Tournament Lord

by Felix Craft

  Advancements wrapped up, I finally rose from bed and stretched. My knee didn’t twinge or pain me. Apparently, I’d been expecting all the old wounds to have come back. No such bad luck, but it did remind me of all the old bits of the grind back in real life. It made me slightly less eager to return, but only slightly.

  Not wanting the weight of armor on yet, I dressed in some odd clothes I had in my inventory then braced myself and left my room. Walking down the hall toward the stairs, I heard the clamor of the common room ahead — sounds of merriment wafting down the hall. Hoping no one was really looking to celebrate us so I could just grab some dinner to sate my avatar’s hunger then be off, I went down the creaky stairs and into the din.

  Almost as soon as I came around the corner and into the crowded room, a man pointed at me and said, “Look! Here he comes! Deathless is here!” Everyone in the room turned and cheered. I stared around in amazement. Despite what Leesha had said, I hadn’t really expected to be celebrated, much less cheered like that. And to my surprise, instead of cringing away from it, I found myself glowing with their appreciation. It was just like coming back to the locker room after throwing the winning pass in a big game. I’ll admit, it was a bit intoxicating.

  People clapped me on the shoulders, shook my hand, and congratulated my surprise victory. Drinks were thrust at me, so that I had to refuse a third when I already had two mugs of ale. I could barely move through the crowd, much less find Leesha in it. Ordering food was out of the question. It was nearly as chaotic as the melee had been, though quite a bit more enjoyable.

  Still, as much as I reveled the attention, it was a bit much. It was then that a welcome face emerged from the fray. “Leave him alone, will you?” Mikam the blacksmith said, shouldering the others aside with his bulky frame. After he’d pushed the immediate people farther back, he grinned up at me. “Not a bad first round, eh, Zane?”

  “Guess not,” I said. “I hear I did a number on your armor, though.”

  “You could say that again. I’m working overtime to get the repairs done in time for your matches tomorrow, but they’ll get finished. Just here for a quick drink and to thank you.”

  “Thank me?”

  “Well, when they see you taking blows and still standing, who do you think they come rushing to? Your armorer, of course! I barely needed to have made those long odds bets with all the orders I’ve had come in since you two swept the round!”

  I grinned. “Glad to help. Does that mean we get further discounts?”

  “A savage dealer, this one! Yes, yes, I’ll give you bottom prices for life for this. Just don’t lose tomorrow — I’ve still got a lot of money to win. Though we’ll see — you may not look like such a black horse after this upset! Before I go, though, let me show you to our mutual friend.”

  The smith dragged me through the crowd to a booth isolated by the wall. There, Leesha sat with three other women. She didn’t look as happy as I thought she would, and I suddenly had a suspicion that I knew the faction these three belonged to. As soon as we stopped at their table, they looked up, then quickly scooted out of the booth and melded into the crowd, with barely a look back. I watched them go, then cocked an eyebrow at Leesha. She gave me a stone-cold expression in reply.

  Mikam hadn’t seemed to notice anything. “I’ll leave you two to it, then,” he said, then turned and walked off.

  Feeling a bit of apprehension, I slid into the booth opposite of Leesha and stared at her. “What did they want?’

  “Who?”

  “Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be.”

  “It’s nothing.” She gestured to the room. “I thought you’d enjoy this. What are you doing hiding in the corner over here?”

  “Mikam brought me over. I thought we’d be celebrating together. We both won, didn’t we?”

  “Yeah, well, I guess I’m not in a celebrating mood.”

  “Let’s not change the subject. What do they want?”

  “How about we do?” Leesha countered. Before I could object, she’d waved a waitress down and ordered our dinner. I couldn’t make out exactly what she asked for over the din of the crowd, but it sounded like some sort of mutton and leek soup were on the menu.

  “You can’t avoid my questions forever,” I said.

  “Zane!” a familiar trio of voices said.

  Looking up, I saw Garrett, Sylvia, and Bone grinning over our table. Though I was a bit annoyed at being thwarted, I knew I could corner Leesha later, and I was surprised to find how happy I was to see them. “Hey guys! What’s cracking?”

  “What’s cracking? What’s cracking, he says?” Bone shook me by the shoulder a little too roughly. “You’re cracking, man! You’re the man, man!”

  “Stop that,” Sylvia said, making a face. “You’re embarrassing everybody.”

  Garrett drew the barbarian off of me. “We saw everything. You were amazing out there!”

  I slid out of the booth to stand with them. “Everything? Could you really see any detail? I must have been lost among everybody else.”

  But Garrett was shaking his head. “Not at all! There’s a special projection you can bring up for tournaments, which allows you to zoom in on any one of the players or areas.”

  “We followed you the whole time, of course,” Sylvia said, then flushed.

  I smiled uncertainly at her, my usual bluster failing. It had been awhile since a girl had really seemed into me, and I wasn’t sure how to take it. Especially when Garrett, pretending not to see the nonverbal exchange, looked a little crestfallen.

  “You just carved through them,” Bone said. “Bam! Bam! And the whole time they’re just stabbing you, over and over — you really need to invest in block or something, man. You were like a pincushion.”

  “But that was crazy how you kept getting back up,” Garrett said, picking up the thread again. “How’d you do that? Do you have a really incredible charm, or what?”

  All three of them were looking at me expectantly, but I didn’t know what to say. This could easily be the moment my secret got out, if I let it. I liked my former band, but none of them seemed to have much discretion. If I told them, I had no doubt my glitch would be common knowledge by tomorrow.

  Then it occurred to me that the opposite could be true. If I gave the right cover story, maybe that would become the canon explanation. With a good enough cover story, no one would be the wiser to my glitch when I kept getting back to my feet. But what to say?

  I just started to talk, hoping my mouth would work it out. “Well, I probably shouldn’t tell anyone this, but since we’re friends, and you share my secrets ...”

  They all three leaned forward, eager to hear more as my voice dropped low. I could imagine Leesha’s eyes narrowing with suspicion, wondering if I was really going to reveal the secret of my glitch to these three bozos.

  “I got this item when I first logged in.” From my inventory, I withdrew the Dice of Danny the Destroyer, hiding them from view from everyone but our little circle.

  The three of the band pressed closer. Garrett said, “What’s that say? ‘Danny the Destroyer.’ Who’s that?”

  I shrugged. “No clue. But I’m glad he gave these dice to me. See, these little puppies give me incredible luck and allow me to survive all sorts of situations.”

  Sylvia frowned. “That sounds OP. Why would you just have them?”

  “Yeah,” Bone said. “Like someone hacked you, but in a good way, right?”

  The dice weren’t working as well for distracting as I’d hoped. It seemed I was raising more questions than answering, so I pocketed the items. “I guess so. But listen, don't tell anyone. I don't want other people to think the same thing.”

  All three members of the band looked worried, but they nodded along. I figured I had till the next morning before one of them let it slip. Probably Bone.

  At that moment, the waitress who had taken our orders returned, bearing a platter with two bowls of brown stew and a large, fresh loaf of bread. My mouth wate
red at the smell of it.

  “That's our cue,” Garrett said.

  “Good luck … gambler.” Bone turned away with a wink. Sylvia waved as they turned away.

  I sat down to my food across from Leesha.

  She stared at me while she blew steam from the soup on her spoon. “Nice friends,” she said after taking a sip. “Hmm. Not bad.”

  I ripped a chunk of bread off the loaf. “I know what I’m doing.”

  “Do you?”

  “Even if they talk,” I continued, “it will only help me get out of here. Danny the Destroyer is Danny’s old RPG name. Once he hears it, he’ll connect the dots and find me.”

  “If the mods don’t boot you for cheating.”

  “That would be okay, too,” I lied. I’d be staring at the inside of a cell if the police caught me, but she didn’t know that. “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “Obviously your secret faction has something on you.” I bit off a big bite and chewed for a long moment. “You’re not only playing a risky game with mods. If you lose, I’m guessing you’re risking your faction getting pissed off, too.”

  Leesha stared daggers at me, the sharp and poisoned kind. When she spoke, her voice was laced with corrosive sweetness. “How about we not talk about them in public? Or at all?”

  “Fine.” I bent back to my bowl.

  Leesha leaned back a moment. After staring at me a lingering while, she gave a disgusted sigh, pushed her plate back, then stood. “I’ll be upstairs. I’m going to log out until our match tomorrow.”

  I didn’t look at her directly but watched her go from the corner of my eye. Then I slowly finished the rest of my soup.

  The rest of the night I passed in revelry. Once that bummer of a partner left MythRune, it was much easier to get into the spirit of things. The horrors of the first round faded away as I drank virtual beer after beer, to the same result as in the real world. Hours later, I found myself stumbling behind the inn to take a piss. Going to the bathroom wasn’t normally a concern here, except when you got sick, or apparently if you drank too much liquor. It was a perverse sort of punishment, but I was no longer surprised at what Danny had come up with here.

  Just as I’d finished and was lacing back up, someone shoved me into the wall from behind, pressing my face against the stone as I tried not to step in the puddle I’d made. “Oh, come on!”

  “Zane,” a voice said calmly behind me. “So good to make your acquaintance.”

  27

  Welcome to the Jungle

  I didn’t think this was an NPC from the way he spoke. Though I’d heard you couldn’t have Player versus Player, or PvP, violence within Mythgard, apparently there were exceptions to that. “Yeah? You, too. Not.”

  “No need to be nasty,” my assailant chided. “I’m just here to deliver a message.”

  “Then why don’t you just deliver the fucking message? This hurts you know.”

  “Oh, apparently that’s not something you need to worry about,” the man sneered. “This will only take a moment, anyway. Remember the man whose castle you stole into?”

  I did. And being reminded of it, I suddenly had a very good idea who had sent this guy. “Maybe. What’s it to you?” I barely struggled against his hold, because unless I wanted to risk putting a foot in my own urine, I was stuck.

  “My lord advises you demonstrate prudence,” the oily messenger said. “He bid you to pull out of the tournament, lest something terrible befalls you or your companion. He will not be so gracious as he was last time, now that he knows your true colors.”

  “Yeah? Well I have a message for Loki, too.” I snapped my elbow back, catching the surprised man in the nose and hearing a satisfying snap of it breaking. Whirling around, I shoved him to the mud and stood over him. “I’m not pulling out. I’m not letting anyone stop me. You hear me? No one.”

  The man hissed at me as he scrambled to his feet, then ran off into the night. I let him go, swaying as I stared after him. Maybe I’d been a bit rash, but at the moment, I didn’t care. I was sick and tired of other people trying to determine my fate in this stupid game.

  Shaking my head, I found my way back into the inn and upstairs, then collapsed on my bed. I fell asleep soon after with the world dizzily spinning above.

  This game was so cruel, it included hangovers.

  I only lost my breakfast once, but it was enough to make me miserably drag when I got up the next morning. Leesha, when she logged in, didn’t make things any better, smirking at me as I slouched across the room. “Glad you enjoyed your victory. Now let’s make sure we get another one today.”

  I groaned in assent.

  Just like the day before, we hit the courtyard to do some warm ups. As I moved, the morning sickness started to wear off. That was good, as we had two rounds ahead of us today, not just one. I had to be in peak condition if I wanted to make it to the end.

  The next two rounds, if the information given at the beginning of the tournament was correct, would be held against a single pair of opponents each time. However, I doubted it would be as simple as that. If the melee of round one had told me anything, it was that Lord MythRune was a cunning bastard and wouldn’t be satisfied with just a normal single elimination tournament.

  We already had an indication of what some of the complications might be. When we saw the individual arenas, they had different ecosystems within them. No doubt we would not just be battling the other pair, but our environment, as well. Even that seemed too simple at this point, but there was no point in speculation. I’d find out soon enough what was in store for us.

  After finishing our warm ups, Leesha and I made our way over to Mikam’s smithy to pick up our mended armor. The blacksmith greeted us cheerily despite the dark circles beneath his eyes. “Up all night mending these, but I've got them nearly as good as new now. Try not to abuse them so much this time around, eh?”

  “We’ll see,” I hedged.

  Leesha rolled her eyes, but didn't disagree.

  The smith refused my companion’s money, and we left the shop soon after. On the walk over to the Coliseum, Leesha and I were pretty quiet. I didn't know about her, but I was still thinking about her fellow Sisters of Evenfall visiting her at the inn and how very little I liked the incident. Even if Leesha was technically on my side, if they were plotting something, I doubted it would be good for me. But it was too late to change things now. Leesha and I had entered the tournament together, and we couldn’t switch partners. If I wanted to get out of this game, I’d have to do it with her.

  At the entrance of the Coliseum, we once again walked through the archway and down the wide halls. But there were a couple differences from the day before. The first was that instead of going into private rooms, we were directed through a series of projections to go to a slightly larger one. There, we found our fellow competitors waiting. As we entered, all eyes turned toward us. It wasn’t hard to recognize why. Taking a look at all their stats, I could see we were easily the lowest level pair there, and I was the lowest level period, with Leesha not far behind. Hardly a confidence booster.

  Leesha led us to a lonely corner to wait, but we weren’t alone long. A man with a face like a concrete block and wearing dented but solid-looking armor approached. A thin woman in a black, feathery robe walked next to him. Neither had a friendly expression. A quick check of their stats showed me their names and levels. The man was Thunder, a Level 21 who had apparently leveled up after yesterday’s melee. The woman was Raven, and she was Level 15. From the look of her, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had magic to her, and maybe even the big Thunder had some, too. I couldn’t conceive of how Leesha and I would be able to overcome this pair.

  “You’re them,” Thunder said as he stopped before us.

  “Maybe,” I responded. “Depends how handsome ‘them’ is supposed to be.”

  Raven tittered with laughter. “Very charming, isn’t he? Did you charm your way to the judges, is that how you survi
ved?”

  “We did just fine,” Leesha said shortly. A glance her way showed her jaw tightly clenched. She handled it even worse than I did when people disrespected her.

  “I don’t think they’ll charm easy again,” I said. “Looks like we’re competitors, the same as you.”

  “If that’s what they’re calling it.” Thunder snorted.

  “What did you even come here for?” Leesha asked. “Say what you need to say then leave us alone.”

  “We have only one thing to say,” Thunder said.

  Raven finished for him. “Our master doesn’t forget.”

  I had no doubt who their master was after the messenger from last night. Still, on the off-chance I was wrong, I kept my mouth shut and met their gazes.

  “Well, good luck out there.” Raven offered a little mocking wave, then the pair turned back to the other competitors.

  Leesha leaned in. “Do you know who they were talking about?”

  I hadn’t told Leesha about my visitor from the night before, and I quickly filled her in. “It’s gotta be Loki again. The bastard likes to toy with us. But why do his champions have to be some of the toughest competitors here?”

  Leesha gnawed her lip, staring after the pair. “Let’s just hope we don’t get placed against them in this next round.”

  I couldn’t have agreed more.

  Soon after, the last straggling competitors showed up, and the doors to the room sealed shut. A minute passed, then two. All of us started looking around, me most of all. Where the hell was whoever was supposed to start this thing? I didn’t want to delay any more than I had to. I’d thought my stomach was settled from last night’s revelry’s, but it was starting to act up again.

  Many people near the center of the room jumped when a projection suddenly loomed over us — a tall, imposing figure with glowing white eyes. Two curved metal horns rose from his shoulders, and chains hung off his random assortment of heavy, dark armor. His chest, which was bared as if in defiance of anyone who might try and stab him, was the green-gray of a crocodile. From behind his shoulder rose the dangerous hilts of two large weapons.