Contest (The Stork Tower Book 6)

by Tony Corden

  Leah’s body faded from view, and she reappeared in her balcony room at full health, her Stamina, Mana and Ki restored. Being a part of the contest meant she didn’t suffer any loss of points or belongings and could be called to fight in the next bout if required. Finding herself in the room, and alone, she slowly lowered herself to the floor. As the adrenaline disappeared from her system, the pain in her right shoulder drove everything else from her mind as it pulsed in time with her heart. Her body tensed up, tears formed in her eyes behind the tightly shut lids and she began to take rapid shallow breaths.

  Feeling on the edge of panic, Leah knew she needed to take control, and so slowly and purposefully, she began to slow her breathing. She worked through the pain to take deeper and deeper breaths. Slowly the feeling of panic disappeared as her breathing helped her work through the pain. She almost panicked when she realised that the pain was already tempered by being in the Pod and she hoped she hadn’t done too much damage.

  When she was finally calm, Gèng said, “Leah, Sharon is waiting outside the room. There is a thirty-minute break before the next round of bouts is organised. She has lined up some reporters for you to talk with. After that, the media are hoping you and Yuè Fēi will do a joint interview. None of the other contestants showed the respect you two have, and the public are in a frenzy to hear more from you.”

  Leah groaned but said, “OK, ask Sharon to come in because I’ll need help getting up.”

  The door opened and Sharon hurried over as Gèng said, “The right shoulder is inflamed from all the movement and despite all the measures we put in place to reduce inflammation I haven’t been able to reduce the swelling. I’ve already applied the maximum recommended dosage of anti-inflammatory and need a registered medical practitioner’s permission to go beyond that dosage. Kevin is no longer registered, and Dr Roberts is looking into possible side effects before agreeing.”

  Subvocalising Leah said, “That’s OK, Gèng, I was aware of what I was doing and knew I’d pay for it afterwards.”

  Sharon helped Leah from the floor and said, “I’m sorry to bother about small things but are you able to form the wings? Everyone is wondering what they are.”

  Leah had forgotten about the shrouds and realised they'd reformed on the outside of her armour. She said, “I can, but I’d like to get out of the armour. I’ve a dress that Yvette made which I haven’t worn yet. I had Gèng include it in the backpack just in case. Yvette suggested it could be used when visiting during the day. It’s apricot, knee length and has an open back.”

  Sharon nodded but said, “Won’t that look a bit weird with black wings?”

  Leah equipped the dress and added the wings, but before Sharon could comment, Leah willed the light shroud to flow to the outside. She concentrated and pictured the light changing colour to match the dress. There was some resistance at first, but after she added the thought of a prism separating light to the image in her mind, slowly the wings darkened until they matched the dress colour. Sharon was beaming, but Leah held up a finger and picturing the wings she had the light shroud modify the colours with the top lesser wing coverts matching the dress and growing lighter until the primaries were once again the bright white.

  Smiling brightly, Sharon said, “That will do nicely. I should warn you that one or two of the reporters may ask some very personal questions. They saw you walk in on Ivan’s arm at the gala and now smiling and bowing to Yuè Fēi. People know that he and Ivan have been friends for a while, and there have been suggestions that something is going on between you and Yuè Fēi.”

  Leah’s face went still and then twisted into a snarl but before she could say anything Sharon said, “Despite how you feel about that I would suggest you smile and ignore it. People will think whatever they like and most aren’t really that interested in the truth if what they imagine is more exciting.”

  Leah nodded and followed Sharon into the larger area.

  35

  Chapter 35

  December 17, 2073 - MERKIZE CONTEST - Part 4

  DUNYANIN - CONTEST

  Yuè Fēi was on the other side of the room and already talking with several reporters. Sharon nodded to a couple who came over talk with Leah. One of them was 诚实 (Chéng Shí) who Leah remembered from the interview at the Virtual World Today Studios and the other Gèng informed her was Robert Willesee, from the leading Australian gaming review program ‘Megaviews’. As they got close, Leah stepped forward and said, “诚实, it is good to see you again.” Then turning to the other reporter, she held out her hand and said, “Mr Willesee, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Atherleah.”

  Shaking her hand, Mr Willesee laughed and said, “I know. You are one of the most recognised people in the world at the moment. Please call me Robert.”

  Leah smiled, “How is the event going, do you think? Has it lived up to expectations?”

  Chéng Shí said, “So far it’s more than lived up to its billing. Every bout except possibly the second has kept people on the edge of their seats.”

  Leah smiled as she listened, then said, “The format benefits some players more than others. To be fair, I’d rather face Meredith or Ivan out in the open than have Seishin_no_kage_12 hunting me from the shadows. From cover, I imagine she is close to being the ultimate predator. That she managed to get as close to Merideath as she did under these conditions really showcases her superb prowess.”

  Robert said, “You fought the second-ranked player just now. Do you think the format and conditions were in his favour?”

  “No more than in mine. Both our characters are suited to up-close see-your-foe fights. I’m not aware of the formats later in the Odyssey, but I wouldn’t be surprised if each of the contestants at one stage or another found the setup to be either to their advantage or detriment. That isn’t a negative observation as this will showcase the diversity within Dunyanin. Many of the better and more established players don’t fight at all. They enjoy the world for the opportunities it gives them to learn new skills or to exercise ones they already have. Several of my friends are thriving in Dunyanin operating as merchants or craftsmen.”

  Chéng Shí said, “You sound like an advertisement.”

  Leah smiled and said, “That’s good. The event has been planned to showcase Dunyanin, and I’d like to think I’m playing my part. Sharon here keeps warning me to think before I speak, and I’d like to think I’m learning.”

  Both Robert and Chéng Shí laughed before Robert said, “Whatever the reason, people do want to know about you, maybe even more than they want to know about Dunyanin. Your fan club has over one hundred million fans, and you’re one of the most popular players in the multiverse at the moment. What do you put your popularity down to?”

  “Luck. I was in the right place at the right time, although sometimes I think it was the wrong place at the wrong time. All I wanted was to find a way to fund my dream to study and get a good education. Dunyanin offered the best potential to play and maybe fund part of my studies. It has lived up to that potential many times over and this opportunity, while it's amazing, exciting, and hopefully profitable, it is taking up a large amount of my time. The truth is, I liked being anonymous.”

  Chéng Shí said, “Please forgive the question, but some of the other players have suggested your amazing luck is too great to be a coincidence. They’ve hinted that your rise is because of your connection with other players more than mere skill. What would you say to that?”

  Leah could see Sharon’s face tense a little and thought hard for a moment before saying, “To some extent, they have a point. As I mentioned the last time we met, I took something belonging to Merideath’s character in another world that I play in and she was unhappy. So unhappy in fact that she sent a team of five players to ambush me, and my friends, as we were playing here in Dunyanin. Her team managed to destroy the team and leave me stranded alone. Being alone gave me the freedom to investigate places the whole team couldn’t have visited. One of those places had the disc, and
that led to the Merkize opportunity. I think if it weren’t for my connection to Merideath I’d still be an unknown.”

  Robert was grinning and said, “How did you escape the ambush?”

  “I didn’t really. I was wounded in the shoulder and almost drowned. I managed to pull myself from the water. Her team thought I’d been killed and that gave me the opportunity to turn the tables. I fried the first with electricity, used my hands to tear the heart from the second, shot the third in the head with an arrow, cut the head off the fourth, and froze the head of the fifth. I had help with the leader of the team. My boyfriend stabbed him and one of my best friends, Wisp, blasted him with electricity before I shot him through the heart.”

  Throughout the answer, Chéng Shí’s grin had grown. She said, “I bet they left you alone after that.”

  “You’d have thought so, but no, they tracked me down two days later. Some new friends of mine saw them coming, and I managed to dispose of them again. I haven’t seen them since, although I’m still a bit annoyed they ruined that outing with my friends.”

  Sharon stepped up and said, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Atherleah has agreed to do a short segment with Yuè_Fēi_Lóng before the start of the next round of fights.”

  Leah politely excused herself and joined Sharon as she headed to where Yuè Fēi was talking with a tall thin man whom Sharon said was universally known as 'Deathmaster'. Apparently, he had been one of the multiverse’s first player celebrities but now spent his time as a gaming critic and commentator. When she arrived, Yuè Fēi offered her his hand and said, “Well fought, Atherleah. It was an honour. You are a worthy adversary.”

  Leah grinned as she shook his hand and said, “It was fun. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

  “Indeed, it was as you say, fun.”

  Before he could say anything else, the interviewer stepped forward and grabbing her hand shook it vigorously. “Hello Atherleah, thank you so much for agreeing to the joint interview. If you and Yuè Fēi will follow my assistant Gwen, she will get you seated while I finalise things with your PR reps. I just have to do a final check to see if there are topics I’m to stay away from.”

  Leah found it difficult to stop herself wincing as her shoulder was jostled up and down and took a deep breath before nodding and saying, “Certainly, just point to where I should go.”

  Deathmaster’s assistant stepped forward and led Yuè Fēi and Leah through a door and into what resembled an intimate lounge than an interview room. Three lounge chairs formed three sides of a square. Gwen said, “Our program is more intimate than say Virtual World Today, but it works on the same principle, and the viewers see themselves as sitting in a fourth chair and completing the circle. Sometimes one of them suggests a question, and we see them and can interact with them. Today there is very little time, so I doubt Deathmaster will open up the question time to the public. Now, Atherleah, how do you want to sit so your wings are comfortable?”

  “I can make them disappear if you like?”

  “No chance of that. Sorry. Everyone is talking about them and will want to see them, especially as you can get them to match your outfit. I know for a fact that several major retail outlets are in discussions with Dunyanin regarding a licence to sell them. Would a stool be best?”

  “Either that or a lounge chair with a low back. A high stool if you want them folded behind my back and the sofa if you don’t mind them spread out.”

  As she finished speaking, she stretched the wings out to their full stretch.

  Yuè Fēi said, “I would prefer a stool. Sitting in a lounge chair wearing armour looks unusual.”

  Leah said, “How about setting it up as bar instead? I wouldn’t mind a beer and sitting around having a beer after a hard day of fighting is what most warriors dream of. Honestly, you may have had the others come for interviews if you’d told them the interview was in a pub. Let the viewers share the table and let the beer companies advertise and even sell drinks to viewers. If you hurry and market it properly you could make a healthy profit. If you do, then don't forget to share the profits with Yuè Fēi and me as it’s our idea. Just imagine, you could sell over a billion beers.”

  Stunned, Gwen was speechless for a moment and then rushed out of the room speaking as fast as she could to her PAI. Yuè Fēi said, “Your mind is very logical. I am surprised such simple ideas are not already the common practice. You should not feel obliged to share any profit with me. I did not help formulate the concept.”

  “Ah, but you did, Yuè Fēi. Your comment about armour and a lounge chair made me think of some friends. After a long day doing a quest, we would sit at the bar discussing the day all the time covered in dirt without a thought that our armour was bent and out of place. Your words set my mind along that track.”

  Gèng interrupted and said, “Stephen wants to know about an urgent note from Dunyanin about a contract between them, a company called ‘Deathmaster Talks’, you, and another player called Qi Jiguang. Should he go ahead?”

  “Yes! Please explain what happened.”

  Yuè Fēi hadn’t noted Leah’s short conversation as he was focussed on his own internal conversation. Turning to Leah, he said, “Please excuse me for a moment. My PR representative wishes to talk with me.”

  Leah nodded and Yuè Fēi stepped out of the room to finish his discussion. Suddenly the room began to morph, the walls became dressed timber, and the floor, tiles. A bar appeared on one side and in front of Leah was a table just like the one she sat around with Jack, Granite, Mist and their clan. Leah headed for the bar, thumped the wooden top with the end of a knife she equipped, and called out, “Barkeep! I’ll have a Dark Ale and hurry it up.”

  An oversized highlander human appeared and said, “Name yer poison. We’ve all sorts of Dark Ale.”

  Leah remembered one of her father’s favourites and said. “White Rabbit, if you have it.”

  The barkeep nodded and reached under the bar and brought out a bottle of White Rabbit Dark Ale. He said, “It’s two gold for them foreign beers.”

  Leah found two of her Dryad golds and tossed them over. The barkeep looked them over then said, “Two of them new Imperials. Reckon I’ll put them aside for a bit. Some say they’ve more gold than the regular golds.”

  Leah nodded and said, “So I’ve heard.”

  Leah headed for the table and gingerly sat down then folded her wings behind her. Just then, Yuè Fēi walked in and said, “My lawyer already has a copy of the agreement to sell beer as a part of the contest interviews. Together you and I will split five per cent of the profits. Should they sell a billion beers as you suggested, he says I would make twenty-five million virtual credits.”

  Leah nodded and said, “That’s about right. I’m surprised they’re giving us five per cent. I’d have expected less than half that.”

  “Even that is over ten million VCr.”

  Leah lifted her beer and said, “I’ve already bought one. Can I get you one?”

  “No, thank you. I can get it.”

  With that, he headed off to get himself a beer. Before he’d finished being served, Deathmaster walked over to join him and then together they joined Leah at the table. Leah lifted her bottle and held it toward the two men and said “Cheers”.

  Deathmaster lifted his, and they clinked them together. Yuè Fēi did the same.

  Gèng said, “The interview is now live, fifty million people have already tuned in and are sitting with you.

  Leah turned to Yuè Fēi and said, “Good fight. I thought I had you at the end. How did I telegraph my move?”

  “You didn’t. I’d been expecting something for the last few minutes. In every fight of yours where you look defeated, you always do something unexpected. If you’d simply lunged forward with the haladie, you may have caught me unaware, but as the light exploded in my face, I knew something was up and attacked under the assumption you would take the most direct route.”

  Leah nodded and said, “I couldn’t take the risk. You’
re faster than anyone or anything I’ve faced before. When I watched some of your earlier fights, I thought I detected some Shaolin training mixed with the directness of someone who’d worked in the military. After today I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d studied under Sung Wei Yi himself.”

  Yuè Fēi chuckled and after taking a sip of his beer said, “Your style is much harder to place. I see the influence of Eskrima, but there is at least one other style mixed in.”

  “I studied Eskrima growing up, but several worlds offer sword skills training. One is based in one of the fantasy worlds and it’s really helped me develop my sword skills. I haven’t visited there enough lately, but after today’s battle, I think I need to. I’ll need to up my game for the next time we meet.”

  Both players took a sip from their beer and Deathmaster said, “Atherleah, I wanted to ask you. What’s with the wings?”

  Leah laughed and had another sip before saying, “I formed them from what’s called in Dunyanin a ‘shroud’. Many of the contestants today have them even if they don’t admit it. Shrouds are permanent artefacts you can win, or find, in Dunyanin. I think of them as additional mana, or magical energy. They are always associated with a particular type or level of magic and can be used for a whole variety of things. While I was fighting Yuè Fēi, I used the shroud to form shields to deflect many of his attacks. Without the shroud, he would have killed me much earlier. Even though they regenerate mana much faster than the usual player-based mana, they are still a finite resource. I depleted mine during the fight today, which is why my wings disappeared.”