When you’re out there in the wilds, remember to not let your greed for one thing blind you to everything else.

Lavanya Sanghvi - the Monster Bane - Adventurer’s Guide to Surviving the Idroan Wilderness

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“You’re more than welcome to try,” Mike announced, gesturing the warriors around him to move aside.

Dom didn’t need any more urging as he dashed forward, his mace swinging down from above his head. The Gladiator caught the blow with the edge of his blade and kicked toward the Squire. Moving his shield, Dom blocked it and pulled back his mace, attempting to bring the bastard sword with it, metal screeching on metal.

Mayhem broke out around the duel as the two factions clashed. Josh headed for Alice, aware that his anti-mage class was the best suited against her, but Sabine intercepted him. Her appearance hadn’t changed after her transformation to Blood Fist as she was still lean, her limbs twined of cords of muscle, with a shaved head and a wolfish grin. However, her class upgrade did show in her aura as it was immeasurably more devastating as if some fool had thrown a canister of gasoline into an already raging bonfire.

Josh tried to dart around her but she followed with ease, eventually pouncing at him with a jab. He leapt back, his boots crushing scrubby tufts of grass as he landed and lowered. His heart pounded in his ears while his breathing quickened and tensed. Although she had every opportunity to charge him down, she stood there relaxed, not even bothering to take up a combat stance.

Turning to the side, he ran away from her again and she chased as expected. Then, as she treaded into lunging distance, he spun and swung for her neck. Her hand moved quicker than his eyes could follow and slapped his wrist, throwing his attack off course. By instinct, he raised his shield in time, but she made no attempt to follow up, instead pausing as if waiting for his next move.

Gritting his teeth and snarling, Josh swung his sword up, but she kicked him in the elbow and forced it out of his hands. In shock, he couldn’t dodge as she cuffed him across the face, causing him to stagger back. As he struggled for his balance, she chucked his sword after him.

“Don’t drop it again,” she said.

He blinked at her. “What are you doing?!” he yelled, anger and confusion lacing in his voice.

“I’m having some fun,” she replied with a shrug. “Mike’s been disappointed since Silas ran away, so I thought I’d let him have a warm-up before tonight’s main attraction.”

This brought a pause to his anger as incredulity took the wheel. “What on Earth are you on about?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” she said with a wink. “I don’t want to spoil anything. Just come and attack me again - I want to see how far you’ve come since our initial stint into the ratkin’s turf.”

He glanced around and saw Iris was doing alright and Elise better than that as blood dribbled down her axe. Contrarily, Dom was getting battered by Mike with several gaping cuts on his body already, and the rest of their faction was struggling to keep hold of their lives. Alice’s fireballs had toasted three of them into burnt husks, and it appeared there was no way to stop her as she stood behind several warriors, cackling wildly.

“Don’t let your attention wander in a fight, you fool,” Sabine warned, and Josh’s eyes darted to her again.

The Blood Fist was a terrible match-up for him. His two abilities, Magic-Repellent Skin and Arcana Reflection, were useless against her as she didn’t use magic; she simply beat him through her brawn, and there was little he could do against that. Unless…

Sucking in a shaky breath, he resolved himself and ran forward again. He held the shield loosely and as he came up to her, he hurled it into her face. Ignoring her yelp, he ducked below where he expected her to strike and chopped towards her legs. The blade was inches from scoring her knees when suddenly her fist streaked down and smashed into his sword.

He didn’t even have time to react before her knee followed, crashing into his chest. He stumbled down and clawed at the ground in fear as she loomed over him, but her eyes were elsewhere. Her lips curled cruelly, and he felt the strength drain from his body as she turned towards him. “Good try, but now it’s time for the main event.”

The pounding he expected never came as she left him there. The three suns glared down at him and his piteous state, splattered in mud and utterly bested. Gasping in chest-wracking breaths, he raised himself and searched for Sabine. He found her dashing towards Alice, the Pyromancer’s guards willingly parting like the Red Sea.

The redhead screeched and shot fireballs towards the Blood Fist, and although they scorched her skin, they failed to stop her. Mad laughter bubbled out of her lips as she struck Alice under the chin, throwing the redhead off her feet. Sabine’s follow-up was just as quick as it was savage, striking deep into her chest, cracking ribs and crushing her heart. Alice gasped and weakly reached out in Mike’s direction before dropping limp.

The entire hilltop seemed to freeze as everyone turned towards Sabine, who kept her hands submerged in Alice’s chest, blood streaming up her fists. Josh had known before, but now he truly understood how easily the Blood Fist had been taking him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Mike roared. Dom mewled at his feet, his eyes hazy as he shuddered in his death throes. His arm had been chopped off and blood poured out of the wound, leaving him with a handful of minutes of suffering before he passed away.

Sabine rose, her spiked crimson gauntlets gleaming in the light. “You said the strongest deserves to rule Riverside. Well, I don’t see why you should be mayor then,” she said with her wolfish grin.

“You fuckers didn’t even try to stop her,” Mike bellowed at his followers, spittle firing from his mouth. It appeared he was moments from erupting with rage when suddenly a glint entered his narrowed eyes. He boomed with deranged laughter. “Very good, Sabine, very good. You had turned them against me, hadn’t you, you sneaky little bitch.”

She shrugged. “They knew who the stronger leader was.”

“Oh, we’ll see.” He shot towards the Blood Fist, his bastard sword swinging down in a ferocious chop.

Sabine sidestepped it and danced away from his follow-up. “Maybe we should wait until more people get here - you need as many people watching you to maximise your ability if you’re to beat me,” she casually commented.

He paid no heed as he spun and high kicked her, snapping towards her throat. She raised her gauntlets in time and blocked it, jumping back. “I don’t need anything more to break you to pieces,” he growled.

“Fine.” She lunged towards him and slammed her fist against his sword.

He broke their standstill by tilting the blade to the side, causing her to lurch forward. As she fell, he struck down with his elbow, catching her head and blasting it into the dirt. She rolled aside before he booted her head in, and once more before he chopped it off.

Rising, she caught his next chop with her hands and pulled it towards her while rolling back. As he fell forward and off-balance, she kicked him in the chest and flung him over herself, gripping his sword still. While he scrambled to his feet, she lobbed the bastard sword away. “You shouldn’t play with dangerous toys.”

Mike didn’t deign to reply and instead charged at her like a bull, her massive frame blotting out the sun over her. But there was no fear in her eyes, no worry, just mirth. He punched, and she slapped his fist aside. He kneed and struck her stomach, but she simply grunted and kicked towards the leg keeping him afoot. It tripped him over and he grabbed at her as he fell, abject fear flashing through his eyes as her gauntlet blasted towards his face.

It clobbered into his skull and exploded as it did so, shards of crystallised red streaking through his head like shrapnel, shattering bone and drawing lines of gore out with it. The headless man fell, and Sabine giggled to herself. No one dared to move as she split her remaining gauntlet between her hands, creating two thinner ones. She strode up to Elise and grinned. “Hand over the System powers.”

Any ideas of refusal fled from the Minister’s mind as quickly as they came and she rushed to make Sabine mayor. There was no one left in Riverside who could oppose Sabine; this was the start of the Blood Fist’s rule.

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Michael Eze, the Gladiator, was originally an MMA champion from the United States. Passing the hard tutorial, he arrived on Idroa, and immediately set up Big Mike’s Den. The village was firmly under his rule, with potential opposition targeted and quickly taken down by his faction. However, two weeks after its formation, the Ratkin attacked Big Mike’s Den in force and razed it to the ground, enslaving those who remained.

Fortunately, Michael had fled beforehand to the neighbouring village, Riverside, which had just come under Silas Wycliffe’s rule. Many people have stated how Michael had no interest in playing second fiddle to the Duellist, instead aiming to take over from the start. But he put off this plan not long after his arrival for reasons unknown to us.

This temporary hiccup did not lessen his interest in mayorship, however, as he would strike two weeks later when an opportunity arose as Silas left Riverside. Having researched his enemies thoroughly, Michael’s coup was bound to be successful, especially as his enemies freely allowed him the first strike. However, he did not account for Sabine Gantzmann, the Blood Fist, to turn on him and to steal his faction from under his feet.

These events ultimately led to the death of Michael Eze as Sabine became the next mayor of Riverside.

Stefan Sommer - the Chronicler - Heroes and Villains of the First Age