by Tony Corden
“You say the other players have shrouds. Who has what?”
“Sorry Deathmaster, I like my privacy, and I try and respect the privacy of other players. If you know what someone’s resources are, you can work out ways to defeat them. The other players have probably already worked out I had a shroud, so nothing lost.”
“So, you can’t really use them to fly?”
“I didn’t say that, Deathmaster. Let me keep that answer a secret, for now. You never know when a hidden ability or skill will be the turning point. For example, Yuè Fēi here pulled out four moves I hadn’t ever seen him make before. Those moves, more than any other, were my downfall.”
Turning to Yuè Fēi, Deathmaster said, “Is that correct? Four new moves?”
Yuè Fēi nodded slowly, and said, “Yes. Despite Atherleah’s self-deprecating tone, she is truly gifted with the sword. I have kept those moves locked away for a special occasion, yet Atherleah countered each one after a single viewing. I will need to work hard myself and keep learning if I am to have a chance at our next fight.”
Deathmaster kept the conversation going for another two minutes and then said, “Thank you for your time. I understand you are due in the main operations room soon for the choosing of contestants in the second round. My viewers and I wish you both the best.”
Leah and Yuè Fēi both nodded, and Gèng said, “The interview is no longer live.”
Leah stood up slowly, and Yuè Fēi said, “Is everything all right? You seem a bit stiff.”
Leah nodded and said, “I guess the fight took more out of me than I’m willing to admit. I really hope I’m not first up.”
With that, Leah walked carefully from the room and said to Gèng, “How long do I have before the choosing?”
“Just under ten minutes. The interview took longer than expected with the change of scenery. Sharon is ecstatic with the results and suggests you stay out of sight until transferred to the choosing.”
Leah agreed and moving slowly to her assigned room. She closed the door and sunk into the sedative position and tried to calm herself.
36
Chapter 36
December 17, 2073 - MERKIZE CONTEST - Part 5
DUNYANIN - CONTEST
Leah had been still for almost ten minutes when Gèng interrupted and said, “You will be transferred in twenty seconds.”
Gingerly Leah came to her feet and stood still waiting for the transfer. The second round of fights were about to be allocated, and Leah quietly hoped she wasn’t first up. Just before being transferred to the choosing room, she heard a countdown. As the voice said 'transfer' Leah found herself back in the operations room with the other contestants.
She nodded at Ivan then turned to look at the judges but heard Gottes_Kreiger_10 call her. He said, “Hey, halfbreed. I waited in the common area to discuss something during the break, but you failed to turn up. I need you to witness the Barbarian pay me after your defeat. I said you’d be destroyed and you were. You’re really a drain on your friends. He now owes me ten Diamonds."
Leah ignored the Knight and turned to the judges. She said, “I apologise for my fellow competitor’s poor manners and am sorry for wasting your time. I’ll make sure he gets what is owing to him in due time, but I don’t think now is that time.” Then turning to Gottes_Kreiger_10, she said, “As my good friend Ivan would say, ‘Закро́й свой рот, су́ка!’”
Leah was still wearing the dress from the interview, and the incongruity of the Russian curse coming from her innocent looking form made Ivan and the orc, Мастер_Cмерти, burst into laughter. Before Gottes_Kreiger_10 could respond, the head judge said, “I appreciate your apology, Atherleah. As you point out, we are here to reveal the draw for the second round of bouts. Once again let me assure you that I and the other judges, as well as the commissioner, have reviewed the process and we’ve certified that it conforms in all ways to accepted gaming practice as regards randomness. As in the first round, the names will be randomly revealed one after the other. There is an added condition which prevents the same two contestants who fought in the first round from being chosen to fight each other again. The first two names are designated as the names of those chosen for the first bout. The next two names for the second bout and so on. For those who may have placed wagers on who the contestants in each bout will be, let me assure you that the names will not be chosen until I initiate the process by pressing this button.”
The hand-sized button reappeared in front of him. Looking around and getting the nod from the event producer, he said, “The contestants in bout one of round two will be …”
As he said ‘be’ he pushed hard on the red button. Again, there was a drumroll, and one of the cylindrical stages lit up. This time when the left-hand golden beam scattered into thousands of pieces, an image of Gottes_Kreiger_10 appeared. At the second drum roll, the right-hand beam revealed the elven ranger Princesa_Amazônica_23. In the silence before the next drumroll Gottes_Kreiger_10’s voice was clearly heard as he muttered, “Damn, now I’m expected to fight a bloody woman.”
Leah looked over at the ranger whose face had gone hard, and knew she didn’t want to be in Gottes_Kreiger_10’s shoes. The following pairs were chosen in the drumrolls that followed: Seishin_no_kage_12 and Královna_Kouzel_666, Atherleah and Delta_Knight_01, Merideath and Мастер_Cмерти, then Yuè_Fēi_Lóng and Боевой_молот as the final fight in this round.
Leah had started back toward her balcony area when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. She cringed momentarily then composing herself she turned to her right to see Ivan standing there. He said, “I’m sorry. I was going to ask how bad it hurt, but your reaction said everything. It was clear you were in pain during the fight. Maybe not to everyone, but I noticed. Most think it is an area of weakness in your style. I wanted to warn you to be careful. The American will target the shoulder as did Yuè Fēi. If it hurts that much, you should think about ending it quickly or if the fight becomes protracted, then letting him end it sooner rather than later.”
Leah smiled up at her friend and said, “Thanks, Ivan. Good advice but I doubt I’ll follow it. I do want to win quickly, but it just isn’t who I am to let someone win a fight without doing everything I can. You be careful of Yuè Fēi, he’s fast and tricky. Well done with the talking tin can by the way. You certainly keep your word. I’ve an idea about the bet so don’t get into it with him until we’re all together. I want to teach him another lesson.”
“Will it hurt?”
“More than you could imagine.”
Ivan smiled broadly and said, “Don’t be so sure. I can imagine many things. Either way, I will let you have your fun first.”
Leah nodded and turning away, continued on to her room, where she began stretching. She then practised her Tai Chi, albeit with some modification because of her injuries. As the trumpet sounded, Leah turned so she could watch the duel but continued with her preparation. Gottes_Kreiger_10 appeared on one side of the arena and the elven ranger at the other. Once again the elven ranger began by attacking from a distance. With three arrows in the air at one time, spells began to fall on Namus’ Paladin. Leah was amazed at the sheer variety of spells the ranger possessed, but regardless, the Paladin’s armour which had been repaired, or renewed, seemed to absorb or deflect each spell. One arrow exploded against the knight driving him back a step, but didn’t appear to do any damage except use up some of the Paladin’s store of mana. As he regained his position and moved forward, Leah realised that every now and again, with no discernible pattern, one of the Ranger’s arrows would completely miss the Knight and land somewhere almost forty metres to his left. Leah watched closely, and although Princesa_Amazônica_23 didn’t change her bow or hand position, the arrows began curving to the right as soon as they were released.
Leah wasn’t sure if the knight was aware of the arrows as he relentlessly moved closer to the ranger at the same time as she edged further and further to her right. As before, Leah
was impressed with the Ranger’s timing. Just as Gottes_Kreiger_10 moved into the ring of arrows, the final arrow completed the circle, the shafts expanded and linked together to form a heavy metal cage with Gottes_Kreiger_10 trapped in its centre. He stopped and looked around, then he began marching toward the side closest the ranger. When he reached it, he swung his great sword, and although it scratched the metallic surface of the bars, they were hardly damaged.
Princesa_Amazônica_23 unfurled a picnic blanket and taking a seat waved to the knight who took another great swipe at the bars. The ranger’s wave not only infuriated the knight but it also summoned an Ozgurian lava buffalo. These resembled the water buffalos Leah had seen pictures of but stood six feet tall at the shoulders and were armoured to live in the lava pools that surrounded some of Ozgur’s largest volcano chains. The buffalo snorted, and smoke came out of its nostrils. The knight turned just in time to see the buffalo bearing down on him. In the four metres of its charge, the buffalo had reached enough of speed that Gottes_Kreiger_10 had no chance to avoid it and he was caught mid-chest and driven into the edge of the cage before being tossed back over the buffalo’s neck. The knight struggled to his feet just in time to be hit a second time by the buffalo which had turned to resume its attack.
Ten minutes later, Leah had to acknowledge the stamina, strength and determination of the Paladin. He’d managed to kill the buffalo, a steel-skinned timber wolf, a giant spiny gorilla and he was currently finishing off a small acid breathing land Wyvern. When he finally stood straight after killing the beast, he looked across at the Ranger and then began to head once more in her direction. During the fights, the elf had unpacked a picnic and was holding a glass of wine in one hand as she watched him. With a shrug, she waved her other hand, and the knight turned as a Scaled Manather appeared behind him ready to pounce. As he turned, he failed to notice the small package the elf took from the picnic basket and threw into the cage.
Leah watched with some fascination as the package split apart and spilt what looked like small grains of sand onto the arena floor. She said, “Gèng, can you zoom in on the package so I can see what was in it?”
Leah’s view changed, and she watched as each grain unfurled into what looked like a ten-legged ant. As soon as they unfurled, the ‘ants’ grew in size until each one was about the size of Leah’s little finger. At one end they had large matt-black pincers and a small scorpion-like tail at the other. Leah focussed in and was able to see they were called 'Adamantine Pit Bull Deca-ants'. A quick check of the bestiary explained their venom was extremely painful and their pincers were adamantine tipped and could chew through almost any material. They were known to swarm, killing everything in their way.
Leah looked up from her research as the knight finished killing the Manather. As he turned to look at the ranger, he must have stepped on one of the ants because he looked down only to see several climbing up his armour. He tried brushing them off only to find they transferred to his hands. Within thirty seconds his boots were covered in the now swarming colony. Although he succeeded in killing many of them, Leah knew when the first one penetrated the armour because of his scream. It took five minutes for him to die and even though Leah held no affection for the man she had to look away in the end as his armour, covered in ants, began to writhe on the ground, his screams turned to pathetic whimpers. As soon as his armour stopped moving, Princesa_Amazônica_23 stood and with a wave of her hand dismissed the ants. She picked up her picnic basket and disappeared, clearly pleased with the result.
As Leah considered what happened her horror faded when she considered that the Knight had almost certainly joined Dunyanin with one of the premium packages. If he’d taken the platinum, then his pain threshold had been set at ten per cent. All in all, Leah decided it had been a fair punishment for his misogynistic views. As she waited, she considered everything she knew of Delta_Knight_01. She knew what he fought like but hadn’t considered what he was like as a man. Subvocalising Leah said, “Gèng, tell me about Delta_Knight_20. What is he like? Does he have hobbies? What is his public persona tell you about him? I want to know what he like as a person, not just as a fighter.”
“He is ex-military. He served for some time as a member of the Army Special Forces most elite assets. He has a doctorate in Applied Chemistry and is owner and CEO of a small research facility involved in weapons development under contract to the American Union. He is married with two teenage children, one boy and one girl. Everything points to him being a man of honour with a strong sense of justice. He rarely attends public functions as Delta_Knight_01. His wife owns and operates a child care facility, and her virtual presence is completely private. Their children attend a military academy and the oldest, his son, has won several national piano competitions. His daughter plays real-world competitive sports and is captain of her soccer team. No verified hobbies although he has been seen on Pisces, one of the premier worlds devoted to fishing and water sports.”
Leah considered what Gèng had said as she replayed his previous bout and the montage she’d watched over and over looking for patterns or weaknesses in his game. A trumpet blast broke her concentration, and she looked out to see Seishin_no_kage_12 appear simultaneously with Královna_Kouzel_666. As she did in her previous bout, the ninja disappeared from view as soon as the second trumpet blew. The mage had also reacted immediately and cast what looked like a water bomb but filled with blood mana. It landed where moments before the ninja had stood and burst covering the ground with a spray of crimson.
Almost immediately, the mana began to disappear into the ground. As it did, a set of footprints appeared on the arena floor. The ground beneath the footprints bubbled, and smoke or maybe steam drifted toward the arena’s ceiling. Leah doubted that the ninja would be tracked so easily, especially since she knew her opponent was proficient in blood magic and Leah hadn’t been lying when she said she considered Seishin_no_kage_12 as somewhat close to the ultimate predator. Leah assumed the form of Katil Sıçan, the giant rat, and sniffed. She could smell the mage, but there was no scent to give away the ninja. Leah considered her options and then taking her half-elf form for a moment she let her fangs grow and misted. Looking out across the arena, she could make out the form of Seishin_no_kage_12 moving close to the ground and working her way around and behind the mage. There was a faint miasma hovering above the footprints which continued to move in the other direction and was watched by Královna_Kouzel_666. Unmisting, Leah used the vambraces to assume the form of Safha Peslik, the glitchwolf. This time both the ninja and a copy of her were visible. Leah deduced the copy was Fae in origin and was either formed using Seishin’s shroud or possibly some type of Fae familiar.
Leah returned to her half-elf, half-human form and watched as Královna began to drop spell after spell in the area where the false ninja had left footprints. Seishin must have been able to control the copy by some means as even though Leah didn’t think the magic would bleed over into the Fae dimension, the copy would occasionally react to some spell and change direction. Leah doubted the ploy would work for long and after checking again where Seishin was, she knew that the ninja also doubted it for she’d increased her pace.
Leah had been noting the different types of magic that Krávlova had at her disposal and comparing it with her assault on Delta_Knight_01 in the previous fight. Leah came to the conclusion that the mage hadn’t been fooled at all. Leah quickly rechecked the spells in her own armament and was convinced. Krávlova was only using spells which used small amounts of mana. When there was an overlap between Leah’s spells, and the mage’s, the mage was always using one of the lower level variants.
Either both contestants began their attacks at the same time, or more likely, the ninja’s triggered the mage’s. Suddenly the copy reacted spectacularly to a spell causing an explosion and propelling a number of shuriken at the mage. These flew from different points along the path the copy had taken. Simultaneously Seishin fired several arrows at the mage’s back while remaining invisib
le. As the arrows appeared a blood whip materialised in the mage’s hand. Its length was already spread out along the path the mage had taken. It whipped through the air and coiled around the invisible ninja. Seishin_no_kage_12 appeared as the whip tightened around her. Where the whip touched Seishin’s clothes, they began to smoulder.
Seishin triggered some defence, and the whip around her flashed once and disappeared. The ninja flicked out her hand and sent one of the star-shaped shuriken hurtling toward the mage along with the end of the segmented metal whip that had been hanging at her side. Krávlova reared back slightly but allowed her shrouds to shield her from the attacks. The Shuriken struck a shield inches from Krávlova’s face and dropped to the ground. The whip slowed perceptively but bored throughout the shield and flicked across the mage’s face, reaching under the hooded cloak and tearing out her right eye.
The one remaining eye seemed to flash, and both Krávlova’s hands were thrust at Seishin, the nails lengthening and the skin turning golden. Krávlova muttered something and lightning flared along the nails and arced toward the ninja. Seishin had almost no time to react, but she shimmered where she stood. Eight of the bolts passed through her without effect, but the other two slammed into her, driving her backwards and depleting over a third of her health. As she got to her feet, she was struck a second time. The third blast missed her completely, and she didn’t even shimmer for the fourth as it dissipated on its own as it approached her. Seishin flicked her whip a second time, and this time Krávlova not only strengthened the shields but also moved away from the metal whip.