Eden's Gate: The Arena: A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  Ozzy held up his hand to try to block as many of the blows as possible, but most of them were getting through. Suddenly Ozzy’s hand managed to grab hold of the man’s vest, and Ozzy pulled as hard as he could to get the man closer to him, making it harder for him to land his vicious punches.

  The streetfighter continued throwing blows to the side of the Ozzy’s head, but Ozzy suddenly loosened his grip on the man’s vest, causing him to lean back a little, and then Ozzy pulled again, hard, and simultaneously lifted his head up, clanging it against the streetfighters forehead.

  “Hell yeah!” I shouted.

  When Ozzy’s headbutted the streetfighter, the man raised both hands to his head, and Ozzy took the moment to grab the handle of his hammer with both hands and swing it at the man.

  The blow was sloppy but managed to nick the man’s shoulder and smash into his jaw, right under the ear. He flopped to the side and started groaning.

  Ozzy was still a bit dazed from all the punches that he took, so he rose to his feet slowly. When he was in a standing position, he wobbled a few times before lifting his hammer high in the air.

  The streetfighter just continued to groan on the ground and held on to his broken jaw as Ozzy raised his hammer high into the sky, and hammered it down directly on the man’s face.

  I flinched as the hammer made impact, expecting brains to be splattered everywhere, but instead, there was the sound of bones crushing, and then a second later the sound of a seismic energy that pushed Ozzy back and lifted his hammer off of the other fighter.

  Ozzy stumbled back a little bit from the energy and fell flat on his butt, and the streetfighter lay on the ground with his face half smashed in. I could see his chest heaving up and down, so he was clearly still alive, but he wasn’t moving otherwise.

  The crowd clapped, and I could hear a few of them cheer and shout at the show.

  The medical team rushed onto the fighting grounds and one of the girls cast a healing spell while the other was pouring a potion down the man’s throat, quickly reviving him into a more conscious state.

  As the announcer walked back onto the fighting grounds, Ozzy turned around, and his nose was dripping blood. His eye was swollen, his lip was busted, and when he smiled, his teeth were blood red. He walked over to grab his shield, then clanked his hammer against his shield as the crowd continued with its clapping.

  “Wow!” the announcer said loudly. “What an amazing turn of events!” He nodded to Ozzy and waved his hand to the entrance that he had come from, signaling that he could leave. “It can only get better after that!”

  After Ozzy was gone, and the streetfighter had been escorted away, the announcer announced the next fight. It was tier one fight between two untitled fighters. I was barely paying attention as I was anxious for Ozzy’s return.

  Shortly after the new fighters entered the Arena—a man wearing plate armor and carrying a flail versus a woman with a bow on her back and a couple of daggers strapped to her side—Ozzy found his way back to his seat. He was fully healed with no sign that he had ever been in a fight.

  Aaron and I both stood up to congratulate him, and fist bumps and bro hugs ensued.

  “That was sick, my man,” Aaron said.

  “Great job,” I added.

  Ozzy shook his head. “I thought he had me before I managed to grab his vest. I literally had 15% health left, and headbutting him knocked another 5% off my health off.”

  We all sat back down in our seats.

  “Great fighting,” a man sitting beside Ozzy said.

  Ozzy smiled. “Thanks.” He turned back to us and pulled out a sack of gold. “Got my reward as well.”

  “Nice,” I said. I smirked and tilted my head to the side. “What happened when you slammed your hammer down on the guy. What was that energy? I don’t understand how the guy survived.”

  Ozzy smiled. “You’ll see.”

  “Yo! Great fight!” a voice said loudly.

  The three of us turned at the voice, and I immediately jumped to me feet and grabbed the hilt of my sword when I saw who it was.

  “Wait, wait!” Jeremy—the thief who had attacked Edgewood—said. He turned his head back and forth to all the Arena attendees. “You don’t want to get yourself in trouble here, do you?”

  I turned and noticed that one of the guards was looking right at me, waiting for me to make the wrong move, and I immediately let go of the hilt of my sword.

  “What are you doing here?!” I pointed my finger at the guy. “You know you’re not welcome—“

  “I’m not welcome in Edgewood is what you told me,” the guy said. “Highcastle is a public place.”

  “What do you want?!” I snapped, my anger getting the best of me.

  “I told you what I want already. I want to join your guild.”

  I shook my head once. “Fuck off before I kill you again.”

  Jeremy shrugged and rolled his eyes. “You’re going to kill me here in Highcastle?” He held up his index finger and tilted it back and forth. “I don’t think so.”

  “Yo, just leave us alone…” Aaron said. “If you attacked our village, why the hell would we want anything to do with you?”

  “Because I’m a Re—“ Jeremy stopped and grinned devilishly. “You know. I’m the same as you two.” He looked to Ozzy. “And I think you’re the same as well.”

  “Don’t cause us any more drama,” I said. “If you’re here to watch the show, just go find another seat.”

  “It wasn’t random that I found this seat, obviously,” the thief clarified. “I followed you here because I wanted a chance to talk to you without worrying about you butchering me.”

  “We’ve said what we need to say,” I hissed.

  “Excuse me,” one of the onlookers said, holding a hand out to me. “Will you please sit down? You’re blocking the view.”

  I turned back to the show to see the guy wearing plate chasing the girl with the bow around the Arena. She ran ahead, stopping to shoot an arrow, then started running again to gain more ground on the man. I glanced back to Jeremy, huffed, and lowered myself into my seat.

  “Look,” Jeremy said. “Whatever I need to do to make it up to you, I’ll do it. I one hundred percent realize that I made a mistake, and I won’t do it again. I’m a good guy, I swear.”

  I looked to Ozzy and Aaron and they both just shrugged.

  “Your name is Jeremy, right?” I asked.

  The man nodded.

  “Where are you from?” I continued.

  “Miami, represent!” He leaned back in his seat and made some sort of gang-like symbols with his fingers. “Whaaaaaat?!”

  Ozzy creased his eyebrows. “Miami? Southern Florida went underwater several years ago.”

  The man chuckled. “Yeah, but I mean Miami, Arizona. Small town but lots of character.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And you’ve been here in the...uhhh…” I turned my head to the people around me. “You’ve only been in Eden’s Gate for a week?”

  “About,” he answered.

  “So you can still get in to the game?” I asked.

  “Yeah, if you can get your hands on a headset,” he replied.

  I suddenly felt a lot more interested in what Jeremy had to say. “Do you know anything about a blackout?”

  Jeremy laughed. “They said that the blackout was a success, but most people knew that was bullshit. A simple packet sniffer can tell that the same blockchain that was running on Release Day is still in operation. Most people believed it, but most people are idiots.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a while since I thought about what was happening on Earth, but knowing that there wasn’t an active effort to destroy my new world—at least as far as Jeremy knew—made me feel a bit more comfortable.

  “So,” Jeremy said and held his hands up to his side. “Let’s link up. Put me on your squad. That little village you’re building is awesome, by the way.”

  “The village that you attacked?” I snarled.
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  Jeremy sighed and slouched his shoulders. “Look, man. You guys are the first non-NPCs that I’ve run into, and you seem pretty cool to boot. I would’ve never gone the route I did if I knew you guys were like me.”

  I shook my head. I wanted to believe Jeremy. He actually didn’t seem like too much of a bad guy, and in some ways he reminded me of Aaron. He came across as sincere, but how could we trust him? And how could I invite some guy to our guild, that we really didn’t know, who had attacked our guild and killed some of its members, just because he was a Reborn?

  “Jeremy,” I said. “I’m sure you’re a cool dude, but after what you pulled, there’s no way we can have you in the guild. How could anyone in my guild trust you after what you did?”

  “Dude…” Jeremy moaned.

  The bell on my ticket started ringing, and I turned back towards the fighting grounds to see the man wearing plate laying on the ground with numerous arrows sticking out of his body and smoke rising from a couple charred patches on the ground. The archer who had defeated him was celebrating by pumping her bow in the air.

  I grabbed my ticket out of my pocket and looked at Ozzy and Aaron. “That’s me, I guess.”

  “Go get ‘em, Gunnar,” Aaron said.

  Ozzy held his fist out towards me and I quickly bumped mine against his.

  I looked to Jeremy one last time before I walked away. “Sorry.”

  Chapter Ten

  1/26/0001

  “Good luck!” Boris at the front desk of the Arena said to me as I passed him and started down the opposite hallway. The woman who had been with him before was no longer there.

  “Thanks,” I said nervously.

  The hall was somewhat dark, being lit only by the light that was seeping into it from the Arena entrance, but as I followed its curved path, it opened up to a torch lit room.

  Inside the room was a tall, dark-skinned man with a white bandana around his head. His arms were massive—so big that with his arms crossed, it looked like he was cradling two giant cantaloupes. Several other people were scattered about the room—all who appeared to be combatants of some sort. Most notably was a Krazir, a cat person like the tailor I met in Knuckle Bay, who was sitting on a bale of hay, rubbing a dagger against a rough stone. He wore full, dark-grey leather garb with a leather hood pulled over his head. Others were slamming their weapons against a wooden training dummies that were leaning against the wall, and some just seemed to be sitting or standing around.

  I had no idea what to do, so I just held my ticket up in my hand, letting everyone hear its ring.

  “Over here,” the tall man with the bandana said.

  When I approached the man, he immediately grabbed the ticket out of my hand and pulled the bell off its edge so that it stopped ringing. He handed the ticket back to me, and looked me up and down. “First time?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “I’m Castille, the Arena warden.”

  He held out his hand to shake with me, and I was surprised. It wasn’t often that NPCs initiated shaking hands. But, then I thought—if Aaron had taught Adeelee and Keysia slang, wouldn’t it be logical that NPCs would learn behaviors from Reborns, such as shaking hands? Surely, some Reborns had passed as they entered the competition at some point already.

  “I just want to make sure you understand the rules before you enter the Arena.” He turned his head to the side and raised his chin towards a brown-robed man who was leaning against the wall.

  The robed man had frazzled blond hair that stood up straight and sloped back from his forehead. He moved from the wall, closed his eyes, and held his hands together for a moment. After a few seconds, I felt something that was like a gust of air slamming into my chest and heard a thump in my ears. It didn’t hurt, but it caused me to take a step back and raise a defensive hand.

  Below my status bars an icon of a red heart appeared, and inside the heart was white lettering that said ‘1HP’. When I focused on the icon, a message about the status was shown.

  Last Breath: When taking a fatal blow, you will instead be left with 1HP, and any bleeding, poison or other damage-over-time affects will be temporarily halted. If you take additional damage without healing after Last Breath is activated, the damage will be fatal. Spell duration: 1 hour. Source: Mikhel Stronglight

  “The spell that he just cast on you will prevent you from dying in battle, and your opponent has the same spell,” Castille explained. “In the event that you see or feel the spell being activated—and you’ll know when that is—you’ll also know you’ve won the match, and any continued attacks will be considered a crime. Do you understand?”

  I nodded. The strange energies that I witnessed at the end of the first two shows fights now made sense.

  “Potions, buffs, and alcohol are allowed, but drugs are illegal during battle. Are you under the influence of any drugs?” Castille asked.

  “No,” I said and shook my head. I wondered why alcohol was legal and why anyone would consider fighting after drinking. Didn’t sound like a good idea.

  “Great.” Castille clapped his hands and pointed further into the room. “Continue down the hall until you reach door three. Enter the fighting area as soon as your door is open.”

  I did as I was told and walked by all the fighters that were in the room and entered the hall. The Krazir looked up at me threw a devilishly sharp grin as a passed.

  The far hall was much the same as the initial hall—dark, and only lit by the light that seeped in from the adjacent room, but there was still just enough light that I could see a number on each door that I passed—one, and then two, and finally three.

  On the right side of the hall and on the opposite side of door three was what looked like a large cell or cage with tall metal bars that rose to the ceiling. It was empty, save for a large pile of hay on the floor and a pool of liquid that was in the corner, but it was big enough to house something large.

  The smell of something musty hung in the air.

  I stood in front of the door and pulled my falchion from its sheath, readying myself for the fight, and quickly cast Divine Zeal to give myself a 10% critical hit chance. My jaw was tense from the anxiety of the unknown. I had no idea who I was fighting, what level the guy would be, or what kind of skills they’d have. And if I was taken down during my first battle in the Arena—boy that would be embarrassing.

  The door in front of me suddenly started sliding open, and the light from outside stung my eyes at it pierced the dark.

  A prompt window appeared in front of me.

  Arena Quest: Tier 1 Battle

  Wins: 0, Losses: 0

  Defeat your opponent to collect your reward.

  Reward: Minimum of 500 gold, 3000 XP

  Do you accept this quest?

  Accept/Decline

  I grinned as I accepted the quest.

  “With 0 wins and 0 losses, please welcome the level 18 Arcane Blade, Gunnar Long!” the announcer shouted.

  I swallowed, stepped out into the fighting area, and immediately felt small. The Arena looked even bigger from down there, and having thousands of eyes all looking at me at the same time made me feel overwhelmed.

  People were giving their weakest version of a clap as I walked closer to the announcer, but I could hear a couple voices in the stands shouting over the sounds.

  “Kick some ass, Gunnar!” Aaron yelled.

  “Gunnar! Gunnar!” Ozzy cheered.

  I turned my head in the direction of their shouts and saw my boys in the crowd, standing up and pumping their fists. I smiled and gave them a head nod. Though I still felt nervous, their support did make me feel a little bit better.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the box where the King and the two women sat. Both the King and the lady I assumed was the Queen both looked down to me but still had no expression on their faces, but the young woman had stood to her feet and was leaning over the railing and squinting as if she were trying to get a better look at something. I looked behind me, trying to de
termine if she was looking at me, but there was nothing there.

  Regardless, seeing the King reminded me of why I was there. I couldn’t think of a way that I was going to meet with the King that day, but if I could beat my opponent and one day claim a championship, maybe I’d get my chance. The Arena was giving me an opportunity to protect my guild, protect Edgewood, and stop Dryden from wreaking havoc.

  A door on the other side of the Arena slid open.

  “And with a record of 2 wins and 0 losses, please welcome back the untitled, level 16 Lumberjack, Ivar Kromstad!”

  Lumberjack? I wondered what kind of skills the guy had to have achieved to get that title? I figured it had something to with axe skills, woodcutting, and strength.

  Out from the door stepped a pale, tall man with brown leather pants and a sleeveless vest that showed off the muscles in his arms. He had long red hair that was shaved at the sides, a short red bead, and a braided mustache that extended far below the beard. His long, angular face reminded me of a dwarf, but he had the body of a human—a well-built human.

  In his hand was a thick axe with a handle that was almost as long as his body. He raised his axe to the crowd and growled as he stepped further into the Arena, and while most of the claps were weak, there were at least a handful of people who were standing and cheering for the guy.

  He lowered the axe, turned to me, and gave me cockiest grin he could give. He didn’t seem at all intimidated.

  The announcer looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Are you ready?”

  I swallowed one last time and nodded.

  He turned to Ivar. “Are you ready?”

  Ivar smiled, rolled his shoulders, and darted his tongue between his teeth. “Aye! I’m ready.”

  My stomach turned a little. I knew I had a couple levels on the guy, but the last time someone was that eager to duel me, I ended up getting my skull crushed and spending a couple of hours in the void. In fact, the only organized duel I had ever been a part of was with Garrik in Edgewood, so I pretty much had a 100% losing record.