by Jakob Tanner
“B-b-but,” Regulus stammered.
“Are you really going to argue with me,” snapped Tiberius. “Is that how little you believe in the team representing your tower race?”
The Caesarians had no faith in their own soldier class.
None of them believed Tiberius and his team could win without cheating.
Many many years ago, Tiberius waited at the gates of Caesaria to hear news from his parents.
The sun was setting and it didn’t look like any more climbers would be returning home to the city that night.
A hand was placed on his shoulder.
“We’ve heard from your parents, little one,” said an older man in a robe.
He stood with another man.
They were known as scribes—the tower clerks that managed and stored information on Caesarian discoveries in the tower.
“Mama! Papa,” cried Tiberius, eyes widening with excitement.
It had been months since they had left on their mission. He’d been awaiting their return eagerly.
He couldn’t wait to hug his parents again.
He couldn’t wait for them to tuck him into bed and kiss him goodnight.
“They won’t be coming back, little one,” said the robed man.
Tiberius suddenly felt hollow all throughout his body.
“What do you mean?” asked Tiberius. “They won’t be back tonight, but they’ll be here soon?”
“No,” said the robed man. “They’re gone. Lost to the tower. Dead.”
Tiberius’ eyes began to brim with tears.
Mama...Papa...
They were dead?
He shook his head, vehemently, as if by merely disagreeing with the robed man he could somehow make the man’s words untrue.
The robed man placed a hand on Tiberius’ shoulder.
“I know this is hard news to take, little one, but can you tell us: do you have a place to stay?”
Tiberius nodded as tears rushed down his face.
He’d been staying with his aunt ever since mama and papa had left.
“Just wait here,” said the robed man. “We’ll confirm that and we can let you go.”
The two robed men walked away, just out of earshot of Tiberius.
One of them materialized a book to check the Caesarian citizen registry.
Tiberius watched them talk in hushed whispers.
He crept up a bit closer so he could hear what they were saying.
“Did you see how dense the kid is?” sneered the robed man. “I had to really spell it out for him.”
“Well, what did you expect of the child of two soldier class citizens,” said the other.
“Meat shields aren’t known for their brains, are they?” chuckled the other one.
Tiberius clenched his fists.
His parents had just died. Died protecting Caesaria and exploring the tower.
How could these two think so little of people who kept their lives safe and comfortable?
“Honestly, the soldier class is the lowest of the low,” said the robed man. “And it looks like the kid’s answer checks out. He’s got an aunt he’s staying with.”
“Good riddance. Who needs another deadbeat soldier class in the system.”
The two robed men turned to check on the boy, but he was nowhere in sight.
Tiberius was sprinting down the streets as fast as he could, leaving a trail of tears behind him.
He’d show those two bastards, he thought to himself.
He’d show everyone.
Most of all his parents.
He’d show them that he’d be a soldier class citizen to make them proud.
“Get out,” shouted Tiberius. “I don’t want your help. We don’t need your help!”
Regulus’ eyes widened in shock at the outburst.
“Excuse me, do you know who you’re talking to?”
“Yeah, I know,” said Tiberius. “Someone who doesn’t believe in his own people. Well, get out. I’ll show you all.”
Tiberius eyes burned with a fire Regulus was clearly shocked by.
The ambassador left the office with no further argument.
Tiberius seethed with anger.
He turned around and looked out the window at the coliseum in the distance.
Tomorrow was the start of everything he’d been working towards.
Tomorrow was the first step towards proving Regulus wrong and all those people who spoke ill of his parents.
He’d show every single one of them that the soldier class was worthy of just as much respect as all the other Caesarian classes.
He clenched his fists.
He’d show them all tomorrow when his squad absolutely crushed the human team.
49
The next day, Max and the rest of the team walked into the gravelly pit of the tournament’s arena.
The arena was packed with spectators, roaring with excitement as they entered the ring.
“Remember,” said Blake. “Stay calm. The cheering crowds can add pressure you don’t want if you let it.”
“Another good tip,” said Harold. “Is to imagine everyone in the stands naked. That always calms me right down.”
“Of course, you would do that,” said Casey. “You’re a pervy old geezer!”
Max and Sarah chuckled.
“Either way,” said Sarah. “Your banter has made me relax a little.”
Sarah was right. Max had been really nervous—still was—but he hadn’t wanted to vocalize it in fear of harming the team’s morale.
Casey yelling at Harold for being a rotten old pervert had somehow calmed him down.
Max ignored the cheering spectators and focused on the Caesarian team entering the arena pit from the other side.
The other team glared right back at them.
“Ladies and gentleman!!” came Regulus’ voice, booming across the arena.
He was on the podium with his partner Hermia like at the start of the previous challenge.
“Are you ready for the first round of the semi-finals!!??”
The crowd roared.
“That’s right,” Regulus said. “Let’s hear it for Team Caesaria in one corner and Team Zestiris in another. Let the games begin!!!”
The crowd roared and the ambassadors’ floating podium returned to its viewer’s box area of the arena.
Soon after, the purple mana puddle appeared in the center of the arena and spread forth until it covered the entire circular area of the arena pit. Then it began to rise.
“Now!” shouted Max.
The whole team dropped onto all fours, so they were lying on their stomach.
It was an idea Max had come up with during their week of strategizing and training.
If every second counted in these challenges, why waste time waiting for the simulation to rise above your head when you could drop down and see what type of environment was appearing right away?
The strategy gained their team at least a full thirty-seconds head start over the other.
Lying on his stomach, Max was able to take in the environment straight away.
The ground was hard concrete.
There were buildings forming in the distance.
The simulated environment was going to be an urban landscape.
Good thing we prepared for this, Max thought.
Regulus stood in the viewer’s box with Hermia.
Sabriel sat behind them, already viewing her own personal mana screen to watch the contest.
All three of them had gasped in shock at the stunning aggression of the human team.
They had dropped to the ground to get a head start in the challenge.
It was an impressive tactic.
But it won’t be enough, Regulus thought to himself.
“What kind of game is it again?” asked Hermia.
Regulus grinned. He’d changed the challenge at the last minute. After Tiberius had rudely kicked him out, he had to take matters into his own hands. He’d make the chal
lenge suit the Caesarian team’s strengths as best he could.
“The humans are in for a tough challenge,” Sabriel mused behind them. “The challenge definitely favors the Caesarians.”
Hermia looked at the arena to see the transparent structures of an urban environment forming.
“I see,” said Hermia.
“That’s right. The challenge plays on the Caesarian’s strengths while exploiting the human team’s weaknesses,” Regulus explained with a devilish smile. “The challenge is known as The Bomb Scenario. An asymmetrical team match. Exactly what the humans were most likely praying it wouldn’t be.”
The simulated environment was fully formed.
They were in an abandoned city. The roads were empty except for vehicles that had been looted and broken down for a long time. Tall skyscrapers filled the city, though some of them were bombed out and only remained as half-formed structures.
Before Max could take in any more of the environment, a message appeared in his retina.
Challenge: Bomb Scenario (asymmetrical) (round one)
Team Role: Anti-Bomb Squad
Victory Goal: Stop the bomb squad from
detonating the bomb.
Respawn 1 minute after death.
Total Game Time: 30 minutes
Max took in the challenge.
It was as he suspected as soon as he saw the urban environment forming: the challenge was an asymmetrical team battle.
“What kind of game is this?” balked Casey.
“An asymmetrical one,” said Blake. “Exactly what we were hoping not to get.”
“Which is why we prepared for such a scenario just in case,” said Harold.
The old man quickly went over the rules summed up in the challenge message.
“If you check your profile,” said the old man, “you should be able to see a map. There’s a red dot flashing, which is where the bombsite is. That’s where we should head out to intercept the Caesarians.”
“Wait—” said Max. “We have no time to waste and I think I have a better idea.”
Tiberius and his team stood in the burned-out-husk of a destroyed building.
It was their starting location.
He looked out to the pale pink sky that blanketed the ruined urban landscape.
“Looks like the challenge is in our favor boss,” said Marcellus. “What’s the plan?”
Asymmetrical challenge, huh? Tiberius thought to himself. This has Regulus written all over it. No matter what I do or say, he still feels the need to give us an unfair advantage.
“Alright, we’re the bomb-planter squad,” said Tiberius. “We should rush the other team before they have an opportunity to intercept us near the bombsite. Let’s move—”
“Um, boss,” said Hadriana. “Is your infrared sensor on?”
Tiberius lifted his hand and clicked a button on the piece of tech that covered his left eye. The surrounding simulation changed and he spotted a crowd of five bodies coming towards them.
It couldn’t be...
They must have utilized those precious extra seconds when entering the simulation first and wasted no time.
Tiberius was about to bark an order when a flame ball flew out of the sky lighting up Hadriana’s entire body.
“Arghhhhh!”
Tiberius looked to his left and saw Marcellus get chopped in half with an air katana.
Marcellus spat blood before his body shattered and disappeared from the simulation.
Damn it, thought Tiberius. They won’t respawn for another minute. They’ve really caught us on the back foot!
Over his shoulder, two more members of their team got their necks twisted right off by the human team’s A-ranker.
Damn it!
If I survive this assault for the next minute, we might have a chance at making a last-second comeback, but if I die, they’ll just farm the respawn point and the first match will go to the humans.
He was surrounded by the entire human team.
The red-haired climber rushed towards him.
The prick, Tiberius thought. Not only were they humiliating them with their aggressive tactics, but they’d go so far as to send their C-ranker against the best person on our team?
The audacity!
The red-haired climber was seconds away.
Tiberius conjured his mana blade and lifted it above his head.
He was readying to split the red-haired human in two.
“You fool,” spat Tiberius as the kid came into range.
Tiberius swung his mana blade down.
SHIIIIIIIIING!
Tiberius couldn’t believe his eyes.
What’s this?
Meeting his sword slice halfway was a mana sword of the boy’s own.
It was a katana composed entirely of flames.
More impressive, the boy had enough power to hold back the strength of his attack.
Tiberius gripped his mana blade and poured his strength forth.
The red-haired climber winced as Tiberius overpowered him.
“You foolish boy,” spat Tiberius. “Did you really think a C-ranker could beat an A-ranker? Even with your flashy little tricks?”
“I think you’re the fool,” said the red-haired climber. “You’re obsessed with the C-ranker in front of you when there’s an A-ranker who can manipulate time right behind you.”
With that, the old man on the human team twisted Tiberius’ neck so hard he was dead in seconds, shattering out of the simulation.
The crowd gasped with awed amazement.
Regulus and Hermia were looking in their own personal mana screens with just as much surprise as the audience.
“I thought you said the humans would be at a disadvantage in this type of fight?” asked Hermia.
Regulus wiped his brow.
“I clearly have underestimated them,” said the ambassador. “From the start of the match they took control with a fearless aggression. Even though the match lasts another few minutes, there’s no way the Caesarian team can recover with the human team surrounding their starting area.”
Regulus looked at the red-haired climber in his mana screen.
That boy was truly something else. From his fighting abilities to his quick on-the-fly strategizing. To think he was only C-rank.
Regulus shuddered at what the boy might become at higher levels of power.
“This boy is incredible,” said a voice behind them.
Regulus turned around and saw Sabriel in front of her mana screen, looking at it with awe.
“You think so, Sabriel?” Regulus’ voice shivered.
“Indeed,” said the tower god. “He must have combined his comrades’ abilities to create that flame sword; and that was only the third most impressive thing he did in the fight.”
Regulus didn’t feel any more at ease hearing the praise from the tower god.
That red-haired kid could turn out to be quite the trump card for the humans; a nuisance for the rest of the alliance.
The words of the tower god behind him pretty much confirmed it.
50
After a few minutes there was a blip and Max felt nauseous and strange.
He blinked and when he opened his eyes again, he was in a different part of the map with his teammates.
“Was that it?” said Casey.
“Yep,” said Blake. “Looks like we won round one.”
“If we win this round, we win the overall match and head to the tournament finals,” said Harold.
Max didn’t join in the conversation, taking a moment to catch his breath.
He waited for the challenge to appear in his retina.
Challenge: Bomb Scenario (asymmetrical) (round two)
Team Role: Bomb-Planter Squad
Victory Goal: Head to Bombsite, Plant
Bomb, and Ensure Blast By Defending For Five Minutes.
Respawn 1 minute after death.
Total Game Time: 30 minutes
“There’s the challenge message,
” said Max. “Okay, we’ve swapped positions; but we benefit hugely from the knowledge of the first round. Let’s not make the mistake the other team did, let’s start heading towards the bombsite, right now.”
Everyone nodded and they started sprinting down the depopulated empty street of the war-ravaged city.
“Is the plan really just to head to the bombsite and plant the bomb?” asked Sarah. “That feels a little too simple for a Max Rainhart strategy, no?”
“I agree,” said Harold. “It’s a bit basic.”
Max wanted to yell, “I don’t see you coming up with any good ideas Mr. Most Powerful Guy On Our Team!” but he didn’t waste his breath.
Their plan was basic, because he was still coming up with a plan; but he did know the overarching goal was to plant the bomb at the bombsite. With that in mind, he figured they shouldn’t be wasting any time standing around.
They could head to the bombsite while he thought of a better idea.
And then it came to him.
“Okay, I got it,” said Max, as they moved through the burned-out rubble of the city. “We have a double advantage. We know where the anti-bomb squad starting position is. Blake and Casey—I want you to intercept the Caesarians and prevent them for as long as you can from getting closer to the bombsite. Meanwhile, Harold, Sarah, and I will guard the bombsite.”
“I like it,” said Blake, a big lump of ash fell as he ran with a burning cigarette in his mouth. “You ready to light some more paper cutouts on fire, Casey?”
“It’s called origami, moron,” snapped Casey. “But yes, yes I am.”
Casey and Blake rushed through alleyways of the ruined city, heading in the direction of the anti-bomb squad’s starting area.
They kept in mind that the Caesarians had probably already started heading towards the bombsite, so they had readjusted their course to match.
