by J R Davis
After the man had finished, cheers erupted from all corners of the tournament grounds. Weapons hoisted high, their fine edges shining as if they too wanted to join the fray. At the same time, many figures seemed to have kept to the shadows, weapons hidden for the sake of one more small advantage to have over the competition. Still, I had one thing that many of the others did not, I had Charon. The two of us could whip up some real mischief together.
“You ready for this buddy?” I asked him through our mental link. The genuine gleaming smile I gave him reinforcing my sincerity.
“Oh, we are going to destroy them” the skeleton responded, eyes gleaming brighter in his excitement. “If this all goes well, though, I’d like to ask a favor in return for the help”.
“Hey, I got your back..bones, haha, but for real, if you need something, I’m here for you” I responded sincerely. I was a bit taken aback by the ominous request, but he had told me prior, he was a person. Makes sense the guy would have some unfinished business. Moments after our mental exchange the announcer came for once more.
“Thank you for waiting, we are ready for our first match!” He shouted, the words summoning thundering cheers from the seated onlookers and fighters alike. “This is a single-elimination fight and we request that both the winners and the defeated stay nearby for possible announcements. That being said, our first match is…..Chief vs Lia, both parties please come forth!”. The crowd once more in an uproar as two figures made themselves known.
The first to step onto the stage was a large orc male, towering at least 6’5, every inch of the man composed of hardened muscle. He carried two large axes and wore sleeveless leather armor that accentuated his build. As he made his way to the center stage, he trusted his twin weapons into the air and let out a battle cry that seemed to ripple through the air. He looked like quite the formidable foe. As he did so, another figure casually strolled up to the stage.
She had long auburn hair and a black gothic dress with black knee-high boots. As she made her way to the center, I saw that she was twirling a staff much like my own, another necromancer maybe? Or maybe staff are just a generic mage thing. She was not the last person to approach the stage though, as a heavily armored person followed soon after her. The armor was dyed black, the plate mail so all-encompassing that nothing could be seen but two glowing red eyes from behind the darkened helm. The daunting figure stopped right next to Lia, promptly materializing a large metal door shield and a longsword. I was no longer doubting what her class was. Let's see just what this other necromance could do. May be able to learn a thing or two.
“Pleasure to meet you, I’m sure you would make a great addition to my minions” Lia mused while examining the large man.
“Tough words from someone who needs a minion to even fight” Chief responded roughly, his hands whitening as they tightened around his axes.
“How about this, I won’t fight using Bonejamin, and if I win, I get rights to your corpse when you die,” she said with a brilliant smile. The large orc simply grunted and took a few steps back, readying himself for the coming fight. With a glance from Lia, Bonejamin stepped out of the way. She too took her ready stance equally apart from the orc.
The announcer moved to the side of the arena and boomed “Winning conditions are death or yielding, whichever comes first, now…..BEGIN!” And moved his arm down swiftly, signaling the start of the fight.
Chief slammed his axes together and let out a mighty roar, a red aura streaming off of him as he charged the tiny necromancer. Lia though, despite her tiny form was undaunted by the charging giant. She just stood there twirling her staff, trying to conceal a smile as if waiting for something. That something came just as Chief was but a few good strides from the necromance and she uttered two words from behind curled lips, Grasping Hands.
Skeletal hands broke through the ground wrapping around the orc's legs, dealing damage and rooting him in place. Still, his momentum carried him forward as he toppled and came crashing to the ground. It was then that in an almost hushed tone that Lia pointed her staff mere inches away from the back of chiefs legs whispering Dark Orb. Three volleys of the dark magic pieced into the orcs leg joint, dealing increased damage to the prone target. Chief was a warrior though, and broke the restraints through sheer force of will, rushing to get to his feet. Still, the damage to his one leg insured he couldn’t move quickly.
He roared as he went from one knee to standing, yelling “you’ll have to do better than that!”
“Oh, and I will” Lia responded toyingly. She then splayed her arms out wide “A grand stage for your funeral, don’t you think?” The crowd roared in support of the show she was putting on. Still, Chief would not be daunted by the necromancers taunts. He inched his way towards her, using one of his large axes to grant him a sliver more bearing on the ground, anything to help him get to his target sooner. All the while her skeletal minion Bonejamin stood there as a motionless insult to the injury he had received only moments before.
It was then that a grim smile found its way onto Chief’s face as he acted on a gamble. He reared his arm back and yelled in a booming voice “CLEAVE!” Tossing one of his large axes spinning through the air. As it traveled the short distance its momentum grew, axe spinning faster and faster towards its intended target. The axe making contact with Lia’s outstretched arm, severing it from her body. She let out a cry as the axe tore her left arm from her.
“How was that you crazy bitch?!” He roared as he moved in closer, Lia’s hand clutching her stump as the blood trickled down her staff.
As she sat there stooped down and clutching her arm, something odd began to take place. The sobs slowly turned to laughter. It started out as a small chuckle in between sobs and grew to a maniacal cackle. She looked up at the orc, shit-eating grin clearly splayed across her face and said “ohhh I like you, you'll make a lovely addition to my collection”.
Chief didn’t know how to react to the crazed woman. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to anyway because just then two large armored hands came around him from the back locking his arms down as Lia took skipping strides towards him.
She stopped momentarily to pick up her dismembered arm and promptly pointed it along with her staff at him. “So do you want me to keep your name as it is when I resurrect you or do you want something along the lines of Princess Monster Truck?” She asked genuinely. She then proceeded to hold her arm in place, staff touching his chest and called Drain. Hp poured out through Chief, healing Lia and mending her arm. After a few brief moments, she moved her reattached arm around, testing to make sure everything was in place.
Chief was not too low on hp, having a good 400 out of his 750 pool, but the situation as it stood was dire. He was locked down, nearly half hp and completely at the mercy of the necromancer and that would not do. His honor and anguish at this injustice, at being toyed with by this clearly unstable woman would not stand. He let out a loud echoing roar, straining against Benjamin's hold. The skeleton struggling to maintain control over the large orc. Chief broke free, staggering Bonejamin and knocking Lia off her feet.
She laid there on the ground as the large orc towered over her, trembling with unbridled rage. He raised his one remaining axe over his head, one final sweep to cleave her down the middle. Perhaps it would separate the crazy from her he thought. But as he was about to bring the axe down, a devilish glint showed in her eyes as she snapped her fingers. Suddenly a small swarm of skeletal birds descended on him. Chief swatted at them furiously with his axe but he missed the one true point of it all, they were a distraction.
A sword came clear through his chest as the birds scattered. Caught entirely by surprise, Chief could do nothing but look at the protruding object in shock. Bonejamin stood behind the impaled orc, eyes gleaming through his helmet. Bonejamin pulled the sword clean of the orc, but chief just stood there motionless. The titan of a man had died on his feet, his will outlasting even his body.
As the light left his eyes, Lia strode up to him w
ith a grin. “It’s always the big guy they look out for, never what's above them” she mused. She then pointed her staff towards his breathless chest and whispered Raise Undead: Classification Draugr. A few moments passed as the crowd watched silently in anticipation. Then, at the height of their curiosity, Chiefs eyes took on a glowing orange hue. He raised his head, looking down at the necromancer. She smiled at him and matched his gaze for a moment before he hoisted her up onto his shoulder. There she sat, pleased with herself and her new toy. She then rolled her arms in a mock bow and shouted, “Tadaaaaaa~”. The crowd roared, cheered for her as Chief’s Draugr form carried her off the stage.
The announcer stood there for a long moment before he finally came to. The whole exchange had been so over the top that he had gotten too involved and forgotten his role. He then gestured to Lia’s departing and shouted “ Necromance Lia moves on to the next round!”
Chapter Seven
Contest Of Champions
After the crowd had settled down from Lia’s overwhelming victory, a slight reprieve was called as The Wolf’s Blood Guild ruled that only one minion would be allowed to accompany a player for future tournaments. Made sense considering a necromance could have an army in wait to rush the area. I guess we are similar to the old caped crusader in the sense that if we have prep time, necromancers usually pull through. That matter settled, the next match looked to be underway.
The announcer once more came center stage booming “Thank you for your patience everyone, we will now be moving onto the next match”. He then strode to each corner of the arena working the crowd into a frenzy before announcing the next contestants. “Finnabebad and TheKnee come to the stage!” Hushed murmurs came from all corners as heads turned left and right in search of the new combatants. They didn’t have to search long though for from the left side two figures made themselves known. Emerging from the thick crowd strode two people towards the stage. What looked to be an elf archer and a human mage. The elf had long blonde hair that went down to her waist and green eyes. Her outfit was forest green and the bow she carried had a matching quiver with dozens of sharp arrows just waiting for a target. At the same time, the human mage wore brown leather pants and a white collared shirt with something close to a duster coat covering it. His hair was a wild mess of black curls but with his stubble it made him look more like a mad scientist. He wore a wide grin as he eyed his competition, the two made to stand center stage about seven feet apart.
The announcer motioned to each of them, informing who was who and again reminding everyone of the rules of engagement. The two competitors nodding in agreeance with the terms. Ogma paid a bit too much attention to the elf, to which he got an elbow from Morrigan mid swig of his nearly empty drink, causing him to promptly spit it out. I was just waiting to see if he would get drunk before being called on to the stage. I’d love to see a little drunken bear boxing. My thoughts, however, were promptly cut off as the words “Begin!” Rang throughout the air.
The very moment that the last letter had been enunciated it looked as if the arrows and bow had leaped into the elves hand. I was not the only one apparently surprised though as Finna’s eyed widened. The shock lasting only a moment before she fired multiple volleys directly at his face. The mage jumped out of the way. He darted frantically about as TheKnee rained down destruction on him. It appeared as if his luck was running out when it looked as if he couldn’t dodge, but then something peculiar happened. The arrow she had intended for the mages head simply bounced off. Knee’s confusion showed on her face yet was short-lived though for Finna tapped his noggin and said “Can’t take damage if they can’t hit you.”
“Oh, we will see about that,” replied the elf with a glare. Three arrows already in her bow, the tips glowing with a pale blue light. With arrows at the ready, she whispered Drill Shot and released them on the mage. At first, they met resistance with Finna’s Mana Shield but broke through grazing her target. Finna had barely a moment still to cast any spells, constantly darting about as the arrows kept coming. I was beginning to wonder if her quiver was actually a secret satchel because it never seemed to run out of ammunition.
Despite the constant arrows raining down on him, Finna kept darting about. He went from lunging rolls to serpentine and then onto trying to jump before the could impact. Some worked, others didn’t as slowly but surely he was being whittled down. Knee eventually getting a good shot through his right leg, causing the mage to stumble to the ground. The elf then moved in on him slowly, an arrow trained and ready on him as she closed in for the killing blow.
“What exactly was your plan in all this, not fire any spells and just jump around?” She as in an almost mocking tone.
“Well, with the kind of magic I use, we don’t have a lot of solid constructs to block things so I had to get creative,” he said with a wince.
“And what kind of magic is that?” She asked with genuine curiosity. Her arrow still knocked and ready for the mage's chest.
“Oh, just wild magic” he said with a gleam in his eye. Knee’s own eyes went wide with realization as he grabbed her left leg and yelled Detonate! His entire body glowing so bright it drowned the mage from my vision. The surprise of the sudden change causing TheKnee to released her trained arrow into the glow, but to no avail. An explosion went off in the stage, smoke spread and rubble scattered as far as seating. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of Knee. The elfs form completely removed from the arena. Finna however just laid there with dirt on his face and an arrow protruding from his chest, letting a raspy cough escape his lips.
Again the crowd was left speechless as Finna rolled onto his back and said with an exasperated sign “I am not doing that again”. As if on cue, the announcer came forth and announced him the winner. Confused onlookers uproared and cheered with confusion as few really understood exactly what had taken place here. Did Finna just attempt to blow himself up in sheer desperation or was it a calculated plan from the start? As he limped his way off stage and towards the healer's hut, this question resounded in far too many minds.
“Can we at least have one normal fight?” I asked pointedly to my group.
"Well, I for one enjoyed it,” said Okane who then took a sip from his own recently procured drink.
“I just don’t see why Knee didn’t just keep her distance, never take those kinds of chances if you can help it,” she said with a shrug, indifference in her tone.
“Doubletap?” I asked trying to contain a chuckle.
“Doubletap” Okane replied with a nod. “Expect the unexpected and all that”.
It was at that moment when the announcer came forth and announced that the arena would need repair so they were expecting an hour break. Can’t say I blame them, it looked like a small comet had been shot into the center of the arena. Rubble was all over and it would be an issue to fight there more without any repairs. I did happen to notice Lia sitting opposite the arena to me drinking from a large barrel mug, seemingly pleased with how this fight went as well. It seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up learning some tricks of my trade so I made my way over to her, Charon following close behind.
As I got closer to her, Lia’s eyebrow quirked up and with a grin she leaned back in her seat and said “another necromancer eh, what brings you over here crow boy?”
I paused for a moment in confusion before realizing she was referring to my mantle. I audibly exhaled and looked at her saying “Well, for one, where did you learn that drain move? I’m a bit new to all this necromancy stuff so I was hoping to pick the winner's brain a bit”.
Lia looked me over for a moment before shrugging and said “Well, it's not like the arena will be repaired any time soon so…” Her trailing off into a snap of her fingers. Before I had a chance to ask though, something lifted me up from behind. The last Ogma and the group saw of me, I was being carried off by Chief’s Draugr as he and the skeletons followed Lia off into the distance.
“Awh isn’t that cute, he made a little necromancer
buddy” Ogma chortled before taking another swig of his new drink.
“Well if shes any indication of how Robin is going to progress, we will have quite the utility later on” Okane responded pointedly as the two watched them disappear into the distance.
After about 10 minutes of being carried by Zombie Chief, I was finally dropped on my ass. Lia stifling a giggle as I groaned and got back onto my feet.
“So, what exactly did you want to know again, young grasshopper?” Lia said with a smirk. Apparently going all Miyagi on me.
“ Well, I wanted to know more about our class and what I can do mechanics-wise” I reasoned with a shrug.
“Ah ok...So I am guessing you are around level 4 to 5 so I’m going to just give you the rundown” she paused with a casual stretch. She then proceeded to go through the levels of summon skeleton. Apparently, there are differing levels of what can be done with the undead body, each having their own perks. For example, archer skeletons placed behind some sword-wielding ones would reinforce one another. I also had the option later on to summon a Draugr which was essentially a zombie berserker. They were fast and crazy strong, but the summon time didn't last too long. Considering I had become level 4 after getting some experience from leveling my skills, I still had some time before I could use that.
“As a necromance, you also have a lot of utility but you are definitely not a brawler so don’t even try to go head-on into fights, you gotta be all sneaky beaky” she continued.
“Could you give me some examples?” I asked her with a bit of frustration. I was having trouble seeing what I would do if Charon was outmaneuvered.
“How about this, attack me and you’ll find out” she replied with a wide grin. Immediately turned around and took 3 skipping steps back. Assuming a ready position with her staff pointed at me, she inclined her head, nudging me to come at her. I mentally called to Charon to test her defenses. The skeleton rushed forward with shield raised. He thrust his spear directly towards Lia’s chest, a critical hit if not a killing blow should it land yet something odd happened. Lia simply smiled and said Arcane Shift. Where once stood the giddy necromancer and probe-target, now stood Bonejamin. Charon's spear clanking off of Bonejamin’s armor. It was then that I heard her once more, but this time from behind. “Grasping Hands” was whispered in my ear not even giving me time to register what had happened. In a flash skeleton hands broke through the ground, clawing and pinning me to the earth.