Based on the 1920s speakeasy feel of Ralph’s room, Alex had been unsure what to expect when it came to the arena proper. The theme of the world he’d found himself in seemed to lean toward fantastical urbanism, taking clothing and technology he was familiar with, then making it magical. The arena didn’t care to follow that design plan.
Entering the general seating area following closely behind Grave, Alex was surprised by the vast scope of it encompassed. Even the warehouse worth of land Ralph’s shop occupied was only a fraction of the space it demanded. The walls of the arena were made of bare gray stone, and they matched the currently dull atmosphere of the stands, though Alex guessed it was still too early for the arena’s main crowd. A potentially illegal underground fighting arena seemed more like a nighttime event to him.
The room they’d come from was near the highest point of the stands and the seats below the pair were nearly empty. The arena’s setup was similar to that of a mini football stadium. Hundreds of general seats, with doors to private rooms or glass viewing boxes interspersed around the seating. As Grave led him through the stands, the few people the pair passed paying them no mind, Alex couldn’t help his eyes from being drawn to the center of the arena.
The arena floor was large, nearly the size of a high school gymnasium by Alex’s estimation, though it was filled with dirt and gravel instead of wood. The space was enclosed by high stone walls designed to contain the energies released, with the seats closest to the floor twenty feet above the fighting ground.
As he scanned the dirt, he realized there was a fight occurring. Towards the far side from Alex, a person faced off against a magical beast. Idly he noted the lack of attention the fight garnered and began to wonder if there’d be any point in betting on himself. Refocusing on the fight Alex could make out the beast a bit better. It looked hurt, with cuts and blue blood covering its light gray fur. The beast looked similar to a monkey, though much larger and with claws the size of Alex’s fingers. The fighter rolled under the simian’s wild strike, managing to score a slash across its back as they came up. The shift giving Alex a better look at the beast’s bulging muscles and glowing yellow eyes. He tried to analyze the fighter and the beast, but both prompts were absent relevant details.
Taking another of the monkey’s strikes against their shield, the fighter tried to counter when the monkey released a screech. It was muted to Alex’s ears, and he figured that was due to some magical enchantment he didn’t know about. Suddenly the beast was directly on top of the fighter, pummeling the shield closer and closer to the person with every blow. Even as it lowered toward their chest the person managed to keep hold of the barrier, but it was obvious they wouldn’t last long if something didn’t change.
The sight filled Alex with fear as he recognized the clothing the person wore; it had the same pattern as the stuff Grave had laid out for him back in Ralph’s room. That could be him later. Managing to get out from under the beast's attack, the person struck out at the monkey’s back yelling something Alex couldn't hear at the same time. It didn’t matter however as they were flung away before their mouth stopped moving. The large beast’s tail hitting them from behind and shooting them into a nearby wall. Alex imagined more than heard the sickening crunch of the person’s body break, but he knew either way the fight was over.
Looking back towards the lackluster crowd as he followed Grave deeper into the arena, Alex was almost annoyed at the lack of reaction. Besides a few people who jumped up and cheered at the results of the fight, the spectators seemed apathetic towards the scene and that angered him. He didn’t want to be another forgotten body the arena claimed. Alex vowed to himself he wouldn’t.
The beast had no time to celebrate its victory as chains made of a silvery metal began to shoot out of the arena’s dirt floor, restraining it. Once the beast seemed completely unable to move, Alex saw a few people walk onto the floor. Some went with a stretcher to pick up the limp figure of the fighter, while others walked toward the beast. Someone stopped in front of it and after a moment, and an accompanying bright flash, the beast was gone.
Grave continued to walk, paying the entire scene no mind as they led him into a corridor leading away from the central floor, Alex couldn't help but wonder what it held for him. But that would need to be a problem for later, well, at least a problem for not right now. Navigating through a plethora of food vendors, Grave finally stopped near a dinky, wooden, box. The structure looked closer to a five-year-old’s first lemonade stand than a potential gambling hub. Towards the top, in semi faded ink read “Book Master,” and it would have been unidentifiable without it. Alex felt he was beginning to notice a pattern of sorts as he looked into the box.
There were a few people queued in front of them, and Alex recognized one of the people who had shouted in triumph when the fighter fell. Alex hoped they bet their winnings on his fight as petty revenge, though only if he won. The line shrunk quickly, no one causing a scene about money lost, and suddenly Alex was in front of the clear barrier that separated him and the bookie. It reminded him of the plexiglass at banks and Alex wondered if it stopped magic instead of bullets. His mind thought back to the alley, and he supposed it could be a bit of both. Not happy with Alex’s two seconds of staring the man spoke.
“Ya betting or collecting, hurry up I ain’t got all day.” His voice was rough and raspy, matching the weathered look of his bearded face. It was clear he’d been doing this for years, head down studying numbers even as he chided Alex.
Grave had remembered their job, having already stepped forward and put their hand with the ring against the counter. Now they stood there waiting for Alex to do the talking; whilst he’d forgotten his own plan. Taking a moment to organize his thoughts Alex began to speak.
“Hello sir, my mistress,” he inclined his head toward Grave,” wants to place a few bets on some fights but doesn’t know how.” Alex knew the oddsmaker could take advantage of them not knowing, but figured he’d have to show his ignorance somewhere. It was better to get a little taken off the top than to lose everything because he refused to ask. The man smiled, showing a row of gleaming white teeth that looked odd below the dirt on his beard and face.
“Right then, minting a couple of fresh gamblers, I am. Look the bettin’s simple. You give me a name; I give you odds. Odds are subject to change, though you’ll have the option to pull out your money as soon you find out. If it’s something more complicated than who wins, I do some math, then give you odds. Problem is,” His tone turning somber, “I don’t like doing math. So, there’s a twenty gold minimum. Five percent fee on all winnings.” Smiling again he finished, “So what ya bettin on?”
Alex tapped on Grave’s shoulder and was surprised by the feeling of real flesh through their clothes. As the golem turned towards him, Alex made a few finger spelling signs in ASL, purposefully keeping his comprehend skill off in case the man knew a type of sign language. Grave responded with the five letters he had taught them.
“G.R.A.V.E”
The motions were only there to distract the bookie and Alex smiled when Grave spelled their name correctly.
“The mistress wanted to bet on some new fighters. Maybe pick someone who’s fresh.” The man eyed the pair oddly for a moment before grabbing a book from somewhere behind him and flipping through it.
“We only have three more people fighting in the subcards today then,” He flipped a page then paused, as if seeing something for the first time. “Oh! Seems like a big fish has been added to the roster, two actually, gonna be an interesting day. Which means a profitable day. Anyway, we got three you can pick from. The first option is a fighter named Slenski, their fight is next so bet now if you want in. They wear a mask, assassin style fighting. They won their first two fights but lost their third. Odds are 1.4 times your bet if they win, 1.6 if they lose.” He paused to make sure they were following, and Alex nodded to confirm they were.
Next you got Thomas Railwic, bastard sword user at the higher end of the subclass, one of those trying to get some levels and get picked up by a guild or something. Kid’s got talent, looking to make his way out soon.” Muttering to himself the man wrote something down. “His odds are at 1.2 on the win, 2.7 on a loss. He’s swept his fights so far but who knows what they’ll throw at him. Finally, we have a mask, fresh off the boat. Just added with this last update. They go by the name… Huntsman, we had one of those before, nasty death.” He added the last bit with a chuckle and Alex had to fight to keep a grimace off his face.
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Doing his best to sound casual Alex asked, “What are the odds on that last one?”
“Standard rates for a new fighter.” the man grunted, “2.5 times on the win and 2 on a loss.”
Attempting to not make his goal too obvious, Alex asked what the more specific bets looked like, and the bookkeeper explained.
“It can be anything, but the most common are the type of monster, whether the person will get injured, what the beast’s attribute focus will be, stuff like that.”
Alex could see that was where the real money would be, but it didn't matter at the moment. He had another exchange of finger spelling with Grave, and this time they spelled their name backwards. The man’s face was again buried in his papers, but Alex was happy with the charade as he asked his final questions.
“Do you know when that Huntsman fight is happening? And what’s the max you can put on a fight.”
“Should be…” he looked off in the distance for a moment before answering, “in three and a half hours or so. After Slenski but before Thomas. Since he’s close to promos the kids closing for the undercards. The max on the subcard is five platinum or 250 gold.”
At the man’s words Grave waved their hand and Alex deposited the money onto the counter. They had discussed the question ahead of time, and the man’s response had been made the cue for them to give the money; leaving the bookkeeper the only person surprised when twenty-five neat stacks of ten goal appeared. Smiling, the man opened a sliding piece of the barrier and swept the money towards him with one arm, nodding as it disappeared. He took a minute to do something before handing Grave a card, Alex didn’t know what it did but could sense a faint amount of energy from it with his skill. He analyzed it.
***
Item
Name: Unknown
Grade: F
Rarity: Unknown
Description: Thin enchanted slate of black metal with embedded green gem.
***
That was odd, it seemed his skill was constantly changing the information it returned.
“Tap this on your storage, then it’ll be bound to that which is bound to you. Just come after the fight with the ring and collect, and don’t come back without it.”
Grave did as the man said before handing the card to Alex. The man looked at the two of them oddly after the exchange, but quickly lost interest. Alex hoped there would be no issues with the ring being unbound, but the whole thing seemed to be more of a security measure than a requirement. He considered betting more of his money on another fight, but decided if he lost and somehow lived, he’d need the gold for his next plan. He really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“Last question,” Alex said, and the bookie looked like he didn’t want to answer now that he’d gotten the pair’s money. Throwing a glance at the lack of people behind them, he acquiesced with a gruff, “Make it quick.”
“What’s the nearest to a fight my mistress can bet?”
“You got more for the other events?” Alex gave a shrug, and Grave quickly mimicked his expression. They hadn’t practiced this, and he was somewhat impressed with how quickly they had caught on, the golem was clearly paying attention. The man showed his teeth as he responded.
“I like ya kids, listen here you come back with more, I’ll let ya bet up to fifteen minutes before the fight, times normally thirty so I’m giving you a deal. I’ll even lower your fee to 3% and instant pickups if you manage to win anything.”
Alex didn’t know how much of a deal the last part was especially since he saw the other man pick up right after the last fight, but the fee reduction was definitely a benefit. He wondered if it would be added to this bet but didn’t want to push his luck, so he just smiled and nodded. Bidding farewell to the bookkeeper, Alex turned and walked away, Grave close behind him.
The pair made their way back to Ralph’s private room quickly, though they had to squeeze through more people as the stands were beginning to fill ever so slightly. It was still early, and the next fight wouldn't be for nearly two hours but based on the conversations he’d overheard Alex guessed the arena acted as an underground town hall of sorts. It made him wonder how they managed to stay open with how Anise didn’t talk about the King.
Walking up to the door Alex tried to push it open, but it didn’t budge. He looked for a lock or handle of some sorts, but there was nothing. Turning to Grave, they gave him a brief smile before placing their wrist on the door. Instantly it began to move inward, and with a light push, they could walk inside. Taking a seat on a couch Alex looked over the clothes that had been laid out for him. It consisted of a simple two-piece set of loose-fitting black pants, and a blue and white oversized jacket, with a black belt to hold the entire ensemble together. It reminded him of a martial arts gi, though he hoped the material was something other than cotton, especially if he had to fight anything like that monkey beast.
Looking around he noticed a lack of a weapon and asked Grave about it. Ralph had said his sponsor would get him one, though he had no idea how. It took him a few minutes to understand the information Grave had on the topic, but the gist was that Alex could pick a weapon and Grave would tell him if he could use it. After deciding on two, they would go get them for Alex, and he could decide if he wanted to keep or exchange them for another two weapons. Rather than guess weapons Alex asked for a list, something Grave was able to quickly grab.
It was more of a pamphlet than a list and Alex quickly skimmed through it. He saw weapons he was familiar with such as a bow, sword, or dagger. Though there were more he’d never heard of such as a washard. In the image it looked similar to a harp, and Alex wondered how it was used. Wands and eventually guns became more common towards the end of the list and thinking back to Anise’s alley fight he knew what weapon he wanted. On Earth, he’d never been the biggest fan of guns, but here he needed a weapon that would allow him to keep his distance.
Asking Grave about the firearm, and a dagger, he received a simple no in response. Seeing they wouldn’t elaborate he asked why, and the golem pointed to a series of numbers below each item before flipping to a section of the pamphlet about points. Apparently, the level of gear a person could use was limited based on grade, and a points based system, even if they bought their own. The way the page explained points was comparable to an ELO based rating system, and the thought of being hard-stuck brought up bad memories. For this fight he was limited to mundane melee weapons, though winning fights and accumulating points would allow him to bring or buy better gear.
Alex still wanted to use a ranged weapon, as to keep any beast away from him, but highly doubted he’d be able to hit anything with a bow. He had a better shot with a crossbow, both literally and figuratively, but based on some quick math it’d be impossible until at least his third fight.
“Melee it is,” Alex sighed, and Grave went off to get a dagger and short sword by his request. Alex had wanted to use a long sword or something with more range, like a spear, but remembered his stats, and hoped relying on in his dexterity would keep him alive.
Returning with his two weapons, Grave sat on the couch, still in their human form. Still having an hour and a half to kill until the next fight the pair practiced the ASL alphabet. Grave was a fast learner, and it felt good for Alex to practice one of his lesser used skills. It also allowed Alex to ask the golem more specific questions, something he took full advantage of.
“So who made you? That is how that works right? Golems are made.”
Grave nodded, then put up their thumb, middle, and index finger in the sign for three.
“Three people?” A nod confirmed both Alex guess and his questioning. Taking a moment Alex showed them a version of the sign for “people” since it was one of the few he knew by heart. He made a fist, palm down, before extending his thumb and index finger forward, with his middle finger pointing down, then began to move his hands like the pedals of a bicycle, as it had been explained to him. Grave quickly mimicked his movements and soon continued with their story. Alex learned that he knew one of the three people involved, Ralph, and that Grave was different from most golems. After the original two creators handed the control orb linked to Grave’s core to Ralph, instead of activating them, Ralph added something extra.
“What did he add?”
Before they could respond to Alex’s query, the door to the room opened and Ralph walked in.
Grave and Alex had been sitting on the couch facing the door and Alex stood as he looked at the opening entryway. Ralph walked in with Janet, a wide grin on his face, at least until he looked toward the two of them.
“Grave,” his voice boomed, and Alex heard voices grow quiet behind the still open door. Apparently, Ralph noticed too because he took a deep breath before walking over to the door and shutting it. “Turn back to your armored form immediately. What did I tell you about taking her face?”
The golem quickly obliged, turning back into the large form Alex had first seen it in.
“Janet, take him, I need to have a discussion with the golem. You can use your green room until his fight, go through the back, he can change in there.”
She didn’t respond immediately and Ralph turned to look at her, anger clearly visible on his face. Janet continued to stare, and Alex didn’t dare move but after another few moments, something seemed to pass between the two and Janet called out.
“Come on, Huntsman.”
Alex followed making sure to do his best not to gain the older man's ire as he grabbed his things and hurried toward the door. He was quickly redirected however as Janet headed to a nearby wall with Ralph. Like Grave earlier, the old man put his wrist on the wall and a dark passage opened, the sound of stone scraping stone echoing in the space. Alex wanted to hesitate but figured staying in the room any longer would be worse, and instead quickly followed after Janet, the door closing almost as soon as they were through and plummeting the pair into darkness.