After double checking to see if I had all my arena upgrade certificates on me, I stepped into the portal that had just opened in my personal space and found myself back at the arena in Somhagen. This was a different part of the arena, a long, concrete room with dozens of booths lining the wall. The portal had dumped me at the rear of a long, snaking queue line with what I assumed were other summoned beings. Despite the number of summoned beings, the line was moving smoothly.
A look around showed that most of the other summoned beings were humanoids of various sorts, with humans making up a decent number. Most of the other species I recognized, but a few were a mystery to me. One looked like a sized-up version of Melvin, and another was made up of flickering shadows residing inside a set of floating clothing.
Nobody seemed to be talking to each other, and I wasn’t going to strike up a conversation with the orc in front of me, or the human with a psychotic grin on his face behind me. When I reached the front of the queue, one of the clerks working to help organize things waved me toward an open booth. Across from me was a young-looking halfling woman who was waving her glowing hands over a set of documents.
“Please place your right hand, palm down, onto the scroll,” the woman asked. I did as instructed, feeling the tingle of magic as the document began to fill in with my information. The woman nodded in satisfaction and handed the paper over to me.
“Can you verify the information is correct?” She asked. I looked at the paper, and it seemed almost like a printed version of the basic system information about me.
Rico Kline
Class type: Summoner.
Tier 1, Rank 2.
Current/maximum gear rank: 146/160.
Stats:
Strength, 12.
Agility, 11.
Constitution, 11.
Mind, 17.
Presence, 6.
Maximum Mana, 85.
“It appears correct. Is this information to confirm my identity or something?” I asked.
“Yes, the system requires that we get verbal confirmation that you acknowledge the information is accurate. It will be used for those setting the odds of success,” the halfling woman explained. It was understandable that betting on the arena was a huge profit center for the city, though the information on me was rather sparse.
Whoever looked at my info wouldn’t have the details of my class, or even the exact class name. It also didn’t consider that a good chunk of mana was reserved for the summoning figurines my class utilized. The gear score could indicate all sorts of things. Betting hard earned coins on this limited data seemed like a fool’s errand, but people back home bet on things with even less information all the time.
“If you have any upgrade certificates you may now activate them. The information on them is confidential, so please don’t disclose what you were offered and which of those options that you’ve chosen. I will be here to assist you if you have any questions,” the clerk advised. I pulled out the first one, and a system prompt appeared.
Arena upgrade certificate, common.
1. Improved Defense. This choice will reduce all incoming damage by 5%.
2. Improved Offense. This choice will improve all damage from your personal attacks, both magical and melee, by 5%.
3. Improved summons. Improves the rank of your summoned creatures by 1.
Thinking back to Lavelle’s advice, he said to avoid straight percentage increases at this tier. All the summoned beings’ damage and defenses were limited, and 5% better leather armor or a slightly better hit with my hammer wasn’t all that great. What could make a difference was an extra rank for my summoned creatures.
With the upgrade certificate and my other boosts, all my summoned creatures were going to arrive a total of three ranks higher. I’d take stronger minions over the other choices all day long. When combined with duplicate on my most powerful minions, the boost was even better. I confirmed my selection and opened the next certificate.
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Arena upgrade certificate, common.
1. Hamper a random opponent. This upgrade will place a minor, random hinderance on one of your foes.
2. Protection against hampering. This upgrade will protect you from a single, minor hinderance placed upon you by another participant.
3. Minor mana regeneration boost. This regeneration boost will improve your existing mana recharge rates by 5%.
This was something else that Lavelle had warned me about. He said I should avoid wasting a certificate on hampering another opponent, at least at this tier. What he didn’t comment on was selecting protection from being hampered as an option. My other choice was a slight boost to mana regen, which sounded good too.
None of these choices were great, but of the three, the minor mana regen boost was probably the best. There was no guarantee that I’d be selected for a random hinderance, so burning a certificate on that could be a waste. Even though it was only 5%, the mana regen buff was going to get at least some use. Confirming my choice, I moved on to the third upgrade certificate.
Arena upgrade certificate, common.
1. Improved Defense. This choice will reduce all incoming damage by 5%.
2. Improved Offense. This choice will improve all damage from your personal attacks, both magical and melee, by 5%.
3. Improved summons. Improves the rank of your summoned creatures by 1.
It was a repeat of the first certificate. I didn’t know you could get duplicates, but I wasn’t going to complain, and I wasn’t going to make a different choice this time, either unless there was something preventing doubling up on the same buff.
“Excuse me, I noticed I was offered the same choice multiple times. If I choose the same option, will the bonuses stack?” I asked the clerk.
“You are correct, multiple instances of the same upgrade will stack unless otherwise noted inside the upgrade certificate’s description,” the halfling clerk confirmed. I hit Improved Summons for my selection, and with my class bonus, the headband, and the upgrade certificates, my minions would pop into existence four ranks higher than normal. On to my fourth certificate.
Arena upgrade certificate, common.
1. Double Cast. This option allows you to cast a copy of a single spell or ability once during the challenge.
2. Duplicate Consumable. This choice allows you to duplicate any single use item in your inventory. The duplicate item can only be used during the challenge, and it cannot be used to duplicate items that have the capacity to hold multiple charges.
3. Double Strike. This option allows you to instantly strike a foe in either melee or at range a second time. The second blow will benefit from the same effects or enhancements as the first blow.
These were all good choices, but one stood out to me. I still had the MESS key in my inventory, and if I chose Duplicate Consumable, it would grant me a second key. This would allow me to use one for free here in the arena, letting me figure out exactly how the key worked, while keeping the original in my inventory for life-or-death emergencies.
After making my selection, it was time to move on to the final certificate. Stopping myself right before activating the certificate, I slowed down and took a breath. I had almost forgotten that I had the gold upgrade certificate that Lavelle had given to me. I needed to use it before I activated the last certificate. With the gold certificate active, I opened my final upgrade certificate. Each of the choices was now listed as rare.
Arena upgrade certificate, rare.
1. Choose Again. This option allows you to choose any of the previously offered upgrades.
2. Random Mystery Upgrade.
3. Out of the Gate. Start the arena challenge two minutes early, granting you a head start on your opponents.
Oh, this was the thing Lavelle had told me to take, the random mystery option. My odds were fifty/fifty that it’d be helpful, but if I was lucky, the boost it gave was supposed to be considerable. Normally, I would choose something that gave me a guaranteed upgrade, but the information broker hadn’t steered me wrong yet, so I chose the Random Mystery Upgrade.
You have received the following random upgrade.
1. Back at you. This upgrade allows you to reflect one attack, spell, or ability back at a foe. It can only be used once on each individual foe and there is a five-minute cooldown between uses.
That was good, if one of the opponents had a powerful, all-in attack, I could bounce it right back at them. The limitations weren’t all that bad either, it was something to turn around a fight, and not being able to use it twice on the same target wasn’t going to matter all that much. If I couldn’t beat them after reflecting their biggest hit, I was probably going to lose the fight anyway.
“If that is your last certificate, you may enter the arena and step into one of the portals. Once inside, the parameters of this challenge will be revealed. When all the contestants are ready, the contest will begin. Best of luck to you Rico Kline,” the halfling clerk said in a friendly, but bored manner. I had done customer service before, so I cut her some slack, she’d have to say good luck to dozens if not hundreds of people today.
I was guided out of the long, plain concrete room I was in and through a door that had been propped open on the far wall. Outside, I could see the same arena floor that I had visited earlier. As I suspected on my first visit, the glowing panels on the arena floor were now wreathed in the familiar blue glow of a portal.
“Step forward sir, it doesn’t matter which portal you choose,” A worker stationed right outside the door said, ushering me along when I stopped to stare at what was right in front of me.
Not wanting to hold up the whole show, I walked to the closest portal and stepped inside. At the other end of the portal, I found myself in a cage made of bone that was suspended over a large bonfire. Around the fire, a tribe of goblins cackled and chanted.
The arena challenge will begin shortly, please standby for final instructions.