by R J Triveri
He shrugged again as he relaxed a bit more into the couch. “Maybe, but really, you’ve done the simulations so many times I don't know what they could teach you. When was the last time one of your skills even evolved in the simulator?” Another knob twisted in his care and the shades around the egg’s incubator fell, hiding the pristine shell from view, and the conversation shifted. “Have you been taking care of your egg?”
As if breaking from a trance, River opened her inventory and took out her egg. The rugby-ball-sized shell was a soft blue now. It didn’t pulse, it didn’t have an incubator, and it certainly wasn’t active. “Nah. I was thinking about selling it on the marketplace. Familiars take way too long to train and eat so much of your experience in those early stages. Maybe when I reach twenty I’ll train it.”
Dante’s eyes shot open in surprise. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You have the perfect partner there, and you won’t take the time to raise it.”
Getting up from her seat, River put it back where it came from and looked at its inventory image. “They aren’t even legal to use in the arena because of the advantages they give. Why would I waste my time when I can’t even use it?”
River regretted her words before they even finished leaving her lips, and she mentally winced. She knew what her words would create as Dante’s lips parted just enough for him to sigh. There was a storm coming by the look of things. It built just behind his lips in the ocean of his mind… but it never touched the shores of her ears. Dante released his pent-up disapproval and settled for a shake of his head. “Just give it a chance.”
River took a moment and let the idea mingle with her own before she answered. “I’ll think about it, but if I sell it, you’ll be the first to know.”
“That’s better than a no.” Dante smirked.
She just smiled a bit and got up. “I think I’m going to do the round robin and stream today. You in?”
Dante opened his windows, examined a few things, and shook his head. “We don’t have to be there today, so you can go without me.”
“You’re really going to skip out on the battlegrounds today?”
He nodded, waving her off with a hand as he focused on his task. “I’ve got twelve hours still that I have to tend to this for, to get a useful familiar. I won’t get another shot at it.”
The thought hadn’t ever occurred to her that he might actually skip out on an event. “Well, you want to at least go to the temple with me afterwards? It’s just down the street, and there are plenty of places we can stop if you need to. I want you to be there.”
“Yeah, but I was left out of the invite. Remember?” Dante helpfully pointed out. “I won’t be allowed in.”
She shrugged her shoulders as her blue hair flowed with her body as she stood up. “I still want you to be there,” River said as she held out her hand. “We’re a team, Dante.”
In a swift movement, he returned the egg to his inventory and took her hand. A smile crossed his face as he accepted. “Yeah, we are.”
She laughed, pulling him to his feet. “Speaking of, you have no idea how many people think that we’re a couple.”
Dante wanted to say something witty right there and then, but laughter made it out before his answer. “If only they knew how wrong they were.”
River did her best to hide the disappointment in her smile as she pulled him into a hug and turned towards the door. “If only,” she added bitterly as she tried to lace her tone with honey to even it out. “See you after the match, Dante.”
He smiled, oblivious to his comment’s effect and opened up another streaming window. “Good luck.”
His oblivious nature didn’t stand a chance as he flinched. The force of the door’s closing was enough to shake his bones and shatter his calm as River began the trek to the stadium.
Chapter Nineteen: Exhibition
There were three common moods for River Hexi: Happy River, Determined River, and Pissed-off River. In this particular moment as she began the trek from the inn to the arena, Pissed River had her moment to shine as colorful curse after curse left her lips. Time and again she had told him, asked him to consider things. Time and again he either forgot, didn’t want to think about it, or didn’t want to take a risk. Every time it hurt, so it was time to do something productive.
It was time for a little damage control in the way of smashing someone else’s face into oblivion.
Idiot, River sighed to herself, not wanting to risk the world hearing about her personal problems as she set up a new SIFS stream. Thankfully for her, Wednesday was an easy day at the arena; there were never any scheduled matches due to Sandra Queen’s decree as champion, just open exhibition matches for anyone interested. It was the perfect opportunity to connect with her fan base and give them a look at the inner workings of the arena while throwing herself a little pity party.
Another quick setup using the pre-set conditions from early wouldn’t let anyone talk, but it was enough to let them get to know her a little bit more before things progressed. She titled her stream as such, but she had other things on her mind at the moment as she arrived in front of the arena.
“Here we are,” she said to no one in particular, garnering a few stares from the people that happened to be close enough to hear her. “The Graywall Arena, home arena of yours truly and the greatest PvP arena on Ciber. I, River Hexi, shall be your guide to the wonderful world of gladiator combat, so stay tuned, guys and gals.”
When she finished talking and turned to look around, things began to take a turn for the strange. Strange even for Incipere’s usual day-to-day strangeness. People began to congregate around her and some even began to fall at her feet.
Unsure of what to do, River took a step back towards the arena, keeping her eyes on the looming group of now twenty people. “Can I help you?” she managed after a moment.
From the look on their faces, they didn’t quite expect what she had said, and it all began at once.
“You’re going to see Unum, right?” one younger woman asked from behind her. Whipping around on her heel, the woman’s long, grass-green hair and golden eyes took River by surprise almost as much as her chromatically shifting eyes. To her question, River nodded, and the woman wasted no time in her response. “Can you take it a message for me?”
Taken aback, River felt a pang. The girl must have been an Inciperian, and she was a direct line to their god. Unsure of what to say as a trade window opened, River simply accepted what appeared to be a note. What harm could it do? If she could ask her creator something, wouldn’t she take the chance? “Sure. Why not?”
With her response and the new item, the crowd murmured like an impending eruption, and the cascading explosion of people began a moment later.
“And me!” a man piped in a new window opened.
“Us too,” a pair of children asked as a second opened next to the first.
“I’ve got one too.” A third joined them.
“Me too!” spurted forth as yet another window flared to life.
“Wait!” River demanded, but few heeded her words as more screens flashed into existence like unwanted pop-ups on a social media site. “I can’t deal with them all. Stop!” She commanded, but the desperate windows kept coming faster and faster, filling her vision before she couldn’t get a word out. People were pressing in closer, mobbing her as she finally snapped. “Vault!”
Using one of the most basic skills of her secondary class, River bent her knees and burst from the crowd into the air. To the awe of those in her wake, she landed outside of the ring of people, most likely other Inciperians, and made a mad dash for the arena gate. If she had still been trying to get a spot, she’d have to wait like everyone else in the entrant line, but as a recognized gladiator in Graywall’s service, things were a little different now. As her feet carried her onto the arena’s official property, a small chime in her ear made her cry out.
“I’m River Hexi!” she nearly screamed as people began their pursuit. “I’m here for
the exhibition matches! Take me to Gladiator’s Wake. The waiting rooms!””
Access request to restricted location [Gladiator’s Wake - Waiting Area] has been selected for transport.
Checking access rights for River Hexi.
...
Rights have been confirmed.
Location accepted. Please prepare for transport.
With that, her stomach lurched, and her data found itself shifted into an overstuffed armchair within the underground realm known as Gladiator’s Wake. Though she didn’t have to, she was still breathing heavily as the screen in front of her came to life with a list of waiting combatants. It was almost too close.
“Well, wasn’t that… interesting,” River said to the stream.
Those people, that mob… word spread pretty quickly, far faster than she would have liked for now. How did champions deal with it? Then again, she wasn’t just a champion, she was going to meet a god. Again, she thought about the way she might act if she got a chance to ask her god something directly. How would she act if she had a single chance to know the meaning of life, the universe, and everything that was and will be? Taking a moment to release the tension that coiled in her body, letting each digital muscle tense and relax in turn, she hoped she wouldn’t act the same way that they did.
Trying to wipe her mind from the mob from just moments ago, she began to peruse the list of awaiting gladiators. For one reason or another, being in control of her actions, big or small, gave her the highest sense of relief she could ask for. As she settled into the plush chair, River checked the list of possible combatants. There were fifty or so candidates that matched her system-designated skill level, but none of them seemed very fun or interesting.
“Hmm, who will be our lucky winner today?”
River sighed as her finger flicked through the first twenty and continued further down the list until she reached an interesting name with an equally interesting class combination.
Opponent Option 41: Ranna Dawna - Rank 17: Samurai [Warrior/Thief]
She had seen warrior-thief combinations before, but samurai was an outcome she hadn’t seen before. Usually, they ended up with something like bandit or waylayer. Samurai though…
Challenge has been sent to Ranna Dawna.
Awaiting a response…
With the challenge sent, there was little more for River to wait. Opening her windows, she looked at the SIFS viewer chart. She wasn’t doing too poorly at a few thousand viewers, but it was peanuts compared to the other day. Then again, she was streaming at an off hour and not going to the temple. She should have known better than to expect a huge outing. A grin crossed her face at that thought; then again, fame wasn’t turning out to be what she’d expected. Being mobbed by worshipers was not quite what she had in mind. Another huff pushed the idea out of her head. That fame would be short-lived, she imagined. Her thoughts began to wander once more as a new notification came to life.
Response received.
Ranna Dawna has accepted your challenge!
As the recipient of the challenge, the following rules have been set:
No exceeds are permitted
No familiars are permitted
As this is an exhibition match, ten (10) Gladiator Credits will be awarded to the winner.
Your exhibition match will begin in one minute.
Please check your armor and weapons, and prepare for transportation.
There will be a forty-five second grace period before combat begins.
And so, River put her feet up, relaxed, and waited as the seconds began to tick down. At the thirty-second mark, she reequipped her sapphire-blue armor and sword. At the twenty-second mark, she turned her attention to her viewers, adjusted the camera just so, and smiled.
“Well, here we go. Wish I could have shown you more, maybe when we’re done here, boys and girls.”
As the timer clicked down to zero, she was gone from Gladiator’s Wake and put into a much more familiar setting.
Chapter Twenty: Match
All around her, the sights, smells, and sounds of the arena filled her senses. From the dry, dusty sand of the arena floor to the cries of the audience, the exhibition was just a toned-down version of her and Dante’s first run to become gladiators. The bright, early morning sun poured in from the open room as an equally familiar voice rang out from all sides. River stood on one side of the arena in her sapphire armor.
Grace Period has begun.
Warning: You have been affected by the condition - Frozen (Duration: 0:45).
On the other, a woman was equipped in an almost-flowing robe. Though the robe could have easily been a dress with its size, but even from this distance, there was something different about the robe. Instead of fibers, the armor was made from innumerable shimmering metal plates that looked like they had been dipped in copper for how vibrant the hues of oranges were. Like River, she wore no helmet, but did have something like a headband holding back her long, almost metallic, purple hair. Her face looked smoothed with youth, but the distance made it hard to tell just how young the other was. At the woman’s side were two scabbards, one long, one short, on top of each other. From the distance, it was hard for River to gauge anything else that could help her, frozen in place as she was.
“And here we are again, folks.” Dressed in his finest blue suit, the Inciperian announcer took center stage between the two frozen combatants. “Our newest champion, River Hexi, has come back for more punishment!” The cheers wafted up from the crowd at his words, but this time, he didn’t wait to enjoy it as the grace-period counter ticked down. “But this time, a long-time combatant awaits her. One of your favorite samurai and mine, Ranna Dawna!”
The audience cheered louder for her than they did River, and that was more than enough for her to want to smash the other into the floor. No one would upstage her if she had her way, and Ranna was just a stepping stone on her way to the top.
Nothing personal, she thought to herself as her mind brushed the thought of crashing steel into the other’s flesh. I’ll make this quick.
“Now, we all know the rules. The match stops at twenty percent, no death, and everything else is just a formality.” Bringing his watch to his eye-level, the announcer grinned. “Let’s start the countdown, folks, in ten…”
Second by second, the crowd chanted with the announcer as River’s muscular data flexed itself. I’m faster, she told herself. I’m stronger. I’m going to crush her and keep going. Each second, she repeated it to herself as the last few seconds ticked away with his words and her status.
“Five…”
River Hexi: Frozen (Duration: 0:04)
“Three…”
River Hexi: Frozen (Duration: 0:02)
“One…”
You have been cured of Frozen!
With the sound of shattering glass, the battle began with a flash of steel and spilled pixels as the combatants went for the first strike marker. River was fast, covering the field in just a few moments, but her opponent was faster as steel flashed from the scabbards at her side.
“Damn!”
River Hexi: Damage Received - 88% Integrity Remaining
Despite her strength and speed, River had miles to go to match the fluid movements of the samurai’s first strikes. In a combination of steel blades, the dual-wielding woman slashed at River’s armor, dragging the blade across her stomach with an audible screech of steel against steel. Before River could counter, Ranna followed up with a stab of the smaller blade in her off-hand that pierced her opponent’s side.
River Hexi: Damage Received - 68% Integrity Remaining
First blood belonged to her opponent as Ranna pulled back a few feet and smirked. “Some gladiator. I was expecting a better reaction time from a Blade Dancer. Dancing is kind of in your name.”
Wounded or not, River gave Ranna that teasing smirk back with a quip of her own.
“Is that all you’ve got, Ranna?” Gripping the wound at her side, River openly smiled as she pulled her swor
d back into combat position. With her sword drawn to her side, the twin blades flourished in her opponent’s hands. Cause if it is, you’re as good as done, she added for her own satisfaction.
The thrill of combat was always something that gave her focus, and she was already three steps ahead of the samurai, Ranna. Samurai or not, she was still a sword user, and River was confident enough. Knowing that Ranna probably shared a lot of her possible skills, the fight only gave River the chance to hone her skills and learn a thing or two.
Her opponent with the long purple hair seemed flustered but smiled back all the same as the pair of blades rested at her side for only a moment. The long, lanky woman held her slender katana ready to strike while her wakizashi prepped to deliver another side strike. Her eyes held the sky within them and only gave a fraction of a hint of the enjoyment River was having. “Oh, I’ve got plenty more where that came from.”
As the pain faded, River checked her status quickly for bleeding, her climbing viewer count, and grinned all the wider as she set things into motion. Things were about to get interesting. “Oh really?” she chimed as she vaulted forward and brought her long blade, Aquamarine, down with a crash against the thinner blade, but Ranna was stronger than her lithe frame would suggest as her ability triggered.
“Blade defense.” Her opponent’s voice was calm as her hands moved faster than River thought possible to block the attack.
Neither blade nor arm budged, bowed, or broke as the weapons took on a mind of their own to defend their owner. The blades glowed with the ability’s intent and held back the tide of combat. Fragmented data sparked off the two blades where they met, and despite their best efforts, the attack still pushed Ranna back a few inches in the top layer of soil-like sand that coated the arena’s floor.
Not bad, River thought to herself with a sense of pride blooming, watching as the combatant across from her braced and worked to hold off her attack. Without the need for mercy, River continued to pour her strength into her arms and press the blade further into the block, but things were rarely that easy.
