It was still a great day.

That was the first thing Alexander noticed when he awoke. Basher was standing over him, his fist primed to strike the finishing blow. But Alexander rolled, pain shooting through his nerves.

“Oh?” Basher said in a sly tone.

Alexander picked himself up, his jaw tightening. He felt his demon form re-activate, and suddenly, the pain went away. The world was now crisp. He was now totally in the moment. The fog and confusion before was gone. He was no Alexander. He was a new entity. He was whole.

Alexander took up a stance and stared daggers at Basher. Red energy shot out and his horns grew large.

“You’ve changed…” Basher calmed down a bit and studied Alexander. “You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?”

“Something like that.” Alexander said without breaking concentration.

“Then you’re going to be twice as fun! So many people don’t even have classes, and only a rare, select few even figure it out. You’re one of the lucky, Alexander.” Basher smiled. It was both a genuine and creepy smile, somehow. “And you’ve totally committed yourself to it, haven’t you? Even when wars are raged no one commits whole-heartily to it. But you’re complete.” Basher started jumping with joy.

Alexander smirked. “And you have too.”

“Oh you’re just a treat.” Basher said. “Now then, let’s have a real battle!” Basher suddenly leaped forward and bore down on Alexander. Alexander dodged to the side quickly and slammed his head into Basher’s ribs. A few snapped on impact.

Basher breathed in sharply. “You’re the first in a while to injure me! Keep it up!” Basher laughed as yellow energy started to coalesce around his gauntlets.

Alexander charged at Basher, who raised both his fists, preparing to slam down on Alexander. But Alexander did not dodge as Basher expected. Instead, Alexander grabbed them as they came down. Immediately, Alexander felt the heat of the gauntlets as the yellow energy started to singe his skin. But he did not back down. They were in a deadlock.

“Oh you’re strong!” Basher said as he put more and more effort into pinning Alexander down. At the last moment, Alexander let go, stepped to the side, then shoved his fist into Basher’s face. Two of his knuckles cracked, but Basher was pushed back. Alexander kept it up. Hit after hit, Alexander pressed the advantage. Basher smiled. The yellow energy was glowing brighter. Then, it exploded.

Alexander flew back fifty feet and slammed into the distant wall, immediately destroying it.

“Now you’ve really got me going!” Basher bellowed out. “Sun gauntlets, ACTIVATE!”

Alexander drew himself up, but it was difficult. Several of his bones were broken, and his muscles were not complying. When he got to his feet, he saw Basher covered in a brilliant yellow aura that collected at his fists. He looked like the sun. He felt like the sun. And he was as strong as the sun.

“Your guy, what the hell is his class?” Benjiro asked. He had never seen someone last this long with Basher. And he especially saw no one get up after Basher activated his magic.

“Don’t know, he doesn't talk about it.” Jade shrugged. She was calm. This whole time she had been preparing an escape plan. She didn’t have a whole lot of faith in Alexander at the moment.

“I’ve never seen anything like it! I mean, you’re a rogue, and I’ve seen countless of those.” Benjiro chuckled. He was invested.

“Now you’re just stereotyping me.” Jade played it off.

“Yeah, but I’m right. Still, I have no clue about your guy, Alexander. And after he was knocked out, he suddenly came out stronger…” Benjiro stroked his chin.

Alexander reached deeper inside of himself. He felt that he could push his demon form further. And he was right. He felt every muscle fiber in his body, and through a triumph of will, he compelled his muscles to force his bones back into place with several sickening cracks. They weren’t healed– but they would work, for now.

Basher was still walking over, confidence exuding from him like deodorant spray from a middle school locker room. But Alexander was ready.

Alexander sprinted forward, leaped into the air, and slammed his fist down. Basher raised up one gauntlet and blocked it, immediately shattering Alexander’s hand. Then, Basher used his other hand and beat into Alexander’s chest, sending him flying back. But Alexander got up.

“How in the hell?” Basher said. He was starting to lose his amusement from this. He was starting to get worried.

Alexander sprinted forward again. Basher got into a defensive stance and tried to hit Alexander again. But Alexander dropped to the ground, twisted horribly, and slammed his foot into Basher’s knee. It snapped. Basher screamed.

“That’s it!” Basher yelled out as he fell to one knee. He raised his hand and bore down on Alexander. It connected and the ground shook with force. But Alexander’s heart kept beating. And without missing a beat he jumped right back up and connected his mangled fist into Basher’s face.

“Seriously, how the hell are you still even moving?!” Basher used his magic to create another shockwave, and it sent Alexander flying back. Alexander laughed as he got back up.

“You’re no different than that stupid death knight. Your ‘shockwaves’ are strong, but they deplete your magic!” Alexander sprinted forward. Basher was now soaked in sweat.

Alexander charged straight ahead and brought his fist down. Basher blocked, and immediately, Alexander’s arm broke. Alexander grinned. He twisted his arm unnaturally and grappled Basher’s arm. Then, with wicked speed, he leaned in and sank his teeth in Basher’s neck.

Basher’s garbled screams echoed throughout the fort. He threw Alexander back and used his right hand to apply pressure on the wound. Right on the jugular! Basher thought as his mind began to race. “Seriously, how the hell can you do anything you’re doing!”

“Even with pressure, your time is now in minutes.” Alexander laughed as he dragged himself back up. But his time was limited too. The pain was making it near impossible to think. And the mental exertion to control his muscles was nearing his absolute limit.

Basher screamed again. He tried to get up, but his knee was still broken and the pain was unbearable. His vision started to fade as blood poured onto the ground beneath him. Still, there was something he could do. He aimed his fist at Alexander and sent his gauntlet flying off his hand and toward the berserker. It connected and Alexander felt his heart stop for a second. His own world was falling apart. He couldn’t tell one color from another. It was all red. He was all red. It was all blood. Still, he got back up and grinned, his teeth stained.

Alexander could no longer sprint, so he walked. He hobbled over to the gauntlet, the heat of the metal burning his skin. He picked it up, leaned back, and with a last hooray of strength, shot it back at Basher.

Basher tried to defend, but the only hand with a gauntlet was currently prolonging his life. So, with his bare skin, he felt the gauntlet hit his arm and snap it in two. That was the last straw. As Alexander collapsed onto the ground, Basher gulped down his last breaths.

Jade was trying, and failing, to pick up her jaw from the floor.

“A deal is a deal.” Benjiro calmly remarked as he gracefully jumped down from the catwalk and started to walk over to Basher. By the time he got there, Basher was dead. He picked up the gauntlets, and walked over to the narrowly-alive Alexander.

“Poor devil.” Benjiro looked him over. Alexander wasn’t even conscious. “You gave me an entertaining fight. You showed me a new class. You’re a knight killer, same as me. And you gave Basher a reason to take his fights seriously. He’ll never underestimate an opponent again. Really, you got lucky. Very lucky.”

Jade caught up to Benjiro. “Oh he’s so going to die.”

“Hmm, I’m feeling generous today.” Benjiro set down the gauntlets, reached down into his bag, and produced a vile of dark-blue liquid. He kneeled over Alexander, opened the container, and poured it down Alexander’s throat.

“This should heal him up, but it will take a few days. In the meantime, he’ll be completely unconscious. Also, this place is totally getting reinforcements like any minute now, so you’d uh, better get going.” Benjiro smiled at Jade, who was now growing worried. “Till next time!” Benjiro picked up the gauntlets again, then suddenly vanished, leaving Jade alone.

Jade paused for a second. The world was very, very confusing. And she didn’t have much time. I don’t hear any vehicles just yet… and they’re probably not going to drop the dough on teleportation… I’ve got just enough time, hopefully.

Jade quickly got to work. She bolted over the cages full of slaves and started breaking the chains one by one. There were less than fifty of them, and they were all shaken up from witnessing the fight. Well, that, and of course, the slavery.

After Jade let the slaves go, most of them running the hell out of dodge, she started to look for something. Within a minute, she found it. Stacked near some backup generators were gallons upon gallons of both diesel and gasoline. She grinned.

Within minutes the place was covered and Alexander was on her back. Of course, she spent some time moving the bodies to be in a pile in the center. Still have to send a message after all.

She tried looting what she could, but there wasn’t much. Basher’s only piece of expensive equipment was the gauntlets, and those were long gone by now.

After she was satisfied, Jade started to head out. That’s when she heard the rumble of distant vehicles. Fuck. Her suit, which helped incredibly with carrying Alexander, could do stealth as well. The only problem is that it would consume a LOT of energy. Still, she reasoned she could recharge away from danger, so she activated her stealthing capabilities and hightailed it out of there. On her way out the entrance, she ignited a trail of gas with a lighter,

The fire spread quickly, and when it reached the pile of dead bodies, an explosion resounded through the open plains of Illinois. The sun was just beginning to set, and Jade was far enough away when the convoy arrived at the scene.

After two hours of frenzied walking, Jade finally gave up after both her body and her suit were sending warning signals. She had made it to a nice forest right when the last ebbs of sunlight left the sky, and she figured this was as good a place as any to set up a camp. I sure as hell ain’t carrying this idiot all the way down south.

Jade dropped Alexander like a bag of potatoes. She grinned seeing his body flop to the ground. Then, she went to work in the night to set up a camp. Within a couple hours, and with the help of night vision from the last bits of energy her suit had, she had made a makeshift hut out of sticks, branches, and brush. She dragged Alexander inside, promising to make him pay for this, and started to take off her suit.

The thing was nice. By far, it was her greatest investment. The best thing about it was that it could recharge via solar energy. And waiting here for a while was a good idea considering Alexander's condition. So, she packed it up, threw it in the hut, got in herself, and fell asleep.

Jade had her usual routine of waking up several times sweating from nightmares. She got used to them, sure, but it didn’t mean she liked it. All things considered, however, by the time the sun got up, she felt well rested.

She walked out of the shelter and laid out her suit; she picked the spot that would show the most sun. Then, she did some stretching. She was tense from all the bullshit yesterday, and she preferred to be calm in all circumstances.

Growing up, she spent a lot of time in libraries. They were free to be in during the day, and you could busy yourself with all the books you could want. That’s where her first love began– grand strategy. She read books from Sun Tzu, Marcus Aurelius, Carl Von Clausewitz, and Niccolo Machiavelli. She studied war, politics, philosophy, biology, and whatever else she could find. Her greatest realization was that with every new thing she learned, she grew stronger. And it was that strength that helped her survive.

She sighed and felt the tension release. Feeling better, she heard her stomach growl. Still, before finding food or water, she wanted to meditate. She needed to refocus. She needed to plan her next moves.

 

- - - -

 

“FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!” Basher exclaimed.

“Oh calm down Babhru, you learned a valuable lesson.” Bejiro sighed.

“Fuck that and fuck him! FUCK! I lost ALL my experience, my credits, and ALL OF MY ITEMS!” Basher was slamming his bare fists against a wall. Currently, the two of them were at headquarters.

“Not all of them…” Benjiro grinned as he produced the two gauntlets. Basher stopped, smiled ear to ear, then bear-hugged poor Bejiro.

“Thank you!” Basher immediately put them on. He breathed in deeply and tested them out.

“But we have to talk.” Benjiro put a hand on Basher’s shoulder, which looked a bit awkward due to the height difference.

“I know…” Basher whimpered.

“No, you don’t.” Benjiro took his hand off Basher. “Yeah, you totally screwed the pooch. I mean, the guy was half your level. But outcomes like these aren’t uncommon– level doesn’t mean everything.”

“So..?”

“That little scuffle represented three key issues.” Banjiro held up three fingers. “First, you need to take your fights more seriously. You hadn’t needed to before, but people like Alexander exist, people who will surprise you and gain the upper hand.” Benjiro sighed and looked at Basher. Basher nodded his head with a frown. “Not to say you still can’t have fun, you just can’t act like an idiot anymore. We have a job to do, and things are ramping up. War is on the horizon.”

“Second, these people, ‘agents’ I’ll call them, represent a serious threat. My guess is that they were hired by the UNAA, at least discreetly. They’re gathering more forces, and the boss wants us to go on the offensive soon.” Benjiro took a second to make sure Basher was paying attention.

“And third, Alexander was not your normal fighter.” Basher raised an eyebrow. “You saw it yourself, Alexander was something new. I’ve been doing research, but I can’t find anything that would explain his abilities. Nothing he showed is in any known class.”

“That whole ‘ignore pain’ thing was bullshit. And the control he had over his muscles was insane.” Basher agreed.

“Absolutely. No ability like that exists in any class. Barbarians have ‘rages’ they can activate, but they sure as shit can’t do that. It only dulls the pain slightly and gives a buff to their strength.” Benjiro paused, stroking his chin. “From what Alexander said, he’s a damn knight killer. Those people are more than just rare.”

“You’re one of them.” Basher said while stroking his own chin.

“Yes but there’s something I haven’t told you. I’m not a warrior or anything like that, I actually have a special class called Samurai.”

Basher’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“The details don’t matter. What does matter is that there exists ‘special classes’ that aren’t visible to the general public of this game. When you reach level fifty, you can choose from any class in the game, but it appears there are some beyond that scope. There are some classes the game only allows a few to have. These are special classes.”

“That’s something alright. But what are you getting at?”

“From my research, and from this encounter, I’ve more or less figured out that special classes are only given out to knight killers. And from my own experience, not everyone in a knight-killer tutorial group is offered one. This means that, and I’m guesstimating here, only a few knight- killer squads are actually offered these special classes.” Benjiro turned his head deep in thought.

“What I’m saying is that these special classes might be huge game changers. The surprise factor of their abilities is already something to be scared of, but that combined with supposedly more powerful class abilities could make them so in the coming years. No pun intended” Benjiro paced slightly.

“I see your point.” Basher stretched. “So what should we do?”

“Fuck if I know.”