Champion: A LitRPG Adventure (Divine Progression Book 5), page 29
Glenn rolled while simultaneously pushing Agnes between him and Jared as a shield. A block of ice the size of a person encased Agnes, and Glenn shoved her off him and sighed with relief. He hadn’t known if he could use Agnes’s body to block Jared’s Skill.
With Agnes now out of the fight for a full minute, Glenn lumbered to his feet and charged the second Harmcaster. Another casting bar appeared above Jared’s head. [+Double Cast+]. With this duel deteriorating rapidly, Jared had resorted to activating his Blessing with a twelve-hour cooldown.
The bar completed, and Glenn knew he would never reach Jared in time. He changed direction as he hit more ice and [-Freezing Cube-] once more appeared above Jared’s head. He dived behind a pillar... only to be encased in a block of ice. Devilspit! He’d been certain he could avoid that.
The ice abruptly shattered, dropping Glenn to the field. He sputtered and stumbled up, then glanced at Nora to see her giving him an eager thumb’s up. Only then did he remember that he was dueling with a Lifecaster as his partner.
Nora had slotted [-Cleanse Body-], and apparently [-Cleanse Body-] could remove [-Freezing Cube-]! Fighting with a Lifecaster at his side offered so many benefits. Glenn once more charged Jared and howled like a maniac. He unleashed a maniacal howl for intimidating effect.
Faced with a charging Brutalist, Jared had a split-second decision to make. If he kept his head and kept his cool, he’d have just enough time to cast [-Burst-]. That would slow Glenn or knock him on his rear. That would give Jared time to reposition. That was what a calm, collected man would do.
Yet Jared had just seen Glenn skate across a seemingly impenetrable ice slick like some sort of armored penguin. He had tried to [-Freezing Cube-] Glenn once and hit his partner, and then when he had again used [-Freezing Cube-] on Glenn, Nora had removed it. Somehow, Glenn had anticipated his every move.
Eyes wide, Jared cast [-Stone Skin-] instead of [-Burst-].
Glenn grinned and swung with all his might. [-Stone Skin-] would turn Jared’s skin as hard as iron for ten seconds, but the Skill had a five-minute cooldown. It could only be used once per battle. And even with his skin hard as iron, Glenn’s mace still hit him hard enough to ash his Health Bar by a third.
More gasps followed as Glenn struck again and again. One half. One-third. He feathered his last strike so as to knock Jared off his feet. As he fell backward, his Health Bar dropped almost to nothing... and the officiant called out.
“Jared L is eliminated!”
That was Glenn’s cue to cease swinging. He likely couldn’t hit Jared again due to the Law of Consent, but he wasn’t going to test that. With one Harmcaster down, he walked over to where Agnes, features furious, remained frozen in her partner’s block of ice. He waited by her with his mace.
Nora eeped somewhere nearby. As Glenn glanced at her in worry, she fell right on her rear on the ice. She was fine, just inconvenienced. Even so, she couldn’t make any progress across that ice slick while walking, so she crawled toward him on hands and knees.
As seconds ticked away, Glenn locked eyes with Agnes. Nora reached him just before the ice dissipated, then grabbed his shield to balance himself. As the ice melted, Glenn charged.
“Yield!” Agnes shouted. “End this duel!”
Glenn lowered his mace instead of striking her. “I consent to end this duel.”
The duel flag vanished as the officiant called out. “The winners of this duo duel are Glenn G and Nora R, by KO and yield!”
Instead of offering her hand or walking away, Agnes spit on the ice. “You cheater!”
Her accusation hit Glenn harder because she was right. Yet before he could respond, Nora stepped forward and shoved Agnes. “How dare you!”
Glenn stared at Nora in shock. Agnes merely sneered. “Don’t try and deny it, you hussy. Your boyfriend cheated! That’s what you were up to during the timeout!”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Nora yelled. “And he doesn’t cheat! Glenn is...” She paused and stepped back. “He is one of the bravest and most honest men I’ve ever met.”
Nora might as well have punched him in the gut. Her faith in his good nature hurt more because it felt undeserved. He had cheated using his unique Skills, and by doing so, he had robbed Agnes and Jared of a win they had every right to. Their strategy had been clever and effective.
Agnes glared. “How did he know what Skills were going to use? No one could know!”
Nora glared back. “He knew because Jared yelled about potions when he arrived.”
“That doesn’t tell him anything!”
“Enough!” The officiant had taken the field before Glenn noticed. “Agnes M, are you officially lodging an accusation of cheating? Keep in mind, if it’s not upheld, you will not only be forbidden from participating in more events, you’ll be disqualified from any events you’ve already won.”
Agnes glared at the officiant, then at Glenn. “How did you know?”
He firmed his stance. “Know what?”
“How did you know we would use [-Freezing Slick-]? You were instantly ready with that... shield toboggan. There’s no way you could have planned to use that ahead of time!”
Glenn had to lie convincingly. As Nora looked at him with faith in her eyes, he felt even more worried. What could he tell Agnes to convince her he had anticipated her ploy through simple deduction? He was a Truth Seeker, but he wasn’t a seer... so far as anyone knew.
As his mind rapidly scrambled for anything that could inform what he should say, the words of the officiant played back in his head. “You will not only be forbidden from participating in more events. You’ll be disqualified from events you’ve already won.”
The second part of the officiant’s statement was an odd addition. How would the officiant know that Agnes had already won another contest at the
Glenn decided to make the leap. “I knew because I’ve seen that trick before, Agnes.”
Her retort caught in her throat. As she stood with one finger outstretched, speechless, he knew he had her. He had been careful in how he phrased his statement... had she informed him she had not dueled yesterday, he could simply have said he saw another Harmcaster pull the same trick... but it seemed his instincts had been right. It felt wrong to win this way, but he did have to win.
She lowered her finger, defeated. “I don’t remember you.”
“I don’t see why you would. We never dueled, but I watched many duels yesterday.”
She kicked the ground. “Fine. You win.” She huffed and marched toward Jared, who was sitting and catching his breath near a Lifecaster in white robes. “Good luck, Glenn and Nora.”
Glenn barely prevented himself from responding with “You too!” He would have been genuine in his statement, wishing her luck in other brackets, but in her foul mood, Agnes would certainly have taken it the wrong way. He had narrowly avoided being called out for cheating... which, no matter how he justified it, he was doing. He didn’t know whether to feel relieved or guilty about his win.
Nora thumped him on the arm. “Ignore her. She’s a sore loser and a grump besides. Your strategy was brilliant. Bizarre, but brilliant!”
He forced a smile for her benefit. “Thanks.”
“Gods, that was so much fun!” Nora clenched her fists. “My heart’s still pumping, and all I did was use a few Skills and then hide behind a pillar. That was such a rush!”
Glenn chuckled, unable to continue to feel dejected as he evaluated her cheerful mood. “Hopefully our next duel won’t be as complicated. I can’t imagine that combination is one we’ll encounter too often in doubles, but at least now we know how to face a pair of Harmcasters.”
Nora giggled. “Shield toboggan!”
The officiant called out again. “We will wait five minutes for the ice from the last duel to melt!” He called the name of the next four duelists, which was Glenn’s cue to leave the field.
Nora came with him, then stopped close at his side. “So... now we get a break?”
“We have a little under an hour before our next duel, yes. I’m going to stay and watch as many as I can, but you can take a break if you like.”
“No. I’ll watch too. It’s good to know what our prospective opponents can do, and I might also learn tricks that’ll help me keep Terry and Carm from falling in the field. They still give me grief over every time they’ve died.”
Glenn resisted the urge to hug her. He liked her quite a bit, but only as a friend. He never wanted to make her think otherwise. “I doubt those deaths were your fault.”
She huffed. “I wish you could make them believe that!”
TWENTY
A TRIP TO THE SIX HELLS
As Becka approached the isolated area of Sun’s Cross where she, beneath the watchful eyes of those tasked to officiate, would tackle the second and final leg of the Luminous Maze, she arrived with a weight on her shoulders. She and Anna had been eliminated from doubles yesterday by a ruthlessly quick pair of Skirmishers, and Anna had been eliminated from singles by a powerful Harmcaster who wore [Ring-Mail Armor]. Only Glenn and Nora remained in the fight, with Glenn continuing to dominate singles and he and Nora crushing doubles as well.
Becka remained quite proud of them. Having now gotten to know Nora over the past few days, Becka genuinely liked and respected her, and she was a fantastic Lifecaster. With Glenn to ensure their opponents never got near her, Nora ensured no one could ever take him down.
Today was Becka’s last chance to make a difference. To help Glenn help Zack and, as well, protect the people of Evolan. If Becka didn’t complete the Luminous Maze, she wouldn’t have anything to contribute toward Glenn’s climb toward level 15. She couldn’t help him save Zack. So despite her trepidation about what waited ahead, she would put in her best effort. Nothing would stop her.
There was one comfort in her quest. The Luminous Maze had multiple winners. The first three Adventurers to complete the maze in each of its level brackets would be awarded an experience scroll worth 2,500 experience, with the first in each level group awarded a scroll worth 5,000 experience.
Those experience scrolls were the reward Becka sought, not for herself, but for Glenn. Tomorrow, Glenn would face seven other finalists in the 10-15 bracket of singles, and he and Nora would battle in the 10-15 bracket of doubles as well. All fights would take place in the colosseum beneath the bright sun of Stillwatch. Yet even if Glenn won both singles and doubles, taking first place, each win would net him an experience scroll worth 3,000 experience. Not enough.
Even both scrolls would not level him to 15, so if Becka didn’t come through for him (and Zack) today, Glenn would go into tomorrow’s duels knowing that even if he somehow won, he would still lose.
She refused to put Glenn in that situation. So as she looked around at the other two hundred or so entrants gathered for the finale of the Luminous Maze, she resolved to defeat all of them.
Or all but three. If they could get Glenn close enough to level 15, he could likely gain that amount of experience in time to resurrect Zack. It was no longer an impossible goal... but they had now made all the mistakes they could make. From this moment on, everything had to go perfect.
As nice as it would have been to have Glenn with her today, she had insisted he take the day off to rest and recover. Between singles and doubles, he had spent six straight days dueling eight hours a day. He needed to be rested and ready to face his duels tomorrow.
Becka knew from her last experience that even if Glenn had come to cheer her on, the Mindbenders and Guilecasters whose Skills formed the Luminous Maze would make it impossible to follow her progress. The maze was more for contestants than spectators, though large crowds did turn out to see what they could see. Finally, if she failed today... she didn’t want Glenn to witness that.
The Town Guard once again explained the rules, but everyone had already organized themselves by level groups before he began speaking. Every one of these over one hundred participants had completed the first leg of the Luminous Maze, which meant every one of them was clever and skilled. There would be no clumsy Brutalists or terrified Lifecasters to cushion her climb today.
The Town Guard’s repetition of the rules ended quickly. As he announced the start of the second Luminous maze, level 10s poured across the starting line... and vanished. A [-Phantom Mirror-] showed the level 11s alone.
The casters behind the Luminous Maze were making it more difficult in every way possible. Now, Becka couldn’t even see what the 10s and 11s were encountering before she stepped through that [-Phantom Mirror-]. Perhaps that would be for the best. She would have no preconceptions.
The Town Guard’s next bellow sent her blood racing. “Level 12s! Enter the maze!”
Becka breathed deep, stepped through the mirror, and gasped as her whole world went black as night. Wind roared on all sides of her—conjured by Arctists, no doubt—and this darkness must be due to [-False Light-]. A wave of nausea rose inside her when she realized she could just barely see ground beyond the dark, and that ground was spinning like a top. [-Skew Perspective-] at work.
Becka dropped to her knees and breathed to manage her nausea. Soon enough the darkness faded back to light and the endless spinning stopped, but neither of those changes offered her much comfort. Because, as Becka looked around, gaping in alarm, she realized she was in hell.
Or, more specifically, she sat now in one of the Six Hells. As she looked around in astonishment, she recognized this realm, from the books she’d read on the subject, as the Rock Hell. It was exactly as she had seen it described in every Adventurer account of the place.
The Mindbenders had recreated the Rock Hell in such detail and with such conviction that she could not imagine it as anything else. The world they had made was terrifying... but also beautiful in its complexity. One day, she would love to craft an illusion as complex and convincing as this one.
Becka now stood in the center of a barren, floating island holding jagged hills of glass-sharp stone and crisscrossed with rivers of molten lava. Off the edges of the island was sky and void, and thick clouds of ash and smoke roiled around the edges of the island like a sea. She floated above the clouds.
Becka had never been to the Rock Hell, of course. Few had, save for level-capped Adventurers exploring each of the Six Hells in raid groups as they conquered Monsters and Demons that could wipe legions of low-level Adventurers. Only the strongest could survive in the Six Hells.
Yet Becka recognized this setting because of all the journals she’d read that talked about the Six Hells, particularly accounts published by level-capped Adventurers. While some Adventurers were repulsed by the idea of entire realms created by Demons, Becka had found the idea fascinating. Given her general disdain for the Gods, she had always wondered how other deities might handle things.
In the case of whatever Demons had created the Rock Hell, they had decided that their ideal world was one without water or trees or vegetation of any kind. Becka knew, rationally, that she still stood in a huge field in Luxtera that Builders had spent the last four days restructuring from scratch to support the final leg of the Luminous Maze. Yet she felt as if she were somewhere far more dangerous.
Shadows flickered in and out all around her, likely the other Adventurers in the level 12 bracket proceeding cautiously across the island. Mindbenders must be hiding them from her. Becka needed to get moving. Yet as she rose, she realized she had no idea what direction she now faced.
The darkness and spinning during her arrival had completely turned her about. With the illusion of seemingly infinite space on all sides, she had no way of telling in what direction the finish line waited. Worse, if she took a step in the wrong direction, she could stumble over the starting line.
If she exited the maze on the wrong side, she would be immediately disqualified. She was surprised that none of the level 10s or level 11s had stumbled back out before she entered, but then she remembered that today she was competing only with Adventurers who had completed the first leg of the Luminous Maze. None of those people would fall for such a simple trick.
So how had those before her figured out what direction to go?
Other than the gentle whistle of the constant Stillwatch wind (Becka’s only reminder that she was still standing in Luxtera) the only other sound was the bubbling of distant lava rivers. She looked up for any trace of the sun and found nothing. How could she orient herself without the sun?
Simple enough. Becka raised her palm and focused straight ahead. [-Shadow Blast-].
Her bolt of inky black energy rocketed forward and vanished. So there it was. Her blast had gone through the invisible [-Phantom Mirror-]. Becka was just about to walk in the opposite direction before she paused again. What were the chances of her choosing the right direction on the first try?
She pivoted completely about and raised her palm, then sent another [-Shadow Blast-]. It too vanished like the first, and Becka cursed softly. The Law of Consent prevented anyone from targeting her directly... but could they hide her [-Shadow Blast-]s? They were not, after all, alive.
As another gust of warm wind teased her hair, Becka cursed herself for not being quicker on her feet. After living a full week in Stillwatch, she had learned that the warm wind off the mountains always blew in from the west. She also knew she had entered the Luminous Maze on the south side. And while Arctists could create wind and make it blow very hard, that wind was always cold. Not warm.
She closed her eyes and rotated her body until she was certain the gentle wind was hitting her, and teasing her hair, from her left side. Left would be west, which would put south (and the starting line) behind her. That meant if she walked forward at this point, she would be going north... and out.
Five cautious steps assured her she had solved the first challenge. She increased her pace across the hard and uneven ground, but only to a walk. She needed to be cautious of any hidden traps which, given the difficulty of this final leg, would likely be everywhere.
