Testing My Skills, and Talking to People

(Monika) "Bruce, are you sure you want to go this way? You do know what's ahead of us, right..."

(Bruce) "Yes I do, and don't worry about it. I'm going this way on purpose, as it allows me to test my skills... Also I'm bored, and I want a challenge..."

The thing that Bruce and Monika are currently talking about are some bandits who set up camp deep in the Scaly Forest. They arrived on the second fleet of ships to land on Sandbox, and where planning to set up camp right away. But after the bandit chief learned that Alexander was in town, he immediately forced all the bandits to lay low and act nice until the time was right. In fact, the bandit chief was so scared and paranoid of being found out by Alexander. He ended up beating the ever living hell out of his second in command for just saying a few simple swear words. And god forbid what happened to all the bandits who did anything more than that

However, after the Water Drake incident. The bandit chief caught wind that Alexander was temporarily weakened from the fight, and decided to quickly rally all his subordinates before traveling deep into the Scaly Forest so they could create a foothold there. You might also think that it would be stupid to do so, as Alexander was only temporarily weakened. And that once he recovers, he would simply wipe out the newly created bandit foothold. This is not the case however, as there is a big difference between wiping out a scattered group of bandits inside a well guarded town without anywhere to fall back to, than there is trying to wipe out an organized group of bandits deep in monster infested territory, who also have a well defended and hidden base to fall back to...

And after setting up camp, the bandits have been stealing from groups of people who are trying to either explore the island, gain experience fighting monsters, or hunt monsters for their material value. And Bruce and Monika are heading straight towards one of their ambush spots they've set up on a trail some adventurers made to make traveling through the Scaly Forest a lot easier

(Monika) "I don't know if this is a good idea Bruce..."

(Bruce) "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I've already appraised them, and I think I'll be good"

(Monika) "I'm sorry, for a second there I thought you didn't appraise them..."

(Bruce) "Shh, quite down for a second, we're almost there"

Bruce and Monika continue down the path, and once they reach a certain point. A few bandits come out from behind the trees, cutting off both the front and back of the path. The bandits already have their weapons prepared, and with a simple hand signal, some more bandits appear from the bushes and underbrush with their weapons at the ready. Some more bandits also appear up in the trees with their bows drawn and aimed at Bruce and Monika

(Bandit Leader) "Stop right where you are! You're surrounded, and there's no way to escape. So surrender now, hand over your most valuable possessions, and then you'll be free to go on your way"

Bruce and Monika stop walking, and Bruce starts up a mental conversation with Monika so the bandits can't hear him talking

(Bruce) 'Isn't this fun Monika, we'll be able to cut loose a bit and test out all the skills we've been working on'

(Monika) 'I..... You know what... Sure, go ahead...'

Monika takes another glance at the appraisal results of the bandits and mentally sighs...

{Appraisal Results}

x1 Bandit Leader (D)

x1 Bandit Swordsman #1 (D)

x3 Bandit Swordsman #2-4 (D-)

x7 Bandit Spearman #1-7 (E+)

x2 Bandit Archers #1-2 (E+)

x5 Bandit Archers #3-7 (E)

{End}

(Monika) 'You know, I really hope you know what you're doing...'

(Bruce) 'Relax, after seeing their stats and how organized they are. I can assume they're competent bandits. So after a little skirmish, the result is very much predictable'

(Monika) '?'

Monika brings her attention back to the bandits, just to find them silently waiting there as if they're waiting for something

(Bandit Leader) "..."

(Monika) 'What are they doing?'

(Bruce) 'Just wait for it'

(Bandit Leader) "Okay, that should be enough time. What are the appraisal results?"

(Bandit Swordsman #1) "They're both human and rank D. The boys name is Bruce, and the girls name is Monika. My appraisal spyglass can't make out any other details than that"

(Bandit Leader) "That's fine, anyways. You both should surrender now, we have"

(Bruce) "Two D rank, three D- rank, nine E+ rank, and five E rank bandits surrounding us. I know, I know"

(Bandit Leader) "!"

The Bandit Leader takes a step back in surprise

(Bandit Leader) "How did you... Nevermind"

The Bandit Leader does a slight gesture towards the archers, signaling for them to fire. So as the archers prepare to fire at Bruce, they infuse their bowstrings and arrows with mana, and use skills to increase their power and accuracy. And as they let go of the bowstring, the arrows fly through the air at super high speeds, all aiming for Bruce

However, as this event takes place. Bruce simply smiles as he slows down his perception of time with his super duper dungeon core brain powers. And carefully distributes his mana and energy through his leg muscles in a way that wastes as little energy as possible. While at the same time, constantly switching the energy and mana flow to the muscles in a way that maximizes the power of his movements. In real time however, all the bandits saw was Bruce flawlessly dodging the arrows shot at him. And by no means where the arrows slow, as the arrows where actually around the same speed as the bullets from a handgun. Shocking the bandits quite a bit, as they didn't think that Bruce would be able to react fast enough to dodge all the arrows simultaneously

(Bruce) "So, is it my turn to attack yet? Oh yeah, one more thing. Don't think that I don't know about the other bandits waiting on standby not to far from here"

(Bandit Leader) "..."

The Bandit Leader stops and thinks for a few seconds before giving another gesture to all the other bandits, causing them to disperse into the forest

(Bandit Leader) "I'm afraid not sir. I've deemed that you're too much trouble than you're worth. So I'll be heading back to camp to add you and that girl over there to the ignore list. This way, none of my colleagues should bother you ever again"

The Bandit Leader swiftly takes off, leaving a very confused Monika and annoyed looking Bruce

(Monika) "What... Just happened..."

(Bruce) "Ever heard of M.A.D...."

(Monika) "Mutually assured destruction?"

(Bruce) "Correct! Now, will you tell me what you know about it?"

(Monika) "It's when two entities of similar power fight. Destroying or crippling each other in the process?"

(Bruce) "Exactly, and that's why the bandits left. Because even if three hungry lions encounter a honey badger, they won't bother it for long, as the honey badger is just to much work for what it's worth..."

(Monika) "I mean, I guess that makes sense..."

(Bruce) "What? Were you expecting the, GAAGH, BASTARD, I'M GONNA GUT YOU LIKE A FISH, kind of bandits?"

(Monika) "I guess I was... I must have been influenced by your memories from Earth in some way I guess..."

(Bruce) "Well, that's fine I guess. Also, that honey badger analogy has me thinking... What if I made honey badger monsters on the island? I mean, there's no way that could go wrong..... Right?" 'Right?' (Right?) [Right?]

(Monika) "..."

(Bruce) "Anyways, we should start heading to the town. This whole bandit thing wasn't nearly as eventful as I thought it would be..." [Que Skyrim loading screen]

- - - - -

Meanwhile, up where god lives...

(God) "Bruce! Please no! Don't make the same mistake I once made in my youth!!!"

(Angel) "What are you talking about?"

(God) "Remember when I made Honey Badgers..."

The Angels normally happy face turns sour as she looks at God with cold eyes

(Angel) "Yes... I do..."

(God) "Please don't look at me like that... I promised everyone that I won't ever get drunk again, didn't I?"

(Angel) "Yes... However, it still doesn't change the fact that you did some stupid things while drunk..."

(God) "Oh come on, I was still extremely young at the time, and didn't know what I was doing!"

(Angel) "You where still multiple googolplex halcyon heat deaths of the extended primordial nirvanic realitys old at the time..."

(God) "Like I said, YOUNG!!! I was still practically a quark of an atom of a reproductive cell at the time I did that"

(Angel) "Remember danger noodle land on Earth!!!"

(God) "I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OKAY!!!"

(Angel) "..."

(God) "What is it now..."

(Angel) "Well... Apparently, danger noodle land is currently on fire..."

(God) "Oh..... That's quite a tragedy..."

(Angel) "..."

(God) "..."

(Angel) "Remember when you made centipedes..."

(God) "I meant to put less legs on, but in my intoxicated state, the numbers three and thirty looked very much the same..."

(Angel) "And Millipedes?"

(God) "WORST!!! HANGOVER!!!!! EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Now uh... Back to the main story..... [End Skyrim loading screen]

- - - - -

Bruce and Monika approach the town gate. Noticing a few adventurer parties entering or leaving the town every now and then...

(Bruce) "Alrighty then, time to meet new people... Hehehe..." {Nervous Laughter}

(Monika) "Think you'll be able to talk to them calmly?"

(Bruce) "I'm... Not sure actually..."

(Monika) "Should I do it then?"

(Bruce) "No, no, no, I can do it..."

Bruce and Monika approach the town gate, where four guards are standing guard. Their current equipment consists of steel half plate, and a steel halberd. Two of the guards are actively standing guard in front of the gate, while the other two act more as couriers, delivering any messages that the other two guards may give them. When they see Monika and Bruce approaching, they don't think to much of it at first. But after they got a better look at their faces and strange clothing, they become much more alert

(Guard #1) "Halt!"

Bruce and Monika stop moving, and one of the guard approaches them while the other stays at the gate

(Guard #1) "I'd like to ask you two who you are. I don't remember seeing you two leave the town previously!"

(Bruce) "Does that really matter... I mean, we've been stranded here for quite some time. And just so happened to come across a trail that lead here"

(Guard #1) "*Sigh*, that doesn't give me enough information. If you'd like to enter the town, I'm going to have to interrogate you first"

(Bruce) "Fine by me, Monika, you stay here. I'll be back in a bit"

Bruce and the guard head to a nearby guard tower. Where Bruce is interrogated for about an hour before they take him back to the gate

(Guard #1) "Alright, you're good to go"

(Bruce) "Thank you, oh, and have a nice day"

Bruce waves goodbye to the guard as he and Monika enter the town

(Monika) 'So, how'd it go' {Telepathically}

(Bruce) 'Oh, it went pretty well. Got questioned for a few minutes, I was got bored of that, and simply made a fake dairy containing a fake story about our time on the island. They read it for the remainder of the interrogation before asking if they could copy down some of the information I put inside of it regarding the island. I said sure, and also said that they could actually keep the dairy. And then they allowed us to enter the town'

(Monika) 'Huh, interesting. So, now that we're here'

Monika looks around at the various buildings and people surrounding them. Getting a few curious looks every now and then do to their foreign looking clothes

(Monika) 'What do you plan on doing?'

(Bruce) 'Well...'

Bruce and Monika keep walking until they see a pretty large crowd of people cheering for something

(Bruce) 'That... That's what I'm planning to do'

When Bruce and Monika get closer to the crowd. They can see that in the center of it are two combatants. One of them is a human girl with short black hair, green eyes, and light armor. She's also wielding a broadsword with what look like runes on the blade. Her opponent is a middle aged man who seems to be trying his best to defeat her, but is having no luck. And after a few more minutes of fighting, or for the girl, playing. The middle aged man gives up, afterwards, a man wearing fancy clothes shows up and starts talking

(Fancy Man) "Now, is anyone else willing to face her! Just remember, the fee is only ten silver, but if you win, you'll be allowed to keep half of the money everyone else has played! Also, you're not allowed to be rank C- or higher. As our sword prodigee Rena is only a rank D+. And yes, she has defeated C ranks fair and square in the past. But what we're looking for is someone of similar rank to show their skills off and defeat her!"

Monika looks back at Bruce with a, your going to do something crazy, kind of expression

(Bruce) 'You know, she's treated as a prodigee because she's apparently managed to reach rank D+ at the age of fifteen. However, the real reason isn't her rank, but in her sword skills'

(Monika) 'And you want to fight her...'

(Bruce) 'Yep, the guards were nice enough to lend me some pocket money. So I'm going to use most of it to challenge her. I mean, I still haven't gotten a chance to test out most of my new skills, and this just seems like the perfect opportunity'

(Monika) 'Fine, go ahead. I'll just watch'

Bruce and Monika enter the crowd of people, nudging their way to the front

(Fancy Man) "Now, do we have any other challengers!"

No one in the crowd seems to raise their hand. They just look around to see if anyone else wants to challenge Rena

(Fancy Man) "Anyone!"

The man dressed in fancy clothes looks around again

(Fancy Man) "Anyone at all?"

The man in fancy clothing is just about to ask once more when he sees a hand in the crowd of people. A few seconds later, Bruce finally manages to nudge his way to the front of the crowd

(Bruce) "My name's Bruce, and I'd like to challenge Rena"

Bruce steps forward into the fighting area, drawing the attention of the whole crowd. The crowd also notices Monika, since she's wearing the same type of clothes and has the same type of weapon equipped

(Fancy Man) "Alrighty then! It looks like we have our new challenger. And a young one at that!"

Bruce approaches the fancy man and hands him 10 silver coins, then proceeds on to the center of place the crowds surrounding. Making the place Bruce will be fighting a 30 meter wide circle. Once Bruce reaches the center, he sees Rena giving him a competitive smirk

(Rena) "You seem pretty young, how old are you by chance. Oh, and what's your rank?"

Bruce gives Rena a competitive smirk back before answering

(Bruce) "I'm sixteen years old, rank D"

Rena seems to perk up a bit after hearing this. And her facial expression gets a little more serious

(Rena) "And that girl back there, is she a similar age and rank to you?"

(Bruce) "Yes, she's also sixteen years old and rank D"

Rena seems a little surprised by this, but not for long as she gets even more competitive than before

(Rena) "Well, I hope you give me a good fight before you lose. Also, what's with your clothes and weapon?"

Bruce's grin gets a little wider before he replies to Rena's question

(Bruce) "Man, you've been asking a lot of questions. I mean, can I at least ask you one?"

Rena thinks for a bit before answering

(Rena) "Sure, go ahead"

(Bruce) "Okay, thanks. I wanted to ask if you could use the runes on your blade? Oh yeah, and no holding back against me. I want you to fight me with everything you've got"

Rena looks puzzled for a bit before answering

(Rena) "Are you sure? You could get really hurt you know"

(Bruce) "I'm sure"

Rena ponders for a bit on whether or not she should go all out or not. While she's thinking however, the fancy man makes his way towards the two fighters

(Fancy Man) "Okay then, are you two ready!"

Rena and Bruce nod, then the crowd begins cheering loudly

(Rena) 'Should I really go out against him...'

(Fancy Man) "Alright, now draw your weapons!"

Rena and Bruce draw their weapons. And Rena see's that Bruce's foreign looking sword also has runes on it

(Rena) 'You know what!'

The fancy man starts counting down

(Fancy Man) "The fight begins in three... two... one..."

(Rena) 'Why the hell not!!!'

The fancy man swings his hand downward then yells

(Fancy Man) "GO!!!"

The fancy man quickly runs away, expecting a fierce battle to immediately start. But when he finally reaches what he thinks is a safe distance and turns around. He sees that neither Bruce nor Rena have moved from their starting positions. The only difference being how Bruce and Rena have taken up a fighting stance. With Bruce's stance being his right leg in front, and his back leg behind. He's holding his weapon with both hands pointing directly in front of him. Rena's legs are in a similar position to Bruce's, and she's holding her weapon one handed, blade pointing towards Bruce

Both fighters seems to be staring daggers at each other, waiting for the other one to attack

(Rena) "Why aren't you attacking? I think it was pretty nice of me to let you have the first move you know"

(Bruce) "Funny... I was thinking the exact same thing"

Rena glares at Bruce before she charges towards Bruce. Causing the stone floor where she was standing at to crack and break from the pressure

Rena releases a flurry of strikes towards Bruce, but Bruce just deflects one, but when the next strike seems like it's going to land. He simply side steps, dodging the attack. Bruce continues to do this until Rena changes tactics. Grabbing onto her weapon with both hands before attacking once more. Charging towards Bruce once more, planning to release another flurry of attacks again

But this time, Bruce also charges towards her. And both fighters weapons collide in the middle, causing both of them to fly backwards

(Bruce) 'Tch, I guess I can't fight defensively anymore'

To Rena, Bruce seems to switch gears out of nowhere. And is starting to be pushed back by Bruce's new aggressive tactics. The reason for Bruce's change in tactics however is because of Rena's change from one handed attacks, to two handed attacks. Because with one handed attacks, the rate in which you attack your target is faster. With two handed attacks however, the rate in which you attack is slower, but you can get more power out of it. And when Rena changed to two handed attacks, Bruce decided it's best not to let Rena build up momentum and overpower him with her superior stats as he tries to block them

So currently, Bruce is now on the offensive. Using a mixture of powerful downward diagonal slashes and quick light upwards slashes before combo attacking with a mix of other techniques. Rena seems to be forced into fighting defensively. But it ends as soon as she uses a skill to counter attack

Stamina drains from Rena's body as her blade is covered in energy. She then powerful swings her sword at Bruce, causing him to be sent flying backwards a good 5 meters after their blades collide

(Bruce) "About time you started getting serious"

Bruce charges towards Rena once more, stamina draining from his body as he activates sword skills so he'll be able to match Rena's power

The two dash around the ring, sparks, stone fragments, and air pressure being sent everywhere as flurries of powerful attacks collide. Soon after, Rena leaps back and the runes on her sword start to glow a bright green after filling them with mana. And when Rena swings her sword, a powerful gust of wind stops Bruce from charging forward, and even manages to push him back a meter or two

Rena then proceeds to release a flurry of slashes towards Bruce. Sending a barrage of wind slashes flying towards Bruce at high speeds. Bruce tries to dodge them at first, but quickly switches to destroying the wind slashes with slashes of his own due to the speed of the wind slashes

Bruce is successful in his defense at first, but even after meeting some of the winds slashes with attacks of his own. A little bit of the attacks energy sometimes carries through. Causing a cut to appear on his face or hands every now and then. Forcing Bruce to once more change his tactics

The runes on Bruce's sword start to glow red as he fills them with mana. The red glow then starts to envelop his blade as it becomes covered in mana. And a little after that, Bruce's blade is releasing some sort of red aura, while the transparent red energy covering the blade seems to make it look more menacing. Bruce then infuses his sword with a skill or two, covering it with even more energy. And finally, Bruce infuses his legs with mana while also using a skill to boost his speed. As he dodges the incoming wind slashes before charging towards Rena

Rena responds by stopping her barrage of wind slashes, and instead, infusing her blade with mana, covering it with a sharp wind. She also uses a few more skills as she dashes towards Bruce in order to meet him head on. And after their blades collide, a small shockwave causes the floor to break and crack, and for them both to be sent flying close to the edges of the battle area

(Rena) "Hey, you're pretty good. But I think it's about time I won this thing"

(Bruce) "Sorry, but after my next attack. You'll be pretty upset after you lose"

Both Bruce and Rena approach each other until they're about 10 meters away from one another before they take some sort of special stance

Rena raises her sword in the air as she fills up its runes with as much mana as she can safely muster. Causing the blade to be wrapped in a large amount of wind magic. The wind magic then proceeds to start taking the shape of a giant sword that wraps around the blade of her broadsword. Causing the surrounding air to blow violently in all directions and howl loudly. Rena then proceeds to infuse her sword with some skills that cause the massive wind blade to turn a brighter shade of green. Afterwords, as Rena takes up a fighting stance. And the giant wind blade seems to condense and become an even thicker shade of green from all the mana and skills infused inside it

Meanwhile, Bruce seems to have sheathed his sword while taking a low stance with the hilt of his sword pointing at Rena. Compared to Rena's attack however, the area around Bruce remains eerily silent. His sheath faintly glowing red, with red light barely managing to escape from where the katana's hilt and sheath meet. One might be confused as to what Bruce is doing at first, but if someone happened to use an ability that lets them see mana. They'd see that Bruce is compressing a terrifying amount of mana inside of his sheath, and around his blade. Bruce also infuses as much mana into his legs as he can spare, and uses skills to strengthen them as well

Rena see's what Bruce is doing, and is slightly confused. But takes the opportunity to attack her opponent while his guard is down. She charges towards Bruce at a fast speed, swinging down with all her might

(Rena) "Whirlwind Claymore!"

Bruce watches Rena's attack unfold in slow motion as he slows down his time perception before doing something the same thing he did to easily dodge the bandits arrows previously. Maximizing the power of his muscles as he initiated his attack. As Bruce initiated his attack however, he quietly said one word

(Bruce) "Iaido..."

As Rena initiates her attack, she watches as the ground under Bruce's feet shatters and breaks as he suddenly disappears, just for him to appear again right in front of her. And with what seems like an instant, Bruce's sword is drawn from its sheath at a terrifying speed as it's propelled by condensed mana. The blade is then further accelerated by the quality of Bruce's technique, as he rotates his hips, moves his arm, and guides his hand in just the right ways to maximize his speed and power. And as his skill enhanced blade covered in massive amounts of mana collides with Rena's attack. A loud metallic sound can be heard as Bruce's attack instantaneously cuts through Rena's special move

After the collision of both Bruce and Rena's attacks finish. Bruce's high speed causes him to dig his feet into the ground to slow himself down, and after tearing up the ground a bit. Bruce lands right where Rena started her attack. And after intercepting Bruce's powerful attack, Rena only lands a quarter of the distance to the broken spot where Bruce started his attack. Both Bruce and Rena stand still for a couple of seconds while breathing heavily. Bruce then drops down on one knee while supporting himself with his weapon before saying...

(Bruce) "I win..."

A *Chink* sound is then heard as the blade of Rena's sword falls from the sky and sticks into the ground. Rena then looks at her broken sword with shocked eyes before she falls unconscious and hits the ground...

- - - - -

Discord Link :D

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