by Tony Corden
“I don’t have any minders, Erol. I live my own life. I have friends.”
“Well, your friends should have kept you from making a fool of yourself and from almost destroying Dunyanin. We are partners, damn it. My CFO said you’ve made almost quarter-of-a-billion Virtual Credits so far today. Sure, we made more, much more, but we have to divide it up between 200,000 plus shareholders. You get all of it. Why would you threaten that?”
Leah’s voice had a tinge of anger, and she said, “Partners? We aren’t partners, Erol. Face it, you are interested only in Dunyanin, and you’d be happy to throw me under the bus if that gets you off the hook. However, despite that, I will tell you why. I forced this because one of your administrators, and one of your judges, were going to rig the decision and give ‘Hubert’ the position. The ‘fix’ was in because although ‘Hubert’ lost fair and square, his mediocre performance was going to affect the share price for at least one of their companies. He staked his reputation on me losing and my beating him was going to ruin him, and then, by extension, them. If they had done that, then even if I kept quiet, I am certain it would have come out, and then the whole Merkize contest would be tainted. This way, none of that can happen. Even if their share price drops, the only person they can blame is ‘Hubert’. Don’t you understand. I really don’t mind losing. I’m tired, and I’m injured. Let him win for all it matters to me. This way the consequences are on us, on him and on me, not on you, and certainly not on Dunyanin. Sure, you may have to deal with the fallout of 365 gods who know more than you think they did, but I warned you about that before this, and you ignored it, so that’s on you. Now, get out of my room before I throw you out.”
Erol held up his hands and said, “Listen, Leah, calm down, I didn’t know any of that.”
Leah cast Gravity to slam the table into the ceiling. She got out of the chair and wrapping herself in dragon fire cast a spell to amplify her voice, and she yelled, “Get out of my room!”
Erol and Hakan were slammed backwards into the wall by the sound waves and grabbing their heads they disappeared. Leah had had the presence of mind to protect Stephen from the spell. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before letting the splinters that had once made up the table fall to the floor. She said, “Sorry about that Stephen, but I’m a little stressed at the moment.”
Stephen stood there shocked, then bending over he picked up one of the chairs that had been scattered across the floor. Sitting down, he said, “With reason, I suggest. Can you prove all that?”
“Yes, but I won’t have to. The footprints are too recent to have been wiped. Erol will find them soon enough and will go into full damage control mode. Either way, my relationship with Dunyanin will stand and even though I might be sick of all this, it helps pay the bills.”
He looked at her and said, “Are you going to be OK?”
“Yeah. Probably. I didn’t say this to Erol, but I also needed to get the police matters out of the public eye. Now everything will be focussed on the ‘Trial by Combat’, and most people will forget the accusations. Redirection, it’s a skill I picked up as a pickpocket. Jimmy will be so proud when he realises I redirected five billion people, simply by telling the truth. I’m sorry, but you’d best go, I have to get ready for the duel.”
“If you can do what you just did, why are you worried?”
“Because I’m keeping those things for a rainy day. Showing everyone your hand before all the bets are in is just stupid. This is just the first round of an all-night game.”
Stephen rose and said, “Leah. Please don’t take offence but you scare me sometimes. I’m not scared you’ll hurt me or anything like that, I’m just scared of what you could do if you weren’t you.”
“I’m not offended, Stephen. I scare myself sometimes. I’m keeping so many balls in the air at the moment that I’m afraid I’ll drop one. I’m not even sure right now if I was angry with Erol, or just pretending to be. Sometimes I’m scared I’m losing my mind.”
Stephen wasn’t sure what to say, so he waved tentatively and disappeared. Gèng said, “If you’re interested I can tell you if you were really angry or not. I can show you a graph of your epinephrine levels.”
Leah burst out laughing and said, “I’ll pass, thank you very much. Now, how much time do I have?”
“Just under seven minutes.”
“Thank you. I was thinking of going out to fight as a halfbreed dark Elf. Gottes_Krieger_10 isn’t rational at the best of times, but he really loses it when he’s faced with something he sees as an abomination.”
“I wouldn’t worry. I believe there is nothing he hates more at the moment than you. It won’t matter what you look like. Either way, he’ll see 'Atherleah', and that in itself will send him over the edge.”
Leah nodded slowly then equipped her suit of dragon armour and waited. Gèng gave a thirty-second countdown. Then, for the third time that day, Leah disappeared to arrive in the arena.
This time was different. On one side was a tiered stand filled with the gods of Dunyanin. Sitting in the middle of the front row was Lord Namus. Leah and Gottes_Krieger_10 appeared in front of him. He raised his hand for silence, and not only the other gods but those watching became still. Namus spoke with a voice that resounded around the arena. “Empress Atherleah, you have asked me to judge between you and my Paladin, the one who goes by the player name Gottes_Krieger_10. It is my command that your differences be decided through combat. Should you prevail, then it will have been shown that my Paladin, by his actions, is not worthy to serve me. However, if you should not prevail, then my Paladin has spoken true. He will have shown you unworthy to represent the world known as Dunyanin. You shall lose my favour and be subject to the judgement of the Creators.”
Turning to Gottes_Krieger_10, he said, “My Paladin, you have been accused of being unworthy of my name. Show me your worth. The trial will begin at the trumpet sound.”
Leah turned to look at Gottes_Krieger_10. Whatever she thought of him he was a good fighter, so she brought her wings to the side and laid her right on her left breast then she bowed her head in his direction. She held the position momentarily then took the ready position, her staff held at an angle. Gottes_Krieger_10 looked over and spat in her direction. Before Leah or anyone could react, the trumpet sounded. Gottes_Krieger_10 began to jog in Atherleah’s direction. She waited until he was thirty metres away then cast Tangle to slow him down and summoned four of Lord Kötü’s Level 5 minions. Leah doubted they would do more than wear away at his stamina, but she was more interested in watching his fighting style and comparing it with what she’d seen. After five minutes she’d replaced the minions several times and began to replace them with Orumeck’s warrior drones. She noticed Gottes_Krieger_10 shudder slightly when the first one appeared, but his fighting did not seem to suffer.
As he fought, Gottes_Krieger_10 was slowly moving toward Leah and had worked his way to within fifteen metres. When the next drone died, Leah didn’t replace it with a warrior but summoned a trapdoor spider. She pictured it hiding under the arena floor between her and the knight. She was pleased when twelve of the trapdoors appeared in front of her and blended with the floor. She did the same when he killed the next two warriors. When he killed the last, he looked over and said, “Are you ready to fight like a warrior yet? How long will you hide behind your magic? I can kill your summoned spawn all day.”
Leah didn’t say anything. Instead, she unequipped her staff and replaced it with the Amber Dragon. The knight lifted his shield and began walking towards her. When his foot touched the first trapdoor, all thirty-six spiders swarmed him. These weren’t the volleyball-sized Level 3 spiders Leah had first met but were all Level 395 and the size of beachballs. Leah watched as he retreated for a second before recovering. Then, with a skill she admired, he began to carve into the large arachnids. Leah doubted the spiders would do much damage to the Level 489 Knight but wanted to keep him focussed elsewhere while she cast Chain Lightning. Instead of releas
ing it, she willed it to stay at her fingertips as she began to stack the spells, she did this time after time. The first two times were relatively easy to hold, but the third wanted to burst out. Leah held tight and kept casting until she had ten spells stacked and her hand blazed with power. The expenditure of mana was enormous as every second she held the cast cost her the equivalent of another cast. By the time she was holding all ten, she could see her mana level dropping under half. She waited until Gottes_Krieger_10 turned in her direction, having killed the spiders before she cast the stacked spells. He hardly had time to shift his shield when ten bolts of lightning struck his chest, throwing him backwards. The lightning arced away and without another opponent, arced back to strike him again. The second set of strikes blew him off his feet, the third landed while he was still in the air and slammed him into the ground. The fifth turned his blue mithryl chest plate cherry red, the sixth blasted through the chest plate driving molten mithryl into his chest. The seventh superheated his heart and organs, causing them to explode. The final three were somewhat superfluous but did turn what was left into a fine ash.
Leah turned to face the gods. Namus stood and said, “Empress Atherleah, you have prevailed. I thank you for bringing to my attention the state to which one of my chosen ones had fallen. His armour is yours by right of conquest, as is his position if you would accept it.”
Leah shook her head and said, “Thank you for the offer lord Namus but I already serve the God of my world. He looks with some disfavour on those who worship another, especially once someone has already trusted and accepted both his grace and his mercy.”
“That is as it should be. Still, it is my desire to thank you. Please accept this gift as a sign of my gratitude.”
A small Mithryl chest appeared in front of Leah.
Namus continued, “Before we depart, have you any words to share?”
“Only to ask a favour, Lord Namus.”
“Speak, that I might consider it.”
“Deal mercifully with thy fallen Paladin. He has lost much already. Perhaps, in time, he can be restored.”
“Truly indeed you are named Umut’s Champion. Very well, I shall mitigate his punishment and offer him some quest wherein he might be restored. Even so, take his armour and sword for should he be returned to favour, he will receive the armour of my esteem afresh.”
Leah bowed her head in gratitude, and the gods disappeared. All that is, except for two. Lord Umut stepped from the stand and appeared in front of Leah. He laid his hand on her left shoulder and said, “You have done well, my Champion. Accept my blessing.”
Leah felt heat flow from Lord Umut’s hand to warm her shoulder, it spread throughout her body. A message appeared briefly, but Gèng removed it before Leah could wipe it away. As the warmth reached her feet, Lord Umut disappeared. Lord Suzluk was the second God, and he remained in the stands and looked down on her. He said, “Think not that you have escaped my wrath Atherleah. I am at your heels. Should you rise to the Pantheon or sink into Çaresiz, they will avail you nothing. I am implacable, and you shall be mine.”
At that, the God of Despair faded from view. His disappearance was the trigger for the audience to let loose. Leah walked over to the Paladin’s armour and harvested it as billions yelled her name. Looking up she gave a nod of acknowledgement then faded from view. Leah arrived back in the room assigned to her and stood without moving for a minute. Her silent contemplation was interrupted when Gèng said, “Leah, the Administrators have given fifteen minutes until the start of the next round. It will be you against Yuè Fēi.”
With a sigh, Leah nodded and tried to think about her next duel, but her thoughts were erratic, jumping from this to that. In the end, she lowered herself to the floor and began to slow her breathing and then forced herself to bring all her worries, concerns and stresses into the open and then set them aside until she had time to deal with them. The minutes past and her body never moved.
41
Chapter 41
December 17, 2073 - MERKIZE CONTEST - Part 10
DUNYANIN - CONTEST
The trumpet sounded and Leah felt herself shift position without moving. Slowly she opened her eyes to find that once again, she was sitting on the arena floor. The arena had been returned to its original configuration, and all she could see was the blank walls. There was sound, she could hear the murmur of hundreds of millions of voices. Gèng told her that this was already the most viewed feed in history and records were still being broken. Somehow the contest had captured the imagination of the world.
Looking around, Leah wondered how so many who could live in any fantasy world they desired, who could be whoever and whatever they wanted, would stop everything to watch others battle for glory. Four-and-a-half hours had gone by, and people were still watching. In fact, the audience was still growing. In between bouts, people would leave the arena and then rush back to watch players battle it out for what they imagined was greatness or glory. Leah saw it more as a burden. Many of the watchers headed for the virtual pub to listen to their heroes talk about the fights and their lives. Billions of VCr had changed hands as people ate and drank, as they wagered on results and as they purchased virtual memorabilia or action figures.
Leah's thoughts shattered as another trumpet blast filled the arena. She stood and looked over at one of the best players to ever play in Dunyanin—her opponent for this bout, the elven warrior Yuè_Fēi_Lóng. She’d already faced him once today, and he’d killed her after half an hour of furious fighting. She lifted her hand to her chest and bowed in a gesture of respect. Yuè Fēi responded with his open hand and closed fist gesture. Leah waited and then began walking in his direction. She was tired, and her body ached, not with the dull ache of muscles overused but the mind-numbing ache of muscles torn and flesh shredded. Her first two fights had aggravated the wound in her shoulder, and back in her pod, it had swollen to twice its normal size.
Leah stopped when Yuè Fēi was three metres away and said, “A wager?”
When Yuè Fēi smiled, Leah continued, “Whoever wins has to buy the drinks.”
The elven warrior nodded and said, “That is indeed a suitable wager for a battle such as this. I was distressed when I learned that you carried an injury. Your shoulder?”
“Yes. It was damaged the other day, and I’m not supposed to be moving it. My physician isn’t happy.”
“They seldom are when we disregard their sage pronouncements. What constraints then upon our fight? I suggest I leave the right side alone.”
“I wish there to be no constraints. All my life I’ve lived in poverty because people expected someone else to make concessions for their hardship. I’m not against charity, nor in recognising when people need help and giving it. What I’ve grown up detesting is people changing the boundaries so I feel like I’m on an equal footing when the reality is, I’m not. Their new boundaries are simply a prison to keep me from reaching an equal footing. This is a competition for warriors, for players who want to be their best. If we add concessions, then it becomes a semi-competition with scant similarity to reality. If you hamper yourself and I win, then have I really won? Everyone, including me, will know you worked within a constraint.
“The player I admire most today is Seishin_no_kage_12. She was at a disadvantage but did everything she could to overcome it. She may not have won but she achieved solid hits on both her opponents having sacrificed her most powerful weapon, her invisibility. I plan on doing almost everything I can to beat you. Just in case I do I will keep some things in reserve, but I’m sure you will do the same. All I ask is that you show me honour by doing your best to kill me.”
Yuè Fēi nodded and said, “So shall it be. Starting distance?”
“I’ve used most of my strongest ranged attacks already. Let us start twenty metres apart, I’ll try and wear you down with my summoned creatures and mid-range spells before finishing you off with the sword.”
“I need the warm-up, so shall it be.”
At t
hat, Yuè Fēi turned and walked away from Leah. When he was twenty metres away, he said, “Whenever you are ready, Empress.”
Smiling, Leah brought her staff down and summoned four of Lord Kötü’s Level 5 minions. Before they reached Yuè Fēi, she cast Tangle to trap his feet. Yuè Fēi sliced downward with his sword to free his legs and equipped a second sword to block one of the minions as he removed the head of another. This was the first time she’d seen Yuè Fēi use two swords and she as amazed that he had hidden the skill for so long. She summoned two replacement minions and recast Tangle.
She watched the patterns of movement for several minutes as she kept throwing one minion after another at him. She finally thought she’d detected a general theme in his moves and planned her next attack to when she was out of sight for a second. As his head turned around, she Misted and moved slowly to her right. As he came around and failed to see her, his movement slowed slightly and then continued as another minion attacked. Leah kept her movements slow, but slowly moved several metres from where she’d started. She’d thought of using Hidden Quietness, but that was easily penetrated by someone as many levels above her as was Yuè Fēi.
Finishing the last minion, Yuè Fēi turned and slowly turned in a circle as if looking for Leah. Leah, however, was watching his feet, and they were always placed just right to defend an attack from her hidden position. She unmisted and said, “I thought you’d come prepared, but I thought I’d try.”
Yuè Fēi laughed and said, “I do my homework.” Then, moving with exceptional speed and accuracy, he equipped his bow and fired. Leah teleported directly behind him and equipping the Amber Dragon in her left hand she lunged forward, only to have it blocked and swept aside by Yuè Fēi’s right-hand sword as he simultaneously lunged with his left. Leah Misted, allowing the sword to pass through her before Shadows Walking behind him and attacking again.
