Lexi materialized before another cliff, but it was far more serene this time. She stood on a grassy hill above a gently sloping terrain overlooking a bay. To her left and right, the land curled around the body of water, fjords carved into the perimeter, creating a mesmerizing series of inlets and waterways that extended toward the horizon. A river snaked toward the sea a mile away, ending in a dramatic waterfall, crashing and splashing on several outcroppings before reaching the bottom. Giant birds soared overhead, riding the chaotic air currents flowing off the diverse landscape.
And it wasn’t cold.
“Don’t stare too long,” Pieter said, coming up behind her but still unwilling to pass in front. “Remember, we’re late.”
Lexi was about to ask where to go but saw the lone guard standing before a hump in the land 30 feet from the cliff edge. A wooden door led into the berm. No other buildings were visible. Lexi would have guessed that a location this secret would have warranted more security. However, the difficulty in getting here probably filtered out unwanted guests. She looked behind her, toward the west and the setting sun. The lush green carpet extended forever, and anyone taking the long route here would be visible for a while. Of course, that assumed this location was on the main continent. They might be on a distant island, and getting here without travel nodes required a boat.
The guard greeted them with a nod as they approached but didn’t step aside to let them in. “Clothes, please,” he said.
Lexi was initially confused but then remembered she was still wearing fur. She had to go into her inventory to get her wrap back. Despite Pieter’s reluctance to make himself vulnerable to her, she did it regularly. Once she was properly attired, the guard moved to his left and opened the door. Lexi led the way without being prodded, eager to finally see their destination. She wasn’t disappointed.
After descending a few flights of stairs that her directional sense told her must have brought them to the cliff's edge, the narrow walkway opened to a balcony with nothing but sky and water before them. Thick rock hung several feet above their heads, but Lexi didn’t want to look up; instead, she leaned far out over the railing and looked down. The view took her breath away. Overton was a city built like Minas Tirath, only upside down. Well, not really upside down, but instead of entering at the bottom of a mountain and climbing level after level built into the side of the rock, they entered at the top.
Domes, spires, crenulated balconies, and many other features grew from the side of the stone, sloping back and down toward the sea. The druid had to lean so far over the railing to see beneath her that she felt her balance tipping and held on tightly. Lexi could see new construction emerging from the stone on either side of the city, but it was already large enough to hold thousands of people. The eastern-facing structure built into the underside of a cliff face was shaded from the setting sun, but magical lights shone everywhere. The silver, gold, and gems incorporated into the construction glittered in the fast-falling night.
Overton was concave along a sloping cliff face, and the circular shape came to a focus at sea level. The shore was rocky with no beach, but a ringed structure rose near the rocks, which reminded Lexi of when she had visited the Colosseum in Rome. This stadium wasn’t half destroyed or dilapidated but was lit by the same magical lights and adornments as the rest of the city. It also wasn’t empty, and cheers and cries rose to meet them from almost 600 feet away.
“They have already started,” Pieter said.
“I know,” Lexi replied. “We are late. You might have mentioned it.”
She regretfully turned away from the fabulous view before and below her and hurried into the opening in the rock wall. Pieter directed her from behind, and they moved quickly through the halls and stairways. It felt like they were in an ancient castle with all the walls made of stone, but everywhere they went, paintings, hanging rugs, and chandeliers decorated the corridors. Occasionally, they moved back to the eastern edge of the structure so they could look out a window or over a balcony to get an idea of how far they had descended.
Lexi had called it a city, but it was built like a massive fortress. While the halls were meticulously designed and adorned, they were narrow, allowing no more than two people to walk abreast. Hundreds of choke points were scattered throughout, and no invading army could ever hope to make progress into the structure entering from above. Plus, it was a maze of identical passageways, most dead-ending into a room or dining hall. Lexi guessed only one central passage led the whole way down.
After a few minutes, they encountered servants carrying trays of food, folded sheets, and jugs of water and wine. No one paid any attention to the players. If they had made it this far into the city, they had already been scrutinized enough. They only saw low-level NPCs, and Lexi understood that everyone of importance was down at ground level in the arena.
They finally exited into the open air, only a few levels from the bottom, where an enormous stone patio greeted them. It had recently hosted a large meal as dozens of tables were set up, and a swarm of servants cleared the dishes. “The Grand Dinner,” Pieter said forlornly, eyeing the empty serving platters. “I guess I should have eaten back at the mine. Best meals I ever had.”
“You lived here,” Lexi was just catching on.
“In another life, yes. Please, let’s hurry. Don’t look up.”
Of course, Lexi could do nothing else after that comment. She nearly fainted from vertigo. The city expanded up and over her toward the sea, not away and into the cliff like her mind wanted it to. She nearly collapsed into one of the tables, sending nearby servants scattering. Pieter gripped her shoulders and lifted her up. “What did I tell you not to do?”
“Bastard,” she said but took a few deep breaths and righted herself. The direction she needed to go was evident as they could see the upper rim of the arena now. They descended several more flights of outdoor stairs and arrived at the main entrance to the stadium.
Now, a guard did bar their entrance as not everyone free to move about the city could enter the arena. “My name is Pieter,” the mage said, “former captain here to attend the Rites of Passage.”
“You are late,” the guard said.
Lexi wanted to say something sarcastic but read the mood and held her tongue.
“We were delayed at the Pier,” Pieter said.
The guard nodded and stepped aside. “As a former Captain, you may sit in Box Eight. Enter quietly.”
Pieter pushed his companion forward, and they walked into the arena. Lexi had been to a few football matches in Europe; this was very different. Those stadiums were spread out with enormous fields and seating that climbed away from the pitch at 30-degree angles such that the farthest bleachers almost required binoculars to identify the players.
This arena was far more intimate. The lower level was only ten rows, fully encircling the 150-foot diameter ring. They entered at the top of that level, the seats descending before them. Pieter steered her to the left, away from the bleachers, and they passed several numbered doors before finding one labeled with an eight. Upon entering, they were in a private booth with six seats and a clear view of the dirt area below. To their right, Lexi saw several other private boxes curling around the shape of the ring, most with several people inside screaming at the action below. The audience on the lower level was also raucous with excitement, and very few of them were sitting. Above the box seats was a third level that did not fully encompass the arena but was shaped in a crescent, tapering off three-fourths of the way around, leaving a fourth of the lower section closest to the sea open to the air.
Pieter urged Lexi to take a seat, not wanting to draw attention to their late arrival, and she did, looking finally to the action in the ring. Not much was happening, which had allowed her a moment to look around. Two level 12 PCs squared off with a third character lying dead in the dirt. One wore a dark cloak and held two short swords, while the other was clad in armor with an axe and shield. They circled each other slowly, walking in opposite directions around the arena's perimeter.
The sun only shone on the stadium in the early morning, and by noon, the cliff that loomed above would cast shade, so magical lights positioned above the upper deck lit the battle area, but not completely; a few dim sections remained, and the smaller fighter exerted mana to disappear from view for a few seconds each time he passed through one. Lexi could see the armored fighter’s eyes glow with a True Sight spell and wondered if the rogue was just trying to get the bigger player to waste his mana.
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It looked like the two might continue to avoid each other indefinitely, but lighting crashed down from the sky onto the cloaked fighter, marking the taller one as a paladin. The rogue’s dexterity couldn’t help him save against it, and he lost a third of his HP. The knight charged, taking a direct path toward the injured opponent. They traded blows a few times, but Lexi saw the smaller man had no chance. The paladin had better attack and better defense with his raised shield. It was over a few rounds later.
The crowd went wild, and the Paladin took a bow. He waved to each audience section before turning to the front of the stadium. Lexi had noticed that the far side without a balcony above it was different than the rest of the arena, with oversized chairs separated from the benches that filled the lower level, but she hadn’t paid close attention. Now she did. Men and women sat in padded seats with tables filled with drinks and food. Most were dressed in ornate robes and dresses, their class a mystery, but one of the men stood in recognition of the fighter and moved toward the ring. He was massive and shirtless, only wearing a kilt and metal bracers on his forearms. The most impressive thing about him was the numbers over his head. When he had been sitting among the other characters, the numbers overlapped, but now Lexi saw them clearly.
“Forty-eight?” she said. “He’s level 48 with over 2700 HP. I thought the highest player was 28 or 30.”
“His profile is not public,” Pieter said.
Lexi had played for almost two years and thought she knew all about the game, but she didn’t know what that meant. She was about to ask, but her husband helped her out. {In order to enter public areas like Safe Haven or Ironfel or even any of the starting areas, you need to make your character public. You need to list your name and current level. You can reveal your class and stronghold location if you want. Occasionally, people will reach out to other random players if they need a level 16 mage to help them with a quest, but most people keep that hidden.}
“I know all that,” Lexi whispered.
{Revealing your name and level is the default setting, but you can make it private. If you do that, you can only visit your stronghold or MIMs, where you won’t encounter other players. You can invite them into your stronghold or team up with them to go on MIMs, but you can’t enter public areas. It looks like this Admiral has been leveling up in secret, never leaving this stronghold. I haven’t heard of a player this high, either.}
Lexi nodded as she watched the Admiral talk to the victorious player and congratulate him. They were too far away for her to hear what was being said. The idea that someone at 48 existed frightened her. He could walk into Ironfel and own the city in an hour. No one would be able to stand up to him. Someone would have to simultaneously summon multiple balrogs to attack him to have any impact. She knew that once someone reached level 30, a group of players always went after them. She hadn’t known you could do it in secret.
“How?” Lexi asked, turning to Pieter.
“The arena,” the mage answered, spreading his arms toward the ring. “That is how. The Admiral is farming experience points. He has five captains beneath him.” Pieter pointed to their right at the other boxes. The two beside them were empty, but the first five had multiple people in them. Each had at least one player around level 20 and several weaker NPCs.
“Each of these five captains oversees another five lieutenants. The lieutenants are all around levels 16-18. They each, in turn, oversee another five players, called grunts, who start at level 1 and climb up to 12.”
Lexi looked from the mage down to the paladin, who was now pillaging the two dead bodies on the field. He had been at level 12 when they had walked in but was now at level 13.
“The grunts operate as a party and go through modules and quests together, slowly climbing until they reach level 12. This usually takes five to six weeks, maybe two months. Playing in a group is safer, but you don’t get as many experience points since you split them five ways. Initially, the lieutenant will play with them to teach them the game and usually steals most of the kills. Once a group of grunts reaches level 12, you have one of these.”
“Rites of Passage,” Lexi said, remembering what Pieter had called it.
He nodded. “Yes. Two of the five grunts fight to the death against their Lieutenant, trying to usurp them.” He pointed at the dead player who had been lying there when they had arrived. “He was probably level 16 or so.”
“And then they fought to the death,” Lexi said.
“Only one person can survive each battle,” Pieter explained.
“You said the grunts were in groups of five. What happens to the three who don’t fight their lieutenant?”
“One of the other three grunts fights the captain. And the last two fight the Admiral. Typically, these fights are scheduled after multiple groups under one captain hit level 12. So you will have two fights like the one we just saw, where two grunts take on a lieutenant, then there is a fight where two grunts take on a captain, and then as many as four will take on the Admiral. When the system runs smoothly, there are two to three fights weekly.”
Lexi nodded. It was a pyramid scheme. She knew of other advanced players who would pay level 12 characters to kill them and get a million experience. The Admiral could kill as many as a dozen level 12 players in a week in this setup. “And everyone agrees to this?”
Pieter nodded. “Everyone is here voluntarily. The admiral has computer centers in India, Nigeria, and Thailand, with about a dozen VR units in each. He recruits the best and brightest college and high school students to play the game. As you know, you can typically trade one gold in the game for about one Eruo in cryptocurrency. The grunts get to keep about an eighth of all the loot they earn in the game. The lieutenant gets an eighth, the captain gets a fourth, and the Admiral gets half. On your way to level 12, you can usually collect about 100k in loot and gold. One-eighth of that is just over 12k, which is more than any of those players could make in a year in their hometown. So even though they get killed and have to start over, it is financially worth it to them. They can fight with low pain settings, so it isn’t torture. And if they win, like that knight just did, they can cash in.”
“But the Admiral really cashes in,” Lexi said. There were 125 grunts in this system. If the Admiral got half their in-game earnings, that was about six million every two months. “What happens now in this situation? The lieutenant is dead. Is the paladin going to be the new lieutenant?”
“It depends; if I had to guess, that woman four boxes down from us is the captain of the lieutenant that just died.”
Lexi looked to their right again. Most of the players in the boxes were reliving the fight they had just seen, acting out spell casting and sword swipes, but one box was more subdued. A woman in a tight-fitting dress and lots of jewelry sat silently, looking like her cat had just died.
“As a former captain,” Pieter said, “I still have access to the roster here, and my operator is telling me that this is the second lieutenant she’s lost in a week, and she has another fight coming up. If her lieutenant loses again, she could be in trouble.”
“Like, she could get kicked out?” Lexi asked though she figured it was worse than that.
“The Admiral would likely kill her. Having lieutenants lose repeatedly is bad. It means you replace them with level 13 players with little experience and will likely die in a couple of months when they have to fight two level 12 players. Some new lieutenants prioritize their own advancement above their grunts, but the Admiral wants level 12 players to kill. If you take longer than three months to bring a group along, that isn’t good either. That means you often need to spend excessive time coaching them and not much time advancing yourself. The grunts don’t have one-on-one operators as we do. There is one operator for twelve of them; those twelve might often be in seven different squads. No operator can keep up with that. They are responsible for keeping the players alive and ensuring they log off and on without frying their brains.”
“Then why would anyone agree to do this?” Lexi asked.
“Are you kidding?” Pieter scoffed. “I was a captain here for three months, got 8 million experience, and about half that much gold. Captains get first pick of the loot too. We have to make sure the Admiral gets his half, but he only cares about the value of the items, not what they are. I had a +2 ring for each ability because I ensured my lieutenants sent their squads through all the different ability trials. I had a defense for every elemental attack. I had more wands than I knew what to do with. And the NPCs . . .” Pieter rolled his eyes. “You can’t trade NPCs for gold, and the Admiral can only have five, so you never had to give those in. There is this one quest in a forest near Arborton where you can rescue a woodnymph. She’s generic and doesn’t have great stats, but she has many other talents. At one point, I had three versions of her. There was a session where I didn’t leave my bedroom for six hours, and I needed . . .” his voice trailed off as he read the disinterest on Lexi’s face.
“I get it,” she said flatly, uninterested in the mage’s sexual exploits. “There are perks.” She could imagine many more, too, especially if you knew the game. It was hard to get a well-balanced party together with a tank, a magic user, a healer, a rogue, and a ranged fighter. But as a captain, you would have five of them at your disposal, and you could send them after anything you wanted. And dying wasn’t the worst thing. If you systematically withdrew your gold from the game, turned it into crypto, and kept caches of your loot in chests around the realms, as Pieter had obviously done, you could start fresh at level 1 with a huge bonus. “How many of the captains are homegrown from the people the Admiral recruits locally?”
“None that I know of,” Pieter said. He motioned at the arena where the paladin was finally leaving, and they were preparing for the next fight. “I bet that knight has been a grunt for at least three cycles. I doubt he lasts very long as a lieutenant. At that point, he will have earned close to 50k Euros in less than a year. The Admiral will probably graduate him, and he can buy a VR unit on the black market, hire his own personal operator, and play on his own, keeping all his earnings. The captains are all individual players whom the Admiral recruits. Few know about this location, and there is a waiting list to be a captain among those that do.”
Lexi nodded and settled into her seat as the next group of fighters entered. The lieutenant was a level 15 druid, by the looks of him. He wore a forest green tunic, held a curved wooden staff, and had a falcon on his shoulder. The two level-12 grunts were a bit harder to discern. One, a man, held a great sword but wore a wizard’s robe, while the other was a woman with a light scimitar and shield wearing studded leather armor. Lexi glanced down a few boxes toward the player Pieter had identified as the captain of this group. She sat on the edge of her seat with a mixture of eagerness and trepidation. Lexi returned her eyes to the arena to watch.