So that was how Ska and I ended up on the bracket for this tournament. It was the quickest and most legitimate way to gain entry to the Bazaar. There were a hundred spots and everyone was given a random placement. From what Don told me, there were three former champions in this round. He pointed out their names on the massive board.

“There is Hegar, looks like you and your friend lucked out, he is on the opposite bracket. Although, that means only one of you will be going to the end, assuming you got what it takes.”

I just shrugged and motioned for him to continue.

“Rasputin… yeah, he gave himself that name, is on your bracket. Dark magic mostly, although he can summon undead. It makes him a real pain to fight or most people, not that it helped him against Hegar. Then the last one is Natalia, or she likes to go by the name Mistress of Pain. Poisons and curses are her specialties. It seems she is also on your bracket and probably will be your first real challenge. She is a nasty piece of work and doesn’t like dirtying her hands, so she tends to work at range if she can help it.”

“You're not joining?”

“Don chuckled, “no, I have nothing more to prove, I won once, that was enough for me to get the life I wanted.”

“Ok, then why are you helping Ska and me?”

“Call it a petty bit of revenge. I want to knock Hegar down a peg or two. The man’s ego has become so inflated that he is impossible to deal with.”

“And I suppose betting on him to lose also couldn’t hurt?”

Don shrugged, “It is Vegas, bet away if you feel like it. The odds on you two are actually quite good.”

“I’ll think about it. When does this tournament start?”

“In a few days, just head toward the colosseum, it’s just outside of town, big ass marble monstrosity, ya can’t miss it. Just follow the crowds.”

I nodded, I had seen the building but hadn’t known what it was at the time. I mulled over placing a bet, I only had the five hundred credits, since I hadn’t sold any of the magic weapons I had crafted. Oh well, I guess I would see what my odds were.

My odds were quite generous, twenty-five to one. I thought that was a bit low before I remembered my level displayed eighteen. While I doubt it was the highest in the tournament, it was quite the achievement to break fifteen. Ska had worse odds, his were only eighteen to one. I chalked that up to someone witnessing his fight and checking his level.

Of course, I bet on myself, Sorry, Ska, but I wanted to win.

***

The first day of the tournament started around noon. Ska was up before me so I got to watch a few fights before it was my turn. It gave me a general idea of the capabilities and levels of my opponents. And I was using Identify on everyone, with the upgrade nobody noticed my snooping. Not that I cared if they did. Fighting in the waiting area was against the tournament rules.

Ska’s opponent was a ranged fighter. He was quick and his magical spear was a devastating weapon as he could throw it and have it return to his hand in an instant. And against a slower opponent, it might have made a difference. Ska just weaved past a flurry of throws to close the distance, forcing the man to fight in close. This is where the man struggled as his skill set didn’t lend itself well to melee combat.

Ska dove under a clumsy strike and managed to get behind the man. I knew the fight was over but the man still had one card to pull as he activated a lightning mantle ability, coating himself in crackling bolts of energy. This didn’t discourage Ska as he pounced on the man’s back and carried him to the ground, Ska’s bracers absorbed the attack long enough for Ska to savage the man’s back and spine. It was one of Ska’s favorite moves and was how he managed to beat me that one time.

The duel ended and the man’s injuries were healed to the roar of the crowd. The man looked terrified as he picked up his spear and ran out of the arena. My guess was he had never faced a non-human opponent before. And while not excluded from the tournament they were rare, with only three in total.

***

The other matches I got to watch were nothing special, and I didn’t get to see any of the former champions fight before I was called up. My opponent was a tall woman that wore armor that seemed a size too small for her as her muscles bulged out of armholes. She was carrying a large axe with a crescent moon head on it. Identify showed that she was level sixteen and her class was Barbarian.

I had decided to leave my staff in my ring for the tournament. My second class gave me hand-to-hand skills and I wanted to see how they stacked up. I wasn’t too worried about losing my first match.

We circled each other getting a measure of the opponent before she screamed a battle cry and charged in. A wave of red swept in front of the swipe of her axe. I had decided beforehand to not use Sunder Skill in this tournament either. I didn’t want people left alive that knew what I was capable of.

With a word a wall of stone shot out of the ground intercepting the red energy of her attack. When it connected, the skill exploded, filling the air between us with a haze of dust. I fired three Arcane Bolts into the dust, using Multicast. She was able to dodge the first bolt but not the follow-up shots.

I heard her grunt as the magic tore away chunks of her leather armor. But she seemed mostly unfazed by my attack. Her axe swung for my neck and I ducked back from the strike letting it pass before quickly stepping in and grabbing the haft of her axe, stopping it cold. Then I did a spin kick, landing a blow across her shoulder. It would have been her head but she had reacted quickly enough and raised her shoulder to block the attempt.

I somersaulted back as she tried to grab me, releasing her axe and taking a fighting stance. She didn’t look quite as confident now and my kick had done some serious damage to her shoulder. But that only seemed to increase her stats as she grew another six inches and what looked like a hundred pounds of muscle. She let out a scream so loud my eardrums ruptured. I stumbled back a bit as the disorientation hit me and she rushed in to try and capitalize on her attack.

I decided to use a spell I hadn’t given much use to. A tiny goat appeared right in front of the woman and she tripped as her foot landed atop the poor beast, squashing it as it bleated out in pain. I recovered enough to cast Frostwave on the prone woman, ending the match. I wanted people to think I was mainly a caster and hand-to-hand fighter. The woman had been decent and the shout had surprised me but she lacked the depth of abilities I possessed. I hadn’t even used any of my real nasty abilities in the fight.

I got to watch a few more fights after mine. One involved a fencer that put the skills Randy Cotton showcased to shame. She was quick on her feet and wove around her opponent while jabbing out with lightning-quick strikes. But she turned out to be very weak. Her opponent managed to back her into the corner of the arena, where his strength quickly overwhelmed hers.

The next fight I watched was between Natalia, one of the previous champions, and a druid of some sort. The fight was extremely one-sided with Natalia’s magic causing all of the druid's abilities to wither and die before they could even reach her. It must have been some sort of area effect she produced. It was one of the most boring matches I had seen so far. The Druid just kept throwing spell after spell at her while the former champion slowly closed the distance. After that her win was inevitable.

I was curious about how she fought because she was likely going to be my opponent in a few rounds.

The big upset turned out to be Rasputin getting his ass handed to him by a Templar. Sometimes the matchup and win were due to pure luck. The rest of the first round was uneventful for our ladder. We didn’t get to watch the other ladder as it was held on the other side of a partition. I guess it was meant to keep the final match as interesting as possible. Since contestants weren’t allowed visitors it kept them from learning the tricks of the other finalist.

Ska’s next round was against the Templar. The fight started with Ska rushing in and trying to find a weak spot on the armored man. But the man had decent skill with his blade and shield, managing to shield bash Ska. Ska reeled from the hit and the man charged thinking he was open, only for Ska to leap over the slash and cut a deep gash along the man’s arm with his magically enhanced claws.

The Templar recoiled behind his shield and tried casting a healing spell but Ska didn’t let up. He pivoted and dove into the Templar’s blind spot to tear a chunk out of the man’s leg while activating his Debilitating Strike.

The Templar screamed in pain as he toppled over, his spell disrupted and his back exposed. After that, it didn’t take long for Ska to pick him apart. The man’s swings were slow due to his arm injury and he couldn’t move far due to the leg on the opposite side. I clapped as the match ended, happy that Ska had learned most of these underhanded tactics from fighting with me.

My turn came again and I was pitted against the warrior that took down that promising swordswoman. Identify told me my opponent was a level seventeen Coureur-de-bois. I had no idea what that meant but I assumed it was French.

The man was wearing furs and dried pelts and wielded a club with short metal spikes on the end of it. The man looked wild; like someone had dragged him out of a wolf's den and he gave off a similar aura of barely controlled violence.

He slowly spun his mace as we circled each other. My decision to not use my staff and not show some of my main skills limited me quite a bit, but it also gave me the opportunity to test myself. I intended to win but I didn’t want that win to cost me too much in the way of secrets. I assumed the Stygian Order was keeping a close eye on me and this tournament in general and didn’t want them learning more about me.

The other man made the first move, tossing a small ball at me with impressive speed. I ducked out of the way, suppressing the urge to slap it aside. Turned out that was the right move as the item landed behind me and burst into a fine mist. I didn’t stick around to find out what that mist did as I rushed the club-wielding man.

The man was already swinging his wicked-looking weapon but I punched forward, releasing a Shockwave right at the surprised man’s groin. There was a high-pitched scream as my attack connected and my speed shot up as I shot into his torso activating Flurry. The man had no time to recover from the stunning effect of my Shockwave and Flurry was ridiculous with my high stats, dealing enough damage to end the match. The crowd was giving me mixed reviews, most seemed to be booing me but I didn’t care.

I went over to try and help the man up but he slapped my hand away and without warning swung his club at my face. I turned my head, managing to avoid a fatal blow but I still staggered back as the attack had torn my cheek open. The duel had ended so this man had just attempted to kill me.

Rage boiled out hot and violent as I reacted before thinking. I shot toward him with Unstoppable Force and Charge. He managed to slam his mace into my shoulder but the damage was absorbed by Unstoppable Force. I didn’t give the man another chance to strike me. My fist connected with his face just after I activated Godly Might. Somehow the man prevented his head from exploding like a watermelon, but he flew across the arena and slammed into the wall on the far side. Not against the wall, actually into the wall as all of my kinetic force amplified the impact of my attack.

I heard a horn being blown as men entered the arena to check on him. One of the men ran over to me, arms raised, and apologized for the actions of the other fighter. I had to breathe deeply to get the rage under control. He asked that I let them settle the matter and I grunted, healing my wounded face as I stalked back out of the arena while everyone gave me a wide berth.

Not the smartest thing I could have done in that situation but that man needed a lesson in manners. Someone else may have died to that cheap blow.

The crowd didn’t seem to care all that much, their boos had turned into loud cheering at the bloodshed. The whole incident soured my mood. The people in the stands would never risk their skin but they were fine with other people fighting to the death in front of them. It made me realize civilization hadn’t come far since the time of old Rome and the gladiatorial games there.