by Seth Ring
Just the thought of Mina, one of the best PvPers in the game, and Thorn teaming up on unsuspecting gladiator teams was enough to make Baxby shudder. It would be an absolute massacre. However, Mina’s last sentence made him perk right up. Maybe the arena allowed betting!
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Tucked away in a back alley, Maandell city’s arena was surprisingly busy for a place that was not supposed to exist. A steady stream of people were making their way into the arena when Baxby led the way down the alley. Thorn’s massive, metallic figure was eye catching, but other than nudging their companions, few of those walking by did anything more than give him a glance.
The arena itself was a large stone building with a heavy, barred gate. Half a dozen guards were checking those that wanted to enter the arena and collecting the entry fee, and Thorn and the others were soon in front of them.
“Are you here as a combatant?” The guard in charge ran a practiced eye over Thorn.
“Yes, here.” Baxby got out the card that he had gotten from Gereon Dado and presented it to the guard.
“Oh, you are guests of Mr. Dado?” As soon as he saw the card, the guard’s attitude changed completely. Straightening up, he called over one of the other guards and whispered to him. Turning back to Baxby, he smiled and bowed slightly, gesturing for them to enter the gate.
Her eyes tracking the guard who had rushed off to let Gereon Dado know that they had arrived, Velin pulled her hood down. Walking through the large metal gates, Thorn and the rest of the team were taken aback. It was obvious that there was nothing hidden about this arena. An air of savagery hung over the open-air, colosseum style fighting pit. Surrounding the sand-covered pit were large stands, already packed to the brim with people watching. With his height, Thorn could see over the wall that surrounded the sand floor. A melee was taking place in the pit, and the building shook with the roars of the combatants as flesh and steel collided.
They only had to endure the curious looks from the people streaming in for a few minutes before a short figure hurried into view. Dressed just as elegantly as he had been the day before, the Halfling was obviously excited to see them. He could hardly tear his eyes from Thorn’s armored body.
“Ehem. Hi.” Stepping between Gereon and Thorn, Baxby blocked the Halfling’s sight with his body. “Thanks for your invitation, Mr. Dado. You mentioned that we might be able to get some fights in today, right?”
“Yes, yes, of course! You made it just in time! The next fight was missing a fighter so you can sub in if you’d like. Please, follow me. I’ll take you down to the combat floor. We can get you registered for the fights. There are a few that you could join.”
As Gereon led them through the crowd, his guards cleared the way. Entering a curved tunnel, they soon arrived at a big room. Heavy doors led out into the arena, and Thorn could hear the screech of metal weapons smashing together on the other side. A worker was checking people in at a small table close to the entrance to the pit.
“Name of fighter?”
“Greymane.” Velin stepped up to the table to answer the worker’s questions.
“Weapon?”
“Claws and club.”
“Club? It can use a club?” Gereon’s eyes widened as he shot a glance at Thorn, noticing the handle of Thorn’s tetsubo sticking over his shoulder.
“He.” Baxby corrected with a smile, patting the stunned Halfling on his shoulder. “He can use a club. Pretty nasty with it, actually.”
Pausing as he processed what Baxby had just said, Gereon eventually just shrugged. War construct owners all had their own peculiarities, and if Baxby wanted to give his construct a gender it did not matter to the merchant. All that mattered was that this Greymane could fight.
After Thorn was registered, he stood near the wall to wait as Baxby and Mina headed upstairs with Gereon to the box where he sat. No matter how advanced a war construct was, it could not get by without a handler to give it instructions, so Velin stayed behind acting as Thorn’s handler. The room was filled with a variety of fighters either resting or waiting for their turn.
Differently shaped war constructs stood around the room, their magically driven engines letting off a dim hum. Though they were all shaped completely differently, they all were covered in armor and bristling with weapons. Many of the constructs seemed to have weapons bolted to every available space, making Thorn look nearly harmless by comparison. Thorn’s [Wolf Lord’s Heavy Armor] looked quite tame when held up against the war constructs in the room, but there was something disquieting about how the giant Wolfkin armor stood quietly against the wall.
After a few minutes the arena workers jumped into action, opening the doors and dragging the scraps of a ruined construct into the room from the pit. Mangled limbs were piled unceremoniously in a heap as the remnants of the war construct that had lost the fight were retrieved. The victorious war construct stomped into the room, following its handler closely. Thick, club-like spheres rested on the end of thick arms and a large, piston mounted spear protruded from the winning war construct’s shoulder. Looking over it carefully, Thorn could not help but gulp. It was easy to see how the defeated war construct ended up in pieces.
“Excuse me, are you Greymane’s handler? They’re just smoothing out the sand and resetting the obstacles. Once they have finished, the fight will start. Your start position is gate six. You can get there by taking the hallway to the left.” The arena attendant that approached Velin gestured to a tunnel. “Your opponent will enter from gate twelve which is directly across the pit. Once you get to the gate you will have three minutes to give your war construct directions. This match is a simple smash. Last combatant standing takes the prize.”
“Opponent?” Velin asked.
“Who knows. It could be beasts, another construct, or even a group of warriors. This is the challengers room. The arena sends out a random combatant or group depending on the draw unless you are fighting a direct challenge like the last fight. No less than one, no more than three. That is the only info you get.”
Nodding to the attendant that she understood, Velin placed her hand on Thorn’s metal covered forearm and mumbled under her breath as if she was casting a spell. Straightening up, Thorn marched out of the room, trying his best to keep his movements somewhat stiff.
The tunnel curved around the sides of the pit, broken by doors that led into the arena floor. Each of the doors had a cage around it and a number displayed above it. Velin stopped Thorn with a touch by the sixth door and he entered the cage. The metal door was closed behind him by an attendant, isolating him so that when the door to the pit opened he would not be able to leave.
As he waited, Thorn’s lips drew back into a smile under his wolf’s head helmet. Suppressing the desire to roll his shoulders out as he waited, Thorn could feel the excitement rising in his chest. Despite having no idea what sort of battle awaited him, his anticipation for the upcoming fight continued to grow.
In one of the ornately decorated viewing boxes at the top of the arena, Mina peered down at the sandy floor of the arena. Attendants dragged large rakes across the pit floor, evening out the sand as much as possible. Once the floor was relatively smooth, teams carried out a series of spiked barricades and planted them around the arena. The barricades were placed at angles that would prevent the fighters from rushing straight toward each other in an attempt to make the fight more tactically challenging if it included war constructs.
Sitting next to Gereon was an unbelievably round human decked out in bright silk clothing. Gem-laden rings covered his pudgy hands, and gold and silver chains practically dripped from his thick neck. When Baxby and Mina had first been introduced he had beamed, revealing a thick band of golden teeth as his eyes nearly disappeared into the folds of his face. Squeezing out a smile, Mina rushed to look down at the arena so that she would not have to look at him any more.
Who knows if it was the fact that he had seen much more in his long life, but Baxby did not seem to have any issue and ev
en shook the human meatball’s hand cordially. Knowing that he was going to be spending time with Gereon, both he and Mina had dressed up, giving off a fairly well-to-do air.
“Is this your first time in Maandell? Quite the city, isn’t it? Haha.”
The meatball, who Gereon had introduced as Marius Hup, had an odd habit of chuckling as he spoke, the motion sending waves through his flesh. Mina had just gotten control of herself and turned around, only to be met with the sight of Marius Hup’s entire body shaking like a pudding. Stuffing her fist into her mouth, she spun back around.
“Uh, yeah, it is. We just got in last night so we have not really had much time to look around.” Even Baxby was having a tough time keeping from bursting into laughter at the sight of Marius Hup’s trembling body.
“Oh, well you came to the right place! You won’t regret it. Haha, Gereon here was telling me about your war construct. He wouldn’t shut up about it last night, haha. I’m excited to see if it lives up to the hype.”
As he finished speaking, a loud gong rang out and the crowd erupted with a roar. The doors at the twelve o’clock position opened up and a large six-legged creature stomped its way out of the doors, hissing at the attendants prodding from behind.
“Oh, wow! Haha, your construct is going to have to fight against a Metal Crawler! Haha, this is going to be a great battle!” The fat merchant tried to sit up to get a better look but could not quite make it.
When the Metal Crawler emerged from the doors, Gereon had his eyes fixed on Baxby’s face, only to see the old man yawn. Taken aback by the lack of excitement, the Halfling shot a glance at Mina only to see her supporting her chin in her hand as she leaned on the wall and listened to the announcer.
“And facing off against this metal monstrosity is a new challenger!”
Down below, the crowd had gotten even louder, excited to see a new construct going up against such a rare beast. The announcer let the crowd cheer a bit more before he held up his hands, his voice projecting around the arena.
“A brand new fighter to the Maandell arena, we have the fanged slayer, the werewolf of steel, uh, Greymane!”
Knowing that his introduction had fallen rather flat, the announcer signaled for the sixth door to be opened and the attendants threw it open, rushing out of the arena. A loud clang above the sixth door drew the Metal Crawler’s attention as Thorn stepped out, every inch of his nine feet gleaming under the morning sun. Planting his feet on the sand of the pit, Thorn raised his head and looked around at the roaring crowd in the stands, the excitement in his chest building to a fever pitch. Lifting his gauntleted hand to the handle of his tetsubo, Thorn’s gaze finally swept across his opponent, causing him to freeze.
“Your construct is named Greymane, right? That is the place the Wolfkin come from, right? They are all the rage right now. What a fitting name! Haha, amazing craftsmanship!”
“Our fighter.” Baxby shook his head with a wry smile.
“Haha, are you one of those who likes to pretend that war constructs are alive? Hey, whatever jiggles your jelly, haha!”
Covering her mouth with her hand, Mina tried to stifle her laughter but a small giggle slipped out.
“You don’t seem particularly worried about this fight. do you think that Greymane has a pretty good chance? The Metal Crawler is known for being a tough battle for most war constructs.” Gereon asked Baxby.
“Uh, I think he’ll be okay. Just watch.” Pointing with his chin, Baxby directed the Halfling’s attention down toward Thorn’s frozen figure in the pit below.
Hissing and stomping, the Metal Crawler began to slowly make its way toward Thorn who was frozen in place, his hand hovering open next to the handle of his tetsubo. The crowd, seeing how he was frozen in place began to whisper.
“Hey, did Greymane run out of power? Maybe its handler did not swap out its battery?”
“How lame. Ah well, at least we’ll get to see the Metal Crawler rip this Greymane apart.”
It was not uncommon for war constructs to break down, though they normally did so after the fight began so the whispers began to become murmurs and jeers. Sand jumped into the air as each of the Metal Crawler’s thick feet smashed down on the arena floor. Letting out a grinding shriek that the crowd echoed, it began to make its way forward, lifting a thick leg over one of the spiked barriers.
Thorn’s excitement had built up to a fever pitch only to completely drain out of him when his eyes landed on the Metal Crawler. After a moment, he sighed and his body sagged. Those in the crowd who were paying attention saw his shoulder slump down. Sighing again, Thorn dropped his hand, leaving his tetsubo on his back and took two big steps forward.
Reaching down, Thorn grabbed the barricade that the attendants had brought out and took hold of it. Crouching slightly, he heaved it up into the air, drawing a gasp from the crowd. Many of the people watching had turned their attention away but the sudden gasp from their neighbors drew their attention back. Even Gereon and Marius Hub had turned their heads to chat. Looking down at the arena, they saw Thorn take two steps forward, a massive arm holding the metal barricade up in the air.
Drawing it back, over his shoulder, Thorn planted his foot and hurled the barricade directly at the Metal Crawler! With a hiss, the creature tried to jump out of the way, but the mass of metal was moving too fast. The force of the throw slammed into the creature’s body, sending it flying into the air. A tremendous crash rang out as the barricade rammed into the Metal Crawler’s body, the large spikes cutting into it and slicing its legs.
The poor Metal Crawler flew through the air until it hit the wall of the arena, shaking the stone wall. Before it could bounce off, the barricade slammed into it again, the spikes stabbing through its metallic skin and pinning it to the wall. As the dust and sand that had been blown up by the crawler’s dragging feet began to settle, the Metal Crawler’s corpse slowly became visible, leaving the audience in stunned silence.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
*ding*
Gladiator’s Glory - Ongoing
There is glory in combat and it is in the arenas scattered around Angoril that warriors prove themselves stronger than their foes.
You have won your first fight in the Maandell arena, granting you the title [Gladiator]. Win 10 matches in any arena to unlock the title [Powerful Gladiator] title. Win 10 matches in 10 different arenas to unlock the title [Elite Gladiator] title. Win 100 matches in any arena to unlock the title [Heroic Gladiator] title.
Reward: Title - [Gladiator] (completed)
Reward: Title - [Powerful Gladiator] (locked)
Reward: Title - [Elite Gladiator] (locked)
Reward: Title - [Heroic Gladiator] (locked)
Title: Gladiator
There is glory in combat and it is in the arenas scattered around Angoril that warriors prove themselves stronger than their foes. You have won your first fight in the Maandell arena, proving yourself stronger than your enemy, gaining a sliver of the aura that pervades the arena.
Your aura grows more intense, increasing the chances of others taking you seriously.
Taking a moment to read over the notifications that popped up, Thorn smirked under his helmet. Hopefully the next fight would be more interesting. Dismissing the windows, Thorn turned and began to walk back toward the sixth door. Stopping in front of the door that hadn’t yet been opened, he stood still as the silent crowd suddenly erupted into cheers.
It wasn’t until now that the people watching had been able to process what had just happened. Metal Crawlers were certainly not the most dangerous of creatures, but their metallic skin and aggressive nature made them particularly difficult for war constructs. Yet Greymane had dispatched the creature without any effort at all.
“Huh, that is certainly an interesting tactic.” Up above the arena in the private box, Gereon rubbed his nose as he stared at Thorn’s bronze figure.
Next to him, Marius Hub’s mouth was hanging wide open. At the other extreme, Mina was still radiating bored
om as she leaned against the railing. Down below, the door in front of Thorn opened and he walked back into the tunnel.
“Well done.” Velin’s elegant hand rested on Thorn’s arm for a moment and then retreated back under her cloak. “Let's get you back to the waiting room. I’m sure the next fight will be a bit more interesting for you.”
Ignoring the strange looks from the nearby attendants who were wondering why she was talking to her war construct, Velin led Thorn back into the waiting room. She had watched the brief fight from a small, barred window and could only imagine how depressed Thorn must be. The longer he stayed in the game, the more he seemed to enjoy combat, but with his size it was difficult for him to find anyone who wanted to fight against him. She just hoped that the arena would learn their lesson and increase the difficulty of the next fight.
