[Achievement Unlocked: Win a Citadel Battle]
[Achievement Unlocked: Win a Citadel Battle with a critical hit]
[Melee Combat increased to level 4]
Quest: Fight Your First Citadel Battle
Description: You’ve completed your preliminary training and are prepared to fight your first battle at the Citadel.
Reward: 50 gold, ability to continue on the ‘Citadel Fighter’ questing path
Completed
[50 gold added to inventory]
Quest: Fight Your Second Citadel Battle
Description: You’ve completed your first Citadel Battle. Now it’s time to fight the next round.
Reward: 50 gold, ability to continue on the ‘Citadel Fighter’ questing path
Note: You cannot deactivate this quest
Activated
Isabelle didn’t like that she didn’t have a choice over this quest.
[Achievement Unlocked: Start a quest that you cannot deactivate]
Okay, that made Isabelle feel a little better.
[Quest ‘Fight Your Second Citadel Battle’ activated]
[Loading quest]
[…]
[…]
[Quest prepared]
[Prepare to fight. You have 5 minutes]
Isabelle pushed herself to her feet and wiped the kobold blood and brain chunks off her face, arms and chest. The crowd was booing and jeering at her, calling her a ‘disgusting’ and ‘ugly’ human. Of course, neither of those things were true, so Isabelle could shake them off rather easily. Worse still, some of the audience members were even calling her a ‘cheater.’
[Stamina 85%]
[+3 hp]
Cheater. Really? That was a ridiculous thing to accuse her of. Isabelle hadn’t cheated at all, she’d just used her system to unequip her swords at the right moment. It wasn’t her fault the audience couldn’t deal with her winning.
[Stamina 100%]
[+3 hp]
Hey, Isabelle’s health was recovering on its own! And to think, she’d almost drunken that Potion of Greater Health she had stashed in her inventory. Isabelle was so glad she’d thought to loot Oglo’s training room, it felt like having an ace up her sleeve.
[+3 hp]
Didn’t Isabelle’s hp recharge every fifty seconds? That meant she had only a little over two minutes left before the next fight began. But what could she even do with this time? Just wait it out? Maybe she’d check her xp progress. After all, Isabelle felt like she ought to be well on her way to leveling up again after that successful battle.
Isabelle thought ‘see xp status.’
XP Status
Overall XP:
45/100
Level:
5
Magic Ability XP
Enchant:
0/100 xp
level 0
Summon:
0/100 xp
level 0
Heal:
0/100 xp
level 0
Destroy:
0/100 xp
level 0
Transmute:
0/100 xp
level 0
Confuse:
35/100 xp
level 0
Normal Ability Levels
Crafting:
11/100 xp
level 2
Sneak:
14/100 xp
level 3
Archery:
0/100 xp
level 0
Lockpick:
0/100 xp
level 0
Armed Combat:
80/100 xp
level 4
Melee Combat:
31/100 xp
level 4
Speechcraft:
44/100 xp
level 2
Slight Of Hand:
0/100 xp
level 0
Hey, she was well on her way. Isabelle did think her overall xp ought to be a little higher given her current circumstances, but she had a feeling that if she won a couple more Citadel Battles it was only a matter of time before she got to level up again.
[+3 hp]
Was that the last hp recharge before the fight started? Isabelle hadn’t been keeping count. Either way, she was sure she’d need to be ready.
Isabelle figured she ought to swap her weapons back to dual wielded swords while she had the chance, so she opened her inventory.
Inventory: Isabelle
Carrying capacity: 26/43
Item
Traits
Peasant Robes (human)
+1 carry weight
Copy of the Cloud Reach List of Laws
+0.5 carry weight
Crooked Citadel Training Sword (poisoned)
+1 poison, +3 damage, +3 stm, +7 carry weight
Brass knuckles
+4 damage (melee), +1 stm, +0.5 carry weight
Potion of Greater Health
+20 hp, +0.5 carry weight
Potion of Lesser Stamina
+5 stm, +0.5 carry weight
Citadel Training Sword
+2 damage, +2 stm, +6 carry weight
Citadel Training Shield
+3 str, +3 const, +10 carry weight
Gold (55)
n/a
[Citadel Training Sword equipped]
[+2 damage]
[+2 stm]
[Your hp is full]
“I will now introduce our next challenger against this wretched human,” said the announcer.
Isabelle hated this announcer. Now she was wretched? Did this announcer just sit there with a dictionary and look for mean things to say about her?
Out from the opposing wing of the Citadel walked yet another burly, shirtless kobold. Isabelle could barely tell them apart, other than this one seemed a little more blue than green, and he seemed to be missing an eye.
“Welcome to the Citadel Ubli the Stealer. He’ll steal your hearts, wallets, and he slept with my wife before they put him away!” said the announcer. The crowd went wild.
Ubli the Stealer sounded horrible, and looked worse. Why were all these crazy kobolds cheering for him and not for her? No matter.
[Combat mode activated]
The whistle blew.
[Fight for your life]
Ubli quickly drew out two hook swords. Shit, Isabelle hadn’t expected that. The audience cheered as he charged toward her. She had to act fast. Isabelle opened her inventory.
Inventory: Isabelle
Carrying capacity: 26/43
Item
Traits
Peasant Robes (human)
+1 carry weight
Copy of the Cloud Reach List of Laws
+0.5 carry weight
Crooked Citadel Training Sword (poisoned)
+1 poison, +3 damage, +3 stm, +7 carry weight
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Brass knuckles
+4 damage (melee), +1 stm, +0.5 carry weight
Potion of Greater Health
+20 hp, +0.5 carry weight
Potion of Lesser Stamina
+5 stm, +0.5 carry weight
Citadel Training Sword
+2 damage, +2 stm, +6 carry weight
Citadel Training Shield
+3 str, +3 const, +10 carry weight
Gold (55)
n/a
[Citadel Training Shield equipped]
It was just in time. Ubli rammed into Isabelle as she held up her shield.
[Attack blocked]
[Stamina 98%]
The crowd booed. Isabelle held up her shield and attempted a forward stab at Ubli with her poisoned sword, but he sidestepped and then swiped at her with a hook sword, connecting at her temple. Then, he slashed her again with the other sword.
[-10 hp]
Before Isabelle could move, Ubli leapt forward and kneed her in the gut, sending her flying back a couple feet.
[-3 hp]
“Looks like the human’s having a tough time against Ubli!” said the announcer. The crowd cheered.
Fuck. This was getting messy quick. Isabelle would have to get creative, or she was going down. She lunged forward, holding her shield up as Ubli slashed at her four times.
[Attacks blocked]
[Stamina 95%]
Ubli was taken aback a little by his blocked attacks. Isabelle took this chance to slash at his ankles, barely hitting him.
[3 damage dealt]
[Ubli has been poisoned]
There we go. At least Isabelle had hit him enough to poison him, and that meant Ubli would at least be losing health while she kept fighting him.
“Ack! Crafty little human, aren’t you?” said Ubli, dashing forward and elbowing Isabelle in the chin.
[-4 hp]
Ugh, how annoying. Isabelle should’ve seen it coming. At least Ubli now looked open for a strike. Isabelle tried another forward stab, and this one connected to his gut.
[12 damage dealt]
[Ubli has been poisoned]
[Stamina 88%]
“Another cruel attack by the human!” said the announcer. The crowd booed.
Ubli swung his hook sword at Isabelle’s head. She crouched down to duck just in time. Then, she saw that his groin was completely unguarded save for a loin cloth. Did all these fighting kobolds have a specific uniform? Should Isabelle have stripped to her underwear, too? Regardless, she gave Ubli’s groin a forward stab.
[Critical hit]
“AAAAACK!” Ubli’s voice was several decibels higher at that moment.
[95 damage dealt]
[Ubli has been poisoned]
[Stamina 82%]
The crowed ‘ooed’ in agony.
“Absolutely unsportsmanlike conduct from the human tonight, folks. I, personally, am disgusted. Athough I’ve got to admit I fantasized about doing something similar when I found out what this guy was doing with my wife,” said the announcer. The crowd grumbled, uncertain how to respond to this statement.
Isabelle looked at Ubli. He wasn’t dead yet, but he honestly looked pretty close. He also didn’t look ready to attack just yet, he was kind of leaning over and clutching at his groin. Perfect. Isabelle rushed up to him, raised her sword, and swung down—
[Attack blocked]
[Stamina 75%]
Ubli whipped a hook sword out, yanking Isabelle’s own sword out of her hand and flicking it across the field.
[Crooked Citadel Training Sword (poisoned) unequipped]
[-1 poison]
[-3 damage]
[-3 stm]
“Masterful play by Ubli against the human!” said the announcer. The crowd cheered and clapped.
Before Isabelle could react, Ubli raised his other hook sword and slashed down her side.
[-10 hp]
Isabelle suddenly felt nauseous and faint. She was pretty sure she only had one or two hp left. She could easily drink her potion, but there was no way Ubli had a lot of health left. So, Isabelle rushed forward, raised up her shield and based him over the top of the head.
[34 damage dealt]
[Stamina 61%]
Ubli let loose a faint groan as his body went limp like a ragdoll, rolling over the ground as blood poured from his mouth, eyes and groin.
[‘Ubli’ is dead.]
“Wow, that was a close call, but it looks like the awful human has won another match!” said the announcer. The crowd booed, though Isabelle noticed they were booing a little less this time.
“The human will have four minutes to regroup before the next battle,” said the announcer.
Another battle? Already? And only four minutes instead of five? When was Isabelle going to get let out of this hellhole? Didn’t she get a real break at some point? Why hadn’t Oglo had the decency to warn her about all this beforehand? Some trainer he’d been.
Quest: Fight Your Second Citadel Battle
Description: You’ve completed your first Citadel Battle. Now it’s time to fight the next round.
Reward: 50 gold, ability to continue on the ‘Citadel Fighter’ questing path
Note: You cannot deactivate this quest
Completed
[50 gold added to inventory]
Quest: Fight Your Third Citadel Battle
Description: You’ve completed your second Citadel Battle. Now it’s time to fight the next round.
Reward: 80 gold, ability to continue on the ‘Citadel Fighter’ questing path
Note: You cannot deactivate this quest
Activated
Another force activated quest. Isabelle was irritated. She didn’t feel like she’d been given enough notice to sign up for this much fighting, especially for such a hostile audience.
[Quest ‘Fight Your Third Citadel Battle’ activated]
[Loading quest]
[…]
[…]
[Quest prepared]
[Prepare to fight. You have 4 minutes]
Only four minutes. Isabelle had to act quickly. First of all, she was going to take those hook swords from Ubli. She focused on his body.
[Loot ‘Ubli’?]
Isabelle thought yes.
Inventory: Ubli
Item
Traits
Peasant Robes (kobold)
+1 carry weight
Copy of the Cloud Reach List of Laws
+0.5 carry weight
Hook Sword x2
+6 damage, +3 carry weight
Potion of Lesser Healing
+5 hp, +0.5 carry weight
Gold (5)
n/a
Wait, Ubli had had a Potion of Lesser Healing the whole time? Why hadn’t he used it? Then again, Ubli hadn’t had a system, so he probably would’ve had to pull the potion out of his pockets if he was going to drink it.
Isabelle thought again. Ubli hadn’t had pockets. Where had he been keeping the potion?
Isabelle suddenly realized it must’ve been stuffed in his loincloth. That was an interesting choice. Well, she needed the potion, anyway, so she took it, along the hook swords and the gold.
Inventory: Ubli
Item
Traits
Peasant Robes (kobold)
+1 carry weight
Copy of the Cloud Reach List of Laws
+0.5 carry weight
[+3 hp]
It was nice that her hp was regening a little, but now Isabelle only had three minutes before the next fight. She went ahead and drank the Potion of Lesser Health she got from Ubli.
[Potion of Lesser Health drunken]
[+5 hp]
Now she still had the Potion of Greater Health to use in a bind. Isabelle wanted to keep hanging onto it, too, because who knew how many rounds this Citadel stint was going to be, anyway.
[Clarification: There are five battles total. Oglo told you there were five a day earlier.]
Oh. Isabelle felt kind of bad she hadn’t remembered that, but Oglo had been dumping a lot of information on her. Plus, he’d almost made it sound like she was just getting added into the schedule at the last minute, at least in Isabelle’s opinion, not that she’d be fighting in all the rounds. Then again, maybe Oglo hadn’t expected her to make it too far. Isabelle would show him.
[+3 hp]
Had two minutes already past? That meant Isabelle’s break was half over! She wanted to go head and check her xp status while she could. Isabelle thought she had to be close to leveling up now.
XP Status
Overall XP:
67/100
Level:
5
Magic Ability XP
Enchant:
0/100 xp
level 0
Summon:
0/100 xp
level 0
Heal:
0/100 xp
level 0
Destroy:
0/100 xp
level 0
Transmute:
0/100 xp
level 0
Confuse:
35/100 xp
level 0
Normal Ability Levels
Crafting:
11/100 xp
level 2
Sneak:
14/100 xp
level 3
Archery:
0/100 xp
level 0
Lockpick:
0/100 xp
level 0
Armed Combat:
95/100 xp
level 4
Melee Combat:
31/100 xp
level 4
Speechcraft:
44/100 xp
level 2
Slight Of Hand:
0/100 xp
level 0
Ugh. Isabelle had really been hoping she’d get another level up during all these battle quests to bail her out and fill her hp again. Oh well.
While she still had the time, Isabelle figured she ought to go look at Snilpu’s dead body and see if he had anything in his inventory she could use. Isabelle dashed over to Snilpu and focused on him.
[Loot ‘Snilpu’?]
Isabelle thought yes.
Inventory: Snilpu
Item
Traits
Peasant Robes (kobold)
+1 carry weight
Throwing Dagger x5
+3 damage, +0.5 carry weight
Bobby pin x5
n/a
Gold (20)
n/a
Why did all these kobolds not wear the clothes they had in their inventories? Ridiculous. Worse still, that they were no use to her, Isabelle had the opportunity to loot some bobby pins. Maybe she’d get another chance to pick some locks. She took the bobby pins, the gold, and the throwing daggers.
Inventory: Snilpu
Item
Traits
Peasant Robes (kobold)
+1 carry weight
[+3 hp]
Uh oh. She only had a little more than a minute before the next fight. Isabelle scanned the field for her Crooked Citadel Training Sword. It was pretty far away, she’d have to run if Isabelle wanted a chance at grabbing it before the battle started. She started running.
[Stamina 90%]
Great, it was using up her stamina. Isabelle was almost there.
[Stamina 80%]
Isabelle stopped, having reached her destination. She focused on the sword.
[Crooked Citadel Training Sword (poisoned) added to inventory]
[+3 hp]
Isabelle looked to the enemy wing of the Citadel. She was closer to it than to her wing now, which meant the battle was going to start at a bit of an odd angle. Maybe her opponent wouldn’t notice this immediately, and she could use it to her advantage. Isabelle crouched.
[Current Visibility: 200/200]
Isabelle now had to wait for the enemy to walk out of the wing.
“I will now introduce our next challenger against this bad human,” said the announcer. The audience cheered.
A lumbering, hulking figure walked out into the ring. It was a gargantuan, muscly orc. Isabelle was not surprised to see that only this orc’s bottom half was clothed, though she was glad they had some pants on instead of just a loincloth. The orc held a large hammer that looked to be steel.
“He’s not a kobold, but at least he’s not a human! Give it up for Rhun Bone Crusher!” the announcer said. The crowd cheered, some of them whistling.
[Combat mode activated]
The whistle blew.
[Fight for your life]
Isabelle thought ‘Show Current Visibility to Rhun Bone Crusher.’
[Current Visibility (Rhun Bone Crusher): 0/200]
Excellent. Isabelle was excited and ready to find out if this tactic would work or not.