Two enter, one leaves
You nudge the closest guard as you drop your sword. He quickly understands, and hands his sword over to you. The guard is a little bigger, and it's made of proper steel. This will do nicely. The other guy steps forward as well, wordlessly. He's heavily armoured now, and wields a single long-sword. His off hand is empty, and he stands towards you with his body twisted a little to the side. His bucket helm makes it impossible to see his expression, but you get an intense feeling of hostility. His armour has a human jaw attached to the shoulder, disgustingly. He seems for more repugnant now than he did two years ago. You decide that you need to get intimidating as well. You stretch yourself a little, giving you quite a bit of height, and yell:
Fight him!? That is your big scary ultimatum!? I should thank you for feeding this bastard to me! I've been dreaming of this moment for two years!The bandit leader laughs and nudges his closest minion. He's the only one laughing, however. Most seem more disgusted and wary. Your opponent's expression is unreadable behind his full helmet, but he steps forward, intent on beginning the fight. The leader shouts at the townsfolk to leave, and they go inside the town hall. You heard of the escape tunnel before. Everybody leaves, and the captain gives you a nod of respect. Your father refuses to leave. Wordlessly, he sits down on the stairs, with his hands in his hair. He looks ready to break. You cannot afford to lose this battle. The bandit horde closes in, encircling you. You are left with about ten square meters. The bandits chant:
NEW MEAT! NEW MEAT! NEW MEAT! NEW MEAT!. You circle around each-other, with five meters between you. You are awaiting him, and he is awaiting you. A dance of death.
Now we see who knows the steps.
He is the first to break the stalemate, holding his sword diagonally to defend himself, he rushes towards you. You throw a bola to him, getting ready to finish this as fast as possible. The rope flies towards his legs and he attempts to jump over. Your throw is absolutely perfect however, and you still manage to snag his foot. It twists around, and the weight crashes into his ankle. As he stumbles, you attempt to go in for the kill. You try an overhead strike, but he parries it with his sword, badly. You manage to chip the blade, and jump back to avoid his counterattack. He cuts your bola apart to free himself, and goes back to his defensive position. You see that he has a minor limp now, but not enough to slow him down to a noticeable level. you flash a smile at this either way.
He didn't like that. His body tenses, and he bellows a war cry as he charges again. You back away a little, and sidestep(more accurately, sidejump, due to your size) his clumsy charge. He makes a wild slash to his side, however, preventing you from striking at him. He rushes forward again, this time with the point of his sword towards you. You raise your shield and attempt to block the attack. He must have expected this, however, as he bends his sword downwards just enough to slide past your shield and hit one of your front legs. You yelp in pain as you smash him away with a shield bash. His armor allows him to stand his ground, but he does flinch, allowing you to back up.
Now we're equal, aren't we? Your opponent mockingly yells.
You mockingly shake your seven other legs. Your wound hardly matters, as it wasn't even deep. You give him a rude gesture, and attempt a backhanded slice. You miss, but follow up with a tackle. This knocks him off balance, and you attempt to use your stinger. He rolls away, and manages to cut your arm during the roll. Another superficial hit, but still....
The bandit leader laughs. Your opponent twists around in surprise, allowing you make another rush and strike at his head. You hit.
His helm flies off, revealing his face. Without the helmet or cap, you can see his face clearly, for the first time. It is covered in sweat, and he has the scraggly beard of a man who will never grow a proper one. It looks silly, honestly, even with his scowl. Still, you can't lose focus. You ready yourself again as he charges again with an overhead strike. You raise your shield to block, but he stops his attack! He uses his other hand to punch you in the stomach. The blow winds you, and you stumble back. He laughs as he tries to follow through on his strike. Your spider body gives you much better balance, however, and you manage to dodge his strike as you try to catch your breath. After this, you both trade blows, neither of you gaining any advantage. His parries remain poor, and by the end of it, his sword is chipped in many places. But the fatigue of battle quickly enters, and the earlier punch takes his toll on your stamina.
You clutch your side, hang low and take several deep breaths. The bastard smirks at this. Thinking himself won, he charges again with his sword in front, intent on finishing you off.
As you expected.
You quickly drop your free hand into the ground, and grab a handful of dirt and sand. You throw it at his face, and manage to blind him. You stand on your hind legs, and use his momentum to spear him with your stinger. It just barely manages to pierce his chestplate, and you pump in a good amount of poison. He screams in pain, and drops his sword as he clutches his chest. He coughs, and begins to crawl away from you, towards the bandit chief. You see nothing but scorn from the leader as he crawls.
He is weak
He is scared.
He.
Is.
Delicious.
You walk over his body, and sting him straight on the neck. He gurgles out another cry, but he rapidly loses consciousness from shock. You take him by the shoulders, and take a massive bite where you stung him. The stung flesh gives way to your jaws, and you rip out a massive piece of gore, which you eat and swallow. The warm blood is one of the most satisfying things you ever felt. You dumb his body on the ground, as you laugh in an almost hysterical manner.
You stomp on his body, making it twitch as you screech in victory. An inhuman sound emanates from you, a primal noise that makes all but the bandit chief flinch in fear.
Including your father. When it ends, you sit there, wounded, tired and more alive than you ever were.
Level up.HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! The leader laughs loud enough to quiet down everything around you.
A good fight! A fine fight indeed! You are free to go! The bandits around you make a tunnel towards the open road. Your father wordlessly stands in the middle of it, looking worried. There is a pleading look in his eye.
But! I have a proposition! Anything that can fight so ferociously, deserves a place by my side... As my lieutenant, you will see riches beyond your wildest dreams, and unmatched power! You can be an apostle of the Red Moon, along with me!You turn to him, feeling the rush of victory wearing off. The leader in front of you took every thing you ever had, and now he wishes for you to join him?! You turn to your father, who reaches his hand out to you, wordlessly asking you to join him.
What now?
Level: 2
HP: 9/15
Mana: 10/10
Equipment: Leather straps and apron.
Steel sword
Wooden shield(Well-made)
Skills:
Poison Stinger (Potentially lethal)
Major experience in blocking and swords.
Climber
Crafty: Bolas
Bestiary of the fantastical: Addendum on dridersWhile most driders prefer to cut up their prey, the poisonous ones have a special type of liquid in their abdomen specifically for the softening of prey. This acid is magic-based, however, and only works on weakened, almost dead targets. The acid itself is harmless to the drider, allowing them to eat even the toughest of prey. Many claim that this acid can not be used deliberately, being based on old instincts.
In order to properly level, you will have to rest somewhere first.