Tournament Lord

by Felix Craft

  A figure charged out of the darkness and fell on the contestant and his slowly rising teammate, knives flashing. Two knives — it could be Leesha. But not knowing if it was, I didn’t want to risk joining in, just in case. I did, however, take the opportunity to withdraw my javelins and hold one at the ready. I could use my skill Steady Shot from the safety of the brush if need be.

  As the knives flashed and the figure danced and the pair cried out in pain, a patch of light fell on their assailant’s face. I was suddenly very glad I hadn’t run out to join the woman, for it definitely wasn’t Leesha. This woman’s skin was dark and oozing like some kind of swamp monster. No matter how she looked, I’d take her down all the same. Once she’d finished off this pair for me, that is.

  It only took another minute. Soon the groaning stopped, and I saw for myself how the fallen contestants’ bodies melded away into wisps of dull light. The roguish woman stood over her quarry for a moment, staring, before crouching and looking around again. As her eyes reached my hiding place, I flinched, but her gaze passed smoothly over me. Still, I didn’t move, just in case.

  Suddenly the rogue was a blur of motion again, this time tumbling at me. I shouted in alarm and stumbled back, ready to stab with my javelin in one hand and battle-axe in the other. But before I could strike out, the oozing rogue broke off with a chuckle. “You’re a terrible hider,” Leesha’s familiar voice said.

  I stared, confused one moment longer, until it registered. “Mud,” I said. “Duh.”

  “It’s called camouflage, baby.”

  Leesha grabbed my arm and pulled me back down to the brush, looking around as she did for others approaching. I understood the rough treatment. Sometimes, in a fight, you just had to act, no apologies needed.

  “How did you see me in the bush though, seriously?” I whispered as we watched and waited for a few breaths.

  “Faction bonus,” Leesha said, not stopping her constant look around. “Gives limited night vision like a cat. You can see it in my eyes.”

  I saw she was right. Her eyes had gained a faintly reflective sheen to them, through which I could barely detect slit-shaped pupils. Weird, but useful. “I knew I wasn’t a terrible hider.”

  Leesha just rolled her eyes.

  Once she was convinced the coast was clear, we began our slow stalk through. She filled me in on what had happened to her on the way. After I’d called up to her, the archer had turned his attention to her and had launched several arrows before she’d reached the bottom of the tree, though none of them hit. Then it was Leesha’s turn to pursue. The archer had fled through the jungle, but Leesha had run him down and got him to turn and fight. He was higher level than her, but in the end, Leesha managed to bring him down.

  The threat taken care of, she figured she’d go back to where I’d just been. It took a bit of tracking, but she finally retraced my steps to the ladder tree. However, I, of course, wasn’t still there. So she set to tracking my steps. Eventually, she caught up to me, but by that point, I was already hiding from the pair before me. Wanting the element of surprise, Leesha decided to attack on her own and see if I joined in. “But things worked out for the best, don’t you think?” she said with a wink. “Two more down, and your armor didn’t take a beating.”

  “Always happy for that. Anyway, that means less than twelve are left,” I said.

  “Quite a bit less actually. We’re one of the final four teams.”

  “What? How do you know that?”

  Leesha rolled her eyes. “God, you’re a noob sometimes. I checked the tournament stats, that’s how.”

  Curious, I muttered, “Command: Tournament stats.” Immediately, a projection shot up and hovered before me, showing a few things about the tournament, but most importantly, how many pairs were still left in the fight.

  “Can’t we see if there are any who have lost their partners?” I asked.

  Leesha shook her head. “Not that I know of.”

  Four more teams. Our odds were still long, but looking better all the time. “Any ideas for how to reach the end?”

  She held up two fingers, ticking them as she spoke. “First, talking less. And second, survival.”

  “Look at that. A regular comedian here.”

  Leesha just shushed me dramatically.

  I rolled my eyes.

  “While I was up on the ladder tree, I thought I saw something in the middle of the arena. I bet it’s something designed to draw us together. Maybe a useful bonus item for just this round?”

  I wasn’t keen on going somewhere other players might be, but I knew it was at least good to have a place others might be attracted to. It could be a spot for placing ambushes. It could also, however, be a spot for getting ambushed ourselves. “I’m not interested in an item, or whatever. But hopefully our competitors are.”

  We started heading inward. A football field isn’t terribly long, but when you’re moving at a slow crouch, it can take you a while to reach the end of it. I guessed maybe twenty minutes had passed before the clearing came into sight. More on edge than ever from the risk of ambush, I peered through the branches into the circle of light. There wasn’t a cornucopia or anything like the loot from The Hunger Games. Instead, a single raised stone pedestal was in the middle, with a golden sword thrust into the center of it. I guessed all you had to do was King Arthur it and pull it up to use it. I wondered what good it would do you when everybody else lurking on the edges pincushioned you with projectiles.

  “Now what?” I whispered to Leesha.

  “I’m open to ideas,” she whispered back. Her gaze flicked this way and that. “But we can’t linger here long.”

  “Let’s move around the edge of the clearing,” I suggested. “See if anyone else is just sitting and watching.”

  Leesha hesitated, then gave a terse nod and led the way. We moved around the circle, barely looking at the golden sword in the stone, as we were worried more about what might be coming at us from the surrounding jungle.

  We made it halfway around before Leesha stopped me with a hand to the chest. She slowly pointed, and I barely made out an outline of a person crouched among the thick leaves. I shifted my grip on my javelin, one still out for just such an instance, while Leesha readied a throwing knife. She mouthed three, two one, then we let loose at the end of the countdown, my javelin leading as I jumped the gun a bit.

  Despite my mistiming, both projectiles seemed to hit their target, then the figure went down with a cry.

  “What the hell?” A woman leaped up not far away then started muttering something indecipherable.

  A moment later, I understood it was a spell. A fireball ripped through the jungle toward us. I leapt out of the way just in time, the hairs on my skin singeing with heat. I hit the ground and rolled, just in case another fireball was impending. The flames had barely grazed me, so my meters were still nearly topped off. Rising, I grasped my battle-axe and got my bearings again, then charged toward the witch. For several strides, she didn’t notice me, apparently fixated on Leesha darting toward her. Fire leaped to life in her hand as she aimed it at my companion.

  I bellowed and raised my axe as I neared, thinking more to distract her from taking out Leesha than anything. But before I reached the witch, something hit my legs hard, and I stumbled to the ground. Blood filled my mouth, but I was full of adrenaline and I barley felt it. Furious and anxious to see what I’d tripped on, I looked back.

  The contestant both Leesha and I had hit with projectiles was standing, sword in hand, and glowering at me through the jungle gloom. He probably thought he was a badass, still fighting despite a javelin sticking through one leg and a knife in his back. But I wasn’t impressed — he didn’t experience a fifth of the pain I did. I snarled and waded towards him, axe swinging.

  We exchanged a series of parries and blows. Despite his injuries, his speed and dexterity weren’t impaired, and he’d obviously invested more in those related Traits than I had. Three of his stabs darted toward my vulnerable spots
, and two of them made it, drawing blood.

  Even though I was slow, I still had the advantage. Descending on the swordsman with several furious swings, I drove him back so he had to step on his speared leg twice. The second time, it gave, and he took a knee to the ground. Seeing victory, I swung my axe around, and though he caught part of the blow with his blade, most of the force went into chopping into his collarbone. There was a crunch as the bone gave under the half-moon blade.

  The swordsman groaned and tried retaliating, but both his HP and SP were drained, and the blow did nothing more than glance off my armor. I twisted my axe free and swung it around to finish the bastard off. His nearly headless corpse fell to the ground then disappeared a little while later.

  No time to rest. The whole time I’d been fighting, I’d heard the occasional booms of more fireballs being released at my companion. Ignoring my throbbing wounds that had taken out a quarter of my health, I turned around and looked to the furious fighting of the witch and Leesha in time to see my companion soaring through the air to crash into a tree.

  “Leesha!” I charged the witch, hoping to reach her before she could finish my companion off.

  But the witch turned to me with a smile. “Your turn.” She pointed her hands at me. Smoke started to trail from them.

  I tried leaping aside, but it wasn’t enough. The fireball caught me full force in the chest, and heat and pain pierced deep into every pore of my body. I screamed as I dropped and rolled, trying to extinguish the flames, but they were too strong. The movement just seemed to make them grow higher.

  Mad with the pain of it, I barely knew what I did. I got up again and ran around, looking for any relief, but there was none. In my stumbling, my gaze latched onto the witch ahead of me, who watched with a smirk. All my hate and pain channeled toward her in that moment, and I charged, no weapon but my flaming body.

  She tried outrunning me, but she was no match. With a tackle that would have made my old coach proud, I pinned her to the ground and held her there. She screamed as the flames and hot metal of my armor scorched her skin, then caught it on fire. I guess witches burned well, after all.

  I let go of her once she stopped moving, then frantically started peeling off the armor as her body disappeared. The flames were starting to die on me now, somehow losing heat, though there was plenty more of me to burn. Perhaps it was fueled mostly by magic and disappeared with the witch.

  I didn’t much care in that moment. My skin was charred, my fire-hot armor still cooking me like an oven. My badly blistered fingers worked at the latches, but they were too clumsy for most of them. I succeed at least in peeling back most of my armor so it hung off of me, then slumped to the ground, sprawled, exhausted, and in what I imagined had to be the worst pain of my life.

  My meters were both bottomed out once again. I had a status of Burned, with a description I didn’t bother to read. Talk about the understatement of the year. No doubt it would inhibit healing, making what already promised to be a slow repair process slower.

  But I didn’t have the time to wait. If the last of the contestants weren’t already heading toward us, they would be soon. Rallying the last of my willpower, I withdrew two health potions and, groaning, managed to get them to my mouth so I could swallow them down with my tortured throat. That accomplished, I sprawled out once more, urging the health potions to work their magic faster, faster.

  After what I’m sure was a miraculously short time — but felt like fucking forever — my skin was merely inflamed and pink rather than hell burned over, and I could manage to sit up again. Panting with the continued but fading pain, I looked around to see I’d tackled the witch into the clearing and was just a few steps away from golden sword. I was curious about it, but first things came first. I had to check on Leesha.

  I limped back into the jungle, my still hot armor swinging awkwardly from me as I walked. It didn’t take long to find Leesha. She was sitting at the base of a tree, an empty vial next to her, showing she was waiting for the healing to complete, as well. She had fading burns up her legs, and her leather pants were ruined, but it could have been worse.

  “Good to see you’re still alive.” I winced as I knelt next to her.

  “I’d say the same, but…” She grinned lopsidedly at me, obviously in less pain than I was. “You holding up?”

  “Barely. But I’ll make it.” I had to. Another knock out or two, and I’d be out cold the rest of the round and of no help to Leesha.

  “Well, we only have one team left to deal with. Just checked the tournament stats.”

  Muttering the command, I saw she was right. Two teams — us and one more — and the other had to know where we likely were. I stood and reaching for my trailing straps. “Better gear up.”

  “It’s a bit late for that.”

  I whirled toward the voice, though my hands still worked the buckles. I wouldn’t be able to face anyone with half my armor holding me back.

  A woman with bronze hair stood in a charred bit of forest. She was good-looking, but it was what was in her hand that drew my attention.

  She’d drawn the golden sword.

  Cursing myself for not grabbing it while I had the chance, I frantically tried getting my armor strapped on. My chest plate was good to go — now for the rest. I had to stall. “Great job. You got the sword. Feeling good?”

  “Better, once I’m through with you two. Enough chit-chat.” She stalked forward, her heavy armor clanging as she came at us, sword held at the ready.

  “Watch your back,” Leesha muttered as she stood next to me on shaky legs. The tissue was still damaged, but if she could stand now, she’d soon be able to run and fight again. “Her partner could be anywhere.”

  The woman continued her slow path forward.

  “I’m not too worried about that at the moment.” My arms were good. Now to finish up with the legs.

  The woman was only five feet away. She raised her sword, grimacing as she readied the swing. I really didn’t want to see what happened when that sword blow fell, but it looked like I wouldn’t have a choice.

  “Please make use of this,” I said to Leesha. My greaves secured once more, then I stood and braced myself in Shell for the blow.

  I may as well have spared myself the effort. The skill was obviously nothing compared to the power of the sword, for it blew me back a good ten feet with the force of a semi hitting me on the highway. I was distinctly reminded of the time I flew from Old Man Jenkins’ casual toss.

  The tree I hit splintered under the impact, and I felt several bones break inside of me. Groaning, I slid down to the base of the tree, not even trying to get up. What was the point? She was just going to slam me back down anyway.

  Leesha made some opportunity of my sacrifice. The two women were wrapped around each other, Leesha somehow having gotten on the other’s back. Blows were exchanged, but between the dense vegetation and patches of darkness, I couldn’t tell who was winning. I guess I had to move my lazy ass and get back in there. Drawing out another potion and downing it, I eased myself to my feet, ignoring the new sharp lances of pain inside me, and ambled toward the battling duo.

  Just as I came close, the swordswoman managed to toss Leesha off. Before she could use the golden sword on her, my companion rolled away, coming up in a crouch. She had new wounds, but so did our competitor. The woman with the golden sword only had half of each meter left, and she knew it.

  “Where’s your teammate?” I taunted as I came slowly toward her, hoping again for little more than distraction. “Doesn’t seem to care much what happens to you.”

  It didn’t work. The swordswoman, after catching her breath for a moment, leaped at Leesha, who barely rolled out of the way. The resulting explosion of earth and air sent her sprawling. Somehow, the swordswoman stayed on her feet. Perhaps it was some spell of the sword’s.

  “Hey!” I started to run as my bones mended. “Don’t you want a piece of this again?”

  She stopped going after Leesha as I
started to charge. “So, it’s true! You are truly deathless, aren’t you?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to find out?” Activating Juggernaut without much more hope than I’d had for Shell, I quickened to a dead-on sprint. If this worked, it’d be the end of her.

  She yelled something at me just before I reached her, then swung. Unfortunately, the golden sword worked its magic once again, and Juggernaut did not. I saw the jungle fly away as I soared into the clearing to slide across the grassy ground. It didn’t hurt quite as bad as the first time, but it was enough to leave me winded.

  When I managed to rise, I saw Leesha had once again taken full advantage of the opportunity. Her knives flashed, then the swordswoman fell to her knees, blood leaking from the gaps in her armor. The golden sword helped little more than a crutch as the last of her HP drained away.

  I got up and jogged back to her. “Sure you don’t want to say where your companion is?”

  The swordswoman just shook her head. “I don’t have one anymore. You win.”

  Then Leesha darted forward and, too quick for our competitor to retaliate, buried both knives to the hilts in the swordswoman’s neck. Her avatar immediately slumped over, but I didn’t let that stop me from coming forward and snatching the golden sword up. If she was lying and did actually have a companion, I wasn’t going to leave the powerful item lying around twice.

  As her body dissipated, the strange sensation of the world breaking apart started up again. This time, it wasn’t me that was falling apart though. The jungle around me, the dome of the arena above me, started to shatter into geometric bits, then nothing. As it did, a wave of cheers crashed down on us from all around, pounding inside my chest. The dome’s walls came down, then I saw the crowds who formed them. Hundreds of thousands of people, all watching us! They’d all seen us win the round!

  I grinned as I turned around and around, staring at the blurred mass of people. This feeling — it was every bit as good as winning a football game had been. No, better. No tournament I’d been part of had ever had a crowd a fraction of a fraction of this size. And everybody thought I was the shit.