Gladiators of Warsong

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  CP: 798

  Skills:

  Analyze: 41

  One-handed Slashing: 2

  Fire Spells: 3

  Devious Device: 19

  Sense Direction: 33

  One-handed Whip: 26

  Water Spells: 13

  Cooking: 18

  Stealth: 9

  Climbing: 5

  Air Spells: 35

  Unarmed Combat: 4

  Unique Skills:

  Cunning Strategist: 16

  Mastermind: 6

  Leadership: 16

  Spells:

  Dewdrop Orb: 14

  Minor Creation: 16

  Transference: 35

  Cloud Taunt: 59

  Misdirection: 23

  Wind Gust: 28

  Heal Minions: 13

  Whip Tricks: 22

  She'd gained a new ability called Overcharge, which would allow her to convert faez into stronger versions of her attacks and spells. The faez to effectiveness ratio was steep, so she wasn't sure how much the new ability would come into play.

  Overcharge

  Activated Ability

  Convert faez into stronger spells and abilities

  2 Faez = 1% Increase

  She'd done the math a number of times in her head, trying to figure out how it could be useful. Cloud Taunt only cost 25 faez and would deal an average of 308 damage over a minute. Doubling the cost of the spell with Overcharge would only add 39 damage, a paltry amount for the cost, but she figured she'd find a way to use it eventually.

  Next, she reviewed her Clan Management page, looking for a place to spend the last few CPs that she hadn't yet assigned after the last battle.

  Clan Bravebear

  Clan Level: 7

  Renown: 4,312 / Well-known

  Morale: 221 / Good

  Conquest Points: 798

  Gladiators: 111

  Noncombatants: 75

  Notable NPCs:

  Armorer – Nadia Alathair (Level 5)

  Wisewoman – Zelda Waterhouse (Level 4)

  The total effectiveness of the clan was up to 62%, which was higher than she thought possible until she determined that Sorrow with his Dark Inspiration was providing an additional 7% boost.

  With 798 CPs left to spend, Alex headed to the wisewoman's hut. Zelda told her to enter even before she knocked. The witch was seated in her rocking chair, hands in her lap.

  "Greetings, Battleleader, you've done well," said Zelda.

  Alex still hadn't gotten over looking at the blind witch, whose eyes were sewn shut with thick sutures. No matter that Zelda had done it herself, it still gave her the feeling she was birthing live snakes in her gut.

  "I've stayed one step ahead of them so far, but I feel like I'm running out of runway," said Alex.

  Zelda tilted her head. "Runway?"

  "Sorry, an idiom from my world," said Alex.

  "I assume you came to find out about your mysterious cube," said Zelda.

  "Yes," said Alex, bringing up her clan management screen and leveling Zelda to 5, then pulling the mysterious box from her Handysack and handing it to Zelda. "Hopefully it's been worth the wait."

  Quest Completed: Help Zelda Waterhouse reach level 5

  You have gained experience: 5,000 XP

  Zelda cupped the wooden cube between her hands, leaning her head back as if she were communing with it. The witch muttered incomprehensible words, coaxing forth an inner fire from the cube. The sides glowed as if they were made of stained glass and the center was a tiny sun. The interior of the hut grew painfully bright, forcing Alex to cover her eyes with her forearm. After it subsided, allowing her to put her arm down, she waited patiently for Zelda to explain what she'd learned, but the witch sat quietly for long minutes.

  "I'm sorry, Battleleader," said Zelda eventually.

  "For?"

  "I'm afraid your path of discovery does not end here," she said. "But I can tell you who you must bring it to next."

  "I see."

  The witch handed the box back. "You must take that to the Arena of the Gods. There, you will find Xya Oleander, who is a far stronger practitioner than I. She will be able to give you an answer."

  Quest Chain IV: Ask Xya Oleander about the mysterious cube (10,000 XP)

  "Or at least point me in the direction of the next person to talk to," said Alex with a sigh. It was beginning to look like this quest was a long chain. "Assuming I win the tournament anyway. It seems more than my progress in Warsong is at stake. I'll probably get to the end and learn it's a kid's toy or something stupid like that."

  A secret smile formed on Zelda's lips. "I can tell you this about it, there are powerful magics inside. I cannot tell you exactly what they're intended for, but within is a strong, primal compulsion."

  "My apologies, Zelda, I'm being a twit about this. I was just hoping for answers, or help against the other clans," she said.

  "Of the last, I can provide. With my new rank, I can teach a properly ranked gladiator either of these two new spells: Petrify Object and Fighting Spirit."

  Alex examined them, quickly deciding that the first wasn't as useful in the arena. The second spell, however, made her palms itch for the battle circle as she thought of how it would help her in tight spots.

  Fighting Spirit – Tier 1

  Faez: 2 ׀ Duration: 1 second (sustainable)

  Effect: +10 to all stats, +25% Hit Points, +10% Speed, +5 Effective Level.

  Aftereffect: When spell ends -35% Hit Points.

  "Ouch," said Alex, checking the last part. It looked like a spell she could sustain for a couple of minutes, but it would drain her faez pool quickly. The negative hit to her health would keep her from using it consistently; otherwise, the blowback could kill her. But it looked like another tool in the toolbox, so she spent the 50 CPs to gain the power.

  She turned to leave, but Zelda said, "One last thing. I finished that potion for you."

  The witch moved to the table of alchemy equipment in the corner, moving confidently as if she could see. Alex suspected she had other ways of divining the world around her, but she didn't dare inquire as not to offend her.

  The thick glass bottle was cool to the touch. Alex resisted the urge to analyze it, waiting instead for Zelda's explanation.

  "It's a potion of Rapid Faez Regen. It'll serve you well in the battle circle, or wherever your adventures take you."

  "Thank you, Zelda," said Alex. "I'll make good use of it."

  The blind woman tilted her head as if she'd heard something. A frown deepened the wrinkles at the corners of her lips.

  "The other clan leaders are waiting outside the hut for you," said Zelda.

  "Do you know what they want?" she asked.

  Zelda pursed her lips. "You'll find out soon enough."

  "Thank you again," said Alex, placing the cube and potion inside her Handysack before returning to the bright sunlight of the Bravebear camp.

  What she found was mayhem as the other battleleaders were trying to push past Sophia. Both Tormane and Judith outweighed the dark-skinned warrior, but she wasn't giving ground.

  "I told you the battleleader will return in a moment. You have no right to enter the wisewoman's hut," said Sophia, pushing back with a grunt.

  "We'll enter that hut if we want to," said Judith, her voice trailing off when she saw Alex.

  "I know I'm popular around here, but I didn't think I was this popular. Nice to know my fans can't wait to see me," said Alex.

  "You're a strange woman," said Judith, face wrinkling with confusion as she looked Alex up and down. "But the games are over. We're resolving the tournament, one way or another."

  "You'll have to get in line, Judith," said Alex. "We battle the Lonely Cranes next."

  "The Lonely Cranes no longer exist," said Judith with a sneering grin.

  Alex quickly checked her quest log to find that the match with the Lonely Cranes had disappeared.

  "How did...?"

  "The Lonely Cranes have been abs
orbed into the Fallen Phoenix clan," said Judith. "As with every other clan that remained. You cannot avoid the Phoenix any longer."

  Alex tried to hide her surprise, but the change left her dizzy with frustration. If Judith had absorbed the rest of the clans, it meant they outnumbered Bravebear by three to one at least, which would mean they'd have to beat them multiple times to be crowned the tournament winner.

  "Yes, you're realizing what this means," said Judith.

  "That you've done me a favor," said Alex. "I was getting tired of beating you one by one. Better we get this over with. I have a tournament to attend in the Arena of the Gods."

  "So you accept my challenge?" asked Judith, cracking her knuckles by squeezing her fists.

  "What are the terms?" asked Alex.

  "Three battles. You must win all three, or Fallen Phoenix is the champion," said Judith.

  Quest Offered: Beat Fallen Phoenix in three battles to win the clan tournament (50,000 XP / 5,000 CP) [Y/N]

  The offer was tempting. The constant grind of coming up with new tactics had been wearing her out. They'd only have to win three more matches and she'd be the winner.

  "Only if I get to fight in all three," said Alex. "After all, it's my ass on the line."

  "No other repeats," said Judith. "You and you alone."

  Alex thought hard about the terms, looking for loopholes that might give Judith an advantage, but she couldn't figure any, so she put out her hand.

  "I accept."

  The slow smile on Judith's face as they clasped hands and shook left Alex with lingering doubts that somehow the opposing battleleader had put one over on her.

  "We fight in three days," said Judith. "Then three days later, and again three days later. If you haven't lost yet. Remember, one loss and Bravebear becomes part of Fallen Phoenix."

  "And three wins and it's all mine," said Alex.

  As the crowd of battleleaders wandered out of the camp, she caught Tormane staring back in a way that put shivers down her spine.

  "Was that a good idea? To put everything into three battles?" asked Sophia.

  "It seemed like it when I agreed, but now I'm having regrets," said Alex, trying to figure out what she'd missed. "Let's head to the longhouse and give the clan the good news."

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Alex spent every waking moment of the next days strategizing how to beat the Fallen Phoenix clan in the battle circle. Judith's clan had achieved rank 10, which gave them a significant effectiveness advantage. She had to assume their morale was higher too, which meant that the Phoenix warriors would probably be around 40-50% more powerful in the battle circle.

  The other issue was that they had a larger pool of gladiators to pull from. She felt like a small market college e-sports team competing against the schools on the coast, which could draw from millions more potential competitors.

  And the size of the Bravebear clan meant the opposition could probably guess the teams, especially by the final match. One of the first things Alex did after the challenge was to send Nayiri into Fallen Phoenix for intel.

  She kept the strategy discussion to a select few—Blaze, Sophia, Nayiri, Mancalf, Sorrow, and herself—in case the enemy had similar capabilities. They made their preparations in her battleleader hut, nailing sketches of various battle plans on the walls.

  Everyone pitched ideas, and using the colored stones, they tried to predict how they might unfold in the battle circle. They had no idea which gladiators they'd be facing, but it helped to talk through their ideas and throw out the worst ones.

  When they weren't in the battleleader hut, they were training with the clan in the longhouse, testing tactics with small teams. Blaze had learned a few new spells like Ice Cage, after having it used against him, but he wasn't skilled enough with it to rely on it in the Battle Circle.

  With only a day to go, Alex hated the strategies they'd come up with, seeing them as obvious iterations of past ones.

  "We need new ideas," said Alex as she paced around the walls of the hut. The pile of furs that made up the bed had been shoved under the table to make more room. She could have upgraded the hut long ago, but hadn't wanted to waste the CPs. "I feel like we're going over the same ground."

  "Every fight is a puzzle," said Nayiri cheerily, so Alex gave her a wink.

  "What about using a shield wall with long spears?" said Sophia. "March as a group, using the weapons to jab and keep them away while protecting ourselves."

  "You would have made Alexander the Great proud," said Alex, remembering her high school history class, then adding when they stared at her strangely, "Not me. Another Alex. But that formation would get trounced by a group of mages with a few tanks."

  "Assuming that's the enemy team," said Mancalf, who leaned against the wall, patting his enormous belly. "You can't build a strategy that will beat every possible formation."

  "Probably not," said Alex, "but I want as few negative matchups as possible."

  Blaze tapped on a sheet of parchment on the wall with the list of previous opposition teams throughout the tournament. Alex had been trying to statistically analyze common formations.

  "Can we even assume that these will be relevant? We're going to be facing teams full of former battleleaders," said Blaze.

  Alex buried her face in her hands. "I think I'm coming at this all wrong. We should be figuring out how we're going to put it to them, not reacting to what they might do. For instance, we know I'm going into the circle. The rest of you are going to be split between the three matches. Blaze and Mancalf, you make a good pair, you should be in the first, Sophia with me in the second, and Nayiri in the final match. I think I have an idea that will work for that one."

  "What is it, Battleleader?" asked Sophia.

  "If we get that far, I might tell you, but I don't have it all worked out yet," said Alex, winking at Nayiri, who was cross-legged on the ground near the battle circle drawn into the dirt and filled with colored stones.

  "What about Sorrow?" asked Blaze.

  "He's not fighting, unless he's changed his mind," said Alex.

  "He has not," said Sorrow, arms crossed with a frown hooked to his lips. "He likes his soul in one piece."

  The others gave him a look, so he raised his hands. "I can't. I'm not. Anyway, if I'm fighting I can't give you my Dark Inspiration boost."

  Alex crouched next to Nayiri, grabbed the stone with BL on it, the red one, and the open hand. She placed them next to each other in the circle.

  "Here's my idea. Mancalf will start at the center edge"—she placed his stone in the middle—"blocking any ranged weapons with his Capture Missiles ability. Blaze will have his Bracers of the Mirage available as well, which will mean they will have to come to us.

  "I will Cloud Taunt them to us, dealing with any dangerous gladiators with Whip Tricks. The rest of them will get caught between Mancalf's double gravity well and my taunt. If it doesn't confuse the hell out of them, I'll maneuver them together and then Blaze will do his thing and torch them down. We don't even have to get them all to flip the advantage."

  "Who else should we have in the circle with us?" asked Blaze.

  "Pick our best two healers, but put them in ranged gear. We want it to look like a ranged strategy, but really we'll be pulling the Blaze trick on them," said Alex.

  "I thought you didn't want us to use old tactics?" asked Nayiri.

  "It won't look like an old tactic since we're not using shield warriors. And if they try that Ice Cage, I'll Misdirect it back onto the caster," said Alex, feeling more comfortable about the plan as she let it unroll from her lips.

  Blaze lifted one shoulder in a semblance of a shrug. "I guess we have a plan now. What's next?"

  "Gather the rest of the magic items and distribute them to the five of us," said Alex. "We want to be as geared up as possible."

  "Got it," said Nayiri, leaving right away.

  After the others left, a wellspring of emotion uncorked from deep inside, momentarily overwhelming her
. Alex thought she was going to have to run outside to get some air, but she didn't want the others to see her weakness. Confidence was high, and she wanted to maintain that through the battles.

  As she leaned over on her knees, Alex remembered something that Bucket had said in her first year about the Plains of Warsong, that it was a meat grinder, not meant to be beaten. Alex was beginning to understand why. One mistake and everything would come crashing down.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Alex usually didn't feel that nervous before big fights if she'd had time to meticulously prepare, but this first battle left so many unknowns that she knew that her preparation could be ultimately misguided and wrong.

  The hilltop arena was crowded. Bleachers had been built up around the location over the course of the tournament. The walls surrounding the circle were eight feet high now (increased after she threw her opponents out of the circle). Men and women with baskets of food and drink milled through the stands, handing out their breads and salty meats to friend and foe alike.

  Despite the stakes there was a certain thrill at being at the center of it. Alex couldn't imagine what the Arena of the Gods was like. The stories she'd heard from the other gladiators about combatants fighting monstrous creatures in the arena for sport made it sound like the Coliseum from her world.

  She also wondered about the champion from the Eastern Plains. Snippets of stories, more rumor than fact, had filtered across the plains to her camp, talking about how the other champion was unbeatable, the finest gladiator to ever stand in the battle circle. Supposedly they wore crimson plate armor, but could still move like the wind and hit like a half-giant on steroids.

  Alex pushed those thoughts away as Nayiri sidled up to her, placing a comforting hand on her back. The severe angle to her mouth told the tale of her information.

  "Bad news," said Nayiri. "They figured out who you're going to send into the circle. They changed up their team late last night."

  "How did they find out?" asked Alex as a pit formed in her stomach.