince the earth cage began to crumple as he glared at Fang. ¡°... You¡­ what would you practice that kind of thing?¡± This was the only thing he could think of saying. Fang who had already put his shirt back on looked at the prince. ¡°I never practiced that in particular it was just done because it was necessary.¡± Fang had practically mastered all weapons and a whip was one of those weapon, naturally he would be able to use a makeshift whip as well. Everyone in the room couldn¡¯t help but stare at Fang as if what he said in the most natural of ways was nonsense. ¡°...Well it doesn¡¯t matter that you can beat me in close range combat. If I had used an offensive spell instead of a defencive one I would have won!¡± While everyone but Fang and East thought that to be true, they also couldn¡¯t help but remember the fact that a loss was a loss and the words of the prince began to sound like the whining of a weak person. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°While that is a possibility the truth is that you lost, as a dignified prince complaining won¡¯t do you any good.¡± The king didn¡¯t want his son to go down the wrong path and believe that he was some sort of invincible Mage even when he lost so he reminded him of the fact that he had lost, in a way the king hoped that his son would benefit from the loss. ¡®Master you would have won anyway right and if anything really happens I can stop level two spells easily.¡¯ Fang looked at the prince and then at East who had stood with his father during the match and replied. ¡°Yes, I would have still won regardless.¡± Everyone¡¯s attention turned to him at that point. The first to speak was the prince. ¡°HA you think you could have won? You''re only halfway into completing your first level of ki refinement while I''ll be able to consider myself a second level magician after my mana pool grows a bit more.¡± While the prince was talking East had already made her way to Fang¡¯s shoulder. ¡°If you¡¯re really that confident then take my strongest attack. What do you say?¡± Fang was still in the mood to test his strength so he promptly agreed and the two went back to the sparring area. This time however they only stood seven meters away from each other and Fang made no movements while the prince began to prepare his spell. As the prince grew close to completing his spell the king could only sigh, the time he had taken to complete the spell had been well over twice the time that it would have taken for Fang to catch him and step into a range where he could use his sword. But no one would comment on the prince¡¯s actions until after they witnessed what the outcome would be. Unbeknownst to anyone East who would normally be in her ferret like animal form had already turned into a tome and waited for her chance to act from behind Fang. ¡°Lava Lance!¡± With the prince¡¯s cry a spear made from molten rock rocketed toward Fang, with little time and distance Fang used his body to it¡¯s fullest. With his sword in one hand and East in the other Fang moved to his left while attempting to parry the magic lance. Despite not having the strength necessary to parry the lance Fang was able to borrow it¡¯s force to propel himself away from it by borrowing a bit of mana from East and infusing it into the sword. The fact that he was able to escape from the lava lance surprised the three adults in the room but the prince had not underestimate Fang this time, the reason he had taken so long in his preparation was the fact that he didn¡¯t prepare on lance but two. He knew that if Fang managed to get away from the first one he had lost but despite this he still wanted to give him something to be scared of. When the second lava lance launched the three, including the referee who was suppose to protect the children from harming each other, failed to react. Luckily for Fang East had already prepared, with the opening of the tome the pages seemed to move on their own at an unnatural speed stopping at a certain page. Because the referee was a brake level ki refiner he still had the chance to stop the lava lance even now but he decided to let it hit Fang a little before rescuing him as a lesson on why royalty should not be disrespected. While he was thinking that out of the east came a similar magic spell except this one was not made of lava but ice, without question the ice should have melted but it pierced through and dissipate do the prince¡¯s spell landing right next to the prince. Seeing the two meter lace sticking out from the ground next to the prince everyone present looked to where the spear had originated from, Fang¡¯s tome. ¡®Hahaha, Although I don¡¯t normally like using water mana it¡¯s worth it to see their faces so confused. Ha those so called leaders and elites look the funniest when distraught.¡¯ Fang could only shake his head listening to East. ¡°Fang¡­ At this moment I speak not as the friend of your father but as the king of the Dwarven Kingdom. What is that book and how did it cast such a powerful level two spell so fast?¡± Facing the king¡¯s inquiry that contained all the power and dignity a king should have, Fang didn¡¯t flinch one bit and stood looking tall and proud. ¡°This is my blood tome, it¡¯s something only I have. It allows my to cast spells immediately and with greater strength by using it as a medium.¡± because the people in this life seemed not to know how to make blood tomes Fang was sure he was the only one with one. ¡°Then Fang, citizen of my kingdom, you shall give us the information regarding how to obtain one, create one, or part with yours if possible.¡± Because of the way the king had worded his request Fang had already decided to decline to give them anything, the king had not only told him that he would have to do something he also said the word ¡°give¡±. Fang would never give anything to others, aside from those closest to him, trade or selling was fine but he would never allow anyone to take from him or simply give his things away to someone else just because they said so. This was the compromise he came up with East regarding his possessions because she insisted that at some point in his life he would need to either buy something and there fore he would lose his money or sell something in order to gain something else. Looking at the king with a fierce gaze Fang said one simple word. ¡°No.¡± His voice was neither soft nor loud but the determination and resolution was evident. Tal was sweating recently he had forgotten how stubborn his son could be regarding his possessions so he had let his guard down and didn¡¯t stop his son from speaking impolitely to the king and outright denying his request. (Author''s note: So this might be the last one for this week, I''ll see if I can do one or two this weekend but idk. Other than this I have nothing. So thanks for reading.) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 15: Cry Chapter 15: Cry The tension in the room was high, no one said anything in response to Fang. Everyone had their own thoughts on the matter but because it was a conversation with the king no one could easily say anything. King Balford thought for a moment and decided to go about this a different way. His, opponent, as one could put it was a child and if intimidation didn¡¯t succeed then the next best method was through his parents. Fang¡¯s father, High general Tal, was under his empty so the king believed that he would be able to acquire the blood tome in a reasonable amount of time. The only reason he was able to stay level headed and tolerate the rudeness and disrespect shown to him was because he was in a private area where he could somewhat ignore his pride. If he were in the audience chambers and his ministers were around then he would not be able to let the disrespect of the boy go. It the worst case senecio the dwarven kingdom would be at war with the blood elf and her companions while most likely missing their high general. ¡°Hahaha boy you show promise and have the stubbornness any dwarf would be proud of. But let me warn you not to disrespect a king in this way, as your father is my most respected general I will let this go for now.¡± With a wave of his hand he dismissed Fang and the high general. On their way out of the palace Tal was sweating bullets from the war and needless massacre that was just avoided. ¡°Fang from now on you need to think about the way you answer others. I won''t tell you to just give up your possessions when someone of higher authority commands it but the way you decline is important, luckily the king wants to avoid a war with your mother and her friends.¡± Seeing that his son just nodded in response Tal could only sigh hoping that he understood. Other than that he was laughing on the inside at the childish way that Fang had fought against the king. After all using your clothes and sword as a makeshift whip was something he believed only a child could think of. _____________ Tal walked once more into the the king¡¯s private meeting area, kneeling he respectfully greater his king. ¡°Strang General, I''ve asked you here today to have you undertake something most important¡­ Getting straight to the point that book your son has could very well be something that puts our kingdom at the top. While I have no desire to conquer the rest of the world does not ignore our presence with many human nations looking to enslave us. With your son¡¯s blood tome we could have peace of mind, so get the information out of him. You are dismissed.¡± Having finished hearing his king Tal walked out. The king seemed rather irritated and he had good reason, as much as he could be considered a good natured man, one couldn¡¯t expect a king to take disrespect lightly. _______________ It had been two years since Fang had fought with the prince. In this tie his father had, on multiple occasions attempted to get the method of creating a blood tome from him. Unfortunately Fang knew that it would end up with the king and wouldn¡¯t give up the information. His mother was also greatly interested in the blood tome but not enough to attempt to make one of her own, she was determined to reach the Saint level and become much stronger than she already was. Aside from the blood tome the only other notable thing was Fang¡¯s ki refinement. In the two years since his fight with the prince Fang¡¯s ki core had grown considerably, and although it could only be considered slightly better than average this didn¡¯t bother Fang one bit. Currently he was preparing to start circulating ki in his body. ¡®Master just start. Actually you should have started two years ago, I mean sure it did get considerably bigger but by now you could have already comprehended a law. Think about it all a larger core does is give you more ki, and having a smaller one isn¡¯t a bro let if you win fights quickly and efficiently.¡¯ While he believed that East made a valid point he didn¡¯t think that she was entirely right. ¡®And if anything you have me here. I''m I''m the greatest.¡¯ Because in their recent spars Fang was not able to beat East, who could not only cast level three spells without worry she was also at the ki imitation stage, she had grown rather arrogant. ¡°No and now that the five years are up I am going to reach that level quickly.¡± Fang had great confidence in this, in his previous life he had been able to turn mana into lightning, so reaching the third level of ki refining shouldn¡¯t be a problem. ¡°Fang! Get down here!¡± Hearing his mother call Fang knew that she wanted to be there when he took his next step into Ki refining and measure the strength he would have. When he reached the small garden outside of his house his mother and father were waiting for him. ¡®Fang remember to try and only use the ki of ashes in front of others. If you use your other element than being an unknown thief will become difficult.¡¯ Agreeing with East Fang prepared to show his parents his strength. ¡°Okay, now that you''re here your father will have a little spar with you and you''ll have to do his every day until you adjust to the new strength that circulating ki gives you. For that you can just continue sparing with East.¡± Nodding to his mother''s words Fang stood across from his father. ¡°Fang first feel the ki in your core, that shouldn¡¯t be difficult considering you''ve been refining it non stop for the last five years. Then move it around your body, because your core is a decent size you shouldn¡¯t have much problems with prolonged battles, it''s also important to know when your ki is running low and how much should be used at a time.¡± Because his father was a fairly accomplished ki refiner Fang had no doubts in his words, they were also things that he himself had already thought of for many years. Seeing that her husband had given Fang appropriate instructions Luna nodded towards both of them and gave the signal to start. Fang from the beginning knew that obtaining victory would be no easy feat and was prepared to lose, regardless he would give it his all. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Circulating his ki to his eyes and legs, Fang dashed forward with incredible speed. He was at least twice as fast as he had been before he was allowed to circulate ki. Because of the increase Tal expected Fang to lose to his own momentum but Fang was prepared for this and had already increased his dynamic vision and reaction time by circulating ki in his eyes. When he was close enough fang waved his arm, Tal and Luna were expecting him to reach for his sword but received a large shock when Fang was able to emit his ki throwing up clumps of dirt and grass to obstruct Tal¡¯s sight. Fang believed that winning with a frontal assault would be impossible but if he struck from the side and with a surprise attack it might very well be possible. He would try to win using two methods one was a surprise attack launched after shocking his father with the use of ki emission. Taking out his sword Fang attempted to strike from his father¡¯s flank. Tal however, although surprised, was in no way unprepared. With a simple backstep Tal was able to dodge Fang¡¯s sword attack. Fang was expecting this and did not falter runing ki evenly throughout his body Fang began an onslaught of sword attacks, his relentless bombardment was not his final plan. While he kept his father¡¯s attention on his sword by displaying many erratic sword techniques that are generally hard to follow Fang silently moved his ki from his body to the ground and changed its form to that of ashes. This showed that he had reached the third level of ki refinement after only just completing his five years of creating his core. While Tal knew that Fang was spreading his ki he didn¡¯t notice it change into the form of ashes, even if he did he would not be too worried as ashes in and of themselves had little attack potential. The change however had not escaped the sight of Luna who was the acting referee for the little spar. Which Fang overwhelming sword skills and his ability to emit ki he could already be considered a genius but now that he had reached the third ki refining level the only word that could describe his was abnormal. But regardless of what one decided to call him she was happy that her son had so much potential. Having completed his preparations Fang used the scattered ash ki creating a vast field of ashes making it appear as if the small guarded was filled with smoke, inside this field his father''s vision and other senses would be obstructed while he could use his connection to his ki to feel everything. With this new advantage fang was now able to put up a better fight surprising his father multiple times with strikes coming from different locations. However Fang was running low on ki, despite having a decent sized core, it¡¯s ki was not refined any further and could not sustain the constant use of both ki emission and ki transformation for extended periods of time. Gathering all the ashes he had made Fang condensed it into a greatsword. His father was clearly surprised but kept his sword raised, with his remaining ki Fang dashed holding the sword in hand. Both fighters prepared for one final strike, Tal raised his wooden sword while prepared for a horizontal swing. Before the two could clash Fangs sword had already begun to disappear slowly losing its form to the wind. When the two clashed swords Tal felt no resistance as he dissipated the sword in one swing, this however was what fang was aiming for as he revealed a knife made from ash in his hand replacing the large sword. With the knife fast on it¡¯s way to Tal¡¯s chest he let out a small sigh. In an instant fang was pushed back by an unseen force. Looking up at his father Fang realized that the force that had stopped him from winning was his father¡¯s ki revolving around acting as a protective shield. ¡°Hahaha, good Son you¡¯ve done good. Better than I could have thought possible. Hahaha. Oh son this is a day for¡­¡± ¡°Waaaaaaa!¡± Before he could finish the cry of a child was heard and fang, accompanied by East, quickly rand inside their home. Inside he found a fairly large boy who had seemingly fallen crying. ¡°Mathias don¡¯t cry here.¡± Fang pick up the boy gently and placed him on his feet. The boy was Mathias Warreaver, Fang¡¯s younger brother. Although his frame was larger than any other child his age Mathias was only two and just starting to walk around, contrary to his name and build he seemed to be quite sensitive and would often cry from little falls. Tal and Luna sat back and watched as Fang attempted to clear up their second son. This was something that always brought a smile to their faces. Fang was normally very distant to others aside from their immediate family and East making him seem odd and a bit cold but to his younger brother anyone seeing him would think that he was a doting older brother. ¡°Fen pay.¡± Hearing that Mathias wanted to play Fang couldn¡¯t say no and told his parents that his would play with his brother for a while and continue sparing later, besides his ki had run out and it would be impossible to continue at this moment. Because of this small scene Tal and Luna had momentarily forgotten to ask Fang how he had been able to reach the third ki refining level so easily. (Author''s note: so I''ll be honest I don''t remember if I had previously said anything about the fact that he would have a sibling at some point but it was in my notes so I added it if it was can someone tell me, I''m going to go back and look tonight but if someone just happens to know that would be appreciated. Other than that if it was or wasn''t I''ll fix it somehow. He''s important to the later plot, maybe. He could be. Anyway thanks for reading and have a happy day. I''m going to finish up with this whole childhood ark at around chapter 20ish so after that I''ll have him do other stuff cause he''ll be older. I only say this cause someone asked ) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 16: Fiend Mathias walked alongside his brother headed to the backyard. ¡°Fen Pay wit Eat.¡± Fang looked from his brother to the sleeping East. She had a hard time with Mathias because of his clumsiness, often he would throw her around like a rag doll. And while none of this could hurt the small dragon it was not a pleasant experience. ¡°No I don¡¯t think she wants to play right now.¡± Although Mathias looked a little dawn it wasn¡¯t enough where Fang had to do anything in particular to raise his mood. ¡°Now what do you want to play?¡± Looking at his little brother that would obviously out grow him in a couple of years Fang smiled. ¡°Fight.¡± Nodding Fang gave his younger brother a small wooden sword and took out one of his own. Both swords were covered in protective runes making it impossible for either of the two to get hurt. Fang happily played with his little brother as he clumsily swung his sword about, ever so often Fang would use his sword to catch his brother and stop him from falling to the ground. _____________ Tal looked at his two sons playing with the swords he had made. ¡°Wife that child of ours gave me a real scare. Those moves seemed natural not practiced but showed an innate disposition to combat far greater than mine or any I have seen before¡­¡± Looking at her troubled husband Luna understood that this was not the only problem he was facing. ¡°Tal, what''s wrong.¡± Tal sighed and shook his head. ¡°Nothing major it¡¯s just that the king has been insisting on having the blood tome creation method. While I can keep his requests at bay by simply telling him that Fang is unwilling to give up that information, a king can only be ignored for so long¡­ It also seems that some of the upper nobles know about it and have started to indirectly put pressure on my subordinates.¡± This wasn¡¯t all that troubled him but he as a man would not place any burdens on his wife. ¡°... Then do you want me to speak to Fang I can ask him to make a trade with the king or maybe start a small side business that centers around blood tomes that way the king can purchase them and Fang keeps his secrets.¡± Tal looked at his wife and figured it would at least be better than continuing to tell the king of his lack of progress. ¡°Yes it would be best if you speak to him. If we can get something then it¡¯ll be of great help.¡± With a plan in action the two now only had to see what compromise Fang was willing to reach in either trading for some information or selling ready made ones through a middleman. ______________ Lesser walked along a dirt road on both his sides were mountains and forests. He had the appearance of an elderly man well past his prime wearing nice silk clothing and a walking cane in hand. Despite the road being only flattened dirt this was a well used road as it lead from the Military kingdom of Kasnora to the great Dwarven Kingdom. He was on his way to see a long time friend. ¡°I wonder if what she told me is true did that mad elf really settle down and become an overly protective mother. Hahaha if she did I''m going to have some fun. Maybe I can even steal the boy away to some far off academy or military group. She¡¯ll blow her top in rage.¡± He continued walking as many merchants and other travelers passed him by. Laughing and whistling to himself made him seem a bit odd but most ignored him as travelers would mind their own business as a general rule. After three hours of walking alone Lesser was stopped by a rowdy looking group of seven middle aged men. ¡°Hey old timer, you got some fancy clothes. We¡¯ve been having some hard times recently you know and thought that since none of our targets lately have worked out we might help ourselves to you.¡± The first to speak up was a browny man that could be mistaken for an ogre if he didn¡¯t speak. ¡°Kekeke old man hand over anything you have and we¡¯ll let you off easy.¡± Despite the road being full of traveling merchants no one here was a hero much less willing to step in for some random old man who would go out alone wearing such nice clothing. While the men prepared to rob Lesser his smile grew wider and wider. ¡°Ohhh it¡¯s been awhile since something so fun presented itself. I guess these clothes were worth the extra money. Now you young gentlemen, let¡¯s have some fun.¡± The seven men while slightly confused recognized the old man provocation. They figured that the old man was a knight of some sort or maybe a mercenary in his heyday but now he was just their target. The largest of the men brought up his fist to quickly end the old man, despite his attempt at murder no one seemed to care. With a small sigh Lesser looked around to see the various people averting their eyes. ¡°Well might as well do this myself.. No show to be had today, no young lady knight to come save me. Such disappointment.¡± Just when he finished speaking he brought up his cane and smacked the back of the large man¡¯s wrist. With a loud resounding snap. The man began to wail in pain. ¡°AhhhhhhhhhhhHHHH!¡± Looking at their companion who was said to be the toughest among them the other six backed away slightly. ¡°Stop your crying it¡¯s only dislocated and maybe a little fractured you¡¯ll be fine in a couple of weeks.¡± Then looking at the other six would be robbers Lesser smiled. ¡°Now for the rest of you, come let''s have some fun use all the skill and strength you have.¡± Unfortunately none withstood even one strike from his cane, the seven were rolling on the ground each with various dislocated and fractured bones. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Now the seven of you don¡¯t look the type to travel a lot especially to somewhere like the dwarven kingdom, also this road has more bandits and robbers then usual. Tell me why and I''ll fix you up, don¡¯t and well¡­ I get to continue my fun.¡± The last part was said in a slightly lower voice scaring the seven. The first one to speak was the large man who had gotten off the easiest with only a few fractures and his dislocated wrist. ¡°... There¡¯s a noble there¡­ He sent out multiple people to various famous bandit groups, said something about a godly magical book that in the right hands could even out various master magicians¡­ We, we don¡¯t know the specifics but they want a large group to distract some elf and kidnap her kid.¡± Thinking about it Lesser had an urge to go around and kill all the surrounding bandits and robbers but held it in. ¡°Then do you know the name of said elf? Maybe you know her kid¡¯s name?¡± The large man looked troubled and didn¡¯t want to answer but once he saw Lesser lifting his cane once more he spoke immediately. ¡°Luna! It¡¯s the blood elf¡­ No one is suppose to know cause most of the bandits are being used as cannon fodder but I have a connection who got me the info. So a small group of us are going to take the kid while she¡¯s distracted.¡± Hearing this explanation Lesser was delighted, normally he went around killing bandits as he hated their kind. But if Luna was going to do away with them anyway, he could have some fun with this and get to kidnap the kid all at the same time. Of course he would make up for all that by teaching the kid a few good tricks and if what he had heard before was true he could have a nice fight with Luna as well. ¡°Hahahaha well this is destiny I was just on my way to kidnap the kid, yes this will be fun. Good you seven are no longer scum you are now the disciples of the Lesser War Fiend. I''ll teach you some things and you''ll follow my instructions then you''ll die in glorious combat somewhere, it¡¯ll be fun.¡± Hearing the name of the old man the seven paled. The Lesser War Fiend was a household name and the dread of any criminal. It was said that he was an old man who would capture criminals and turn them war crazed men who died fighting hordes of criminals. Seeing their pale faces Lesser smiled. ¡°Aaaa this is a good day.¡± Swinging his cane he began to relocate the bones of the seven former bandits all while smiling at their screams of pain. ______________ The king laid in his chambers thinking about his ministers. He knew the plan to kidnap the child and while he didn¡¯t quite agree with it he would turn a blind eye to what was happening as long as he could get his hands on the blood tome¡¯s creation method. Normally he would not be this desperate to obtain new weapons but lately the trouble with human kingdoms was worsening and help was nowhere to be found. So due to a plethora of reasons he could no longer wait around for his high general to get something out of his son. ________________ Fang sat in his room oblivious to the impending troubles. Not long ago he had spoken with his mother and she had proposed an idea. A trade with the king, either finished products or the creation method for any price he could name. Sadly he had no real desire for monetary possessions and worldly objects meant little to him other than targets to be stolen. ¡®Why don''t you just had them something half finished maybe something custom to what they can do and let them work out the rest, in return you can have a couple more spells to place on me, maybe even have their Saint teach you some and give some pointers to your mother, she¡¯s been having problems advancing to that level.¡¯ East had a point instead of monetary compensation or even worldly objects what he craved the most was information and spells along with the safety of his family. And having his mother advance to the Saint level would definitely be a big help. ¡°Okay but how do I give them something customized for them and half finished that can be exchanged for something great.¡± Fang liked the idea and could work with it but he needed something less vague than what he had. ¡®For now why don¡¯t you find a good smith and create better magic artifacts, while I don¡¯t know much on what you can do. I do know that magic artifacts are just things that make casting a certain spell easier or channeling mana with more ease. If you could make something that allows you to cast spells simply by channeling mana or ki into it then you can have it be put into someone¡¯s sword made by a good smith or shield, a thing really.¡¯ Thinking about it what East said made sense. ¡°It¡¯s odd to hear you having anything good to say and in such a serious way. But thanks.¡± Petting East¡¯s head Fang began to think of ways he could accomplish what East had suggested. For now he planned to research on common spells and how to engrave them onto metal without the need for a book or a sacrifice to make a blood tome. And the step after that would be simple as the dwarven kingdom was full of good smiths. (Author''s note: so I only gave one last week and for good reason. Had my first surgery, on my left knee no pain no disconcert and I''m walking around fine after only a week. The thing was the meds they give you make you really lazy. Could not do anything at all. Other than that this week I''ll try and get out at least five before Sunday so this is number one of the week. Thanks for reading) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 17: A new Artifact creation method Chapter 17: A new Artifact creation method Fang sat on his new desk in his room. The desk was given to him by his father after he told him the idea that East had come up with. Now with a stack of papers and some ink he began to prepare making spell arrays that could be used on various types of metals. As the base he used level one spells that wouldn¡¯t be harmful even if it went off in his room. ¡°First let¡¯s try the ember spell, I''ll have to add mana to the ink and see if it works.¡± Just drawing the spell array would not be enough it would be necessary to inject mana into the ink in just the right amounts and at the same time add another array that would allow the object in question to cast a spell. For his blood tome this was accomplished by fusing it with a living creature, East. But for this new creation he planned to sacrifice some of the strength and convenience of having a sentient being for ease in making it. ¡®You know this would work better if you used something other than regular paper, maybe if you used sheets of metal and mana beast blood for ink.¡¯ This is something that Fang had already thought of previously but the difficulty in producing a complete and permanent array would increase if the mana he injected had to matched up with the mana in the blood of a mana beast. In theory however the stronger the beast then the better the blood as well as the better the effect the array would have in the end. But that was still something he was not prepared to do and wasting materials for something like a prototype was foolish, according to his mother. ¡°For now I''ll use these and if I were to do something big it wouldn¡¯t be in the house. I''ll have to find someplace outside the city.¡± Of course if he did something like sticking a level five spell array onto a sword and having it go off inside the house his brother would potentially be hurt and it was not something he wanted. ¡®Then one final question why not have your father help you in this, as far as I can tell his smithing kill is top level and the swords he made for practice follow a similar principle to what you''re trying to do.¡¯ His father was indeed a great blacksmith and the swords were made with the safety of him and his brother in mind containing many arrays to make it practically impossible for them to hurt each other. But those were fundamentally different from what Fang was trying to accomplish. Those swords required many precious materials that naturally had those qualities meaning that the arrays inscribed onto them weren¡¯t there after someone made them but placed there by nature itself with some pushes from his father. In this way it was impossible to find suitable materials to mad produce actual weapons that could be handed to the general soldier. ¡°Hmm well that''s mostly because father is busy often and finding someone else to help seems easier. Also mother said I could establish a business or something of that nature with this as well, father already has a job.¡± With this he began his experiments first was the ink, for it to take in mana was not too difficult because it didn¡¯t contain any previously. The paper on the other hand was a different story what it could hold was very little, ripping apart with even the slightest miscalculation in the amounts. After a few incidents with the paper Fang was able to calculate just the right amount, and with East as his medium he began to draw various runes making a perfect circle on the sheet of paper. These runes were not something that existed in this world, they were from Fang¡¯s previous life and taken from what he could remember of normal tomes that required neither one¡¯s blood nor a sacrifice. The only problem with these is that they were disposable and would turn to dust when used. Fang planned to overcome this by lowering the strength of the spells and having the mana work in a similar war to a ki core that prevents one¡¯s own ki from harming one¡¯s self. Having completed his first prototype Fang drew the ember spell array and poured fire mana into it. Waiting with some anticipation He was disappointed to see that the paper completely lit up and burned away. ¡®Ah well that didn¡¯t work but those are strange runes anyway. Looks like you¡¯ll be at this for a while I''m going to sleep.¡¯ East then did exactly that and moved to Fang¡¯s bed where she curled up and fell asleep. ¡°Hmm then I¡¯ll keep at this for a while. The first attempt was a failure but that could be because I don¡¯t fully understand some of these runes. Well regardless I can keep trying.¡± _______________ Elsewhere Far from where Fang was experimenting with Lesser walked at a slow pace all the while whistling. Behind him were seven men all carrying multiple logs on their back, arms, and legs. Most people who walked by them would turn and laugh at their appearance. Some soldiers would give them a salute in respect to their harsh training methods, while others would simply ignore them. After an hour the thinnest of the seven men couldn¡¯t endure any longer and collapsed from the weight placed on him. The other six looked in horror towards the man and prayed that he would get up. Hearing one collapse Lesser smiled but didn¡¯t immediately turn around instead he waited to see if the man would be able to preserver through will alone. This was not the first time one of them had collapsed on their way to the dwarven kingdom, in the past one of the others had fallen and told the old man that he was leaving and tried to run away that night both the old man and their fallen brother disappeared only to return in the morning. Their brother mumbled unceasingly about a demon and the need for strength. Fearing what the old man would do to them the largest man among them, Fald, and another of the seven, Ren, stood on either side of the thin man and stood him up. ¡°Come on we¡¯ll make it to the capital complete the job and somehow ditch the old man. We won¡¯t turn war crazed.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Hearing what was happening behind him Lesser had a beaming smile on his face that the seven could not see. ¡°They don¡¯t even know it but they are already on the path. Solidarity in conflict and a purpose makes one strong and a group stronger¡­ Plus I''ve already had my fun with one the rest are soon to follow. Oh the fun I will have. Hope Luna¡¯s in a good mood¡­ Oh the fun.¡± _____________ Tal stood before his king in the private chambers they had previously been in. ¡°So your son finally gave us something. I was beginning to think that he would never share. But that compensation is somewhat difficult considering that the blood elf has a different nature than our own saints. As for the spells he has requested that isn¡¯t too difficult as long as what he gives us is adequate.¡± The king did not care to give instruction to the blood elf but knew that most of anything that their saints could teach her would be pointless so he did not mind that request. However higher level spells were either always kept secret by those higher magicians or extremely expensive. Of course over the years the dwarven kingdom had built up a large amount of level five spells that he could give Fang if what he presented was adequate. The only problem now was the plans of the high nobles. Now that Fang was co-operating he could not let them go through with such a thing but at this point it would be difficult to stop. Instead he thought of a different plan, looking at his high general the king sighed openly. ¡°Tal lately there has been a group of people kidnaping halfs of any race so be careful with your children as I heard they were heading here. Because there is no concrete evidence we can not simply go and arrest a large amount of people, the best thing to do is safeguard your children by placing a guard on them.¡± Tal was startled by this news but nodded. Of course there was no such group, or at least as far as the king knew. Instead this was a way for his to tell his high general about the imminent attack on his son and not get involved. ¡°Also do not spread this news instead just increase the surveillance on any areas where half dwarves live.¡± In the Capital there weren''t many would married or mated with those of other races so the news was something that basically only concerned Tal and a small group of people. Nodding his Head Tal showed his understanding and left. The king sitting in his chair looked at the back of his trusted general and truly sighed at the blood that would fill the streets. Luckily it was not the blood of his citizens but bandits of human kingdoms, no one would care and no wars would start. ________________ Fang sat on his desk looking at a small ember burn an inch off of a normal looking sheet of paper. The ember that burned only had a third of the strength that casting the spell should have but that was understandable considering the material used. It had taken him a week to accomplish just this and get the right array for adding an ember to the paper whenever mana was used. His greatest discovery however was that it was much easier to fill the paper and ink with ki as it had less destructive forces. The spell would be weakened slightly but it could still be used as ki was in the end still mana. In this way Fang figured that the Dwarves would be able to replicate what he was doing and Make various weapons. But in order to keep this information to himself Fang burned all the records he had made. He was only able to do this confidently because he had taken the time to memorize everything he thought of as necessary. With everything gone Fang began to write a just all of what he did but everything was only partial or sometimes even slightly wrong. With all the important information being stored in his head. This was an idea East had given him to prevent anyone from stealing something important. ¡®So you finished. Well now let''s go out and find a blacksmith.¡¯ seeing as East was awake he grabbed her and began to walk out of his room. ¡°First we need a base outside the city, then we find someone to work for us¡­ Let¡¯s ask mother to help build a base.¡± Walking down the stairs and looking around the house their was no one to be found. ¡®Just build it yourself. We¡¯ll walk into a smithy and look around to see what they use. Build a suitable place with magic and some logs then ask someone to work for us that seems loyal.¡¯ Having no better plan Fang walk out his house and towards the industrial district of the capital were hammers resounded. Along the way Fang noticed that one of his father¡¯s subordinates followed him while attempting to hide his presence. In the years Fang had been training to do exactly that he also grew adept at sensing others doing the same. Without thinking much about it Fang erased his presence and lost the man following him. The deeper he went into the commercial district of the city the louder the hammer were. However none of these caught his interest what he wanted was something simple and efficient so he began to head for the border where he smaller smithies were located. (Author''s Note: so ther are some concerns as to things but they are going to be explained later and if you want a little spoiler in order not to get disheartened send me a private message. I''ll gladly share some of my plot things with ppl. But only through private messages. Cause I don''t want to post spoilers. Anyway thanks for reading. Don''t know if giving out spoilers is a good idea or not even through private messages. If you wait by the end of the week some stuff should have begun to play out, maybe, depends on how it develops and such. Anyway thanks for reading and leaving those comments. :) A Gladiators new world chapter 18: Blacksmith Chapter 18: blacksmith Fang walked towards a seemingly small Simithy, upon entering he found a small human boy sitting on the counter almost falling asleep. Ignoring the boy Fang looked around the shop inspecting the quality of the various weapons. To his surprise they were top quality goods some even comparable to his father¡¯s works. Of course they were also made with lesser materials such as ordinary iron. Upon further inspection Fang also found plenty of copper spears. Seeing that the quality was good and the smithy was small Fang decided to look around and see how the place worked, if possible having a sword made for him here would also help in his research into making magic tools comparable to the artifacts that others made using rare materials. Walking up to the sleeping human boy Fang knocked on the desk. The boy was startled as he had not noticed Fang come in and almost fell off his chair. ¡° wel¡­ Welcome to the Forged Boar. How can I help you?¡± The boy stuttered at the start but presented a professional front once he regained his composure. ¡°Yes, I would like to see your smithing process if at all possible or have a copper swords do shield made by the master smith.¡± The boy was about fourteen years old and had been working in the smithy for six years now but this was the first time someone asked to see their smithing process. ¡°... I''ll have to ask master Dan, he is the smith. But the first request is unlikely. Wait one moment.¡± The boy quickly ran off to explain the request to Master Dan. While waiting Fang continued to look around the storefront and found a spear made of copper that would be just the right size for him, normally these would be used as javelins but to him it was a good sized spear. Thrusting it a couple of times Fang nodded to himself thinking that this would also work for what he wanted. After only a short amount of time an old dwarf came out from the back looking upset. ¡°Boy do you know what you''re asking?¡± Fang looked at the dwarf and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± With just this one word the dwarf looked even more irritated. ¡°Children these day know nothing. Boy you''re asking me to give up my secrets for what money? What I do and how I do it is more important to me than any amount of money.¡± Fang nodded in understanding he would also feel the same way, giving up secrets and his methods simply for money was pointless. But in the first place Fang had no money as his parents never really gave him an allowance. Instead he came with something more important. Reaching behind his back Fang took out an ordinary piece of paper. ¡°Master Dan this is something I mad, but I need to know something. Can you use fire ki?¡± The old dwarf, Master Dan looked confused but nodded while looking at the paper in Fang¡¯s hands wondering what the child could possibly have. Without hesitation Fang threw the paper towards Master Dan while speaking. ¡°Please fill it with small amounts of fire ki¡± From what Master Dan knew that would just burn the paper but as he did so the ki was being redirected without his control. As it moved about the paper it began to unfold and straighten, in the end it was perfectly flat. ¡°More ki.¡± Listening to Fang Master Dan inserted more ki slowly, as he did so a small ember began to burn an inch above the paper. Master Dan was surprised from what he could tell the sheet of paper and the ink used to draw on the various arrays were just normal. There was no way he could mistake that but despite this it still produced the effect of a forged artifact. ¡°... Boy where did you get this?¡± Looking at Fang who had handed him the old blacksmith couldn''t help but be shocked. Seeing his expression Fang smiled. ¡°I made it. I''ve been working on a way to make new artifacts. And with some help I wanted to incorporate stronger spells into weapons and armor.¡± Looking at the paper in his hand then back at Fang Master Dan seemed to have a complicated expression. ¡°Boy what your doing is for one unheard of and two ridicules. But if you can for something like this I''ll give you all my secrets. Follow me to my forge.¡± With this the two entered the back along with the fourteen year old boy who closed down the shop. ¡°That''s my assistant and clerk Faren¡­ Boy after I tell you everything there is to my skill I expect some compensation. But first what''s your name?¡± ¡°Fange Fae¡­ I''m going to set up a location outside the city¡± Master Dan stop walking upon hearing Fang¡¯s statement it was obvious from that that what they were doing would need to be kept secret and out of sight but he believed that that would be easier to accomplish by hiding in plain sight. Regardless first he would show Fang his smithing skills. Four five hours Fang watched the old dwarf smith a copper sword with his greatest skill. Normally copper weapons were rather soft but the one made by Master Dan was different. The process was similar to making Damascus steel with many folds but each were made in perfect locations to creat a stronger frame, in the end the copper sword could match and average steel sword. Seeing the process Fang had a great idea if the enchantment of the object could be added during the process and lined thigh out the interior then I would make it close to possible for anyone to research his techniques as the exterior would seem rather ordinary all that was left to do was teach the old dwarf the arrays and have him inject his ki into the metal during the process while simultaneously applying ki infused ink to the sword at the right moments to have a perfect core with and enchantment. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The only issue was that although this sounded easy it would be incredibly difficult and it even took Fang who had almost perfect control of his ki and East¡¯s mana a week to master this for a simple spell like ember. Regardless however he was willing to try and teach the old dwarf how to craft artifacts. ¡°Okay then I will teach you how to make artifacts and set up something outside the city.¡± As he said that he took out his eraser he journal that contained plenty of half truths. ¡°This has a lot of my research but since it¡¯s late I''ll go prepare a location and then teach you the whole methods tomorrow.¡± Master Dan looked somewhat dissatisfied but reluctantly nodded while taking the book, the only reason he agreed was because it was unlikely that the child was a skilled blacksmith that could recreate his technique after seeing it once. Even if he knew the theory behind it, it was not something that could be replicated in one generation. ¡°Fine boy but be back here by morning tomorrow.¡± With that Fang quickly left and headed to the city gate he planed to find a hidden and secluded area where he could set up a smithy to begin forging new artifacts. Of corse he would have Master Dan do the forging as he had no experience. ¡®Look for an out of the way cave but not a high one something more inconspicuous.¡¯ Following East¡¯s instructions Fang found a nice spot at the face of a cliff, because it was covered with bushes it was well hidden and with Earth magic he would be able to creat a nice location for a hidden forge. Now he needed to prepare everything in a similar way to what was found in The Forged Boar. First however he had to make a cave and side rooms along with ventilation while keeping everything hidden. Luckily this was accomplished quickly in only two hours through the use of a large amount of earth elemental mana. Sadly however this was all that could be done at the moment because East was feeling drained and hungry. ¡®Master let¡¯s eat after that you can come and finish the rest should be easy.¡¯ Listening to her the two ended up finishing everything rather late and Fang was scolded by his mother for not showing up to eat dinner at the correct time. After hearing his reasons however she approved of his thoughts and actions as long as he informed her before hand. With his mother¡¯s approval which he had forgotten to get before hand Fang left early the next day to find Master Dan and take him to where he had completed the forge. Three people and one mana beast stood inside the new forge. Master Dan was impressed that it could be made so quickly but didn¡¯t ask any further on how he had done so. Without and hesitation he asked for the explanation of the note¡¯s that Fang had given him. ¡°Boy I read all the note¡¯s you left and although it has a feeling of being complete I can tell the most important parts are missing along with anything that would lead you to finding anything significant. Now explain everything.¡± With that Fang explained the process and how it would have to be done. Master Dan was excited as he had a new project and even stated that his old bone were jumping with joy. Regretfully the first couple of experiments ended in the stomper meant for forging being destroyed when the ink was added. Because copper contained small amounts of earth elemental mana harmonizing it with fire ki would not be easy. And seeing as neither had earth k they could only preserver. The small assistant boy was worked harder than ever that day as he had to bring all the materials and keep the forge burning. In addition to that because Fang wanted to use mana beast blood as ink the process would not be done until they could harmonize everything. But this would be a later step when the old dwarf bettered his skills. _____________ While Fang was preparing everything many bandits, along with Lesser and his group of seven, we''re waiting in a large courtyard. ¡°Greetings I know many of you have reputable statuses but today I ask that you work together and help this kingdom and for that many of you may die.¡± Up till here Lesser had stopped paying attention he already had the information he needed on top of that he could sense Luna¡¯s presence from where he stood all that needed to happen now was instruct his newly trained seven warriors to take the child in her home. During this whole time he was also thinking of an adequate place in which he could start a fight with her. The city was out of the question as many incidents would get caught in the cross fire. Then a nice spot outside was the next best thing. (Author''s note: so this chapter is kinda short and well yea the next one will be better and more things will happen also if you could click on this link http://royalroadl.com/fiction/6227 then I would be greatful it''s fun and has longer chapters although it''s only a prologue and chapter 1 anyway thanks for reading.) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 19: Lessers fun Chapter 19: Lesser''s fun For the last week Fang had been going to his secret forging location each day early in the morning. Master Dan and his assistant on the other hand chose to stay there and work on everything that fang had opened for them with his new techniques. This morning should have been no different except that today more than a few people were following him. Although this was normal while he was in the city once he had lost them it was a completed affair and no more people would follow him. But for the last three days there would be multiple people watching him all around the city, some even tried to follow him after he left. Because he always went a different direction these people would never be able to completely grasp where he was going. Today however was different although people were watching him they gave off a malicious feel, almost as if they were ready to strike. Prior to this Fang believed that it was his father¡¯s men trying to figure out where he was going or even someone from the king¡¯s side trying to get what he was making before the trade. But this seemed different. making his way out of the east gate of the city Fang began to head in a random direction in order to lose his pressures and head to his forge where Master Dan was waiting. Before he could make it however he felt the presence of multiple people in the area he was headed. Because fighting multiple people on an open field would be disadvantageous fang decided to head to the more forested area instead of a mostly open rocky area. But not only were his preservers increasing there were also more waiting in the forest. Without minding the increase in number fang continued to head to the forest. ¡°East wake up.¡± East hearing Fang¡¯s command began to stir and quickly realized that they were slowly being surrounded by thirty or so people. ¡®You think they grew tired of being lead round?¡¯ This was a possibility but fang believed that the ones following him were different people. ¡°No they seem different the other¡¯s felt more trained these feel¡­ Disorderly.¡± ¡®Then what are we going to do should I just start firing spells?¡¯ Fang shook his head without knowing the group¡¯s real strength wasting mana that could be used in a better situation would be a bad idea. ¡°No for now go around them and attack when they surround me then we either Finish them or escape when you create an opening.¡± East in all this time had grown increasingly strong and could fight on par with Fang even when he gave it his all, the only issue she had was that she could not use ki externally. That however didn¡¯t stop her from using ki internally and strengthening herself to a significant degree while also using her absurdly tough body. ¡®Okay master but after this we need to get some nice food, we¡¯ve been eating rations while in the forge and I''m tired of it.¡¯ Fang nodded and let East slip off his shoulder and disappear into the woods as the ones following him grew closer and finally stepped out of the shadows. ¡°Boy, because you have something someone important wants we have to play a small villain role.¡± Fang looked at the man who spoke, he was tall for a human reaching almost seven feet in height and was built like a bear. Fang in preparation to fight took a stance as if he were holding two daggers in reverse grip, but nothing was in his hands. ¡°Haha look he thinks he can fight us. Boy if you would have stayed with your mommy and sucked longer, then you might have had a better chance but today you can say goodbye to that nice life.¡± Without any further words them and began to confidently walk up to Fang clearly underestimating his strength. When he reached Fang and quickly made a move everyone expected him to have no troubles. But reality was different in his hands Fang was holding two daggers that seemingly came out of nowhere. The first one he stabbed into the arm of the man and used it as a way to launch himself into the man''s throat, without any hesitation Fang had already slit the man¡¯s throat killing him. Killing was nothing new to him and came as second nature. ¡°Bastard! He killed big brother! Get the brat!¡± And with that the signal for everyone to attack was sent. All the surrounding men were jumping to Fang when they heard a scream from behind, for those that looked back they could see a scaled ferret clawing out the throat of one of their men. * * * Around the time that Fang was being attacked by the group of bandits under the noble Lesser was taking a stroll outside the city. ¡°This seems far enough. Oh this is going to be fun¡­ Though I feel as something interesting¡¯s happening in that direction, I could check it out before my play time with Luna but I guess this is a bit more interesting.¡± While the seven behind his were obediently walking behind him listening to his ramblings they contemplated telling Lesser that the boy they were after was most likely to be outside the city rather than the location that he had given them, after all they had listened to the entirety of what the noble had said. Deciding to trust their all powerful teacher they stayed quiet. Lesser having no idea about their internal struggle turned around. ¡°Okay here take this note and leave it where you steal the boy, in the house that I had previously told you about, right now Luna should be out and the boy likely only has one guard. quickly knock out the guard and bring the boy somewhere a safe distance from here. I''ll need him after my fight with Luna.¡± As instructed the seven left after giving Lesser a salute. Because he likely had some time before Luna would arrive Lesser allowed his curiosity and fun loving nature to get the better of him and headed where he could feel a battle happening. It only took a couple seconds for him to reach his destination despite it being relatively far. When he arrived he saw a young boy no older than ten fighting a group of about thirty men. His first thought was to just in and save the boy but he stopped himself when he saw how the boy was fighting. In his hands the boy had some type of ever changing weapon sometimes he would hold two daggers and strike with speed and precision while at others he would jump into the air and suddenly wield a hammer twice his size allowing him to strike with tremendous force. After observing for a minute Lesser also saw that he had the help of what he could only think of as a small lesser dragon. ¡°That boy¡¯s impressive. Wonder if he has a teacher¡­ Oh so he can turn it into a whip as well.¡± The weapon in the boy¡¯s hand intrigued Lesser and after closely observing it he realized what it was. ¡°That¡¯s a ki construct and from the looks of it, it seems to be ashes. That boy has a good imagination.¡± Just as he was saying this a burly man swung down with a greatsword at the boy. Without any hesitation the boy turned the ashes he held in one hand into a sword and instead of receiving the blow directly he directed it to his side while simultaneously moving his body to attack. In his other hand appeared a rapier which he thrust straight into the man¡¯s unprotected heart. ¡°Oh this boy is good to already be able to do this, ahh today is a good day. Later I¡¯ll come and ask him to follow me and become my disciple, I can make him the next lesser war fiend and retire. Then truly go around the world having fun.¡± To him his legacy as the Lesser War Fiend was important and the true reason why he had been recruiting so many disciples along the way many had either broken or gone mad with none actually being satisfactory but this was fine because the ones he picked up were always bad people. While watching the fight continues between to boy, the lesser dragon and the group of armed men he couldn¡¯t help that the boy was beginning to slow down. Obviously he had not refined his ki to it¡¯s optimal state, but that was obvious as he could only be at most ten. It was surprising enough that the boy could already change his ki into whatever element he had. But this was also taxing him greatly and the men he was fighting realized it. ¡°Go he¡¯s slowing down, I don¡¯t know what kind of monster he is but think of the reward and persevere!¡± The men while they should have lost their moral long ago from losing half their members seemed to have gone mad from greed by some promised reward. To the side the lesser dragon was also beginning to struggle as it could only continue to to fight for so long, strangely enough it would sometimes show a fierce display of power whenever it was in danger. Lesser however had no interest in the dragon further then wondering what it was doing helping a child or how the child made friends with a dragon. Seeing that the boy would not hold on if this continued Lesser opted to help his future disciple and began throwing rocks. Despite it seeming simple the rocks thrown by him had tremendous force behind then and soon all the attacking bandits were lying dead on the floor of the forest. Having finished watching something so interesting and gaining a potentially perfect disciple Lesser walked back to his spot where he would wait for Luna to arrive. * * * Fang had no idea how the rest of the attackers had died but decided that their was someone watching him who was far above what he could perceive, because of that he thought it would be better to go home and inform either his mother or his father about what had happened. Wasting no time he ran at full speed back to his home with East following quickly behind. ¡®Master at the end I couldn¡¯t tell what happened, do you think your mother followed us?¡¯ Fang shook his head denying East¡¯s statement. ¡°Last time someone attacked me mother killed him quickly I don¡¯t think mother would wait until I tire before stepping in.¡± East simply jumped onto his shoulder and rested while he made his way back.¡± * * * Mathias was happily playing on his own, while he would have liked for his older brother to be with him right now he couldn¡¯t. The first day that his brother was gone all day he cried his little eyes out and before he could get his older brother to promise to spend the day with him instead, his father had explained to him that Fang was doing something important and that they would be able to spend plenty of time together after he was finished with it. Because of this Mathias had found that he should also make friends because unlike his brother he disliked being alone and couldn¡¯t stand it. This was also the reason his body guard doubled as a nanny. She would be considered a lovely woman in the dwarven perspective but to others there was hardly a difference between her and a male dwarf. Normally Mathias couldn¡¯t tell the difference and no one would really mind after all his father was odd in this category so it stood to reason that his son''s may be as well. While looking around Mathias started feeling sleepy and passed out while seven unknown men entered his room. The guard nanny was wo laying on her feet looking harshly at the seven men who walked in without being notice. ¡°Good the sleeping powder has taken effect quickly get the boy and leave the note.¡± While the unconscious Mathias was being taken he muttered one word in his sleep. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Brother.¡± * * * When Fang Reached his home he called out to his mother and father but got no response. Thinking about it this was the time when both of them would be out doing something else. So the next best thing was to inform Mathias¡¯ guard/nanny who was a subordinate to his father. ¡°Beth! Is anyone here?¡± ¡®Maybe they''re avoiding you because you reek of blood?¡¯ Fang wasn''t¡¯ really in the mood to argue with East and he probably did still reek of blood despite changing into a different set of clothes on his way here. Looking at the table in the living room the was a well written note. Thinking it was from Beth or his mother he picked it up. ¡°Dear old friend I took your little one and I''m going to have some fun with him unless you have some fun with me. Your friend Lesser. P.S. He¡¯s in a separate location so don¡¯t thinks that you can just take him back quickly. So let''s have a good fight.¡± After reading the note Fang quickly ran to his brother¡¯s room. ¡®Wait don¡¯t go in there, it¡¯s filled with sleep powder and Beth is most likely unconscious.¡¯ Fang didn¡¯t know how to proceed, there was someone challenging his mother so that meant that it would be impossible for him to take back his brother. And finding where his mother had gone would take to long. ¡°East can you track Mathias?¡± ¡®I''m no dog but it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult follow me.¡¯ Jumping off Fang¡¯s shoulder East quickly caught the trail of her master¡¯s younger brother. Fang was anxious and didn¡¯t even think to have East look for his mother instead. As he followed East out of the house and into the roads leading to the south gate Fang couldn¡¯t help but be worried. In his previous life he had never felt this even now this was the first time. When he fought his only thought was kill or be killed and even if he lost that was also an acceptable outcome.when he fought the guard of the young noble he didn¡¯t think he could win but didn¡¯t really care if he died either. But now that they had taken his brother he thought that he had to win, he had to live. Until now he had been to care free, he allowed East to be revealed for no real reason. He had been lax about his strength, sure he was stronger than the average adult and with his sense for battle he could fight off almost anyone below the law comprehension level. But there was more he could have done he could have, as East stated before, begun attempting to comprehend a law. But because of his lax behavior and apathy to what happened around him he could only be considered weak in the bigger picture of this world. And even if it hurt him more he could have begun to run raw mana through himself to be stronger. But none of these things could be changed now and his brother was taken from him. The only thing he could do is take him back if the separate location his brother was in wasn¡¯t to heavily guarded while his mom, if she sees the note fought and killed whoever took Mathias originally. while he was thinking of all these thing he had arrived at the southern gate and proceeded to the mountainous area which it lead to. Because the capital city of the dwarven kingdom was built in a location between a bare mountain volcano and a forest the location he was heading to now was a number of higher elevation caves. With East leading the way there was no chance of losing the trail of those that took his younger brother so Fang wasn¡¯t worried. At this point fang had calmed down considerably and determined that the one to challenge his mother and the ones who took his brother must be separate because depending on the time his mother read the note the kidnappers would be in the same area and his brother. After twenty minutes Fang had found that there were seven opponents sitting around his brother and ignoring his cries. ¡°Waaaaa! Help! Fen! Waaaaa!¡± Hearing his brother crying for his help Fang could no longer just watch and charger full speed while holding East who had transformed into her tome form. * * * When Luna arrived to her home it was considerably quiet. She found it strange as her little Mathias would be crying for his brother around this time. ¡°Hmm, well I should go see if he fell asleep. Ahh he¡¯s so adorable when he sleeps¡­ Oh I remember when he was just two and how adorable him and Fang sleeping together looked, if Tal hadn''t moved me away I could have watched them all night.¡± While talking to herself she moved towards Mathias¡¯ room to she if her little one was sleeping but noticed a note on the dining room table, thinking it might attribute to the reason why the house was so quiet she took it and read it. Almost as if all hell had been unleashed the atmosphere in the entire house became deadly. ¡°Admit lesser if my sweet boy turns weird because of you, no why be mad at a dead man. Just have to go and kill him.¡± With that she focused all her senses on finding Lesser which wasn''t hard as he was unrestrainedly releasing his aura. With the fury of a thousand Devils Luna began preparing every spell she knew and even gathered small amounts of blood from all those around her, these amounts were so small no one would even feel faint but when they looked up into the sky a cloud of blood could be seen forming and moving towards the east gate. * * * Seeing the cloud of blood gathering and heading towards him Lesser was startled. Had Luna gone completely mad and began killing people on the way to gather enough blood to fight him? Or was her control that much better than the last time they met? Either way her reaction was much greater than what he had predicted. Despite his obvious surprise however the grin on his face only continued to grow. And proved true the information that he had gotten out of Liz in exchange for the promise of teaching at her academy on a later date for an unmentioned amount of time. At first he thought that she had over exaggerated after all this was Luna although she was called a mad blood elf by others they knew she was more or less a calm and struck person, so how could he not go and see the change for himself. When the cloud of blood was only a short distance away and he could see Luna face he almost left out in joy. Her face was the very picture of anger and carnage, anyone who saw her right now would say that the horror stories told to children throughout the years did her an injustice. If any man stood before her now they might wet themselves from fear. ¡°Lesser! If you scared my little boy I¡¯ll kill you now tell me where he is!¡± It seemed that she was giving him a last chance sadly or due to good fore site depending on one''s perspective Lesser had sent his disciples to retrieve the boy and he only knew the approximate area of where they would be. The only way to get the child to her would be to send out the signal to bring him to them while they fought. After all he didn¡¯t want to kill such a fun sparring partner. With the biggest smile that he had had in years the Lesser War Fiend proudly declared. ¡°Old friend let''s play a while and then I''ll tell you what I did and then we might even play some more!¡± Without waiting for anything else Lesser circulated more than two thirds of his ki into his blood to prevent Luna from instant killing him. His division was correct as he could already feel the flow of his blood slow from the pull of Luna¡¯s mana. Smiling while brandishing his sword Lesser began to repel every drop of the blood rain that suddenly poured down from the blood cloud and made his way to Luna who was completing her next spell. * * * With East in his hands and ki flowing through his eyes to strengthen his reaction time fang launched two level two Fire Lance spells at the group to separate them. The group seemed to be made up of talented individuals as they moved into two separate groups and took a battle ready formation. Not being deterred Fang fired his next spell. ¡°Earth wall.¡± Now being hidden from the seven Fang began to spread his ki in order to make a storm of ashes that would abstract the vision of the seven guarding his brother. But they didn¡¯t wait for him to finish his preparations and armed with swords charged. From what they could tell fang was just a very talented young magician and his weakness would be close combat. Unfortunately for them this was what he wanted, spreading the ashes over a large space was not what he wanted and if he was able to catch them by surprise then killing them and rescuing his brother would be a simple task. When they were in the exact distance he wanted Fang lifted his hands and a storm of ashes rose in the vicinity, with their view obstructed Fang used East and launched seven ice lances. Only five of them were hit and only two of those were killed the others only sustaining minor injuries. The surviving six felt no discomfort at losing two of their own and instead raised their vigilance towards Fang. With only five left fang decided to take another surprise when they again charged towards him he faked a clumsy dodge to one of their swords and tossed east in the direction of another who reached out to catch her. But when his arm was close enough she transformed into her lesser dragon form and run up his arm until she reached his neck and killed him. ¡®Master these people don¡¯t seem to care whether they live or die. That stupid stance reminds me of you.¡¯ Fang had no tome or words to refute her as that was indeed the case however looking at his brother who was tied up Fang realized that he could no longer think that way and had to live, survive, and become strong enough to deter any would be criminal. Summoning his Ashes to him Fang held a great sword in one hand and a large war hammer in the other while staring down at the remaining four. However something strange happened at that moment and the four dropped to the floor dead. Looking around he found East had moved and begun releasing something from her mouth. ¡°What did you do?¡± East brought her head up and proudly said one word. ¡®Poison.¡¯ Fang never knew what she could do and was still finding some of the things she could do strange but gave up for now and went to his little brother. During this whole time he had been calm and when the first death happened he closed his eyes and had yet to open them from fright. This was something that Fang didn¡¯t entirely understand but he knew it scared his brother so he decided not to tell him to open his eyes instead he gently picked him up and said. ¡°It¡¯s okay now let''s go home and mother will make something good to eat.¡± As he exited the cave he was in Fang looked up into the sky as a cloud of Blood and a blazing flame drew closer. (Author''s note: so I was going to post this on Sunday or Saturday but thing came up. For not doing so I made this one extra long. And I used the *. *. *. As a separation instead of the normal _____________ I don''t know what''s better and really don''t see a difference but someone told me it was better with the stars. I really don''t know bu tired it anyway. Hope you enjoy the chapter and thanks for reading.). :) A Gladiators new World Chapter 20: Blue Fire and Void blood beast Chapter 20: Blue fire and void blood beast Fang looking up at the cloud of blood knew that his mother was facing whoever had ordered his brother¡¯s kidnaping, however with his level of strength he would be able to do nothing. But he still needed to tell his mother that Mathias was safe now after all if the one who challenged her had that much confidence then she might be at a disadvantage, with everything that had happened he would not be as easygoing as he was before instead he would make sure he and his family could survive anything. While he couldn¡¯t do much now he could at least find a way to make sure his mother could fight without burden. But to do so would be quite difficult and the only thing he could think of was to go himself.¡°East do you have any ideas on how to get a message across to my mother?¡±* * *Luna was furiously sending endless amounts of blood she had collected at Lesser but he was to quick and his strength was nothing to scoff at. Even as an old man in his later years he could still fight off almost anyone. Bet none of this deterred her as her only thought was to kill him. By expending more mana into her domain spell she began to turn the drops of rain that fell into small swords. This however wasn¡¯t her final plan as the floor began to be dyed red in blood. ¡°This crazy old man if I don¡¯t kill him today I¡¯ll hunt him down.¡± Luna at this point wasn¡¯t in her right mind thinking of nothing but killing Lesser. Their battle could be called flashy but at the same time dull one side was using a domain smell to attack while the other was doing his best not to be pierced and killed with a big smile on his face. ¡°Ahhh it seems I have to try a bit harder to get her to use more spells.¡± With that a blazing fire surrounded like armor it protected him but it wasn¡¯t enough to stop the mana infused blood. With the ever present smile on his face Lesser let out a deviating roar. ¡°Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!¡± along with the roar the fire around him began to change color going from red to light orange and finally setting on a dark blue color. Luna looked at him with some worry, if her children were near hen going all out could harm them. But if Lesser was going to give it his all then there was nothing to do but respond in kind. ¡°Old man I was letting you off easily, just planning to kill you a little but now that you¡¯vegotten serious¡­ Die.¡± The blood in the area was no longer going to be used to surprise Lesser from the ground and quickly traveled to Luna. While looking at Lesser who had gotten serious she took out a knife and made a cut across her palm. When she added her blood to the rest of the collected blood it immediately began to turn black and give off an ominous aura. The black blood then began to collect around her and formed a sphere around her with a diameter of four meters. Seeing this Lesser had a peaceful smile on his face and no longer looked like a mad war monger. ¡°Ah finally she¡¯s going all out, with some luck I¡¯ll be able to play for a while.¡± As if someone had given a start signal the two attacked Luna¡¯s black blood turned unto tens of whips while Lesser struck them with his sword, neither giving an inch to the other. Inside the sphere Luna began to chant. ¡°Blood of the ancients head my call. Let your blood flow through to the world and devastate the land. Those of carnage and destruction follow my lead and destroy this world once more. Ancient Titian¡¯s Blood Rise!¡± With the completion of her spell practically all her mental strength and mana was drained in a moment. Lesser began to strike harder and faster against the black blood whips and began to gain ground when he looked at the floor between himself and Luna. Blood began spewing from the ground some red and some a dreadful silver color. ¡°Ohhh this is bad. When did she learn that?¡± The blood began to take the form of a red giant dragon with silver linings that outlined where it¡¯s scales and other parts should have been had it been a real dragon. Looking at the dragon it had a very familiar appearance. ¡°Void Dragon. I thought she said that it would be impossible to use without reaching the saint level? Wait did she reach it? No, so it should be a weakened version. This is good.¡± Without minding the black blood any longer Lesser raised his flames once more and they went from a dark blue to a lighter shade. With this the black blood would not damage him fatally although it would cause great pain every time he was struck. While enduring the strikes from the black blood whips he ran towards the dragon whose roar was deafening. No longer speaking words of joy but rather fully immersing himself in combat Lesser was slashing his sword parrying the claws of the dragon and striking whenever he could. But his strikes were all but useless as this was not a living creature but a construct of blood. Regardless he struck continuously and fought will all the power that could be displayed by someone yet to reach the saint level. But slowly he was beginning to show signs of slowing down. From a small distance Luna could see all that was going on and thought that this was a good chance to finish the old man. ¡°Void Dragon finish him!¡± Just as she said that a large flame erupted into the sky a couple of miles away. Strangely enough the flame didn¡¯t just dissipate into the air, it began to form three words. ¡°MOTHER HE¡¯S SAFE¡± Because Mathias called her mama she knew that there was only one person who her second con could be with giving her an instant relief. Lesser also looked back somewhat startled. All he could think of was, did she have another older child? Was this older child able to defeat his seven trained warriors? Despite them only being with him for a short amount of time he gave them a sense of unity and some had even advanced to the ki transforming stage. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it With seven of them there it should be difficult for a child to obtain victory. And from the look of it the child was a magician otherwise how would he be able to send so much fire into the sky. This meant that it was also likely that he had a strong companion or several companions. Having his plan ruined Lesser jumped back and let out a small sigh. ¡°Luna you small one was asleep the whole time. My fun is over and I have nothing more to do here. I¡¯ll just go find my disciple and be on my way¡­ although I might not find him quickly because I doubt he stayed where I left him. So I¡¯ll be staying with you for some days.¡± With nothing more to say Lesser disappeared from where he stood leaving only a flame dissipating into the air. Luna looked at the flame that lesser had left behind in shock and disbelief, in the past they were part of the same group and only now had she remembered something he had told her constantly. ¡°We should have a fight without restraints where if one of us slips up death would come, one day little elf one day.¡± He had also said similar thing to the others of their group but none except Liz had fallen to his provocations. But now she had done the same and fallen to the old man¡¯s provocation. And his words were true during their fight if one of them had slipped death would come to them and fast. Shaking her head at such thoughts she began to focus on her sons. * * * Fang had sent up a signal using all the control and mana that he and East could muster up. Luckily it was rather large and using their most compatible element Fang believed that it couldn¡¯t be missed by his mother. With this she could fight without having any worry and Fang could focus on his now sleeping brother. But because he had thoroughly exhausted himself and East plus with his little brother sleeping they had no means of continuing towards the city. Instead Fang chose to recuperate and then head out. His mother would also soon come and find him. Earlier he had heard the roar of a beast and felt the presence of fire ki even from where he was standing meaning that the battle was likely coming to its climax. After a while no large clash happened and both the fire ki and the roaring beast simply dissipated. This began to worry him as he could not determine the victor and would need to go and find out if his mother was alive or not. This began new worries in his heart, from what his mother told him she wouldn¡¯t lose to could do so, if one person was capable of something then how could others not be? With this in mind Fang forced himself up then with his brother on his back and East on his shoulders he began to head to the location we¡¯re he last felt the powers of his mother and her opponent clash. * * * Lesser could be considered insane by most but he still had a good amount of sense in his old age. First he made his way to the Dwarven Kingdom¡¯s royal palace. Although he was a common household name that many feared, that was only the criminals whose deeds could warrant execution. Most good nobles or those in a position that lead them to oppose criminals would welcome his arrival with open arms. And from what he knew of the Dwarven king he seemed to be a warrior who had a good heart and would avoid war at close to any cost. So Lesser chose to reveal himself and give any bandits or criminals that plagued the kingdom¡¯s capital a good scare by meeting with the King. Of course he knew that just going around killing criminals wouldn¡¯t be okay with any kingdom, most upper nobles and even kings sometimes had criminals who worked for them and became the dominate criminal force to deter others from actions that could be considered too heavy. Without any prior audience arrangements Lesser simply strolled by the guards who seemed to not have noticed him. While looking around the castle he was able to determine where the audience chamber would be and headed in that direction. Lesser had been welcomed into countless castles and could tell how they were built fairly easily. After reaching the audience chamber he found the king surrounded by many upper nobles shouting about a commotion that was most likely caused by the blood elf. While he walked Lesser¡¯s presence grew stronger and his steps reverberated throughout the hall. Everyone looked back towards him. ¡°What? Who are you? How did you get in here?¡± ¡°Guards intruder!!¡± Seeing some panic while other kept their composure Lesser could tell who the competent ones were right away. ¡°No need for that let me introduce myself then answer your questions about the situation outside.¡± Lesser began to speak in a clam elderly voice that would never match his previous actions, from his voice all one could tell was that he was a kind old man. ¡°Speak.¡± With the king¡¯s permission Lesser began to speak once more. ¡°My name is long forgotten but I have been given the title of Lesser War Fiend, as for what¡¯s going on outside well I had a bit of fun with an old friend¡­¡± After taking some time to explain what had happened and promising to reduce any unwanted criminal activity in the city and surrounding cities Lesser left the palace and began to head to Luna¡¯s home. (author''s note: so this one is a little shorter but ill make up for that by doing another 4000 word one next week. also from now on i will be uploading one on monday, tuesday, and friday. thank you for reading) :) A gladiators New World Chapter 21: Lessers Plan for a disciple Chapter 21: Lesser''s Plan for a disciple Fang with East sleeping on his shoulder, Mathias, and Luna all walked together slowly, none of them spoke. Fang was doing his all not to collapse, Mathias was just feeling awkward and wouldn''t start a conversation added to the fact that he had just been kidnaped. Luna was in the same predicament as Fang, she was exhausted, in her fight with Lesser she had used all her trump cards and it left her drained. Her last spell in particular, summoning the ancient Void Dragon¡¯s blood was taxing. This spell was derived from another water element spell unique to the elves. But her variation of that spell required her to be at least in the Saint level, something she had yet to reach. However forcing herself to use the void dragon blood summoning left her drained even when using an incomplete form. And on top of the physical fatigue was the mental strain the three had been under. Fang in particular had realized how carefree he had been living up until now. His goal of becoming a thief wasn¡¯t really for any reason other than because a book he thought of as important from his previous life when he had nothing. And while the idea still seemed fun it was no longer his only goal. His new prominent goal was to gain strength, enough to fight against all the unreasonable circumstances that might befall him and his family. But doing so would be difficult if he stayed in his current environment, in his previous life he was able to reach the pinnacle of strength and unleash world destroying powers at a great cost but there was nothing he would be unable to kill as long as he was willing to pay that cost. But here in the safest environment with strong people always guarding him he would never reach that same level or at least not fast enough to be satisfactory. Adding to the fact that he now realized that his mother would stop him from hurting himself by running raw mana through his body in order to strengthen himself. With all that in mind he knew what was needed to be done, he had to leave and grow. But when he had that thought it hurt him slightly on the inside, regardless though his mind had been made up and he would tell his family. Luna was having much different thoughts in her mind the only thing she could think of was that from now on she would keep her children right next to her at all times. If they were never further than arm''s reach even if multiple Saint level experts of other monsters similar to Lesser showed up the least she could do was escape. While they were thinking various thoughts the three of them reached home, because Mathias was unwilling to be alone Luna took him in her arms while signaling Fang to follow that day the three of them slept together to reassure each other''s safety. As for the rest of the bandits and criminals who had been brought in to distract Luna, Lesser had taken care of them. The next day Luna was the first one of the three to wake up, seeing her two boys sleeping comfortably in her arms she almost squeezed in joy forgetting the various thing that had happened the prior day. But after regaining her composure she remembered that Lesser would still be in her house so she carefully got up not wanting to wake anyone and left to go find him. As soon as she saw him she activated one of her simples spells, blood drain, despite it¡¯s simplicity this was the spell she relied on most when facing opponents as it would force them to either waste large amounts of ki or mana to stop it. On top of that if they did not do so death would be eminent. ¡°Luna that¡¯s not very proper. Though I can¡¯t say I didn¡¯t see it coming, I did get you in a good mood yesterday.¡± Luna just scoffed at him while maintaining her spell towards him at maximum power. Ignoring him, other than silently trying to kill him, Luna began to prepare breakfast. ¡°Ah don¡¯t be mad we just had a bit of fun and played around a bit, now your boy and whoever rescued him is safe and learned a good lesson.¡± Luna turned around and glared at him before giving a sigh of resignation and releasing her spell. ¡°Lesser if you ever do that again I''ll spread your name and face so far and wide that as soon as someone sees you they¡¯ll give up any hope of fighting and let¡¯s see how much fun you can have then.¡± Lesser paled a bit from hearing those words but immediately regained his composure. ¡°Well then I''ll make sure to leave that boy of your¡¯s alone. By the way I found an interesting disciple, one I think I can pass my legacy to¡­ The next Lesser War Fiend.¡± This time it was Luna¡¯s turn to lose her composure, she had known Lesser for over fifty years and from what she could remember he should have just been a normal human who worked hard for his strength. When they met he was already an old man, when she asked him how he could live so long while being human he had given two answers on two separate occasions. One time he said that he stopped being human and became a fiend while the other time in a much more serious tone he said that he needed to pass down the title of Lesser War Fiend. If he found someone for that it meant one of two things, either he found a true monster who could take his position or he was close to the end of his life. ¡°So you¡¯re finally going to die? You had a nice run as a senile old man.¡± Despite her harsh words and her intent to kill Lesser herself she felt a bit of sadness. This was one of the major reasons that elves kept to themselves, over the passage of time they alone would be left behind. She would most likely even have to watch her sons grow old and die. After all the average elves lived for more than a thousand years and those that were blessed with powerful mana from birth could live up to five thousand years, although those that did would generally choose to sleep for thousands of years in order to not have to deal with the loss of their loved ones or when they simply believed they had nothing better to do. This was also the reason Luna believed that Lesser had lived for so long but he had stated that even if he had millions of years he could not sense the presence of mana. ¡°Hahaha no that¡¯s not entirely it I saw a ten year old boy fight more than thirty men without fear he was even winning, sadly he was still too young and was running out of ki. He even had a pet dragon, albeit a lesser dragon.¡± As soon as he said this Luna was glaring at him once more with a great amount of hostility equal to when they were fighting the day before, her blood drain spell had even activated once more and he was forced to circulate his ki in order to keep from dieing. ¡°I told you to keep away from my son.¡± Lesser now had a better understanding of the situation, if it was the boy and lesser dragon he saw that day then they indeed had a chance of beating his semi trained men. And the message sent up would also make sense. ¡°Oh so he was your boy. Before you become hostile you should be thanking me, after all I saved him from those men that were nothing but human wave tactics. He would have tired eventually and you would have lost a son.¡± Stolen story; please report. Hearing this Luna calmed down once more as according to Lesser''s story he had not done anything harm, in fact he had helped him out of a tough situation. ¡°Then stay for breakfast¡­ As thanks I¡¯ll make enough for you as well.¡± Seeing the many sudden changes that Luna went through Lesser couldn¡¯t help but laugh at how right Liz had been about how much Luna had changed. ¡°Ah but you won''t be taking my boy with you. He stay with me until he¡¯s reached break level and then I''ll let him leave my sight.¡± This startled Lesser greatly and seemed rather amusing as well, in his mind without a tough environment one could not grow especially as a ki refiner. So a sheltered boy would not be able to reach such a level, much less ever break out of his current level. Even as talented as he was he would need to be grow right. For that he began to think of a plan to get the boy in his hands. He had lived a long time and had been both the victim and instigator of many schemes, as such he could easily play an elf who despite having a long life was not particularly worldly. ¡°Well that¡¯s fine for now I wouldn¡¯t take your boy by force, but what if it¡¯s his choice?¡± Disregarding what Lesser had said Luna continued making breakfast. Around the time she had finished Fang and Mathias arrived in the kitchen looking at the old man who sat at the table waiting for his portion. ¡°Fang Mathias meet Lesser a friend of sorts. He traveled around with Liz and I for a while. He¡¯ll be staying for today then leaving.¡± Both boys gave their greeting and the four ate in silence. Fang this whole time had been thinking of how to tell his mother that he needed to leave in order to become strong, but had not thought of a way to convince her so instead he decided to tell her what happened then state his desire to become strong. ¡°Mother Yesterday I was attacked then when I returned home¡­¡± After explaining what happened and realizing the culprit was sitting next to him Fang stopped himself from fighting a futile battle and possibly provoking someone on par with his mother. He was not the same as he had been a yesterday, he could not die from provoking someone far stronger than himself. Seeing his reaction of anger then subduing his emotions both Lesser and Luna were surprised at his maturity. But then he continued to speak. ¡°Mother, I need strength, enough strength to fight off any, to scare off anyone who would even think of harming our family. For that I need to travel and fight on my own. Here I''m safe and can¡¯t grow quickly enough.¡± Lesser hearing this was delighted and almost threw all his plans out the window and proposed to take in the boy but years of experience told him to stay quiet and wait. Luna was not expecting this and stood still from shock but recovered quickly enough. ¡°Fang I know this was a hard experience but you don¡¯t need to force yourself, I will watch over you and make sure you''re strong enough when it¡¯s time for you to be.¡± Lesser knowing that this would be a good time to speak and gain some trust from both Luna and Fang began his plan. ¡°Boy you have some strength and it wouldn¡¯t be strange for you to desire more but at most you¡¯re, what eight?¡± Hearing Lesser speak Fang shook his head. ¡°Ten.¡± ¡°Oh you''re a bit small. But your mother has close to a point you''re too young and to go out on your own would be dangerous, and I know that''s what your want to grow. You¡¯re even on the right track. But alone you¡¯ll never learn any of the laws much less reach a suitable level. For now listen to your mother.¡± Luna gave Lesser a strange look, he was thinking of taking Fang as his disciple not too long ago and she wouldn¡¯t believe that he would give up just like that. Lesser in response gave Luna an apologetic look, trying to get some sincerity across. Due to that Luna believed that he was trying to make up for the trouble he had caused. ¡°Listen to Lesser, unfortunately he knows what he¡¯s saying considering his strength as a ki refiner.¡± Fang thought his idea was best but he still needed to convince his mother considering the fact that simply escaping would be more or less impossible. ¡°Having said that if you wish to gain some experience then joining an academy wouldn¡¯t be bad, without a guide learning a law will be difficult and learning from the dwarves is unlikely due to the fact that most of what they learn is more or less a secret. I''m sure even your father is under some type of oath to keep what he knows a secret unless you join some type of dwarven group.¡± Luna at this point wanted to speak out but knew he was right, in. The first place she planned to call in a friend to teach him how to discern a law after he reached that stage. ¡°And it just so happens that a mutual friend of ours has her own academy. Enter there in, oh let''s say five years and you can grow semi independently while learning and your mother is sure to let you go.¡± Nether Fang nor Luna could give any reason as to why Lesser''s idea had been bad. It made the best compromise, Fang would have to stay with his mother for another five years and be safe while steadily growing in strength while he would also have the promise of being able to go out and grow on his own. ¡°Plus the academy is a competitive environment, it¡¯s said that talents on par to your son enter every year from all around the continent. He could grow to be something special.¡± With this Lesser had convinced them and his only thought was a that he had won. He had already promised to be a teacher for a while in exchange for some information from Liz and if he could enrol Fang he had his disciple right in his hands, the only thing left was to confirm everything. ¡°Well think about it and talk it out with your husband. I''m sure you¡¯ll think of something good.¡± Without another word Lesser headed out his destination was the High General Tal and his king, he had some convincing to do. Fang in the meantime took East to discuss if what Lesser had suggested was truly a good idea. Luna on the other hand didn¡¯t know whether to be angry at Lesser of be thankful, in her eyes Fang could be oddly stubborn at times and this seemed to be one of those times. If he truly wanted to leave she could stop him but could not bare the thought of seeing her son go against her and what Lesser had suggested had him stay at her side without a problem for another five years. But they were only five years! She needed him to be her little boy for at least another twenty to thirty years. Caught in a dilemma she couldn¡¯t even stop Lesser from leaving before fully deciding whether she would thank him or attempt to kill him once more. (Author''s note: so this was suppose to be out yesterday but it didn''t get there due to various reasons such as me being asleep the whole day to stave of hunger. Why was I hungry you ask? Well the answer is simple I was being to lazy to cook or get up to buy something so while I ate snacks a actual food wasn''t had till late then I fell asleep again so my bad.) :) A Gladiators New World Chapter 22: After Chapter 22: After Because of Lesser''s suggestions Fang was now expecting to wait another five years. This however troubled him as five years could be considered a long amount of time. ¡®Well master that¡¯s because you messed up and that Lesser seemed quite clever. He was obviously planning something.¡¯ Agreeing with East on certain points Fang decided not to argue the fact that she was making fun of him. ¡®Plus we still have to figure out the whole artifact forging situation. It¡¯s not something that can just be ignored.¡¯ ¡°You¡¯re right. Then I guess I''ll have to focus on threat and try to figure out the law level on my own.¡± From the start Fang had never thought of finding a teacher when he went out on a journey, he would have no need to as long as he could figure something out on his own. Having said that now he would need to wait a while before he could go out. With nothing to do and now way to truly advance Fang decided to head to the forge and help master Dan complete something he could give to the king as a prototype. on his way to the Forge no one followed him and other than the usual guard from his father he didn¡¯t feel that anyone else was following him. Once he got there he discovered something threatening at the entrance. Standing there as if it. Was perfectly natural was Lesser with a smug look on his face. ¡°You hid this well and for good reason. Though I can more or less understand the end goal the process is difficult to understand. And despite not knowing much I can tell most of the things recorded are very misleading.¡± Because of his strength it wasn¡¯t strange that Lesser could follow him without him taking notice but it was still hard for Fang to accept that he could follow him and then go through everything he had done while gaining some understanding. ¡°Now now don¡¯t be mad. I''m here to help. First I''ll tell you a good way to get stronger and what you have to do from now on to reach my level.¡± Hearing this Fang was both suspicious and glad. Someone as powerful as Lesser would tell him a good way to reach an insane level. But his reasons were a bit suspicious. ¡°Ahh don¡¯t look at me with those suspicious eyes, it¡¯s to make up for what I did. All in all I can still be considered a friend of your mothers so helping you out a bit shouldn¡¯t be too surprising. Then for the manner in which to grow. Put simply your fighting experience is great for your age and can be neglected for a bit and learning a law will be impossible without having stronger ki.¡± Hearing Lesser speak up till here Fang wanted to frown as he was told that he would not be able to advance to the next level. ¡°You see your ki core has stabilized and will no longer grow nor shrink that means that there is only one way to increase what you can do, further refine your ki. Depending on your refining speed you''ll be able to grasp a law in seven years or so¡­ Don¡¯t frown boy some people are stuck in this level all their life. As for anything else well they have a perfect teacher for you in Liz¡¯s academy.¡± At this moment the one to speak out was East. ¡®Although the old man seems crazy he should be somewhat right. Although I think I could help you somewhat because I have a feeling that I kinda understand a law.¡¯ ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me that I would have been able to understand a law already if I had started three years ago?¡± Questioning East who would have probably wrongly advised him Fang was feeling irritated that none of the methods he could choose would have faster effects. With nothing more to say to anyone Fang walked into the forge to get something and give to his father to present to the king. * * * Tal held a bronze sword of great quality in his hands ready to present it to the king. It had been three weeks since the incident with Lesser and he couldn¡¯t be more glad that it was over. On top of everything his son had given him a very interesting sword. The sword looked like an ordinary bronze sword but as a craftsman himself Tal could tell that the technique used in creating the sword would not lose out to what he could do. In fact because he had devoted himself to the military instead of his smithy he was certain that he could not make a bronze sword of this quality. On top of the surprising quality of the sword the most astonishing feature was the fact that it could activate a spell his son called flame edge and if enough ki was inserted into the blade then it could even be shot out. His greatest surprise came when he noticed that the sword could be steadily strengthened by ki if it was done over time the metal would become harder and harder. It was like it was being treated every time it was used for practice. Of corse it had a limit but normally for a matirial to contain a forigne ki or mana it would weaken it¡¯s constitution in the long run. The only exceptions were matirials like oricalcum or mitheral, that¡¯s what made this bronze sword truly astonishing. ¡°Although it¡¯s not the blood tome this is much more suited to our dwarven race. The king should lessen the greed that¡¯s been building up and feel some sence of security. Although the fact that Fang is selling them to him for spells and information isn¡¯t really going to help. Plus he might sell them to other people. I''m sure Lesser already has one and it¡¯s probably made of something better than bronze.¡± This was in fact true, Lesser had helped them in getting to the stage of having a completed weapon. And through his understanding of fire ki he was even able to improve what they were doing. And for this Master do had made him a very detailed thin cane sword with a few mitheral ingots that he happened to have. Using great matirial and adding some fire spells to both the blade and sheath Lesser could now go around pretending to be at least a level four fire magician. Of course Fang also got his hands on the spells that Lesser presented. Without truely knowing what had happened Tal presented the sword to his king and promised more on the condition that Fang is able to trade the weapons for information and more spells to add to the weapons. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The king was slightly irritated and agreed as long as fang does not sell the spells he provides to others, after all the spells of the Dwarven kingdom had been passed down to the few magicians they had with the utmost secrecy. And although the king wanted to know the production method no one had been able to follow Fang out of the city and he always left in a different direction. On top of everything the king truly did not want conflict, all he truly desired was a way to keep permanent peice in his kingdom. He had seen the blood tome as that solution and allowed greed to get the better of him. But hearing the conflict between the blood elf and the Lesser war fiend even from his castle, he wanted no part in a war against them. Even if he belived he could come out victorious the losses he would insure would be to great. * * * It had been two years and not much had happened after the incident with lesser. In this time fang had continued to further refine his ki although the prosses was slow and somewhat tedious he didn¡¯t have a problem and would sometime do so instead of sleeping properly. Within those two years the only thing that Fang had advanced was his knowlege of forging, he could now make some satisfactory daggers and even turn them into artifacts, although his level was far below Master Dan who had taken to making artifacts like a fish to water. In the last year he had even made the king''s personal armor and axe which was enchanted to use a variety of spells depending on where one inserted ki. Makeing the king capable of using level four spells with ease. Some things were also requested for the other aristocrats but both Master Dan and Fang didn¡¯t really care much for them and handed over some cheap works equal to what the army comanders were getting. One time a noble even tried to barge into Fang¡¯s house demanding a reason but stoped door when he realized he was looking at the Blood elf¡¯s home. With fear that could only be considered a fobia the nobles would stay away from Fang¡¯s mother. In this time the most exciting news however was Mathias¡¯ great talent that scared even the elder who watched over the children. Not only was he a variant but he had several. He was blessed with the lava variation or fire and earth, the diamond variation of earth, and the blood variation of water like his mother. The only slight disappointment was that he could not sence mana, if he was able to then the elder really might have died of a heart attack. In the two years his brother had also grown at a considerable rate, he seemed to be determined to grow taller than their mother while keeping the frame of a muscular dwarf. And although it would still be a few years before he could fight or do anything of the sort with ki, his physical strength was at least double that of the average dwarf his age. This made his father more than a little happy as this had been his dream from the start, a dwarf not bound by their hight. With everything settled down Fang had been able to talk to his mother and father about leaving on a journey. They had come to a compermise when a letter from Liz arived saying that having Fang join when he was fourteen would help her out of a troublesome situation. The situation was not explained but Luna was one of her closest friends and after debating for weeks the three agreed to send Fang to help her I whatever she needed. ¡°Boy you¡¯re distracted, it¡¯s not good to think of other things while refining ki.¡± The most odd thing however was that Lesser would show up from time to time and give him advice. And despite it usually being good advice Fang didn¡¯t like the old man very much so he felt more annoyed that anything. ¡®Hahaha you¡¯re listening to his despit that. Ahh Master you¡¯re funny, but he¡¯s strong and we¡¯re almost done with what we are aplaning to do.¡¯ Yes with what Fang had worked towards was strength and for that he would need to do some drastic things, like running mana through his body in order to strengthen himself. When Lesser left he held East in his hands as she turned into a tome and through her began controling all forms of mana around him. Normally one would have to reach the Saint level to do so but East despite not knowin an spells could. When all the mana had gathered Fang began to transform it but not into an element instead he had it regress to the same form as in his previous life, pure energy. ¡®Master this, this is incredible. Despite it haveing no real function it has plenty of raw power.¡¯ In this world truly raw mana had never been seen and because of that even East who could strangle do and figure out almost everything was stunned. Having the pure energy flow around him wasn¡¯t his goal however and he began to move small amounts to circulate into his body. He could not be reckless in doing so as it could kill him. Having gone through this before Fang was still taken aback by the pain. From the outside he was bleeding from all orphises. After a minute even his pores began to bleed. This happened because his body was being destroyed and reconstructed by the pure mana. However that was his limit for now. Stopping he felt incredibly weak. However his body had strengthened my a small margin and while minuscule it would grow untill his body was the same as those metals that could take the large amounts of ki and mana flowing through them. His skin and bones would be like those of dragons who reinforced themselves with mana rather than ki with no fear of destroying their own bodies. (Author''s note: so this would be the end of the first arc before the school one. I done''t know if I''ll change the chapter titles in order to show that or if there is something I can do for that but if someone has a good idea please do leave a comment. And thank you for reading. The next chapter will be out on Wednesday.) :) Chapter 23: Sneaking in is easy but finding treasure is a mater of luck Chapter 23: Sneaking in is the easy part Fang sat on his bed perfectly still while mana flowed around him. He was no longer a small child and would be turning fourteen in a couple of days. Despite this he had the appearance of someone at least sixteen years old with a well built body. He did not have the huge mass of a dwarf nor the height of an elf but he was still fairly tall reaching around six feet. His quick growth was attributed to the fact that he was tempering his body with raw mana. As it rebuilt his body he not only grew stronger but also isn''t the body of a well developed young man. Because of this his mother was both happy and had a strange sad look in her eyes. Seeing her son grow to look like a sturdy fine young man made her proud but he also no longer looked like an a child she could codle. In regards to his body refining with mana the only one who knew was East. And she was wholly against it. Every time Fang went through the refining it would cause him intense pain and blood would seep out from all his orifices leaving him weak and vulnerable. But despite her protest Fang continued and gained a lot. The strength of his body alone was more than comparable to an elite soldier using ki to strengthen himself. His physical might even far surpassed his brother¡¯s who was well known for his Herculean strength. In the last two years Mathias had little patience for slowly refining his ki but reluctantly did so because his father was well aware of his talents. In a while he would also be nine years old and then only have a year left of refining his ki if his ki core stopped a steady growth rate. Because Fang would soon be fourteen he was preparing to head off to the academy which his aunt Liz was in charge of. To this day he didn¡¯t know what kind of trouble she was in or how he could help but getting to temper himself in another area with less protection was a good thing, especially if the environment was as harsh and competitive as Lesser had told him. with everything set he would be leaving the dwarven kingdom in the next week or so. He had also made preparations for master Dan and the steady supply of artifact swords that had been sold to the king. It only took a year or so to notice that the king had no way to help his mother break into the Saint level and the spells while adequate could only be used to benefit the king and his men due to the deal that they had made so Fang had begun to sell swords, spears, shields, and axes of all kinds to various people with his biggest client being the king. With that Fang would not be short on money when he left to the BrightBlade Kingdom where Aunt Liz¡¯s academy resided. Money was something he had not thought of but it had worked out so there was no problem. With all that in mind Fang was ready to leave on his journey. Walking down to eat with his family he saw his brother who despite his age was already taller than his father, his Mother, and his father. ¡°Fang you have to spar with me later and no cheating by using ki, I can''t use it yet.¡± His little brother was the first to see him and wanted to spar this had been something they had done for a long time. Because at a young age Fang didn¡¯t really have a good concept of playing to have fun, he had often had little sword fights with his younger brother. ¡°Fine, but you still can''t win.¡± ¡®Master you should give him a good fight before you leave or he¡¯ll get cheeky next time we come back.¡¯ Fang nodded but not for that reason, Mathias had great pride in his strength because he already had more strength than the average adult dwarf at such a young age. If he was too prideful it could end up with him making some sort of mistake in the future and getting hurt. Of course he could do something unrelated to combat but with his father being a great military man, his mother being a renowned magician, and his brother being a great warrior in his eyes what else could he aim for? Especially when he had been given great talent in that field. Hearing the conversation his mother gave a small chuckle. ¡°Well first eat then you can go out and play. And Fang no more going to the forge this week, I want you here everyday before you¡­ Before you head off.¡± Although he could see the reluctance in his mother''s eyes he still had to go. These last two years had been peaceful but who knew when something might occur. And he would not allow himself to be weak in the face of adversity any longer. That being said he also did not neglect his training in thieving skills. It was not a major focus but he had a God given talent in it and if he used nothing but his physical abilities it would be impossible for the guards of various places who focused on sensing the fluctuation of ki or mana to notice him. And now that he was going to leave the dwarven kingdom people he planned to make a heist. Lesser had pointed out the noble who had instigated the kidnapping of his brother and Fang was prepared for some revenge. But because it would make trouble if he killed the man he opted for stealing his most valuable treasures. And if rumors could be trusted he had quite a lot including some artifacts that were created using such precious materials that it had almost left the noble house broke two generations ago, luckily for them the successor was a wise man and brought them back up. With that and a couple of other things Fang was sure he could leave the noble crying for days. While thinking of those things the family finished eating and Fang followed his younger brother to a small area where they could spar. Watching them was their father who came along due to Mathias¡¯ request to make sure Fang didn¡¯t use his ki. Mathias did not believe that he could beat his brother, in his mind his brother was almost all mighty and beyond compare of others. But he wanted to be closer to him, closer to what he saw the day he was rescued. In his mind he remembered Fang setting the sky on fire and feeling opponents so fast he couldn¡¯t even see him move. And for that reason Mathias wanted to be closer to that strength. To his sides were two large war hammers forged by Tal making them as durable as possible. Fang on the other hand was just standing a couple feet from Mathias¡¯ bare handed. Mathias smiled, usually Fang would have a wooden sword and win the spars by exploiting his weaknesses in order to teach him what he should watch out for. But today was a battle it would not be a lesson but a fight, although Fang did have some restrictions. Tal looked at his two boys then with a shout Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Go!¡± The battle that Mathias had been waiting for started. Tal was somewhat puzzled, he knew Fang was adept in combat and despite his sturdy frame it shouldn¡¯t be possible to fight Mathias without a weapon after all the boy had ungodly strength. He wholeheartedly believed that Fang would dodge the first blow and engage in close quarter hand to hand combat. But even that would most likely be a bad idea as it would be a tough fight. Without ki Tal was sure even some of his trained soldiers would lose to Mathias. But to his surprise Fang simply held out his hand towards the incoming hammer and stopped it. Both father and son were shocked. It shouldn''t have been possible for Fang to do something as absurd as stopping a war hammer with one hand. The only one who wasn¡¯t surprised was East. ¡®Hmph that¡¯s right master went through hell and back to have that idiotic strength and you think that little Mat is going to be stronger, ha.¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t become overconfident in your strength.¡± As Fang told Mathias he pulled the war hammer out of his hand and threw it behind him as if it were a light rag doll. While he was still in shock Mathias looked a his remaining hammer and grasped it tightly with both hands thinking. ¡®That''s right that''s my brother, I shouldn¡¯t have thought I was stronger than him. No i¡¯m going to start working harder and then i¡¯ll catch up to him one day.¡¯ Not being disheartened he put his all into swinging his hammer with all the strength he could muster. Fang never moved from his original spot parrying the hammer with his bare hands until he finally struck the hammer with enough force to pry it from Mathias¡¯ hands. Tal still stood shocked, he had been looking for any change in Fang¡¯s ki core but there was never any, meaning his first son possessed physical strength far greater than anyone could dream of. As the three went back home with two of them in a daze, Fang made his plans to steal treasure the next day. Like that some days passed and the time for Fang to leave drew near but before that he would make his theft. And ancient in the night Fang made his way to the noble residence. He had left behind East who was already well known as Fang¡¯s beast. When he reached the walls of the estate he easily jumped to the top of the wall without the need of ki. Inside was Fairly large and finding the treasure would undoubtedly be difficult. The guards patrolling didn¡¯t seem to be on alert for anything and took their jobs fairly leisurely thinking that no one would actually try to break in. When looking for treasure Fang had two ideas one was to head to the most heavily guarded area and the other was to look for somewhere well hidden. Because he had yet to gain any experience in these things he decided to head to the most heavily guarded area. Due to him not using any ki the only way he would be found was of he made too much noise but this was something that he had practiced many times and if he tried his utmost he could even sneak around his father at time, although he would be reprimanded when found for sneaking around. That was because dwarves were fairly straightforward people and only petty nobles would sneak around and resort to schemes. For the average dwarf a straightforward personality was the norm and Fang went against a lot of that despite being able to do things in a forward manner. As he advanced he had already spent an hour searching but the most heavily spot he found was the weapon vault and food repository. Going inside the weapon vault was easy but there was nothing that caught his interest so he left quickly and entered what seemed to be the main house hoping to find something good. But even after another hour he couldn¡¯t find anything. It wasn''t until he found a nice looking study that he discovered what he was after a greatsword that almost shined despite it being night time. After wrapping the sword and making sure it wouldn¡¯t be noticed he began to look around for anything that would be sorely missed in the end he took multiple stacks of papers detailing trade and some documents that looked important. Having everything that he could get without hindering his movement too much Fang left a small wooden plat as a calling card to let people know who the criminal was. Though he didn¡¯t use his name he left what his criminal alias would be, lightning king. This was something that East had thought up because Fang was going to just leave a carving of some sort. After making his escape without being seen Fang had a thought. ¡®Sneaking in is easy but finding treasure is a matter of luck.¡¯ The following day the noble house was in a panic, on top of having their most valued sword stolen many legal documents that were almost irreplaceable were stolen without anyone having even seen the shadow of who did it. That was also the day that Fang left, there was a tearful parting with his family and his mother and brother made him repeatedly promised to come back during any break he had. His brother also promised that he would join the academy when he was a little older. Because the academic system one could stay there until he or she reached the age of twenty giving Mathias just enough time to enter before Fang finished. (Author''s note: so this is the start of the next arc after this I''ll be introducincing some plot things. This was mainl about the changes that Fang went through. Aslo I''m going to go through the chapters and make revisions. I''m also going to ask for some help if anyone is willing. I''m actually not that good at it, bet regardless I''ll try and make the earlier chapters better. Thank you for reading. Also is there anyone who''s good at drawing cause I tryed to make a cover myself a few times but failed I''ll try one more atempt before giving up. I''ll post my next atempt maybe on Sunday and if it''s okay please say so so I don''t question it. Thank you again.) :) A gladiators new world chapter 24: various talents, Bell Liz sat behind her desk excited. Lesser had begun teaching in her academy a year ago and would continue for a while. In that year he had picked out various talents in both magic and ki and raised them well. As a teacher he was surprisingly competent, despite his occasional bad habits of messing with the other teachers he did his job well. He had also brought in various talents from around the continent to her academy raising her prestige and the respect her academy had. But the reason she was excited was not solely due to Lesser¡¯s surprising work ethics. It was due to the talents he promised to bring in this year. First was Fang Fae, she had met with him once and Lesser praised his potential and battle sense almost endlessly. But that wasn¡¯t all there were others various hidden gems that Lesser had found here and there. This was important to her because he had grown tired of the political games of nobles and wished to separate from the kingdom and become a separate power altogether. Her academy had to cater to the whims of various nobles and she grew tired of losing talents because they were superior to a Nobel child. The final straw that broke the camel¡¯s back was when a young girl with an almost ungodly talent in healing was killed because she overshadowed all the noble children when she had come from the poorest slums. With her talent she would have been able to be something great in life and she was such a kind child too. But her life was ended simply for being a commoner. These happenings reduced the day that Lesser showed up, after all no one would be willing to commit a crime such as murder in an area where he lived. That would be like signing your own death warrant. But he would not be there forever and the next generation would face the same things. But if she had various talents that supported her school in the future and in the not too distant future she could break away from the kingdom. In truth she really wanted to call back her old group of friends and just take over the kingdom. But that would not be a long lasting solution. Instead she made various under the table deals and had almost completely purchased the land around the academy. Added to the fact that the academy was at the very outskirts of the kingdom she would have no problems. But a kingdom would not so easily let go of such a prestigious academy. In order to do what she wanted she needed strong and influential instructors and students on her side. If they threatened to quit then the only thing left of the academy would be a building and some land. The whole institution would be lost and that was not something the kingdom could make up for. On top of that most of the land now belonged to her making it so that the kingdom owned only about a third of the academies land. Though it was most of the important parts. Eve the town in the academies surrounding paid more respect to her and her instructors than the local government. Her intentions were not to overthrow anyone but she couldn¡¯t stand the way her students were being treated simply because of their birth. * * * Bell walked along an almost deserted road alone. She had just turned sixteen and was at the age where most girls would be considering getting married but she had no such thoughts. Because of circumstances she had to constantly travel, alone. She no longer trusted anyone. During her childhood she lived in the slums and while poor was fairly happy her family was safe and healthy. Then someone told her she had talent and invited her to learn more. Benefits were given to her loved ones and she thrived in her new environment but then those same people that gave her hope for a better life went and killed her family. She didn¡¯t find out about this until they came to kill her. They said she stood out to much, that she was just scum from the slums that shouldn¡¯t live. That she had offended the good people, the worthy people, of the world with her existence. With those that she had seen as her savior so turned against her and her family dead all Bell felt was dread. They attempted to kill her, they stabbed her repeatedly and tossed her into a group of wolves and left. But they didn¡¯t know, they couldn¡¯t have known that she had already reached the level where she understood a very powerful law, a law that kept her alive as long as mana was available. She was born as a fire deviant, she was known as the holy light. Because of her extreme healing abilities she was able to survive. With no one to trust and nowhere to return to she left the kingdom and set out to find a way to get some form of revenge. unfortunately she had no offensive magic and had yet to think of a way to get her revenge. She had considered plenty of things. And even had thoughts of selling herself and her power to some greedy man in return for her revenge. She understood how great and attractive her powers were and knew that some would do anything for them. The only reason the others had not understood was because she had not shown her full might. As long as one was not killed immediately it was impossible to die in her presence, or as long as she didn¡¯t run out of mana. But that was still enough to entice almost anyone. Right now she was heading towards the dwarven kingdom and would only need about another three days walking to reach it. She had heard that the blood elf resided in that kingdom and rumor had it that she married a dwarf. Although she wasn¡¯t sure she thought that as long as she was around it would even be possible for her to keep someone in their peak condition. If she offered to make her husband just as long lived as her Bell thought that the blood elf might be willing to destroy a kingdom for her. She had heard rumors that the blood elf had once destroyed a kingdom because the nobility there had looked at her funny and while that might have been an exaggeration it was still worth a chance. As she was walking she heard a loud sound almost as if boulders were smashing against each other. If two people were fighting she might get the chance to do some healing in return for a sum. she wasn¡¯t dumb about what she was planning either she wore a thick robe that covered her entire body and head so the other party wouldn¡¯t have any funny ideas. When she reached the commotion what she saw astonished her. A boy who couldn¡¯t be older than her was fighting a large earth tiger. The mana beast wasn¡¯t unusual in the general area but they stayed in a more rocky area and would generally stay more than a week¡¯s walking distance from any main road or city. They were so close to the dwarven kingdom¡¯s capital that Bell was somewhat shocked. Until she saw that the tiger had multiple scars on it¡¯s body, as someone who treated plenty of wounds in the slums she knew what these were from, whips. That meant that someone sent the earth tiger to kill the boy. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡®He was probably betrayed by someone too.¡¯ Surprisingly the boy was able to repel the tiger¡¯s claws and bite attempts with his bare hands. This furthered her thoughts that the boy too had shown too much and someone wanted to get rid of him. In truth her assumptions weren¡¯t all that wrong but she was also jumping to conclusions. She had lived in a happy family home and always had companions around her. In this last year she knew what it was like to be alone and frightened. In this boy she saw a kindred spirit or at least forced herself to. Looking closer to the boy''s appearance he wasn¡¯t human, the ears gave that away but his build was fairly big compared to the thin elves. And his ears were a little too short being only half that of an elf¡¯s. ¡®From the gray hair and short sharp ears he should be a half elf.¡¯ The tiger and the boy seemed to be at a stalemate and neither one gave any ground to the other. After what seemed like an internist of watching and hoping the boy wouldn¡¯t get injured at that time the tiger took notice of her. Seemingly frustrated with the boy it ran to kill her first leaving behind the confused boy. All Bell could do was sigh, it was unlikely that the beast would be able to kill her but it also meant that she would feel extreme pain. The thought of escaping didn¡¯t even cross her mind, there was no way she could outrun an earth tiger. Accepting what was to come she closed her eyes and readied her heart for the pain. But after ten seconds nothing happened, then twenty seconds passed and while she could hear the roars of the beast only feet away from her the pain never came. Slowly opening her eyes she saw that the boy had appeared next to her and stopped the Tigers claws from digging into her flesh. The boy then turned around and frowned. ¡°Dieing here would be pointless and even if you want to die I was playing with this thing first.¡± What he said made no sense to her. Playing? He was playing with an earth tiger? The thing was obviously trying to kill him with all it had so there was no way he could be playing with it. Then she looked at his face and understood. He had a face of indifference the tiger could do nothing. ¡°Well I guess I''m done with it though.¡± Saying that he grabbed one of it¡¯s paws and threw it fifty feet until it hit a tree and ran away. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you kill it?¡± This was something she had to know. ¡°No reason, it¡¯s eyes reminded me of something I had seen before and it was a small rebellion on my part.¡± Bell looked at the boy with a dumb face then remembered her purpose in finding the trouble. ¡°Umm I can heal you if you have any wounds, by the way i¡¯m bell. What''s your name?¡± The boy looked to the his left and a small scaled creature appeared out of thin air and proved himself on his shoulder. ¡°I''m not injured and my name is Fang Fae.¡± ¡°Ahh sorry to ask and I know it¡¯s a bit personal but are you troubled by the nobles of this kingdom?¡± Before he answered he looked at the small creature. ¡°... Sort of but it¡¯s nothing I can''t handle and my father is the high general while my mother is Luna the blood elf. They haven¡¯t tried anything until now why do you ask?¡± As. If hit by lightning Bell was shocked at the information she had just heard. The blood elf¡¯s son? Why worry about getting the blood elf¡¯s husband¡¯s attention when she had found the Blood elf¡¯s son. From the start she was ready to sell herself to someone as she could not think of any better ways to achieve her revenge but if hat the boy named Fang said was true she could at least sell herself to someone her age. In her mind thoughts of being kindred spirits lessened and thoughts of ensuring Fang to her cause instead appeared. She took her robe of and showed off her good looks. She considered herself fairly good looking, at least better than average. Her blond hair swung down to her waist and she had good proportions for someone her age. A slim waist and nice face to look at. Sadly however Fang didn¡¯t seem to respond to her good looks. With that she asked fang if he really was the blood elf¡¯s son, it wasn¡¯t something she could believe so easily. And although he seemed a little troubled he showed a few things that signified that he was the son of the high general and the high general only had one wife, the blood elf. Without any regard for Fang and if he wanted her to travel along or not she followed him while telling him her story. Contrary to her expectations she didn¡¯t get any a huge sympathetic response from him. He did show displeasure toward the people who wronged her and said that a group of people once tried to kidnap his younger brother but he did not make any heroic declarations to avenger her family. ¡®That''s normal though, it¡¯s not like I can expect anyone to act like that.¡¯ Instead she seemed to gain more sympathy from the scaled creature that was always on Fang¡¯s shoulder. as a last effort she was going to become Fang¡¯s possession but that was when she knew for sure and without a doubt that he was the blood elf''s son. For now she would just follow him. Either way she could still make the other offer to the blood elf after some time and leave Fang¡¯s company. * * * From afar a dwarf was holding a whip looking down at his tamed earth tiger being handled like a house kitten by Fang. ¡°Useless cat and how is the boy so strong. Could it be the general¡¯s blood? The other one is reported to have almost unlimited potential and ridicules strength as well. No matter i¡¯ll just report my failed and receive my punishment. Ahh there¡¯s no way that¡¯s going to happen. Lass follow them¡± Under him was a large lion almost twice the size of the earth tiger. And behind him followed seven female lions. He was one of the greatest tamers in the lands and although he was a dwarf he pledged his loyalty to only money so when someone paid him to kill a boy he didn¡¯t hesitate to take the job. Even if he was the high general''s and the blood elf¡¯s son, to him all that mattered was the money. A gladiators New World Chapter 25: Always leaves you feeling stiff Fang walked along the dirt road on his way to the academy that he would soon be part of. As he left the Capital Fang had encountered an earth tiger. The many scars it had reminded him of some of the beasts he was made to fight to the death in the arena as a gladiator. Because of this he spared the creature to show to himself that he truly had grown and was free from that. He never considered himself a captive before but as he grew older in this life he realized what he was for the people of his previous life, a spectacle. He wasn¡¯t treated as a human and had never thought of himself as one either, all he was was a tool for the entertainment of others. That''s why he called it a small rebellion when he spoke to bell. Fang found bell interesting and decided to let her tag along. Her situation was sad and he could somewhat understand her desire for revenge. After all if his mother weren''t as strong as she is or if the one attacking them didn¡¯t happen to be a friend then Fang could have lost his younger brother. But Bell seemed to have given up on obtaining revenge herself and stopped trying to grow even looking at herself and her power as a curse. From what she told him she was practically immortal and would survive everything but total obliteration. But that also meant that when things got tough she would always be the last one left and never have any comrades who could walk with her side by side. Even if she kept them alive some would look at her with disgust and some would fear her. Fang listened to many of her complaints and stories and grew well acquainted with her. ¡°It¡¯s getting dark we should set up camp somewhere and continue in the morning.¡± Fang hadn''t thought of even stopping before reaching his destination so he was somewhat confused. Because he had never traveled his thoughts were to either make it to the academy in one go or just rest to eat and alleviate himself. ¡°Wait you don¡¯t plan on continuing through the night do you? Listen I know you''re strong, actually your strength is almost scary but night has many dangers so let''s camp and we¡¯ll continue tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okay that should be fine.¡± Thinking about it the dangers at night would be something he could temper himself with but Fang didn¡¯t say anything. Instead he was just going to keep vigilant throughout the night in case anything happened. He also didn¡¯t fully trust Bell as she seemed to be hiding something from him and would give him strange looks every once in awhile. ¡®Master you should be fine against her but if what she says about healing is true then we came across a lucky find. With her backing us we should be able to fight even some of those monsters that Lesser mentioned. Well we could at least survive.¡¯ Fang nodded but he had no intention of staying with Bell forever even if it was to use that power of hers. ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch first then I''ll wake you in three hours and we rotate. But what are we going to do about food?¡± Looking down the road Fang thought about it, food shouldn¡¯t be too hard as there was a forest on either side of the road and finding game wouldn¡¯t present to much trouble but rotating shifts at night didn¡¯t seem like a good idea. ¡°Food shouldn¡¯t be a problem I''ll find something but I can keep watch all night without a problem.¡± After saying so he took East off his shoulder and ran into the forest to find some game. While he did so Bell prepared a fire and took out some rations to boil in a pot in case Fang was unable to find anything. They were currently on a well used road and while there were not many on it know the animals in the area knew to be extra wary or simply stay away so it was unlikely that Fang would find something quickly. After she had a fire ready and began throwing a generous amount of rations Bell looked at the East. ¡°Do you think that I can convince you master to take revenge for me? No answer huh, well I''ll try and convince him and if it¡¯s not possible then I''ll look for another way.¡± East sat motionlessly watching the fire waiting for Fang to return with some meat. * * * From afar The dwarven tamer watched Fang go into the woods and leave his female companion and the small scaled creature behind. ¡°Ha the boy doesn''t know how to prepare for travel or look after his own. Well hostages are usually a bit boorish but it never hurts to have some insurance.¡± With that he lead his lions towards the lone girl who was cooking rations. The little scaled creature noticed them much too quickly before they could even get into pouncing range they had already been spotted. ¡°Fang!!!¡± When the girl saw the Lions she called out the name of his target but didn¡¯t really seem all that worried almost as if she had already accepted her fate. ¡°Get her and hold her down! Don¡¯t kill her we need her as a hostage!¡± Two of the lions ran and with practiced ease they captured the girl holding her down with their massive weight. ¡°Now for the boy. Strange really how that boy who lost everyone would simply walk down the main road.¡± After waiting for a while Fang had come back holding five large rabbits already drained of their blood. Without any panic in his face fang looked towards East and she explained the situation to him. ¡°Then who are you and what do you want would be the standard questions correct?¡± The tamer was irritated, Fang was clearly looking down on him and his prided beasts. These were his finest he had sacrificed almost everything to capture and tame these lions as they had been one pride in the wild. * * * Bell looked at the ever calm Fang noticing that he had that same calm expression when he fought the earth tiger. but none of this mattered she would not allow her ticket to revenge die, so she began chanting her support spell. ¡®Fire is the bringer of light and the light eliminates all. That light is the gift of life and must burn brighter for my companions. To the light of life I ask of you to gather around them and heal them with you might. Everlasting fires of life burn brighter on this soul.¡¯ When she finished mumbling her spell a bright light enveloped Fang and her. When the tamer saw this he thought something would happen but the light faded without doing anything. ¡°Haha girl what did you try and do, tell me now or my lion crushes your skull.¡± Looking at the man Bell laughed. ¡°If you can try but should you be looking away from there.¡± With her eyes she pointed at FAng who had begun to walk towards him. * * * Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°I asked you a question who are you and what do you want?¡± Fang asked once more while looking at the man riding the giant lion. ¡°Ha boy you sure are your mother¡¯s son. That blood elf is an arrogant whore and you inherited that too. Well the arrogance anyway¡­ Aww don¡¯t look at me that way. What you think being the blood elf¡¯s son entitles you to anything or some sort of protection? No boy she has plenty of enemies and in multiple places so today you get to find out one. Some dwarven brother o¡¯ mine paid real well for your head so let''s give it to him yea?¡± Fang¡¯s usual calm face was gone, his mother had just been insulted. Normally that didn¡¯t happen as no one would think to do so around him but this dwarf was confident in killing him. Without realizing it fang had grown incredibly angry at such a simple aggravation. ¡°You no longer need to live.¡± With those short six words Fang dashed at the dwarf at full speed. Luckily for the dwarf his tamed lion was very computing and was able to move away before Fang''s fist arrived. seeing that the lion could dodge his first strike Fang began to circulate his ki. With his ki in circulation fang had added some strength but more importantly he could use his construct weapons. Once more dashing towards the large lion Fang was stopped by three lionesses. Not bothering with them Fang killed them instantly with a swift kick or punch to the head. Seeing it¡¯s lionesses being killed one after another when they tried to stop Fang the Male lion that the dwarf sat on roared with everything it had. It''s eyes went red as it looked at Fang. Noticing its condition the tamer laughed and jumped from the lions back while headed towards the two that held Bell down. ¡°The rest of you come and protect me, Lass has this covered.¡± Looking at the roaring lion Fang charged, this was not a beast he should ignore and it would continue to protect the dwarf as long as he could. Unfortunately for the dwarf Fang was in a bad mood and wanted to end his life as soon as possible. In these two years Fang hadn¡¯t only strengthened his body. In his eyes a black light flickered. Running the Black lightning ki through his body Fang almost doubled his plead and arrived in front of the lion holding an Ash spear in hand, with the spear and speed he impaled the lion and moved on as if nothing had happened. And killed all the lionesses except the ones holding down Bell. The tamer stood stunned at what had just happened. These were his prided mana beasts and just one of them should have been a match for a ki refiner who understood a minor law. But with a speed that defied common sense Fang had killed his precious beast before the fight could even start. They were kings where they lived do to some abilities they could use but Fang killed them. ¡°You, you monster¡­ But I still have this girl and if you don¡¯t wish for her to die than leave now.¡± Although he stuttered a bit the tamer wouldn¡¯t give up just yet as he still had a hostage. Suddenly Bell began to laugh. ¡°Ahahahaha¡­ You think I''m a hostage, I met him yesterday and he¡¯s determined to kill you. Plus you killing me is unlikely.¡± Looking at Bell who was constrained by the only remaining lionesses the tamer wondered if she didn¡¯t care for her life or if she had gone mad. ¡°But dieing does hurt so i¡¯d like to avoid it. But I have a question is this really the son of the blood elf?¡± Hearing her question the tamer was wondering if she was trying to distract him. ¡°Yea his mom¡¯s that damn abomination of an elf. Apparently her son¡¯s no different, monsters all of them.¡± Bell had a smile that went from ear to ear. ¡®In this situation it¡¯s unlikely that he could be lying then some type of destiny is present, those rotten nobles are truly destined to die. ¡°Fang, while you didn¡¯t get injured and can''t see my magic I can assure you of its effectiveness, from now on let me be your slave. I''ll be your possession.¡± Fang was somewhat puzzled but he understood slavery it was something his mother had taught him. Neither the dwarves of the elves had it but humans did. They would treat each other as if they were simply tools of some sort and own one another. ¡°She¡¯s gone insane under the pressure of my lion but we can remedy that. Kill her.¡± As soon as he gave the order one of the lionesses bit down on Bell''s neck crushing it completely and the other grabbed the tamer in an attempt to run. However he couldn¡¯t get away. * * * Bell woke up feeling stiff, dieing was never a pleasant experience and even if she didn¡¯t pass on it carried a bad feeling. Looking around she saw that it had already turned night and a fire was burning. Fang sat by the fire with a tired look on his face and sweat pouring down his face. ¡°What happened?¡± Fang gave her a brief explanation of what had happened and told her that he killed the tamer, when she asked what he did with his corps he pointed to the ground a couple of meters away. On the ground was the silhouette of a short man burned into the ground. ¡°That¡­ Is that all that¡¯s left?¡± Feeling panic in her heart while looking at Fang she couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Yes, you said you would be my possession and no one is allowed to do that to what¡¯s mine. Also your magic is quite extraordinary.¡± Hearing that he had done that for her and was most likely in that state of extreme tiredness because of that Bell almost felt moved. But she could not forget her original goal of avenging her family. Seeing the way Fang had disposed of the dwarf Bell began to think of a way to get Fang back to her previous home where those nobles would likely attack her. If he reacted in a similar way then it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to get her revenge, even if it meant dying a couple more times. (Authors note: so like I put in the description the donation button is there because I can be, if you feel like giving something I greatly appreciate it. If you don''t then cool. I will still do three chapters a week as I don''t feel my level of righting warrants sponsored chapters. Maybe in my next work or if I get really good at writing but for now no. Also I''ve been doing some other stuff and I''d appreciate it if you checked it out. Royalroadl.com/fiction/6363 is my second atempt at a game world and has some things that I find interesting. Royalroadl.com/fiction/6227 is something I''m simply writing for fun but check it out. Chapter 26 and answer to a question Author''s notecomplaint/ answer to the question posted on the review: So to answer the question that was left on the review because I don''t know if I can reply to those I''m doing so here. I will not stop this one. The other works I have are mainly things I do when I have a hard time thinking of how to further the plot here. Those are not well thought out and I just right random things for one of them and the other has a plot direction but the inbetween is any thought that comes into my head so this is my main work. Those however might be posted faster because again I don''t put as much thought into what I wright in those. The problems I had last week which have continued not this week is with lawyers, insurance companies and various doctors about my surgeries. The wrist surgery is about 70000 dollars and the insurance is hesitant to pay but because they have to it''s not a problem. The issue was things like them asking if I really need it and such. It''s a lot of money they have to fork over so it''s kinda understandable. But I will continue to write this and I''m determined to keep going until I reach an ending. Chapter 26: ForestKing Academy The new term of the academic year would begin in about a month giving fang plenty of time to arrive. To reach the academy he would only need about two weeks. When he had told Bell their destination she had been strongly excited but Fang didn¡¯t mind this. He for the most part had figured that she would try something to entangle him in her revenge plots. But this also didn¡¯t matter much as he had been thinking of ways to make her stronger and get her to work towards her on revenge, after all she was now his. The least he could do was push her towards the right direction but he didn¡¯t know enough about her magic to make any suggestions. After two weeks of thinking Fang had nothing to offer and they had reached their destination. Standing in front of the city gate Fang was surprised by its size, normally a city this large that housed an important academy would be well guarded. The gate here however looked as if it were made for show. The walls were only about ten feet in height and two in depth, any mana beast that attacked would have been able to break through. Even the guards standing around were letting everyone in without so much as taking a glance at who was coming in or out. ¡°Don¡¯t be so surprised, the Nobel in charge here has been steadily losing his authority and began using everything that comes from taxes as his personal income. The guards don¡¯t get extra pay and aren¡¯t reprimanded for being lazy so this is how it turned out, as for the wall. Well the Nobel district has a much better one and this is only for the outer district, the market district and the slums it¡¯s unlikely that money would be put in to help out the commoners.¡± Fang just nodded at Bell¡¯s words, he had heard about what human kingdoms were like but it truly was different from the dwarven kingdom. Most of all however were the people, most humans look rather frail compared to dwarves although they were taller. ¡°Let''s head to the academy, though they allow slaves in there as well I¡¯ll have to take a job as a maid or something. Can you arrange that?¡± Fang shrugged his shoulders, he truly didn¡¯t know but would try to figure something out. If worst came to worst he could just ask his aunt Liz for a bit of help. As they made their way to the academy they passed through the the slums, the area was just as bad as Bell had described. There were dieing men in allies, children suffering from hunger, and he could feel the occasional glare of someone targeting him. Normally one would find it hard to ignore all of these things but there was little that Fang could do to help aside from giving away all his possessions to the residents but that wasn¡¯t something he would do. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry so we¡¯re not targeted by any unsavory people.¡± As per Bell¡¯s suggestion They made their way out of the slums and into the commercial district, from here Fang was able to see an impressive wall in the distance. The wall was at least twenty feet tall and if he had to guess it should have been at least seven feet in depth making it fairly sturdy. Ignoring the noble district it took them almost an hour¡¯s walk to reach the academy, it had been at the border of the city and behind it was a forest said to be filled with mana beast. The academy itself was impressive in size almost looking like another small city. Strangely enough it had no stone wall instead it had a tall metal gate. ¡°Then let''s head in.¡± Fang and bel weren¡¯t the only ones there, there were at least forty others heading inside. After walking in and having Bell lead him to the dorm registration office Fang was given a key for a small house that consisted of two small rooms and a small living room. This was better treatment than most would get as the regular students live in dorms shared with at least two other students. Apparently this was something that his mother and Liz had set up for him. Although the they didn¡¯t know that Fang would bring someone with him, as it was initially thought that Fang would live alone with East. But this was a welcome convenience. He was also informed that the next day would be the welcome ceremony for new students and attendance was required. Fang also wanted to see his Aunt Liz but he was informed that seeing the principal wasn¡¯t so easy that a new student could arrange a meeting, on top of that she would also be busy with various things having to do with welcoming new students. Deciding that it would be pointless to look for her Fang instead made his way to his new residence. The path to the small house residences was close to the school¡¯s main road and he quickly began to make his way there, however on the way he found some trouble. ¡°Hey you!¡± Fang knew the voice was directed in his direction but ignored it. ¡°Filthy commoner I''m speaking to you!¡± Continuing to ignore whoever was shouting behind him Fang walked on, Bell however was frowning. ¡°Fang that¡¯s most likely a noble, and as much as I know you can beat them senseless it¡¯s most likely not a good idea to aggravation them so quickly.¡± Finally not being able to stand being ignored the noble shouting behind them shouted once more. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°You apprehend this student and beat him until he is unrecognizable then bring the girl to me.¡± Fang had ignored the noble as it had nothing to do with him but now that an order of attack had been given he would not be so kind. Turning around Fang calmly looked at the man who had been ordered to attack him, he was around his mid thirties and had a rough looking face. ¡°So you''re scared now is it, Hmph, if you kneel down and apologize for ignoring the great son of the Farken House and offer up that girl as compensation then I might reconsider the rearrangement of your face.¡± Fang payed no heed the the boy''s words, in an instant he conjured an ash construct spear and moved to the man who had been ordered to attack him. Holding the construc spear to the man¡¯s thought it drew a faint amount of blood. ¡°Pester me any more and die.¡± When he said that the aura around him changed and the noble boy along with his guard fell back in panic frightened as if they were starting at a wild mana beast. In their fear they ran off and Fang continued making his way to his new dwellings. He had not killed the boy because he had been told many times by Lesser that there was a difference in the trouble caused m who you kill and where you kill them. If he had killed the guard and the boy then the crime would have been on him. On the other hand because Fang was only a commoner in status then it would not have been the same had he been killed. But if the location were different, for example a forest, killing the noble and his guard would be fine. Still Fang was told by his mother that simply killing people was not the way to solve all his issues. Though some if it sounded like empty words when Fang heard about his mother¡¯s younger days from Lesser. Still he couldn¡¯t ignore his mother''s words and had spared the boy. * * * Shan Farken was the name of the boy who had just been scared off by Fang. As he ran he felt strange. In his mind Fang had just been a weak commoner who had somehow gotten the attention of a lovely girl. He himself had considered himself to be handsome beyond compare and wanted to get the attention of such a beauty but both she and the commoner boy had ignored him. This was something that his pride would not allow, he was the proud son of the Farken house and a genius magician, there should be no one in this town who would dare to ignore him. In his anger he set his guard to attack the commoner but was scared away instead. This made no sense to him. How could he a talent that only came around once in a million years be scared off by a worthless commoner. His talent was certified every one of the surrounding nobles praised him at the age of fifteen he was already casting level three spells and now entering the ForestKing Academy he should have been the top student. But why was it that a lowly Trash from some unknown background scared him. After thinking this much he remembered the boy¡¯s ears, they were pointed. ¡°Then he has to be a half elf. They weren¡¯t pointed enough to be a full bread elf. There¡¯s rumors that they can use trickery to compensate for their weakness. Then I was tricked. Shit! I¡¯ll kill that dirty commoner how dare he trick me the greatest magician of this generation.¡± Thinking further there was a small tournament for new students to receive a ranking, one for ki refiners and one for magicians then the top ten of each will be placed in a similar tournament against each other. ¡°Hmph if I see that trash again I''ll make sure to kill him on stage to show all those filthy commoners. If he doesn¡¯t then I''ll have him come up as a surprise challenger or something and do the same regardless, i¡¯ll let them witness the difference in our birth right.¡± While he was scheming and planning on taking first among the individual magicians, while not even putting ki refiners in his sight, Shan was unaware of the monsters that Lesser had gone around the world to find and bring to the academy. * * * A small girl with pigtails and a white lab coat was. Skipping along the road to the academy. ¡°That crazy old man told me I could find some good test subjects here, and that there''s even someone who somehow completed my little side project for me¡­¡± While she was talking to herself her face showed a look of ecstasy. ¡°Ahhh that sword was really something but that bronze sword was the true marvel, using ordinary metals to construct artifacts. Ahhh I can''t wait to meet this boy a pick his brain.¡± Those around her seemed to move away and avoid the girl as she walked. * * * Covered in a brown cloak A boy hid in the shadows and moved while avoiding others. No one ever looked in his direction of even caught sight of his shadow as he ran through the dark alleys of the slums. ¡°Nooooo!¡± Hearing a scream the boy moved to its origin. There he found a group of men trying to take advantage of a young girl. ¡°This place truly needs help, then I shall deliver justice unto thee.¡± Moving along the shadows at an incredible speed he swung a knife at the men''s necks and killed them. Avoiding the blood he left the area, the young girl had not caught sight of him all she knew is that suddenly there were dieing men in front of her. * * * Coming out of the noble district was a young lady wearing what could only be described as beggar rags. But no one took notice to this instead they focused on the fire that danced around her keeping anyone at a safe distance. Normally she would have been stopped for this display of magic but on her chest she had a badge that indicated a powerful noble backer. The various guards and nobles were envious of the beggar who had somehow acquired something so precious and began plotting their various schemes. Seeing the look in their eyes the young lady smiled. ¡°Hopefully they can think of something better than that stupid bald man. One in a million talent? Ha they had to beg me not to kill him in the tournament after that crazy old man said that he would back me up regardless of what I do. Well there were some conditions but nothing I can''t do. Hehehe they even gave me a shiny tool to attract idiots who want to fight.¡± Being put on hiatus So the surgery on my hand was a lot more messed up then I thought, and it hurts like a mother. So I''m going to stop for a while. Maybe for about a month or two. The other problem is the pain killers leave me all loopy so it''s hard to either endure the pain or try and write while not at full capasity. Unless people don''t mind reading what comes out when I''m sorta messed up. But mostlikly no so thank you for reading this far, I''ll try and make sure that I can start again after the pain stops being this bad.