Jermey the All-Devourer started circling to the left, and Will mirrored him. In the background, Lilac took up the job of commentator.

“The fight is starting out slow. Both contestants seem to be the cautious types. I’d like to remind you that both of these fighters are completely new to the arena, and we have no idea which combat styles they practice, or which skills they have! I must say, folks, that while the excitement and tension in a fight between veteran fighters cannot be detracted, there is something equally as exciting in watching two complete unknowns duke it out!”

The lizard looked like it was a close-range fighter to Will. He was far from certain about it, of course. After all, he probably looked the same, and yet his best attack skill was Shock Bolt.

Jeremy hissed at Will, the sounds somehow perfectly understandable.

“I say, old chap, shall we get this little tiff started?”

…Though not necessarily making any sense.

Huh?

“The fight, bloke. Shall we get on with it?”

Sorry man. I just… That’s not how I’d expect someone called “the All-Devourer” to sound.

“Ah, well. One ought to ham things up a smidge when one has a gladiator fight.”

Legit. And yeah, let’s get started on it.

“Marvelous! Let the best ma… beast win!”

As soon as he finished the sentence, Jeremy made a standing leap, taking him far higher than Will would have expected. Tail flail held high above him, the lizard’s arc promised to take him all the way to Will’s location.

“And Jeremy the All-Devourer is making his first move! This looks like a Leap Attack, folks, which is quite a gambit this early in the fight, since it gives the target plenty of time to move away.”

Will was definitely planning on moving away from the attack, but Jeremy’s eyes flashed, and suddenly he couldn’t move any of his muscles. Thinking quickly, Will launched a pair of Shock Bolts at his enemy.

A flash of blue light appeared on Jeremy’s skin when the bolts hit him, absorbing most of their energy. Enough of it bled through, however, to cause the lizard to spasm in the air, obviously stunned by the attack.

Will felt the hold on his muscles break, and moved quickly away from Jeremy’s impact point.

“Would you look at that, folks! In case you missed it, Will the Wombat was turning grey there for a moment, which means that Jeremy the All-Devourer used Gaze of the Basilisk to paralyze him. What a fantastic way to make up for the downside of Leap Attack! And what a magnificent counter from Will the Wombat, using Shock Bolt to paralyze Jeremy the All-Devourer and break his Gaze! These fighters might be new, folks, but they are definitely giving us a good show!”

Will turned to look at Jeremy. The stunned lizard had fumbled his landing, giving Will the chance to charge at him. Jeremy, who was still trying to get back up and was now also suffering from Will’s Slow effect, had no chance to move away on time, and Will managed to slam into him, bowling him back down.

Jeremy, however, was far from helpless, and before Will could really lay into him, the lizard’s tail flail smashed into Will’s armored flank, flinging him off his opponent.

“What a fantastic showing! Will the Wom…”

Will tuned out Lilac’s voice in order to focus on the fight in front of him. Jeremy was back on his feet, and the two went back to circling each other warily. Though a lot closer to each other than they’ve been at the beginning of the fight.

Suddenly, Jeremy’s eyes flashed again, and Will felt his muscles lock up. The lizard darted forward, tail flail raised and fanged mouth open. Will cast another pair of Shock Bolts, but Jeremy jumped sideways, completely evading on of the bolts.

The second bolt hit Jeremy’s shield skill, which blunted most of its damage. And unfortunately for Will, the stun effect failed to activate.

Jeremy reached the paralyzed wombat, smashing his back with his tail flail and biting down on his leg. Will would have cried out in pain, but he was still paralyzed. Instead, he cast Shock Bolt again, and this time both bolts hit Jeremy at point blank range. The lizard’s shield skill didn’t activate, but Will’s stun did.

Released from the Gaze of the Basilisk, Will took advantage of the stun effect to claw and bite at his enemy, managing to inflict several deep wounds before Jeremy shook of the stun and used his Leap skill to disengage.

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Will, however, wasn’t going to give his opponent another chance to paralyze him, and started charging while Jeremy was still in the air. The wombat slammed into the lizard again, bowling him over and trampling him. Rather than stay still and get hit by the tail flail again, Will kept on running to get out of range.

A burning pain in Will’s leg let him know that Jeremy’s bite must have been poisoned, but the lizard still seemed to be in a worse state.

Knowing that he had to keep the pressure up, Will cast Shock Bolt again and again. It took three more casts, and six more bolts, before stun activated again and gave Will the chance to charge in without Jeremy’s tail flail countering.

The attack proved too much of Jeremy, and by the time Will turned around to prepare for another charge, the lizard was lying down on the sand, unconscious.

“…and Will the Wombat is the winner, by knockout! What a fight, folks! Let’s hear it for these to fantastic new fighters!”

The applause was sporadic, but Will still felt a sense of pride at his victory. The wombat waved at what little crowd was present in the arena, while a pair of people ran in, one heading towards Will and the other towards Jeremy. The two immediately started healing the combatants, and will sighed in relief as the pain left his body.

Jeremy groaned as he woke up. The lizard shook his head to clear it, and turned towards Will

“Bloody good fight there, old chap! You really got me good with those shockers!”

You put up one hell of a fight too, Jeremy! That paralysis skill of yours is nasty.

The lizard turned towards the purple archway, waving his tail goodbye.

“Good luck on your travels, Will! I don’t think we’re from the same world, but who knows. Maybe we’ll meet again at some point.”

Good luck to you too, Jeremy!

Will turned back to his own arch, still aching from the fight, but now fully healed. As soon as he’d entered the waiting room, a message screen popped up before him.

Victory!

You’ve won your first arena fight, and are now officially part of the East Arena Bronze Tier!

Keep fighting to increase your tier and win more rewards!

Rewards:

50 XP

1 Wombat Sallet Helmet

10 Bronze Arena Tokens

1 Arena Skill Shard

Wait, why did I get a wombat helmet? Shouldn’t it be for a lizard, if I got it from Jeremy?

“The arena refits the prizes to their new owners, as part of the prize,” came Lilac’s voice. The suited orc came into the room, holding the same clipboard from before. “Well done on your first victory, Will the Wombat.”

Thank you. Will answered. What happens next?

“Next you get to use your arena tokens, if you want to, and then move on. We’ll have another fight ready for you when you get back.”

How do I use the tokens?

“Just think about accessing the arena store, and it will open for you. But you can only use them when you’re in the arena Space.”

I see. Thank you again.

“You’re welcome, Will the Wombat. I hope to see you in the arena again soon!”

The orc turned away to leave, and Will took a look at each of his rewards.

Wombat Sallet Helmet

Rarity: common

Type: heavy helmet

Reduce the physical damage of all attacks that hit the wearer’s head by 3 categories, to a minimum of least damage.

Caution: wearing heavy armor increases mana and stamina costs of all skills by 100%

To protect what little remains in your head!

The helmet was round, and had a visor to protect Will’s eyes, while leaving the lower half of his face exposed. It also had a long “tail” part that would help protect his neck.

I could do without the commentary though…

Bronze Arena Token

Rarity: common

Type: currency

The lowest type of currency used in the arena store.

It’s not worth that much. Somewhat like your career as a gladiator.

I wasn’t even trying for a career as a gladiator, and now I want to prove the damn thing wrong!

Skill Shard: Arena

Tier: Unique

Type: special

Gives benefits according to the user’s rank in each of the four arenas.

Does not take up a skill slot

The roar of the sun, the sand beneath your feet, the glint of your opponent’s eyes!

Huh. No idea what it’ll do, but it doesn’t take up a skill slot, so why not? And it doesn’t even try to insult me!

Will used the skill shard, and brought its information back up.

Lesser increase to accuracy when facing precisely one opponent. It’s not a lot, but it also doesn’t cost me anything, so I’ll definitely take it. Now let’s see about that arena store.

The arena store was a message screen, just like any other. It had hundreds of entries, and almost all of them were greyed out, requiring silver, gold, platinum and several other types of arena tokens Will didn’t bother even checking.

Of the options that were available for bronze tokens, Will could see weapons, armor, skill shards, aspect shards, and consumables. Almost all of them costing far more than the mere ten tokens he had available.

So the only things I can actually afford are low quality light armor pieces, more bandages, and bandage equivalent items for stamina and mana. I think I’ll hold on to these for now. And as much as I hate admitting it, boosting the skill shard and some of the things in the store might actually make the PvP worth it. Either way, time for me to move on.