Original Stories Fan Fiction / Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction ❯ Hallow Sins ❯ The Challange ( Chapter 4 )

The roar of the crowd, the sweat of my brow, the blood in my hands. I relished everything about it, Why? Because I'm greedy, money, power, violence, I want it all. He tried feebly to fight back, against ME of all people. I simply stepped on his chest; the demonic aura I was radiating would give him nightmares for weeks, assuming he would wake up after this…

“this place still smells like pot,” Grant complained.

Key rolled his eyes. The simulators used next generation technology to accurately recreate Creep battles, the control pods used neurologic probes to capture brain waves and turning them into electromagnetic impulses onto full holographic 3D stages. Using data submitted onto a coin disk to determine the speed, strength, and other characteristics for their fully functional virtual avatars. It was real enough that W.A.R.P. held testing days here for those that didn't want to go on a dive to sign up. The Sim station held twelve miniature `arenas'. Tables that would project the action, along the walls where the pods for Ex-vens to beam their minds into the simulation. This place was the reason why so many thought diving was a simple game, though maybe W.A.R.P. wanted it that way…

“I think that's it,” Brail pointed out. They could easily tell it was them. WARP pride itself on delivering the best in sims, both technically and visually, they could easily see the individual blonde hairs on Acrill's crew cut, and the blood on his double edged Gladius. Bringing up the enormous shield he had on his left arm to block an incoming liz-bud, the scaly four foot lizards could inflict damage with their razor sharp claws.

Acrill spun to the side, slicing the reptile in half. Rouge lashed out with her whip, snapping the neck of another one, she turned invisible and sulked back into the trees of the virtual forest.

“Guess that's their new member,” Mizu pointed out. It was hard to miss that bright pink armor, or the gun decorated with a red bow around the barrel and the one on her full face helmet. “This…is their third?” Brail asked a little put off. The heavy gunner put another round though a goblin skull, Rouge's whip lashed out at one trying to scratch her.

Arcill hissed as one liz-bud sank it's claws into his side, unlike Grant, this knight wore no armor, only the huge knee to shoulder shield offered any protection.

“Hey, who's that?” Key pointed to young boy sitting behind Arcill, he was small, defenseless, and just screamed nerdy with his incredibly thick glasses, with two sheathed knifes that seamed way too big for him to handle.

“Did he wonder in from a different server?” Grant asked, laughing. But a spectator informed them that the kid had been there since the start of the sim, and just sat there the whole time.

“Last wave,” Mizu commented. Now around the group a ring of goblins stood, and the squad bunched together, all except for the nerdy kid, who now stood up. They stood still as the goblins swarmed in, then it happened.

The kid let out a howl, not one of a human, but one of a beast. White fur began to grow on him at a rapid rate, he grew until he was an inch taller than Key, his human head replaced by that of a wolf, his arms folded across his hairless, but white chest, both his shirt and glasses where gone. A strip of blue fur followed one eye like an eyepatch, another around the tail that poked out of him now. A human wolf now stared down the stampede of goblins.

“a morph…they got a fuckin morph,” Grant whispered in amazement.

The werewolf sprung into action, his huge feet pounded the ground as his meaty fists pounded the goblins, his punches a flurry of white and red as he decimated the attackers. Suddenly his foot lashed out in a front kick, taking the head of one off. As soon as it was down he swept out with his other leg, taking goblins clean off their feet. As he finished he lashed out with an elbow, catching one in the nose. The rest of the pack, seeing their comrades against a fierce opponent, ignored the others and ran for the wolfman, a mistake on their part.

Rouge's whip lashed in a great arc, catching many off guard as Arcill and the gunner went to work on them, mercilessly slaughtering them, within minutes every last goblin was dead, and the siren went up signaling the end of the exam. The score was displayed above the field, showing various stats and a large B at the end.

“C or higher gets you in,” Key explained. Four pods opened up, revealing Arcill and company, the four confirmed their suspicions about the gunner, it was a girl. She bounced out of the pod, her platinum blonde hair complemented by her pink blouse and white skirt, they waltzed up to the front desk, getting their cell phones and title of Ex-ven, and then Rouge pointed in their general direction.

Arcill nodded and walked towards them, a slight limp in his right leg and a smirk on his face. Newly formed squad in tow, at about four feet away the new girl squealed and launched herself at Grant, who was so taken back that he did nothing as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “Oh my god, you are soooooo cute!” she cooed. Grant just stood there, his eye twitching.

“Get. Off. Me.” he said in a menacingly demonic voice. The girl complied, still bouncing up and down.

“That fur vest looks like sooooo cute on you, ohhhh, can I touch your hair?” she asked, forming puppy dog eyes.

Grant backed away slowly, a little scared, but his face hardened as his eyes connected with Arcill.

“Grant, I see you've met Alise, our gunner for squad `Shadow Battalion', the young boy to my right is Zache,” the boy behind Arcill waved shyly. “So, regret letting me join your squad yet?” his voice was full of arrogance.

“The only thing I regret…” he jutted a thumb towards Alise. “…is not hitting this bitch when I had the chance,”

Instead of being offended, as do most girls Grant meets, Alise smiled even more, if that was possible. “ohhh, feisty too, meow,” she held her hands up like little cat paws.

“Key, don't you think something is wrong with this girl…Key?” wide eyed Mizu looked up, and after following Key's eyes promptly stamped on his foot, hard. His face contorted, it took most of his willpower not to scream out like a little girl, and the rest to tear his eyes away from Alise. Mizu's mood did not improve when she saw Rouge had pulled Brail away from the rest, and was talking to him privately.

“Don't mind him Alise, he has the sex drive of a corpse,” Arcill explained.

“Don't worry, I like sooo totally love a challenge,” her peppy voice responded.

“So Grant, how many dives you been on?” He poked around.

“We just finished our first today, took down an orc,” Grant boasted.

Arcill laughed “funny, as if a bunch of noobs like you could take on an orc,”

“Think you're so tough, cripple?” he snapped.

“Admit it, you're just begging to join my superior group, maybe I will, you can fetch my towels for me”

Violent images involving Arcill's inner organs flashed before Grant's twitching eyes, but he played it smart.

“PvP is a lot harder than AI mobs,” he mentioned casually.

“Is that a challenge? Are you challenging me to a fight?” Arcill asked. “We would own you,”

“Tomorrow, here, 10:00 AM” Grant was on the verge of jumping onto Arcill right now, spider drones already in the vicinity.

“Fine, Shadow Battalion lets head out for a victory feast,”

Rouge hugged (much to Mizu's annoyance) Brail goodbye, catching up with her friends.

“Key, add those two to my `must kill' list,”

“Grant, Arcill has his own page of times you want to kill him,” Key joked.

“We better head home,” Mizu noted the time.

 

The four friends took the malls subway station it the suburban area that they lived. Exiting the platform the four found themselves at a T-road.

“Ok, let's meet here tomorrow,” Grant announced, at that moment his cell went off. “Now what?” he pulled it out of his jean pocket, reading the text message he'd been sent, turning around into the evening sun to see it better.

Key glanced around nervously, understandable since this T-walk was about a street down from the local ghettos. “Hey guys I better head home,”

“Let's walk together, we can talk about tomorrow,” Grant and Key took the left hand path. Leaving the other two alone.

“Hey…Brail,” Mizu addressed.

“Yah?” Brail turned to look at her with a blank stare.

“Um…about today…what did Rouge say?” she sheepishly asked.

“What's it to you?” a flicker of annoyance crossed his face.

“n-no! sorry,” She blushed.

“no…it's fine, I just don't like other people prying into my shit, ya'know?” he quickly said.

“soo…”

“It was nothing,”

“Really?”

“Just about you guys,” he stuck his hands in his pockets.

“wha?”

“She wants me to join Shadow Battalion, says you guys are holding me back,”

“And?...”

“i told her to go fuck an orc,” he smiled.

“Oh, good,” Mizu let go of her breath. “So see you tomorrow,”

“right,” he turned and was about to walk away when Mizu called. “Brail!”

Muttering under his breath, he spun on his heel again.

“How about we head down early for breakfast tomorrow, my treat?”

Brail considered it for a moment, his dad wouldn't be buying groceries for another week, about most of his pay had been blown on the new gun, she was offering… “ya, sounds good,”

“G-great!” she blushed even more. “See you here at eight?”

“Sure, see ya,” he turned with reluctance and headed back to his place hidden in the ghettos.

 

Grant turned around, a little amused by the conversation that according to Key, Mizu and Brail where having at the subway station entrance. “Okay how did we hear that?” he casually asked.

“Little technique I got from some spells in the book, you'd be surprised how much sound is carried on the wind,” Key glanced at his phone.

“Handy little trick isn't it?” Grant approved.

“Ya, well here's my place,” Key turned to his house. “Ready for tomorrow?”

“Hell ya, night!” Grant walked down the street to his place.

“Cy ya!” Key opened the door, intending to put the book to good use.