by Seth Ring
“Speak.”
“Ah, okay, okay, the handler who came with you is in trouble! Heuron and his gang are planning something when the construct goes into the arena!”
The temperature in the box dropped drastically even before Bampton got all of his words out and Mina vanished into thin air, leaving a few shimmering snowflakes behind. Shivering, the skinny human rubbed his neck, sending a glare toward his utterly useless Orc bodyguard. The helpless Orc could only shrug. That short witch moved way too fast for him.
“Oh no.” Gereon sighed as he rubbed his forehead as he looked at Baxby. “I was afraid of something like this. I’m truly sorry. It was not my intent to get you involved in my feuds.”
Surprisingly, apart from a small frown, Baxby did not seem overly concerned. Realizing that the old treasure hunter probably did not know any of the people involved, Gereon sighed again and tried to explain.
“Mr. V is Mr. Velraham. He is the owner of the local slave markets. Heuron, who Bampton here mentioned, is an Elite Gladiator who works for him, handling his dirty work. With Mr. V’s backing, Heuron is able to do pretty much whatever he wants because of the power behind him. Me and Mr. V don’t get along very well, and he is always trying to cause trouble for me.”
“And they are targeting your friends.” Bampton cut in, trying to convey the seriousness to Baxby, whose facial expression still had not changed.
“Eh, somehow, I feel like they’ll be alright.” Baxby smiled weakly and waved his hand. “Besides, it is likely that this Mr. V has had his eye on us since we arrived.”
“Really? You think they’ll be alright? Are you serious?! That Heuron is an Elite Gladiator! And his companions are nothing to sneeze at. Plus, they are probably planning to wreck your war construct by overwhelming it in the arena.”
“Haha, if they can overwhelm him it’ll be a first.” Chuckling, Baxby scratched his chin and shrugged. “What I’m more interested in is why they are targeting us in the first place. What is worth all of this trouble?”
Before Gereon could answer, the announcer walked back into the center of the arena floor, holding up his voice amplification device.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! The moment you have been waiting for is here. The Maandell city Tyrants vs the Steel Wolf, Greymane! ARE! YOU! READY?!”
Roaring their assent, the crowds stamped and clapped, causing the arena itself to tremble. Thankfully, the arena was made from stone, so apart from the vibration, the building stood firmly.
“The rules are simple! The four members of the Tyrants are each behind one of the doors, from sixteen to twenty-two. Four doors hold back death, two are empty! As the challenged, Greymane’s team will get to choose a door, and every thirty seconds after that the next door will open, allowing another member of the Tyrants to join the fight!” Giving a flourish with his hand, the announcer pointed at the middle door on his right.
With a rattle, the sixth door opened up and Thorn’s bronze wolf’s head helmet appeared, followed by his massive body. Hearing the roar of the crowd, Thorn’s blood began to boil with excitement. He had heard the announcer’s description of the way the fight would work, but despite the danger of facing multiple opponents, he was not overly worried.
Seeing Thorn, the crowd got even louder, chants of “Greymane!” rising. Striding to the center of the arena, Thorn stopped in place and stood silently waiting for the announcer who was gesturing for him to stop advancing.
“Haha, it seems our new challenger is as excited as we are for this battle! Before we get started, it’s only right to introduce our fighters! Before you stands the titan of steel, the deadly Wolfkin war construct, a masterpiece from the deepest Dwarven forges, unearthed from the mysterious labyrinth city of Rakkam and brought all the way here for your pleasure! You’ve already seen his capabilities, but will he be strong enough?! Before you stands the Steel Wolf, Greymane!”
Up in the box, Baxby started, staring in confusion at the announcer down below, wondering how on earth he had found out so much about Thorn. Marius Hup, seeing his surprised face, laughed and slapped his armrest, causing his chair to creak alarmingly and the fat on his arm to jump in waves. Everyone nearby shifted away from his trembling chair just in case it fell apart.
“Haha, don’t bother with the foolishness that comes out of the announcer’s mouth, haha. He is quite talented at making up drivel to get the crowds excited. He’ll lie through his teeth if it means getting an extra cheer. Haha.”
“Drivel, huh?” Smirking, Baxby could only shake his head.
“Facing the steel wolf, we have the Maandell city Tyrants! You know them, you love them!” Timing his next introduction perfectly, the announcer began to speak as soon as the cheering began to fade, his words igniting a storm of cheers. “Heuron, the Crescent Destroyer! Leader of the Tyrants! Lady Ruby, the Burning Beauty! XianDragon, the Staff of God! Raul, the Silent Master! They’ve won their last five matches without so much as breaking a sweat, will they finally meet their match in Greymane?!”
Turning his head to look at Bampton, Gereon was about to say something when Bampton beat him to it. Rubbing his fingers together, the skinny human got a sly look on his face as he looked at Gereon.
“So, who do you think will win, huh?”
“Th… Greymane.” It was Baxby who answered, his words sounding immediately after Bampton’s question.
“Hah, no way. The Tyrants will rip that tin can apart.”
“Did you see the way that Greymane took care of the Metal Crawler?” Gereon asked, his hand tapping on his armrest as he looked quizzically at Bampton. “He destroyed it in an instant.”
“Please,” Bampton rolled his eyes. “Any of the Tyrants could do that too. Beating a Metal Crawler isn’t hard when you know the tricks.”
“I take it you are willing to put your money where you mouth is, right?”
“Of course I am.” Bampton’s eyes lit up at Gereon’s question. “I’ll cover anything you put down.”
“Fine. I’ll put 200 gold on Greymane then. The odds are what? Five to one?”
“No way, I’ll give you three to one and that is max.” Bampton shook his head. “But I’ll take your bet. Anyone else want in? Hup? Fancy a bet?”
“Haha, no, no, I don’t wager, you know that.” Marius waved his hand dismissively.
“Three thousand gold.” Never moving his eyes from the arena floor, Baxby casually called out as Bampton’s gaze settled on him.
“Hah, no probl...th..three..three thousand?” Half way through his sentence, the number that Baxby had thrown out finally settled on Bampton, causing him to stammer out a confirmation. Three thousand gold was a lot, and if he lost the bet, he would be paying up nine thousand. That was a whole month’s income!
“What, is that too much?”
“No, I can cover it.” Bampton waved off Baxby’s questioning look. “I was just surprised that you were willing to put so much up on a gladiator match. You really are confident in your fighter, aren’t you?”
“Confident in Greymane? I’d say so.”
Down below, the announcer had walked to the edge of the arena floor. Lifting the voice amplification device, he gestured to Thorn.
“And now, the moment you have all been waiting for so patiently, it is time for the first door to be chosen!”
Thorn, who had been standing without moving, lifted his arm, grabbing the handle of his tetsubo and lifting it from his back. Taking a large step forward, dirt puffed around his feet as they landed on the sand floor. His arm swept around and he leveled his weapon at the first of the six doors that he faced.
“Door number sixteen will be the first to open, with the next door opening after thirty seconds. Ladies and gentlemen, let the fight begin!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Standing in the pit, with the roar of the crowd resounding above his head, there was no way for Thorn to hear the sixteenth door open, but for whatever reason, he felt as if the rattle of the chains and metal door opening up res
onated in his chest. Opened a crack, the doors revealed a strongly built young man wielding a thick staff. Unable to wait, the young man kicked the doors wide open and stepped into the arena, waving his staff over his head as if he had already won the fight.
“XianDragon, XianDragon!”
The cheering crowd began to chant the young man’s name, and for a moment he stood still, basking in the crowd’s excitement. Waving his staff again, he slowly made his way toward Thorn who stood still in the center of the arena floor. As he approached, Thorn was better able to see the details of the thick staff that the young man was holding.
Made completely of metal, the pole was three inches in diameter and looked more like a weapon Thorn would wield than a normal person’s staff. Dense carvings of mystical creatures ran the length of the staff, culminating in a twisting carving of a dragon that seemed to twist under Thorn’s gaze, its scales shimmering in the afternoon light. The center of the staff had a carved spiral hand grip that was repeated in smaller sections at the ends of the weapon.
XianDragon himself was dressed like an Eastern martial artist, with a single tiger head pauldron held in place by a thick leather belt that crossed his chest. His chest was covered with a leather breastplate that was designed to give him some protection while not hampering his movement in any way. Loose pants and leather boots completed the picture, giving him a valiant air.
Based on the ease with which XianDragon handled the thick weapon it was obvious that he had some sort of class ability related to the staff. Thorn could not think of another way that XianDragon would be able to maneuver his weapon so easily. Striding to the center of the arena, XianDragon gave one last wave to the crowd and then settled his eyes on Thorn’s still figure.
Rolling his shoulders and stretching out his arms, he held his staff and twisted his waist as if he was prepping to start the fight, causing Thorn to smirk under his wolf’s head helmet. XianDragon came out with so much momentum and grandeur, but he was actually stalling for time. His companions would begin to emerge after at least thirty seconds and as imposing as XianDragon looked, he was not terribly interested in engaging Thorn alone.
His smirk turned into a grin and Thorn decided that he was not going to wait for the enemy to gather. Taking a step forward, he was surprised to see that XianDragon mirrored him, taking a step backward at the same time so that the distance between them stayed exactly the same. Thorn’s grin widened. It appeared that he was going to need to do some chasing.
Crouching slightly, Thron’s feet dug into the sand, the claws on the ends of his boots giving him extra purchase in the shifting arena floor. XianDragon, who was watching Thorn very carefully, subtly brought his staff between him and his massive, metal covered opponent. His job right now was to stall the huge war construct while the rest of his team made their way into the arena, and he had been confident that he would be able to do it. Now that he was standing in the arena, facing down the metal Wolfkin, XianDragon was no longer as confident.
Shifting his weight forward, Thorn began to run, his pounding feet sending sand flying into the air as he dashed toward XianDragon. Each time his foot impacted the ground the arena would shake slightly, blending with the crowd’s stomps. The sight of Thorn beginning to charge whipped up the crowd into an even louder frenzy.
To his credit, XianDragon did not continue to retreat backward and instead began to rotate around Thorn, hoping that the machine before him would not be able to handle turns very well. To his disappointment, XianDragon saw that Thorn adjusted his direction the same way a normal fighter would, leaving him with no confidence that he would be able to get out of the way of Thorn’s charge.
Thorn closed the distance rapidly, his tetsubo lifted above his head menacingly. Arriving in front of XianDragon, he slashed down with his tetsubo, delivering a simple but dreadfully effective strike. The carved staff snaked out to block the blow as XianDragon faced Thorn down directly. As soon as the weapons touched, XianDragon knew he was in trouble. The force contained in Thorn’s attack was not something that he could handle with a normal block.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, XianDragon activated one of his class abilities. His initial goal had been to spar with the war construct for a while, damaging it and stalling until his companions arrived. Together they would pull this war construct apart, piece by piece. However, under the smashing attack Thorn had unleashed, all those plans went out the window. It would be hard enough to survive until his companions arrived, let alone stall the metal monster he was facing.
[Coiling Reflection]
The glittering dragon coiled around the end of XianDragon’s staff stirred under the afternoon sun, coming alive. Its head shot up a few feet into the air and turned back to bite onto the end of the staff. Growing quickly, the glittering dragon’s body unfurled from the staff where it had been wrapped and extended up to block Thorn’s tetsubo attack.
*BOOM*
The shimmering scales of the dragon rippled as they magnified the force of the attack. Coiled into a shield, the dragon tightened, reflecting the majority of the attack right back at Thorn who was pushed back three full steps before he could stop himself. The dragon shield swooped back down to the staff, curling itself around it and becoming a carving once again.
The excess force of the attack sent thick clouds of dirt billowing from under XianDragon’s feet as, despite activating his defensive ability, the residual force of the attack drove him back a full step. Holding tightly to his still trembling staff, XianDragon gulped. Even using his strongest defensive skill, the attack from the metal giant in front of him had driven him backward. Glancing toward the seventeenth door, he could not help but grimace. He still had at least ten seconds before it opened.
Thorn stabilized himself after absorbing the strengthened rebound of his attack and stepped forward again, his arm lifting up. It was unlikely that XianDragon could use his reflective shield move again for a little while, so Thorn was curious to see if he could defeat the martial artist before the rest of his team appeared.
The sight of Thorn lifting his tetsubo for another strike caused the whole crowd to gasp. The force of the last strike had shaken XianDragon, even after he used his most powerful blocking skill, so it was no surprise when he stabbed his staff into the ground and used the force to launch himself to the side, out of range of Thorn’s weapon. There was no need to block when he could just run away.
Or at least, that is what he thought. Faster than he thought possible, Thorn shifted his weight forward and reached up with his left hand, grasping the handle of his tetsubo as he let go with his right hand. The downward strike curved, its momentum maintained as Thorn smoothly turned it into a sideways slash. Hanging in mid air, XianDragon blanched and brought his staff up in front of him, one of the spikes on the end of the tetsubo catching his weapon and sending him tumbling.
The thick staff groaned alarmingly as it was hit and the rebound ripped it from his hands. Tumbling to a stop, XianDragon scrambled for his weapon and then fled as fast as he could, trying to get as much distance between him and Thorn as possible. Thorn was not about to let him get away and quickly chased after him. Trapped in an enclosed arena with a metal monster, it did not take XianDragon long to realize that he was about to be in a world of trouble.
Thorn quickly caught up to XianDragon and slashed with his tetsubo, forcing XianDragon to throw himself backward to avoid the heavy metal weapon. The martial artist was so worried about not being hit that he retreated too quickly and slammed into the ground. Stepping forward, Thorn brought his weapon around and hammered it into XianDragon’s prone figure.
[Buddha’s Eternal Form]
Just before the end of the tetsubo reached him, a holy light shimmered around XianDragon’s body, forming the shape of a benevolent buddha that covered him completely. The buddha reached out a palm to meet the tetsubo, forcing the metal weapon to stop before it reached XianDragon. Barely squeezing out from under the tetsubo, XianDragon rolled away as Thorn’s fist la
nded where he had just been. The buddha formed from holy light shimmered and faded away as XianDragon scrambled to his feet and ran for his life. Rushing across the arena, he joined up with Raul who had rushed out of door seventeen and cast a bubble on him.
Standing next to each other, they peered at the thick cloud of dust that shrouded the other end of the arena which XianDragon had just escaped. The billowing dirt and sand began to settle, slowly revealing a massive silhouette. Glowing eyes appeared first as Thorn walked slowly out of the dust.
XianDragon’s heart beat rapidly as he tried to calm himself down. Taking a deep breath, he glanced at Raul only to see a deadly serious look on his companion’s face. Raul’s face was normally an impassive mask, but watching XianDragon getting tossed around like a ragdoll had set his teeth on edge.
Up in the box, Bampton was gnashing his teeth in fury. XianDragon was one of the better gladiators who fought in the Maandell arena so to see him being toyed with did not bode well for Bampton’s wallet. He had bet nearly ten thousand gold on the Tyrants, and while losing it would not ruin him, it was certainly going to sting.
