The preparations for Eve to enter the Arena had taken just under two days to complete. The hardest part had actually been arranging the bets themselves. When the dwarf had shown Eve the complex set of wagers and counter wagers she had taken one look before handing it off to Sara. After her most diabolical minion had gone through the labyrinthine tangle of monetary insanity, Sara had made quite a few changes.

The gist of them was that Eve would bet all her Stats, gold, gems, and a two-year contract of Slavery for Sara in the starting few fights. In exchange she would gain upwards of three thousand Slots.

Before the side-wagers kicked in!

Each of the side-wagers was an ascending tier of magnitude.

Winning was five hundred Slots, doubling each round. The fifth round win would began adding Stats into the pool at five hundred to start, and doubling each round afterward. In theory there was no upper limit, although Eve did make sure the option to leave was available after the twentieth round. Any fighting team that wanted to battle after the option to leave was available had to pay additional amounts. Eve had no plans to be here forever after all, she had places to be, and land titles to buy.

While it was impossible to maximize her Stats higher through normal means, the cap she currently had on Intelligence and Wisdom did not mean all was lost. Eve planned on raising all her physical Stats to cap concurrently with her winnings, something that would normally be impossible through standard leveling meta progression. This would allow her to push her Intelligence and Wisdom even further. Once she was capped completely, and had enough banked to make it to Tier 4, perhaps even Tier 5, the rest of the Stats would be sold to the Bank for pure gold. Slots on the other hand would all be spent between fights. Eve currently had a severe lack of Skills and Spells, which she planned to remedy with due haste.

Even with the allowances made for me the, Wilson won’t allow me to push higher than the current caps without raising my Level. Eve thought with a sigh. Having everything reach the cap of two thousand seven hundred is possible, however I won’t exceed that because Arena fights grant no experience. A sad catch, but I still see this as a viable alternative to raise my power.

When she had looked over the final result of all the wagers Eve had become entranced at the almost mathematical progression created. It was a dizzying spiral of wealth, wagers, and madness. At the height of the entire arrangement her entire family was being put up, along with all previous monetary winnings. Only the Slots and Stats were free to be allocated between fights, a concession that had taken no small amount of finesse to create.

The final mandatory fight at round twenty even had her using her Race as collateral, even though it wasn’t disclosed, just placed as part of the wager.

All in all, Sara had done a fantastic job of negotiating with the various parties involved. Tim had rejoined the family for dinner then been promptly sent out again by Sara to tie the criminals into the betting as well.

In order to lure the Ranked and Champion teams into battle Eve had made several concessions on her end.

First, she would use no metal in her fights.

Second, she would use no wood in her fights.

Third, she would not use any potions during her fights.

Fourth and final, every fight was to the death.

The last one was what had really pulled out all the stops in the wagering crowd. Even the City Lord had been tempted enough to put his finger in the pie. Since there was an almost infinitesimal chance that Eve might clean the entire Arena out of Rankers and Champions people wanted to see it happen.

Ticket prices had doubled, then doubled again.

Yesterday, Eve couldn’t even find a ticket price lower than sixteen times the base price. At sixteen gold or higher per seat, the Arena itself was looking to seat something in the area of three million. Magic would allow each and every single person in the stands to see the fight as if it was right before them.

For the Arena to make almost fifty million gold in seating alone was insane.

Of course, Eve had paid careful attention to the rules. Which was why Kudzu had been working around the clock to provide her potions that lasted twenty-four hours.

Certainly I will play by the rules, but only the rules. Eve thought as she looked from the reserved seating box that her family would be viewing the fights from. I cannot use potions in the fights, but there is nothing stopping me from using them beforehand. It is just the imagination of most people limits their view to what common alchemists can attain. Five, ten, thirty minute buffs, but Kudzu is far beyond such things now.

Eve glanced inside her inventory flashing a sharp grin.

A green Kudzu certified potion of Haste.

A yellow Kudzu certified potion of Raise All Stats.

A grey Kudzu certified potion of Steelskin.

A brown Kudzu certified potion of Troll’s Blood.

Eve didn’t believe in betting everything only on her own abilities. There were too many incredible things in this System world. As such, she needed to plan from the start not to crush opposition, but annihilate them. Every advantage must be seized which was why Eve had spent an entire day enchanting her robes to be snow white, repel blood, and prevent identification magic from giving useful information. The entire robe was a talisman now, courtesy of her new profession.

If the nickname of the White Death ever spread, Eve would surely point a finger at the dwarves if questioned about such things. Apparently a stage required a stage name in order to function effectively, or so Iron told her. A final look around the luxury seating box where her family would be staying was given by Eve before she departed back to the Wooden Table.

Before bed Eve ate a balanced dinner meal focusing her mind while her family gave her peace. Unlike many, Eve didn’t have trouble sleeping on a big night, so the darkness passed with peaceful slumber. The next day morning came, and she paced herself with a light breakfast. After the meal, Eve consumed all Kudzu’s potions before disposing of the bottles. A knock at the room’s door was opened by Sara revealing Iron decked out finely bedecked robes brimming with intricate metal-laced runes. Bracelets, necklaces, and rings each brimming with mana covered the dwarf in luxury.

“Battle-mage. Your equipment is particularly sparkly, right?” Eve asked rising from her chair as the paper beds, chairs, tables, and more turned to dust she swept into her inventory.

Iron watched the surrounding items vanish before replying, “Aye. Specialized in glass, nasty stuff but a family tradition, ye ken?”

Eve nodded as her family fell in behind her in freshly laundered clothing, the girls smelling faintly of scented soap, while the males had a minty overlay. It had taken a single arched look to get everyone to bathe after pointing out how their appearance would reflect on Eve.

Following the dwarf out the Wooden Table, Eve flowed through the crowd into the Arena proper. Her family split from her to head to the box, while Iron took her to the contestant area. After being dropped off in the waiting room, Eve took a good look around.

The Arena waiting room was a small affair with a single solid iron showing the clear glimmer of runic enchantments. It was designed, so Iron had told her, to ensure that no one entered the waiting room from the outside to bother the fighters. Two benches lined the side walls, with a single grated exit covered by a portcullis leading out to a ramp which led upward to the Arena floor. The walls were a chalky basalt, while the benches were laminated redwood. Eve locked the door and started to change the entire room. Luxury chair paper, luxury table, food from her inventory, a glass of peach tea, and so forth. She also set a separate barrier at both the door and Arena ramp as well as sheathing the walls in runic glyphed paper.

While I trust the System, there’s no reason to take chances. Eve thought surveying her new abode. Only twenty fights between me and a very large payday. Risking it due to a lack of paranoia is stupid.

A chime sounded within the room as the entry to the Arena ramp opened. Eve gave one last look around before exiting the room, sealing it up behind her with paper even as the portcullis lowered after she left. Striding up on the rough slip-proof stone ramp, Eve witnessed the blazing sun outlining the opening onto the gladiatorial sands.

The first step through onto the Arena sands gave Eve the feeling of steeping into one of the great football stadiums back on Earth. The sun baked the air overhead, while her Isa Rune kept her cool. Heat waves shimmered in the distance between her, and the first round team on the other side of the Arena.

Sharpening her gaze Eve looked over at her opponents as she moved to the starting circle marked in raised stone. The enemy team was formed with a simple setup, one heavy, two medium, and three light. The heavy was decked in plated mail armor with a sapphire gem set in the center helm. From the mana arrangement it was clearly a cooling magic to keep the plate wearer from being cooked alive. A short sword with a simple few runes of Sharpness, Durability, and Lightweight combined with a shield that duplicated the weightless Rune.

The two mediums were wearing leather armor, with similar gems on their helms. One of the pair held daggers, while the other had a bow. The combination allowed for close in work, and ranged attacks in tandem.

When her gaze reached the three light attackers, it sharpened to a razor point. Her mind moved like lightning deciphering their mana with incredible speed. The left light armor user was clearly versed in fire, the middle in glass, and the right was most likely water. While some might think water users were at a disadvantage in the desert Eve thought otherwise.

A tank, a ranger, an assassin, and three mages. A basic setup likely to test me. Eve thought reaching the raised stone circle. Stepping inside she watched the enemy team do the same. In the interest of revealing as little as possible, I’ll start with only a single sword.

She unsheathed Rot from her back with an almost malicious air. The murmur of the crowd as they saw her holding a single sword against a Ranked team was like thunder rumbling.

A voice announced from the air, “Lady Eve, the challenger are you ready?”

Eve nodded to the affirmative.

The voice continued, “Rank Ten Team, the Shatterstorm, are you ready?”

After receiving a similar nod from the team’s tank as Eve’s own, the voice said, “Pascat arenam sanguis.”