by Aaron Oster
He dashed forward, using his Spring to cover the last few feet and catch the Feline in his blind spot once again. His Stamina dropped by 20 points, and he was launched forward with far more speed than he was used to. It seemed that his bonus had finally reached Tier 2, but because he’d turned off all notifications during battle, he hadn’t seen the upgrade.
It was the unexpected extra power that saved his life. Raucus, it seemed, had been anticipating the attack, and even as he shot towards him, he spun, kicking White in the stomach, sending him flying across the arena with some sort of ability. In the same move, he spun, his glittering sickles glowing a sickly green.
His timing was off, though, as Arthur’s increase in speed and distance had thrown off both their attacks. So instead of tearing through his neck, the Epic sickle tore a jagged line across his chest. Arthur tried to spin to avoid more damage but only managed to make it worse. He screamed in pain as his body slammed into the ground, damage notifications flashing before his eyes as he bounced and rolled.
-108 HP, Poison Blade (-76 Poison Damage resisted)
-3 HP, Blunt
-2 HP, Blunt
Arthur gasped as his body finally came to a halt, slamming into the far wall of the arena. His vision was hazy and swam as he tried to orient himself. His HP bar was flashing red at 7/170. He heard a distant roar and saw through hazy vision as the Champion threw himself at him.
He staggered to his feet, trying to activate an ability or skill, but he was in too much pain. Blood streamed from his open chest, and he felt as though every bone in his body had been broken.
The blurry form of White slammed into the Champion, sending him flying once more but not without costing him. A new line of red appeared, sending a spray of blood across the ground as he took a cut on the back of his calf. Arthur didn’t even know how Raucus had managed it, seeing as he’d been caught by surprise and from the side. It had to be an ability. The ground beneath Raucus exploded as he landed, and White dropped to one knee, blood pouring from his open mouth.
Arthur stumbled back as choking dust filled the air. The world spun around him as his vision went fuzzy. He fell to one knee as well, his breath ratting as he inhaled, tasting the coppery tang of blood.
Everything hurt.
His mind flashed back over the last few weeks at that moment, thinking back to his first day in the Animal Kingdom. Back when this had just seemed like a game. He shook himself, coughing once again.
He didn’t understand why he was in so much pain. He shouldn’t be feeling this pain. It was impossible. Games weren’t this realistic.
He took another rattling breath, feeling the fog clearing from his mind as the Dazed debuff he’d only now noticed began to wear off.
This isn’t a game, he reminded himself.
He’d stopped thinking of this world as a game long ago, watching so many die, hearing the goals and dreams shared by new friends - friends who’d saved his life on multiple occasions.
“Is that the best you’ve got? And here I thought you two would put up more of a fight!” Raucus’s mocking voice cut through the dust cloud.
Arthur coughed, spitting to the side and forcing himself to stand straight. His head was still fuzzy, and the approaching figure swam in and out of focus. Off to his right, he could vaguely make out the silhouette of White, similarly forcing himself to his feet. They weren’t out of this just yet.
His fingers tightened on the grip of the dull and chipped dagger, his red and white patterned knuckles lightening and the veins of the back of his hand standing out in stark contrast.
He had to wonder how something like this could have happened. He’d been so careful up until he’d been caught. He’d been so sure of himself, so sure of his decisions, and how he went about making them. And what had that cost him?
He was lucky that only he had been caught and not his friends. But he’d been careless, and now here he was, facing death. And when he died, he wouldn’t be coming back.
This was not a game.
There were no extra lives in the Animal Kingdom. At least, not in this version of it.
Arthur’s back straightened, his eyes hardening as he watched the cloudy patterned fur of his opponent. The self-assured swagger in his step and the gleaming pair of Epic quality sickles, dripping red with Arthur and White’s blood.
Until now, Arthur had been holding back, not sure where he fit in in this new world. But now, facing the end, something in him snapped. The same rage he’d felt before boiled to the surface, red hot and hungry for blood. This time, though, he was in control.
Throwing his head back, Arthur bellowed, his voice drowning out even the roar of the crowd, all eagerly awaiting his death.
Then, he brandished the dull knife.
Arthur charged.
35
White was nearing the limits of what his body could handle. Blood poured from nearly two dozen cuts, the one in his calf feeling deep enough to have scraped bone. When he’d first stepped into the arena to face Raucus, he’d known the Champion had probably gotten tougher, but the amount of damage the Leopard had been able to dish out had exceeded even his expectations, and not at all in a good way.
He’d stood toe to toe with the Champion, but no matter how much damage he managed to dish out, Raucus was dealing nearly twice as much. And on top of that, he seemed to have a new ability, which allowed him to deal damage, even when defending an attack.
Arthur hadn’t been faring well, either. After his initial attack, he hadn’t really been able to do much, forced to keep his distance for fear of injury. And just when he’d launched a surprise attack that he was sure would work, Raucus caught it in time. If Arthur’s attack hadn’t been off by a hair, he would be dead right now.
As it was, he was in bad shape. They both were.
He coughed, a spray of blood flecking his muzzle as he forced himself back to his feet. His calf flared in pain, and he hissed as blood began pumping from the open wound. His HP began ticking down, but there was nothing he could do now. Raucus was sitting at about half of his HP, which meant that they’d gotten him down to the point where his Class special ability might be able to finish him.
White’s eyes narrowed as they pierced through the cloud of dust and debris that his earlier ability had kicked up. He could see the Champion striding forward, his sickles clutched in both hands. But there was a noticeable hitch in his step, and he was leaning ever so slightly to his left.
Arthur’s single sneak attack must have hit something vital, but Raucus was trying to cover it up. He straightened to his full height as he readied his ability. This would take up nearly all his remaining Stamina, leaving him all but defenseless. He just had to hope Arthur would…
A scream pierced the dull roar of the crowd and sent chills racing up his spine. His head whipped to the side, just in time to see Arthur charging at Raucus, who was holding his sickles to the sides and laughing.
White felt the cold hand of fear clutch at his heart. Not because Arthur was throwing himself at the Champion, but because of what his eye, the one hidden by the patch, saw surrounding his body. A black nimbus of light stretched twenty feet into the air, howling its hunger and giving off such a strong sense of death that it made him break out in a cold sweat.
“The Predator skill,” White whispered, staring in shock as the black cloud roiled and struck out at its surroundings.
But it was impossible. An ani-human like Arthur couldn’t have a skill like that. It was literally impossible for anyone outside of a royal bloodline to have it. Not to mention that it only affected…
He’s one of them, White realized, the instant before Arthur slammed into Raucus, weaving under his attack and slamming a fist into his lower back.
Raucus screamed in pain, twisting and slashing out in a feeble attempt to get Arthur. But, miraculously, Arthur dodged the attack once more, slamming a fist into the exact same spot. White shook himself then and began charging up his ability.
It didn’t matter
what Arthur may or may not have. The very reason he could only pick it out with his eye and no one else could, told him the skill had not yet been learned, which meant that it would only keep up for a few seconds, at best. A skill like that was exceedingly difficult to learn in the first place, though it did manifest in small ways like this. If he was right, then it was good he hadn’t chosen a Class yet.
His ability finished charging then, and White felt his muscles bulge with renewed strength. He threw his head back and roared, shaking the entire stadium with the power of his ability provided. Raucus flinched, giving Arthur the chance to land three more blows, each one knocking off greater and greater chunks of his HP.
White light streamed off his body, leaving a visible trail as he rocketed across the arena toward the Champion. He didn’t feel the pain of his wounds anymore. All he felt was power.
Arthur’s last attack hit Raucus just as he tried to turn back, and he roared, his back buckling under the blow as he staggered to one knee.
White had almost reached them, when, instead of backing off, Arthur ran in to attack once more. The blackness around him was fluctuating wildly, then it died. Arthur staggered for a moment, and that was all Raucus needed.
With a scream of rage, Raucus whirled, slashing out with his twin sickles. White saw the moment as though it were frozen in time. He wouldn’t be fast enough to save him, and with his HP down so low, the attack would surely kill him. He used his Last Resort.
It was an extremely costly ability, which would drain his own HP and transfer it to someone else. He didn’t have much to spare, but Arthur needed to be kept alive at all costs. White knew he was old, at the end of his days, and unable to do much for anyone anymore. But Arthur was young, strong and had a bright future ahead. For his sake and for the sake of his entire Race, Arthur had to live.
His HP dropped down to 20 points just as Raucus’s sickles bit into the side of his face, sending up a spray of blood. Then, he slammed into the attacker, and the Champion’s spine broke like a twig.
***
Arthur floated as though in a dream, his body ducking and weaving as he tore into the massive Champion. He knew he was low on health and that a single hit would end him, but he couldn’t stop now. Not when he was so close.
He dodged and swerved; his Sixth Sense pushed to the limit of its current level as he tried to predict where the attacks were going to fall. His Critical Strike helped him keep focused on the single spot he’d damaged earlier, and his Drilling Blows were finally dealing some damage.
-17 Damage, Drilling Blows
-34 Damage, Drilling Blows
With each successive strike, his attack damage doubled. So long as he kept hitting the same spot, it would continue to do so until the ability ran out. The Critical Strike skill would also allow critical damage, which was why he was able to deal so much, despite the Champion’s resistances.
The entire time, he felt the same rage boiling in his veins. It drove him on, pushed away the fear of death, told him that he was better than this nobody. And he knew he could do it. He knew he could win.
Raucus screamed as Arthur slipped another attack, dodging the twin sickles and the burst of yellow-green light that followed, drilling another two attacks into the base of his spine. His attack ran out then, but he wasn’t finished just yet.
The Champion was listing heavily to one side, and Arthur spun around, drawing his dagger and intending to plunge it into the Feline’s eye. He saw it as he made his move, the slight widening of the eyes as Raucus realized what was about to happen, the lightning-quick reaction to his attack as he brought his weapons around in a desperate bid to save himself.
But they both knew it was too late. Arthur felt a grin stretch across his face and let out a cry of triumph as he plunged the dagger down. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the rage fled, leaving him feeling empty inside.
The change was so abrupt that he faltered in his attack, his vision swimming for an instant as he tried to reorient himself. But that was all the time Raucus needed. With a snarl, he twisted in place, lashing out at him with his twin sickles.
Arthur tried to turn, to avoid the attack, but was unable to. Pain blossomed on the right side of his face, and his vision went red. Then the other sickle slashed across his face, and he fell to the ground, screaming in pain and clutching at his ruined right eye. His HP was falling fast, but somehow he wasn’t dead yet.
Even through the haze of pain, he managed to check his health bar and saw that he was somehow at 52/170 HP. He half-turned, fighting back the agony in his face and saw White slam into Raucus.
As though in slow motion, the Champion buckled, then broke. The sound of his spine snapping echoed throughout the arena, silencing the spectators and orator alike. Raucus didn’t even get the chance to cry out. He was dead before his body hit the ground, bent at an unnatural angle, fragments of bone protruding from his broken body.
Raucus Dies! +8,250 XP
Quest Completed: The Pits - III
Rewards: 10,000 XP, Legendary Eye
Level Up!
Congratulations, you have reached level 16. You now have 5 new Attribute Points to allocate.
Arthur staggered to his feet as the arena seemed to go crazy, panting hard with blood pouring from all over his battered body. White didn’t seem to be doing too much better, but despite that, he threw his fist into the air, releasing a blast of violet light.
He stared for a few long moments in incomprehension. Then, figures all over the arena turned and attacked the Felines. There was a moment of confusion as the first guards were cut down, then pandemonium rang as they realized what was happening.
They were under attack!
Arthur’s gaze moved to White, who was staggering toward him, his HP bleeding away.
“White! What’s going on!?” Arthur demanded, as the gates opened, and guards began flooding the arena grounds.
“No time to explain!” White said, tearing at his eyepatch and ripping something free.
“What…!?”
“I said there’s no time!” White shouted, pressing the item into his palm. “You are our best hope, Arthur, so you have to live! Now go!”
White pushed him, sending him staggering back. Then he turned to face the crowd of oncoming guards, his entire body flashing in a corona of colors.
Arthur tried to take a step forward, but he felt a strong hand land on his shoulder.
“Come on! We have to leave. Now!”
He froze, half in shock and half in disbelief. It couldn’t be. How would she even have gotten here?
“You heard her, mate, come on! Let’s blow this joint before it blows us! Wait…that didn’t come out right. What I meant to say was…”
“He knows what you meant, Hopps! Come on, frog boy, we don’t have much time. Now, are you going to come willingly, or are you going to make me carry you out like a princess?”
Arthur spun, feeling tears coming to his eyes. Talia and Hopps both stood there. Her, with her massive hammer clutched in one hand and he, trying hard to come up with something clever to say.
Talia’s eyes ran up and down his body, and she visibly winced. Then her eyes clouded over in anger, then finally, guilt.
“If we would have known…I…I’m sorry that I…”
Arthur moved forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezed her in a tight embrace.
“It’s good to see you again.”
After a moment, Talia hugged him back, careful to not squeeze too hard and injure him further.
“Yeah. It’s good to see you, too,” she whispered back.
36
“Follow me!” Hopps yelled, leaping toward an open exit out of the arena.
“Wait, what about…?” Arthur began, half turning to go back for White, but Talia got a firm grip on his wrist and dragged him away.
“He knows what he’s doing. He’ll be fine!”
But Arthur knew the truth. He wouldn’t be fine. White was going to die, and there
was nothing he could do about it. Hot tears streamed from his one remaining eye, even as he staggered after Talia, his body protesting loudly against the rough treatment.
“We’ve got baddies closing in!” Hopps yelled as Feline guards began swarming toward the exit, trying to block them off.
“Oh, no, they don’t!” Talia yelled.
Releasing his arm, she sprinted forward, wielding the massive hammer over her head. Then, twirling it once, she slammed it into the ground, sending out an explosion of force that cracked the ground for ten feet in all directions and blew all the guards clear off their feet.
“When did you learn to do that?” Arthur asked, struggling to keep up.
He was trying to block out the sounds of fighting coming from behind them, and any topic would help distract him from what he knew was happening.
“When I got my new Class,” Talia said smugly.
It was only then that he noticed that she’d reached level 18 and did look a bit different.
“Did you get even taller?” he asked, somewhat in dismay.
“Yup!” Talia crowed. “Grew about three inches. Guess you’ll look like even more of a shrimp now, frog boy.”
Arthur noticed that she’d packed on quite a bit more muscle mass as well, her body looking more toned and lean than it had when he’d last seen her.
“Don’t forget about me!” Hopps called out, firing a blast of water into an oncoming guard and finally reaching the exit. “I got bigger too! Been hitting those weights hard!”
Hopps had indeed grown. He was now easy as tall as him, making him feel like even more of a shrimp. The frog had also reached level 16, same as him, and seemed to have picked up a new Class as well.