by R J Triveri
River Hexi => Dante Rior: As ready as I can be. I’ll try not to hurt you too much.
Dante Rior => River Hexi: Funny, I was going to try and hurt you to within an inch of your life. It’s kind of the point of what we’re doing.
She chuckled at that.
River Hexi => Dante Rior: Fine, don’t take my condolences. I’ll be kicking your ass soon enough.
Dante Rior => River Hexi: And here I didn’t think you cared.
She couldn’t help but relax a bit as the whispers came to a halt, and she was left with her own dangerous thoughts. Even if there were safeties in place, could she really attack him? Her breath left her as she realized, once again, things weren’t quite thought through enough.
Unsheathing the sword at her side, River gave it a long studying glance that ended at the blade’s tip. She had struck him plenty of times in practice, but it’d always seemed… easier. They weren’t going for kill shots, just practice and forcing their abilities to adapt to their combat styles.
As the fight in front of her continued, she focused on her resolve. Taking Dante down would be easy if she kept that. Hands and focus, silence him with a gut punch if she could get close enough, and don’t forget to make it impressive. It was all-or-nothing against her friend, and if he had any respect for her, he’d be going all-in as well.
Cheers erupted from the screen as one of the two warriors fell in a cloud of dust, and a counter appeared. From thirty, it began counting towards the only thing something like that could be.
Show time.
***
The voice of the announcer boomed above everything else on a beautiful, sun-struck day in the Graywall Colosseum as he did what he did best: drive the crowds wild.
“Can you feel the passion behind those fighters’ eyes, folks?”
And they ate it up like starving people at an all-you-an-eat buffet. The crowd roared in excitement as the sounds of steel crashing against stone filled the air, amplified by the stadium’s programing and the multiple view screens scattered in the higher seats. Sparks flew in more than one way as the latest clash exceeded all expectations from the crowd. What was supposed to be a qualifying bout had become so much more. Two complete newcomers to the scene were putting on a performance worthy of a main event in its intensity.
River Hexi: Damage Received - 45% Integrity Remaining
Dante Rior: Damage Received - 82% Integrity Remaining
A burst of weaponized, compressed air pushed the two apart as the narrator pleaded to the crowd.
“Well, let them hear it!”
Without the need for the crowd’s encouragement, River and Dante were already at it again as soon as the spell’s effect dissipated. River was a wonder as she wielded a sword: long, sharp, and bejeweled to match her sapphire armor and hair. Fully in her element of combat, she moved like her namesake as the blade swiped up and tried to get close enough to cut her opponent’s hand as his shielded gauntlet blocked her sword’s blade for the last time. With the sound of a satisfying crystalline explosion, the protection spell expired.
Dante Rior: Damage Received - 72% Integrity Remaining
“Will you look at that!” the announcer bellowed. “Looks like River’s going to try and take out Dante’s hands!”
Dante Rior: Damage Received - 66% Integrity Remaining
As if he had been expecting it, her opponent held up his pair of runed, graystone gauntlets to block the blade and take a small hit to his integrity. He ignored the dropping numbers to bring the top of his graystone focus against her sword. Dante looked at her with a grin painting his face as the focus began to glow and crackle with yellow energy. “You’re going to have to do better than that, River.”
“Do I?”
Dante Rior => River Hexi: You’re not going to get an easy win on me!
But from the smile that blossomed on her face, that smugness was exactly what she had been waiting for.
River looked at him coyly through the hair that obscured her eyes as she mirrored his grin and brought her foot swiftly against his hip, knocking the breath from him. His body took the full force and bent like molten glass around her foot as it collided with the cloth and leather that made up his battle-casting armor.
Dante Rior: Damage Received - 51% Integrity Remaining
Dante’s focus fell from his hand the moment he impacted the arena floor, taking his gauntlets with it. Before he had a chance to recover, River had already arrived to intercept, standing over him and grinning like a madwoman. “How’s that, Seeker?”
Dante groaned as he tried to recover and reached for his focus only to have the blade of her sword driven into his hand.
Dante Rior: Damage Received - 39% Integrity Remaining
Though the pain was obvious on her friend’s face, she gratefully knew it wouldn’t last too long thanks to the limiters in place. “Give it up, Dante! You can’t beat me.”
The announcer cut her gloating short as the arena AI repeated her words to the crowd. The cheering grew louder with Dante’s cry, but it only lasted a moment.
Dante bore the pain and looked back at her as his integrity dropped by the second. The height of the pain contorted his face, but he smiled despite it. “Then—” he lost focus for a moment as she twisted the blade and his integrity dropped again— “neither of us will, River!” His eyes shimmered with light as she realized her mistake and tried to pull the blade back from his hand. “Fulgoris!”
Skill cost extracted: Dante Rior - 24% Integrity Remaining
No matter how fast her reaction time was compared to his, it was already too late.
Energy arced from his flesh, through her blade, and jumped inside her armor as River screamed in a combination of pain and surprise. Without Dante’s focus to direct the current and target her, the ability rebounded at him as a weaker area-of-effect. The enchanted lightning wasn’t picky as the elemental power lit every nerve in their bodies…
Critical Hit! River Hexi: Damage Received - 18% Integrity Remaining
You are now paralyzed (2:00).
You are now disabled (Conditional - Arena Law).
Dante Rior: Damage Received - 12% Integrity Remaining
You are now disabled (Conditional - Arena Law).
… and took them both below the safety threshold.
The only one on the floor of the arena that didn’t wear a face of distorted pain was the announcer, and it only drove him on. His voice picked up on the crowd’s excitement and exploded with the result of their combat. “And that’s it! A double knockout!”
With those all too uncommon words, the crowd was torn.
Should they cheer?
Should they do nothing?
Most importantly, who was the match payout going to go to?
No one group made the majority as the medical team made their way to the middle of the arena where the pair lay. Paralyzed by the effects of the law of the land, the spell’s status effect, and the damage cap, neither could move until they had been properly attended to. Not that either were in a mood to continue the fight.
Laughing to himself, Dante was the first to break the dome of silence between the pair. “That’s what you get for impaling my good hand.”
“You’re ambidextrous, jerk,” River managed through clenched teeth as the weight of the loss sunk in. “So much for becoming a regular.”
“Don’t cut yourself short, River,” Dante laughed as his friend groaned at another forced joke at her expense. “Can’t you just enjoy the crowd for a moment?”
Once the medical team reached their sides, healing salves were applied as liberally as they were vigorously, and the pair were able to stand. Despite the now-overwhelming cheers of the crowd, River wasn’t in as high spirits as her friend. “That was our debut, Dante. Our chance at SIFS fame.” She sighed through the healing ministrations of the salve as she felt her lethargy and pain seep into nothingness. “We couldn’t have blown it more unless we died.”
Dante punched her shoulder and smiled.
When it wasn’t returned, his hand rested on her shoulder as he used the other to emphasis the noise from all around them. “Oh come on, River. They loved it.” When just a hint of a grin confirmed his words, Dante gave her shoulder a knowing squeeze and continued. “Who cares about what anyone thinks anyways?”
Before River could get another word in edgewise against Dante’s defense, the announcer appeared in the air between them, pushed them apart with a burst of air, and pulled them back together by their shoulders to stand at his sides. His black suit and black tie only made the dark gleam of his greasy, black hair all the more impressive in the dusty arena. His booming voice nearly damaged their integrity as he commentated the results.
“River Hexi and Dante Rior everyone!” he declared as if the pair’s names weren’t already on the lips and ears of the crowds. “What a first go at the arena! You’d think they weren’t just a bunch of new gladiators!” He squeezed their shoulders and moved in, using his best stage whisper to draw them into his show. “Smile. You’re a hit.”
Those words only meant one thing.
Her smile only grew as she realized just how well the match had gone over, and her sword raised into the air in victory a moment later. The glimmering, blue sapphires on her sword caught the light and threw the hues of the ocean across the barren grounds for a single moment. “About damn time.”
Dante’s performance only faltered for a moment, but he raised his hand and let his focus pixelate back into his inventory from its spot on the arena floor as he waved. So much for his dungeon-delving career idea, but River never liked risking herself, even for a chance at an amazing piece of loot. He had come to Incipere for a chance at adventure, exploration, and to start everything anew. Why would he really want to cultivate himself and be a star on the SIFS? To have his life tracked like stats on a wiki? The mask that hid his feelings was perfect though. Not even his friend could tell he wasn’t excited at the good luck.
River, though… her smile was as wide as the sky and as bright as the sun as the crowd fed into the black hole that sometimes replaced her ego, and that made his mask all the easier to hold onto.
“Our two newest gladiators will be vying for their chance against our reigning champion, Sandra Queen, better known as the Scarlet Blade!” At the champion’s name, the crowd’s hoots and whoops grew all the louder. The announcer only grinned wider at the strings his words pulled into order. “Who, may I remind you, has been undefeated for the last five months!”
He released the pair and turned to address the crowds alone. A moment after he turned, the announcer’s face appeared on screens all over the arena of Graywall. “Can River, the Sapphire Swordswoman—” his hand grasped River’s upheld hand a moment after speaking her name— “or Dante, the Incorrigible Seeker, fight their way to the top and topple a perfect winning streak?” The crowd cheered, booed, hooted, and hollered as the announcer pleaded his case. “By the judge’s decree, you won’t have to wait long.”
Across the view windows throughout the arena, a pair of screen names and scores appeared:
Judge’s Decision
River Hexi: 92/100
Dante Rior: 90/100
The cheers of the crowd were only dwarfed by the cries of the announcer as he declared, “Well, well! It looks like these two broke the mold today and are now both registered combatants!”
Dante’s mask faltered for only a moment as a silent curse crossed his lips, but that was enough for River to notice.
River Hexi => Dante Rior: You okay?
He smiled, gave her an affirmative nod of his head, and replied quickly.
Dante Rior => River Hexi: Just surprised is all. I didn’t expect to make it past the preliminary round.
River shrugged, giving him only the slightest hint of a frown before her face began to glow. She smiled and took another moment to bask in the crowd’s praise before the ground beneath the pair began to glow in a blinding white light.
A moment later, the pair were nowhere to be seen as the announcer continued unabated. “While they get to know the gladiator’s rest area, why don’t we check in on our next bout, shall we?”
The applause took a hit to its integrity as the announcer listed off a pair of well-known, brutish gladiators. With such an intense warm-up, the lack of magic and fancy acrobatics did not do the two axe-wielding gladiators any favors.
Chapter Eight: Star Struck
“Damn you, Gama!”
As the world lurched back into focus around them, Dante was the first to get back his bearings while River held her stomach as nausea took hold once again. Despite being the heartier of the pair, she always had trouble when it came to using teleportation. Neither of them really knew why River had so many issues with a common means of travel, but River still held onto her belief that Gama somehow slipped it into her data when she was downloaded the first time as some sort of prank.
Holding back a defeating chuckle, Dante brought their new surroundings to her attention. “Look at all this.”
With his words, River’s curiosity did her a gracious favor and fought back the growing urge to purge some integrity. It took a moment, but she came back to her senses as the momentary nausea passed.
Though the new ready room might not be anything special for the veterans, the pair of newcomers looked at it with fresh eyes, thanks in part to the challenger’s rooms they had just been in, and it wasn’t just thanks to the stadium-sized venue. There were plenty of plush, padded chairs facing just as many personal view screens with every angle of the current fight ready to be called upon at a moment’s notice and a polished marble floor made up of thousands of smaller tiles graying from the center of the room and bled into walls of intricately carved, softly glowing graystone. The room even had its own travel arch at the far end of the room in a tiny, well-lit alcove. Everything there stunk of a power and prestige that could only come from a professional, wealthy organization.
But even with that fresh perspective, there still wasn’t that much to see. The biggest change was noted by River as Dante pointed out a large stand at the end of the longest wall. River mentally noted the area as the vendor’s desk for the gladiators. From her research, there were more than likely a few things over there for her to learn about in the future. For one, she knew well enough that the fights didn’t pay out in bytes, but in gladiator credits. Those credits had to be spent somewhere close by, so why not in a place where only the victors could reach?
Another important place lingered just above the main desk where a crowd had already gathered. There was a soft, blue screen filled with information that would superimpose itself on her vision the longer she stared.
“Well, isn’t that an easy way to find your place,” River said with a satisfied smile. The screen turned out to be a list of matches, challenge types, venues, and times for each pair of combatants. With a deep pride, she realized that her and Dante’s names would be up there soon enough.
“It’s a lot nicer than the small time, isn’t it?” Dante pointed out. When she didn’t respond, he looked to his side. “River?” But his efforts couldn’t begin to catch his cohort’s attentions. With a little more effort, he prodded her in the ribs with his closest knuckle and repeated his question. “River?”
“Look!” she said with a hushed excitement she’d only used a few times in her life.
“What?” came the obvious question as his gaze was drawn towards where her saucer-pan eyes were glued, and then he understood.
“It’s Sandra Queen.”
He wasn’t as familiar with the back of the gladiator as River must have been. “Are you sure? Red armor is popular in the high tiers. Isn’t it?”
“Not for the gladiators, Dante. She’s the only one allowed to wear it right now to prevent confusion in matches. Didn’t you see the message I sent you about restrictions last week?”
River knew his signs. That look was all too familiar as he shrugged his shoulders helplessly. She didn’t need anything else to know that he hadn’t both
ered. Not that it took a rocket scientist to guess why. Like he had told her before, he didn’t really think he’d make it this far to need to care.
Taking her word for it, he took her revelation a little more seriously and took a closer look to study the woman. Long brown hair, red armor with gold trim still could have been anyone, but the weapon at her side clinched it for him. He’d recognize Flusica anywhere. The weapon itself was a rare scimitar drop off a mob deep in the Silka Desert, but the skin was retired once she became champion as per the traditions of the arena champion, and the customization work for the runes made it really stand out as they danced a soft blue in the soft white runic light of the room.
So sure enough, there she was. Standing at the vendor’s desk with her back to them, the Scarlet Blade was trading in some of her credits to the vendor desk. To Dante, it made sense to see her a few hours before her scheduled bout, but that wasn’t what made his smile bloom. He rarely had this kind of chance. With that knowing grin, he prodded his friend in the side. “Why don’t you go say hello?”
“I can’t just walk up to her.”
“And why not?”
“I mean, she’s her, and I’m… not.”
Dante prodded her again with a little more force. “She’s a gladiator, so are you.”
River sighed a bit as she watched the star of the arena navigate a few more windows from her safe distance. “Yeah, barely.”
“Look, if you’re ever going to beat her, you have to at least talk to her,” Dante pointed out as he tried to make their conversation seem less obvious than it was as another gladiator entered the room from the porter.
River looked at her, then at Dante, then sighed so loudly that her sword knocked against the armor that almost painted her legs. “Fine, smart ass.”
He only smiled as his logic won out again. He bowed, adding a slight flourish of his good hand as he reached the lowest point. “Thank you for noticing. You know, there was a reason why Gama recommended mage for me.”
She only grumbled as she left her friend behind and approached the impending red figure. In doing so, River did her best to stay composed. Her recent progress in Incipere had been one step to building herself into the champion she wanted to be, but it didn’t stop her from being nervous. To her, having a chance to meet Sandra Queen was like meeting the Unum itself. Sandra Queen, the Scarlet Blade, had been her idol for as long as she could remember. She had seen every recorded bout the woman had fought in, for god’s sake! “Excuse me?”
