Author notes before the chapter quickly starts: I am the original author from royal road, I am migrating not because of the webnovel contest, but to get away from professionals evaluating my work.
disclaimer: I am not plagiarizing nor am I cheating the contest, I didn't even plan on joining the contest. But I will no longer be uploading in royal road.
And please if you're a professional, please leave me alone.
Who is this person?
What could they possibly want?
Auto examines the mysterious person to be a man, 'judging by his confidence alone this man is dangerous and has multiple tricks up his sleeve.'
'I better be careful, he seems to be unarmed. But what's while that smile? It's creepy and I can't even see his eyes.'
"Augh I just got off from a fight what do you want from me?" Auto triggered a stance as he prepared for an attack.
"Relax, relax I'm not here to fight you. I'm just here to wonder, do you have a wish?" The mysterious top-hat wearing man asked politely.
"Hah. A wish? Are you some sort of genie or magician or something? Because I don't believe in wishes coming true." Auto said while panting heavily with a devilish grin.
"Hey you seem a little feisty, too bad I don't bleed. Say' do you wanna know my name?" The Wish Granter offered.
"Hmm, seems interesting enough. Go ahead, but I won't let my guard down." Auto said in response as to which the mysterious man just nodded.
"Very well my good sir, I am The Wish Granter." He answered and applause, he flicked his fingers and illuminated the entire with a sudden surge of light.
"Shit goddamn it I wasn't expecting that." Auto said completely blinded by the effect, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. It was The Wish Granter, Auto reacted by attempting to stab him but he dodged. "Dang I was caught off guard, I can't see him neither. The light was too strong my eyes won't turn back to normal yet, I have to push through with pure instincts and luck." Auto gave a scornful groan, and once again he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"What with this guy why does he keep trying to reveal himself?" Again he reacted with a pre-emptive stab, but once again it didn't connect. "Goddamn it, this guy must be going light speed." Auto bewildered by the immaculate assertion of power.
"Woah chill out kid, I ain't here to hurt ya." The Wish Granter tried to reassure him, but Auto went in for a lunge. "Yeah right, like as if you wouldn't throw a flash bomb like that for no reason." Auto derided it off saying "I can see full well now, my vision's slowly rehabilitating. Don't expect me to not go all out with my body all torn up from my recent fights, you're a coward for suddenly ambushing a child." He belittled his feats.
The Wish Granter just grins and says "You're the one who suddenly attacked me, listen kid you're talented for your age but you're pretty arrogant too. What makes you think I can't take you down? Also I'm pretty sure you're going too far trying to fight someone trying to help you." The Wish Granter said in response.
"Hah, you can't take me on. Everyone says I'm a monster, no one and nothing I've faced have ever defeated me even at my lowest. An ambusher like you wouldn't understand." Auto shouted fiercely. But The Wish Granter just scoffed.
"Looks like I need to teach you a new lesson. Social outcasts always need someone to pull them out of their rabbit hole, c'mon let's get this fight going I don't got much time." The Wish Granter said approaching Auto fully aware this will aggro him into a direct attack. And his guess was right Auto went in for a lunge but The Wish Granter dodged it. He snapped Auto's elbow and threw him tumbling towards a tree.
"Is that all you got? You full well know that you're low on potions. Is your ego not fed enough for ya'? Most people in your situation would be popping all their speed potions to evacuate to the nearest kingdom." The Wish Granter made him aware, that he was an adversary like none before.
"Shut yer' trap magician nerd." Auto threw a right cut with his arm fully healed, "No fair kid you're a nerd too." The Wish Granter held Auto on his attacking arm, bent over a bit. Prepared a take down form and pulled Auto's body down, Auto reacted quickly bringing the fight to the ground. As he fell he wrapped his legs around The Wish Granters upper body and brought him down to an arm bar. 'gotcha now Wish guy.'
The Wish Granter tore off his own arm rolled to the side regrew it but before it could fully regrow Auto kicked it with dirt hoping to infect it later on in the fight, he took the chance to stab him with a dagger. But both his attacks were worthless as The Wish Granter snapped his fingers and teleported behind him fully recovered. 'not so fast kid.'
The Wish Granter threw a right jab, Auto dodged threw a cross aimed for an uppercut but was countered by The Wish Granter with a hook. Auto took a ghost step back, he reacted in time for The Wish Granter aiming for a round house kick he swooped under the kick and landed a takedown by holding the right foot up and sweeping the left hind foot. 'not so fast aren't ya now ambusher?"
They're back to ground combat and Auto landed 107 furious punches having pinned down and mounted The Wish Granter all of which was blocked by The Wish Granter unscathed, the battle was happening so fast that in real time not even 12 seconds passed. 'Stuff like that can't hurt me kiddo."
The Wish Granter managed to get out of the mount by pulling Auto down in a grappling position unfavorable to him forcing him to release The Wish Granter from the mount and used a charge potion to escape. 'Kid escaped dang.'
The Wish Granter catches him off guard and tornado kicks him mid-air. He offers to duel with a saber and dagger into which Auto accepts. "Saber and dagger my specialty." Auto smiled devilishly, "Oh I know." The Wish Granter said also with a smile on his face.
The two clashed Auto going for a thrust, feint, step backwards parry a blow from The Wish Granter. The Wish Granter aimed for another feint with the saber planning on controlling Auto's blade with the dagger and sliding the sword to slit his neck, Auto foresees this and dodged the saber feint controlling the thrust with his dagger and thrusted with his own sword.
What Auto forgot is that The Wish Granter can regenerate so he would still be conscious to attack with the dagger. He reacted quickly and sliced a larger part of The Wish Granter's torso to get his hand away from the range of the dagger but this gave away important blade control over his opponent's sword, he purposefully exploded a potion knocking him off to a tree.
"Dirty tactic there huh kid?" The Wish Granter chuckled, "Yours too, but it's kind of sad that one of us has to die. If only we could be friends and not enemies." Auto smiled in camaraderie, "Who said one of us has to die?" The Wish Granter asked.
"My ego." Auto lunged quickly, aiming for a thrust, but his blow missed and instead of going for a strike The Wish Granter waited. 'A cut? no a feint, moved his blade around my cut deliberately, and is now on a favorable position because I charged my body a little bit too forward.' Auto pondered as time slowed down, realizing the crucial mistake in his pattern.
One wrap around Auto's blade, Auto reacted, Auto as a last ditch effort went for a toe touch with his saber distracting The Wish Granter. But The Wish Granter quickly recovers from the embarrassment, with dagger on the left hand he used it to control Auto's blade moving forward. Auto's saber came in contact with the dagger and The Wish Granter tried to land a cut, by flicking over the curvature of his blade breaching through Auto's guard.
Auto was grazed in the shoulder and retaliates 'Goddamn it I don't got much time to think I guess I just gotta react.' Auto thought to himself.
He begins his attack by going for a parry trade, they continued on with a blade control battle with daggers. To which they both agreed to ditch their daggers and continued fighting with sabers. The battle has only been going on for about 2 - 3 minutes and it is already getting egregious.
Auto went for a no. 1 with a deliberate miss, dodging a strike into a moulinet wrap around the blade and went for a forward cut, narrowly dodging a counter from The Wish Granter. Step back from Auto sword contact from The Wish Granter, Auto controlled The Wish Granter's sword retreating his extension while keeping the sabers in contact. He had enough leverage to aim for a cut in the neck and so he did, sliding the curvature of the blade he slit The Wish Granter's neck.
But The Wish Granter did not fall.
"Round 3." The Wish Granter cackled menacingly. He snapped his fingers and started warping reality "It's time for a round of space hopping." He said as he snapped again.
They were snapped into a place filled with 3d forms, abstract shapes, intricate geometric patterns and formations that can overstimulate and overflow a human mind. There were complex mathematical formations and reality itself had been translate into absolute mental terror.
Auto who was adamant in adapting, ignored the pain and the bleeding in his eye sockets to withhold his target; The Wish Granter. With immaterialized compressed might, he used every ounce of his capability to even just reach The Wish Granter.
But he could not, the mental damage became physical, the physical psychological, so on and so on. Faced with a terrifying adversary Auto did not fret instead he laughed "They say soldiers die with honor... At first I found it stupid... But I get it now, I won't die in honor... I surrender." He said as he collapsed onto the ground.
The Wish Granter stood on his head and said "Oh no you don't, get back up you still need a beating." Before snapping his fingers and bringing him back to life.
He kicked Auto off the ground picked him up by the collars slapped him into a mirror breaking the reality even more. He snapped his fingers and brought Auto to an oxygen chamber where he lit a match and caused an explosion.
But the fun's not over yet, he snapped his fingers slapped Auto conscious and made he see where he is. "Gah! I'm breathing water, wait no? It's not water. How can I breathe water? Oxygenated preflurocarbon, but why?" Auto pondered. But quickly he realized he was in a sea of rats, Auto began fending off the rats chasing his tail. (Wait that doesn't sound right isn't it the other way around?)
But he found it difficult having to swim underwater, he looked at The Wish Granter calmly snacking inside a bubble and tried man handling him. But his voice was inaudible inside the liquid. "Have a fun time, this is your training." The Wish Granter told him while snacking on a bag of chips. Auto gave him a finger while swimming away from the rats.
"Aw he'll get used to it, after all he agreed to work under me now." The Wish Granter said calmly finding the entire thing to be cute and funny, I don't think Auto would say the same thing.
"Say, this place is seriously mucky. I don't like eating with a lot of rats swimming time for a change of scenery." He snapped his fingers and like magic they're in a grass field. Where there was a count down of 8 hours, and a perplexed unmediated blood boiling Auto screaming at him at the top of his lungs.
"HEY I SAID I SURRENDERED WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TORTURING ME?!" Auto shouted. But The Wish Granter waved it off saying "Hey I'm not torturing you, this is your trial. No powers okay?" He said as he snapped his fingers and vanished, a countdown started and given little time to asses the predicament Auto's intuition immediately told him to run to a chest.
He hid inside and he heard a blaring thump, the thumping noises grew stronger, and so did Auto's curiosity. He open a peek hole to take a closer look, but what he saw horrified him to death. 'Normally I wouldn't be scared of such a creature. Why do I feel my heart beating loudly?' The entity got closer and was about to open the chest, blood dripped down out of the peek hole disabling Auto from knowing the occurrences outside his area.
Auto's heart began thumping louder, his breath became sharper, and the looming threat becoming more imminent. The thumping turned into crawling, a large creaking with slow slushing. The stench of blood and flesh penetrate the air as the creaking draws closer... And closer... Untill...
Someone throws a pebble "Over here ya' maniac." A woman with a pony tail taunted the beast at his furiously began chasing it. She leaped up onto a branch and narrowly dodged its path, but the six-legged beast was not gonna let it go so easily.
Wrapped around all of this commotion a chest shook from the tension, but not enough to open and reveal Auto's location. The blood cleared off from the peek hole giving enough moon light for Auto to see a hidden letter, it read;
'If I could give a detailed description of that beast, I could say its hardly even human. It walks on 6 mutilated spider legs, but it reeks of flesh mixed into concrete. it has feathers wrapped around it's body covering every part except for it's legs and tail. It has a hornet's tail, but instead of stings it drips out blood and feces. Sometimes even heads of what seems to be desecrated corpses of human victims. And its face, its face is horrendous I can't even properly describe it. But I warn you, if you see a creepy doll looking face, it has red beamy eyes. With a pure white vanilla face and clown blush. If you ever see something like this, you do not have the option to run or hide. But your only goal is to survive, survive until daylight, that thing, that thing is no owl.'
"Creepy..." Auto let out in concern. "I guess I'll have to do what this paper says and hide... No survive until dawn." He clung on tight to the piece of paper.
Meanwhile the pony tailed girl was still barely holding on to dear life as the owl chased her into the tree while laughing sensationally with a sharp screech every now and then mimicking that of a which and evil clown.
'God damn it, what have I gotten myself into?'The girl sighed as she held tightly onto a branch.
With the little hope left remaining, her dearest wish is to live until daylight.
But will that even be possible?