He was sitting at my goddamn fire, warming his hands, sword sheathed. He thought I had moved on. The almost dead fire and the vacant cave. Was that idiot preparing to tuck in for the night? He had another thing coming then. I nocked an arrow, pulling the string, then I got out from behind the boulder and started walking, keeping him in my sights.
I had closed the distance to half when he finally picked up on my movements. He shot up, grabbed the hilt of his sword, eyes wide. I was aiming for his chest, but the arrow caught him in the throat. He stumbled backwards, one hand clasped at his throat, blood spilling. He gurgled and dropped down right at the fire, sending up a shower of bright yellow sparks.
“Gack!” he said, staring, moving lips that was red with blood.
He pulled feebly at the black steel arrow in his throat. Then his jaw fell open and his head tilted to the side.
Contestant number 14: Eliminated
The number 25 000 rose above him and my level bar once again shot to the right. My archery skills didn’t improve, though. Couldn’t expect it either; it had been an easy shot.
I pulled number 14 out of the fire and swatted the seat of his pants to kill the smouldering embers. He carried some really useful loot. The sword, of course was the main price and it was none other than the epic frost sword I’d brought into the tournament.
More health and stamina potions, a wool blanket, more fire wood and three extra slabs of meat. A couple of apples, leek, onions and garlic. What the hell, had he planned making a stew? I pulled it all into my inventory. I hoped that at least some of these guys would’ve entered the tournament with their inventories loaded, but so far, everyone had had the same thought as me, and unload everything before joining.
When I had stomped out the fire and started it again, further into the cave where the light of it wouldn’t be seen from the outside, I realized the best thing I looted from number 14 might’ve been the wool blanket. I swept it around me and leaned back against the cave wall, enjoying the crackling heat from the fire. My head started to feel heavy, my thoughts buzzing and the warmth was like a soft caress. Sleeping wasn’t a great idea. I knew I had to do it, but number 16 was still out there, hunting. He needed to sleep as well, yes? I blinked, looking into the fire.
I was rattled awake by an announcement:
Contestant number 23: Eliminated.
I was panting, clawing at my blanket, trying to get my bearings straight. Then it all came back to me. The Battle Clash. The cave. The fire was out and it was pitch black. Through the cave entrance I saw a starlit sky. From the pain in my neck and ass, I realized I must’ve slept for quite a while.
I pulled up the scoreboard.
Tristan was alone at the top of it now, with 75 000 points. Christ, didn’t that guy need his sleep as the rest of us? Maybe jacked up on fantasy dope or something.
I didn’t go back to sleep. I couldn’t even if I had wanted to. Instead, I perched myself at the cave entrance, scanning the ground below for movement.
Nothing.
Number 16 had probably moved on by now, number 14, 15 and 18 was dead. The two guys with the legendary equipment had gone out strong but had been silent since the start of the tournament. There was another announcement.
Contestant number 42: Eliminated.
About time there was some action at the other end of the drop zone. Number 42. Had to be the poor bastard who got the shield, that. I restarted my fire, roasted some more meat, together with some onions and ate half of it, tucking the rest back into the inventory for later. I needed to move out and my instincts were to continue north, away from number 16 and his epic bow of slow. Number 18 was gone, probably killed by number 19, who could be anywhere right now, but who I had to assume was heading my way. He couldn’t be sure that number 17 was the lowly number 10, Brad Richards that seemed to have scored a lucky shot, killing the level 15 Tom Carlsson, but it wasn’t a far conclusion to draw. And why wouldn’t he come for a player five levels lower than himself? I was easy pickings, or at least that was what he thought.
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While I ate my breakfast, I used up my remaining 2 skill points, buying the one-handed entry skills of Blade Mastery giving me 10% extra damage from one-handed weapons and Duality granting 5% bonus attack speed and 5 % extra damage when attacking with two blades. I kind a liked that one, just needed to find myself another blade, or rather pry it form the cold dead hands of my enemies. But the bow would be my first choice. The range and my advanced skill with it negated some of the level difference between me and my opponents. Caught in a dance of death, blade to blade with a level 15, I would most probably lose.
I was heading higher up in the mountains, walking the ridge scanning the valley floor. How would I ever be able to find anyone here? It was like the proverbial needle in the haystack. And, as I was thinking that, my vision flared up in red and a countdown started.
59 min 57 sec.
A female voice, calm and cold stated:
Please enter the new battle area. Fail to do so before the time is up, and you will be eliminated.
It wasn’t just the announcement that had lit up my field of vision in red. Everything around me was tainted in red. The female voice again:
You are currently, outside the battle area. You are, in the danger zone.
Thank you, lady, I thought with clenched teeth. As if I hadn’t noticed already.
The red area stretched down the side of the mountains and way out into the plains beneath.
Oh, crap. This would be tight.
I started down the mountain side, all caution thrown out the window. Rocks and pebbles rushed down the mountain side, me slipping and sliding, grabbing rocks and boulders where they were, not slowing down.
52 min 22 sec.
I shot glances left and right as I went. This was the storm that would flush out all the rats, me being one of them.
My heart hammered, sweat stung my eyes. My legs were turning to trembling spaghetti. I drank down a stamina potion. My breath deepened, energy rushing back to my legs.
41 min 39 sec.
I continued to bumble down the mountain, looking left and right. And I saw another player rushing down the mountain, not that far away from me, coming in at a diagonal. It had to be number 16. I kept on running, hadn’t time to stop and take this fight. Neither did he.
The next time I looked right, he wasn’t there anymore.
The fuck?
An arrow clattered against a stone to my left.
What the fuuuck?
Pain stabbed at the back of my right thigh. I took a nosedive, grinding my face through gravel. I pawed at the back of my leg.
An arrow.
That fuckin idiot shot me!
I tried turning on my back, but my movements were slow, as if I was moving under water. The slow effect.
Oh crap, he got me and he got me good.
I could hear him coming down the mountains, stones bouncing before him. I finally got on my back, tried to get my own bow out, but my hands were slow and clumsy.
I didn’t need my hands!
I could just pull it out directly from the inventory. That slow effect seemed to apply to my mind as well. Pain throbbed in my leg, and soon it would be worse. I would never reach the battle area with an arrow through my leg. I reached behind my thigh, steeled myself and snapped it off. Thank God it was a wooden one. I pulled it out of my leg from the front and drank down a health potion. The pain in my leg eased and I suddenly had enough strength in it to push myself up against the large boulder. I could hear number 16 now, panting. A rock came tumbling through the air. Clattering to the ground in front of me. Then number 16 hit the ground at the same place. I roared and bolted from my hiding place, hitting him as hard as I could in the back of the head with my iron reinforced fist. I would’ve probably had cracked the skull on a level 10, but this one, he just stumbled forward, almost dropping his bow. I gave him a powerful low kick from the behind across his knee and he went down with a groan.
Quick decision. Pound away and kill him? Or run for the battle zone, hoping he wouldn’t make it? I decided on running. I wouldn’t be able to beat him to death at the same rate he could drink down his health potions. All I would achieve was to get us both eliminated. I jumped from rock to rock, hearing him scramble to his feet behind me. I drank another stamina potion and soon I was on the flat lands. Another stamina potion down and I broke out into a full sprint, running in a zig zag pattern.
My base speed was 5. If number 16 was faster or had some potions of increase speed he would hunt me down in seconds, but something told me this guy liked to rely on his bow, and wasn’t keen on a fistfight even with someone lower in level than him.
True enough. As I zigged an arrow thumped down in the grass to my right. I kept zigging, fooling him as the next arrow also hit the ground to my right. I zagged, the next arrow hit the ground to my left. And then I was in the battle area. I spun around, my bow already up, string pulled.
Number 16 was still some ways of. Now he was the one that was zigging and zagging.
I missed with two of my arrows and then he was just strides away.
I slid the bow back into my inventory and pulled my sword.
I saw desperation in his face. I answered it with a grim smile.
He tried to sidestep me. I slashed at him, getting his arm. He lunged at me, making it impossible for me to swing again.
This was the situation I had hoped to avoid, getting into a clinch with a higher levelled player. But at the same time, now me Brawler class would come into play. This was what I was built for.
He made a grab for my sword, and when he did, I shoved him with all the power I had left. He stumbled back outside the battle area.
00 min 00 sec
He froze in the movement, looking like he had turned to glass, and then he just dissolved. 25 000 XP floated up from where number 16 had just been and my level progress bar went all the way to the right and popped back up at my left, my level switching from 10 to 11.
Contestant number 16: Eliminated