Seeds of Discordia

Liam made his way through the crowd of people from the communal bathhouse to the entertainment district where his group was waiting for him. He ended up spending more time than he had planned since the men’s section had just been cleaned and no one was around.

Besides staying in his room reading up on Knowledge Theories or getting lost in crafting experiments, relaxing in a freshly clean bath with no one around was his favorite thing to do. However, sometimes when he is alone there, he would tend to lose himself in his thoughts.

The conversation with Galin was still fresh in his mind. Liam knew the man was generally worried and wasn’t trying to do him harm. The years of studying people’s body language and facial expressions led him to believe that Galin was looking out for him. Albeit, he knew there was something the man wasn’t sharing.

Maybe it had to do with Galin wasn’t sure about the path he and his group stumbled across, or maybe he wasn’t allowed to say. Liam wasn’t sure. The one thing he was sure of was he and his group needed to be careful going forward. He needed to warn the others about what Galin had told him.

Liam had thought the power of the Elite Floor Monsters and the Floor Bosses they had fought already were odd. He had felt they had more abilities than what was shown.

The odors from Atlas the Grave Keeper, that Noxious Gas from the Spider Tailed Horned Viper, even the E.F.M.’s seemed to be holding back some of their true power.

When he remembered Phorge’s words about a magic being placed on the dungeons it made some sense, but it still felt a bit…off. According to Mercer, many who were taking on the same dungeon fought against nothing more than stronger variants of skeletons and zombies. So why was there dungeon so different?

“I’ll have to talk to the others to bounce some ideas off of them,” Liam muttered under his breath.

He noticed the establishment The Dancing Baboon he was supposed to meet the others at but didn’t see them outside.

They probably got tired of waiting for me and went in already. Liam thought as he made his way to the door.

As Liam approached the building the door opened. A tall male with a slightly toned physique walked out. He looked to be the same age as Liam with short blond hair and jaded green eyes. He wore plain looking clothes.

Liam glanced him over briefly. He looked like a normal young man. One who was enjoying his night. His looks weren’t too bad. More on the handsome side than on the mundane. The slight smile on his face was friendly and looked inviting to anyone who stared at him. However, Liam caught on to the man’s act by studying his body movement.

Liam’s eyes caught the slight tension and release when the male saw him. The swift movement of his eyes, measuring him up and down. To Liam, it felt like a predator taking stock of his prey before they pounced.

Liam slowly started for the door as he attempted to walk by. He kept his gaze forward, not wanting to provoke him. As the young man got to his side, he stopped. This sudden halt made Liam stop as well. He knew if he continued to move forward the man would try something.

There weren’t any pronouncements or notice, but no one knew if it was possible to strike anyone outside the Training Hall designated areas. No one knew the exact laws of this world either. For all Liam knew, murder could be legal. He didn’t want to take the chance.

“You must be from Earth as well,” the young man started.

His words made Liam suddenly tense up. He slowly turned his eyes towards the male to find him already staring at him. His slight fake looking smile replaced with a taunting one.

“What makes you think I’m from that planet?” Liam questioned, trying to keep his tone even. He kept his body facing the door.

“You’re cautious,” he replied. “People from other planets aren’t as cautious than the ones from Earth. That, and the fact you tensed when I said you were.”

Liam didn’t like this. As someone who survived Earth’s hell mode, he knew that if someone was able to pick up on little details of others body movements then they were trouble.

There was a saying that went around the world during the lawless period. Short fuses were easy to understand and deal with. The silent patient ones, however, had many ways on how to kill you. His only bet was to try and convince him that he wasn’t from the same planet.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Liam began, schooling his emotions. “Anyone can be cautious. We are, after all, in a new world.”

“Quit the bullshit,” the male countered quickly. “Although I will agree anyone can be cautious. Earthlings however…have a certain kind of cautiousness to them. They assess those around them, their surroundings, and take calculative risks. I bet, as soon as you saw me, you tried to think if the laws here were ever mentioned to you.”

Liam’s eyes squinted for a brief moment before returning to normal.

“I knew it,” he said with a knowing grin. “You know…now that I think about it. It makes sense why those three imbeciles lost. If an Earthling was added to the mix, then their loss was assured.”

“Those three?” Liam couldn’t help but ask.

“My three idiotic troublemaker teammates. Theodore, Henry, and Mia,” he responded.

Hearing their names reminded Liam of their arena fight. This guy mentioned they were his teammates. Was he…

“Are you here for some sort of revenge?” Liam questioned as he looked around.

The young man let out a laugh. His laughter wasn’t a playful one, nor contagious. It was one of those kinds of laughs that made your skin crawl. It was a maniacal one.

People stared at them, giving a wide berth as they walked by the establishment.

“Oh, gods no,” he said as he brought his laughter under control. “Those three lost because they are weak. No. I was hoping I would run into you soon since I saw your crew inside.”

“Why? What do you want?” Liam asked, an uneasy feeling growing even more inside of him.

“There is only one thing that I want. You should know what that is, as a fellow Earthling who had to go through that hell,” the man stated with an evil grin.

Liam let out a gust of air that he didn’t realize he held. Following the line of logic he was saying, Liam did in fact know what he wanted.

“You want to fight me to see who is stronger,” Liam muttered.

“Bingo!” he said, sounding excited. His hands and arms became more animated as he started to ramble, “The way you strategized, used your pawns to enact your demands, and lastly…The way you orchestrated the fall of each of my crewmembers. It sent chills down my spine. I know you’re a crafty one. The type that doesn’t play by other’s rule but carves a way of victory out of the unordinary. What do you say? Will you fall to my hands?”

Anger grew inside Liam with each second, he listened to this crazed man. Even though he spoke nonsense, there was a side to Liam that wanted to see who was stronger.

Fall to his hands? How foolish does this guy think he is? a voice whispered inside Liam’s mind.

Liam froze when he heard the voice. It was faint, but powerful. That scared Liam. To him, the voice sounded like it was egging his old self to resurface. The side he locked away and hoped to never see again.

Calm the storm. Liam thought to himself as he took a deep shaky breath in.

As he released it, that whisper wasn’t able to be heard again. Liam knew it was still there, but not being able to hear it made him recollect himself and rethink everything in a calm manner.

He could take him on and get this whole thing over with. However, with his current disadvantages, he knew he wasn’t at that level yet. He believed the only reason he had been able to do what he had was because he had gotten lucky. And as the saying goes, lucky streaks come to an end sooner or later.

After coming to a conclusion, Liam whispered, “No.”

“What?” the man asked as a look of disbelief appeared on his face.

“No,” Liam repeated. “I have no reason to fight you. If that’s all you wanted, then I’m out of here.”

Liam started to make his way to the door.

The man, shocked at being declined, stared at him. Without warning he reached for Liam’s shoulder. Before he could grip it, a strong hand grabbed his wrist.

“I think that’s enough Jude,” a deep rich voice stated.

Liam slowly turned to see three people stand between him and the young man.

The one who was holding Jude’s wrist stood three inches taller than Liam. He had a stubbled beard that complimented his short messy pitch-black hair and chocolate skin. His indigo blue eyes gave the surprised individual a disappointed look.

Liam noticed that he was strong, just by how much Jude struggled to free himself.

The second member of the three was female who wasn’t skinny nor hefty. She had some curves that complimented the knee-length dress she wore. Her curly red hair bounced with just the slightest movement of her head.

Her playful topaz eyes stared deep at the instigator as well. Liam couldn’t tell if she was hoping for a fight or something else to happen.

The third person was someone Liam knew. She gave him that mischievous grin she always had when she was ready to tease.

“You alright Liam?” Alicia asked.

Confused, Jude demanded as his wrist was finally free, “What do you think you’re doing, Octavius?”

“Stopping you from doing something stupid,” Octavius answered. He looked at Liam and eyed him for a brief moment before continuing, “What do you think you were about to do?”

“I was just trying to get him to agree to fight me in the arena,” Jude snarled.

“Trying to get him to agree?” the curly red-haired girl repeated.

“I am going to assume he said no, right?” Octavius asked.

 “Yeah, but,” Jude started.

“If he said no then it’s no,” Octavius firmly said with a disapproving tone. “You can’t expect people to agree with you just because you want them to. This isn’t Earth.”

Liam stared at Octavius, then at the red-haired girl and finally at Alicia. After a moment, it clicked. These two must be members of Alicia’s group she mentioned before.

“I don’t care if this is Earth or not,” Jude argued. “If I want to fight someone then I will get that fight. One way or another.”

Liam groaned at his persistent attitude. He felt that if nothing was done, he was going to cause more issues than necessary.

Liam hated people who were persistent for all the wrong reasons. When someone who couldn’t or didn’t take a hint would get under your skin and rub you the wrong way a sour taste was always left in your mouth. When you get that annoying irritating feeling you always end up in a foul mood and clouded your judgement from making the right choices.

After thinking his options over Liam finally chimed in, “Fine.”

The four other people turned to face him.

“Liam, are you sure?” Alicia asked, sounding concerned.

“If it gets him to go away and leave me alone then yes,” Liam answered with an irritated tone of voice. “I don’t care. It’s just a fight. Like…Octavius, was it?” Liam waved a hand in front of him. “Yeah, that’s right. Like Octavius said, this isn’t Earth. A fight in the arena is just like a sparring match.”

“But…,” Octavius started to say.

“He agreed Octavius, don’t change his mind,” Jude interjected. He then scowled as he looked back at Liam and said, “I hope you don’t bring that kind of attitude into our match. I want you to fight me like your life depends on it.”

“Fine,” Liam replied. “How and when do you want to do this?”

“Two days from now at noon. Earth rules,” Jude stated. “Just you and me.”

To many who weren’t from Earth hearing Earth Rules would sound strange. Even to those who had left two years ago. However, those who were stuck till the last minute knew very well what that meant. Anything goes.

“Alright,” Liam said.

Jude smiled wickedly as he started walking backwards. “Good. I look forward to destroying you.” He then turned and walked away.

“Whatever,” Liam muttered as he rolled his eyes.

After Jude had left Alicia turned to him and asked, “Are you seriously going to fight him in the arena? Don’t you know what he is capable of?”

“No, I don’t,” Liam stated feeling annoyed. “But it’s not like he was giving me a choice.”

“There is always a choice. We’re not on Earth anymore. We can…,” Alicia started to argue.

“We can what? Choose not to fight anymore?” Liam countered. “Choose to forget the kind of world we came from? Forget the…”

Liam paused as unpleasant memories swiftly surfaced. He felt his anger start to swell a bit as they forced their way into his mind. He bit his lower lip and plugged those horrible experiences away.

With a soft voice he said, “I want to be able to do that. I want to forget the past and move on. However, I think what we went through was preparing us for something and I think that something is this world.”

“You don’t know that,” Alicia argued.

“You’re right,” Liam agreed. “There’s so much that I don’t know. Why were we summoned here. The real reason, not the reason we were given. Did everyone from every planet get summoned? Did some get left behind? If so, why? Also why did…”

Before Liam could finish a sharp pain pounded against his mind. He placed a hand on his head as he winced from it.

“Are you alright?” Alicia asked as she reached out to him.

Octavius and the other girl looked around to see if someone was casting any spells.

Liam put up a hand to stop her and said as the pain quickly disappeared, “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Alicia questioned as she gave him a look of concern.

“Yes. Sorry about all that,” Liam said. “I know that you were just trying to be helpful. How do you know that guy anyways?”

“When he found out we were from Earth he tried challenging us too. Mainly Octavius here,” Alicia answered as she hitched her thumb in his direction.

Liam looked at him. “Did you accept?”

“Hell no,” Octavius stated with a frown on his face. “Hasn’t stopped him from repeatedly trying to get me to accept though. I have seen him fight in the arena plenty of times. He’s… not someone I can go up against as I am right now.”

Liam studying the man.

His stoic bravado faltered a bit as it looked like he was remembering something. Octavius then shook his head and stated, “If you’re really going to go up against him, I can tell you more of what I’ve seen.”

Liam nodded. “Sure, but first I need to meet up with my team and talk to them about some stuff. Maybe later we can get together for some drinks and go over it then?”

Octavius gave a smile as he nodded, “Sounds like a plan.”

Liam turned to Alicia and asked, “Are you guys heading out or coming in?”

“We’re coming in. We were planning on grabbing a few drinks. Our other members are all out doing gods knows what so it’s just the three of us.”

“Alright, I’ll come find you guys after I’m done talking with my team.” Liam smiled as he walked towards the door.

“Sounds good,” Alicia nodded, returning the smile as they disappeared inside the building.