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Post by giantfiredog on Jun 20, 2023 5:00:41 GMT
Rory raised a brow at the Arbiter's description, but didn't seem bothered. Nor did he seem bothered as they went down further and further into the underground. He had been to the undercity, he had even lived there for a time. It wasn't anything new to him.
As they entered the room and he took it all in, it didn't take much for him to know that whatever this transfusion was it wasn't going to be pleasant. Looking to the scientist and then the Arbiter, he took a beat to process what was happening. He was going to be strapped to that chair. They only spot there wasn't a strap was the left arm which meant something was probably going to be done to it in order to make the transfusion possible? Or just as a test of him... who knows... either way, he didn't care much.
With a long sigh, he sauntered over to the chair and dropped into it. He even placed his arms and legs right where they were needed for the clasps, laying his left arm on the rest as well in a perfect position to be stuck with needles, or attacked, or whatever it was they intended to do. He was smirking at the Arbiter with a brow raised and no signs of fear for what was to occur. "So do I at least get a lap dance before you poor lava into my arm?" He joked, using his description back at him. Rory clearly wasn't lying about being crazy in his description of himself at least. Perhaps stupid as well.
The doctor pauses at Rory's comment, blinking as she registers what the boy just said. "Eh?" The Arbiter snickers. "Hehe, don't mind him, he's eccentric,"The doctor shakes her head. "O... Kay?" She presses a button and the latches lock Rory in place. She sets about measuring the circumference of Rory's arm, making it with temporary marker whilst writing notes on a piece of paper. Several scientists in the background start pressing buttons that make the machine whir to life. The scientist wheels over a stand with a large ring resting on it. The ring is designed so it can be adjusted wider or smaller, and she changes it accordingly. Attached to the ring are a dense assortment of tubes and hoses. After finalizing her adjustments, she nods to the Arbiter. The Arbiter nods back. "Alright, kiddo. Apologies in advance," He says, before gripping the hilt of the sword at his hip— A burst of pain erupts from Rory's arm, followed by a horrifying numbness. If he looks he'll see his arm has been completely sliced off below the shoulder with a perfectly clean cut. The scientist wastes no time, attacking the ring to the stump that used to be his arm. The tubes all connect presumably to Rory's exposed veins and arteries. After that, the pale-green liquid surges down the tubes and into Rory's body. A searing pain works its way through him, his veins visibly lighting up as the liquid is pumped into him. More and more of his body progressively burns from within, and once the glow reaches his eyes and ears his senses go haywire. His vision goes completely white and his ears ring so loudly he can't hear anything going on around him. He is left in a white void with only the horrific, burning pain to keep him company. With his senses completely overpowered he has no frame of reference on how much time has passed. It could've been a minute, ten minutes, an hour, perhaps an eternity. After an inexplicable amount of time, Rory feels a new sensation welling up from within him. Contrasting the intense burning, it is a comforting warmth, akin to what one would feel after eating a hearty meal or cozying up to a campfire. It also evokes a feeling of vitality and refreshment. The sensation grows and begins supplanting the burning, until finally his senses start to return. As his vision fades into view, everything looks different. Well, not necessarily different— But more detailed. It's like the vision he had before was blurry and now he was seeing the world with perfect clarity. Everything around him seems to move slower as well, almost like the world itself has slowed down. The Arbiter grins to Rory as the ring is removed from the stump of Rory's arm. The Arbiter nods to it as a totally new and unusual sensation becomes known to him. He begins to feel his arm again, though it's more of a progression. Looking down, he sees his arm regrowing right before his eyes; bone; sinew; muscle; and skin works its way down until his elbow is back, then his wrist, and finally his hand. His whole limb is back, as if it had never been cut off in the first place. Rory also feels no sense of bodily illness, and any scars he has have completely vanished as well. It's like his body has been completely reset to a clean, pure, and ideal state. "Congratulations, Rory. You are now something more than human," The Arbiter says as the chair's latches open up to let Rory stand. |
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Post by ghostmytoast on Aug 30, 2023 21:28:27 GMT
Rory suprisingly didn't scream when his arm was cut off. In fact, he didn't scream during the entire process. He grew up knowing not to show weakness or pain. Clearly he was in pain, his deep breathing, sweating, and occasional grunt was more than enough evidence of that. He also would curse under his breathe from time to time. It wasn't until everything went white that he started to show signs of... not pain... more like fear. He tensed up and stared off into the nothing as his breathing became staggered and strained. Being in a white void meant he didn't know who was there, if anyone at all. Being alone with nothing but his own thoughts wasn't a good feeling for him, it never had been. He began looking around slowly, as though deperately trying to find someone, ANYONE there. But there was nothing. For the longest time there was nothing. Silent tears even began steaking his cheeks as he questioned if something went wrong it would be this way forever; with his quest for a family ending in him being more alone than ever had been before.
It felt like days had passed by the time the new feelings of warmth started flowing through his vains. Yet even then he didn't start calming down until his senses returned. Once they did, he looked around in what seemed to be a panic for a moment as he confirmed that he was still in the same room as before and there were, indeed, people there with him. His breathing steadied and he looked down and closed his eyes as he tried to regain his composure. Once he was released the first thing he did was wipe his face and tried to play it off like it didn't happen. He got up from the chair and plastered his dumb, cocky grin right back where it belonged as the Arbiter congratulated him on his successful transformation. He even walts over and picked up his own arm to examine it as thought nothing bothered him at all. "Sweet!" He chimed, his voice not showing an ounce of his previous state of panic, as he turned to the man used his own severed hand as a back scratcher. "I get to keep this right?" Then something else dawned on him and he perked up and tossed the arm aside, clearly having been joking a second ago. "We go to the guild now, yeah!?" This seemed to be what he was waiting for, for whatever reason. He didn't seem to care about any other aspect of becoming a hunter. He didn't even seem to care about the feeling of perfect health that, supposedly, was his main reason for joining according to his previous statements. The guild was the main focus of his thoughts. A place full of people like him. A place he could feel at home. Maybe even people he could share it with. It was all getting closer and closer by the moment.
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Post by giantfiredog on Aug 15, 2024 18:17:36 GMT
The Arbiter laughs at Rory using his severed arm as a backscratcher. "Haha! Now that's pretty morbid, but morbid is kind of a Hunter's MO," He responds jovially. He nods toward the door and leads Rory back out into the hallway. "We aren't quite done yet. We can't move on to the headquarters until you get a feel for your new capabilities, so we'll be running you through a few tests to get you up to speed," He explains. They travel further down the hallway and then enter a door on the left, leading into a large room that was clearly some kind of gym, but it was not like any gym Rory had seen before. Nearby was a table with several inch-thick steel plates on it. Behind that was a bunch of dispensers of some kind all oriented to point toward a large X on the floor, and behind that was clearly a sparring ring. The other half of the gym was made up of a huge mess of metal bars and rods, but more troubling than that were many vicious looking hooks. It seemed rather perilous to traverse to say the least.
"Welcome to the Initiate's Gym. We have a bigger and better one at HQ, but this one will suffice for our purposes," The Arbiter explains. He goes and grabs one of the steel plates, before holding it out toward Rory with a smile. "First off, strength. As a Hunter you are on a whole other level of strength compared to a mere human. Give it your best punch, I'm sure you'll like what you see,"
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Post by ghostmytoast on Aug 15, 2024 21:56:20 GMT
Rory sighed, pouted, and kicked the arm out of the way as he followed the arbiter. For someone who constantly complained about being called a kid, he really had a way of acting like one. That was just one of his many charms though. He should of figured it wouldn't be so easy. Not that the shift was easy in the slightest, but he clearly was just itching to get to his new home and try to make friends... maybe more than friends? Who was to say? Whatever made it so he didn't have to spend that night in a room alone was aces with him.
As the entered the gym, the mercenary wondered through it and got a feel for everything there. It was certainly interesting, with exercises and equipment he had never seen before. "Huh... and hunters enjoy these..." He raised a brow as he went to poke one of the hooks. "Exercises?" Coming back over the the arbiter, he shrugged and noted. "I mean I ain't one to kink shame. That would make me a hypocrite, but like... sure is a lot to just have out in the open."
As the man brought out the steel plate, the small warrior stared at it for a moment, his brow growing ever higher. He was skeptical. Rory was able to wield a great axe that was nearly the same size as him before, but something told him punching a thick, steel plate wasn't smart. But he already had his arm severed to get to his end goal, what was a broken hand right?
So, with a shrug of his shoulder, he stepped back a bit, stretch, and got into stance. From how he readied himself for a fight, it was obvious Rory was a bawler who's fighting instructor was the streets he grew up on. He was someone ready to grab whatever he could find and use it as a weapon... and probably be pretty damn effective with it. While the axe was his go to, he clearly was am improviser. He was an unpolished, untrained, and dirty fighter for sure; but he was also one that could do the job and do it well. Once he was focused on the target he locked in like an animal and charged, delivering a punch that even before would have sent someone twice his size to their knees.
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Post by giantfiredog on Aug 15, 2024 22:10:11 GMT
The Arbiter cocks an eyebrow at what Rory says. "Enjoy?" He puzzles for a few moments then laughs. "Haha! Well some Hunters probably do, but no, these exercises are to prepare you for the job. We don't do this because it's fun, we do this because we must," He clarifies, then shrugs. "But it's not like enjoying these things is bad or anything. So long as you get results we don't care how sadistic or off your rocker you are,"
As Rory delivers a fierce punch to the solid steel plate, it quite literally shatters, sending shrapnel flying in the direction of his punch. However it'd also be accompanied by a sickening CRACK of his knuckles fracturing. However just as quickly as the pain came, the injury would mend itself until it was little more than an afterthought. The Arbiter whistles appreciatively. "Impressive punch there. It's not the most refined form I've ever seen but your combat experience definitely shows," He compliments... Sort of.
He sets the plate (or rather what's left of it) back on the table as he continues. "No doubt you've noticed the self-injury. While most of the infusion's effects occur instantly, your body's durability will take a couple weeks to catch up to your newfound strength. By the time you're out in the field your bones won't break so easily as they do right now," He then nods toward the half of the gym occupied with a mess of bars. Getting a closer look he'd notice the painful looking hooks are much more common the closer to the ground you are. The floor of the space is made up almost entirely of these hooks. He presses a button on a nearby console and Rory sees a few orbs light up throughout the jungle gym from hell; one is located at the very top, attached to the ceiling; one is smack in the middle of if all; one is located on the floor right in the thick of a bunch of hooks; and one... Is entirely separate from the gym, high up on a wall far out of reach. None of the bars even come close to where the orb is.
"Your objective is to collect each of these orbs and return them back to me. The orbs are very fragile, if you drop them or grip them too hard they'll break and you'll have to start over. Also you have to bring all of them back to me at the same time," He smiles. "However there is no time limit for this test. Feel free to take it as slowly and cautiously as you feel you need to. You can use any means available to you to acquire the orbs,"
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