FB: Chapter 35 – The Capital

I logged back in and was at the airship port in the Capital of the Human Empire. I had a lot to get done before the tournament. I hadn’t placed the bet on myself yet, since I hadn’t stirred the pot. That would be the first order of business.

Leaving the airship port, I hailed down a rickshaw. That was the only way to travel about the Capital since it was too damn big. It cost a silver to go anywhere inside the walls, but it would be a silver well spent. The NPC pulling the rickshaw got me to the main Coliseum in five minutes. It would have taken half an hour if I had to travel that distance on foot, since rickshaws were given priority on the roads of the Capital.

I made my way over to the area reserved for Champions and the clerk who was inside this separate section of the massive structure. “Greetings Champion Foxy Blight, how can I assist you today?” the clerk asked.

“I am still the highest seeded player in the upcoming Tournament of Champions?” I asked to confirm.

“Yes. You are seeded at rank number one,” the clerk replied, and I nodded at this.

“I wish to make it a Gauntlet Tournament instead and then run a massive promotional campaign in regards to this change featuring myself,” I demanded.

“Once the tournament format is changed, it can’t be changed back. As for a promotional campaign, it would be quite expensive here in the capital. Twelve platinum, one per day until the start of the tournament,” the clerk said, using in game days.

“I understand the format can’t be changed back and the price is fine,” I replied. I quickly handed over the necessary amount of money through a runic plate. It was tempting to put a bet down now, but I would need to have my funds available going forward and I didn’t want to be caught lacking in coinage at the moment.

I left the Coliseum and hired another rickshaw to go to the Shadow Union. Time to complete the course there and get the Tome of the Silent Assassin. While I was being pulled through the Capital, I got several text messages. The change to the tournament format had been announced from Brackets to a Gauntlet format.

It was throwing off everyone’s predictions and speculation about the Tournament of Champions. I sent a generic response back to everyone who messaged me, telling them I was currently preparing to crush all other Champions who had signed up for the tournament. I took a moment to swap out my skill shards.

I set my status to unavailable once I reached the Shadow Union. I entered the non-descript building and made my way to the receptionist. The place was pretending to be a trading company, but it was just a front for the Shadow Union.

“I am here to take a test of my competence in the arts of the shadow,” I said and put a platinum coin on the counter.

“Word has been sent ahead that you are qualified to take such a challenge Foxy Blight. Take the door directly behind me and head down the stairs. Once you exit the stairway, the test begins. Once it is complete, someone will come to you,” the receptionist explained. I already knew all of this, which was why I didn’t have to go on a lengthy quest chain to find this place.

I reached the bottom of the stairway and stepped through the doorway there, looking around at a large empty stone room. I couldn’t see the edges or the opposite wall since they were shrouded in darkness. I confidently walked forward, while keeping an eye on my surroundings and the ground. There was a faint light around me and darkness all around.

It appeared that my luck was finally running out. I got one of the worst set-ups for this place possible. It was affectionately called the Danger Room or the Death Room since people entering tended to be killed very quickly. While this place changed every time someone came here, there were categories for the challenges. The easiest was just a large obstacle course. A middle of the road challenge was the Maze.

I quickly used Shadow Step as razor thin wires swept through the room horizontally. If they had hit me I would have been sliced into pieces. I dodged between the vertical wires that came towards me. That was when pieces of the floor began descending, opening up pits I had to avoid. Time to win through money once again.

Another set of wires flew through the air to bisect me. I activated a force shield, giving me enough time to dodge out of the way of the attack. The attacks began coming more quickly after that. I had to use three more force shields, using up another three platinum coins worth of consumables.

That was when cloaked figures leapt out of the darkness onto the remaining platforms and began throwing knives at me. Another four force shields and multiple uses of Murk Barf, I wiped out all the black robed figures and blocked all the flying wires that flew out of the darkness. The figures were clearly some kind of summon, not actual NPCs.

The floor began to return to normal, but I didn’t let down my guard. “Poorly done. Using items,” an old man walked out of the darkness, his cane and feet making no noise when they touched the floor.

“Honored elder,” I greeted the man and inclined my head towards him but never looked away. I knew about this test as well. The moment one looked away from the old man, he would kill you. The moment one was rude to him, he would kill you. The moment one did not respond, he would kill you. The list went on and on. Each time a person failed this test, this portion would become a lot harder.

The only way through this part of the test was to play nice and that was it. Trying to kill or attack him was met with defeat every time. This was meant to be a lesson on recognizing how much more powerful an opponent was and when you should play nice instead of attacking like a wild animal. “Young people, always thinking they know best.”

“Honored elder, it is the prerogative of young people to be brash,” I replied. The old man slowly began to walk around me, and I slowly shifted to keep facing him. This NPC had no known name but was given the nickname, Old Man Killer. The moment you violated a set of hidden rules he had, he would kill you. The correct way would be to learn through the Shadow Union members in order to pass this test, which I was bypassing just like the quest to find this place.

“Your combat experience is quite low,” he said and came to a stop.

“I am a Champion and a Divine Slayer honored elder,” I replied politely. He turned his head to glance at me, before lifting his cane and pointing it at me.

“And how is such a thing possible. To succeed where others would fail. To guess the very nature of things,” he said. I wasn’t about to explain my time travel to an NPC. Thankfully I had an answer already prepared.

“Educated guesses, preparation, and a bit of luck to smooth things over honored elder,” I replied. He let out a scoff and then began walking towards me. I felt a touch of nervousness as he got quite close.

“I sense your fear. But it hasn’t removed your reasoning. Tell me why you fear me,” the old man said.

“Honored elder, in this kind of test. You are either incredibly powerful, or the mascot of the Shadow Union,” I replied.

“Mascot? Cheeky, but it is the prerogative of youth to be brash as you have said. Fine. You clearly understand the importance of this test. Go and pick your prize. If you wish to accept low ranked contracts, you might not fail instantly,” he said. I didn’t plan to accept any contracts through the Shadow Union any time soon.

Off in the distance a door opened in the darkness with light spilling from it. “Thank you honored elder,” I replied and bowed my head. The old man disappeared in a swirl of shadows. The top level NPCs were very scary. And the vast majority of them were quite sensitive as well. Insulting them in any way was a quick way to be killed.

I carefully made my way to the door, but there were no more traps or attacks. Entering through the lit doorway, the receptionist from the floor above was waiting for me. “Your Shadow Union token, don’t lose it. You won’t get a second.” I took the large platinum coin with a skull engraved onto both sides. I was officially a rank 2 member of the Shadow Union.

“You may pick one item from this list and no more. If you want access to more items, then you must complete contracts,” the receptionist from the entry room replied in the lit room. They handed me a piece of paper. There were a lot of good things on the list. But in the end, no matter how good, there was only one thing I wanted.

“The Tome of the Silent Assassin,” I said.

“A bold choice. Please follow me,” the receptionist said. I followed behind her in silence through the stone hallways to a locked storage room. They had a key which opened the door and I entered behind them. It was tempting to try and grab an item off one of the shelves, but that was a quick way to death and ruining my relationship with the NPCs of the Shadow Union.

We went to the section with a lot of books and the receptionist plucked one of the books off the shelf and handed it to me. I quickly put it in my inventory and followed them out of the storage room. The entire show was meant to convince people to take up contracts. Those contracts tended to be instant death sentences unless you were over level 100. Even then they were a nightmare to complete.

“I wish to partake in some offered services offered by the Shadow Union. A skill crafting and a full course of poison,” I asked.

“Ten platinum for the first, if you have all the necessary materials. Another ten platinum for a full course of poison,” the receptionist said. I mentally sighed. Nothing was cheap if you decided to throw money at the problem, especially in the Capital.

***

AN: Stat sheet has been updated. FB: Stat Sheets | Patreon