I’d never really looked at the outside of the arena earlier, but in the wan light of the two moons that lit the square it looked a little eerie. It was a towering six-sided pagoda, much taller on the outside than it seemed from the inside. Its tiers rose up higher than the other buildings. It was one of the three largest structures in the city, along with a Gothic-style cathedral that very much resembled a miniature version of Chartres Cathedral with different styles for its two main spires, and an official-looking building fronted by several massive stone columns that drew heavily from ancient Greek architecture such as the Parthenon. These three buildings formed an equilateral triangle around the edge of the circular courtyard.

There was one main entrance from the courtyard into the arena, an archway wide and tall enough for a double-decker bus to drive through. It was closed now, blocked by immense gates made of metal bars, but the shadow I saw had shifted near the center of this opening, as though slipping through into the arena. I got up and went over to investigate. The gate where I’d seen the movement was shut but the chain holding it closed was loose, loose enough that it wasn’t hard to squeeze through.

I followed the dark corridor inside to where it opened into a choice between a pair of staircases leading up to the stands or going straight down a hallway leading to the arena floor. I took the stairs, creeping up them slowly, trying to make as little noise as I could. I went up only to the first tier and slunk out into the seating area, sticking to the last of the three rows of benches. There were people down on the arena floor below. I could tell by their clothes they were all Players.

I saw a group of three, two men and one woman, facing another lone man. They were talking, but I couldn’t hear what they said. Then the talking ended and the woman backed away. The smaller of the two remaining men in her group pulled a knife while the bigger one raised his fists. It was two on one, and from the start it was clear the one didn’t stand a chance. The bigger of the two stomped forward while the other stood back, then the solo fighter went suddenly rigid, arms straight and tight against his sides. The big guy closed in and hammered him a few times. He was soon beaten to the ground, still rigid and making no apparent effort to protect himself as his attacker kicked him repeatedly.

Strangely, I didn’t recognize the beaten man. I used All Shall Be Revealed on him.

Marc Shaw Team Builder Affinity: [Hidden] Gifts:

[Hidden]

[Hidden]

Powers:

[Hidden]

[Hidden]

Skills:

[Hidden]

[Hidden]

Another team builder. Huh.

Now listen, I was never the sort of person to get into fights, or even involve myself in other people’s problems. Cowering in the stands was much more my style, but as I watched those two men gang up on poor Mr. Shaw the injustice of it all fired up something inside me. Perhaps I was still buoyed by positive feelings I got after helping Shannon, but I felt that I had to do something. I wasn’t sure what I could do, I had absolutely no skill or experience in fights, I just knew I had to help.

Then I remembered that I wasn’t entirely powerless. There was something I could do, or at least I thought I could. I’d never done it before, I’d only ever seen it done by two other people, but seeing it had been enough for me to theoretically learn how. So I decided to trust in System and stood up, held out my hand, then closed my eyes and thought about one thing: fire.

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I felt a sudden warmth in the palm of my hand. Opening my eyes, I saw a tiny ball of flame flickering just above my open hand, as well as a System notice.

System: You have developed affinity with Fire

I did it. I wasn’t sure precisely how I’d done it, but I’d used my new skill to create fire. So, now what?

For lack of a better idea, I drew my hand back and attempted to throw the fire at them.

The effect was disappointing.

The little ball of fire flew through the air and landed with a fizzle on the arena floor nowhere close to the fighters below. But it was close enough that the woman noticed. She spun around, hunting for the fire’s source. She saw me, then her eyes opened wide with something like shock. She wasn’t my immediate concern, though. She wasn’t the one kicking someone else while they were down.

There was no point in trying to hide anymore, so while concentrating on creating some more fire I hopped over the benches until I was at the railing, looking directly down onto the floor. Then I conjured another little fireball and hurled it into the arena again.

As fireballs go, this one wouldn’t win any awards, but at least it did the trick. This time my fire hit the larger of the attackers in the back, and although it exploded in a showy shower of sparks it was too feeble to actually do any damage. But it was enough to catch attention, and he stopped kicking his defenseless victim long enough to turn and look at me. I made another fireball appear in my hand and concentrated on making it bigger. I managed to double its size, but it was still only about as big as a cantaloupe. That seemed to be enough to look threatening, however, because the fighter crouched defensively and kept his attention on me.

I wasn’t used to anyone seeing me as a threat, and spurred on by the unfamiliar feeling I leaped over the wall onto the arena floor. I had been hoping that my Player body would make it an easy thing to do, but even though this was supposed to be a superhuman body it didn’t perform all that much better than my regular one, which was not very athletic to start with. I landed hard.

If this was a manga or something, I would've landed on one knee punching shockwaves in the ground. Sadly, I had no rule of cool dictating my life.

My ankle probably broke when I hit the arena floor, it's hard to say. Something cracked ominously, and it hurt like holy hell. I dropped my fireball when I fell in a crumpled heap. It rolled a bit along the packed earth floor before fizzling into a few sparks, then nothingness.

A menacing grin spread across the guy's face. Finally getting a good look at him like this I realized he was a lot bigger than I’d thought, and not only because I was sprawled on the ground. He was another one of those guys I’d pointed out to Stratos the day before as someone I would not want to play with after seeing him bully the other players at his miniature wargaming table.

Oh crap.

Jonah King Affinity: Earth - Novice Gifts:

Behold My Bulging Muscles - Improved strength

Powers:

Iron Fist - Novice: Bare hands can strike like hammers

Affinity Armor - Novice: Create personal elemental shield

Skills:

Brawling - Novice

Intimidation - Novice

Oh crap oh crap. I should’ve evaluated him before I decided to stick my nose in. My affinity attacks did nothing, and I had no combat skills or powers. This guy was going to crush me.

“Wait,” said the woman who’d been standing to the side, and the brawler stopped. “Derek,” she said to her other companion, a small, weaselish-looking guy who’d been a sneaky but effective miniature war gamer. He looked around my age but had the sporadic, straggly facial hair you’d expect to see on a pubescent boy. “Tie him up.”