by Alex Knight
He must have poured enough charge into Karmic Reprisal to reduce the attack by a massive amount. Which means...
Improved Volt Field lashed out at Supermassive, biting at him for a chunk of damage, but that wasn’t really relevant – not when Titus followed up with a hammer strike. A hammer strike with its attack power boosted by all of the damage that had just been absorbed through Karmic Reprisal.
Supermassive had just enough time to curse before Titus’ hammer slammed into his chest with enough force to fling him clear across the arena. His armor shattered all at once and pebbles flew everywhere. His health reduced to zero and he was dead before he even took the fall damage from his landing.
In the wake of the attack, Titus rested his hammer across his shoulder as if it were a baseball bat and smiled.
“Karma’s a bitch.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“That one was just showing off,” Kaiden said, smirking as he approached Titus. Judging from the glowing gobs of goop healing him, the medic had already been by.
“Turns out hitting a shield warden is a good way to get hit back,” Titus said with a smirk. He was riding high on the last victory. And why shouldn’t he be?
“Good job, though. Really.” Kaiden sat down on the bench next to the big guy. “You’re tearing it up out there. Really top-notch stuff.”
“Careful now, all this praise is going to go to my head.” He said it jokingly, but Kaiden could see there was a grain of truth to it. Titus shook his head and looked toward the end of the tunnel, where the sounds of the latest ongoing fight were strangely quiet.
“So, who’s next?” Kaiden asked, trying to refocus on the task at hand. “Who’s going to get sent on vacation in your final fight?” He looked around for a competitor but there was no one there. They were alone in the tunnel but for the medic and a few officials who were gathered up at the entrance to the arena, chatting animatedly while watching the fight.
“My next opponent hasn’t been determined,” Titus said and nodded toward the arena.
“Oh, right.” Of course it hadn’t been decided. The next fight was the final, so of course the last semi-final had to be going on now.
“All right, well, that’s unhelpful. I wanted to get a look at them, see what class you’d be up against.”
Titus shrugged.
“I’ll figure it out on the fly. Sometimes it’s good to know going into the fight, but you can’t always expect to know who or what you’ll be up against.”
Kaiden leaned toward the exit of the tunnel, listening to the sounds of the fight. Those prior had been boisterous, booming affairs. In comparison, the current one was positively silent.
“That’s strange,” Kaiden said, trying to catch a glimpse of the fighters between the gaggle of officials.
All at once, the crowd cheered and the announcer went wild.
“Sounds like I have an opponent,” Titus said, looking toward the clamor.
“Ladies and gentlemen…” the announcer said, letting his booming voice echo around the stadium and building tension for several long moments, “...welcome to the final fight!” Cheers burst out at his words and the entire stadium rose into a roar of applause and shouted excitement.
“This is it,” Kaiden said, struggling to sit still in his seat. Sitting on the sidelines and watching Titus do all the hard work was just about the toughest thing he’d done. It wasn’t in his nature to let someone else carry the weight for him. Probably that was something he needed to work on. He trusted Titus, and being part of a team meant sharing responsibility.
“Titus’ got this,” he said aloud, trying to reassure himself as much as anyone.
“Yes, he does,” Zelda said, no hint of doubt in her voice.
“Our first competitor is something of a new face around these parts,” the announcer said and already the boos had started. Most of the audience seemed to be made up of Maximus guild members. Some fans had broken ranks, though, and their cheering was audible above the tidal wave of boos.
Titus responded to the boos and lackluster cheers with a confident smile as he stepped out of the tunnel and into the arena. He held both arms out wide and let the hate pour down on him. Almost like he was reveling in it. Letting it psych him up.
“All right, all right,” the announcer said, easing the audience to something approaching quiet. “Save your breath, because you’re going to need it for our next combatant. You know her, you love her, and she’s the reigning champion seven weeks in a row now!” Even more cheers, so loud the whole stadium shook as if there was an earthquake happening – not that earthquakes were a common occurrence in a city floating in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant.
“Everyone, give a loud and proud welcome to your champion!”
A figure stepped into the arena opposite Titus, and Kaiden focused on her. His visor pulled up her details.
Nassus
Class: Brawler
Faction: Maximus
Level: 55
Nassus? Nassus! Kaiden could instantly call her to mind. She’d been the one in charge at the visitor desk they’d always had to pass through on their visits to the planet. Suddenly it made sense why she’d taken so much apparent pleasure in letting only Titus sign up for the tournament. Hers was the last spot that’d been reserved. And now, the bad blood between her and Titus was finally about to be worked out.
“She’s five levels above him,” Zelda said. “Oh crap. This is bad.”
“You... might have a point,” Thorne said, then nodded. “Titus is a good fighter and he knows what he’s doing in there, but some disadvantages just can’t be overcome.”
“No,” Kaiden said, confidence filling his voice as he recalled the look of driven concentration he’d seen on Titus’ face in between fights. The man was locked in. Focused on the goal. He’d seemed a different person entirely. “He’s got this.” Something had changed in Titus when he’d lost the first duel against Nassus. Changed, or maybe reawakened. He’d been a man on a mission since. From his absolute dedication to grinding to the way he’d been studying his abilities and creative ways they could be used, he’d been preparing for this. There was no way he’d known he’d be paired against Nassus herself, but Kaiden had no doubt Titus was more than pleased with the situation now. In the duel, he’d let his emotions get the better of him. But not this time. This time, he was ready, and he had the levels and combat expertise to back it up.
“Combatants, ready yourselves,” the announcer’s voice boomed.
“Well hello there, noob,” Nassus said. It was hard to hear her through the resounding shouts and cheers in the stadium, but sitting in the front row, Kaiden was just close enough. “I’ve been wanting this fight for a while now. So glad you decided to come back to get your ass whooped.”
“I’ll be sure to beat you quickly,” Titus said, his face all steely confidence. “I know you have to hurry back to your job at the front desk. Important work to be done, and all.”
Nassus flushed at that, then spat to one side. “I’m going to enjoy this.”
“Strange, to enjoy losing. But whatever you’re into.”
“And... begin!” The announcer’s voice boomed through the arena and the fight was on.
Kaiden hadn’t properly seen the brawler class in combat before, and as he thought about it, he realized none of them had. Sure, there’d been the duel against Titus, but that hadn’t been a fight so much as a beatdown. It did give Titus some inkling of what to expect from his opponent, though, and Kaiden took some solace in that. He used his visor to pull up what information it’d give him on the brawler class.
Quick Facts: Brawlers are a combination of rogue and berserker. They excel at one-on-one combat, using evasion to ambush enemies, debuffs to restrict movement, and combo attacks to inflict increasingly severe damage.
As Kaiden read, Nassus walked forward calmly, hands open and carrying nothing. Not a weapon, not a shield. The only thing on her was what looked to be a light layer of mesh armor aro
und her torso. Two lengths of chain were also coiled around her. Memories of the duel came back to Kaiden, however, and he didn’t need to be reminded of just how effective Nassus’ fists had been.
“Off to a slow start, but don’t let that fool you,” the announcer said. “These two are deadly combatants.”
Chains rattling, Nassus strolled at a leisurely pace, advancing on Titus as he settled into a fighting stance.
“You see, a mindless opponent would just charge in and start attacking. Relying on alpha strike damage to push through your defenses and hoping that, since shielders don’t hit hard, they’ll be able to kill you before you can kill them.” She raised an open palm and stared at it as if she were bored. “But I’m not a mindless opponent. I know you specialize in reflection abilities.”
Titus shuffled his feet impatiently, seemingly itching to get to the actual fighting. Nassus only appeared interested in delaying, though.
“So maybe I should focus on trying to overload your shield? Like your last opponent? You can’t reflect damage if you don’t have a shield. But then, you’d be expecting me to do that, wouldn’t you?”
“Enough chit-chat.” Titus stomped forward, feigning a charge.
Nassus hardly reacted but to smile.
“No, you see, both of your past opponents tried to go aggressive, but both strategies meant going through your shield. You’re a shield warden. Your shield is your strong point. But if it doesn’t get hit, it can’t build charge and you can’t fight back.” She smirked. “Which is why I’m not going to go through your shield, I’m going to go around it.” As soon as she delivered the last word, she activated an ability.
“And here we go!” the announcer shouted, the excitement in his voice carrying through the stadium and pouring energy into the audience.
Ability: Ambush
Increases speed. The next attack will deal additional damage and stagger the target.
Nassus’ feet carried her forward so fast she was hardly more than a blur. Titus leaned forward with his shield but she didn’t attack it. Instead, she pulled a hard right-turn, slipped around behind him, then attacked.
She’s like an enhanced warden! Kaiden thought, marveling at her speed. Just more offensively oriented.
Ability: Frenzied Barrage
A series of quick attacks, each more damaging than the last.
Nassus’ fists flared to life, glowing with energy then punching forward, proving the ability to be accurately named as a frenzy of blows fell against Titus’ back. His health bar flashed as each blow landed, taking worryingly large chunks out of his life total. Somewhere around five percent with each hit.
“Ooh, that has got to hurt! I don’t care who you are.” The announcer seemed positively giddy with excitement.
Titus spun around quickly, getting his shield in front of him, but even still he’d taken twenty percent damage. Improved Volt Field had slapped his opponent back for a bit, lowering Nassus’ health by a measly four percent.
As soon as Titus had his shield facing the attacks, she pulled back, peeling off and using the remainder of the speed boost from Ambush to put a few strides of distance between them.
“Titus didn’t catch a single blow on his shield,” Kaiden worried aloud. “He didn’t gain any charge at all.”
“Charge-starving,” Thorne said with a knowing nod. “Makes sense. In group combat it’s not really possible, but when facing down a single warden… well, it’s a difficult strategy, but if executed correctly, the warden will never have a chance.”
“One more reason to play blast warden,” Zelda said. “We generate our own charge... not that that’s going to help Titus.” She frowned down toward the arena. “He’s going to have to block something.”
“Even then, he’s going to be extremely limited on charge.” Kaiden frowned at the prospect. Wardens hadn’t been built for one-on-one combat, he knew. Especially not shield wardens. A frightening proposition when considered against the fact that the brawler class had literally been described as a one-on-one specialist.
“This is clearly a very tactical fight we’re witnessing, folks. But is that any surprise coming from our champion? Show her what you think of that!”
The audience roared in response to the announcer, several jumping to their feet and pumping fists in the air. It was safe to say Titus did not have home field advantage.
“Level fifty,” Nassus said, her taunting tone clear even if her voice was barely audible over the roar of the crowd. “That’s far too low level to have any hope of winning this thing. You had to know that coming in, right?” She shrugged. “It won’t make beating you any less satisfying, though.”
Titus moved to close the distance between them as she spoke, but she mirrored each of his steps, staying just out of his melee range.
“You’re not gonna beat me by running all day.”
She smirked at that.
“Fair enough.”
She lunged toward him, then when he raised his shield, sidestepped away. Titus turned to follow, keeping his shield faced toward her and no doubt hoping to catch an attack on it. They spun in almost a complete circle, Nassus leading and Titus fighting to keep up. He was just quick enough, just able to keep enough of his shield between them. Until Nassus changed tactics.
She sprung forward and planted a foot against the sloped surface of one of the collapsed walls littered across the arena.
Ability: Launch
High dexterity launches the user high into the air.
A spiderweb of cracks shot through the wall beneath her foot, then she exploded upwards in a graceful arc.
“Look at her go!” the announcer said, awe clear in his voice. “Now that’s a jump!”
Nassus slipped into a backflip, then landed directly behind Titus.
Ability: Mano A Mano
A ‘trap and scrap’ ability, Mano A Mano locks the user and one target together for a short time.
The chains around Nassus’ back unwound, then shot forward and wrapped around Titus’ torso, linking the two of them together with only a half stride between them. The brawler wasted no time, then, unleashing another Frenzied Barrage and landing three solid hits.
“Oh, the big guy’s in trouble now!” The announcer made it sound like Titus was doomed. All things considered, he might be right. Titus was far from in a good spot.
Titus growled, spun around, and pulled his shield up. Nassus danced to the side, fists at the ready as she looked for an opening. They spun in another circle, the chains between them keeping them close.
Titus struck forward with a hammer strike. Nassus shrugged it off – only taking three percent damage – and punched back. Titus was ready, and made to block with his shield. Nassus directed the punch wide at the last moment, avoiding hitting Titus’ shield and giving him charge.
Clearly annoyed, Titus roared and attacked again. Nassus ducked under it, caught Titus in the ribs with a punch, then made to back away. Mano A Mano kept them bound, though, and Nassus couldn’t get further than a half stride from Titus if she wanted. She threw a punch instead and Titus made to block it. It was a feint, though. She pulled it, then came in from the opposite side with a hook. Titus tried to lean away from the attack but it connected with his jaw and dropped his health to fifty-five percent.
In the wake of the blow, Titus stumbled backwards. Still connected by the chains, Nassus was dragged with him for a few steps. The big man’s brow creased as he noticed that, but then the ability ended and Nassus was free.
Forty-nine percent to ninety-three percent health. That’s a heck of a disparity, Kaiden thought, not liking Titus’ prospects after the opening minute or so of the fight.
“You going to run all day?” Titus snarled. “Come on, you’ve got me where you want me. Charge-starved and down on health.”
Nassus opened her mouth to respond but Titus lunged, bringing his hammer down on her head. Even with his low dex stat he managed to score the critical hit, then another normal hit before she d
anced out of range. Her health was down to eighty-six percent and Titus had his shield at the ready, no doubt hoping she’d attack it.
She didn’t, keeping her distance instead.
“You hit hard,” Titus said, shaking his shoulders out but making sure to keep himself behind his shield. “But you’re so afraid to commit to an attack I don’t think it matters. You must have really beaten some pushover opponents to make it this far if this is how you fight.”
“Will that make you a pushover too, once I put you down?”
“Why don’t you come over here and find out?”
Titus stomped forward and this time Nassus flinched back, keeping her distance. Is she actually worried about this fight?
Instead of following his opponent, Titus shrugged, then turned and sprinted in the opposite direction.
“Where you going, big man?” Nassus shouted at his back, then fired off an ability.
Ability: Chain Lash
A ranged attack that deals low damage.
Nassus swung an arm forward. The chains on her back followed it, whipping after Titus, but he was apparently out of range. The attack slashed into the ground, kicking up a puff of dust. An “Ooh!” broke out from the crowd at the ferocity of the attack and its near miss.
“If he can’t go to her, he’s going to make her come to him, I guess?” Thorne said, but there was no certainty in her voice.
Nassus seemed similarly confused, but she followed at a jog, wary of any surprise attacks. Titus didn’t seem to be planning anything of the sort, though. Instead he ran right up to the wall and planted his shield into it. Electricity snarled and zapped, hitting his shield mostly, but plenty of bolts arced into him as well. Titus growled as damage poured into him from the lashing, crackling storm. His armor began to smoke and sizzle and his health was chewed away.