Chapter 3 the manticore of Cantopani

You stop wasting time, as it is already 1pm and you won't be able to reach Cantopani before the sun sets if you don't hurry up. You continue on your journey with greater speed than before. You find nothing new or interesting on your way and arrive at Cantopani at around 8pm. An hour later than you should have, but you are still within reasonable time considering you took a 3 hour detour.

You walk near the city and a 30-40 year old man stops you dead in your tracks by blocking your way. He looks at you with a frown and says "Are you friend or foe? What are your intentions in coming here?" You look at him with displeasure. You have ran so much your stamina decreased to 2/11 and some random man is asking you for your intentions and your mission. You don't have the energy to talk to him and wish to find an inn to rest inside of. You look at the older man and say "What does it have to do with you, old man?"

The older male furrows his brows and, with an insulted and wronged expression on his face, as if he had just received the most disrespectful insult of his life, says "I am the father of our villages protector and champion. I warn you, if you don't state your business in Cantopani, my son will punish you!" You are too tired and annoyed to bother with this old maniac and say "Fuck off, you senile old man! I am here to rest after a tiring journey. I will rest in an inn and head out tomorrow morning. What I do while I stay has nothing to do with you! It isn't your job to protect this village and the guards have already allowed me entry!"

The old man decided to not let you in and continues to block your way. You are too tired to deal with the old man or explain your quest and decide to just scare him off. You reach for your sword and the old man smiles a wicked smile and says "I dare you to try and harm me! My son will hunt you down to the ends of earth if you so much as lay a finger on me!"

You weren't intending to harm the old man, but it seems his attitude is to inflated to see reason and let you in. Without much of a choice, you knee kick the old man in his stomach just enough to incapacitate him and continue walking to into Cantopani, ignore him as he falls to his knees and caught a bit. You walk throughout the town and find an Inn you can stay at. You enter the inn.

You walk up to the innkeeper at the receptionist area and say "State your prices, miss." The innkeeper woman looked at you and said "food is 4 gold coins, beer is 2 gold coins, logging is 5 gold coins. Buy all 3 and I'll give you a 1 gold coin discount."

You sigh in relief. You initially wanted only food and logging. Getting a beer as an extra on the side for a single gold coins is a great benefit. You give the innkeeper 10 gold coins and she gives you 1 beer, 1 bowl of soup and a room key. You take your drink and food to the dining area and see three groups of people.

You can either sit with the oldest man in the inn, the group of young men and woman who look around your age, or the young teenager sitting in the corner by himself. You decide to sit with the oldest man. The oldest people are the most knowledgeable and have a lot more information than younger ones. Maybe he can give you some information about the recent state of the Shamutanti Hills.

You walk up to the oldest man and ask "May I sit down with you, elder?" The old man gestures okey and you sit down next to him. You drink your mug of beer and eat your soup. You gain +1 stamina from the beer and +3 stamina from the soup. Your stamina now is 6/11.

While eating, you notice the oldest man sitting next to you inching away from you bit by bit. This alarms you and you look around you. You see that they are all staring at you with interest and expectation, as if you are going to go on stage and entertain the entire inn. While you were wandering in your confusion, suddenly, the young teenager sitting in the corner of the inn with his friends stands up and walks towards you.

He stands over you with contempt, frustration and anger in his eyes. You look at him and don't seem to recognize him and wonder why a person you are meeting for the first time holds a grudge against you. You stand up and look him in the eyes. The young man is only 175 cm tall and you tower over him with your immense hight of 192 centimeters. The teenager looks thin and weak as well, but keeps looking at you as if your strength is beneath him and you are the weaker one.

You are known as one of Analand's mightiest warriors and a young and frail teenager looking down on you as the same as him insult all of Analand's bravest and strongest warriors. This does not sit well with you and you will make sure he pays for his disrespect.

Despite your displeasure, you won't act rashly and decide to first question the young man. Before you could ask even a single question, the teen announces himself and says "I am Vini, the champion of Cantopani! You are an unknown foreigner from Pandora knows where and you even dared to attack one of us! You have two options! Option 1) leave Cantopani and never come back. Option 2) fight me and get kicked out."

You look at the young man, surprised, and remember the middle aged man you talked to on your way into Cantopani. He said his son, the champion of Cantopani, would punish you.

Even though you did knee the middle aged man and admit it might have been a little excessive, you still don't wish to apologize. He was blocking your way and demanding answers from a member of the Royal court of Analand. You had all the rights to ignore him and punish him for getting in your way.

You openly laugh at the teenager's claim of being the champion of Cantopani and say. "Fight me if you think you have got the guts, or the skills necessary!" The teenager made a face of anger and reached for his sword.

The teenager draws his sword and says. "First one to go below 5 stamina loses. If you win, you can have my blade. If I win, you will leave your sword behind and get out of Cantopani after you kowtow and apologize to both me and my father! Do you have the gallbladder to accept these conditions?!" You laugh at his meager attempts at provoking you and say "I have no use for your sword, but I wouldn't mind teaching you something, young man."

You unsheathe your sword as well and head for the door of the inn. You exit the inn and stand in the middle of the street with your sword firmly held in your right hand. You look back at the teen and say "What are you waiting for? I do not wish to ruin that fine establishment and would prefer dueling out in the open." The teen nods his head and comes out as well.

The people from the inn follow suit and form a circle around you two. Some of the passerby citizens of Cantopani also notice the commotion and join in on the circle. The huge group of people surround you two, as you start the duel.

Combat engaged. Vini 18/18 stamina 17/17 power. You have 6/11 stamina and 13/13 power.

The body of Vini suddenly bulks up and his eyes become more clear and focused. You stare at the young man's new strength, amazed. This kid has more power than you did in your prime and almost as much physical strength as your prime. You can't understand how that is remotely possible.

You are one of the strongest warriors in the history of Analand. But, somehow, Not even your master is as strong as this young teenager. How can someone from outside of Analand have such high power? You can't understand that fact.

The teen will definitely win if you don't do something to help your situation. You pray to the grateful lion constellation for enough stamina to defeat the young man. The grateful lion grants your wish and bestows upon you its stellar energy and it soothes your muscles. You regain 4 stamina. You currently have 10/11 stamina. You cannot ask the grateful lion for anything for the next 24 hours.

While asking for the grateful lion's support, you feel a weird stellar energy around you, which you try and trace. You follow it and find it Leeds to the young man called Vini. You look at the teen closely and notice he is radiating that weird stellar energy. You look up at the stars and notice that the constellation for the spells PEP and NIP have aligned. The two spells radiate their energy towards the young man and it is spreading inside of his body. This has boosted his stamina by 4 and power by 2. NIP boosts your speed and, henceforth, your power. PEP boosts how much energy and endurance your body has, henceforth, stamina.

"This must be the reason this weak looking young man is considered the champion. He has learned the two spells by accident, or he is born naturally blessed by the constellations and used the power boost from the stellar energy to overwhelm anyone how challenges him. Quite a cunning child, using sorcery to fight his opponents. The sword he is using also looks better than mine. He must have bought it from a merchant, or had a high grade blacksmith craft it for him."

You finish your train of thought and get ready for the fight. You already know the young man's secret and know how to counter him. You look up into the stars and remember your masters words "Every spell that exists in this world can be countered, No matter what spell it is! If a spell can be cast in a certain place, its counter can only be a slight distance away." The counter spell for the spell of speed is very obvious. You step back and notice the stars for DOZ have aligned near the ring of people.

You smile as you weave the stellar energy into the spell DOZ and cast it onto Vini. His speed slows down and the stellar energy given to him by the NIP constellation disappears. You don't know the counter spell for PEP, so you can only deal with the slight inconvenience.

The young man charges at you with a 17 power strong attack while you cast the spell. You barely manage to defend. You put your sword in front of Vini's sword and manage to redirect its trajectory. The sword goes to the left and only cuts your left side a bit. You take 2 damage. You manage to cast DOZ on Vini and he loses 2 maximum stamina. Vini has 18/18 stamina and 6.5/15 power left. You have 7/11 stamina and 13/13 power left. Vini looks confused and afraid.

Your next attack is a 0,1 power jab. Vini was so scared of you he defends your attack. You only manage to scrape his right arm and jump back before he countered you. Vini took 1 damage from the small cut. Vini has 17/18 stamina and 10.5/15 power left. You have 8/11 stamina and 13/13 power

Vini is still afraid of you and moves very cautiously. He has been using stellar magic to cheat in most fights. He hasn't gone against a skilled opponent on a leveled playing field. You rush towards him at a high speed and attack once again with a 0,1 power jab. Vini thinks you are going to use a strong attack and defends himself. He bats away your sword, but you manage to kick him in his stomach and push him back. Vini took 1 damage. Vini has 16/18 stamina and 15/15 power left. You have 8/11 stamina and 13/13 power left. Vini grins like a madman.

"My sword and my body is still much more powerful than yours!" He grins and lunges at you. This time, he isn't being cocky and used a 15 power strong attack. You predicted his simpleminded action and defended yourself quite well. The mighty swing downward was almost completely blocked by your sword and you only took 1 damage from the impact. Vini has 16/18 stamina and 7.5/15 power. You have 7/11 stamina and 13/13 power left.

Vini uses the same strategy and defends until he tops up his power. A couple rounds go by and you two repeat the same cycle of defending and attacking. Vini has 14/18 stamina and 7.5/15 power . You have 5/11 stamina and 13/13 power left.

You decide to gamble and trick Vini. He looks scared. His spell might be running out soon, so he is panicking. You use that panic to your advantage. You use a 3,9 power jab against him. He, of course, defends and takes 1 damage from a slight cut. Vini has 13/18 stamina and 11.5/15 power left. You have 5/11 stamina and 13/13 power left.

Vini failed to realize you used a jab instead of a skillful attack and thought you wasted a bit of your power, just enough so he can use an 11.5 power attack without being in danger of getting overpowered. Using this strategy, he can guarantee dealing a single point of damage to you, making you fall to 4/11 stamina and making you lose the bet.

He attack's you with an 11.5 power strong attack. He fell into your trap. You go all out and use a 12 power strong attack. Vini's attack was directly overpowered by your attack. You managed to slice his chest and thigh quite badly and deal 4 damage. Vini has 9/18 stamina and 5.7/15 power left. You have 5/11 stamina and 7/13 power left.

Vini is once again scared and backs away from you. You get ready to defend. Both of you just stand there with your guards raised and ready to defend with neither of you making a move. Both of your turns pass without you doing anything. You both recover 4 power. Vini has 9/18 stamina and 9.7/15 power left. You have 5/11 stamina and 11/13 power left.

You act like you are going to defend. Vini takes this opportunity to defend and gain enough power to go over your 13 power limit and then go all out against you. Vini defends and you use a 0.1 power jab to cut his shoulder and he jumps back, taking 1 damage.

Suddenly, Vini starts looking pale and his body become much heavier and begins to look more injured. He falls down and you sheathe your blade to check on him. PEP's effect has worn off and the 4 extra stamina disappeared. Vini has 4/14 stamina left. Vini is the first to go below 4 stamina. Vini is defeated. You have lost 4 stamina, decent fight.

"Hahahahaha! It is quite hilarious. You thought you could defeat me with borrowed powers? You must not have faced skilled opponents, as you would have realized the shortcomings of your fighting stile if you had. Sorcery will eventually ware off and its effects will disappear. You made the mistake of relying on sorcery to fight a sorcerer. Unlike you, I have trained in the art of combat and don't need to rely on stellar energy to fight even master fighters. I will take your sword and make sure I don't see you fighting using such cheep tricks anymore!"

You pick up Vini's sword and examine it. It is a bit more powerful than Analand's standard military sword you have. You decide to store your 6 power sword and equip the new one with 7 power. Your maximum power increases to 14.

You store your old sword into its sheathe and put it into your backpack. It is one of the only things you have left from Analand for your journey. You don't wish to part with it yet. The crowd is amazed at your strength and look at you with respect and amazement. You walk back into the inn and sit back down in the same spot.

The elder that was sitting next to you before is still there. He looks at you in amazement and says "That was an amazing fight. You managed to defeat our Manticore like he was some kind of weakling."

You shrug and say "He was a weakling. He relied on stellar energy to win battles. Once I took that advantage away from him, he could only rely on his skills alone. If I was at my prime now, I would have mopped the floor with him way earlier than I already did."

The elder nods and raises his beer mug "Well, for your health, let's cheer! Innkeeper, bring my friend here a beer on me!" The innkeeper pours another mug of beer and brings it to you. You cheer with the old man and drink the beer. +1 stamina. You now have 6/11 stamina left.

You are pretty tired and your stomach is full. You can go to your room and sleep for tonight or you can stay and chat with the oldest man. You decided to stay and chat with the oldest man. "I wanted to ask you, elder, have you got any information about what's ahead of Cantopani? I don't have a map with me and only know the general direction towards Khare."

The oldest man looks at you and says. "I've lived in Cantopani, vassal town of Analand, for 69 years and have never gone out much, even in my younger days. My father was a worker on the wheat farm and so am I. I have met some merchants who claim to be from Kristetenti, Dhumpus and Ursatanti. They all had some interesting items, but their prices were sky high. Only that youngster Vini could afford the 30 gold coin sword. He also sometimes buys a huge stock of chilly powder and some yellow stuff. The boy must really like spicy foods."

You look at the oldest man and think "So, I have to pass through these three towns on my way to Khare. At least I know where I am heading now and not wandering aimlessly." You decide to talk with the oldest man for a bit longer and then go to sleep. "Elder, you probably have a lot of interesting stories from when you were young. Could you tell us young folk some tales of your adventures?"

The old man sighs and says "I haven't really gone on adventures. I have only ever been to the goblin mines to sell them some food and supplies and I can't really really call that and adventure. I only met a couple of bats and a few wolves are n the way. My guard killed them pretty fast, so it wasn't much of a bother."

You are a bit disappointed, but decide to press on. How could have someone not seen something amazing in 69 years? You don't believe such a thing is possible and keep asking the old man for some stories. The old man sighs and says "Alright! I'll tell you a story and believe me this is a good one! This is a story from when I was 55-60ish.

I remember it was a hot summer day. I was working in the wheat fields when I looked up at the sun to tell what time it was. When I looked up, Suddenly, the sun disappeared. I couldn't see it from where I was standing, is what I thought. I squinted my eyes and moved a little bit back. That was when I noticed it. The sun hadn't disappeared, something was flying towards me and blocking out the sun!"

You listen carefully to the oldest man's story. A crowd starts gathering around you and the oldest man. The story must have intrigued them as well. The oldest man continues his story "I noticed this early and managed to dodge the creature before it fell on me with its furry and mighty paws! It fell onto the ground and dust went flying everywhere, covering it up.

When the dust cleared out, I saw the creature. Teeth big enough to bite through wood, claws as long as my fingers and sharp enough to cut metal! It had 4 legs, was 1,5 meters tall and 2 meters wide! It had the head of a human, the wings of a giant bat, the body of a lion, the front legs of a tiger and the hind legs of a panther! It looked like one of those disgusting homunculus harpy creatures the archmage creates."

The crowd listens profusely and gulps after hearing the description of this beast. Just when the crowd thought the description was over, the oldest man continued "Its body was huge and terrifying, but that wasn't even the scariest part! The scariest par was the beast's tail. The tail was half a meter long and here is the worst part. Its tail was a living, breathing and hissing snake!" The crowd around you gasps and even you are startled.

Your mastery has read multiple stories about the legendary manticore to you when you were a child, so you knew about most of its bodily features, but no story you have heard of has mentioned it having a living snake tail. You wonder if this man is even telling the truth.

All sources you have heard of mentioned the manticore having a scorpions tail, not a living snake for a tail. You begin to doubt the validity of this old man's story, but continue listening, as you don't want to kill the atmospheric.

The elder mages exaggerated gestures and continues his story " the tale hissed at me along with the beast's growl and was ready to jump forward and bite me! That's when I realized what it was. The beast was a baby manticore."

The crowd gasps. One of the people said "That kind of huge monster was a baby?!" The oldest man nods and says "Yes. I thought it was an adult at that time as well, but I realized it was only a 1-2 year old child manticore much, much later.

The manticore looked at me and growled like a mighty lion! It then swung its enormous wings and shot towards me at an extreme speed I couldn't even see! I swung my hoe out of fright and managed to hit its head and knock it back! The manticore growled, but looked like it was wary of me.

That was when I realized I could survive. I stood my ground firmly, even though my legs were shaking and I was fearing for my life. I knew if I turned my back to it, it would instantly end my life, so I had to continue. All I could do was wait and hope my resolve would outlast his!"

The crowd went silent and one person asked "What happened then?" The oldest man smiles and says "I won the battle of resolve. The manticore was too unsure of the situation and decided to back off. It was a only a child manticore and didn't have enough experience to call my bluff, so I managed to get away with my life. It still managed to steal one of my sheep, but what is one sheep compared to ones life?!"

A thought goes through your mind and you ask "What happened to the child manticore?" The oldest man says "The last time I saw him was 9-14 years age. It was flying towards the mountains, carrying my sheep. Since then, I haven't heard from it or about it from anyone. Maybe it was killed by an adventurer. Maybe one of you are destined to find it and hunt it down. Only God knows."

The crowd disperses after the oldest man finished his story. You decide to not question the oldest man on the small mistake he made and quickly gulp down the rest of your beer and go to your room to rest. "A child manticore, much less one with a snake for its tail, appearing here! What a ridiculous story. At least it was an entertaining story and lightened up the inn's residents." You open the 3rd room of the inn and fall asleep 5 minutes after you take off your gear and lay down onto your bed.