The Grand Tournament Page 10

  And lastly there was Lucius. His armor was almost the exact copy of his previous set, and if Morgan didn’t know that Artos had built him a new one he wouldn’t be able to tell. It looked like all of the Sky Guards’ armor looked: like that of a Roman legionnaire, with a few alterations. His chest looked like lorica segmentata, while his greaves and vambraces were made out of tough leather with strips of metal on them. On his hips were two gladius-shaped swords that Lucius liked to use; he had almost nothing new in his design. Morgan could understand why, as that armor had been refined over a long period of time, and Lucius had probably grown up hearing all about how good it was.

  “Well, what are we waiting for?” Morgan asked as he finally climbed down the stairs.

  Clara and Ves stopped playing tag, and looked around the Guild Hold.

  “We are ready,” Lucius said. They had all said their goodbyes already, so there was no point in delaying their departure.

  Morgan nodded and pointed to the far side of the plateau. “Well, then—onward!”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Morgan shook his head as he stepped off the teleporter platform. God, I hate these things. The Sky Force adventuring team walked out of the teleportation building and into the street of a new city. Immediately all of them, aside from Lucius, were struck by the sights now before them. For once, even Morgan was speechless.

  The city of Al’Valor was…in a single word, grand. The buildings, like those of Irus, looked to be made out of a single piece, but here they looked as if they had all been chiseled by hand. The entire city looked like it had been carved out from one big piece of rock—from a large mountain, maybe. Buildings were connected one to another, and the few that stood alone had large courtyards around them filled with nature: green trees reaching up and twisting in strange shapes around the buildings. There was so much green that Morgan nearly thought that they were inside a forest. The trees seemed to grow into the buildings, and the buildings seemed to flow around them. Everything looked organic—from the streets, that looked like a calm surface of a river that was made out of stone, to the walls of the buildings, which looked like the gently swaying oceans. It was warmer than Irus, as well; they were in the western part of the continent relative to Irus which was in the south.

  And the towers—they were soaring above their heads the size of skyscrapers back on Earth. There were not many of them, a dozen maybe, but the base of each was as large as any castle, narrowing up as they went to touch the sky. But there were plants that grew along their tall walls, and high above them where crossways connected the towers Morgan could see trees growing. The crossway bridges were wide, as wide as the towers themselves, and from what he could see it looked as if there were parks on them, or something similar.

  And the people, that was another shock. Morgan had known that there were many different races on this world. The strangest ones he had seen had been the Úlfriir, the wolf people, but with them he had been conditioned by Earth media and he accepted them quickly enough. But here, it was so much more. Someone, or something, walked in front of Morgan, a being that looked like a cross between an insect and a slug. Then, a being that looked like a snake slithering about on a long tail with its torso standing upright and two gangly arms swaying about entered his view. There were so many different beings that he quickly lost track of the number.

  Morgan jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but it was only Lucius. He had an understanding look in his eyes.

  “It is a lot to take in,” Lucius said. “I grew up surrounded by many different races, but I can understand the shock.”

  “But, how?” Morgan asked, even though he knew, from his talks with Oxy, the Guiding Force, and the orcs, that Oxy had gathered many races on this world, all so that he could test them.

  “Human-dominated guilds are more numerous in the south; that is why we haven’t encountered that many of members of the other races. But Al’Valor is in the northwest, and it while it is not one of the great Guild Hold cities, it is close enough not to matter. The Silent Forest Guild owns it, it is their headquarters, and they are a guild that mostly focuses on trade. This is why there are so many other races. Many guilds come here to sell or buy wares,” Lucius explained, misunderstanding what Morgan was asking, but he’d still given an answer.

  Morgan’s eyes fell on what looked to be a pale human, except that there was something trailing behind him that he was very sure was a tail. The tail snapped to the side and Morgan did a double take at how fast it moved. The man—At least I hope it is a man—noticed him looking and caught his eyes. Morgan blinked as he saw what appeared to be multiple pupils moving around in the man’s eyes. Then he blinked again, and the multiple pupils were gone. The man didn’t pause, and quickly walked away.

  “A Nel,” Lucius said. “They are rarely seen this far north; their guilds are mostly in the east. He is probably here for the tournament. They are one of several cousin species, like humans, orcs, and elves.”

  “Uh-huh,” Morgan said his mind barely able to keep up with all the new things he was seeing. Nel, like Azil... I wonder why he doesn’t have a tail. Thankfully he didn’t need to struggle for much longer as a loud and bombastic voice came to his rescue.

  “Sky Force! My friends!” Borodar’s voice boomed as he walked up to the steps of the teleportation hub and snapped all of them out of their trances.

  “Borodar,” Morgan greeted the man as they shook hands. They had arranged with Borodar to meet them here and guide them through the city, as he had been here for almost a month. He had also arranged for their lodgings, which was very kind of him. The others all greeted him, even Clara, who looked just a bit shell shocked from everything she was seeing. Morgan could imagine what it was like for her—she had grown up in her small tribe with little contact with the outsiders until her brother had died and she became the one chosen to become ascended.

  “I am so glad that you came. There are so many teams here, but none of them are as fun as you guys,” Borodar stated, and then laughed.

  “Sure,” Clara said not really looking at him.

  “So are we going to the inn first, or do you want to register?” Borodar asked.

  “Let’s register first, and then we can go to the inn,” Morgan said. The others nodded, but didn’t otherwise acknowledge his words.

  Borodar started leading them through the city, pointing out things of interest to see. It was a true city—Morgan could see that it was far larger than Irus, and as they walked he even saw what looked like flying boats taking people around. There weren’t many of them, but it still showed just how developed Al’Valor, or rather the Silent Forest Guild, was.

  As Borodar led the way, Morgan stepped back, letting Lucius stay with the man while Morgan moved over to Ves.

  “So, what do you think?” Morgan asked.

  “It is amazing,” Ves said. “Mom and Dad used to tell me stories of Amon’Tor, the city in the shadow of the Tower. In her stories there were so many amazing things that I didn’t really believe that it was real, you know—there just wasn’t anything like it in the small village I grew up in.”

  “I understand,” Morgan said.

  “I still don’t understand why they settled in the valley, in a small village filled with humans. If they had lived here, among such wonders, why would they ever go somewhere like that?” Ves asked.

  Morgan didn’t have a good answer to that question, so instead of answering he just kept quiet. Ves would be more appreciative of his silent support over any attempt to of his to make her feel better.

  Vall came in step with them. “We will find out what happened to them, Ves. I promise.”

  Morgan looked at Ves’s twin brother, remembering a time when he hadn’t believed they would ever learn the fate of their parents. But he had changed his belief since then, had found hope. “And I will help,” Morgan said.

  Ves smiled at them both, and then she shook her head, dismissing the somber expression from her face.

  They walk
ed for a long while, heading to the outskirts of the city until they reached what seemed like a large arena. From what he could see it looked to be almost twice as big as the Colosseum on Earth, both in length, width, and in height. It even resembled it somewhat, except that it like all the other buildings here seemed to be made out of a single piece of stone—and it was covered in foliage. There were vines crawling over the walls, trees growing out sideways from the archways, spreading their branches outside. Most of it was green vines, but there were other colors as well; red trees were prevalent, with a few being pink and even a couple of trees with blue-colored leaves. It was a breathtaking sight. It was all clearly painstakingly cultivated and tended to.

  Borodar didn’t take them inside the arena. Instead, they headed to building next to it. There were no markings on it to indicate its purpose and Morgan asked Borodar what it was.

  “Oh, it is just space for rent. The Al’Valor arena is often used by the guilds, so the city built support buildings for use by the organizers. The Silent Forest Guild isn’t one of the Great Guilds that is organizing this tournament—they just rent out the arena for the other two,” Borodar answered.

  “Oh, which guilds are doing it then?” Lucius asked. Morgan hadn’t really been interested in knowing, mostly because even if he knew their names it wouldn’t really matter to him since he didn’t know anything about the other guilds.

  “The Call and the Erthirium Riders,” Borodar answered.

  Lucius stiffened and then tried to cover it up, but Morgan noticed. He had recognized the names. Morgan made a mental note to speak with Lucius about it later when they settled in into the inn.

  They entered the building and were greeted by a large foyer with a line of tables placed halfway in serving as counters. Behind the tables sat receptionists, and people were waiting in lines at each of the counter. With a quick look Morgan made a judgment call about which line looked the shortest, and then Lucius and he walked over to wait while the others stepped to the side with Borodar.

  Morgan took the time to take a look around. So far, all the buildings on this world that he had visited had a warm wooden interior, and this one was no exception. The stone walls were covered with wooden planks, coated in some paint that gave them a light brown sheen. The arches and the beams above their head were probably the only purely aesthetic addition, as Morgan doubted that they provided any real support to the building.

  The line was moving quickly enough, and within minutes they reached the counter and a striking woman smiled at them.

  “Hello there,” Morgan said. “We are here to register for the tournament.”

  “Of course,” she said, the smile never leaving her face. Morgan could feel himself drop his guard around her, but quickly he realized that it was in his head. There was a light tugging at the back of his mind, but now that he was focused on it the effect seemed to disappear. This wasn’t his first encounter with someone who had high charisma; he had met merchants that similar effects before. Still, Morgan’s will was high enough that it wasn’t a problem for him.

  “Guild name? And the name of your team, please,” the woman asked.

  “Skyreach Guild, Sky Force team,” Morgan said.

  “Aha.” The woman used a recorder crystal to look up their team and guild, and after a quick look she nodded. “Silver-ranked team—oh, and a recent one at that. Congratulations, by the way.”

  “Thank you,” Lucius said with a nod.

  “Let’s see here… Five members, two human, two half-elf, and one orc. Is this correct?”

  “It is,” Morgan answered.

  “Good, good. I have registered your team as participants. The gathering is tomorrow at noon in the arena, where you will be given the choice to accept the final contract. That’s it!”

  “Thank you,” Morgan said and they walked away, making room for the next person in line. The two of them walked back to Borodar and the others.

  “We are now officially registered,” Morgan said. “Although she did say something about a contract?”

  Borodar nodded gravely. “Aye, the registration is simply so that they can verify that we meet the requirements, meaning that the team is over the required levels and is at least silver ranked. You could say that the real registration will be tomorrow in the arena. We will all probably be given a system contract to accept—it is forbidden for ascended to kill one another, but in tournament settings accidents do happen. Having a formal contract will make it so that the Guiding Force doesn’t punish anyone should deaths occur.”

  Lucius nodded. “Yes, my grandfather spoke of this to me. I had simply forgotten.”

  “It is to be expected,” Vall added. “But what about intentional killings? Will the contract cover only accidental deaths?”

  “I do not know, my friend,” Borodar said. “We shall learn more tomorrow.”

  They turned to leave and were heading to the exit when another team entered the room and Morgan froze. The team was made up out of two Úlfriir, a male and a female, as well as a full-blooded male elf, what appeared to be a giant, and an orc.

  The orc was tall, much taller than Clara or even Morgan himself. She had brown skin instead of the green that he had seen on most of the orcs in the valley. Her tusks were longer than Clara’s as well; the woman’s protruded out of her lower jaw so that they almost reached her nose’s level, while Clara’s barely peeked out. Her black hair was pulled from the top to the right side and pulled into several braids ranging from thin and short to long and thick, while the left side of her head was completely shaved. She had a tattoo on that side of her head, a tribal symbol of some kind. That hadn’t been there before, Morgan noted as his eyes narrowed.

  Ves noticed him standing there and stepped in front of him. “Morgan? What is wrong?”

  When he didn’t respond, she looked over to where he was looking.

  “Oh, no,” Ves said.

  “What is it?” Clara asked.

  “We need to get out of here, right now,” Ves whispered. “Morgan, come, we don’t want to start anything here,” Ves told him.

  Clara and Borodar looked confused, unsure what was going on, while Lucius was gripping his two swords so hard that his fingers had turned white, and Vall had an angry expression on his face.

  The woman was walking toward them, her gray plate armor looking almost the same as the last time he had seen her. She wore a plate on her torso and a brown padded dress beneath it. She wasn’t carrying her weapon, but Morgan figured that it was in a bag or ring of holding. When she got close to them, Morgan moved, too fast for Ves to react and stop him, and he stepped in the orc’s way.

  The orc woman, Emily Dor, Sixth Sub-Commander of the Second Fist of the Glitter Force Guild, also known as the enemy, the traitor, the nemesis, and that bitch, glared at him.

  “You are in our way,” she told him in her deep gravelly voice.

  Morgan looked up into her golden eyes, and in them he saw no recognition. Ves stepped next to him, grabbing his hand and tried to pull him aside. “Morgan, don’t start anything, please,” she whispered to him.

  But Morgan was too full of rage to register her words.

  “You have no idea who I am?” Morgan asked the orc.

  She tilted her head, studying him with a nearly disinterested look in her eyes. “Should I?”

  Morgan couldn’t help the incredulous look on his own face or the little gasp that left his mouth. He heard a deep noise that made him look to the man, or thing, standing behind the orc. The giant looked appeared male; he had horns on his head curling upward from his temples, and his face had blandly wide features. His eyes were large even for the proportions of his head, and the whites surrounding his pupils and irises could barely be seen. They were yellow, resembling the eyes of an owl. He was almost two heads taller than the orc, who was already at least two meters tall. He wore armor that seemed to be made out of animal skins, and in one of his hands he carried a staff that looked like it was a branch that had been cut off and r
epurposed, with bones and feathers tied around the top where the staff split to grasp a roughly cut gem.

  When the man finished his laugh he peered down at Morgan. “What is this? Another one of your single-night conquests, Emily? I thought that you didn’t like them so small?” He exploded in another fit of laughter.

  Emily grimaced and elbowed the giant in the stomach, making him cough and double down.

  Morgan was taken aback, both by the exchange and the fact that she really seemed to have no idea who he was. “You really don’t know who I am, who they are?” He gestured at the others who were now standing behind him.

  The orc looked them over, but there was no recognition in her eyes. True, they had changed a lot in the years since she had stolen their loot and trapped them in the dungeon, leaving them to starve to death or be killed by the final boss; perhaps not in appearance, but certainly in how they carried themselves, the gear they wore. They might as well be completely new people.

  “You abandoned us in the Mountain’s Heart dungeon. You stole our loot and you left us there to die,” Morgan said through gritted teeth.

  The orc tilted her head again, a glimmer of recognition appearing. “Oh, and what proof of this do you have? Accusing another ascended of attempted murder is not a thing to be taken lightly. I and my team might take offense.”

  She dares to ask for proof? Morgan couldn’t believe it. True, he had no proof besides his word and that of his team. The rules of the World system forbade murder between ascended; if one ascended killed another directly, the Guiding Force would give them a red glow, marking them as a murderer, and killing murderers had no consequences. They rarely survived for long as a result, especially as killing them gave one exp as well as every possession they had on them. But as was typical with such rules, loopholes existed. Killing someone indirectly didn’t break the rule, like leaving people to die in a dungeon. Of course, those were the rules of the Guiding Force, but every guild had its own laws inside their own territory, and most took issue with even indirect attempts at murder. But since these laws weren’t enforced by what was basically a god, there was the need for proof—which Morgan didn’t have.