Hero of Midgard 3: A LitRPG Adventure, page 15
The cheering continued to erupt in the Colosseum until Maximus raised one steady and strong hand. Immediately, a great hush fell upon the entire arena. It became so quiet that Karl could hear the nervous breathing and shifting of feet of the thousands of gladiators around him.
Then, starting with Maximus’s sons, who immediately knelt to their father, the entire audience similarly knelt to their Emperor, looking like a wave flattening all the people.
Kara looked at Karl, sharing her thoughts of uncertainty, but they likewise knelt, as did Mýra and Sporus. Björn grunted as if annoyed by the whole procedure, but he knelt too, digging his knees into the sandy floor while keeping his eyes upon the Emperor. The man had not taken off his helmet and looked at them like he was the personification of death.
And then, with a voice that was somehow enhanced either through magic or some industrial machine that Karl could not understand, the Emperor spoke. His voice boomed across the entire Colosseum as if he were standing right by them.
“Fortune favors the bold,” he said in a loud, stoic voice that sank into Karl’s chest. “One team shall fight through all five floors of the Colosseum Tower and become victorious, receiving my boon. Anything you wish for shall be granted to you.”
At this, all the gladiators cheered with excitement. But then the Emperor raised his hand again, quieting them instantly.
“But remember one thing,” the Emperor said, looking deadly serious at them. “Memento mori.”
Their bracelets translated it as, Remember that you will die.
“How encouraging,” Karl said, trying not to think about it. He squeezed Kara’s hand tighter at the thought of death.
“Where are these five floors he’s talking about?” Björn asked, which distracted Karl from asking how they could understand Maximus in the first place.
But then the Emperor raised his hand to the heavens above.
“Per aspera ad astra!” the Emperor shouted. Through hardship to the stars!
And then all at once, the Colosseum began to grind and hiss as if something great and powerful moved around its walls. A second later, the walls began to grow above them. Like one big tower, it stretched to the sky, disappearing high into the clouds.
Then, from the top, it was completely sealed off as a floor came in on both sides and met together in the middle. This happened four more times, going all the way back down until it reached the original upper sections of the Colosseum, sealing them all in darkness for just a moment before thousands of electrical sconces ignited all around them, casting them back into its warm glow again.
“Each day you will fight through a floor, with only the strongest remaining,” the Emperor said. “And remember,” he said, raising his golden pilum high for all to see. “Gloria victis.”
Karl was just dwelling on the translation of the phrase Glory to the Vanquished as the Emperor hurled the golden pilum down with lightning speed directly at Karl. He flattened himself a hair-second before the pilum pierced what looked like an African gladiator behind him straight in the face, before the pilum rematerialized in the Emperor’s hand.
Contestants Remaining: 4,999/5,000
“What the hell!” Karl shouted, but he had no time to process it as the floor began to change all around them. The floor moved unevenly and in hexagonal shapes throughout the arena, reminding Karl of board games like Catan. Only this time, instead of fighting for resources in a low-stakes match with friends, they were fighting to the death against beasts from hell.
Time Remaining for Floor 1: 09:59
Looks like we need to run out the clock, Karl thought to Kara. Stay close to me.
Kara looked around the shifting landscape, nodding. Try not to die, she replied, smiling at the comment.
The Colosseum crowd exploded with applause and frenzied excitement as the beasts and mythological monsters from almost every culture on earth tore out from underneath the elevated hexagonal plates, which had elevated most of the gladiators, though not all. Fortunately, Karl and his friends were on one of the elevated plates. But beneath them, something that looked like a twelve-foot snake with humanoid facial ridges thrust itself around a Roman gladiator’s torso, constricting his body with its mucousy snake form before hissing with a forked tongue at the screaming man, causing him to die of fright.
Elsewhere, the elephants they had seen earlier stampeded out to crush a handful of unsuspecting Persian warriors. Karl was initially grateful for their elevation.
But just because they were high above where the monsters emerged from didn’t mean they were safe from the fight.
“Look out!” Björn shouted, throwing a Bifrost barrier over them as a shield. Hardly a heartbeat later, a flock of white birds that looked like doves but shimmered with radiance smashed into the rainbow barrier, screeching with rage.
“Aren’t those healing birds?” the Trickster said as he ducked on Karl’s shoulder, hiding behind his Moltenveil plates.
“Not anymore,” Sporus muttered before turning and firing a shadowy bolt at the strangest monster Karl had ever seen. It looked like a leopard, but with the head of a serpent. It devoured its way past the group of Mongolian archers, who were not quick enough to escape its jaws. Sporus, however, landed a shot on its forehead, dropping it.
But three other leopard-serpent creatures tore their way through their hexagonal plate.
Karl couldn’t get off his shot as they were too cramped together with the other warriors. They were backing away and smashing into Karl and his friends as they tried to avoid the leopard-serpent jaws, which lunged out at them with ease.
There are too many people, Kara thought to him with her Pack Link. Karl could feel her frustration as they were shoved toward the edge of the hexagonal plate.
The warriors in front of Karl stood no chance against the leopards.
Down below wouldn’t prove better, either. Beneath them, demonic-looking boars with red eyes and gnarly tusks were mauling a group of gladiators to death. They oinked with rage as they opened up the insides of those unfortunate enough not to avoid them.
If they fell from here, they were likely to reach a similar fate. And with the constant pressing of bodies, they would soon be pushed off into it.
“Everyone, hold on to me!” Karl shouted as he turned toward the open air and fired his arrow toward the nearest wall of the Colosseum. He and his friends Elf Leaped and were clear of the immediate danger. It would do well for them to have their backs protected rather than being surrounded by chaos on all sides.
Still, danger pursued them, giving them no time for rest.
“Are those spiders?” Björn asked as he hefted up his Bifrost battle-axe.
Karl’s skin prickled at the thought, and he almost puked when he turned to see five enormous spiders with swollen abdomens and eight spindly legs with barbed hooks. Strangely, they wore draped masks over their creepy faces that looked very Japanese. But Karl had no time to study them as they cornered Karl and his friends, their fangs dripping with bright green venom.
Karl and Sporus went on the offensive.
Sporus fired two arrows with rapid pace at the two Japanese spiders that were closest to them; Karl fired a Dual Shot, aiming directly at their two faces. The arrows found their mark and caused an explosion of ink over both of them.
Kara activated her Valkyrie Rune Leap and exploded over them, shouting as she smashed her burning Baldr-blessed sword onto the first Japanese spider. A sickening crunch sounded as she tore its head off in one fell swoop.
The Trickster fired off explosive acorns at one of the spiders on their left, causing it to temporarily stumble back and screech. The squirrel laughed maniacally, switching to a plasma ball shot straight into the thing’s face, dropping it.
Mýra threw what looked like a blue potion at the other two that were yet to be dealt with. The moment the liquid splashed over their skin, it caused a burning smell that was nauseating to breathe in. She followed up with two arrows, one for each, to destroy them.
But the four remaining spiders kept moving with dangerous speed in front of them as they tore through the sand to reach them. If they tried to get any closer, they would be torn to pieces by their legs.
Having no time to think, Karl grabbed Sporus by the arm and Elf Leaped them to underneath the two spiders on the left. They teleported, and without having to communicate, Sporus withdrew his dagger and raised it straight up into the swollen abdomen of the spider he was underneath; Karl did the same with the one directly above him with his Shard of Máni, causing silver light to pour out from the cut.
Karl didn’t wait to follow up with another strike. He thrust a deep gash next to his cut, tripling the damage. Green, gooey organs spilled out of the stomach of the Japanese spider. Karl danced away thanks to his Blessings of Ullr and his speed enhancements, leaving ice on the ground where he moved away from.
Björn had taken down his spider by throwing a Bifrost shield in front of him and Mýra, causing the two remaining spiders to throw themselves against the barrier unsuccessfully. Björn decapitated the head of the dragon-mask spider with a mighty, jubilant roar while Mýra knifed hers in the throat. The behemoth collapsed dead in a half crescent around them.
Strength (+10): lvl 12 (110/130)
Intelligence (+10): lvl 5 (0/60)
Wealth (+1): 11,101 Gold
Glory (+60): 2,220
Level: 39 (350/400)
“Uh, what the Hel is that?” the Trickster asked, pointing a metal claw at the tall, industrially enhanced wolves that crawled over the bodies of the spiders.
“Friends of yours?” Sporus asked, but the robotic howl that erupted from the mechanical beasts proved otherwise.
16
ROBO MONSTERS
Within seconds, more of these augmented wolves appeared on the ridge of spider corpses. Each of them had mouths rimmed with cryocoils, causing frost vapor to leak constantly from their mouths as if the weather outside were sub-zero.
As if to prove how deadly their breath was, the lead wolf that stood at the center exhaled his breath onto the face of the Japanese spider he stood on top of. The man’s face became completely solidified in ice. Then, with one hydraulic-enhanced bite, the wolf tore through the face. It shattered into a thousand pieces.
“Bad doggy,” the Trickster said before firing an explosive acorn into its mouth.
The cryowolf flinched a little at the damage inflicted, but snapped its head back around and howled. The other ten wolves did the same.
Before they could pounce, Karl and everyone else in the group stuffed the olive bread from Livia into their mouths to regain a handful of Stamina and Health. Thankfully, Karl’s and Kara’s Stamina and Health regeneration were boosted by 30% since they rested together the night before; now, they would unleash 20% more damage and defense while fighting near each other.
They moved as one as Karl drew an ice arrow and activated his Glacial Arrow ability, allowing both arrows to deal 500 frost damage in a 15-foot radius and freeze the enemies for two seconds. He wouldn’t be able to use it again for ten minutes, but it would help them get the upper hand at the beginning. The four wolves in the center, including the alpha, froze for that precious heartbeat.
While Sporus fired arrows on Karl’s left with the Trickster aiding him with both plasma artillery and a swinging Hel’s Chain, Björn swept aside two cryowolves on the right. Mýra shielded herself against a wolf that had lunged at her and was threatening to breathe its icy doom over her face. She activated her Hel’s Mantle to further confuse it, though, because it was day, she was more translucent than invisible.
Kara extended her sword at the four frozen cryowolves and unleashed her Baldr Light Beam. She chose to go for a fatal wound on all four instead of an instant kill as her light beam struck across the front legs of each wolf. The intense fiery heat from her Baldr blessing mixed with their cryogenic nature and Karl’s glacial freeze caused their legs to sever violently from the heat.
The moment they became unfrozen, the four wolves fell forward and slid down the backs of the hairy and barbed Japanese spiders.
Karl followed up and Elf Leaped behind them. He placed himself and Kara behind the four sliding wolves so she could swipe across the spines of the two in front of her, and Karl could snipe them from behind with his arrows, wanting desperately to avoid their freezing mouths.
Strength (+20): lvl 13 (0/140)
Intelligence (+10): lvl 5 (10/60)
Wealth (+2): 11,103 Gold
Glory (+80): 2,300
Level (+1): 40 (30/410)
Skill Points (+1): 1
Karl’s Brokkenator Title caused a rather satisfying ka-ching sound effect for both kills; he did find it pleasing despite the insane circumstances. The System also automatically inserted strange ingots from the kills since these were machine beasts.
Item: Cryocoil Frost Ingot 3x (Epic) — A slab of pale blue metal, veined with shimmering white frost lines that pulse like a heartbeat. Cold vapor constantly rolls off its surface, forming little crystals wherever it’s set down. When touched, it numbs the fingertips instantly. Adds +20% Frost Damage or immunity to crafted weapons and armor.
Björn had almost single-handedly crushed the two cryowolves by himself after nearly severing the head of one. His arms suffered from frostbite from their deadly breath, but he lifted them both in the air with each hand before repeatedly smashing them into the ground over and over again until they lay still.
The wolf that was attacking Mýra’s shield ended up receiving 10% of the damage from its breath back onto it, slowing it down and freezing its joints; it gave her a precious second to ram her knife into its neck. But unfortunately, this metal machine wouldn’t go down as easily as their more natural enemies earlier. It ended up coughing its cryogenic breath onto her hand. She screamed in pain.
Kara was on the beast in an instant, severing its head with her burning sword.
Karl turned around and assisted Ratatoskr with a well-placed arrow to the wolf he was smacking around with Hel’s Chain. His arrow hit the wolf in the face and caused ink to get all over its eyes, making it howl with rage. The Trickster performed the killing blow and ripped apart its brain using his metal claws.
“My brain’s bigger than yours!” the Trickster cried out, holding the brain triumphantly in his hand, a squishy combination of pink brain matter and blue cryogenic plates.
“Don’t eat that,” Karl began, but he was cut off as the Trickster took a ravenous bite.
Karl cringed, shaking his head.
“Is everyone okay?” Karl asked, now that they had a second to breathe.
Mýra looked the only one to be harmed. She stood to her feet, holding on to Kara as Björn tried to comfort her.
“I’ll be okay,” she said, looking more ashamed of her inability to fight rather than upset about being wounded.
Each of them ate another honey-olive bread snack, leaving them all with three each now. And before Karl took on any more battles, he quickly spent his latest Skill Point to increase his Glory multiplier by three times, which would help him make the most of the coming battles they were sure to face.
Odin’s Wisdom (+1): lvl 3.
Boosts glory gained from experiences by 3x.
Karl stood amazed at the new power, as did Kara, who read his mind. Her mind dripped with envy at the tremendous amount of Glory he would now be achieving. He could see her Glory count via their Pack Link. If she had the same modifier as he did, she would reach her goal of becoming a Valkyrie, possibly before this tournament was over.
It was best not to think about her leaving him.
Beyond the slew of wolf and spider corpses, lightning and explosions erupted on the other side. From their vantage, they couldn’t see what was going on, yet the crowd was cheering with delight. Though Karl did briefly see what looked like a Native American temporarily flying in the air before delivering radiant feather projectiles onto something below. The man was surprisingly knocked out by what looked like a Chinese warrior who shot him with a crossbow while in the air, literally running on the air itself, before tackling the Native American out of the sky. He reminded Karl a lot of Hvitserk’s blessing.
“We’ll need to watch out for the other teams,” Sporus muttered.
“Good idea,” Karl said. “Come on, let’s go.”
As they ran up the frozen mass of monster corpses, Karl checked the constant System updates on where they were at with the first floor of the Colosseum Tower.
Contestants Remaining: 4,799/5,000
Time Remaining for Floor 1: 07:29
Once they crested the ridge, Karl saw the strangest and yet most epic sight he had ever seen. The thousands of gladiators remaining were locked in an intense fight with a strange litany of monsters. Vikings blessed by Thor combined lightning chain attacks and Freyr’s healing rain on themselves to take on Nandi flame lions. The beasts had mechanical manes that ignited into flame jets and bronze ribs visible under their plates.
On a raised platform were a group of Egyptians with scimitars, who slashed through the armor of a horde of robotic Draugr. Simultaneously, another one of the Egyptians activated their sun god’s power that blinded the lightning-charged hyenas attacking them from behind.
A group of Indians fighting beneath one of the hexagonal raised platforms threw a glowing dome around themselves to block the vicious attacks by ogre-sized humanoids with iron forearms and metal horns welded to their skulls.
Perhaps the strangest was a group of Africans who were fighting a scarab swarm whose shells exploded in fireworks in the middle of the arena. One of the warriors had a hammer similar to Thor’s and Jupiter’s blessings, where lightning exploded in a chain reaction. But the leader of the African group was mauled to death by a heavily armored crocodile beast with steel jaws and a tail that broke the neck of one of his friends. Strangely, the area around the African leader glitched, and the crocodile was a few meters away, as it had been a few seconds before. The leader was no longer being eviscerated by the crocodile machine this time. This time, he sidestepped the crocodile’s lunge and landed a crushing blow with his club, glowing with red magic, onto its head.
