by Alex Knight
On to Zelda’s second ability, then; the one she’d unlocked at level forty-eight.
Ability: Execution
Your sharpshooter prowess allows you to finish off wounded opponents with ease. If your target’s health is below 10%, your next attack will deal 200% of base damage.
Cost: 15 charge.
Cooldown: 1 second.
Remind me not to drop to less than ten percent health in front of a blast warden, Kaiden thought to himself. This will finish anyone off quickly. Especially with a cooldown time of one second. The devs made this ability to be spammable.
Fifteen charge wasn’t nothing, but it certainly wasn’t a lot. Plus, when targeting a wounded opponent, Zelda would be able to pair Execution with a big attack – say, Improved Kinetic Grenade – to deal massive amounts of damage. Stacking abilities, comboing with allies... things are going to get real crazy soon. It was making Kaiden tired just thinking about it. Or maybe that was the result of the craziness that had taken place in the Grinder and the days prior. Either way, a yawn worked its way out of him. Yawning and exhaustion didn’t exist in Nova – they hadn’t been programmed as a feature or a status state – but the tiredness of his mind in the real world must have been extreme. He could feel the beginnings of it all the way through his headset and into Nova.
Two more quick abilities, he told himself. Then off for a break and some sleep.
Thorne had already been level forty when going into the Grinder, so she’d just unlocked her level forty-four and level forty-eight abilities. Of the warden classes, Kaiden was least familiar with the power warden variant, but he planned to learn. Studying Thorne’s abilities was a good first step. She was part of the group now, wasn’t she? However their relationship had begun, they were all on the same team now.
Ability: Debilitating Blow
You channel charge into your hammer. Your next attack deals 120% base damage and staggers the target. Target’s base attack power is reduced by 50% for the next 5 seconds.
Cost: 50 charge.
Cooldown: 1 minute.
Stagger... Kaiden thought on the keyword for a minute. He’d seen players staggered before, but never looked up the exact definition in the game. He did so now, digging through a few menus before finding the in-game mechanics guide, then reading the definition to himself.
‘Staggering an opponent can be achieved through dealing particularly powerful blows. A staggered character will be knocked a half-step backward and the next attack on them will ignore armor.’ Okay, so it’s like a mini-knockback paired with a mini-shield break. But Debilitating Blow tacks on the additional clause that the target’s attack power is reduced by half for five seconds. That’s pretty mean.
So, all in all, a fine ability. Worked out well for a power warden, actually. The more Kaiden thought about it, the more it made sense. The class excelled when up in their opponent’s face. Lowering an opponent’s attack power and mini-stunning them was a good advantage. Good enough that Kaiden shuddered at the thought of staring down a power warden in close quarters.
Thank goodness for Kickback and Matter Shift, he thought, calling to mind his best escape abilities.
Thorne’s last ability was called ‘Embolden.’ Kaiden pulled it up and gave it a once-over.
Ability: Embolden
An aura of rage surrounds you. For the next 5 seconds, you and all allies within 20 feet deal double damage on melee attacks, but take 50% more damage.
Cost: 80 charge.
Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Ooh, bit of a risky one here. Thorne and all of us near her would deal double damage but also take more damage. Fair, but dangerous. This’ll be useful if we don’t plan on getting hit, but not exactly something to break out when you’re in the thick of the fighting.
Probably there was a way to use Embolden to a greater effect that he was missing at the moment. Based on his exhaustion, that would make sense.
I’ll think more clearly after some sleep. It’s a long flight to Kyraxis anyway, and we’ll need to be ready once we get there. It’ll be time to put these new abilities to the test.
A smile crept on to his face at that thought, and Kaiden’s vision went black as he clicked the logout button.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Titus cracked his knuckles, but was otherwise silent as he led them across the bridge and back toward Maximus’ visitor entrance. Clouds billowed past them on all sides, but the building loomed ahead, its transparent dome a beacon of light in the shade-filled gloom.
“All right,” Kaiden said, shouting to Titus but also speaking to the rest of the group around him. “We need to be strategic about this. Each of us is going to be fighting alone, so we need to make sure our strategies account for that. Thorne, you’ll have to, well, attack. That’s usual, I suppose. But Zelda, you’re going to want to keep your distance. Don’t let your opponen—”
“We know how to play our classes, Kai,” Zelda said, cutting him off.
“I just think we should be prepared. We got a lot of new abilities very quickly and haven’t had as much chance as I’d like to practice with them. And what happens if we get paired against each other? We have to figure that out, too. I mean, one of us will have to beat the other. How do we decide who?”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Thorne said. “Let’s get into the tournament first, then we can focus on crushing our opponents, winning fame and glory, and finally, convincing PlayaSlaya to hear us out.”
Fine, fine.
Titus entered the domed building and Kaiden broke into a jog to catch up.
“How’s it hanging, punks?” Titus was saying as Kaiden slid into the room. Halicar and Nassus were at the counter as they’d been last time and from the looks on their faces, they weren’t particularly happy to see Titus, or any of the group, back so soon.
“What have y’all been up to? Bit of grinding? Bit of PVP?” Titus asked, leaning an elbow on the counter. “Oh, but you’re still level fifty-five, just like the last time I saw you. Huh.” He paused at that, as if confused, then nodded. “That’s cool, that’s cool. You know, I’ve been doing some grinding myself. PVPed a few players. Earned a bit of EXP. Nothing major, just a bit here and there.”
“How did…?” Halicar looked utterly perplexed now. He’d noticed Titus’ new level, no doubt. He looked at Nassus beside him. “Have you ever seen someone level that fast?”
Her lack of response seemed answer enough.
“I’m a hard worker,” Titus said. He flattened one hand on the counter and leaned over it. “Now, about this tournament you run.” He gestured out through the dome, toward where the arena was, though it was currently hidden by clouds. “I want in.”
“Hits level fifty and all of a sudden he thinks he’s hot shit,” Nassus finally said, her voice more a growl than anything. Still, there was uneasiness in it. She’d been caught off guard.
“Tournament’s scheduled for later today. I’m going to fight in it. Sign me up,” Titus said.
“You qualify for the lower division,” Halicar said, working the controls of his console but looking none too happy about it. “Players level fifty to fifty-five. There’s a spot open.”
“Perfect.”
Halicar tapped the console’s screen a few more times, then looked up with a smirk. Quite a quick change of expression from how he’d looked prior.
“Done, big shot. You’re all signed up. Tournament starts in two hours. Be at the arena for your pairing.” Halicar’s smirk boiled into a smile. “Of course, you’re aware this tournament is to the death. There’s no holding back.”
“I’m counting on it.” Titus hiked a thumb over his shoulder. “And so are they.”
“Sign us up too,” Kaiden said, stepping up beside Titus.
The more of us compete, the better a chance we have of winning and getting a shot at speaking with PlayaSlaya. Might as well stack the odds as much in our favor as possible.
“Yeah, uh, no can do.” Halicar said with a hint of sm
ugness to his tone.
“Come again?” Kaiden frowned. “The tournament’s still two hours away. You just said sign-ups were open.”
“Sign-ups were open, bro.” Halicar was full-on smiling now. “But big shot here took the last spot. Tournament’s all full.” He looked up, feigning earnestness. “But if you’d like, I’d be happy to sign you up for next week’s tournament.”
Next week? We don’t have time for that!
“Next week’s too long to wait. We don’t have that kind of time,” Zelda said from back where she was standing beside Thorne.
“Sorry, hun.” Halicar shrugged. “Tournament’s full. Nothing I can do about that. Although…”
Kaiden looked back from Zelda as Halicar trailed off. Although what?
“Ah, yes. There is one spot left!” Halicar smiled again, and Kaiden had the distinct impression that wasn’t a good thing. “Though I can’t give it to you.”
“What? Why not?” Thorne stormed forward. “Do your damn job and sign us up. Me, specifically.” She switched over to private comms. “No offense, guys. But I’m level fifty-one. Gives me the best chance of winning this thing.”
Kaiden wanted to grumble at that, but he knew she was right.
“Fair enough,” he said.
“So sorry, but I don’t think I can give out this spot,” Halicar said, thoroughly enjoying his power trip. “But I’ll tell you what. Let me check with my manager.” He made a dramatic show of turning in his seat, then looked up to Nassus standing beside him.
“Hey, manager. You know that spot that was reserved? Any chance I could give it up so one of these fools can embarrass themselves for our amusement?”
Nassus grinned.
“Well, that does sound tempting. I’d love to watch these overconfident noobs learn what real PVP is about.” She acted like she was considering it, but Kaiden was sure her mind had already been made up. This was just some game they were playing.
“I’m afraid, though, that the spot in question has been reserved. And by a VIP, no less. I can’t overrule that.” She shrugged. “As much as I’d like to help you all, there’s really nothing I can do.”
Halicar looked back to them.
“Guess big shot’s going to be on his own, then. That’s fine. I’ll settle for watching him get humiliated.”
“This is crap,” Zelda said through private comms. “We were supposed to have four shots at winning the tournament, not one.”
“It’s fine,” Titus said.
“No, it’s really not. This is statistically even worse than before.”
There was no denying that. Though previously the worst-case scenario had involved all of them losing, which would have locked them out of game for a week straight. At least now only Titus would be locked out. But still, they’d be no closer to getting PlayaSlaya’s attention.
“Well, I suppose if one of you really wanted to compete, the big man could give up his spot,” Halicar said, staring dead at Titus. “If he’d be so generous, that is.”
“I’m the highest level here,” Thorne said through private comms. “And I have the most fighting experience in-game. It should be me.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you,” Titus said. “But I’m gonna ask you to trust me on this one.” Titus looked at each of them in turn and Kaiden met his eyes when they got to him. The big man didn’t look the same as he always had. No, he’d changed. Kaiden recognized the look he was seeing now. He’d seen it before, when Titus had pitched the plan to grind high enough to enter the tournament. Then again when they were in the grinder. It was a look that met fear and doubt and impossibility head-on and laughed in their faces. It wasn’t overconfidence. It wasn’t foolishness. It was the product of sheer determination. Of earned confidence matched with the real-world experience of getting the job done. In that moment, Titus was so focused it was almost frightening.
Is this how he used to look before stepping into the boxing ring?
“If you want me to give the spot to Thorne, I’ll understand. Going off of levels, she makes the most sense. I can’t deny that. But this is a one-on-one tournament. It’s basically digital boxing. I don’t like to get into it, but this used to be my thing. And I was good at it.” He shook out his shoulders and rolled his neck. “I haven’t forgotten as much of it as I make it seem, either.”
Thorne grumbled an unintelligible reply, then shook her head.
“You’ve got the grit for it, I’ll give you that. At the core of any good PVP player there’s always grit.”
“I need to do this,” Titus said. “Not because Nassus embarrassed me in a duel. It was stupid of me to even accept that. I let my emotions get the better of me and I paid the price for it. But this isn’t about that. This is about proving something to myself. About proving I deserve to be on this team.” He looked around at them once more, one at a time. “Each of you has picked this team up and put it on your back at some point. Proven your worth.”
“You don’t need to prove anything to us,” Kaiden said.
“No. I need to prove it to myself.” Titus sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I’m focused. I’m ready. I got this,” he said. “Trust me?”
“You got this, big guy,” Kaiden said. Zelda nodded in agreement.
“Kick some ass,” she said, a smile pulling at her lips.
“Thorne?” Titus asked last. “You’re okay with this?”
She chewed her lip for a moment.
“Honestly? I think I’d do better in there. But that’s the lone wolf in me thinking. That’s the Thorne that worked for the Party and couldn’t trust anyone but herself. I don’t want to be that person anymore.” She ran a hand through her hair, then nodded. “You got this, Titus. Go kick some ass.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“All right, big man,” Kaiden said, patting Titus on the shoulder. “You’re on next. You ready?”
“Itching for it,” he grunted back. His eyes were trained forward, down the narrow tunnel to the blinding light of the arena. Other competitors waited around them, double checking weapons or equipping armor as the first fight of the day wrapped up. Explosions and crashes left the tunnel shaking back and forth as the fight drew to what sounded like a dramatic conclusion.
Kaiden found himself suddenly glad it wasn’t him that was about to step into the ring for a fight to the death.
There are other ways I can help, though. He turned his eyes to the player standing just across from them. The player the officials had made it clear Titus was paired with.
Ham Slamwich
Class: Cybernetic Knight
Faction: Maximus
Level: 50
She was a cybernetic knight, as most of the Maximus guild members seemed to be. Evidently, that class was well-suited for PVP combat. In her hands she held a massive two-handed axe. Combined with her lighter armor, she painted quite the picture of an all-attack class. She’d been glancing over at Titus for the last minute and making what Kaiden assumed were supposed to be intimidating faces.
“First opponent’s a cyber knight,” Kaiden relayed to Titus. “We’ve fought them before. Basically the civilian version of a power warden. High-damage attacks, poor defense.”
“Right, right.” Titus nodded along, taking in all of the info. He looked at his opponent. There was no malice in it, though. No intimidation. It was purely analytical. Studying and making a game plan.
“She’s probably going to have decent mobility, and you can expect her to try to toss you around with moves like Thorne’s Gravity Sledge.”
“She’ll hit hard,” he said with a nod. “But my larger health pool will help even that out.”
“You’ll just need to squeeze every point of damage you can out of your attacks,” Kaiden said. “Gonna need to punch a bit above your weight class.”
“Heh. I think I can make that work.”
From the end of the tunnel came a deafening boom, and then silence. The fight was over.
“Next fighters!�
�� an official called.
“You got this,” Kaiden said and gave Titus one final slap on the back.
The space for fighting was a circular patch of what looked to be some sort of Astroturf about forty feet in diameter. The remains of past fights – too much broken armor, destroyed robots, and sagging stone and rebar walls to be just from the today’s fighting – were scattered around the space. There was enough debris to make the field of combat interesting. All around the perimeter transparent force fields hovered. Presumably, they’d stop any attacks from leaving the arena, but were mostly invisible until something hit them. Beyond the force fields, the bleachers wrapped around the arena, raised slightly so everyone had a good view of the carnage to come.
From where Kaiden, Zelda, and Thorne were watching in the first row they had a good view of the competitors; Titus on the side closer to them and the cyber knight on the opposite.
“Good day to bash each other to death, isn’t it?” Titus’ opponent said with all too much cheer in her tone. Her voice was amplified for the audience due to some unseen tech in the arena.
Titus’ only reply was to grunt.
Kaiden wanted to give him some words of encouragement, but per tournament rules, the big man had been forced to leave their party temporarily. No communicating with him via comms, then. It was going to have to be old-fashioned shouting or nothing.
“And we’re back!” an announcer’s voice blasted through the stadium. “You all ready for the second fight of the day?” The announcer paused a moment to allow for applause before continuing. There wasn’t much. The majority of the stands were filled with Maximus guild members in red and black armor. They cheered the loudest and the longest at the prospect of another fight. Initially, Kaiden had been worried they’d sell Titus – and everyone else – out to the Warden Corps., but assurances had been made by the tournament organizers. Maximus didn’t cooperate with the Corps. or the Party, period. It was said Maximus’ members were loyal to a fault. Seemed that was going to be put to the test now.
