Chapter 14: Rewards and Returning

There are a whole slew of messages that require my attention, but I’ll wait until I’m back on top of the starting mountain to deal with them. In the mean time the announcer voice is back.

“WHAT AN INCREDIBLE FIGHT! LETS HEAR IT FOR BLAADDDEEEE!”

The crowd goes wild, cheering and whistling and chanting my name. This is weird. I don’t know what to do in this situation. Think. What do all of the fighters at the fighting matches do when they win. Right, they scream super loud and raise their fists. I’m not sure that my voice has the volume for the shout so I’ll just do the hand thing.

I put my hands (one of which is still clutching a bloody knife) into the air and slowly turn around in a circle. The cheering gets even louder so I must be doing something right.

“NOW FOR YOUR REWARD! WHAT WEAPON WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECIVE?”

“Reward? I guess I’ll take a knife. Nothing too fancy please.”

“VERY WELL! AFTER YOU RECIVE YOUR KNIFE YOU WILL BE TRANSPORTED BACK TO THE PLACE THAT YOU WERE AT BEFORE YOU ACCEPTED THE CHALLENGE. IN THREE DAYS YOU WILL BE SUMMONED TO ANOTHER CHALLENGE REGARDLESS OF YOUR SITUATION AT THE TIME. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU BE PREPARED FOR THIS AND BE IN A SAFE LOCATION AT THE TIME OF YOUR TRANSPORT. DO YOU WISH TO RECIVE A COUNTDOWN TIMER SO YOU WILL KNOW EXACTLY WHEN THE NEXT CHALLENGE WILL START?”

“Yes, I would.”

At the same time that a count down timer appears in nm upper right vision (to the left of the money counters) a shining beam of light suddenly appears from the ceiling pointing strait down towards the center of the Colosseum. The floor where it shines melts away and a new column of shimmering white rock rises in its place, not stoping until it is at my approximate waist height. On it is a knife, the blade of which is completely black. Like obsidian, coated in tar, then shot out into deep space and sent into a black hole black. It doesn’t suck in any of the light around it, but there is a sharp separation between it and everything else. The handle is a highly contrasted with the blade, being a dull white that looks like it could be bone with a simple leather wrapping for grip. It is absolutely beautiful.

I walk over to it slowly. I can’t believe that this is mine. It is mine… right? It better be. If they don’t want me to have it then they’re going to have to pry it from my cold dead fingers because, as much as I would hate to die again, that dagger is worth more to me than even that. What am I saying? Of course it’s mine. Who else would it be for? Ow, my leg. Oh I’m here. God, I have got to stop inner monologuing and start paying more attention to my surroundings.

With a trembling hand I take the dagger and inspect it.

Dagger of Volos. This dagger is made of one of the strongest materials known to demon kind, dragon scales. It will never break and can be soul bound to it’s user. This dagger has also been made so that it could be infused with the blood of a dragon. If enough dragon blood could be provided then this dagger would become a scalding item. It would get more powerful as it’s owner did so that it would never loose it’s use. Until then, it is still an extremely sharp and durable blade. It also has the added affect of having an enchanted grip. It will never leave the hand of it’s owner except if they wish it.

Due to meeting special parameters additional information has been provided. Because you are currently participating in the The Trials of Volos and have obtained a potential scaling item you should know that dragon’s blood can be obtained by completing further challenges. If you should fail in the future then you will still get to keep the dagger and could potentially get blood on your own, but no champion has reached the level of being able to fight a dragon, so good luck with that.

Would you like to take ownership of the Dagger of Volos? Warning, If you accept this item will be soul bound. It will not take up inventory space and you will never loose it even after death, but you will be unable to give it to anyone else unless you get it unbound which can be quite costly and requires a magic user of at least level 50 to do.

Y / N

YES! YES! OF COURSE I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE OWNERSHIP! THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER! Ok, ok, deep breaths, I don’t want to pass out with all of the people watching. That would make me look very stupid… BUT OH MY GOD YEESSSSS!

The dagger sends out a pulse of dark smoke that seems to coalesce around me, twisting and writhing. The cheering that had continued in the colosseum, despite me being oblivious, stops. You could have heard the dead (though thankfully Krast’s mist corpse stays silent). Speaking of, I completely forgot to loot the body. That just goes to prove how incredibly stressful this entire experience has been. Managing to repress my inherent urge to loot every living thing in sight (and the vast majority of nonliving things as well) is very difficult to do. Well no sense in letting all of those precious items and money go to waste. In the two or so seconds that this inner dialog has taken, the dark smoke has finished seeping into my red skin… and the crowd has started up again.

I stroll over to the mist shape and touch my hand in it, but instead of an inventory, a message pops up

Due to the rules of this moderated fight, the looting function has been removed. This is done to prevent competitors from gaining any unfair advantages. If someone got a lucky drop then they would be getting an advantage that no one else was able to obtain. All other advantages are available for everyone to get if they meet the prop. If you have a problem with this then you may submit a complaint with a system administrator.

Well… that sucks. I’m not too sad, because I got the dagger, but it does suck. I won’t submit a complaint though. The admins are being fair, even if it is a bit annoying.

“PLACE YOUR HAND ON THE PEDESTAL THAT YOUR KNIFE WAS ON IN ORDER TO RETURN TO THE PLACE THAT YOU WERE IN BEFORE AGREEING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE TRIALS OF VOLOS. ALSO, WHILE YOU MAY LOOK AROUND THIS ARENA AS MUCH AS YOU WOULD LIKE, THERE ARE NO ITEMS SUCH AS THE ORB THAT YOU TOOK FROM THE FIRST TASK. SEARCHING FOR SUCH ITEMS WOULD BE POINTLESS.”

He is probably telling me the truth that there are no more freebies…probably…. but their is always the chance that that was done just to throw me off. No harm in taking a look. After all, the announcer did say that I could stay for as long as I like.

So I begin to do an in depth examination of every nook and cranny of the colosseum including both of the trapped hallways. I can say with confidence that the walls are just walls, no secret door’s or hiding spots. They are also made of some sort of extremely hard material so I can’t slice them, even with my beautiful, brand new knife (which I’m is lucky unbreakable given how hard I was trying to stab the wall). The trap hallways are both exactly the same, right down to the last scratch on the wall. The only exception to this is the deep gouges and burnt spots on mine that were caused by setting of the trap. It appears that Krast tried to disarm them in a more traditional way. I am unable to get into the stands because whenever I try and fly up and into them a strong gust of wind comes from nowhere and pushes me away. The same thing happens when I try to climb up with the skill I learned on the mountain. The dirt floor is just a dirt floor and the pedestal in the center, while impressive looking with the light shining down on it, is just sparkly, unyielding rock. It has the same circular dragon pattern as the table from before chiseled into it. Unfortunately it seems that the announcer wasn’t trying to throw me off.

With nothing else to see or do I place my hand on the pedestal and quickly close my eyes, recalling my last experience with teleportation. The light still leaks through my closed eyelids, but it is much more manageable.

When the light finally fades (finally meaning like one second after it started) I open my eyes to find myself on my knees on top of the starter mountain. The sky is dark and looking up I find that lack of pollution and probably some inventive thinking by a game designer has made the stars truly incredible to behold. I’m not sure how long I was in those challenges for, but I hope that Roth isn’t worrying. I better head back to his place and get some sleep. If I’m to be ready for the next trial then I better train up and I probably won’t be able to put my body through that training if I’m dead tired.

With that in mind I stand up, start jogging toward the edge of this oddly flat topped mountain and leap off it for the second time. My wings spread with barely a thought and I once again marvel at how amazing this is.

The wind, blowing back my hair and caressing my face is incredible. The amazing view, beautiful and at the same time terrifying, is something that I hope I can one day be. The stars, glowing so brightly and swirling in incredible patterns with streaks of color, look better than the most amazing painting that you have ever seen in any gallery. Nothing else in either of my two lives compares to this.

I can feel a slowly growing tiredness in my wings and back, but I push it away. There are better things to do right now than feel pain. If only I could push it away forever. Sigh. One more reason to get stronger. No. Not one more reason. The reason. What better use for power than to be able to appreciate the beauty in life and not have to worry about anything. Gaining power in order to gain more power is pointless. This will be my goal. To be able to fly forever, and never have to come down for anything or anyone.

Ow. Unfortunately a groan of protest from my wings brings me down from wonderland and back into reality, reminding me that I if I don’t come down willingly then gravity will start being more forceful. For my wings being that tired I must have been working them for a while. How long was my brain on cloud nine for? Time to dive, I suppose.

And so I dive. Down towards the starting city I rush through the air and I actually see that a few others aside from myself are flying as well. They look very impressive, with shiny armor and swords. Someone even had a gnarly staff that could only be used for magic. They don’t even spare a look in my direction so I just try and avoid them as best I can before coming down in the main square.

Thump! Note to self, don’t dive straight down then attempt to land. You are going faster than you think.

My rather unflattering landing gets me some strange looks from a few late night shopkeepers, but they thankfully all mind their own business after I glare at them. It is getting late. There is no moon in the sky with which I can estimate the actual time, but my best guess is around midnight. I better get to Roth’s shop quickly if I want to get any shuteye at all. I set off at a light jog while pulling out my map to make sure that I’m headed in the right direction (not that that is really required. Perfect recall comes in handy for these types of things).

When I finally arrive I tiptoe off to my room while sneak is active and, as far as I can tell, nobody is at all the wiser.