End Online: Volume 4 (21 page)

I close my player stats
and item information as a problem suddenly occurs to me.

‘Fen! If I am not at the
colosseum, she will get lost and be unable to find me!’

Before I can process the
thought any further, I notice her familiar figure zig-zagging through the crowd
of players toward me.

“Fen, you’re back! How did
your practice go?” I call out as I the wolf girl appears before me from the
crowd.

“Yes… it went well.”

Oddly, Fen seems slightly
different than she was three days ago. Not only does she appear to be slightly
taller, nearly as tall as I am, but the rest of her body has matured and
started filling out more as well. Her hair has grown slightly longer, with the
back of her snow white hair reaching her shoulders and the front extending to
her collarbone.

“You seem different, Fen.”

“I am… the same?” She
tilts her head and turns her statement into a question, almost like she does
not know what I am saying.

A sudden thought occurs to
me, and I wonder if the undergarments I had Verde help her buy back in Iceridge
still fit her. I question why after all this time, she has made such a sudden
change in the last three days, but receive no answers.

“We need to go join the
tournament now. Are you ready?”

Fen nods her head while
wrapping her arms around one of mine and pulling her body tightly against me. I
feel a pair of cushions press against my arm, transferring their warmth to me
and causing my face to flush.

‘They have definitely
gotten larger!’

Two hours pass as we
finally reach the end of the crowd, exiting near the colosseum. We take a few
back roads and Fen and I emerge in front of the gladiator’s entrance for the
arena.

There are no shortage of
players here either, but at least it is much less crowded. The guard at the
door does not stop us as we walk straight in, entering the bowels of the
colosseum. As we enter, my gladiator’s insignia appears on my chestplate. Due
to my extensive wins in the arena, my insignia is now blue, of the ‘Unique’
rarity.

The interior is as dank
and dim as always, only the area inside has expanded exponentially to
accommodate the high amount of players who are participating. There are
supposed to be nearly five thousand gladiators participating in this knockout
competition. I will have to win twelve matches in a row in order to emerge
victorious. This will be harder than it appears as the players competing in the
later matches will without a doubt be the strongest gladiators participating.

The quartermaster is
standing in the main lobby, shouting out for everyone to come grab their
participation badges. Fen and I make our way over to the center of the room and
take a badge out of the large pot. I draw the number 2741, indicating the
number that will be used to identify us.

Many of the gladiators are
split off into little groups, casually chatting with each other. By sheer
chance I happen to see the other four of our party standing off in the
distance. Although if it wasn’t for Sir Laurence’s superior height and shining
silver armor, I probably would not have noticed them.

Grabbing Fen’s hand, I
lead us toward the group. It proves to be more difficult than I had planned,
with the large amount of male players moving in front of me to block my way,
anger in their eyes.

“Hey, why is someone like
you with such a pretty girl?” One person calls out, attracting even more
attention from the surrounding people.

“Yeah, whose hand does
this good for nothing loser think he’s holding?!”

“Don’t get jealous,
fellows, this guy is Lost, and what is wrong with him having a female partner
with him?”

“We know who he is! We
also know he is leading on two women! There is another one that he took up to a
room in an inn alone just last week. This guy makes my single heart cry out in
pain!”

The person who stood up
for me changes sides and also begins to block my way. Not only that, but Fen’s
grip on my hand tightens and she stares intently at me as well.

“Nothing like that
happened! What ridiculous rumors!” I call out, trying to reassure the growing
crowd.

“We should take him back
to Grenton and claim the bounty on his head. He will spend enough time in
prison with such a bounty that we may have a chance at some of the ladies!”

The players start to edge
their way closer to me, ready to pounce on me at any moment. A short clap
sounds from behind me as Fen stomps one of her feet and the ground within
twenty meters turns to ice. Each and every single player in the region apart
from myself has their feet trapped in ice, unable to move.

The wolf girl takes the
lead and walks away from the group, pulling me along with her. I get a glimpse
at her face and see an extremely displeased expression. Cracking noises again
sound from behind me as the players free themselves one by one.  While a
sweeping glare from Fen stops them from pursuing us, it does nothing to prevent
them from sending me hateful looks.

The rest of the party are
looking over at us, their attention drawn by the commotion. When we reach them,
Sir Laurence glances at Verde then stares intently at me.

‘Sorry, but I have nothing
to say about that right now.’ I speak inwardly as if I am addressing the
prince-like figure in shining armor.

“So, you are all already
here!” I say instead of my thoughts, hoping to break the ice.

“We have been here for
quite a while, you are rather slow.” Mason chuckles lightly at me. “How did the
sale of your items go? They should have sold by now, right?”

“Haha, they went quite
well. Have you made any more videos?”

“A few, but none have
really had as much attention as I would have liked.”

I have no idea how well
his videos have gone or not as I have not seen them, but I was eagerly checking
my item sales in between every match at the arena yesterday. The final results
caused me to actually shout for joy and bring unwanted stares and a strong
feeling of embarrassment.

My ‘Quicksilver Gauntlets’
and ‘Quicksilver Boots’ sold for an average of $420 each, while the ‘Grand
Elven Highbow’ reached an astronomical $2980. My bank account shortly after
received the money and the jittery feeling in my stomach refused to stop. I
also vowed to maintain my word and take the GED test once this tournament is
finished. If I pass it, I will have to look at the various diplomas, hoping to
find one suited to me.

“I’m sure it was still
good nonetheless!” I laugh to Mason who returns the mirth back to me.

“Well, it wasn’t too bad
either.”

“So, what number did
everyone draw?” I ask while clearing my throat, noticing the others staring at
us with blank expressions.

“I was here first, so I
got an early number,” Mason raises his small badge which has ‘#453’ written on
it.

“We were lucky to find
these two considering how much later we got here,” Verde laughs while holding
up her plate labelled ‘#1417’.

“At least we don’t have to
worry about facing each other early on!”

“The matchings are random,
so it is still a little early to say that.”

Just as we are speaking
amongst ourselves, a message appears in front of each us.

The entire room becomes
silent as everyone reads through the message, followed by the chatter slowly
returning in places. I notice a few players making a path toward the ramps
leading up to the arena on the far end. These must be the first players chosen
to compete.

A few hours pass in which
Verde, Sir Laurence, Mason, and Matrix leave to compete. Fen and I stand there
watching the matches through a small projection from the number plate. Not just
the wolf girl’s head presses against my shoulder, but the rest of her body
leans on me, transferring her weight onto me.

Sir Laurence really shows
off his defensive skills, using various shielding techniques to protect not
just himself but Verde as well. His sword cuts their enemies with each and
every counter attack. He has a solid technique that blocks nearly every attack,
yet still deals out a significant amount of damage.

Verde dances around her
prince, her daggers flashing from odd angles and crippling the opponents. She
has unknowingly become stronger as well, her quick, agile attacks somehow
dealing negative status effects to the enemy when they strike. I question
whether this has happened over the past few days, or slowly while she has been
travelling with me and I simply didn’t notice.

Mason and Matrix are just
as I recall them. Matrix takes the front lines, chanting excessively long
incantations while Mason takes the rear and fires arrows. I notice he is using
his own ‘Grand Elven Highbow’ to attack. Mason’s arrows take strange
trajectories, curving around to almost attack the enemies from the side. The
brothers have a much harder time than Verde with Sir Laurence’s support, but
they still manage to win in the end.

I was just starting to
wonder when my turn would come when the message finally appears to let me know
it is now our turn to compete. The thought of losing in the first round causes
my confidence to waver, but I steel my nerves as we proceed to the passage
leading to the arena at the end of the room.

The roar of the crowd
intensifies the closer we get. We eventually reach the arena and seat ourselves
on the bench closest to the door. There are eleven other teams on the bench,
waiting for their turn in one of the sparring areas. The entire colosseum is
bathed in a gentle afternoon glow as the daylight is gradually coming to an
end.

The seated players glance
toward me, a few lingering longer than the others, but no one says anything.
None of us will know who is fighting who until we move toward one of the
arenas.

Fen and I wait for about
ten minutes before a message notifies me to move to ‘Arena 6’ in for my
contest. I take note of the other team who stands and moves in the same
direction.

One player is covered in
bulky, black armor and wields a longsword and a menacing kite shield. The other
player is a female with a slim build and wearing a violet mantle that extends
to her ankles. She carries a warped oak staff with a ruby the size of my fist
entwined onto the top. The ruby gives off a faint crimson light that causes the
air to distort around it from heat.

They are the typical
warrior and mage type builds working together to complement each other’s
weaknesses. A solid defense and ferocious attack is a typical team tactic used
in any game.

We ascend onto the square
stage and move to opposite sides of the arena. We don’t exchange words, just a
short, courteous bow. The only person who doesn’t bow is Fen, who stares at the
opposing team blandly.