Chapter 177

With a muttered warning about using some other entrances occasionally, the cheese shop owner let Luke and Zea through his cellar access to the arena. Zea smiled and promised they would, but if everything went well, they’d never be back after tonight anyway. The shopkeeper gave them a grumpy scowl in response. Luke just kept his mouth shut and took the lead down the tunnel.

If there was anything he didn’t like about this plan, it was leaving his weapon behind. He could and had fought unarmed, plenty of times even, but he felt safer when he had his mace, especially since if Gotayi was going to cheat them, tonight was the night. Leaving the armor behind… well, he hadn’t given up on it yet, but the guy they’d had look it at it for repairs had quoted a price tag that was far beyond their means. Just banging out all the metal that had been dented in from being shot a few dozen times had cost them a handful of gold. Luke suspected his armor was on its last leg, that one more good fight would be the end of it.

That fight wouldn’t be tonight though, since it had been left in their room with his mace. When he fought monsters in the arena, he did it wearing a set of clothes in the local fashion and a stupid flimsy sword. It worked, and he supposed the handicap made for a better show, but Luke constantly had three different skills reminding him of how inefficiently he was fighting. It was incredibly annoying.

This was the last night of their little scam. After the first two performances, everybody knew he wasn’t level 1, and though a few people had tried to stalk Luke after he left, he’d been able to spot them and shake them loose easily enough. Whatever information they were hoping to gain, they’d failed. He couldn’t imagine it helping them anyway. He maintained his [XP Mask] skill the entire time, and he didn’t do any fighting anywhere else, so honestly, what was there to find out?

“Place seem kind of busy to you?” Zea asked as they got close.

“Little bit, but a big crowd is a good thing, right?”

“I suppose.”

They rounded the corner and saw hundreds of people already in the arena. “Oh, damn,” Zea said, stopping near the enforcers. “That’s… a lot.”

“Spectacle’s here tonight,” one of them told her.

“What’s that mean?” Luke asked.

“He’s a gladiator, like you. Except he only does random appearances whenever he feels like it, and they’re all spur of the moment. Boss hates dealing with him, says he fuck the whole schedule up, but the crowd loves Spectacle, so…”

“This is going to be a problem for us, isn’t it?” Zea asked.

“Looks like it,” the enforcer told her.

“Well, I guess let’s go talk to Gotayi and find out if you’re still on the schedule for tonight,” Zea said, looking over at Luke. He gave her a nod, and the enforcers let them through. Everywhere they looked, the place was packed with people. Every seat at their food court area was taken, with dozens more eating while standing up against the wall. The stands around the pit were about three quarters full, and some of the arena’s employees were setting up some temporary bleachers on the north and south side of the pit to accommodate the crowd.

Even the betting cage had a line that wound back and forth a hundred people long. Whoever Spectacle was, he must put on a hell of a show considering how little notice he’d given. The energy of the crowd reminding Luke of when he’d been young, back before his mother died. They’d gone to the county fair, one that was packed so full it was hard just to even get around. Luke had some vague memories of being jostled around and his hand slipping out of his father’s as traffic tore them apart.

That was what it was like walking through the arena, like if he didn’t pay attention, he’d turn around and find Zea had been carried off in some other direction. That didn’t happen, of course. Her strength was on the low end of average, but her agility was significantly higher than most of the other spectators. Besides, even if they did get separated, it wasn’t like they didn’t know where they were going. They’d just meet back up at that jail cell-looking door.

They were half way there when Luke spotted Gotiya coming out onto the main floor. He had a ferocious scowl on his face as he snapped orders to people and stomped around. Luke would have thought he’d be ecstatic about the crowd, but it looked like the opposite was true.

“Gotayi!” Zea called out.

He spun in place, jowls swinging wildly the whole way, and gave us a glare. “Of course, and there’s you two. Look, it’s not going to happen tonight. Fucking Spectacle wants to perform. Everybody bend over, grab your cheeks, and spread ‘em. Who gives a fuck if we don’t have half the staff we need and are running out of food an hour before the show even starts.”

“We have a contract,” Zea said, as calmly as she could while still shouting to be heard over the crowd.

“I know! It even has a Spectacle clause in it because this dick’s contract takes precedence over everyone else’s. The former owner negotiated it with him and we’re stuck with it.”

“What are you talking about?” Zea demanded. “I read that thing front to back, and-”

“It’s part of the ‘compensation if your slot gets bumped’ section,” Gotayi said, interrupting her. “Look, I really don’t have time for this right now. If you want to come back in six hours, we can discuss it, otherwise just show up at the normal time tomorrow and I’ll have you rescheduled. Now either go buy some food, place a bet, or get lost.”

Without waiting for a response, the fat man trundled off. He was immediately yelling at the woman standing in the betting cage to work faster. She gave him an obscene gesture and otherwise ignored him, much to Gotayi’s annoyance.

The pair retreated to the south side of the arena where there was less going on and they didn’t need to shout to hear each other. Other than a steady stream of people coming in from a nearby entrance, they were more or less alone. At least, they were in the sense that nobody was standing within thirty feet of them. The enforcers were too busy collecting coins from each new spectator entering the cavern to pay any attention to them, and the customers were eager to get over to either place their own bets or just claim a seat in the rapidly filling stands.

“Hey, how come we never paid to get in?” Luke asked as he watched the scene.

“Probably because we came at a time with no entertainment lined up the first time, and now we’re a fighter and his manager, so we’re here to work, not relax.”

“And so we’ve come full circle,” he said.

Zea laughed a bit and shook her head. “It’s not really the same.” Then she got quiet for a moment before adding, “I hope not. The Bloody Harbor is gone because of us. I mean, because of the church, but they destroyed it and killed everyone while looking for us. It would really suck to have another place reduced to rubble just because we were associated with it.”

* * *

Fleurian had been swimming ever-widening lazy circles underneath the city, waiting for something to catch his attention. Patience was not one of his strengths, and he was becoming frustrated with the area. If his prey was there, he couldn’t tell, and the idea of breaching the surface for a quick meal before moving on with the hunt was becoming more appealing by the hour.

He was just considering where he might find the greatest volume of food to snatch up in one single go when his route took him near the giant pocket of empty space in the ground. The vibrations weren’t nearly as strong as those from the surface, but they were considerably stronger than usual. Perhaps there was a meal to be had there first.

He altered the arc of his circling pattern to bring him closer to the buffet. He wanted a better look before making a decision.

* * *

“You want to catch the show?” Luke asked.

“Eh, we can if you want,” Zea said. “I’m not super interested. I’ve had enough front row battles to a man killing random monsters to last me a lifetime.”

“I’m kind of just curious about who this Spectacle person is. What makes him so important that he gets to come in and do whatever he wants, whenever he wants?”

“Eh, he’s probably related to the owner or something. This whole thing reeks of privilege. If it’s not that, it’s because of a lot of fucking money being spent by someone whose got too much spare time on their hands.”

“Easy way to find out, I guess,” Luke said. He took a few steps over to the enforcers and asked, “Who is this Spectacle person, anyway?”

“That’s the big question, isn’t it?” the enforcer told him as he collected a single silver coin from a man walking by. “Nobody knows. Comes in covered from head-to-toe in black. Can’t see an inch of his skin. Brings his own monsters to fight, and not weak ones either. We’re talking stuff that’s up to level 50, puts on his show, and leaves. But everything is on his terms, always last minute, and while it makes the arena a lot of money, it’s hell on the employees.”

“Well that explains why Gotayi hates the guy,” Zea said.

“Why? Does he hate money?”

“Probably not worth it to him,” she explained. “He’s not the owner, so whatever cut he’s getting as a commission for setting up and running the fights isn’t worth the headache.”

Luke thought about that for a second, then shrugged. “So, you’re saying nobody knows who Spectacle really is?”

“Maybe the owner of the place, but definitely nobody else,” the enforcer said absently. He reached out to grab a small woman who’d been attempting to sneak by in the middle of a group. “Three silver for you.”

“What! That’s triple what everyone else is paying!” the woman protested.

“Fine, get the fuck out then.”

The woman sullenly pulled out a purse and paid triple admission price to get in. The enforcer waved her through, put one coin in the box, one in his pocket, and flipped the third to his partner.

“Interesting,” Luke said.

“What are you thinking?” Zea asked.

“I think we should see the show. Maybe we’ll recognize Spectacle’s style.”

“Why would we- Ah. I see. Yeah, that’s not a bad idea.” Zea turned to the enforcers, who’d only been half paying attention to answer a question anyway, and said, “Thanks for explaining.”

“No problem. Sorry your fight got bumped,” the enforcer told Luke.

“Shit happens. Have a good night, fellas.”

“Was supposed to be on a date with my girl,” the other enforcer muttered.

“Yeah, but just think of how much extra coin you’re gonna have for your next date instead.”

“Won’t be a next date if I keep having to cancel at the last minute to pick up shifts.”

“Invite her to a fight,” the enforcer told his luckless friend.

Luke and Zea headed towards the stands, and he quickly lost track of that particular conversation once they were in the middle of the crowd. “So no need to see the whole thing,” Luke said, pitching his voice. “I just want to get a look at the guy, see what he can do, and then we can bail.”

“The sooner, the better,” Zea yelled back.

There were no seats left at this point, but they found a place standing on the outside edge of the arena and waited for the show to start. It was only a couple minutes before the rumble of the arena gates being lifted shook the stone under their feet.

“Here we go,” Luke muttered. “Let’s see who you really are.”