David Lingard: Author

Chapter 63 – The Balance of the Gods

The God of Balance or the individual who was sometimes known as Julius, walked across his small living area to the kitchenette that stood alongside it. He'd tried living in huge, lavish mansions and he'd tried living in nothing more than a small tent, but nothing seemed to suit him better than the small house he kept within the walls of the City. Nobody knew that the unassuming old man with the long grey beard was the God that everyone within the City looked up to and worshipped of course, bu...

Chapter 62 – Alarm Bells (Again)

"So you're just going to keep the ring?" Jordan asked as he swung his axe lazily at Titus, who blocked with his borrowed sword. "Even though you've been told it's cursed."

"Yeah," Titus replied. "He didn't have to explain any of that to us. If I'd have found out by accident and he'd lied about it? Then yeah, maybe I'd take it off. Besides I thought you liked Darius?"

Jordan simply shrugged.

"And you're just fine with him knowing where you are at all times?" Petra asked as sh...

Chapter 61 – Unleash the Beast

Henderson stood and watched from the corner of the spectators' area of the central colosseum. Because of his punishment and the reasons behind it, the other Contestants had been tending to give him a wide berth, which actually suited him quite well because of what he was doing and had been doing for the last few days.

Henderson hadn’t been attending classes – mainly because other than combat, he felt they were all useless to him, especially the Class-specific training wherein there ...

Chapter 60 – Secrets & Lies

You have gained 25 experience points

XP to next level: 77

Titus stared at the notification before his eyes and smiled. It was a small boost for the amount of pain and suffering his party had endured, given the fact that they’d almost been killed by the Imp. It was a creature that none of them had really been expecting to face, a creature that had needed to be killed in a specific way to win the fight and if Titus hadn’t had his new ability to see ...

Chapter 59 – Tensions & Trials

"What do you think all that means?" Titus asked once the dining hall had returned to normal following Miss Kane's exit. It had taken a little while for the Contestants – and the few Instructors present – to get back to a more regular breakfast, but when they had it was obvious that there really was only one topic of conversation.

"Probably just politics," Jordan said through a mouthful of multiple pieces of toast he'd stacked together to get the most bang for his bite. "Who knows......

Chapter 58 – An Inquisition

The Grandmaster stared down at the parchment that had been left on her desk by one of the Arena Hands while she had been attending to her charge. She was tired, and the last thing she needed was to read some ridiculous scroll whereby the City Council told her that they were going to be sending her a new Contestant they wanted her to keep an eye on. Because that's what the red wax seal with the sword and shield embossed upon it meant – that the Council had sent her the scroll - and that alwa...

Chapter 57 - Showdown

It was as though there was a blue light pulsating within the goblin and Titus knew that it meant the creature was using his Mana. The understanding that had simply come to Titus was like nothing he'd ever experienced before – like it was a memory or something he'd always known but had been locked away until that very moment.

The blue light within the goblin had a central intensity that was almost white like the core of a star, and surrounding it were coronas of dark blue, fading out i...

Chapter 56 – Goblins Gambit

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Jordan's voice was the first thing Titus heard as he shook off the aftermath of the fight. The fall to the ground had winded him, but it had only taken a couple of HP from him and he could certainly deal with that after reading the notification he'd just received. Because he'd levelled up. He now had the choice of three new abilities, of which he didn't really know what they did per se, or which he should choose, but he also had five stat points to allocate, and...

Chapter 55 – Trial by Tree

"Another potion!" Torres exclaimed as Titus hurled yet another fireball across the small room that exploded into the training dummy. The thing must've been enchanted somehow because every time a fireball ruined the man-sized construct, sending splinters everywhere and leaving the thing a smouldering wreck, by the time Titus sent another attack at the dummy, it was as good as new.

The pair had spent the best part of an hour training with Titus' newfound ability. He'd managed to control t...

Chapter 54 – Unleashing Potential

Petra's pit fight had been as decisive as Jordan's had been, though in truth, she had two great advantages that she always seemed to lean upon: one, she was faster than most of the opponents she faced, and two, nothing she'd fought around her own level seemed to have any innate resistance to the poison that her Stiletto inflicted. What this meant was that while Jordan's tactics were usually block and counter, Petra's were more like stab and run. This, combined with her Active Camouflage and B...

Chapter 53 – Wolves & Skeletons

"That’s three for me and Petra then," Jordan announced as Petra ascended the steps from her pit after the fight in which she’d soundly bested a level three goblin. She’d been fortunate to fight a goblin, having already practised against them and knowing that they really had nothing to offer beyond their bloodthirstiness and agility. Petra was even more agile than the little creature despite it being one level her senior.

Jordan too had fought a goblin, though the large Defender ha...

Chapter 52 - Awakened

Jordan, Petra, and Titus slept soundly. It was quite surprising to Titus that it had been the case, given the fact that they were all worried about Jacob down there in the hospital with the healer. However, the fact was that they had expended so much energy during their multiple fights the night before, which meant that as soon as they each got into bed, they fell asleep almost instantly.

As soon as they awoke the next morning, the first thing that Titus heard was a question from Jordan...

Chapter 51 – Dungeons & Secrets

Henderson sat for a long while in front of the bars where the Nest Guardian – his mentor – had previously resided. At first, he thought that whatever had taken the dragon away was simply temporary, or perhaps even an illusion, but eventually he realised the truth: that his mentor was gone, and most likely forever.

As Henderson sat, he crossed his legs and closed his eyes to allow his consciousness to fill the entirety of the dungeon that held the creatures of Chaos deep beneath the ...

Chapter 50 – Council for Change

The group made their way back to the Arena without anything else happening to cause them any concern, which Titus was rather thankful for. They had moved with far more caution now as Jordan’s Stamina was yet to recover to a usable amount, and Petra’s was also pretty low. In fact, Titus was the only one among them who hadn’t been missing a drop of Mana or Stamina, his Mana having already recovered from his two fireball attempts already.

The citizen that they’d saved from the leve...

A Map of the World!

So I've recently discovered Inkarnate - a fantasy map maker that's actually got a nice user interface (If you want to use it and are struggling, give me a shout). Here's an initial depiction of the world that the Arena sits in. Still learning on this one, but it's nice to have a visual guide!

Chapter 49 – A Desperate Situation

"A thousand health points," Petra breathed as she identified the creature standing before them. It was sideways on so it hadn't yet seen the group of Blue-Ranked Contestants and seemed very interested in the man it was holding in its hands. The citizen whimpered because each time the Jötnar Warrior heard a sound from the man, it shook him violently until he stopped. It was like watching a gorilla trying to learn; the Jötnar Warrior was clearly not the sharpest sword in the armoury.

It...

Chapter 48 – A Blaze of Emotions

Titus had lost all semblance of decorum, platitudes, and mercy. He gladly spent the two Mana that the fireball spell cost and, within the conjuration, he spilt all of the hatred that he'd harboured for his stepmother, Millicent, along with the new knowledge that she was now confirmed to be a witch. A witch who'd been casting some kind of spell of her own that the God of Balance recognised as a mental attack.

And that was how she'd turned his father against him. How she'd almost convince...

Chapter 47 – Revelations & Departures

As soon as the alarm sounded, Henderson knew that there was only one place he wanted to go. It wasn't to the main hall like everyone had been ordered; he had the feeling that this was all going to be something more important than that. He slipped out of his room after his two roommates left to head in the opposite direction and forced himself to keep his eyes on the ground as he made his way towards the dungeons that had once been his home for a very short while.

For a large Warrior who...

Chapter 46 – Family Reckoning

“We both missed you very much,” Millicent said before Titus' father could say a word. “But surely you can understand your father’s reaction?”

Titus stared at his father as he moved to a corner of the room, purposefully making no eye contact with his son.

“When you left, you scared us almost half to death,” Millicent continued.

“When I left?” Titus replied, and it was his turn to be confused.

“Yes,” Millicent said, then turned her attention to Jord...

Chapter 45 – Unwelcome Reunion

It looked very much like the goblin knew it no longer had anything to lose. The expression on the creature's face said that if he was going to go down, then he was taking one of them with him. Titus cursed under his breath, thinking fleetingly that if he'd just stayed back and near the young Arena Hand, then he might've seen this coming. But then he knew he needed to help in that fight because he couldn't have been sure they'd have been able to win the fight without him either.

He didn'...

Chapter 44 - Standoff

"Jacob, no!" Titus shouted as the goblin took a defensive stance, swiftly drawing his knife and dropping the severed hand from his mouth to the ground. It was like everything had happened in an instant, and Titus didn't know if the goblin seemed so much faster than he'd expected because it was simply that much faster than Jacob thanks to its level and Jacob being entirely unawakened.

Petra was the first to move, doing her best to reach Jacob and the goblin before anything happened, with...

Chapter 43 – Alarm Bells

"I just don't get why you want to trust him all of a sudden," Petra asked as the three of them lay in their beds at the end of the day. "You remember what he did to you, right? How he talks to people, how he treats people? And you think a week in the dungeon is just going to change all that? That what, he's some kind of changed man now? People don't change, Titus, people are just who they are, and that's that."

Titus scrunched his nose at that statement. He knew people changed. He didn'...

Chapter 42 – An Unexpected Encounter

Titus sat eating his breakfast with his two friends. The past few days had gone by in no time at all, and the three had made the most of their time without question. They'd attended at least a handful of each of the classes they had available and had even returned to the pits in every moment they could spare. All in all, the result of their hard work and dedication to bettering themselves was a good education, a good understanding of how this place was going to work for them in the future, an...

Chapter 41 - Bonding

"No, please, no more. It hurts so much," Henderson begged as the pain washed over him again and again. "Please, just a short rest, please I'm begging you!"

"You asked for this, Contestant. You welcomed the God of Chaos into your heart and soul, and you assured me that you were strong enough and willing to accept the challenge you have been offered," the dragon said. "Do you accept the challenge and understand that through pain comes growth, through perseverance comes experience, and thr...

Chapter 40 – A Stroke of Luck

You may now select your opponent from those available within the Arena.

Recommended Level: 1

Recommended Type: Melee

Would you like to continue with these parameters? Y/N

Titus stared at the message for a moment, trying to figure out how exactly the God of Balance seemed to just know everything about him, and how best he should proceed. But there was nothing there that he didn't agree with, so he simply mentally agreed with the recommendatio...

Chapter 39 – The Pit

The group stared at Miss Kane as if she'd gone insane. Everything they'd learned about what the Arena was, what it stood for, and how it operated had just been completely blown out of the water. It was like they'd been riding horses in a wide-open field, travelling merrily from one side to the other, and then a bull had appeared out of nowhere and clattered them all to the ground.

"I know it's a very closely kept secret here, and I would expect the rest of you to keep it to yourselves a...

Chapter 38 – Payday Choices

You have gained 11 experience points

XP to next level: 83

Titus stared at the text informing him that he'd slowly made progress along his experience bar, closing the gap further ready for his first-ever level up. Eighty-three points wasn't going to come easily, but any progress was good progress in his mind.

"You get eleven points too?" Petra asked, confirming that they'd all shared in the spoils.

"Oh yeah," Titus confirmed, and Jordan nodde...

Chapter 37 – Frostbite Spider

Titus stood at the iron gates looking out onto the golden sands. The sun hung high in the sky, casting a warm glow over the eager crowds awaiting the day's next fight. With Jordan and Petra by his side, he felt reassured about his safety.

The Frostbite Spider sounded terrifying to Titus but this was their purpose here, and they couldn't have been better prepared.

"Look at it this way," Petra said with a smile. "You get to go out there with two experienced fighters looking after yo...

Chapter 36 – A Delicate Balance

"The God of Balance has been with the people of the City for thousands of years. Of course in the beginning, we were unaware of what this meant or how our lives were influenced by it."

Mr Avery had been all but absent since Titus had first arrived in the Arena and had been awakened to the presence of the God of Balance, so it was a bit of a surprise to see him here again, leading the Class in the teachings of human evolution and history.

It stood to reason though. Not mostly becau...

Chapter 35 – The Circuit

"I... can't... believe... that... this... is... a... lesson..." Titus fought for his breath as he ran 'the circuit' for the fifth time.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually," Jordan replied, markedly less exhausted than Titus. Petra had also kept step with the pair, though she chose not to speak in order to conserve her energy for the task.

In their groups, all of the Blue ranks had to tackle the circuit, and they all had to keep the pace of their slowest member – whic...