BETS ARE JUST ANOTHER KIND OF DEAL

“Tell me about this dungeon,” Conrad said.

He and Karno had set out as soon as Karno was fully healed and, reluctantly, Conrad had returned the big man's shield and spear. Each of them carried one of the two dead men in their inventory as Conrad flat out refused to carry both despite having more inventory space on hand.

“What do you want to know?” Karno said, “I haven't run it myself. Never run a dungeon period.”

Conrad looked the man over. He was missing many of the scars that were common to most adventurers, even Mara despite her evident care for her appearance couldn't avoid damage in her line of work. “How did you learn to fight then?”

“Never needed to,” Karno said.

“You knocked me on my ass with that shield skill,” Conrad said, eyes squinted in incredulity.

“I invested in the Shield Bearer class to make this work. We knew it had the Shockwave ability which, combined with how I look, could put the fight out of the more stubborn homesteaders.”

“But you've invested further right? And that spear, don't tell me it was lucky shots that almost finished me back there,” Conrad said.

“I did almost have you,” the big man smirked, “Hunting spear. Taken a few boar with it.”

Things were worse than Conrad had thought. He had signed on to work with no back up, no real plan, and now he was coming to realize that in their two man team, he was the only one with any fighting skills.

He should have listened to Troy and Mara.

Well, he could complain about it, or he could do something, and if his time as a slave had taught him anything it was that even within strictly limited circumstances, Conrad was the kind of man who could bring a little order to chaos.

“Tell me about your class,” Conrad said.

“We’re not trying to fight Barrett. If we can’t get this done without violence then we’re finished anyway,” Karno rumbled.

“Humor me, we’ve got precious little in common. So let’s talk skills.”

Karno sighed and went quiet a few moments, his gaze taking on the glazed look that many people got when they checked their interface. A moment later a notification popped up:

Accept Shared Prompt?

Yes/No

Conrad selected yes and his vision became partially obscured by a new set of information.

Class

Name: Shield Bearer

Rarity: Common

Tier: One

Description: Stubborn by nature, when Shield Bearers are confronted by forces that would have lesser men standing aside, they proudly push to the front and say, “Make me.” Replete with defensive skills, Shield Bearers are also one of a subset of common classes that gain additional benefits from specializing specific weapon types. Spears, bladed polearms, and swords gain additional damage and reduced penalties when wielded by proficient Shield Bearers

Investment Cost: 500

“At least you picked the right weapon,” Conrad mused grimly. Karno only grunted in reply while Conrad examined the skills available to Shield Bearers. There were a few on the list that caught his eye, in addition to Shockwave.

Defend

A Shield Bearer’s favorite word, Defend reduces movement speed by 50%, but increases overall defense potential by 25% per level of proficiency.

Shield Bash

Not to be left out of the damage game, Shield Bearers devote time and energy to understanding not just the simple mechanics of “swing heavy thing hurt enemy” but strike angles, application of power, and contact points as they relate to shields. Enhances the damage potential of shield strikes by one star at level one, with a cooldown of five seconds. Increased proficiency reduces cooldown and increases damage potential.

Shockwave

The closest to magic the Shield Bearer wants to get, this energy imbuing ability causes a wave of force to radiate outward from the shield, disrupting attacks, knocking down unprepared opponents, and even a small amount of damage. Cooldown, one minute. Higher levels of proficiency increase the power of the released energy and reduce cooldown.

Taunt

What’s the point of carrying a shield if you’re not going to take a few hits? Taunt focuses the attention, and often anger, onto the user. Effective on opponents up to three levels above the user at proficiency level one. Higher levels of proficiency increase the effectiveness of Taunt against higher level opponents and can add minor debuffs.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

There was also Shield Proficiency and Weapon Proficiency, but those were better suited to when they had more time to train and work Karno’s abilities. If they used every hour available to them on their journey, and got a little lucky with enemies along the way, they could learn one, maybe two of the skills and turn Karno into a much more effective fighter.

He explained as much to Karno but the man wasn’t convinced it was worth the effort.

“I never wanted to be The Tower,” he grumbled, “Been saving my XP for something else.”

“You mean to tell me you’ve got enough XP banked to invest in some of these skills?” Conrad asked. Things were looking up. “What are you saving for?”

“We,” Karno gestured slowly between himself and Conrad, “are not friends.”

“More like coworkers,” Conrad said with a sardonic grin, “and I don’t want to end up like your other ones. ”

Karno made a scoffing noise and shook his head.

Being the reason Karno’s other “coworkers” hadn’t survived didn’t exactly put him in the most advantageous position for persuasion and Karno flat out refused to spend his accrued XP. After five minutes of arguing Conrad finally managed to get him to agree to use whatever they could earn on the way to Great Pines on either Shield Bash or Defend.

The next part though, took a lot less convincing.

“I want you to use this skill book,” Conrad manifested the magical item from his inventory and handed it to Karno. Before anything else was said, the man popped open the cover and started flipping pages out of sheer curiosity. The book began to glow and knowledge from Strike - Move - Defend etched itself onto Karno’s mind before he even knew what was happening.

He stopped dead in his tracks and a few moments later, the book closed and he handed it back to Conrad.

“Incredible,” he said.

Conrad accepted the book and noted it had one charge left out of the original three, “Isn’t it?”

“You’d be dead if I had this before our fight,” Karno said.

Conrad eyed his accidental companion sideways, “Think so?”

And for the first time since they had met, Karno gave Conrad a smile. Not a smirk or some facsimile of a smile put on for social cueing, but an Order preserved, stretch-to-your-eyes, genuine smile.

“Bet on it,” the Shield Bearer said.

A grin split Conrad’s face,“Deal. Best out of five. I win, you invest in one of those skills. You win.. Five gold sound good?”

“Make it ten,” Karno said as he took up a fighting stance, shield and spear ready.

“Ease down, we gotta live to collect on these stakes.”

Without too much trouble, Conrad found a long straight stick to stand in for Karno’s spear and a shorter, stout one to work as his club. Armed, the two men faced off.

Two moves later, Conrad whacked Karno across the back of his knees, “Didn’t think you’d let me pull the same move twice! That’s one for me.” He grinned wickedly and squared up for another round.

“That was practice! Besides, I’m still getting used to this. I know what to do but my body isn’t there yet,” Karno groused, “Come at me again!”

Conrad did, and to Karno’s credit, it took Conrad three moves before he thumped his opponent across the belly in a swipe that, with a sword, would have gutted him.

“Two,” Conrad said.

Karno looked like he was ready to go again but he glanced first at the sun and scowled, “We don’t have time for this. We need to keep moving.”

“You kidding? One more point and I win. Don’t try to back out of the deal.”

Karno looked thoughtful for a moment and then started jogging, “We fight on the run,” he called over his shoulder.

Picking up his own pace, “I can work with that. Easy money!” Conrad called after him.

“New rules, new conditions! Best of ten!” Karno yelled back, laughing.

“Make it twenty! I’m walking away a winner!”

They chased each other through the woods, jumping and spinning dramatically off of fallen trees, rocks and stumps as they swiped and stabbed, calling out points and making up new rules as they went along. Conrad didn’t really care about winning anymore - he was having fun. And the more they fought the more skillful Karno grew, and that meant that if things went sideways he would be a much better help.

Thirty minutes later, exhausted and sweating, Karno waived his hand for a break. The two men took seats on a moss covered log and Karno took out a canteen. He took a long drink and offered it to Conrad.

He took a sip then, out of his inventory, took out a bottle of ale given to him by Trish the Brewer, “You had this before?” he said, taking a sip and offering it to Karno.

“That’s a proper drink,” Karno said. He took the bottle and took a large pull, sighing contentedly before handing it back.

They sat together in silence for a couple of minutes, just drinking and catching their breath. The forest around them, Chaos Lands though it was, felt comfortable and warm. And Conrad hadn’t had fun like that since he was a boy.

It was Karno who broke the silence first, “Final score?”

“No idea,” Conrad said, “I’ve got a few good bruises forming though, maybe we count those?”

Karno chuckled, and a moment later said, “I’ve gone ahead and bought Defend. Still not much interested in the killing part but this fighting stuff on its own isn’t so bad.”

Conrad nodded to him in respect and acknowledgement of XP invested. This was how it was supposed to be. People learning incredible, literally god-given abilities and using them in sport or to protect the ones they loved. Conrad couldn’t believe that here with a bandit, somebody he stood to earn a good deal of gold and Guild Points for capturing, he was having exactly the experience he had fantasized about back when he used to tend the counter at the Border Zone.

Maybe going out on his own and soloing hadn’t been such a bad idea. This one thing, at least, was starting to turn in his favor.

“You never did tell me about the dungeon. What did you mean about it being a new type?”

Karno grunted, “Most people have heard of Floor Dungeons, Key Dungeons, Puzzles, and even the odd types like Hives. But I’ve never heard of anything like the Arena Dungeon.”

“So what is it?” Conrad’s interest was piqued.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Karno said, “From what I gather, the whole thing’s a big arena. Challengers go in and they’re faced with challenges. If they complete enough challenges, they get the chance to leave. But they can stick around, risk it all for greater rewards.”

Without meaning to, Conrad was in his head doing some quick calculations on what he might be able to do with a dungeon that was so orderly and…sporting. If there was a way for spectators to watch, then Conrad could at least understand the vision this Barrett had for the place. But it took a serious ruthlessness to force people into a dungeon of that type. If they made it to a point where they could leave, then he no doubt took their treasure from them, but if they didn’t, then Barrett still won as their accumulated skills, knowledge and experience were all absorbed into the dungeon.

With a steady supply of people and goods, he could amass enough wealth to recruit an army of mercenary adventurers, enough to hold down his position at the top of whatever dog pile he had built of the place.

The man had vision, that was for certain. Psychopathic though his implementation may be.

“Doesn’t matter though,” Karno was saying, “We’re going to get the people we came for and get out.”

He stood up and handed the empty bottle of ale back to Conrad and started walking. Conrad put it away. It seemed a shame to leave trash out in nature like this.

“Keep your wits about you now, adventurer,” Karno said, “We’ve nearly arrived. And without many people or adventurers out in the Chaos Lands in these parts, well, here don’t exactly be dragons. But here be the place you get eaten if you don’t tread carefully.”

The two men picked up the pace to a light jog. Ahead of them, the massive, ancient trees from which Great Pines took its name loomed above the rest of the forest.

It was time to get serious. They had people to save.