by Andrew Rowe
“How uncharacteristically social of you. I should wear my best, since this is clearly a special occasion.”
“I’m pretty sure our school uniforms are the most formal things we have here.”
“I said best, Corin, not most formal.” Sera gave me the kind of smirk that said she was plotting something. I couldn’t imagine how she hoped to embarrass me with what she was going to wear, but I was sure she’d manage it if I didn’t put a stop to this now.
I held my hands up in surrender. “Normal clothes will be just fine.”
Sera raised a hand to her lips, eyes turning upward in thought. “I suppose, but what if—”
“Normal, Sera. We’re going to look perfectly normal.”
She sighed, folding her hands in front of her. “Fine, fine. You always spoil my fun. I suppose I’ll come and keep you company, since you’re clearly ailing right now and need my support.”
I nodded, sincerely grateful. “Let’s go find this place.”
***
Sera insisted on arriving significantly early, but we managed to get lost long enough that we only arrived slightly early.
Esslemont Arena didn’t look like what I expected. It wasn’t an ancient-style coliseum or sports arena. Instead, it looked a bit more like a vast opera house, with expensive décor and expansive interior.
At the ticket sales counter, I mentioned we were there to see one of the combatants. They sent someone to inform Derek, and he arrived a few minutes later.
“Corin, you made it! And who is this lovely lass? Your lady love, perchance?” He gave me a knowing look. I returned one of existential horror.
“...uh, no. She’s family. Anyway, I know you mentioned you could get me in, but you didn’t say anything about two people, sorry. I can buy us tickets, I just wanted to let you know I’m here.”
He waved a hand dismissively. “Nonsense, your family is always welcome. I’m sure I can get you both into an excellent box...but I might have a better offer.”
“What sort of better offer?” Sera asked.
Derek glanced at her, then back at me. “How would you like to try fighting in there?”
I blinked. “I’ve never even seen one of these matches. I have no idea what it entails.”
“It’s not that bad, Corin.” Sera nudged me. “You should do it. Assuming he’d get a cut of any winnings?”
“Of course, of course.” Derek looked me up and down. “You already look well-equipped. You’d be doing me a tremendous favor. My partner dropped out at the last minute, you see, and I’m desperate for someone to fill his slot. I can handle the fighting on my own, for the most part... but I’m signed up for pairs, and they won’t let me in without a partner.”
Ah. Now that explained a great deal.
“I’m still not sure I’d be the best person to bring in there, although I truly appreciate the offer. My attunement isn’t really made for direct combat, but...”
“I’ll do it,” Sera interjected.
She turned around, pulling up her shirt to reveal her Summoner Attunement mark on her back.
That wasn’t strictly a scandalous action — she wasn’t showing much skin — but I was a little surprised and embarrassed to see it. Not because of the location, but because I’d assumed that her attunement was on her right hand, underneath the glove she always wore.
In retrospect, the fact that she always used incantations for her spells was a pretty big indication that her attunement mark was over her lungs. That was characteristic of their style.
“Well, well. You’re a Summoner, Miss Cadence? I think that would complement me quite well...in the arena, of course. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced yet. Derek Hartigan.” He extended a hand. She slipped her glove back into place and reached to shake his hand. He bowed and kissed it instead.
Seriously?
I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help myself. For some people, kissing someone’s hand might have been an old fashioned greeting, but this guy just came across as theatrical.
Sera grinned brightly, showing her teeth. “Well, well. A gentleman. You could teach my brother a thing or two.” She glanced at me, then back to him. “I’m Sera...Sera Cadence. Charmed to meet you.”
I folded my arms at her own theatrics. She winked at me.
She was enjoying this.
With introductions complete, Derek spoke to the gentlemen at the ticket counter, and then escorted us inside.
The clientele were generally well-dressed: top hats, canes, and a few ladies and gentlemen in more obscure fashion. I even noted a few wearing eye masks, similar to the one Keras had worn. That brought him back into my mind.
Had he survived that confrontation with Katashi? Mother’s letter seemed to indicate that he had. I had mixed feelings about that, since I had a pretty poor opinion of the visages, but I knew they generally seemed to work for humanity’s benefit.
There was a good chance that Keras was truly a dangerous criminal, especially if he served the Tyrant in Gold. I’d grown up with stories about how the Tyrant had conquered continent after continent, enslaving millions for his empire. I didn’t know how much of that was true, though, and Keras’ heretical claims about the Tyrant seemed to be at the core of what had started this whole mess. I’d need to do some research on the Tyrant’s children eventually, but it wasn’t a high priority at the moment.
In the meantime, I found myself sitting in a plush chair in high box over what looked like a vast stage. There were dozens of boxes like our own, as well as multiple levels of general seating in more traditional bleachers. Near the stage itself, I also spied an orchestra pit, with a full orchestra setting up their instruments.
Maybe this was an opera house. It was set up very similarly to an opera or theater, with the key exception that the main floor area was significantly larger than any opera stage I’d seen, and there wasn’t any seating down at the stage level. All the seats were overlooking the area where the battle would be taking place.
After a minute or so of searching, I was able to pick out the runes at the edge of the stage that marked the bounds of a barrier field. It was very subtle; the soft glow of the runes blended in with the ambient light cast by lanterns hanging nearby.
This is actually a lot like the way the council room was set up, but this actually looks safer for observers. Maybe the city council should get rid of whoever designed their building and hire a theater architect.
There was only room for two seats in our particular box, so Sera sat while Derek stood and pointed down into the theater area.
“That’s where Sera and I will be fighting once it’s time to begin. I had a few other options, but I feel privileged to have found you, Miss Cadence. I’ve worked with a Summoner before, but never one as striking as yourself.”
From the way Sera’s lips tightened, I could tell she was already starting to regret this.
To Derek’s credit, most people our age probably would have appreciated his complements.
Sera, unfortunately, was more like me than I usually was willing to admit.
Since she had gotten herself into this to make me feel better, I felt a little obligation to ease her suffering. I turned to Derek. “What does she need to know about this? What sort of monsters will she be facing in there?”
Derek leaned back against the balcony, looking precariously close to falling onto the stage. “Typical tower stuff, mostly from the first few floors. I suppose you two haven’t done much of that yet, have you? No matter. You’ll get a chance to watch a couple rounds before we get in there. The important thing to know is the general structure.”
He raised a single hand, and then put a finger from his other hand in between his thumb and his pointer finger. “The stage will be sectioned off before we start. We’ll be in a section here. My other fingers represent walls. There will be monsters in each section.”
Derek lowered his pointer finger. “As soon as the match starts, they’ll lower the first wall, and we’ll have to fight the
first set of monsters. After about a minute...” He lowered his middle finger. “They’ll lower the next wall, and another set will attack, regardless of whether or not we’ve dealt with the first set. This happens until the whole stage is revealed.” He closed his hand. “Then...”
He raised two fingers again. “The last monster will be much stronger than the rest. If we survive that, we’ll move to the opposite side of the stage, and the walls will reset. We get a brief reprieve while Summoners call down more monsters in between each of the wall segments. Once they’re done, the process starts over. Stronger monsters each time.”
Sera nodded. “How long do people typically last?”
“People? Most teams tend to get stopped by the large monster at the end of the first set. Me? My partner and I usually clear two full sets, at which point the Summoners are typically out of mana, and we’ll win for the evening by default.”
I really wanted to ask how much of that was due to his partner. I couldn’t think of a political way to phrase it, though.
Sera solved that problem. “How far do you expect us to make it?”
Derek’s eyes narrowed, and he folded his hands in front of him, looking at Sera with a serious expression. “I wouldn’t risk asking a first-year student to come in here with me if I didn’t think I could take care of this. If for any reason it looks like I’m going to let a monster through that could hurt you, though, step out of the ring. You’ll be out of the fight after that, but you can avoid being hurt that way.”
I frowned. “How do these things usually end, aside from exhausting the Summoners or the contestants leaving the ring?”
“Oh, usually the matches end when the contestants are too badly injured to stand.” Derek chucked. “But you’ve got me here. What are the chances of that?”
***
After that little statement, I took off my shield sigil and demi-gauntlet and handed them to Sera.
She blinked. “Can I even wear these?”
I nodded. “The shield sigils are weak enough that two probably won’t interfere with each other, but wear them on opposite sides of your tunic just in case. If you had five, they probably wouldn’t work. As for the gauntlet...the glove will be big on you, so it might be uncomfortable, but it should function.”
Derek furrowed his brow. “What does that glove do? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything quite like it.”
Sera slipped her normal glove off, and I helped her put the gauntlet on in its place. “It’s basically a dueling cane in glove form. Stronger than a typical practice cane, weaker than a full war-cane.”
“Hrm. Interesting. Magical items are legal down there — I have several myself — but I can’t say I’ve seen a glove with an offensive design. Should be quite interesting. Hopefully the crowd will like it.”
I wasn’t sure why that was relevant, but I realized Derek probably was here for more than coin. “Do more popular combatants get paid better or some such?”
Derek smiled. “Ah, an excellent question. Better fighters win both glory and more rewards. Each Survival Match is a self-contained event, with specific prizes for the winner and much smaller prizes for everyone else. Winning matches consistently, and in entertaining ways, has the potential to earn sponsors for additional sources of income. Finally, excellent fighters can earn their way into championship matches.”
Sera nodded along with his explanation. “And I take it you’re looking for sponsorship?”
“Oh, no, I don’t need that. I’m much more interested in an invitation to this year’s championships. They often have crowds of thousands, and the summoned monsters are often spectacular.”
In it for the glory, then. I sincerely hoped that attitude wouldn’t put Sera at risk. It would make him look bad if Sera was hurt down there, wouldn’t it?
I certainly hoped so.
My left hand settled on the hilt of the saber at my side.
Even if Sera was carrying most of my equipment, I wouldn’t hesitate to intervene if it looked like she was in serious danger.
I hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that.
“It’s time.” A well-dressed man appeared behind the box, bowing toward Derek.
“Ah, thank you Thomas. Miss Cadence, we’ll need to head below to prepare. Shall we?”
He offered Sera his arm. Sera flashed him another grin and accepted.
“Don’t get killed down there.”
Sera snickered. “Don’t get killed up here, either.”
“I will endeavor not to, but no promises.”
My grip tightened around the hilt of my sword as the pair disappeared.
***
Given what I’d seen of Derek’s attitude thus far, I was barely even surprised when he and Sera appeared on stage as the first contestants of the evening.
I’d been given a program booklet by one of the attendants, and he scheduled to be going toward the middle of the night. He was listed along with a partner named Elora Theas.
Had the organizers decided to move him and Sera up to an earlier part of the show, or had he deliberately manipulated this turn of events for some reason? I couldn’t be sure, but I was leaning toward the latter.
Perhaps even more interesting was his partner’s name. Elora Theas. Was she the Councilor Theas that had been working with my mother? That woman had been roughly Derek’s age.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” The voice seemed to emit from all around me. No announcer was visible. “Tonight, we present three-time champion, Derek Hartigan, alongside a new partner. Sera, of the legendary House Cadence!”
Polite, but subdued clapping from the crowd. The only cheering came from the bleachers sections, which seemed to be mostly populated by other students. The well-dressed nobles in the boxes were much more restrained with their applause.
A light emanated from a rune-etched tile above the theater, marking a line that divided off a small section of the stage. “Contestants, proceed to your starting area for the raising of the walls!”
Sera looked vastly less nervous than I felt. If anything, she just looked intense, her eyes focused straight ahead and her jaw clenched tight.
Derek looked joyous. He twirled on his heels, raising his hand to wave, and occasionally blowing a few kisses into the crowd.
When they reached the marked-off section of the stage, a voice boomed again.
“Contestants, ready yourselves! The summoning is about to begin!”
Sera glanced back and forth, showing a hint of nervousness for the first time.
Derek just stood with his back straight, his head held high.
“Walls...ascend!”
As the announcer spoke, four walls of solid mana appeared at equal intervals across the stage. I couldn’t see the casters, but I could recognize Shaper work. Walls of that size and thickness were fairly impressive. No student my age could manage anything on that scale. It would have been trivial for my father, but most magic tended to be.
The important part was that the walls were opaque, meaning Sera and Derek wouldn’t be able to see anything behind them. From my vantage point above, though, I could see each individual section in advance.
It was hard to tell from a distance, but I estimated each section to be about fifteen feet across, meaning a fast monster could close the distance between sections within a couple seconds.
The effect?
Tension, for both the people inside the arena and the watchers.
I drew in a sharp breath as the monsters began to appear and the musicians began to play.
“Contestants...Begin!”
The first wall lifted — and a dozen clawed monstrosities rushed the defending pair.
The creatures were humanoid, roughly four feet tall, with reddish brown hide. I’d never seen anything like them.
Sera stepped backward and raised her hand, firing a blast from the gauntlet into the onrushing crowd. The mana sphere tore straight through one of the creatures, downing it instantly, and burned the arm off of another.
> My eyes narrowed. I’d built that thing. I knew it wasn’t that powerful. Was it more effective because these creatures were summoned figments of monsters, rather than real ones? I’d never fought a figment. I didn’t know how resilient they were.
Regardless of that early success, the other eleven were nearly on top of them by the time Sera recovered to fire a second blast.
Derek stepped in front of her, drawing his sword and swinging it in the same motion. A wave of flame swept out from the blade, incinerating four more of the creatures. He spun left, physically slashing one of the onrushing creatures in half, then unleashed a vertical shockwave of flame with an upward cut. The wave of fire tore another of the creatures asunder, while Sera fired another two blasts, eliminating two more threats.
The remaining creatures pulled back, looking wary.
Derek rushed forward with an expression of manic glee on his face, cutting the last few creatures apart in moments.
I joined in the ensuing clapping, but my mind was whirring in several directions. This seemed too easy, but then again, Derek had seemed very confident.
I noticed Sera rubbing her right hand with her left. She wasn’t used to using the gauntlet, but she’d been practicing with a dueling cane for years. I assumed she had a significant amount of mana to work with. I’d never asked. I hoped I hadn’t given her a tool that could potentially harm her.
“Stay back here and support me from range.” Derek’s voice was being amplified somehow. I could hear it clearly from my location in the box. One of the parts of the spectacle, I presumed.
“No problem,” Sera replied.
The next wall vanished, revealing a group of green and blue slimes. Sera whispered something.
Interesting, she must have been so quiet that the sound-amplifying spells didn’t pick it up.
Four spheres of ice appeared around Sera, rotating in orbit.
A defensive spell? I haven’t seen that one before.
Derek pressed forward, swinging his weapon with reckless abandon. The slimes never managed to get close; his blade tore them apart like paper.
I noted a long vein of crimson running through the center of the blade, meaning that the flames I’d seen before probably came from the weapon itself, not one of Derek’s attunement abilities. Or perhaps some combination of both, like how I’d learned to manipulate the aura of my own sword.
