The scorching hot water felt great on Anjou’s fur. The intense heat massaged and relaxed her muscles while penetrating deep to get rid of all of the dirt, blood and other things that had accumulated over her body over the past few days. According to Frankie, the shower head, which was in the shape of a face with its mouth agape, was infused with a core that added a cleaning effect to the water. The decoration did not match the aesthetic of the shower room which was a marbled version of the white stone which Angeline had identified as Ester stone. A name that predated the city.
Unfortunately they did not have a core way of drying off. Along with a pile of clothes, there was a piece of fabric laid out that looked more like a pillowcase than a towel. Anjou did her best with it, but she could still feel plenty of wet spots in her fur, much like a pet after they attempted to shake themselves dry.
The clothing turned out to be just a long brown tunic that hung all the way down to Anjou’s feet. The material was light and soft to the touch. She approached a wall-length mirror to get a good look at herself. It was still somewhat hard to believe that the rabbit person that looked back was her.
“Are you done?” Cereza’s voice came from behind the wooden door. Even though Anjou had just met her, the tone of her voice made Anjou mildly irritated. The way she spoke as they approached the castle made her sound like one of her opponents when they were giving an interview and were throwing thinly veiled threats. Cereza opened the door. “Come on already. We need to get the ceremony over with so you can start doing your job.” She walked out without another word. Anjou sighed and followed her.
Much like the city itself, the corridors of the castle rounded their way up and down in a spiral pattern. The windows of the outer wall were nothing but decorated holes with no way to block or shut them closed.
“What happens if it rains?” Anjou asked, not expecting an answer.
“We don’t get rain.” Cereza said flatly.
“What about attacks?”
Cereza stopped. “Why are you asking stupid questions?”
“Because I’m not from here duh.”
“What was that? That noise you just made.”
Anjou crossed her arms and smirked. “It’s an Earth thing. It’s used as a way to tell someone they just asked their own stupid question.”
Cereza waved a dismissive hand and kept walking. “You want to ask useless questions, ask anyone else besides me.”
They kept walking the downward path of the spiral until they came upon a door that led to a set of stairs that led down even farther. From the nearest window, Anjou could see that at the moment they were on the ground level.
Cereza stopped again and turned. “Aren’t you going to ask me what’s down there?”
Anjou walked past her and into the room. “No.”
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Anjou kind of wished she had asked because the scene she saw was confusing. They had entered an enormous circular room with dirt floors and a wooden fence that surrounded a deep pit. Everything was cast in a low light from lanterns embedded into the wall.
“What the hell is this?” Anjou asked.
Cereza walked up to the fence and pointed down. “You’re going to go down there and show me what you can do.
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“And why would I do that?”
“It’s tradition.” The new voice came from behind Anjou and made her jump. It was Venomgrin followed by Lanric, Angeline and Frankie. The baby was not with them this time. “I did it. Frankie did it. And the others before us did it.”
“Did what?”
Anjou’s question was answered a few minutes later when she found herself in the bottom of the pit looking up at the group as they stared down at her. The lanterns on the wall had been brightened to allow her to see where Venomgrin had generously put her. It was a fighting arena, like the kinds people would put animals in to fight each other to the death. There were rows of cages built into the stone wall at regular intervals making Anjou feel like the centerpiece in a large clock.
“What am I going to fight?” Anjou called up.
“We’ll find out once the others show up, since we didn’t get to do this the other day,” Cereza said grinning.
“Only because you couldn’t pick one of the other Eaters,” Lanric chided.
Cereza turned to her brother. “Be quiet. I was not going to choose an Ankylo like you did, and the other two,” she shivered, “we’re not going to talk about them.”
Within minutes other people showed up. Guards and normal citizens alike. It wasn’t too many, but enough to make a small crowd, almost like a group of people looking at an animal at the zoo. When they were all settled and quiet, Angeline nodded to a person that Anjou couldn’t see.
The cage door to her immediate left opened and three rocks came floating out, the center one at least twice the size as the other two. When it fully exited the cage closed behind it and an eye opened on the middle rock. Anjou’s Examine identified it as a Cycloptic Rock Puncher.
“Good luck,” Cereza called.
Before Anjou could even assume a fighting stance the monster launched one of its rocks straight for her. She managed to step out of the way just as it flew past and hit the wall on the other side, leaving a spider-web like crack. It quickly retracted the rock and threw the other one at her. The crowd cheered as she managed to dodge the second attack and give herself some distance from the puncher.
The puncher turned and blinked its large silver eye at her. Both of the rocks returned to it and floated there. Anjou took a deep breath and raised both of her fists. She quickly formulated a hasty plan and rushed towards the monster. It shot both of its rocks at her and she ungracefully rolled underneath before popping up and punching the monster in the eye. It closed its monstrous eye and recoiled backwards. If it had a mouth, it most likely would have roared in pain.
Anjou moved towards the wall as the monster reclaimed its stones. She activated her Slime Excretion and let two glops of the stuff congeal on both of her hands. The puncher with its eye still closed shot one of the rocks in a random direction and it struck the wall. Like a baseball pitcher lining up for a fast ball, Anjou shot some of the slime at the stone. The slime stuck just as the rock tried to pull itself free, but it remained attached to the wall. The crowd cheered.
“Can’t believe that worked,” Anjou said under her breath.
The puncher blinked its eye open and stared Anjou down who was now standing near the stuck rock. It glared at her and shot the other rock at her. It too got stuck.
The crowd cheered again and Anjou felt that rush of excitement that she got every time she stepped into the ring. It filled her with energy and adrenaline. She ran over to the puncher and picked it up. It tried to wriggle itself free, but she kept a tight hold on it. Running back over to the wall she smashed the monster against its own rocks.
“You. Don’t. Mess. With. The Crimson. Hare.” She yelled the words with every smash.
Chips of stone fell off the creature until finally it broke in half and a brown monster core fell onto the ground. Anjou dropped the puncher breathing hard. She looked up at the crowd who had gone deathly silent. She couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or from horror. She supposed that if the puncher wasn’t made of stone she would’ve been a bloody mess like before. The only person who wasn’t silent was Cereza who grinned at her. Anjou bent down and picked up the core and then looked at Frankie and Venomgrin.
“Tradition huh? Yeah, this is just like Christmas.” She then put the core in her mouth and swallowed.
Evolution Level: 0
Core Level: 1
Cores to Next Level: 17
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
Constitution: 1
Intellect: 2
Charisma: 1
Health 10/10
Skills and Abilities: Examine. Slime Excretion.
Congratulations you have eaten a core that contained a skill. You have earned Stone Hands. This ability allows you to conjure hands made of stone. In able to use this ability the correct materials have to be within 5 yards of your position. When this ability is activated the materials will be converted into the stone hands. When the ability is deactivated, said material will dissolve into sand and will not return to its original form.