Duke appeared with the other 99 top-tier Contestants in what appeared to be an ancient underground city. They were in a central square dominated by a fountain with statues of all manners of creatures that the water flowed from, cascading from one to another until it finally came to rest in a hundred-meter wide pool. The statues depicted winners of the last thousand Contests.
Along the edges of the massive cavern were buildings carved into the very walls of stone. There were roads leading outwards from the central fountain like spokes of a wheel. Duke counted thirty-six spokes that were all equidistantly placed. The rest of the city appeared to have been carved in place as the area was hollowed out. Each and every building was made of seamless stone, painstakingly polished, and carved with wildly differing styles.
Duke examined his surroundings carefully, ignoring the Contestants surrounding him – there would be plenty of time for dealing with them later. Instead, he sought to understand the dungeon they clearly were in. His DUNGEON SENSE expanded outwards, taking in the entire dungeon, and quickly recognizing that it was incredibly detailed and vast. The exposed and accessible dungeon area covered a volume that he guessed would be similar to the inside of a small planet.
His senses brought volumes of information to him that he was only able to catalog and barely brush over before a figure descended from the tallest tower of the city carved around them. It was a winged figure clad in sturdy white cloth that glowed with power. As it descended, its feathered wings gently flapped, controlling its descent. The crowd of Contestants stepped back from the center as the creature came to rest in the air above them.
When it spoke, the voice resonated with power and authority, “Welcome, Elite Contestants. I am Zyphor the Arbiter. It is my voice and my judgement that will dictate this, the Final Phase of the Contest. Make no mistake. You would not have made it this far without being powerful beyond your Tiers, but in this realm, even Entities must bow to my authority, and you shall do the same.” He paused to wait for their reactions.
“Good, none of you are stupid enough to expect yourselves, or even your masters, to be on top of the food chain, at least not in my realm. The rest of the Contest shall take place here, in my realm. There will be a series of tests, events, and challenges until we get down to one ultimate winner. As with the initial period, this is not necessarily a game of death, but it is likely that many of you will die along the way. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Conserve your resources or spend them as you see fit but know this: There will be no opportunity to resupply. There are no merchants here selling consumables, replacement weapons, or armor. There may be some of these items provided for achieving certain goals, but do not expect them. Any questions before we get started?”
“Is there any area where we are not allowed to fight, to hunt, to kill?”
“Any area is fair game for combat, but if you interrupt me, there will be consequences for you. Now that all that is out of the way, I shall explain the first competition to you all.”
Duke looked around the group, allowing his XENOGLOSSIA to read the attitudes around him. It was easy to pick out the two-dozen or so who were just waiting for Zyphor to be done so they could start trying to kill each other. He marked each of them in his mind, carefully placing himself so that none were directly at his back. He returned his attention to the dungeon avatar.
“This first competition will eliminate half of you.” He paused as the angry disruption propagated through the crowd. After a second, he held up his hand and continued, “Do not interrupt me again.” His power flared into a suppressive field unlike any that Duke had ever experienced in the past.
This suppression was a full six ranks, causing any Ability below Grandmaster to simply cease working. Duke chuckled inwardly as he felt the uniqueness of his Class effortlessly shrug off the suppression. Seconds later, Zyphor, lifted the suppression field and the crowd of Contestants visibly relaxed.
“As I was saying, half of you will be eliminated in this first competition. NONE of you need perish, but with individuals such as yourselves, it is a likely outcome. You will be divided into two groups of fifty. One group will win, one group will lose.” He paused as the information rippled through the crowd. Membranes rippled, hands tightened on weapons, and tentacles flexed. Zyphor continued, “I will now separate you by ranking. Odd numbered ranks will compete against even numbered ranks.”
With a dramatic flash of light, Duke felt himself moved to a new location. It was a chamber decorated like the lobby of a fancy hotel with finely crafted chairs and couches set up in small groupings for gatherings of friends or colleagues. A hexagonal glass chamber dominated the center of the room and, judging by the suspended walkways radiating from points above it, Duke surmised that it was an elevator of some kind. Zyphor appeared in the room, hovering over the elevator.
“Good, none of you were stupid enough to start killing each other just yet. When I start the competition, you all will be tasked with a singular goal.” He held up two ornately decorated flags that were attached to two-meter flagpoles. “Your team’s flag is red-themed while your opponent’s flag is blue-themed.” He held up each flag as he mentioned them. “Do any of you not possess the sensory organs to discern between these two flags?”
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This pause was a bit longer as he searched the crowd for any reaction. “Good. I am going to hide both flags in the competition area. Your goal is to get your opponent’s flag and bring it back here while preventing your opponent from capturing your flag and bringing it back to their base of operations. Neither team is permitted to enter the opposing team’s base of operations or attack anyone within the base. And since combat is prohibited in the operations bases, you may not bring your own flag into your base of operations. Any questions?”
“No? good. Prepare yourselves as you have ten minutes to establish a plan before this competition begins. Win and you stay in the Contest. Lose and you are eliminated.” That said, he vanished from the room.
Immediately the room descended into a cacophony of voices as everyone had their own plan and few were in agreement. Duke stayed out of the conversation, instead focusing on his DUNGEON SENSE, pushing it to fill the competition area so he would know the instant that the flags were placed. Around him, the arguments continued.
Kaelion Varis eventually took control of the group, using the strength of his intimidating presence to cow others into listening. “Now that you all have had time to babble, here is what we are going to do. We will split our forces into four teams. One will focus on slowing or stopping our competition. One will be scouting the area to locate the flags. The remaining two teams will focus on obtaining the two flags and defending them until we can get their flag back here. I know most of you by reputation if not in person.”
Duke was able to read the room with his XENOGLOSSIA Ability and could see that there were few that agreed with Kaelion Varis in this approach but fewer still that had any intention of countering the black-maned leonid. He continued by assigning individuals to teams. Duke barely noticed when he was assigned to the enemy’s flag retrieval team.
“One last thing. Kreen, here is going to link us together in her communication network so we will all know what is happening out there. Anyone have anything to add?”
Zyphor appeared at that moment smiling, “I do. The flags have been placed and the countdown to this round is nearly complete. You should all see it on your screens. No one may leave this chamber until the counter expires. Good luck. I say that to be polite. I could care less who wins or loses. I just have a role to fill.”
Duke had pinpointed the location of both flags the instant they were planted. To his DUNGEON SENSE they glowed, highlighting themselves against the background.
Zyphor said that we weren’t allowed to leave the chamber before the countdown finishes. He didn’t say anything about bringing something into the chamber. Let’s see how this goes.
Duke flexed his TELEPORTATION to bring the enemy flag right into his INVENTORY. He was prepared to OVERCHANNEL the Ability if there was significant resistance. Instead, the flag rested in his INVENTORY effortlessly and he chuckled inwardly. Easiest competition ever. With another thought, he activated his DUNGEON ENGINEERING, and buried his team’s flag under ten meters of dungeon stone. He joined the rest of the team in watching his countdown. When the countdown hit zero, everyone sprung into action.
The scout group rushed out of the chamber, spreading out down various passages in search of the two flags. The interdiction team likewise raced out but kept together with Varis in the lead. Duke easily read the hunger in the leonid’s gaze. He was hunting and that was clearly what he was most interested in doing.
The final two groups waited for word that either flag had been located, tension rippling through their bodies. Except Duke. He found a comfortable couch and stretched out, his back on the armrest, one leg extended and one foot of the floor. He pulled out an item from his INVENTORY that he had not used nearly enough in his opinion. Using his DUNGEON ENGINEERING, he created a lowball glass and retrieved his Bottle of Eternal Whiskey to pour himself a glass. As it had been when he first sampled it, the whiskey was wonderfully smooth and he relished the taste even if the alcohol no longer had any effect on him.
“How can you relax when we will be called into action at any moment?” A green-skinned Contestant that Duke did not really have any information on nearly shouted at him. The creature looked largely amphibian with large eyes set on either side of its head, slightly forward of center.
“Because we are going to win this competition, and we are not even going to need to leave this chamber to do so.”
“How can you be so confident?”
“I have already seen it,” Duke smiled back at his accuser. With a gesture, another glass was formed and he poured a glass, offering it to the green-skinned creature who took it with a frown which highlighted its sharp needle-like teeth. It studied the drink, trying to decide whether to drink it or not.
“It’s whiskey.” Duke clinked his glass against the other and downed his drink, enjoying the warmth as it slid down his throat and into his stomach. He poured himself another drink as the creature tossed the drink into the back of its own throat with a wide-open mouth. Apparently, it was difficult to do so without its teeth interfering with the act of drinking.
The coughing and sputtering that followed surprised Duke almost as much as it did the creature. It dropped the glass, spraying shattered glass along the polished marble floor. The reaction from the others in the lobby was interestingly mixed. Some rushed over to help while most ignored the incident. Duke, himself, had stood up to help the creature who waved everyone off in embarrassment.
“Sorry about that. It’s just whiskey, shouldn’t hurt anyone at our level.”
Finally, the creature got its coughing under control. “Nothing to do with the drink. It’s just too dry here for my taste. I didn’t realize just how dry I have gotten.” The crowd who had come to its aid didn’t exactly disperse but they stepped back.
Duke had subtly cleaned up the broken glass and had put a dozen glasses of whiskey on the coffee table before him. He smiled to the group, “Anyone for some whiskey? We are going to be waiting for a while.”