The Ruined Temple: A LitRPG Adventure (Eternal Online Book 2)

by TJ Reynolds

  Though the Spear Maiden was fast, she could not dodge a second attack so well timed. She held up her buckler and blocked the badger’s claws. The beast snarled and pounced, seeking to end its reluctant foe. But as it jumped forward, Sarina performed a surprising backspring, giving the peryton room to attack. While the badger was committed and unprotected, the peryton flashed forward, its antlers goring the badger in the neck.

  “Did you see that?” I whispered. “That peryton moves almost like Pachi when she activates Flamewalking.”

  Teegan nodded. “Her form blurs when she moves. It’s almost like she is bending space to do so. I’ve only seen the ability in vampires.”

  I hissed back, “EO has vampires?”

  “EO has everything. Shush.”

  The warrior pressed forward and activated a Shield Bash that took the spear maiden off guard. Though she blocked it, the force knocked her off her feet and left her vulnerable. Again, the badger jumped out to attack the woman.

  Yet as the badger closed in on the fallen Spear Maiden, she spun on the ground and used her momentum to throw her weapon. It sunk into the badger’s opened maw, piercing the roof of its mouth.

  Hearing his companion shriek, the warrior turned at the worst time. The peryton bashed the man’s shield and sent him sprawling, then charged again and whipped its tail out at the fallen warrior. Unprotected by his shield, he was unable to block the spray of quills that flew in his face.

  Sharky D’s screams were louder than his dying badger’s. He flailed on the ground a moment before Sarina, already back on her feet, sank another of her javelins into his neck.

  Sarina and Momo the peryton walked away.

  The bodies were removed, and the announcer squawked like a rooster to the crowd’s delight. I decided to set out and get some air. We weren’t due to fight for a few rounds, so I asked Tejón if he wanted to join me.

  As we walked out of the viewing box beside me, he said, Yes, I grow tired of this. I will fight, especially if we can have a nice dinner tonight, but it was hard to watch the badger die. He was brave,

  He was. That’s all we have to be, too. I don’t care if we lose, okay? Let’s just try to protect each and do our best. I found someone sweeping up and asked for directions to the bathrooms.

  The arena had a separate area for the beasts that fought here. Tejón said he was quite impressed with the facilities when he returned, and I laughed, taking some water from my pack.

  We found a place to sit down against the stone wall, hearing the muffled roar of the arena as it progressed through two more fights.

  Finally, a runner found us in the hall and waved us over. We followed the boy around until we stood under the archway that led into the pit. My stomach did a few flipflops, but I suppressed the nerves. I’d fought a freaking god in this world. What could be worse?

  Then the announcer screamed my name. “Madi Mendoza and her stone bear Tejón versus Akira Zhao and his flame leopard Xiao Pang!”

  Did he just say flame leopard? Crap. Too late to back down. I stumbled forward. My hands were cold with fear and my mouth had gone dry. Then Tejón nudged me with his massive body and I nearly lost my footing.

  Stand tall, Madi. We will win if we fight together.

  My laugh started soft and inaudible but quickly built into something greater. By the time I walked out, my feet crunching softly in the sand of the pit, I heard the sound of my own insanity finding new depths. I belly-laughed before a crowd and a startled bowman and his leopard.

  As I came within range to extend my axe and bump it against Akira’s bow, I composed myself. This crowd of people wasn’t here to gawk at the girl in the wheelchair, they were here to see a warrior stand and fight. I would not disappoint them.

  Then none of it mattered as the referee shouted “Fight!” behind me.

  Tejón roared, his great form crouching low in anticipation.

  I lifted both of my axes. There had been several Warrior builds and even one Barbarian just like me. I would not show this crowd another wild and reckless display of strength and folly.

  Akira darted away and nocked an arrow. He released a probing shot at me and I managed to deflect it with one of my axes. The speed of the projectile was dizzying, though. There was no way I could keep many of those at bay.

  At the same time the leopard rushed toward Tejón and the bear pulled back a paw to strike it. Instead of attacking, though, the leopard stopped a few feet away and did something that I should have been expecting. A stream of fire flew from its mouth and wrapped around Tejón’s chest and face.

  Tejón winced in pain and recoiled, and the leopard circled, preparing to pounce and finish his kill with claws that looked very capable of doing just that. But Tejón roared in its face, seemingly unperturbed by the fiery attack. His roar was defiant and loud enough to scare the daylights out of half the people in the arena.

  His fur had the same ashen tinge it had gotten in our previous wyvern battle.

  A look of surprise passed across the Ranger’s eyes and the leopard rebounded as if struck, not wanting to tangle with Tejón’s might.

  The Ranger launched another arrow at me, and this time I was forced to activate Dodge as I could barely see it streaking toward me. I remembered what Teegan had said about the delay that happens after the skill is used, but thankfully no other attack came.

  I watched as the ranger pulled his bow and began a charged shot, this time aimed at Tejón. Though I had wanted to start the fight defensively, it was time to shift the momentum. I dropped my axes quickly and pulled the throwing axe that I’d strapped to my opposite hip. I gripped the axe in both hands and flung it overhead.

  Akira saw my attack and abandoned his shot, jumping back instead. I bent to pick up my axes again as quickly as possible, but the damned leopard jumped at me, its claws flashing out, trailing streamers of fire.

  As I stood up and braced for the attack, I felt the scorching touch of the leopard’s claws scrape across my greaves. The pain was only an afterthought, though. Only the fire itself had penetrated through, burning me with the heat produced in the attack. Yet even that, I remembered, had been reduced by Wardahl’s armor. I’d need to buy the bastard an ale for this.

  Tejón had not been sitting idle, though, and when the leopard presented its flank to him, he sprang. For the second time, I saw the devastation of his Mauling Frenzy. His bulky form shot forward in a blur and he struck the flame leopard in its ribs.

  The sound of bones snapping told me exactly how punishing the attack had been. In response, the poor cat rolled away and limped to find some degree of shelter behind its master.

  Rage colored Akira’s features, and the Ranger activated some arcane ability. He suddenly lifted up off the ground, hovering in a pale blue light. I was worried that he’d target Tejón, but the man swiveled toward me and drew his bow.

  A series of blue arrows formed along his bowstring, all made of the same glowing energy. As Akira drew back his mighty bow, a pair of seraphic wings formed in the air behind him.

  I lifted my axes in front of me to block whatever might be coming, hoping the flat of their sides and my armor might be enough to survive.

  The bow fired, launching a single blue arrow out toward me. It arced slower than any normal arrow. I thought of simply rolling out of the way, but even as I looked, the arrow split into a hundred fragments that fell down on me like deadly icicles.

  A wave of cold and pain crashed into me, my axes deflecting many of the shards, the rest landing in the sand around me. At least a dozen pierced my body, finding gaps between my armor.

  I cried out and watched in horror as another arrow left the bow, splitting like the first and falling toward me. I used Dodge this time, but still, several small wounds peppered my body.

  Tejón cried out, a look of worry in his eyes. Hide behind me.

  He made to lumber toward me and act as a shield, but I shouted to him to stand down. No, Tejón! I have an idea.

  The third volley rose and
fell toward me, and just before it connected, I used my newest skill, Palisade of Flame.

  A blast of fire burst from my chest and became a sphere around me. It glowed an electric orange, somewhere between a forge’s fire and the bright light of a noonday sun. The ice shards that landed against the shield turned to vapor, each sizzling briefly.

  More of the volleys rose and fell, and I counted in my head, hoping that the thirty seconds would be enough to outlast Akira’s ability. Now, Tejón, finish the leopard. The ranger is locked into this ability, and if he stops it somehow, I will attack him.

  The bear ran at the injured leopard, who was brave enough to face him. The two beasts met with a flurry of paws, Tejón’s strength only nullified slightly by the cat’s speed and dexterity. It dodged many of Tejón’s initial strikes and, despite its injured state, managed to rake the bear across his face and shoulder.

  I watched a few seconds, staring at the gladiators as they fought, and noticed Akira doing the same. It was obvious that he wanted to help, but it looked as if his body was manipulating the bow without his will. The skill was holding him in place, as I’d thought.

  Feeling useless, I took an experimental step forward. I laughed with a wild joy as I saw the sphere of fire move forward with me.

  Akira noticed, too, and his eyes went wide. I looked and saw three more blue arrows resting on the string, and at my count, my Palisade of Flame still had at least twelve more seconds.

  I sprinted forward. Another arrow left the bow and sizzled off of the dome above me, and in the corner of my eye, I saw Tejón take another slash of fiery claws. He grunted and struck out with a rage-fueled sweep of his paw. This one landed.

  The leopard’s neck snapped to the side, sounding like a sapling cracking in two.

  “No, Xiao, no!” Akira cried.

  The final arrow flew indifferently into the air.

  The blue aura that had surrounded him faded, and he drifted to the ground before me. I closed in on his position and swung at his chest, activating Sunder at the same time.

  The man only winced, unable or unwilling to dodge or block. He wasn’t even watching as my axe tore through his studded leather armor. His eyes were locked on the still form of Xiao Pang, the faithful leopard who had fought beside him.

  The glowing orb surrounding me flickered out. I watched the stream of blood and the flecks of tissue and bone that sprayed out from Akira’s wound. I felt my bile rise. It was the roar of the crowd that pushed me over the edge. As Tejón and I were applauded for our ruthlessness, I vomited near the still-bleeding form of Akira the Ranger.

  The announcer cried, “Winner!” Then I found myself plodding away from the fighting pit, walking beside Tejón and finding at least some degree of sanctuary in the dim tunnels surrounding the arena.

  An apothecary met us as we exited and healed our wounds.

  Tejón said what I’d been thinking. I do not feel clean after such a victory. It was too much like fighting against Hana and Pachi.

  I thought of the look of devastation on Akira’s face when he watched his pet die, and the limp body of the leopard laying before Tejón. Had any of this been worthwhile? The Rat King and his many minions were one reason, though.

  Yeah, we can head out and sit with Teegan soon enough, I said. We just need to remember why we are doing this.

  After an hour or so, my wits returned to me, and I explained that it would do to watch as many of the fights as possible, if only to study the other competitors.

  After another hour of arena fights, the light in the sky began to fade, and several torchbearers came out and lit braziers around the pit.

  Tejón fidgeted nervously, looking like an enormous child watching their parent leave to go to work, yet his words were filled with wisdom, as they so often were. Be wary and control your rage. You can win if you simply conserve your strength.

  Trying not to think too much about the upcoming event, I replied, Thank you, my friend. I’ll be back soon.

  As I strode down the tunnel, surrounded by the players who I would be facing, I understood what made the arena so intense: knowing about the match to come, the space and time given to critical thought. In a real battle, there was seldom such an opportunity.

  We all walked out onto the sands of the pit as the announcers called our names one at a time. The orange light of the fire was now as bright as a fading sunset. I had never been one for drama or ceremony, but the fire was having a notable effect on all those present.

  The announcer jested, his eyes blazing with the firelight, “It has been a glorious day here at the Bridgerun Arena! But if you see one of the competitors that had their haunches handed to them today, do us all a favor, and buy the poor bastard a drink!”

  As he walked around the arena floor, stoking the flames of the crowd one final time, I could tell the man was a few drinks away from passing out. Though he only swayed once or twice, I could tell he was the kind of man who drank like this every day, a real burracho. I doubted he’d stay to watch the fight.

  “But we have one more event, the one you’ve all paid your 2 silver to come here and watch,” he went on. “It’s time to see fifteen lack-wits hack each other to pieces, folks. I give you the one and only… Battle Royale!”

  The referee didn’t emerge this time, only peeked his head out and bellowed the one word we were all waiting for. “Fight!”

  I looked around, hoping to make some sense of the chaos that immediately ensued. To my right, I watched an orc with a long halberd face off with two elves gripping a pair of short swords in their hands. The way they stood shoulder to shoulder told me they must have formed some sort of temporary alliance. I wished the orc good luck and looked the other way.

  As I did, I had just enough time to bring up my axe to deflect the blow that was thrown at me. The fool I’d seen fight earlier that day, Randy the Reveler, was gunning for me, and had thought it would be smart to kill me before I saw him coming.

  When I’d stepped into the ring, I’d told myself to keep my cool, but the idiots’ low-handed attack pissed me off.

  I blocked a few of his attacks, waiting for him to use one of the skills I knew so well. Sure enough, I saw his blade flash out as he triggered Sunder. Activating Dodge at the perfect time, Randy’s greatsword missed me.

  Sunder, like many skills, took a certain amount of time to perform. This skill was quick, but to reset and attack again or use another skill would take a least a full second. That gave me plenty of time.

  I activated Whirlwind.

  Randy recognized the move and managed to duck under the first of the strikes. But what he didn’t realize was that the ability tripled a single attack, and when dual-wielding, as I was, that effectively gave me six attacks.

  My axes fanned out before me, the second strike grazing off his sword and clipping the side of his head. The third and fourth attacks tore through his unarmored chest, and the fifth sent the man’s head to the ground. The sixth attack struck air—the foolish warrior was already falling.

  Taking a moment to catch my breath, I realized I had finished my opponent quicker than most of the other competitors. Several were still fighting one on one, and a few others were teamed up, whittling down a single opponent.

  Nobody was close to me at present, so I glanced back at the orc. His body was marked with an assortment of shallow wounds, and though the elves looked winded, and one had a deep gash down his thigh, it seemed to be a losing battle. That wouldn’t do at all.

  I rushed over and caught the injured elf off guard. I cut off one of his sword arms at the wrist with one axe, then sunk my second axe into his chest. The elf’s chainmail vest blunted the attack, but the bones of his chest caved in.

  The orc looked up at me, pain and fury in his eyes. I gave him a wink then turned to find another foe.

  His laughter exploded behind me, loud enough to part water, and I joined him with a laugh of my own. Maybe I had been wrong. This was turning out to be a blast.

  As I observed t
he carnage of the pit once more, I was surprised to see several more players down. I couldn’t get a good count, but there couldn’t have been more than eight or nine fighters left standing.

  I dimly heard the jeer and tussle of the crowd above and spotted another worthy target. This one was a female tabaxi, her furry body bare but for her gleaming steel breastplate. She held a long, thin sword, a needle of a weapon. She grinned at me, her white fangs outlined in blood.

  When I engaged this enemy, I knew right away that she would not fall easily. Just the way she trotted toward me, barefooted and light as a leaf on the wind, made it obvious her dexterity was through the roof.

  She made the first move, three probing thrusts that flickered against my armor. Each one struck its mark. The last managed to lift up one of the scales on my armor and pierce me, though only an inch or so of the blade sank into my thigh.

  I tried to block the next attacks, but the tabaxi sidestepped my efforts and activated some ability I hadn’t seen before. She struck out at me with her offhand, long claws raking across my chest. I gasped and felt grooves tearing through my flesh.

  When I looked down, my armor was still in place, but I could distinctly feel blood trickle down, covering my belly as I panted. Some skills could ignore armor, at least in other video games I’d played, but now, seeing it performed on my own fleshy self, the attack seemed unfair.

  Darting out to land another strike, the cat woman said, “Your stupid bear killed a flame leopard today. It is fitting that I will kill you now.”

  I grunted and backed off, glancing side to side to make sure nobody else was nearby. Then I focused on the kitty that danced around on her feet.

  I attacked and used Sunder afterward, but the fighter just dodged easily, then repaid me with a few more strikes. I was going to use Whirlwind, hoping to get lucky, but I had the feeling she would evade that, too. She was too quick.

  An idea began to form in my head.

  I threw a few wild attacks to give her the impression that I was getting desperate. She took the bait and came in to punish me again with a lighting-fast counterattack. But when she closed the distance, I used Rampage and grabbed her sword in my hand. My gauntlet resisted the cut, but I felt the bite of steel grind through. Using her momentum to aid me, I yanked on her blade and made the cat woman stumble toward me. I punched out with the end of my axe, shattering her breastplate. She wasn’t so fast after that.