Raising Allies

by Sarah Lin

  In response Bloodwraith simply grunted, not sure how to take that. After a while longer, Kantan headed back inside and let him go on his way.

  As he headed back into the city, Bloodwraith scanned his inventory and considered their available resources. Between Meara's sales and Danniah's quest rewards, they were making a decent amount of money on a daily basis. Not enough to buy a large number of rings, but enough that he was beginning to scour shops for improved equipment.

  So far he had found little that he would consider actually remarkable, so he continued hoarding their money. The most significant upgrade they could acquire would be the sphere they had taken - both to get the armor contained within and to use the sphere for Danniah's armor. But Meara had tried and failed to work with it and they didn't dare go to a real mage, so it remained a useless silver bauble for now.

  Eventually the day of the grand tournament arrived. Bloodwraith headed back to the inn after doing his usual work, but when he entered the room, he found Danniah still in her armor and Meara waiting by the door. Meara glanced at him and spoke first.

  "Since things have been relatively calm and we've been working hard, we thought that we might attend the tournament today. Just as spectators."

  "Can we?" Danniah smiled up at him while petting Izilthor. "It would be a chance to see some of the best fighters in the city, plus lots of important people will be there. I'm honestly not just making excuses because I want to go... wouldn't this be our best chance to gain more information about Manascas?"

  "Dada!" Izilthor pulled out of her hands and hopped over to him, so Bloodwraith reached down to pick up the skull, sighing as it nuzzled into his hands. He'd grown used to that, so he focused more on Danniah's argument.

  "I suppose there's no harm in simply attending. But we need to keep our heads down."

  "Hurray!" Danniah quickly embraced him around the waist.

  As she did, Izilthor hopped up and down. "Yay!" It didn't have much of a vocabulary, but it tended to react to the mood of the room. Sighing, Bloodwraith took his Extra-dimensional bag from his waist and held it out.

  "Sorry, Izilthor, but you need to go in the bag."

  "Nnnn." The skull shook back and forth.

  "It's the only way you'll be safe. If people see you at an event like that, they might smash you."

  Though it whined some more, eventually Izilthor hopped into the bag and went back into his inventory. As far as Bloodwraith had determined, undead within the bag were completely frozen, including mental processes, so it wasn't torture. At the same time, he completely understood why Izilthor would prefer to be outside and learning - the undead had picked up his hunger for knowledge, after all.

  "Then we have an agreement?" Meara pushed off the wall and smiled at both of them. "We haven't been spending enough time together lately, so I'd like to enjoy this."

  The three of them headed out and toward the Red Sands Arena, soon finding themselves part of a large crowd. Though the smaller events were sparsely attended, it seemed that many of the citizens cared about the primary tournaments. From what Bloodwraith understood, they covered similar competitions to the preliminary rounds, but with only the strongest adventurers and the flashiest events. Hopefully it would be an interesting show.

  Entry prices varied widely, from multiple gold pieces for special seats to 50 silvers for those in the front rows, to just coppers for the least desirable seats. Since they were still trying to gather money, they opted for the cheapest option.

  Though they found the stands were already somewhat crowded, no competitions had begun. There were a few performers with trained jackals, but the act bored Bloodwraith. Instead of watching the performance, his eyes wandered around the large arena.

  Partway around the circle, the stands were broken by a fortress-like structure. Within, he could see three rooms with balconies and special seats for important guests. After puzzling over who might be there for a time, he realized that it might be simpler to ask the others.

  "Meara, do you know who's in the biggest seats?"

  "I've heard a little." She gestured first at the rightmost chamber, which was filled with many guests in expensive clothes. "That one is for the Red Sands overseer, who runs the whole operation. He always attends, of course, and his guests usually spend the time politicking. The empty middle one is for the Governor of Manascas, who only attends when there's something particularly important going on."

  Those seemed obvious enough, so Bloodwraith's eyes wandered to the leftmost chamber. To his surprise, it held only a single occupant, a man sprawled on a chair with one leg hooked over the side. He looked somewhat elven, but his ears were long and curved. There was something else odd about him... "And who is that?"

  "I could give you answers, but I'm not sure any of them are true. Some rumors say that he's nobility from another kingdom, but whoever he is, he's rich enough to waste a lot of time here. There are other rumors that he's the Governor's lover, but I think those are just trying to court controversy."

  "And wouldn't they be on the same balcony, then?" Danniah shadowed her eyes to peer closer. "He looks really bored. Guess he's waiting for the fighting to start?"

  "I don't know. One of the few things the rumors are consistent about is that he always attends the big tournaments, but he never seems to care. That's why there are so many rumors about him being a bored noble."

  That was mildly interesting, but now that Bloodwraith had answers, it didn't seem particularly important. His eyes wandered away... and he spotted Gharavi seated in the upper stands, not far from them.

  The half-orc woman was looking toward the three raised chambers as well. She had a look of pure concentration that confirmed for him yet again that she couldn't be as stupid as she pretended to be. He looked curiously for a time, wondering what her purpose was, until she happened to glance in his direction and caught his gaze.

  He dropped his eyes immediately, but it was too late. Gharavi stood up and rushed toward them, pushing people out of her way to get there. There was plenty of pushing and shoving in the cheap seats, but she was better at it than most.

  "Oh, gods, that's her..." Bloodwraith nudged his companions, but it was too late to evade her.

  Soon Gharavi was standing in front of them, muscular arms folded beneath her breasts. "Strong male again. Come see good fights?"

  "Something like that."

  "Fights always rile Gharavi's blood. Want mate after?"

  Before Bloodwraith could formulate a response, Danniah latched onto his arm. "No, thank you! He's already with me!"

  Gharavi looked at her for a moment, then just grunted dismissively. "Not problem. Strong males have many mates."

  "Go away and leave us alone!"

  After staring at them for a bit, Gharavi retreated a short distance and sat back down. Bloodwraith sighed as Meara leaned closer to him. "So, that's your orc lover, huh?"

  "I'm telling you, she can't be what she seems." Bloodwraith glanced toward Meara. "Are you really saying she doesn't seem suspicious to you?"

  "I'm not sure. We know how Raigar's fancy magic amulet makes you lucky with the ladies."

  "I believe you," Danniah said. She had seemed jealous before, but now she just leaned against his arm thoughtfully. "Kind of like someone acting like a barbarian. I mean, her top... that just wouldn't work at all."

  That made no sense to Bloodwraith, but when Meara nodded as if it was reasonable, he had no choice but to ask. "What do you mean?"

  "Well... that cloth isn't nearly enough to hold her, um, assets in place. They'd bounce all around. You fight like that, you're going to be hurting a lot. You said she was strong, right? I don't think any experienced warrior would dress that way."

  "Hmm." Bloodwraith considered her a while longer, though he tried not to be seen staring at her. "Do you think I should question her directly?"

  Meara shrugged. "What else are we going to do while we wait for the tournament to start? The two of us will listen in and see if we can learn anythin
g else."

  Since Danniah let go of his arm, Bloodwraith decided that he might as well. He stepped down over several rows, pushing his way through the crowds. As soon as he got close, Gharavi turned to face him and grunted happily.

  "Strong male change mind?"

  Just confronting her with his suspicions, much less trying to voice Danniah's breast-based argument, would be foolish. Instead, he took an entirely different approach to catch her off guard. "Why were you watching the man in the leftmost chamber?"

  Though he could have sworn he saw something flash in her eyes, a moment later Gharavi just grunted. "Also powerful male. Rule city."

  "But he doesn't, and I think you know that." Bloodwraith folded his arms and fixed her with his gaze. "In fact, it seems not many people know anything about him at all. But I think you do."

  Gharavi took a step back, one hand sliding behind her back toward her axe. It only lasted a moment, but he saw her eyes change to a look of sharp intelligence. Though she could probably reach her long axe from that position, Bloodwraith ignored it and kept pushing.

  "I don't think I'm your enemy. But unless you stop lying to me, I could be."

  "No!" She bellowed out the word and drew her axe, shoving it in his face. "No touch Gharavi!"

  Either an emotional reaction... or an attempt to shield herself with the crowd. Whereas they had attracted little attention before, now people all around the stands were turning to look at them. He obviously couldn't keep interrogating her directly, but that didn't mean he could do nothing.

  When Gharavi poked her axe at him again, Bloodwraith grabbed the handle and held it firm. She pulled back, much stronger than an average human woman, but not nearly as strong as him. Though he wanted to check her box again now that he'd seen more of her, there was no time for that. He realized that many people in the audience were now watching them eagerly, hoping for a fight before the main event started.

  "Your secrets are that important to you?" Bloodwraith pulled down her axe and held her gaze, sure that the act was starting to drop. "Why?"

  Before she could answer, someone else yelled out loud enough to be heard over the crowd.

  "Hey, what the fuck?"

  Bloodwraith looked up sharply, expecting an attack. Instead he saw only a figure in a black cloak that completely obscured his features. Something about it bothered him, especially as the figure began to rush toward them, yelling.

  "That's my fucking character! Who the fuck are you?"

  As the figure drew closer, the hood fell away from his face. Bloodwraith froze in place as he recognized himself, for a moment incapable of thought. It was his real body, which should have been long ago destroyed. Yet here it was, which could only mean...

  The next moment Raigar collided with him and the two of them crashed down through the stands.

  Chapter 14

  Even though Bloodwraith was being slammed against hard stone, for a moment he was too stunned to react. He had been utterly certain that the real Raigar had died in his old body, yet for him to be alive... No, more importantly, his real body was still intact. If he could acquire another Wand of Soul Exchange somehow...

  Currently Raigar had both hands around his neck, but given his relative lack of strength, it was no real threat. Bloodwraith reached out and grabbed him by the face as they tumbled down, driving his opponent underneath him so that he took all the hard blows as they smashed over stone and members of the audience. Though he definitely wanted to keep his lich body intact, it could handle a bit of blunt force trauma.

  They crashed to a halt at the bottom of the stands and staggered to their feet. Though they had flattened a lot of people along the way, those outside their path of destruction cheered them on. This seemed to disorient Raigar, even though his body should have immediately recovered.

  Bloodwraith's mind was working at full speed, but that actually worked against him. The idea that he was face-to-face with an Outsider, one of the incomprehensible box gods... on top of that, the person who had created his Amulet of Reincarnation and planned a life of brutal hedonism. Whatever this being was, diabolical or transcendent, it was unlike anything he had ever met...

  Raigar punched him in the face. It did essentially nothing, a puny lich arm against a body of solid muscle, but it brought him to his senses.

  "Right, shitty mage build." Raigar shook his head. "Who the hell are you? How did you steal my character?"

  "Your character? What do you mean?" Though arguing in front of an audience was the worst possible way to gain this information, he might not get another chance. His mind raced as he tried to think of a way to get Raigar out of the public so he could be captured and interrogated.

  "Oh, fuck it. I'll just elephant mork this."

  "You'll what?"

  Instead of an answer, Raigar raised one hand. Not in a punch this time, but starting to extend a finger. He did it quickly, too, the mana gathering with practiced speed. If Bloodwraith had not been intimately familiar with that exact spell, he would definitely have been struck.

  As it was, he managed to duck before the ray of necromantic energy shot from Raigar's finger. He heard screams from the audience as several people fell, their bodies crumbling. All the cheers turned to cries of horror and everyone began fleeing from the two of them.

  That was one way to get privacy. Bloodwraith straightened up and started to say something, but had to throw himself aside to avoid another spell. In that moment, he caught a glimpse of Raigar's eyes. It was his own face - his old face - but it was clearly different. This being cared for nothing but killing. Though its words seemed casual and irreverent, it clearly cared just as little for everything in this reality.

  To Bloodwraith's surprise, he needed to dodge again almost immediately. Raigar had both hands raised, slinging spells rapidly. He'd forgotten how fast his old body was, and how large the gap between them yawned.

  One of the rays hit his arm and Bloodwraith dropped backward with a cry of pain. Just one indirect strike... his box now displayed [Health: 147/206]. Realizing that he couldn't trade blows and end things quickly, Bloodwraith retreated to a distance where he could more easily dodge and considered his options.

  Unfortunately, he was currently weaker than the old Raigar had been when he had destroyed the Master Lich. How much weaker, he wasn't sure, but his old body was obviously far superior to anything else he'd faced in this life. The only reason he was still alive was that Raigar clearly had no idea how to use his power. But the fact that he was using only base combat spells meant that he could continue casting them essentially forever, in realistic combat terms.

  A large space had opened up around them. From the corner of his eyes, Bloodwraith saw that Danniah and Meara hadn't fled, but they remained at a distance, uncertain how to help. That was wise, given the threat. Though there were theoretically strong adventurers competing in the tournament, none of them had come to resolve the situation.

  The only other people he saw were the arena guards. They were hardened men and women the boxes labeled Level 12 and above, so they didn't flee either, but they weren't about to throw themselves against a mad lich throwing spells in every direction. So far they had kept their distance, somewhat circling and preparing to act, but on their own they would do nothing.

  It was up to him, then. Bloodwraith drew his sword with a flourish, and while Raigar was distracted, extended his other hand and released a burst of force.

  Raigar fell back a step... but only one step. "Haha, is that the best you got?"

  Damn, he'd underestimated the durability of his old body. Still, it had knocked Raigar back a little, so he had an option...

  Bloodwraith ducked underneath another fireball, then rushed forward. He threw out one hand and cast another burst of force, which Raigar let slide off him contemptuously. One of his hands came up to cast another ray... and at that moment, Bloodwraith released an empowered Fist of Rage.

  The strengthened skill slammed into Raigar, knocking him roughly against the arena
wall. While he was stunned, Bloodwraith swept up and hefted his sword in a swing. He'd planned to cut off Raigar's head to disable him entirely, but his opponent recovered too fast, one hand rising and drawing on necromantic power.

  Changing the angle of his attack, Bloodwraith instead cut down, hacking into the arm. Raigar let out a cry, though it had to be habit or surprise, since his body couldn't feel pain. In any case, that threw him off enough for Bloodwraith to slam a shoulder into him and knock him to the ground. When he dropped, Raigar lay still, apparently still stunned from the loss of his arm.

  All at once Bloodwraith went from fighting for his life to dealing with a much more difficult situation. The guards were beginning to close in, possibly to arrest him as well. Yet he had an Outsider right in front of him, and on top of that, one occupying his real body. He needed time for answers and to recover his body, yet he couldn't afford to fight against the arena guards...

  "Are you alright, adventurer?" One of the guards approached, looking at him in real concern, and Bloodwraith realized that he'd read the situation wrong. Without his helm to shield his expression, he had to smother an evil grin.

  "The spell hurt bad, sir, but I made it. Do you know who this madman is?"

  "No idea, but you're to be commended for taking him down. He could have killed far more people if you haven't stepped up."

  "Just doing my part, sir." Bloodwraith felt a stirring of necromantic power and realized that Raigar was about to try something else, so he lunged out, flattening him back to the ground with one foot. "Can we tie him up and interrogate him?"

  The guards glanced at one another uncomfortably. "I'm not sure what our orders are. We haven't had a situation like this, really."

  "Please. I just want to know why he'd do this."

  After a little argument, they agreed. They bound Raigar's arms and dragged him down to one of the lower levels while the other guards evacuated the other spectators. Before following them, Bloodwraith took a moment to look around the arena.