Tournament Lord

by Felix Craft

  “Lord MythRune,” Leesha whispered to me.

  I stared up at the huge man. Even when it was just a projection, the patron of the tournament struck an imposing figure. It was laughable to think this could be Danny’s avatar. Anyone that knew him would think the same. He was the exact opposite in every way. Still, in MythRune, who knew what anyone else actually looked like? Everyone but me seemed to have had the option to customize their appearance.

  “Welcome to the second round of my tournament,” Lord MythRune rumbled. “I congratulate you for making this far. But you must know, it only becomes more difficult to progress from here.”

  I screwed up my eyes at the figure. Something about his words struck me as odd. Sure, his voice was deep and powerful, like a gruffer Morgan Freeman, but the way he spoke wasn’t nearly as charismatic. But that didn’t matter now, so I pushed the thought down.

  “You were told before the melee that there would be five rounds to this tournament,” our host continued. “Which would make sense with sixteen pairs proceeding on. However, I tell you today that there are truly only three rounds.”

  Confused whispers sprouted up, players trying to figure out what he meant. I didn’t know either, but I wasn’t in the least surprised. If I’d learned anything from the first round, it was to expect anything from this tournament.

  “In the second round, instead of each pair facing off with another, there will be eight pairs to each arena,” Lord MythRune explained. “To be victorious, you must be the last pair standing in your arena. Only each pair from the two fights will continue on to the final round.”

  Leesha and I exchanged a quick smile. Eight pairs in one arena was better than facing off against one. In a one-on-one battle, there was no doubt we were at a disadvantage. The more chaos around us, the easier it would be to survive. However, I doubted that was the only surprise in store for us. I still remembered the different environments we saw before the first round. Some hellish place was waiting for us to fight.

  “For the entertainment of the crowd, the fights will be conducted one after the other,” Lord MythRune continued. “You will now see which round you are placed in.”

  A small projection of the number “2” sprang up before me. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy about that or not. On the one hand, it might give us an edge in conducting our own round. But if experience had taught me anything, it was that we likely wouldn’t be permitted to witness the first match. It just meant we’d be sitting around, dreading our turn, for even longer. I supposed as long as it wasn’t the same number as Thunder and Sparrow, I’d be content with what I got.

  “Good luck, contestants,” the host rumbled. “May the best warriors conquer!” With that, the projection of Lord MythRune disappeared, leaving us all to speculate.

  Lord Loki’s champions left with the other people in the first round, and I sighed in relief. We were spared facing them for now, and hopefully for the whole tournament. Still, it was a small comfort. Nearly everyone else there looked just as intimidating. It wasn’t going to be an easy fight.

  As suspected, we were kept in the room while the first battle was conducted, unable to view what happened. I paced while Leesha lounged, staring up at the ceiling with hands folded behind her head. We still weren’t totally a pair again, and that didn’t bode well for fighting as a unit.

  Time to swallow my pride. I stopped next to her. “Hey, about yesterday … I didn’t mean to act like I don’t trust you. I do. You came back after … Well, you know.” I rubbed at the back of my neck, marveling at how bad I was at apologies. “I guess what I’m saying is, sorry.”

  Her gaze flicked over to me. “Took you long enough.” Then she resumed her watch of the ceiling.

  I stared at her a moment longer, then shook my head. If she wanted to be that way, so be it. But she’d better not let it get in the way of the competition.

  Some time later — half an hour, an hour, I didn’t keep track — the doors to the chamber opened, revealing the NPC guards who had taken away the first batch of people. One of them said, “Time for you lot. Come on, don’t have all day!”

  Leesha swiftly rose, and we followed the others through the door and down the hall curving around the edge of the arena. My heart beat faster the closer we came to our destination. My mind raced through the possible environments: Icy tundra? Islands? Desert? Mountains? I couldn’t decide which would be more torture. With my luck, we’d probably end up inside a volcano.

  Finally, our guards halted before a series of what looked like hand-scanners projecting out from the wall. One of them grinned. “Remember the rules. A simple fight to the death. Now, if you’ll place your hands on the pads in front of you.”

  Herded like cattle to the slaughter. I gritted my teeth at the thought, but as the other seven pairs rushed forward to place their hands of the scanners, I joined them. Win this, and I was only one round away from Lord MythRune himself, and through him, Danny and a way out of here. I couldn’t lose now.

  “Off with you!” the lead guard said, then pressed something on the wall next to him. A strange sensation filled my body, like I was quickly losing weight and gravity ws losing its effect on me. I looked down to find the world breaking apart once more. But where would it reform?

  Fear was the last thing I felt as the game fell apart.

  I opened my eyes to near darkness. There was an earthy, musty smell around, like decomposing leaves, and the back of my tunic was quickly soaking through, despite my armor on top. I rolled onto my side and climbed to my feet. As I did, hidden ropes grabbed at me, and fearing traps, I struggled to pull free. I was surprised when they easily snapped. As my vision adjusted to the gloom, I realized they weren’t ropes after all, but slender vines.

  Everything came together — we were in a jungle of some kind. Just the environment I hadn’t thought of.

  Though it wasn’t a nice surprise at first, I realized I could have done worse. Leesha and I would have to make every advantage of our terrain if we wanted to come through this round, and this thick vegetation would be right up her alley. Speaking of Leesha… I realized I hadn’t seen my companion yet and, taking my battle-axe in hand, started looking this way and that for her. I couldn’t call out, and in the thick gloom, it was hard to see if she lay nearby.

  Something settled on my shoulder, and I whipped around quickly, holding myself back just in case. It turned out to be a good thing.

  “Just me,” Leesha whispered. Her long knives gleamed in her hands as she crouched next to me.

  “Any idea how big this place is?” I whispered back.

  “No clue. The map feature is disabled. But probably not big. They wouldn’t want us to just wander the jungle the whole time. And the fight before ours didn’t take too long, did it?”

  I wasn’t sure that was exactly comforting. “We’d better find them before they find us.”

  “Quit jabbering and get going, then.” Leesha moved past me, taking the lead as she snuck forward.

  Figuring now was as good a time as any to improve my sneaking abilities, I followed close behind.

  The jungle thinned as we moved. I guessed we had spawned at the spot of thickest vegetation for immediate cover, but in the rest of the arena, we wouldn’t be so well concealed. What other surprises did this place hold?

  Leesha suddenly held up a hand to my chest, and I stopped mid-step. She pointed upward, and my gaze followed. A vine hung down with a sharp and pointy thorn at the end of it. The whole thing looked suspiciously like a stinger.

  “Scorpion creeper,” Leesha explained, leading us in a wide berth around it. “There will be tons of poisonous plants like that around. Might also be vines that grab and hold you, sinkholes, maybe even monsters.”

  “Great,” I muttered. We were about as likely to die of this jungle as the other competitors.

  She led us around a great purple flower that looked like it could make a meal of both of us to the base of a large tree with sturdy branches nearly all the way to its ro
ots. “A ladder tree. I’m going up to take a look around, see I can spot anyone else. You stay down here and stand guard.”

  I nodded and posted up while Leesha nimbly climbed the tree. I scanned the surrounding forest, watching for movement among the shadows, but a steady breeze made me keep jumping at leaves rustling and branches creaking. I was so on edge, I’d probably lash out at a stick before too long.

  Turning back, I check on Leesha’s progress for a moment. Already she was twenty feet up and still climbing. The tree was maybe three times that height and looked navigable to the top. It was hard to tell if she’d be above enough vegetation to make it worth it, though.

  A branch snapped, and I immediately looked in its direction, gripping my axe hard. Sure enough, I saw leaves shaking slightly as someone crept through the underbrush. Keeping the approaching player in my peripheral, I scanned for his or her companion, but I couldn’t spot anyone anywhere obvious.

  I understood a moment later why when an arrow sprouted painfully from my left shoulder. Grunting in pain, I bellowed, “Leesha!” then ran at the enemy in the brush. I activated my new skill Juggernaut, just in case they threw something else at me. It wouldn’t help my pain, but at least it’d dole it back double.

  I reached the enemy without getting shot again. Seeing me charge, the man ceased his stealthy approach and rose to meet me with a pair of knives, the same sort of set-up Leesha had. I continued forward, thinking to bull him over, but the player stepped nimbly aside and dealt me two quick glancing blows as I whirled past. My armor deflected one, but the other found a gap nd nicked my arm. It was barely painfully compared to the arrow sticking out of me, but my health did take a hit.

  Stomping forward, I reached my enemy then whirled to face him. As I did, the world suddenly lurched. My vision swam. I couldn’t keep things straight. I understood a moment later as a small projection showed up my peripherals.

  You have been poisoned.

  28

  The Girl With the Golden Sword

  My HP slowly ticking downward confirmed this.

  Shaking my head to clear my sight, I stalked forward to meet my enemy again. The sooner I ended this, the better. The man was quicker than me and likely had more SP. Not to mention the poison eroding my health. Thinking to catch him before he was ready, I used one of my new skills, Flurry Blow, to deal a couple quick jabs with the spike on the end of my battle-axe. But my opponent wasn’t looking to play a quick game. He batted away my first blow and danced back from my second, wearing a self-satisfied smile.

  “So that’s the way it’s going to be, eh?” Even though I knew it was probably futile, I stalked forward again with a wide swing. Maybe if I could hook him, I could use one of my other skills. But he was much too quick, ducking under my swing and coming around on my other side. As he did, I felt the burn of another cut across my hip. My HP started falling faster.

  I turned again, slower this time. Frustration built inside me. I couldn’t beat this player, not head to head. Where the hell was Leesha? Last I’d seen, she’d darted down the tree and into the brush, no doubt after the archer. But something held her up. I’d have to figure this out on my own.

  An idea came to me as I faced off against my opponent, Letting the very real exhaustion I felt show, I fell to my knees, my axe the crutch keeping me upright. The smile on my competitor’s face grew. He could see my HP plummeting below 50% and my SP falling as well — this was a potent poison. He knew I was quickly dying.

  “Well, well,” the man taunted, staying just out of reach. “I thought you’d be more of challenge since you made it this far. Turns out, you getting to the second round was just a fluke.”

  I pushed down the helpless rage I felt and grunted, “Maybe.”.

  “Did you hear the things they were saying about you? That you couldn’t die! That you resurrected twice in Round 1! But I watched the videos. I figure it was clever acting, nothing more. And it looks like I’m right.” He smirked again. “Can’t fake your stats, can you? I can see you’re fast on your way out of this tournament. No resurrecting this time.”

  I was still hoping I wouldn’t have to this time. But despite his cocky words, the rogue stayed back, circling slowly as he watched me die. I had to see if I could provoke him further.

  “You talk big, yet you don’t finish me off,” I taunted. “What’s wrong? Scared of this Level 10?”

  The rogue’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t come forward. “Talk all you want, it doesn’t matter. Soon you’ll be dead, and my companion and I will keep going on winning.”

  I ignored him and kept pushing. “Think of everyone watching. Oh, how brave they’ll think you are, waiting while your poison finishes me off.” It really was, too — I wasn’t sure how long I’d still be able to lift my battle-axe, much less swing it.

  But I could see I was getting under his skin. “30% still too high? I’ll bet you haven’t killed anything more than rats before now.”

  It was finally too much for the man. Moving fast, his daggers flashed forward, going for the straight kill.

  I’d predicted his move correctly, and as my battle-axe darted out, it hooked around his leg. I took both his knives to the shoulder with the arrow, and it just further disoriented him when the shaft whacked him in the face. Completing his embarrassment, I rose and threw the last of my SP into yanking my axe toward me. The player went crashing to the ground, stunned. The last thing he must have seen was my axe swinging back around in Hook & Hack to lodge into his unprotected forehead.

  I slumped back to the ground, letting go of the axe in my exhaustion. One down, thirteen theoretically to go. Leesha, at least, should make it twelve soon… or that archer would, if he’d gotten her. I had to go after her and help if I could.

  Leesha had given me potions in preparation of times like this, so I chugged an antidote, followed quickly by an HP pot. The poison effect faded in a few seconds, and my HP and SP started rapidly rising again. Figuring the potion would take care of my arrow wound, I pulled out the arrow to help it along, grimacing at the pain of it. But I was soon able to get to my feet again and stagger off in pursuit of my companion.

  I hadn’t gotten far in advancing my tracking skill, so I had no clue what to look for. Blindly, I started wandering the forest until realizing I’d never find her that way. Who knew how big this arena was? Of course, I could find that ou. My gaze wandered back to the ladder tree, not too far behind me still. I had to go up and take a look. Hopefully, no arrows would take me out while I was up there.

  It wasn’t easy going with my heavy steel armor on, but the branches were sturdy and spaced close enough together so it almost felt like ascending a steep staircase rather than a tree. Soon I was ten, twenty, thirty feet up. Still no one fired at me. I looked around, gathering my bearings. The arena wasn’t as massive as it appeared within the jungle, not much more than a couple football fields wide in any direction. I was high enough now to be able to see some of the ground around me. I didn’t see Leesha, but there was lots of movement across the arena from me. In another spot, smoke curled up from the leaves. Clearly Leesha and I weren’t the only ones fighting.

  But I’d deal with that later. For now, I knew where to avoid as I searched. I descended to the bottom of the tree. Still no leads. Did I wander off, hoping to stumble on her? She could need my help. On the other hand, she might return to this spot — it was one place we both knew to go to.

  Adrenaline pumped through my veins. I couldn't just sit still while the contest raged around me. Hoping I was making the right decision, I gripped my axe and set off into the jungle.

  I made for the perimeter of the arena. At least that way I’d have one side covered, not to mention it would be easier to keep track of where I was. Once I reached it, I picked a direction and stuck to it. No point in second-guessing now. Decisiveness was my path forward.

  I walked the edge, the perimeter to my right and the jungle to my left, constantly scanning the brush next to me and straining to hear any sign o
f a sneaking opponent. About one hundred steps in, I heard a distant clang of metal on metal, but it was far enough away that I wasn’t too worried. Besides, they were distracted — some low-level on the edge of the arena was the least of their worries.

  After about 175 steps, I heard the cracking of branches ahead and fell to an awkward crouch, my armor protesting. It wasn’t made for agile movement, but I’d have to make due. Straining to see in the gloom before me, I picked out the pair of contestants by their movement. An intact pair — bad news for me, especially without Leesha. I tried not to move, hoping I hadn’t already drawn attention to myself. When I heard them speaking a moment later, I thought I might be in the clear.

  “No one still,” one muttered. “Where is everybody?”

  “Don’t complain,” his partner said dryly. “The longer we don’t fight, the further we get in the round.”

  The first one muttered something back, but I couldn’t pick it up. They couldn’t have been more than fifteen feet from me. How they didn’t see me, I didn’t know. These two clearly didn’t have any tracking skills.

  As I waited for them to pass, my thoughts buzzed through the worst possible scenarios. Good thing I wasn’t at risk of sneezing here in MythRune. Was I? I suddenly couldn’t remember if I’d sneezed or not. And now that I thought of it, I kind of did have to sneeze. Mouthing curses at myself, it took all my willpower not to give in as the pair crept slowly by my hiding spot.

  A whirling noise sounded through the air, followed by the thunk of contact, then one of the contestants suddenly dropped to the ground. The other stared at his teammate as he groaned. “What was —?”