After dinner and sitting around with the family for a while, Esmond left the cabin and headed over to the Summoning Square as the Predators were spawned as were three of the Great Warring Clans.
Echo took care of them until Esmond arrived, with Oscar and Aksel keeping them busy, but the Great Warring clans and the Predators all found some kinship in one another as all of their cultures were heavily rooted in warfare and combat.
In the end they were taken to the training grounds in the palace and set up against one another to fight, with medics on standby so they couldn't kill each other.
Pa'dte, a Yautja (Predator) was facing off against a man from the Uh'Strod Clan.
The Uh'Strod Clansmen was around the same height as the predator at roughly 7ft 4 in, however the clansmen body and muscles were far more defined than the predator.
His dark red hair was tied up into a bun with a bone going through it to keep his hair together.
Typically, the Uh'Strods were a darker skin tone because of the harsh sun on their home planet which affect the pigment in their skin, however with Esmond spawning them, the heavy effect of their sun was reduced, lightening up some of their gorgeous skin.
.
The two weren't holding back, trying their best to deliver a fatal blow but neither could leave any damage on the other expect for some small cuts and bruises.
When Esmond appeared and saw what was happening, he felt a little shocked and surprised at the level of enthusiasm coming from the grandstand where the rest of the recently spawned individuals were.
"Ooo… he punched him in the throat.
Damn the Yautja are fucking fierce!" Carter said as he joined Esmond, overlooking the fighting in the fighting grounds.
Esmond nodding in agreement to Carters words, with his eyes closely watching the Predator take the lead in the fight.
It started with the throat punch that came out of nowhere and crippled the Uh'Strods guard as it became difficult to breath.
Within the next few moves, Pa'dte had body slammed the Uh'Strod clansmen into the ground, before kneeling on his chest, ready for the kill shot.
.
"That's enough!!" Oscar shouted from the side, garnering the attention of the two fighters.
They broke away, though begrudgingly before Oscar reached their side and lifted Pa'dtes arm.
"Your Winner! Pa'dte!!"
The crowd began to cheer heavily as everyone shout Pa'dtes name.
Esmond mouth started to form a pleasant smile seeing his people cheering and celebrating so freely.
His eyes were focused on the Uh'Strod, who seemed quite upset at his loss, but Oscars next words seemed to uplift his attitude.
"… And our other brother, an Uh'Strod named Khas! Who fought valiantly against our brother Pa'dte!
Let him hear your gratitude!!"
The crowd began to cheer with everything he had.
Nobody remained quiet, even Carter and Esmond joined in with the crowd attracting Oscar's attention.
He quickly whispered something to the combatants beside him before speaking up loud enough for everyone to here.
"I hope you saw a worth battle My Lord…?" Oscar said while bowing in Esmonds direction.
His simple actions drew everyone's attention as they all turned to see who was the Lord that garnered Oscars great respect.
One needed to know that before Esmond arrived, Oscar beat up a couple of the recently spawned to exert his dominance over the unruly crowd as they all wished to fight one another.
Eventually he took them over to the fighting grounds and let them battle out any pent-up emotions that were continuing to nag at them.
Many were wondering that the level of strength was of the man that had the honour of Lord, but before anyone could even move, Esmond eyes swept over them which immediately sent out an oppressive weight on all of their shoulders, keeping them in place as they slowly crumbled.
.
"While I would love to fight every single one of you… you are all too weak…
First… show me your worth to the Empire… only then will I consider battling you."
After saying this, he let the pressure subside and shifted to Oscars side with Carter beside him.
The Yautja and Uh'Strod beside Oscar in the pits of the fighting grounds kneeled down before Esmond before he lifted them up with using his Lifeforce Control.
Esmond was rather interested in the two fighters but before speaking with them, he spoke with Oscar first.
"They all seem eager for battle…" Esmond said with his eyes going over Khas and Pa'dte.
"Well, once they heard about the plans for the Empire and that they would be on the war path shortly…. It kind of ignited their passion hahaha…"
Oscar laughed as he remembered the delight across the faces of the newly spawned when he told them about the future battles that would be happening on Earth as well as learning about the future developments.
Many were satisfied with being given another chance at life to fulfill their passion for war, while others wanted some payback.
Thankfully Oscar assured them in time it could all be achieved but before that they had to help with establishing the foundation of the empire.
Just knowing that they were about to go through some gruesome and intense training that would see them all develop exponential was more than enough to get their blood boiling.
.
Seeing that they were all looking in his direction early, Esmond spoke up, hoping his words might instil some passion for the newly spawned to believe in him and his empires future.
"You might all be itching for a fight…
You might be wanting revenge…
Who knows… you might just wanna fight!"
'"Yeah!!"' the crowd cheered and laughed, even Esmond chuckled a little seeing them all so eager for a fight, however his next words were stern... and impactful…
"Then I won't let you…" Esmond said next with his eyes swept of the crowd who went trying to come to terms with what they just heard.
Many believed it to be a mistake, but they continued to listen, solely focusing their attention on Esmond.
"The moment you entered this space, you aren't alone…
You have people here that care for your wellbeing and safety… that need you in times of dire needs…
Families you thought were left behind are back and waiting here for you… so tell me… do you want to waste you chance at redemption with loved ones…
This is you second chance… your only chance to survive past where you failed last time…
So, while I applaud you for wanting to battle and fight, instead build on your knowledge, skills and abilities to be powerful enough to leave your mark as legends and heroes that can stand time…"
Esmonds words left a deep mark on every member among the crowd as each of them thought about their past and the last memories they had before appearing in the space.
.
Noticing the crowd were all focused on his words, Esmond left before anyone could ask him any questions or for a further explanation of his words.
He planned to head on home, but something was nagging him at the back of his mind telling him to head over to the Hunting Grounds.
The only thing waiting for him at home was the gift his parents bought a couple books they came across that seemed intriguing.
It was called, A Song of Ice and Fire, with the first book in the series named A Game of Thrones.
From what he remembered learning about Earths history till 2025 stated a show was based off the book series, so he was interested in reading the story and maybe involving himself in the production of the show, but it depended on how he felt after reading through the books.
Leaving it aside for now and instead focusing on his trip to the Hunting Grounds, Esmond thought to himself, 'Hey… why not give Spectral Consciousness a shot with the books…?!
Might as well experience the world as the author envisioned hahaha…'
…
..
.
*Ding*
[Activating Hunting Grounds…]
[Welcome to Hunting Grounds!]
[!!!Attention!!!]
[Hunting Grounds Upgraded to Hunting Grounds Generator!]
[Activating Level – 1!]
[With the upgraded Hunting Grounds, it will generate and spawn Host or users into a space that will be based off their skills, abilities, status, and most importantly, past results]
[The Hunting Grounds will generate a quest for the User, from which the evaluation will generate rewards]
[Status!]
[Name: Esmond Manston]
[System Level: 1]
[Host Level: 19]
[Experience: 3,591,958,500/1,048,576,000]
[Credits: 2,669,601,000]
[Body Condition: Healthy]
[Soul Condition: Fractured (Healing)]
[Body Status: Primordial Human (Noble)]
[Status: Healthy]
[Strength: 89]
[Endurance: 89]
[Stamina: 89]
[Dexterity: 98]
[Intelligence: 106]
[Agility: 87]
[Wisdom: N/A]
[Abilities:
Spectral Consciousness
Taming
Universal Lifeforce Control
o Lifeforce Pace
o Lifeforce Body Strengthening
o Lifeforce Vision
o Lifeforce Manipulation]
*
[Soul and Body Core]
[Quality: Elite Grade]
[Grade: 0]
[Level: 14]
[Exp: 24,000/100,000]
*
[Spatial Ark Star World]
[Grade: 0]
[System Level: 19]
*
[Hunting Grounds Generator]
[Stage: 0]
[Level: 1]
*
[Universal Sentient Lifeform (Lifeforce) Body Refinement]
[Grade: 0]
[Level: 14]
[Exp: 24,000/100,000]
*
[Universal Sentient Lifeform (Lifeforce) Essence Energy]
[Grade: 0]
[Level: 14]
[Exp: 24,000/100,000]
*
[Universal Sentient Lifeform Essence Spring]
[Grade: 0]
[Level: 1]
.
*Ding*
[Hunting Grounds Generator!]
[Level – 1!]
[Based on Hosts Status and previous result….]
[H.G.G Quest: Where the journey begins…]
[Background: Host will be spawned into a generated world consisting of fantasy, magic, and the unknown…
Stovi, a world full of wonder, soul shaking sites, and unbelievable danger that lurks in all corners of the darkness…
Host will spawn outside of the small town, Vileta]
[Task:
- Part 1) Host needs to register with the Adventurer Guild for now…
- Part 2) ?¿?
- Part 3) ?¿?]
[Rewards:
- Based off evaluation]
.
[Begin…]
…
..
.
As he walked through the gate that led him into the Hunting Grounds, Esmond spawned in a sprawling world that saw no end in his eyes.
Appearing within a forest, by the side of a damaged trail that seemed to have been made deliberately to lead fools into a trap.
Noticing the trail seemed to be better maintained a little further up, Esmond chose to head north towards the open plains in the far distance he could see, past all the trees and forestry.
Opening a gate to the space, Esmond brought out Ace and Rath, before equipping himself and his two pets with some armour as well that spread over their body, while light, it was incredibly durable and strong enough to combat anything it'd come across so far.
Esmond went with a medieval design, mainly done in an attempt to move around more inconspicuously, but he sent Rath ahead to check what manner the people were dressed in before he entered the town.
"Ace, remember to be careful…
Many people will try to provoke you or even take you…
Give them hell, alright?"
"Neigh…" Ace said, agreeing with Esmond as the two rode towards the town in the far distance with Rath up above in the sky, keeping an eye out.
It wasn't long before Rath had something to report and spotted a small group of vicious beasts that looked to be similar to bears, but they had a tail similar to scorpions, thought it was covered in fur.
Their teeth seemed to be razer sharp, much like sharps, even their craws were sharpened.
Seeing them through Raths eyes, Esmond paused for a moment to think if it would be wise to attack the Scorpion Bear, but Ace was rather eager instead since he'd also been updated by Rath.
The two pets of Esmond were quite close with one another and formed their own little bond, spending their time in the space hunting together or traveling around when they were free from their master.
That's why Ace was rather interested in fighting than waiting around, trying to decide if it would be a good idea or not.
Ace eventually took the lead and raced ahead with Esmond left wondering if Ace was more of a battle maniac than him.
"Kak. Kak, kak…" Esmond heard Rath from above, telling him that he was about to distract a couple of the beasts, and possibly try to take out their eyes.
'… These guys are fucking nuts….
Hahaha!! Let's bring them hell boys!!'
Esmond unsheathed his sword and dagger, as he planned to use the two weapons to fight, ignoring a shield to help him throughout the fight.
But as he neared the pack of Scorpion Bears, Rath spotted more packs of beasts in all directions, slowly making their way towards the bears.
Only then did Esmond activate his heightened vision to look ahead a saw the bears were protecting something small, like one of their own but without the furry scorpion tail.
The beast packs were about to make their move and attack the bears according to Rath, so backed up for a moment, tightly pulling on Aces reigns to settle him down so he could watch from a distance.
Just as Esmond started to focus on the bears after settling a grumpy Ace, he four packs of various types of beasts, staring down the several like bears that had their backs turned to a large tree where a small bear rested.
.
By looking at the situation Esmond easily concluded the baby bear was the main course for the packs that showed up, and now they wanted the big scorpion bears for dessert.
Ace even spoke softly, telling Esmond the bears seemed anxious, as if they might not make it.
Rath agreed with his pal, backing up his word, before they started to make their own plan to help the bears without telling Esmond, who remained clueless until Ace started to bolt towards the packs that started their attacks on the bears.
By the look of it, the bears seemed to pick up on Aces help and started to feel less anxious and with Rath swooping in from time to time, they thought it might be possible to survive the attack.
Esmond had also started attacking the packs of beasts that seemed like various animals from earth on steroids and partially mixed together, like the Lion Rhino with two horns and a grey mane that he sliced in half, dragging his sword through the skull of the beast till the end of its back.
The sword move through the beast like it was cutting through air.
Moving around effortlessly, killing away at the beasts he was cutting apart while on the back of Ace from time to time, as he would jump of occasionally, Esmond laughed that the bears were intelligent beasts that'd picked up on their assistance.
Instead of attacking Ace who had his back to them, the bears understood he was trying to help and used it to their advantage to attack back.
Throughout the fight, they'd even helped Ace when certain beasts were getting crafty and trying to tear apart Ace with a wild strategy.