Nick didn’t have time to freak out or hesitate. Not if he wanted to save his arm. Fighting down the urge to panic, he opened his jacket with his right hand and pulled his left arm free, spreading rime engulfing more of his flesh by the heartbeat.
When the frost venom reached his shoulder, he would lose his limb. When it reached his heart, he would lose his life.
A plan was forming within his mind. Nick prayed that it would be enough to save him. Not that he had any choice other than to proceed and hope for the best.
He reached behind his back to gather up the material of his cloak, then wrapped it tight around his frozen forearm. He had learned back on the Searing Isle that the cloak’s temperature-regulating effect was stronger when the fabric was touching his skin. The moment that it drew tight, he felt the surging numbness begin to slow, but it wasn’t going to be enough. He was still in imminent danger.
As soon as his arm was bound, Nick reached down to his belt and grabbed his canteen. He opened the top with his teeth and then poured the contents over the fabric. His plan was to add the heat sink of the water to the blood in his limb, diluting the venom that had suffused the surface of his skin in the process. But the ice was still spreading, and he couldn’t think of anything else that would help.
If Nick were alone, it might have been the end of him. But for the first time in his new life, he was working as part of a team. People he could rely on in an emergency.
“Nick, are you alright? Oh god, you’ve been stung!” Devin cried out, voice shrill with horror as he took in the sight of frost-spawned fog billowing up from the afflicted appendage.
“Water,” Nick struggled to speak through the pain. “Pour it onto my arm fast. Piss on it if you have to. I was only grazed, and the venom’s potency is starting to wane.”
Devin didn’t argue or hesitate for a heartbeat. He just nodded as he emptied his canteen onto Nick’s arm, then started reaching for his belt. “I can’t believe that I’m doing this.” As fate would have it, Devin was spared the embarrassing spectacle of exposing himself to the millions of spectators peering down from above.
Because at that very moment, the rest of the team arrived at Nick’s side and started pouring their canteens onto his arm. By the time they were done, the water was dripping through the bottom of the wrap instead of being frozen en route, and he knew that the worst was over.
He was worried that the damage would keep him from contributing to the next match, but he couldn’t do anything about that now. His left arm was encased in a solid block of ice and a molten wave was sliding down his bicep.
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He knew that he had frostbite, but the pain was a good sign. Hopefully, only the cells of his skin had ruptured, and he wouldn’t lose too much tissue deeper down. He could fight through the pain, but damage to his muscles was another story. In short, he wasn’t out of this mess yet.
“Nick! Stick your arm in this,” he turned his head to track Sophia’s voice, just as a flaming mass skidded to a stop beside him, trailing embers all the while.
Stepping back from the edge of hysteria, Nick laughed at the sight, realizing that Sophia had kicked one of the burning scouts over to him, like the world’s most disgusting soccer ball. He thrust his arm into the flame, cloak and all, trusting its self-maintenance modification to repair any damage he inflicted to the fabric. The fire rapidly melted the ice, helping to thaw his flesh in the process.
“Thanks everyone,” Nick let out a shuddering sigh of relief as feeling gradually returned to his fingers, his arm radiating a searing pain as if ablaze. “I think that I’m going to be alright.” Teeth chattering despite the warmth of the alien sun, he turned and looked into the faces of his comrades. “Is it over? Did we win the fight?”
“Indeed you did,” the announcer answered his query. “But don’t worry folks, the show is far from over.” The crowd roared its dissatisfaction, although a handful of voices were elated, which must have belonged to the people who had bet on Nick’s team.
“With that amazing turnaround, we mark the end of round one. Team Earth pulled off a stunning upset late into the match, but the real challenge has yet to come. With only a single death and a self-inflicted incapacitation, the humans advance to round two, with the future of their species’ advancement hanging in the balance.”
Nick was still busy rubbing his arm, but he noticed that the others had not been idle during this break between the rounds. Sophia was running around the arena floor, collecting the corpses of the wasps they had slain, even the ones that had been reduced to char from Devin’s flashfire pulse. I suppose that makes sense. They mentioned that we can’t keep the gear, but they didn’t say anything about the bodies of our opponents.
The others were busy piling up javelins and other weapons, placing them where the team could use them in the second round. That was when Nick felt something pulling him toward the arena’s ready room. A foreign compulsion that he was powerless to resist. His team started heading over to the door in the wall, Kenji and James carrying Julie’s unconscious form, accompanied by the announcer’s spiel.
“We have an hour-long intermission while our staff mops the fighting floor and team Earth gets ready for their next challenge. While you wait, we will have live music and a series of exhibition matches between volunteers selected from our audience.
“The betting windows have reopened with updated odds, so go grab a refreshment and place your wagers while you can. I promise that it will be worth the wait, this next show is really going to be something special. Don’t worry about a bait and switch folks, we removed the regeneration crystal from team Earth’s ready room, so their injuries will carry over into the next round.”
By now, Nick’s team was almost back to the door they had entered through, which had opened sometime during the announcement. He was able to catch a few final words before they stepped past the threshold and the gate swung shut behind them.
“As a reward for winning round one, we’ve added a commemorative dagger to the prize pool provided by the System. Not that I expect any of them to live long enough to see it.”