"Where are they?!" Arthur, who used to keep to himself in his own room, was now roaming the corridors.
What happened to him yesterday, opened his eyes. No matter how cruel he thought he acted, and how much confidence in the golden paper he had, Arthur realised one thing. Never show mercy to an enemy!
Although he wasn't sure, something in the back of his head told him that the attack was caused by Finn and his group of idiots, or at least they were related in some way. "I'll finish it properly this time!" Killing wasn't an option, but taking an arm or two, and causing immense fear, would hold them back for a while until he can get the chance to take care of them.
"Who is this guy?" A random apprentice said with a smile as he stepped in Arthur's way. "Nice armor and sword you got there.. You must be rich, so can I borrow some spri.." Before he could finish his sentence, sounds of bones breaking, and blood splattering echoed across, as some of the apprentices nearby were shocked by what they saw.
The apprentice, whoever he is, was laying on the ground, his arms twisted, and jaw split open, his teeth and gums were in a horrible shape.
Arthur didn't speak, he just bent down, picked up whatever he found on the kid and without looking back, stepped over him and kept walking.
"What the fuck!!" One of the apprentices who saw the scene muttered, shivering.
"It was so fast.. Is he an official knight?"
"Fucking brutal!"
***
"6 spirit stones…" Arthur said after counting the contents of the pouch he got, then kept moving.
There were 3 lower floors, and Arthur started looking from the top, occasionally collecting some loot from bold apprentices, leaving them in horrible shapes.
'This world has Magic, and many other mysterious means I am not familiar with…' Arthur kept thinking as he walked. 'If that leader used that stone at the start, then they all rushed me, I would have probably lost instantly… It was arrogant of me to think of myself as invincible while being a mere basic knight'
"Argh!! Stop please!" As he passed one of the rooms, he heard the pleading of a girl, obviously in some kind of struggle. This made Arthur hesitate a bit, not sure if he should ignore it or help out.
"I've been courting you since you got on the ship, yet you ignored me over and over.." A boy spoke from beyond the door. "I'm not going to be polite anymore, I'll use you for the full duration of this trip, you whore!"
BANG!
The door, which was supposed to be sturdy, shattered in an instant.
Arthur stepped in, looking around, and saw a chubby looking kid, with half of his clothes off, with a girl under him, some blood on her lips and her clothes were off.. she was naked.
'Corina!' Arthur recognized the weeping girl, it was Corina from his group, but looking at her state, he felt some pity for her.
"WHO ARE YOU!" The fat kid yelled. "YOU DARE BURGE IN LIKE THIS? DO YOU KNOW WHO.." Again, without hesitation, Arthur moved like a blur, slashing with his sword.
In a minute, the fat kid laid on the ground, convulsing non-stop, he was beaten black and blue, and his 'thing' was next to him, cut off.
Corina couldn't believe her eyes, horrified by the brutality and at the same time, surprised by the one that helped her. "Ar.. Arthur?" She asked, but was ignored.
Arthur did not speak, he looked around the room, finding the fat kid's things, and took the pouch from it, then as he searched some more, he found another pouch hidden under the desk.
"Tha… That's mine!" Corina barely blurted out.
"This is payment.. And compensation!" Arthur spoke in a cold tone, then started leaving the room. Whether it was, karma doing its thing, or luck, he took the chance, knowing how that girl targeted him before. 'Considering what she went through, I'll let it go for now, but if she tries anything with me again..' A cold glint appeared in Arthur's eyes.
***
"I now have a total of 34 spirit stones.. A good harvest" Arthur muttered, then kept walking, looking for the group that attacked him. Although he couldn't barge into every room, he still held their faces in his memory, as he kept looking amongst the passing apprentices, this continued until night fell, before he returned back to his room.
"At least it wasn't a complete waste of time!" He looked at his spirit stones, now around 41, and smiled. "They get some strength and think they can just do as they wish" He remembered the arrogant apprentices that kept trying him, some were third realm knight apprentices, others were second realms, but all had their arms broken and their jaws split open, it became his signature move at this point.
"The witch told me to save as many spirit stones as I can, I wonder if this is enough!" Arthur thought.
Knock Knock!
A knock echoed in his room, his door, now fixed by the staff, opened slightly by Arthur.
"Dinner, sir" A stiff looking servant spoke, his movements robotic, as he handed Arthur a plate, before moving to the next room.
"They still creep me out" Arthur muttered, closing the door behind him.
The first time he saw the servants that delivered the meals, he was disturbed, after all, they looked more like puppets than humans, but one explanation came to mind. 'Wizards'
He sat down on his desk and ate his food, then opened the status screen to check.
[Name: Arthur Collins]
[Pathways: Basic Knight (0/500)]
[Spiritual Energy: 104]*
[Physique: 11.3]
[Vitality: 6.9]
[Spirit: 0.8]
[Elements: Fire and Darkness]
"I don't have anything to use the points on now, I can't make any progress" Arthur thought, then moved the chair to block the door, along with his whole desk, then laid the sword next to his bed before he went to sleep.
***
"He did what?" Jacob looked at one of his informants and asked. "He just kept walking around the corridors, as if looking for someone?" He asked.
"Yes sir, and whoever started a fight with him would end up with broken bones and a ruined jaw, most don't have the spirit stones to purchase healing elixirs from the wizards, so they just got basic treatments from the ship's staff and they all have half of their faces covered in bandages.. I heard they can't eat normal food anymore, having their meals specially made into soups"
Jacob, hearing this, frowned. 'He was keeping to himself since we got on the ship, but now after we moved against him, he started looking for us.. Or maybe he doesn't yet know who issued the order, and is just looking for Gon and his men?' Jacob thought to himself, then looked at the informant and ordered. "Go and inform Gon of this, and tell him to lay low for now"
"Yes sir"
The door closed. Jacob stood for some time, thinking, then moved towards his desk, and grabbed 3 runic stones, keeping two in his pockets and one wrapped around his palm.
"If push comes to shove" He muttered to himself.
***
A few days went by, and Arthur, now sitting on his bed, was packing his bag, ready to leave.
"I looked around constantly for those rats, but I saw none of them, I even started checking each room, but I didn't have enough time" He said, hiding his now bulging spirit stone pouch inside his armor. "At least some arrogant kids still tried me, although at some point, everyone started avoiding me, which made my spirit stones harvest weaken" He patted his chest, where the pouch was.. "68 spirit stones.. It should be enough"
He picked up his bag, then walked out, leaving the lower floors alongside the rest of the apprentices.
At the top deck stood 13 wizards, all looking down at the apprentices gathering on the main deck.
After some time, one of them spoke.
"Listen up!" He commanded, and the area got quiet. "We are about to reach the Wizard Continent, and each of you, with the token provided by your escort wizard, will mount onto the carriages you belong to, which will take you to your Academy.. But before that, by the order of the council, an exam will be held" The wizard looked over the kids, some were confused, others scared, and some calm. "As some of you already know, we are at war with the Divine race, and the Academies no longer have places for the weak willed, so, a filtering process will commence"
***
Arthur took a deep breath, standing inside a forest god knows where. After the speech by that wizard, all 13 of the escort wizards started casting a spell, using some kind of stone, and then, after some last words, the world shifted, and he found himself here.
"Reach the light pillar by the end of the day!" Arthur looked at the distance. Even in broad daylight, a bright pillar of light could be easily seen. "Each token collected can be exchanged for 10 spirit stones… They're really trying to start a massacre"
The exam was not fair, as with the mix of lower class kids and higher ones, it was obvious some practiced knight breathing techniques, trained in combat or had some resources like the runic stones the leader used, while others were nothing but ordinary kids.
"He said that we will be watched.. And the previous rules no longer apply, so that means killing is allowed now?" Arthur thought. "This puts the kids from ordinary backgrounds in trouble"
He shook his head, tightened his bag on his back, before he started running towards the pillar.
"Maybe I'll meet some acquaintances on the way!" Arthur revealed some killing intent.
***
"The exam this year isn't fair for some of the kids" An old man, Arthur's escort wizard, spoke. "The council said they have taken care of everything, but what do they mean?"
The witch next to him shrugged. "We shouldn't question the council, Michael, we're just Wizard Apprentices"
The old man nodded and sighed. "I've been stuck as a 3rd realm Wizard Apprentice for over 50 years now, maybe It's about time I retire and settle down as a kingdom's royal wizard"
"Are you sure?" the lady, Sara, asked. "We have a lifespan of 150 years, although you say you're old, you haven't reached 100 years old yet, are you already giving up?"
"Sara, you have a level 4 talent, and you have hope of one day reaching the official wizard realm, but for me, with my level 3 talent, becoming a 3rd realm wizard apprentice is already good enough"
"I guess I won't be seeing you in the Academy anymore?" She asked.
"I'm leaving after we get paid for this mission"
***
"Hand over your token, and I won't kill you!!" A kid spoke, aiming his sword towards Arthur.
"Ok" Arthur showed a fearful expression, before throwing his token over, landing not too far away from the kid.
"Smart move" The kid, proud, stepped forward and bent down to grab it, and that was it, everything went dark.
Arthur looked at the knocked out apprentice, grabbed the tokens, then kept moving. "Since the incident with that odd magic accessory, I need to be cautious and on guard the whole time… I can't let anyone get the chance to use that thing if they had it!"
WOSH!
As he ran for a bit, he sensed something, and quickly ducked, avoiding a projectile that passed him, and slammed onto a tree behind him. The whole tree exploded from the force, as wood ships and fire scattered everywhere.
"Shit.. I missed!" Arthur heard a whisper, and saw a girl, aiming her palm towards him, the ring on her finger lit up with a red hue, and a small fireball appeared. "Won't miss again!" She muttered to herself, before she released it.
BOOM!