38 Fight to the Death

Silence permeated the air as the eight representatives walked across the marble floor, their footsteps silent. They walked with a slow gait, uncaring of the countless other races waiting around them. Up a staircase they stepped, their stride small as they came up to a raised platform, chairs at the top which upon they sat.

Around this raised centrepiece were the representatives of countless other races, all expectant and hoping in different ways for the outcome of this meeting.

One of the eight lightly tapped the table, all attention now on him. His was a broken mask, no emotion whatsoever on his face.

"This meeting is in order. We are here to discuss the rating of the recently found planet Earth"

Minutes passed as the raised eight talked amongst themselves. The other race representatives could hear the eight clearly, but none dared to interject into the discussion. They didn't have the power to back themselves up against the eight, whether it be personal power or race power.

Most of the representatives here were just people of a race rather than the leader of that race, but this wasn't the case for the Hu. He sat on a chair near the back of the hall. That was not to say that he was in impoverished conditions though, instead the chair he sat on was embedded with several high-class gems, the class of his chair much higher than his surroundings. In fact, it was of a similar league to the raised eight, a sign of their glory. But no longer…

The Hu leader was weak compared to a lot of the people here, despite the fact that he was the leader of a race while they were just people from their races. He wasn't watching the eight discuss Earth, instead he twiddled his thumbs. There were two outcomes to this meeting for him: one good and the other bad, neither which he had influence over.

Close to an hour passed since the meeting had started and one of the eight once again tapped the table, formally bringing it to a finish. She didn't stand up and face the crowd, they didn't deserve that grace, but she did speak to them, her voice loud and clear without blemish.

"We, the eight representatives of the eight reigning races, have decided changes to Earth. Its rating has been raised from designated hunting ground to an A2 planet, the third highest possible rating. The ordinary rules apply to this planet."

After saying this, she and the other seven walked out of the building, their gait as slow and steady as before. It was as they exited the building that the other races had the cue to act, some representatives hastily contacting their leaders whereas others lay in their seats with smiles plastered across their faces.

The Hu leader didn't fit into either of these categories, instead he sat with his head down as before. There were tears streaming down, his body lacking the energy to even move.

On the other hand, in one of the chairs next to the pedestal sat a monster. His arm was covered in dark-orange metallic skin, his grin threatening to rips his face apart. Who would have guessed that the lowest King would be the right one? It was obviously due to dumb luck, but it was the results that counted at the end of the day. He immediately called his leader, ordering the lowest King to keep turning people. They had thought the lowest King had been crazy when he had come up with ideas to set up a base in a designated hunting area and thus had denied him, but who was to guess denying idiocy would come back to bite their hands. Well, it was fine, after all, they had let him get a Temple.

Within hours of Earth's rating being raised, the prices for a space on Earth kept rising, the sellers beaming with joy as they allowed the price to rise further. Whereas on Earth, the ones who had bought Temples early on rapidly moved from space to space, turning people to their side with haste.

Amongst these people was Gahlnym, chuckling as the others finally saw the truth. He had also been sceptical of the potential of Earth and so had only turned one person, who he had on top promised to be the only ever representative for the Zelaro. Not that it mattered, that thing should be happy it got the chance to become the first Zelaro representative…

Travis shield-bashed into the tier-two Zelt, using his whole body to boost the impact. It was to his surprise that it felt like he had just ran head-first into a boulder, his whole recoiling back as he struggled to stay on his feet, disorientated beyond words. Luckily, he had been closely followed by Stanis and thus Travis had a small time-frame to get back up.

In this time, Stanis slashed at the tier-two Zelt, who in response snarled towards him before roaring right in his face, Stanis's face now covered with a mask of spittle. It then leapt towards him, using its arms to keep him on the ground as its knee rose, gloriously smashing spittle-face to the ground. Before it had a chance to follow up, an arrow zipped through the air, piercing its chest.

Tanya watched from afar, her eyes the size of saucers as she wondered how to down this beast. Her arrow had pierced its chest, but only as much as Stanis's sword had. That was to say skin deep, a small amount of blood leaking from both of their attacks. She quickly checked her mana as Travis once again clashed with the giant. She only had enough for Piercing arrows, meaning that she would be skill-less against any following enemies. The sight of Travis being downed once more was enough for her to make a decision.

<Piercing arrows>

This time Stanis blocked the tier-two Zelt, standing defensively as he no longer dared to engage. The monster faced him with squinted eyes, before exploding forth, its fist clubbing towards his head. Stanis dodged this, before trying once more to cut the monster, this time aiming for its groin. Sensing the danger, the tier-two monster tilted its pelvis so the blade harmlessly hit its thigh, doing little more than scratching the skin.

It was about to retaliate with a high kick when an arrow bit deep into its back, tearing through flesh as it embedded itself inside. The Zelt turned around, anger simmering in its pupils as it eyed the little Human archer. This was enough of a cue for Tanya to start running as the tier-two Zelt began its chase, but not before being caught in the face by a fist, a certain left fist to be more specific.

Its face stung with pain as it turned around to once again face Stanis, this time its fury directed at him. Stanis punched again, to which the Zelt responded with one of its own. Just before both fists clashed, Stanis said "Drop".

In this split second, the Zelt only had enough time for its eyes to pop out of their sockets as Stanis's arm bled black, the darkness then shooting towards its face. But before the darkness managed to blind the beast, the Zelt did catch a glimpse of the Human's arm, instantly bracing itself as it realised it was not a Human arm…

Both arms clashed, strength and defence at a stalemate as both fists recoiled, bones possibly broken. The darkness blinded the Zelt, but not that it mattered much… After all, the Zelts were master tunnelers: they were just as good in the light as they were in the dark. The instant change from light to dark did blind the Zelt, but not enough to cause it fear or worry. It instead lashed out against Stanis, only to hit thin air.

However, this was the least of its worries as another arrow struck home, this time penetrating its abs. After that was another shield bash, the Zelt susceptible to the force this time as it crashed into the ground.

Now smouldering with anger, the tier-two Zelt roared as it lifted itself up. That was until Stanis kneed its back, sending it sprawling back to the ground. Another arrow pierced its skin, not that the Zelt cared anymore as it was now blinded by rage. That was until it felt a soft Human hand on its scalp. The sensation it felt made it scared, scared for its life...

No longer was it in angry as an awful fear overcome it, the Zelt instantly going into a panicked frenzy as it tried its utmost to knock the Human hand off its head within the split-second it had. But it was too late…

<Destructive mana recharge>

It was like the world itself froze, not a single combatant in the cavern letting out a peep as they saw the tier-two Zelt collapse, its face clouded by blood. Only Travis could see the worst of it because not only had the beast's head instantly greyed but it had also cracked in several places.

The remaining two tier-one Zelts immediately turned tail, sprinting for their lives as they ran through the large tunnel.

*thump*

"graaGHH"

*thump*

The two tier-ones came flying back out, landing on their arses as they looked towards the tunnel with greater fear than the looks they had given Stanis. Out of it came a flying bolt, one that moved so fast that Stanis didn't even have any chance as it struck him, throwing him off his feet…

Out of the tunnel came two more Zelts, both tier-two. One was as large and fierce as the one Stanis had just killed whereas the other was about Tanya's height and held a stone stave in its hand.

"RETTTREEATTT" roared Tanya, the bloody Humans instantly dashing back towards the tunnel. The two tier-twos didn't make chase, instead they watched as the Humans flocked out. The only one left behind was Stanis, who lay unconscious, his breath raspy as the two monsters calmly approached him…