by Rick Scott
Down in the ring itself, the battle is between a guy in high-tech military gear wielding a pre-war assault rifle, and a black cyberpunk-looking dude with a bald head that’s wearing a long black trench coat, mirror shades, and firing dual automatic pistols with both hands. They perform a gunplay ballet as they have a shootout at near point blank range, confined by the arena. The army guy does more damage with his more controlled semi-automatic shots, but the cyberpunker’s pistols fire fast and furious, and he eventually wins the round.
The crowd goes wild.
We finally reach Val Helena down by the edge of the ring. She catches sight of us and looks relieved.
“Thank goodness you got a hold of him,” she says to Gilly.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Val Helena has to shout over the crowd as they cheer for a barbarian woman who’s now facing the Cyberpunker using only an axe and shield. “The world bosses in each Shard are about to spawn.”
I still can’t believe it. “What happened? I thought we had a month.”
“I don’t know. They’re spawning early for some reason.” Val Helena doesn’t look too happy about the situation. Judging by what she said earlier, I think I can guess why. We’re all still Level 75. Do we even stand a chance against Vulnar at this level?
I almost don’t want to know the answer.
I look over to see Zeke and the other guild members rooting and cheering for the next match. They at least don’t seem fazed by the challenge that awaits us. But then again, they don’t have as much riding on this as I do. I still have a brother I need to convince not to go to the surface. And time’s running out. That brings up another question. “Why are we here, Val? What is this place?”
“It’s the World Arena,” Val Helena says. “It goes active once a month, right before the bosses spawn. It’s where we get that key item I was talking about.”
I look into the arena, to where Barbarian Girl has won her match and is now getting trounced by a guy in powered armor. “We’ve got to go fight in there?”
“Thankfully, no,” Val Helena says. “Unless you want to. The winner gets a reward similar to defeating a world boss.”
Holy crap.
“We just need to collect the key item from the center of the arena when the final match ends.”
“And when is that going to be?” Gilly asks.
I have the same question. As fun as this all seems, I have a brother to stop from getting himself killed. That reminds me. I need to send him a quick message.
Mike. Don’t go. I’ll have the money in an hour. Please believe me!
-Ryan
I hit send and pray it reaches him in time and more so, that it’s a promise I can still keep.
“The final match should be coming up soon,” Val Helena says. “Normally, teams of 3 versus 3 face off in the duels—last member standing, wins. But no one seems to have been prepared for the arena to go active so soon. Most of the teams have only one or two members, and they’re going through each other pretty quick.”
That’s good news for me.
The powered armor dude wins the match, and then faces off against a guy in a red karate outfit with a pair of dark shades, a scarf covering his neck and mouth, who’s armed with nothing but his fists.
“So, are all these people here for the key item?” Gilly asks, looking around the packed stadium. “Doesn’t look like we’ll have much of an advantage if they are.”
Val Helena shakes her head. “Probably not. Most people don’t even know about it. Or care. They’re all here for the matches, and the bets.”
“Bets?” I say.
“That’s how the winner earns most of their prize money. From people betting on them.” She lifts her chin toward a holographic billboard that’s cluttered with betting odds, names, and credit figures in the hundreds of thousands. I can’t make heads or tails out of it. “I wouldn’t go throwing money at that unless you’re prepared to lose it, though.”
A stray thought crosses my mind—maybe I could double my money in here. But Val Helena is right. I’m all for taking risks, especially now, but I have no clue what’s going on, and I’d rather have something I can at least have some control over if I’m going to take a chance. Maybe I still can, though. “Can anyone enter this tournament thing?”
“I think so,” Val Helena says, studying the arena where a Werewolf character fights a tiny blonde girl with a ridiculously large sword three times her size. The little girl hops and jumps almost comically with the oversized weapon, avoiding the Werewolf’s claws and bites. She then performs an unexpectedly quick overhead strike that takes the Werewolf by surprise and chops him down to 20% HP. He’s stunned from the hit, and the little girl follows up with a horizontal slash that finishes him off.
The crowd cheers again.
I wonder if I can try this. But then I think back to my brawl in the desert and how hard it was to predict the other players’ attacks. They were a few levels below me, too. Then I see something flash on the billboards that makes me forget about entering the ring altogether.
FINAL MATCH
Team Maxis
VS
Team Aiko
1. Amanda
1. Aiko
2. Rembrandt
2. Null
3. Maxis
3. Null
“Oh, great,” Val Helena says dryly as Aiko appears in the ring. “She’s here.”
“She’s fighting?” Gilly balks at the screen, and then at Aiko herself. She’s dressed in her admittedly sweet-looking prestige gear. “But she’s solo.”
Val Helena folds her massive arms across her armored chest. “Makes sense. She said she was going to put together a team for Vulnar. Must not have gotten around to it before the bosses popped. She’s probably trying to get a win out of the arena match instead. Which is good news for us, actually. Maybe she won’t try to compete for the claim if she wins this.”
“Seriously?” I say.
Val Helena nods. “As much as I hate to say it, we should probably be rooting for her now.”
Gilly harrumphs. “I think I’d rather just see her get stomped into the ground.”
The first match starts with Aiko versus the little girl with the giant sword—Amanda. They both start buffing as a 3-second timer counts down. Amanda uses a move that causes red and orange flames to surround her—some kind of damage increase, I’d guess. Aiko casts Shadow Copy and Shadow Haste.
The match starts, and Aiko vanishes, using Shadow Cloak right away. Amanda starts spinning with a 360 attack that looks like it could be an AOE. When her spin stops, Aiko appears behind her with a Backstab that takes off a third of her health. The girl retaliates with another spinning chop that Aiko backflips to avoid. Again, Aiko waits for the spin to stop, then uses Charge Strike to stun Amanda for three seconds. That’s all the time it takes for her to slice the little girl down with a series of Triple Attacks.
Aiko has defeated Amanda!
Round 1 Winner: Team Aiko
Gilly shrugs. “So far so good, I guess.”
The match resets, and Aiko is pit against the cyberpunk guy in the trench coat I saw earlier—Rembrandt, according to the scoreboard. The match starts with buffing, like before, but when Aiko tries to use Shadow Cloak when the countdown ends, Rembrandt opens up with his double pistols blazing.
20% of Aiko’s HP disappears before she blows an Active Dodge and becomes a blur. She runs at full tilt around the arena, outpacing the cyberpunker’s shots. She hits him with a Charge Strike from afar and gets in a couple of hits before Rembrandt does a move similar to Retreat, cartwheeling backward to give himself distance to fire again. Aiko dodges using Evasion, and I’m mesmerized as she ducks and weaves so fast it almost looks like she’s using Active Dodge.
A round hits, and her Shadow Copy disappears. But she closes the gap and forces Rembrandt to retreat again as she lands a series of quick katana strikes that take him down to less than 50% health. Aiko uses Decoy Shadow as the cyberpunk
backpedals and fires at her, and she explodes like she’s made out of fine china.
Rembrandt shifts on a 360, trying to aim at a target he can’t see. The match ends when Aiko reappears behind him, landing a Backstab that drops his HP from half to zero in one blow.
Aiko has defeated Rembrandt!
Round 2 Winner: Team Aiko
“Not looking good for this last guy,” Gilly says.
The final match sets up, and the crowd grows loud with excitement as the odds are placed on the boards: Aiko versus Maxis. I then see the same karate dude with the shades and the scarf appear opposite Aiko.
Val Helena sighs. “So much for no competition.”
The match starts, and Aiko immediately casts Shadow Cloak.
The karate dude just stands there as she disappears, and then loses a third of his Health bar when Aiko Backstabs him. He spins about with a leg sweep that forces her to Active Dodge. Aiko then lashes out at him with her katanas. The two become a blinding blur of fists and blades as the karate dude amazingly matches each one of her strikes with a block.
Maxis successfully blocks the attack!
Aiko hits Maxis for 58(147) damage!
Maxis successfully blocks the attack!
Aiko hits Maxis for 61(156) damage!
Maxis successfully blocks the attack!
Critical Hit!
Aiko hits Maxis for 123(312) damage!
His HP quickly drops to 50% as the damage penetrates his blocks, while Aiko dodges each of his retaliation strikes. The one-sided onslaught continues as they dance around the ring. Aiko has him on the back foot, still at 100%, as Maxis desperately tries to block each blow and fails a couple of times. His HP drops to about 20%, and then a loud metallic clang! sounds throughout the arena.
Maxis parries Aiko’s attack!
Aiko is stunned!
Maxis performs a spinning roundhouse kick to Aiko’s head, but nothing happens.
Aiko’s shadow absorbs the attack.
She backflips to remove the stun effect, and then recasts Shadow Copy again. Maxis hops forward, but then pauses. As soon as her cast completes, he thrusts his fist outward with a yell, and a wave of blue energy shoots out at Aiko, engulfing her in an AOE.
Maxis uses Dragon Fist!
Aiko’s shadow absorbs the attack.
She retaliates with a Charge Strike that takes Maxis down to 5%, stunning him.
“It’s over,” Val Helena says.
Aiko prepares to land the killing blow, but then Maxis uses a stun-breaker of his own. He twirls like a top as he performs a spinning kick that sends Aiko flying backward across the ring. Before she even hits the ground, Maxis flies forward with a charge, stunning her with a triple kick.
He then starts swimming on her in a series of blows and kicks so fast his entire body becomes a blur. Her HP bar drops to 60%, and just when it looks like she’s about to break free from the stun, Maxis stomps the floor with an AOE move that stuns her again. The rapid assault continues, draining her HP until Maxis finishes her off with a flying uppercut that sends Aiko sailing across the arena.
“Yes!” I shout, even though I’m not supposed to want her to lose.
Maxis has defeated Aiko!
Final Winner: Team Maxis!
“Told you it was over,” Val Helena says nonchalantly with a smirk.
Gilly balks. “I thought you were talking about her killing him!”
“As soon as Maxis landed that parry, it was the end for her. That’s all he was doing the first half of the match, teasing that out. Once he got that, he forced her to blow all her defenses, and then locked her down with chain stuns to 100-to-zero her.”
I never thought I’d see someone actually beat Aiko. “What’s that guy’s class?” I ask, staring at the karate man. “It must be super OP.”
“Karate Master, and it’s not. He just outplayed her.” Val Helena shrugs. “Guess that’s why he’s the top PvPer in the game.”
A column of bright blue light shoots down from the ceiling to land in the center of the arena. The karate man reaches out to it and vanishes, as do his teammates, while one or two other players appear.
(RNG)Val Helena: Go now! Everyone grab the key item from that blue light. We have 15 seconds!
I dash forward with Gilly behind me. We rush into the arena the same time as a few other players. Most, however, seem to be leaving the arena en masse, winking out of existence as they log out of the Shard. I reach out to the light.
You received a key item: Citadel Gate Key A1FE
“Looks like you’re all going for the world boss . . .”
I tense as I hear Aiko’s voice behind me. I turn to see her standing, arms akimbo, with a smirk on her face.
“Congrats on your defeat,” Gilly says, stepping up next to me. “Looks like that karate guy owned you.”
“I wouldn’t be so smug if I were you,” Aiko says before reaching out to the column and looking back at me. “My offer still stands, Reece. Once I get the claim, I’ll invite whoever’s willing to join the winning team. Or maybe I’ll let you soften Vulnar up for me, and then pull another Gruzug when you all wipe.”
She cackles, making my skin crawl, and then vanishes as she fast-travels away.
Val Helena growls. “She’s still going for Vulnar . . .”
(RNG) Val Helena: Guys! Get back to Nasgar quick! But don’t log out. Use the Nexus, the way we came!
“Can we beat her?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Val Helena says to me. “She knows the shortcut, too. Just run like you’ve never run before.”
Chapter 35: World Boss
I race through the Nexus with Gilly by my side, both of us following in the wake of the main guild. They jump through the portal for Nasgar ahead of us. When we get to the portal ourselves, something crosses my mind. I’m ten levels below where I should be, and I’m about to face a world boss. If I’m ever going to survive, I need some kind of edge. I access the portal, and we materialize back in Swifttide to see most of the guild already there.
“Hurry!” Val Helena shouts. “Everyone fast-travel to the plains!”
They wink out one by one, but I hesitate.
“Come on!” Gilly says, tugging at my arm. “Aiko’s going to beat us.”
“I need to get something first!” I say, and take off running for the nearest auction board.
Gilly joins me just as I pull up the list of available Ninja scrolls.
Level 5Shadow Cloak 5000 Cr
Level 15Decoy Shadow 15000 Cr
Level 25Shadow Mist 30,000 Cr
Level 35Elemental Shadow Wheel 15,000 Cr
Level 45Shadow Bind 5,000 Cr
Level 55Shadow Wall 2,000 Cr
Level 65Shadow Tendrils 75,000 Cr
Level 75Shadow Haste1,250,000 Cr
Level 85Shadow Step1,750,000 Cr
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“Just a sec,” I say, and pull up my current credits. “I need to buy something.”
You have………… 1,657,230 Cr
If I’m ever going to gain an advantage, now would be the time. Val Helena said Vulnar is a 40mil drop. If we win, I’ll have more than enough to cover Mom’s treatment. But to get that win, I’ll need to risk what I already have. I buy the scroll of Shadow Haste and watch my credits disappear.
You have………. 407,230 Cr
Geez, I hope I know what I’m doing!
I read the scroll, and it disappears in my hands.
You have learned the spell: Shadow Haste.
Shadow Haste
Increases attack speed and reduces recast and cooldown times by 50%.
Cast time: 2 seconds
Duration: 3 minutes
Recast: 30 seconds
Cost: 20 TP
“Okay,” I tell Gilly. “Now, I’m ready.”
* * *
I materialize with Gilly on the floating island within the Plains of Duality to find Val Helena waiting there, lookin
g furious. “About time, Reece! What the hell? Did you get lost or something?”
“I had to get something! I’m sorry. ”
“We need to move, quickly. I don’t see Aiko, and the boss is still unclaimed.” Val Helena turns to Gilly. “I’m sorry about this, but this is as far as you can go.”
Gilly has been kicked from the party.
“What?!” Gilly and I cry in unison.
“This isn’t like the Beast King fight. It’s too dangerous for her to even enter the arena. You can watch us from up here, okay, Gilly?”
“Um . . .” Gilly looks at the ground, dejected. “All right . . . I guess.”
“I’m sorry,” Val Helena says again, and then adds, “Reece will be back soon. I promise. I know how much he means to you.”
Val Helena looks dead serious when she says that.
“Let’s go, Reece,” she says. She turns and enters the translucent portal that’s now illuminated in the center of the island.
I’m about to jump through myself when Gilly grabs my arm.
“Hey! Good luck!” she says. “You can do this. You’re going to save your brother!”
She beams at me, and I crush her in a hug. “Thank you, Gilly. Thank you for everything.”
We kiss, and then I’m through the gate to follow after Val Helena.
* * *
I materialize into the very definition of Hell on Earth.
The air reeks of sulfur, and a rocky black shale crunches beneath my feet. Small rivulets of molten lava run through it. They break the ground into a cobblestone patchwork of red and black.