"God, that smell!"
Ran looked around and found many different smells lingering and intermingling with others all over the site; all of which are products of the people here.
Yet one, putrid, and I mean literal garbage tier, smell completely was a world of its own. Not only was it so powerfully nasty, it never bothered to mix with other smells and even seems to outright reject them.
Now of course, smells aren't alive or anything like that, but the fact it was the only one that refused and chose to be its own thing was horrifying for Ran. Worse yet, not only did it refuse other smells, it even took the initiative to attack and completely wipe the others from existence.
Yet, it was so faint that everyone else's seem to mask this one smell, such that no one else noticed.
Worse yet, there was a source of it all. Of course, it was not from some person here on the site. But rather it was in the crater.
Ran did not know where in the crater, but he could most definitely guess. If this smell was a byproduct of soul juice, which would help corroborate its violent nature, and it came from somewhere in the crater, then it can only make sense if the crater was also a byproduct of soul juice or its usage.
And if that is, indeed, the case, then only one place would still have some traces of such a smell. The center, the point of contact.
Now what Ran couldn't figure out was whether it came from whoever was on the receiving end, or the attacker. Well, if the usage of soul juice wiped out all other traces of anything, then it stands to reason that the smell was whoever was still alive, i.e the attacker.
However, he didn't know if any of this information mattered, only that someone this powerful actually existed. Ran thought that maybe even the King would have some trouble making a crater this big, even if he went all out.
Yet, all of that information didnt stop the sickly green wind from assaulting his nose over and over again. No matter what, he definitely won't be able to forget this smell even if he wanted to.
So, he decided to do something about it. He took out some of his own juice. His was fairly intense as well, so it easily created a sort of barrier around Ran and only allowed him to smell, well… himself. That Sakura aroma was indeed magical as it stopped any advances from any other scents and even calmed Ran down some. It was also just pleasant to smell for extended periods of time and would ease the mind.
And it would seem Ran wasn't the only one enjoying it as Ann had immediately picked up its trail like a bloodhound and stood very close to Ran, sucking up that sweet, sweet, aroma. Ann's "strange" behavior didn't mind Ran as she could be as weird as him sometimes.
…
After what seemed like forever, at the stroke of twelve (PM), a small rumbling could be heard with some small quaking; which is weird since they're in the desert.
Then some dust started to pick up as well and in the distance, a small dust storm was marching resolutely towards the Kings army.
Many figures could be seen marching with the dust, and there were many. And I mean a lot.
Hmm, let me see.. one, two, ten, one thousand, ten thousand…
Over fifteen thousand!? Hey, since when did I ever put the protagonist in such a disadvantage? Actually, don't answer that.
Now, both sides took one side of the crater, facing opposite of each other. They looked at each other before they spoke to their own sides respectively.
Then, both sides rearranged their own armies, by strength specifically. After all, they don't want some strong boys to step on some ants by accident, right? Unless, they were one of those weird ones that like to step on pants, in that case….
The weakest ones were on the left and the strongest on the right. Then, it happened.
Howl!
A series of terrifyingly loud and ferocious howls rung out into the world. Thousands upon thousands of wolves and wolf people bared their fangs and went on a complete rampage; entering the crater at a swift pace, planning on an easy victory.
Let the six hour rumble, begin!
Of course, as the defenders, they wouldn't wait for them to come a knockin. They all immediately charged into the crater.
Every single person was running into the crater, well… all except one.
You see, because people of higher ranks will usually be faster than lower ones (with exceptions), every rank has a sort of reference point. Moreover, because of this, they're all in their own ranked groups because of their similar speed.
After only a second or two, the rank-5's were already duking it out at the center, kicking up all the dust from their movements. In fact, even without the dust, no one would be able to see the fights because of how fast they were.
Not even a rank-6 would be able to see the fight. All they could see, or rather hear, are the loud and powerful clashes between the fighters and the occasional flashes of colored lights. They seem to create their own craters as they fought with their devastating attacks.
Likewise, the rank-6 and 7 group commenced their fight after around ten seconds.
The rest took half a minute to begin.
Right, where was I? Ah, yes, and then there was one.
While Ran was already faster than most in his rank (eight), you see, he's a special fellow. So much so that he was immediately noticed by all the other fellows around him.
After all, everyone started at the same point. And as they ran down into the crater, a thump was heard as well as a maniacal laughter.
Ran tripped. That's right everyone, he fell, he tripped over himself and began rolling down the crater like a barrel. Hey, running downwards in sand is hard okay!?
And as for the laughter, it was Ann. Of course it was her! She was the only one here who knew him enough to predict for such a thing to happen and, of course, she found it funny.
Yet, that laughter ended very quickly. Why?
It's quite simple really, I don't know how you guys can't figure it out.
It was because she was shocked.
Why? Because he was Ran!
He wouldn't be embarrassed by tripping over his own two feet, no. Instead, he was a genius.
And through sheer will, he kept rolling. He rolled for his life!
And then it happened. He began speeding up. Ignoring the sand that entered various, forbidden, places which they shouldn't enter, he sped up and up; near the end, he ended up rolling right next to Ann and you know what?
Who said Ran wasn't arrogant? No, he was the very definition of it.
Seeing that smug smile and that cackle she calls a laugh, he decided to put up a show. Theatrics if you will. Well, it was more like a circus show because he followed the roll with a jump, completely surpassing Ann.
By now, pretty much everyone within twenty meter radius was watching this clown as they ran. Yes, they all ran normally, such as it should be; he was the only one.
Then, in midair, he kept the ball rolling. He did some odd flips and twirls and you know what? It was pretty cool. So cool in fact, Ann stopped her laughing and all of his peers were already questioning life.
Landing, he kept running at full speed, approaching a wolf that was looking at him with a strange look. It was the kind of look you give to someone who looked really stupid. Well, easy prey, it thought.
It ran at full speed, no less than Ran himself, and bared its fangs; ready to chew him right up!
Ran paid no mind to the thick red wind, including the sickening smell, all around him and summoned his sword. Soon they met.
The wolf (who was rank-8) jumped up and tried to gain a height advantage and hoped to end him with one chomp to the dome.
Ran also jumped and met the wolf head on. Well, not exactly head on you see. He had already seen its trajectory so he just shifted a bit to the right and what happened next was actually terrifying for the other wolves.
He had already shifted the sword to the right position.
Click.
The wolf's fang entered the sword's own teeth and the wolf immediately felt itself being tugged.
"Heave!" Ran shouted as he gripped his sword with both hands and dragged the wolf all the way with him as he landed.
He kept the momentum going; he did a little twirl and the wolf felt dizzy before it found itself free.
"Woof!" It woofed in happiness at its freedom before it realized something.
Why was it over thirty meters in the air!?
"Howl!" It howled in despair, struggling in the air with all its might before it fell with a loud thump. Its head was the first to come crashing down; its neck was subsequently broken by the impact and its life was ended.
"Ho." He exhaled.
But… what was actually surprising was its teeth! It could actually hold all of the wolves weight, they must have really good hygiene, he thought.
And Rans sword sucked up some of that sweet juice before he continued beckoning for more opponents.
The other wolves just looked at each other for a second before two of them growled and charged at Ran with more ferociousness than the first one.
And like that the entire crater was engulfed in all kinds of s**t.
Some people erected walls of earth, some created whips made out of water, and others breathed fire out their mouths like a f**king dragon!
Yet, there were also cases of people's heads getting sheared off by claws and skulls breaking from the brute force of a chomp. Other, less serious ones, would lose a limb or be crippled from some chomps or swipes.
Worst yet, this isn't the whole story.
Just like most completely sentient and intelligent species in this world, souls were most definitely a factor in a fight. And most importantly, soul juice.
And as the two wolves (also rank-8) bum rushed Ran, their speed suddenly doubled as a grey soul power surfaced from their bodies. It came out like the wolves themselves; proud and vital.
It coalesced around the mouth before a set of grey jaws with the same killer teeth appeared just in front of both of the wolves' faces. Of course, this was a product of their soul juice or their usage of it anyway.
They separated before they flanked Ran from both sides.
Then… a smirk was raised. After all, he was still wearing the hood of his all-white longline sweatshirt. God forbid if someone actually wears a color like black in this heat.
Wait… what's that over in the distance? Someones actually wearing black!? And they're completely covered by it!?
He gripped his sword with his left hand before calmly approaching the one on his left.
And seeing him approach, and with such pizzazz as well, the wolf was infuriated. He actually dared to approach me with such a calm stature?
Nonetheless, the wolf increased its speed again, traveling over ten meters in an instant before it opened its jaws wide; ready to taste that sweet human meat.
Well, that was until it found itself cross eyed. How did such a thing happen?
It's quite simple really, so simple in fact, this phrasing has already gotten old.
You see, as soon as the wolf closed the distance, before it could unleash its jaws on him, he had already crashed the sword on its dome. The wolf was surprised because a normal sword definitely wouldn't have been able to break through its soul jaws and when it tried to bite the sword, the jaws just deformed before disappearing! That was also why it didn't dodge. It was too prideful of its own power, failing to see God standing before it and died as a punishment.
Using one hand for leverage, the sword firmly lodged itself in between the wolf's eyebrows. It was too strong of a strike, in fact, that the skull was completely crushed and sunk in. And that, my friends, is why it thought it went cross eyed. Though it was already dead beforehand, so it's just me trying to entertain you with a strange analysis of a fight that only lasted a couple seconds.
Oh, and also, because of its innate ability to suck, the soul jaw was completely useless and was absorbed by the sword. The first two sucks are definitely not enough to activate its special ability, however, and it will take quite a bit more energy to make it happen.
Yet, after calmly swinging the sword into the wolf and killing it, the other wolf had already reached his side. He saw this and tried to get his sword out, only to find it stuck! Chomping, both jaws firmly sunk into his side for double damage! A sloppy grin was formed. It thought it had already won!
A frown was formed. He opened his palm and white-pink runes began projecting itself into the world, forming an intricate sigil, his sigil. But it didn't end there, no.
Within an instant, a ball made of threads formed on his palm like it had already existed. He had already been prepared for this wolf, but did not expect for his sword to be so attached to the wolf's head.
But, then, the ball of threads went up in white-pink flames before disappearing entirely. It then promptly appeared within the wolf's head.
All of this, from the activation of the sigil to the disappearance of the ball, happened within a single second and with the wolf having already proclaimed victory, it's guard was down and ripe for exploitation.
"Good doggie." Ran petted the wolf's head softly as he smiled warmly at it.
The ball of threads had, by that point, unfurled itself and wrapped tens of threads around its brain. The wolf, having its brain squeezed, went completely haywire and ferociously ripped a chunk of his flesh before stumbling onto the floor, seizing.
But this only lasted for a second as while the brain was suffering, the soul wasn't. Or rather, its soul juice. Just like the wolf army, grey juice surged within the wolf's body before marching savagely towards the attacker! Success! The juice surrounded the threads like a pack of rabid wolves, thoroughly shredding any foreign juice present in the body.
However, there was one itsy bitsy problem. It had taken up all of its concentration! That's right folks and that's why you train the damn thing!
By the time it had recovered, its head was already laying on the sandy… sand.
Ran found this easier. It required more precision to aim for the neck and cut the head off in one fell swoop, but his chisel-edged sword was surprisingly good at it. Though its tendency to curve was meh. It was still better than having to take it out of a crushed skull however.
And while practicing yesterday, he realized something, something which was pointed out by his "mentor" of all people. Usually, he would throw his juice around, like he did when he fought the scum, but he hadn't even realized that what he was doing was just so inefficient.
If he can teleport attacks and the attacks are made of some type of energy, why couldn't he do the same with his own energy?
That was the whole purpose of his barrier after all! The transparent pink barrier had a radius of over fifty feet (over fifteen meters) with him at the center and he can control anything in it. Thus, he found that he can just transfer his own energy inside of another person within his barrier as a sort of surprise attack. Yet, he didn't even see the strangeness in that logic.
Though, if the enemy was prepared or knew about his style beforehand, then it would be really difficult to get anything out of it other than acting as a momentary distraction. But in this situation, it was enough.
And like that, his first two battles ended. He looked around and found everyone fighting for their lives. Ann was a ways from him, but still easily within sight. And what he saw was just… no comment.
She was brutal indeed.
And while watching some wolves become terrified of him and others beginning to team up and kill him, he felt as if he forgot something.
He looked down and found some white cloth as well as some bloodied flesh on the sand. He frowned. It was a big frown this time.
"Hmm." He took his own flesh before throwing it to the wolves approaching him, who ate it eagerly by the way, and picked up the ragged cloth.
"Damn it!" He gnashed his teeth in anger before stashing the bloodied cloth in his pendant. Yet, after he stashed it, his eyes lit up as he got an idea, though it would have to wait.
His side sparked with a white-pink flame as four wisps of blood wind flowed into his nostril.
He watched as the four wolves savagely ran towards him in a frenzy.