Emily crept to the window and slowly lifted the latch. She took a deep breath and peered out into the darkness. The ground was far below, but she knew she had to do this.
She carefully climbed out the window and onto the ledge. She took one last look at her room and then jumped.
Emily landed with a thud on the soft grass below. She quickly pulled on her hoodie and started running towards the park.
'Hehe.' Emily smirked to herself. 'Maybe this whole ghoul thing does have more perks than I initially thought.'
When she arrived at the park, she saw Daniel sitting on a bench. He smiled at her as she approached.
"I wasn't sure you would make it," he said.
He threw her a bag. "Put on the jumpsuit," he said.
Emily had to run into the woods to put on the jumpsuit. It was tight and uncomfortable, but it would have to do.
" Unfortunately, your hairstyle still sticks out like a sore thumb, but we don't have the time to do anything about it. It's something we'll have to solve another time." Daniel stated with a smirk as he jokingly made a gesture of cutting them off.
Eventually, they reached a car park. It was a bit away from the main shopping street and other places and it also looked a little rundown, but Emily could tell from afar that it appeared to be quite lively inside. There were actually people hanging outside who acted as some sort of bouncers. The most surprising thing was that they looked to high-school students no older than eighteen.
Daniel paid the bouncers and led her to a wall. Daniel touched the wall and it split into a spinning wheel of pure darkness. It was a vortex of swirling shadows, and she could feel its power.
"Only we can see it and interact with it," Daniel said. "Jump inside."
Emily hesitated. She didn't know what to expect. But she knew that she had to trust Daniel. She had no other choice.
She took a deep breath and stepped into the vortex.
Emily felt like she was falling from a mountain's height, surrounded by darkness. But after some time, she landed on her feet.
She was in a strange place. It was dark and underground, but there were lights scattered around the room. The walls were covered in strange symbols and paintings.
In the center of the room was a large dance floor. People were dancing to loud music, and the air was thick with smoke.
Daniel appeared next to the her. He was smiling.
"Welcome to the underground club," he said. "I'll be your tour guide."
Emily looked around the club. She couldn't believe that such a place existed, hidden away from the rest of the world.
"Why am I here?" she asked.
"Because you have the potential to be something great," Daniel said. "You have the power to see the world in a different way. You can help us to change the world.
Daniel led her to a lounge area. As they walked, she saw people with horns sticking out of their heads, fairies flying overhead, vampires drinking blood, and strange creatures that she had never seen before.
They also walked through a gambling den, where rich teenagers were sitting next to stacks of money.
Finally, following Daniel, they entered an elevator and went ahead to the top floor. When it opened. Emily was hit with a wave of cheers and screams.
'What the hell is going on?' Emily thought.
Looking around, they were all high-school students, some even still in their school uniforms, and what they were all cheering at was a fight happening in the centre.
"This is an illegal fighting event, for high-school students only," Daniel explained, with a nasty smile on his face. "Here's where the strongest students meet up and duke it out amongst themselves to decide who the top dog is!"
So what are we doing here?" Emily asked, as the two of them started to push through the crowd, until they eventually reached the outer edge. The onlookers had formed a natural large rounded ring to not interfere with the fighters. For those that were in a difficult position, the fight was being live streamed and others could watch it on their comm.
Emily watched two wanting to get an idea of just what was happening. One was a black boy, with short spiky red hair, wearing a sleeveless shirt, his muscles showed quite well and he had a couple of scars on his shoulders.
His opponent was a humaniond muscular bull beast with two large horns towering over the boy at 9 feet and had huge hands.
The two of them stood a few miles away from each other on a platform.
"Who will win, Red Sunn or Jenner the Minotaur?! Last chance to place your bets, everyone!" One of the students announced walking around with a board showing the odds which were currently in favour of Jenner.
Jenner deep growl reverberating through the air. As the battle commenced, Sunn quickly cast a purple shield spell to protect himself from Jenner's initial charge. The crowd gasped in awe as the minotaur's brute strength collided with the purple magical barrier, causing a powerful shockwave that shook the arena.
Undeterred, sunn retaliated with a spell of immobilization, causing thick purple vines to emerge from the ground and ensnare Jenner's legs. The minotaur struggled to break free, but the magic held firmly in place.
Seizing the opportunity, sunn conjured a purple bolt of lightning, sending it crashing down towards Jenner. The electrifying surge engulfed the minotaur, causing her to roar in pain.
However, her determination remained unwavering. With a mighty bellow, Jenner surged forward, breaking free from the vines and charging towards sunny once again.
Recognizing the imminent danger, Sunn invoked a spell of illusion, creating multiple copies of herself. Jenner skidded to a halt, momentarily confused by the mirage.
Sunny seized this momentary advantage and launched a barrage of purple fireballs towards the minotaur. The flaming projectiles burst upon impact, scorching Jenner's thick hide.
Just as it seemed that victory was within Sun's grasp, Jenner unleashed her secret weapon - a devastating earthquake skill. The ground beneath sun trembled violently, causing his illusions to shatter and leaving him vulnerable.
With a triumphant roar, Jenner charged towards sun, her powerful hooves pounding against the shaking ground. Sensing the impending peril, Sunn cast a purple protective barrier spell just in time, shielding herself from the minotaur's onslaught.
Gathering his strength, sunn knew he had to end the battle swiftly. Channeling all his energy, he summoned a powerful gust of purple wind, creating a swirling tornado around Jenner. The minotaur was caught in the vortex, her massive frame tossed like a ragdoll.
As the tornado dissipated, Jenner lay defeated In a pond of her blood on the ground countless cuts made by wind blades, her heavy breaths mingling with the cheers of the crowd.
Sunn stood victorious, his chest rising and falling with exhaustion. The crowd erupted into thunderous applause, acknowledging the remarkable triumph.
With his head held high, sunn approached Jenner and extended his hand in a gesture of respect. The minotaur, though defeated, recognized the skill and strength. With a nod, Jenner accepted his offer.
The crowd erupted in cheers despite some of them having lost their money, sunn had given them quite the spectacle.
"So have you thought about an alter ego name for today? What would you want as a stage name?"
"A stage name?" Emily thought about it for a moment. Given her change, she would pick something ghoul related. "Erghh maybe something like Zombie E, but wh-"
"Okay" Daniel interrupted her, as he finished typing and sent out his message.
"Next we have a new fighter, fighting for the first time. The Midnight Maiden!" The announcer shouted out to the crowd to hype them up, while Emily had still been connecting the dots, her picture appeared on the holoscreen.
"You wanted to make some money, right? Don't worry, I will bet on you, and we can share the profits. This is the best way to get our name out here, so it's time for you to go make us some money, and Zombie E kinda sucks Midnight Maiden." Daniel said with a smile.
Before Emily had any chance to refuse participating in the next fight, the crowd opened up a way for her and with a not so gentle push, Daniel forced her to enter the arena. The highschool students were now looking at her from all over. It felt as if they were seeing right through her trying to analyse what type of person she was.
'Was it a mistake to go to Daniel?' Emily was left wondering. As a fan of A.A.S Gifted championship she had naturally dreamed about being on stage herself. Who would have thought she would get a chance… only that it would be at an 'underground' fighting club?
" Is she a ghoul?"
" I thought that's illegal.. "
"ghouls should never leave the sanctuary."
The spectators did not seem to be too impressed with Emily as she was pretty average in terms of heights and her fraill figure was devoid of any muscles.
" Let's now give a big welcome to her opponent! With fifteen fights under his belt, he has won ten of them by knock-out, Diiiirrrreeee Faaaaaaaannnnnngggg" The announcer calleqd out and the crowd erupted in cheers as a large handsome teenager with flowing rough brown hair entered from the opposite side. Dire fang had his top off displaying his six pack of flabs, and aside from a normal looking pair of pants, he had nothing else.
"Looks like I got to fight a princess now I feel bad about giving you a beating!" Dire fang smirked, approaching Emily as he punched his right fist into his left open hand.
[New quest received]
[Defeat the Werewolf [ Lvl 5 ]
[Quest reward: ???? ]