“Dave Imogen, please halt your planned attack and that of your linked core. We do not wish to fight or harm you, only to speak of an unusual matter that we believe you’ve beco part of,” a pleasant, lodic voice called from the strange trees. I quickly sent a ssage to Corey.
Dave: Hold your attack for now, Corey. Stay nearby.
Corey: Do you believe this to be a trick?
Dave: Absolutely, but if there are only two of them, I’m willing to test that theory. I’m sure most of the squad will make it to the victory zone anyway.
Corey: Understood.
“Fine, for the mont. Why not co out where I can see you if you want to talk to , though?” I yelled back, not big on the idea of going to them.
“It’s far too bright out there. It would be better for all of us if you ca in here,” the voice answered serenely.
I sighed before answering. “Fine,” I said as I walked under the trees while a ssage popped up from Corey.
Corey: Dave, I do not believe this is a good idea.
Dave: I’ll be fine.
Corey: Please be careful.
As I got closer to the trees, I still wasn’t entirely sure that that was what they were. Their trunks and limbs were flesh-colored, while the leaves were all jet black. Worse, so of them seed to be dripping a blood-red sap. It wasn’t the best place to be alone.
“Thank you for joining us, Dave Imogen. Would you like to further join us for a al before we get down to business?” the voice asked, revealing itself while it spoke. From behind one of the strange trees, two, possibly humans, maybe, walked out on their hands and feet. Both of their heads were tilted up, looking toward with a reassuring grin. The one that spoke pushed itself upward onto its feet with a series of cracks down its spine as it did so, the whole ti staring directly into my eyes with that calming smile. I, uh, I wanted sothing? Had they said sothing about food? That did sound nice. Ugh, why was an annoying ssage bothering ? I was hungry
Corey: Dave, sothing is wrong.
Dave: I’m fine. Stop bothering !
I closed the ssage and forced Corey back into my System storage. I didn’t need their potential rudeness during the eting with nice people.
“Thank you for having . What kind of food is there?” I asked ravenously.
“Oh, we have all the best kinds, but first, why not try so sap tea? It will help put your stomach in the correct place, Dave Imogen,” they said, pulling a small teacup from sowhere and offering it to .
“Enough of this!” Corey yelled, having removed themselves from my storage, and before I could force their return or grab the offered teacup, smashed it. Corey was being just as rude as I had been worried they would be.
“Dammit, Corey, why?” I yelled, feeling my lip curl. Who did that core think they were? My mana channels blazed to life as I felt Corey’s imbuing orb begin to cast. Imdiately, the mallet slamd into the head of the one who had done all the speaking. It disappeared in a flash, and for a second, the strange forest seed to flicker. Wait, what was going on? Why was I under these trees?
“Dave, focus!” Corey yelled, but sothing was happening in my head. Everything felt thick. Wait, was that my mana flowing through my body? No, sohow, foreign mana had gotten into my system and it was blurring everything. Taking a gamble, I pushed my soul-core reaction to its limit in an attempt to churn out as much of my own mana and push it through all of my mana channels at once. I felt sothing briefly ignite inside myself. My body scread in pain as it happened, but the intruding force was gone. I opened my eyes, only to see Corey malleting down into another creature. How the hell had I ever considered taking anything from them? The creature vanished, and with it went the trees and strange ground, leaving in its place a much more normal, if not still a little alien forest.
“What the hell happened?” I said, sputtering half the words. My insides still hurt from whatever I had managed to do to myself, expelling the invading mana. And now my mana didn’t seem to be flowing completely right. The channels felt burnt sohow. I wasn’t sure that was quite right, either, but I didn’t know how else to describe the feeling.
“I believe the mbers of a squad had managed to place you under their control. I do not know exactly how or when, but as I also saw the land transform when they were removed from the match, I don’t believe that was part of their control over you,” Corey answered.
“Thanks,” I said, still feeling off. Corey had just acted on its own, against my orders, to save from whatever was about to happen. Had they just been about to attack? It seed different than that sohow.
“The mana linkage between us feels different, sowhat stronger than before,” Corey said. They were right. I could feel that as well.
“Yeah, it does. Sothing to talk about later once this is over,” I said, looking back overhead for the arrow. I was having trouble telling how much ti I had wasted with those things; hopefully, it hadn’t been too long. Once I had sight of it, I resud my run towards the goal, with Corey floating after . Neither of us spotted anyone or anything else until the victory zone ca into sight. Strangely, only Elody and Glorp were in it. No one else from our squad or any other were there.
“Dave, did you encounter a Jester?” Elody asked frantically the mont I crossed over the line into the zone.
“Was that what those were? Weird clown-like humanoids?” I asked. The na fit if they had been.
“Yes, and this is critical. Did you consu anything they offered?” She answered before asking her next question, her face grim as she looked over.
“No, I almost did, but Corey put a stop to it and bashed them hard enough to remove them from the match. Why, how bad would it have been?” I asked, my eyebrows narrowing as my concern grew.
“I don’t know. I don’t even understand how they’re here. The Jesters don’t have a planet in the Spiral or a faction as far as I know. It doesn’t make sense for them to be a creature on this level, either. I’m going to need to discuss this with l. Everything I’ve ever read about them suggests that any deal made with them cannot be broken, and deals are tied and bound to the soul once their offerings are consud, but I have no idea what that would an for sothing like the Arena,” Elody explained, rambling slightly, it was the first ti I had ever seen her so worried, almost out of her elent. The feeling in the pit of my stomach told my own anxiety was mirroring hers.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not ant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Glorp, how did you manage to get here? No offense intended, but if Rabyn wasn’t able to, I’m a little surprised you could,” I asked, still confused by his presence.
“Well, I do have a courier class, and you know there are a few things it specializes in. Getting to a set target at a rapid speed while dodging potential obstacles, well that’s basically the main one. Since I was alone, I didn’t have to worry about stopping to fight. I just followed the arrow and was here before anyone else!” the little guy said happily. At least soone was feeling cheerful.
“I found myself trapped in one of the jester's illusions; luckily, my mind is rather hardened against them, but it still slowed down while I puzzled out what exactly was happening. I was worried no one else was as lucky,” Elody said, explaining her own trip here.
Just in ti to reinforce Elody’s fears and my own growing anxiety, a booming voice announced that all the other squads had been eliminated. As the hallway ca back into view at the sa ti the experience window did, I was left wondering what that ant for the rest of our squad.
Combatants DefeatedPuppetless Jester Dealmaker, Core Grade Bx3300,000,000,000 ExperienceExperience Gained900,000,000,000 PointsArena BonusesFloor 5 Cleared16,000,000,000 ExperienceExperience Gained316,000,000,000 PointsMultipliers AppliedNo Armorx1.1No Weaponx1.1Undergradedx10More Undergradedx100Even More Undergradedx1000Unoccupied Squad Positionsx4096Total Experience Gained1,566,146,560,000,000,000,000 Points
“Um, I think I just maxed my level,” Glorp said. That was also more experience than I had ever gained before, but we didn’t have ti to focus on that at the mont, let alone attempt a core fortification for Glorp. It had shot up to level two-seventy-nine, which was past where I had maxed out at before. I would deal with the questions that the levels had caused later, as the door had just swung open, and we needed to see what had happened to the rest of our squad.
“How in the hell were there damned jesters on a floor?!” l shouted loudly enough that I could hear him from within the hallway. Exiting it, I spotted him arguing with several people. Surprisingly, a few shouts were added on our side every so often by Floor Master.
“We have no idea how jesters managed to hijack a squad spot. But I assure you it will never happen again,” one of the n they were screaming at was saying.
“And what does that possibly do fer us in the anti?” l yelled louder.
“You need to bring their squad mbers out of the infirmary this mont, so they may join the next floor,” Floor Master added.
“Look, I don’t think they’re ready for…,” the man started to say before Floor Master cut him off.
“Ready or not, I gave you an order. Are you really willing to disobey ?” Floor Master asked, his pedipalps aggressively shaking as he spoke.
“No sir, sorry, they’ll be here in a mont,” the man said, grabbing sothing out of his pocket and speaking into it.
“Dave, listen to . We won’t have much ti once they’re here. You and Elody need to fully scan ‘em on the next floor. Anything out of the ordinary needs to be sealed, cured, or uncursed. Whatever any of ya can do, just don’t let any of it fester. Ya hear ?” l yelled from across the room. Floor Master was already heading our way. It seed that ti was short. I nodded back, letting him know I heard him, loud and clear.
The courier class is almost never used in a combat or Arena role. Its primary function is to deliver sothing to a location or person as quickly or accurately as possible. Note, though, that I said almost never used. Glordjral the Tall famously used the courier class alongside his own rift wizard class to amazing effect.
Classes Volu 1 by Zolinjar
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