Prologue
Once in a time, a good while back ago, a certain town who happened to be oh so dreary, with a particular traveler gathering ever nearer. For the looming sun hovering over this town concealed many, many secrets indeed. For whom to come and calculate to find therein all of this places mysteries was something that would have been of great lore and legend. What exactly was hidden beneath this quaint, mysterious place of all places? That was for the purposes of the story to uncover, now were they not?
Alas, it should be time to move on, only with some proper introduction, eh? What was the city inscribed within this document like? Was it a marvelous neon metropolis with sparking outer beauty with an ugly underbelly of crime and sin? Or was it a place with nothing else than what it frankly appeared? A simple town with nothing more than meets the eye? There could be a thousand different ways to picture in everlasting infinite layer of possibilities that lay within the borders of this mystical and possibly wondrous nexus of potential happenings. And the only possible way for anyone of you that just so happen to be reading this would ever get the chance to know would be to continue onward with this magical journey, wouldn't it? Well then, what are we waiting for, I for one, would be more than happy to suggest onward with read this, in that case!
Chapter 1
And so the story began, at long last. It certainly would be something to be rather anticipated, would it not? Across the brightly lit stands that scattered through the main plaza of our place of interest, we come to see that there is much blazing life abound here. Nothing quite like the magical and serene beauty of seeing a hustling and bustling city like this thrive in the mid-day, now was there? I couldn't agree more, in fact. Well, onto the story once again. With the glistening sun glazing down on the backs of the traders and merchants, hovering over the many pubs and taverns littered about throughout the borders of the city itself with its many drunks and casual drinkers who were looking for an easy piece. Piece of what, you ask? If you have to ask, I shouldn't tell you then, I'll leave it at that. Not only with the bars bringing in casual visitors from afar, but they are also great sources of entertainment for those with morbid senses of humour, if you know what I mean. Regardless, moving onward!
There were also the various slums that littered this place about, made the glorious sections that I have so greatly been emphasizing before rather disgusting now. They really were a sight not to behold. Full of crooks and criminals abound. Even organized crime had taken its foothold for the people whom could not take it within themselves to be able to bring themselves over the poverty line with the work that was left to them. It just didn't cut it when it came to money, so they took the foregone conclusion that crime was the only way to make sure that they could have a decent lifestyle. The reasoning for many criminals and law-breakers, I would believe. It was not a place of paradise that one would ever intend to visit for the purposes of having a good time. In fact, I do believe that no one would want to go here if one should ever get away with it. Many homeless people littered and populated this awful and desolate sector as well, making it one of the most condensely populated sections in this strange town. Such a sad area as well, some of the most vicious and vile criminals that littered and scattered about and abound were those that in their very whole heart and soul, some of the most wonderful and kindest folks one could ever think nor fathom. What could have possibly be the cause for this sudden downpour in quality for this one area? That was yet to be seen, quite obviously.
Returning away from the grim and cruel thought of these people living in the terrible slums that were located in the outskirts of the city itself, it now was time to get back to the story at hand. This place seemed rather self-sufficient, with its many facilities running around. Many of these included the obvious public restrooms lying around (Many of which seemed to be seldom cleaned of various odors!) and even a few other places like the occasional fancy restaurant as well. Many of them were very well taken care of by their respective owners though, as was obvious when taking into account the high degrees of quality that they had to offer themselves. Nothing quite like going into a place of such high caliber and going in and eating a well deserved meal. They may have cost out of the ass for it, but it was well worth it for those that had the disposable income to do so, wasn't it? And that was not all, many places for shopping interests were definitely populated throughout this large town as well. Those who liked to spend a pretty penny certainly were not outcasts in this strange but unique place, one could certainly say that much about it. Not stopping there, we must look at the various other facets of this place! Yes indeed, they cannot be overlooked at all. For such a place scattered out in the middle of a blistering hot desert where many other emblems of powerful advancements of civilization stood tall within much more sustainable environments, this one took the approach of being out in one of the most punishing places known. The blistering and punishing deserts. It was acknowledged that this place did exist, yet its position on maps and scales were difficult to pinpoint and to ensure its accuracy. Nevertheless, people did try to place its location within various tools designed to locate it. Still, people couldn't get it down, no matter what they had used. Even the most advanced technology available to human and other races made itself seem foolish when the opportunity to pinpoint this mystical locale was up for the order of the day. Which was very odd, as people walked in, day in and day out to come as visitors. People were allowed in at their leasure, if they could make it through the heat of the blistering deserts. It was easily a several day ride through, even in the fastest of vehicles. Even worse if going on foot through the physical hell it was. Temperatures soared easily around 120 degrees F on a good day. Woe for the unlucky and rather intellectually limited fool who thought it a good idea to do so when it was really bad. It was nearly inhuman to be able to do so. Hence why those without money were relegated to the various slums about. There were various gambling districts as well, adding to the sense and aura of mystery to this place. But when one lost everything they had, and were crippled by gambling debts, nothing good ever came of it. Those whom held this rather ill and unfortunate fate had to try and work it off somehow but never would be able to do that given that the jobs given to pay off debts are so pathetic and the pay so miserable that it would be years. Hence the misery and woe of these people that became criminals. It was easy to point fingers at the criminals for their crimes in a sense, but there always is another side to the tale. Well, I'm rambling again, aren't I? It think its time I got back to the actual story telling.
A strange yet somehow possibly dim fellow arranged his way into the town through its main entrance. What could have been so dim about how he entered? It was relatively simple, actually. He walked in, that was all. Very few ever got away with doing such a difficult yet somehow simple task of tasks. It had been quite some time before someone had actually gotten around to doing so. The man was a rather strange figure indeed. He was slender, yet a slightly masculine build but not overly so to suggest an aura of arrogance on his behalf. No, it was simply just a matter of how he looked and not a matter of showing off. Yet one could only wonder why he walked in? Well, only very powerful vehicles could make their way in through here without breaking down from the powerful heat that came down and pelted this city with all its might. But within its borders, this one person managed to walk from whence he came, wherever that might have been. He wore a black t-shirt and a casual smirk alongside some regular jeans and some tennis shoes running alongside his short black hair. Seemed like regular attire to me, but compared to the large, overwhelming majority of the people that were moving around here like crazy, he was sticking out like a sore thumb.
"What a place," He simply remarked as he carried forward within the city limits, pressing up to a nearby food market and placing down some gold coins and requesting a bucket of apples. "Just one bucket of apples, fill it to the brim," He ordered as the man running the stand in question obliged as he picked up the bucket his customer had ordered and promptly filled it up and handed it to him. "Here you go," He said, giving him the whole bucket as our newcomer quickly took in a small bite from an apple as he allowed the handle of the bucket to rest over his arm, securing his meal. He was a bit thirsty though so he decided he would head out for the nearest place for a good drink or two. Of course, he wasn't one to partake in alcoholic consumption, he had only seen far too many times the idiocy that one can bring upon themselves with it. But at the very least, he knew it could also lead to some funny times if you watched other people get drunk to the point of near poisoning themselves with it. He had a morbid sense of humour in that regard. Well, he wasn't the only one with such sense of humour, that was quite obvious. He slowly made his way inside one and ordered a simple glass of water. Hey, it was free, and it got the job done. Sure, he would have preferred something nicer but being someone like himself in a town as big as this wasn't going to be easy on his pockets, that was for sure. He quickly took a small sip while still carrying his package of apples alongside with him as he sat down. Looked like some serious !!$% was going down here. Two guys were already getting into it, getting ready for a brawl. Nothing like two rich, drunk bastards going at it to keep things interesting, eh? And it wasn't long until the first punch was thrown at the other. Then, they just exploded as each quickly began to pound on the other mercilessly until the other would fall into submission. It went on for a while, and for two guys that were drunk, they seemed to actually be really good fighters. But as to why they were fighting in the first place, our visitor could not answer that question having never seen them in his entire life at all. But it was a rather interesting set of affairs to see them going at it. It seemed like after twenty minutes of fighting, punching, kicking, and shoving each other senseless, one finally emerged as winner. He left the other sitting there, not saying a word. He was knocked out cold obviously, not yet dead. "What a fight," the currently nameless protagonist muttered to himself as he saw him lying there. Not long after, the owner sighed and simply began to pick up the shattered pieces of his tavern that the two managed to destroy. Not being one to waste an opportunity such as this, he walked over and reached into the man's pockets and pulled out a moderately sized bag of coins. Not bad, not bad he told himself. These bars were vicious, no matter where in the world you went. Better be prepared against this kind of thing, he thought as he stepped outside for a moment after that. A strange town indeed, he had heard the rumors correctly in that case.
------
WC: 2010/50000
Managed to get the 2k goal I had and haven't touched it sense. I dunno, I feel like there's hardly anything worthwhile in this story so far. Gah, to me its nothing more than fluffing for wc, I mean I just as easily could have written this story in half the words or less.............
For anyone wondering, I hadn't finished the first chapter when I posted the above portion you see before you. I just recently finished up this part and figured I'd share it with you. For the 2nd day in a row I reach my progress goal, so that's a good thing 
I actually like how this one ended out, so that's good in my book. So far I'm 2-0 when it comes to reaching my goal for the day!
WC: 4117/50000
---------------------------
A mean chuckle followed himself as he weighed the bag of coins, opening the bag to see if it was real and not a phony set of coins as he might have suspected it to be. Thankfully, it was not, and therefore he had more money to add to his account. What a strange town though, he couldn't help but think. The trip to here was hell in of itself, but he wasn't one to let things like that bother him so badly. In fact, he rather liked testing his own wits through a pit of hell such as that desert. But there was something more that attracted him to this town, something precious. He couldn't quite describe it, but he wanted to make sure things were as he felt. Well, he knew good and well he could find himself a half-decent hotel for the night.
Not long after, he dragged himself through the town through its night hours, looking through its Neon atmosphere, looking at the breath taking lights that littered about. This was the night district, he obviously noted to himself as he traveled through. Its pseudo-beauty glittered absentmindedly throughout the streets as he walked about through them ever so. He looked around as he couldn't count the number of casinos, gentleman's clubs, and numerous other night time facilities that were open and extremely active throughout this time of the night. He couldn't help but laugh, seeing what the people that were going in and out of them were doing. So many people, as rumoured, were left penniless from all the needless gambling. But it seemed that some people with a lot of money needed to blow it on something and cripple themselves worthless. What a strange place, this world that he lived in where people had to do such things to themselves, he thought with a smirk as he walked up to a near hotel closing in on his viewpoint.
Not long after spotting it, he hobbled up to the front door of the hotel and quickly opened it up. He looked around a moment for the receptionist for a room for the night and wondered where he or she might possibly be. A moment later, he found what he was looking for in the nearby receptionist and smiled warmly upon meeting her. "Hello there," He said, keeping the smile firmly in place as he finally approached the counter. "Are there any rooms available for the night?" He asked her slowly. She looked at him a bit dazed as she couldn't understand what possibly could be going on. She let out a high pitched yet arrogant laugh as she waved him goodbye. "I'm sorry sir, someone like yourself would not feel, comfortable, in a place such as ours," She gave him a wicked smile. "Good day to yourself," she laughed as he bitterly walked out the door. What the hell was her problem? Well, the answer was apparent to himself, it was a really nice hotel, after all. But he had the money for the night, he shuddered. People, he sighed as he walked along looking for one that would accept him for the night. He knew the reason why, he didn't look like he was rolling in the dough. He wasn't looking like a hobo, but at the same token, they would only accept the best of the best, these fancy hotels that is. He understood it, yet it still disgusted him at the same token. And for the longest time, he had searched and searched for quite some time until it was quite dark, even closing in on midnight in fact. He was getting dreary as the midnight hour loomed closer and closer near, falling mercilessly upon himself.
"I take it I might have to sleep in the streets tonight," He said disgusted and appalled at his situation. He gave out an angry sigh at the circumstances. However, he noticed a brooding street not far from where he was standing. From he had heard, this was the supposed slums of this town. "Hmmm," he pondered out loud as he walked towards it slowly. He still was unsure about this, but continued to proceed anyway. He didn't seem to be able to find a place so far, so why not? Our nameless (Thus far at least) protagonist moved forward against the dank darkness that swelled in over his head as he soon saw some empty buildings surrounding him. Well, it was free, wasn't it? He was here for a purpose anyway, and once that purpose was over he soon felt he would get himself out of here. He found the front door was padlocked, strangely enough. Gathering himself as he found he couldn't bust through the door without causing too much alarm to himself, he sighed and searched around for another way inside. He soon found an empty and unblocked window and soon found himself climbing through that in order to get inside. He was satisfied with doing so, with the attempt brining himself inside at long last. With a smirk and a small cackle, he brought himself inside finally. The place was rather huge for an abandoned house actually. He turned around in an instant though, and could have easily sworn to have heard something move. He stopped and kept listening and heard nothing of the sort though. Was he being paranoid? Possibly, he would just relegate it as paranoia for the moment. Moving along, he saw nothing more to suggest that someone else was around here, so he would leave it at that. Moving around, he noticed a staircase that lead up towards the second floor and chuckled. Well, at least he could explore this place for a bit of fun if he got bored in the middle of the night, couldn't he? Moving along, he noticed this house was really big after all. He figured that there would be no electricity here, being abandoned and all, but eh, he wouldn't complain. Going into the nearby bedroom, he noticed there was a bed, even though he thought if a bed should be in here that it would appear torn and worn. This one wasn't in that bad of a shape, even some blankets were left on it. He wouldn't be cold in that case, he smiled. Going into the covers, he figured he would just go and get a good night's rest....... or he would have for now if it weren't for a certain someone poking their nose into things!
"Yo," a voice from in front of the room called, which suddenly surprised the young man at that instant, causing him to shout outright "WHAT?!" not thinking anyone else would come into this house at all. "Chill, but remember this is my place, I don't mind a visitor though, haven't had one in ages," He chuckled non-chalantly. "Just tell me one thing, what's your name?" The unknown house owner asked our protagonist.
"Um.... well.... uh.... I've been called Hukos before, so I guess that," he said with a high degree of nervousness and tension wondering about himself. Obviously he just had the #$@* scared out of him right now, so he wasn't exactly 'chill'. "Who.... are you?" Hukos asked, finally having his name introduced for the first time in this entire tale, possibly due to the fact that the author could not decide on a name until the last second and decided to just go with his commonly accepted user name. Also, I did not just totally break the fourth wall!
"Don't freak out, just I don't think anyone's ever had the gall to come in here and into my place before. This is my place, don't worry, I'm not angry or anything. Just a bit surprised, I take it you're not from around here?" He asked Hukos as he was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on here. "Okay....." Hukos muttered to himself as he removed the covers he had just put on himself. This was turning out to be much weirder than he originally thought. He looked up at this newcomer, whom it seemed that would be his roommate soon enough. Collecting his senses, he gazed upon him and quickly analyzed his appearance. The man was definately older than he was, probably in his thirties.... maybe fourties, who knew? He had really short hair, even shorter than his was even. He blinked a bit as he noticed he had a relatively small figure for someone of his age. Weird, he thought but would let that slip. "Yeah, you could say that," Hukos nodded directly at the man, answering his question after thinking on it for some time.
The strange man chuckled slightly as he turned over at him and continued talking "I've heard a story about someone who came all the way here on foot. Its really rare for someone to do that, but I can't imagine why someone would want to do that to begin with," He admitted. "Seriously, what do you have to gain by coming here if you have to come here by foot? Of course, you've got a lot of stamina, I'll give you that. But the only thing people come here to do is blow excess money and have a great time or bust trying," He lectured. "If you have to walk here, you don't have that much money to begin with. So, what I'm wondering is, why?"
Hukos stared at him again, actually laughing to himself in his head, as he already knew the answer for his coming here. It was something that had been bothering him for quite some time actually. "I heard something concerning the likes of a tournament coming up in this place." Hukos grinned devilishly at the man. However, the man looked at Hukos with an expression of both amazement and stupor. "Are you insane?!" He shouted back at him. Hukos looked on, rather confused by this sudden outburst by him. "What you speak of.... you do realize that the only people that really ever get admitted are those are being sponsored by the various sponsors that exist in the world. You wouldn't even be allowed in, much less survive even if you did so. The tournament is nothing more than a money-grubbing affair, don't waste your time. The only reason its held is because people like to gamble on it, of course," He answered him. Of course, this stranger expected Hukos to nod in agreement and leave, but instead he just drew and even more excited grin. "Even better. I like to think things are far more exciting when the odds aren't in your favor, wouldn't you agree?" He smiled devilishly again.
He simply looked over at Hukos again and firmly planted his right palm against his face, giving out a disgusted sigh. "You don't get it. Those that are sponsored of course have brand-name equipment that costs one thousand times what you're worth, even if you did manage to convince them to let you in," he growled at him. "Don't worry," Hukos said to him. "If I lose, I lose, simple as that. I'll head home, that will be all," He said to him. "Well, I'd say goodnight if you don't mind me being here, but first off, what's your name?" Hukos asked this stranger, he did give him his own name after all.
"Call me Matthew," He told him. "Fine, you can sleep here, I don't really care, oh and if you're wondering, this place does electricity too, I just leave it like this," He told him and as soon as Hukos blinked in the flash of an eye, he was gone. Strange man, this Matthew, he thought. Why make this place look abandoned? He couldn't really fathom as to why, but hey, who was he to tell him how to live his life? He simply gathered himself in the blankets and soon found himself falling asleep.
The only comment I can make right now is that it's really hard to read the walls of text your paragraphs seem to be, but that's just a trait of walls of text, I guess. I really like where this is going, and your description of the world Hukos is in is fantastic. I can totally see exactly where he's going and can totally hear his voice in my head.
Congratulations on making your word goal both days! 😀 I've got 1 out of 2, myself. Can't wait to see where it goes from here!
~Shadowed Spirit Sage
Really? Descriptiveness has always been my weak point in writing XD
So if I'm getting better at that then I might actually be a half-decent writer! <3
But thanks for keeping tabs, I really do appreciate it. I'll try and fix the formatting sometime though, sorry about that. Its easier to write it like that in my processor because so many page cut-offs is my mental mark for when I'm done.
And we're back! I just finished up day 3 for myself, so I'm 3-3 on my goal of 2k a day! Huzzah! I feel this one was also pretty good myself, day 1 is the only one I haven't liked so far. *Shrug*
For those keeping up with this, let's get down to business, shall we?
WC: 6003/50000
--------------
Chapter 2
And as soon as the young man had found himself falling asleep throughout the dark night hours, he just as soon found himself awake, looking around to his surroundings. He tossed and turned momentarily, not wishing to get up as of yet. Today was a big day, he knew that long before he even went to bed to begin with. He knew he would need all the rest he could get away with having, considering the events that would lead up to later on. Eventually though, the light through the room just shined ever so brightly even through the blankets that he was left with little choice but to get up lest he wish to revoke his sense of seeing. He wouldn't liked it, but he did so regardless, mumbling with a great aura of discontent as he did so. He was left with the clothes he came with, but he had a plan nonetheless. Then, just as he was rubbing his eyes awake, he heard the familiar voice of Matthew once more, much to his dismay. It appeared Hukos was indeed, NOT a morning person.
"So, rising up early I see? My, my, my, what a sight," He chuckled rather evilly towards Hukos. The young man simply returned the favor with a look of death, glaring back at him furiously. If he kept going too much longer, Hukos was likely to return it with an oh so certain gesture involving one's fingers..... but enough of that! "So, what's your plan?" Matthew asked him, still rather curious as to what he was going to do given the circumstances he had explained to Hukos several times last night even though he vehemently assured him that he had a plan.
"You'll see," Hukos responded to him, obviously not giving it away just yet. He still didn't look happy though, but that was likely a product of being really pissy in the mornings too. Matthew looked unconvinced at him but shrugged and gave out a sigh of boredom. "Well, I don't think sitting here and waiting around will do you any good, will it? And especially that sour expression leads me to believe you somehow swallowed some vinegar this morning," He chuckled again, obviously screwing with Hukos. As mentioned before, the gesture finally came out as Hukos walked off out of the bedroom, dragging his feet ever so sloppily as he grumbled about his new roommate. After that little visual exchange, he simply smiled again and said "Well, forgive me if I pissed in your Cheerios this morning," He mocked again, but it was all in good fun as one could gather.
Coming downstairs, Hukos looked around curiously for where he hoped he might find a kitchen and some food. If he had to wake up like this, at least he would get a half decent meal out of it. "Hey, where's your food?" He demanded as he dug through the nearby cabinets. "I eat out," Matthew informed him. "That way food doesn't get arbitrarily taken away from you from hungry surprise guests," he chuckled once more. Hukos just gave out a growl of frustration and said "Okay, any coffee or anything at least?" and as his question was asked Matthew shook his head. "As I said, I eat out. I'm not going to stop you from going out to eat if you want, but its your meal," He told him. This morning was not going over well for Hukos, not going over well in the slightest. But he remembered the bit of cash he got from last night, so that would give him a few days worth of food around here. "Very well then, I'll be back later on tonight. Seeya!" He shouted as he was gone in a flash suddenly. Matthew just shrugged and said "Yeesh. And I thought my mother was not a morning person...."
It was not long later, that the young man found himself back into the slums and worked his way into the main square once more. True, he did come into here for the tournament, but he had other things to do first. Like getting a good meal down his stomach as quickly as he found a good place to do so. He glanced around his surroundings for quite some time, looking at all the available places but very few looked like they could serve up a good breakfast. He searched around furiously though, he wasn't going to be denied his breakfast! No sir! Hukos would not be denied this perfectly wonderful right that belonged to him! Fortunately, he would soon find access to that right once more as he found an old coffee shop hanging around some of the back-roads, hanging behind the square. It wasn't in obvious site at all either, which meant not many people came here. Perfect. Obviously, it was a quaint little place he had been looking for that thrived on quality and not how big your restaurant is. He soon found himself walking inside shortly after finding it and smiled once he had entered. There were a few people hanging inside of it, which was good. He didn't know how much it would cost him but he figured this place would be a bit cheaper than the other brand name places that hung about so obnoxiously in the square.
"Hello there," The owner soon called as he just had finished up serving another customer and getting around to Hukos. "Take a seat," He warmly told him, not caring for his casual appearance that other places had so been quick to deject him all of a sudden. "What have you guys got?" he asked him curiously. He was hungry and would eat anything at this point, but if he could get something really good, why not go for it? "Well we have all different kinds of coffee," The owner went on and on, describing the different types they had as Hukos just shrugged as he listened patiently, waiting for him to end at last. "Alright, I'll just take regular with milk and sugar obviously," He nodded. "What do you guys have for breakfast?" He asked again, getting to the heart of the matter. "Oh, well we have a variety of stuff for breakfast. We have....." He went on and on again, as Hukos quickly noted that this guy talked fast.... and a lot. Eh, he later noticed that the prices were relatively cheap however, so perhaps he shouldn't complain about that. "Sure, alongside the coffee I guess I'll have some chicken biscuits alongside with some ham," He shrugged. It would be a start for him. He might get some other stuff later on as the morning traveled onward. He threw the appropriate amount of coins on the table alongside a few more as a preliminary tip for the man. "I think that should cover you," He nodded. This place was really nice after all, he seemed to like it. He might have to make this his local stop whenever he was hungry, he thought to himself with a wide grin.
It wouldn't take long for the food to come down to him, resting in front of the table with the warm aura nestling just underneath his mouth as he prepared the food to be quickly digested soon enough. "Alright, time to get down to business," He smiled as he soon dug into his own breakfast, eating considerably faster than the average person, possibly appearing rather rude in that regard? To some, yes it would but the owner simply chuckled warmly. "Glad you like it," He said. To some, it would have been appalling, but to one whom had cooked it and took great care to it, it was a compliment to him. Hukos didn't mind that at all either. It was a while after before he finally left the place, having himself a few servings before he would finally be satisfied and leave promptly. He HAD to make a mental note of this place though, it was just that amazing, it really was. he would be back here probably later today for some dinner, since he had rested here up until noon, so he counted that as both breakfast and lunch to boot. Now it was time for real business to take effect.
As he walked down the streets, yet again forcing his way into the square, seeing what he had originally came here to do. First was entering this tournament of legend and lore. True, he would be at a disadvantage as he did not have the same monetary backing but he felt he could have had something much more powerful that would easily aide him to victory. What was that? Well that's a secret, as he would tell you. Moving to the main registration counter, he leaned up against the person conducting the registration and quickly got down to business. "I want in this tournament," He informed him as soon as he got up to there. "Oh? What's your sponsor?" the man behind the counter asked him just as fast. He wasn't the only one trying to get in without a sponsor after all. "I'm afraid I don't have one," He said back to him, staring at the man relentlessly, hopefully intimidation would work here. If not, he would have to find a way to talk his own way out of this one.
"No sponsor? Sir, I hope you realize, that without a sponsor, the actual odds of even competing in this tournament is obscene. I can let you do it, but you'll be mauled, that I guarantee you. You'll have to go through a series of preliminary bouts before you'd even be allowed to compete in the main event, and even those will crush you," He warned him cautiously said to him. His eyes really carried a warning to Hukos but he wouldn't listen. "Sign me up then, if I have to do some extra fights, so be it," He shrugged. The man sighed again, as he muttered "Well there goes another body....." ever so bitterly as he soon picked up his voice and said "Here's the form to sign. Fill it out and give it back and you'll be good to go," He said to him. Hukos was glad to finally receive it and quickly filled it out with little hesitation stopping him from doing so. Then, he returned the form back to him gladly and said "So, am I in or not?"
Shortly after asking that question, he soon received a flash in the face as he blinked wildly, wondering what the hell had just happened. "Here's your ID card sir. It lists you as a preliminary bout fighter, so you won't be able to receive the same benefits as the main fighters, not that you'll ever get there," He told him and waved him off afterwards. Oh well, Hukos did not care for that, as he had now gotten to the next step of his goal. He just had to go and see about this preliminary bout place and find out when and whom he would be fighting. With nothing left inhibiting his progress, he soon hopped off to go and find his place, wherever it may have been, so that he could continue on his own quest.
On now I'm 4-4 on 2k a day! Woot! The first fight scene of the story, I think I pulled it off well, but I'll leave you guys to be the judge of that.
WC: 8115/50000
------
Chapter 3
It was drawing nearer and nearer to dusk as the young man pondered the streets yet again, staring almost mockingly at his impending surroundings. He looked as if something was going on in his head, at this very moment as he looked and pondered around. Yet he said nothing of it, strangely enough. It was obvious from his previous actions that the young man already had a goal in mind for his entire trip here. But what it was exactly was yet to be seen of course. Yet one had to admit it was an intriguing set of affairs to see what this young man had up his sleeves, especially in a town such as this which held so much intrigue and mystery as well as suspicion alongside the ominous impression the place has around itself.
Moving up and along the dimming sun rays that pelted the backs of the buildings that were raised high above the town itself, Hukos continued his pace eagerly. Of course, he was anxious to go and get back to where that little coffee shop was. It really had some great food after all. And not to mention that he was really hungry to boot. It wouldn't be long after though, until he found his way back there. He would have to make a memo of where this place was so he wouldn't have to go searching and scouring through endless cutoffs and alleyways to go and find it. Slowly after, he walked inside, pushing the door inside with a smug smile. "Yo," He casually said to the person watching the shop on the inside of the counter. The owner from before wasn' there this time, but that meant little to him. As long as he got a good meal out of this, that's all he really cared for in the end.
"Okay, what do you guys have for your dinner set?" He asked as the lady behind the counter quickly approached him, obviously going to ask what he wanted to eat. He hadn't seen a menu for dinner yet, so he was still unsure of what to get after all. The lady wrinkled her nose slightly, she figured he was new here. "Okay, here's the dinner menu," She nodded even though she was a bit annoyed at him for his ignorance. Hukos didn't quite care though, he was just happy to finally receive a menu and get his order down! "Okay, thank you," He smiled politely yet impatiently as he grabbed the menu and quickly scanned through it so as to figure out what he wanted to eat. "Let's see...." He muttered, mentally trailing off before finally picking out what he wanted to eat. "I'll take a plate of lasagna alongside some hot sauce, if you don't mind," He chuckled. Lasagna in hot sauce? Odd combination most would say but he was perfectly fine with it. "Whatever you say," The waitress told him. "Anything else with that?" She asked, hoping to quickly confirm the order. "Oh yes! I musn't forget my drink! Just some cola will do fine," He told her. He loved coffee but he had a habit where he limited his coffee consumption to jut in the mornings. That was just how he rolled, I suppose.
"Very well," She said, writing all the information down as she noticed her patron leaving a small spot of coins, paying for it already. Most waited but eh, she wouldn't complain. She gladly took his pre-payment and rang it up and left him with a receipt. "It'll be your way shortly," She reassured him, as she walked back into the kitchen as Hukos simply waited for his meal. It certainly was an interesting day after all. He had signed up for the competition before the competition it seemed. Fighting his way through it was the only way to make it into the main event, but he was warned that he would not make his way though it easily. That didn't stop him though, there was no other way to finish up his goals it seemed. He was very secretive of them too, he had yet to speak of anything of the sort, yet he had to have come all the way out here for a particular reason, but what could it be? Well, the upcoming fights would be an indicator of something at least. But where, when, and whom was his first fight going to be up against?
Well, it just so happened that he already had the answers to that question, answered a few hours ago in fact. How did he do that? Well, all I can say is..... FLASHBACK TIME!
"So, where is this place after all?" Hukos asked himself out loud, a few hours prior to his coming into the coffee shop. He knew that there was such a place for those in the preliminary rounds to find out about their upcoming bouts, but he had trouble finding it, it seemed. What did it even look like? He was not told and even thought about going back to the registration person he had found earlier, but he was already gone. Sheesh, talk about lack of customer service he mumbled bitterly amongst himself. He looked around and only found the same lonely sights that seemed to characterize the city itself. The buildings were tall and glorious, indicative of the the financial success of those that had ran them. But at the same time, they appeared so cold and lonely, as if money was the only thing running them and nothing more. Hukos could envision what the people that were running them were like, even though he had never met them in his whole life. Most likely, cold, cruel, cunning yet conniving people whom he could describe with a certain word to describe a part of female anatomy as well! But enough for that, he still had his cynical thoughts about the people that ran this town. Didn't this place have a mayor or something that was the big shot around here? That's what rumours were going around saying, so that's what he was inclined to believe until something else proved otherwise right now.
As the day hours dwelled upon him though, the heat rays from the punishing sun surely made him suffer as he walked through the streets. But he had managed to make the trip over here by himself though, so it wasn't like he couldn't take it. Still, it wasn't comfortable in the slightest. But he moved along, despite the issues he had with the head that ran down on him. It wasn't long later until he found another fellow who seemed to be frantically searching around. Hukos thought it might be the same thing he was looking for! So why not approach him and search together? Seemed like a novel idea to the young man, so he figured he should give it a shot.
"Hey there? You looking for that place where they show the schedule of the preliminary bouts?" Hukos asked him suddenly at towards him. The one he had directed his question suddenly heard him, turned around to face Hukos. "Oh, sure!" He said quickly back to him, almost as if on cue or something. Hukos thought nothing of it however. "Yeah I've been looking for that place like mad, it doesn't seem to be anywhere around here at all!" He agreed as Hukos then came up with his novel suggestion. "Why don't we look for it together?" He had asked him as the man grinned in response.
"Certainly, two heads are better than one," he agreed as the traveled off into the distance looking for it. "Well, I think we should head out this way, I have a good feeling about this!" He instructed, leading Hukos who was following him very closely until they came to a dead end at an alleyway. "What's this?" he asked, pondering why in the world they would come to here as his heart suddenly began to beat a lot faster than it had before.
Then, the man whom Hukos had trusted before grew a wicked and grim smile as he suddenly pulled out a knife. "Sorry about this dude. Thing is, my job to weed out those not fit for the tournament. Only the best get in, that's for a reason you know," He smiled so evilly at him, as Hukos finally realized he had been duped the whole time! "You son of a +$*@$," He growled at his new enemy, cursing himself for his incompetence for letting himself get in this situation. He had no weapons on him, so this would be a difficult fight, but not impossible as long as he kept his head on straight. "Well, ready to die kid? Its your fault for joining the preliminaries to begin with after all. The lead registration person shows me all those that were not fit for the main event, so I get to clean them out with the only way that works. Sorry, nothing personal, just gotta keep it the elite of the elite," He smiled almost mocking him. Hukos had taken a minor offense to it, and it showed as his face grew a bit more sour as the man continued to talk.
"If you're going to kill me, can we at least get the show on the road?" Hukos suddenly shouted at him, finally getting the dude to freaking shut up for once. Seriously, if you're going to do something, just do it already. People who talked the talk but refused to walk the walk really pissed him off. But back to business, he stared down this nameless person who had claimed he would take his own life. Interesting proposition, but let's see how that one goes, huh?
Hukos simply stood his ground, making sure this fool would have to make the first move. He could stand there for an eternity and it wouldn't bother him. Staring down this bastard, he finally twirled the small knife in his hands and rushed him with all the speed he had. Soaring over towards Hukos, he was a lot faster than he had envisioned, but that didn't make him impossible to dodge at all. However, Hukos took great notice when this person had rushed in with a powerful right knife thrust aimed at his corresponding left shoulder that he had narrowly dodged. Fast, but not fast enough he thought to himself! That was until he felt a powerful kick to his chest even though the knife stab had proved ineffective. And a powerful kick it was, sending him back a couple of feet. Hukos didn't have time to dust himself off either, for this guy was going in for the kill! He soon found himself with him right on top of him hovering his precious knife over his chest, with his right arm the only thing stopping him from being able to do so.
Hukos struggled greatly against it, feeling the knife inch closer and closer as the sweat beads ran furiously down his face. This was not looking good at all if he was going to live to face the main event! Rushing the blade as far down as he could possibly force it, Hukos' enemy looked like he was enjoying every second of this, as he felt like he was just one slip-up by Hukos from killing him. He was really sweating badly as he saw the knife literally inches away from his easily cut flesh. While the situation did not look good at all, he gave out a loud cough. He didn't like it, but this would be the only way to go about getting out of this fight alive.
A simple, fluid motion rendered his foe nearly immobile on his back for a while. Hukos was able to know shake him off and take possession of his knife and stared down at his pathetic adversary. He was already in the fetal position, nursing his own wounds like a small child. What had Hukos done to him? "Sorry, I don't like nut crunches either, but you left me no choice," He said, giving out a loud grunt of exhaustion. "And I don't like senseless killing either, but this one makes a lot of sense given you'll come after me the next time you see me," Hukos said to him with an ominous facial expression. And soon after a gory moment or two, the knife was ripped from dead corpse's heart after a good, hard tug. Well, he knew from now on to be on the lookout at the least. And he had a weapon to boot.
Whee, 5-5! Finally hit the 10k mark on my first try! Woot! Although I'm not exactly happy with how this part fleshed itself out (More pointless word fluffing it feels like to me).
Oh well, if you like it, you like it and if you don't, you don't.
Hopefully the plot can get a bit more interesting tomorrow.
WC: 10,009/50,000
------------
Moving back into reality, as was necessary for the plot to move onward, Hukos stared down at the tiny little caress of steel that was held within his palm as he twirled it around rather childishly, appreciating it as the token of his victory. He wasn't exactly pleased that he had been duped and attacked by some stranger, but was glad to have come out of it alive, that was for sure. He continued to hold it, but outside of plain view so no one would freak at him holding a knife. It was positioned in such a way that it wasn't possible for anyone else in the facility to see it at all, so there was no need to worry from him. Sighing in deeply, he turned over to what he wanted to continue with focusing on, which happened to be his incoming meal. He simply placed the trophy back in his pocket ever so slightly so that none would notice that it had happened.
"Here's your meal dear," The waitress in question said as she finally walked off and left Hukos with his own delicious meal. He couldn't wait to dig into it, as much as hot sauce covered lasagna seemed strange and almost repulsive to others, he found it quite delicious in fact. Quickly, the young man began to eat his own special meal in a rather quick and furious fashion much to the disdain of anyone else possibly eating anywhere within his vicinity. Well, to be fair, Hukos had quite the brawl earlier and felt he had deserved a really good meal and felt he should be entitled to eat it however he saw fit to do so. He would continue to down the meal for quite some time until he was finished and quickly downed his soda and let out a loud "Ahhh, not THAT hits the spot," He chuckled to himself with a great sense of satisfaction amongst himself. Still, there was much to do afterwards. He now knew that whoever was running this thing didn't want scrubs messing with the main tournament. Was it due to the legalized betting of it? Well, when money was involved, nothing was out of the question, now was it?
Those were questions that would have to be answered later on, he reasoned. But still, being on the lookout for crazy people that wanted to kill him was a huge priority on his list now. But the biggest was finding this place where he was supposed to go and find out where his preliminary bouts were to be held at. He was cursing himself for not being able to find it today, but he had gotten caught up with that bastard that tried to kill him, so he couldn't help that. But he would move on regardless, he couldn't do anything about what had happened, just hope that he wasn't disqualified or something. If they really were sending people after to take out the scrubs though, then it was very likely that any measures to disqualify anyone like him would be taken without any hesitation at all. As he continued to ponder this thought and many more that were swimming (Or flooding would be the more appropriate term to use in this case), he noticed a familiar face approaching the inside of the shop.
"Matthew?" Hukos asked out loud suddenly, blinking his eyes furiously in his confusion. He hadn't expected him to come out here, but he did say that he ate out a lot, so it shouldn't have been surprising in the least that he would come out here. Especially if he lived out here, he probably knew the locations of everything around here much better than he did. He cursed himself a bit at his own stupidity of not realizing that but waved towards him anyway. "What's up dude?" He asked him rather casually as he scooted over at his seat, giving room for him to come over. Matthew sighed but decided to take up on his newfound roommate's friendly gesture. "So, find anything out that you said you were going to?" He asked Hukos with a dose of fair curiosity. Hukos simply threw on a stupid, goofy grin as he replied "Not really," And chugged down another glass of soda suddenly. "What? Isn't that what you were out here for to find out something? And you couldn't get a simple thing done like that? Sheesh, you really are something, you know?" Matthew said but Hukos seemed unaffected by it. "I got tied up, couldn't help it," He nodded. "Some douchebag decided it was in his best interests to attack me, so I retaliated. And I took his weapon to boot," he replied keeping his wide grin on his excited expression.
Matthew suddenly seemed really interested by now. "Oh? Well, glad you made it out alive at least. I'm sure if they wanted you dead for real it could have happened, so be careful you know?" he told Hukos but he simply shook his head. "Nah, the way I figure it, these bastards are so far up their asses they think just by snapping their fingers they'd win. Not gonna happen against me," He smiled once more. "As long as they are in the position they're in, they'll always think that they are snobby bastards that are better than the rest of us fighting to try and make our way in by force, then I'll be able to make my way through all of them. Arrogance is what's the killer with these guys, that I will guarantee you," He smiled yet again.
"Strange, but I can't help but feel you're showing colors of arrogance yourself, Hukos," He told him, with a powerful glare at him, hoping to humble him somewhat. "As you said, arrogance is a killer, don't let it get to you, you know?" Before receiving a meal shortly after from the same waitress. She said nothing to either other than what was necessary for the order to be taken, that's all. While he was waiting, he continued onward with his lecture, much to the disdain of our main protagonist. "Well, give me that sour look all you want, dude," He said mocking him and his facial gestures which expressed his distaste for lectures. "But the fact if you're gonna get killed if you don't take these guys seriously. I know they like to kill out the preliminary dudes, I've been in this city for quite some time after all. So, get yourself in gear because if you don't you'll be a dead corpse." He told him with a stern stare looking at him ever so furiously. "I've been around these parts for a really long time, ever since I was a kid, so don't look at me like that, I'm dead serious!" He shouted at him suddenly, getting the attention of everyone else in the area.
Hukos simply grinned as he had brought so much attention on towards himself. "Well, don't get too excited man," He chuckled. Matthew sighed as he took in a deep sigh and figured he might as well eat the meal he had. Eating through it at a normal pace, the two sat there for quite some time until Matthew found himself finished with his meal. "Well now, that was quite the meal!" He said towards Hukos, a sly smile creeping ever so evilly across his face. "Glad to see you're covering for me" He smiled as he suddenly left the place, leaving our dear Hukos with the bill. He hadn't believed he had been duped until that moment. "Ah, god damn it" He shouted, banging his fist on the table. That bastard would pay for this one. The waitress looked at him and said "Your bill apparently," She said, placing her hands at her hips, obviously expecting him to pay for both. "Mother @$+***....." He muttered, handing out the amount of gold coins it was supposed to be for his friend's meal. This would not be the end of things! This meant war!
Not long later, Hukos found himself leaving, grumbling over having to pay for a meal he did not purchase. Nothing like that to infuriate one, was there? He walked along, heading back to the place that he had slept the previous night. At least he had a place to sleep though, instead of just hanging out some random ditch or something, that would have really sucked now, wouldn't it? Moving forward along his own path, he kept noting the same, looming buildings over himself. It never seemed to stop though, these stupid buildings, did it? They always overlooked the same people all the time with their same malicious aura of greed and power that was so vividly felt by the young man as he passed through this town one more time. He sighed loudly, moving forward, noting that he would deal with this soon enough, he was too tired to think of them right now. Moving back into the awful slums district, he quickly yet swiftly made his way back to the house he had slept in last night. Moving alongside to the bed he had occupied the previous night, he gave out a loud, almost disappointed and disgusted in its nature. Not long later though, on the bed stand, he blinked as he could have sworn he saw a small note laying there. Quickly, he picked it up and decided to read it almost as if on instinct.
Sorry about leaving you with the bill there, I just figured I should make you contribute since you're here and all. But don't let that get you down, there will be a special surprise for you soon enough. Just be patient and you'll see.
That's all the note said on it, apparently. Given the context, it was likely to be Matthew, which was an obvious conclusion reached by Hukos, as he gave out a loud yawn and prepared for sleep. Well, he'd solve the mystery of where the place he had to find was, but for now, it was sleepy time! He knew that would be a challenge to find though, given the difficulties he had finding it today and coming across the fool that had tried to kill him but had his intentions so ironically twisted back upon him. He still had the knife even, so if he was attacked by someone, he would happen to at least have some way to defend himself. He turned himself over as he attempted to get to sleep, having a bit of trouble for the moment. He couldn't help but think of today's events, they were firmly planted in his own mind, even as he tried so desperately to make his way to sleep. Tossing and turning for the longest time throughout the night was the only thing he was capable of doing it seemed until he finally hit sleepy land. Finally, the young protagonist could finally hit the sack and get along to bed as he dearly needed to do so for the upcoming events tomorrow. Ever so softly, a small smile crept on his face as the young man was already asleep, hopefully dreaming good dreams to come, yes? Well, it was a pleasant thought, hopefully that's what he was doing. And now, he finally was completely knocked out of it.
Okay, we're back again, day six on my efforts to do this NaNo! Again, setting up more plot, simply wc fluffing so I have my share of words for the day.
WC: 12228/50000
----------
Chapter 4
Hukos was getting up finally, but not after yet again shaking in his own bed, tossing and turning as he did so. Waking up was a *@*+%, frankly he felt. But that didn't stop him from trying to stay in bed but he would soon find his own efforts very futile in the process of trying to stay in bed. Finally with the sun beaming into his eyes with the bright sunlight coming over him through the blankets, he knew he had little choice but to accept his fate and get out of bed. Giving out what one would suspect to be mumble (We can never be sure of this, who knows what it could actually be!) as the blankets that had protected him in the night were now failing him in the presence of the ever evil sunlight. They would soon find themselves on the floor as a discontented growl was thrown from the young man. Obviously getting out of bed was not in the plan right now. "So, what is it I have to do today?" He asked himself out loud, looking around, trying desperately to remember what it was. Oh yes! He suddenly remembered at that moment, like getting hit on the head with a powerful hammer, what he was to do today! "Forgot about it, god damn it," He muttered as he knew he had to go and get himself ready now. He remembered the note he had read last night, he simply assumed it was written by Matthew given the context of it and all. Not long after, he was ready but first things first, breakfast! Hukos found that after a couple of days being here, he couldn't stand being without any breakfast for that day! So that was the immediate goal in mind for himself. Stomping outside the house right then and there, he was outside not long after and soon made his way into the square once more. This was the path he always used to get to that quaint and quiet little coffee shop every time he went by. Nothing like it though, he thought to himself. Not long after, he found his image walking right into the shop once more. The waitress from last night was here again. Seemed like she worked a lot of hours, Hukos thought to himself. Oh well, he quickly sat at his usual spot but it wasn't until he saw the familiar face once again. "Oh, Matthew, good to see you again!" Hukos chuckled as he waved him over. The man grinned but his expression turned a bit closer to a frown as he approached his roommate. "Yeah, sorry about leaving you behind before and all, just a bit of a practical joke I guess. But I guess I owe it to you to do this in that case," He sighed.
It wasn't long later that Hukos quickly found something being slipped onto the table directly in front of him. He blinked rather rapidly, not knowing what it could be after all but attempting to open it up and see. He blinked again, seeing only the simplest of messages, that was until he would figure out it was simple coordinate logic.
X: 64
Y: 32
At first glance, he didn't know what the hell he was looking at and gave Matthew an expression that could only be described as "wtf", as simple as that term may have been. "The hell is this? You're not making any sense with it," Hukos told him, rather irritated by the lack of understanding in this situation. This wasn't going how he wanted at all, he wanted to find out where the location of that place he needed to get to was located at not this random X, Y, bull crap he was given.
Matthew could only give an exasperated sigh at him as he quickly secured his right palm over his face, in what we commonly know as the facepalm. He couldn't believe that Hukos couldn't grasp the fact that he had just given him the answer to what he was looking for already! Matthew couldn't believe what he was hearing from him right now! He couldn't help but growl a bit at his rather obvious stupidity which was being shown right now. "If you don't understand it, then I can't help you," Matthew said before getting up and leaving again.
Hukos couldn't believe what Matthew had said either. What was there to understand? He just gave him two random numbers that could mean anything in the world! Talk about being really vague and all, he was rather annoyed and disgusted that he felt he should figure something out so incredibly vague after all. It wasn't until long after his meal had come and he had munched on it for quite some time until a light bulb hit him square on the head! "OH!" He shouted, gaining the attention of everyone in the room so far. Finally he figured out what Matthew had meant by the note and everything he had said concerning it! "Wow, it finally makes sense," he nodded to himself confidently, but found out soon after that everyone in the room was staring at him in a rather perplexed manner, wondering what the hell he was doing when he had shouted like he did.
"Sorry about that," He chuckled, a bit red in the face now from the sudden outburst, but now glad to know that he could move on with his goal after all. But one thing suddenly crept into the back of his own head. How in the world did Matthew know the location of the preliminary matches to be held? That was an odd and strange matter indeed, he thought to himself. Well, no time to think on it, he had business to go take care of, he thought to himself as he prepared himself upright from the table he was sitting at, paid the bill for his meal and quickly found himself leaving the shop once more. Damn the food there was soooooo good. But nontheless, he had to get going back to where he had intended to go from the whole time he started this little mission of his. Now, it was time to move onwards!
Gathering his wits, he tried to make good work out of the coordinates he was given though, but found that to be a much more difficult task that he had originally anticipated beforehand. He had the coordinates for the facility, but he had to make out what they meant as well. Obviously, if he had a map to figure out where the X-axis and Y-axis' were located, that would make this all that much easier. Unfortunately, he didn't have such utilities at his disposal. In fact, he hadn't even seen a city hall or anything to that effect! So, he couldn't go and find the city hall and ask for the map to the city. He figured he might as well look around and see if anyone else had the map for the city in its entirety or whatever. However, after a few hours of searching, he quickly found that his search brought him nowhere at all. Which was major suckage, he told himself. Well, wasn't it? The map he needed to find out where he wanted to go was nowhere to be found. And asking if anyone knew the exact coordinates wasn't exactly the smartest thing one could do right now. Last time he revealed himself as a tournament hopeful he barely escaped death.
Sighing loudly as he walked through the bustling streets yet again, something glimmered in front of him. He couldn't tell its exact location, for the glimmer was very narrow and dim, but he could make it out enough that he felt he should go and follow it! Following it the moment he had seen it, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief but he kept seeing it anyway. So, why not follow it? He kept going forward, tracking down the slight glimmer of light he had seen before and soon found it to lead into a small alleyway. Leading himself into the alleyway shortly after, he blinked as the glimmering light seemed to have faded and was no longer visible at all. He stared around furiously, looking to see if he simply had just stupidly lost the trace of the light itself. Unfortunately, he could not find the light for the life of himself. Cursing silently, he leaned up against the nearby wall, staring up at the opposite wall in front of him momentarily until he could feel something vibrate powerfully. Then, the wall he was up against quickly collapsed soon after! This in turn, led him to fall behind the location behind it suddenly. Then, the wall repaired itself in front of him at that moment. He blinked, not understanding what the hell was going on, but turned his back to see where he was at was now in pitch darkness. "Hello? Anyone else around here?" He asked himself out loud but not getting an answer at all.
However, he could sense that there was nothing obstructing his path from moving forward other than the lack of light itself. So, without any hesitation, he made his way forward, holding his hands outward so that he could feel anything coming in front of him that would hurt him. Like a wall or something...... exactly what he found himself running into, smacking his face hard into it with a loud thud. "OW GOD #%#%*+* DAMN IT" The young man screamed out loud, and ran his right hand over his nose, only to feel it bleeding. "Aw %!*# it," He let out a vicious low pitched growl indicating his disapproval. Eventually though, despite having to deal with a bleeding nose, covering it up with one hand as he finally scoured his way through the numerous dark passageways to find that they slowly got brighter and brighter as he traveled forward. Then, as his nose finally stopped annoying him with the constant dribbling of blood falling from it as the next hallway was completely lit up. He looked inside and saw what would come to amaze him. He saw several people all lined up, all around one by one. There seemed to be both men and women of all ages, young and old, lined up here! Then, it suddenly hit him! This must be the place where the preliminary bouts were to be held. Why hide this place in such a secret spot though? That was on his mind as well, but he had to get ready, as it seemed at least for now, he wasn't disqualified as he thought he might have been beforehand.
He ran up to where the other combatants were lined up and randomly asked one woman who was standing there. "Excuse me miss, is this the preliminary bout place?" He asked her quickly and she shrugged "Yeah, they're about to start. Anyone not here would have been disqualified like a few minutes ago.' She told him. Hukos quickly sighed in relief of this news, a few minutes later and he wouldn't have been able to compete. Well, he saw that there were several lines deep to what seemed to be the main arena where they would compete. There was a certain man standing in the middle of it with a microphone in his hand as he began to speak.
"Ahem. Hello there everyone! Time for the preliminary matches before our special grand tournament that is hosted every year by our grand city and government! How about we get started, eh? As for the rules. Every match will start when we take two names from our system and call them out loud. The two chosen will have up to ten minutes to reach the arena and no more. If one or both don't make it to the arena in that time frame, they will be disqualified. Anyone who is able to win four preliminary matches without losing once will be awarded with the prize of competing in the main tournament. Every win you get also awards you a small amount of gold coins, although the amount is nowhere near the monetary amount one can earn in the main event! As for any combat rules, use any weapons or skills you have at your disposal, nothing is off-limits! Be warned, some like to get rough and like to 'finish off' their opponents. If that is happening, hope you have some friend to pull you away or else we can't help you! This is a competition of strength and guts, not one meant for those that think they can win because of some legal technicality!" He shouted at everyone within the vicinity of the room. "You all ready? We'll shout out some names very shortly," he said to the whole arena.
Hukos took all this in for but a moment, glad to see he hadn't missed a thing even with his frantic searching. So it was really obvious they wanted the weak weeded out, and only the strong to move on. Fair enough. However, while all these thoughts were going on within his head, he heard the following announcement "For our first round, Hukos will fight Ignas!"
Okay, and we're finally closing in on week 1 of NaNoWriMo and here I have found my goal seven of seven days! Huzzah! Whether or not its a good story is up to you guys obviously...... but here we go anyway.
WC: 14009/50000
-------------
Chapter 5
Hukos could hardly believe what was said from atop the loudspeaker. He had to go and fight the very first fight? Well wasn't that.... interesting, to say the least. This was going to be a very important fight for him, if he lost his whole reason for coming out here was null and in vain, and he couldn't afford that at all! Turning his head towards the main arena, he darted for it as fast as he could. Best get this fight overwith, he would have three others to deal with if he wanted to earn his way into the main event after all. Grinning to himself as he his opponent entered the arena, Hukos held out a hand tot shake his, as a gentleman-ish gesture. His foe was a bit taller but built very similarly to what Hukos was. Ignas said nothing towards Hukos at all and instead gave a nodding grunt indicating that he agreed with the handshake. Might as well get the first fight out of the way and have no hard feelings while you're at it, right? Well, answering his own mental question, Hukos quickly shook the hand of the person whom he was going to fight and shook hard. He wanted to leave a good impression after all. No sense in making enemies down here after all.
"Alright!" The announcer screamed loudly and rather obnoxiously to boot, "Let's get these preliminary matches underway! Anyone not fighthing will need to watch from the sides. Ready! Set! FIGHT!" He shouted as the two stared each other down once the bell had rung for their brawl to begin. For a while, neither moved an inch, and it seemed like it might have stayed that way if Hukos hadn't grown impatient and decided to go and make the first move after all. However, that move was sure to backfire as Hukos rushed in as fast as he could at this Ignas fellow but found his arm being grabbed, pulled, and thrown back with his whole body in full force soon after! "Ow... @%%%. That doesn't look good," Hukos said as he got himself upright but not without one hell of a headache to deal with afterwards. "Memo to self, don't do that ever again," He noted.
However, that was his only way of attacking, period. He didn't have any long-range weapons or skills to use against this guy, so close-range was the best he could hope for. His only bet, was to get in close and somehow not get thrown backwards again, because that last throw really hurt. However, Hukos also noted that he had a much faster reaction speed to coming in close than Hukos had as well. He was a bit stumped, in fact as to how he was supposed to win this fight when all he had at his disposal were close-combat attacks and they seemed to get countered before they can ever connect.
But giving up too, wasn't the way to go, doing so would only guarantee his defeat, and the whole purpose behind him coming here too would also be null and void. So, here went nothing, he thought to himself, pulling out the knife he had taken earlier from the man whom had tried to kill him so as to stop as many people as possible from getting into the preliminaries and mucking up the main tournament. Well, not this time, death didn't knock on his door that easily, he thought with a wicked grin as he charged forward one more time against this Ignas fellow. His fluid motions came up right next to him, and Hukos could almost feel he was going to get something this time. Ignas' reaction time seemed slow, too slow really. Hukos felt he could exploit that this time around, as his knife cut through his his right ribcage, blood being exposed and falling from the wound area, but at that instant, he could feel something grab him all of a sudden. While he felt that Ignas' reaction time was going to be off, it wasn't. He was just timing it so he could land a crippling blow to Hukos at that second.
"You're good, but you got cocky," Ignas warned him as he slammed Hukos to the ground and placed a chokehold on his throat, preventing him from crying out in pain from being slammed to the ground. Hukos blinked as he tried to gasp for air but it was no good, he couldn't breathe with the incredible hold this man had on him. For someone that was built very similarly to himself, he surely was a behemoth at physical strength! What was the mystery behind this guy? Was he hiding his strength to fool anyone he fought? Hukos couldn't budge an inch, he really was cornered this time around. Hukos made several feeble attempts to talk but none of them worked all that well. He was going to choke him to death apparently. He managed to get out a nasty cough, but that wasn't going to make this man release him from his grasp. He closed his eyes for a minute, anticipating what was to come for him in the coming moments, he could feel death's grasp coming closer and closer to him until......
Well, Hukos couldn't believe his luck. He could now breathe! But what was going on here? Ignas was still holding onto him, but it was far from the same level of brutality he had exhibited earlier. The hell was going on? Well, non questioning the grand stroke of luck he was just given, he delivered a flying kick over to the man, sending him backwards quite a bit from the sudden attack. Hukos had no clue at all what suddenly stopped this man but he wasn't going to relent. Taking the knife he had before, he lunged back at him, forcing him on the ground at that moment. "Alright, payback time," Hukos grinned as he held the knife in hand and attempted to stab it down into him. The knife's cutting edge searched through his hand, causing him to scream out in pain as he finally said "I surrender! I lost my power anyway, I can't win!" He pleaded towards him. Hukos blinked for a moment and asked "Your power?" pulling the knife out and backing up from him. He was prepared in case this was a ploy to give Ignas a second chance at winning this fight.
"Yes, I'm dead serious. I don't know how you did it, but I can't feel any kind of energy that I once had before," He said. "That's where my strength came from, its the only kind of magic that I know." He told him, waving his hand as if to suggest a surrender. Hukos had heard the rules and there were no conditions of surrender at all, so this very well could be a ploy, yet at the same time he did suddenly lose a lot strength at a very opportune time for himself. "So, you're quitting?" Hukos blinked at him, still holding the knife in a defensive fashion. "I have no choice, that was my only power and without it, I'm useless. Even if it comes back, I doubt I'll be able to take you down with that kick you sent me. My power was the ability to increase my strength through magic, but that's the only way I knew how to use it. I can't seem to manipulate that magic anymore, so I'm done for," He said as he walked off the stage.
The announcer rushed up and quickly congratulated him, but Hukos knew he had three more bouts he had to emerge as the winner from if he wanted to actually even get in this thing after all.
He moved along, back in the crowd as name's were quickly called, one by one for each person to keep fighting. He watched with relative interest at them all, but looking down at the knife he had just cleaned off shortly after his fight was over. What exactly happened? Why did that dude lose his strengthening ability suddenly? It made no sense at all. The whole idea of magic wasn't foreign to him, he had heard tales of magic being used for different purposes. One of them used to making a person physically stronger, others being like casting fireballs and junk. So that didn't surprise him at all, what got to him was, why in the world did he lose them? Was it the knife? He only got him once with it until the very end of the fight. Did the knife sap away the power itself while it cut through him? Or maybe just the magical energies of the people it cuts? That would be rather interesting if that was the case. If that was true, he had an advantage over magic users that weren't expecting it in that case! A very interesting set of events if he did say so himself. Well, nothing like the future to get things going, eh?
It wouldn't be long later until he would have to hear his name being called once more. Everyone had had their turns fighting and now the people left fighting were a lot thinner. But still, no one here was a lock for the main event, you still had to win three more bouts in order to advance to the finale. He wondered whom his opponent would be, the one he would end up having to fight after all. He looked up once he got to the arena as the announcer called out "Okay, time for a Round Two Bout! Hukos versus Vanessa!" He called out.
Apparently, his next opponent was a female. How intriguing, he thought, blinking his eyes out of disbelief of his situation. Well, he had to fight regardless of the gender of the person that he had to fight. He bowed his head towards her and said "Good luck,". He was a bit sore from the hits he took in the first bout, but hopefully he could end this fast. It appeared that anyone that was going to make it into the main event would have to first deal with all the wounds they would encounter throughout these four matches. He couldn't help but get the feeling that by the time he got to the last match, he'd be really beaten and bruised.
"Alright," She agreed with a smile as she stepped back, getting ready for the fight to begin at long last. Hukos could get a feeling this chick was probably stronger than the last guy he had fought against as well, so he had to be on his toes for this one. This certainly would be interesting though, he thought. He had an idea of what this little nifty knife could do, now it was time to test that theory!
