“I understand that you’re angry, Lyrian,” Mozter’s smile widened as he spoke. “But, you see, I had no other choice. Killing that Adventurer was the only way to get your attention.”
“My attention?” I looked at the Dark Elf incredulously. “You could have found me and tapped me on the shoulder. This wasn’t necessary.”
“I thought about doing that…” Mozter replied, nodding thoughtfully. “But you see, I didn’t think it’d provoke the same response, considering what it is I’m looking to ask you.”
“Ask me?” I repeated, completely caught off guard by the sudden shift in conversation. “You needed to kill someone, just to ask me a question?!”
“Of course!” Mozter exclaimed. “I had to do it publicly too, to make sure you wouldn’t be able to refuse without losing face either.”
My eyes narrowed at the Dark Elf’s statement. “What do you want, Mozter?”
“To challenge you to a duel!” The elf exclaimed, his expression taking on a feral smile. “To the death of course.”
The crowd surrounding us immediately began murmuring excitedly, a powerful voice from the crowd shouting out, “Do it, Lyrian. Kill this fucking coward and hang his head on a spike!”
“You did all of this for a duel?” I exclaimed angrily, waving my hand at the drying pool of blood as Amaranth echoed my displeasure with a growl. “Why the hell do you want to duel me?”
“Because you are the greatest challenge I could find,” Mozter replied, his eyes burning with a fire I hadn’t seen a moment ago. “Ever since I watched your feed with Graves I’ve wanted to cross blades with you… but I was forced to wait until a spot in Ascend Online opened up, and I could get myself here.”
Amaranth observed, his mental voice taking on a harsh tone.
I was wondering how long it would take for this to happen, I thought while gritting my teeth, silently agreeing with my familiar. Staring at the dark elf intently I used the silence to carefully inspect the murderous Adventurer and his companions. Paul warned me that just because we’re in the top thousand, there was a risk that we were going to start attracting crazies because of our popularity.
I just didn’t expect for it to happen so soon.
Shifting my glance to his companions, my eye first landed on the half-orc that loomed directly behind Mozter. A veritable mountain of green flesh, the half-orc wore a crudely crafted iron breastplate that strained to keep itself buckled against his massive bulk. The half-orc, likely a warrior, held a massive double-sided axe as he stared back at me, his expression shifting to scowl when he realized I was looking at him.
Keeping my face impassive, my gaze continued to roam, spotting a thin, and unnaturally pale high-elf standing beside the warrior, dressed in simple brown robes. A symbol I was unfamiliar with hung around the elf’s neck on a long necklace, partially obscured by a long cascading wave of bright blonde hair. Feeling my gaze on her, the elf blew me a single kiss, before winking at me seductively.
Keeping my face steady, I shifted my glance and found myself staring into a pair of green feline eyes that bored into me with an almost feral intensity, causing my eyes to widen in surprise. Pulling my gaze downward, I saw that the tiger striped Tul’Shar wore only a single woolen shirt and plain leather pants, for some reason not wearing a single stitch of armor whatsoever. Puzzling over his choice of attire, a subtle motion caught my eye, as the cat-man continuously flexed and unflexed the vicious claws his race carried in their hands.
Continuing my inspection to the final member of the party, I spotted a burly looking dwarf dressed in heavy brown leather armor, gently swaying from side to side as his hand rested on a single short sword hanging from his waist, the other holding a thick wooden shield. A red-haired top knot bobbed at the top of his otherwise cleanly shaven head as he moved, his bright eyes looking outward towards the crowd instead of me.
“What exactly do you see your end game being here, Mozter?” I asked the dark elf as I shifted my eyes back to look at him. “Even if you somehow manage to beat me, everyone here will simply kill you afterward.”
“Ah, that’s where the terms of our duel come into play,” Mozter grinned. “You see, it’s not just any kind of duel, but a Ranked Duel. There are rules and formalities to be observed.”
“A Ranked Duel?” I repeated as I narrowed my eyes at the dark elf while trying to remember if I had heard anything about it in the past and coming up blank. Turning my head to look at Freya, I raised an eyebrow at the blonde woman to see if she knew what Mozter was talking about.
“No idea,” she replied shaking her head with a whisper. “Maybe it’s something like ladder matches from strategy games?”
“Sounds like it,” I said somewhat distractedly as I mentally brought up a menu and began urgently paging through it hoping to find what exactly Mozter was talking about. It took me several seconds to navigate through all the options, eventually finding a submenu nested under the ‘PvP’ menu labeled ‘Ranked Duels’. Mentally opening the menu, a wall of information filled my vision, causing me to blink unexpectedly as I scanned its contents.
Ranked Duels
Congratulations! You have taken the first step in ensuring that your name will be spoken in all corners of the world as you fight for blood and glory under the gaze of the gods!
Ranked Duels are god-sanctioned competitions where Adventurers or teams of Adventurers fight against one another in a battle to the death, with the winners being rewarded with Glory Points (GP) and increasing their own Personal Rating (PR). In addition, Adventurers may wager gold, items or even Glory Points between one another before the fight, to be awarded to the winner!
Glory Points may be used to unlock special PvP related character abilities and traits pertaining to Player versus Player combat, further honing their deadly skills and reflexes.
Personal Rating is used to determine your overall ranking for all the Adventurers in your current region (updated weekly) and may be used as a benchmark to determine your eligibility for tournaments and other special events.
This is a whole new subsystem to PvP, I realized as I finished reading and dismissed the text, only to have more appear in my vision afterward.
Ranked Duel Statistics:
Current Title: Neophyte
Regional Rank: Unranked
Global Rank: Unranked
Glory Points: 0
Personal Rating: 0
Wins: 0
Losses: 0
Current PvP Skills Available for purchase:
Increased Health – Increase total health by 0.5%. 0/5 (200 GP)
Increased Stamina – Increase total Stamina by 0.5%. 0/5 (200 GP)
Increased Mana – Increase total Mana by 0.5%. 0/5 (200 GP)
Additional Skills will be unlocked once 10 skill ranks have been purchased.
“Have you had a chance to catch up now?” Mozter’s smug voice called out just as I finished reading the newest wave of information. “I can see your eyes reading.”
“I have,” I finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had steadily built over the last few seconds and focused my attention back on Mozter and cleared my vision.
“Good.” Mozter grinned as a bright red message flashed in my eye. “Then we can get right on with this.”
Mozter has challenged you to a Ranked One-on-One duel!
Terms:
Loser forfeits all of their weapons and armor to the victor.
All personal grievances are absolved.
Do you accept this challenge? As the challenged party, you may propose your own counter terms.
“I see what you’re after now,” I said in sudden understanding as I read the terms that Mozter had proposed, despite my eye suspiciously focusing on the second term. “You just want my weapons and armor.”
The words were barely out of my mouth before a cry of anger erupted from the crowd aro
und us, the assembled Adventurers shouting out at the dark-skinned elf, Amaranth, of course, being no exception either, the large cat hissing loudly.
“Of course, and I offer you the same for me, should you win of course,” Mozter replied, ignoring the crowd around us. “I firmly believe that the greater the risk, the greater the glory afterward.”
“Frankly, Mozter, I don’t care what you think,” I grunted while looking at the armor that he was wearing. “If you think your equipment measures up anything close to mine, you are sorely mistaken.”
Freya: Lyrian, wait. We might be able to use this to our advantage.
I kept my face impassive as I saw Freya’s private message appear in the corner of my vision, composing a reply before Mozter continued speaking.
Lyrian: What do you have in mind?
“Then propose a counter offer,” Mozter said, slicing his bloody sword through the air impatiently.
Freya: To make a bloody example of them. Challenge them to five on three with Amaranth and me as your seconds. They can’t refuse without looking even worse than they do now.
I turned to look at Freya in surprise, the blonde woman giving me a grim smile as she saw my expression. I heard Theia let out a low chuckle, Freya no doubt informing the lizardwoman of her plans simultaneously.
Lyrian: Are you sure you want to show everyone what we’re really capable of so soon?
Freya: I think we need to. One of our applicants was just killed in front of everyone. We need to show that we won’t tolerate attacks like that under any circumstances. The recruits need to know that we’ll have their back if things get rough.
Pausing for a moment to think over Freya’s logic, I couldn’t help but agree, turning to look out into the crowd of Virtus recruits and seeing their eyes focused intently on me, waiting to see what I would do.
“Alright,” I said loudly, coming to a decision as I modified Mozter’s duel terms and sent it back to him, purposefully removing the second term that he had included before. I had a sneaking suspicion of why he had included it in the first place, and I wasn’t about to let the dark elf off so easily. “Here is my counteroffer, that I think better reflects the disparity between our gear and skill. Freya, my familiar and I will fight all five of you. The winner taking everyone’s weapons and armor.”
You have sent a counter-duel offer to Mozter, challenging him to a Ranked Five-on-Three duel!
Terms:
Losing team forfeits all their weapons and armor to the victors.
“Ooooh.” The crowd of Adventurers couldn’t help but comment on my challenge as they excitedly waited for Mozter’s reply.
Face frowning in a scowl, Mozter glared at me. “This isn’t what I meant by a counteroffer. I wanted to fight you one-on-one with no other interference. It won’t look the same in the feeds if I beat you while you’re outnumbered.”
“Why does it matter to me how it looks in the feeds?” I replied idly while putting my hand on the hilt of my sword. “You’re the one who decided they wanted a fight and killed one of my applicants to get my attention. Well, you have it now. Take my terms or get the fuck out of Aldford and pray no one hunts you down tonight.”
Suddenly unsure at my display of confidence, Mozter glanced over at the jeering crowd for a few seconds, before gripping his sword tightly. “Fine. I accept.”
Mozter has agreed to your terms!
Prepare yourself! The match will begin in thirty seconds!
Without needing to say another word, the rest of Mozter’s party drew their weapons as they formed a line of battle, the massive half-orc taking the center position of the group with Mozter on his left and the nervous dwarf on the other side. Standing half a step away on Mozter’s other side was the feral looking Tul’Shar with the elven woman taking cover in the rear ranks.
Drawing Razor, I activated True Sight, causing my eyesight to brighten as the ability banished all the shadows from my vision, giving me completely perfect clarity of the battlefield. Raising my hand in the air, I mentally selected one of the newer spells that I had only used a handful of times since learning it and cast it upon myself, feeling a tingling sensation play across my skin as an invisible shield of magic took shape around me.
You cast [Lesser Shielding] on yourself!
You have gained +45 to armor and +7% Spell Resistance for 60 minutes!
Not wasting time during my preparations, both Freya and Amaranth had positioned themselves by my side. Growling with anger, Amaranth dug both his front paws in the ground, causing his large claws to extend as he readied himself to leap forward at my command. Standing calmly by my side, Freya twirled her spear, lying it flat against her arm as she pointed the tip towards the sandy ground of the arena.
Freya: Battle plan?
Lyrian: Steamroll them hard and fast. I’ll rush ahead first to draw their attention and force them to commit. If I can get a chance to take out the elf I will. She looks like a caster. The rest appear to be all melee oriented.
Freya: Sounds good. I’ll take the Dwarf. What about Amaranth?
Lyrian: I’ll send him straight at the half-orc. I don’t care how strong he is, seven hundred and fifty pounds of angry cat should be enough to ruin his day.
Freya: Hah, yeah, I bet it will. Will you be okay managing Mozter and the cat man until one of us are free? I have no idea what class either of them has chosen. We didn’t get that far in recruitment process yet.
Lyrian: Yeah, I should be fine. I’ll keep them busy and wear them down if I can. If I need help, I’ll call out.
Freya: Alright, be careful though. We have a ton of eyes on us for this.
I nodded at Freya while mentally calling my familiar as the timer steadily continued to tick down.
The cat snarled in acknowledgement, his azure eyes darting up to look at me momentarily.
Conscious of the time ticking down, I checked my armor and weapon as the growing murmur from the crowds surrounding us began to grow in pitch and excitement. Bright red numbers ticked down in my vision, filling me with anticipation as my heart began to race.
Match begins in:
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
FIGHT!
Chapter 10
Leaping forward the moment the countdown finished, I shot ahead of Freya and Amaranth, sprinting directly towards Mozter and his feline companion, who both stood completely still as the battle began. Cautious on why they would remain in place instead of using their numerical advantage against us, I slowed for half a step, just as a wall of force flared ahead of me. Mozter and the nameless Tul’Shar immediately turning to sprint around the shield in one direction, with the half-orc and the dwarf doing the same in the other. Standing with her arms outstretched, my earlier suspicions were confirmed as I saw the elf caster channeling the spell.
Ah, I thought to myself as I recognized the tactic, hearing Freya call out to Amaranth behind me as they shifted their assault. They want us to slow down and meet them on the edges of the shield, where they’ll then try to overwhelm and pin us against it. Not a bad idea against a regular group of opponents.
Too bad for them we’re not regular opponents.
Ignoring Mozter and his companions flanking efforts, I instead increased my pace, feeling my feet kick up sand as I sprinted across the arena, focusing my attention on the elf mage as I ran directly at the Force Shield before me. I saw a confused expression cross her face as I cast yet another spell on myself, feeling my body become even lighter. With a gentle leap, I soared up into the air, just barely clearing the edge of the Force Shield before I canceled the spell and triggered Blink Step, my world blurring in a maelstrom of colors before appearing right in front of the elven mage, practically standing between her outstret
ched hands.
Eyes widening in sudden terror, the mage managed a single yelp of surprise at my arrival, flinching backward as I used my momentum to swing Razor in a short-overhanded chop, the blade biting deep into her neck. Planting my foot on the ground, I continued my charge, driving Razor deeper into the wound as I slammed my shoulder into her chest and knocking the mage off her feet. Pulling my blade free as she fell, I stepped over the fallen woman who instinctively reached up to clench the massive wound in her neck and stabbed her in heart, seeing her body instantly go limp as I glanced at my combat log in the corner of my vision.
You critically [Power Attack II] [Unknown Elf] in a vulnerable location for 248 points of damage!
You [Shoulder Tackle] [Unknown Elf] for 23 points of damage!
You critically [Power Attack II] [Unknown Elf] in a vulnerable location for 395 points of damage!
You have slain [Unknown Elf]!
You have gained Experience!
You have gained Renown!
That’s one down, I noted to myself, having gotten into the habit of checking my combat log during a battle to make sure that I had actually killed my target and that it wasn’t feigning death.
Spinning from the dead elf, I turned to face the direction where I had last seen Mozter and the Tul’Shar, the cheers from the crowd of Adventurers ringing in my ears as they saw the elf’s body dissipate into nothingness behind me. I spotted the pair scrambling wildly as they tried to get themselves back into position to attack me, Mozter’s expression failing to hide the surprise at how effortlessly I had killed one of their groupmates.
Glancing to my right as I waited for the dark elf and his companion to approach, I saw the tip of Freya’s spear dart in front of the half-orc’s upraised axe, catching the weapon by the haft moments before he began his downswing towards the charging form of Amaranth. Stalling his attack for a heartbeat, the half-orc’s timing was completely thrown off, allowing my familiar to pounce on him with a savage growl and sink his teeth into the man’s shoulder. Stumbling backward in a desperate attempt to keep his balance, the half-orc flailed uselessly with one free hand, doing little to dislodge the angry cat as he refused to let go of his weapon.
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