Bulls in a pen

In a great hall there were gathered many hundreds of people dressed in a myriad of coloured woolen garments. these people stood in the hall facing the direction of a golden bench on a raised platform at the centre of the area.

There were guards with great axes and spears scattered about watching over the people as if shepherds was watching over their sheep.

out of an archway that led deeper into the building came an old man carrying a great scroll almost as tall as him. the people in the hall stood in anticipation as the old man stood on a stool and opened the scroll,

"kneel before the first born son of the Emni, Master Issur the Enitan who stained his blood-axe with those of the blue worms." the old man shouted with reverence

"Hail Enitan!' the crowd chanted to the beat of drums.

As if on queue, a tall man walked out from behind the old man, he was flanked by two armed soldiers dressed in what looked like golden armour.

The man in question wore a yellow flat topped head-dress and a golden cuirass engraved with the depiction of two axes intersecting across his chest.

He flipped his red cape to one shoulder as he passed the old man, prompting the whole hall to kneel on one knee and bowing their heads.

They stopped right before the old man who handed him a golden sceptre. the old man himself then stepped off his stool and bowed

"I present to master Issur, The golden sceptre of truth and the authority of his father the Emni of Uruk-Ziz." the old man shouted

"all rise!" Issur commanded

All in the room rose off their knees.

they stood in anticipation as Issur strode to the center of the room with his guards and sat on the golden bench with the scepter in hand.

"In our last encounter with the so called storm lords,..." Issur started

"..at the mouth of the Mother Upan, the Brave men of Uruk along with our loyal brothers from Ubamalamat, with whom the Mother's blessing flows strongly, ambushed and massacred four thousand Nanakuk worms!"

at that statement the whole hall cheered loudly.

Issur held up the sceptre prompting the crowd to silence as he continued.

"I, your Enitan personally led the charge and slayed countless worms with my own two hands." he boasted

The crowd was eating up his words. many "hail the Enitan!" and "glory to Uruk-Ziz!" could be heard amidst the cheers.

Issur prompted them to silence once more.

"The reason I summoned this assembly though was not to merely regale the tales of my our prowess against the blue worms, for there was another boon from our battle,"

the hall was now silent with anticipation thick enough to cut with a knife.

"Bring the worm!" Issur shouted.

A guard stepped through the archway which the prince originally came, and after being in there for a few minutes, the sounds of clanking chains could be heard.

from the archway appeared a creature which didn't look quite man nor beast but something in between. 

the creature was very tall and slender, around 7 feet tall wearing nothing but a blue loincloth and the manacles around its hands and feet, its slightly reflective silver-gray skin was riddled with torture wounds which seeped blue blood. but what was most strange about the creature was its head which looked like the head of a jackal.

the guards Brought the creature before Issur and forced it on its knees, its yellow eyes staring defiantly at Issur the whole time.

"I present to you Arash, the first general of the Nanakuk host!" Issur declared to a great cheer from the halls of Upan.

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if Abel were to guess, he would assume it was around the equivalent of 8 pm as he was walking back to his room from the dining chamber. he had spoken to Ollys about many things, including the current state of the Uruk-Ziz court.

he found out that not only did the current Emni Melechor kill his father Aalaam, he forcibly married Ishkur's aunt Banal during the so called rebellion.

he heard that the new Emni had a son with his Aunt named Balthazar who was two years his junior at 12 years old, he didn't know what the relationship between he and his cousin was like though because for some reason he couldn't access Ishkur's memories.

Abel got to his room where he saw maiden waiting for him, she bowed as he entered his room and followed after him. he had never seen her before, but decided not to use <Reader > on her for he wasn't sure if she could sense it like Ollys or Ninmashtu.

the maiden led him to a hot bath which he realized he really needed and after dismissing her he removed his clothes and sunk into the warm water, and closed his eyes.

-----

Abel suddenly woke up but he wasn't in his room, he was somehow in the void of the four towers again, 

'the hell? I'm here again?'

He looked towards the towers and decided to test them all again. He walked up to each door and just like he suspected they were all locked and gave him a message about him being insufficient worth and to get stronger. 

He had no choice but to go to the shortest tower in the center.

He hadn't been able to observe the tower the last time as the space kicked him out as soon as the tower appeared. but after looking at it he realised that the center tower wasn't as good as the other four

while the others were made of beautiful white stone with gold trimmings and intricate engravings. the centre tower appeared to be made from plain gray stone.

though it look sturdy and well made it was just too plain and felt as if it didn't belong in the same courtyard. Abel didn't have a great impression of it but decided to approach it nonetheless as it was currently his only option.

as soon as he approached the tower the door changed to white from its original wood colour.

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<Ping >

Choose an attribute to train this session

<Str >

<End >

<Dex >

<Int >

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<Ping >

You have selected the <Str > attribute

Abel decided to choose <Str > making the whole tower turn red, the door became black with the white sword symbol on it identical to the sword tower.

'This looks exactly like the sword symbol on the sword tower. does that mean that each tower corresponds with each attribute?'

Abel pushed the door open and entered

As soon as Abel stepped in the interface showed a message.

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<Ping >

Welcome to the temple of Anok (Simulated)

<complete the challenge to gain insight>

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inside the temple was made from brick the same colour as the outside, it was a great circular room with weapons of all kinds floating along the walls going all the way up to the point that Abel could not see.

'It appears that this room has every kind of weapon possible to wield.'

Abel paused and searched the walls for a bit.

'I don't see any firearms though. but that makes sense.' he said laughing to himself

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<Ping >

[NEW QUEST]

Complete the first floor:

Choose a weapon and defeat 100 <small Heavenly Bulls> consecutively.

Time: <Unlimited >

Success: random skill graded Apprentice or Novice rank

Failure: Death (simulated) 

Failure: loss of body movement (6 hours)

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Abel dismissed the system and observed the wall for a weapon he thought he might like

'If I'm fighting bulls It might be better to use a hammer right? or maybe a spear.'

he looked for hammers and found a long metal hammer shaped like a rams head and felt its weight.

'this is on the heavier side.'

'But it's not too long and unwieldy but not too short either.'

'I will use this.'

as soon as he thought that, the walls began to expand and the rest of the weapons disappeared.

the world around him became a great wide plain, the sky was blue with minimal clouds. Abel spun around taking in his surroundings with the hammer held with both hands. all he could see was grass to the horizon in all directions with him standing on the only hill to be seen.

In his vision he could see the number 0 hovering in mid air wherever he looked

'What do I do now? Do i just wait for them to appear?'

As soon as he thought that he saw a black dot in the distance rapidly growing.

'Wait! is it flying?'

The black figure the size of a hare flew past him at rapid speed and landed about three meters from him.

Abel took a good look at the creature. it looked exactly like a Black bull, but it was the size of a hare with a pair of wings protruding from its back.

Abel was stunned

'The hell!? I picked the wrong weapon.'

'How am I supposed to fight such a small flying animal with this?' he asked looking at the hammer in annoyance.

Abel turned towards the animal ready to rush it with the hammer. but before he could move, the Bull became a blur and Abel felt something hard hit him in his ribs.

He fell to the ground as the bull landed and kicked his fore limb getting ready for a second charge. Able got up quickly and raised his Hammer to prepare for the attack.

The <small Heavenly Bull> became a blur again, Abel instinctively moved out of the way which caused the <small Heavenly Bull> to miss him.

He hadn't intended to dodge the attack, in fact he wanted to strike it with the hammer as it rushed him but his body reacted on its own causing him to dodge out of the way.

The <small Heavenly Bull> looked livid as it prepared for a third charge.

"Ha! I know your secret stupid bull." Abel said with a laugh

"You are stuck in one trajectory when you charge aren't you?"

"I will take advantage of that."

the <small Heavenly Bull> huffed and circled Abel a few times before charging once more.

This time Abel was ready and struck where he knew the <small Heavenly Bull was going to appear.< p>

He successfully hit it and it exploded in a puff of smoke.

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<Ping >

Killed one <small Heavenly Bull>

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"HA! This is easy!" shouted Abel in excitement as the number in his vision changed from 0 to 1.

 He waited in anticipation for a second <small Heavenly Bull>. he didn't have to wait long as he saw the figure appear over the horizon.

"Another patient, I welcome you!" Abel said with excitement

suddenly his face fell

"one, two, three,.. Wait! are those three Bulls?'

"How comes it's three of them now?"

Abel groaned in annoyance as he watched them not only be more than the last but seem to be bigger than the last. these new <small Heavenly Bulls> seemed to have the same anatomy as the first but they were now the size of a dog.

The three creatures stopped in different places basically surrounding Abel, one roared as the other two attacked simultaneously.

One aimed for his legs and tripped him while the other attempted to finish him off by aiming directly to his chest while he lay on the ground but last minute he rolled out of the way.

It was happening a bit fast and the hammer fell from his hand. the leader of the three stepped between him and the hammer while the first two attempted a second attack.

"Why are you so damn smart? aren't you just simulated beasts?" Abel shouted in frustration as he stood up

'I may have to try and grab one with my bare hands when it attacks and use it as a shield against the others.'

'But can I depend on the leader not to attack?'

'I definitely wont be able to pull it off with all three attacking.'

Abel stood as the <small Heavenly Bulls> started another attack which Abel failed to anticipate. while flat out on the ground Abel noticed he was getting further away from his hammer.

Abel groaned in pain and looked over to the leader <small Heavenly Bull>, it appeared that it was smirking at him. this made Abel a bit frustrated

'you think you can bully me?' he thought to himself as he struggled to get up from the pain.

twice more he got hit down before he was able to catch one of the beasts unaware.

The <small Heavenly Bull> aimed for his legs again, but this time at the last minute he went into a crouch and held it by its wings. It struggled and Abel almost lost his grip.

"you're not getting away from me you bastard!"

Abel gritted his teeth and hoisted up the <small Heavenly Bull> and using it's body he blocked the attack of the second one. while the <small Heavenly Bull> he held up burst in a puff of black smoke, he grabbed the second one who was stunned and punched it with all his might. the <small Heavenly Bull> appeared injured but it didn't die.

The leader roared in anger and rushed in the defence of the injured <small Heavenly Bull> granting Abel the ability to dodge and rush towards his hammer.

"Ha! you are dead now." Abel said while gripping his hammer

there was an ugly expression on Abel's face as the leader <small Heavenly Bull> rushed him.

Using the hammer he struck the bull hard killing it on the spot.

The expression on Abel's face got even more ugly as he walked over to the injured <small Heavenly Bull>

"now that your friend are dead, what will you do?"

The <small Heavenly Bull> roared in defiance but it was cut short by Abel slamming the hammer down at him exploding him in a puff of black smoke.

"Yea! I did it!" Abel celebrated with a fist pump in the air and then fell in a seated position in the grass. He was completely exhausted but he gathered himself and then got up to wait for the next <small Heavenly bull>.

Suddenly the whole area became dark as if something was covering the sun causing Abel looked up instinctively.

His expression became complicated.

"How the hell is this a SMALL heavenly bull!?" Abel complained in exasperation.