Chapter 51 - Street Brawl

In the Lawless Lands, on Brae’s ship…

They’d all slept in the crew’s quarters, which were rather filthy truth be told. They were a hell of a lot cleaner than the slave’s quarters though, and there wasn’t any way at all that they’d sleep on deck given the coats of blood that still covered the top after their battle with the pirates to take the ship. Waking up in the small bunk, he was the first to rise aside from the sentries on duty. That much surprised Trey as he looked around.

Rivia lay naked and curled up in the crook of his arm, and he did his best to get up without bothering her.

God she was beautiful.

Remembering the events of last night he smiled to himself with satisfaction, she and that new girl Juila had both been quite the screamers. Putting on his clothes and stretching, he bypassed his friends and smirked at the sight of Ashe and Eeme embracing one another in their own slumber. Coming to Napoleon, he nudged the little imp who was curled up in a top bunk and continued to prod him until Napoleon woke up with a yawn.

“Come on, I want to hit the market before the others wake up! Wana go?”

Trey softly laughed as the imp perked up and rubbed his eyes at the word ‘market.’ Napoleon absolutely loved the market because he always got to try out new foods. With an enthusiastic leap he clung to Trey’s shoulder and the two headed out. Passing by the sentries on deck Trey let them know where he was going and asked them to inform the others when they woke up.

He had a list of things to get. He needed new clothes after the ones he’d taken the mainland had been ruined through multiple fights since departing Teretog. He needed to get an appraisal on their relic, which he currently kept tucked underneath the blanket he carried. He wanted to try and also get an appraisal on Talsh’Noc’Un, because although it was technically his minion - the greatsword didn’t give him any more information about itself other than what he’d gleaned the first time he’d identified it. He didn’t understand why this was, though the greatsword appeared to think it hilarious that he was so vexed - and it wouldn’t even tell Trey why it was actually ABLE to deny his request. Trey had a theory that it had to do with him not fitting the requirements to use the sword at full potential, and therefore he couldn’t completely control the weapon, but had no definite proof. Otherwise he was planning on just browsing the shops see if there was anything worth buying.

He shadowstepped across the gap left by the broken dock and onto the beach, giving a nod to the men on watch. Wisps of shadow circled him as he materialized into solid matter again and set off across the tropical island at a well-paced trot.

It was already sunny, despite being early hours of the morning and he was very upbeat as he maneuvered around various assholes in his way. Bastards and cutthroats the lot of them, but no one made a move to intercept him on his journey. It was a rarity to see someone going alone throughout the city - but then again, Trey wasn’t alone. Napoleon was with him, and that imp was worth many men in combat ever since the evolution into a primal imp. Aside from that: with Trey’s demonic features including the horns, eyes and tail, most people avoided him entirely. The majority of people couldn’t use magic at all, having no aptitude whatsoever, so those that could were immediately given a wider berth. Even amongst various types of casters: warlocks, summoners and necromancers had a reputation.

Thoughts of his family crossed his mind and he quickly tried to block them out while walking over the dirt road towards the center of the city. Even thoughts of Amanda passed through his mind, but those in particular were crushed under a solid wall of determination. He missed his family a lot, but he couldn’t dwell on it when it was outside his power to do anything about seeing them again. He’d already spent too many nights dwelling on it, lost countless hours now to depression and anxiety, so he was trying to remain optimistic like Izumi had talked about doing.

So he tried losing himself in the things that he was happy for, the things he appreciated, and listed them to himself as he had going for him: He could use magic. That was a plus. He was romping with one of the most gorgeous women he’d ever seen in his life, and she went by the name of Rivia - though he also had pickings of the other two slave girls he’d just acquired as well. He had made some good solid friends he could talk to, including the other Earthborn and his minions. He was alive, and wasn’t stuck in that dungeon back in Yosemar anymore.

That… was about it. The rest of his life here, he quickly realized, was hot garbage. He was poor. He’d already been brutally killed numerous times. He didn’t have the basic necessities of hot running water or toilet paper. The food was usually disgusting. The beds were usually hard to sleep on. There was no internet, no video games, no memes. He missed his family and they might very well be dead. He was living in a criminal’s paradise of angry vicious people who would gut you without thinking twice, and he was just focused on surviving from day to day. It was far worse than when he’d been in the mafia back on Earth.

This wasn’t working.

Fuck.

His mind came back from drifting and focused on reality again. It was dangerous to stay involved in your thoughts while walking about this place, and he had to force himself to stay aware of his surroundings as he went.

Other than the poorly put together houses there were quite a few shops along the way too. Each shop had a bouncer of sorts or even a group of them posted inside or at the entrance. Most of these shops in this sector of the city were pawn shops, with most of them having low quality odds and ends or basic essentials such as plague remedy or food. Trey didn’t stop at any of these and kept going, holding the relic and blanket concealing it close to his chest.

Turning down another street that led towards one of the bigger markets here, and he accidently brushed by a larger man who gave him a sneer.

The man was heavily tattooed, very tall, with numerous piercings all along his ears and nose. Semi-long dark hair with a bit of a balding spot in the front of his scalp. He carried a caster’s staff and a long dagger was latched to his hip upon dark green robes. A satchel was also strung across his body.

“You disrespectin me boy?” The tattooed mage remarked loudly and lifted his nose in disgust at seeing the imp. He planted his staff in the ground and spit. “You and that fuckin monkey creature. You apologize to me now or I wear your pet as a coat.”

The crowded street immediately began to part to give the two room as Trey turned to face him.

Name: Elementalist

Race: Human

Class: Generalized Elementalist

Level: 29

HP: 104/104

MP: 326/326

SP: ???

DP: ???

Ah. A generalized elementalist - these guys could unlock a 3rd magical attribute within the elemental categories.

Trey eyed the bigger man calmly. Turning the relic and blanket into shadowform, they swiftly vanished into wisps of black. In their place his greatsword materialized, letting out a phantasmal hiss of pleasure at a potential kill as the crescent rune flared crimson at the blade’s base.

If there was anything he’d learned since getting to Teretog, it was to not show weakness in a public spectacle. He kept his head down and minded his own business unless provoked most of the time, but this man had made a direct threat to Napoleon’s life in front of everyone here. Others would think him a pushover and act if he didn’t respond and he knew this man knew it. Trey didn’t know if he had planned this and if there were more of them after selecting him out as a target, or if the guy just had a big ego, but red flags went up and he was immediately identified as a threat. Trey immediately assumed the worst: that he’d been today’s picking for this guy and whatever accomplices he had nearby.

Without another second to give the man any thought - two chaos chains shimmering with black fire and crimson lightning shot out from behind the elementalist. The larger man’s eyes went wide, and he shimmered in that split second before a sphere of thick ice encompassed him to deflect the first chain and slow down the second.

“Bastard summoner!”

Trey’s upgrades since leveling up the chains were effective here though, supplying spikes for improved impaling purposes - and due to this perk the second chaos chain skewered through the ice and into the man’s arm. The elementalist began to scream and curse, but saw Trey charging him and cast an earth spell; causing Trey to slip headlong into the sphere as the ground underneath him turned to slippery mud.

Trey’s face slammed into the sphere just as he felt his limbs begin to freeze up, and the ice from the elementalist quickly encasing his body. The enemy mage inside the sphere of ice grinned wickedly despite the gaping burning hole in his arm, and used his staff with a combination spell of hardening earth magic to smash the chain piercing his limb. Turning back to where he’d left Trey frozen to the ground though, he found that Trey wasn’t there anymore.

A burst of shadows bloomed out behind and over the top of the elementalist as Trey brought Talsh’Noc’Un down with an Obliterate ability from the greatsword. The ice sphere shattered, and then the man within it followed. Chaos mana roared as the sword’s contact exploded and ripped the elementalist apart in a sundering violent crack of power. Ice, body parts, and earth flew in all directions to shower stunned onlookers. Hitting the ground though, the look of triumph quickly fell away as Trey felt something hot slam into his side.

“You have gained XP.”

Trey went sprawling with flames eating away at his skin and clothes along his left. He cursed and rolled to his feet just to be hit full on by another blast of flames that launched him into a nearby shop. Trey had been right, there were accomplices.

He’d been marked.

Screaming out in pain he tried to orient himself to the source of his attack as he crashed through a set of baskets and other supplies, past the bouncer who scrambled to get out of the way and then into a wooden support beam. He saw his HP bar beginning to drop little by little as his nerve endings lit up profusely. He would have rolled around on the ground to put out the flames but he knew the attacks were still coming and he just had to wait until shadowstep’s cooldown ticked by in the meantime.

Wild-eyed, he lurched around and saw his attacker. Another elementalist, a robed female elf flanked by another heavily armored tank wearing full steel plate armor who brandished a shield-axe combination.

Name: Elementalist

Race: Wood Elf

Class: Specialized Elementalist - Fire

Level: 23

HP: ???

MP: ???

SP: 120/120

DP: ???

Name: Warrior

Race: Human

Class: Warrior

Level: 24

HP: 252/252

MP: 100/100

SP: 180/180

DP: ???

“A summoner with a greatsword? How odd, you shouldn’t have the strength to wield it. Not one that big.” The elf took a step forward, flames flickering along her fingertips. Her blue robe flowed out around her with the mana she channeled causing the wind to heat up and stir. “You have a lot of guts, killing our men in cold blood yesterday at the docks. And for what? A slave? I hope you don’t regret that decision now that you’re meeting your end.”

Despite the pain he was in, Trey nearly slammed his head into the dirt over his own lack of restraint - he should have just let that woman die. Of course… of COURSE those three dipshits he’d killed to save Juila yesterday had friends who were watching. They’d likely followed him from the docks. Big surprise…

“Die, summoner, and may your soul rest in the clutches of the demons you devote yourself to.” The elementalist raised a hand to unleash her spell, but the flames immediately dissipated after Trey let out a roar of the banshee and charged.

The caster was confused for a moment before realizing what he’d done - the banshee’s scream had silenced her, and she could no longer cast spells. Silencing abilities were very, very rare - so she hadn’t expected him to have one.

Roar of the Banshee (Dark) - Level 1

Silences enemies for a short time, inhibiting them from casting spells or miracles

Her fingers flexed and panic overcame her as she backpedaled to get behind her armored companion and to wait out the silencing effect. She hadn’t expected to be put on the back foot so early, but what happened next surprised her even more as a pair of venomous jaws clamped down onto the back of her neck.

Trey’s greatsword connected with the warrior’s shield and Trey was thrown back by a shield-bash sacred art, the shield glowed green for just a moment and the extra force behind it caused Trey to stumble. He recovered just in time to see the elf go down screaming under the rending claws and jaws of Napoleon, with little flecks of flesh flinging into the air as the imp literally dug away into the panicking caster’s face and neck.

The screaming attracted the attention of the warrior and he turned to see his companion down. Without delay he let out a strange shout, and as he did Trey felt a compulsion to attack this man and ignore everything else. It was another sacred art he’d seen a lot of other warriors on the mainland expeditions use, it was a crowd control ability that they had - though he didn’t know the exact name of it. However, it was pretty self explanatory after feeling the effects himself: it drew in agro to the tanks to keep the other party members safe. The only reason he was able to somewhat resist it was because of his higher-than-normal willpower.

Napoleon on the other hand wasn’t able to resist it. Upon hearing the shout, the imp stopped ravaging the elf and bolted for the warrior a few feet away.

Usually imps were considered rather weak. They were in the bottom tier list of minions a warlock or summoner could have, and generally they were only meant for supporting attacks from afar. Getting in too close meant death for the small creatures almost as a guarantee, so the warrior didn’t expect what was coming his way. He hadn’t bothered to identify Napoleon’s page to see exactly what type of imp he was, and primal imps were a breed of their own.

To the surprise, gasps and laughs of people watching, the imp launched itself in a small black blur at the much bigger warrior with amazing speed. The little rocket of fury rammed into the warrior’s metal helmet and clung to it, sending them both sprawling head over heels to the ground. Snarling, ripping and trying to find a weak spot in the warrior’s armor, the imp danced around the cursing man’s flailing strikes and punches effortlessly.

As the imp toyed with the warrior, Trey became confident that Napoleon could handle it himself and turned his attention to the caster. The she-elf was wailing and clutching her mutilated face. Shreds and flaps of skin riddled her neck and chest as well, and Trey could already tell Napoleon’s poison was taking hold as her screams increased in volume.

The flames had for the mostpart died out now and Trey was able to swat at the remaining cinders to get rid of them, despite the pain in doing so… but he was severely burned. Every couple seconds another tick in his HP went down and it was excruciating to move. Jeers, shouts and cheering from the spectators around the small battle had turned into a ruckus as Trey’s angry glare lowered onto the mutilated elf.

In a rush Trey came upon the woman and taking her by her long brunette hair he angrily dragged her over to a nearby piece of rubble only a couple feet away. She only struggled a little bit, but continued to wail and scream with her fingers and limbs contracting as the imp’s poison did its work. Slamming her head onto the piece of stone, Trey sent her into a daze before lifting up his foot and brutally curb-stomping the bitch once to break her nose, twice to crack her skull and then three times with his boot. The third stomp let out a loud crunch from her cervical spine, and she immediately went limp.

“You have gained XP. You have gained 1 level in the skill Hand to Hand Combat. You have gained 1 overall level.”

Wincing at the pain of his severe burns and kicking the corpse one last time, he turned around to witness Napoleon blasting firebolts into the visor of the warrior’s helmet. The man had been yelling out in terror and agony but Trey hadn’t noticed until now, with the cheering onlookers hooting and hollering at the fact that an imp of all things was besting a well-armored soldier in one on one up-close combat that easily. Trey could see how sluggish the man had become and knew that Napoleon had likely used the Burden curse, if not the Fear curse as well based on the way this man was trying to get away.

“I KILL KILL!” screeched the imp as Napoleon sent another two firebolts simultaneously into the helmet to cook the screaming man’s face. Then the imp repeated the action numerous times after that.

Trey continued to watch in satisfaction, catching his breath and leaning on his sword while avoiding the burned areas. Pulling out the two minor healing potions he had stored in shadowform, he chugged both and put the vials back into storage for Jason’s future use. Seeing his HP go up and some of the burns return to normal skin, he relished in the healing touch of the concoctions with a relieved huff.

“Your minion Napoleon has gained 1 level in the skill Firebolt. Your minion Napoleon has gained 1 overall skill in Hand to Hand Combat. Your minion Napoleon has gained 1 overall level.”

The All Spirit’s notification came just as the last scream from the warrior to certify Napoleon’s kill. The imp cackled evilly with raised hands and did a little jig atop the metal breastplate of the corpse that made Trey smirk.

Trey’s clothes were charred or completely burned away all across his left side. Now he certainly needed new clothes. Shaking his head and taking a look around, he startled himself with the damage that had been done to the shop he’d just been flung into via fireblast. The shopkeeper and her husband, both likely in their 40’s and with very foreign or even Asian features, were working with their hired muscular bouncer to control the flames from lighting up their small open-front pawn shop. They’d already lost half their merchandise and were frantically finishing off the last of it by smothering it with wet blankets or buckets of water that Trey could only guess at where they’d got it. The shopkeeper had tears in her eyes as the last of the flames were put out and began to weep after looking the destruction over again, and her husband immediately began to console her while the bouncer just gave Trey a glare.

Trey did a quick check around to see if anyone else seemed like they’d be in on the fight, but no one else had entered the makeshift circle of onlookers as they exchanged money after bets they’d made or laughed and commented to one another about the performance. The last two corpses were left untouched, surprisingly enough, while the first corpse of the male elementalist was already pulled off to the side and looted – the thieves having long since left even before the fight ended. Scowling at the lack of equipment from the first man, Trey walked over to where the she-elf lay dead with her skull beaten in. He searched her body and found three things of value: a silver necklace with an emerald pendant, an elementalist’s grimoire of fire spells, and her red-laced high-topped boots that led up to her thighs.

Norsh Pendant of Mana Regeneration

Item Tier: (8) Very Rare

Bonuses: +30 maximum MP, +7 MP regeneration per minute

Requirements: None

Durability: ???

Special: ???

Embala’s Grimoire

Item Tier: (7) Rare

Bonuses: +8 rating to all Fire damage

Requirements: Fire Attribute

Durability: ???

Special: Contains the knowledge of 2 Fire spells. Must study and learn over time to acquire knowledge. May be reused. Spell knowledge contained:

Fire Blast Firebolt

Light-Footed Legging Boots (Light Armor)

Item Tier: (9) Grand

Armor: +11 physical resistance, +28 magic resistance

Bonuses: +23 to Sneak skill, +35 Speed

Requirements: None

Durability: 409/445

Special: None

Trey could fetch a pretty penny with all of those things. He could even use the necklace for himself, he could give the grimoire to Atharost for a slight increase in fire damage, and he could give the boots to Ashe. She was a fine rogue and would certainly appreciate them, and the elf had the same body-type as her so they’d likely fit.

The next thing he did was materialize the demonic jaws of the devil’s aspect, and tore out a large chunk of arm flesh… despite the disgusted looks he got from a majority of the onlookers. Chewing it and swallowing he waited only a moment before the desired message appeared.

“You have consumed a kill and gained 1 Strength.”

He grinned. It didn’t always happen, but most of the time he’d get a strength stat for even partially eating any kill he personally made. Doing so with other people’s kills didn’t work the same way, and he still had a very long ways to go until he was able to wield Talsh’Noc’Un at its full potential considering he needed over 700 strength to do it.

Talsh’Noc’Un Greatsword

Item Tier: ???

Damage: ???

On Hit Effect: ???

Bonuses: ???

Requirements: Minionize this weapon to wield it at bare minimum potential, dealing 10% of normal damage without bonuses. Requires 710 Strength and 138 Wisdom to wield at full potential.

Durability: 12,000/12,000

Specials:

1 - Living Blade: Talsh’Noc’Un evolves and grows with its master, registers as a demonic class minion.

2 - Berserk: Tremendously increases aggression. Vast but temporary increase to strength, speed, dexterity, intelligence, and faith. +180 to full body physical

and magic resistance. Immune to all debuffs. Lasts until out of combat.

Cooldown: Long

3 - Obliterate: Empower next attack, explodes upon impact. Damage is variable based upon mana availability from the wielder. Cooldown: Medium.

4 - ???

5 - ???

6 - ???

7 - ???

8 - ???

9 - ???

Opinion of you: Content

He also noted that his HP rose by a little bit again after using his consume ability, and appreciated the inward cackling approval of Sithis with a job well done.

The armored warrior’s equipment was all still intact, albeit the helmet was still hot after his head had been cooked alive. In his last moments the poor guy had tried to take it off, but had ultimately failed. Removing the helmet with one of his summoned claws, Trey grimaced at the cooked stinking skin that came off the man's face to stick to the metal like a charred brisket.

Musca Battle Axe

Item Tier: (7) Rare

Damage: 101

On Hit Effect: ???

Bonuses: +4 strength

Requirements: ??? Strength, 41 Endurance

Durability: 198/208

Special: none

Refined Steel Breastplate (Heavy Armor)

Item Tier: (7) Rare

Armor: 135 physical resistance, 30 magic resistance

Bonuses: ???

Requirements: 52 Strength, 18 Endurance

Durability: 500/523

Special: ???

Refined Steel Round Shield (Heavy Armor)

Item Tier: (7) Rare

Armor: 103 physical resistance, 50 magic resistance

Bonuses: None

Requirements: ???

Durability: 178/405

Special: None

Refined Steel Gauntlet (Heavy Armor)

Item Tier: (7) Rare

Armor: 61 physical resistance, 17 magic resistance

Bonuses: ???

Requirements: ???

Durability: ???

Special: ???

“You have gained 1 level in the skill Identification.”

Trey shrugged and tossed the gauntlet he’d been inspecting off to the side - he didn’t even bother inspecting the helmet, boots or greaves. It was all heavy armor and he didn’t have the endurance to use them effectively, nor would he want to considering his fighting style. It would just slow him down, despite the better defense perks it gave, and the helmet along with the gauntlets would certainly affect his casting. He’d learned from firsthand experience that covering your fingertips or the top of your head with metal armor often meant a decrease in effectiveness of spells, or even some painful malfunctions such as backfiring. He didn’t know the details too much but he’d been told by others in passing conversation that mana channels were primarily located in the hands and head.

Neither of them had any money, a strange occurrence but he figured that the first guy who’d already been stripped of goods likely had been carrying it. Frowning at his luck, he pushed himself up. He was going to take his leave, but another look over his shoulder at the ruined shop and distraught looks on the faces of the couple. Guilt tugged at his heartstrings, and with an exaggerated sigh he threw up his head then trot over while pulling the corpse of the warrior behind him. Coming to a stop in front of the half-charred shop front and taking a long look at all of the ruined wares, he cleared his throat to get their attention.

“Ahem.”

The bouncer, shopkeeper and her husband all turned to him with piercing glares.

The shopkeeper was the first to reply, her plump cheeks wet and red with emotion. “What is it that you want? Haven’t you done enough already?”

“Get. Out.” Seethed the husband while pointing out of the shoddy shack.

Napoleon scrambled up Trey’s shoulder, licking off the blood from his claws while watching intently.

“Look…” Trey began hesitantly, dropping the armored leg of the warrior’s body just inside the structure. “Take his armor as compensation and as an apology for getting you involved. It looks expensive enough and I didn’t damage any of it with the exception of the shield.”

Trey pointed backwards only to see someone running off with both the axe and shield to his utter annoyance. Shaking his head with a low rumbling growl he rolled his eyes. “Ok well at least y’all have the armor. Take these too…”

Trey didn’t want to do it, but he reached out and handed the foreign woman the necklace as well as the grimoire. He knew they were both worth quite a bit, and they’d both have been useful. Especially if he’d gotten ahold of the knowledge for learning a fire attribute to teach one of the other Earthborn, as Athrost was born with it he didn’t know how to explain it well. That being said, Trey couldn’t just leave after wrecking the livelihoods of some random people he’d never met before. He may be somewhat of an asshole, He even kind of liked being an asshole, but usually only to those who he thought deserved it.

He could always find replacements for that stuff at the market as long as he had the coin.

The woman took the amulet, inspected it, and a small smile replaced the frown she’d had. Then taking a look at the grimoire her eyebrows raised and she tucked it away in a basket. Looking back at him she gave him a small bow. “Thank you, stranger. I appreciate your generosity, these and the armor will certainly over-compensate for what we lost today.”

Trey took a final gander at the various odds and ends in their shop, finding none of it to be something he’d really want except for the items he’d just given her. Nevertheless, he had things to do so he bade them all farewell to leave them in a much better mood than they’d been in not but minutes before. Walking out, the crowd had already dispersed and even the bodies had been dragged away – likely for minion food or to sell to an alchemist for body parts like those dickheads had been trying to harvest from Juila just last night. This place was brutal, yet he began to laugh and find it comical once he’d seen that even the corpses had been taken. At least he still had the boots for Ashe.

So without further ado, he went off to the market. First order of business: find a healing potion to heal the remainder of his cringeworthy burns.