Word: Roc

roc

[rok]

noun

Arabian Mythology.

1. a bird of enormous size and strength

 

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                “I don’t get why we need to bring this much stuff to kill one bird.” Luke said as he hefted his oversized backpack. He needed to adjust it before they really started to climb the mountain, making sure it wouldn’t slip off.

                “First of all, we’re not here to kill it.” Nera corrected. “We’re just trying to get one feather. Second of all, it’s not just a bird. It’s a Roc. That means we need to prepare accordingly.”

                “A rock? I thought we were after a bird. And why would a rock have feathers?”

                The other party members stopped and turned to look at the large man. Luke paused as well, looking at his team members and waiting for them to answer him.

                “Luke, you do know what a Roc is, right?” The party leader, Adam, asked.

                “Sure. Why wouldn’t I know that? They’re everywhere.”

                “Can you tell us what you think we’re talking about then?” Nera asked. Luke answered by picking up a small stone. The other two groaned. “How have you survived this long as a monster hunter?”

                “What do you mean?”

                Adam sighed as he responded, “What she means is we have serious cause to doubt your continued survival. Now, I can’t believe I’m asking you this, but do you know what any of the monsters we fight are called?”

                “Nope.” Luke said proudly. “I don’t have to know what they’re called to kill them.”

                “But don’t you have to study them? You know, to know their strengths and weaknesses? Or just where they live?” Nora asked.

                “Weaknesses? I know the weakness of every single monster out there.” The other two looked at each other skeptically. Luke paused and took out his battle axe. “It’s called axe! And if not axe,” He pulled a large war hammer out of his backpack, “then hammer!”

                Both the other party members felt the beginnings of a headache. “I can’t even begin to tell you why that’s wrong.” Nora said. Part of her wanted to smack the much larger man over the head. That part of silenced by the fact that she wouldn’t be able to reach.

                “Really? Seems like it works so far.”

                “Okay, look, we can try educating you when we get back to town.” Adam said with a sigh. “Let’s focus on the Roc. That’s r-o-c, not r-o-c-k. A rock with a ‘k’ is just a stone. A Roc without a ‘k’ is a bird.”

                “Oh. So, we are killing a bird.” Luke said, nodding his head. “Got it.”

                “Well, again, we’re not here to kill it. Just get a feather. Also, see that big boulder over there?” Adam pointed to a massive boulder, easily twice as big as Luke was. The large man nodded. “Well, a Roc is not a big as that boulder. It is big enough to pick up that boulder with one foot.”

                Luke’s forehead scrunched up in thought. “That’s...a really big bird.”

                “That’s right. A really, really big bird. I could go into more about it, but none of that matters now. What matters is that we’re going to climb up that mountain to the Roc’s nest, get a single feather from it, and climb back down. If the Roc is present in the nest, We’re going to hide until it’s not. Can you tell me why?”

                Luke thought as hard as he possibly could. “Because it’s too big for axe and hammer to kill?”

                Adam and Nera glanced at each other. She felt her eyes glaze over. He rubbed his temples to try and head off the coming headache.

                “You know what?” The party leader said. “That’s close enough. Let’s get this over with.”

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You'd think in a fantasy world, knowledge of super dangerous monsters would be fairly common, if only to know what places to avoid at all costs. But some people are just dumb. Even a world of monsters and magic can't suppress human stupidity.  

Word: Laudatory

 

laudatory

Sometimes laud·a·tive

[law-duh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

adjective

1. containing or expressing praise.

   overwhelmed by the speaker's laudatory remarks.

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               Lord Callin, Protector of the Realm, Barer of the Divine Blade and a slew of other titles, slumped against the door of his bedchamber.  He should have been out there, doing his duty as host to the party. But he just could not handle it anymore.  The empty praise. The false adulation.

               All those people out there. His guests. His people. They heaped him with compliments and didn’t mean a single one of them. He was sick of it. He wished he could just tell those people to leave, but no. He had to at least appear civil. He had to at least look like he enjoyed the praise. Like he didn’t see through every bit of it.  Even this small reprieve would not last long. He would have to go back out there and pretend to bask in their false flattery.

               He took a deep breath to calm his mind. That was when he became aware that he was not alone. He slowly opened his eyes and saw one of his maids. A new one, most likely. The girl was young. Probably not even in her second decade yet. The girl stood, wide eyed and stock still.

               “M-my lord, I…I’m sorry. I didn’t…I thought you would still be at the party so I came in here an…” She stopped before she rambled any further.

               “It’s fine.” Lorn Callin said, letting his exhaustion through. “You were only doing what I hire you to do. This little visit of mine wasn’t planned.”

               Callin cast his gaze around the room. He began to notice, really notice the state of it. An it was quite obvious which areas the girl had gotten to, an which had yet to receive attention.

               “Seems like you’re doing a fine job of it, at any rate.” He said.     

               Her cheeks reddened and she wrung her hands nervously. “Me? O-oh no. I’m not…I mean…” He took a deep breath and did her best curtsy. It was not very good, but she was trying. “I am not worthy of such praise, my lord.”

               He smiled weakly. “You don’t get compliments often, do you?”

               The maid studiously avoided her lord’s eyes. “No, my lord. I’m just a simple girl. Not worthy of kind words from anyone, let alone someone as great as you.”

               “I’m curious. What would you do if lots of people suddenly started complimenting you, but didn’t mean them?”

               “My lord? I’m not sure what you mean?”

               “Let’s say everyone around you started calling you the best maid. The best at everything to do with your job. And then kept going. Giving you more and more praise. But you’re not. Not the best. Everything they say is a lie. What would you do?”

               “Begging your pardon, my lord, but it would depend on who was doing the talking. Someone like you? I’d just live with it. After all, who am I to say what a man such as yourself would be thinking. But if it was my fellow maids? I’d ask them to stop beating around the bush and tell me what they wanted.”

               “Oh?” Callin asked, rubbing his chin. “And why is that?”

               “Well, my lord, I don’t know how it is for the lords and nobles, but among us common folk, when you flatter someone to that degree, it’s because they either deserve it, or you want something from them.”

               Lord Callin’s lips curled up in a small smile. “I see. Thank you for that. It was insightful. And more helpful than you know.” He took a few deep breaths and turned to the door. “Oh, and do keep up the goo work. I wasn’t lying when I said that you’re doing well.”

               He left the room, heading back to the ballroom, leaving a very surprise girl behind. It was time to find out what all those empty compliments were really for.

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Hopefully all the compliments you get are genuine.

Word: Jujitsu

 

jujitsu

Also ju·jut·su,
Or jiu·jit·su

[joo-jit-soo]

noun

1. a method developed in Japan of defending oneself without the use of weapons by using the strength and weight of an adversary to disable him.

2. the use of an opponent's strengths or one's own weaknesses to accomplish one's goals.

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                If someone asked him what Craig liked most about the pits, he would say the crowds. The roar of the crowd egging him on. Inspiring him to do better. The reality was that he just liked hitting people. The cheers he got was just a bonus. So was the money he got for winning.

                But right now, he was not feeling any of that desire to hit his opponent. Who in the world would want to beat up a woman who was almost half his height and had to weigh 80 pounds less than him. Craig was a lot of things, but a man who beat women was not one of them.

                “Uh, miss, are you sure you want to be here?” He asked.

                “Oh yeah. I’m sure.” She said, doing small hops on the balls of her feet.

                “Okay, but it’s just that this isn’t like an MMA arena or anything. This place can be pretty brutal.”

                “I know. I’ve scoped this place out enough to know what’s up. That’s why I know I’m totally gonna beat you.”

                He sighed and shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself. Normally I don’t hit women, but if you step into the pit, I guess I don’t have a choice.”

                “That’s the spirit. Gender equality and all that. Gotta love our shared appreciation of beating the bloody pulp out of someone. Now let’s get this show on the road.”

                Craig got ready for the fight to start, as did his opponent. She adopted some kind of martial arts stance, although he did not know enough to know which. Not that it mattered. Skill was all well and good, but there was not much she would be able to do against 220 pounds of muscle. And with that mentality, he rushed her, aiming to tackle her using his full weight against her. He got close. She moved.

                And then Craig found himself flat on his back. It was not a pleasant landing either. His opponent seemed content to let him stand up. She smirked as he did. He approached with much more caution than before, striking and punching whenever he got within reach.

                And she was always exactly where his fists were not. She made dodging his best attacks look easy. He swore she could practically read his mind. He was getting frustrated by this tiny woman giving him the runaround. So, he sped up.

                His fists came like lighting, without any sense of caution of aiming. That was when she made her move. After he punched maybe a little too hard, she grabbed his wrist, spun around, and flipped him over her shoulder. Once again, a quite painful landing.

                “You know that’s just gonna happen every time, right?” she said with a smug look on her face.

                “Maybe, maybe not. All I gotta do is hit you once though.”

                “You keep telling yourself that. Now come on, let’s keep going. Unless you wanna quit.”

                “Not on your life.”

                After being put on the ground three more times, Craig did, in fact, want to quit. He lay there, groaning. He might have hit his head on the way down on that last one.

                “Finished yet?” She asked. “Just so you know, I’m going easy on you. I haven’t put you any holds, locks, or anything like that. Basically, no finishers so far. And at this point it’s getting kind of silly. So yeah, either give up or I’ll make you.”

                Craig considered her words. He did not just want to give up so easily. But on the other hand, he was in considerable pain from being repeatedly thrown against a concrete floor. And she did indeed look perfectly fine. She was barely even sweating. He lay there and made his decision.

                “Okay, yeah. I’m done.” He said weakly. It was enough.

                “Good choice.” She said and extended a hand to help him up.

                He took it and was surprised to find that she was able to help get him to his feet, as unsteady as he was.

                “I’m totally going to win the next time though.” He said.

                She laughed. “Only in your dreams, big guy.”

                Craig chuckled and hobbled off. He would watch her fight, learn her techniques a bit more. And then maybe he would get lucky the next time they faced off against each other.  

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I don't have much to say about this one right now. So yeah, enjoy the story and all that good stuff.