042 - Never Go Alone (Part 1)
“This wasn’t the deal!” Conrad shouted, pointing his sword at the Announcer up in his box. But even as he said it Conrad realized the truth - the Announcer had never promised to send Troy in to fight with him, he had promised a team battle and that Conrad would be given a partner.
There had been no negotiation about that partner being Troy, that part of the deal had all been implied by the situation, and the people present. The comment the Announcer had made about selling the Guild Pin cheaply made more sense now… Conrad had been in too much pain, too full of the emotion of the moment to consider the bargain with a level head. And now he was paying the price.
The Announcer failed to notice Conrad’s shouts, the whole audience failed to notice and as Conrad turned he could see why.
In the chorus of shouts for “TOWER! TOWER!” a figure had stood from the seats above the gate where Conrad had entered the Arena. He stood tall even among the men and women standing around him, looking how Conrad must have when put up against The Butcher.
Karno Raborus. The Tower.
He was clad in the simple garb of a townsman and, with a slight shift of his head, the whole of the row he was seated in moved themselves aside to clear his path to a stairway that spanned from the highest seats to the balustrade that rimmed the outer edge of the sunken fighting pit. Karno strode out and down, pace unhurried as the people around him leaned in to clap him on the back or brush fingertips against what they all thought of, whether warranted or not, as the first true hero of Great Pines.
“Getting a better view before you condemn me to die?” Conrad muttered, but as he watched his disappointment, frustration, and anger began to morph into something else. On the man’s body appeared a set of hard leather armor studded with iron rivets, manifested onto his body straight from his inventory. On his head appeared a cap of similar material, and on his arms and legs vambraces, greaves, and boots to match the set.
And as the roar of the crowd grew, the chant for “The Tower” dissolved into incoherent roaring of wordless excitement as into his offhand appeared the great tower shield from which he took his name. At the edge of the Arena, he looked first at Conrad, dumbfounded at the center of the sands with sword and shield hanging forgotten from limp arms, and then up at where the Announcer, now flanked by Barrett, presided over the Arena.
He nodded.
Barrett nodded to the Announcer, who bellowed into its voice amplifier, “BY JUSTICE BROUGHT TO HEEL, AND BY THAT SAME JUSTIIIIIIIIICE BEEEEEEEEE DELIVEEEEEEEEEEERED!!!”
It spread its arms wide, head thrown back in a posture of ecstasy as, in front of Karno, a set of stairs sprang into existence, unfolding themselves from where he stood down onto the Arena sands. Karno descended to thunderous applause, women in the stands collapsing to their knees in tears and holding forward hands of love or forbearance while men stood with fists to chests in Conrad’s salute, now a salute of respect for all gladiators entering the Arena.
Conrad saw possible futures unfurling before him as if he was suddenly gifted with magical clairvoyance.
In one he set The Tower in the role of bait, making him take the brunt of The Butcher’s attacks. Conrad would dart in and cause damage or deflect killing blows long enough to secure his standing with the crowd, but not hard enough to save Karno from wasting his life here in the Arena. He would fall victim to The Butcher’s attacks while Conrad used the distraction he provided to save himself, get his revenge, and rid himself of this cursed Arena, this town, and Barrett’s whole manufactured culture of debt-driven circus violence that made it all work.
The whole endeavor of it would be taxing, difficult in a way he had not yet faced down here against these Chaos-spawned monsters, adding additional danger to himself in an effort to get revenge.
But in another, he pushed his feelings aside and allowed Karno to fight alongside him. They learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses as they fought and improved the odds of both of their survival. But Karno, not satisfied with the possibility of Conrad’s release or maybe under orders from Barrett, then put Conrad into the role of sacrificial bait while he finished off The Butcher, securing his fame and legend and getting rid of Conrad to the dramatic satisfaction of Barrett and everybody else present - one hero wagering his life to save another, only to fall tragically short while still emerging victorious.
That didn’t make sense though. Watching the huge man walk toward him, spear in hand, Conrad forced himself to remember the night Karno had come to him in his cell. The regret in him for what had happened, the sincerity in his desire for absolution, and his near confession that Conrad was the last man alive he could call friend.
Not being a man born to violence Karno had pushed against Barrett, resisted him in the only way he could -by leaving enough for the people he took from to start over.
What if his coming out here was his resistance to Barrett? What if he wanted Conrad to survive so that he could lift his middle finger to the man who was fast becoming untouchable, whose system of governing and way of life Karno despised?
“Or what if…” Conrad mused aloud, “All that stuff I thought about dumb animal loyalty is right here, in this guy,” he gestured at Karno for nobody but himself.
What if none of the other calculations mattered in the equation for this man? He had met Conrad, Conrad had tried to do something for him without any clear gain for himself - just one man trying to right a wrong - and in this world seemingly designed to reward the most ruthless among the throngs of humanity with power beyond imagining, Karno was just showing that same, dumb loyalty that Troy and Mara had shown to him?
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If he hadn’t experienced it, he wouldn’t understand it, but seeing Karno walk toward him now… Conrad hated to admit it but he felt gratitude.
Loyalty could come later though - if Karno felt it for him, Conrad would take it, and walking out into the Arena and standing next to him against the fighter of the Twelfth Tier was a good first step. But he’d need to survive this whole ordeal before he and the huge man could talk about a real friendship.
Karno strode up next to Conrad and faced The Butcher, and Conrad turned to do the same as he said, “You shouldn’t be down here.”
“Well,” Karno rumbled, “I am.”
“You’re gonna get yourself killed,” Conrad said, unable to resist the slight jab.
Karno sniffed in derision, “Somebody is,” and he inclined his head to The Butcher.
That sealed it. History and fantasies could be quashed - The Butcher was not about to take sides and if any of the three of them had to die, let it be him.
Conrad held out his shield and looked up at Karno expectantly. The Tower looked down at Conrad, then at his outstretched shield, and moved his own across his body to clang against Conrad’s.
The crowd bellowed out their approval, the stairs to the Arena folded up on themselves, and the Announcer called out as he gestured grandly at the three combatants, “LET IT BEGIIIIIINNN!”
They closed with The Butcher, side by side, shields raised in protection while weapons peaked over the top ready to strike at the smallest opening. Conrad’s marching aura bolstered both of their stamina, the magic of it intuitively understanding Karno was a friend and not offering the same boon to The Butcher. The feeling of it mingled with the adrenaline of the fight to create a pent-up sensation of energy that demanded release.
The huge creature strode forward, roaring, a wall of muscle and metal. It brandished all of its weapons from four arms, body open to attack, even inviting them to try their luck breaking through its layers of chain and plate metal.
And to the swelling cheers of the crowd, Karno took the bait. He darted forward, spear thrust expertly at the gap presented by The Butcher’s open arms. The monster bashed the thrust aside with its shield and swung the ax back, readying a counter swing.
It should have been out of range given the length of Karno’s spear, but Conrad noticed something then - a chain trailing from the ax, securing itself somewhere on The Butcher’s armor. Realizing it was about to throw it at the now exposed Tower, there was no time to call out a warning to the less experienced fighter.
He activated Adrenaline Rush and darted forward just as The Butcher let loose, ax spinning through the air at the overcommitted Karno, still in the full stretch of his spear thrust. With a leap that sent him half bashing, half skidding over the top of Karno’s shield - too low for the man to have protected himself - Conrad’s shield deflected the blow, sending the ax careening away harmlessly.
With a grunt, he landed and moved in. The beast swung at him, but with speed enhanced well beyond his opponent’s capacity, Conrad dodged easily and began to slice. He targeted any space that showed flesh beneath the armor, but even when he managed to score a hit the damage he could do was minimal. A gash here, a cut there, he jumped in and out, narrowly dodging shield bashes and sword swings from the Butcher who had reeled in his ax and had begun to swing it in deadly circles, blocking off an entire side of its body from attack while it struck out with its three unoccupied arms.
To Karno’s credit, he didn’t simply sit idly by while Conrad worked. Though he was nearly the same height as The Butcher it was clear that with two sets of arms, the thing was not to be trifled with at close range without the aid of skills to tip the scales. He stood back, jabbing and thrusting wherever the many arms were too busy to protect.
As Adrenaline Rush began to wear off, Conrad rushed outside The Butcher’s range and, as if by nonverbal agreement, Karno pulled back with him, menacing The Butcher with his spear to keep it at range.
“Not working,” Karno grunted.
“Gonna try something else,” Conrad said, as he switched off the Marching Aura and activated Offensive Aura. A glittering light coursed over his weapon, dropping magical sparks from the sharp edge.
Karno looked at his spear in confusion as it did the same thing, “What did you do?”
“Should give us a bit more oomph” Conrad said, “Keep its attention.”
“Easy enough,” Karno said, and suddenly he breathed deep and shouted a warcry while bashing his spear against his shield. Conrad felt the energy in the skill but only knew the effect as he dodged aside from the charging Butcher.
Karno was on the back foot, thrusting, swinging, and taking hit after hit from fury-induced windmilling of the Butcher’s multiple attacking arms. Conrad moved in behind.
He scanned the creature, searching for clasps or hooks, anywhere that held the armored plates and sectioned chainmail onto the rest of the creature - this much metal didn’t come as a single piece.
“Hit it or something!” Karno yelled, beleaguered.
Conrad ran forward, “Might as well start trying things,” he said, swinging for what looked to be a metal clasp holding the Butcher’s thick greaves onto its calves and boots.
The first hit didn’t seem to affect the connection, so he gave it another go, this time imbuing his weapon. As red energy burst from the blade he swung hard and, with a tiny explosion of magical sparks, the plates protecting the Butcher’s right leg fell free.
“Oh, shit!” Conrad yelled, triumphant, “It work-”
In a backswing of tremendous force, The Butcher turned and slammed its defensive shield into Conrad’s right side, sending him flying.
What felt like only a moment later, Conrad started to pick himself up off the Arena sands, mouth full of grit and vision blurry.
“CONRAD!” a voice was yelling.
Behind it, an insistent crowd was frantic with gasps and commiserating cries of vicarious pain.
What the hell had happened? He got to his knees and tried to look around. His ears were ringing and his neck didn’t want to turn.
“CONRAD!” the voice called again, deep, familiar.
“THE MERCHANT LOOKS HURT AND THE TOWER IS HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE! DIVIDE AND CONQUER, THE TACTIC CARRYING THE FIGHT FORWARD FOR THE CHAMPION OF THE TWELFTH TIER!”
Karno… the fight! Conrad stumbled to his feet, neck still uncooperative, he gripped his chin and the back of his head in both hands. With a yell he invoked Psych Up and twisted forcibly, popping vertebrae sending a sensation of sudden loose relief down his body. He shook it out and turned to find Karno.