All posts by ShinJae

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #17

AD7, Royal, and Oyintsa walked deeper into the populated areas of Bosstown.  As they approached city center, things became cleaner and more organized.  People walked the streets going here and there.  They were polite and seemed to want the visitors to stay as long as they needed but were also occupied with business.  They were not looking for handouts.

The hope was clear.  They knew that the city could be something again.  They had the will power to rebuild and defend.  As they walked by the broken abandoned buildings, functioning shops started appearing.  They had little to offer, but the best goods were displayed to draw travelers in.

AD7 had calmed down a bit and was taking things relatively well.  There were a few little but definite bits she remembered about her city.  Though her thoughts were so very outdated, she designed and built most of it with immense care.  After a while, she was able to take the lead as they walked.  She walked with purpose.  Her pace suggested that she knew where she was going, most of the time.

She guided the others through the city square.  There was still so much of the city she didn’t recognize, but that was understandable.  Every now and then she would pause with a puzzled look, still a little unsure of where she was going.

“Where’re we going,” Royal asked first.  She knew Oyintsa wanted to ask the question as well.

“This is the path I always take through the city,” AD7 answered, “or took.”  She questioned the reality of it all.  Almost fifty years of change happened in an instant for her.  She was half hoping that all this would be revealed as a cruel joke.  The city was the same but … not.  Every time she turned the corner she wished things would be the way they were but; no.  The world is the way it is now.

Royal and Oyintsa continued following AD7’s path.  They had no idea where AD7 usually went when she came into town.  They only knew that they were walking closer and closer to the Mech Fortress.  Oyintsa in particular didn’t like this, but all reports said that there was nothing dangerous coming from the fortress these days.  Besides, they had nothing better to do.  Tirzah was also clear that she wanted them to help AD7 reclaim her life any way they could.

By now they had walked through the city square and the ruined buildings became more prominent again.  All the same, AD7’s pace increased.  She recognized all the buildings.  They were run down, but everything was run down these days.  She turned to a lot and stopped.

They were all confused but none more than AD7.  The lot was empty.  Only this lot was empty.  There were small buildings all around, but the small building that would have filled this lot was not there.  The lot was cleared and clean.  Only the foundation remained.  A concrete wall on the far side revealed just how large the lot was.

On the wall there was a poster with bounty.  Apparently, families of rats moved into the area some time ago and were causing trouble.  Oyintsa was excited about it, he liked to hunt, but they had little time to stay in this city.

“Well, um,” AD7 said a little embarrassed and still confused, “that was fun.”

“Yeah,” Royal chimed in.  She turned around from the vacant lot, trying to help AD7 save face.  This had to be very embarrassing for her.  “Is anyone hungry,” she asked.  Strangely, there was a relatively large noodle and sandwich restaurant right behind them.  Its signs boasted “The best noodles and subs in Bosstown for the last forty seven years.”

“Yes,” AD7 said still thinking.

“Sure,” Oyintsa said as well.

#1 – Awakening #16 – Awakening #18

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #16

Jaquan sat with Justice at the bar in his celebrity cabin.  They talked extensively about the upcoming tournament.  From what Justice was saying, these fights were going to be particularly difficult.  As such, Jaquan wanted to know everything.  Every now and again, he even caught himself fidgeting in his stool.  Was he actually nervous about this?

The Great Champion Jaquan Zu had not been nervous about a challenge for the longest time.  Of course, he never thought that he could lose for the longest time either.  If Justice and Neely were correct, these fights had “next level” written all over them.  This tournament would challenge him to become the best, the very best in the entire world.  Any and all of his past experiences could be called on to do well in the next few months.

Liana was in the cabin, but was too busy to pay attention to them.  She had promised Neely mech armor and was across the room building it now.  It was not nearly as advanced as her suit, but it would aid him greatly in combat.

Neely sat with them.  He was listening in though he didn’t say much.  He hardly engaged in small talk with anyone except Catlin.  He was slightly distant from the topic.  He would not do any fighting in the tournament.  However, he would help Jaquan any way that he could.

Catlin was still in the shuttle working on Brisa.  With her talent sets, she found Brisa immediately.  After that, her disguising enchantments and disarmingly cheerful and charming personality would get all the information they needed.  They needed to know the better details of Brisa’s mission.

There was still a great chance that Brisa was unable to help them or simply would not help them.  Brisa may not forgive them for scaring the life out of her.  If there was any chance of her helping them, they needed Catlin to pull through.

Whether or not Jaquan got news coverage on his travels, he needed to know more about his challengers.  “Why would these fighters be any different than the contenders I beat already,” Jaquan asked.  For the longest time he thought his championship was proof that he was already the greatest in the world.  For the last few days, Justice and Neely have suggested a different story.

“These fighters don’t care about money or titles,” Justice said with all certainty, “they just want to be the best they can be.  In your championship fights, a fighter has to be willing to give up a lot of gold for a chance at your title.”

The corrupt gold factory behind the scenes of his championship title was nothing new.  Technically, any fighter with a good enough record was in the queue to face the champion.  However, it always seemed that the ones willing and able to dish out extra gold were moved to the front of the queue.  The promoters, managers, and venues all loved getting paid, the firestorm of angry calls after he left for West Drop told him that much.

Thinking back, Jaquan didn’t want to say anything about the corruption.  He got a small cut and he knew that he would eventually fight all the contenders eventually.  His only objection was that his championship fights became formulaic.  Often times, the fighter with the most money had less than the greatest skill.  After a while, the fights became just plain easy.  Until now, he just thought it meant that he was that good.  This new tournament promised to be full of skilled fighters.  They only wanted to improve and were hungry to be the greatest.  The concept of joining the fray gave him stomach jitters.

Jaquan remembered when he followed the simple path.  Defending the championship became a simple matter of playing against a single fighter’s weakness.  In tournaments like this, that was never enough.  There was no way to prepare for thousands of different possible talent set combinations and the dozens of strategies involved with each one.  Enchants and gear choices added an additional layer of randomness to the fights.

To excel and compete, each fighter had to simply become the best they could.  Studying your next challenge was always advised, but each fighter always had several different styles and at least one trick.

He was excited about this.  The prefight chills told him so.  No doubt, there would be some new and interesting strategies.  The fighters were always looking for a way to take step up the ladder.

Jaquan had a lot of researching to do.

#1 – Opportunity #15 – Opportunity #17

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #12

Being a Thermal Master, it took little time for Teal to get the fires started.  The bakery warmed up quickly, but Manna knew not to get too used to the heat.  Everyone in the back had their part to play.  Only Manna and Teal had energy skills but they were most likely hired because of their abilities.

Manna took a look at the three balls of dough and chose one at random.  They all would be used for something soon.  It didn’t matter which one was first.  It was the one to his left today.  The other two were pushed to the right.

Flour stored beneath the counter was spread everywhere to prepare the first victim of the rolling assault.  Manna lifted his hands and concentrated a little.  At his mental command, two rolling pins flew from the rack across the bakery.  Just as they reached his hands, they stopped.

They hovered in midair waiting for his next command.  His magnetism skills did not allow him to manipulate wood.  However, there was just enough steel in the core of the rolling pins for him to move them easily.  While they hovered in the air, Manna spread additional flour onto them.

Teal returned from the fire pit below the bakery.  He used his thermal energy skills to keep more of the heat in the oven.  Before long, the bakery would cool down as Teal “borrowed” heat from the bakery and “gave” it to the oven.  Even still, it would take some time for him to adjust the oven temperature to the perfect setting.  Manna had just enough time to get the dough ready.

It had already been separated into even smaller portions and flattened thoroughly.  Manna’s hands moved commanding both rolling pins to press and roll the dough faster and harder than any Crisho could with pure muscle strength.  In no time it was spread to the edges of the counter flattened to just the right amount.

Pilar had already prepared the cinnamon mixture for the folds.  It sat on a table at the far side of the counter.  She stood waiting holding six hand sized circular dough cutters.  As Manna set the rolling pins down, Pilar tossed the dough cutters at him.  She tried to surprise him with them differently each time.

Just as Manna turned his head, he saw them and stopped them in the air.  “And I thought the cinnamon rolls were nuts,” he said jokingly.  Pilar said nothing though she stuck out her tongue.

The dough cutters were a lot easier to handle than the rolling pins.  They were completely made of steel and obeyed his commands even without his hand motions.  The circular cutters moved just as he wanted.  Soon the leftover dough was lifted revealing a large counter filled with thin circles of dough.

Surprisingly, Pilar moved just as fast as Manna did.  Seeing her work was much like watching a film at double speed.  In no time, the cinnamon mixture was spread onto the circular cuts of dough.  They were then stacked into three layers and folded into their traditional star shape.  Now ready for the oven, they moved onto the next ball of dough.

——

Spear Mint Academy: Stream Quarter Training Center

Metcalf left the shooting range in slight frustration.  Isabaeu was very kind and perhaps a new friend.  However, the contest was far too easy.  Isabaeu tried to put up a good fight.  It seemed they gave a lot of Academy Points for classroom practice as well as application.

Metcalf was not at all upset at Isabaeu.  She was upset at herself for not believing enough to take the big risk.  She had to admit, she may have done the same thing five times in a row given the same circumstances.

All that was in the past, Metcalf got her points.  She was almost to a safe student ranking where she could leave the training center and let everything slide for the rest of the day.  She needed about two or three good scores and she would be done.

Scanning the faces, she saw a new face that looked very familiar.  This one was beaming with inexperience he even lacked the basic armor.  Then it hit her, “Is that,” she started asking herself a question but thought it easier to check on her handheld.  She focused the holographic image to the bottom of the student rankings.  She was right.

It was Lance.

#1 – Lost and Found #11 – Lost and Found #13