Chapter 15: The Triple Fives

“Long time no see, Brent,” said Chase, trying to keep his voice even. “These are my spawnmates, Alexander and Amelie.”

Greetings were exchanged all around. Alex and Brent made a fine contrast to one another, one large and the other slender. They shook hands and simply nodded at one another, likely sizing each other up. Chase thought that even with Alex’s size Brent would be able to take him down easily. When they shook hands he could see their forearms straining as they squeezed their grips. The girls were about the same height too, but also opposites. Where Amelie was petite and seemed delicate Claire couldn’t hide her athletic build and plain face no more than Alex could hide his belly. Perhaps Claire sensed this discrepancy between them as she barely smiled as Amelie greeted her.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Claire,” said Amelie. “How do you know Chase? He seems so popular all of a sudden.”

“Met him yesterday,” said Claire. She left it at that.

“So,” said Chase. “What do you need, Brent?”

“Teammates,” said Brent. “We have a competition happening this after noon. It involves a few events and someone told us you would be interested.”

I wonder who told him that, thought Chase. He imagined Ghelion laughing at him as he watched from a window.

“What kind of competition?” Said Chase.

“Event one is a sparring match. Me and Claire have that covered. What we need is someone who can shoot a bow. I heard that you shot one pretty well in the starting camp, is that right?”

Amelie jumped in. “He was excellent! He shot Jojo the spider right in one of his eyes.”

“Jojo?” Brent looked confused and his handsome features creased in a frown. He shook his head. “Alright, great. Was it an accident or can you actually shoot?”

“I should be able to, yeah.” Chase was slowly remembering this competition from when he was a kid. Solomon hadn’t allowed him to join until he had pestered him endlessly about it. “What’s the prize if we win?”

“Weapons,” grinned Brent, a light coming to his eyes. “And also a bit of glory. All the greats have won this competition. It’s called the Triple Fives.”

“And what are the other events?” Said Alexander.

Brent glanced at him but when he spoke he looked at Chase.

“Sparring comes first, then an archery contest, followed by some sort of mind game. They always change the last one so we don’t know. The contest is set up like this: the teams will select their fighters for the sparring tournament. Only the winners of that go on to the archery. Last time it cut the competition down to only 7 teams. Me and Claire did fine with that but neither of us are good with bows. We lost,” he added. The memory of the defeat seemed to burn within him.

Chase made a decision. “Fine, I’ll do it, how about my spawnmates here? We need five people, right?”

“What are you two good at?” Brent said bluntly.

“I promise they will crush whatever mind games the Advisors have come up with, trust me.”

“I guess we do need someone to cover that,” said Brent.

“What is the prize?” Said Alexander. He didn’t seem very enthused to work with Brent.

“Weapons. Whatever you want, too. Everyone else will get some crummy starting weapon when they sign their contract but the winners of this get higher quality metals and craftsmen ship. That’s the only reason me and Claire are entering. Also Solomon beat it back in the day, too.”

Chase remembered that day well, as he had watched it from the stands in awe. Solomon as a young man had dominated the competition with barely any help, easily fighting men twice his size.

“The competition begins at 3pm,” said Claire. “So come to the field before then.”

“We will be there,” said Amelie cheerily. “See you soon.”

Brent and Claire stalked away, leaving only the three of them together outside the Headquarters.

Thomas! Remembered Chase. The tree was empty. The little boy must have slipped away while they were talking.

“What’s wrong?” Said Alex.

“Nothing.” Chase shook his head. “Just remembered something. Are you two gonna be prepared for this competition? I actually heard about it yesterday and I think it’s a good idea to compete. Those two are pretty skilled fighters so they will make good teammates.”

“I just hope that I don’t get in the way,” said Amelie.

Alexander grunted. “Brent seems a bit hard to deal with.”

“Don’t worry, Alex,” said Chase. “He’s a good lad. And Amelie, you won’t get in the way, trust me. You should talk to Claire some more later, you two might become friends.”

Chase put a hand on either of their shoulders and looked at them both in turn.

“Let’s try our hardest at this competition, okay? Winning doesn’t matter, only how hard we try. I don’t know why we were chosen to come to Esem, but I am for sure going to take everything that is coming to me. What about you?”

Alexander smiled. “You sound like a leader suddenly.”

Amelie laughed. “Yes he does, not like a fisherman at all.”

“Forget about the fisherman stuff, I just said it for the Advisor. She was a being a—”

“Ahem,”

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Chase turned around. Advisor Maris alongside Jess was standing in the doorway behind them. Both had their arms crossed and bore identical frowns.

“Don’t you three have somewhere to be?” Advisor Maris said acidly.

“Actually, we do.”

As Chase led them away from the Headquarters he thought he heard someone sniggering behind a bush.

Three o’clock found Chase, Alexander, and Amelie trekking across the field where their teammates were waiting. Close to one hundred players were standing around waiting for the Triple Five to begin and a feeling of excitement was in the air. Chase saw most of the players were around Brent’s age and several of the men appeared to be experienced fighters from the Old World. Chase wondered whether the Antagonista which Ghelion had told him about was already sending its own players over.

Hasn’t been enough time for new players, Chase thought. With hope there wouldn’t be very many of them regardless. There was no telling who was about to be sent over. Chase had met his fair share of twisted and demented players in his life already to wonder what the Antagonista could possibly dredge up.

“There you are,” said Brent as they came up to him and Claire. He was dressed in training armor and bore a practice sword at his hip and was causally leaning against the wall of an obstacle which had been moved to make room for the tournament area.

“Surprised we showed up?” Chase clasped his hand in a warriors embrace.

Claire spoke as Brent was opening his mouth.

“No, not at all,” she said. She was dressed in similar training armor but was sitting crossed legged on the ground. She had tied her hair up into a warriors knot and looked positively menacing when she saw Amelie. Her training sword lay across her lap and she was white knuckling the handle.

“When do I get a sword?” Said Alexander.

“You don’t,” said Brent. “Only me and Claire are in the first event. Aren’t you supposed to be the smart guy, anyways?”

Chase saw Alex’s nostrils flare.

“Yeah, I’m pretty smart, but I bet I am stronger than just about anyone here,” said Alex. He crossed his arms and his muscles bulged. Unfortunately it didn’t have the effect he probably hoped it might.

“Great,” Brent laughed. “Tell you what: next time we do the Triple Five you can have the sword and I’ll do thinking event. Sound good?”

“Sure,” said Alex. He seemed to relax but Chase was fairly certain he had missed Brent’s mockery.

“I am happy not fighting,” said Amelie, sensing the tension.

Claire stood up and stared down Amelie.

“Well you will have to fight eventually, Amy. Esem is a harsh place for little girls who are too afraid to defend themselves.”

“Is that so?” Said Amelie, who, just like Alex, Chase was unsure whether she understood the underlying challenge in Claire’s words. “Well, thank you for telling me, Claire. And my name is Amelie, not ‘Amy.’

Claire rolled her eyes at Amelie’s innocent smile but anything thing else she was preparing to say was forgotten when a booming voice sounded over the field.

“PLAYERS, THE TIME HAS COME TO BEGIN THE TRIPLE FIVES. PLEASE SEND YOUR COMBATANTS TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD. EVERYONE ELSE PLEASE GATHER AT THE EDGE OF THE FIELD. THE COMPETITION IS ABOUT TO BEGIN.”

“Come on, Claire,” said Brent. A wild gleam was in his eyes and he reminded Chase of a ravenous wolf. “Let’s go show them what we can do.”

“Let’s go to the stands,” Chase told his spawnmates as Brent and Claire sauntered off. “I wouldn’t mind a better view of the combatants.”

They found seats among some NPCs and players who were waiting for their turn in the coming events. Chase didn’t see Thomas anywhere.

Why did I agree to this? Thought Chase suddenly. He should be looking for Thomas, not agreeing to a competition. Perhaps there had been something about the way Claire and Brent had asked him. Their dedication reminded him of his old guild, many years before when they were still hungry for achievement. He had felt the thrill of the challenge when he spoke to them and couldn’t help but agree to attend.

On the field were two lines of players, each facing their opponent. Chase assumed lots had been cast before he had arrived as everyone seemed to know where to stand. They were evenly spaced ten feet between one another.

“They better win,” muttered Alex. “If after all that bravado those two lose I’m going to laugh.”

“I think they will surprise you,” said Chase. “I saw them practicing earlier. Those two take fighting very seriously. I wonder what they did in the Old World.”

“I see them,” said Amelie. She pointed near the middle of the field.

Chase followed her finger and found them both lined up by one another. Unlike the other players who were chatting and waving their swords playfully Brent and Claire both seemed to be staring down their opponents.

“Brent’s opponent looks awfully big,” said Amelie. “He must out weigh him by a lot.”

“The girl Claire is matched with like she could chew nails,” added Alex.

Chase had to admit his teammates seemed to have been placed with some strong opponents. Claire’s was staring right back at her and Brent’s seemed to have large enough arms that he could make them out all the way from the stands.

“FIGHTERS, READY YOUR WEAPONS.” Came the voice again. Chase saw it was Master at Arms Brix at the end of the field. People cheered in the stands and all the fighters leveled their practice blades.

“BEGIN!”

Chaos erupted across the field as some players charged their opponents. Chase saw a couple people instantly put down and pummeled while others tripped and were beset upon as their match cried in glee and hacked at them with the dull wood of their swords. No matter how dull it was Chase knew a blow from one of those hurt. Shouts of “mercy!” And “do you yield!?” Began to sound across the field.

“There he goes!” Said Amelie.

Brent, sword ready and wooden shield raised slowly approached his opponent. Despite the noise Chase heard his opponent belly laugh. Brent raised his shield just in time to catch a blow which sent him to one knee on the ground. He responded with a jab to the large mans belly which earned a yelp of pain.

Good one, thought Chase. He realized he was on his feet and people behind him were complaining. He sat back down and wondered why he was so invested in this fight.

Expertly rolling out of the way at his opponent’s wild sword swing Brent came to his feet and lunged. Though the other man was strong but he didn’t seem to have close to Brent’s technical skill and faltered as he failed to block blow after blow from the young man.

Tkwack! The sound of a practice sword to the temple resounded throughout the field and Brent’s opponent fell to the ground. He seemed to be out cold. Brent raised his sword in triumph and the crowd cheered.

“Amazing,” exclaimed Alex without a hint of irony. He seemed to be genuinely impressed by Brent’s short work of the larger man. “I can’t believe he actually won.”

“He was great but Claire looks like she is in trouble,” said Amelie. “Look!”

Claire’s opponent was much more proficient with a blade than Brent’s had been. She also towered over Claire but was not about to allow her size to make her careless. She tested Claire’s defenses with a slash of her blade her and tried to stagger Claire with a lunge.

Sword high, Claire blocked the lunge, but her opponent then smashed her shield full into her face. She fell to the ground, shield flying out of her hand.

“Oh no!” Said Amelie, hand over her mouth. “Is that allowed?”

“Of course it’s allowed,” said Chase. He focused on his breathing as he watched Claire struggle to her feet. Her opponent seemed to be telling her to get up and fight.

With only a sword now Claire scowled and then spit some blood out on the ground. Getting hit seemed to somehow calm her down and she switched her sword to her left hand. Chase wondered what she was doing but soon it became clear. Claire feinted a lunge.

The woman shrieked in delight as she brushed aside the feint. Just then Claire took one step forward and, with all the power she had, punched the woman in the face with her right. She spun halfway around and in a fraction of a second Claire struck her a dozen times. She slashed her in the kidneys and the back and then finished her off with a mighty Thwack! to the side of the head just as Brent had done in his fight.

“Incredible!” Amelie stood up and together the three of them cheered their teammates as all around the NPCs and players clapped and shouted their praise. Claire seemed to have a bloody nose but her face flushed dark red once Brent took her arm and raised it like a victorious gladiator.

“And that is that,” said Chase. He felt a relief he had not experienced before. There was something about Brent and Claire that made him more invested in their victories than he had felt, well, since he was young and watching his guild members in the Old Guard. Looking at the looks of excitement and joy in the faces of Alexander and Claire he realized that he felt the same for them as well.

“Come on you two,” said Chase. “Let’s go down and congratulate them.”

Only a hand full of battles were still going, with most of the players either being carted off the field, limping with the assistance of their frustrated teammates, or celebrating with their friends.

“Well done you two,” said Chase as they found Brent and Claire. Both of them had decided to watch the final fights. Before them were two slender men trading blows. Both had lost their shields and had large welts forming on their faces and blood covering their faces.

Brent shrugged but kept his eyes on the match.

“I practiced that maneuver a lot. But thanks,” he added. “Not sure where Claire learned to punch like that, though.”

“Likely from watching you,” said Chase.

Brent shrugged. “Yeah I guess.”

Alexander came up beside Brent.

“Good fight, Brent.” Alexander kept his eyes forward and pretended to watch the match himself.

“Thanks, Alex. I’ll show you a thing or two with the sword after we win if you want.”

Alex grunted in assent, and didn’t correct Brent shortening his name.

Claire was less gracious as Amelie tried to find something so plug her bleeding nose.

“Stop, its fine.” Claire ripped a piece of fabric from her shirt and used it to staunch the blood. “I’ll just use this.”

Amelie frowned, slightly hurt. “I’m just trying to help, Claire. Maybe I have a handkerchief you can use—”

“I said I am fine,” repeated Claire. She turned towards Chase. “Well you are up. The archery contest is right after these two lunk heads stop dancing.” She held up her bloody cloth. “You better deliver for us. I don’t like to bleed for nothing.”

Thwack! One of the men landed a heavy blow to his opponents temple and the man crumpled to the ground. Cheers went up all around. The final fight was done.

“AND THE FIGHTING IS OVER! PLAYERS PLEASE EXIT THE FIELD WHILE THE ARCHERY EVENT IS BEING SET UP! PLEASE CLEAR THE FIELD OF ALL EQUIPMENT!”

Here we go, thought Chase. Time to show these kids what I can do.