This ti, I knew more of what I was doing than the first ti that I had been to one of these etings. As the Keepers began to file into the gaming area, I took a closer look at the nas on each door. With the knowledge of the gas that can be bought on the market, I knew a bit more about how they were able to keep things fair, so I wasn’t as concerned.
Of course, that didn’t an I was assured of my victory in any ga I played. Rather, I just was more confident that I wouldn’t be a punching bag… Big difference there. For instance, I saw one door that listed a racing ga. My current reaction tis would not be nearly enough to compete with the experienced Keepers, so it would be best to avoid those.
I debated starting with the Keeper Sim ga, since I knew the grand prize for winning that tournant was a thousand points. However, I wanted sothing new first. I even saw a door which was labeled ‘Keeper’s Cards’, which at least showed that there was one other ga here that I would be familiar with.
Ultimately, however, I still wanted to get ward up with sothing new. Dip my feet in unfamiliar waters, so that I would have a greater understanding of how things go. The door that I first went through was one labeled ‘Combat Tournant’. I knew that I wouldn’t be a match for those ultra-powerful Keepers who have been doing this for decades, but at the sa ti I was sure that the rules would give a chance. And if not, then I could simply bow out and try sothing else.
Though, I did leave quite a bit before it was ti to do so, and arrived in the tournant room early as well. It was still surprising that I was nearly the first one here, aside from a woman standing at the far end of the room. One who I assud was either a mber of the Gilded Branch, or one of Grimor’s companions.
The room itself was large, with dozens of square stands spread throughout the area. On the far end, she stood alone against the wall, giving a small nod as I entered. Her appearance looked human, but I couldn’t really be sure these days…
I found a spot to stand and wait, knowing it would be useless to try to get her to explain the rules to before everyone had arrived. It just wouldn’t make sense if she did agree to it. And sure enough, after a few more minutes passed, people began to wander into the room. So of them looked curious, as if they were trying it for the first ti like myself. Others, confident and likely to be returning players.
Of course, sothing that those confident people all had in common was their physique. They were all toned, for their body types, with defined muscles and sharp eyes. At least the na on the door wasn’t misleading…
Once roughly thirty people had filed into the room, the companion clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention, the sound echoing in the room unnaturally. Definitely a companion. “Okay, everyone. Looks like we got so first-tirs in here, so I’ll go over the rules!”
The companion had a grin on her face as she looked towards a few people within the crowd, myself included. “This is a one on one combat tournant. Before each fight, you will be given ti to design the character you want to compete as. You will be given one minute to acclimate to your new body before the match begins, and the match ends with either Keeper’s death.”
One of the more curious Keeper’s paled at that, looking to the companion and asking in a shaking tone. “D-death? You an we could actually die doing this?”
An echoing laugh rang through the crowd from the veterans, while the companion simply smirked knowingly. “Fret not. We’re using a system-regulated thod, and no death here is permanent. Can we get a couple of volunteers to demonstrate?”
Two of the veterans imdiately stepped forward. One was a four-ard cyclopean with two horns on the back of his head, and dark red skin. The other was what I could only call an orc. Tall, green skin, and bulging muscles. The two of them obviously knew each other, going by the grin that they shared when they approached one of the stages.
Once they moved into position, they began to maneuver their hands as if they were interacting with a ssage window, while the companion again spoke. “The standard for power in this tournant is for a Rank 1 Keeper on their ho ground. For those of you that haven’t entered the Gas yet, that ans a Keeper who has just qualified, and isn’t strong enough to face the big boys yet.”
“Any systems can be used, as long as the ga does not judge that the total power level has risen above the first rank. In the event that you choose a set of systems reliant on items, you can create an inventory for yourself to take with you. None of the items used here are real, naturally, so you won’t be able to keep them after the fight.”
As she finished her explanation, the two Keepers vanished from their positions at the stage. At the sa ti, a large projection appeared above the stage, showing the two of them in different locations. “This is the preparation phase. Both combatants will be stationed at a random point in an artificial world with a size rating of three. Once the minute has ended, they will be allowed to leave their areas to search for their opponents.”
“To prevent this fighting tournant from being a ga of hide and seek, the world will constantly shrink as ti goes on. After ten minutes, the world will be down to a size zero, making it easy for them to find their target. If they still can’t find them, then five minutes later the world will be the size of one of these stages, and the one knocked out first will lose. This ans that most matches will have a ti limit of fifteen standard minutes!”
It was likely that she tid her explanation with the countdown, because as soon as she finished speaking the two people moved into action. Both fighters had chosen to keep their own bodies, so it was easy to identify them. It took them less than a minute to run into each other, at which point the two of them began an all-out lee brawl.
I could see blue and golden energies flying between their bodies, but it was hard to accurately grasp their movents due to the speed that they were going at. It was hard to say whether or not I’d even be able to keep up with them if I went all out using my current limit of power. All I could see were the blurred punches and kicks, and hear the deafening roars that ca with every strike.
This went on for another five minutes, with neither side seeming to have an advantage. Until suddenly, the four-ard cyclops clapped his hands together to release a green shockwave. The orc-like Keeper was caught off-guard for a brief mont, which allowed his opponent to stab his four hands directly through the man’s chest.
There was a gasp from the crowd, no doubt the sa Keeper who had raised the question of death in the first place. However, as the orc’s body seed to go limp, the projection faded. Monts later, the two Keepers appeared at their original places at the stage again. The red-skinned Keeper carried a triumphant smile, whereas the other shook his head.
“And that’s your demonstration. As you all just saw, anGreen clearly died just now under MissTery’s final blow.” A round of chuckles rang through the gathered Keepers as the four-ard fighter’s Keeper title was revealed by the companion. Yet, she didn’t seem to care at all and continued. “Like this, everyone can be assured that the ga is totally safe. This all happens under the system’s eye, and there are no true deaths here.”
Her words spread a wave of relief throughout the newer Keepers, myself included. I had seen from the gas you could get from the system that it was possible to simulate death as part of the ga, so I knew that it could happen like that. However, getting a first-hand example did help to believe that nothing was going to go wrong.
“Now!” She clapped her hands again to get everyone’s attention, her green eyes shining. “This is an elimination-style tournant. If you lose, you will be entered into the loser’s bracket to determine your final standing. If you are eliminated a second ti, you are out. The winner of the loser’s bracket will have the chance to challenge the runner-up for their title. And if they win, they will be allowed one shot at the champion.”
“Everyone, take a look at the back of your primary appendage, where you will find a number. I took the liberty of marking each of you during this explanation, and those numbers will be the stage that you report to for your first fight. Before the tournant begins, you will have ten minutes to check the system and familiarize yourself with it. Then, five minutes to set your character, and finally one minute to prepare before the fight.”
I turned the back of my right hand over, and found the number eight written on it in black. Oh yeah, definitely one of Grimor’s companions. If she was able to do all of this, she had to have way more than Guest Privileges. This place had to be like her own ho.
Still, I did move towards the eighth stage. At it, I thankfully found another of the new Keepers, judging by how they had looked before the rules were explained. A brief glance through the room told that all of the new Keepers had been paired up together, and not just the two of us.
“Good luck.” The man across from said. I could tell that he was a martial artist by his outfit, which looked like a tight black robe tied-off and cut just below the waist, his legs covered with matching loose pants. He was the very picture of a martial artist from Earth, aside from the fact that his skin was a light grey and he only had three fingers on each hand.
“You too.” I gave him a brief nod, before stepping up to the stage to take a look at the system. Imdiately, a display appeared, looking similar to the one in the Keeper market with various purchasable systems. There were even ‘preset’ characters that you could choose to play as.
Naturally, I wanted sothing that I could take advantage of with my limited training. My own body was the one I was most familiar with, so I left it alone. For the powers, I gave it mana and ki, allowing myself to create chakra. Though… just to be safe, I turned to raise a question towards the companion hosting the tournant.
“I have sealed spirit entity within . Will it co to any harm in this ga?” A few other contestants raised their heads at that, either surprised at the reveal of information or simply curious about the answer.
“Nope.” The companion answered with a light shrug. “Your body, and everything within it, are saved the mont the match begins, so everything will be returned to its previous state when the match is over.”
That helped to calm down a lot, since otherwise I would have imdiately left the tournant. After all, if Leowynn were going to be killed just because I entered a fight, then that would not at all be worth the prizes. And, although the companion herself did not ntion what the prizes were, they had apparently already been registered with the system.
The first place champion of the ga would go ho with fifteen hundred points. Second place would get one thousand, and third place would get five hundred. After them, fourth would get two hundred points, but nobody else would see a reward.
I gave a small nod as I read that, before returning to the display to begin setting up my character. As I was scrolling through the list, I saw sothing interesting, which I couldn’t help but smiling about. One of the systems of magic that could be used in this tournant, our very own card magic.
Reviews
All reviews (0)