by Felix Craft
I, on the other hand, was not so sure. I remembered just how massive the Coliseum was, and how intimidating it felt to stand before it. How could Leesha and I ever warrant the attention of thousands, hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of other players? It just didn’t compute.
But I kept my mouth shut and the doubts pushed down and willingly went through Leesha’s readying routine.
“All your new armor equipped?” She looked me up and down. Without waiting for an answer, she nodded to herself. “Good. You’ll make a great punching bag.”
“Only if you want a broken fist,” I observed, patting my steel breastplate. I could feel the master craftsmanship as I wore it, the armor fitting perfectly and feeling, as far as I could tell, sturdy and impenetrable. Blades, even axes, probably wouldn’t bust through it. Hammers, though, I still had to watch out for, as well as maces. And of course I couldn’t let people get to the gaps in my armor. I had a complete set on, but it wasn’t like a set of armor like Lady Vash’s steward Francois back in the Sparrow village. I was still able to move around easily enough, and while not nimble, at least I wasn’t going to be clumsily stumbling around, unable to swing fast enough to hit anyone. I might be the meat shield in Leesha’s plan, but I had no intention of getting hit any more than I had to.
After we’d stretched and practiced a bit in the yard outside the inn — things that apparently helped here in MythRune just as they did in the real world — Leesha and I headed for the Coliseum. Directions weren’t necessary. Pretty much anywhere in this district of Mythgard you could see the monolithic structure. I felt the now-familiar apprehension again at craning to see the top, then swallowed it down and walked after my companion.
Reaching the arena entrance, we were admitted as contestants — with a skeptical look from a different clerk now — and escorted inside by a beefy Level 30 guard. The guard led us through the curved corridors around the perimeter of the staging ground, then into a side room, where we were instructed to watch the introductory video and wait until we were called. The room didn’t contain much, just a space on a wall clearly designed for a projection, and a bench opposite of it. As soon as Leesha and I sat down, the video began.
The same shadowy hooded figure as the introductory video to MythRune showed up in the midst of a ring of fire, and I rolled my eyes as his dramatic narration began. “Welcome, brave contestants, to Lord MythRune’s XVI Quarterly Tournament!” he announced. “You have come to test your mettle against your fellow competitors, and there is honor in that. But you haven’t come just to fight. You also are here for the prize — to meet the very ruler of all the realms, Lord MythRune himself! As well as to get a boat load of Runecoins.” I swear the figure would have winked had any of his face not been in shadow.
Now the video morphed into 3D projections of what I understood to be different rings within the staging ground. “The tournament consists of five rounds of single elimination — meaning if you lose, you’re out. There’s no respawning from defeat here! The first two rounds will occur today, the next two tomorrow, and the final match will happen on the third day.
“After the first round,” the dramatic narration continued, as the projection sped across the staging ground to show the smaller arenas segmented off within the larger one, “teams will be pitted against each other in dual combat, facing each other on increasingly difficult terrains.” The projection showed a few examples — one circle with sandy dunes offering few places to hide and no doubt unbearable heat, another with a chaotic jungle with too many shadowy places for ambush, a third that was a tank full of water with narrow islands to stand on. In my steel armor, I really hoped we didn’t get placed there. Or really any of those, for that matter.
The cowled man returned, now a projection large before us. “The pairs will be whittled down to only the best, the bravest, the most brutal. Do you have what it takes?”
“I guess we’ll see,” I responded lightly, and Leesha snorted.
The projection continued on. “Now, contestants, prepare yourself. In fifteen minutes, the tournament will begin. May luck and the gods smile upon you!” And like that, the video ended.
But something had stuck in my mind, some unanswered question. “Wait a second,” I said. “He said that after the first round, that’s how the tournament would go. But what’s the first round?”
Leesha shrugged as she methodically combed over her gear. She was wearing chainmail up top, but the rest was light leather. I guessed she wasn’t planning on taking too many hits today, and hoped that would be the case — she wouldn’t last long as she was. “I guess we’ll find out,” was all she had to say.
I didn’t like not knowing what was coming, and set to pacing. “Don’t move around so much,” Leesha commented. “You’ll wear out your stamina before we even begin.”
I did comply by slowing, but I couldn’t sit back down. The time passed excruciatingly slowly. What was waiting for us out there? Would we all have to face monsters to see who would advance? I shuddered at the thought of Old Man Jenkins wading through a bunch of noobs like me.
Leesha stood up and braced her hands on my shoulders. “Breathe. We got this. Remember your glitch? We can’t lose, not yet. No one will see it coming.”
I sighed. “Yeah. Right. It’s just … if I lose this, I’m stuck here, you know? This is my shot.”
She squeezed my shoulders and smiled sympathetically. “If this doesn’t work, we’ll find something else. I promise you, I’m not going to let you get stuck here. We’ll get you out.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but stopped herself.
“Spit it out,” I said.
“All I was thinking was, is it so bad here? No, that’s dumb,” she quickly amended, letting go of my shoulders and stepping away. It was only when she left that I realized how close we’d been standing. “Of course, you should get out.”
I stared uncertainly at her. “Right.”
A buzzer sounded somewhere, and a countdown from sixty began above our door. Fear thrilled through my stomach again. Leesha looked over at me and gave me a wide smile. She looked more alive than I’d ever seen her. I wonder if she looked the same way in real life when she was excited, or if anything on Earth got her excited like this.
“Ready?” she asked as the timer hit thirty.
I took several breaths. “We’ll see.”
She slapped my shoulder. “That’s the spirit.” Forgoing her mace, she drew out a pair of long knives. I followed her lead and took out my axe while watching the numbers tick down.
3 ... 2 … 1... The doors slid open.
“Let’s go!” Leesha took off running. I followed slower, not sure I wanted to bolt out into whatever we were doing.
Somehow, the door outside our room had morphed into a long hall, leading in only one direction. At the end of it, a square of bright light signaled the end of the corridor and the beginning of the tournament. My panting loud in my ears, I followed Leesha’s silhouette as the exit came closer, closer…
We burst out into the arena, and I stopped and stared about me, blinking dumbly for a moment. The whole of the staging ground spread before me, mostly dusty ground with a series of fifteen or so foot-tall plateaus rising from the landscape. Even more intimidating were the players. People spread in from the sides of the Coliseum like ants streaming towards a fresh carcass, stretching as far as I could see. This included the doors to either side of us, only ten feet away, where two pairs had just emerged and charged screaming towards the plateaus without looking sideways.
“Come on!” Leesha yelled at me, jogging in place a few paces ahead. “We’ve got to get the high ground on the plateaus!”
I shook my head. “No, we can’t — Look!” Some of the players had already reached the first of the stone platforms and were ascending the sides. As soon as they rose, though, some of them fell, brought down by arrows, javelins, and other projectiles from the contestants still on the ground.
Fortunately, Leesha quickly got my point. “B
ut we can’t stay here!” she yelled back. “We’re too exposed!”
As if to confirm her point, an arrow lodged itself in the dirt not a foot away from me. I flinched and looked angrily for the archer, but in the throngs of people, I couldn’t find who it might be.
My eyes fell on a likely spot, though. “There!” I pointed. An arch of stone about fifty yards away came off the side of a small plateau. Most were using it as a sort of staircases, and no one had thought to hole up inside it yet.
Leesha didn’t argue as I started heading towards it, nor did she really have time. We weren’t the only people to linger about the edges. Other pairs of competitors turned toward us warily as we approached, gripping their weapons in anticipation of a fight. I edged around them, not willing to be the first to start it. No one knew exactly what was supposed to happen here. Were we supposed to claim some sort of prize atop the plateaus? Or kill our fellow contestants, perhaps a certain amount to qualify? Or just survive? Until I found out, I wasn’t going to start shit.
It turned out I didn’t have a say in the matter, for when we were thirty yards away, a sudden rushing of feet came crunching behind us, and I whirled to meet them. A warrior woman and a slim, roguish man — basically our doppelgängers — ran out to intercept us. The warrior came in close and took a swing at me with her single-handed hammer. Instinctively, I parried and dealt one back, striking across the shield in her other hand. We traded blows for a moment, then I noticed other contestants creeping forward, looking to take advantage of us while Leesha and I were distracted. I had to end this quickly, or we’d be in the center of a mini melee of our own.
I went for the warrior using my Hook and Hack skill, my axe darting behind her leg then looping back to snag her ankle. But this was no NPC I was fighting. Before I could topple her and finish the move, the warrior slammed me with her shield, momentarily stunning me, then getting in a glancing blow with her hammer to my shoulder. Shrugging off the 20% hit to my HP, I yanked, and the big woman went down with a crash, shield trailing to the side. I whipped my battle-axe around and, with a grunt, lodged it in the middle of her chest.
But though that might have finished off an ordinary opponent, players in this contest were made of sterner stuff. The warrior woman flailed at me, driving me to peel my battle-axe from her chest and retreat. I would have pushed the attack to finish her off, but I noticed other pairs were starting to join the fray. “Leesha!” I bellowed, retreating toward the arch we had been headed for.
She whipped both her daggers across the other contestant’s throat, sprays of blood flying from her blades, and the rogue fell to his knees, gurgling. He didn’t look like he’d last long. I grabbed Leesha’s arm and pulled her away as the two other teams arrived to finish off the woman warrior. They’d be hot on our trail after.
The teams must have finished our opponents, for a moment later, I saw the XP message pop up in the corner of my vision. There was no time to check it, though.
We sprinted to the arch, heedless of our plummeting SP. It wouldn’t much matter if we had SP or not if we couldn’t get to a sheltered place. Arrows and even a few spells rained down around us, transforming the arena into a battlefield. But there were no sides and no order. It was a true melee, and I couldn’t wrap my mind around the chaos. All I could do was react.
Just before we reached the arch, another pair sprang out to meet us. These were a pair of twins, short and armored boys with long maces — morning stars, from what I’d seen at the smith’s — and an identical look of determination in their eyes. Without hesitation, Leesha and I engaged, her flanking to the side and me drawing their attention by running straight at them and giving a wide sweep of my axe. They were all too eager to press their number advantage, and fought seamlessly with each other to get past my axe. I parried and dodged as best I could, but Mikam’s armor was the true savior. My vambraces caught two glancing blows, barely chipping away at my HP.
I didn’t have to hold out for long. Leesha dove in, knives flashing, and the two boys went down with a cry, the ligaments at the back of their knees severed. I left them there, for someone else to put them out of their misery. “Come on!” I shouted to Leesha, headed for the arch. Though she lingered a moment longer, perhaps wanting the kill for her record, my companion soon followed after.
We made it to the arch and stopped, breathing hard. Our SP was nearly gone, though mine was definitely lower. Any further down, and the reboot would probably kick in. I wasn’t going to let that happen if I could help it, though with this melee about us, I knew it was all too likely.
Leesha looked over grinning at me. “Isn’t this wild?”
I shook my head. “Let’s just try and get through it. Do you know what we’re supposed to be doing?”
She shrugged. “Survive, probably. Fight over something on the plateaus maybe.”
“I thought the same thing. But I don’t really want to find out.”
“We may not have a choice,” Leesha pointed out. “Maybe the round won’t end if there are people surviving who haven’t accomplished the goal, whatever it is. We could just be stuck here until we win or we’re hunted down.”
This tournament just got better and better. But when faced with the challenge, I found myself growing excited. I didn’t quite understand the rules, but I understood there had to be an objective. Now it was just a matter of doing it.
“All right.” I rose from my crouch then peered outside our arch, expecting to see others running towards it, but we were in the clear for the moment. “Ready when you are.”
“Your SP is only halfway recovered,” she observed. “Let’s stay a moment longer — fuck!”
I whirled around to see someone bolting inside the arch, and Leesha engaging him with a flurry of knives. I couldn’t get at him; the passage was too narrow. It only occurred to me a moment later that the man would have a partner.
25
Watch Your Back
I turned back to my entrance to see a slight man grinning at me, a thin sword held in either hand. With barely a moment’s warning, the swordsman darted forward, one sword leading. I caught the blade with a spin of my axe and feinted an attack as the head came around, causing the swordsman to flinch back. But he pressed the attack forward just as quickly, landing a burning cut to the exposed flesh on my arm. I gritted my teeth against the pain but pressed on. The space in the small tunnel was too small for proper swings, or to gain the space I needed for even footing with this player. Things weren’t looking good for me — he landed two more glancing blows, bringing my HP down to 70%, even with what I’d recovered resting. The worst part was I couldn’t retaliate with anything of my own. I grunted in frustration as I tried pushing out, then was penned back in, like a cow with a particularly sharp cattle rod.
The combat had died down behind me, but I couldn’t risk a look back to see what had happened. I didn’t have a blade in my back yet, though, so that had to be good. I realized how good it was a moment later when Leesha appeared behind the swordsman and stabbed both knives up into his ribs. The backstab no doubt counted as a critical hit, and the player died immediately.
“You’ve got to start taking care of some on your own,” she chastised as she let the swordsman slump to the floor. I glanced back to see the man’s companion similarly disposed of.
“I’m just the punching bag, remember?”
“At least you have that down.” Leesha looked out and around. “Coast looks clear now. You recovered?”
“Never been readier.” The adrenaline pumping through me felt good. It didn’t quite have the serious fun of the football days, but there was something more substantial to this, something real. Maybe there was a hunter in me, just waiting for the right moment to come out. I hoped so. I’d need it to survive.
We exited the arch and clambered up it to get halfway to the top of the plateau. From there, it was a quick six-foot scramble up to the top. To my surprise, no one else was on it, nor were there nearly as many people moving about as befo
re. There also weren’t bodies strewn across the ground. It looked like players’ bodies disappeared after a bit. I wondered if you could loot them while they were still around.
A good number of contestants still fought, many of them on top of other plateaus. All the platforms our size, which tended to be around the edge, were unoccupied, while the more central and bigger ones were still being fought over. It looked like we were right — there was something we had to claim in order to continue to the second round.
“Keep going?” I asked
Leesha nodded. We scrambled down the other side of the plateau, then wove our way through the tall rock pillars towards the middle. I was beginning to think we stood a chance. We’d outmatched the last two pairs we’d come across, and there couldn’t have been more than a hundred left. Still, I knew how single-elimination championships worked, and unless there was another surprise, there would only be sixteen teams passing to the next round. We still had a number of competitors to hack our way through.
We came to the base of a large mesa where we heard fighting on top. Leesha and I shared a look, then with silent agreement started climbing up the side. I’d only been rock climbing once, and then with a rope in a gym. This was much worse. The wall rose some forty feet into the air, straight up. A fall from the top could probably kill, or reboot in my case. And even with my virtually-enhanced body, I was wearing heavy steel armor and had a limited reserve of stamina. It’d be a close call for me to make it.
Still, I did my best. My forearms burned, as did my shoulders, but I kept pulling myself up the side. Halfway, I realized it was better to do the heavy lifting with my legs rather than arms, but my grip was nearly shot by that point. A brief rest was enough to push the rest of the way up, though. As I neared the top, I took a deep breath, then hauled myself over the lip, my battle-axe falling ready into my hand.