Spectral Arena: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG Light Novel

by Wolfe Locke

  Following his discovery in the Champions Mess Hall, Edd had sent the command to the newly animated carrion piece to grow and return to him. The order was vague enough that Edd hoped it would find a way to manage.

  Late into the night, the thing Edd had created returned to him. A mass of white and red flesh, bulbous and terrible looking. What found him was a blob of flesh that carried itself across the floor on tiny tendrils of bloody sinew.

  An ugly thing, but it will do. Edd smiled as he went to work, reforming his new minion into a more usable and easier form to hide from the others. With a modicum of skill, he worked to make it something that he could benefit from immediately. From the blob of flesh, Tetaites took a small piece, granting it the name of “Vilerend,” and gave it one task. Gather more material and bring it here. Do not be seen. Hide the pieces throughout the room.

  The next morning, Crixa came to his cell to summon him to battle. Edd took the time to reflect on the information that was updated in his mind when he left his cell.

  Spectral Arena

  Name: Edd the Conqueror

  Specialty: Frost Magic

  Race: Skeleton

  Current Unlocked Abilities:

  Frost Nova (On Touch) – Unleashes an explosion of ice.

  Frost Nova (Targeted) – Unleashes an explosion of ice at the impact site that causes area of effect damage around it.

  Current Passive Abilities:

  Vampiric Aspect II – Bloodlust – Cannot retreat when an opponent has been bloodied. Receives a boost to strength and durability.

  Sustenance - Receive a minor healing buff when consuming blood.

  Flesh Crafting - A lesser-known school of Necromancy, Flesh Crafting allows for the creation of flesh golems and other constructs.

  Strength: 13

  Magic: 9

  Stamina: 33

  Speed: 14

  Progress. I’d like to see more, but I am gaining strength. When they arrived at the elevator, Edd was surprised to see the other four already there.

  “You said it's to be a group battle?” he asked Crixa under his breath, wanting to clarify.

  “It will be a chance for you to put your knowledge to the test,” Crixa responded, looking distracted. “Your assignment was to study the other Champions’ skills, and the Dark Lord wants to observe how well you did and to what extent you can grow and adapt.”

  Edd clambered up onto the platform. The gorgon, centaur, and manticore ignored his arrival, but the revenant smiled and raised its sword at him ominously. The spider-monsters swarmed around the chain wheel, ready to send the elevator up.

  “Hold!” Crixa’s voice rang out. The Champions looked at each other, confused.

  “It’ll be a four-way battle today,” Crixa said. “Remove the revenant. It is not to be involved.”

  One of the spider-monsters shuffled uneasily. “Sir, the Dark Lord won’t be pleased—"

  “I will tell him myself,” Crixa said. “And I will take full responsibility. Any punishment will be on my head and my head alone. Remove the revenant. I will not ask again. Know your place.”

  The spider-monsters stood frozen. No one moved.

  Crixa raised itself up onto its monstrous legs, revealing a row of teeth that covered its entire underbelly. The maw opened, and Crixa lunged forward, seizing the spider monster in its jaws, and bit down with a crunch as it rapidly consumed the spider monster.

  “As I said, remove the revenant now!” Crixa hissed.

  Two shivering, fearful creatures climbed the ladder and grabbed Yarrl by the arms. He chuckled, unfazed, and nodded at Edd.

  “Next time, Champion,” he croaked as the monsters dragged him off.

  When Edd looked up, teeth clenched, Colubra was staring at him. “What was that about?”

  He shook his head. How should I know? Crixa’s behavior had been incomprehensible, as was the special attention Yarrl seemed to pay him.

  Soon, my minion, you will need to kill him, or he will kill you. So have I ordained it.

  As the platform rose, he tried to center his mind again and hone his thoughts on the violence to come. The incident with Yarrl had left him dangerously distracted at a time when distractions could prove to be deadly.

  He went through his allies’ strengths in his head. Deathbringer was physically weak but had powerful healing magic. Colubra was strong and vicious, and her stone magic was useful. Sharkhurz had her deadly claws and poison. If they could work together, they’d be a formidable team. I need to watch out for Deathbringer though, a healer stops being useful if they die.

  He looked over. Colubra and Sharkhurz were already arguing over their battle strategy. Of course. Edd shook his head, irritated as his bones rattled with agitation.

  The platform soon reached the Arena, and they all fanned out across the sand.

  Zekant was already in his viewing box, and Edd wondered if he had already overseen other battles today. The Dark Lord often invaded his thoughts, but their interactions since Edd’ rebirth had been few and far between. Edd had not mentioned the voice to the others.

  This time in the Arena, the stands were full of creatures— more spider-monsters like the ones they were already used to, but also various hideous chittering beasts that Edd didn’t recognize as well as a few fearful humans in unfamiliar garb running back and forth as they tended to the Dark Lord.

  Standing from his glacial throne, the Dark Lord addressed them as the elevators beneath his box descended to gather their foes. “Slaves,” he said. “I hope you have trained well for what you are about to face. This battle will be more challenging than the last one. At least one of you is all but assured to fall here.”

  The elevators were rising back up. Four barbed tails appeared above the surface of the Arena. Manticores?

  “Your opponents are as intelligent as they are deadly. It will not be easy on you,” Zekant continued. “They will coordinate, strategize, and work together to destroy you. You will need to do the same if you wish to succeed. It begins.”

  Chapter 10: Scorpions

  Notification: Arena Battle “The Scorpions”

  Details: Deadly and heavily armored, the Scorpions stand between you and victory. Work with the other Champions to destroy the scorpions or be destroyed in the process.

  Reward: Upgrade of choice (Minor)

  The beasts had reached the Arena level, not manticores at all. Scorpions, and big ones at that. They will be formidable. They were enormous armored creatures with cruel red eyes whose bodies were covered in thick green and blue shells. Their front claws were each the size of Edd’ entire body, and they were razor sharp. Black venom dripped from their barbed tails and dropped to the sand with a hiss, burning a small hole wherever it landed.

  As he watched, they chittered to each other with their mandibles, seeming to confer. Then, they spread out across their side of the Arena. They can communicate. I can’t underestimate them. They have some level of intelligence.

  Zekant raised a mailed fist, his glacial armor shining bright with enchantments, and brought his fist down with a nod to signal the battle could begin, and Edd jumped into action.

  Gathering his weapons from within the pocket dimension of his spacial ring, he launched himself across the Arena at a dead sprint, heading for the nearest scorpion, intending to kill one quickly. A bolt of stone shot into the ground ahead of him brought him up short, and he stopped and spun around.

  “Edd!” Colubra screamed in a rage from behind him, her magic going rampart. “What are you doing, fool? Do you intend to kill us all?”

  “Hardly. I tend to win the battle by attacking the scorpions,” Edd shouted back, “as that is our purpose for being here!”

  “Our purpose is to work together as a unit and not die!” Colubra yelled back. “The Dark Lord stated as much just now. If we all act on our own without a cohesive strategy, every one of us will meet their end on this sand. You may seek to return to the Well of Souls, but I am not ready to accept that particular fate just ye
t! I intend to live forever.”

  Edd’ temper flared. Who was she to address him this way? She’ll live to regret this.

  “Enlighten me then,” he snapped, dipping down into a low bow and mockingly extending his bony arms. “You were a queen, as you never let us forget. What is the strategy, Your Majesty?”

  Colubra’s snake hair snarled at him. “You think you’re better than the rest of us,” she said. “You think we don’t see it? Lording it over us like an emperor. I wonder who you were in life. The way you act, I’m sure you were no better than a common slave. Is that why our master created you as a mere skeleton?!”

  This again! One day, I’ll show them just who I was, and what I’m capable of. “It doesn’t matter! None of that matters anymore! All that matters is the Arena! Why can’t you—” Edd began to shout but was interrupted.

  “Stop it! Both of you, this is not the time,” the centaur’s voice boomed behind them. “They’re coming!”

  Both Colubra and Edd turned. The scorpions were rushing toward them, claws high as one climbed up and over the stone formation Colubra had created. The Champions had wasted their lead time bickering.

  “Both of you have a point,” the centaur said. “You’re both right. We do all need to let go of our past lives. The Arena is our world now and Zekant our God. But Colubra is correct that we need to unite to win this fight. If we run off on our own, the scorpions will kill us. Can you not see how powerful they are?”

  “It’s too late,” Edd said, looking at the monsters. “We have no plan.”

  “I have one,” Sharkhurz said. “The centaur’s very strong with healing and decent with a bow but terrible at close-range fighting. If we keep him alive, he keeps us alive.”

  Deathbringer winced in embarrassment.

  “Apologies,” Sharkhurz said. “It’s the truth. We need to keep you safe and out of range of the scorpions’ attacks. That way, you can heal us from a distance when we need it and fire on the enemy when we don’t. Colubra and I will run offense. We’ll attack the scorpions aggressively. Between our magic and our fighting skills, I think we can take them down. That leaves Edd. He’ll defend the centaur from the enemy and destroy any that come too close.”

  Edd bristled and started to protest, but the manticore Sharkhurz cut him off.

  “Your magic is the best suited for this kind of defense,” she said. “I’ve watched you in the Training Grounds. You’re powerful, quick, and regain your strength quickly. Protecting our healer is an important role. If he dies, we all die.”

  Edd nodded. She made solid points. And in this role— there might not be glory, but there was honor in it. He could live with that. Survival in and of itself was the true prize.

  “Alright,” Sharkhurz said. “We’re in agreement. Fight, protect the centaur, and do not let up until the last creature hits the ground dead. Fight, and keep fighting!”

  “Fight, and keep fighting,” they all repeated, and broke to their battle positions.

  Deathbringer stood far in the back, away from the scorpions rushing toward them, and readied his bow. Edd placed himself in front of him to run interference as needed. He held his sword in one hand and called his ice magic into the other, letting sparks play over his fingers. If one of them dies for real, I might be able to call upon my lingering necromantic powers to animate their corpse.

  Edd grinned.

  Colubra and Sharkhurz raced toward the nearest enemy, the manticore taking the lead. Edd was curious to see how they would fight when their lives were on the line.

  The first scorpion struck out at Sharkhurz with its tail as she approached, thudding the barbed end into the sand over and over, but she dodged each attack easily. The manticore struck out with her own tail once she got close enough, using her ranged magic to send poisoned darts toward her enemy. It was no use, as they simply bounced off the scorpion’s armored carapace like they were nothing.

  Colubra had positioned herself just out of reach of the scorpion’s tail. She gathered her stone magic to her— Edd could see the rock orb building between her hands— and let it loose. It arced through the air and came down hard on the creature’s back. Its shell cracked, but the monster held firm.

  The gorgon frowned. Edd knew what she was thinking: another stone missile might open a hole in the scorpion’s shell, but her magic would take too long to recharge.

  “centaur!” Edd shouted. “Can you charge her power?”

  Deathbringer nodded to show he understood what Edd intended and began gathering his magic to him. Green strands of healing fire wove themselves into a single braid as he worked the spell. He wrapped it around himself and fired it at Colubra.

  It hit. She raised an arm to acknowledge she’d received it then started to build a second stone orb. Edd’ idea had worked. The gorgon shot the projectile at the scorpion with a roar, and it landed with a sickening crunch. She had broken off a piece of the creature’s shell.

  It squealed with fury and started scuttling toward her, claws high. Sharkhurz jumped in to intercept it. Weaving in and out of the wounded scorpion’s legs, she fired dart after dart at the weak spot Colubra had created in its shell. Her final volley hit home. The creature screamed and lashed out at her with its tail as her poison took effect. Its movements were slow and sluggish, but it was still alive and dangerous.

  Trouble was brewing elsewhere in the Arena. The other scorpions had noticed their comrade was vulnerable. Poisonous tails at the ready, they raced to its aid. Edd knew he and the centaur had seconds to intervene before Sharkhurz and Colubra faced an attack from behind. He sent a wave of ice magic crackling toward the scorpions, driving them back. Meanwhile, Deathbringer sent arrow after arrow in their direction. The arrows annoyed them but did them no harm. They all bounced off their thick exoskeletons and landed harmlessly on the ground.

  Edd had another idea. “Can you aim for their eyes? They should be vulnerable there.”

  The scorpions’ beady yellow eyes were the only unarmored area on their bodies. The centaur nodded again and turned his volleys to the creatures’ heads.

  At this distance, most struck armor and fell to the ground. One or two struck home though, putting out the scorpions’ eyes and blinding them as the bulbous tissue was destroyed. They screeched and redoubled their efforts to reach their wounded companion.

  Meanwhile, Sharkhurz and Colubra continued to attack their scorpion. They had settled into a pattern. Colubra cracked its armor with her stone magic, and Sharkhurz followed with her poison. In between volleys of arrows, the centaur sent energy to Colubra, enabling her to charge her power faster.

  The scorpion’s movements were growing slower as the poison took hold. It lowered itself onto the ground with a groan, curling its body in on itself like a dying wasp. Edd felt a moment of pity for the beast as Colubra smashed at its throat with her stone. It hadn’t chosen its fate, Zekant had.

  A dark kinship.

  Sharkhurz pushed past the gorgon to bury her teeth in the scorpion’s throat. The creature twitched once, twice, then fell still. It was dead. The manticore emerged with a snarl, face dripping with black ichor then went for its throat again. She was eating its corpse.

  The other scorpions roared with anger behind Edd’ wall of ice magic, and he felt his power falter. He wasn’t going to be able to hold them back forever.

  “Sharkhurz!” he shouted across the Arena. “The battle isn’t over!”

  She emerged again, looking embarrassed. Her face and chest were covered in ichor. She might be an intelligent supersoldier, but her manticore’s instincts were strong, and the monster within her had demanded that she feed. Edd knew the feeling well.

  There still were three scorpions left. Edd knew he had to keep them separated, but maintaining the huge wall of ice was quickly draining his magic.

  “Losing power,” he gasped, and the centaur sent him some of his. Strength rushed back into him and, working with as much control as he could muster, he sent another wave of magic toward another of
the scorpions, separating it from the others. Deathbringer’s arrows had put out one of its eyes, the arrow shaft protruding from its face.

  Edd opened a gap in the ice wall large enough for Sharkhurz and Colubra to pass through. They sprinted toward the scorpion before the others could follow and started to use the same stone-poison strategy they had on the first.

  But something was wrong.

  This scorpion had seen how they had killed its companion, and it had observed their pattern. It knew it took Colubra time to build her stone orbs. It rushed her every time she started to use her power, breaking her concentration.