Fight. Level. Survive.

One of the most obvious differences between Humans and elves is their physical appearance. Humans are generally taller and more muscular than elves. They also have a more comprehensive range of skin tones, eye colours, and hair textures. In contrast, elves are typically shorter and more slender. They often have pointed ears and more delicate features. elves are also known for their longevity, often living for centuries, while Humans typically live only a few decades.

Humans and elves also have different cultures and social structures. Humans tend to be more diverse in their beliefs, customs, and practices. They often live in large cities or towns and may have a hierarchical social structure based on wealth, power, or status. In contrast, elves tend to be more homogeneous in their culture and beliefs. They often live in small, isolated communities and have a more egalitarian social structure. However, this has become less of the norm in modern times, with elves often leaving their homes and living in Human cities.

- Excerpt from ‘Species and Culture’ Chapter 3, elves

Chapter 23 - Gael

Mandatory Quest. Nice knowing ya.

Objective: This horrifying psycho bitch has challenged you to a fight. All you need to do is scratch her, and you and Mayry get to walk away. Until she returns in a year, kills you and eats me like it’s Taco Tuesday at Fat Camp. Don’t fuck this up.

Reward – You get to live for another year.

His system was scared of being eaten? He knew it was a prick but didn’t think it had feelings. Huh, the more you know.

Mason really wished he had picked the Martial Arts skill. At least then, he might have a chance in this fight. As it was, he didn’t know how he’d get himself out of this one.

He had his armour, which she had already shown was useless against her. He had his dagger, which had done fuck all to her when he had tried to stab the bitch in the face. He had his danger ring, which hadn’t even warned him he was walking into a trap.

His stats and skills might do something to the woman, but he didn’t think it would be that simple. In preparation, Mason took out one of the potions he had gotten to Viv. The Swiftness potion was supposed to increase his speed temporarily. He downed it and grimaced; it tasted foul. Checking his stats, he saw his agility had jumped 20%, bringing him to 24, which wasn’t a huge increase, but every little helped!

Looking desperately at his inventory, he saw the Crack Hens Iron Beak. He hadn’t tried to use it yet, but if he didn’t now, there was a good chance he never would. He took it out and slipped his hand into it, gripping the handle he found inside it. Looking at it made him think of the drill weapon in Bioshock, except the beak had no serrated edges, just a very sharp tip.

Stepping forward, he announced that he was ready. The woman who had just been watching him with a creepy smile waved her hands in an overly dramatic fashion, and Mason felt a pressure he hadn’t known was there suddenly disappear.

Dramatically bowing, The woman spoke, “Before I kill you, allow me to introduce myself, I am Gael. One of the selected of Ganehfrel.” She looked at him expectantly.

“Oh, right, I'm Mason.” He tried.

“I know your name, you imbecile.” Sighing, she continued, “It is customary, before a duel, to introduce yourself and who you fight for….” Motioning for him to try again.

“Ah, right… I am Mason. I fight for Earth?” the sentence pitched, turning the statement into a question.

Her face showed surprise. She cocked her head at him and asked, “What the fuck is Earth? That isn’t one of the factions.”

Frustrated that she seemed to know far more than he did, he said, “Listen, lady. All I know is I appeared in this world a few days ago, and I haven’t had the foggiest fucking idea what’s going on since. I certainly don’t know what the fuck a faction is. Can you just get done beating my ass, please?”

“So eager to die all of a sudden?” She asked, starting to pace. “Wait your turn; I’ll get to you when I figure this out.”

As she paced, she muttered to herself, Mason’s enhanced Perception let him hear most of what she was saying. “-got sent here to fight a factionless weakling; maybe if I explain-“

As she paced, she turned her back on him. Seeing his chance, he darted towards her thrusting the razor-sharp beak at her back. He hit! Wait, where did she go? He had gotten so close that he had thought it was inevitable that his strike would hit. She must have moved with the beak millimetres from her back.

Looking around, he saw her still pacing a mere 2 feet away as if nothing had happened.

Mason attacked again. Dodge. He struck again and again and again, Dagger in his off-hand, beak in his main. Dodge, Dodge, Dodge. What the fuck was happening. She had barely acknowledged his actions.

Returning his dagger to his inventory, he tried changing it up. He ran at her. He threw a jab at the back of her head with the beak, and with his now daggerless hand, he shot a Magic Missile at her back from inches away.

She disappeared and reappeared, causing both hits to miss. This time, when she reappeared, she looked at him as if just now noticing she was being attacked. She threw a punch so fast that Mason only knew it happened when he hit the floor.

At least now she was looking at him, although that definitely did not improve his chances. She did the come hither motion with her hand, smiling daringly at him.

Getting to his feet, Mason charged towards Gael with a wild fury; he swung the hand holding the beak in a wide arc, aiming for her head. She ducked under his blow with the effort it took to blink and countered with a lightning-fast kick to his stomach.

Mason grunted in pain, spitting up yet more blood as he stumbled backwards, his eyes locked onto Gael's as he tried again to land a punch, but she easily sidestepped his clumsy attack and landed a series of sharp jabs to his ribs. She was playing with him now as he knew from experience she could hit a helluva lot harder than she currently was.

Mason was no match for Gael's superior- well, her superior everything. She was stronger and more resilient. She moved with an effortless grace that left him feeling like a lumbering oaf in comparison. He threw himself at her repeatedly, but she dodged every blow with ease, her movements fluid, precise and completely effortless.

Mason was starting to feel frustrated. He had never been beaten so thoroughly before, and he didn't like the feeling. He lunged at Gael again, this time aiming for her legs, but she leapt over his head and landed behind him, delivering a sharp chop to the back of his neck.

Mason crumpled to the ground, his vision swimming as he struggled to catch his breath. Gael stood over him, her expression calm and collected.

“Disappointing, I thought I saw a spark of something in you, but I guess not….Well, at least the girl and I are going to have a lot of fun.”

Mason felt anger rise in him. His entire body heated up. His blood felt like it was on fire. He felt his Emotional outburst skill activate. He concentrated and focussed his entire Mana pool into a single Magic Missile. This was the last chance. If she dodged this or it hit and did nothing, then Mason was dead. Figuring he might as well live out life long dream, he held out both of his hands and shouted, “Kaaaa Meeeeeee-“A kick to the head cut him off. Dazed by the blow, he clamped down harder on the Mana. Not wanting it to dissipate, he focused harder, letting it build. “Fuck it.” Out of 200 of his remaining Mana, he forced 190 of it into a single Magic Missile.

=====================================

The way she saw it, the fight had been akin to a toddler play fighting with a parent. The kid could throw a punch, but it either wasn’t going to land or it wouldn’t hurt in the slightest. He was Level 12, after all, the chances of him managing to scratch her were almost non-existent, but she had felt merciful today and wanted to have some fun, so she had offered him the deal.

She had knocked him around for a bit, trying to enjoy it, but after a while, she just felt kind of bad for the in-over-his-head human… but not that bad.

Bored, she had tried taunting him using the girl. She had never really intended to hurt the annoying girl… torturing women just never did it for her, not like it did when she hurt men…. Oo, now that got her going.

She thought she had finally broken him. He had started shouting something nonsensical, so she kicked him in the head to shut him up. Sighing, she held out a hand, intending to finally kill the guy. Moments too late, she saw his hand was glowing. Not worrying about it, thinking nothing a Level 12 could come up with could hurt her, she decided she would just tank the hit to add a last bit of insult to injury right before she killed him.

The blast hit with far more force than she had expected. As it made contact it exploded with bright energy. The explosion caused a wave of force that would have pushed her back had she not resisted.

The surprise at how powerful the blast was, coupled with the bright flash of light, was enough of a distraction that She didn’t notice the man had moved.

========================

His plan had worked, kinda. He had hoped that the emotional outburst supercharged Magic Missile would be enough to do some amount of damage to her, but it didn’t seem that was the case. What it did do was distract her.

Mason moved, pushing every one of his muscles beyond their limit. He drew back the Iron Beak in his fist and hit the woman with everything he had. He poured all his anger, fear, pain and desperation into the blow.

He opened his eyes. He had hit the floor suddenly. He wasn't sure if the blow had landed or not.

The dust settled, and there she was standing, facing away from him, completely unharmed. Completely out of ideas and fucks. He slumped to the floor, defeated physically and emotionally.

The woman’s voice sounded utterly unfazed as she spoke, “I have to admit. I did not see that coming.” She turned around, and Mason saw it. On her right cheek, right where he had aimed, that last blow was a scratch. Not quite bleeding but present.

In a far better mood than Mason had seen her, Gael said, “I guess we’ll see how far you can come in a year.” She paused before adding, “If you aren’t with a faction, then I doubt you know about the trial?”

Lacking the strength to respond verbally, Mason just shook his head.

“Ah, in that case, you’ll be dead long before I see you in a year.” A small book materialised in her hand. She threw it at Mason and said, “read that. It will explain. In one year, I’ll find you, and if you aren’t strong enough to give me a good fight, I’ll make you suffer like you can’t imagine. Get stronger. You’re pretty fucked either way, but at least this way, I’ll have some fun.”

She waved her hand, and a circle of crackling red energy appeared. She stepped towards it, saying in a sing-song voice, “Don't forget, one year and I’m coming to get cha.”