NovaCeres

Chapter One

I fight a ninja with a metal bar and get kidnapped, even though I'm not a kid

Sunlight filtered through the trees like a curtain, seeping through the mist and illuminating a single being resting on the grassy floor. The person's chest heaved up and down in great gasps, and their pupils were dark slits against the whites of their eyes. If one was to describe their expression, they would simply say that it showed the truest form of pure and undeniable fear. The person’s arm twitched, and with an incredible amount of strength and willingness, brought from his inventory a potion of healing. He then tipped the bottle into his mouth, and his eyes adjusted to their normal size and he relaxed, all the tension of the day released. With a groan of effort, he pushed himself up and surveyed the area before pulling out a small metal disk. It resembled a compass, but instead of one hand it had seven, and each little piece had an icon engraved on it. The first showed a dragon, the second was a creeper, the third was a human, the fourth was a forest, the fifth was engraved with growling wolves, the sixth was an enderman, and the seventh showed, in high detail, a stronghold. The dragon and human hands swiveled toward the right, while the forest and wolf hands swiveled forward. The stronghold needle quivered for a second, and then shot off the disk and hovered in the air, pointing straight down. Pulling out a shovel, he scooped up the dirt until he had a two-by-two hole in the ground. Hopping down, he dug his hand into the dirt and pulled up a large iron trapdoor. The top was rusted and the hinges screeched as he opened it up to reveal a never ending void below. He climbed out of the hole and after tying a rope around a nearby tree, dropped the rope down the hole. Sliding down, he hit the bottom with a muffled thump and dust swirled around his feet in great, thick clouds. Coughing, he drew a torch from his inventory and struck it against the ground. It sparked, and the torch tip burst into flames. Looking around, he held it in front of him like a shield. Squinting in the darkness, he could make out the vague shapes of the hand-carved stone walls and floors that decorated the stronghold. Walking to one side, he traced the intricate carving depicting an ocean temple. Everything from the divers to the guardians themselves was taken into mind, and carved with such accuracy it looked as though he could jump right into the water. Shafts of light streamed down like pieces of fabric blowing in the wind, and the gravel littering the bottom was chiseled to show each stone complete with minuscule details such as the fish and plants. Turning away, and silently vowing not to get distracted again, he walked further down into a large hallway. Suddenly he heard a crunch and bending down, found a map sitting on the floor, neglected and covered with dust. He stepped back and picked it up. It displayed the stronghold from a bird’s eye view and was covered in black X's and icons that looked like a strange, small bug. The room he was just in had a black x, and he took one look before hurrying away. Stopping, he saw a single tail flick out of his circle of light before the sound of the wind was heard and his torch flickered once, then went out. Plunged into darkness, he saw a light further down the hall and stumbled toward it to find a dropped torch. There was a lot of fuel left, which meant he was not alone. He shivered, and then standing over it, shouted out “I know you're there, come and face me you, coward!” Not a moment after, he felt a sharp prod on his back as a sword was pressed there and a muffled voice said in a deep tone, “You believe I am a coward?” He couldn't tell what gender the person was, and simply replied without thinking, “Yes, I do.” The blade was pressed harder, and the voice replied with an even, calm tone, “Then you have neglected to realize this is a trap,” It continued, “Which means you are dumber than I thought. Recognize this?” And a poster was thrust into his face. It depicted a young man with medium-short hair, tanned skin, and a scar running from his left ear to his chin. There was only one thing that caught his eye, a group of words that said: Wanted: 10,000 blocks. Sighing, he realized that this person was on a bounty hunt… For him. The person chuckled, and then shoved him down. He flipped around and drew his sword, finally getting a look at his captor's face. It was a female, with long black hair, pulled into two separate braids and then twisted into a big ponytail. Her mouth and nose were covered with a mask, and her eyes were slits like cats. She also had a tail, which was half covered in fur and half covered in scales. It twitched back in forth in an irritated fashion, and then thumped on the floor. Her clothes were a pitch black material that was covered in a dust-like layer of shimmering flecks. With a sudden thought, he realized that the clothes were made of camo-fabric. The rarest fabric in the world, only given to the most successful bounty hunters and the most ruthless of those in the kingdom's highest rank, the shifters. Shifters were last resort bounty hunters that never failed. Their job was jokingly referred to as the king's execution squad, which was quite unfortunately true. This one had a hood with a transparent mesh and a very tight fit. Her blade was diamond, but the edge was covered in a poison. One scratch and you would be unconscious in one hour, dead in two. The blade also featured a small knife drenched in poison, in case the shifter was captured or was fatally wounded. The poison would disintegrate the corpse and the fabric at the same time. He looked back at her, and she lunged her blade forward. He blocked, but his sword was only stone and the top cracked and scattered into a fine dust from the impact. He got up and ran, not caring where he was going. He skidded to a halt at the end and ran into a nearby room. Suddenly he heard a click, and the door behind him locked as a figure stepped in. “I was right. You aren't that smart.” And then she lunged forward with incredible strength and speed, making no sound at all. He ducked and dived, then wrenched one of the loose bars in the door and used it as a sword. As he fought, each echo rang through the hall and he became aware of a peculiar feeling on his shirt. Momently distracted, she landed a sharp blow to his head using the flat part of the sword, and he staggered back before falling in a crumpled heap. Well, seems I need to work on my ducking skills, he thought right before he fainted. A smile formed on her face, and she hoisted him onto her shoulder to head back to the kingdom.