We went to one final arena, but Shamash surprised me with what he said next. “The last competitor to look out for isn’t fighting again before the tournament. I believe you saw him fight before. He’s an orc with a large double bladed battleaxe. He is Gansuk of the Meathook Horde.”
I gave Shamash a look to make sure he wasn’t trying to be funny. “That’s really the name of his Horde?”
He didn’t bother looking at me. “It is. They deal in livestock, so it’s more of a practical name than you might realize.”
“Okay. Why are we here to watch this match if he isn’t here?” I was hoping this would be an opportunity to steal a new form. I already had Dark Elf and Vampire. As I thought back, I hadn’t seen any of the non-vampire races lose. It seemed that no outside race would come here unless they were confident in winning.
“It’s your turn. Remember to defend against five moves before attacking.”
“I thought you said three.”
“Five is better. When it’s time for you to attack, try to only use as much mana as you need, and don’t kill anyone. The vampire you’re facing doesn’t have much of a backing, but it will bring unnecessary attention to yourself.”
“You’re serious? I’m fighting now?” I half stood up.
“It’s better to have your first fight now, instead of once the tournament starts. That way if you get excited and use too much mana, you won’t have to worry about any angry royals trying to hunt you down.”
Coming to my feet, I looked down and saw the vampire I’d be facing. With a quick observation, I saw that he was level 18,000. “His level…”
“He’s only a top 10 talent. It’s the ones I’ve already mentioned that you have to worry about. Oh, and if you get hurt, don’t go crazy, transform, and rip him apart. That’s about it, now get down there.”
I suddenly found it very easy to stare forward blankly like a good vampire should. One step after another, I headed down from the stands.
Chapter 11 – Don’t Kill Him
“Zerin the Nameless!” the announcer called.
My opponent had already been introduced, so this last declaration had me legitimately confused.
I heard Shamash’s voice in my head. “I took liberty of giving you a name. Zerin means golden, which seems appropriate, and nameless just means you haven’t given the family you belong to. This could be because you don’t belong to one and are a wayfarer, or simply want to keep your family name secret. With me backing you, people will assume it’s the latter. Either way, you’re up.”
Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him.
I made my way down the dark stone stairs and entered by taking a second flight that hugged the wall and headed straight to the packed earth of the arena floor. The ground was nearly as hard as rock, with less give than I expected. I’d entered near the middle of the arena, so I headed to the side opposite my competitor.
Once standing in place, I ramped Mana Sight up to full power, letting time slow so that my nerves could calm. Since entering the Underworld, I’d been in countless battles. That wasn’t what bothered me. I was surrounded by enemies and the person I was facing off against was level 18,000. I didn’t even know what alignment he specialized in.
With my buffs, I had the stats equivalent to level 21,000, so I wasn’t completely outclassed. Also, because the vampire didn’t come from a high backing, the extra stats he had from his blood diet still made them less than mine at approximately 20,000. His mana pool, thanks to his 85,000 Intelligence, was many times larger than my own. Defeating him would not be easy. Especially since I was limiting the amount of mana I was wanting to use. Trying to limit myself to using 404,480 MPM and 2,743,101 MP for my fights might be a ridiculous notion. I’d thought I’d be fighting people more my numerical level.
Five moves. Shamash wanted me to block five moves before I started attacking. All that this guy had to do was throw all of his mana into a single large attack and I’d be forced to tap into my refined mana reserves. It was very possible he could overwhelm me.
My opponent didn’t have the best gear, which was obvious even to a novice like myself. He wore black chainmail over bulky padding. His helmet looked more like a hood, and his lower body was covered with paints and unarmored completely.
I faced off with him in my Vampire Form and figure-hugging bone armor. I guessed I looked as poor as the vampire across from me.
Looking to the stands, I scanned to see if anyone bothered to show up. It surprised me to see the stands full and I quickly noticed Eshana. Her entire section of dark elves was here to watch me.
Why is she here?
My eyes scanned more of the stands to find the orc Gansuk and the dwarf Lusa watching as well. The only ones I didn’t see were the vampires Shamash had mentioned. It seemed a level 10,000 going up against an 18,000 was enough to rouse suspicion amongst those planning on competing in the coming tournament. For some reason this helped me calm down. It was starting to feel like an actual competition instead of me against the vampire race.
My opponent didn’t like the fact that I was looking elsewhere, so he took the opportunity to attack. He was a pure mage, so he stayed put, lifting an object in his right hand. It was like an amulet of sorts that was made to fit in the palm. As I saw its orange color, I already knew what was coming.
A ball of fire that was too wide for my arms to reach around flew at me with incredible force. Not only was it highly compressed, but it was much larger than the fireballs the Dark Fire Mage was forming earlier.
I took note of the density of the attack and its size, then considered the numerous ways I could handle it. Because of my Forms, my fighting style was usually quite physical. The exception was usually when I used large spells with a lot of mana behind them. Against lesser monsters, I tended to play around a little bit more as well. I needed to decide now exactly what kind of fighting style I was going to use while in Hallow. Yes, using minimalistic spells from multiple Alignments was required for my training, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t move a little. It felt wrong not to take advantage of my physical stats.
As fast as this fireball was, I could easily dodge it, but that wouldn’t count as blocking one of the five attacks I had to before attacking myself. My training was to use magic to defend, but could I blend physical and magic? The easiest way would be to change to my Crimson Incubus or Primordial Cat Forms. I’d then be immune to his flames and only have to worry about their concussive nature. In all honestly, unless he used a massive amount of mana, I’d be completely immune to anything he threw at me.
I’d been in my head long enough. It was time to choose.
With my newly enhanced Fire buff that doubled my fire’s strength, I’d test it first—fire against fire.
A ball of fire appeared before me and began to grow. I watched its aura compared to the incoming fireball and compressed it until they matched. With his already three-quarters of the way here, I sent mine flying. It was a little smaller than his, but I figured the compression should be the same.
Mine punched into the center of his, causing them both to explode. My Skeletal Armor ballooned with mana, growing until Skeleton Titan’s Defense took form. Besides a few chips, I weather the firestorm just fine.
There was a bit of a murmur from the audience, but nothing too loud.
I had to stop myself from immediately attacking. One down.
He wasn’t happy to see that I’d blocked his fire attack with one of my own. Grabbing ahold of his wrist with the other hand, he braced against his mana’s flow as he summoned an even larger fireball.
I quickly calculated how much mana the fireball had cost me. It was far less than I thought it would at only a few thousand MP. It may have only been a probing attack, but considering his mana pool, it was rather pathetic. The other competitors I’d observed had used a higher percentage. Perhaps he was underestimating me because of my level?
It may have been partially against the rules that the lich had given me,
but there was something I had to try. Summoning my tail, I began to compress Fire Mana to the extreme to mimic my Crimson Incubus Impenetrable Skin. It was only the end of my tail that was compressed. It was like the dual-edged blade of a claymore and its root was like the skeleton of a giant snake.
When the fireball arrived, I slashed down with my tail, splitting the attack in two from top to bottom. Each half flew past me on either side and exploded against the wall a good twenty feet behind me. I felt the blast scorch the outer inch of my armor, but with a little mana funneled to it, it quickly restored itself.
I’d been circulating my mana, preparing to heal my vampire self with Dark Magic, but it had worked as I hoped it would. I wasn’t truly defeating his attacks, only diverting the force behind them so that they exploded at a safe distance.
Two attacks down, three to go.
I looked toward Shamash to see if my method had his approval and I saw that everyone around him was stunned. Did I do something wrong?
It should no longer be a surprise to anyone that I was a Blue Mage.
The vampire fighting me was done playing. It seemed I’d embarrassed him. There was no build-up as he began firing off fireballs like a vampire gatling gun. They were smaller, but no less compressed than his first or second assault.
Does this count as one or a thousand attacks?
Any probing was over. He began to use a serious amount of mana.
I cast Time Crawl. My perception sped up so much that it felt like time had stopped. It would only last for ten seconds, but it gave me the chance to examine the attack and his technique. It was a shame that I still had to defend. If I wanted to truly take my training seriously, I’d consider this a single attack and not a bunch of them.
Using ice or bone to create a protective shelter would work for defense, but both could shatter and turn to projectiles under the explosions then injure me. It wasn’t the most elegant way to deflect the attacks either. I might as well just take my Crimson Incubus Form if I was going to depend upon blocking them.
I smiled broadly. No one watching saw it below my Skeleton Helmet.
It wasn’t possible for me to summon as many fireballs as quickly as my opponent at the same level. He was obviously a talented Fire Mage and I was not. But I didn’t have to be.
A glowing purple orb began growing in my hand. Its surface quivered because of the energy it contained. I held on to it as it grew, channeling over ten thousand MP into it over a few breaths of time.
As the barrage of fireballs arrived, I jumped dozens of feet into the air, dodging the first round of attacks. I needed a better angle.
The Fire Mage responded by shifting his aim. His firing off of fireballs still hadn’t ceased.
Countless mini-explosions went off against the wall behind me. At some point a forcefield had gone up to protect any spectators. It didn’t even flicker beneath the small explosions.
My Alpha Bomb finally reached the desired strength. Alpha was an Alignment neutral spell that contained the most natural amount of force of all magics. I released it. It took no time to build up speed but shot toward the ground at the center of the arena like a purple meteor. Any of the small fireballs that got in its path disappeared with a crackle. They were like lightning bugs to a speeding truck.
Touching the arena floor, the purple orb popped. An eruption of force was sent out in all directions, swallowing up the fireballs.
Some slipped through, but it was only a couple, so I forced their explosions with a few swipes of my tail.
In the next moment, the force of my Alpha Bomb reached me, forcing me back toward the arena’s forcefield.
Oops.
My Crimson Incubus wings sprouted from my back before I collided with the invisible wall of energy. I saved myself some embarrassment. That was a close one.
As the explosion cleared, I first saw the pond-sized crater my Alpha Bomb had created. Also, the firestorm had stopped. I had to search for my opponent. He had been pushed back to the wall but looked mostly unharmed. His hand was stretched out before him as if he’d used it to defend against the force that blew him back.
Double oops.
Three down.
The silence from our last exchange had disappeared. The audience was loudly speculating about the alignment I’d use next. There were many mentions of neutral magic and my wings. Flying wasn’t uncommon for vampires, but it usually required their Bat Form or a high enough level to use mana to propel oneself into the air. I was using neither.
“He’s more of a dragon than a man…” I heard one of the louder spectators say.
I’d have to worry about them later. I felt the flames as much as saw them. My opponent summoned a torrent of fire that surrounded him like the walls of a fortress. He was no longer holding anything back.
“Elorion!” the lich yelled at me through mind-speak. “Training is over. Stop holding back. He’s going to try to kill you.”
No kidding. It was sweet of the lich to be so worried about me.
Heat began to build up inside me as my Crimson Incubus Form took shape. My physical stats grew even wilder with an additional 100% of my base Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution added, plus another 1,000 to each. What could a little Fire Mage do to me?
My wings ripped through the air, launching me toward him. I covered the space between us before he could blink. I dove through his wall of flame and touched down a few feet away.
Much of my skeletal armor had disintegrated under the heat of his flames. I faced him as a red demon.
He faltered seeing me but tried to bring his palmed amulet between us to fend me off. To his astonishment, he couldn’t move his arm. I held his wrist firmly in my grasp as an adult held back a child who was throwing a tantrum.
Lifting my palm to his face, I watched his eyes go wide. There was nothing he could do. Mud Slinger went off, briefly drowning him in gallons of mud. Taking a single step back, I tossed him across the arena—softly so as not to cause too much damage. He landed on the other side of the crater, rolling to a stop. When it came to physical stats, he was nowhere near my match. Normally, his magic talent would’ve made up for it, but Shamash had wisely picked a Fire Mage for my first fight.
I didn’t bother to even give my opponent a second look. My Vampire Form returned, as did my form-fitting skeletal armor.
“Was that too much?” I said, contacting Shamash.
“You did what you had to do,” he replied. “Now the others will just be more wary of you.”
As I walked back toward the stands, my victory was announced, and I glanced at the audience to get a feel for my performance. There was no cheering and the murmurs had returned. What exactly did it mean? When I reached the stands, I finally got a better idea how I was being perceived. As I walked up the stairs toward my seat, every vampire I passed gave me the slightest nod. Even the high level ones.
I sat down next to Shamash, wanting to swallow, but forcing myself not to. I didn’t look at him and he didn’t look at me.
“What’s next?” I said after a few minutes.
“That’s up to you,” he said aloud. “Would you prefer to fight some more, or wait until the preliminaries?”
My first thought was that it would be wiser to wait. That way my competition would see less of my abilities, but that wasn’t what I wanted. “I’ll fight. Reassess depending on how much mana I have, then decide again. I’d like to get as many fights in before the tournament as I can.”
“Then I’ll set up the next one.” He rose to his feet to leave.
I didn’t stop him.
The next fight had already started below. I scanned the stands again to find the faces of the competitors Shamash had pointed out to see if they were still here. I found the dwarf Lusa quickly, and Gansuk. Then my eyes fell upon the dark elf Eshana. She was staring right at me. As our eyes met, she gave me a brazen smile.
Ignoring vampire decorum, I smiled right back.
Chapter 12 – Victory Tokens
The next few days turned into a mix of competition and spectating in my downtime. If I could have fought more, I would have preferred it, but there weren’t a lot of people that were willing to fight me. It wasn’t strictly because they feared me, although for those below level 15,000 that seemed to be the case. Many of the competitors were also being stingy. Any fight that might force them to bring out their finishing moves before the tournament they turned down. At least, that’s what we heard in general conversation. As for the competitors he’d pointed out, none of them were takers.
Compared to my first fight, the following ones were both easier and more difficult. No one else went all out so I stuck to my Vampire Form. That also meant that I had to handle each fight strictly with magic.
Another almost-level-20,000 vampire stood opposite me in the arena wearing obsidian-black platemail. The moment the announcer issued the command to fight, Dark Magic static started to crackle across his armor from head to toe. A Dark Mage?
I’d been wanting to test my Dark Magic after implanting the dark gem into my body. Even though it was my First Alignment, I still looked upon it as one of my weaknesses. Against a talented Dark Mage, I knew there wasn’t any hope of outdoing them. This was a perfect chance to see how I measured up.
A bolt of Dark Lightning sped toward me. It reached from one side of the arena to the other—something that my Dark Magic would have difficulty doing in its lightning form.
In response, I summoned my own Dark Magic except I compressed it into a beam that was easier to control. I was under no illusion that even in its compressed state it would block the coming attack without a good deal of mana channeled to it. As a test, I didn’t hold back, but still watched my mana to make sure I didn’t put myself into a position where I’d have to tap into my refined mana reserves.
My beam was only half the size of the Dark Mage’s lightning. I narrowed my eyes and turned up Mana Sight to full power. As time seemed to slow, I watched the collision of the two magics. Mine stopped the lightning it directly faced, and even pushed it back, but Dark Lightning was unruly. The half of the electric bolts that didn’t face off with my beam simply slithered past it and crept toward me at a frightening pace.
Underworld - Scorching Sun: A LitRPG Series Page 9