World 1

BOOOOM!

A loud crash was heard from the center of the grey circle.

The man by the door perked up when he heard the commotion.

"A new arrival," he mumbled under his breath walking towards the center.

Soren's crash hadn't completely knocked him out this time. 

'Wow. That didn't hurt much. Must be because of my epic decision to use my back fully this time.' 

"Welcome, my name is Areth. This is the home of the demonic base, Skultr." The man said with an annoyed look. 

He wasn't fond of the way the newcomer was looking around and at him. It irked him for reasons unknown. 

"Yeah, hi there, why am I at the demonic base?" Soren asked without thinking. As the question was said though he understood and was going to try and save himself, but was too late. 

"What do you mean why? You picked a demonic ability, why else?" Areth said with annoyance. Not only was this new person not strong from the looks of it. He's even dumb as a rock.

Soren just sighed as he could almost taste the hatred of the man. It didn't make sense really, but he needed information the most right now.

"I see, that makes sense. Thank you for telling me Areth."

Feeling a little relieved Areth handed him a makeshift book.

It wasn't pretty or printed, just written pieces of material put together with loose threads of string. This book was given to all new people who arrived in Skultr. They had one night to read and then they had to return it for the next newcomer. It was simple looking with no title, nevertheless, it still contained important information for people who hadn't lived here at all. 

"Thanks."

'This would have been in my hands either way, but since you gave it to me so kindly, I'll take it. '

Turning around Areth started walking to the gate, "You are to return it tomorrow morning. Read it thoroughly many times if you don't want to be lost. Now follow me, you'll need to go here in the morning so remember this well."

As the sun was just now reaching its peak, there was still a lot of time left in the day.

Soren hurriedly stood up and followed a few feet behind. 

Passing the gate and onto the pathway, he instantly felt the atmosphere change. There were small skinny houses built on both sides with a crossroad leading to different areas of the town. Most houses looked like they weren't in use, either because it was run down or just vacant. They had a basic wood foundation, with wooden walls that had a slight hue of red. The roof was also wooden but this time it was black, like it was charred.

Continuing down the pathway, there was a large group of people fighting each other. It stretched far in the distance. It was a special sight, fists on fists, bones breaking sometimes, and being carried off when they couldn't fight anymore by smaller individuals. 

'I could take away their health. Wait, can I? I only had a 4 for strength last time and these people all seem to be in the upper halves of it.'

'I'll think about it later.'

Even further into the distance, a tall square castle stood. It was overshadowing the entire city with an innate aura to keep people away. 

'I want it.' Soren thought to himself. 

Once they reached the end of the pathway, on the right stood a building. Maybe twice the size of the houses from before. 

Still not fond of this new person, Areth pointed towards the building and spoke:

"This is the Testing Center. You will take tests that will determine your attributes and your job while you're in Skultr. I will be here to get the book back tomorrow, so do not be late." 

"Now go to an empty house and sleep. You'll get food and water after your tests."

With that, he turned around and started walking to the large castle.

'So much attitude. I should repay him one day.'

Before daylight disappeared he decided to visit the training area again. These people were all of different skill levels, but they had one goal. To get stronger. 

Walking back towards the training grounds he thought, 'I need to see what I have to beat and how much I need to beat them.' 

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Sitting on a crudely made bench, Soren watched them individually. He watched how they employed different techniques and battle arts. He saw people react swiftly but, with a lot of strength. Some had monstrous physiques and others were smaller. He never saw anyone use an ability though.

What was strange though was that even the smallest of people could fight evenly with bigger guys. There weren't many, but there nonetheless.

As he was watching he noticed a commotion from afar. It seemed one of the two fighters didn't agree with a move the other did. 

Moving closer he could start to hear what they were saying.

"You can't go for the eyes! Are you trying to cripple me? We're on the same team for crying out loud." The smaller of the two roared at his opponent. 

The buff man replied, "Don't get hit then, little man." 

'There still seems to be predjudice against small guys though.' Soren thought watching from a distance.

The smaller one raged, his eyes burning with fire. 

While grating his teeth, a purple whip weaved itself into the palm of his hands. Creating a connection that could only be ripped off his flesh and relinquished from his grip.

He screamed, "How about you try not to get hit instead!"

As he said that the whip flung out at an incredible speed. Faster than the eye could see, it landed flat on the big man's chest. 

Big man's eyes widened with shock and fear. He looked down to see a bloody gash on his chest that went in two inches. 

Due to the whip's special characteristic, it left a purple slime on the entire affected area. The slime was slowly eating his skin and ribcage. Within seconds it had eaten its way through, but that didn't stop it. It immediely ate his heart as well. 

The big man looked at the small guy and said in a feeble voice struggling against the pain, "Don't you dare go to the next world, or I will torture you until you break."

His heart gave out and he flopped to the floor. The slime discriminated against nothing on his body, eating his blood, bone, and brain matter. 

Little man was not safe though, the entire training field stared at him with anger and disgust. Some even pointing there makeshift weapons to control the outbreak. 

Suddenly the small mans eyes abruptly closed and his body dropped to the floor. If one looked closely a tiny mosquito looking bite could be seen on his neck.

A refined woman hopped down from a nearby building and said, "This is why you don't use your abilities. Now you don't get to stay here and you will be put onto the frontlines like this fellow with the whip."

"Anyone else tries something, I will personally see to it that you don't recover even in the future worlds."