by M E Robinson
“Erick Kystfyr wins! Glin Axesmasher is eliminated, and Kystfyr advances to the next round!” Halfthur announced, pointing to the victorious half-elf.
Waving to the audience, Eric smiled as he descended the stairs to the arena floor, drinking in the sound of the cheers. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he was flagged over by a white robed cleric.
“Mr. Kystfyr, this way if you please. I need to heal you,” the cleric explained, taking a rosary out from under his robes. Nodding, Eric allowed the man to cast a spell, healing the minor injuries he’d received from Axesmasher’s attempts to repel him. Seeing that Eric was healthy once more, the cleric flashed him a smile. Thanking the man, Eric began to make his way back towards the stands where the others were sitting.
Passing Rob, who was headed to the stage for his own fight, Eric gave his friend a fist bump, wishing him luck as he headed back towards the group’s seats.
“That was a pretty good fight,” Wavesun remarked, watching the half-elf weave his way through the crowd.
“Aye, far more exciting than those training dummies in the first round. I thought I was gonna fall asleep watching them,” Halfthur complained.
“That’s one of the fighters I have my eye on. He’s a militia member from Tonbura Village,” said Alistair.
“I can see why. He’s quick, those dodges were great to watch, and the way he neutralized the opponent’s weapons reach advantage shows that he knows how to fight. Even if he did have to beat a dwarf to prove it,” Halfthur remarked sourly.
“Now now, Halfthur, no showing favouritism,” Wavesun chided gently, with a mischievous look in his eye.
“Ah shut it, Wavesun,” Halfthur groused.
“Anyways. I can see why you’ve got your eye on him, Alistair. Are you planning to try and recruit him?” Wavesun asked, ignoring the sulking dwarf.
“Maybe if he makes it into the elite unit. It’s strange though,” said Alistair, stroking his chin pensively.
“What is?” Wavesun asked curiously.
“Well, that half-elf is Lucy’s protege. The only otherworlder she’s accepted as a student so far.”
“That crazy mage is still in Tonbura Village? And she hasn’t burned the entire place down yet? I would have thought she’d have been forced to help with the war effort, or to teach at the royal academy,” said Wavesun, a surprised look on his face.
“Yeah. Tonbura is her home, and she has a powerful teacher. Even if she’s feuding with the Rimestone Circle, she still has more than enough power to do as she pleases. She makes Tonbura safer by being there, so I can overlook her prickliness. But that half-elf is her student, so I’m surprised that he didn’t use any magic,” Alistair replied.
“Good with the blade and with magic eh? I’m getting excited. Commentating matches for versatile fighters like him is always exciting,” Halfthur interjected, rubbing his hands together gleefully.
“Are you sure you’re not just excited because you placed a wager on him, Halfthur?” Wavesun asked, arching an eyebrow as he looked down at the dwarf.
Halfthur just smiled, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “I don’t know what yer talking about mate. I’m just excited for some good fights, that’s all.”
Alistair rolled his eyes. “Well there are several other talents that I have my eye on that are also present today. So don’t count your dragons before they hatch. Kystfyr might not even be the strongest fighter from Tonbura Village.”
Hearing this, Alistair’s companions grinned, settling down as they watched the ongoing fights. Regardless of who won, this tournament was already shaping up to be far more interesting than they’d thought.
Chapter 26
Returning to the stands, Eric joined his friends as they watched Rob’s match. Rob won without much effort, simply kiting his opponent to death with a mix of water and earth spells as his opponent futilely chased him around the stage.
“Are these fights as easy as they look?” Gio asked as Rob returned to his seat.
Rob laughed, “Easier. They’re all scrubs.”
“It should get a little tougher in the later rounds. Right now we’re probably all seeded pretty high due to our levels,” Griffin speculated.
“Or maybe they all just suck. I’m up in a bit, peace,” Jun replied, heading down to the stage where a fighter had just slammed a shield into his opponents face.
Watching the bright light envelope the man who’d just received a face full of shield splinters, Eric observed the other fights. Most of the fighters were fairly low level, using common skills such as Shield Bash or Flame Strike to finish off their opponents in a crude fashion. Occasionally, a higher level fighter would appear, mopping the floor with his opponent in under a minute if they were good, or simply relying on the power of higher level skills and better stats to grind out a win if they were not.
From what Eric could tell, Axesmasher had actually been one of the stronger low levels. Certainly, there didn’t seem to be very many fighters who possessed as much power and conviction in their attacks as him. It was just a shame he’d met someone with more fighting experience than himself in only his first match.
True to his word, Jun finished off his opponent in record time, sending arrow after arrow into the gaps in his opponents armour. His opponent, a young looking elf wielding only a longsword, was teleported away with a bitter expression on his face, having been unable to even close the gap between himself and Jun before succumbing to the accumulated damage of five arrows to the chest.
“Easy,” Jun said, giving Rob a high-five as he returned to his seat.
The remaining matches of the first round went by in a similar fashion. One by one, they went down to participate in their matches, easily dispatching their hapless opponents before returning to their seats. Only Gio struggled, facing off against a fellow tank, he defeated his opponent after a somewhat lengthy battle involving more shield bashes than Eric could count.
The last member of the group to go onstage was Griffin. As Eric watched, Griffin used Wild Strike, the illusory claws appearing in midair as his sword cleaved through his foe’s robes, the magical fabric offering little resistance. Griffin relied heavily on Wild Strike, using his powerful skill to batter aside his opponent’s defenses and inflict heavy damage. Even now, a full two weeks in game since they’d encountered the Swordclaw, the group had yet to encounter a skill stronger than Griffin’s Wild Strike. If Mark wasn’t so in love with his wolf pup, which he was currently feeding some skewered meat from a nearby vendor, it was possible that he would have been extremely envious of Griffin for obtaining such a powerful skill.
Unfortunately, Griffin’s understanding of the skill wasn’t high enough for him to teach it to anyone else. From what Eric could understand, it required mana to be infused into the blade, but Griffin’s understanding of how this worked wasn’t at the level where he could show them how to recreate the technique. Frustratingly for the rest of the group, the skill remained only Griffin’s for now, and he used it to a devastating effect.
“And Lixra Dawnharp advances to the next round! Fighters, the pairings for round two will appear momentarily. We will begin round two after a brief five minute break,” Halfthur announced, his magically enhanced voice echoing through the stadium.
“Is that an NPC fighter?” Eric asked, staring at the tall female adventurer waving to the crowd as she descended from the stage.
“No clue. She’s cute though,” Gio replied.
“Send Gio to talk to her. If he comes back with a new friend, it’s a player. If he comes back with a new girlfriend, it’s an NPC,” Ryan suggested.
“Hey! It’s not like every female NPC I meet wants to go out with me. I do have NPC friends you know,” Gio protested.
“That’s not a bad idea actually,” said Rob, appearing to give serious thought to Ryan’s suggestion.
“Seriously guys?” Gio asked, the picture of wounded pride.
Ryan laughed. “Just kidding, Gio.”
“Yeah. We wou
ldn’t actually send you over,” Eric added, getting a thankful look from Gio. “We’d probably just invite her over here instead.” This earned him a reproachful stare from Gio, and grins from the rest of the group as they began to plan for round two.
Round two passed by in much the same fashion as the first had. Eric’s fight this time was slightly easier, while the others enjoyed fights on the same level as the first round. Evidently, there were still more than enough low level participants to go around, at least this early on in the tournament.
Dispatching his opponent with a pommel strike, Eric watched as the now familiar blue glow surrounded his foe, teleporting them offstage.
“And Erick Kystfyr will advance to the third round! Tony Shadow is eliminated,” Halfthur announced grandly, causing Eric to cringe once more as he heard the name of his opponent.
Erick Kystfyr definitely isn’t that bad a name, all things considered, Eric thought to himself as he descended from the stage, shuddering at the idea of calling himself Eric Shadow. Returning to the stands, Eric joined Rob in watching the next match on group B’s stage. The rest of the group were all fighting fairly soon, so they’d each left to get ready for their own matches, leaving only Rob and Eric in the stands to watch the ongoing matches.
The group had each agreed to watch the matches in their own division, scoping out the other fighters they might encounter in the upcoming rounds. Due to the fact that none of them had been placed into group A, Gio had been sent to monitor the group A fighters, while the rest of them would observe the fights of group A whenever their own stage was clear.
“There really isn’t a lot of talent in group B,” Eric remarked, watching a swordsman charge after an archer who was fleeing for her life.
“The guy who fought before you was pretty good actually,” Rob replied, watching the two fighters as they continued to play a macabre game of tag.
“True. I wasn’t expecting the fight to end so quickly, I wasn’t even at the stage by the time it ended,” Eric replied thoughtfully.
On stage, the swordsman had finally caught up to the archer only to trip and fall, his sword flying several metres away, clattering uselessly across the stage. Not missing the opportunity, the archer pounced on the swordsman, drawing a dagger as she engaged the fighter in a wrestling match.
As this was happening, Halfthur’s voice cut through the arena, with an announcement that caused Eric to snap to attention, forgetting the ongoing fight as he searched the stages below.
“Tamira Copperhair wins! Gerd Steelshirt is eliminated.”
Checking the other stages quickly, Eric spied a familiar red-headed spearwoman waving to the crowd as she descended from the division A stage.
Seeing Eric’s reaction, Rob followed his gaze, observing the redhead as she made her way back to the stands.
“You know her?”
“Yeah. You’ve probably seen her around Tonbura at least once. She’s part of a party of three with a mage and a tank. I didn’t know they’d be participating,” Eric replied.
“Are they any good?”
“Yeah. They’re not bad, but unless they’ve all gotten a lot better, we should all be able to beat them. They’re the party I fought last week,” Eric explained as the archer finally finished the fighter off, letting out a primal scream as Halfthur announced her victory to the crowd.
As it turned out, Tamira wasn’t the only player participating in the tournament that Eric recognized. Katzy and Alexnir were both participating in Mark’s division, while Seryllia was in Griffin, Ryan, and Jun’s group. Astrid had also reappeared, fighting in division A where her arrows made short work of her opponent. Most interesting to Eric, however, was the fact that both Aria and Turk were present: Aria in group A, and Turk in group C.
Making an excuse to Rob, Eric was just about to head over towards Aria and Turk when Halfthur’s voice echoed through the arena once more.
“And Slygo Leathrum advances to the next round! With that, round two is finished! We are officially down to only two-hundred and sixty-seven fighters remaining, which means there are only three rounds to go before we enter the top thirty-two. Fighters, your pairings for round three will appear above me momentarily. Good luck!”
Making a mental note of their position in the stands, Eric reminded himself to head over and add them to his friends list after the round was complete, settling down to continue watching the group B matches.
Chapter 27
Activating Charged Shot, Eric loosed a third arrow, the shaft buzzing through the air to strike his already injured foe in the shoulder. Stumbling slightly, his opponent continued to close in, her spear raised high to skewer the pesky archer who’d already embedded multiple shafts in her. With a frustrated cry, she leapt forward, her spear darting towards Eric like a viper.
Dodging to the side, Eric slammed his fist into the woman’s jaw, stunning her briefly and halting her offensive. Taking advantage of the stunned state, Eric drove his leg into her side, sending her flying through the air as he lined up another arrow.
Loosing the arrow, he watched as the familiar blue light enveloped his opponent, transporting her offstage as he held his bow high in triumph.
“And Erick Kystfyr advances to the next round! Tiera Bluegrass is eliminated,” Halfthur announced, pointing to the victorious half-elf as the crowd cheered.
Even though he had called it a minor tournament, technically if you included the NPC viewers, this was the biggest tournament he’d ever been a part of, Eric thought to himself. Wondering idly if NPC viewers counted as spectators or not, he waved to the crowd, descending the steps back to the arena floor where Rob was standing.
“I thought you weren’t going to show off your skills?” Rob asked him as they made their way back to the rest of the group.
“I’m not showing off my magic. There’s no harm in me giving others the impression I’m just a normal fighter who knows swordsmanship and archery. Plus that chick was fairly good with the spear if the last round was any indication. I wasn’t sure if I could beat her with just my sword,” Eric explained.
Rob laughed. “I still think you should just use magic.”
“I’ll use it when I have to,” Eric replied.
Rob laughed again, but dropped the subject, turning back to watch the match that had just begun as they made their way to the stands.
As the tournament progressed, the strong fighters began to become more evident. Cheering wildly, the crowd watched as an adventurer wielding a pair of metal claws dispatched his opponent, the claws plunging into the hapless player’s side, already awash in blood from the previous strikes.
Groaning heavily, the fighter collapsed, a light enveloping him as he was transported away from the stage.
“And Kifax Catclaw wins! Mikaer Infernalshadow is eliminated!” Halfthur announced, his voice blaring through the arena.
“Kifax is impressive, you said he was an adventurer?” Alistair asked, watching the slimly built man as he raised his arms, playing to the crowd after his victory.
“Yes. He was a former Tidescout, but quit after commander Longsail wanted him to poison a group of merfolk who’d taken refuge in a cove. He refused to use such dishonourable methods and was discharged for his disobedience,” Wavesun replied.
“Damn Longsail was always too obsessed with obeying the chain of command,” Alistair muttered.
“All I know is that he’s making me a killin. Between him and Gorin, I chose him to advance farther, although Gorin’s doing well as well,” Halfthur added, pinching his fingers and rubbing them together slyly.
Wavesun shook his head. “Alas, where did the morals of our once noble tournament announcers go. Whomever could have predicted that those brave men and women, who proclaim the deeds of prize fighters and announce their bloody conquests to the world, would become corrupted by the greed and sin that surrounds them,” he proclaimed mournfully.
Alistair looked at him in disgust. “You’ve been reading too much Stirrglobe.”
/> “A cultured mind is a sharp mind,” Wavesun replied with a laugh.
“You could be focusing on learning more about proper military tactics, or practicing your swordsmanship, but instead you waste your time going to plays and wooing various women,” Alistair retorted.
“You’re just jealous that I’ve been with more women in twenty-seven years than you have in over sixty,” Wavesun replied with a smirk. “Don’t act like you wouldn’t enjoy it if Duchess Sabrepool showed up in Tonbura. What man wouldn’t want that?”
“I just want this damn tournament to be done with so I can get back to Tonbura and continue planning the assault. I still don’t get why I have to be here, Wavesun,” Alistair complained.
“Because you’re the face of the assault. And because the assault is already planned. It’s the militia, Alistair, I know that you’ve been doing your best to turn them into a real fighting force these past few years, but the complexity of any operation based on them is best kept to a minimum. And that’s before we factor the otherworlders into it. At least by being here you can evaluate the fighters you’ll be using tomorrow directly, rather than having to learn their capabilities on the fly, a much better use of your time than sitting in that dark closet you call an office and attempting to improve upon the plan. As the main strategist for this mission, that was my direct evaluation of the situation. Are you trying to say I’m wrong?” Wavesun asked, a hard edge appearing in his voice for the first time.
