The Gamer Chapter 1529 – Intermission (Patreon)

Metra’s cheeks were getting squished by John’s hands. The grim and terrible Breaker of Armies was all putty and tail wagging under the combined attention of the Gamer, Nia and Gnome. While he wiped the dirt off her face, the pariah and the cuddle rock gave her all the head scratches a living weapon could ever want. Blonde tail hairs flew all over the place swishing and swooshing audibly.

Although John would not have minded doing all of this under the eyes of the public, they did have the privacy of a private watching area in the upper ranks of the coliseum’s structure. It was, in fact, the same area that Lydia and her allies had stayed in during the tournament for Rex Germaniae’s leadership. Today, Lydia and Maximillian were on the same side of the divide. Mengele and his puppets of the Azure Tribe were across.

Down in the arena, a replay of the fight occurred in a full, three-dimensional recreation. No less than three High Fateweavers were involved in making that even a possibility and the energy costs involved were, once again, mind boggling. Albeit, from his personal watching area, Romulus likely footed the energy bill by pouring the majority of the needed mana into the system himself. That way, such ludicrous feats of enchantment engineering became at the very least feasible.

Calling it a replay was also slightly inaccurate. Rather, what was being displayed was still the continuous stream of footage that had been originally transferred, just slowed down to a degree that all eyes could follow it. Fascinatingly, whatever cameras Romulus used were capable of relaying data at a level that scaled with an individual’s perception. It likely had to do with the screens being illusionary in nature, ‘tricking’ the brain into perceiving the relayed visual and audio data.

The important part was that the average person, under these circumstances, would have seen only blurs and the landscape getting devastated. To them, it was like trying to follow a passing fighter jet with nothing but a magnifying glass. That was, if the fighter jet also carried with it a thick storm and was engaged in a fight with a second jet that did the same.

So, the footage was manually slowed down to a degree that made Metra and Liakan move at a speed that was impressive but traceable. There were, of course, some interesting side effects. The expansion rates of explosions were interesting to follow and John could make out details all over where the people on the levers had used the proverbial ‘autofill’ tool to hide the fact that even the most advanced tournament-watching equipment in the world was struggling with recording clashes of this level.

“Such a good girl,” John told the blonde, joining his hands with those of Gnome and Nia, rubbing the warm wolf ear of the First of Wrath between his fingers. Metra got a little more comfortable in his lap. She reeked of dirt and that ozone-like smell of overcharged arcane. Neither was intense enough to do anything but worship her with touches and kisses.

The urge to turn it into more was a powerful one. Having shameless public sex in the middle of an event like this was a line he had not crossed yet. He wouldn’t either, even if it was tempting. Instead, he just kept kissing her cheek and enjoyed the warmth of her blonde fur under his fingers.

“Good start,” Maximillian hummed. The gravity king was seated one to John’s left. Not to be outdone, he had his succubus spouse in his lap. The light-grey skinned woman was considerably smaller and thus fit snugly into the royal’s lap. Her spade-tipped tail was wrapped around his hand, keeping it pulled to her breast, which he shamelessly kneaded.

Not to be outdone, John did the same with Metra. The wolf woman was considerably smaller in that department, her B-cups barely comparable to the double Ds of Irielz. A fact that did not matter to John’s enjoyment. “You’re playing a dangerous game, my king,” Metra muttered huskily.

“Don’t use that title in public,” he immediately chided her.

Metra let out a low growl, but obliged. “Fine, Master,” she stated instead. That title still raised some eyebrows among those not entirely in the know regarding the Gamer’s lifestyle. It did not send the wrong message and that was all that mattered.

Turning to his friend, John said, “Indeed a pretty good start. Although I did not expect another daughter of Tiamat here…”

“Mother Chaos created all manners of gods from her flesh, either directly or by means of birth,” Metra said. “Admittedly I had never heard of a Liakan. This must have been before Akkad.”

“Certainly fits with the timeline,” John agreed. The Azure Tribe had been eliminated long before the barrier between Abyss and mundane had become sacrosanct, so it must have predated the first human empire by several hundred, if not thousand, years. That made the mistranslation of it as the ‘Empire of Blue and Purple Sands’ all the more puzzling. It also put into question how large the original organization had been. Several thousand at most, John reckoned.

“How strong do you reckon she was?”

The question came from behind John and he turned his head to find Lu Zhi. The Heavenly Jade Empress was wearing one of her ornate Chinese dresses, this one of a similar design to what she had worn when they had first met – minus the absurdly enticing pants. It was white and had an expansive landscape of tall mountains painted upon it, each more a pillar than a peak. The inky style gave it all that oriental flare, even more than the vegetation depicted did.

John would have loved to flirt with her, even despite the annoying little gnome that tailed her. Absalm was the least of their worrisome witnesses, however. An open invitation had gone out to all those that had cast their vote in support of Fusion. That was why Lydia had been able to officially join them there, with Maximillian and Irielz as her retinue. Lu Zhi had wiggled herself in, bringing with her those that would keep an eye on her. Luna had visited once, for a brief moment. John kind of wished she hadn’t, because she had opened the door for Suel to stay. It was bad enough that the Horned Rat was around, but the Horned Rat and Suel at the same time was absurdly annoying.

Especially since John still hadn’t worked out if they were the same person.

Concentrating instead on the gorgeous woman in front of him, John answered the question with a question of his own, “What will I receive in return for answering that?” he asked, half flirtatiously. He was keeping his interest at a modest level – the level expected of him for who he was and for what she could receive given her position. That was their official dynamic, after all.

“Have we not given you plenty?” Lu Zhi elegantly raised a piece of fish between her chopsticks. A big reason why Fusion’s designated watching area was drawing such a crowd was that Aclysia was providing the buffet.

“You have given me plenty for what I have offered in return.” The response made Lu Zhi push out her lower lip in a truly adorable pout. “That will not work!” the Gamer declared, although he did so only to try to get her to stop. It would absolutely work.

The Heavenly Jade Empress was merciful and stopped the cute, non-verbal begging. “Intel for intel?”

“My empress, I…” Absalm began to interrupt, the green eyes of Metra and Lu Zhi snapping to him, “…have nothing to add.”

“What a funny thing to say.” Lu Zhi snickered and patted the tiny ‘Chinese’ man on the back several times. “You’re such a funny man, Absalm.”

“Th-thank you…” the Second of Darkness mumbled, then wisely kept quiet.

Lu Zhi smiled her brash smile, her lips spread in a manner that was almost too sharp to be cute – but only almost.

‘How much of this is done for my benefit?’ John wondered. Obviously, he loathed Absalm for how he upset his Metra and he also loathed him because he just disliked slimy little schemers like that in general. John had respect for a plan well laid out, up to a degree of exploitation. “I suppose a small secret could be exchanged.” He pointed at Lu Zhi’s midsection. “How does that work?”

“Curls, mostly,” Lu Zhi answered immediately. “Also, occasional fasting. It makes the skin tauter.” She turned sideways, showing the profile of her curves.

“Not that.” John laughed and pointed at her midriff again. “The dragon, it is exploring the painted landscape.”

The entire time they had been talking, Tianlong had been flying from mountain to mountain, growing or diminishing in size as if it was part of a genuine landscape. “The Forbidden City entertains a number of artists skilled at the magic of painted worlds for our dresses,” Lu Zhi revealed.

“That feels like a rather specific Innate Ability to have.”

“They are indeed too rare to be reliable. They train and are chosen by the merit of their success.” The Heavenly Jade Empress stuck another piece of fish into her mouth and tip-tapped where she stood when the flavour filled her mouth.

Paying an entire cadre of specifically trained artists just so a specific entity in a specific circumstance could have something to do while its host moved about the world was exactly the kind of frivolous spending John would have expected of such an old and entrenched superpower. He would have wondered why they were maintaining such a waste of money, but he already knew the answer would be ‘it is tradition’.

“Considering that it took Metra all her rage to overwhelm her and the damage she could deal, I would estimate around 700,” John answered. “A lack of certainty regarding what boosts her Babel Phrase provided makes such estimations difficult, though.”

“I see, I see.” Lu Zhi tried to pick up another slice of fish but found her plate empty. Squeaking, as if that was a devastating matter of national security that just now reached her ears, the imperial tomboy swiftly stepped away.

“She’s interesting,” Maximillian said in a voice that was just a little too dry.

“Very… interesting,” John agreed, distracted by the empress’ butt, then by Rave’s butt, then by Lydia softly tugging on his earlobe. “Why?”

“Because you, my love, are distracted and acting unwise,” the queen told him. “Does such a low estimation in level truly strike you as fitting?”

John chuckled at the idea that 700 was a low estimation. He, and by extension Metra, currently were level 645. The reason why he was overshooting on the level, despite Metra’s victory, was just how ludicrously effective she was at single combat. In order to stand a chance, her opponent had to out-level her by a notable margin. That John did not go any higher was due to the sheer skill at utilizing her weapons that Liakan had displayed. People in their level brackets were no slouches. They had more to offer than raw Stats and that meant pure levels did not mean as much.

Explaining that to Lydia made the queen nod. “I will bow to your reasoning on the matter. It is your system.”

“It’s Gaia’s system, I just live in it,” John responded flippantly.

The copper-haired woman rolled her eyes. Metra’s head swayed under the still scratching hands of Gnome and Nia. The rewards were not over and would likely not be for a long while.

Morale boosts were unlikely to matter in this tournament. Both sides were too powerful to be affected by single victories or losses. What did matter, however, was the public perception. Fusion getting the first victory left an impact on people. An impact that could turn into all sorts of ways, depending on the performance that followed.

Down below, the display of the fight was transitioning to the end. Decreased to a reasonable speed, Metra’s brutalization of the dragon only became more impressive. The way she kept up with any attempt of Liakan to escape her ravaging was nothing short of masterful.

‘Six more opponents,’ John thought and looked across the divide. His sight zoomed in. A rarely used Agility Perk that turned his vision into an adjustable scope that now allowed him to see Mengele. The nazi scientist appeared composed. John knew that was a façade. He wasn’t sure how he knew, just that he knew. Behind that smug smile, the brown-haired asshole was grinding his teeth.

The illusionary recreation of the battle faded from existence, just as Romulus leapt from his balcony and into the field below. On both sides of the viewing areas, the contestants moved to the edge, to jump down themselves should their name be called. The second of the ten fights of the day was about to begin.

Romulus reached into the vase, retrieving two slips of papyrus. The ceremonial silence in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Few could even anticipate what any of the matchups would look like, but all wanted to see.

“Rave of Fusion!” Romulus announced first, much to the feline Lightbearer’s delight.

“Imma go crack a head.”

Before John could retort something in the vein of ‘unless you fight the literal Father of Arcane’, she had already leapt over the stone palisades and dropped the dozen metres down to the bottom of the arena. As she walked, Romulus read out the second name.

“Singed of the Azure Tribe!”

Leaping down with as great enthusiasm as Rave, the tallest member of the Azure Tribe ran towards the centre of the arena. Challenged, as he knew his fiancée, the feline Lightbearer then broke out into a sprint herself. The two arrived by the vase just as Romulus pulled out the third slip.

“The crystal desert!” he announced, sounding tremendously pleased with that development.

John hoped he loved his women half as much as Romulus loved tournaments.