The Grand Catastrophe

Chapter 18: Match

Erya Uzruth, the man the myth the legend, was lost. He had one of his slaves walk them along the path that best suited them, wherever that was. The clipped elf plodded along at a comfortable pace. Erya, meanwhile, simply looked around the place. His slave was boosted by several magics, and her own senses.

She should have been fine. She should have directed them to the correct location. Yet, they were lost. He would kick her if he didn’t need to be focused on other things. Such as, the fact that the walls sometimes changed. The floor as well, it used to be different. It unnerved him too much.

The walls right now were a deep brown, with moss covering some of the bricks that made up the wall. The floor itself hadn’t changed yet in a bit. It was a simple grey. Erya sighted as he plodded behind the other two slaves. His mind may have just been playing tricks on him, after all.

Then again, this was a rather old tomb. It didn’t look like any ruin in the theocracy, the kingdom, or the empire after all. That was rather exciting, after all. The elves that had had bought didn’t seem to think so.

They kept saying that it smelled of death and ash. He ignored them in this, as they were but uneducated elves. He had actually been trained by an ex black scripture member. He knew things.

As he was thinking, he bumped into the elf in front of him. He looked down at her, physically and metaphorically, and scowled. She shivered under his gaze, and looked back down at her feet.

He snarled even more so at her weakness, and toppled her over. Then, he kicked her in chest. She flinched and kicked her some more. His anger, after some finale kicks, petered out, and he was fine. The slave on the floor wasn’t. That was fine. He could buy another one.

He looked at her as she slumped on the floor, trying and failing to get up. He then turned to one of his other two slaves, and growled out at them. They flinched back at his voice.

“What are you doing? Why have we stopped?!” he yelled at them.

One of the slaves, he didn’t know her name, maybe it was, “Number Two,” spoke up. She looked down at the floor, and pointed to down the hallway. She spoke as he pushed himself deeper into the tomb, and brushed her out of the way.

“There are sounds of battle coming from that way,” she mumbled out.

He tensed as he heard it. The Clashing of steel on steel. He put a hand to his blade, and frowned as he turned to the corner. He crouched and approached the area, his slaves right behind him. They seemed just as scared as they were before though, which gave him a raised brow. They should have been more scared by the unknown.

There he spotted them. It was a woman with short and orange hair, sparring against a rather large and wise looking beast. The beast itself reminded him of a chimera. Yet, it was different. Instead, it had a snake’s head as a tail. Its body was that of a rotund rodent.

The woman herself reminded him of some different families from the theocracy. He may have been banished from his home, yet he still had the knowledge of it. She moved like a coiled spring. She darted back and forth, side to side. It was a stellar display of skill.

He was certain though, if she ever fought him, that he would win. The rodent as well. She, and she felt like a she, was weaker than the athletic woman. Surely that meant that he could take the both of them down. He stood, and started to walk towards the pair.

Yet, it was just then that he noticed that there were other beings in this place. A group of filthy demi-humans stood on the side lines, simply silent as they watched. He ignored them, none of them could kill him, he was certain of that. After all, he could use martial arts, demi-humans couldn’t, right?

She shook his head, and walked forward some more. Then, he spoke aloud. His voice reaching all in the room. He smiled as he did so. He had taken this job so that he could earn some coin, but if killing monsters was on the table, he wouldn’t pass on that.

“I am Erya Uzruth, leader of the worker party Tenmu. I have come to this tomb to plunder its depths, and slay any beasts that lay within. Who are you?” he asked, and he unsheathed his blade.

The woman smiled at this, and took a rather casual stance then. Her eyes roved over him, like how one would look at a piece of meat. He smiled then, if this woman thought that she could slay him easy. Then she was a fool.

Yet, it was the animal that spoke. It’s voice that of a wise and powerful foe. He looked at it, and raised a brow at its insolence. He was talking to the woman, obviously.

“I have been gifted the name, Hamsuke! This woman here is my teacher, Valencia,” the beast introduced then continued, “I have been training here, as a warrior!” Hamsuke chanted out, she then got off from all four legs, and stood on her two back legs.

“If you have come here to do battle, then let us do battle!” Hamsuke chanted out.

“I did not come here to talk, beast. Now, be slain by my hand!” he called out as Valencia backed off to where the demi-humans.

He clashed then with the animal. His blade was swung upward, and the beast dodged backward. He scowled as the beast then struck at him with her tail. He blocked the blow, and parried the next strike that it tried to land on him.

He darted back as another blow rained on him with a martial art. He scowled some more. He looked behind himself. There, all three of the elves shivered as he looked at them.

“Boost me with magic!” he demanded of them, and they complied.

He felt the magic flow through himself, and smiled, then he cast a martial art on himself. He cackled and rushed forth with an overhead strike, and landed a blow on the animal. The animal actually blocked this blow, and deflected. He then started to push his new advantage.

Strike after strike he rained down on the beast. It kept pulling back. Yet it still dodged. He frowned in his mind as he saw this. Then, after a beat or two after the two of them separated from each other, Hamsuke spoke to herself.

“I was taught to study my opponent from afar, and come up with a counter to them. Yet, I am also a warrior, and warriors must be brave. Come at me then! Let us see what happens when my training gloves are off!” Hamsuke said.

Then she rushed forward, and the battle picked up once more. Yet, even after he sent a slash out, he only heard one phrase. It rang in his ears, and he shivered just like his slaves.

“Martial art: Flashing Claw Strike!” Hamsuke said, and he knew no more.

…