The two arrived at the Arena to the sound of applause. Not really the thunderous applause they were expecting, such as when a crowded sporting event had something exciting happen. Instead, it was the kind of applause made by less than half a stadium full, barely a crowd at all. Thankfully they weren’t inside yet to witness it, but it was giving them the feeling.

Glancing around it was easy to see the way to the entrance. A few people were lined up, but the line moved quickly, and people were going in and out. They joined the line and were quickly at the ticket booth.

“Two crowns each please,” a hand thrust out from behind the barred window.

They reached into the pouches they had been supplied and brought out a few crowns each, handing them across to get two tickets in return. Filpin then turned to go into the Arena with Frank when he noticed his friend holding a chess piece in his hand and frowning at it.

“Where’d you get that from Frank?”

“Was in the pouch... Did you have anything in yours?”

“Just the coins, not many of them either. This really puts a bit of a sting in the pocket,” the pouch was very light now even though only two coins had been taken out.

Frank turned the knight over in his fingers, staring down at it. Eventually, he sighed and put the piece back in his pouch.

“Let’s go in, there’s a line starting to form behind us.”

As they had waited there the line had been slowly growing, and now many more people seemed to be trying to get into the Arena than were leaving. There were dwarves in the mix too, and adults and children. All sorts. The two of them moved through the tunnel before then so as not to cause any more congestion.

The Arena opened up before then as they exited. Nothing overly exciting, it just seemed like a sandy field with some gates at various places along the walls. They looked up at the stands that spilled all around them. Dotted across the top were many booth-like areas, and across from them, the whole top section seemed to be balconies and glass windows.

A voice calling out to them drew their attention from behind them, but above.

“Hey, isn’t that Frank and Filpin?” Mor was sitting on a bench a little ways above the tunnel waving down at them. He motioned for them to come up and join him and Watatsumi, who was sitting next to him looking a little bored.

“Good to see you’ve made it here,” Mor continued, “We haven’t been here too long, but we heard that Theggor was going to be fighting in the afternoon. It’s a perfect opportunity to have a look.”

“Know anything about this place?” Filpin said beside him on the uncomfortable bench.

“Few simple things. Fights every day. Theggor only comes out once a week though. His fights are something of a spectacle it seems. The majority of seating is just benches, enough for the common folk it seems. Gotta spend a fair bit to sit in the booth areas above us.”

“What about that section across there?” Filpin waved his hand at the balconies.

“No idea, I assume it must be for the really rich. Maybe royalty?”

“Seen anything interesting yet?”

Watatsumi interjected at this point.

“We’ve seen three fights so far. They were so boring. Was just some strong looking soldier type fighting people that looked like scrawny prisoners or something. They stood no chance. It was just brutal and not enjoyable.”

“Hopefully this Theggor fight is something more then?” – Filpin

“I really hope so. The people out the front seemed to think the stadium would be packed when he came to fight.” – Mor

“I just want to see something exciting. Something to get the blood pumping.” – Watatsumi.

"We met some dwarves when we tried to see Mo Visli.” – Filpin

“Oh, you went to the Casino? How was that?” – Mor.

“You don’t seem surprised about the dwarves...” – Filpin.

“Why should I be? They’ve been everywhere.” – Mor.

“And elves too, can’t forget about them!” – Watatsumi.

“Stuck up pieces of NPC crap they were. Wouldn’t talk to us at all, turned their noses up as we tried to get close. Absolutely horrible people.” – Mor.

“This is definitely feeling more fantasy now that I know about Elves and Dwarves,” – Filpin – “I was starting to get a bit worried about it. It has been so boring. Just the Yakuza guy, then walking through these European style streets. But Dwarves and Elves make it more like what I want from a game. Just need to see some magic and monsters now.”

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“Monsters would be great!” – Watatsumi.

“Give the game a chance,” – Frank – “We’ve just got into it, and I feel like we’re still going through the tutorial. Rather open-ended so far though. Seems like anything could happen.”

“What do you think of the quest we’ve got Frank?” – Mor.

“Suppose we’ll have to see, I can’t really make heads nor tails of it yet. Seems we might need to find some side quests or something before we can continue on with it. Don’t even know how we get more of those skill points we spent at the start.” – Frank.

As they were chatting the stadium slowly began filling. People were crowding around them now and giving them some weird looks as they continued talking without paying mind to who was near them.

“Seen the girls since we parted?” – Filpin.

“Not at all,” – Mor – “We just came straight here. Asked directions early on from the few decent people we saw that weren’t elves. Once we got closer the place was pretty obvious. Don’t know how we’re going to go with any side quests though.”

“Yeah, did you check your pouch? Only gave us 50 crowns. Cost 2 to get in here. How much are armour and weapons going to cost? Didn’t give us any of that!” – Watatsumi.

“We’ll have to make do. After we see Theggor fight we should go find the adventurers guild or something. Surely a game like this has one of them.” – Frank.

The crowd was now pushing in on them, the stadium getting more and more packed as the time went on. A rumble started on the far side of the stadium and in a wave going around the stadium, everyone stood up and cheered.

“Haha, just like a Mexican wave.” – Filpin.

They joined in and after it had passed they looked down at the floor of the Arena. Nothing had happened down there since they had arrived, but their attention was drawn to a gate opening on the far side under where the balconies were. The darkness beyond was absolute from this distance.

In measured steps, a figure began walking out from the darkness. He was small and covered in a metal armour that shined with a purple sheen. Under his left arm, he carried his helmet. His right arm was dragging behind him as he brought forth his sword, not in a sheath at his waist nor on his back, but dragging through the sand and leaving a trail on the ground.

And it needed to, for it was far too big for the small fellow to wear it. It was almost as wide as the stout figure was, and about twice as long as he was tall. The sword was a monster in itself.

“This fellow is a dwarf, and that sword is monstrous. Feels like an anime!” Watatsumi was getting excited and sat forward on the bench, his excited matched by the people around him.

“BIG SWORD! BIG SWORD!” The crowd started cheering with a thunder, stamping their feet in a rhythm as he made his way into the centre of the Arena.

The figure raised the sword high into the air with ease. It looked weighty, but he moved it around as if it was a stick, light as a feather. Now the four of them could see the damage the blade had sustained. This was an old sword, and it had been in many a fight.

“BIG SWORD! BIG SWORD!” The crowd continued their cheering, and Watatsumi had started joining in.

Frank nudged one of the people sitting close by to get his attention. He turned to face him, his eyes glowing with excitement.

“Who is this?” Frank asked matter of factly.

“You don’t know? What are you even here for?” There was an almost childlike glee in his voice, “That is Theggor! Greatest Dwarven fighter in the City. Probably greatest fighter in the City!”

“Oh, this is Theggor guys,” Frank said dully to the others.

“Do you not get it?” The man continued, “This guy is a legend. He’s been the Arena champion for years! Not a single person dares to face him in combat anymore. They have to bring creatures in to face him. They find them in the tunnels below the city and such.”

“Yep, right, legend. Sure. What’s with the big sword?”

“THAT’S HIS STAGE NAME! Everyone calls him Big Sword in the Arena.”

“No, I meant, literally, what’s with the big sword there. Isn’t it awkward to fight with?”

“Look, I don’t know who you are, and you seem new to the Arena. Just watch, you’ll be amazed!”

The excitement had invaded Watatsumi, but Frank seemed impervious to the happiness everyone seemed to be sharing and just shrugged. He turned back to the spectacle below him.

“Oh, is he a dwarf?” Frank just muttered, and the guy beside him just glared briefly and nodded. Then he turned away from them and got back to him cheering.

Theggor had now sat his helmet and sword down on the ground. He put his hands into the air and a hush fell over the Arena.

“Ye ready for a fight are ye?” He bellowed in what seemed like a Scottish accent.

“Oh, how original, a Scottish dwarf...” Frank rolled his eyes, but Filpin paid him no mind as he was beginning to enjoy the show.

“Ah said! ARE YE READY FOR A FIGHT???” He screamed this last bit and the crowd erupted in approval. He waved his hands to quieten the place again. The hush that came when he directed was absolute. Theggor had complete control over what was happening.

“You fellows in the South stands! Give me a YEAH!” He thrust his hips towards the south stand as they screamed out YEAH! Back at him.

“What about the north stand??” He put both hands before him like he was grabbing some handles and thrust his crotch forward again. The crowd went ballistic.

“And the East stand?” He put a hand to his ear, “I can’t hear ye!” The last stand went crazy. The west stand was still empty, under where the balconies were, but everywhere else was packed like sardines and going crazy with the theatrics that Theggor was putting on.

“THEN! LET’S! GET! TO IT!” He screamed every word as he put his helmet on, the winged sides giving it a dragon-like appearance. He picked up his sword again and held it in two hands now.

At the south end of the stadium, the ground shifted as two doors opened upwards, revealing a trapdoor under the sand. A hissing sound started from the depths.

From out of the ground came a great serpent-like creature. It was darkly coloured, possibly black or green, and it’s body was easily as thick as the dwarf is tall. Its head was adorned on either side with two massive horns where you would have expected eyes. In fact, the creature appeared to have no eyes on its head. It did have teeth though, and when it opened it’s angular jaw you could see them glisten like daggers. Daggers that seemed to fume a green smoke, and drip acid onto the ground, with the sand steaming as the saliva touched it.

“AN UKTENA!” Theggor pointed his sword towards the creature. Its huge body was piling out of the hole, coiling itself up, and raising its head. A head which now turned to where the sound had come from. Its maw opened again and it roared at Theggor, acidic spittle flying all over the Arena.