Cato Emberson's Perspective:
I holed up in an inn made for colonial merchants looking for business opportunities for three days.
I had been gathering information by surveying the colony and talking to locals at restaurants or pubs.
I had gathered a couple of critical pieces of information.
The first was that this large tunnel that held the colony had only one exit that led towards the hub of the Beast Tribe colonies—we were in the northernmost.
Secondly, Andreas lived in the prominent building closest to the exit.
With this information, I planned my next moves. The buildings were built into the rock and didn't have any structural points that I could burn. However, flammables most likely filled the insides.
I had devised my secondary plan of action. My first plan of action was to eliminate Andreas.
I decided I would wait outside of his home for him to return from a night out. Hopefully, he was a prideful individual that wouldn't alert the rest of the colony before I could strike.
My plan relied on Andreas' pride, and as I conversed with many Beast Tribe members, I concluded they were a prideful bunch.
I roamed the streets as the lights surrounding them started to dim.
Before a particular shopkeeper could close up, I approached his stall.
"Could I purchase that red cloak?"
The salesman replied with a smile, "Of course! I'll give it to you for ten silvers!"
"Make it seven, and I can live with it."
"A tough buyer!" The salesman laughed, "How about eight?"
"Really?" I asked, deadpan, almost ready to give up entirely.
The shopkeeper, wanting to end his day on a win, I assumed, caved at my change in demeanor.
"Alright, alright, I'll do seven."
He handed me the cloak, and I gave him the rest of my money.
"Pleasure doing business," the salesman grumbled as I put on my cloak.
"Likewise," I flashed a smile as I turned to walk away.
My wardrobe now consisted of a tightly fitting brown tunic, oversized, baggy ash gray pants, and a red cloak.
The cloak wasn't a very vibrant color. However, it fits nicely and wouldn't stand out in crowds. Exactly what I wanted, it also had a hood.
I continued my trek down the street as the end came into view.
There were three guards positioned at the exit of the colony and were people I needed dead before Andreas arrived.
The only problem was witnesses. It was still relatively early out, and from what I had gathered, this was a town of night owls.
I decided to wait near Andreas' house for my time to strike. The guards seemed to be positioned there for the night and wouldn't be moving anytime soon.
I didn't recognize any of the guards as one of the ones I had met previously but didn't think much of it.
I didn't want to think of the faces of the people here.
I'm sure some of them didn't participate in the raid against the Fire Tribe.
I sat in conflict as different opinions kept cropping up in my head.
I didn't think that everyone deserved to die, but who decided everyone in the Fire Tribe deserved to die? My tribemates and family didn't get an option when the other Tribes stormed through our tunnels!
In an attempt to disassociate while I waited, I started to cultivate.
A familiar scene sat before me as I stood in the middle of the white flame above the lake.
Whenever I had cultivated recently, I saw the familiar scene of my energy lake being struck repeatedly by enormous lightning strikes. The lightning would spread tendrils of electricity throughout the clear liquid and, like when I initially received the God Source, continued to expand the depth of my energy lake.
I started to watch as the tendrils swam towards the bottom of the clear liquid.
I focused purely on enlarging my pool. I pushed away all other feelings and sat in pure serenity inside the white flame.
After around an hour of cultivating, I opened my eyes and found my surroundings significantly darker; it was the perfect time to strike.
As I stood from my seated position, I realized how sweaty I was.
I had been sitting, absolutely soaked in sweat. I had sweated through my tunic and pants, almost through my cloak.
I stood in respect at my immense concentration and couldn't even imagine what my pool would look like the next time I examined it.
After I collected myself, I looked out of the small alley towards the exit. The same three guards stood in a circle holding a spear, a sword, and another sword. I couldn't accurately gauge how strong they were, but I knew they were manageable.
I decided that I might as well walk up there.
I exited the alleyway with my hood up and started towards the guards.
I walked at a leisurely pace, keeping my arms away from my sword handle.
I had already pushed electricity through my whole body as I walked towards the guards. I knew I could beat them to the draw if I needed to.
The guard looking in my direction noticed me first and spoke,
"Hey! What're you doing skulking around in the dark?" He shouted in a volume that made me nervous about possibly surrounding eyes.
He and his friends continued to jeer at me until I came into a vicinity that made them nervous.
"Hey, I don't want to hurt you." The soldier closest to me said, gripping his sword handle.
I continued to walk forward until I was in striking range.
Slowly placing my left hand on the hilt of my sword, I ignited the electricity throughout my arm. Although this move didn't accelerate the blade with electricity, it moved with deadly speeds.
Making my arm swing in a crescent from my bottom right half to my top left half above my shoulder, it exploded upwards, carrying my sword behind it.
My blade connected into the left side of the guard and entered his body just below his ribs.
I sliced up through his rib cage, cracking through the bones and puncturing his organs.
My sword exited swiftly through his right shoulder, spraying his comrade behind him with his blood.
Before his body could hit the ground, I utilized my quick footwork and appeared next to the guard on my right, who was holding a spear.
With my right hand, I gripped his jaw, snapping it shut. I sent an absurd amount of electricity through his head until he went limp and moved onto the last guard, who was now on his rear, crawling away.
I strutted over to the last guard, painted in blood from his friend, and plunged my blade through his throat, granting him a swift death.
I pulled the bodies into the dark of the exit tunnel and waited in the guard's position for Andreas.
~~~
Andreas Leon's Perspective:
I had been having a rather pleasant night.
Everyone in this colony respected me. Of course, the people didn't have a choice in whether they did or not.
Besides the fact, I lived a serene life here in this colony. The tunnels the Fire Tribe used to inhabit are pretty comfortable to live in and remind me of the Mountain Tribe on a smaller scale.
As I exited the pub, I noticed how late it had become. I had an early start tomorrow. We were trying to make the actual Fire Tribe village habitable to expand our colonies as soon as possible.
I meandered down the main street towards my house at the end. The road had a curve in it, making it the shape of an enormous 'L.'
I was on the short leg right now, and as I rounded the corner, the bright lights from the exit tunnel pierced my vision.
'I need to talk to the guards and remind them to wake me up in the morning when they change shifts.'
Only slightly drunk and on a mission, I picked up the pace towards my home and where the guards had been.
When I approached my home and the exit tunnel, I could only make out one silhouette instead of the three supposed to be there.
"Hey!" I hollered towards the guard. I didn't want to wake my neighbors, so I wasn't going to make a scene.
"Where the fuck is everyone else?" I hissed in a high volume.
The guard in front of me didn't flinch, didn't even move. He just stood, as still as a statue with his back turned towards me.
As I got closer, my eyes adjusted to the bright sconces, and I realized this man was in a hooded cloak. Not in guard attire.
"Oi! Did the guards leave to take a piss or something?" I asked as I placed a hand on the hooded figure's shoulder.
Again, silence.
"Do you know who the fuck I am, kid?" I was starting to grow angry with the audacity of this boy.
The boy responded flatly without turning around, "Andreas, hopefully."
"Correct, you little shit. So, what do you think you're do—"
He cut me off, "Let's fight Andreas."
"Excuse me?"
My anger dulled as confusion and pure contempt for this boy replaced it.
"Let's fight," he repeated.
I stood staring at the back of this boy's red hood in utter disbelief, my hand still on his shoulder.
He continued, "I assume you don't need any backup?"
"Being, THE," he stressed, "Andreas."
I spat onto the ground beside us, "I'll kill you right here with the sword on my hip. Even though I'm a Beast Tamer, I don't even think my wolves have the right to eat a piece of shit like you."
"Good." The hooded figure responded before turning around.
The boy who stood in front of me had silver—almost white—hair and was stunningly handsome. Instead of pitch-black like most people, his pupils held a stunning yellow tint that drew lines in the air as he paced backward and drew his sword.
"Shall we begin?" He asked as he brought his hood down around his shoulders.
I spoke through gritted teeth caused by the immense cockiness of this bastard, "Gladly."
As the words left my mouth, the boy shot forward.
He was quick, but it wasn't something I couldn't manage.
However, his swordsmanship was something I couldn't handle.
His arms arced through the air drawing yellow lines much like his eyes. His pitch-black sword looked as if it were bending through the atmosphere as he continued his onslaught of blows.
As I gasped for oxygen, attempting to block all of his lethal blows, a swift forward kick caught me right under the ribs and made me lose what little air I had in my lungs.
I rolled backward and landed on one knee, struggling to stand.
I finally caught my breath and stood up just in time to be met with an air-splitting swipe from his sword.
Briefly thinking he was Nature Tribe, I deflected the blow, and the ringing of metal resounded throughout my ears.
'I need to fight back.' I thought, still on the defensive.
As he continued to push me back, a thought flashed through my mind,
'Fuck, maybe I did need backup.'
I channeled source energy, reinforcing my body, and pushed away his sword that had locked onto mine.
He landed softly a few meters away from me and brandished his sword in an offensive stance.
I took a deep breath and took charge this time.
Closing the gap in only a few steps, I collected source energy around my sword and started on the offensive.
The boy almost seemed uninterested in our fight as I brought down blow after blow on my enemy.
Every blow, however, was met with a swift dodge or block that left me even more exhausted.
'Am I going to die?'
I desperately swung my sword towards an opening in his midsection, but the effort was in vain as he swiftly brought his sword towards the ceiling and connected with mine, deflecting it off course.
The force of his counter was too powerful for the almost skinny boy who stood in front of me. As I lost the grip on my handle, my sword arced through the air and landed behind me, far out of reach.
I watched as my sword hit the ground before turning my head back towards my enemy to be met with the tip of his blade and his piercing yellow eyes.
I fell onto my ass, now staring up to meet his gaze.
'Is this death?'
'This insurmountable pressure that this boy is exerting?'
'Does the Reaper live in his blade?'
Thoughts continued to race through my head as the boy stood in silence and raised his blade above his head.
'Fuck, no, please, no, fuck, why?'
'Why?' Echoed over and over again in my head before my thoughts split apart from a searing pain.
I opened my eyes to see my vision start to blur; his black blade had pierced through my chest. I would be dead very soon.
I coughed up blood, trying to find an answer, "Why?"
My hearing faded as I thought I heard the boy laugh,
"Assuming...ou attacked...ire Tribe...is why."
My vision turned black as I tried to make sense of what he had said.
'Fire Tribe? Was there a survivor?'
~~~
Cato Emberson's Perspective:
I had been slightly disappointed in Andreas.
He was supposed to be the God Source in charge of this colony, yet his swordsmanship was barely passable.
I stared down at his corpse slumped on the ground, "I guess you were used to fighting with beasts, huh?"
Turning away from his body, I spoke to myself,
"Well, let's get going."
I made my way towards the house closest to the exit across from Andreas'.
The houses and buildings lined every single meter of the tunnel side, which made what I would do next a lot easier.
I walked over to a house I had no idea who was living in and placed my hand on their wooden door.
I collected source energy into my hand, big enough to make a small blast, not large enough to wake the neighbors.
I ignited the source energy in my palm, and the door blew off its hinges, landing inside followed by billowing flames.
I flowed my source energy into my arm, continuing to fill the rock house full of fire.
After I felt like I had sufficiently crispened the house's insides and whoever might have been present, I walked in to check.
I had demolished the house. Anything that the people living here owned was ash.
Now, the homeowners themselves? Also ash.
I exited the building and strolled towards my next target.
~~~
I continued to ignite the buildings and their residents without much trouble, some I would have to check because of the noises. Occasionally there would be someone still alive who I would quickly eliminate before moving on.
I continued my routine emotionlessly. Time passed by in a blur as I continued to decimate the colony I had spent a few days inside.
I finally came to the inn I had stayed in briefly. I placed my hand on the door and remembered the pleasant employees throughout the building.
I attempted to reason with myself, 'Well, I might have already cooked some of them in their own homes, I guess.'
I sighed before igniting my source energy and filling the building with flames.
As I finished turning the last building's insides to ash, I remembered where the two guards I had met initially were supposed to be.
I started down the tunnel towards where they should be—or at least a guard should be.
As I rounded the corner of the tunnel towards the guards, I noticed around four people.
Two of which were the guards I had met at the beginning of my journey. Of the other two, I only recognized one. He was the larger man that told me about Andreas.
I did not recognize the last one and assumed he might have been a friend of the other three.
The first person to notice me as I approached was the man leaning on the wall with the wolf next to him.
He was the guard I didn't particularly like.
I was pretty sure I covered myself in blood and soot, but the tunnel's darkness provided an excellent camouflage for me.
The guard nodded his head in my direction, and the other three turned my way.
The first to speak was the man I had met in the pub.
He seemed cheerier with these people, "Hey, weary traveler! What brings you down here?"
The guard with the wolf snorted, "Agreed."
I continued making my approach. There were four of them and a wolf. I could most likely take them all on in one-on-one's which increases my odds.
The man I met in the pub looked the strongest. However, I had bested who he believed to be the strongest, so unless he was extremely humble—an unlikely possibility—I was stronger than him.
I continued to approach the group in silence as the wolf now stood facing my direction.
The torch was providing enough light that once they could see the state of my clothes, it wouldn't matter.
As I entered the light, I watched as shock spread across three of the four faces. The guard, whose attitude I didn't appreciate, looked as if he almost saw it coming.
As the burly man from the pub reached for his sheathed dagger, I brought my fists up in a defensive position and channeled electrical energy into my eyes and arms.
A yellow dot appeared behind the middle of the large man's chest, and I ignited the source energy in my right arm.
My fist flashed forward in a blur. The sound of crunching bones and blood splattering against the floor filled the tunnel as I wrenched out my fist that had protruded out from his back.
The man slumped forward onto his knees and coughed a small puddle of blood onto the ground.
The man I didn't recognize who was standing next to my first victim had now started to move.
I worked my way over to him, quickly finding a yellow dot behind his throat and flashing my left fist forward in a powerful jab.
I felt my energy enveloped fist crunch through his spine as I split his neck in half, his body and head falling at different speeds.
The last two guards and citizens of this colony stood in shock at the scene before them.
I flicked the blood off of my hands before raising them again. However, this time I dropped my left hand to my waist and kept my right hand protecting my face.
The guard who had led me to the colony was now holding a shaking sword in my direction.
The other guard was cursing under his breath and preparing to strike with his wolf.
A classic move for Beast Tribe members, the wolf jumped at me first, with the two guards wielding swords following it.
I brought my left hand quickly to the sword on my right hip and ignited the source energy in my arm to initiate my quickdraw attack.
My sword cut the light in my vision as the blade blurred upwards, cleanly severing the head of the wolf.
Its body fell limply behind me as its head rolled off to the side. The other two guards were still charging by the time I had flicked the wolf's blood off my blade.
They both attacked me with a straight stab. I drew a circular blade path and knocked both of the swords to my left side.
The guard I desperately wanted to kill stood to my right, his sword facing down to my left, leaving him completely defenseless.
My circular swipe ended near the guard's neck, and I swiftly swiped my blade into his throat, cutting through his windpipe, leaving him gushing blood on the floor.
The last guard had now dropped his sword and was shaking on the ground.
I glared at the man on the ground, "Where do I go to find either more colonies or Beast Tribe territory?"
"J-just take t-the exit t-t-tunnel." The guard stuttered as he spoke.
"Well, thank you." I raised the tip of my sword to his head.
The guard closed his eyes and continued to shake on the ground, his pants now darkening around his crotch.
I looked at the guard beneath my blade and remembered how nice he had been to me.
"I apologize. This is for the Fire Tribe."
I moved my blade back slightly before enveloping my arm and handle in electrical energy.
'I hope this is painless for him.'
I ignited the source energy throughout my arm and drew a crisp yellow line in the air separating the man's head from his body.
I sheathed my sword and let out a large sigh.
'The feeling of being covered in blood is worse in the real world.' I thought to myself as I started to make my way back down the destroyed colony, towards the exit.