by Tao Wong
Jules fell silent, content to let the murmuring grow for a bit before he raised his hand. Whether it was skill or a Skill, he received silence a moment later. “I understand your concerns, but our space and time are limited. Depending on the number of groups that pass the first round, we might have to undertake an elimination format for the second. Once we have reached an acceptable number of parties, we will begin a point style progression where the groups with the highest number of kills and clears will be chosen to enter Artos.”
Once more, grumbling began, but this time Jules did not signal for it to end. Instead, Jules jumped off the box and disappeared back into the arena. In a moment, clerks streamed out from the arena, all carrying stylised stone boards in hand. When the clerk finally reached their group, Daniel noted that these stone boards were inscribed with enchantments.
“Team?”
“DAO,” Omrak answered.
The clerk flicked his finger along the board, names appearing and disappearing as the enchantment altered the display. Having found their entry, the clerk said, “Room C8. Go in, turn left and enter the third – that’s third – passageway you come across on your right. Now, repeat that back to me.”
“Room C8. Left and then the third right passageway,” Daniel said. Without a word, the clerk turned and walked away, leaving the trio.
“I guess we have our marching orders,” Daniel said, gesturing for the team to go in.
Together, the trio entered the arena, walking through its Mana stone-lit stone corridors with other teams in silence. Now that they were in the arena itself, the tension increased, each group growing quieter as they walked to their rooms. It was an unpleasant, if not entirely unexpected, surprise to find that they would be sharing the room with three other groups. Taking their own corner, the party quietly got settled.
Within the hour, the team could hear the muffled thread and the muted conversations of the audience as they entered the arena. Even located beneath the arena as they were, the noise and movement reverberated through the room. It was no surprise; the arena had purposely priced the first day of the tournament at an extremely low price to not only provide the parties exposure but to fill the stadium. After all, compared to the Blue and White Advanced Adventurers, the fights that were to be showcased would be significantly less of a draw.
In another two hours, the first roars from the crowd could be heard as the event started. By this time, many of the groups had taken to sitting down and busying themselves as their personalities dictated. All around the trio, Adventurers were reading, snacking, repeatedly sharpening and caring for weapons and, in one group’s case, having a raucous good time playing cards. Asin was busy juggling her knives while Omrak watched, cleaning his sword. Daniel himself had taken to reading, perusing a book on herbal products and their uses as he worked to expand his own knowledge of healing. Yet, for all his discipline, Daniel found himself re-reading the same page again and again.
“When is it going to be our turn?” Daniel said as he placed his finger in the book.
There were a few grunts of agreement at Daniel’s exasperated exclamation, but soon enough silence took over. And still, they waited.
“Come on, Omrak,” Daniel said, his growing annoyance layering his words.
“Mmmpphhfffblrgh!” Omrak muttered, swigging on his canteen as the trio hurried out onto the arena sands. Their turn had finally come, at the most inopportune moment as the trio had begun to eat lunch. Rather than set the food aside, Omrak had stuffed the meat pastry into his mouth as they rushed after the clerk.
It was to this sight – that of a giant blond Northerner, cheeks stuffed with food and carrying a mighty two-handed sword lead by a Catkin in a short cloak and a fully clad, iron plate mail-wearing Adventurer - that greeted the audience. The roars of excitement died down slightly as the crowd took in this strange sight, especially when Daniel’s footsteps stuttered and stopped as he walked in.
So many people. That was all that the young Adventurer could think of. Omrak seemed to glow under the attention of the crowd, straightening his back and waving to everyone while Asin ignored it all as she focused on the other side of the stadium. Around them, only the slightest shimmer of blue indicated that they were magically walled off from the other groups in the sandy arena, some of who were engaged in desperate battle.
“… triumvirate, DAO!” Jules’ voice roared, somehow piercing the roar of the crowd. “And facing them is… well, you guessed it. Kobolds!”
“Daniel!” Asin hissed, her tail slapping the young man’s face. Daniel blinked as he refocused, pushing aside the crowd even as the doors rolled open and a dozen Kobolds, small, gangly looking creatures without fur and carrying daggers and crude spears came out. Unlike the Kobolds in Karlak, these monsters looked better fed and more confused.
“Kobolds. Har! This will be simple,” Omrak said as he finished swallowing the last of his meal. “I shall deal with them myself.” With a laugh, the big Northerner took off running, his sword held by his side.
“No…” Asin growled, shaking her head as she ran after him. Within seconds, she had overtaken the Northerner, knives already appearing in her hand as she closed to throwing distance.
Daniel grimaced, seeing that there would be no planning. Well, that was okay. There were just Kobolds. Taking up the run as well, Daniel found himself lagging behind his friends who had left without him, forcing him to try – and fail – to catch up in his plate mail.
Even as he ran, Daniel saw Asin throw her daggers, the weapons expanding as she triggered Fan of Knives. Kobolds ducked, blocked and otherwise scrambled out of the way of the attack, all but one unlucky monster avoiding the attack. But it had done its part, spreading the monsters to allow Omrak’s reckless charge to enter their midst. With a laugh, Omrak began to swing his sword in big, looping attacks that split the Kobolds further.
Barked, guttural orders issued from the mouth of one of the larger, older looking monsters. Within seconds, the group had reconfigured itself with a trio of spear wielders suddenly facing Omrak, harassing him with their spears while the remainder split off to attack Asin and Daniel. The Kobold leader himself charged Asin, his body seeming to grow in size as he attacked her with his sword followed by the majority of the remainder. Another pair with their own short swords focused on Daniel as he arrived.
“Thanks,” Daniel growled as he hunkered beneath his shield and took the strike. Rather than slowing down, Daniel used the attack and moment’s vulnerability to trigger a Shield Bash, the attack ripping the sword out of the smaller creature’s hand. However, before he could capitalise on the moment of weakness, the other Kobold darted in with a thrust to his face.
“No, you shall fight…” Omrak stuttered to a stop, a glowing green spear thrust straight at his face. His attempt at invoking the Challenge of the North interrupted by another Skill, Omrak was forced to block the attack, leaving him open for a thrust by another spear wielder. This attack skidded off his armor, bruising the Northerner who then spun to deal with this threat.
“They’re using Skills!” Daniel shouted to warn his team, eyes wide. Like Omrak, Daniel had been surprised they had chosen Kobolds to deal with the Advanced Class Adventurers, but the fact that these non-Dungeon created Kobolds could use Skills explained much. The fact that they were working together, keeping the trio apart and focusing attention on the least armored member also did as well.
“Help!” Asin shouted as she ducked another cut, her arms and torso already bleeding. Even her enchanted necklace was glowing, overworked as it was as it altered the angle of attacks at the last second as the Kobold leader pressed the group’s advantage by swarming the Catkin.
“Damn it,” Daniel snarled, deciding to risk it. Focusing his attacks on the second Kobold facing him, he turned his back mostly to the other and started swinging his weapon, driving his opponent back towards his comrades’ encirclement of Asin.
A blow rang off his back, staggering Daniel a bit. That motion allowed his o
pponent in the front to jump forwards to thrust at his raised weapon arm, aiming for the unarmored space.
“Got you,” Daniel slammed his shield forward, triggering Shield Bash and punching the monster backwards. A little too slow as the cold steel dug into his arm, leaving a long furrow. Daniel knew it would hurt later, but for now, it was a distraction. Stepping sideways, as the Kobold recovered, Daniel triggered Perin’s Blow to send the monster crashing into Asin’s encirclement.
Their line broken, the Kobolds fell back to recover. But instead of leaping away, Asin jumped forward with a snarl on her face at their leader. She blocked his reflexive attack with one knife while using the pommel of her other dagger to smash into the monster’s head, triggering Bone Breaker at that time while lightning arced into him from her enchanted bracers. The Kobold fell backwards, stunned with a new dent on his head while Asin kept up the assault, her daggers dancing.
Snarls erupted from the Kobolds as they moved to protect their leader, but Daniel took a swift step forwards, positioning himself to block the majority as he spammed Double Strike to keep the Kobolds away, chasing them around. Behind, Omrak howled as he took advantage of the momentary chaos to split a Kobold apart, its corpse falling to the ground twitching before turning to deal with his other two attackers. Already, a red light shone all across his body as bleeding wounds covered his arms and trickled out from an injured shoulder.
A faked blow drew a Kobold in, close enough for Daniel to lash out with his hammer and break its arm. Another Kobold thrust its sword in the gap created by Daniel’s attack, the Kobold’s attack skittering along the Adventurer’s armor with a shriek of metal on metal, causing Daniel to flinch. As he recovered, a third Kobold threw itself at the stocky Adventurer’s leg, attempting to take him down.
A silly move, considering the disparity in size and Daniel’s recent training. Hunching his body slightly to shift his weight, he took the lunge and then dropped the edge of his shield onto the Kobold’s back of the head, crumpling the smaller monster. Yet, for all his heroics, Daniel could not stop the Kobolds from streaming around him to attack his friend. Still, he had bought her enough time to leave the Kobold leader on the ground, choking on its blood.
“No more!” roared Omrak, having speared another of his Kobold’s with a lunge. His attack had earned him a spear in his leg, but with both Kobold’s unable to attack, Omrak took the moment to trigger his taunt ability. At once the Kobolds all turned to the new threat, drawn by the Skill-infused challenge.
“Mine,” Daniel growled as he spun his hammer into a fleeing Kobold’s ribs. A second later, he lashed out again to finish the monster while Asin threw a dagger empowered with Piercing Shot into the back of another Kobold’s body.
As the remaining Kobold’s clustered around Omrak, he triggered his new ability, the red cloud of light forming into bolts of lightning that struck each of the monsters around him. Kobolds screamed in pain and in a few cases, expired from the attack, allowing the Adventurers a brief respite to finish the battle. With both the leader and their Skill-wielding brethren dead, the remaining monsters were easy to finish.
Daniel groaned as he leaned over, breathing slowly as he attempted to catch his breath. Even the smell of spilt blood, torn entrails and voided bowels were insufficient to stop him from breathing deeply. In another portion of the arena, Daniel noted a few Adventurers unable to contain themselves and were throwing up, unable to handle the gore and mess of monsters slain outside the Dungeon. Daniel quietly thanked his lucky stars that their previous experience with Quests and the war had inured their group to some extent to such displays.
“And DAO completes the first round in four minutes and twenty-three seconds,” Jules announced. “Congratulations! Now clear the arena.”
Even as Jules spoke, attendants were rushing out with wheelbarrows to cart away the bodies. At the pointed reminders, the trio made their way out, all three limping and moving gingerly from the fight. As they exited, Daniel could not help but overhear one last comment.
“Useless. They’ll not last past the second round with those injuries.”
Chapter 9
“Die vermin! DIE!” Omrak shouted as he smashed his sword into the Poison Cockroach’s back. The creature twisted and turned, its back flattening under the blow and its wings and shell cracking apart under the repeated assaults.
Next to the Northerner, Daniel busied himself with crushing the legs of another Cockroach, his shield dripping from the poison that the monsters had spat. With each leg crippled, the monster was slowed further. Already, half its legs had been smashed, one leg barely hanging on by a thread as the monster attempted to scuttle to face him.
Asin, seeing that the pair were nearly done with their monsters, ran back towards the group, jumping and spinning around to send a pair of knives shrieking through the air as she triggered Piercing Shot. The attacker flew through the air to harass the monsters she had led away, continuing to pull the monsters towards her. Landing, the Catkin sprinted past Omrak before she pulled to a halt, her chest heaving.
“Good job, Asin!” Daniel called as he ducked deep, taking the Cockroach’s lunging bite on his shield before he pried it up higher and triggered Perin’s Blow in an underhand strike. Lifted by the attack, the Cockroach fell over on its back to be ignored by Daniel as he scrambled to join the fight against the newly arrived, bleeding pair next to Omrak.
Too out of breath to answer, Asin just panted in the corner, her hands trembling as the poison coursed through her veins. Her dagger dropped from her numb fingers, forcing her to whimper slightly. Stupid poison, Asin cursed. She had dodged most of one attack, only to land and get hit by another of the monster’s attacks. At least she had managed to kill one of the three she had distracted while the pair finished off their monstrosities.
As the wave of pain passed, Asin looked up to see her friends finishing off the last of the Cockroaches. Lips pursed, she drew another knife and threw it at the overturned monster, the throw plunging into the creature’s soft underbelly. Yet, it did not expire, making the Catkin growl in frustration. As she fumbled for another dagger, Omrak strode over with his sword to stab it into the helpless creature and Daniel placed a hand on her.
“Hold still,” Daniel muttered, casting first Minor Healing (II) and then Healer’s Mark. “Thank you. That would have been a lot harder without your distraction.”
As Asin’s head slowly cleared, she sniffed at herself and yowled in anger. She stank, and so did the damn arena. After three different rounds in the tournament with multiple groups using the arena, even the cleaning spells used by the staff were beginning to fail in its effectiveness.
“Spell?” Asin said after she realised that Daniel had used his magic in public. Thus far, he had been holding back till they were out of sight.
“Doesn’t matter. If the crowd and our competitors haven’t realised it yet, they haven’t been paying attention,” Daniel said, helping Asin limp back out.
Asin sighed and looked at the various body parts, tempted to dismember one of those corpses to find its poison sacks. But of course, they weren’t given the time to do that. Nor the right. The corpses were the property of the arena. In fact, that was perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this tournament – the lack of Mana Stones or other earnings.
If it wasn’t for the fact that she had earned a decent sum betting on their wins, Asin would have been even more upset. At the thought of the coin awaiting her in Tevfik’s hand, the young Catkin’s tail began to lazily sway once more. More coins…
“You’re only doing this well because you’ve got a healer,” growled an Adventurer later that evening when the trio had left the arena and were seated at their table in the Lonely Candle. The arena had managed to squeeze one more fight in for the majority of groups, leaving the team with a total of four wins now. Six more battles and they would be done.
“Pardon?” Daniel said, looking up at the irate Adventurer.
“I said, you guys are cheating by h
aving a healer in your party,” the Adventurer said, spitting to the side. Daniel frowned as he stared at the man who looked to be in his early-thirties and clad in a simple studded leather tunic. A scar ran across one side of his face, down to his neck and around his arm was a fresh new bandage that still leaked a little. “You have no skill, no tactics. You all just rush in and fight!”
“Is that not our job?” Omrak said as he looked genuinely puzzled. “I fear I do not understand how else we are to defeat our opponents.”
“Tactics. Long range fire, a shield wall, crowd control and damage over time attacks. Wear them down, keep yourself protected!” the scarred Adventurer almost spat the words out. “You, you! You’re the worse. You just rush them and then take the hits so you can use your Skill!”
Once again, Erin appeared near the burgeoning trouble and smiled at the Adventurer. “Devin, perhaps this isn’t the time? I know you’re upset you have to pull out, but it’s not their fault, no?”
“Bah!” Devin said as he pulled his arm away from Erin’s touch. “Any other group that took the kind of damage they did would have to pull out. She just got poisoned today!” Devin said, pointing at Asin. “And here she is, happily eating away.”
In reply Asin just hissed at Devin before she returned to stuffing her face. The Catkin was ravenous as evidenced by the empty plates around her, the constant abuse of the healing spells over the last few days draining the Catkin’s vitality. It was something that Daniel was slightly concerned about – each fight required them to be near perfect form, but even magic had its consequences.
“And I hear Maria and Vasco are both poisoned too,” Erin said, sympathy in her voice. “But they’ll be fine in a few days with rest.”