Part one:
Two weeks have passed and Zafer was very consistent about his daily training routine.
Accompanied by Luch, he would always start his training at the same time and end it at the same place.
He has already gotten used to the plan and schedule he established ever since he first met the Mio, the Threat Level 5 warrior.
As expected, the latter was also a regular in Arena, sometimes practicing and sparring with other strong and skilled adults and sometimes just lazing around talking to people.
The last time they had a conversation, Mio commented about Hydra using a certain type of drug that was boosting the speed at which his anomaly was progressing.
This way, he could reach a higher anomaly strength with less time practicing and training.
It was something like steroids were for muscles, and there wasn't really a method of confirming if someone was abusing the substance or not.
There were some tests, but the best and most reliable way was to lock the suspect in a cell for 4 weeks, ensuring they don't consume anything else, but the food and water provided to them by the National Security.
This method was efficient thanks to the strong withdrawal symptoms that would set in approximately at the end of that time, and it sure wasn't a nice experience for the suspect.
If they did consume a drug, withdrawal symptoms would hit them pretty hard, and if they were clear, they would lose one month of their life doing absolutely nothing.
Contaminating someone in quarantine was viewed as human rights abuse, and despite the lack of regulation in this land, such methods were not carried out unless the suspect agreed or if National Security managed to find an arguably good reason.
This was exactly how the leader of the 3rd strongest faction, Numen, spent 2 months of his life, on two different occasions.
He was forced to undergo the quarantine examination in other to satisfy the majority of other paladins from both Nubis and Temper who signed a petition to have him checked.
However, both times he turned to be clear.
This was a proof how certain individuals could reach strength levels that were unimaginable, even for other experienced paladins.
If Mio himself suspected Hydra of abusing that same drug, it was obvious how difficult Zafer's task was.
The only reason why Hydra wasn't forcefully petitioned to undergo the test like the leader of Numen did was because there weren't enough people to sign the petition.
The only ones who could pressure him to do so were Temperans since the Numen faction was consisting of only 2 active members.
That was nowhere near enough people like for example the whole Temper and Nubis combined, but that was just the power of abundance.
All in all, Zafer's task was obviously not easy, but the more he was fighting against Hydra, the more his eyes could see.
Hydra's movement wasn't as blurry and flashy as it used to be, and although Zafer knew that the Nubis member wasn't going all out, it was still a sign of improvement.
The training was actually not only for his body and reflexes but also for his eyes and brain.
Those two should get used to rendering all the information from the environment faster so that facing Hydra becomes comfortable for Zafer.
Nevertheless, he was still very far from that point, but managing a single strike was becoming more and more promising with every passing day.
Zafer was now fast and capable enough to avoid taking a decisive strike from Hydra.
This influenced the duration of their battles to last longer, with Zafer starting to be dependent on red potions in order to regenerate his wounds and continue fighting against the sadist.
Due to the self-confidence, he now acquired, Zafer was more willing to fight with random and young freelancers as a way to warp up for his daily big brawl with Hydra.
It was perfect to make his body engine heat, and today in particular he chose to attack no one else but Tori, and for that, he would prefer to have a weapon.
Since Hydra was very strong and always wore Miyalin armor, it didn't matter to him whether Zafer had a weapon or not.
For others, however, it was changing the fight interaction so much to the point where Zafer was afraid he will forget how to use weapons!
Yes, he still had the Axe 33, but using it in Arena against mere freelancers would be an overkill and an invitation to trouble.
Since he didn't want to spend the money he earned with Wiza on a new weapon, he turned to his good friend Skil, who possessed the first numerical Anomaly, the Synthesis.
It was a very useful anomaly for paladins, and it enabled them to create simple shaped objects out of different materials from their skin, like a blade for example.
Synthesizing it left no scar or wound on users' skin, even after completely extracting it out.
What was even more interesting was that the A-1 users with a lot of practice could synthesize blades with runes implemented in them!
This was of course a difficult feat, and it got more tiring the more complex a rune was.
Nevertheless, some strong paladins could synthesize a Miyalin weapon equipped with every rune and curse that exists.
Zafer who was currently too focused on improving his own rune had no clue about this until Skill told him.
It seemed to Zafer that facing strong Synthesis users in the future would be troublesome.
Skil could currently only synthesize iron blades, but although he was young, he could synthesize an iron blade with a Mending rune.
That was the simplest most useful rune for iron weapons anyway.
"It should fall apart in 2 or 3 days", Skil handed him over the blade.
This was to be expected. The synthesized weapons usually had a life span that was dependent on the user's skill.
That was another thing the Synthesis users had to work on.
However, 3 days was enough for Zafer.
Having no weapon at all also played a major role in his increased self-confidence, and finally holding one in his hands felt more reassuring than ever.
There was no handle to the blade since thick and circular shapes were very difficult to create, and Skill was still far from that.
Nonetheless, this posed no problem to Zafer either way, since the skin on his hands was particularly resistant to cuts due to his Iron Fist anomaly.
Zafer could just hold the blade with his bare hands and fight.
"So, who are you planning on fighting?", Skil was new to the Arena.
"Do you want to watch?", Zafer asked.
Skil smiled, "of course!"
As they were walking through the Arena searching for Tori, they had a meaningful and satisfying conversation.
It wasn't that they didn't talk to each other via S-mails, but writing a message using the ancient language was sometimes very restrictive and it took a lot of time to summarize what one wanted to say.
Talking to someone in person on the other hand was much more efficient, and eye contact and body language were also a huge part of the communication.
S-mails are a great invention, but could never replace a traditional face-to-face conversation.
Regular people were forbidden to buy and use S-mails anyways, to talking to people at a distance was a dream to them.
This was one of the reasons why many regulars tried to become freelancers or paladins.
As the two of them were talking, Skil suddenly changed the subject of their conversation.
"I have something for you", he just remembered.
He stretched out his hand and summoned a huge bag out of the thin air.
It had a whiteish colour and weighed more than silk but still less than iron.
The bag was made out of small Miyalin hooks, all connected together in a closed shape forming a bag with an opening on the top that could be widened and shrunken by pulling a string.
"What is this?"
"It's a Miyalin bag", Skil was excited, "it just came out in the market few days ago. I was waiting for this for so long!"
Zafer took it in his hand, examining the bag.
It sure was more durable than his backpack, but was it worth it?
The bag had nothing he could hold on, unlike his backpack.
"But why make it out of Miyalin?", he didn't want to sound ungrateful.
"Have you not heard of the Void rune?", Skil explained as they were walking.
Zafer nodded.
"It's a rune that could only be applied to Miyalin material, and this bag is made out of Miyalin!", Skil gave him a tip.
"So, I can recall this bag into the void?", Zafer didn't believe someone would waste a Void rune on a mere bag.
"Wait, is the bag going to disappear with everything that is put inside?"
Skil smiled, "yes!"
"But what if that something is not made out of Miyalin?"
"It doesn't matter!", Skil explained, "I'm not sure why it works myself, but if you close the bag properly, it will go to the void with all your stuff! No longer need to carry your inventory everywhere physically with you!".
Zafer revoked the bag into the void and then back.
This was actually maybe the best gift he has ever received since getting into the paladin business.
Since Zafer was constantly traveling on foot, carrying and managing inventory was always an issue for him.
How did nobody think of making this before? The inventors of these Miyalin bags just had to become millionaires.
Zafer thanked Skil and promised to pay him back, although he doubted there was anything as useful as this bag.
The Simple Physiology of Anomalies: Table of Contents:
А1 – Synthesis
А2 – [EXPUNGED]
А3 – …
А4 – …
А5 – …
А6 – Iron Fist
А7 – Repeater
А8 – Adjustment
А9 – Force
А10 – …
А11 – Almighty Eye
"The grinder is complete! Write me when you are free to meet up so that I can set you a TP. 26h 11m".
That was an unread S-mail message that Zafer received from Knuckles last night and it was referring to the flame flower farm he was constructing together with Semi.
Nevertheless, Zafer will only read it past the approaching midnight.
The numbers at the end represented a time the S-mail was written.
It was a practice that Knuckles started introducing recently and over time it is going to get copied and used by almost all other paladins.
Zafer and Skil were still walking through the Arena, looking for Tori.
Skil laughed, "I don't know who we are searching for, but I don't think we are going to find them".
They made a full tour through the Arena.
There was no sight of Tori which was weird since Zafer was always bumping into him when he didn't want to, like during the running sessions with Luch.
"It seems that way", Zafer gave up as well.
The arena was still half full of people, but it was more peaceful than usual, likely because it was already dusk.
Fights could only be seen here and there, most of the paladins and freelancers were just walking around talking to each other or enjoying the scenery.
It was then that Zafer spotted someone screaming.
It was a boy both younger and smaller than even Zafer was.
He was nervously and loudly trying to explain something to an adult male.
Zafer was surprised to remember who the young boy was, even though he saw him only once in the past.
That was Semi's younger brother Mint!
It seemed as if Mint got him into some trouble with an older paladin. Probably getting bullied.
"What's wrong?", Skil called him over, but Zafer was already headed towards Mint.
The adult paladin wore no Miyalin armor, but his masculine face made one feel uneasy.
Beside Mint and the scary-looking adult paladin, there was a third person there, just standing nearby.
It was a very skinny and tall man, with long messy black hair.
Still not as long as Mio's hair though.
Zafer came to them running.
"Hey! What's going on here? What do you want from Mint?", he was looking at the bald scary-looking paladin.
"Huh?", he frowned "Who the fuck are you?"
Zafer got irritated but didn't show it on the outside, "that doesn't have anything to do with my question!".
He placed his hand on Mint's shoulder.
The bald guy looked at Mint, "who is this to you?", he repeated the question making Zafer even angrier.
Mint gazed at Zafer nervously.
"I… I don't know", he smiled by reflex.
"WHAT?", Zafer screamed, "what are you talking about? You are Mint, Semi's little brother. We met before once. I am Zafer! His best friend!".
Mint's heart sunk, waves of heat washing him.
He took a better look at Zafer, especially his eyes.
"Oh no! I remember now! I know him, yes!", he felt uncomfortable, "I didn't recognize you because of your hair!"
At that point, Skil also appeared at the scene.
He grabbed Zafer by the shoulder, pulling him back.
"You realize that those two are from Nubis?!", he whispered.
Zafer's face expression and mood changed, staring at them once again with perplexed thoughts.
He never saw these two particular members of the Nubis faction, but starting a fight with them right now would not benefit him at all.
"So, what do you Nubians want from Mint? He would never do something bad on purpose!", he chose a more peaceful dialog.
Mint jumped in between them facing Zafer, "no it's alright! I kind off work for them and am behind the quota…"
Zafer was puzzled for a second. He knew that Mint would never work for Nubians since he was a Temper supporter.
At least the last time he met him.
"Did they make you work for them?"
Mint smiled again waving his hands, "no! It's a library of runes and we just have a contract with the Nubis faction. We store and rewrite runes for the Nubians and I accidentally made a mistake, but Sir Tule actually defended me in front of the others".
Tule was the bald scary-looking one.
"Oh", Zafer felt somewhat embarrassed.
"I see. I'm sorry", he turned to Tule, "I just wanted to protect him".
Tule exhaled, "sure".
He didn't really care. Not all Nubians were sinister.
"By the way, if you really are the Zafer I think Hydra mentioned, you should get going", Tule added.
Both Zafer's and Skil's heart dropped. They both knew very well who Hydra was, especially Skil due to interacting with Temper paladins and listening to their stories.
"What did he say?"
Tule knew about Skil's and Zafer's status as Temperans, but didn't mind talking to them.
"Well, he mentioned an axe with the Execute rune".
Skil looked at Zafer with a confused facial expression since he thought Zafer had no weapon, but Zafer was terrified.
"That's not good at all", Zafer started to panic, "how did he find out".
Although Zafer possessed the Book of Runes and Curses, he couldn't recall what exactly the Execution rune was capable of, however, it seemed to be a very rare and powerful rune.
Some runes were so rare that they could not be found on a market as a book.
It was just easier to acquire those runes by extracting them from other weapons.
A sudden breeze passed through the entire Arena, and it took only one glance behind them to realize that a human made it.
It was Hydra. The only one who could run so fast.
He didn't say anything, but rammed into Zafer and dragged him away.
Hydra was obviously not in the mood for games, and Zafer couldn't do anything to free himself.
They stopped on a small field where wheat was growing.
The field was vast, and a small river surrounded it—also a very popular place for paladins to spar.
Wild wheat and weed were stubbornly sprouting each year even despite the influence of paladins and freelancers training, and now when it was autumn, it was completely dry.
It was a large piece of land with nothing, but dead wheat and a windmill surrounded by a small river and other random biomes.
"Alright, summon the Axe", Hydra said.
Zafer was still holding the blade Skil gave him thanks to his grip strength.
"Don't act like you don't know. I already had to torture someone today", Hydra continued.
If Zafer refused to hand him over the Axe, Hydra could only beat him until he gave up.
This was the first time Zafer wanted to precautionary drink a red potion, because this time, he sure would get hurt a lot.
Nevertheless, given Hydra's speed, such a feat would not be as easy as he thought.
One of the fundamental tactics when fighting someone was to prevent them from enhancing themselves with a potion.
Zafer barely just opened the lid of the vial and Hydra was already in front of him, forcing Zafer to use both hands to block his almighty Miyalin axe.
The red potion fell on the ground, getting spilled, while Zafer got blasted away.
There was a distance between them now. Zafer only had 2 more red potions left.
Luckily for Zafer, his hands were very tough, and Hydra also didn't activate a Crushing rune since he had to torture Zafer until he summoned the Axe.
A Crushing rune would have instantly killed him.
Hydra dashed towards Zafer.
The adrenalin rush was so high that Zafer didn't even agonize in pain but just focused on Hydra's next move because it might also be his last.
The worst-case scenario would be if he got knocked out and kidnapped.
Luckily for him, Skil appeared in Hydra's path, colliding with him sideways.
Both of them rolled on the ground.
This might look like a disgrace to an outside observer, but Hydra was still way stronger than both of them combined.
If one explored how politics in Nubis worked, one would figure out that the rank of an officer has more to do with loyalty than with individual strength and fighting capabilities.
As the future will show, there were some real menaces among regular Nubis paladins.
Zafer quickly used this opportunity to consume a blue potion, but it still wasn't enough.
Hydra was just too fast.
Nevertheless, instead of rushing towards Zafer, Hydra decided to smash Skil away.
This was barely enough time for Zafer to consume a single blue potion.
However, he still had in mind to drink a red one.
There was no way he would get away without any broken bones. Not against Hydra.
Zafer turned around and started running away from Hydra as fast as he could.
The good thing was that Zafer's knowledge of Arena's terrain was on the same pair as his Hydra's, despite their difference in fighting experience and age.
Since Zafer was way inferior to Hydra both in anomalous and physical senses, he had to use his surroundings to their full extent.
He took out a red potion vial and stepped on a holey surface that was very different from the surrounding earth and dirt.
It was the surface of an underground plant, Welkin, and was frequently used by fighters in Arena, mainly to buy time.
The ground shook and an intense blast of wind swept all the nearby dead wheat and pinned all the grass to the earth.
It was enough force to send Zafer flying into the sky!
Outside of Hydra's reach
Zafer's body was slowly flipping over, but he still managed to drink almost every drop of the red liquid.
Hydra also stepped on the Welkin plant and got sent flying, however, he missed Zafer by an inch.
After both of them fell on the ground, the close combat began.
Although Zafer was the one who wasn't restricted to killing, he fought defensively the whole time while Hydra was the aggressive one.
His every swing possessed so much force it could break Zafer's bone instantly, so Zafer was giving his best to dodge the swings.
He only had to take less damage per minute than his red potion could regenerate.
Drinking 2 red potions was meaningless since it didn't enhance the regenerative ability at all.
It was far better to save them and prolong their consumption.
Zafer only had a single red potion remaining after all.
Hydra on the other hand didn't need to drink potions due to his Repeater anomaly giving him inhuman speed, strength, and regeneration while activated.
To mention it one more time, Hydra can go even a full day with his Repeater Anomaly activated. That was just how much anomalous stamina he had.
Truly a monster.
There wasn't a clear light at the end of the tunnel for Zafer, but he continued to fight.
At some point, Skil came back.
They were now fighting Hydra two versus one. However, it wasn't as simple as it seemed.
Neither Skil nor Zafer fought someone together before, and it seemed as if they were getting in each other's way more than they profited from it.
The only good thing about this was that the damage Hydra was doing was now cut in half, meaning Zafer's red potion had more time to regenerate before his body got injured again.
Nevertheless, it was only Zafer whom Hydra didn't want to kill.
Not Skil.
A sharp thud was suddenly heard in the middle of a messy fight.
Skil's chest got penetrated, and although he was also enhanced by a 10% red potion, it was a serious question if the regenerative effect was strong enough to stop the bleeding before he went beyond the point of no return.
Despite the fact that a red potion could regenerate some amount of the lost blood, that amount was negligible.
Skil froze, backing away by a few steps, but Hydra wasn't acting in a theatre.
He kicked Skil in the stomach with superhuman strength, making him fly away.
Zafer wanted to prevent this by jumping on Hydra, but the Nubian was simply too fast.
Hydra swiftly turned around, only to see Zafer who was in the middle of a jump animation.
Wide open.
Zafer got kicked away in the same way.
He was rolling on the ground, but unlike Skil, Zafer got unlucky in his own way.
The potion vials he kept in his pockets shattered, spilling the liquid, but that wasn't the worst part.
All of the vials were made out of glass and hundreds of small smashed fragments got stuck in his flesh.
This was a huge problem since the regenerative effect could not get them out but only close the wounds.
This meant that those broken parts would stay stuck in his leg muscles, making it almost impossible for him to move.
Every contraction of his leg muscles resulted in cut muscle fibers and pain.
"Miserable Temperans", Hydra spoke as he slowly approached Zafer.
He was aware of what happened with the glass vials.
He grabbed Zafer and started dragging him across the withered wheat field, but the former wasn't giving up yet.
Zafer let loose of his blade, caught Hydra's arm that was covered in Miyalin armor, and then clenched his fists as strong as he could.
His training with Luch focused mainly on A-6, the Iron Fist, but despite him making noticeable progress, he was still nowhere near even cracking Miyalin.
It wasn't the toughest material known to man for no reason.
Hydra threw him in front of Skil, before walking to the Temper paladin himself.
From afar across the river, Mint and the bald Nubian was observing the whole fight.
"This is bad!", Mint commented, "can you stop him!? Please!", he glanced at Tule, the Nubis member who was previously scolding him.
Tule looked at him, "probably, but I will get in trouble".
Hydra laid his axe on Skil's shoulder so that the blade was looking at the sky. The low-pitched buzzing sound that the axe gave off could be well heard since it was right next to his ear.
"Typical Temperan weakling", he commented, "summon it".
Skil went silent and Zafer looked at the ground.
This wasn't a situation Zafer hoped to end up in, not only because Skil voluntarily risked his life to protect him, but also because it was all about an axe that wasn't even his.
He found it, and although it was thanks to his sharp senses, it was still by pure luck.
This just wasn't worth it.
However, there was still something wrong about this.
Something that motivated Zafer to go this far in the first place, and it didn't even have anything to do with the Axe 33, but with Hydra.
He simply didn't like him at all.
Zafer gritted his teeth and with a great irritation summoned the Axe 33.
Hydra's eyes shone upon seeing the weapon he had been looking for.
With this, his own axe is right at the threshold to become a Divine.
Nevertheless, right in that instant, a humanoid creature appeared right next to the 3 of them.
It swiftly snatched the Axe 33 out of Zafer's hands and vanished again, only to appear behind
Hydra.
Hydra's heart suddenly started beating heavily, flexing all of his muscles to turn around as
quickly as possible, however, it was useless.
This all happened so abruptly and fast that even Hydra was no match for this humanoid
creature!
It hit Hydra's back with the axe very gently.
A silent clinging sound was heard.
All the preconditions for the Execute rune activation were met!
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Hydra's eyes instantly went from alert to blank and his body instantly shut down, making
him fall on the ground!
"Yo! That was a banger!", the humanoid creature spoke.
Its whole body was covered in white-orange fur and it also had the nose and ears of a fox.
That was the person from the bounty poster!
"Is- Is he dead?", Skil was caught in awe.
"No. He only blacked out".
Unlike Skil, Zafer was more curious about the humanoid creature rather than Hydra.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Key Em", he made a weird sign with his hand, "this axe is mine. Thanks for looking after
it".
He meant the Axe 33.
Key Em then turned around a bit nervous.
"Take this in exchange", he summoned yet another Miyalin axe.
Zafer grabbed and inspected it.
It had no name but had a couple of runes implemented into it.
"I like you for real. Stay safe".
At that same moment, he just disappeared into the thin air.
Zafer rubbed his eyes, straightening himself up as much as he could given his condition, looking
all around him but not seeing anyone.
He was one hundred percent sure that Key Em was the same person he saw on the bounty
poster at the entrance of the Arena.
This meant that he was a criminal, yet he seemed more friendly than Hydra.
This was the main reason why Zafer was satisfied with this outcome, with Key Em taking the
Axe 33 rather than Hydra.
At this point, both Mint and Tule appeared at the scene.
Tule approached Hydra's body, lifting him up on his shoulders.
"Hey! What are you doing?!", Skil protested.
Tule frowned, "What? I can't just leave him here".
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This was maybe the best chance they had to get rid of Hydra! One if the Nubians menances!
Unfortunately, both he and Zafer were too tired to oppose Tule. None of them knew how
strong he was and honestly Zafer didn't care.
The main thing he was concerned about right now was that his quest got completed.
His speed definitely improved and it was time he also starts to work on other things.
Mint stood by the side this whole time, waiting for both Tule and Skil to leave after Zafer bid
his thanks and goodbyes.
"Hey… I wanted to apologize once more for not recognizing you earlier, and also thank you
for standing up for me…".
Although Mint was in Arena, he was way too weak to evaluate the strength difference between
Hydra and Zafer, meaning he also saw nothing wrong with this outcome, completely ignoring
it as it never happened.
"Don't worry about it", Zafer was still on alert.
Mint continued, "I want you to have this", he gave him a folded piece of worn-down paper,
"It is a map to the rune library I am working at. You might want to visit it", he hinted
something.
Zafer frowned, "I thought the Nubis owned it".
Mint shook his head, "It's only a mere contract. You aren't even an official paladin of the
Temper, right? Just come by! Trust me".
Not all rune shops were selling runes for the same price, and those that were hidden or had
a contract with some gang, or a faction was especially cheap.
Zafer nodded.
Although his main goal wasn't fulfilled, he certainly did improve his reflexes by a huge
amount in a short time.
Hydra was simply a monster.
Despite Zafer's willingness to stay with Koth and train, he now had other things to look forward to, like his first very own Miyalin axe, a visit to rune library, and a finished grinder farm.