“Oh.”

Ethan blinked and stared at his opposite. “Oh?”

Zahn nodded, glancing around the room before looking back at him. “Yeah, I didn’t expect there’d be another one. I mean, you’d just rez at the altar and draw attention, right?”

He shook his head slowly, keeping a straight face. “No, when registered Gladiators die we return right here, sitting down. I was smart enough to walk in on my own two legs and sign up before dying, so nobody here has a clue.”

Zahn scowled, scratching at his head. “I didn’t get that choice, sorry. Not even the Ringmaster?” Ethan shook his head, moving to retrieve the spoon. “Honestly, it wasn’t going to be my first guess.”

“Why not?” Returning to the stew, he brushed off the spoon and resumed his stirring. “You’ve been up on me about my word choice for weeks now. What else would it be?”

The lowbie grinned, “I thought you were an old follower NPC, or a quest guy who’d seen a bunch of Players come through here before. Kind of hoped you’d offer a different escape quest if I bothered you enough.”

The blonde grinned up at him, “Oh, like that’d ever happen. You seem to forget about the Cataclysm, young’un. Nothing that heavily scripted is even left anymore.”

Zahn blinked back, his grin fading in his confusion. “Whatcha mean ol’ man? Was there some big war around here or the like?”

Ethan’s mocking smile slipped, and he almost dropped the spoon in the pot. “You don’t know the history? Oh man.” He cleared his throat before stirring more briskly. “So, don’t go looking for the Grand Market. Or the old cities, any of them.” Zahn recognized the Great Market from playing the game ages ago, but he hadn’t quite planned a trip there this early in game. “The old world’s gone. Like, big time. I wasn’t logged in for it, but everything was sacked, burned and most of the population wiped out, it’s why all the dragons are gone.” He gestured with the spoon, dripping on his audience. “You liked the old maps? Too bad, everywhere you knew is just.” He dropped the spoon with a plop, “Gone. There’s a new World Map, sure, but you gotta get a copy from someone who already has it or your own map won’t update. The empires rebuilt themselves with new leaders, and let me tell you when I spawned in,” having found a listener it was starting to look like he’d sprung a leak.

“Hey, bro.” Zahn chimed in to steer him away. “I’d love to talk about this stuff, seriously. I thought I was getting the low-down from someone else before, but still. Food?”

The days following were filled with conversation about the current game world and the Earths they’d left behind. Each night after various exercises they talked about everything from class progression and skill point builds to world politics and favorite lost foods. “No way. You picked a fucking Warlock?”

Ethan nodded, a grin stretching across his face. “What, can’t you tell from these ripped abs?” Lifting his shirt to show he was quite unfairly cut, Zahn scowled back at him. “Yeah, I started out a caster alright. Even had me a demon, nice little imp it was. Anyways, it died for real down in the Dungeon, so when I fled that place I came here to train up physically. Seems to have worked,” he paused to flex and pose as if bodybuilding, “and now that I’m the one who knows the training routines the best I get to train you. Lucky me.”

The younger Player waved a middle finger at his peer, “It’s not my fault dude. Or my doing. I just want outta here, and I don’t think my one earth spell will tackle the monster walls here.”

Ethan the elder waved a spoon, “No, you took a shitty deal. I certainly never would have agreed to be deliberately killed, let alone on repeat. Even if not gods-awful horrible it still completely fucks with your ranking scores. You could have just tried jumping out the window, for the pantheon’s sake. But, you’re dumb enough to sign up and you’re here now. It does remind me though, before the next match you’ll wanna meet with the Shaman.”

The Custom blinked over his soup, considering the possibilities. “He must be the one that made the wall, unless someone else has Earth magic.”

Ethan nodded, “That’s his idea too. He wants to know how you cracked it open, and believe me you do not want to anger Brouhaman the Shaman.”

Zahn stared at the rhyme. “You do know it’s pronounced ‘shaymin’ right?”

His objection was waved away, “Doesn’t really matter. The point is, make time to meet with him if you don’t want something vague and unpleasant to be muttered in your general direction, got me?”

The warlock nodded, “You’ll want to carefully consider where you drop those low-level points. They’re the fastest you’ll ever earn, and unless you get up ten full levels before being deleveled again you won’t be able to rack them up over and over.” Zahn nodded, opening up his status screen to look over the options. “And of course, there’s the whole tier scale nonsense.”

Finger about to tap the increase button, the lowbie paused to glance over at his mentor. “The what now?”

Ethan grinned, “When you up a rank in whatever stat it costs that much more to increase. Rank one is basically a freebie, but twenties cost two points per, thirties three. That’s the primary reason high-level Players would deliberately get deleveled back in the day.” Zahn stared quietly, absorbing information that might have saved him serious aggravation later on. “Once upon a time, if a guy hit say Rank seven and figured out his dex and agility were junk, he might willingly die a ton of times to get down to level seven and start growing up again from scratch. You don’t get your will rank increases again, but you get your six stat points and whatever resource pool bonus you might have earned that level. Seems decent, but I wouldn’t trust a group to stop milking those free levels off me, y’know?”

The lowbie nodded quietly, feeling a strange mix of emotions about his current prison. If he hadn’t reached Rank one with level ten, he’d have been deleveled to zero with whatever consequences that held. Because he made it that far, he’d been able to keep some of his stats and still increase them again. Thinking back to the hours he’d blacked out, he felt the pain and fear and apathetic return to life and resolved to never let someone torture him like that again.

“It might sound tempting, but it’s not gonna happen to me. Not again.”

Ethan giggled at the reply, “You already forget that you’ve basically signed up for exactly that?”

Zahn scowled back. “No, it’ll be more controlled. Duels n shit, not just laying on a slab.”

The ‘lock rolled his eyes, “Whatever. Read your book, I’ll see what weights you can start using.”

By the end of the week it was nearly time to prepare for the Tournament again, and a party was dispatched under the watch of the top four while Burnato took over security for the arena. Zahn found himself in a repeat of events from the month past, when he’d arrived suddenly to find the night guard a too-happy serial killer.

Facing the murderer in question, he stepped in a circle as he waved the short sword they’d armed him with in a low arc. The thuggish brute as smiling happily as he kept even with the circling, his own steps an elegant dance compared to Zahn’s rapid pace. It was during their prancing that he decided to lurch forwards and send a shoulder flying across the sand. Zahn ducked and rolled to the left, landing in a crouch at the edge of the stone circle. In his weeks of training he’d finally worked his physical stats up above ten each, and the drills on movement were finally settling as reactions to the presented danger. He’d reached level seven from facing off against fodder and dueling against the other Gladiators, but so far he’d stayed alive the entire time and treated like a human being. Taking in a breath to charge up his fire attack, he tried to steady his hands.

“Not bad, evildoer.” Until now. Burnato rolled his neck as he stalked closer, leaving Zahn to scuttle to the side as he tried to rise to his feet. “You’ve been practicing the basics I see. But have you gotten up to feints?” Narrating his attack, the large man leapt and swung his sword first one direction then the other in rapid alternating strikes.

Zahn finished his spell’s charge and launched a hefty Fire Spit at the fighter before rolling again, this time along the edge of the ring to get under the wild blows. During their duel the stones gave off a slight barrier that he could see with mana sight and pushed him back in enough that crossing the line took effort. Completing his roll and jumping to his feet, the Player spun his steps towards the center as the huge fifth position Gladiator turned to face him squarely.

The lowbie cocked a grin as he ducked into his fighting stance, presenting the blade with his leading foot and exhaling a thin stream of flame. “Did you like my version?”

The experienced fighter stared down the cocky apprentice, nodding appreciation for his progress. “You’ve grown well so far. If you were one of my boys I’d be talking to the Ringmaster about advancing you into one of the other groups, even with your level deficiency. Shame, really, Heartseeker’s: Long Thrust!” Zahn blinked as the glowing red blade appeared lodged in his chest, halting the straining muscle that tried to push despite the obstruction. He gagged as he fell to his knees, blood leaking from his mouth and off the sword itself. With his spoken command, Burnato had lunged the distance between them and sunk his sword into the Player’s heart with perfect aim.

Stepping back from his handiwork, he watched his victim struggle against the weapon before the blue lights faded from his eyes, and the body flickered away into nothing. Smiling as he caught Marta, the chipper brute whistled and swung his blade around to report to the Ringmaster.

Zahn woke up sitting, his body tingling as if he’d fallen numb from sitting on a kinked nerve. He yawned and stretched, reaching towards the ceiling before he felt the new tear in his shirt rub and he remembered the recent death. Dropping his arms down and staring at the burning coals, the Player thought back to his progress and what it meant against the brutal Gladiator. I need to be able to dodge around faster. Maybe I can get ten seconds of eye contact? If I can slow him down, I might be able to use an attack and hamstring him? Thinking over the list of attacks he’d been taught with the different weapon types, he couldn't find anything designed to fill the massive power gap between them. If I use a hammer and crush his kneecap, maybe he’d be gimped enough for me to get behind him. If I can find a weapon that reaches whatever his ranking is… The longer he dwelled on the issue the more he resolved his magic was likely going to be what saved him if anything, and the best way to boost that was to raise his mental stats before he lost the level-up points each week anyways.

He opened up his status window, glad to see he hadn’t lost a level yet from the new monthly ‘process’. His ignored resurrection window sat blinking under a popup, which he made a mental note to deal with later. Looking at his different options, his mental stats were rather even compared to his physical growth, but he also had issues in the less easily defined luck which sat abysmally low. Could I really need luck after all? If I get to level eight some week I’ll have to spend them asap. He shook himself, looking back at the window.

He dropped in six points to Int and five to Spirit to raise both to nineteen, then hemmed for a minute before hitting his mental Fuckit button and dropping twenty-one more points into each as a unit, sending them skyrocketing up to thirty. The remaining twenty-seven points he split evenly between his sevens for Charisma and Luck, before dropping the last point into Perception to round him out.

Name :

Zahn

Class:

Custom

Race :

Human

Sub Class :

N/A

Title(s) :

N/A

Type :

Player

Deity :

N/A

Home :

N/A

Free Stat Points :

0

Free Att Points :

0

Player Level :

7

Total Exp :

704

Alignment :

Chaotic Neutral

Next Level :

696

Health :

132.4

HP Regen :

60

Stamina :

175

SP Regen :

92.4

Mana :

300

MP Regen :

660

Strength :

12

Muscular powe...

Melee damag...

Constitution :

12

The physical ch...

Total Stamin...

Endurance :

13

The ability or st...

Health regener...

Agility :

14

The power to m...

Ranged dama...

Dexterity :

13

Flexibility an...

Dodge chanc...

Perception :

12

The capacity fo...

Ranged accu...

Intellect :

30

Capacity for th...

Magic damag...

Spirit :

30

The energy of c...

Mana pool...

Charisma :

20

The ability to co...

Social fluen...

Luck :

20

The force or cir...

Beneficial occ...

Willpower :

5

The control of o...

Magic accu...

Will(Passive):

11

With his new scores looking like he was a magic user and meant it, the Custom slapped the confirmation button on his stats and felt the differences in his abilities immediately. The window vanished and the light from the coals went from a pleasant glow to a burnt orange glare that filled his vision and scorched his body. He could smell something burning and felt the mass behind his eyes heat up before running icy cold. Sitting on the low bench he fell back against the seat and shook as his jaw locked up and he frothed drool from clenched lips. He struggled to breathe and couldn’t move as his body spasmed against his will and fell to the floor where he gagged and convulsed.

After long minutes without control over his body, the shaking slowed down enough for him to plant a hand against the floor and lever himself upwards enough to breathe. Gasping and choking against his own reflexes, the bewildered lowbie struggled to his knees and hacked out whatever foam remained before wiping his eyes.

“That looked like it sucked.”

A voice from somewhere above rang out, and he was able to slowly turn his head to see Ethan sitting on a nearby bench spooning soup into his ugly mug. He waved with his fingers at seeing Zahn sick and helpless, who groaned out a curse in reply.

“Looks like you tried to skip a tier there sonny.” Growling and coughing in answer, Zahn tried and failed to crawl into his seat. “So, lesson number fifty-three then. Don’t do ten or more points in a single stat at a time. If that stat is rank three and needs three points to level up, that means you can’t do four levels in it, just the three making nine points. Savvy?” During the lecture Zahn pulled his shaking body into the seat, sliding himself upright enough to give the man the finger. “Right. So, seven levels, Forty-something points. Must have been tempting. Let me see.”

Not seeing a point in trying to speak in his state, the lowbie summoned his status once more and flicked it to the side, sending a copy sliding into the other Player’s field of view. Ethan finally shut up a moment as he read, which let Zahn struggle to sit upright and try to cough his throat clear.

It wasn’t until he’d been tending to his breathing for over a minute without hearing feedback when he looked up to see Ethan staring at him very pale. “Is this some sort of joke, mate?”

Zahn blinked back, looking over the same window. “How? Can someone forge these things?” Having survived whatever the system had thrown at him for the rapid levelup, he felt determined to make the most of his limited time alive before the next sacrificial match. He stood and scooped his bowl into the pot, settling back down to slurp from it in one hand as he summoned his Grimoire in the other.

“No, you’re not gettin’ outta this. How long you been here mate? I saw you at one, what the fuck kinda lifer are ya?!” Rolling his eyes up at the other Player, Zahn found his companion beyond flustered as he stood and waved his hands around.

Settling his bowl down and leaving the book to hover, Zahn reached out and grabbed the warlock by his shoulders. “Easy, man. I told you already. See that bit up top, Custom? Yeah I specced almost completely into Willpower, got it to ten. Remember I said I started at ‘max will’?”

Ethan nodded, staring through the screen at nothing in focus. “Yeah, but. That’s… that’s normally like six or seven tops. To start at ten, and not be stuck in with the mages or one of the Guilds?” The blonde slumped in his seat, dropping his chin to stare at Zahn again. “That is so, incredibly, indescribably unfair. You could do so much with this, do you even understand? I don’t think you get it! Nevermind tee-three stats for mana at single digit levels, and your stupid fucking mana! Three hundred?! Are you jo-king. And double that in regen - Gods, fuck I hope you never learn another spell. Damn you.” Tossing the window aside, he silently raged as he slapped his leg over and over again.

Looking over the window again, Zahn saw results of planning using insider knowledge but didn’t feel it needed clarifying. Especially not if I intend to keep his good will and work with the man. Or at least, learn from him until I can escape. Picking up his soup once again, the lowbie sipped at it and turned back to his book.

“I don’t think I’ve had the occasion to thank you.”

Ethan looked up, eyeing the other Player in silence.

“I mean it. From what I’ve gathered you’ve been on my side since I had the misfortune to respawn here, and you’ve been helping me ever since. Whether standing in for me with the Ringmaster concerning resurrection timers or being the one to actually go through the physical motions of training me, you’ve been there the whole time.” Zahn looked over the brim of his soup bowl as he drank another gulp. “And you’ve been feeding me. Thank you, Ethan. You’re a good man.”

The blonde warlock considered him silently for a moment longer before shaking his head and standing, looking at the doors. “Yeah, well. Anyone would right. Put that down, you have a match against the shaman in ten minutes.”

Zahn gave a muted yelp in protest. “That’s not fair, I already died willingly today, Burnato had his fun with Heartseeker.” Ignoring the popup indicator that continued to flicker in the corner of his vision, the Player gulped down the bowl and dismissed his book. “Why would the shaman want to meet me now?”

Ethan shook his head as he opened the double doors to the sunset arena. “Don’t know. He gave me a time and told me to bring you then, I’m just glad your little fit ended in time. I told you not to cross him, looks like the same thing that makes him want to meet you makes him want to kick your ass. The man likes his magic walls.”