Class-A Threat (Disgardium Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Dan Sugralinov

  "Scaling?"

  "Yes. The system will automatically bring Crag down to your level. It will also proportionally lower his attributes and equipment level, but leave all skills. That way," Tissa raised her pointer finger and sent me a downward gaze, imitating our algebra teacher Ms. Uptegrove, "you can keep your secret, and significantly increase your chances of winning."

  "And No Deaths means..."

  "You won't die. When you have one percent life left, the duel will stop and you'll be sent out of the Arena with full health. Well, what do you think?"

  So everything came together. I was overflowing with joy that there was a way out of this dead-end, that I was important to Tissa and that she was now sitting next to me touching her bare knee to mine. I brought my face close and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Her eyes shot open in surprise, she blushed but didn't back away. And for a few seconds that meant more to me than anything else.

  * * *

  The three hours before our meeting at the city walls flew by like five minutes. After that kiss, Tissa got embarrassed, sharply stood up and said that she needed to tell her clan I decided to run that dungeon with them. I sprinted to the jail and, much to my delight, it was going to free up very soon. I didn't go all the way through, just built up some plague energy. Honestly, even that took a lot of time. Almost two hours I had to wait to gain then lose Curse of the Undead.

  I finally handled the first pack and picked up the loot. Nothing of interest, just ash and a few coins. So I left the right wing of the city jail and once again ran to the auction to get rid of Altered Ash, then used that money to buy some equipment. It would be stupid and suspicious to go to the duel in my canvas novice gear and it was good I remembered that. It was too bad that that all the gear I'd earned through pain and rotting flesh was too high level for me.

  As it turned out, I wasn't the only one who remembered. Tissa tossed me a couple messages I had missed while, teeth clenched, I cursed at the jail mobs on my ass. But her messages contained gifts! There was a full set of armor for my level, and an explanation: "Here, a present! Tissa."

  There was nothing out of the ordinary in the packages: mismatched greens for level five, leather and chainmail, a few rings, a couple bracelets and two brass knuckles. But the fact that it was selfless and from Melissa Schafer automatically made them priceless in my eyes. Without delay, I dragged the icons of all that equipment into various slots and admired myself in it. For the first time in Disgardium, I was fully equipped. I felt like a real person, and that feeling surprised me even more...

  There, at the city walls, Crag gladly accepted the new conditions for our fight. He was very self-confident, and with an audience there to watch the duel, he was clearly not planning to fall face-first in the mud. But he did walk up close and whisper:

  "So in the end you were too scared to fight fair, eh Scythy? As we agreed? No problem, I can take you in the Arena just as easy!"

  I looked at what I had on with contempt and snorted. My green against his almost totally blue plate armor did not exactly match, and even I could see that. But I didn't think gear would be defining this battle.

  In the audience I saw a few groups of workmen and among them was Manny. When he saw me look, he nodded.

  "Fans and onlookers!" Crag declared nonchalantly. "We all understand that my superiority in level makes dueling Scyth unfair! So I suggested that we hold our little standoff in the arena with scaled characters! The battle will take place in less than an hour!"

  "Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen!" From somewhere behind the warrior, Rashidos came and made a circle, announcing coefficients: "Three to one for Crag!"

  Then we all grouped up with the audience and walked over to the Arena. It was a small, hardly noticeable building. As it turned out it was many times larger on the inside. Its two large and four small arenas were surrounded by stands.

  I spent the time before battle studying tactics used by the other fighters. Duels were fast paced, because in the small arenas they were all one on one.

  Ed and the others sat next to me, telling me tactics to use against Crag. They explained that, in three versus three and five versus five battles, the time limit might be as long as half an hour, but that was the longest possible in the arena. Eventually, a sudden death debuff would kick in and the fighter's health points would start falling...

  "Third small arena, meet your new fighters!" boomed the commentator's voice when it came to be our turn. "The unrated tournament Sad Mossy Crag is officially underway! Organizer: Scyth. Registered fighters: two. So then, let's get straight to the final battle! Would the only participants in the tournament please enter the arena. Audience, say hello to Scyth, at level six with no class, and Craig the level-twelve warrior!"

  To the screams of the many viewers, we appeared at different ends of the oval shaped arena. Crag and I were separated by around one hundred feet. He pointed at me and led his thumb across his throat, then closed his helmet visor.

  "Conditions of the duel!" the commentator proclaimed. "No deaths! Fighters scaled! Enhancing and defensive buffs, potions, elixirs and scrolls are allowed! The battle will begin in ten seconds!"

  "Nine! Eight!.." the crowd shouted.

  There was a surprising number of people there. As it turned out, both workmen and players often spent their evenings in the Arena. It was both entertaining and stirred the blood. Many of them were placing bets with the honest goblins scurrying around the stands.

  "Exclusive bets!" I heard from the stands behind me. "Ten to one that Scyth lands three blows first!"

  I looked around and saw that my rival Crag was still working the crowd. I wondered how the goblins would react? And... Wait! What if that idiot just figured he could make some easy money? He saw that I had brass knuckles but figured I had no way to get through plate armor so he would give me a three-hit head start? I laughed and, when I heard the gruff cry, "let’s start the fight," I walked confidently toward my rival.

  Crag, shuffling his boots in the sand, came out to meet me and spread his arms, a shield in one and a short blade in the other.

  "Let's go, little noob! Old Crag is gonna give you a head start!"

  Four hundred fifty health points versus my three hundred twenty – this guy was buffed up to his ears. Positive effect icons were bunched up in the space over his portrait like ornaments on a Christmas tree. However, I wasn't far behind. I had speed and regeneration buffs from Tissa, a fire shield from Ed, a few scrolls increasing attributes, and a scroll that made cooldown tick faster for specials... The Dementors, in service of their own reputation, had invested quite heavily in me. There were whispers that I was in a trial period with them, and that was why I was progressing so quickly.

  When I reached Crag, everything was already calculated. All his plate armor would bring down my damage by a bit more than one hundred. My plan, to stay on the safe side, was to hit him with four blows dealing two hundred fifty damage each. For a well-leveled skill those numbers wouldn’t shock anyone. And I'd be able to use Hammer with a two-second cooldown thanks to the elixir.

  "And now we turn our attention to small arena number three! The warrior looks very confident!" a voice began commenting for the whole arena. "Can everyone see him just begging his opponent to land the first blow?"

  Crag was bowing like a jester. I was now only ten yards away.

  "And now look at Scyth! I’ve got his stats in front of me here and, wow, he has never once defeated another player!"

  The audience started to laugh, as the commentator drew everyone's attention to our fight.

  "The Arena has never seen such a loser before! He has been killed by other players twenty-seven times! And zero victories! Oh god!" the announcer guffawed. "I cannot tell you this, but the total number of times Scyth has died would rouse anyone's imagination! Only today this fighter has died... Uh-hm-hm," the commentator cleared his throat. "Sorry, it’s confidential!"

  I seriously hoped the commentator was artificial intelligence. Neverthele
ss, his note got me to change battle tactics. Killing Crag in four hits would be too much. I'd split the damage into six. First one hit!

  "The loser is starting out strong! Well, well, well! A Hammerfist! The basic move of the Unarmed Combat school! I haven't seen it in action for quite a long time! What? Did you see that? Did you see? Crag the warrior stumbled! A warrior! In full plate armor! He almost fell over... Woah! Unbelievable!" the commentator choked, not capable of explaining what was going on. "Seemingly, the warrior wanted to give his enemy a big leg up! Scyth has attacked three times, and all three hit! The warrior isn't even defending himself!"

  By then, Crag could tell something was off, trying to deflect my third blow with his shield, but he wasn’t fast enough. A Hammerfist swung through the air, slid off the brim of his chestplate and slammed into it like a sledgehammer. Too bad his face was covered by the visor and I couldn't see his reaction. I didn't manage to land a fourth blow.

  "That’s gotta be it folks! The noble Crag gave his weak opponent a head start but now he has started taking this fight seriously!"

  The stands howled in glee. Somewhere in the background I heard my name, got distracted and got what I had coming. The warrior slammed into me with a Charge, and my body flew fifteen feet. The damage wasn't very serious. I lost around ten percent. But that gave a short stun, so I lost control for a few seconds.

  That gave Crag enough time to get close and cut open my right arm, which I threw upward in defense. The leather armor, though it reduced the damage, wasn't much help. The wound slightly lowered the effectiveness of my attacks with that arm, too.

  I rolled away from the next attack then, jumping from crouch, slammed the brass knuckles into his leg. The plate armor caved, the ganker's knee cracked and that gave me the chance to land a series of blows, adding a little bit of plague damage to each one.

  Crag's health was down in the red zone, he jumped and feverishly reached for a health potion. That took a whole second, but it was enough. I made a series of attacks: Hammer, four normals and another special.

  His life bar hit bottom, and we froze. In the air, to the sounds of a fanfare, a huge set of words appeared above the stadium:

  Scyth has defeated Crag!

  And a moment later, I was back in the stands next to Crawler, Tissa, Infect and Bomber. They shouted gleefully, patted me on the back and an especially strong pat from Bomber made my breathing seize.

  "Oh well..." the commentator grumbled. "Self-confidence and underestimating your opponent can spell ruin for even the strongest competitors! The champion of the tournament Sad Mossy Crag is officially level-six player Scyth! This is his first victory, so let us congratulate him! Unfortunately for him, it will not be counted in his official rating. And meanwhile, over in large arena number one, a new sensation is being born before our very eyes..."

  "So," Ed said when everyone had calmed down. "Alex, Tissa, go to the tavern. The boys and I are gonna settle up for some bets and come join you to celebrate the victory and think about what to do with Evil from the Depths."

  "I mean, they were right," Hung guffawed. "We really did teach Crag a lesson! Thanks to Scyth!"

  With a laugh, they sharply hurried off not to miss, insofar as I understood, Crag and his partners.

  "So, let's go?" Tissa asked. "It won't be long if you hurry. We’ll tell you the flora and fauna in the dungeon, write out tactics, say how..."

  "I'm in no hurry," I interrupted her. I was overflowing with glee and wanted this night to last as long as possible. "Tomorrow is a weekend, my parents are out of town, so..."

  "What?" A bold little fire flickered up in her eyes and tiny devils ran in. "Are you inviting me over?"

  "Well, if you want..." my tongue could barely even get those words out, but then it went like a knife through butter. "Father has a case of beer in the fridge too, for what it's worth."

  "Easy," she nodded. "I'll fly right over. Toss me your address in a PM. But go to the tavern first for the ins plan! Otherwise the guys will get mad!"

  "But..."

  "Alex..." she frowned. "It's better if they don't know. Okay? Especially Ed. Shall we?"

  I felt a very strong itch under my shoulder blades. Seemingly, I had sprouted wings.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine. True Test of Character

  "YOUR PLACE IS really cute," said Tissa. She pulled a small backpack off her shoulders and ran a gaze over the room, searching for where to throw it. "How's it going?"

  "Good. While I was waiting for you, I thought over the strategy for the ins. Here..." I took her backpack and hung it on a hook on the wall. "Come in."

  Tissa walked into the guest room and sat with her legs up on the couch. She was wearing wide khaki pants, a baggy hoody with the hood down and high boots. Her straight hair was up in a long ponytail, but a lock of her fringe had fallen out, covering one eye. From time to time, she blew on it to get it out of the way.

  I pulled a couple droplet-covered cans of beer out of the refrigerator, opened them with a hiss, handed one to her and sat down on the armchair near her.

  "Thanks," she said, taking a big sip with an exhale of satisfaction. "M-m-m..."

  "You like beer?"

  "I have weird tastes, you know," she smiled in embarrassment. "I can't stand all these sweet cocktails! I don't like wine, and I really hate liquor. But I love the taste of beer! What about you?"

  "I... like apple juice. I tried some whisky once, didn't like it..."

  "What are you talking about!?" Tissa shook her head mockingly. "Whisky...!"

  We chatted about some more pointless stuff and, to be honest, I didn't remember a single word. I was just staring at her reddish face, long lashes, blue eyes, the pink little tongue she used to lick foam off her top lip... and I wanted to kiss her. I got closer, but she laughed and moved away sharply, placing a hand between us:

  "Alex, just so there aren't any misunderstandings... We're just friends! Alright? That kiss earlier... You caught me off guard! Don't do that again!"

  "I'll try, but no promises," I admitted with a shrug. "I like you."

  "I know. I like you too, but... don't complicate things. I'm serious! If you try again, I might get mad. We're just drinking beer, having a nice chat then you can walk me to a flying car and that's it. Okay?"

  "Alright," I answered, going in for a fist-bump with a smile. "Agreed, friend!"

  She went in eagerly, our knuckles touched.

  And to be perfectly frank, I wasn't expecting anything more today. In fact, I was a bit afraid, panicking at the very thought that something I wasn’t prepared for might happen! What would I do? How did that all work? From a technical standpoint I knew, sure. But I remembered my first ride on a bicycle all too well. It all seemed obvious, but I still tipped over a bunch of times. Just imagine embarrassing myself that much with Tissa. What a nightmare!

  So her plan was perfectly fine with me. I was more than fine with the very fact that her and I were alone at night and drinking beer – nether! And she said she liked me! Just a week ago I could only dream of this!

  "And another thing. No more than three or four cans each," she said. "If we drink more than that, our capsules won't let us into Dis, and they'll tell our school. I don't need any demerit points."

  "Me neither. We’ll stick to three or four. Actually, I've never had more than one. So..."

  "Don't be afraid!" Tissa interrupted me and said with a laugh: "If you get drunk and start getting pushy, I can handle you!"

  "Experience?"

  "Something like that. What, do you think none of those three boys ever tried? They've got T[2] dripping out their ears!"

  "I thought you and Ed..."

  "No! But he has feelings, and he's very jealous..." Tissa thought. "He won’t say it, you see. But I can see how it hurts him."

  "And why do you care?" The beer was going straight to my head and questions like that no longer embarrassed me.

  "I love him," she answered simply and explained, "as a brother. Him, Malik and Hung.
They know that, accept it and treat me the same. You gonna open another?" Tissa extended me an empty can.

  I brought more beer. This time it was the whole case at once so I wouldn't have to get up again. I reached for the tab, covered with water droplets, opened it with a hiss and handed it to Tissa.

  "Thanks. Come sit closer if you want," she patted the couch next to her. Her tongue was stumbling a bit, as were my legs when I walked to the fridge.

  "Okay," I landed on the sofa, my foot touched her sock and my heartbeat sped up. "What are your plans for Dis?"

  "I have big plans, Alex. I have a few options, but it's all gonna depend on what we leave the sandbox with. All the good places in open Dis are already taken by clans. If you want to pass an instance, you have to apply to the owner, the clan that controls the location. Even applying costs money, and they might not approve."