I failed! I failed! I was so close… I was about to pass out from the blood loss. My eyes were getting heavy. Once they shut, that would be my end.
“I got you! I got you!” Commodus bragged. “Didn’t I tell you that you’re nothing but a bug?” His loud, boastful voice was ringing my ears, which kept me from losing consciousness.
I took a glance at him. My fist was still hovering near his face. That gave me one last idea as I quickly grabbed his hand that was holding the spear, grasping tightly so that he wouldn’t escape.
“I got you,” I said with a weak voice, concentrating all my super-strength toward my fist.
“What do you mean…?” Commodus was no longer bemused when my fist near him shook. He then realized my intent once my thumb released the full force from my bent index finger. “No, no, NO…!”
Bam!
A flick on his forehead and Commodus was sent zooming down the ground, along with his spear. My scream thundered throughout the sky in excruci
It was afternoon. Marseille and I were strolling around Hammerhorn, with the newly blue sky that covered the entirety of the hill. This place was littered with emptied tents. Much of the supplies and valuables that the Blood Eagles left behind were now spoils of war. It was nice that the bathhouse and bridge remained intact. While everyone was tidying up their new home, Marseille told me what happened during the battle. It turned out that she and Deborah arrived to save Mrs. Smith’s group when a Blood Eagle company finally caught them crossing the river. As veteran elites, they managed to turn the tide of battle in our favor. Once the news of Commodus’s demise had been spread, the few hundred surviving Eagles and raiders began to scatter in retreat. Marseille stated that the big shots and guilds would eventually hunt them down, along with Alvarez, Javier, and the Storm Brothers. They would never pose a threat to this world ever again. For two days, my friends
By the next day, while reinforcement would arrive at any moment, Katie had finished our flag’s design. The whole gang loved it when she showed it to us before presenting it to the Mayflowers. Katie and all the seamstresses in the hill-fort gathered together to knit our flag inside Wilt Hall. We were astonished that Katie could knit. We waited by the entrance for hours. Mrs. Smith, Hassan, Commander Raja, Miranda, and the two Green Bit chiefs arrived with a wooden pole and silver ball. “How’s it going?” Hassan asked. Before anyone could respond, Katie came out to present our flag. “What do you think?” The flag was divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with the blue upper triangle and the green lower triangle. At the center along the dividing line was the fiery silhouette of a foxfire. “Looks good,” Miranda said, and many agreed. “It is.” Commander Raja asked curiously. “What are the symbolisms on those colors?” “L
“Hey, hey, you awake?” A girl’s voice woke me up, though I was a bit drowsy. There was a guy with wavy blond hair staring above me. “It’s just a dream,” I whispered with my eyes shut. “Hey, buddy,” he said. “I don’t know what you are dreaming, but this is real.” I opened my eyes again. There was a bushy brown-haired girl beside him, smiling and waving at me. Blowing a small sigh of relief, for a second there, I thought that girl’s voice came from him. “Can you stand?” He offered his hand. Once my senses became clear, I was lying on a concrete floor. The thick furry lining of my hoodie coat cushioned the back of my head. After he hoisted me to my feet, I glanced around while dusting my back, only to realize that we were in a plaza, along with hundreds of people. They were all kids and teenagers, from twelve to eighteen years old. Not a single grown-up was found among them. Even the blond guy and the bushy-haired girl were perhaps the same age a
Upon seeing the Stonehenge up close, it was much bigger and in perfect rectangles than the ones in our world. It made me wonder who built this place. Each standing stone was seventy meters tall, and each short one on top was fifty meters. Many from the crowd pulled out their cell phones, taking pictures and selfies. Some were writing graffiti on the stones. Strange, there should be someone guarding landmarks like this would’ve stopped them. However, after scanning the base of each standing stone, they were all covered in graffiti as far as any arm might reach. Could it be that there were others already here before we came along? Wilt had an idea. He asked us to put the translation stones on the ground. Once we did, almost all English writings magically changed into several languages before our eyes. I recognized some of them. We were astonished for a bit before we picked up our stones. “Katie, try to think of French and see if it does read French,” Wilt said.
Once our trolleys entered the Eastern District, the surprises here never ended. Everywhere our eyes could see, the city and its citizens were a mishmash of ancient, medieval, and modern civilizations. Again, not a single grown-up was found among them. It was like a school carnival for United Nations Day. There were Romans, Medieval and Colonial Europeans, Mayans, Africans, and Asians, though there were others that I couldn’t recognize. Many of the passengers stood up to take a closer look out the windows. On the stone-paved street, we saw a Roman wearing sneakers, an armored knight riding a bike, and a girl dressed like from the Victorian Era and was talking to a cell phone. “Guys, look,” Katie gasped. “They got cell phones. A lot of them got cell phones.” From what she said, my mind told me to look up. I was amazed they had modern technologies here as well. Utility poles, streetlights, satellite dishes, and radio towers; they even had cars on the street, but there w
On the streets, I observed with caution at some people who were giving us long, curious looks. It must be that we were new in this city because of how we glanced around in awe while taking pictures like tourists. Because of the medieval and ancient buildings surrounding us, it was like we were in a European city. Many of the European newcomers felt right at home. Although there were scattered Asian and modern buildings, most of them were the tallest structures in this city, up to two hundred meters tall. “Is that a pyramid?” Katie pointed. We stared in the direction she was pointing, about twelve blocks away. We saw the largest. Almost twice as large as the one in Egypt, this one had a smooth whitewashed surface with a capstone made of gold. “That’s the Pyramid of New Beginning,” Hassan said. “It is now a bank of the Golden Griff Guild. That’s where they minted the chaffs and stored our gold.” “Gold?” we all gasped. “Everyone’s gold is in ther
I am dead. I am so dead, I screamed in my thoughts. A cold lump was building up in my throat as if I was about to choke before swallowing it, though my heart kept pounding against my chest. “The sad part is that you’ll no longer remember the god you met and all the events happening in this world,” Rad said. “And you go back to your normal lives like it was yesterday. It sucks, but it’s for the best. And also part of the rules of the Game.” Someone asked, “What happened to those braves who had reached the other side?” The Party King glanced at the crowd with a widened grin. “They made these….” He gestured toward the window once more. “The city that we live in, the walls that protect us, and the farms that feed us. The Guilds of Eight, or G-8, they called themselves, came together for peace and built this paradise for everyone. They then went back to protect the finish line so we can enjoy this paradise for all eternity.” As I glanced
After the welcome party, we headed straight to our new home that the Crimson Shadows provided. I was cautious when walking down the street ever since Li told me that someone was spying on us. We arrived at the Carthaginian apartment with a blue roof. The inscriptions on my card key said: Room Three-Twelve. Therefore, my new home would be in the twelfth room on the third floor. To my convenience, there was a laundry shop and a grocery store beside the apartment. The next day, we had an orientation back at the castle about the rules and customs of this world. It was strange that Rad personally lectured us since he was the Party God’s brave. Meaning, he would never get sobered — ever. From the orientation, we learned that the City of New Beginning was in the middle of a continent, which was also called New Beginning. It reminded me of the two New York, the famous city and the American state, back on Earth. New Beginning was divided into nine square dist
By the next day, while reinforcement would arrive at any moment, Katie had finished our flag’s design. The whole gang loved it when she showed it to us before presenting it to the Mayflowers. Katie and all the seamstresses in the hill-fort gathered together to knit our flag inside Wilt Hall. We were astonished that Katie could knit. We waited by the entrance for hours. Mrs. Smith, Hassan, Commander Raja, Miranda, and the two Green Bit chiefs arrived with a wooden pole and silver ball. “How’s it going?” Hassan asked. Before anyone could respond, Katie came out to present our flag. “What do you think?” The flag was divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with the blue upper triangle and the green lower triangle. At the center along the dividing line was the fiery silhouette of a foxfire. “Looks good,” Miranda said, and many agreed. “It is.” Commander Raja asked curiously. “What are the symbolisms on those colors?” “L
It was afternoon. Marseille and I were strolling around Hammerhorn, with the newly blue sky that covered the entirety of the hill. This place was littered with emptied tents. Much of the supplies and valuables that the Blood Eagles left behind were now spoils of war. It was nice that the bathhouse and bridge remained intact. While everyone was tidying up their new home, Marseille told me what happened during the battle. It turned out that she and Deborah arrived to save Mrs. Smith’s group when a Blood Eagle company finally caught them crossing the river. As veteran elites, they managed to turn the tide of battle in our favor. Once the news of Commodus’s demise had been spread, the few hundred surviving Eagles and raiders began to scatter in retreat. Marseille stated that the big shots and guilds would eventually hunt them down, along with Alvarez, Javier, and the Storm Brothers. They would never pose a threat to this world ever again. For two days, my friends
I failed! I failed! I was so close… I was about to pass out from the blood loss. My eyes were getting heavy. Once they shut, that would be my end. “I got you! I got you!” Commodus bragged. “Didn’t I tell you that you’re nothing but a bug?” His loud, boastful voice was ringing my ears, which kept me from losing consciousness. I took a glance at him. My fist was still hovering near his face. That gave me one last idea as I quickly grabbed his hand that was holding the spear, grasping tightly so that he wouldn’t escape. “I got you,” I said with a weak voice, concentrating all my super-strength toward my fist. “What do you mean…?” Commodus was no longer bemused when my fist near him shook. He then realized my intent once my thumb released the full force from my bent index finger. “No, no, NO…!” Bam! A flick on his forehead and Commodus was sent zooming down the ground, along with his spear. My scream thundered throughout the sky in excruci
After I regained consciousness, I was in a different location, lying on the ground with an aching back — again. Once I returned to my feet, my senses alarmed me to duck. A halberd almost cleaved my head. A knight in red armor appeared from nowhere and prepared another swing. I slammed the ground with my heel to rock his footings before sending him flying with a punch. Two more knights, four Greek hoplites, six Chinese armored warriors, and dozens of raiders appeared in front of me. I waited for them to make a move. However, my eyes bulged to find Cara and her friends were among the raiders. They were shocked to see me again. Boom! I caught a cannonball before it could strike the back of my head. Several dozen yards away, a cannon team was reloading. The Eagles were about to gang up on me. I jabbed the ground, knocking them off their feet. Then I threw the cannonball back toward the cannon, and it broke into iron scraps. More enemies got close,
The raining weapons almost got me as I leaped into a safe distance. While keeping myself out of Commodus’s reach, I threw whatever I could get my hands on at him; branches, trees, and rocks. However, he evaded them with the same grace and agility as Cutler while manipulating the weapons to fly toward me. I had to dodge them with every inch of my life until I hid behind a tree once again. “Damn it, I need to get close.” My blood began to boil. “Wait, why did I say that?” Why did I feel the urge to attack him? My brain told me not to do anything stupid. “Calm down, Sam.” I breathed in and out when my rage grew. “Calm down.” “You’re quite confident for a newcomer,” Commodus’s booming voice wasn’t far from my hiding place, though not close. “I sensed both your fear and rage were conflicting. Signs of experience. Tell me, are you a warrior back in our world?” “I’m a former social justice warrior,” I replied. “I think that counts.” “You sounded doub
For a long time, we had a staring contest. My plan was that if Aurelius even flinched once, I’d give an earth-shattering punch before making my escape. Fighting a commander was one thing, but there was no way I could go up against aGuildmaster. As minutes passed, none of us even blinked. If I could land just one blow, it’d be over for him. He would never survive against my super-strength. Still, I didn’t have the confidence to fight him head-on. Aurelius observed me with hate-filled eyes as the raging battle thundered around us. What was he waiting for? I must get back to my friends. “That was genius!” he burst out laughing, to which I flinched. “You masked your escape when Anne unleashed her moon. We expected you to hold your siege or run away. Instead, you blow up your town as a diversion so you can bring the heaven stone to Hammerhorn. A better-fortified position. “Such a shame that there’s no one left in that hill-f
The five of us remained on guard. Those who were weaponless picked up the bronze knives that were scattered all over the ground. I, on the other hand, grabbed the uprooted tree. As we got close to finishing him off, Cutler cackled again before he was coughing heavily. Eventually, cracks began to appear all over his body. “Cutman?” Brock called him out. “It’s Cutler,” he corrected before coughing again, yet he was motionless. He had no strength to spare a glance at us. “That boy’s name is Wilt, huh? Let me tell you. He went down with a brave face.” His breathing was slowing down. “Thanks for the hunt, Foxfires.” He drew one last breath with a satisfying smile. “It sure is fun….” He slowly became dust. “He….” Katie took a deep breath five times to cool herself down. Her skin was no longer burning red. “He went down like a warrior,” she said begrudgingly out of respect. It wasn’t long for Zeki and Commander Raja to arrive, looking exhausted. “Is everyone
The bugs were the first to charge while the tengu braves followed behind. In a short moment, we were being surrounded, struggling to watch each other’s backs, especially Alex. “Alex,” Katie called while kicking a monstrous wasp in mid-air. “Now’s the time to do your magic.” “I can’t… focus…” Alex struggled to come up with a magic tune while most of the enemies set their sights on her. “I need to focus.” Cutler was observing our battle, waiting for his chance to strike. “Commander Cutler.” Another tengu brave appeared. “Our forces managed to regroup after the enemies ambushed us. We struck them back in a six-pronged assault. King Aurelius is now clashing with Chief Bess as we speak. And Rockflower’s denizens are almost at the river with the heaven stone.” “Good,” Cutler said. “We’re making progress.” “Why are you doing this?” Katie demanded, and the enemies got her attention. Cutler signaled the bugs to stop attacking. “Why are you dest
Back on the ground, we were heading to our rendezvous location with the Green Bits to help them stop the Blood Eagles from reaching Mrs. Smith’s group. However, ten seconds had passed, Li had everyone halted. “Look, Storm Brothers!” He pointed at them stuck on a redwood tree, about twelve meters above us. They were back in their human forms, but they had white eyes, scorching burns, and smokes rising from their bodies. “They’re unconscious,” Commander Raja sighed with relief after watching them motionless for a while. “They must’ve been caught by the blast.” “Good, we should finish them off,” Alex stated. “You’re right.” The commander summoned his spears. “We have to make sure they will never be a threat ever again.” The rest of us reluctantly conceded. Even though the brothers were now defenseless, they were too dangerous to be left alive. “Enemies from above!” I cried when my skin crawled in alarm. Twelve tengu braves pierced through