Chapter 50 – Made of Metal
Nanda tapped his Ghada (mace) on the floor. The sound of each tap made Uruvi shudder. The number 18 hovered over his head.
‘Only 1 level. But then why am I feeling so nervous?’ But here was where experience proved to be a boon. ‘I see…’ She shut her eyes and let her heart calm down.
Nanda let out a scoff before he leapt over the edge with the mace over his head.
Uruvi felt his intimidating presence leaping out of the darkness. Her legs shifted and dragged her out of the impact zone. He landed with a deft thud, his mace leaving a deep impact in the mud. Picking up the heavy mace with ease, he chased after her. His swings weren’t wild; they were precise, trying to trap her. However, Uruvi’s small stature allowed her to squeeze out of the tight spaces.
She leapt across the courtyard, putting some distance between them, before she spun around on her knee to face him. He came down onto her with another heavy strike, but she tried to parry it with a punch from her gauntlet.
Sharp pain erupted from her right forearm, forcing her to back away. She squeezed her arm, biting through the pain. “Please don’t be broken! Please don’t be broken!”
Nanda scoffed and said, “idiot.”
She tried to move her hand and her arm. It moved without bending. ‘Oh, thank god!’ Turning back, she saw the mace right up against her face. Her instincts kicked in, and her body moved on its own, ducking underneath the swing just in time. She tightened her fist, which turned golden, as she slammed it into the side of the abdomen.
The punch was powerful enough to throw him off balance, letting her follow up her attack with a flurry of punches.
He gritted his teeth and tanked the hits before uttering, “thunderclap!”
Uruvi saw the air before her expand rapidly. She tried to jump back but was instead thrown into the air, crashing into a row of shrubs.
She let out an audible grunt as she climbed out of the shrubs. ‘So, that is how it feels.’
“Warning! Health below 50 percent,” said Arya.
‘Already?’ Pain flooded her body from head to toe. But she felt just as alive as before. Stretching her shoulder, she turned her attention towards Nanda, who was leaning over his mace, trying to catch his breath.
He stood up, straightening his back, ready for round two. She exhaled, and right on cue, both cried out, “rejuvenate!”
They lunged at each other before exchanging a series of hits. She ducked and dodged his heavy mace, trying to land a hit whenever the opportunity presented itself. She smashed her gauntlet into his right side once again, earning her a loud grunt. He replied by delivering a swift kick, throwing her back onto the ground.
“Thundering stampede,” he said.
The earth beneath her began to shake violently. ‘Earthquake?’ She looked around and saw that nothing else was moving. She got back on her feet but struggled to maintain her balance. ‘What is going on?’ She felt fatigue kick in, and her muscles began to ache. Dizziness set in, and she began to sway from side to side. She eyed her health bar and saw that it was beginning to dip. ‘Not good!’ At the corner of her eyes, she noticed his mace come into view.
“Barricade!” She said, casting a shield just in time. The mace smashed into the shield and was thrown back. But the force was strong enough to knock her off balance and onto the ground.
The world stopped shaking, and a flood of relief washed over her. Her stomach churned violently, making her nauseous.
“Warning! Health below 50 percent!” Said Arya.
She saw her opponent leap into the air, ready to finish her off. Rage flooded her body, and for a moment, she forgot all the pain and sickening feeling. “Thunderclap!”
His eyes grew wide, knowing well that there was no way of interrupting it. The shockwave threw him off her, but he managed to land on his feet and prepared for the next strike.
Uruvi used the opening to get back on her feet. Red aura enveloped her as she lunged forward. She proceeded to send a flurry of punches towards her opponent, who was suddenly caught off guard by her speed.
“Barricade!” he said out loud.
‘Now is my chance!’ Energy flowed through her body, like streams of water, collecting at the back of her right hand. The gauntlets caught on fire as she punched the shield with all her strength. The green around her began to turn black, burnt to a crisp from the raging fire. She saw his eyes widen, his face frozen with fear.
She slammed it into the shield, shattering it. The recoil pushed her back, but she was ready. She planted her feet into the ground and whipped back in. A golden glow surrounded her fist as she slammed it into his chest, resulting in a powerful explosion.
Nanda flew into the air and out of the courtyard, landing on the cement floor of the main hall with a dull thud. His mace landed a few feet apart, tumbling across the hall before crashing into a metal wardrobe.
“Whoa…,” said Ashish, who sat on the side and watched the battle go down.
Uruvi leapt into the darkness of the main hall as the fire of her gauntlet slowly extinguished.
Nanda rolled onto his back, squealing from pain. “Fuck…”
“New Level attained. 10 Attribute points, 2 skill points, 2 spell points gained,” said Arya.
She glanced at her screen and saw that her level had jumped to 19. ’19! Nice!’ There was a wide smile on her face.
Nanda let out a grunt and said, “before you kill me. Just tell me who sent you.”
“No one… and I am not going to kill you,” she said.
He looked dumbfounded. “Then what was all this for? Why did you kill all my men?”
“Oh, they are fine. I just needed the experience, so I knocked them out.”
He still looked confused as he pushed himself up. “For what?” He asked, there was a tinge of annoyance in his voice.
“Hmm… reasons.” She wasn’t sure if it was worth telling what her plans were.
His annoyance appeared to have faded, replaced by a sense of tiredness and defeat. “Whatever. We are fucked anyway. Rajan and his gang will slaughter us.”
Her heart sank. She couldn’t believe she was feeling sympathy for this murderer. “Maybe he will go after the other gang?”
He sat up and wiped the blood off his face. “They have made a deal. I don’t know why or how… Arshid and his gang were no small timers. But still. They were brutally massacred.”
“It is because of that one guy, Behram,” said Ashish.
“What about him?” asked Nanda.
Uruvi understood what he meant. She crossed her arms and said, “buddy must have got a nice boost in power.”
Nanda made no reply. He simply bowed his head and let out a sigh.
“Why don’t you and your… people just get out of here?” Asked Uruvi.
“No one leaves the old city alive,” he replied.
“Don’t worry. I will keep them busy. Not because I care about you, but I need the experience,” she said.
Ashish shot a surprised look at her. She replied by shrugging her shoulders.
Hope seemed to have returned as his face lit up. “If that is the case, then…”
Uruvi interrupted him, “before you go. There are a few things I want from you.”
“What?”
“First… Who is your boss?” She asked.
“His name is Madhu,” he said.
She was taken aback by his straightforwardness. “Oh wow. You just gave his name away?”
“Everyone in the crime circle knows him. They just don’t know he is the boss.”
‘Well, that was anticlimactic…’ She shook her head and continued, “how the hell did he convince you people, to kill each other for salvation?”
“Look around the city. Does any of it look normal to you?”
‘Same reason.’ She let out a sigh. “Sure… Now then, onto the other thing. You happen to have a locker full of jewelry? Do you?”
Uruvi and Ashish were allowed to walk into the room that was closely guarded by Nanda’s sister. She exchanged looks with his sister, who still wore those terrified eyes as she left the room. The locker sat in a metal wardrobe, and its pin was 9457.
Ashish entered the pin, and the door unlocked with a click. He opened it and reached in. “Whoa! There is a lot of stuff here.”
“How do we know which gem to look for?” she asked.
“He did say it was bluish green…”
“Oh. Yeah. Sea god… makes sense.”
He rummaged through the items until a blue gem caught his eye. “I think… I got it.” He pulled out the pendant, which housed a bluish green gemstone.
She took a closer look at it and saw the colors swirl about inside the stone. “Whoa! Is that just an illusion, or am I seeing a sea inside it?” She reached out to it and touched it.
The world around her suddenly went dark. The air began to feel dense, almost like a liquid. She tried to feel the ground beneath her, but couldn’t. ‘Wait… what?” Light began to pour in, and she found herself floating in an endless body of water. ‘How…? Where am I?”
A figure, shrouded in darkness, appeared before her. It began to take the shape of a human. She saw its arms form before her; however, there were two more than there should have been. Panic kicked and she began to flail mindlessly.
“It is alright. I won’t eat you,” he said in a sweet, honey-like voice. He shone his bright white teeth and continued, “my name is Varuna. But you might know me as the god of the seas.”