Pleasure X Protests

The sky was like a vast expanse of endless blue seas dotted with islands in the form of rolling clouds while a bright sun illuminated everything below. These golden rays were shining good fortune upon the Reim empire today as the rainy season had just passed giving way to pleasant clear skies and mild weather that was neither too hot nor too cold. It seemed that Zafar had chosen an ideal time to make his way to Reim as the climate currently felt rather similar to that of Balbadd's albeit a bit cooler.

The red haired fighter stepped off the boat he'd hired to ferry him across the ocean and set foot upon the empire's docks for the first time. There were countless sights to see across Reim with something to appeal to the tastes of almost everyone. Grand casinos stood tall and proud welcoming an open flow of money. Marketplaces bustled with the vigorous cries of merchants peddling their wares. The Reim Palace stood high atop a hill in the center of the city and created an unforgettable skyline. But out of all the wonders the empire had to offer the only thing on Zafar's mind was the large coliseum that loomed over its surrounding buildings and could even be seen from where he was standing at the wharf.

Zafar Mushtaq was an assassin by trade but had long since broken the collar that bound him to the master who'd trained him to live in such a manner. Instead of fulfilling contracts and draining the blood of those he was paid to kill, Zafar now lived for a slightly different purpose. Fighting and taking the lives of those who stand a chance at taking his own life. There were any number of other vices the killer could have taken up and gambling was certainly an amusement for Zafar. But nothing could compate to the pleasure derived from experiencing the knifes edge of a death match. There were few places in the world which could accommodate these desires quite like Reim's coliseum.

A steady stride would carry Zafar away from the docks and into the city as he made his way towards his destination. There was no need to stop at an inn as the only belongings Zafar had on him were the cloths on his back, the rings surrounding his joints, and the wicked crimson dagger tucked into his belt. A smirk was playfully dancing across the assassin's lips as his eyes stared straight ahead down the street with nothing on his mind aside from arousing day dreams of the combatants he might get a chance to face.

The mind driven fantasies were short lived however as Zafar found himself being addressed by a stranger.

"Hey, you look like a strong fighter! You, with the wild red hair!"

A shady looking middle aged man beckoned from the shadows of a nearby alley. Zafar stopped and turned his head to observe which had apparently told the man he was interested in hearing more. "Ahh, I knew you were a sharp one, you spotted me right away even though I was hiding on the edge of your vision! Please, come follow me and I'll show you something interesting..." The unknown citizen then stepped back deeper into the alley and retreated out of sight.

In all honesty, Zafar had no interest in this man or what his game was. But such situations were too unique to look past as insignificant. The assassin reached into his pocket where a deck of cards was resting and drew one to test the "chance" behind this event. A Queen of Diamonds. Had he drawn a number card Zafar would have ignored the man's invitation but the power of a face card spoke to Zafar. It was simply not proper to spit in Lady Fortune's face when she was trying to whisper to you.

The assassin turned and changed his course to lead into the alley way where an unknown future awaited.

~665/1000 Word Count~

The sound of the wheels of the caravan wagon rolling over the dirt road, and the occasional bump on the road caused the temptress to find herself unable to catch some rest. Silently she tossed herself onto her side, looking outside the window while trying to think back about the events that had stirred this trip. It all began a few weeks ago when her master received a peculiar news report from a reliable source of him. Of course he had known the rumors behind those so called ‘dungeons’, rumors that heralded those who conquered the dungeons were destined to become the kings who governed over all. Perhaps it was superstition but one thing was clear: those who conquered the previous dungeons obtained incredible sources of power that were nearly without equal. A deep sigh escaped Leila’s lips as she closed her eyes, part of her wishing she had never accepted the request to travel to the region to observe the events. She wasn’t exactly one for long journeys but fortunately the Reim Empire was a place she could find some interest in.

While she finally decided to sit upright the girl thought back about the words her master said when he spoke about her destination. According to him the Reim Empire was a country that valued physical strength above all else. In that sense one might say that to them the physical prowess of a person was what decided their social standing, and it amused her master greatly. Certainly she could understand the value of strength but any strategist knew that the true conquerors of the battlefield were those who used not brawn but wits to defeat their enemy. Still she could put this to use, the people of Reim were likely a proud kin and just the type of victims she’d love to manipulate for her ambitions.

That was after all the true reason behind her journey to the Reim Empire, not to observe the rumors surrounding the potential rise of a new Dungeon within the lands of the Empire but the attempt to rally some of its people to join her anti-Madoushi ideals. She had some thoughts already about how to go about it, but first she would need to arrive in the capital of Reim before she could carry out her schemes.

“Almost there I guess…”

In the distance she could see it, the capital city of the Reim Empire coming into view and while she silently closed her eyes Leila found her mind drifting into nostalgia. It had been since she was a child when she had last been inside a caravan wagon. She could still remember her excited cries as she pointed at the landscapes, the gentle elderly couple who had taken her in smiling kindly down at her. In the end that beautiful memory was corrupted when the very dotting elderly couple that were like parents to her were brutally murdered by the slave traders who forced her into captivity. Finding herself back awake Leila’s hand reached for her cheek, brushing away the tears while she mumbled under her breath.

“Heh, why am I getting sentimental again?”

A deep sigh followed while Leila watched the wagon come to its halt and soon the girl had decided it was time to start her scheme. It was a rather twisted idea but she had already made some preparations for it. When she left the wagon she was already greet by three tall individuals, two humans and judging from the trademark red hair and the physical features a female Fannalis.

“Miss Rosenberg? We were expecting you.”

The Fannalis bowed lightly in a greeting while Leila pulled a hand into her sleeve, withdrawing a large coin purse from within to hand over to the Fannalis.

“You three must be the brave gladiators I came into contact with. I’m glad that you all decided to accept my request.”

The Fannalis raised her head, grinning at her words while replying confidently.

“Not at all! I don’t really care much about the propaganda aspect but the fact you’re paying us to take part in Gladiator battles, not to mention you’re going to try to lure out strong warriors is more than enough to make the blood within me boil with excitement.”

And that’s indeed what would happen for a mere hour later she had found herself some crates to use as a leverage, Trapper the bird sitting on her shoulder like a watchful hawk while she started her speech.

“People of Reim! I come today to deliver a message.”

A few people looked up at her in passing, seemingly a bit curious about what the girl was doing at a plaza, preparing some speech of sorts.

“It’s no secret that the people of Reim value strength. When two individuals clash there’s no place for opinions, beliefs or even social status… the only thing that matters at that time is the very power that will make you triumph in the battle!”

She briefly paused, her eyes spotting some people who had stopped to listen to her, seemingly intrigued by the mentioning of battles, in the end it sounded like she was about to announce an event at the coliseum.

“What is more glorious than two individuals who exchange blows in a duel? Isn’t it that very mind-set, the virtue of courage and strength that has driven Reim into being such a powerful nation? And yet!”

A hand gripped her chest, her eyes softening their gaze as she turned with a sorrowful look upon the crowds.

“There are those who call you mere mongrels, savages who think of only bloodshed. I speak of those Madoushi, like the people of Magnostadt who consider your values petty and insignificant. They consider you brutes whose only purpose is for menial physical chores. Their magic makes them ignorant of what is truly important, their abilities make them conceited! Even now they look at you all with looks of amusement, as if you were all dogs fighting over a bone.”

Now it was time, time to stir some emotion and gather the necessary pawn for her plot. Her eyes scanned the crowd while she raised her voice.

“I’d say we prove them wrong! Today I have gathered several gladiators to test the people of Reim’s courage! Show those Madoushi the glory and excitement that one can find in a duel, show them that physical prowess is superior to that of their wand-waving nonsense! Is there a brave warrior among you who dares to accept my challenge?!”

Word Count 1000/1000

~Training Strength D -> C~
About a block away from the gathering crowd around Leila's spectacle, Zafar was being drawn into the shadows by an unknown stranger. Had he continued down the road, the crimson haired clown would likely have walked right past lady Rosenberg's speech without so much as batting an eye. How ironic that turning away from the quickest path towards her would led Zafar onto a collision course with the anti-madoushi activist. Instead of walking past the soap box presentation the assassin followed the beckonings of a shady man who led him into a back alley street.

"I'm sure you're wondering what I called you back here for. It's money my friend, money! You look like the kind of guy who's here to fight in the coliseum, am I right?~"

Zafar smirked and spread empty palms in a gesture as if to say 'you got me' whilst walking behind the man. "It is as you say, you must have a good eye for people." The killer remarked feeling genuinely amused by the situation thus far The man he was speaking too looked to be dressed in the clothing of a poor man, however he was far too clean and well fed to be a victim of total poverty. When the man mentioned money as the main focus of this encounter, it was probably to secure a flow of funds from Zafar's wallet to his own. This assumption on Zafar's behalf was only partly correct however.

"Ah, here we are! My name is Brukus and welcome to my challenge!" The man pulled a draped cloth aside to reveal a small room carved into the back side of a building where a set of weights were prepared. "The game is simply my friend. You need money to enter the coliseum and I'm going to give you a chance to win it! If you can lift each of these weights 10 times over I'll give you enough huang to cover your arena fights for the next two weeks. But if you fail, then you owe me half of whatever you win from your first week of fights. Not a bad deal right?"

Zafar had to admit that the bargain seemed to be in his favor, but this only made the naturally distrusting sociopath all the more cautious. He would have walked away and ignored Brukus' schemes under normal circumstances, but the Queen he'd drawn earlier was still at the front of his mind. Trusting that following this path was in alignment with the stream of good luck and fortune, Zafar accepted the man's challenge and entered the room. "Very well, I just need to left each of the weights right?" The cold blooded murderer asked as he knelt down and took the first weight in hand. It was light and he completed the 10 reps easily before moving on to the next one. Another ten were knocked out of the way with ease. Zafar began to feel his fatigue catch up to him as he moved to heavier sets of weights but it wasn't enough to prevent him from completing the task before him. That is of course until he reached the last set...

Without being a magician it was impossible for Zafar to truly 'see' strength magic. However there were enough clues around him to know that magical foul play was at work. The air around the weight distorted and Brukus had reached into his sleeve to reveal a small wand which he was trying to hide. No matter how hard Zafar pushed against the final weights they became heavier and heavier so it would be impossible to complete the final set.
~Training 500+/500~

~Job Word Count~
"Aww, too bad friend. Looks like you tired yourself out by rushing through those last weights. You shouldn't have underestimated how heavy the last set was~" Brukus had quickly tucked his wand back into his sleeve and was now making a greedy movement with his hands, "Looks like you'll be paying me for the next week friend~"

Zafar placed the weights down and frowned unpleasantly as he tried to understand what had happened. Clearly the man used some kind of magic to alter the weights. Had he known more about the arcane arts Zafar would have been able to infer that strength and gravity magic were being utilized, however all the assassin knew was that he was being cheated. "You know...I was in a good mood today. A mood so good that a fair loss wouldn't have been enough to upset me..." Zafar turned around and faced Brukus with sharp eyes as a killing intent began to pour from him violently. "...but that's in the case of a 'fair' loss. I handle cheaters who spit on the purity of chance far worse."

What followed was a brutal assault of punches but they would all be in vain as the magician's borg rose and protected him from harm. But the man didn't want to destroy the room as it doubled as his home so he turned and ran drawing Zafar into a chase! Brukus took to the roof tops using flight magic and Zafar followed by way of acrobatic flips and making use of climbing footholds conveniently built into the architecture of Reim.

Brukus finally stopped running and turned to sent a blast wave of strength magic into Zafar which impacted against his face like a fist and sent him flying from the roof tops down into the crowd below. His body hit the ground with a horrible crash which would interrupt the final line of Leila's speech and send the gathered citizen's into a panic. Brukus used a spell to distort the light around his face so he could drop down to finish Zafar off without having to worry about his identity being discovered but he should have been more worried about the fact that the red haired fighter was no longer in the small crater he had left behind.

"Where did he go!?" Brukus shouted demanding that the crowd tell him the location of his target. His eyes scanned for Zafar and caught a glimpse of his red hair, "There you are!" Perhaps Brukus was desperate to kill Zafar so as to silence him from spreading word about the scam or perhaps he just didn't take being found out very well. But regardless of the reason, the black magician release a powerful spell into the crowd where he'd seen Zafar pushing people out of the way and causing several innocent bystanders to be injured.

The dust from the spell cleared to reveal it had not hit his mark as Zafar was no where to be found. Unless of course Brukus had looked to the right in time to see the assassin charging from his flank. Zafar had intentionally let himself be seen before ducking low and using the throng of people as cover to let him circle around to Brukus' side.

A single strike from Zafar's fist would shatter the borg and another blow from his dagger would snap the man's wand in half rendering him incapable of casting spells. Then a swift kick to the calves would bring Brukus to the ground as his light distortion mask faded and Zafar pinned him with a knee. The dagger was brought to the magician's neck in preparation to bleed him dead when suddenly a roar of applause and cheers from the surrounding people caused the killer to pause. From their perspective he was a hero punishing the evils of a madoushi which they had only just been rallied against.
~1000+/1000 Word Count~

If there was one thing that Leila had to admit then it was the fact the last thing she had expected was to see a battle between a Madoushi and their target to have erupted into the crowd. Of course a good tactician always had more than just one strategy prepared and within a moment’s notice she had calculated an idea on how to put this unexpected event to her advantage. She made a subtle gesture with her hand to let the three gladiators near her drop out of their combative stances while she raised her voice.

“Here is proof of my words! To silence me this Madoushi would have tried to assassinate me, if not for the skillful retaliation of this gentleman their ambition would have turned into reality.”

The gazes of the crowd turned toward Zafar and the Madoushi. Zafar would hear the cheers and admiring looks of the crowd as he was now labeled a hero in their eyes, a man who had just prevented the evil Madoushi from assassinating an innocent woman. Of course the Madoushi himself would see the scornful eyes of the crowd, their gazes shooting figurative bullets at him.

“That’s right, without his magic that Madoushi is nothing! Do you see how powerless he became, how he squirms like a worm trying to flee? This is the true nature of a Madoushi! They consider themselves ‘special’ because of their magic but the moment you take away their magic they turn oh so vulnerable. Now tell us brave ‘hero’ how do you plan to deal with this conceited worm you just caught? Obviously you bested him so it is your choice on how to deal with him.”

A gentle smile lingered upon her lips while she waited to see Zafar’s decision. Of course she had genuinely hoped to see him slit the throat of that Madoushi but she would still be pleased if he decided against it. In the end the protest had been such a success that a large crowd was cheering for Zafar shouting slogans like “Gone with Madoushi, all hail the warrior!” just to name a few examples. In the meanwhile the girl raised a fingertip to the bird on her shoulder, gently caressing its head before turning her focus back onto the spectacle before her. It was after Zafar had decided on how to deal with the Madoushi that Leila stepped off the platform and walked over to Zafar, her voice cheerful in tone.

“You are just the type of man I was looking for, and your performance just now confirmed it perfectly. Would you do me and the people of Reim an honor by participating in this little challenge of mine? Just a good old duel between yourself and a group of gladiators I have prepared for one like yourself.”

It would have been nice if she could convince this man to go along with her act, in the end the people of Reim loved a good battle and if all went well the duel would stir the hearts of the people even more into believing that physical prowess was superior to that of the Madoushi’s magic. Honestly she didn’t care that much, as long as she could rally more people to her cause, to make more people hate the Madoushi and Zafar had unconsciously played perfectly into her desire by defeating the Madoushi right during her speech. A heroic man besting an evil Madoushi assassin. This was just the type of story she wanted to see performed, and the crowd seemed to love it also. For a moment she turned around, seemingly pondering for a moment.

“I’ll admit my reward might not be the same amount of money you’d receive from an official tournament but you’d gain access to a fight with three of my hired men, one of them being a Fanalis who are renowned for their martial prowess, and what warrior doesn't love a free brawl with some strong opponents?”

She turned around to look at Zafar, her lips curved back into that gentle smile that concealed her ulterior motives.

Word Count: +1000/1000

The surprise on Zafar's face was evident as he looked around to see excited faces cheering for his acts of violence towards the magician. He knew there were people who loved to see the death and murder, but there couldn't possibly be so many in this city...could there? The source of all this madness soon became clear when a charismatic young woman took advantage of the situation to further push her cause upon the populous. Looking around himself and taking in the situation Zafar could roughly gather what was going on. His fight with a madoushi had coincidentally spilled over into an anti-magician rally of sorts. It was not what he had expected would become of his fight, but there were worse ways for it to have concluded. While the girl went on and on with her speech Zafar looked back down to Brukus and gave the man a sly smile before pressing the edge of his Bloody Branch even harder against the magic user's throat. "You hear that? Looks like you aren't very popular. Can you feel the gaze of animosity these people are giving you right now?"

The taunting was whispered and low so only Brukus could hear it over the fervor of the crowd. Small whimpering pleas for mercy escaped the man's lips but the assassin had an audience and the climax they demanded was blood. Zafar would lean in just a bit closer and speak softly into the madoushi's ear, "It's ok...Even if the crowd wasn't calling for your head, I'd give it to them anyways~" The done of his voice danced in a song like fashion as he spoke, ending the final parting words with a violent slash across Brukus' neck. This cut alone was not enough to end Zafar's brutality as he went on to cut at the tough muscles of the mage's neck until finally the human fighter could tear the skull from his body. The head of the magician was then held high for the crowd to see as a pleasured smile covered Zafar's visage. "Mmmm~ I think I'm going to like this city..."

When the killer noticed the crowd parting for the young activist who had spurred them all into excitement in the first place he tossed the decapitated head over his shoulder letting the crowd have their way with it. Cold, heartless, yellow eyes still thick with killing intent watched Leila approach with careful caution. The blade had not left Zafar's hand but he carried a welcoming smile all the same giving a mixed appearance somewhere between that of an amicable clown and a dangerous psychopath. The girl went on to propose Zafar enter into some kind of contest to fight men she had gathered. That was all Zafar had heard anyways. Her praises for his actions fell on deaf ears which cared only to hear words that would let him take more lives while risking his own. The twisted grin on the clown's face only grew while his eyes narrowed into a sharper gaze. "This one is dangerous..." Zafar thought to himself as he saw through the friendly smile Leila gave. Her politeness was only the cover to hide overtones of manipulation. But the killer from Balbadd didn't care about the risks involved.

"Sure, I'll play your game. If it's fun I'll treat you to dinner...but if it's boring I might have to take my enjoyment out on you in other ways...You okay with that?~" As the red haired fighter spoke this subtle threat he played with his dagger in one hand and brought the other up to gently caress his own lips. He was letting her know up front that he would kill her if her tournament bored him. Would the young revolutionary stand for such a threat and still welcome him into her challenge? Zafar was eager to find out, so much so that his killing intent was spilling out yet again causing a scarce few black rukh to gather around him.