Chapter 3 - Are you Ready?

You must report to the central colosseum in ten minutes.

Titus stared at the notification covering his field of vision, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had been practising sword-fighting against Jordan, and the very fact that he hadn’t been hit already after pausing to read the annoying text told him that his friend had almost definitely received the same notification.

“That’s us then,” Titus said as the notification disappeared, and his vision returned to the training area where Jordan stood not three feet away, a wooden axe raised above his head as though he’d been ready to strike.

Jordan, to his credit, lowered the weapon and stood upright, relaxing his combat stance.

“Aw, that was so close!” Petra whined from her place on the sidelines. “I was about to see boy wonder get his head smashed in!”

“I wouldn’t have…” Jordan started.

“Shut up,” Petra interrupted. “We have to take these little victories wherever we can find them. Would you have killed him? No. Would you have given him a nice lump on the head? Almost definitely. And that would be a great reminder that he should remember how much we’re helping him in the days of his infancy – the days before he becomes all-powerful and leaves us for pastures anew.”

Jordan frowned as if he had no idea what half the words Petra had just said meant, and Titus raised an eyebrow, forgoing his usual snort.

“Ah, forget it,” Petra said when neither of them responded coherently. “You’re just no fun anymore, either of you.”

“Hey!” Jordan complained. “I’m still fun.”

“No, you’re not,” Petra said flatly.

“Do you think we have time for all this?” Titus asked, tapping the side of his head. “I mean, I like a joke as much as the next Champion of Balance, but if we don’t get to the fight in what, eight minutes? Then there are going to be six very unhappy and outmanned Contestants out there without us. Is that something you want on your conscience?”

“Right!” Jordan practically cried and pointed in a vague direction. “To the colosseum!”

Petra flattened her palm on her forehead. “Just don’t forget your axe and shield, dummy.”

“Right!” Jordan repeated, clearly needing the reminder.

Jordan didn’t need another reminder though, because just a couple of minutes later, he, Titus, and Petra found themselves in the small preparation room before the central colosseum, where they were given access to an Anywhere Box to retrieve their weapons and armour, as well as a Health, Stamina, and Mana potion each to ensure they were in tip-top shape for the fight to come.

“Any idea what’s out there?” Titus asked his friends as they looked up at the sun cascading through the iron bars that opened onto the arena sands.

“No, but by the looks of things, we aren’t the only ones,” Petra replied, nodding towards the far side of the hallway and behind a thick stone column.

Titus had to crane his head to see what Petra meant. When he did, he could see the other six Contestants sat there, waiting for their turn to fight.

“Looks like we’re all facing this one together, a full team,” Petra said with mock enthusiasm.

One of the boys looked up at Titus and his friends. There were four boys and two girls, and Titus knew all of them by name. Alexandria, Reagan, and Sophia were a Warrior, Rogue, and a Spellcaster. Titus had watched Sophia when he was new to the Arena and had been impressed by her ability to blind her opponent. He’d also heard that she had almost been killed by a particularly tough Coeurl, though she’d survived thanks to the Arena's healers.

The other team consisted of Vincent and Grayson, both Warriors, and Benjamin, the Defender who’d impressed Titus with his ability to root an opponent in place so that damage dealers could do their work. He was sure that the Defender had been paired with two Spellcasters before, though he wasn’t sure how often people switched teams, or what happened when one or two team members were killed or left unable to fight. In any case, these were what they had to work with and that was that.

In any case, Titus could see that these six Contestants really, really didn’t want to be there.

And they had good reason.

In the short while since the Grandmaster had announced the new format for the fights, there had only been three that hadn’t resulted in at least one fatality. One fight had even resulted in the deaths of every single Contestant in the Arena. Although the fights were always to the death, in reality, these three fights without Contestant fatalities were three out of twenty.

That meant that from what Titus had heard and what he’d been adding up, twenty-eight Contestants had been killed. If things kept going the way they were, there wouldn’t be any Contestants left by the end of the year.

There was no fanfare when the iron gate lifted to allow the Contestants to stand as one and tentatively enter the arena of battle. Other than a few sideways glances — nervous glances at that - not one of them said another word as they walked to the centre of the golden sands and turned to face the podium where the Grandmaster would typically make his speech.

The cheers from the crowds were deafening, which at least gave Titus some assurance that things weren’t all that bad. If these people were still coming to watch, to cheer, and in general, have a good time, then maybe this was just how things needed to be.

Above all, Titus was sure that whatever the method, what he’d seen outside the City walls had shown him that the creatures of Chaos could not be allowed to continue along their path of destruction unchecked.

If there was one small mercy in all of this, it was that the crowds' cheering caused a short pause before the battle was to begin — because the Grandmaster had to make his announcement — and that meant the nine Contestants had a short opportunity to come up with a plan before the fight started.

Jordan was the first to speak, taking an authoritative tone that only seemed to happen when he was talking about fighting.

“Right, we have two Defenders and three Warriors — that’s pretty clear. Two Rogues and two Spellcasters,” he gave Titus an almost imperceptible sideways glance to tell him that in this scenario, he was indeed a Spellcaster. “I think we should all hold the centre of the field, Defenders taunt all three opponents, and the Warriors do what they can to cause the damage. Rogues disappear, and Spellcasters move to the opposite side of the arena, right?”

It sounded like a good plan to Titus. Well, as good a plan as any, seeing as he had no idea what they really should do in this scenario, including the fact that nobody knew what they were about to face.

“No,” the boy named Grayson replied. “We should stick to our own teams, as that’s what we know best. Besides what are you, level six? I’m level eight, so I say you should all do what I say.”

“Listen, you colossal cabbage,” Petra joined the conversation. “This whole battle is about fighting together against multiple enemies. Do you really think that just going it alone is going to cut it? Contestants have been dying out there because…”

“Because they aren’t good enough,” Grayson replied. “The fact of the matter is that there’s nine of us and three of them, which means a three-on-one fight. And who better to fight alongside than the people you already train with? Am I supposed to know what your normal game plan is? Somehow adapt my fighting style to suit you lot? Because me, Benjamin, and Vincent have done pretty well with our tactics. Can you say the same?”

Petra opened her mouth to reply but before she spoke again — which could’ve been an insult or a rebuttal — the crowd’s cheers quietened and the Grandmaster took his position high above the rest and cleared his throat.

It was strange for Titus to see a man standing where Miss Kane had stood, and even stranger that where Miss Kane had worn a basic flowing robe, Valeri seemed to prefer a kind of tight-fitting suit. He had a strange smile on his face too, one that Titus did not enjoy.

“I do hope you are all ready to be entertained!” Valeri’s voice rang out. “Because we have another grand spectacle to display, though it is not just for your enjoyment, but after our Contestants win this battle, there will be three fewer monsters in this world to threaten our City, our people, and all of our families!”

The screams from the crowd said only one thing: the people wanted blood.

“So let us not delay, my friends,” Valeri continued. “Let us watch, and enjoy!”

The crowd cheered again and as they did, Titus watched the iron gate on the far side of the arena roll upwards as they always did to allow the monsters of Chaos out onto the golden sands.

“Please don’t be spiders, oh God, I beg of you…” Jordan muttered under his breath. It was loud enough for Titus and Petra to hear, but neither said a word.

And then all hell broke loose.

From the space beneath the gate as it rose, a veritable sea of small black bodies, each with eight thin legs, cascaded forward as if the floodgates holding back a sea of spiders had opened.

“Why?” Jordan asked at a more conversational level this time. “It’s like the God of Balance is punishing me!”

“Maybe he is!” Petra said before she began her retreat out of the path of the onrushing spiders. Titus, too, took a step back and watched as Jordan gripped his axe tightly in one hand and his round wooden shield in the other.

“Are you ready?” Grayson shouted from Jordan’s right, and the Warrior — for some reason that Titus couldn’t fathom — ran forwards and towards the sea of bodies and legs.

Titus tried to analyse the spiders in the few moments he had before Jordan was about to be swamped by them but when he tried to, he found that he could see nothing of their stats or information.

“They aren’t the main enemy!” Jordan shouted as though reading Titus’ mind. “They’re minions, and you know what that means? Mummy spider!”

If Jordan was still scared, his voice no longer betrayed that feeling.

Besides, he didn’t have time to be scared.

The spiders were upon him.

Jordan didn’t need to cast his taunt because the spiders that hadn’t diverted to head towards Grayson instinctively went for the nearest targets — the two Defenders: Benjamin and Jordan.

Titus looked back at Grayson, who had somehow managed to hold his own against the sea of arachnids. With the Warrior now standing amongst them, it was clear how small they actually were.

About the size of a regular frog, the spiders had surrounded Grayson. Well, that wasn’t strictly true; Titus hadn’t looked at the Warrior properly, and he now saw Grayson wielding a long spear that he swung in wide arcs, knocking out swathes of the creatures with each pass.

The spiders died immediately and faded away to nothingness, but it was painfully apparent that there were far too many of them for one man to deal with.

The spiders reached Jordan. The Defender didn’t even blink as the things touched his shield, then he cast the first spell of the battle: Shield Bash.

Spiders flew back like they’d bounced off a solid wall or forcefield, and Jordan did something he rarely did: he planted his feet and swung his axe.

Benjamin was in a similar position, though it didn’t look like he had the Shield Bash skill. Titus remembered seeing the Defender use the skill Root in Place, but he struggled to remember anything past that and couldn’t see how that’d be useful to anyone in this situation.

Benjamin was using a rather large sword, and although he wasn’t carving arcs as well as Jordan or Grayson, he was still managing to hold his own.

“They aren’t the real enemy!” Jordan shouted again. “Don’t waste your energy on them!”

Titus was thankful for the instruction, even if it wasn’t directed at him. In truth, he didn’t think his fireball was going to be of much use here either.

And then, like a prophecy come to life, two dark figures stepped onto the arena sands through the open gateway. Titus analysed them immediately.

Matriarch Widow

Level: 12

HP: 25,000/25,000

Stone Golem

Level: 12

HP: 3,500/3,500

“Jordan!” Titus called out, trying not to sound too desperate as the two creatures faded into view. His friend was preoccupied by the little spiders for sure, but even Titus could see they weren’t doing any real damage to either of the Defenders. What they were doing, however, was sapping their Stamina as the pair had to keep on their toes to keep the little creatures at bay. It was a six-of-one, half-dozen of the other situation too, because where Jordan’s axe gave him good reach around himself, Benjamin carried his huge tower shield that basically covered his entire person when placed securely at his feet.

Jordan didn’t need to be told twice, and Titus watched as his friend took in the two new enemies on the field.

“Concentrate on the golem,” he said immediately and almost without much thought. “The spider will be weaker and will rely on these things,” he gestured toward the wave of smaller spiders. “The golem will be resistant to physical attacks and most likely poison, so this one’s going to be up to you and Sophia.”

Titus looked to where Sophia stood, still watching all of the Contestants either fighting or doing their best to keep away from the annoying little spiders. It was amazing that Jordan had managed to concoct a plan so instantly.

Sophia looked back at Titus and he could see that the Spellcaster was far more open to working together than Grayson, and the pair nodded, ready to deal with this new threat.

Sophia was the first of the pair to act. Cupping her hands together and not letting her gaze fall from the stone golem that was slowly lumbering toward the battle proper, she cast the spell that Titus had seen her use before. A dark cloud appeared around the golem’s head, and it immediately halted in its slow charge. It had been blinded - temporarily of course - but without a definite target and direction, the golem just seemed to stand there.

Titus stared at the thing. Standing at least ten feet tall, the stone golem's imposing presence cast a long shadow over the golden sands.

“Now!” Sophia shouted as Titus seemed to hesitate. But Titus hadn’t been frozen in fear; he had a decision to make. A decision that he wasn’t sure how to handle.

He knew he could throw a fireball at the golem but he didn’t know exactly how much Mana to put into the attack. Once again, he found himself in a situation where he didn’t want to show everyone what he was capable of, but he also didn’t want to let the opportunity pass him by. Thirty seemed like a good compromise, and the absolute heat and light that spewed forth from his hands, ultimately forming into a fireball the size of a small horse, careened toward the stone golem, who had no idea what was happening.

The fireball hit the golem, and instead of a flash and boom of an explosion, the offensive spell hit the creature with a large splash, like it had turned the rock to molten lava the moment it had impacted. And then Titus watched as the stone golem began to melt into itself. Its rocky form turning redder and redder, and from the impact site it began to turn into a bright, smoking liquid.

“What the hell did you do?!” Sophia called out in complete awe. “Can you teach me?” she added quickly. But Titus didn’t have the time or frame of mind to respond. Without wasting any time, he watched the stone golem's Health Pool quickly fall. It was amazing; where usually a chunk of the total fell away, it seemed like the golem’s HP was being eaten away along with its body.

But then Titus noticed something.

The stone golem was dying, for sure, but the ground beneath it was also becoming a pool of ever-expanding lava as its body transformed.

“Kill it!” Titus shouted at Sophia, who was still standing still with her mouth open. Luckily, she didn’t need to be told twice. Conjuring her own fireballs — an act that Titus mirrored — the pair peppered what remained of the stone golem's body until there was nothing left but a glowing pool of molten rock on the ground with no Health Points remaining.