First Blood
While traveling towards Hammers Rise Nathan begins to examine the UI.
He figures out he can adjust how big or small the mini-map is in his vision. The zoom level could be adjusted by thinking about it as well. He can also adjust the level of transparency, so it does not hinder his line of sight.
Thinking about his friends and where they could be currently, a friends list appears. It is empty. Nathan quickly adds Zach and James in hopes that they can form a party.
Sadly, after adding the two of them, the friends' list only showed their names and their status showing <Alive>. When he attempts to form a party with them, his head starts to feel fuzzy, and an error message appears in front of him saying <Player not in range>.
'Well, that is unfortunate, at least I know they are alive.'
Nathan ponders about the other players and if any of them are dead. A leaderboard pops up in a window, titled, "Fallen from Grace". Currently, there are six people on the list.
"Scion, this 'Fallen from Grace' leaderboard. Are these the people who already died? Is there a death counter?" Nathan asks.
Scion sighs, "If you see someone's name on the 'Fallen from Grace' leaderboard they are dead. There is no death counter, they're gone."
As Nathan looks at the screen again another name appears bringing the total to seven.
"How are people dying already? The game just started. It hasn't even been an hour yet." Nathan ponders out loud.
Scion laughs mischievously, "Humans are very fragile creatures compared to a lot of the other races you'll find in the planes. It was also random where you ascended to. I'm sure some showed up in some nasty situations and never stood a chance."
"That explains why we're in the middle of this field. I suppose I should be grateful a town is nearby, and we're not stranded somewhere." Nathan says while breathing a sigh of relief.
"Your welcome Mr. Emblem." Scion responds to Nathan with a mysterious smile.
"You played a role in where I ended up?" he questions.
"Of course, I did! I have a lot riding on you and used some of my connections to give you a decent start. There are a lot of planes that are contested hot spots where you would have been lucky to even gather your bearings let alone actually survive." Scion says while hugging Nathan's neck.
"Do you know where Zach and James were sent?"
"No, Dinn and I travel in different circles and Mesmer is barely an acquaintance. I'd worry about Mesmer's human rather than Dinn's. Dinn may be a conniving liar, thief, and all-around asshole, but he is too competitive to let his human have a bad start.
"Mesmer on the other hand has no pull. She was forced into the competition by her clan and has no idea what she's doing."
While worrying about his friend's well-being, Nathan hears a rustle in the grass to his right. Scion fades away in a blink right as a four-foot-tall Razorspine jumps out of the grass.
The Razorspine's fur is moss green with yellow patches throughout giving it decent camouflage for the field they are in. It has two tusks below its snout like a boar and has wicked-looking bone protrusions along its spine.
The Razorspine's tail ends in a sharp barb instead of a tuft of fur. Its yellow reptilian eyes dilate in delight upon seeing Nathan. It opens its mouth to reveal rows of serrated teeth and lets out an ear-piercing squeal.
'That can't be good, it might be alerting more of its kind'
Nathan immediately sprints over and releases a sharp front kick to the Razorspine's chin and connects. The squeal is cut off with a loud cracking of the jaw being forced closed. Nathan pivots and follows up with a hook kick to the side of its head.
The Razorspine is sent rolling in a daze as it whines in pain.
As Nathan is about to follow up attacking the Razorspine, a dark cyan blue humanoid comes through the grass and starts to laugh malevolently.
Nathan turns his head to look at the newcomer and his heart starts to pound. The humanoid has flesh appendages for beard growth instead of hair. Has a massive muscular build and is sporting a curved two-handed blade that is longer than he is tall.
Without stopping his movement, Nathan focuses his attack and ax kicks the Razorspine while it is still dazed. Its head visibly caves in and dies instantly.
'One down, now time for its master.' Nathan sneers as he focuses on the Aarog.
"That was a mistake, little human." The Aarog says as he lifts his sword and points it at Nathan with one hand.
"Oh, it speaks," Nathan says mockingly as his adrenaline rises.
Nathan turns to face the Aarog and positions his hands in an eagle grip.
'I need to finish this quickly or disarm him so I'm not at a disadvantage.'
The Aarog blurs from his position as he moves to attack. Nathan's eyes dilate as his body subconsciously twists away.
'So fast!' he thinks to himself followed immediately by a searing pain down his side.
A minus seven in red floats up in front of Nathan's vision as he gasps aloud in pain.
"You have some skills it seems despite your weak appearance." The Aarog says mockingly while smashing his elbow into the side of Nathan's head.
Crack! Nathan sees stars and is blown to the ground rolling a few feet after taking the hit.
The Aarog is about to follow up with another blow with his sword as Nathan is sprawled on the ground however, he pauses and looks at the blood on his blade.
"Interesting", the Aarog says to himself as his mouth splits into a wide grin showing his sharpened teeth.
"Looks like I'll be getting a lot of merits with you since you're one of those Planeswalkers."
The Aarog starts to walk over toward Nathan with evil intent.
"You're worth more alive than dead so count yourself lucky." He says to Nathan as he goes to kick him in the ribs.
As the Aarog's kick is about to connect, Nathan quickly shuffles out of the way, and he kicks at the side of the Aarog's ankle as hard as he can.
A sickening snap sounds the moment Nathan's kick connects.
"Urgh" The Aarog releases an angry groan in pain while losing his balance.
To catch himself from falling the Aarog slams his sword out in front of him as a crutch to balance himself.
Nathan rolls towards the Aarog and jumps up off the ground, he unleashes a hammer punch directly onto the Aarog's wrist that is holding the sword.
Connecting his punch to the weak point of the wrist, the Aarog accidentally loses his grip on his weapon.
Nathan places his hand on the hilt and screams equip in his mind.
An error sounds in his mind <Cannot equip, insufficient strength>.
'Fuck!' Nathan quickly thinks of adding 15 more attributes into strength and then can equip the sword.
In the same thought, Nathan adds his last skill point into Sword Mastery.
Nathan's grip automatically adjusts as he swings the blade in a cross swing towards the Aarog.
"Die!" Nathan screams while swinging with his newfound strength. As the phenomenon of learning the skill is still taking place Nathan strikes a heroic silhouette with the wind rising around his body.
The Aarog attempts to throw himself backward out of the range of the swing. His eyes go wide as a puchi noise is heard.
Nathan stands there panting with the sword extended at the end of his swing as the Aarog's head falls to the ground with a plop and rolls away.
Nathan's arms fall to his side as he leans on the blade handle.
A fountain of cyan blood erupts from the headless corpse as it falls to its knees and then further collapses onto the ground.
Scion phases into existence and her chest heaves up and down as she looks at Nathan in ecstasy.
'I knew you had the potential, taking an elite Aarog out without any battle experience. My selection will become the Champion.' Scion thinks to herself in pleasure as she dreams about the rewards she'll get from backing Nathan.