Jake was woken up by a finger being shoved into his mouth. The discomfort of the taste of a finger and his throat being violated said finger shove jolting him awake.
"What? What?!" Jake shouted as he worryingly sat up from the finger nearly chocking him. Rubbing his eyes, he watched as his niece wake him up from his slumber. She huffed, cheeks puffing up. The sight was cute for the young uncle. It almost made him want to pinch them but chose to ask a pressing question.
"Augh... What time is it?" He asked, curious at the time. Checking the hud, it was currently 18:45 or 6:45 Pm.
"Oh shit. You must be hungry." Jake asked as his niece shook his head.
'Damn, i overslept. She must be hungry. Im such an idiot... Why did you leave your daughter with me knowing i'm barely near my second year?' He thought to himself as he checked his PM box and saw his brother was offline despite his body not being found. His disappearance was weird at best, at worse its a conspiracy. The thought of Michael leaving behind his daughter after his wife mysteriously dying was out of character for him. Something was not right and he was left with his niece.
"No, uncle. The Faerie already fed me." Oh right, he forgot he had a 2* water sprite that he sarcastically calls faerie just because it doesn't like having something named sprite around. He'd once gave the water sprite a can of sprite and the little shit had thought it was a joke and got mad. So he named it faerie just to mess with it since it prided itself with being a water sprite rather than the 'overrated' faeries. Apparently, pets have species pride. And this particular pet was racist against faeries.
Jake glanced around only to see the water sprite trying blowing a raspberry at him. The teen turned man had gotten this pet 4 months after the start of the games, during after his first deployment in the reserves due to the draft the U.S government had officiated. Federal Defense act of 2026 had every eligible man, woman, and child enlisted under emergency forces and reserves. The government had forced schools to have mandatory ROTC, and pushed children to level up in order to refill the manpower of the armed forces. Almost everyone under 50 was put into the act as the games quickly had many bodies piled up. It didn't help that everything was random so everyone had to be trained and forced to level up in order to age and gain the necessary abilities to fight back incase they get to participate in a game. They needed to as they gained territory, they needed the bodies to protect it. All for the interest of the nation. It didn't help that the newly gained lands had given the country many untouched resources, and land to expand. Swaths of territory that according to estimates had resources such as gold, gems, precious metals, and arid lands to plant in. In one territory alone it was estimated to have 2 trillion dollars worth of untouched gold according to a land survey.
*Splat*
The sprite threw a water ball at him as he seemed to have spaced out.
'That rat with wings...'
"You little...." He stopped when the sprite made a temper, temper gesture which pissed him off. He takes a deep breath, and sighs as he knew that his niece was here. His niece pulls on his sleeve, looking down at the child, he could see her worried glance at him.
"Uncle, you need to eat. You look like you'd collapse the moment... uh. What was the phrase?" Cassie asked to which Faerie made a bunch of words from water and made them form on the air to where Cassie could read from.
"Wind hits you?" The child nodded cutely which made the sprite coo. He made a defeated sigh and just relented as stomach growled in hunger.
'Feed me, father.....' The thought that crossed his mind made him choke on his saliva as he imagined a face on his stomach saying that. People with grudges who died returns as cursed spirits in this weird new world, that isn't even as outlandish as he'd seen in the dungeons. He'd see a worm with a baby's face mimicking the voice of a lost child. He shakes the thought out of his head as it made him slightly sick of remembering that cursed worm.
"Okay, Okay. I'll buy some dinner for myself. It's too tiring to cook for myself anyways." He muttered as his niece looked at him approvingly as he took care of himself. Checking the hud, and going into the shop, he'd selected food.
Little Ceasar's Pepperoni Pizza
Rarity: Common
Cost: $7.20
Effects: Restore's stamina (Small), Morale Boost (Small), Calories (2250), HP regen (small)
Wait time: 25 minutes or less
KFC Spicy Bucket of 10
Rarity: Common
Cost: $11.45
Effects; Restore Stamina (Small), Morale boost (Small), HP regen (Small), Speed boost (Small), Calories (1600)
Jake scrolled through the library of fast food in the shop for 10 minutes until he finally decided on some chinese take out. The food arrived not even 15 minutes later with a notification to his inventory.
With a shimmer, Jake brought out the the food. The smell of food permeates through the air. The tangy smell of vinegar, and pineapple. The honey like glaze on the chicken. It made him salivate for a taste, drool was pooling in the floor but he didn't notice thanks to his hunger.
Like an starved rabid animal, his stomach growled loudly that it scared the shit out of his niece.
Without a thought, he struck like a predator in the midst of darkness whilst the prey was asleep. He tore through the food like a barbarian. The sight made his pet sigh, and pinch the bridge of its watery nose. Water formed in the air and formed into words.
"His gluttony both sickens and fascinates me."
He ignored the comment and ate like an animal starved by its owners.
Later that night, he sat above the root alone whilst faerie looked after his niece. Jake looks upon the moonlit skies with fondness as memories of his trips with his father, and brother flashed to his mind. The days of fishing, hunting, and exploring in the weekends. It were simpler times. Without the games. Without worrying that the world will end the next day, without worrying that it might be your last meal, and without the fear of losing someone dear in a blink and you'll miss it moment.
He clinched his fists as he remembered how his brother one day dragged him, and his father deep into the appalachian mountain range because he kept hearing voices that called for him. A sweet tempting voice whispering promises known only to his brother. He remembered how they nearly all died when the ground beneath them collapsed and opened up into a dungeon. He and his father had no choice but to follow his brother. It nearly killed them but thanks to some quick thinking, and a liberal amount of money wasting aka buying a whole armory's worth of ammo and grenades, they managed to survive enough to get into the dungeon treasury and exit. The only problem was they had to fight a fucking boss fight. Said boss fight consisted of a level 20 guardian with absurdly high defense, vitality, and endurance.
The fight went badly at first. Bullets didn't work as its weapon, a shield was nearly indestructible blocked their attack. They had to get creative and used grenades which costed them around $60o for M67 grenades which were $60 a pop. Problem was, it barely worked. The armor was barely dented, and the hp went down by like 5% even with that much explosives. They fought desperately, dodging and counter attacking but that was suicidal not even thirty seconds in as the knight was stronger and did more damage than them. Another solution was to buy an anti tank weapon mid fight. Their father had given them a small smile before deciding to waste $6k on buying an AT4 from the shop out of pocket. Michael had to distract the translucent green knight whilst their father bought and armed the weapon.
Using a shield he had picked up from the mobs from the dungeon, he went band for band against the translucent knight without a face. He faced the fade without fear, because if he did, all of them would die. He would be damned if he let someone close to him die such needless deaths. He clashed with the knight without fear. Mimicking its actions whilst his body was straining to stay alive. Each clang echoed through their ears. The fight only happened in moments. Fast but thanks to his class, he could perceive it whilst their father could not. Noticing something was wrong, the knight focused on their father. Michael, noticing that could not let their father get killed so he pushed his body to the limit despite his arm being broken from the blunt force trauma. He blocked, and pushed back despite his body screaming to stop. His arms bled, and foot limped. Yet despite the injuries, he fought on. Mixing jumping, and running. It looked funny but one would not laugh at their savior if they were trying to save them.
Loud clangs were heard each time he blocked and pushed back. Adrenaline rushing into him as he blocked and pushed through the pain. To the normal human eye, it made them look like blurs. After a minute of waiting for the transactions to go through, their father finally got the weapon. Their father tossed one of the AT4's at Jake whilst he himself armed himself with the other. Their father shouted for Michael to clear the way, and he jumped. Their father, with a fast trigger finger, fired quickly when Michael quickly moved away, surprising the ethereal knight and making him stumble. With a tired grin, he fired and blew up the ethereal knight.
After the defeat of the ethereal knight, a large bulky great shield appeared on his right arm. The great shield looked something similar to both a kite shield, and a coffin shield. It was fully made from an unknown metal. On its corners were words. Looking closely, these words were prayers. Prayers for a brighter tomorrow, to see the light of the next day, and the hope of someone saving them, asking for a savior.
Some were clearly prayers from children, some were from soldiers near the brink of despair in the frontlines, some were just normal people who were down on their luck, but most were people nearing the brink of death. Every second new words replaced the old. Replaced by newer prayers.
He chuckles as he remembers the time after that where Michael tried to take off the shield but couldn't, thanks to the title he had gotten from the dungeon which was later made into a separate type of dungeon called Trial dungeons where one could earn title, and abilities from them if they defeat the trial bosses and has the needed parameters to be bestowed upon by the world with a title, he wasn't able to take it off unless the crisis is over. Unfortunately, thanks to it, he became famous, and was forced by the government to work with them. The people, upon hearing he became one of the guardian heroes voted for him to be an asset as he himself had gotten stronger thanks to the title. It proved to be the 'right' move according to the public, and the government as he saved many from dying in the games. He became worshipped as a hero yet they treated him like he wasn't a human. Like he was the comic book heroes many read. He often saw him being tired, and when he was with his wife, and their family, he looked like he'd collapse in seconds. Yet the world praised him as a hero, and a weapon that couldn't tire against the threat of the games. Yes he had more stamina and durability than most humans, he was still human. He could get tired.
He clenched his fists as he remembered how his brother smiled and told him.
"There is nothing wrong with being treated as nothing more than a weapon to protect. To let someone die alone, and in despair with the ability to help them makes you a scumbag at best, and a heartless scumbag lower than the earth everyone's shit is buried on at worst. And to me, i'd rather save the dying rather than letting them die in despair. The smile on the hopeless when they felt a small sliver of hope is worth it. My ideals might be flawed but there is nothing wrong with saving those in need even at the cost of my own life. That's why the world chose me didn't it?"
"It might be a distorted way to view myself, but that is who i am. In the past, i never liked seeing others suffer, i help those who wanted it, those who needed it. I joined and got a job as a relief officer in the UN in order to help those in need. I snuck resources into yemen in order to help struggling refugee's. I diverted funds from the UN that they were planning to give to politicians and rich families to area's in southern africa for them to 'distribute' the 'funds' and put them to actual projects with proper reputable contractors to build schools, hospital's, and provide relief on area's where many suffered. I once put the wrath of many of the higher ups in the area because i didn't follow orders and blackmailed them into submission. I do not care if i get hurt. As long as people can smile, and hope for a future, i'll help. Even if i have to damn myself to do so. Their smiles are worth it. Just because your technically in the right doesn't mean my ideals are wrong. I will help, and i will not damn others to die an early death." His brother just walks away after that and the two of them refuse to talk about it as a form of respect for Michael's wishes.
He sighs as he checks his hud for any new messages from his brother only to find none. He checks Michael's profile
Name: Michael Renunculus
Class: Heroic knight of the shield
Title: Guardian hero of the shield
Age: 26
Status: M.I.A
Level: 87
Last seen: January 7th 2027
He tried messaging his brother but he seemed to either ignore it, blocked everyone, or dead. He couldn't accept he was dead. Especially when there was no body and no system announcement of a hero being dead. It was too suspicious considering how earlier in december he ignored the order's of CENTCOM to secure and fight deeper into the frontlines whilst the injured were left to fend for themselves whilst they waited for reinforcements. Its either a conspiracy or an unfortunate coincidence as another factor to consider would be the sudden mysterious death of his wife on a collision with a black SUV whilst driving.
Jake looks upon the stars and takes a deep breath to calm himself. The stars were nice tonight. No clouds on sight and revealing the majestic heavenly firmament of the milky way. The sight of it still awed him just as it had since he was a child gazing in the starry nights whilst camping with his family. As he gazed, he see's a shooting star and smiles as he was reminded of simpler days.
Checking the inbox, on the PM box the party group chat had 12+ messages.
When he opened the GC for the party and he saw the mesages.
Guardian: Yo. @everyone
Mage: What?
Guardian: I've got a few tickets for pet battles in phoenix. 4 hour ride.
Marksman: Fr?
Maiden: Really? its hard to find tickets. Its usually sold out by now.
Guardian: Sent a photo
Swordsman: Woah. Thats... like $1.4k worth of tickets.
Maiden: @Rogue
Mage: Yo, jake, pick up.
Missed group call 2 hours ago
Swordsman: Bro was probably passed out.
Guardian: Meh, lets just call him later or better yet, raid him in the morning
Marksman: Lets act like its an IRS raid, bro hadn't paid taxes
Maiden: You know he's 17 right?
Marksman: Fr?
Swordsman:
Marksman: Fuck you!
Swordsman: Nah, id rather fuck your sister, she's a baddie tho
Marksman: Don't you dare!
Guardian has put a laughing emoji reaction.
Guardian: She hot tho, i'd hit that booty
Marksman: Ya'll need jesus.
Guardian: Well he isn't my benefactor
Guardian: Plus i haven't had any gods wanting me as their stipend baby
Guardian: Although i'd rather not be indebt to the christian faction since those guys cockblock you and force you to not to jizz unless your married
Marksman: Wtf man
Mage; Let him cook
Swordsman: Deacon is right
Maiden: w-well i think its better to have your first time when your married. It makes it special
Guardian: Says the pdf, you are trying to court a 17 year old even though your 21. Its creepy.
Maiden: H-hey! i-I just like him.
Guardian: Yeah right, i remember you looking at him whilst he was changing torn clothes
Marksman: STFU man
Guardian: what? Did i say something wrong?
Marksman: Just let her be
Mage: Yeah, let her. Plus he'll be 18 in the following months.
Guardian: Fr? You letting her hit?
Mage: Let her be. Emily hasn't had any good experience with the other sex. She's often being bullied before we ditched college for adventuring/contracting. Let her be Deacon, its just a crush. She hadn't had a male treat her like that before.
Guardian: Ugh fine.
Guardian: But your not going to drag me if ya'll get reported. I willingly condemn ya'll
Mage: Alr
Maiden: A-anyway, i've got news, i got lucky!
Swordsman: Oh?
Marksman: did you win the lottery?
Guardian:
Maiden has sent a photo.
Guardian; Awww... Wait...
Guardian: Your wasting money for a pet?!
Maiden: The limited time banner was cute!
Guardian: Really? You wasted money on a gacha that might net you something ugly with a low chance to get the pet you want for the first ten pulls?
Maiden: well...
Guardian: How many pulls did you do?
Guardian: How many?
Maiden: One...
Guardian; Damn, you lucky AF
Guardian: Got a 3*, damn i wish i had your luck. I wailed a ten pull in a LTB once and got shitty 1 and 2*s
Swordsman: Womp womp
Guardian: Don't you womp womp me
Marksman: Womp womp
Guardian went offline
Mage:
Marksman: Damn, that's old... It made me feel like going into the pre brainrot internet
Mage:
Swordsman: Holy shit that's old....
The party continued to chat and bicker. Posting meme reactions, and having fun convos of would you rather, and other response games as he read the following messages in the group chat.
Rogue has entered chat.
Rogue: Yo, sorry fell asleep and slept like a log so what's this about pet battles?
Mage: Oh that? He got us tickets to the pet battles in phoenix. Bring your niece, she's so cute and i can't wait to coddle her
Rogue; Okay where should we meet?
Then the party conversed on where to go and what time they should meet.
The smell of softdrinks, beer, junkfood, and the cheers of fans echoed through the stadium.
"Come on! We'll get our seats taken!" Cassie said as she dragged her uncle amidst the sea of people, drawing mirthful chuckles from his party.
"Hot damn, the place is stacked." The party guardian/tank, Deacon whistled. Around the party, people had their phones out, people made bets, people with placards, and half drunk people were milling around. Some already passed out or was enjoying the vibes of the arena.
"Yeah, but its not surprising considering who the challengers for this week is." Said Hellen, the party mage. She eyed the people holding pets, food, vices, and people passed out on the ground. Emily on the other hand was clutching her newly gotten pet. A small fox. A one tailed ice kitsune, a 3* gacha pet. The party watched as people were going into the seats, and on the jumbotron above had highlights of the fights from last week's match.
"You think i'm losing?!"
"Bitch, we losin'." Then on the jumbotron showed a video of a 3* whatever the fuck that leech thing is, fighting a 5* Thunderbird. The man was wearing a black outdoor's jacket with a tan cargopant with lots of pockets. He popped a devious grin.
"Red string: Totality." The shouting was loud when that appeared on the jumbotron replay. The thing which looked like some sort of fucked up eel and worm hybrid with eel arms, freaky red eyes all over its body, and sharp teeth that could easily shred someone's arm off snarled. Then on the jumbotron, a bunch of red strings surrounding both pets. The bird squacked, and roared with lightning falling down from the skies.
"Thunderstrike! Hold back! Paralyze it! Don't kill it!" The opponent said, he was a ordinary looking man who was wearing a business suit which made him slightly look like a triad gangster. The opps laughed and brought out a guitar and started playing some music and put some mana into it and aimed the buff spell at the enemy.
"Fuck! Stop! Use paralysis!" Gangster shouted as the thunderbird redirected the lightning, grounding the lightning and creating a field of static that electrified the ground sending jolts of lightning onto whatever tf that thing on the TV was.
"Shit." He mutters as he notices that the electricity on the ground was affecting the ugly worm thing. It still taking environmental damage.
"Dispel the static!" He shouted and the bird complied releasing the static electricity covering the battlefield. The destroyed battlefield lay cratered from the attacks, the battle scorched the earth beneath the two fighters. The whatever the fuck worm was grinning its fucked up face, sharp teeth glinting in the light of the battlefield lights. The thunderbird's eyes narrowed at the creature as the two had an intense stare down. Their partners were doing the same. The one wearing the outdoor jacket had his mouth curled into a cocky grin whilst his opponent on the other hand had a stoic facade but internally he was assessing the situation.
He sighs. "Attack. Don't use any elemental moves. Physical only." The man calmly said.
"Oh? You really thick you'd win? Nah, we are losing this match." His opponent said cockily.
"Its your loss then." The calm man said as his thunderbird charged at the disgusting worm thing. The worm just grins even harder and slashed its arms which are turning into human like hands with sharp claws as nails. The Thunder bird and the worm collided as both of their attacks land on each other. Both their HP went down with the damage being equal to what the other had been damaged with. The bleed status effect affected the both of them as their attacks landed on each other. Claws vs Talons.
The two combatants charged at each other.
*Screech*
Blood pooled on the scorched battlefield as the battle became a ragged one. Both combatants fighting with all their might
"Blood shot!" The one in the outdoor jacket said and his pet obliged. The fucked up looking worm shot some sort of acidic blood from its blood. The thunderbird dodged swiftly.
"Rockfall." In a split second the worm's Mp went down drastically as it summoned a shower of boulders.
"Lightning field!" The thunder bird's MP also went down drastically as a field of lightning covered above it causing whatever got caught in the field to be obliterated. Thankfully the enemy didn't get hit as if the attack had hit, the worm would've made it a draw. The worm smirked evilly and tried to jump only for the thunderbird's diligence to grab it and softly slammed it to the floor not activate the red strings. It snarled as it got caught and horrifying began to bleed more blood and with a horrifying screech, the blood turned into spikes. This caused the bird to let go as it got its talons and feet pierced by sharp spikes made from blood. Enraged by this the bird screeched again and began gathering a ball of lightning into it's face. Above it had a sign that it had gone berserk thanks to the innate ability of the pet called Blood curse which allowed the manipulation of its blood and the addition of curses into said blood. That cursed turned out as blood rage which if a person is inflicted with it, they lose their sanity permanently in exchange their body's limiters are lifted.
It's owner tried to order it to stop but it couldn't listen. It powered up, and used the condensed energy and shot it with a loud thunder clap.
When it hit the enemy, the pet exploded into chunky salsa and obliterated 200 meters of earth around it. When the enemy pet died, the thunderbird exploded into chunky salsa as red string totality got activated. Killing both. Jake found it funny that a spell could exist like that. Red string totality. A spell that was reminiscent to that of the myth of the red strings in japanese mythology where anyone who had each other's connected strings had their fates tied together by love. When one dies, the other is soon to follow.
When the dust settled both lost. All of their pets were either fainted or dead. As for the dead pets, they can be revived but it'll cost so much money that it wouldn't be worth it unless its one of the higher tiers. The stands exploded in cheers as the replay ended. Looking down, jake saw his niece in awe of the match.
"It's much better than the videos." She muttered in awe. It slightly unnerved him that violence was now so common place that children are left desensitized by it. Back in his youth, this would've banned but thanks to how the games changed things, violence became common place as every day they could be randomly teleported or the place they were in becomes a battlefield by the start of a match. Children had to grow up quick or they could be vulnerable. He sighs, and ruffles his niece's hair which made her giggle.
Hellen and Emily suddenly pulled the two of them into one of the reserved seats that Deacon had bought. Deacon waved and gave a dap. The dap sounded perfect as a resonant clap echoed through their friend group. Jake quickly followed up with a fist bump, and a back dap which consisted of a dap between the knuckles and wrist. The sound was pleasing to the ears as both hit perfectly.
"My man~" Both said as they sat down, and patted each other in the back.
"Deac, thanks for bringing us along." Jake said as he felt grateful for the older man as his niece enjoyed watching videos of pet battles. This was their first time seeing up close, and it was far better than watching in a tv, phone, or in a livestream in the stream icon of the HUD. The people around them talked to each other, and were betting. All of them looked excited for the next battle.
"No worries. My guy you have been with us through thick and thin. It's only fair to let you join us. Plus this is a team hang out. Just relax and enjoy the show." Jake smiled.
"Thanks." William sat next to them. The flaxen strawberry brown haired 20 year old man greet jake to which he just waves and daps his man up.
A second later their swordsman, Tristan sat down next to Hellen and started to talk to her. William and Deacon started a conversation he had no knowledge of. Himself, his niece, and Emily sat in silence waiting for the last match of the day.
After a while the match started. One one side there was a man in a black cloak who seemed to be trying to look mysterious.
"On one side we have mysterious-" For fucks sake...
'Is the dude cosplaying? Really dude? wtf?" He sighs and just turns off his brain.
"On the other side we have Tycas Lycoris. Our current city boss fight." The crowd went wild as both battlers came into the stage. Lycoris grins as his opponent took off his hood and summoned out 3 pets. The enemy pets consisted of a 3* and two 4*s who were currently level 50. His opponent were level 55 and were all 3*s.
"Today's fight is a 3v3 combat battle. All contestants must have their pets out and battle. Ready thyself." Everyone screamed as the fight is starting.
"I'm betting on the other dude. Guy has some Mc aura on him." Said Tristan as he checked the opponent's kit.
"Ya think so?"
"Uhuh." Deacon gave his two cents.
"I think lycoris would win. M is a bit under leveled and is rather new to the sport. Sure he's a rising star but Lycoris is one of the toughest recorded bosses ranking in 24th out 500."
"Plus lycoris probably has a trick on his sleeve whilst M just has a few battles in his belt. Lycoris has hundreds of battles. And considering how he is under contract with Athena, he probably has some sort of clairvoyance skill." Hellen then added.
"That tracks with her contractor's abilities. Still not as busted as the others tho. Partial omniscience with the christian faction."
"Pff. Try enlightenment with the buddha's. The one's chosen by those guys are given the ability to peer into futures, enhanced physical and spiritual attributes, and project clones empowered by sagehood. Hell the only ones that could achieve sagehood would be buddhists, druids, or one's who have been recognized by the world. Tho the only legit way without the need of divinity would be the latter cases." The party watches the fight closely as with a resonant ring, the battle started.
M's pets consisted of a Pabilsag, a babylonian monster which looks like a cross between a man and a scorpion, an Anansi which looked like a cross between a giant tarantula and wolf spider, and an Anzu which looked like a giant barred forest falcon with red feathers covering its stomach, and wings, it's tail was brown with a tinge of blue whilst its head was covered in light blue feathers.
Meanwhile lycoris had a hakwai which was a giant translucent bird that was hard to see as it's nearly invisible, only visible thanks to a light shimmer around it, a Luan which was a giant bird that carries a giant looking shield which looked like it weighed as much as 70kg in its sheer chunkiness, and a siren which looked like a mermaid except it had a snake tail reminsent of lamia's but with a much more brighter blue hue scale on its tail, beautiful silky golden hair, shimmering dark blue wings, and eyes similar to purified honey. When lycoris brought out the siren many of the men started to cat call making lycoris pinch the bridge of his nose.
"God, you are all such horny bastards...."
The battle started with a bag as the anzu used its high agility to attack the siren but it was block with a head on collision with lycoris' hakwai. The hakwai used its near invisibility to bite the ansu whilst it was concussed but the clever bird used its innate ability t create flames and control them to flare a flame and scorching hakwai.
"Fuck it, im betting $330 on Lycoris." Jake said as he pulled out the money from his inventor/bank.
"Nah, save that money bro." Tristan said and made him put back the money.
The bird counter attacked with a talon grip on the anzu's talon and threw it using its body mass. The anzu squacks as it counters with summoning a rainfall causing the invisibility to lessen as water drops gathered slightly on its feathers. The bird noticing this, decides to use it's semi invisibility to go feral and using its strength to rip the enemy's throat. With a sickening crunch the anzu fell into the ground and it's throat being in the hakwai's beak. Blood pooled on the ground as the bird twitched and wailed before dying on the ground amidst its own blood. The crowd cheered by the death. It slightly disgusted him but he knew why. Blood and war became glorified by propaganda. The government incentivizing the behavior thanks to the losses and gains incurred during the games. Jake looks at his own niece as she smiles and cheers at the brutality of it. He laments the lose of the innocence of a young child but that is just the price for survival. The other species don't care about them, those who do are in the backfoot, stretched thin by the interdimensional fighting between worlds and personal interests.
Meanwhile the Anansi was fighting the luan which dropped its shield on the spider. The shield made a loud clang and dustfield when it drop. After the dust dispersed, the spider disappeared in motes of light but the luan was dragged down by a thread of spider silk. The ground beneath the bird shimmered and showed the spider.
Then lycoris snapped his finger loudly.
Everyone was confused as to why do something to random when suddenly the bird became heavier and fell on the spider, crushing the spier with a sickening splat.
"What the hell..." Jake mutters as he saw the whole thing and was confused on what that was. Hellen answers his unasked question.
"Lycoris learned gravity magic. Hahaha." Hellen chuckles.
"Oh man, that is one overpowered ability. But not surprising considering Athena's contract with him. She probably saw his potential and the potential future the man had. Not surprising since she is the goddess of wisdom and foresight." She mutters.
"Isn't this that cheating?" He asks, not so familiar with the rules of the leagues.
"Nope. It's not a direct attack, its a buff. It's considered as support as it buff's the weight and not directly attacking."
"Damn, that's gotta be patched."
"Nah, to quote someone, 'Get gud, GG'." William laughs at Hellen's remark. Jake sighs as he decides to continue watching.
All three pets turn their heads on pabilsag with but the scorpion quickly buried itself and killed the siren before it could sing. It did it again and tried to stale mate lycoris since M couldn't win. It was 12 minutes of this before M decides to pull something.
"tShg" M said uninteligibly making everyone confused but it seems his pet understood it and had its Mp go down drastically to pop out in the ground and moved so fast that it was a blur in their sights. The pabilsag managed to slit the luan's throat but a whistle made said premature victory useless. With an invisible talon swipe, the head of the pabilsag popped like a over ripe grape.
"Lycoris wins!" The crowd goes wild as the announcer shout's lycoris' victory. The man smirks on his side of the battlefield, enjoying the praise and the attention.
He presses Y. The pets get revived after he pays $80k yet all of their levels reset back to lv. 1.
His opponent looks at his battered team, and slumps in defeat almost crying but keeps it together.
"I... I lost..." He sighs.
"Well atleast i still have my backup's...." He walks back to the arena and waves nonchalantly as he walks. Mind contemplating on the setback.
Jake watches the interaction and sighs. Looking down at his niece, he saw her smiling and content with the show as if it wasn't a bloodbath. Normally it wouldn't be like this but killing pets were only seen as inconvenient, so many just knock the pets out. But sometimes it couldn't be avoided as there are strong pets and they rarely if ever hold back. For one strong pet to hold back was a sign that someone did right in raising one. He shakes his head, and looks down at his niece who was asking for fast food. The party seemed to be hungry as well judging from the grumbling sound of Deacon's stomach, and william's hungry salivating. The party then leaves and goes to a chinese restaurant for good food.