The West Gate

7:15 AM

The three S-ranks stood behind the inner wall separating the gatehouse from the inner city. They could hear the low rumble of several dozen people talking within the gatehouse. Tantalus was looking over some of the handwritten papers he held in his hand and briefly mulling over what to do next. FullDan looked even more anxious than normal, and Gator cracked his neck in preparation for what he knew would come next.

Tantalus whipped out another cigarette and put it to his lips.

“Drast,” he enunciated with purpose. There was a faint, almost imperceptible spark on the end of Tantalus’s cigarette. Tantalus breathed in, and the cigarette began producing smoke.

“How many of those have you smoked since you got here?” Gator asked.

“About two packs,” Tantalus said between puffs.

“We’re gonna need those lungs of yours when we fight GM,” Gator chided. “Plus, you only smoked two or three cigs a day back in the Scions.”

“If Rapid Healing can regrow a lost leg, it can regrow a hole in my lung,” Tantalus said.

“Aristotle tells us that anything done to excess is a vice,” Gator said while wagging his finger like a schoolteacher.

“You know, Gator,” Tantalus said mirthfully, “with your avatar, I sometimes forget that you’re a huge nerd.”

The three of them laughed at Tantalus’s statement. It was rare for the Commander to make a joke, and the juxtaposition was especially humorous to the three old friends.

“Either way,” Tantalus said as he stopped laughing, “point taken. I’ll try to cut down on the smoking. Three cigs a day, max. Come on.” Tantalus stamped his cigarette out under foot and walked forward into the gatehouse.

About forty Revenants were gathered within the gatehouse. Tantalus was immediately able to pick Redgrave out of the crowd. He stood out like an island of grey in a sea of blue. Tantalus could also see the blonde hair of Pixie and the red hair of Voight-Kampff in the crowd.

As the three quasi-celebrities approached, those Revenants who could see him stopped and stared. Even so, there was still an undercurrent of conversation throughout the West Gate. Tantalus could hear people murmuring about the Duke and statements of displeasure about having to live under NPC rule. Tantalus received a message.

[From Redgrave22: Hey T. Your meeting with the Duke was recorded, and it’s circulating the BloodNet. I think Mozaic recorded it. Here’s the link.]

With one eye open, Tantalus opened the link to watch the video. The recording started with the Duke saying, “Now, the final item on the agenda.” Mozaic must have edited out all the talk of logistics and troop movement from the video. The recording was darkened as if through a filter. Thinking back, Tantalus remembered that Mozaic had put on a pair of sunglasses before they walked into the Ducal Palace. He must have done that to hide his yellow eyes from the Duke. Tantalus had not recommended Mozaic to record the meeting, but it ultimately served their purposes. He had decided to take a hands-off approach to the City outside of the West Gate, so situations like this were inevitable.

There was a sense of discontentment in the air. The Revenants didn’t like the idea of being threatened by an NPC. Smiling, Tantalus realized that this was the perfect time for a speech. With the finesse granted to him by his small body and thousands of hours in Ninth Oasis, Tantalus jumped on to one of the concrete dividers and balanced there on the balls of his feet.

“Can I get your attention, please!?” Tantalus projected like a Georgian carnival barker. Years in the Scions of the Blue Flame had taught him how to increase the volume of his voice without sounding like he was shouting. “I am Tantalus. The powers that be have granted me operational command of the Revenants of the West Gate, and y’all are here because I chose you to defend the Gate. Now, I ain’t exactly the biggest fan of the guy that gave me the promotion, but what can ya do?” As he spoke, Tantalus unconsciously leaned into his accent.

“Everyone here will be split into six teams of five,” Tantalus continued. “The teams will be listed in all documents as T1 to T6. In order, the leaders of these six squads will be myself, Pixie, GatorKing, Jester, FullDan, and Voight-Kampff. Officially, we will be known as the Osirian 1st Revenant Regiment, Tango Company. Unofficially, we will be called the Greycloaks. In my hand,” Tantalus held up four identical handwritten documents, “I hold team assignments.”

Tantalus handed the papers out to the Revenants closest to the barrier he was standing on. The team assignments were as follows:

Squad 1 Squad 2 T1-1: Tantalus45 T2-1: Pixie_Chix T1-2: Redgrave22 T2-2: Concerto622 T1-3: Elias777 T2-3: Volta_Fossa T1-4: Grim_Fando T2-4: Perseph0ne T1-5: Synthwave1 T2-5: Mirage7 Squad 3 Squad 4 T3-1: GatorKing T4-1: Jester720 T3-2: BValdore T4-2: Darius12 T3-3: Snoo8368 T4-3: Catspaw11 T3-4: Dandyman07 T4-4: EightySix86 T3-5: ThirdChicken3 T4-5: Rad_Centrist18 Squad 5 Squad 6 T5-1: FullDan T6-1: Voight_Kampff T5-2: MrDuck T6-2: Bridge21 T5-3: Ted1112 T6-3: s2rt74 T5-4: Negative_Education T6-4: Zero_Chill0 T5-5: Admiral_Carrot4 T6-5: SunOfRubigo6

Tantalus could see confusion in the expressions of Voight-Kampff and Pixie. Right, Tantalus remembered, he had forgotten to tell them that he was making them team leaders. At least he had told Jester, the expert swordsman who had killed a dozen Orcs at the Battle of the West Gate, about the promotion.

“As a captain, I have been given the right to grant brevet ranks up to Lieutenant,” Tantalus said. “I hereby grant GatorKing and FullDan the rank of Lieutenant. I also grant Redgrave, Pixie, Jester, and Voight-Kampff the rank of Sergeant. Your salaries will not increase.” Tantalus delivered the last sentence with such a tone of voice that there was a short patter of laughter across the crowd.

“Okay,” Tantalus clapped his hands together, “all squad leaders, raise your hands high in the air.” The five team leaders raised their hands. The Revenants present began to aggregate around the team leaders.

“The blonde woman is Pixie, the dark-skinned gentleman here is GatorKing, the Middle Eastern man over there is Jester, the man wearing the blue scarf is FullDan, the red-headed man there is Voight-Kampff,” Tantalus directed, pointing at each of the team leaders as he got to them, “and I, as ever, am Tantalus.”

Within a minute, the crowd of thirty had split into six groups of five. All of the women in the crowd had formed around Pixie, and the remaining five teams were all men. Tantalus jumped down off the concrete divider to form up with his team: Redgrave, Elias, Grim, and an Indonesian man wearing a beanie named Synthwave.

“I’m sure that a lot of you are not aware of military terminology, so I’ll try to explain this in RPG terms,” Tantalus said. “Think about it this way: Tango Company is our guild, and I am the Guildmaster. The squads are parties within the guild. For everything small-scale, your squad leaders have operational command. For everything large-scale, like beating back an incursion, I have operational command.”

“You may have noticed that the teams are gender-segregated,” Tantalus continued. “Ashcroft, Mander, and I chose to segregate the units last night. We did this for a few reasons, chief among them is our training regimen.” Tantalus cracked his knuckles. “Lesson one: We’re going to beat the tar out of each other.”

“You see,” Tantalus continued, “the first step of learning to fight is getting used to violence. Practicing kicks and punches are much less important than sparring. Remember this: violence is an explosion. You need to attack with the intent to kill or maim. Waxing cars and scrubbing floors won’t teach you how to kill an Orc.”

“But… uh… sir?” Voight-Kampff, who had recently been unexpectedly elevated to the position of sergeant, asked. “Won’t we have weapons in the field? Why do we need to practice unarmed fighting?”

“Y’all need to get used to violence in increments,” Tantalus began. “First, you learn how a punch is supposed to feel, and you extrapolate that into your knifework. Okay!” Tantalus clapped his hands. “Twenty minutes of light sparring within your team. Squad leaders will referee the fights. Fight until someone is knocked down. Remember to drink lots of water and take breaks if you need to. Oh, and make sure you get punched in the face at least once before sparring is over!”

Many of the Revenants complained quietly at Tantalus’s command, but they all ultimately followed the order. The six squads spread out so as not to interfere with each other’s sparring. Turning to his team, Tantalus could immediately tell that there was a problem. Elias and Grim were quietly arguing over who they would fight. Clearly, neither of them wanted to spar with Redgrave. Synth, on the other hand, seemed fine with fighting whoever.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Tantalus thought back to the Battle of the West Gate. Synth had been there, and he had stuck out to Tantalus due to the non-regulation black beanie he wore on his head. Tantalus would have asked anyone who was at the Battle to be the fifth member of his squad, but he happened to choose Synth.

“I thought about this earlier,” Tantalus interrupted the quiet bickering. “There’s a B-rank in Team 6 named Bridge. Let’s merge the two teams for this training exercise.”

Team 1 walked over to Team 6. The other teams had started sparring, and the team leaders were refereeing the fights. VK quickly agreed to the temporary merging of their two teams. He apparently had been having the same problem as Tantalus. Nobody wanted to fight Bridge after hearing he had eighty hours in Ninth Oasis.

He looked around and surveyed the soldiers he now had command over. It was quickly becoming apparent that none of them had any combat training. Most of the sparring Revenants merely circled around each other warily and occasionally threw a pitiful jab at the other. Those who were actually willing to throw a serious punch flailed wildly and stopped in fear as soon as their strike actually connected. Even the fight between Redgrave and Bridge was pretty underwhelming. The match had a promising start, but it ended quickly when Redgrave hit Bridge with an expertly-placed counterpunch, knocking him to the ground in an unfocused daze.

For their part, the women under Pixie’s command did not complain after being ordered to engage in bloody bare-knuckle boxing. Tantalus had expected to hear a stern word or two from them, but most of the complaining he heard during the exercise was from Elias.

Tantalus allowed a small smile to come to his lips. While they were all highly unskilled and probably useless in a fight, the enthusiasm was there. The men and women before Tantalus were willing to learn, and he couldn’t ask for anything more. However, Tantalus thought to himself, this was clearly not working. A little instruction would be necessary, apparently.

“Stop! Stop!” Tantalus shouted, putting his hands together in a T-shape. “Okay, good start, but I need to see more commitment. The purpose of this exercise is to show you what fighting feels like.”

The various sparring matches around the West Gate came to a stop, and several Revenants collapsed in relief.

“How about this? I’ll show you what it’s supposed to look like.” He began unbuttoning his coat. “I’m gonna need an assistant for this magic trick. FullDan? GatorKing?”

“Sure,” FullDan said.

“I’ll do it,” GatorKing said as FullDan spoke.

“Cool,” Tantalus said, secretly dreading the coming fight, “I’ll fight FullDan, if that’s all right with you, Gator. He’s a little closer to my weight class. What are your strength and agility scores, FullDan?"

"Fifteen strength and fourteen agility," FullDan said easily. "What about you?"

"I have eleven strength and fifteen agility," Tantalus said.

Name FullDan Level 8 Blood Points 100/100 Mana Points 15/15 Race Revenant Fortitude 10 Strength 15 Agility 14 Wisdom 8

“I'm significantly stronger, and you're slightly faster. Those stats give me a three-point advantage, right?"

“Something like that,” Tantalus said. “Who’ll be the ref?”

“Gator,” FullDan said quietly. All sense of the usual anxiety was absent from FullDan’s expression and posture. He was ready for the fight.

GatorKing walked between the two men. “Okay,” he said, smiling, “I want a good, clean fight. One round, fight ends when one of you hits the ground, MMA rules otherwise.”

“Sounds good,” Tantalus said. The two fighters had stopped circling and were now standing fifteen feet from one another with Gator in between them.

GatorKing put his hand between the two men. “And… fight,” he lowered his hand and retreated back a few steps.

Tantalus took a fighting stance with his back fist near his chin and his front fist low near his waist. Tantalus was a better grappler than striker, and his stance betrayed that fact. FullDan, on the other hand, took a standard boxer’s stance with both of his fists near his chin. Tantalus and FullDan were very similar fighters; both utilized a style affectionately nicknamed the "Viper School" of fighting, which was originally invented by Kingfisher and later perfected by the smaller members of the Scions. Viper fighting was primarily used by smaller players who expected to have to defeat larger enemies in melee combat. The central concept behind the Viper School was striking hard against the enemy's weak points. A large emphasis was put on knife fighting in the Viper School, but users of the fighting style also trained substantially in hand-to-hand combat. You never knew when you would have to fight an enemy without a weapon. Viper School was very distinct from the "Wolf School" of fighting utilized by players with large avatars like Redgrave, Ashcroft, and Gator. Users of the Wolf School of fighting often used swords when they fought.

The two men approached each other. Both utilized the step-drag footwork used in boxing. Just before FullDan entered Tantalus’s range, he shifted his weight hard to his front foot and threw a swift jab aimed squarely at his opponent’s nose. Tantalus jerked his head back and easily dodged the jab. Without hesitation, FullDan took another step closer to Tantalus and threw a powerful straight punch. Tantalus weaved his head to the left and dodged the punch by mere inches.

Tantalus, now well within range to hit FullDan, punched his opponent hard in the midsection. FullDan exhaled hard as his diaphragm was compressed, but the strike wasn’t nearly enough to slow him. Tantalus followed his first punch with a left hook aimed at FullDan’s skull.

FullDan raised his guard at the last second to interrupt Tantalus’s strike. With his arms raised to protect his head, FullDan lowered his center of gravity and drove his shoulder into Tantalus.

Tantalus, thirty pounds lighter than FullDan, was almost lifted off his feet by the man's shoulder check. Tantalus took three quick steps back and found himself several feet away from his opponent.

Tantalus regained his balance just in time to see a blur approaching the side of his head. He instinctually ducked, and FullDan’s foot traveled over his head at sixty miles per hour. FullDan had launched a roundhouse kick at Tantalus’s head in the brief moment Tantalus had been disoriented by the shoulder tackle.

All around the two fighters, dozens of Revenants cheered as they witnessed this flashy display of martial arts. The fight had lasted a mere ten seconds, but the brutality of two truly skilled fighters was already on display.

FullDan was unbalanced by the force he had committed to the kick. His attack had been high-risk, high-reward, and he was paying for his miss. The momentum forced FullDan into a rotation. In order to regain his stance, FullDan decided to complete the spin rather than try to halt his momentum. For a bare moment, FullDan turned his back on Tantalus.

Like a snake wrapping around its prey, Tantalus surged forward and grabbed FullDan from behind. Tantalus wrapped his arm around FullDan’s neck and secured the chokehold with his free arm. FullDan brought his arms up to break Tantalus’s grip, but he was too late. Tantalus nestled his arm under FullDan’s chin and squeezed his neck like a vice. The blood supply to FullDan’s brain was cut off. If things continued like this, FullDan would be unconscious within ten seconds.

FullDan drove the back of his elbow into Tantalus’s ribs. The blow winded Tantalus, but he did not loosen his grip. Realizing that body strikes would not work in time, FullDan reached back behind his head and grabbed Tantalus by his biceps.

Tantalus was unsure of what FullDan was doing until he felt himself being lifted off the ground. FullDan lifted Tantalus as he began to lean forward. He intended to use his own neck as a pivot point to throw Tantalus to the ground. It should have been impossible, but FullDan’s greater strength, size, and height made it possible.

Only at the last possible moment did Tantalus realize that FullDan could actually do it. Tantalus released the choke and fell a few inches to the ground. FullDan stumbled forward as his attempted throw and Tantalus’s sudden departure threw him off balance.

FullDan quickly turned with his arms raised in a guard only to see that Tantalus was a full ten feet away from him. The two men began circling each other for a second time. FullDan lightly rubbed his neck in pain as they sized each other up once again.

They approached each other once more. FullDan approached first. This time, however, he ducked his head down and attempted a takedown on Tantalus. FullDan’s approach was interrupted as Tantalus brought his knee crashing into FullDan’s forehead. The fighter recoiled backward as his brain shook in his skull.

Tantalus surged forward, his arms up in a boxing stance for the first time in the fight. He put his back into it as he punched FullDan hard in the chin. FullDan’s skull jerked back once again, though Tantalus did not stop his assault. Tantalus hit FullDan hard in the head twice more. FullDan swayed, and his eyes lost focus, but he did not fall. Tantalus heard gasps of shock and a woman’s scream as he launched his brutal assault. Tantalus pulled his fist back to strike again, but he was interrupted as FullDan grabbed him hard by the collar with both hands.

Without warning, FullDan leaned forward and smashed his own skull into his opponent’s skull. His vision swimming, Tantalus was only vaguely aware of what had just happened. Was that a headbutt!? Tantalus simply could not comprehend such an insane and self-destructive attack.

Tantalus swayed back a few steps. He looked at FullDan, but he realized that nothing would come into focus. Tantalus tried to focus his eyes for half a second before he felt an apocalyptic force crash into the side of his head like a train.

Next thing he knew it, he was on the ground. The whole world was spinning and nothing would come into focus. He turned himself over on the ground. For a moment, he could see a large blurry mass on the horizon. He was pretty sure that was the crowd. He heard the sound of footsteps approaching, and he suddenly remembered that he was in the middle of a fight.

He swiftly rose to a kneeling position. There was one large blob that moved independently of the other blobs, so he raised his hands toward his opponent and prepared to intercept the next attack.

“Hey, FullDan!” a man shouted. Another blob intercepted the approaching blob. “Snap out of it! The fight’s over!”

Right, he suddenly remembered, the fight was over. He had lost. It was a real shame. Why was he fighting, exactly? What was his name? Oh, yeah, Tantalus. The pounding pain in his head was making it hard to focus. He started using Rapid Healing as soon as he had woken up. It had been at least fifteen seconds, but his vision hadn’t come back yet.

“Sorry, sorry,” his opponent said. “I forgot. I think I got punched in the head a bit too hard.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the intercepting blob said, clearly annoyed. “Anyway, FullDan is our winner!”

A loud cheer and applause filled the West Gate. The sound made Tantalus’s headache much worse. Soon after the applause stopped, a blurry figure approached him.

“Are you okay, man?” FullDan’s voice came out of the figure.

“Hmm?” Tantalus said as he slowly got to his feet. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. What did you hit me with?”

“What?” FullDan asked.

“Yeah… uh… I didn’t see the last hit. How did you hit me?”

“I-it was a spinning heel kick,” FullDan said, his tone starting to lose the confidence of battle. “You really don’t seem okay, man.”

“I think I’m concussed,” Tantalus said. “Just give me a few minutes to walk it off.”

Tantalus could barely hear FullDan over the sound of excited chattering. The other Revenants were talking about their prize fight. Tantalus was sure that the video of him getting his ass kicked would be viral within a few hours.