An Explosive Semifinal

The next half hour Leo went over his battle plan with us. With the addition of Alicia, he felt we were in a position to attack from range and let the enemy come to us. Paelyn had calmed down. She was quite apologetic when she had gotten over her distress and assured us that she was ready for the next fight.

Harold’s team also advanced, and we passed briefly as we entered the arena, exchanging nods. I noticed right away that the arena had changed. Instead of a dusty, rocky ruin, there were steep hills with grassy banks, cut by winding staircases and crowned with rotundas–it looked like mount Olympus in miniature.

“I guess the arena changes round to round,” I said.

“Oh really?” said Kyle.

“Does it help us or hurt us?” I asked.

“Hard to know,” said Leo. “Just stick to the plan the best you can, but if necessary be adaptable.”

“That’s more ambiguity than I know how to handle,” said Paelyn, looking dazed.

“Just stay with me and Alicia,” said Leo.

“And am I front line or am I trying to preserve my HP?”

“You’re front line, but don’t risk losing too much HP–unless you can really press the advantage–in which case you can sacrifice HP for a winning position.”

“Now I know how Paelyn always feels…” I said.

“You’ll know what the right decision is, Bastian. I’m counting on you.”

As the round started I took up a place on the stairs behind the hill where I could watch for approaching enemies but also be shielded from long range attacks. A minute passed. A part of me began to hope that I might not be called upon–that my team would win without me. Suddenly, around the bend of the hill I saw two figures approaching, one of them Harold.

“Two approaching from the rear!” I shouted, but I could barely hear myself. I wondered what to do. I could either rush upon them and detonate, trying to take two with me, or I could attempt to hold them off alone. Thirdly, I could turn and run back to the others. I didn’t like the first option. It would mean activating my secret weapon at the first sign of danger, and there was a chance Harold could use his ability to avoid the blast if he saw me equip the explosives. Also, I was the team's trump card. If this team was better than us, our only chance of winning might be a critical attack from me on their strongest threats–who at this point were still unknown.

I didn’t like the idea of falling back either, as I remembered being pinned down in the bunker in the previous round. With little time to deliberate, my instincts said to go for one of them and attempt to take them down the hill with me.

As they approached I jumped back up the steps, looking for my chance. As the unknown second attacker leaned forward to chase me I pounced, grabbing him around the middle and tumbling down the steep hillside. I let go of him and tried to cushion my fall, but the gradient allowed no chance of stopping once we’d started to roll. We summersaulted over each other down to the bottom of the hill. I scrambled to my feet and escaped. It would take him a minute to climb back to the top of the hill to rejoin Harold, meaning Harold would have to go alone or wait for his ally. Meanwhile I snuck away around the hill looking for a safe vantage point to watch the fight unfold and decide my next move.

I crept along the edge of the arena and made my way up the back side of a small hill, out of the way of the action. The enemy had moved quickly to seize the other hilltops with their ranged attackers. As they attacked from varying angles, it became clear that we had made a strategic blunder. To make things worse, I knew that any second Harold and the other enemy would storm our hilltop.

My only option, it seemed, was to deal with the ranged attackers on my own.

No plan presented itself to me, but every second I could feel my team’s chances of victory dwindling. Not knowing what else to do I decided to charge the nearest enemy camped on the neighboring hill. As I came into sight of my target I yelled like a madman. Seeing me, the enemy–an archer of some sort–fled in terror to the hill of his companion. Suddenly I realized, if I could chase them onto each other I could potentially land a battle winning explosion.

I chased the frightened archer up the adjacent hill, but as the archer reached his ally they turned on me–he with his bow and she with her javelins. I charged them, not sure what I would do, as their attacks cut down my health. There seemed to be nothing left to do. I went to equip my weapons, but before I used the attack a javelin pierced my chest, and I fell unconscious.

I awoke to find Alicia and Paelyn standing over me. I sat up and looked around.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

Before they could answer I saw Leo and Kyle approaching.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I was about to ask the same thing,” said Kyle.

“Who won?” I asked.

“We did of course,” said Alicia. “No thanks to you.”

“But you guys were pinned in,” I said.

“Well, we heard you call for help–actually I should say Paelyn heard you. The rest of us couldn’t hear anything over all the other noise,” said Leo.

“I met Harold on the hill,” said Kyle. “I don’t think the environment gave him anything to work with since there were no shadows, and I managed to beat him in the sword fight. Then Leo came and we took care of the other guy too.”

Pasqual coughed. “Can you guys wrap this whole story up and decide who you want on your team?”

“One minute,” said Leo. He turned and yelled, “Hey Harold, come here!” Until that moment I hadn’t noticed Harold. He was sitting on a low wall and looking dejectedly at the ground. Slowly he got up and walked over.

“Hey guys,” he said.

“Hey Harold,” said Leo. “Who should we pick to be on our team for the next round?”

Harold scratched his chin. “Um, maybe Jillaine? She’s kinda bossy, but pretty solid.”

“What a bunch of crap!” said Kyle. “You should say ‘me’, not this 'pick Jillaine' nonsense."

“Why?” said Harold. “I didn’t do anything in that fight, and you’ve already been over how you don’t trust me.”

“Give us your word,” said Kyle.

“What?”

“Give us your word as our friend that you’re going to give your all and we’ll pick you,” said Kyle.

Harold laughed. “What do you mean? Leo had me pegged from the start. I only look out for myself.”

“Give us your word as our friend,” repeated Kyle.

Harold shook his head and smiled. “You really are gullible aren’t you? Alright, pick me.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” said Kyle, as they clasped hands. “And for the record I’m not gullible, I choose to believe in my friends,” said Kyle. “Everybody else agree?”

“Nice to meet you!” said Alicia, once again the picture of agreeableness.

“You can sure turn on a dime,” I said.

Alicia stepped backwards onto my foot without turning around.

“Ow!”

“Hmm?” said Harold.

“Alicia stepped on me,” I said.

“Must have been an accident,” said Alicia, glaring at me through a smile.

The spectators were getting rowdy watching Ori’s match, with a spot in the semifinals on the line. As I made my way to the edge of the crowd I heard murmurs of admiration.

“Who is she?” someone asked his neighbor.

“I heard that’s the priestess, Orine.”

I squeezed in for a better view of the fight. On the near side Ori and an ally were fighting two against two. Her teammate seemed weak but Ori was keeping it close, maneuvering in and out of the fight and assisting her teammate with spells and healing. She was even changing between her robes and breastplate whenever the enemy closed on her.

“She’s one of the best I’ve seen today, how have I not heard of her?” someone asked.

“Isn’t she the one who made a fool of herself at the tutorial? I bet she’s had to go it alone this whole time.”

“Trouble or not, I wouldn’t mind her in our party.”

Ori landed a series of attacks and finished one of her opponents off, but just as the fight was turning in her favor a new enemy appeared at the top of the hill dressed in black armor with a heavy shield.

Ori defeated the other enemy. Only then did she see her ally rushing on the newcomer. "Wait!" she yelled, but it was too late. Her teammate lunged forward, but the knight didn’t attempt to block the attack. He took the strike on the chest as he returned a savage counterattack with his heavy sword. Now there were only two. Ori switched to her robe and channeled an attack. Bright rays of light shot forth from her staff, in a barrage of white needles. It’s Photon Needles! I thought, remembering the question I had put to her on our last night together. Her multi-hit attack is greatly strengthened by the flat damage boost from her scroll. Ori had seemingly worked it out.

I closed my eyes at the sudden illumination, but when I blinked again the attack was gone, and the knight was unmoved. Raising his shield he cast an ability of his own, returning the light energy in a burst that sent Ori flying over the grass with a scream. I felt my body tighten as my instincts told me to charge in and save her. For a second it looked like the fight was over, but Ori cast heal on herself and staggered to her feet. She took to higher ground and equipped the breastplate. As he approached her at the same steady pace, she struck him with her staff, but the few blows she managed to sneak past his shield were of little consequence to her heavily armored foe.

Suddenly he used an ability, a lunging attack which closed the gap between them and caught her off-guard. Ori tried to block it with her staff, but it was splintered in half, and she took a glancing blow. Once more the fight seemed over, but again I saw the green glow, and again Ori rose. She dropped the broken staff, and a moment later her old walking stick was in its place–the one we’d found in the forest. The knight was close enough to attack, but Ori dodged and put some distance between them. She climbed the hill and disappeared from sight. As the knight started up the hill after her, she came running down the backside, crept silently behind him, and unleashed another barrage of light missiles at his back. The knight fell and tumbled down the hill, his shield spinning off and landing some fifty feet from him. Ori charged another attack just as he stood up, and blew him back against the hill as we shielded our eyes. When I looked up again, I saw her charging in with her staff. She struck him again and again, spearing him below the breastplate and clubbing his helmet, but the knight clenched his sword and swung at her. She tried to jump out of the way, but the tip of the sword caught her in the stomach and sent her rolling to the ground with another cry of pain. As the knight closed in on her I could tell that Ori was still conscious, but made no effort either to rise or heal herself. She was out of mana, and there was nothing she could do.

Then came Pasqual’s voice. “Orine forfeits! Winner: Kristoff!”

As the others were resurrected, I saw Ori and Kristoff talking.

“I’ll bet you he chooses her to take to the next round,” I heard the guy next to me say.

“Who else would he choose? Her team was garbage,” said the other. I returned to the others. Leo saw me coming and asked about the match.

“It came down to a duel between Ori and Kristoff, and he ended up taking it.”

“I guess that’s not surprising. He is second on the leaderboard. Did you manage to pick up on his fighting style? I’ve heard his class is the dark paladin, but I’ve had no explanation for what that means.”

“He looks like a tank suited for blocking magic attacks. He’s heavily armored and very slow but has an ability which allows him to lunge quickly for a surprise attack. He looks like a real threat. Combine that with Ori’s healing ability, I don’t think he’ll be easy to take down.”

“You think they’ll pick her then?” asked Leo.

I nodded.

“That could be a problem. I doubt we’ll be able to win the next round without you using your ability, and she’s one of the few who might realize what you can do.”

As we waited for our next match we heard Pasqual calling out the winners. When he announced Lilian’s team had won, Leo frowned.

“What? You can’t really be surprised that they won,” I said.

“It isn’t that. Did you hear the names he listed?” asked Leo.

“What do you mean?”

“He listed every one of their names. That means they won without losing a single person. It was the same in the last round too. They aren’t just winning. They’re crushing their opponents.”

“We’ve done alright ourselves. Especially considering I haven’t really been pulling my weight,” I said.

“It isn’t your fault. I was worried about giving away our trump card too soon and told you to hold off. In the next round, I want you to use your ability. Get as much value as you can, but you don’t have to look for the perfect moment. If you can take out Ori, Kristoff, or any two of the others I say go for it. That at least gives us our best chance of making it to the finals.”

“I agree, one step at a time. We can worry about the finals when we get there.”

As we were called up to the next round I noticed Ori was on the other team, but neither of us made any acknowledgement of the other.

Since ours was the first semifinal match, we had no preview of the changes to the arena. With a wave of his hand Pasqual vanished, or rather–a forest of rocky spires sprung up between him and us.

Pasqual’s voice came just as clearly, though he could no longer be seen. “Let the match begin!”

“Visibility is highly limited,” said Leo.

“Alright, Captain Obvious, what do we do about it?” asked Kyle.

“I’m thinking,” said Leo.

“I could go scout out the enemy,” said Harold.

“Yes, good. Take Paelyn with you. Remember, the goal is to get Bastian onto as many of them as possible.”

“Right,” said Harold. “You ready?”

“Ready,” said Paelyn. Her eyes were red, but she had a determined look on her face.

They disappeared around the pillars. As the moments passed, my eyes started playing tricks on me–every little movement opened a window through the rocky formations, which my mind interpreted as a darting enemy. I must have looked anxious.

“You alright?” asked Leo, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah,” I said, shaking my head. I was almost whispering. What was I so scared of?

“This waiting is terrible,” said Kyle. “Don’t you think we ought to move?”

“Probably,” said Leo with a sigh, “but then what good will our scouts do if they don’t know where to find us?”

Suddenly the shadow of a nearby pillar grew black, and Harold leapt out of it. “Kyle, Leo, come with me quick!”

“What is it?” Leo asked.

“No time to explain, follow me,” he said, dashing off back the way he came.

Leo charged me to stay hidden and went to follow the others.

“I guess that just leaves me and you,” I said turning to Alicia, or rather where I thought Alicia was, because she too was gone.

A few seconds later I heard footsteps fast approaching. It sounded like someone light on their feet. I peered out cautiously from behind a rock and saw that it was Paelyn.

She was out of breath but asked between gasps whether I had seen Harold.

“Yes, he was here a moment ago but he grabbed Kyle and Leo, and they ran off.”

“Where’s Alicia?” asked Paelyn.

“No idea, I’m guessing she went with them. What happened with Harold?”

“We saw someone. He wanted to ambush them–that must be why he wanted Leo and Kyle… I’m worried though.”

“Why?” I asked.

“The person we saw, I couldn’t hear his footsteps.”

“What do you think that–”

“Look out!” Paelyn shouted, pulling me down behind a pillar. I heard a harsh clang near where my head had been.

“Where are they?” I asked, poking my head out for a look.

Paelyn pointed up.

“Up there?” I asked, turning to look at the tops of the stone towers. They varied in height from about ten to fifteen feet and were about six feet apart on average.

Suddenly there he was, perched on a pillar less than thirty feet from us, his arm cocked, holding a shuriken of some kind. We dove for cover. I darted away for a few seconds then pressed my back against a large pillar and waited. I couldn’t hear anything but the sound of my own breathing. I slowly sidled around the back of the pillar, but I couldn’t see either Paelyn or our attacker.

It occurred to me that it was better to try and find the enemy rather than wait for him to find me. As I crept quietly around the pillar, I came to a place where my view was relatively unobstructed. I could see our attacker, perched about forty feet away. He was dressed in all black like a ninja and carried a sword. I watched as he crawled to the edge and leapt silently to another pillar. Suddenly I saw Paelyn as she slid around the neighboring pillar. I waved to get her attention, but before I could communicate the location of the enemy, he started to turn my way, and I had to duck behind the pillar so as not to be seen. I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t be sure he wasn’t still looking my way, but if I waited too long I would probably lose the opportunity to alert Paelyn of his location. After a few seconds I decided to run the risk and look back down the aisle. There was Paelyn, still looking at me. Her bow was in her hand, an arrow notched and ready to be drawn, but the other was gone. I turned and looked the other way around the pillar and found him. Sliding back around, I beckoned Paelyn to me.

As she reached me, she drew back the arrow and turned the corner. I couldn’t see the enemy, but I could see the intensity in Paelyn’s eyes as she spotted him and loosed her arrow. As soon as I heard him yell, I rushed out of hiding and reached him just as he came to his feet. He tried to escape, but I caught his shirt, and managed to get my second hand under his sword arm. He swung around and punched me, but I took the opportunity to strengthen my hold of him, grabbing him around the middle. I wrestled him to the ground. He managed to get most of his body away by kicking at me, but that only gave Paelyn, who had just caught up to us the opportunity she needed for a finishing strike.

“That’s one down,” I said.

“Yes,” said Paelyn, “but I’m still worried about the others. The person we saw, he seemed a little off somehow. I can’t help but feel like they're wandering into a trap.”

“Why didn’t you say something to Harold?” I asked.

“I tried, but before I could he went charging off to find the others. He’s much quicker than I am, especially when he’s using his ability.”

Suddenly I heard what sounded like an explosion, distant and echoing. I turned first in that direction and then back to Paelyn.

“What was that?” I asked.

“It sounded like Alicia’s attack.”

The sound came again. “Come on,” I said, “we have to help them.”

“Wait, don’t you think it would be better if we went around behind them? You might be able to land your attack while they’re all distracted, and you wouldn’t be at risk of hurting anyone on our side.”

After consideration, I agreed. We snuck our way around the periphery of the arena, in the direction of the noise. Distinct voices were difficult to hear, but it was clear that most–if not all–of the others were engaged in heavy fighting. The battle was just beyond a row of spires when Paelyn pulled me down behind a pillar.

“Their back line should be just on the other side,” she whispered in my ear. I nodded. Opening my menu, I equipped my casks. Then, with a deep breath I dashed around the rock. I was startled by the scene. There were projectiles and spells flying everywhere. Smoke and dirt and splintering rocks showered the battlefield. It was difficult to identify anyone, and some were half out of view. My heart was pounding, even if I’d seen others resurrected, it didn’t completely ease my anxiety about blowing myself up.

Somewhere Leo was shouting, and the next moment Alicia’s attack started raining down around me. This brought the enemies further into view, as they ducked for cover. I selected my weapon, but as I stepped forward a scream rooted me in place. Just a few paces from me I saw Ori, reeling in pain. As her eyes met mine, I knew I needed to use my ability, but the sight of her in such distress had me in a state of shock. My arms, which had not been constrained for a long time, felt numb. I found my resolve, and–with a deep breath–I activated my weapon. Then came a secondary message I’d never seen before. Are you sure? Yes.

All of this transpired in a matter of moments. The last thing I saw was Ori activating a spell of her own, as Kristoff thrust himself between us.

I awoke with a headache. There seemed to be a ringing noise and I didn’t know if it was in my head, or in my ears, or if something was really ringing. I tried to prop myself up, but found my arms were fixed to the charges. With some difficulty I managed to navigate the menu and unequip them, though doing so made me quite nauseous.

“Are you okay?”

I opened my eyes. It was Ori standing over me. I forced myself to sit up. She tried to help me to stand, but I waved her off.

“Yeah, just really dizzy,” I said.

“That was some blast.”

I shook my head. “I think it killed me before I could process it,” I said.

“That’s good, I guess,” said Ori. She looked nervous.

“Are you alright?” I asked. “Did I hurt you?”

Ori smothered a laugh. “Did you hurt me? Weren’t you trying to?”

“No. I mean–yes.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said with a sweet smile. “You didn’t do anything you need to feel sorry about. I know it’s a lot to process. It feels so…real.”

“That’s because it’s as real as anything here. We’re actually killing each other, and relying on Pasqual to bring us all back. It’s kinda messed up if you think about it.”

“Don’t. You need to keep your head. You have the next match to think about.”

“We won then,” I said, finally standing up. “I’m sorry.”

Ori laughed again. “Why are you sorry?”

“I don’t like the idea of winning at your expense,” I said, looking away.

“Well lucky for you, I guess, you didn’t.” She winked at me.

“Wait, you beat us? Then my blast, it didn’t finish you off?”

“Nope, you did get one of our teammates, but between my barrier and Kristoff’s shield we managed to survive it.”

“And you just healed back up,” I said.

“Mhmm,” said Ori. “It was a good thing you hesitated, or I would have been done for.”

I could feel my face getting hot, “I wasn’t expecting it to have a secondary activation screen. But wait, so why did you say I have another match? Is there a third place match?”

“Yep, but you aren’t in it,” said Ori.

“Wait, why?” I asked.

“Because you’re in the finals, duh.”

“You picked me?”

“Technically we picked you together. I hope that’s okay. I guess I thought you’d be blowing yourself up again in the third place match too so it wouldn’t make much difference to you.”

“Oh, yeah, no–I’d be happy to help. I’m just surprised you all wanted me.”

“I may have twisted a few arms,” said Ori with an arch smile.

“I hope you didn’t do it for me,” I said.

“I mean–I did it partly for you, but I also did it because I believe we can win this–together.”

“You’re right,” I said, shaking my head. “Has the other semifinal started yet?” I asked, looking around.

“Yeah, it’s going on now,” said Ori.

As I was glancing around I caught sight of my former team. Paelyn saw me and gave a sheepish wave.

“I wonder if I should go talk to them,” I said.

“Go ahead,” said Ori, shrugging.

“Did you go talk to your team after they lost?” I asked.

Ori shrugged. “We said hi.”

I was surprised by the coolness of her response, but before I could reply Kristoff and the rest of his party joined us.

“That’s quite the interesting ability you have there,” said Kristoff, extending his hand.

“Thanks…I guess,” I said, as we shook hands.

“Bastian, right? My name is Kristoff. Ori tells me you two go way back.”

“Yeah…” I said. I wondered if it was possible he hadn’t seen the spectacle we made in the tutorial.