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MT 323 - Settling Grudges
🕑 Added 2025-11-03 13:57:25 +0000 UTC“I was wondering how he’d handle the issue of morale,” Varrin thought to us. “That he’d already considered it is no surprise.”
“Feel free to assume I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I thought back.
“If we were to walk in here and easily crush every Delver presented to us, soldiers might lose faith in their leadership, or even their own capabilities. However, General Connatis portrayed us as selfless heroes, while portraying our detractors as angry and egocentric. In his narrative, our actions are meant to empower the Littan military, making us an asset that has a personal impact on everyone present.”
“Whereas those opposing us are literally threatening to take that away,” I thought, drawing the conclusion now that it had been pointed out.
“Yes. Now, our victory is their victory, and the loss of those who challenge us isn’t a loss for the Littan military, but a loss for a self-absorbed individual. Even so, he gave our opposition enough respect that they would still feel emboldened to challenge us. ‘Show them your resolve.’ The wisest will read between the lines and stay out of the ring, while the more emotionally driven will believe themselves to have an advantage, since there were no limits placed on who could challenge us.”
As Varrin finished the thought, another Level 35 stepped out from behind one of the soldiers, seemingly from nowhere. The sudden presence of her soul was like a streak of sunlight catching my eye through a tree’s foliage. I had to spiritually squint and blink away the unexpected flash. Her fur was brindled yellow, streaked a lighter champagne, with eyes of pale pink. She walked directly towards me, and I couldn’t help but feel this entire dueling thing was about to end very quickly. She apparently noticed my look, and smiled once she was close.
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty,” she said, bowing. “My name is Surgeon General Olivia Bavecista, and I am not here to challenge you. I am here to make sure that no one dies.”
“A pleasure to meet you, General Bavecista,” I said. The woman was one I’d gotten a briefing on, although we hadn't met. She was another member of General Connatis’s Delving party. “Will this exercise necessitate the presence of the army’s highest-ranking doctor?”
“A foreign king deserves no less, I think. Besides, I was close by and wanted to see this for myself.” She then turned to Ishi and gave another respectful bow. “Princess, it is an honor to have you.”
Ishi responded to the bow with a nod. “It pleases me to be here, General.”
A stream of ordinary service men and women were finding their way into the coliseum, along with enough Delvers that I began to think that every supersoldier deployed to Krimsim was in the building. Or at least all the ones off duty. Their levels ranged from 1 all the way to 26, with the majority being Silver. There were hardly any Coppers, and a fair representation of Gold; maybe ten percent of the Delvers walking through the door. The generals were the only Platinums so far.
While the majority of the crowd took positions on the bleachers, a few had approached to speak with General Connatis, including my soon-to-be new friend, Kai of Seaward.
“Sir!” the Level 20 Gold said, posture rigid. “Is it correct that the leader of Fortune’s Folly is the king of Closetland?”
“This is true,” said Connatis. Then he looked around at the gathered Littan Delvers. “And let me guess the next question. What fool would dare strike a king?” The soldiers gave one another nervous looks while Kai simply nodded. “Do not fear!” The general turned to look at me. “I am sure that King Xor’Drel would be willing to swear an oath that no challenger will see reprisal for participating in a duel here today.”
I shrugged. “I swear it that no duelist will face, or suffer under the threat of, retribution from the kingdom of Closetland for harms caused during the duels held and overseen by General Connatis on this day, with such oath to be interpreted in the friendly and good-faith spirit in which it is offered. Any disputes will be arbitrated by General Connatis, Princess Ishi, and a neutral third party to be decided between the two of them.” I looked over the Littan Delvers, who were a little surprised that I had that ready to go, but were otherwise happy with the language. “Does anyone wish to petition for this oath to be magically sealed?”
“That will not be necessary, Your Majesty,” said Kai, bowing. I got a simmering heat from the man’s look and tone, but his overall demeanor was still professional. I wondered what his deal was, but the fact that he was from Seaward gave me some clues.
“General Bavecista will be Judge!” General Connatis announced. “Now, who will be our first challenger?”
“I will challenge King Xor’Drel!”
To my surprise, it wasn’t Kai of Seaward who volunteered as tribute. It was a lanky Level 15 Gold with the deadeyed look of a man who’d never felt a positive emotion in his entire life. He pulled out a Frozen Steel longsword and a cruciform dagger with a thick cross section designed to make deep, bleeding punctures that were difficult to treat. He began stalking across the sand towards me, leaving no footprints or other signs of his passage.
“You killed three of my students,” he said. “They were part of a five-person advanced scouting crew in the swamps.” He tapped his cheek with the tip of his dagger. “I heard that Nimrod took your eye and half of your head along with it. Not enough to kill, which probably took him by surprise, no? This is why his team was Silver, and not Gold or Platinum.”
The lanky man never introduced himself, so he received the designation: Lanky. Lanky watched me for a time, but I didn’t have much of a response to what he’d said. I wasn’t sorry for defending myself, and any platitudes I could give would have been hollow. I also didn’t want to be cruel, so I went with something simple.
“Okay.”
Lanky’s whiskers twitched, so I figured my response still managed to piss him off.
Everyone else had cleared the coliseum floor, except for Bavecista. The pale-yellow Littan healer floated upward until she was twenty feet above us, then tossed each of us a buff. After a quick check to see what it was, I accepted.
Denial
The next time your HP would be reduced below 50% of your maximum by any means, that damage is prevented, and you are teleported to the nearest empty space to Olivia Bavecista.
I went ahead and quick-equipped my armor with my Closet portal plus Animate Object trick, which drew some chatter from the crowd. Then Gracorvus sprung to life on my arm. This would be the first real combat with the upgraded version.
Where the old Gracorvus had a darker tint to it, this version had a layer of proprietary metal from Papa Junior that was real bright and shiny. I could use each individual slab from the shield as my own personal grooming mirror, although the reflection was slightly dull to keep the shield from reflecting too much light into an ally’s peepers. It would have been terrible for anyone who wanted to hide, but for me, it was great.
Even if it hadn’t been great, it made the shield indestructible, which was absolutely a trade-off worth taking. How did it differ from something that was immutable? Well, first and foremost, it could be changed and improved by the smith who’d created it, whereas an immutable item was… immutable. Immutable items also had a material tolerance that, once it was exceeded, allowed hits to pass through them. Indestructible items didn’t. For physical phenomena, that is. Now, no kinetic or elemental attack could possibly harm Gracorvus or travel through it, although the force of the hit still transferred; it wasn’t an immovable object or anything. Not an instant win against physical attacks, but it was a damn nice upgrade.
It also made my blocks way stronger and gave my Sonic attacks penetration, which was mwah chef’s kiss. Then it had a reserved mana cost for all its flight abilities, rather than a per-second cost, which made it actually affordable to fly with for long periods, and it even had a movement speed to match my own, which was absolutely perfect. Although I was still faster if I used Therianthropy to fly due to various buffs and interactions.
While I drooled over my pretty refurbished shield, and Lanky stewed, Bavecista explained the rules.
“Match goes until surrender, incapacitation, or until Denial is triggered,” the Level 35 said. “There is a barrier between the floor and our audience, but any skill that contacts the barrier results in a foul. Three fouls is a loss. The use of any instant coup de grâce skill is a loss. Needless intentional mutilation or disfigurement of your opponent is a loss. Pissing me off is a loss. Otherwise, beat each other until you are satisfied. Any questions?” Bavecista did not wait for questions, she simply said, “Glad to hear it. Begin!”
Lanky’s first move was to disappear. Even his soul vanished.
I wasn’t too worried about it.
Gracorvus divided into two shields with a thought. I cast Shortcut to change positions and tried to catch Lanky with my Where’s Nuralie? evo. That ability was a little less useful in a pinch than it had been in ye olden days, mainly because it took a full 6 seconds of concentration to activate, and I hadn’t upgraded my Wisdom in a while, which determined how strong the evo was. However, I could spend the 6 seconds ahead of time, it just took an instance of focus to maintain. The moment my guy Lanky mentioned he was the teacher of the stealth assholes who’d literally blown my brains out a few years beforehand, I’d been priming the skill.
Which meant that Lanky’s invisibility spell failed almost immediately after he’d cast it. The Level 15 was fast, I’ll give him that much. Even after I Shortcut, in the time it took for me to process that I could now see him, he’d already adjusted course and was practically on top of me. Fortunately, the fastest part of me was my shield arm.
Lanky thrust his cruciform dagger at my eyeball. I brought Gracorvus up to intercept, stopping the dagger cold. The hit didn’t even make my arm tingle. In the same moment, his right arm, holding the Frozen Steel longsword, vanished. The vanished arm hadn’t gone invisible again. It was a Dimensional ability that let his attack originate from somewhere else.
His strike at my groin was quick, but the one I’d faced from the Baobab had been quicker. A Closet portal near my nethers redirected the attack into the floating half of Gracorvus, which kicked back a half inch under the thrust.
I tutted. “Rude.”
Lanky’s eyes widened in surprise just a split second before I Don’t Attack You, You Attack Me kicked in and stunned his ass. I’d done a lazy man’s feint and never looked in Lanky’s direction or even acknowledged that I could see him. It’s not like I needed to direct my eyeballs at somebody to keep up with them. For one thing, I could see their soul, which was usually good enough. For a second thing, my Body of Theseus omni-cells let me see from any bit of exposed skin if I wanted. Just, only 70% as good as normal, which was still pretty fucking good. Enough for the bridge of my nose to keep up with this guy through the slit in my visor, at least.
During my block, I dispelled his invisibility so I could reclaim my focus from Where’s Nuralie. While he was stunned, I dropped an Elemental Barrier on top of us, choosing cold. Bitter winds battered against his light armor and exposed fur, flash freezing the Littan and sending him flying away. The biting cold applied the Slowed debuff, and while frost crystals bloomed all over Lanky’s body, the zesty stench of ozone hit the air.
Razzle Dazzle activated and doubled up with another debuff, letting me add Shocked to the Littan’s growing list of problems. Lanky’s one second of Stunned was up and his body blurred. He became a moving haze, zipping outside of the barrier’s range while arcs of electricity crackled off of him.
Right into my cast of Explosion!
Which he tried to blur his way out of, but he sparked and twitched instead. The spell detonated at his feet, launching him into the air. This triggered the Deafened debuff, which let me hit him with another instance of Razzle Dazzle, which I’d assigned to be Shocked before ever casting the spell. The rising cloud of sand was filled with dancing electricity which snapped against Lanky’s rising body as he intruded upon their Cha Cha. Two instances of Shocked combined to hit him with another Stunned, although this one would last quite a bit longer.
The guy was slippery, though, and Lanky still had a trick to play. Somehow, he’d laid down some runic traps by my feet before he’d snaked away from my Barrier.
The world around me exploded into a scorching fireball!
Which was literally my highest defense. Still, it did something.
But not to my health pool!
Shielding: 3,000 -> 2,849
In response, I threw a single Homing Weapon in Lanky’s direction. No Oblivion Orb or extra copies of Somncres. Just a good, old-fashioned hammer to the noggin’. Seeing as Lanky was Slowed, Shocked, Deafened, Stunned, and ragdolling towards the ceiling, there wasn’t much he could do about it. It hit him across the skull, and the man blinked away to appear next to Olivia Bavecista. The teleport did nothing for his cartwheeling orientation, and the Surgeon General whipped out a hand to catch Lanky by the ankle before he fell back down to the ground.
She sent a pulse of Divine light through his body, getting rid of the status effects, but didn’t do a thing for his health. “Still with us, Lieutenant?”
The man shivered, then coughed out a lungful of sand and smoke as he dangled upside down. “Yes, ma’am,” he croaked.
“Good. Winner: King Xor’Drel!” She let go of Lanky’s ankle and the man scrambled to turn over mid-air like a cat and catch himself on all fours before landing. He gasped when he hit, his legs having been wrecked by Explosion! Then he gave me a scowl, but it was anger puffing up to hide the fear cowering behind it.
I raised an eyebrow, waiting to see if this would become a problem, but Lanky stood, fell back down, then began to crawl his way out of the arena.
“No free heals today, General?” I asked the floating woman.
“Like I said before, Your Majesty, I am here to make sure that no one dies.” She evaluated Lanky as a couple of his comrades hopped down from the bleachers to help carry him away. “He’ll live.”
The crowd was quiet except for some hushed conversations. I could see in several places where Delvers were explaining what had happened to mundane soldiers. Between Lanky’s invisibility, the speed of the fight, and all the dust kicked up by Elemental Barrier and Explosion!, it wouldn’t have been easy for a regular person to see much of anything.
Otherwise, I didn’t think the crowd quite knew how to respond to my quick win, but General Connatis stood and gave me a hearty applause.
“Excellent!” he said. “Good fight!”
A few people joined in, but the belated celebration made it feel half-hearted. Once Connatis was all clapped out, he placed his hands on his hips and looked at all the gathered Littans.
“Who’s next?”
Comments
McIntosh Ewell
Hmmm, I'm trying to think of who the most entertaining fight will be. Varin would take his opponent apart piecemeal while instructing them on how to improve their craft. Xvim would probably pummel her challenger just shy of half to death, then heal them and start all over again. Nuralie would either bring her opponent immediately below 50% without anyone actually knowing where she was, or they'd start bleeding from every orifice while crying and begging someone to make it stop. As much fun as it would be to see Etja effortlessly mesmerize her playmate and have them dance while she performed a musical number, in the spirit of respecting the martial nature of the competition, I imagine she'd give them a good lasering
ValkyriaObscura
It's only comes up occasionally but it's nice to be reminded that Arlo earned at least one of his Esquires honestly... Man had that contract language ready to go
bcd051
Ayamari could hit him with the greatest debuff, "I Was Unimpressed With Your Humor" Super Effective against Arlo.
Throh_goblin Lord
nothing to do with the chapter, but is Ayamari also exceptional enough for her level to get access to the delve fixer employment option? is she going about fixing things for level 50 delves gone haywire?
Uroš
Hit em with the good ol' Razzle dazzle xD
