Chapter 3: Chapter 3- First Impression 

"Who are you!? Huh! Who are you!?" A man pointing a spear at Ash asked. Ash let out a breath as he lay in the dirt. 

"Can you point me towards Bramblethorn? I'm just a lost traveler." Ash lied. But the people surrounding him weren't buying it.

"No, no. He's with the Hounds. He has to be!" One man shouted. "Shit, that means their scouts already found us." Another man growled.

'Alright, fuck this.' Ash thought in annoyance. After getting kicked around by the Explorers Union, he was in no mood to deal with a group of bandits. 

Taking a deep breath, Ash started to channel his Mist into his muscles. His body began to strengthen, allowing him to explode off the ground and punch the spear-holding man in the face. The man didn't see the punch coming, and his jaw shattered on impact. Ash didn't waste time. He quickly turned and kicked a man holding an ax. But doing so caused the rest of the bandits to spring into action. 

A metal club slammed into Ash's back, and the pain forced him to switch, channeling his Mist into his skin instead of his muscles. While his body was protected, his punches and kicks were weaker as he struggled to fight against the crowd. It was a hopeless fight. Ash was surrounded on all sides. The group was grabbing and pulling him, hitting him with blunt weapons. It was all over for Ash when his legs were kicked, and he was forced to the ground. All he could do was cover his head while channeling as much Mist as he could. 

~R~o~a~O~

'Fucking bandits,' Ash thought as his bloody and beaten body was dragged across the dirt through the bandit's makeshift camp. Ash was being carried by the single chain wrapped around his wrist. With how badly he was beaten, the bandits didn't bother with more.

"Let's throw him in with his Hound friend." One of the men dragging Ash said. Ash was taken to a truck with a metal box built where the truck bed should have been. "Get in there, you Hound trash." One of the men dragging Ash growled as he unlocked the door to the metal box and threw Ash in. 

Ash groaned as he lay on the box's metal floor. The sound of chains pulled Ash out of his pain-filled haze. "Holy crap, did they lock me in here with a bear? Didn't know they had those out here in the west." Ash joked as he stared at a massive dark-skinned man wrapped in chains and strapped to the back of the box. Ash didn't know what to be more impressed by, the man's size or beard. "Sheesh, who did you piss off?" Ash asked. The man didn't speak as Ash shifted to sit up. "Man of no words, eh? That's fine. I need some rest anyways. I plan to break out in the morning anyways, don't worry. I'll get you out too. If you're in here, you must not be with them, so hopefully, you can help put up a fight at least." Ash said with a yawn. He didn't give the man a second thought as he laid back and passed out.

~R~o~a~O~

The hum of an engine filled the air as the truck holding Ash traveled down a road in the rocky desert. As the truck moved, Ash lay on the box's metal floor. He wasn't asleep, not entirely. Instead of dreaming while deep asleep, Ash breathed deeply as he tried to keep his body relaxed. Every breath he took circulated the Mist in his body, speeding up his body's natural healing. Doing this wouldn't heal Ash completely or regrow a missing limb, but it would take the pain away and heal his bruises. Ash would still feel tired from the strain on his body, but it would heal minor injuries in minutes and hours instead of days and weeks. 

Unfortunately for Ash, his peaceful rest came to a sudden end as the van violently jerked to a stop. Ash's body was thrown across the metal box, slamming into the chained man. The sound of muffled shouting and gunfire erupted outside the truck. 

"Friends of yours?" Ash asked as he pushed himself off the large man. "Welp, time to go, I guess," Ash said as he lifted the chain wrapped around his wrist. The chains were held together with a single weak lock. Ash pressed his finger to the lock and projected his Mist into it. Ash's Mist expanded and shattered the lock open. 

"Mayan?" The large man asked in a deep voice. Ash just manifested and projected his Mist without the use of a gemstone. It was common knowledge that only two types of people could manifest and project their Mist without a gemstone. Elderly masters and people born with Mayan blood and raised in the Mayan Nation. The Mayans were a nation that abandoned traditional weapons and for centuries have focused fully on mastering and worshiping the Mist.    

"Unfortunately," Ash said simply. He pulled off his chains and moved to the large man. "Let's get out of here, do me a favor, yeah, tell your friends shooting up the place not to kill me," Ash said as he started popping the lock that held the man's chains together. 

~R~o~a~O~

The door to the metal box popped open, and Ash jumped out. Turning back, Ash spotted the large man flexing his hands and pounding his legs. The man told Ash he needed a moment. He'd been chained for so long that he lost the feeling in his legs. Ash wasn't one for waiting around, so he turned and took in the battlefield he was now standing in.

A row of vehicles lined the dirt road on both sides of the truck, and men and women were savagely beating each other to death. 'Wow, I hope his side is winning.' Ash thought as he looked around. He noticed a dead body on the ground a few steps away. 'Ha, you're one of those fucks who jumped me.' Ash thought as he walked over to the dead body. Without a second thought, he squatted down and started digging through the man's pockets. "Nothing," Ash mumbled with a sigh. He noticed a hand ax sticking out from underneath the body, but before Ash could pick it up, he heard the sound of someone running toward him. On pure reflex, he turned to the person rushing him while raising his arm and channeling his Mist into his arm, hardening his skin. 

Usually, Ash's skin hardening was strong enough to block most weapons and even basic Mist bullets. But the translucent blade his attacker was wielding buried nearly an inch into his forearm. Causing him pain as he was forced to grit his teeth. 'FUCK! A gemstone weapon.' Ash groaned in his mind. He was forced to strengthen his skin with more Mist to keep the blade from serving his arm. 'Of fucking course, I'd run into someone like you my first day here.' Ash thought as his eyes moved from the blade to the person wielding it. 

   A young black-haired woman glared as she pushed her blade against Ash's arm, struggling to cut through his Mist hardening. The woman was standing as tall as Ash's shoulders. But what really annoyed Ash was the woman's face. The woman's light brown skin was covered in face paint. Bright white, black, pink, and green swirled around the woman's face. The paint took the shape of a skull, with pink roses on her cheek and forehead. It was the symbol all Mayan warriors would wear, whether they were in training or masters. The same painted symbol Ash wore during his training, the same mark he'd still be wearing if he wasn't exiled. 

'Alright, that's enough.' Ash thought as he felt the blade slowly digging further into his arm. To fight back against the translucent weapon, Ash channeled his Mist and projected a Mist shield, pushing the blade and the woman back. There was a look of surprise on the woman's face at Ash's sudden action. But the shock was replaced by a look of recognition as the woman realized how Ash could project his Mist. 

"Wait, stand down, Roxy. He's not with the Breakers." The large man's voice called out as he stepped out of the van. The woman, Roxy, lowered her weapon as the man walked toward her.

Roxy eyed Ash, but then she tossed the man a rod that was strapped to her back. The rod was made of metal but was lined with gemstones. "It's only been a day, and you're already making new friends, Carter? The boss is going to be surprised." She said, then turned to Ash. "So, who is he?" 

"No idea, just know he isn't with them," Carter replied. He gripped the metal rod, and his Mist caused the embedded gemstones to glow. A translucent battle-ax head formed. It was the power of gemstone weapons to take the shape the user desired. "You are against the Breakers, right?" Carter asked as he turned to Ash.  

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At Carter's question, Ash noticed a man running away in the distance. Ash recognized the man as one of the bandits who beat him. "Me?" Ash said as he reached down and picked up the hand-ax. "I'm no friend of whoever they are." Ash used Mist-infused strength to launch the ax across the rocky desert and into the back of the running man. The man dropped to the ground, dead, in an instant. 

"Who are you?" Roxy asked while pointing her gemstone-powered blade at Ash. "What's your name?"

"Ash," He replied. 

"Your full name," she asked again. 

Ash just shrugged his shoulders. 'It's just Ash now." He replied, which caused Roxy to narrow her eyes and grip her weapon tighter. 

"You were exiled." She said with a frown. 

"I suppose I was. Seems like you were too." He said back. He shifted his weight, ready to move if she attacked.

"I was NOT exiled." She growled. 

"And yet neither of us can go back to the homeland," Ash fired back. The Mayan Nation was an isolated nation, and while some people were allowed to leave, no one was allowed to enter without a special pass. Passes were only given to Mayan Nation merchants and other important elders. If Ash wasn't exiled, he still wouldn't be allowed in even if he showed up at the border. "And since you're using those gemstone handles, I guess you didn't finish your training," Ash said as he looked down at the two hilts Roxy was holding. Each hilt had a pair of gemstones which is how Roxy projected her translucent blades. A fully trained and recognized Mayan warrior would never carry a weapon of any kind.  

Ash's words caused Roxy to twitch and step toward him, but Carter moved between them. "That's enough, you two. I don't know what the problem is, but Roxy, we have bigger things to worry about." Carter said as he jerked his head towards the few people still fighting. One side was nearly wiped out, and Ash assumed the Desert Hounds were winning. The remaining members of the Desert Hounds were starting to group together to kill the few enemies left. "Let's wrap this up and head back to camp."

Roxy clicked her tongue but nodded as she rushed into the fight. She mostly wanted to ignore Ash, but also because she remembered she had a mission to finish. Carter gave Ash a nod and then rushed after the woman. "Alright, I'll just wait here," Ash said as the two started fighting. With a shrug of his shoulders, he started digging through the pockets of dead bandits. 

But as Ash was on the ground looting corpses, a man with a sword in his hand charged toward him. "Hound bastard!" The sword-wielding man shouted. Ash stared at the man as he grew closer, then when he was in range, ready to swing, Ash threw a handful of dirt into the sword-wielding man's face. "Gahh, what-" The man started to shout. On reflex, he went to wipe his eyes, and in that split second, Ash took the man's sword and shoved it through his throat.

"Hound bastard? I'd be on your side if your people didn't attack me." Ash mumbled as the man's eyes went blank. "Well, let's see if you had anything good on you," Ash said as he started digging through the man's pockets.  

~R~o~a~O~

It didn't take long for the fighting to end. Once Roxy and Carter joined the fight, they quickly ripped through the remaining bandits with their gemstone weapons. Once all of their enemies were dead, Roxy jumped onto the roof of a truck. "Everyone! Take everything worth a damn and load up! Let's get gone before any monsters appear looking for a free meal!" Roxy called out.

Ash was still crouched over another dead body digging through their pockets as he watched the members of the Desert Hounds scramble around. After searching a few bodies, he found some money and a weapon. Ash was now carrying a heavy metal club. It was as long as his forearm and studded at the end. It was the only weapon Ash could find that he liked the feeling of. Blunt weapons worked better against people who could use the skin-hardening technique. The only exception would be Mist projected blades. They could cut through nearly anything, depending on the wielder.  

"What do you plan on doing now?" Carter asked as he and Roxy walked up to Ash. "If you need a lift, we can send someone to take you to Bramblethorn." 

'These are the people the Explorers Union wanted me to kill. Well, might as well play along for now.' Ash thought as he pretended to look around. "I'm new around here, so I'm looking for work. Maybe I can join up with you guys. You seem like my kind of people." Ash said with a smile.

"Absolutely not," Roxy said instantly. 

"That's for the boss to decide. You know there's an open door for anyone who wants to join," Carter said. Roxy glared at Carter and then huffed as she walked away. 

"Look forward to working with you," Ash called out as she walked away.

"Hop in a truck. We're about to move out. If Otto likes you, your in. But if not, I'll give you a lift to Bramblethorn myself." Carter said as he moved to the nearest truck.  

Once Carter was walking away, Ash reached back down and slipped his hand into the dead body's pocket at his feet. 'Fucking bandits,' He thought as he gripped an inhaler in the body's pocket. Every time Ash searched a body, he was looking for an inhaler, it had been days since his last hit, and he was starting to get itchy. 'I'll take a hit first and kill them all later.' Ash thought as he walked away. Metal studded club in one hand, inhaler in the other.

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