Project Xero: Reblood: A LitRPG and Gamelit Adventure

by J. Cee

  “I can’t help it. It’s a natural reflex,” Ceph replied.

  Aeri tossed a rock up and down in her hand, glaring at Ceph. “These rocks can’t hurt you.”

  “I know, I know. It’s not easy turning off a lifetime’s worth of instincts.”

  “You have a point.” Aeri hurled a rock at Ceph, then another, and then another.

  Ceph covered his head with his arms. “Hey! I’m not ready.”

  “We have to break your instinct. The rocks can’t hurt you, Ceph. Take it like a man.”

  “Ouch, isn’t that a low blow?” Ceph swatted away a rock aimed at his more delicate parts. “Okay, that was definitely a low blow.” He scowled at Aeri. With her skill, that couldn’t have been accidental.

  “If you can’t face a harmless rock without flinching, how are you going to parry a real Soulstrike?”

  Ceph closed his eyes as rocks bounced off him. “I’m not flinching, see?”

  “That doesn’t count. Open your eyes, Ceph.”

  The incoming blows stopped. Ceph cautiously opened his eyes. A small pile of rocks were scattered around him. Aeri approached to collect them for another round of stoning.

  “Is parrying that important?” Ceph asked.

  “Yes. It’s a key skill, especially for higher ranked fights,” Aeri replied.

  “But doesn’t equipment give us skills? If we focus on collecting as much equipment as we can, won’t that be enough?”

  “That’s what many Everborn do. But if you can parry, it’s like having a free skill without needing equipment. Not everyone can do it. It gives you an advantage, and we need every possible advantage over the Everborn to succeed. Racking up skills from equipment, beating challenges by brute force, dying over and over—that’s the easy way. We can’t afford shortcuts.”

  Ceph knew Aeri was right, but that didn’t make him any more optimistic about his chances of mastering parries. His face mirrored his thoughts.

  “Look at it this way,” Aeri said. “Parrying is a skill. Unarmed combat is a skill, even if it doesn’t damage blood. Tracking your opponent’s regeneration is a skill. Just because these skills don’t show up as fancy blue words on your arm doesn’t mean they’re less important. I’d say they’re more important. Even a skill like Rush takes practice to use to its full potential.”

  “I don’t disagree. But it’s hard, changing something as basic as not flinching. I’ve been afraid my whole life. Or Everborn. Of being hurt. I mean, I can choose to fight or not to fight, but this is instinct. It’s deep inside me.”

  “That’s what training’s for. Everborn training doesn’t reshape the body. It reshapes the mind.” Aeri had finished collecting the rocks. She took extra large ones from the neat pile at her feet. “Ready?”

  A flurry of rocks smashed into Ceph’s head before he could reply.

  Chapter 18

  That night, Ceph and Aeri again took part in the night matches. Ceph had won eight fights, and Aeri had won seven, each earning the corresponding number of power points. This time, Aeri managed to win yet another sword, but Ceph didn’t earn any equipment. It looked like their first night of fighting had been incredibly lucky. Or was it?

  Despite his earlier hesitation at fighting alone, Ceph had found that his Everborn opponents lacked equipment and training. He had a hunch that the strongest tournament contenders weren’t taking part in the death matches.

  His suspicions were confirmed as he watched Aeri’s eighth and final match finish. Ceph had finished earlier and wore his usual plain tunic and pants. In the gray light of night, he blended in with the other nondescript onlookers. As usual, both he and Aeri wore cloth masks to hide their faces.

  The sound of two men discussing Aeri’s match caught Ceph’s attention.

  “That new girl. She’s tearing up the night matches,” the first voice said.

  “No way I’m risking these blades in a fight with her,” the second voice said. “But I’d give her my blade in a different kind of night match.” The man guffawed.

  “I heard she has a boyfriend. He’s doing pretty well too.”

  Ceph cringed, then swelled with a small amount of pride at the end of the conversation. It was thrilling, a small vanity, to overhear the mighty Everborn discussing him. He frowned. Maybe that wasn’t a good thing.

  “They must be here for the tournament. Think they have a shot?” the first voice asked.

  “Nah,” the second voice replied. “If they’re in the first tier, that bastard Redd will be there to stop them. Singles or doubles. He always wins everything.”

  “I hate that spoiled brat. He’s never earned a goddamn thing.”

  The voices grew softer as the crowd dissipated. Aeri’s match was over, and there would be no more night matches until the next day.

  The tidbit about the Redd character bothered Ceph. Who was he, and why did the others think he was going to win the tournament? The other Everborn didn’t seem to like him, either. Could they use that somehow? He needed to tell Aeri about what he had heard.

  Aeri and Ceph walked away from the fighting pits back towards the campgrounds. She didn’t seem surprised at Ceph’s news.

  “I’ve heard a few Everborn mention Redd as well. He’s only rank ninety or so, but he has a lot of equipment, much more than what’s typical at his rank. Most of his equipment is probably gifted from higher ranked friends.”

  “They just gave him equipment? He didn’t have to beat challenges? That’s not fair,” Ceph complained.

  “Many of the Everborn would agree with you.”

  “How are we going to beat him? Don’t we have to win the tournament? We can’t even pick up equipment from the night matches if everyone’s too scared to fight us.”

  Aeri met Ceph’s rapid jumble of words with a smile.

  “What?” Ceph asked.

  “You said ‘we.’ ‘We’ have to win. That’s the first time I’ve heard you say that.”

  Ceph grumbled. He wasn’t sure why he had said that, either. It was probably the stress, or the fact that everyone else made assumptions about their relationship. “But what are we going to do?”

  “You already gave us the solution.”

  “I did?”

  “Yes, we’ll fight together. Doubles matches. Two against two. I thought solo matches would be necessary for safety, but it looks like the Word isn’t welcome here. Plus, people are connecting us anyways.”

  Ceph smiled. He was definitely happier knowing that Aeri would fight at his side. Or rather, back, as he usually occupied the forward guard position when practicing tactics. He didn’t understand how a doubles match would help their odds, though.

  “Need an explanation?” Aeri asked with a twinkle in her crimson eyes.

  “You know I do.”

  “The winner of a one versus one match is solely determined by each fighter’s available skills and proficiency in their use. While raw ability can overcome inferior equipment, it won’t be quite enough to defeat someone who’s as far ahead of us as Redd.”

  “But there’s more variables in a doubles match, right?” Ceph said, catching on. “More variables means more ways to gain advantages with superior training.”

  “Exactly. Based on what you heard, we’re assuming Redd will enter the doubles tournament as well. Even if he does, we have a better chance of beating him two versus two.”

  There would still be a large gap, if everything people said about Redd was true. They wouldn’t be able to match him skill for skill. Or would they?

  Ceph shook his head. “You were right before, as always.”

  Aeri beamed at him. “I know I am. But which instance are we talking about here?”

  “If we can’t earn enough equipment to match Redd’s skills, we’ll have to work on gaining other skills. Not the ones that come with equipment, but the invisible ones that anyone can learn. I don’t know what to call them. The meta skills of being a Onceborn.”

  Aeri beamed at him. “You’re getting it now.”
/>   * * *

  The days before the tournament passed much too fast for Ceph’s liking. At night they fought in death matches, but the quality of the participants grew worse as the tournament’s start date drew nearer. Serious contenders didn’t want to risk losing equipment in a night match. That left beginners and casual fighters. Ceph managed to reach rank ninety-five, and Aeri reached rank ninety-eight before the tournament. They only gained a single additional piece of equipment, though. To Ceph’s annoyance, it was another sword.

  They traded two of their extra swords for two weak rings. Both rings granted an extra five spirit, similar to Ceph’s ring but with half the potency. Since Aeri had no rings, she used them both. Aeri kept the final sword since there wasn’t anything else useful in the trading post.

  During the day, Ceph and Aeri returned to Zeudah’s tent to train, focusing on doubles tactics. Zeudah’s usual calm demeanor was gone, and he appeared more annoyed as time went on. He muttered about the Word more than once. He also complained about Lisha. The Everborn woman, it seemed, wouldn’t stop pestering Zeudah with her suspicions about Jexaka. Ceph and Aeri had nothing more to share with Lisha, though.

  The overall mood in the Gladiator Pits became more tense as the tournament approached. Spontaneous fights broke out among the Everborn and among the non-Everborn. Once a group of high-ranked Everborn had rushed to the northern wall of the settlement. Someone had been sniping low-ranked Everborn near the edge of the Gladiator Pits with single-Soulstrike kills. Ceph and Aeri made sure to stay away from the walls after that incident.

  Redd made an appearance shortly afterward. The bearded man wore clothing entirely in the color red, from red-dyed leather armor over his body, red pants, red gloves, and even red hair. A large broadsword with a reddish hue hung across his back. The man’s aura was green with the slightest shade of yellow. Ceph wasn’t impressed. The man was loud and unruly, his movements rough and undisciplined. He could see why the other Everborn despised him.

  The last day before the tournament was uneventful, but everyone, mortal or not, knew that something was going to happen soon. Something big. And with his luck, Ceph would be caught in the middle of it.

  * * *

  On the morning of the tournament’s first day, Ceph and Aeri gathered around the registration office along with the other contestants.

  An official posted the names and schedules for all of the matches on a wooden signboard outside the registration office. The tournament was set up for single elimination, where the winner of each match would move on to face other victors in the next round. The tournaments had a different number of rounds for each tier, depending on the number of registered contestants. The tier one doubles tournament that Ceph and Aeri entered would consist of only four rounds, as it had few participants.

  Ceph scoured the list of names, half-hoping to see the name Jexaka.

  “I don’t see Jexaka on the schedule,” Ceph said.

  Aeri frowned. “Don’t let your guard down. She’s definitely up to something. I feel it, even if I can’t see her thread in my visions.”

  Ceph did recognize one of the names on the schedule. Redd had indeed signed up for both the singles and doubles tournaments. His partner in the doubles tournament was someone named Morris. “At least Redd’s in a different bracket. We won’t have to fight him until the final round.”

  “That should give us plenty of time to scout his earlier matches. We’ll have to hide our true abilities to keep him from doing the same to us.” Aeri looked at the schedule for a moment longer. Ceph figured that she had memorized it. “But first, we have our own match. Let’s go.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Ceph and Aeri stood in one of the smaller side pits opposite two Everborn men. Ceph stared in shock at their opponents.

  “Are you kidding?” Ceph whispered to Aeri. “Two gray auras?”

  Aeri shrugged. “We’ll keep it simple, then. Follow my lead.”

  The tournament’s grouping into tiers meant that Ceph and Aeri could end up fighting opponents with half their rank, which is exactly what had happened. At higher ranks, a difference of thirty or forty ranks wouldn’t be as great a handicap. At lower ranks, such a gap was devastating.

  Ceph and Aeri simply kept casting Interference Shields and basic Soulstrikes. There was no complicated strategy, as even their uncharged Soulstrikes could pierce their opponents’ shields. Of course, Ceph and Aeri also had much larger blood and spirit pools. The crowd dwindled away as the outcome became obvious.

  A few minutes later, their opponents’ lifeless bodies lay on the floor of the pit. The men hadn’t bothered to forfeit, but their ready deaths yielded neither power points nor equipment. Ceph had no complaints, though, about the easy round one win. A win was a win. Aeri was pleased too, but for a different reason. She hadn’t wanted to reveal any of their doubles tactics too early in the tournament, in case others were scouting them.

  After their quick victory, Ceph and Aeri headed to Redd’s round one solo match. It had already begun by the time Ceph and Aeri arrived. Redd was in the middle of attacking his opponent with Steelstrikes from a large two-handed sword.

  “Know anything about that sword?” Ceph asked Aeri from the sidelines.

  “It probably hits for more damage than yours but with slower activation and cooldown times. Two-handers like that typically hit for 15% of the user’s maximum blood pool. You can count out the activation and cooldown for yourself.”

  Redd attacked with two Steelstrikes in rapid succession as Aeri spoke. The hapless opponent, a rank seventy by Ceph’s estimation, was an older man with a slim lanky figure. The old man’s aura dimmed considerably after each sword blow, despite the blue glow of an Interference Shield on his skin.

  Ceph counted in silence, tracking the sword strokes. Each Steelstrike took nearly a second to complete, and even longer to repeat.

  “He has three seconds between attacks. That’s a lot of time to get out of range, even without your Rush skill.” That wasn’t the only disadvantage. “Don’t large swords like that take more time to sheath and unsheath?”

  “Drawing a large sword from your back is never going to be as fast as a hip draw.” Aeri nodded her approval at his attention to detail.

  “If he doesn’t have good sheath discipline, his regeneration will be lowered too.”

  Unlike Ceph and Aeri, Redd fought with the large broadsword permanently in his two hands, except when he would release one hand to send a Soulstrike.

  “It’s possible that another item compensates for the loss of regeneration,” Aeri said. “We don’t know what all of his equipment does.”

  Ceph grimaced. Redd was likely rank one hundred, but Ceph couldn’t see how to profile him accurately.

  “Doesn’t all of his equipment make it hard to figure out his attributes?” Ceph asked.

  “More difficult, yes, but not impossible. Take his current opponent.”

  Ceph looked at the poor man, whose blue-green aura grew dimmer and dimmer with the heavy loss of blood points.

  Aeri continued. “Redd’s current opponent doesn’t have much equipment, so we know the possible range of his attributes fairly well. We could use the effectiveness of his shields and Soulstrikes to gauge Redd’s own power.”

  “But that will give us a wide range. We don’t have a solid starting point, like when we use ourselves for comparison.”

  “That’s a challenge, but if we watch enough matches, we can further narrow down the possibilities. Ideally, we would watch how his opponents fight other opponents, then how those opponents fight their opponents.”

  “Are you kidding? Isn’t that extreme?” Ceph wasn’t unintelligent. He had picked up many of Aeri’s mental tricks. He also understood that Aeri was willing to go to any length to succeed. This didn’t seem practical, though.

  “We’d have to watch every match in Redd’s bracket. We could narrow down our conclusions that way. I admit it’s a bit complicated.”

  Ceph shook his head. “I have
a better idea.”

  Aeri gave him a questioning glance. “Oh?”

  “We talk to Redd’s opponents. Ask about their attributes. That human interaction thing.”

  “I suppose that could work.” Aeri’s eyes flashed. “The Everborn aren’t exactly humans, though. Never forget.”

  Ceph would take that as agreement. He turned his attention back to the lopsided match.

  “Too bad we don’t get to see the rest of Redd’s skills,” Ceph said. “This fight is too easy for him.”

  “Ask and you shall receive,” Aeri replied.

  Ceph watched in surprise as Redd stopped beating his opponent senseless with his broadsword. Redd held his sword high above his head with both hands. The blade glowed red, charging for a deadly final strike. His opponent began crying out.

  “I forf—”

  The lanky man didn’t have a chance to finish as the glowing blade cleaved his body in two. His body fell apart, like a split piece of fruit.

  Ceph was furious. “He was going to forfeit! Redd broke the rules!”

  “They don’t care,” Aeri said. “Look, or rather, listen.”

  The crowd cheered with deafening roars. Ceph couldn’t believe it. No one minded Redd’s breach of the tournament’s rules. Rather, they approved of it. Ceph searched for the tournament official. To his disappointment, the official didn’t seem to care, either. The official shrugged with a bored expression.

  Redd walked over to the ruined corpse and dug through it for small pieces of equipment, probably rings. He waved to the cheering crowd and walked away from the dead Everborn’s body. Suddenly, Ceph wasn’t feeling as good about his upcoming tournament matches.

  Chapter 19

  Aeri went to watch a doubles match with one of their potential opponents, while Ceph went looking for Redd’s defeated opponent. He figured that the man would stay in the Pits after resurrecting. After ten minutes of searching, Ceph found the man in the crowd watching another solo match.

  “Hey, excuse me.” Ceph patted the man’s shoulder.