Chapter 120

Today is a double chapter Thursday!

The Warmonger Suites, Champion’s Rest, Atlanta - 4:44 PM

I awoke to the sound of knocking on my door. It wasn’t often that I slept in Champion’s Rest, usually opting to return to the train, but I hadn’t realized how tired I was until I made it back to my room to transfer over. Grabbing the Kingtin’s Foil off of the table, I put it on and got out of bed.

[[Patron Message]]

I’m glad you got some sleep, Ant. You really needed it. Kayla stopped by and spoke through the door, hoping that I would pass on the message.

Joanna is fine now. She was embarrassed that she got knocked out so easily, but is otherwise healthy.

Manny and Tito returned and told her that the Monstersmith took the axe and my feather and got to work on it almost immediately. It should be done by this match, so he won’t be without his main weapon. Kayla also mentioned that he was looking really bad, but we’ll see how he does once he has the axe.

Jeff’s next match isn’t until later tonight where he’s slated to fight against another fan favorite. Apparently, he’s been doing quite well. He’s excelling, but neither of them are sure how much further he’ll get. The competition is fierce.

In other news, Howard is outside. He looks very excited about something.

Sincerely,

Sara

“Thank you, Sara,“ I mumbled as I stretched.

I was feeling fairly refreshed despite not sleeping in my own bed. While Sara might not have known what my manager was excited about, I did, and I was counting the moments of quiet before he asked me about it. Howard knocked again.

“Just a minute!“ I yelled as he knocked yet again. There was no answer.

My clothes had been washed in the magical washer and dryer combo in the room’s bathroom, and they were back in pristine condition. I quickly got dressed, returned to the door, and opened it up.

Howard stood on the other side of it, looking excited “Just got the info on the next round. Do you want to head over to the manager’s suite?“

“Yes, and before you ask, we’re not going to pick the option with all the animal girls in it,“ I told him, stifling a yawn.

“I thought you might say that, so I came up with several reasons why you shou-“

“Howard,“ I said, interrupting the man by placing my hand on his shoulder. “You realize that we’re going in there to kill and slaughter, right? Do you really want to watch me eviscerate a bunch of animal girls? Really?“

My manager’s excitement faded into a look of horror. “Oh, no, those poor cat girls are going to get hurt!“ he exclaimed. “Why would the administrators do that to them?“

“First, they’re called Ailurandras, and they’re a whole race of both cat men and women. If you had paid attention, then you would know that. It just mentions women because they’re the only ones that fight in their society.“

“That’s just so much harder to say than cat girl,“ Howard whined.

“They’re also not cat girls in the way that you’re thinking,“ I continued. “They don’t look like people with a pair of cat ears and a tail like you’re obviously thinking, but they’re covered in fur, very lanky, and can easily be the stuff of nightmares.“

Howard sighed. “You’re sure?“

“Yes, completely,“ I said before removing my hand from his shoulder. “Now come on, we have things to discuss. Does it say how many teams still have to choose their match?“

He checked his menus before looking back up at me. “Looks like we’re the last one. This has been sitting in front of me since 4 PM, I guess everyone else jumped on it.“

“I’d like to thank you for not going straight for the Ailurandras option, that took a lot of self control and I’m proud of you,“ I told him honestly before walking towards the elevator. “Second, put our choices down in this order. Orc, Trolls, Ignans, then Ailurandras.“

“Orcs?“ Howard made a disgusted face. “Yeah, alright, if you insist.“

I rolled my eyes as we entered the elevator. “Yes, I do, thank you.“

The third round of the Chaos Cup was a dungeon raid. It was a collaborative effort with three other teams to see who can fight through their challenges the fastest. While the competitors usually didn’t get a chance to choose what the events entailed, Benedict Merder had seen fit to give them the option of ranked choice voting.

Teams would have the opportunity to collaborate and figure out which fight they wanted to take part in based on a short description. The Orc raid was one of the harder choices because of it’s contents. While the others had one boss, this one had three. There was a Chieftain, a Shaman, and a Beast Master. It was a chance for me to let loose despite my restrictions. Now that I was fishing for a better fight with the Uuska, I was feeling pretty good.

“Okay, looks like the results are already in,“ Howard said as he tapped the screens in front of him. “And you got the Orcs, just like you wanted.“

I nodded as I stepped off of the elevator. The lobby was empty except for a few of the fighters I recognized from the Safe Arm Arena. Anyone here, though, had probably been knocked out, and no one made eye contact with us. Howard sent me his notes, and I looked it over.

[[Manager’s Notes]]

Ailurandras: Summer Breeze, Most Valuable Prisoners, Atlanta’s Worst Team, Best In Show.

Ignans: Diamond Breakers, Sherwood Forest Knaves, Tag Team Champions, BYOB.

Orcs: The Warmonger, The Jugglernauts, Adrenaline Junkies, Team Trouser Snake.

Trolls: Dunbar Runners, Team Titans, Four Best Friends, Thunderstealers.

“All of Branson’s teams are together in two categories,“ I pointed out. I noticed that Team Trouser Snake was with us, and wondered what Sara had to say about that. “They picked out the ones they thought would be easiest and stacked them in the Ailurandras and Ignans.“

“Are they the easiest?“ Howard asked as we left the building.

“Ailurandras, definitely, but it’s a toss up between the Ignans and Trolls on which one is second and third hardest,“ I answered. “Probably would have swapped Summer Breeze for Sherwood or BYOB, but Branson seems to be playing the safe bet now.“

“Speaking of safe bets, what do you think?“ Howard asked, pulling out a pen and paper. “The cat girls first?“

“Ailurandras,“ I corrected as I snapped open my menu. When I sent him nearly 5,000 points, he didn’t even blink. He had gotten used to it by now.

“Yeah, that’s a mouthful, I’m not saying that.“

I sighed. “Sure. Well, you’re right. With both Summer Breeze, MVP, and the Worst Team in there, they’re going to tear through their raid in no time. It’ll barely matter that they only have one healer. That’s the safest call.“

“Okay, so Ailfurwhatevers first.“ Howard wrote it down.

“Followed by us.“

He paused. “Didn’t you say that yours is the hardest?“

“I did, but you should know by now that difficulty isn’t going to matter,“ I scoffed.

We started reaching the crowds waiting patiently outside of the Merder Stadium, and I started waving. I was met with enthusiastic cheers telling me to embrace chaos, which I returned, before we made it inside.

“Between myself and the Adrenaline Junkies, we could take out the whole thing without help,“ I continued. “Add in the Jugglernauts, who are still hiding tricks, and Team Trouser Snake, which I remind you has a buffer, a healer, and a big ass cannon, we’re golden.“

“Okay, don’t know why I bother questioning you, so I’ll write it down. What about third?“

“That’s going to the Trolls. They have the best defense in the form of their regeneration, but there’s not nearly as many of them,“ I reasoned. “Dunbar Runners are always going to be good at what they do, but Haley from Four Best Friends can deal mental damage and the Thunderstealers have lightning magic on their side.“

Howard wrote it down. “So then the Ignans will be finished last?“

“The Ignans will not be defeated,“ I told him. He gave me a confused look, and I continued. “BYOB lost most of their main weapons, and while they are making points back they’re not going to have anything as good as their initial set. Right now, Dave’s primary set of skills is based around constructing things with plywood. Ignans are fire people, so that’s not going to fly. I’m sure they tried to get in with the Ailurandras, but got booted down because of their low standing.“

“Okay, but what about the other three?“ he asked.

“They’ve still got the Diamond Breakers, who are kitted out in metal armor and will overheat way too quickly, and the Tag Team Champions. That’s who’s really going to drag them down,“ I said. “Each team gets a shared amount of respawns, and the Tag Team Champions are very heavily based on grappling their opponents. You know, the ones who are primarily fire? I’m sure they picked Ignans last, but they're also not in good standing which means they didn’t get what they wanted.“

“Damn, harsh,“ he said, but wrote it down. Once he did, he plucked another piece of paper from his inventory and handed it to me. “Your restrictions.“

I took it from him and read it aloud. “Can’t have the most kills on your team. Easy enough considering the Adrenaline Junkies are there. Can’t verbally talk with teammates, that’s a powerful restriction. I can write notes, but that’s not going to help in the heat of battle.“

“And no more meowing,“ Howard sighed.

“Stop trying to make the Warmeowger a thing,“ I told him before looking back down at the note. “Can only use stolen weapons. So none of my own, sounds fine to me. No dying, like, at all. Easier this time than the last, so I’ll allow it.“

We ran up the stairs to the manager suites to find that, aside from a few members of other teams standing outside of their rooms, the corridor was empty. No one was here to stop us this time, thankfully. I waved to a couple of the Sherwood Forest Knaves, who quickly escaped into their suite, before entering mine with Howard.

“One more to go,“ Howard said as he got comfortable in his chair.

I looked at the last one as I walked towards the window. Then, I paused. “Maximum health reduced by half?“ I asked, turning to look at him. That would reduce my hit points down to the low four hundreds. “Can't respawn and my health is halved?“

“Too much?“ Howard asked hesitantly.

“Not if the Wheel of Chaos doesn’t mess with that specifically,“ I said, chuckling. “These are fine. Put them in.“

“You got it, Warmonger.“

Tucking away the list of restrictions into my pocket, I looked out over the arena. The center of Merder Stadium had been split into four different sections again though these ones weren’t at all uniform. There was a hot, volcano-like area for the Ignans, a lightly wooded area with a stone bridge in the middle for the Trolls, and a dense forest with several tree houses linked within for the Ailurandras. The system had worked its magic to make each space bigger on the inside.

The Orc section was no different. There was very little in the way of plants, and it reminded me of the clearing in the Mount Merder section in the way the area was covered in rocks and boulders. The Orc camp was surrounded by logs set into the ground vertically and sharpened at the top. None of them had spawned yet, but it was going to start with a siege against the wall.

Several tents of various sizes littered the inside, almost all of them were some variation of red and brown. The only exception was the largest one in the back that was made of black and green fabric, and two that were near the middle that were black and red. The first belonged to the Chieftain and was locked until the Shaman and Beast Master were defeated in the others.

As Benedict Merder started up his usual spiel, which I promptly ignored, I wondered if I should put away my Writhing Belt Whip -  I couldn’t use it, after all - but kept it in my pocket for the stat boosts. I pulled out a thick pad of paper and started writing on the sheets in preparation. There wasn’t a lot of time left. As the points leader of the Chaos Cup, I was going to be called first followed by the teams that ended up in my section.

“Good luck, Warmonger,“ Howard said, and I became aware of my name being called.

The next moment I was standing in the arena looking up a slight slope at the Orc encampment. I moved to the back of the large silver disc I had been summoned to, avoiding the circles that the other teams would appear in, and finished off the last of my written notes.

“Hope you don’t mind the fact that I’m going to be working with James, the Blasphemous Priest,“ I whispered quietly to Sara. “Hands are kind of tied on this one.“

[[Patron Message]]

Under these circumstances it’s acceptable, but only because I’m rooting for you to win. I see that you even wrote him a message specifically, and that should be good enough.

Good luck out there, Ant.

Sincerely,

Sara

Before I could respond, the Adrenaline Junkies spawned near me. Lucy’s gaze had immediately homed in on me and she started closing the distance. Noah, the Rage Eater and leader of the team, and James, the Savage Defender, began holding the Raging Hulk back.

“I just want to talk to him!“ she yelled, struggling.

“Nuh uh, Luce,“ Noah said with a strained voice. “I remember the last time you just wanted to talk to someone. We’re not going to let you fight the Warmonger.“

“Fine! I'm just going to knock his head off a little bit.“

“Lucy, no!“ James yelled. He wasn’t getting pulled nearly as much as his leader, but that made sense as the team’s tank. “We need everyone on point if we want to get back to the front of the pack.“

“Are, uh, are we interrupting something?“ a woman asked in a clearly hesitant voice.

Once Lucy realized that the Jugglernauts had spawned in, she roared in rage before allowing Noah and James to carry her away from me. “Sorry,“ Noah said. “She’s just a little angry.“

“Just a little bit completely furious,“ she snapped. “He threw us off of a damn mountain, Noah!“

“Well, he stole most of our points last round,“ Jack countered. “But we can leave that all behind us, right?“

“What are we leaving behind?“ Daniel asked, having appeared beside me merely seconds ago. Both Bill and James looked at me with disapproval, and it dawned on me that we had two people named James on this team, the Savage Defender from Adrenaline Junkies and the Blasphemous Priest from Team Trouser Snake.

As I couldn’t tell anyone anything verbally, I snapped my fingers so that I could get everyone’s attention and started moving my hands, forming words in American Sign Language. Does anyone here sign?

“Uh, like the bare minimum,“ Bill said, raising his hand. “But all I caught was sign, so, that’s probably not going to work.“

“Dammit, Bill,“ the priest sighed.

“What? I took it as a college course, like, seven years ago and it was just to get into-“ Bill cleared his throat and shook his head. “Not the time, not the place.“

When no one else responded, I shrugged and started ripping off pages and handing them to the team leaders. Daniel started reading it aloud as his friends crowded around him. “Here is a list of restrictions that I’m under in order to make things more fair for everyone else. It’s for the purposes of betting, but rest assured that I won’t have any problems dominating in this match.“

A moment of silence passed over everyone before Lucy spoke up. “Are you fucking serious?“ she asked. “You’re operating under restrictions even when you might bring us down?“

Having anticipated this response, I held up a piece of paper that said, Yes, and so far I’ve been able to do exceedingly well despite having similar restrictions in previous matches.

“Wait, hold on,“ Noah said, holding up the paper. “You’re telling me that you’ve been doing this since the first round? What else have you been holding back on?“

I handed him the paper detailing my previous restrictions. He read it over, eyes widening, before passing it around. “You can’t be serious, man.“ When I started nodding, Noah sighed. “That’s… And I thought we were badass. Damn.“

“That’s actually really disheartening,“ the Savage Defender said.

“Only if you have no ambition, James,“ Lucy snapped, hitting her teammate on the chest with the back of her hand. “Strive for it. He’s showing off? We’ll punt him off his high horse when we make it to the top.“

“Still, not talking with us seems like a detriment, doesn’t it?“ Isabella asked.

“Kind of feels like a machine now that we can’t hear him speak,“ Daniel started.

“With the shiny mask and everything.“

I shook my head and handed out the next set of papers, as well as the letter to Team Trouser Snake’s priest.

“Bill should blast open the gate, and Team Trouser Snake should start moving the cannon towards the rear tent where the big boss of the Orc tribe is,“ Daniel read.

“The Jugglernauts should join them, as keeping the Glass Cannon alive will be very helpful,“ Isabella continued. “Mooks will be coming out of everywhere, and it will be fairly nonstop. Head in whatever direction I go in in case I need backup.“

“Mine just says I shouldn’t fly because my angel wings offend people and I’ll become a big target for archers,“ James whined. “Is that why you stuffed me in a basket?“ I nodded at him. He scowled and threw away the note.

“Adrenaline Junkies should take care of either the Shaman or the Beast Master, their choice,“ Noah read loudly, cutting off the priest from any further protests. “Once both bosses are taken care of, we reconvene for the final fight, where the Glass Cannon should be present.“

The teams all looked at each other before Jack looked at me. “Why do we get stuck escorting the payload?“ he asked. “We’re the-“

“Don’t say it,“ Isabella pleaded.

“-Jugglernauts, bitch,“ Jack finished.

“That line alone makes me happy to leave you behind,“ Lucy muttered.

As Jack looked ready to pick a fight, Isabella slapped her hand over his mouth. “Sorry for him,“ she said diplomatically. “My brother’s kind of an idiot. We’ll help Team Trouser Snake out.“

I nodded before looking at Noah. He tilted his head before his face lit up. “Oh, which one? Uhh,“ he looked at his teammates.

“Beast Master,“ Lucy said.

“Yeah, that’s good for me,“ James the Savage Defender agreed.

Noah looked back my way. “I guess you’ll take care of the Shaman, then?“

I nodded and was about to write another note when Benedict Merder’s voice rang out over the arena, drawing everyone’s attention.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Merder Stadium safe zone, the teams are set! We are now ready to spin the Wheels of Chaos!

Taking a deep breath, I looked up to see my usual three wheels spinning a few feet above me. To my surprise, both Team Trouser Snake and the Jugglernauts had two wheels, and Adrenaline Junkies had a full three. They were finally coming out of their shells.

“Embrace- Chaos! Embrace- Chaos!“ The crowd roared, and I could see the Adrenaline Junkies chanting with them. Grinning and pumping my fist in time with the crowd, I watched as the first one slowly crept to a stop.

[[Wheel of Chaos!]]

Alteration 1: Two consumables in your inventory are activated at random, but will not be used.

Activated items: Double-Up Potion, Golden Glazed Ham.

I had to stop myself from cheering. This was an awesome alteration, one that was so rare I could count how many times I had gotten it on one hand. The Double-Up Potion doubled the value of the Golden Glazed Ham, and I pulled it up so that I could refresh myself.

[[Item]]

Golden Glazed Ham

This ham has one serving left. You must eat the remainder of the meat in order to gain the full effects, and the effects do not stack. If you eat half of this item in one sitting, then you gain the following food buff for 1 hour: +100% base Strength, +100% base Constitution.

My Strength without items was 30 since I had increased it before my attempts to reel in the Chainsawfish, so my 42 was boosted to a monstrous 72, nearly doubled. My Constitution was bolstered by items more than the stat, but a respectable 61 became 81 after the buff. These numbers could go even higher as the Light of Guidance from Daniel had the ability to enhance the base stats of those affected, which would only skyrocket it more.

Before I could write it down, the second wheel stopped.

[[Wheel of Chaos!]]

Alteration 2: The winnings from all bets the team manager makes are doubled.

My enthusiasm dampened a bit as I stared at the notification. This alteration didn’t have anything to do with actually participating in the Chaos Cup at all. While I was sure there were results I had never seen before, every one I had seen dealt with me or the games specifically. While I was confused, I still waited for the next wheel to stop.

[[Wheel of Chaos!]]

Alteration 3: All restrictions placed on the team by the manager have been lifted. This will not affect the odds in regards to betting.

My confusion changed to anger as I looked away and up towards the press box that Benedict Merder and Frastina were in. In all of my years, I never, ever seen such an overwhelmingly positive series of spins on the wheel. Some were better than others, and others were worse than some, but this?

“Those motherfuckers are rigging the game,“ I muttered, gritting my teeth and narrowing my eyes. “Those damn administrators!“

On top of that I got Team Trouser Snake, the team with the best buffer in the games, after mentioning I'd love to work with them again. I was getting set up to help feed the damn Uuska. Was this what Frastina wanted to talk to me about? Making sure I was doing the best I could instead of limping through the games? The thought of getting pushed in this way made me incredibly angry.

Even if they took away my restrictions, I decided I was still going to play by my rules if only to deny them the satisfaction. Sure, if I followed along I’d get a better fight with the Uuska, but I wasn’t about to let them get the best of me.

Taking a deep breath, I started walking towards the encampment as the starting gunshot went off. Bill’s cannon fired a moment later, blowing the wooden gate to pieces. The Orcs inside started a war chant, and I could hear them preparing for battle.

Orc archers took to the walls and aimed right at me. I opened my arms to accept them. That was one way of bringing my health to half, at least.