The Claws of Glora ripped through and then crushed the thorax against the side of the dead wolf behemoth. She felt and forced through her body more of her ki, sealing the few wounds these spiders had managed to create. But the bottle was nearly empty. And her ability to steal ki was expended. Until she got the rejuvenation potion, the monk was reliant entirely on her ability to avoid damage now.
The doors of stone began to slide up again, but only one this time. And from it, slowly stepped a mechanical marvel. A living golem of crystal and steel. A spider of green jade legs and body, with dark steel connections and a series of cogs and clockwork were visible under the thick shell of jade. A construct spider entered the arena slowly and silently. Their gears, hinges and joints made no sounds or cast a reflection. It was a predator created by an artificer of immense skill and knowledge of spiders. The gnoll would take great joy in destroying it.
Deciding to draw it in, she began to launch bullets again, simple lead ones to test and possibly provoke the thing. Each slam into the slowly lumbering monster and leaves a few marks of impact, but little meaningful damage. Its large head swings up and locks onto the gnoll. Gems of red and yellow replace its eyes and begin to glow. From the yellow eyes, a pulse spreads out in a wave of light.
For a brief moment, every fiber of the monk’s body slowed. It felt as if their body was trying to fall asleep in a random way. Their claws twitched as the palms of their hands went numb. Their forearms throbbed with pain as the forearm tried to bed but the upper arm refused to. Sections of their body went numb and slowed, while others were left untouched. Creating a confusing sensation more detrimental than simple stunning or lethargy.
But with a flex of her body, and intense focus, she managed to fight through and shake off the feeling. And looked up to see the spider had closed the distance and was trying to climb the wolf to reach her with mandibles wide.
Acting quickly, she dashed down, meeting the creature halfway. It stood at about half the height of the behemoth wolf, nearly ten feet high with a body as big around as a cask of wine. Four palm strikes slammed into the places where the sling bullets landed, expanding the cracks further as she danced around the legs that stabbed into the sand, fur and flesh below them.
The monk ducked, spun and knocked aside the legs that rose up and fell, the mandibles that snapped shut on air, and the body that seemed to treat itself as a battering ram. She spun under, dancing between the legs as they came down with speed and force enough to punch shallow holes in the sand. The wind following the strikes was the only thing the monster could do that touched her fur.
As they fought, slowly the yellow eyes would begin to glow again. Building up as their strikes and slams met nothing but air. Before all glowed and pulsed out again. The wave of yellow light consumed the gnoll and gave them another sensation of confused numbness but was shaken off before it could fully take hold.
Letting out an annoyed growl, the gnoll began to slam and strike at the legs of the spider, sending cracks up their length and managing to shatter one of the eight. With a sudden loss of a leg, it stuttered for a moment, falling to even attack as it tried to find a new balance on its odd number of legs.
Just as the monk begins to make even more strikes, the pulse comes out, this time even sooner than before. Slowing them enough to throw off her series of strikes before she could shake it off again.
The spider manages to strike, grazing the gnoll before that leg is also reduced to crystal fragments. With a series of strikes at its joints, the spider loses a second leg. Further hindering it. Every step it takes is faltering and slowing, leaving it vulnerable to repeated beatings as the gnoll slowly destroys all four legs on one side, leaving it a barrel of precious jade as it flails around wildly, trying to strike out with its remaining legs.
It begins to release pulses faster and faster, slamming over and over the gnoll and pit in the strange power. But it's useless. The monk’s training to resist and fight through pain and other physical or mental impairments providing them the resilience needed to slowly crush and remove more and more legs, until it is nothing but a body with broken mandibles.
Stepping forward, she places her fist against the shell of jade, feeling it over for weak points and major cracks. Finding one, she takes a stance with her fist just an inch over the shell. With a twist and tensing of her body, she unlashes the final punch that shatters the casing like a nut. Allowing the gnoll to pluck from it, an intricate golem core that she turned and with a running throw, tossing it up and into the stands where her sister caught it.
With enough time to catch her breath, the gnoll shifted her focus to the next enemies. And once again, they came from a single tunnel.
The door rose and opened for four giant spiders, with four riders. All holding and pulling on the chain of something much larger in the shadows behind them. Emerging from the darkness was a monstrosity and insult to all of spider kind. A misshapen, tumor covered body that wept with yellow puss and blood. To the gnoll, it looked like an ogre’s disease riddled body had been made to grow spider legs in some unholy fusion of madness.
The smell of rotting flesh and bodily fluids wafted on the air behind the monster. And every goblin riding a spider was visibly trying to hold back vomiting as they released the chains and scattered up the walls and onto the webs above. As the ogre spider simply looked at the only thing within sight and rushed for it.
Taking the challenge, and seeking to kill the largest threat first, the gnoll rushed and meet the creature head on. A graceful series of swipes tore through and popped the underside of the spider. Sending a cascade of diseased and poisoned puss rained down but was avoided.
When a hail of webbing began to rain from above. The gnoll avoided multiple sprays while dodging out of the way of the ogre’s falling legs and bite. Only to come up from a roll into the descending spray of webbing. With a quick raking up of her claws, the monk managed to avoid disaster and spring back into range of the ogre.
This time, once out from under the monster, a set of four arrows came down from above. Beginning a dance of raining webs and arrows keeping the gnoll on constant alert as webbing continued to fall as the ogre rampaged and screeched its leaking lungs out.
The gnoll felt themselves slowly fall into a pattern, and had to fight to keep themselves from that trap. The bows of the goblins were weak, pitiful things. The webbing of the spiders was easily destroyed, and the poison of the ogre spider was not taking hold over the monk. And she felt a confidence, an arrogance blooming. But the burning sensations from up above on their back reminded them of lessons taught at the end of a bamboo rod. Taught both by their mother and the masters who tolerated her presence under their tutelage.
In that state of mind, she managed to avoid a biting strike that dripped with poison before webbing came not from above, but from behind. Catching the gnoll from her blind spot. But with barely any effort, the webbing was destroyed before the goblins even had time to lose their arrows. Missing the gnoll as she rushed back into melee with the giant.
The pattern repeated, with the gnoll seeming to dominate the entire battle. She managed to catch four arrows while wrapped in webbing as they rained down with extreme inaccuracy. Managing to rip and rend the ogre spider apart, severing two of its legs and letting it fall to the floor dead. Before sprinting at the and engaging the spider and rider who tried to hit them from the back of the behemoth wolf rather than directly above.
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Engaging them directly, she rushed in and severed the goblin’s head, and sunk her claws into the thorax of the spider. Clinging to it and preventing it from fleeing as it screeched and skittered in pain.
The rain of silk and shaft did not end, as once again, the gnoll was caught in webbing, and bombarded from above. Despite the restraining string, she knocked aside the two arrows that managed to threaten her and bash the skull of the spider into pulp before escaping the webbing.
Looking up, the gnoll chuckled softly, seeing one of the spiders and goblins hanging nearly directly above her, dangling from the same strands the first giant spiders descended to attack her from. Taking hold of a string, she quickly climbed up, leaping between the strings as webbing and arrows flew. Reaching the hanging spider, it and the rider engaged her in a melee. The goblin stabbed with a wooden spear while its spider snapped with dripping maw.
The monk gave neither of them a chance to harm her. She kills the spider with a single claw that grabbed and crushed its skull. Before she flung it and the rider down forty feet to the sand below. Not stopping to deal with the goblin below, she climbs onto the web ceiling and dashes across it to meet the spiders and goblins who come up to meet her.
Before the firs spider and goblin can raise their weapons and jaws to attack, the gnoll descends upon them with a deadly dance that rips through both with three slashes. A four whirling kick catches the second goblin across the face. Knocking the sense from it and slowing the spider as its spear falls and catches in the webbing.
With another three slashing strikes, the pair are dead, suspended together on the webbing as the goblin below takes pot shots at them with the bow.
Before the goblin can knock a second arrow, the goll dashes over and dives through a hole in the webbing, diving directly at and landing on the goblin. Crushing it under them as they roll with it. Tossing it aside as she stands to take the next challenge.
***
Spoke looked at his mother with a sense of fear and wonder. She was not just laughing, she was cackling, rolling on her back as the phase spiders were torn and crushed like common house bugs. Creatures the bard was very sure, could kill him long before he strung enough words together to kill them or escape.
Having a creature with enough skill and enough drive to teleport into the private chamber of some of the greatest living fighters in the city, burning a single spell scroll that cost as much as a noble title to make a request that was beyond insane, and having it accepted, is frightening.
He turned to his sister who held the same look of concern. She nodded slowly and the two sat down and propped their laughing mother up between them. She did not protest and slowed her joy. Without saying a word, she simply lifted her finger and both the children turned to take in the sight of a druid in the controller booth being held down and having a knife held to his throat as the personal guards of the Pit Master dragged him off and away.
“The lad got pissy and wanted to surprise the pup.” She would eventually explained as the jade spider crawled out to engage the monk below. “He’se got the spiders to shift out they’se cages, and directly onto the field. They’se weren’t going to use them’se yet.”
The two kids watched as their mother pulled from her jacket a parchment embossed with a stylized pit overlooked by a throne. And on it were a list of projected times and slots for the scheduled waves and rounds of the Blood Drowning. The smaller goblin’s jaw dropped as his sister covered her own mouth, fighting down laughter.
Spoke read the entire list in seconds. Feeling a pit form in his stomach as his mother folded up the scroll.
“They are employing a-” A stern glare shut the bard up.
“The pup will either survive or not. He’se much to regain, do not forget that Spoke.” The sharp side eye remained upon the grey goblin until he nodded, satisfying his mother. “He’se done well. Nearly an hour ahead of schedule.” Tanny stood mid conversation and caught the large crystal and lump of cogs that was the core of the jade spider. “Once the last spiders die, he’se gets the potion.”
The bard reread the list of horrors his brother was still to face, shuddering, but nodding. The gnoll was best at fighting small elite groups, the closest they had come to failure were the five wolf packs. Where the weight of numbers and individual strength was his greatest bane. He could kill four elemental wolves, dodging their attacks and redirecting them to reduce their harm. But when there are so many enemies that they physically can’t attack you for there were too many to be stopped, he would start to falter. Needing to expend massive amounts of power to kill and thin their numbers as fast as possible.
But while the gnoll was killing faster than expected, the pit master was not holding back. He had a blank promise to throw everything he could at the monk who for several years, acted more like a wild, depraved animal than a fighter capable of withstanding such challenge. And if the gnoll survived, he would no doubt need to have another Battle of Kings, to determine who was the best before the upcoming gauntlet.
Spoke silently prayed for his brother to survive as visions of what a Necrotic Blood Ooze would look like or in tale.
***
Garrus sat with the outer calm of someone well versed in handling people. He did not physically react to the sudden appearance of the phase spiders who were meant to come out to build suspense and tension as one was supposed to appear to die, while the others came out to ambush the gnoll. While his outer appearance only reacted by pausing his sip of wine and concluded with a snap of his fingers to his men. His inner wrath and rage boiled. The spiders had suddenly appeared, the doors had barely started to open and the fighter was suddenly surrounded as if it was premeditated. No reasonable person would conclude otherwise.
And if the rumor started that his pits fixed fights, his position could be taken by those below him. His round, black eyes shifted over to the most likely to do so, the leonin and most honest Pit King, Lurvic. His brown mane and build were a match for the minotaur in his prime. He was the type who lived for battle and glory, respecting others like a proper warrior. Who was only in the pits because he sought more challenge in monsters and dirty fighting than the competitions and tournaments above could provide him.
Legion was another, but they were more focused on the fighting, and would prefer to die than ever give up their position fighting to strangest creatures the pits could find to throw them against.
The others were young and seeking battle, not responsibility. And the minotaur felt confident they would not make a move. The leonin looked to the Pit Master with a stern glare, and he replied with a shrug of forced calm, but not a motion of dismissiveness as the sounds of a scuffle and growling from the booth beside them took their attention. And both watched as a young man dressed in the robes of a controller were dragged off as he cried and left a trail of blood.
Both hulks turned their gazes back to each other, before settling down to take in the slaughter and extermination of one spider after another.
***
The Claws of Glora stood up from the corpse of the goblin and tossed it aside. Ki burned within them, seeking and trying to find an outlet as the battle and adrenaline brought it into a furry and frenzy. But with a deep breath, the madness and craving for battle was focused, tuned out to leave only the state of battle readiness.
The gnoll would not falter here. She would succeed. She would survive. She would maintain the focus she lost so many years ago, and channel it into her claws and fists. The grinding of three stone doors brought them to reality again. And three massive shapes of spiders exited each one.
On the left was what looked to be the same type of elemental beast as the wolves before, but of a spider. A fire elemental spider that left burning marks on the earth as it stepped out. Flames engulfed its body like a layer of exoskeleton or fur. Swirling and clinging like armor as it turned the sand it walked on to pools of molten glass.
From the left, stepped out an equivalent behemoth to the wolf from before. A spider with legs as thick as a mature oak tree. The forest of legs trampled corpses, ashes and sand like they were specks of dust. The horrid monster had black and brown patterns that crossed over itself like war paint.
The third monster, however, was much different. It was a drow, with dark grey skin and carrying a sword spear. But as he stepped into the light of the arena, his body began to bulge and deform. From his bare back grew four legs of black and grey chitin. His legs and arms bulged and grew like they had been inflated from within. But still retained motion and function, as he began to spin and twirl his spear with strength and speed the gnoll would be hard pressed to match.
Each of these monsters were threats, all three together, would be deadly for the gnoll. She did not panic or feel self-doubt. She simply took a deep, long breath, before letting it out and charging towards the elemental. No time to waste or hesitate as these creatures would descend upon her with a new level of violence, she did not want to experience for a second longer than absolutely necessary.