Nick: 'I will be the first to admit that I had deceived, bamboozled, maybe even tricked you, so I am sorry for what I have done.'
Wrench: 'It's not that bad, just a little plain.'
As the cloth was taken off the cart that they were in, the world was finally revealed to the group. This was not the joyous occasion that was needed by the personalities as it was not a very interesting location. When the cloth was dragged off what was revealed was an absolutely gigantic wall (around 30ft) with a gate that was around 15ft made out of sandstone bricks(probably). But as soon as they were past the cool gate, they realized that the entirety of the town budget was spent on it! The houses were made out of cheap stones with wooden doors that looked remarkably like Roman architecture.
Everything was overcrowded with people constantly running into each other like they were playing bumper cars. Nick and Wrench even saw one dude get smoked by accident and nobody paid attention, but eventually their carts got to a four-way intersection. When they approached the intersection, it became clear how the city was divided up, a massive wall surrounded the housing, and the districts were similar to a certain attacking titan series.
The farther and farther they cart went into the city the more expensive everything looked and the less people there were. Eventually they reached the intersection and turned right, this more or less defined the mediocre and lower-class districts as the two were separated by the 20ft wide stone road. After the turn Nick got a more defined look at the structures and realized that he was wrong. The gap was actually between the shopping districts and the housing districts, as it turns out there was not a middle class, just regular people and nobles.
As they continued going down the street Wrench looked at the shops and what was available in each one. The first one was a magic shop mostly containing herbs and potions displayed in the front protected by glass with a paper warning on it. The paper said 'All those have been warned that this glass has been enchanted with an explosive rune that will activate when one tries to open without my permission' - Agae. Apparently, that gave enough warning to everyone to stay away, as most even actively moved farther away to not even go near the glass.
Next was a blacksmith's shop, his wares were an abundance of shields, weapons, and armors. Out of curiosity Nick looked at one of the armors with [Analysis] to see if it could rival what he could make. (Spoiler alert guns aren't easy to top in terms of power)
_____________________
Name: Iron Armour 3 Tier 1, AC 14
Damage protection
_____________________________
Nick: 'This way of telling the stats of weapons is annoying. Can I change it?'
[Absolutely]
Nick: 'Ok! Let's do it.'
________________________
[Equipment]
[Tier] - The basic de facto deciding factor, Tier 2 beats Tier 1, Tier 3 beats Tier 2, so on and so forth. This is because with each Tier comes a new defining quality to the overall effectiveness of the weapon or Armour. A good example of this is that if say a handmade tank had Tier 2 Armour, the mass-produced rifles at Tier 1 would not be able to scratch it, but if a Tier 3 pistol was made it would have the power to shred the Armour of the tank. (It would also have the firepower to level a building but that is beside the point). Eventually you get to the point that a Tier 10 dagger would have the power to slice through the tectonic plates, and Tier 100 daggers could quite possibly slash multiverses in half. That is still very far away so don't even start thinking about it.
[Level] - Levels can be graded 1-10 and are usually the deciding factors for weapons, armors, or any manufactured item in the same Tier. Levels usually only give a buff to its primary stat but can buff other factors if it suits the criteria (This will be explained next so hold on). Tier 1-2 weapons are what is known as static weapons, the level they are created with are the ones that they stick with unless certain criteria are met (I said hold on we are almost there). Weapons above Tier 3 can evolve with use depending on what creation it is. If the Tier 3 weapon is a battle axe, then it can evolve by killing foes of the user, but if it is something like a fishing rod then it will evolve by catching fish. However, no matter the situation (unless certain criteria are met) can the Tier of the weapon be increased. (Almost there)
[Craftsmanship rating/Quality] - This one is fairly simple. Depending on the skill of the crafter each weapon will get a certain craftsmanship rating, this rating will just give a flat out boost to the weapon/tool in question.
- Failed
- Common
- Uncommon
- Rare
- Epic
- Legendary
- Masterwork
[Abilities] - This is just what the object in question is meant to do, if you have Armour the Abilities could range from damage reduction to a boost in health.
(We're here!) [Attributes] - This is the information that will tell you if you got robbed or got a good deal! These are the abilities of the equipment that you are looking at and can range from a boost in stats, protection from ailments, special functions, quick magic, and even the legendary attribute 'object growth!!!' These special attributes make or break a weapon, tool, Armour, and everything else you make. This is the common truth throughout the multiverse as there are attributes that can make levels and Tiers a useless stat. Attributes like object growth can make the weapon in question gain levels faster and evolve Tiers! Otherwise, attributes like
Example:
Name: Iron sword of increased strength 1
Tier: 1
Level: 1
Quality: Uncommon
Abilities:
Deal damage
Deal 120 damage (Strength 4: deals 40 damage,
Attributes:
Increase the holder's strength by 1
____________________________________
Nick: 'Nice now show me that iron Armour again!'
[The object in question is out of view showing nearest Iron Armour]
________________
Name: Iron Armour 4
Tier: 1
Level: 2
Quality: Uncommon
Abilities:
Increase health
Increase your health by 400HP (Level 2: 200HP, Uncommon: multiply by 2. 200x2=400)
Attributes:
None
___________________________________
While Nick was playing with the [Analysis] Skill Wrench decided that their best course of action would be to take a nap. However, fate did not favor them and as soon as Wrench stood up the cart stopped causing Wrench to fall on his butt.
Wrench: "Watch it, that hurt!"
Guard: "You are easily disposed of and replaced if needed so shut up."
Wrench: "You have balls of steel friend."
Guard: "Why?"
As Wrench stared into the guard's eyes he walked forward slowly and methodically with a smile shown on his mask. Every step he took was calm and without hesitation until he was right in front of the guard who at this time was trembling uncontrollably. As he took his final step the childlike smile turned into a maniacal one showing all of his 'teeth' in an unnaturally wide 'smile'.
Wrench: '[Blood lust]' "Because when I get out of here, you're the first one I will dispose of and replace, the world needs not the likes of you, so be a good boy and don't get out of line."
As Wrench said this his mask's smile turned into a normal one and his voice back to a normal pitch as his bloodlust receded.
Wrench: *Childlike happiness*: "But I don't need to worry because you are a good little guard aren't you!"
Guard: "Y-y-yes! Yes, I am sorry for bothering you! I just wanted to know you are here!"
After Wrench's 'persuasion' the guard remembered that he was just a normal human talking to people who would soon be killing others daily, and most importantly the fact that if any of them wanted to, they could kill him where he stood even with the binding chains. However, after he thought this, he looked in and saw that none of them were chained which made him so scared that he directly passed out letting out his bowels as he did so.
Ithil: "Why did you do that?! He did nothing wrong! How could you!"
Nick: "Shut up, he touched a sore spot, and I don't just let those things slide."
Aial: "Now that you mention it, we never did have a look at your past and you looked like you didn't really pay attention to ours either, are you really a normal person? You could have been sent here to spy on us!"
Wrench: 'Don't gaslight me bitch!'
Nick: "Sorry if that was what it looks like, but I have a general rule to myself, and the saying goes like this. I don't expect you to know where I've been so don't expect that I feel the same. Keep this in mind and we will have a pleasant stay together, but start making moves and you find out why I was called my country's royal executioner ok?"
Unlike last time Nick needed no bloodlust or creepy smiles, the point was clear and concise with no room for an objection to take place.
Flask: "This is funny, but I would like to remind you that we are about to be taken as prisoner gladiators, so if you don't want to give them a horrible first impression, I would take a seat."
Due to Flask's carefree attitude the tension in the cart was eased up significantly leading the guards surrounding the cart to remember that they were tasked with escorting these prisoners. At this moment the guards collectively looked at the captain to take the first step as their leader. What made it worse is that the captain struggled to remember to move. This was the most blood crazed and powerful group of gladiators that he had ever seen in the same cart. At this moment the captain cursed his leader's ancestors for making him take the prisoners out of the cart, but people can't just stand around all day so eventually the captain took a brief breath and collected his confidence.
Captain: "We will now escort you to your new cells please contain yourselves until we reach your block!"
With this the guards rallied and continued with their jobs, one at a time each of the prisoners was taken out until Nick remained. While escorting him to his block he saw rows of prisoners yelling at the guards and using wooden sticks to bang on the iron doors. After a while more of walking Nick finally reached his block, the iron door was opened by the guards, and he took his first step into his new home.
[A few hours later]
This was boring, like a new level of boring. He had a 15ft by 10 room, 1 bed against the wall, 1 torch on the left wall seemingly run by magic, a toilet, and a nightstand. All things considered this was probably one of the nicer rooms seeing how there was not a room across from him with a person in it watching him shit and sleep. What he would give for a little excitement around here!
At that moment he saw the torch flicker and a little stray flame hit him on the hand 'The fire feels nice' he thought. That was his eureka moment, he realized that if mana was controlling the flame, then it would have to be a rune! Normally this would not mean much but to Nick this was essential for his survival in the pit. Without a gun he had no reliable way to kill or injure someone that was trying to take his life. However, with magic that would not be an issue any longer, it would still be tough and a hard-fought match, but he would be more confident in taking the top spot.
With that he looked in the drawers of his nightstand taking out the bible that was stashed in the top compartments. He immediately went to the back page and ripped out the blank page using the cover of the book as a makeshift clipboard. He then took the torch off the wall and examined the actual makeup of the object. He saw that a black sphere was placed on top of the base of a wooden cone. The fire seemed to be originating from the black stone so Nick decided that the best course of action would be to take out the black sphere from the cone and examine it directly.
Thus, he immediately stuck his hand into the fire to slowly take the sphere out without damaging it.
[You take 5 fire damage]
[You take 4 fire damage]
[You take 6 fire damage]
[You take 4 ...]
[...]
As Nick felt his skin start to melt, he heard the sound of footsteps come from the hallway from his right. This made him speed up a little as he slowly felt the orb come out of the wooden cone.
*Step Step*
With every step the sound got louder and so did the humming that the owner of the steps was emitting while he walked.
*Step Step*
At this point he was down ¼ of his health and could see the bones of his hand as his flesh fell to the floor.
*Step Step*
He was almost there when he heard the steps quicken.
*StepStepStep*
He reasoned that he had 5 more seconds when he finally got the orb out, the orb extinguished letting Nick go the drawer as his back covers what he was doing.
Guard: "Nick, desist!"
Nick: "What? Did I do something wrong?"
Nick started getting worried that the guard had seen what he was doing. In truth the guard just didn't care, he had seen all sorts of lunatics so seeing one destroy his light source was one of the tamest things he had seen. He actually went there to tell him some important news.
Guard: "Congratulations! You were decided to be one of the two contestants for an expedition match held to entertain the magistrate! This is a massive honor; you should be ecstatic!"
Wrench: 'Honour my ass! We were just about to try to learn magic that is 10 times more important than the magistrate!'
Nick: "Oh? I'm glad that I could take on this honorable role."
Guard: "As you should be, but now is not the time to wait we must go to the arena post haste!"
With that Nick and Wrench would finally get a real taste of combat for the first time since they came to this world.
(A/N This is getting featured on new releases soon so that's nice, also, first round of combat next chapter in front of the city's governor how wonderful will it be to traumatize him.)