~JST POV~

I turned my head to look at Cobb and Jones stalking forward. They moved ahead with a practiced ease, swift and subtle. They left footprints in the fine sand, a light breeze would've rustled their clothes if they had any. They were no strangers to party tactics and although some games utilized different battle systems it seems Twoen aimed for something more raw. This would be a fight to the death won only with blood and sweat. The two of them moved to cover my flanks and understanding passed between us, I would handle the middle. Their muscles and mine responded to the minscule movement and tension in the lithe bodies of the huge cats in front of us. Their eyes retained their red glow even in the sun. I watched them with a hawk-like stare, still mirroring their movements. They were lithe, glowing red eyes, sleek black fur, wiry muscles yet a big frame. They stood at 4 feet shoulder height.

Round 1/5 of the Geckan Battle Arena

Three Shade Panthers captured early in their lives. Though normally territorial these three are the last survivors of the original catch which numbered fifteen. Intelligent enough to realize the nature of the arena they have banded together in behavior never before seen in Shade Panthers. These three Shade Panthers are adults now and fan favorites too.

A shift in posture of the lead panther was met with slight lowering of my stance. He hissed and growled at me as his angle of attack was closed. It seemed Cobb was more straightforward with his opponent and with a streak of emerald and black they were upon each other. I decided to bait the panther and glance to Jones, activating Hyperfocus and feigning a half second of being distracted. In that half second Jones could be seen backing up into the colliseum wall. He looked like the epitome of a lost child. Or easy prey.

What could he be thinking?

The lead panther's eyes widened. But his pupils sharpened. With a burst of sand he leaped forward with claws out. He crashed into the sand and seeing no blood he listened and relied on his instincts to point out his prey.

I rolled into the panthers temporary blind spot coming up with knees slightly bent and arms slightly to the side, elbows bent. I could've pulled this manuever off without Hyperfocus but time slowing by 10% isn't something to take for granted. I was up close againt the panthers muscular torso when I caught sight of his left ear twitch. Quickly I brought my knee into his ribs in a crushing display of force add to that 46% increase in damage from Unarmed Combat The panther yelped as its body was lifted upwards for a split second it backed off slowly towards a patch of shade, cat-like eyes flicking across my body in hesitation. As soon as its back paw touched the shade it smirked at me. And vanished.

Shit. It's a fucking Shade Panther and there's shade everywhere. No wonder they reached adulthood in here.

I glanced at Cobb who was in the middle of the arena. He could barely be seen in the cloud of dust that formed in his area. Though I still saw green in short bursts so I wrote him off as fine. The sounds of battle could clearly be heard within and occasional growling and yelping was audible. I took a deep breath and ran towards Jones. The branch of the tree above me was super long, its shadow extended all the way to the Arena wall. Very close to where Jones was fighting. I ran fast and unsurprisingly the lead panther emerged from the shadows behind LoneJones.

I cupped my hands still sprinting, ready to use all my remaining breath to shout warning. It wasn't needed. It might've been my imagination but as Jones and his panther circled each other, I could see Jones grin. His spider hairs were up.

Both panthers lunged at him leaving Jones trapped against the Arena wall. One directly in front while the lead panther trapped him from behind. What happened next was nothing short of amazing. He crawled up the wall quickly utilzing his septules for an easy grip and while he could've stayed in safety, he went on the offensive. As soon as his original panther was mid leap he shot off the wall and using his momentum, grabbed the panther by the ear and surrounding fur, and snapped its neck. The panther's body became limp, taut muscles became useless as its head lolled to far to one side. Its body impacted the grainy sand and dragged to a stop creating a small pile of sand at my feet as I walked up. It was a clean kill, no injuries on the panthers body at all, a clean severing of the spinal cord.

"It doesn't look like I'll be getting out that way." He gestured to the Geckan Spearmen lining the Arena walls. They were probably experienced in handling monsters that could crawl up the walls or try to escape. It's plausible the very first rows of the seating were exposed to the sunlight in order to contain the Shade Panthers.

"Shit I didn't even know you could do that." I said never taking my eyes off the lead panther who began to pace around in the shade.

"It's my race skill. An extra sense and I can climb very easily." He said. Trusting in my watch he was indifferent to the remaining panther on our side of the Arena. Instead he was gazing into the dust cloud catching emerald flashes.

A brief ear splitting whine pierced the commotion in the stands, it came from the dust cloud in the middle of the arena. The leader flicked his eyes toward the dust cloud and howled. Confused I glanced toward the dispersing cloud to see the panther trapped in cage of spikes. Surprisingly it seemed fine, none of the spikes pierced the body save for the last one through its head. When I glanced around him I realized that none of the extremely long branches reached the middle of the arena. Did he lead the Shade Panther there on purpose away from the shade?

Seeing its chance the lead panther roared and rushed us the sun shined on its teeth and claws. Jones noticed my demeanor and turned around as well. The panther was growling and his red eyes seemed full of hate which was understandable since we just killed his friends. Jones sidestepped to the right while I deflected his claws by slapping his paws. He headbutted me and my breath gave away. It grunted and snapped its mouth to the right. I could see gold hair through the panthers maw, Jones was busy. I was pushed into the shade behind me and grappled with the panthers front. His claws dug into my legs and and torso but the damage was managable thanks to my racial skill. I grappled his huge head, shifted my weight and threw him over my head utilizing the muscles of my whole body as well as the panthers own intertia. He landed in the shade and before he crashed onto his back he was absorbed into the shadow harmlessly.

Well that wasn't supposed to go down like that. I mean he wasn't supposed to go down like that. He didn't even go down how is that even fair.

He emerged in the same spot upright.

"We can't fight him in the shade. It's impossible." I said breathing heavily. Jones was studying my injuries and his eyes flicked to my face briefly.

"No we can't, we either keep chasing shadows or we bring this into the sun." He said looking away. Apparently satisfied of my condition.

I inspected myself. Some of my scales were peeling off thanks to those claws. It looked like my skin was missing random patches here and there. I intentionally made my skin darker yet kept it in the human range so I could hide the outline of my scales, every secret is a weapon as they say. Even then that maneuver was dangerous and hard even with my added strength, if I didnt have the technique down it wouldn't have been possible.

I glanced around for something to use but there was none. I checked my status and turned on my notifications again since it seemed that the panther wasn't gonna leave the shadows.

"Keep an eye on the panther i'm gonna check my shit." I said as Cobb jogged up to me and Jones

"I got it man. Check yours too." He nodded to Jones. Surprisingly he was holding a sandstone sword and by the looks of it, it was sharp. He turned to the panther and set his jet black eyes on it.

Ugh i'm gonna call him Jenifurr from now on. Thinking of him as panther doesn't give him enough respect.

Class: - Name: JST

Title: -

HP: 143/320 Lvl: 18

Effects:

Race Druman: +10 STR, +20 END,

MP: 51/51

SP: 165/430 STR: 40 CHR: 10 END: 60 INT: 10 WIS: 10 LUK: 10 Stat Points: 55

Hard Scales (Race Skill) (Passive) - Beginner 10 (88%)

Unarmed Combat - Intermediate 5 (2%)

Hyperfocus - Beginner 5 (23%)

Congratulations on reaching level 15!

Upon reaching level 15 your skills are analyzed and a number of Classes are made available to you. Your performance in game is also taken into account and available Classes are tweaked to match your behavior or dominant playstyle. A class may grant you a variety of things, from passive effects, active skills, new quests, unique interactions with the inhabitants of Twoen and much much more!

Unfortunately you have not gained five skills yet which are generally used to formulate a list of Classes for you. In addition because you have been only in game for 7 hours of gametime data on your behavior and playstyle is not yet sufficient to suggest any classes for you. Class leveling effects will apply for every level after 15 if applicable.

Play longer or harder to generate more data and earn new skills for your class selection to pop up!

Unarmed Combat - Intermediate 5 (2%)

Fighting with nothing on you but your own body is an art. Your body is a weapon and with it you can kill.

Effects:

+ 46% increase in damage when no weapons equipped

+ 10% speed when attacking barehanded

I glanced at Jones and he seemed pretty happy which was understandable. Apparently he got the notice too. I get it it's nice to see how our classes will be dictated and handed out. What's especially reassuring is that we won't lose out in any levels we gain without a class. It's even more so when you realize that normally getting to this level through standard means is insanely difficult. The amount of progress we made in such a short time is attributed to the enviroment we began in. Normal people wouldn't last.

I dumped my stat points into STR and END as that's gonna be the most immediate help. In addition I won't be losing out since those two stats are most likely going to be crucial to my effectiveness as an upclose variant. I took a look at the Unarmed Combat and skill and noticed a new effect. The 10% speed must have come with reaching a new tier but since I only have one skill thats intermediate it's too early to judge. I'll have to ask the others later. With that in mind I took watch along with Jones who shifted his feet and shaded his eyes to peer into the shade. Even though it's just shade Jennifur's sleek fur blended shockingly well with the darkness.

"Shit he's hard to see. We'll keep eyes on him Cobb go ahead." I said with a nod. I got into a comfortable stance and waited. "We'll discuss what to do after."

"Alright man." He formed a replica of a very familiar chair in sandstone as ethereal emerald converted to match the sword he held. Keep in mind we were still all naked so he looked like a human statue since the colors of his skin, hair and eyes dissappeared, being replaced with a light brown. Such control.

And as I glanced at him my mind flashed to a glorious battlefield hundreds of thousands of players stretched across a great plain. Contavia Online.

~FLASHBACK~

To my right was a wizard of the highest order who layed waste to the battlefield, hundreds of players died under his wrathful magic, relentless meteors fell from the sky, raging fire engulfed the plains, forceful water protected our armies, and angry gusts of winds divided theirs. There was no hiding from his power, his control was unparalleled and even when a powerful enemy wizard gathered enough mana to threaten him, his magic was countered and extinguished. Still, his power was almost never matched. When his magical power was met with an equal power, he prevailed in skill every time. This was my brother, Cojab. But even he was still bound by the chains of the system. With great magic came great price. As his mana depleted his intensity waned, yet his control never faltered. A large war like this calls for the use of area of effect magic and that's what he focused on, still the control he exerted over such wild magic as was astounding. But the price? He was unable to protect himself from the small fry that passed through with dumb luck or the ones strong enough to resist him. They were a threat my brothers health if they made it to him, a mage was inheritly frail, especially so without mana. This was the main reason that surrounding the hill we were positioned on were bodies. They weren't killed by magic, they were cut by my blade. All of them. Nothing got close to my brother if was around. Even the most experienced swordsman that had the defensive capablities to resist my brothers magic was cut down, another body to the pile. Everything died by my hand, players, npcs, animal companions, golems, familiars, none got past. Earlier that day I drew a line that marked where nothing would pass me. Nothing did.

"Sir! Your brother he got through!" One of the diviners relayed.

"So he made it?" Cojab said, his voice carrying through wind magic.

"What'd you expect?! We created that monster after all!" I yelled over my shoulder as I cut down yet another Paladin.

That makes one hundred and thirty seven. One hundred thirty seven Paladins.

Soon after the enemy army was in disarray. Knights and Warriors left formation. Healers were frantically focusing on the most damaged allies and overhealed. Archers haphazardly chose random targets. Beasts and summoned minions or familiars got in the way of the main force. It was a spectacle, in the next hour they only became more unorganized.

It was if someone was killing their leading officers.

One by one.

~END~

The intuition and forethought that Cobb demonstrated in leading the Shade Panther out of its element and the speed at which he grasped the magic system.The precision and deadliness that Jones showcased in his swift elimination of his panther. Only two people I knew could've pulled something off like that.

I took a deep inhale. It was the first time since I started that there was a lull in action and no immediate danger. "Well, let's get this over with then." I exhaled. "Brothers." I said finishing.

They both smiled at me.