Chapter 00110011

I felt my balance had improved significantly since I had walked around the armory. I didn't feel any heavier even though I literally had weapons inside my arms. I looked again at my bandages and they didn't even show they had moved.

Percival was floating along before me. His silent float was eerie as ever. We had been walking for a few minutes before we came on another larger hexagon door. I could have fit at least 5 people through this thing at once without blinking. Percival Floated off to the side of the door in a butlers fashion.

"The Coliseum Sir. This will be where you will train and where you can acquire knowledge to control your abilities. Once you are done you will be released into the general populace." Percival said as he pressed a button to open the door.

I nodded my understanding as I ventured forward. The doors opened with an eerie silence that no door that large should have. Inside it was a long hallway that was just as large as the door I entered. It was dimly lit by red hexagonal lights above me. It took a minute to reach the end of the hallway and shielded my eyes against the light as I exited. What I saw after my vision cleared was incredible.

It was an immense arena. Football fields were nothing compared to this thing in size. It was the size of a colony on Mars. Several miles wide and just as long. This was a multi-element field I had only dreamed of.

A lake on the north side of it. Mountainous rocks across the west. A large forest area was the middle. A grassland plain was to the south with a desert to the east. It was impressive to say the least.

I saw stairs leading down toward it and that the arena was surrounded by a massive wall that must have stood 30 to 40 feet high. I slowly walked down toward it. When I reached the bottom I heard whistling and felt something wrong. My instincts told me to duck.

I dropped fast as a spear suddenly hurtled over my head impaling the wall beside me. I stared at the impact point. Cracks spread like a spiderweb from the rod that was sticking out. I quickly rolled away from the thing as I began to breathe quickly.

"Looks like we finally got a Maggot with some instincts! Even if he is a bit Late!" I heard a voice roar out. It was a heavy southern accent with the angryness of a military instructor. I leaned slightly to take a peak around the wall.

There stood a 10 foot tall giant in red armor. His helmet was a roaring lion with a trojan style mane down the middle. His breastplate showed every possible weapon I had ever seen used for combat.

" Ares? Or is it Mars?" I muttered. He chuckled having obviously heard me. "Not too shabby with identifying your enemy Maggot but too damn slow! Get your ass over here and get in line!" He roared. I peeked further around the wall and saw alot of different people( if you can call them that).

I ventured over slowly. My eyes darted all over the group but my eyes kept returning back to Ares. My chains rustled in my arms as I hesitantly moved. I saw creatures I had only imagined or read about. Fairy girls with insect wings that were the size of thimbles and trolls that dwarfed me by a story in height. I saw beings made of water, fire, and what seemed to be a representation of stone in all sizes.

I slowly made my way over and took my place at the end of the line of what could only be described as a Fantasy novelists wonderland.

Ares eyes inspected me as I moved. "An Anubis... haven't seen your kind in decades Maggot. But don't think your special just cause of your race!" He shouted to the group as he moved back and forth. "One race is not superior to another. You are not here for me to baby you cause you died and came here. No! I am not you mama! I am here to get you in top shape and ready!"

A sword suddenly melted out of his breastplate and shot to his right hand. "Each power you have has a limit! Learn it! Each creature has unique traits. Use them!" He shouted as a circular shield melted out of his breastplate and attached itself to his left arm.

He slammed the sword onto the shield in a drum like manner. A image of spread wings appeared beneath our feet and I felt a little lighter. "When buffs are applied they appear at your feet! Curses or debuffs appear above you! Learn them all so you don't die like Maggots!" He roared. I shivered a little at the thought of dying again.

He pointed at the wall behind him. "In this arena we will find what makes each of you tick! You can make alliances or go solo! Makes no difference to me! Try your hardest! If you die in there you will respawning out here where I will tear you a new ass and send you back in! Got it Maggots!" He got a few disgruntled yes or no answers. " DO YOU UNDERSTAND MAGGOTS!" He roared. We all straightened at his roar. "SIR! YES SIR!" We replied loudly in terror. I even felt the ground vibrate from the trolls shouting it.

"Good! Then here we go." Ares said as he thumped the wall with his right fist. A door outline appeared and opened with a hiss. Into which he entered.

We followed him through the opening and into the grassland area I had seen earlier. It's large area making me wonder at it.

( If this was closed off from the outside world then how big was the world outside? If my body was gone where am I? ) I slowly looked at my hands as I thought about the changes I had undergone the past couple hours. (How much more will I change?) I thought as I stretched and twiddled my clawed fingers.

I turned and faced the man who had been yelling at us till now. Before I got my answers I needed to survive whatever this guy threw at us. Or what we would throw at each other. I slowly slunk to the back of the group like usual and becoming unnoticeable. Amidst the 60 some people I felt like an ant in the swarm.

Despite my size I had learned long ago how to meld into a crowd. I eventually made my way to where I could listen without a threat of being stabbed in the back.

I slowly stood up and perked my ears. " You will be left out here for 2 weeks. Learn to survive and you'll thrive! Don't and You'll get my boot up your ass!" Ares roared into the air.

"We unleashed viruses into the surroundings. Taking them out grants benefits and materials for self improvement. If they take you out they will double in numbers. And fair warning. The bigger you are the more they grow." He grinned a little as he waved to a bunch of empty cages behind him.

"You will notice that there is also a red bar in the left corner of your vision. This is your health bar people. Once its gone you get to see my cute face. I don't like that happening am I clear!" He shouted. "Sir. Yes Sir" We shouted back.

I heard a rustle and turned in time to see a serpent covered in needles lunging for one of the fairies. She couldn't react fast enough and screamed as she was swallowed whole. The snake shot back into the grass and disappeared before anybody could react.

It didn't take long for me to hear more rustling and seeing the grass moving. Ares smirked. "Seems we already lost one. Better get going maggots! I don't want to see any of you till the two weeks are over! And if I do it's my boot up your asses!" He said as he turned and strode back through the door before it hissed closed.

As soon as he was gone all hell broke loose. I saw another darting snake and another screaming fairy was taken out. A snake shot out at my face. I reflexively swiped at it with my claws and found its head flying.

It's body disintegrated into bits of data that immediately flowed toward my body. ( What!? They can be taken out that easy!?) I thought in shock. I turned and found a few more preparing to strike.

I readied my claws and swiped at the first one. It dove out of the way and another one sank it's fangs into my bony arm. But I didn't feel anything. It's head was sent flying as my sickle shot out on its own striking it.

I saw my health bar as everything happened. It glowed as it went down a touch and a -1 appeared next to it. "Hmmm." I grunted. I spun around and ran toward the trees.

Snakes climb, dig and slide around. But that doesn't mean they get everywhere. I moved quickly through the trees as I heard hissing behind me. I forced out a chain and hauled it over my head aiming at a thick branch. My sickle unfurled and landed with a thunk as I started hauling myself up. I was soon in a perch with my ears perked for any form of noise. I began to think. ( He said those were viruses. What type of virus is a snake?)I thought as I contemplated my situation.

(He said we needed materials to better ourselves but not how. Also I have no food or water but I also don't feel hunger or thirst right now. So my priorities are finding those then finding shelter...) I hmmmed at my predicament. ( I need a better vantage point.)

I looked at a different branch above me and used my sharp claws to dig into the bark and climb to it. Eventually I found I had climbed to the top of the tree. The forest was fairly vast but in comparison the desert felt like it would be more homey to me considering Anubis's story in history.

I climbed down when I thought it was safer. The noises had died down and I couldnt see or hear anything approaching. I avoided any large groups of the people I entered with. No telling whether they'd be friendly or not.

I found a thick tree that looked and smelled like an oak. It had a large hollow in its base. I quickly sent a chain into the hole and heard a hiss before I felt it hit something and a haze of data floated out and into my chest. ( I'm probably not going to get used to that.) I thought irritatedly.

I quickly entered the hollow and examined it. There was a puddle in the corner that seemed to supply clean water despite it being grey in color. (What do I do about food.) I thought.

I slowly exited the hollow on all fours which felt strangely comfortable despite it's slightly odd appearance. After all my legs had become a strange dog hybrid mix. I felt my bandages rustle and saw my health bar go back up a bit.

( Perhaps there is a way to figure out my abilities. I really need to understand my arsenal before I try using it. I could end up helping a foe while trying to save a friendly.) I thought.

I was a bit of a gamer before I was a hacker. I liked the team fighting games where you build with items and have powers you can get accustomed to. Looking at it now that was a little training for what I am doing now.

(There has to be a way for me to see my abilities.) I thought anxiously. They wouldn't just throw us out here without any way to understand what we can do right? I climbed another tree. "How can we access information... maybe an interface?"

A ding sounded in my head as a page appeared before me and a voice echoed out. "Interface! At you service! Whatever you need just say the name :)" I heard a mechanical feminine voice and saw the message appear on the page. I reared back in fright against the tree. "Say what now!?" I almost shouted.

That startled me. "As I said. My name is interface! At your service. Whatever you need just call." A perky reply came.

I sat down on my branch for a moment to calm my nerves a little. "um.... Interface... Any way I can see my abilities?" I asked nervously. I was never good with people especially girls. "Of course! Coming right up!" I heard her reply. A ding suddenly sounded in my ears as a new page appeared before me. It was a diagram with my character on the left side and words and numbers on the right. I slowly looked over it and read it out.

"Anubis is the guide of the dead and hence has immunity to all confusion debuffs. All bleeding, poison, and hallucinogenic debuffs are also ineffective due to being well.... dead. Slowing, Freezing, and Burning debuffs are the worst to the dead. Light has menial effect of slowing seeing as people die during the day and darkness improves movement abilities because death has always been a dark thing.

Sickle chains are your best tool and have an auto defense ability for when you take damage. Learning chain blade arts is a must while or after this training session.

Bandages are your best friend and will heal you 1 health every minute. This ability can be improved in the stat menu and with better material acquisitions. Also possible to heal others after acquiring a bandage sharing ability.

The Feather of Truth embedded in Anubis's head plate will serve to show the way through illusions and lies. Even people in hiding will be revealed to you. Possible to see the status of friends and foes as well.

The scales will pass judgement on any who lie to you or attack you. They are a passive which builds over time. The longer you are in combat against something the stronger you will become if you are in the right. If you are in the wrong you will experience extreme debuffs to speed and strength. This passives effect will increase with level and material acquisition as well."

"Hot Dog." I thought excitedly as the branch beneath me suddenly cracked and I fell out of the tree.