The Martial Unity

Leonel awoke with his body on fire, the slight whiff of something catching his attention. The smell made his stomach growl furiously, his mouth almost dripping with water despite how dry it felt.

Leonel didn't know how his friends were being sustained, but he did know that he hadn't felt the need for water until he woke up. And, now that it had been over four days since the last time he ate, he finally couldn't suppress his hunger anymore.

It was only then that Leonel realized that the Spaniards had been roasting a full pig when he initially entered. He must have not smelt anything before because it had just started to cook.

Leonel struggled to pull himself up, peeling all the heavy armor he wore from his body. He hadn't felt this light in a very long time.

Luckily, since there was no one to tend to the fire, the embers had died off while Leonel slept, sparing the pig from being overcooked.

It was inevitable that it was still burnt in some places, especially since no one had been there to turn it, but Leonel could hardly bother to care. He ripped off a leg, devouring the meat madly.

Initially, he had believed that a leg or two would be enough. But before he realized what was happening, he had already cleaned away half of the pig. Leonel had always been a big eater, but it was always within reason. Something like eating half of a 20 kilogram pig was far beyond his means.

"I want you to find that damned entrance! There's no way that barbarian entered from the front, there must be a hidden entrance! Look at how many of our people those savages have killed!"

Words Leonel couldn't understand drifted from the hidden entrance. It became obvious quickly that he didn't have much time. All those who saw him come out of the hidden staircase were already dead. But, it was only a matter of time before they started looking for false walls.

Because Leonel had knocked down the false wall on this side without replacing it, it was much easier to hear things than it had been in the past.

Moving quickly, Leonel replaced his armor with that of the dead leader's. He was going to pour some more alcohol on his wounds first, but he was shocked to find that many of them had faded. In fact, the aches in his body from his torn muscles had become quite dull as well.

'… Food. It must be food.'

Leonel bit his lip. Where else would he get food so easily? There was no point in carrying this pig with him because it would go bad in at most a few more days. Plus, considering the pace at which he ate it, it wouldn't last that long either.

'The only option is to continue to steal food or to leave this temple…'

Leonel couldn't come up with the perfect choice now. He had to hurry.

'I came here for… there it is, the atlatl.'

Atlatl's were essentially sling shots for throwing spears. They were a wooden attachment one could slot a spear or 'long dart' into to gain more leverage. Then, using the same throwing motion one was used to, it was possible to throw more than double the distance and with much more speed and force.

To think such a thing was invented over 20 000 years ago, even before the era of the Mayans.

Leonel abandoned his hand axes, using the belt he had stolen from a Spaniard to slip in a few atlatl's. Considering they were reusable, it was unnecessary to have more than one. However, Leonel had learned to plan for the unexpected.

He kept four atlatls with him on one hip and strapped a short sword on the other. He would have taken the leader's long sword, but he had his reasons for not.

Along the walls, countless barrels of throwing spears fitted for the atlatls. Well, to call them spears was a bit inappropriate. They looked like sturdy arrows one might fire from an large-scaled crossbow.

silver rod for so long that his body's limits were far higher

to this point, Leonel chose a square backpack shaped of wood. It was about a meter and a half in length and by Leonel's estimations could hold about

initial instinct was to try and overfill it, but he knew this would be foolish. If he failed to pull out a spear at a critical time, it would

'Let's test it.'

fitting an extra spear to it, he held its handle like a

it attached to the end of the spear, allowing it to sit upon it. The body of the atlatls, which Leonel held, curved back around

his arm, Leonel bowed his body and launched the

metal tip of the spear stuck into the stone wall, vibrating back

distance in 0.4 seconds. That's an average velocity of 50 meters per second or 180 kilometers an hour. It was even still accelerating when it hit the wall, so it still had more left. The effective range is easily

he was even more surprised at just how much the atlatls improved his throwing ability. Such a

half long dart from the wall and hid it within the barrels of spears. In case the Spaniards made it

up and into its place. This way they wouldn't be able to tell which path he came from. Of course, he

had already found another hidden entrance in this very room. In fact, he counted a total of five. It could only be said that the Spanish were too negligent. Either

activity on

following weeks, he mapped every floor of the temple with the exception

tell everything from the height of the soldier in question to their weight. At the same time, his control over his body reached great heights. He no longer threw will his full power every time, only using just enough to maintain his stamina

had mapped out the hidden pathways he could use to reach it, he exited frequently, hunting for

realized that he simply had no chance fighting the Spaniards from the outside. Without the ability to take advantage of guerrilla tactics,

a result, he had no choice but to begin assaults on groups of four, five, eventually

already at a near unconscious level, but it was his combat ability that took the greatest leap forward. He learned

never been formally taught in any martial arts, but as his mind spun and his deductive abilities deepened with

a new possibility was stored in his memory. With this additional data point, he would adjust his fighting style ever so slightly to account for it. Months later, Leonel no longer had to rely on his throwing prowess to gain victory

how the grading system worked, but if others had higher grade abilities than what he was already able

opponent by giving them an athleticism

by how much power a person

something Leonel categorized as straight

how quickly a person

was mostly hand-eye coordination. How precise a person was in using their strength, speed

forward. How long could you maintain your optimal

where 0 was having this ability completely crippled and 1 represented the pinnacle of the human race. This pinnacle was something Leonel used the limits

would have a 0.5 in the category they needed

for the Spaniards, they averaged about 0.4

0.67; Speed: 0.51; Agility:

add a sixth category: Reactions. Unexpectedly, it ended up being his highest 'stat', sitting at 0.91. This category not only encompassed reaction speed, but also factored in the instinctual movements battle experience gave you. Of course, most of the reason Leonel's Reaction was so high wasn't due

down his opponents systematically with his self-created method, taking them down became even easier. He shamelessly targeted their

speed and agility. For those with great

numb to the slaughter. After breaking down their lives to mere numbers floating in his mind, it suddenly became easier to do what needed to be done. At the very least, it became easier to

to assault the Spanish from within the temple

no idea how much time he had spent in this