Chapter 73: Round Three (Patreon)

There was one upside to fighting two matches in one day:

Will didn’t have to do anything but rest the next day. He vaguely suspected a setup, but when they marched him and the debuffer out onto the stage, Will’s opponent forfeited without a fuss.

Sure, people weren’t happy about two let-down matches in a row, but again…he wasn’t there to entertain people. Plus, breezing through his matches without revealing his limits to the other competitors was ideal. Even if they did give him looks.

The day off gave him plenty of time and energy to study his potential opponents.

Will’s Round Three opponent was going to come down to the javelin lady or the wiry shirtless dude without an ounce of fat on him wearing the oversized necklace Relic.

“In the West corner, we have Chronos Lunn, the level 25 Metallic Sage from the West Ring!

In the East corner, we have Karryn Amos, the level 25 Javelineer  from the South Ring!

Fighters, BEGIN!”

When the fight started, the wiry guy instantly took on a metallic sheen, rushing forward.

Three javelins flew out and bounced off the wiry monk’s metallic forearms before he reached his target, aiming for a punch with his whole body weight behind it.

The javelineer choked up on a javelin, accepting the punch while stabbing down with the steel tip. The arena cracked under the Metallic Sage’s feet as he blocked the stab with one hand while punching with the other, tucking his arm around his head like a shield.

Karryn staggered back, looking none the worse for wear after the punch, aside from a bruise on her ribs.

Her arm flickered and another three javelins filled the air between the two of them, aiming for the Metalllic Sage’s midsection.

The metallic monk shrugged off the attacks and bulled forward again. The javelineer choked up on the tip of her weapon again, but instead of trading blow for blow she gracefully slid backwards, whipping the haft of the javelin up towards his ear while his fist missed her ribs by over a foot…

Then the Metallic Sage slid forward another couple feet, as if an invisible giant had nudged him forward, his fist hitting the same spot while Karryn’s wrist caught the side of his head rather than the haft of her weapon.

That’s a Mobility Ability. I wonder how it works, Will wondered as the Javelineer staggered back again, her eyes narrowed.

Chronos pursued the advantage, using his Mobility Ability freely now that it’d been revealed, mixing in unnatural slides, hiccups and accelerations that seemed to come from nowhere.

I wonder if that’s what it’s like to fight me, Will thought. It could be good practice for him to fight someone equally mobile.

Interestingly enough, the javelineer abandoned offense and put her full effort into her mobility, moving just as fast as the metallic sage, albeit without the unnatural changes in momentum.

The Sage finally caught up and unleashed a devastating kick on the javelineer’s thigh, causing her to drop to her knees.

He followed up with a kick aimed at her head, but she rolled out of the way and managed to get back to her feet before the metallic sage recovered.

She continued to lead him around the arena, but her mobility suffered a bit, and before long, the sage caught her with another kick to the thigh, sending the javelineer back to the ground.

Will winced as the sage followed up with the exact same kick to the head as before.

He’s kind of predictable, isn’t he? Karryn had noticed it before Will, and the javelineer fully intended to take advantage of the monk’s complacency.

Instead of rolling out of the way again, she lunged up, caught the leg under her arm and punched him in the knee with every ounce of muscle she could bring to bear.

Which was a lot.

The sage’s leg popped backwards with a snap the entire arena could hear. Yeah, metallic skin don’t help with that.

The Metallic Sage screamed, sliding backwards, his body wobbling left and right, up and down as though it was a bobber suspended in water, now entirely supported by his Ability.

He could fly, or close to it, but missing a leg would definitely make things harder.

Chronos landed on his good leg and stayed balanced despite the sudden trauma, his face revealing the depth of pain he was feeling.

The javelineer grunted with pain as she used her javelin like a cane, forcing her battered legs to take her weight.

She had bruised ribs and wobbly legs while her opponent could still fly.

Doesn’t he win? Will wondered.

Apparently not.

Without the use of both legs, the monk was no longer able to produce a blow with enough force to endanger the blonde woman. He tried hit and run tactics, but Will could see the way his flight Ability wasn’t providing the same rotation power that planting his feet could manage, so she warded off the blows with a single arm, able to continue throwing her javelin, wearing him down every time he withdrew.

A couple minutes into this fast-paced fight, the Metallic Sage’s shiny body began to dull, then it began glowing a dim pink. Finally, he raised his hand and surrendered, his body dripping hissing blood from multiple minor perforations.

“And Karryn Amos wins by surrender! That was an entertaining match folks! And now Chronos is requesting a bucket of water!”

The Metallic Sage dumped the water bucket over himself, sighing in relief as a cloud of steam exploded out from him.

The two of them got healed and went back into the competitors waiting area, chatting amiably.

“You’re my next round?” She asked, her attention turning to Will as they passed by, eyes scraping down his smaller body. She was a head taller than him and easily a hundred pounds heavier.

“I’m your last.” Will replied.

The javelineer gave a scoff as she continued walking.

Now to come up with a way not to get perforated. Her body stats are really high. Strength, Resistance and Kinesthetics all seem high. Acuity is probably decent so she can see her targets. That means her weakness is probably similar to a Tangled…albeit probably not that extreme.

Not to mention she would account for it in her Build.

Will still didn’t know what her Primary Abilities were, since she’d brute forced both of her matches.

If he came in close she would beat him to death.

If he stayed at a distance she would pincushion him.

She didn’t have a bunch of tricks, like Will…because she didn’t need them.

Rough guess, her Strength is somewhere around 100, not counting Relics. That’s what a hypothetical 4 strength growth would get her by level 25, anyway.

By Will’s reckoning, she’d won all of her matches without leaning on her Relics, so even if he stole them mid-fight, it would only lower her effectiveness by a slim margin.

On the other hand, there’s a very good chance that her Relics are there to make her Ability go from being a powerful attack to being a complete blowout. An ace in the hole when raw muscle and speed can’t cut it.

To summarize, I have to figure out a way to beat the level of performance I’ve seen so far and steal her Relics.

If he’d seen her Abilities, he might not have to go all out, but since she’d kept them hidden, Will was forced to go to extremes…Without killing her, anyway.

Can Healing abilities piece heads back together?

Will had bounced between a couple different ideas.

First idea was to tug her off the arena with the Manhunter ring.

If it succeeded, then great, he could quickly and nonlethally end the fight.

But, what if, during her fall off the arena, she triggered her heretofore unused Ability and cut him in half before hitting the dirt?

Will would lose. And probably die.

Second idea. What if he stalled and removed her Relics before knocking her off the ring?

Stall how? Will wasn’t confident he could face up to that barrage of steel. He could see it, maybe even dodge it for a while, but not forever. Will’s resistance was unusually high, but he suspected that would simply prevent him from exploding.

Third idea:

Use the phantom hand to release a cannonball the size of her head, travelling at hundreds of miles an hour…right at the back of her skull.

Would it work?

Even if her Resistance was 125, that was simply six times the structural integrity of a normal skull. Will was fairly sure a cannonball at those speeds could plow through six skulls without losing much velocity.

At the very least it would brain her.

The downside...Will wasn’t in a rush to start killing people whose only crime had been to get in the ring with him.

Even if they did give me a mean look.

…I should talk to the priests.

They were lingering around the fighter’s waiting area, making sure nobody sprained a muscle or had an untreated ulcer before their match.

The Granesh priests universally pointedly ignored him, which Will found amusing, because it gave away how much attention they were paying to him. they were probably drooling at the mouth to declare him an unfortunate casualty.

The clergy of Melisk included a single louse-ridden beggar dispensing healing with wild eyes.

The clergy of Andover had gold-lined robes and business cards. They weren’t allowed to charge the contestants for healing: That’d already been paid for, but they did treat this as an opportunity to advertise their services.

The clergy of Holdna had a larger number of priestesses. Their uniform…wasn’t much of one, mostly whatever the priest found comfortable, but they all wore a stylized symbol of an eye surrounded by a circle.

Of those present, they seemed the least likely to shiv him or sell him a slave.

“Excuse me.” Will said, approaching the white-haired priestess, whose wrinkled face broke into a genuine smile when Will approached.

“Holdna sees you, young man. How can I help? Do you have an injury or concern?”

“You can’t tell any other contestant what I’m about to say, can you?”

“The healers attending the tournament are paid well for their discretion. I will not divulge it to anyone.”

“Yeah, um, if I were to say…” Will lowered his voice. “...explode the other person’s head, could you bring them back if you got to them fast enough?”

“No.” The priestess said. “In theory, there is very short second or two where the soul would not have moved on yet wherein such a thing would be possible, but it is beyond the power of any mortal presently alive to recompose a head within that time span.”

“Oh, damn,” Will muttered, going back to the drawing board.

“Holdna does not wish for you to fight at anything less than your best.” She mused. “Listen, there is a healing Ability that can be cast in advance that could preserve your opponent’s soul and body long enough to bring them back from an injury of that nature. I can cast it, but I have one condition.”

“What’s the condition?” Will asked.

“You must swear to Holdna that you do not have the means or intent to use the passive healing buff against its bearer.”

That’s an easy one.

“I swear to Holdna that I don’t have the means or intent to use the passive healing buff against it’s bearer.” Will said. It made sense. Could swing the match if he had an ability that could twist buffs into debuffs or raise his stats based on how powerful the enemy’s buffs were or something of that nature.

As soon as he finished speaking, it felt as through the whole world had grown eyes and was watching him. Like he was being watched from every possible direction.

“Holdna sees you.” The priestess said, and Will believed her. “I will apply the protection to your opponent. Fight with everything you have. The goddess expects nothing less than victory from you.”

“Me, specifically?” Will asked, cocking his head.

The old woman didn’t miss a beat. “Holdna encourages all Climbers to seek victory over The Tower for the benefit of all.”

“Does she now?” Will asked eyes narrowed at the priestess’s serene smile as she fed him a half-truth.

“Of course.”

It seemed like there was more to this little slip of the tongue, but Will wouldn’t get anywhere by pestering the old woman. He could already tell she was going to deny or misdirect any follow-up questions.

With that, Will’s concerns about going overboard and killing his opponent were put to rest.

What if it’s not enough?

Will’s current strength was 26. With the ring of accuracy, it was 46. With a potion of Fury, he would have 56. That put him solidly at about…half of his opponent’s expected Strength. Similar Resistance and better Kinesthetics.

Her focus has to be terrible. Sadly mind-effecting Relics are few and far between.

Will glanced down at his serpent’s axe.

Could my backup plan be to turtle up behind a shield and wait while the psychic damage whittles her down?

In Will’s imagination, blocking his own view and putting Karryn on a clock would prompt her to use her Ability and the chances were good it would put a hole through his plan, his shield, and his body.

I still have two smoke bombs left, the bottle of lightning, the clay idol, the crawling tar….

What if…

In Will’s imagination, the cannonball bounced off the back of the javelineer’s head due to a shielding Relic or toughness above and beyond his expectations. She then begins filling the air with javelins.

Ooh…I should get a shielding relic in the hand, not just a shield. Noted.

Once she begins throwing, Will dodges, fills the arena with smoke.

When the smoke clears…giant snake.

How big is it on the 5th floor, anyway? The snake’s power was scaled down based on the ambient Miasma available when its body was created. Outside The Tower it was five feet long. Inside…?

Giant snake acts as damage sponge while I steal her Relics.

Once relics are stolen, me and giant snake try to deal lethal damage or shove her off the ring. Whichever is easier.

If snake is defeated while relics are being stolen?

Potion of Fury plus Aetherhawk to the face and paralysis from boots?

Actually, let’s go back and add aetherhawk to the face to the plan from the beginning. There’s no reason I shouldn’t put it to use splitting her attention, given that I have permanent access to it.

So the plan’s order of operations is…Cannonball to the back of the head, aetherhawk to face, smoke grenade, snake summon, steal relics, shove/stab/psychic AOE as the situation calls for.

Which Relic should I use in the Phantom Hand?

A huge portion of Karryn’s intimidation was how fast she could move and throw those damned javelins. He might as well keep the Hoarfrost effect ready to go.

If he could drop her speed by 87%, that would make things much easier.

Of course, Will couldn’t guarantee it would work. Not without knowing if her Relics were offensive or defensive. There was a chance she wore Relics that protected against status effects so she didn’t have to worry about stuff like that and just keep pincushioning people.

If it doesn’t work, I’ll switch to the Ring of Accuracy and lean on the Strength boost.

It was hard to go wrong with more Strength.

 …I need to go buy a potion of Fury.

His previous one was still baking in the keg full of Relic dust in his room, absorbing the latent magic.

…and a cannonball.

Will left the arena and spent the rest of the night acquiring the appropriate supplies.

By the time his match rolled around, Will was a nervous wreck. The Baron had sent a pretty clear ‘stop cheating’ message with his second opponent, so Will had decided to stop before he found himself being shot through the eye by a javelin while eating breakfast.

Not being able to do anything other than prepare made him nervous, though. Or…not nervous. Frustrated?

Once the time came around, Will strode out into the arena, his expression hidden by the mask. His body though, that was trembling like crazy.

Will wasn’t sure what it was. He hadn’t been nervous against his other opponents. He wasn’t even really nervous now. It was the same trembling  one might have after drawing a bowstring back to their cheek.

Anxious anticipation of a sudden, swift flight that ended in violence.

Honestly, Will would feel better once the announcer said ‘begin!’ and he could actually do something.

“I look forward to seeing what kind of petty tricks you’ve got up your sleeve.” The javelineer said, pointing the haft of her weapon at him. “Wait. Are you shaking? Scared you finally have to actually fight-”

“Fighters, BEGIN!”

Will tensed, ready to go down his list of tactics one at a time, accelerating the Phantom Hand to nearly it’s max speed directly behind his opponent.

First, shoot the cannonball-

Karryn’s head exploded into a fine pink mist.

Panicking, Will grabbed the cannonball out of midair before it hit him. Like a magic trick, no one actually saw it before it disappeared again.

Dimensional Storage

49 Charge remaining.

…

The arena was silent as Karryn’s headless body froze, suspended in midair by the power of the protective Ability as the entire cohort of Holdna priestesses rushed to reassemble her face.

The silence stretched out second by agonizing seconds as the thousands of spectators struggled to process what they’d just seen.

“And the Winner is…William Oh.” The announcer finally found her voice.

Will turned and left.