ACT V
THE GLORY WARS
“Senior, I’ll die. Haaa…hurry, please,” Vanir shouted, pleading and running again for his life. He thought after expanding his first circle, he’d have some confidence but poking a sleeping Great mamba was way out of his league, yet Hans had once again forced him to do that. “My shit luck! Come on, senior, where are you?”
“Keep running,” Hans’s voice echoed, instructing, “Turn right, left, left, slide, watch the steps.” He kept guiding Vanir, and he kept avoiding the close calls. Great Mamba was a class three, a treasure of thousand poisons, and a pandora box for alchemists, but the poison sacs get torn after its death, wasting the hard-hunted resources. That’s why alchemists had asked to bring a great Mamba intact and were giving a total of 700 credits, equal to 70,000 gold coins.
“To the tunnel now?” Hans commanded as Vanir came to the mouth of the underpass, “Just where did it come from, who gives a shit? Run, you stupid legs.”
Both the chasee and chaser entered the dark tunnel, Vanir would have run out of mana before, but not now, he still had some minutes left before his exhaustion hit him, he was using the lightning charge spell, boosting his speed, but his mana had increased not his physique so it was visibly hindering him, closing the gap between him and his predator. The light leak welcomed Vanir's eyes, and without looking ahead, he jumped out.
“Now, it’s my time.” Hans ran past him, charging at the Great Mamba yet to come out of the tunnel. The tunnel tousled, and the walls started constricting, slithering, tightening the passage, it was all but a huge trap, he had made before. “Nothing satisfies more than a well-trapped prey.”
~VeganBind ~
As he commanded, the slithering vines hastened and tightened. Trapping the Great Mamba inside a perfect woven tube of rugged vines. Only its snout facing him by a few feet.
“Sorry, But I need you to die —”
“Hisss…” The great Mamba opened its mouth and let out a mixture of a thousand poisons. “Yeah, I forgot, you were a class three,” Hans said taking a step back, “Poison charge, death veil and Burning sting, are your recorded abilities, right? But I came prepared, you big loach.”
~ManaSorm~
It was just a normal mana discharge, two steps, but enough to push back all the poisonous gas, lifting his head, standing right before the snake’s huge head, he said with a frown. “You mannerless reptile, I was saying, you need to die,” he commanded, and the whole structure was brought to the ground, more vines kept crawling over it, one after another, making it sturdier, and completely shutting off the resistance, turning the snake into a green cocoon at the end.
Then Hans stretched his hand, and a small seed appeared in it. “Let's test this,” he shouted.
~SonusBind~
The seed sprouted, and many vines came out of it, taking his hand as the centre, it started rotating like a horizontal twister. And as it picked up speed, its hollow structure started making a loud noise and suddenly got silent. The sound might be something humans can’t hear, but the snake was withering in pain, doing everything to resist, but the sound was firing shockwaves at point blank near its snout.
The unheard soundwaves rendered its nervous system, and the process continued for a while, when Hans felt the life withering out of his prey, he stopped. “700 credits,” he said in delight, “Right into the bag —”
“Wait, wait, just a moment,” Vanir interrupted in disbelief, “That was a class three! It just died like this. He was scaring the life out of me just a moment ago —”
“This is called a hunt, Junior. Nothing is scarier than a well-prepared hunter. Didn’t you hear this saying?”
“I know, but this is —”
“Ridiculous right?” Hans nodded and explained, “Bait, trap and kill. If you can do it right, you can kill anything or,” raising his head he stressed, “or anyone, understand?”
“But not a class three. it would have taken at least twenty people, mages and knights included, and they would have to be at least second circle and grade thirty —”
“That is if we confront the beast directly. if I allowed it to use its second and third ability, what did you call it before? yes, I’d be his next-day poop.” He continued explaining while pointing at the cocooned corpse, “But If one can halt it before, just like I did, then you have a perfect Great mamba on a platter.”
Vanir looked at the almost pitiful Great mamba who died without putting up any fight, almost forgetting that this very thing had given him a run for his money a while earlier. He scanned it once more and said in amazement, “Woah! It's almost 100 metres long, senior.”
“Yes, it should be, this is an adult.” Hans said, rubbing his chin, but suddenly remembered, “Let's get out of here. ''They live in pairs —”
“Then what are you waiting for, senior,” Vanir said aloud, he was already a few metres ahead of Hans, quietly rushing toward the safe zone. “What a loyal subordinate I have. Wait for me, idiot.”
They ventured forth, continuing their journey towards the safe area. The vines were doing the heavy dragging, while both were walking relaxed. They had just passed the Great Mamba territory, so they were taking their time, and the safe area being a few metres ahead had turned their desperate run into a stroll.
“But senior,” Vanir, who was silent for a long time, finally spoke, “I'm really curious, you made that huge tunnel with just vines, the trap, I mean. And then, did the mana discharge following that weird twister-like spell to kill it.”
“So?” Hans looked at him with questioning eyes, and Vanir finally stated what he was curious about, “Even a third circle would feel tired! hell, he would be losing his shit, but you are fine like you lost nothing. How?”
“I told you I’ve unli —”
“Don’t give me that crap.” Vanir shook his head. He was dead set on finding out and continued, “I thought we’d be more honest with each other now.”
“I’m telling you the truth, you untrustful idiot. You are the one not believing me.”
The silence ensued, and both entered a weird staring contest. Finally, Vanir broke the stare, “You were serious?”
“Of course, I am.”
“Those within the mage tower are dying to get more mana, and you have —”
“I’m special, didn’t I tell you?” Hans interrupted, acting smug, but it got ignored completely. Vanir was stressing his little mind, “Ah shit,” he grabbed his temples and continued, “When this becomes known, you will be hunted by those old mages.”
“That’s why you have to hurry, become stronger, Vanir. Mage Tower is the least of my worries now. Shit is about to go down, and the peace you know will be gone soon. I might not be the centre of it, but I’ll not be too far from it either.” Hans thought this might motivate Vanir more, and his lineage is far more attractive to the world than his possessing of unlimited mana. And just like that, they reached the safe area, aka, the SpaceDoor to Midlands. The staff in charge lost his marbles seeing the huge carcass dragged behind two juniors. She was a grade forty knight herself, working in this BeastZone and had few encounters with the great Mamba and had no choice but to flee. So from first-hand experience, she knew how strong this class three was, “you are telling me, a second-year hunted it. This ought to be a joke, right…”
“Hey…hey…Ms..” Hans almost shouted, but the staff snapped out of it and said with a polite smile, “We will process the corpse and send it to you. The transportation charge would be 1 credit.”
“No, thank you,” Hans gestured, startling her and continued, smirking, “I’ll bring it myself. Just send us to the Midlands.”
“You would earn more than 500 credits,” the woman clarified, asking, “Are you sure? you wanna handle the headache of taking it with you?”
“Yes, why would I hand over a credit If I can do it myself?”
“This is beyond misery, senior.” Vanir commented, but his words fell on deaf ears, and they dragged the Great Mamba into the SpaceDoor, “To Midlands,” he shouted, and the Spacedoor sent them back. “Darn this feeling,” Hans covered his mouth feeling nauseous, “At least it is somewhat bearable in short range.”
“Senior, can’t I just part here, everyone is staring at us like we are some sort of clowns,” Vanir commented, covering his face. He was scared of gazes that kept measuring him, so he was not even confident to lift his head. They had just stepped out of the SpaceDoors, and many people were staring at them like they were in some sort of exhibition. But his word choices somehow irked Hans, so he retorted, “Clowns! Are you out of your mind, Vanir?” Slapping his back, Hans ordered him, “Stand straight and look into their eyes, you have accomplished a feat that they could only dream about. Stand tall and tell them with your gaze, your arrogance must be shown on your face. Do not cower, you belong to me now. You don’t have that luxury.”
***
AnnouncementNEXT : MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
ACT V
THE GLORY WARS
“Senior, I’ll die. Haaa…hurry, please,” Vanir shouted, pleading and running again for his life. He thought after expanding his first circle, he’d have some confidence but poking a sleeping Great mamba was way out of his league, yet Hans had once again forced him to do that. “My shit luck! Come on, senior, where are you?”
“Keep running,” Hans’s voice echoed, instructing, “Turn right, left, left, slide, watch the steps.” He kept guiding Vanir, and he kept avoiding the close calls. Great Mamba was a class three, a treasure of thousand poisons, and a pandora box for alchemists, but the poison sacs get torn after its death, wasting the hard-hunted resources. That’s why alchemists had asked to bring a great Mamba intact and were giving a total of 700 credits, equal to 70,000 gold coins.
“To the tunnel now?” Hans commanded as Vanir came to the mouth of the underpass, “Just where did it come from, who gives a shit? Run, you stupid legs.”
Both the chasee and chaser entered the dark tunnel, Vanir would have run out of mana before, but not now, he still had some minutes left before his exhaustion hit him, he was using the lightning charge spell, boosting his speed, but his mana had increased not his physique so it was visibly hindering him, closing the gap between him and his predator. The light leak welcomed Vanir's eyes, and without looking ahead, he jumped out.
“Now, it’s my time.” Hans ran past him, charging at the Great Mamba yet to come out of the tunnel. The tunnel tousled, and the walls started constricting, slithering, tightening the passage, it was all but a huge trap, he had made before. “Nothing satisfies more than a well-trapped prey.”
~VeganBind ~
As he commanded, the slithering vines hastened and tightened. Trapping the Great Mamba inside a perfect woven tube of rugged vines. Only its snout facing him by a few feet.
“Sorry, But I need you to die —”
“Hisss…” The great Mamba opened its mouth and let out a mixture of a thousand poisons. “Yeah, I forgot, you were a class three,” Hans said taking a step back, “Poison charge, death veil and Burning sting, are your recorded abilities, right? But I came prepared, you big loach.”
~ManaSorm~
It was just a normal mana discharge, two steps, but enough to push back all the poisonous gas, lifting his head, standing right before the snake’s huge head, he said with a frown. “You mannerless reptile, I was saying, you need to die,” he commanded, and the whole structure was brought to the ground, more vines kept crawling over it, one after another, making it sturdier, and completely shutting off the resistance, turning the snake into a green cocoon at the end.
Then Hans stretched his hand, and a small seed appeared in it. “Let's test this,” he shouted.
~SonusBind~
The seed sprouted, and many vines came out of it, taking his hand as the centre, it started rotating like a horizontal twister. And as it picked up speed, its hollow structure started making a loud noise and suddenly got silent. The sound might be something humans can’t hear, but the snake was withering in pain, doing everything to resist, but the sound was firing shockwaves at point blank near its snout.
The unheard soundwaves rendered its nervous system, and the process continued for a while, when Hans felt the life withering out of his prey, he stopped. “700 credits,” he said in delight, “Right into the bag —”
“Wait, wait, just a moment,” Vanir interrupted in disbelief, “That was a class three! It just died like this. He was scaring the life out of me just a moment ago —”
“This is called a hunt, Junior. Nothing is scarier than a well-prepared hunter. Didn’t you hear this saying?”
“I know, but this is —”
“Ridiculous right?” Hans nodded and explained, “Bait, trap and kill. If you can do it right, you can kill anything or,” raising his head he stressed, “or anyone, understand?”
“But not a class three. it would have taken at least twenty people, mages and knights included, and they would have to be at least second circle and grade thirty —”
“That is if we confront the beast directly. if I allowed it to use its second and third ability, what did you call it before? yes, I’d be his next-day poop.” He continued explaining while pointing at the cocooned corpse, “But If one can halt it before, just like I did, then you have a perfect Great mamba on a platter.”
Vanir looked at the almost pitiful Great mamba who died without putting up any fight, almost forgetting that this very thing had given him a run for his money a while earlier. He scanned it once more and said in amazement, “Woah! It's almost 100 metres long, senior.”
“Yes, it should be, this is an adult.” Hans said, rubbing his chin, but suddenly remembered, “Let's get out of here. ''They live in pairs —”
“Then what are you waiting for, senior,” Vanir said aloud, he was already a few metres ahead of Hans, quietly rushing toward the safe zone. “What a loyal subordinate I have. Wait for me, idiot.”
They ventured forth, continuing their journey towards the safe area. The vines were doing the heavy dragging, while both were walking relaxed. They had just passed the Great Mamba territory, so they were taking their time, and the safe area being a few metres ahead had turned their desperate run into a stroll.
“But senior,” Vanir, who was silent for a long time, finally spoke, “I'm really curious, you made that huge tunnel with just vines, the trap, I mean. And then, did the mana discharge following that weird twister-like spell to kill it.”
“So?” Hans looked at him with questioning eyes, and Vanir finally stated what he was curious about, “Even a third circle would feel tired! hell, he would be losing his shit, but you are fine like you lost nothing. How?”
“I told you I’ve unli —”
“Don’t give me that crap.” Vanir shook his head. He was dead set on finding out and continued, “I thought we’d be more honest with each other now.”
“I’m telling you the truth, you untrustful idiot. You are the one not believing me.”
The silence ensued, and both entered a weird staring contest. Finally, Vanir broke the stare, “You were serious?”
“Of course, I am.”
“Those within the mage tower are dying to get more mana, and you have —”
“I’m special, didn’t I tell you?” Hans interrupted, acting smug, but it got ignored completely. Vanir was stressing his little mind, “Ah shit,” he grabbed his temples and continued, “When this becomes known, you will be hunted by those old mages.”
“That’s why you have to hurry, become stronger, Vanir. Mage Tower is the least of my worries now. Shit is about to go down, and the peace you know will be gone soon. I might not be the centre of it, but I’ll not be too far from it either.” Hans thought this might motivate Vanir more, and his lineage is far more attractive to the world than his possessing of unlimited mana. And just like that, they reached the safe area, aka, the SpaceDoor to Midlands. The staff in charge lost his marbles seeing the huge carcass dragged behind two juniors. She was a grade forty knight herself, working in this BeastZone and had few encounters with the great Mamba and had no choice but to flee. So from first-hand experience, she knew how strong this class three was, “you are telling me, a second-year hunted it. This ought to be a joke, right…”
“Hey…hey…Ms..” Hans almost shouted, but the staff snapped out of it and said with a polite smile, “We will process the corpse and send it to you. The transportation charge would be 1 credit.”
“No, thank you,” Hans gestured, startling her and continued, smirking, “I’ll bring it myself. Just send us to the Midlands.”
“You would earn more than 500 credits,” the woman clarified, asking, “Are you sure? you wanna handle the headache of taking it with you?”
“Yes, why would I hand over a credit If I can do it myself?”
“This is beyond misery, senior.” Vanir commented, but his words fell on deaf ears, and they dragged the Great Mamba into the SpaceDoor, “To Midlands,” he shouted, and the Spacedoor sent them back. “Darn this feeling,” Hans covered his mouth feeling nauseous, “At least it is somewhat bearable in short range.”
“Senior, can’t I just part here, everyone is staring at us like we are some sort of clowns,” Vanir commented, covering his face. He was scared of gazes that kept measuring him, so he was not even confident to lift his head. They had just stepped out of the SpaceDoors, and many people were staring at them like they were in some sort of exhibition. But his word choices somehow irked Hans, so he retorted, “Clowns! Are you out of your mind, Vanir?” Slapping his back, Hans ordered him, “Stand straight and look into their eyes, you have accomplished a feat that they could only dream about. Stand tall and tell them with your gaze, your arrogance must be shown on your face. Do not cower, you belong to me now. You don’t have that luxury.”
***
AnnouncementNEXT : MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
