Chapter 35: Chapter 34

Filnon was definitely welcome with the Witches, her claims of them being tightly knit were not unfounded. Filnon must have been giving them a bit more leeway than most in honour of the memories once shared. Something Estaria could relate to, given her feelings of Borrago and her men. The Gore-slick altar of Khaine was a bit of a put-off for Estaria, but she didn’t hold it against them too much. The Middenhiemers were just a touch away from that kind of savagery themselves, and she wouldn’t be surprised to hear about it in some of the more out-of-the-way villages. The veneer of civilization in the North was thin indeed.

 

Apparently Triala had given some wild, exaggerated story of Estaria’s victory, because the Witches were all around her. Having been up for 30 hours at this point and spent at least half of those in some kind of fight or combat, Estaria was a little buzzing, mentally, and accepted the offer to throw down with the Witches hand to hand. She was intimately aware of the fight with the Greatswords that one time, but put it out of her mind and just focused on the fight ahead of her. They showed this decision to be the absolute correct one very quickly.

 

Swift like she could not believe, and more agile than their skeleton should allow, the Witch was an absolute masterpiece to watch. Estaria pushed herself to the limits trying to keep up with them, and while she didn’t do terribly, the Witch had more experience in this kind of movement and fighting style. But blood was not what they were seeking, and Estaria only took a few battering blows that left bruises, and nothing was cut open except her pride. Laying on her back, feeling as if she had embarrassed herself, she was surprised to have a hand up offered to her by the Witch.

 

“You did dam well to keep up with me like that. How long have you been training?” the Witch asked, helping Estaria to her feet. 

“Actually properly, about a day. But I was taught the basics in Boot Camp and just sort of coast on my reflexes and kinetic sense”  Estaria replied, feeling a touch more conversational around these than usual Druchii. She got the feeling that they would just kill her outright rather than torturing her in such a way she died with excruciating sloth. In this place, that was kindness.

 

“Well, Triala’s tale has holes and far fetched claims, but is not wholly a lie. You definitely will be beautiful when fully polished” The Witch would step back, and let the others take their turn, each one managing to best Estaria, but each one taking longer to do so, as Es showcased a swift adaptability. Finally, Estaria came face to face with a young looking witch. No sigils or seals, no marks or any showcase that she had come here more than a few weeks ago.

 

“You don’t have to do this, Fukuri, you can just wait until you have finished your training. We won’t hold it against you” one Witch exclaimed, but the young Witch did not balk. The diligence and drive to face an opponent you could absolutely lose too was something that Estaria related to very much, and so gave her all against this young one.

 

While still possessing the inherent grace of the Druchii, her lack of training was clear. Her moves were not as slick, not as fast, and not as precise. Estaria found it easy to counter and reverse her attacks, driving her back and then after one particularly risky gambit, Estaria tossed Fukuri over her hip and onto the floor, where she stayed for longer than was normal.

 

A little worried, Estaria hurried over to her and crouched down to see if she was ok. The poor little thing was laid there, tears welling up in her eyes. 

“Hey, hey. Don’t cry. Did I flip you too hard?” Estaria asked, moving to pick Fukuri up and dust her off. Despite the situation, it was instinct to want to help and calm them down when tears started to flow.

“No…I…I…need…too…and..and…it’s so…can’t…do…” Fukuri’s stuttering through her tears made it hard for her to speak properly, so Estaria would just hug her gently. 

“It’s ok. Just take a breath, calm down, and then tell me about it, ok?” Estaria offered, giving the woman a shoulder to cry on. Some looked on with interest, others dismissive of the emotions shown. But the most interesting part of it all, was a box.

 

Relationship with the Witch Cult increased. Basic Witch Cult Craft is now accessible in the Shop

 

It seemed the Witch Cult really was close knit. She’d have to talk to Filnon later, maybe about reconciling her system-born grievances with her sisters. More friends were always good in this kind of situation. Eventually, Fukuri managed to calm down, but in her now calm state, she was hugely embarrassed that it had happened in the first place and just scurried off after a mumbled word that might have been thanks, or an attempt to dismiss her own emotions, or anything. With that dramatic moment, Estaria would rise and find herself quite weary. As one generally did when they fought a dozen Witches in one sitting and then deal with a young Elf.

 

Filnon’s diplomacy elsewhere seemed to bear fruit, as she got a pop up telling her she could do a daily training quest here now. It was a good place to farm for tokens, since she needed some good weaponry, but right now she just wanted to get some sleep. It had been too long since she ceased existing for a while, and her mind couldn’t handle much more. Telling Filnon such, they headed back to the home and Filnon let Es collapse into bed, being woken a few minutes later by Filnon, who had apparently put Estaria into a more comfortable and healthy sleeping position. 

 

“Sorry to wake you early, but they have something in the Arena for you, and want to know if you are available today” Filnon told Es, who sat up and rubbed her eyes. 

“Uhhh” Estaria groaned, relating to Elaine’s zombie mode for a few moments before shaking her head and just trucking on. “That was quick. But yea” 

“They want to see what you can do in a proper fight. So yea, them whipping up a whole fight for you in a day is pretty impressive. Hope for your reputation yet”

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Estaria would get out of bed and then pause, and look to Filnon. 

“A day? I’ve been…asleep a whole day?” Estaria asked incredulously. 

“Mmm, I thought it best to leave you there after everything. If you want more, you can always go back to bed and I can tell them to wait till tomorrow” Filnon offered, but Es shook her head.

“No, no. I got it. It’s fine” she waved off the concern and meandered out with Filnon to the Arena. She shook off the rest of Morr’s Embrace as they traveled, and was fit and ready to get down to it when they arrived.

 

“The loss of a large shipment of slaves has caused a spike in the economy of the town, so I converted our Gold into real money to support living for the next few weeks, while I run a few dungeons. But I got you these from the shop to help out a little” Filnon would then hand a pair of leather cestus to Estaria. Tiny spikes adorned the knuckles, more to add weight to the punch than any real kind of penetration. They were still better than her bare hands though, so she would nod and slide them on, heading to the arena gate. Dressed like a god-damn whore. But that one, she could fix eventually. Just had to do good here, and then maybe another match as well.

 

She was not alone at the gate, a half-dozen Gladiators stood with her, armed to the teeth and baying for blood. So focused on their own battle meditation and prayers to their own gods, that they didn’t notice Estaria being pushed into their ranks. Just focused on the door, and when it opened, The Foe.

 

Men took off at a sprint, charging the gap with reckless abandon and crashing into the foe charging at them from the other direction. No beast on peasant slaughter here, but a true and actual fight. She had enough speed to outpace these men, and enough strength to make a mess on the field. Still, she didn’t want to get on the bad side of these men by taking any of their kills, and so lingered at the back, a slow jog to their rabid sprint. And lo, a man on the other side had the same idea.

 

Far more lithe and smooth than the rest, he walked with a confident gait and a natural ease. He clearly focused more on the precise nature of moving and striking than the ‘bludgeon them to death’ tactic of the other Gladiators. And to confirm such tactics, he had a whip, segmented into blades rather than leather. A Weapon that would require skill and precision to hit the enemy, and not kill the wielder in the process.

 

“Ahh, to mar such a beauty” the man exclaimed, shaking his head. “A tragedy, a plague. Ohh, pox upon thy fates~” he crowed, shaking his head and then suddenly lashing out with his whip. Estaria rolled under it, and then leapt forward as she finished the roll, delivering a powerful blow that stripped the man of the majority of his Luck. He staggered back, and then cracked the whip again, catching Es with a gentle glance and eating into her own Luck. The way he cracked while being knocked back was impressive, and the Druchii had definitely added him in just for her.

 

A wild flourish and the whip was ready to crack again, though Estaria jumped over it and then twisted in mid-air, letting gravity carry her kick into his head and landing with quite the force. Not letting him get his footing or her position again, she’d roll off to his side, delivering a punch into his ribs and then jumping over him so the wild whip swing missed her entirely. A second blow to his ribs and the man was wheezing, completely out of breath. To further his asphyxiation, she rolled her hips and shoulder into a full force punch of his sternum. 

 

Blood spat and bones broke, and though the man showed excellent tenacity by cracking the whip again, it was easy to duck under because of the wild and imprecise angle. He crumbled onto the floor, sliding back from the force just as Estaria jumped into the air and stomped down on his skull. Bone crushed and brain oozed as the force popped the man’s head, killing him very dead. 

 

Having dealt with him, she was allowed to linger in the corner, standing near his corpse with gore pooling at her feet. One of the Gladiators threw a man to her, and she knew he wasn’t just throwing the man to throw him because he made eye-contact and nodded first. Stepping into the offered enemy, she threw a punch and shattered the poor bastard’s spine in a resounding blow. 

 

With one last axe to the skull, her team were victorious, and the crowd broke into vigorous cacophony. Far more of a reaction than last time, she was glad they were making headway towards getting famous. And headway towards other things as well, if the lovely new box was any indication. These twin souls were quite great~ 

 

You have leveled up

 

100 Dexterity: Quicksilver Viper - A man may try to act before even realizing he has even been struck by a blow of this speed. Spend cool to launch an ultra-high speed attack that is almost impossible to evade

 

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