Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and appearance+ Monster Sources)
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pat.treon:/Keanu_Eugene
CHAPTER START---
"You ok man?" Welf asks, seeing Yang with a stone mask for a face as they exit the meeting room.
"Mhm," Yang hums, taking slow steps forward as they begin their journey through the fortress.
Walking a step behind his friend Welf sees the rigid posture and predator-like motions, traits completely alien to Yang. The ever carefree man he'd become friends with wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Rounding the corner, a squad of Adrestria's soldiers. Men and women in standard steel plate armor with swords and spears that could be bought at any large city...at least that's what Welf thought he saw.
It was difficult to get a good look even with his level five eyesight.
One moment he rounded the corner behind Yang to see a glimpse of armor and weapons, the next his hand moved to his back to draw Mosoka.
And before he could even grip the hilt, spikes of ice shot down the hallway. Stone walls and floor flash from grey to white with a coat of frost.
Flesh and steel scattered down the hallway riddled with holes, skidding all the way to the far wall.
Nine dead, and Yang silently keeps walking.
Drawing his sword Welf speeds up to fall into step beside his friend. A newfound sense of respect and terror at the sheer power at the fingertips of The Elementalist. Now more grateful than ever before that this power was at the whims of someone who prefers to live a simple enjoyable life studying animals and reading books rather than an ambitious conqueror like Ares.
A weapon in the hands of someone who didn't want to use it was always better than the hands of a man eager to turn it on people.
Another group of soldiers comes rushing toward them, likely drawn in by the pained howls and groans of Yang's latest victims and armor clattering against stone.
Pointing a finger forward he fires a stream of purple lighting, electrocuting and frying all the soldiers in their armor. Muffled groans and grunts are all they can produce as their muscles instantly seize up. Swords and spears clatter to the floor, quickly followed by their owners.
More people made corpses.
And Yang's face shows no emotion.
'Close your heart to the enemy, feel nothing for them...if you feel, you show weakness, you die,' Thalie's words echo in the back of his mind. Lessons she beat into him for months.
"You ok, you aren't the type to kill people, right?" Welf asks hesitantly as they continue walking down the hallways.
Yang stops, closing his eyes for a moment he looks over to Welf and meets his nervous gaze.
"I don't kill people, these aren't people, they're monsters. Adventurers kill monsters," he says lifelessly before continuing down the hallways.
Following the sound of steel clashing with steel, Welf and Yang find themselves at one of the training fields.
Seeing three dozen people in near-death duels. Their movements were sluggish as if they were swimming through molasses. To the eyes of this level seven and level five duo, these level ones and twos were like children waving sticks around.
"We should split up to cover more ground, we'll bring all the kids we find to this training field before we make a final sweep," Welf suggests as he points Mosoka forward.
"Mhm, I'll check the upper floors you check the dungeons," Yang says as he turns to walk away.
A cone of fire spreads out from Mosoka and incinerates the field, flesh and armor superheated, becoming one with the molten stone floor as anguished cries are barely heard over the roaring inferno.
Ignoring the flames and walking down the hallways to find the stairs, Yang stops as he feels something unlike ever before.
"What the fuck!" Welf cries out as he looks toward Yang.
Both men stare at each other in confusion before they share a singular thought.
"We need to hurry," Yang says as they quicken their rush off in separate directions.
That feeling, unlike anything most adventurers would ever experience. Something most gods don't even know was possible.
The feeling of something pulling at their Falna, pulling at the pure Arcanum contained within. It tugged at their power but couldn't keep hold, perhaps if they were level one it could have gone unnoticed, but this feeling tried to draw out too much, and they both knew exactly what it was...
---Minutes earlier...
"Do you really plan to stay with those children...they seem a little, soft," Adrestria says as she and Thalie walk toward the Trial Arena.
"They're my friends. And they aren't 'soft', they're normal," she replies.
"People like that is why I was so against the whole Falna system," she rolls her eyes at the memory of the gods deciding it. "I wanted to lock everyone at level two, that way they'd be forced to actually use their heads and develop new skills...rather than just becoming strong enough to flail their arms about and destroy buildings with sloppy untrained strikes. It's an insult to the art of combat. No skill just 'my numbers are bigger than yours', disgusting."
"There wouldn't be many people left if you got your way," Thalie points out.
"Exactly, but the few that rose to the top would have been glorious warriors that I could be proud of...instead I'm left with people like you and a world full of disappointments I'm trying to comb through and make something with," she shakes her head at the thought.
"Maybe you should have done like the other gods and turned to alcohol, gambling, and whores to fix your boredom," Thalie suggests.
"Please...as if that's what this is about. The throne for the domain of war is up for grabs in heaven. Only a select few of us actually cared enough to take one of the spears or even attend Athena's meeting, you'd think the chief war god since the very beginning putting her title on the line would draw some eyes, but only a few of us cared. And only I kept trying enough to persist for these centuries," Adrestria explains.
"You killed tens of thousands for a title!"
"A title, and an entire section of heaven under my control. Why do you think the other creation gods look up to Hephaestus, she controls the domain of craftsmanship and creation. I want that kind of power too, it's about time someone knocked Athena off her high horse, now I just need you three to die out so I can get back to it."
"The only way to get rid of you...is to let you win that contest..."
"Exactly, but don't worry... you may hate me with all your being, but I don't hold grudges with ants that bite me," Adrestria says condescendingly as they enter a sealed-off courtyard.
In the middle of the courtyard was a raised square arena. Ten feet above the ground made of whitestone bricks. The top of the arena was chipped and slashed from battles of the past.
Standing at the stairs to the top of the arena were three people. One pale-skinned man with blonde hair, wielding a pair of green knives, he stood at 5ft10 inches, same as Welf, four inches shorter than Thalie.
To his left was an amazon woman with a greatsword, matching Thalie's height with scars all across her face, the tip of her nose was missing, likely cut off at some point.
Finally to the left of the amazon was Terk, the stout dwarf was wielding a great hammer over his shoulder sporting a mean look, his features not showing any signs of injuries but his body was completely muscle.
Nobody in this courtyard wore any armor, only simple cloth combat attire. This is the tradition set to begin this trial, no exceptions would be made by Adrestria.
"Who do you want first?" Adrestria asks Thalie.
"Doesn't matter, just get the spear," the woman says. Taking Liberty with her she leaps onto the arena, standing in the middle of the plateau and waiting for her first challenger.
Walking onto the stage with the Champion's Spear in her hands. A simple metal spear with a gold tip and red marking all across the shaft, nothing that would stand out in Hephaestus's top-shelf.
The pale-skinned man was behind Adrestria wielding his pair of green knives.
"Anyone who is in the ring when the challenge begins is trapped until only one person remains, now hurry up and get this over with, I've more disappointments to get to," Adrestria says as she stabs the spear into the ground and begins walking away.
The simple gold spear begins glowing faintly, as she steps far enough away a ring of golden light forms around it before ascending thirty feet and being sealed at the top, this was a cage match. Large enough for a proper fight with twenty feet from edge to edge, but what was truly amazing was the effect on those within.
Thalie stumbled back, feeling her Falna attacked and invaded. Her vision becomes worse as do all her senses, suddenly feeling weaker than before. She shakes her head to get the vertigo away, as a trained warrior she quickly adapts.
As she raises her spear to the man standing in front of her he takes his stance as well, both knives ready for action.
Contrary to her he's never felt more powerful, the sudden rush of her stats adding to his as the spear siphons the pure Arcanum buried deep within her Falna and adds to his...adds until they were completely even.
No magic.
No skills.
Completely equal stats.
No running or getting help.
The War God's Trial...
"Rahh!" the man rockets forward, in a mad dash he throws one of his knives at Thalie's chest.
She easily dodges it while giving him a confused look, now quite sure what he was doing.
The clink of metal against stone is heard as it bounces off the wall of light and falls to the floor behind her.
Shaking her head she takes a step forward and swings liberty. To his credit, the man performs a perfect duck evasion. Leaning forward to continue moving forward and closing the gap between them.
Only Thalie didn't follow through with the swing, with the perfect control she achieved through a lifetime of training she stopped her momentum and thrusts the spear forward as he was resetting his posture, impaling him in the leg.
Jumping to the left she gives him a wide birth to roll helplessly across the stone floor.
Without a second delay she's already sprinting toward him, he rolls over and throws his remaining knife, she barely avoids a serious wound as it scratches her cheek, drops of blood now flowing down her face as she thrusts liberty into his skull.
"Hmm," she stands up and looks to the edge of the golden ring, seeing Adrestria looking unimpressed with Terk at her side just as bored. "Really? And I'm the disappointment when you let people like that hold rank?" Thalie says as she kicks the man off the arena, the golden spear now reforming in the ring as the walls already dropped.
The two green knives remain in the arena, however, not that anyone spares them a glance.
"Don't get cocky because you killed a pawn, they always go first," Adrestria says as she walks over to the middle of the arena and picks up the spear.
As the tall amazon woman stands opposite her in a deadly staredown Adrestria begins the ritual once more. And again the ring forms, and again Thalie feels drained before she fights.
As the ritual begins for the second round, Yang is on the top floor of the fortress clearing out the 'monsters'.
"Get to the main training field now," he orders some small children, they were barely five years old. Two girls with golden hair and tan skin.
They immediately saw the corpses stuck in the wall from Yang's handiwork, nothing new to them aside from the sheer power this feat must have needed.
As he crouches down and touches the floor, he sends out his earth magic to use his Tremor Sense, he doesn't feel any new movement on this floor, it was clear.
As he begins making his way toward the stairs to check the other floor, another wave of that strange feeling tugs at him.
Deciding it was time to check on Thalie he turns to the window beside him and jumps through it. Shattering the stone wall as he makes a hole where the tiny window was, using his Air magic to fly up to the roof and get a good look at what was going on.
With a lock of horror on his face, he descends to the bloody arena.
If only he arrived seconds earlier...
When the final match began, Terk cracked his neck and readied his hammer. The amazon faired better than the first man, but ultimately she couldn't stop Thalie.
The warrior of The Trifecta was now sporting a gash across her arm and belly as well as a broken nose. But the amazon was out of the arena in two halves, bisected by her own blade.
"You won't get past me, Citra," Terk goads her on with a mocking grin.
"You'll become the dirt I walk on," Thalie says as they both rush forward.
In a mad show of skill spear and hammer clash over and over. Both their arms begin going numb from all the force they were putting into these blows.
Eventually Terk gets a proper hit in, no slouch himself even when compared to Thalie, proven when he slams his hammer into her ribs.
The telltale sound of bones cracking is heard as she gets ragdolled across the floor, Liberty comes loose from her grip.
As the spear rolls across the floor the man rushes her, coming down with a heavy strike, she scampers back, barely avoiding having her skull caved in.
Kicking toward his shins she brings him to the ground, getting into his personal space so he can't use his cumbersome weapons.
In a show of stubbornness, they both lay into each other, blows to the face like never before.
As they roll across the ground, however, Thalie's awareness slips for a moment. She'd not been keeping track of her surrounding as well as she usually would. Focusing on fighting with her Falna gimped was already so much to deal with, fighting when her body feels so unnatural.
They eventually rolled over to where the first commander's knives were, Terk had almost expected this. Grabbing one of the green blades in a reverse grip he manages to swing it at her belly.
Being on top of the dwarf while punching down at his face Thalie feels the deep burning pain in her midsection. She instinctively kicks off from him and desperately tries to make some space.
As the man gets up with a smile on his face, she only has panic on hers. Looking down at her guts falling into her right hand as she picks Liberty up with her left. Feeling and seeing her warm blood pouring out onto the stone floor as her strength wains.
"You're...not...bad," Terk says breathlessly. She turns around to see him retrieve his great hammer and hoist it on his shoulder.
Narrowing her eyes at him, not bothering to speak to a dead man she trudges toward him. Still holding her guts and her spear as she tries to press her innards where they were meant to be.
Gritting her teeth she tastes iron in her mouth, raising her spear for one last clash.
Seeing her courage and desperation, Terk gives in, walking forward not six feet away from her as he puts both hands on his weapon handle.
As if they had an unspoken agreement, both warriors move at once.
Terk moves to swing at the side of her head, but Thalie doesn't use Liberty.
She moves the hand holding her guts in and flings her blood at his face, hitting him right in the eyes and blinding him for a moment.
She barely steps back enough as the hammer passes in front of her face, close enough for her to pucker her lips and kiss it if she wanted to.
As he's thrown off by the blood she steps forward to where she was a moment ago and thrusts forward.
"Argh!" he cries out, Liberty pierced his heart.
As his hammer hits the ground, cracking the stone. He doesn't let go, instead forcing his eyes open to look at her. Looking down for a moment to see her guts coming out then back to her quickly paling face.
As she's about to withdraw her spear, he leans forward more, grabbing her weak hand that was holding the shaft with all his might, giving her the most determined look he can.
"RRAAAGGGHH!!!" he cries out with all his strength.
Holding the weakened and dying woman he swings his great hammer with one hand, she leans back to avoid taking the blow to the side of her skull.
But it hits her mouth.
Her lower jaw is torn clean off, the bone shatters, joints break, and skin tears as it clatters to the floor.
He falls on his back, dead with all his strength and will spent as she crumples to her knees.
As Liberty rolls aside she raises a hand to feel her tongue, now almost hanging directly out the top of her throat as she bleeds to death.
The ring drops and the next thing she knew she could barely keep her eyes open as Adrestria saunters over with the spear.
She stabs it into the ground in front of Thalie after rolling the man's body to the side, standing in front of the woman and looking down at her as one would expect from a war god.
"Well, hold onto it. Just get it over with then you may die," Adrestria says dismissively.
Thalie's head sways a bit as she struggles to breathe, reaching forward she wraps her hand around the shaft of the spear.
And nothing happens.
Her mind cries out, all this work. All the suffering and pain, for nothing.
Exactly as Adrestria said, she failed, and now she should just die.
"Exactly as I said, you're worthless. This whole Skill VS Devotion thing will end someday, after maybe ten thousand more mortals, long after you become dust---"
As Adrestia is about to taunt her once more, Thalie makes a bold move.
"M...mm...m," she forces herself to stand one more time, and levels the spear at the war god.
Raising a brow at this, Adrestria gives her a smirk, "really, this is cute but---" her words are cut off by the tip of the spear sinking into her chest. Not enough to trigger her Arcanum but enough to draw blood. "Mmm, you know what I can do if you do this, yes?"
Thalie only glares at her, not having a mouth to speak didn't leave many options.
"I see, at least you've finally decided to do something noteworthy with your pathetic life," Adrestria gets one last taunt in before Thalie readies her final thrust. Only standing a few feet away, they both knew what was going to happen, they'd go to heaven together.
Exactly as Thalie always wanted.
"Stop!" Yang's voice is heard from Thalie's left. Neither woman even bother to steal a glance at him. "Thalie, don't..." he says with a warning tone.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Welf yells out from beside Yang.
'This was always the plan,' she thinks to herself once more before thrusting the spear forward, piercing Adrestria's heart.
Where she expected to feel, nothingness.
Instead, Thalie felt a hand on her shoulder, shoving her to the side.
Before her eyes she saw Yang, he'd rushed in between both women and apparently shoved them both.
She could see some of her guts raised up as the momentum pushed her back, she saw Adrestria in mid-air on the other side explode into a pillar of light. And she saw Yang scream out in pain as his Chaos Mark flared up for an instant.
Then as she hit the floor hard, just before her vision went dark she saw him crumple to the floor as well, completely unconscious.
'This was not that plan...' she laments one last time.
A wasted life, and a ruined death, she truly was the ultimate failure...
END CHAPTER---
I'm bad at fight scenes sorry :(