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Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #23

The lady kept tugging at Brisa’s arm.  Her pleading and crying took Brisa completely off guard.  Brisa had no intention of being drawn directly into a conflict right after getting to town.  She had her own mission, but the panicking woman seemed genuine if not a little pushy.

These people had to be important to this lady.  They obviously needed crucial help.  The lady was filled with such urgency.  She kept pulling and pleading.  Brisa couldn’t help but take a few steps to go with her.  Soon they started walking faster.  Eventually, Brisa was running with her into the city.

Brisa had no idea where they were going.  They kept turning and running through alleys.  It became hard to remember where they had been.  Before long, they had gone deep into the city.

Whoever was causing the problems was going to pay.  Brisa wasn’t really a fighter but she had her weapons.  Thanks to Catlin, she was armed to the teeth.  Brisa had a real chance to be a hero.  All it really took was a few good shots to stop an aggressor.  She checked her gun clips.  They were enchanted with aim.  They would not miss.  She would have to thank Catlin, whenever she decided to talk to Catlin again.

They stopped their sprint as they looked down the final alley.  “Here it is,” the lady said, “they’re right down here,” and she took off running down the alley.

That was all the encouragement Brisa needed to follow.  She started a sprint forward.  After one step she stopped.

A brick wall of thoughts hit while a needle of wisdom pricked her head, as a warning.  Something about this whole situation was very, very wrong.  Brisa couldn’t place what it was, but it was most certainly there.  There was something bad, really bad and hazardous about all of this.

After the lady disappeared down the corner, her mind filled with questions.  Why would this lady call to only her for help?  There had to be more strong fighters leaving the shuttle.  Sure, Brisa looked like a warrior too.  However, there had to be at least one real warrior that left the shuttle before her.

Why didn’t the lady call for the local guards?  This city was a much more peaceful than Brisa imagined.  There had to be some really strong guards to keep the peace in this city full of powerful lawless warriors.

Why didn’t the lady get help from local warriors?  They had passed dozens of scary looking people on the way here.  How many warriors did this lady pass on the way to the shuttle pad?  Surely someone else in this town would like a reward for killing an aggressor; or a sucker.

A sucker?

Brisa drew her guns.  The action was somewhat slow and a little sloppy but she focused as she aimed down the alley.  She listened, there were no struggles down the alley; no fighting; the lady had stopped crying.  There weren’t even any shots fired.  No sounds at all.

Why were these questions only coming to mind now?  The lady had just run down the alley.  The answer hit her immediately.  A charm!  Brisa had been fooled by an enchantment again!  There had to be something about her that made her a target.

Brisa quickly looked around.  She wasn’t going to be a sucker, not again.  With her luck, it could be too late already.  She was already lost in the city.  All Brisa wanted to do was see the sights and maybe learn something about the people here.  Well, she succeeded.  However, getting mugged and possibly harmed in this city was not in any part of her plans.

She holstered her guns and walked briskly away from the alley.  Good, bad, or worse, whatever was happening down that alley had nothing to do with her.  Brisa didn’t mind keeping it that way.

A few blocks down, she passed a series of shops.  In the large clean window, she saw her reflection.  The enchantment on top of her mask was glowing.  She only knew the meanings of a few Hanja.  This one was the Hanja for the perception enchant.  “Perception,” Brisa said to herself, “interesting.”

She would really have to thank Catlin; whenever she decided to talk to Catlin again.

#1 – Opportunity #22 – Opportunity #24

Sons of Sword: Tales of Glory – Lost and Found #19

They spread out around him blocking any chance of escape.  Dangerous ruffians, all six of them had a practiced look of gruff.  They were probably sent from one of the organized crime lords in this area.  They started toying with their weapons, hitting their hands lightly.  Were they trying to intimidate him?

Manna was already near the wall but he didn’t back up.  He felt no need to hide or run from these creeps.  He had put on his gloves while he waited for them to enter the alley.  He wore them now; red gloves, the exact color of rust.  If the confrontation went the way he thought it would, he would need them.

“We have a message from Bluegill,” the one in the front said.

“Bluegill,” Manna asked, “I paid him off; long time ago.”

The goon shook his head.  “This message is for your friend, Guy,” he said smiling.  The other goons started grinning.  Some of them chuckled a bit and stepped forward when Guy’s name was mentioned.

“I don’t expect to see him for a while,” Manna said scanning their faces.  It looked as though they were trying to threaten him.  He hoped things would escalate.  It would be nice to cut lose after all this time.  Of course, to keep his disguise, he would have to wait for them.  He would also have to look worried, he succeeded.  “I’ll give him the message when I see him though.”

“Tell him ‘Bluegill wants his money,'” the goon continued as he stepped forward.

This was entertaining.  Manna’s disguise fooled all kinds of people.  With his white robe and peaceful gestures, he tried his best to look and behave as a Green Child.  This act usually brought out the best in others.  Occasionally, people tried to take advantage of him.

Green Children abhor violence of any kind.  They don’t even partake in the fruits of violence.  This influenced what he ate, what he wore, and even the job he chose.  In the event of violence, a Green Child would rather be hurt or run than cause harm to others.

But of course, it was just a disguise.

These goons obviously didn’t know anything real about Manna.  If they did, they would have much more respect.  They all stepped forward while toying with their weapons still.

Manna was already near the wall.  With the wind blowing, none of the goons saw the slight movements under Manna’s cloak.  The movements continued up his sleeves without their knowledge.

“We want to make sure you remember to give him the message,” he said stepping forward.

The three goons to Manna’s right took this as an invitation to start.  They rushed in on Manna preparing to strike with their clubs.

#1 – Lost and Found #18

Champions of Battle: AD7 – Awakening #23

The massive ratcoon ferociously raked and slashed at Oyintsa; and he kept on provoking it.  With its sheer size, its paws were easily as large as Oyintsa’s torso.  Oyintsa had long since fell over.  With one strong swipe from the ratcoon, it flung Oyintsa into the air headed deeper into the weeds.  He rolled into the brush some distance away before he could gain his bearings.

The ratcoon followed him.  It knew he wasn’t dead.  A few seconds, and the beast was on top of him again.  Biting, scratching, pouncing, it did whatever it could to beat Oyintsa.  As a response, Oyintsa put his hands in a practiced defensive posture to absorb the ratcoon’s attacks.

His thick plated armor protected him from the onslaught.  It was enchanted armor.  Over the years, enchanters and armor-smiths perfected methods of making armors like his; Sanity’s armor-smiths and enchanters were the best.  It was metal when he needed it to be and cloth at other times.  It also had a few surprises.

Occasionally, he could predict where the beast’s paw would land.  In those places, he produced small sharp spikes on his armor.  Upon attacking him, the beast would impale itself.  Instead of causing fear, the pain only made the beast angrier.  It tackled him again trying to cause whatever kind of damage it could.

Royal rejoined the battle following the loud blasts of Oyintsa’s combat shotguns.  Even in his odd position, he found ways to target and shoot the beast with the large barrels and unique ammunition.  Instead of metal pellets, Oyintsa used odd shaped scraps and needles as shot.  As a result his powerful blasts caused the beast enough pain to stay focused on him.  The ratcoon tried to finish him while Royal caused quite a bit of damage to its hind legs.

AD7 couldn’t see a thing!  She knew a lot was happening though.  She wanted to join in the battle as well.  She remembered having great advantages and being nearly invincible in combat.  She also remembered having complete knowledge of things in a battle, even things she couldn’t see directly.  These weeds were frustrating!

Instinctively, she started swinging the bags around.  If anything came out of the weeds, she would throw their weight at them.  She paused to think, then face-palmed realizing she was only holding bags of sandwiches.

Before long the beast was trying to crush Oyintsa.  It was putting all of its weight on him and jumping.  It yelped again as it pounced directly onto a barbed spike.

Royal’s jumping Hanja had faded back to black; it was usable again.  She used this perfect opportunity to cause fight ending damage.  She leapt at the ratcoon.  She took as much thermal power out of her frost blade and put it into her flame blade.

She landed on the ratcoon with a downward stab directly into its left hind leg.  The ratcoon howled as her burning blade sunk to the hilt.  She immediately withdrew it with a jump off of the beast.  The fire was extinguished badly burning target.

The fire blade was used.  However, with almost no thermal energy in it, her frost blade was most dangerous now.  Royal used the dash enchant on her other leg to rush the beast while it was still reeling from her first attack.  Less than a second after landing, Royal dashed through the weeds and slashed the inside of the beast’s other leg.

The blade was colder than ice.  As she cut, the beast’s blood froze.  The frozen slash was deep but the frozen wound didn’t bleed right away.  It sure did hurt though.

Still growling and swiping, the large ratcoon still had the will to fight but lacked the ability to move.  It was bleeding quite a bit from the horrible wounds.  It could no longer keep up with them or move without great pain.  Soon it realized that it could no longer fight.  So, it used its front legs as best it could to crawl back to its den.

Royal and Oyintsa seeing the battle was finished decided not to press the attack any further.  On the contrary, Royal performed several of her most powerful delayed heals on the beast as it retreated.  Their goal was not to hunt a ratcoon, only to travel safely.

By the time the travelers would get back to their ship, the damage they caused the ratcoon would be healed.  Unfortunately, this ratcoon would have very defining scars for a lifetime.  It was already showing signs of improved movement as it got up and limped slowly away.

It took a few minutes for them to get back on the path Oyintsa created earlier.  They signaled AD7 to follow and they all headed back to the ship.  “Well,” Oyintsa started.  He sounded normal though he was covered in the beast’s blood, “Now we know why the rats moved to town.”

The ladies nodded in agreement.

“The ship’s not far.  Best get going.”

#1 – Awakening #22 –Awakening #24