Becoming Legend

Chapter 111: Level Six

At the highest part of the dome, inside a box hollowed out of rock and angled to have an outstanding view of the entire arena. Two figures: one was taller, even though seated, while the other was relatively short. And one was standing behind them beside a door engraved with intricate carvings. The figures watched the game with earnest eyes, aside from the shorter ones, as he sat cross-legged while he hammered his fingers making a sound of rhythmic boredom.

"Have you seen your sister, Ulfkell?" Asked the taller man, obviously the father of the bored kid.

"No," Ulfkell said. Scoffing as he gazed at the participants with belittling eyes. "Father, can we go, these kids weren't a joy anymore. Is this how the game played? Have you found someone of interest? If so, can we leave?"

"Is that how you were breed, Ulfkell?" Said the taller man. Shoulder-length dark hair. And a bearing of a true noble. Ring flooded his fingers not to boast his wealth, but to show his strength. He cocked his thin eyebrow seeing one of the spotters switched places with the one with the bow. He nodded. "If only I could recruit that Swift guy, we would not be here."

"Then, recruit him, his skills were, okay," Ulfkell said. Dark hair like his father, yet, it sparkled with elegance and arrogance. He looked pale, but he wasn't ill. It was the family's' nature. Dark hair and pale skin. A trait of a real noble.

"He was, nimble. He seemed to know his way in and out of the ruins. After the chance game was finished, he just slipped off of my grasp," he said, explaining to his son as if he was talking to an infant. He sighed. "He could be a strong recruit, if only."

The taller man watched Ned sweep across the targets with ease. He nodded from time to time, and a look of earnest brew his noble eyes. "Too early to say," he muttered.

Footsteps approached behind his glittering chairs.

The servant, standing in six feet, leaned closer to the noble. An air of veteran servant shrouded his black suits, piped with a black vest. "Lord Tarragon," he breathed words near the tall man's ear. What followed were gibberish words.

The tall guy nodded, sometimes blinked twice the normal, and nodded again.

"Then we proceed here," said Lord Tarragon, the host of the chance arrow game. "Tell them, I'll meet their earnest after the game."

"You said, you trained a knight!" Kwan said, clinching the silvers with his sweaty hands. "Your bow skills were on par with rouges I've seen on my raids. Ned! We could stop here and split the silver, forget about Swift."

Ned sat along the stone pavements waiting for the next level to start. Behind him were gamblers, and maybe some curious, wanting to get rich in an instant onlooker. Aside from sitting, the onlookers couldn't hold their buzzes as they kept on murmuring about the participants who could be on par with Swift.

"My silver's on Swift, they're good but they are not on par with his skills."

"I thought so too."

"But, still, aside from Kwan's spotter there's Don of the House Celian, and Liv an wood rank hunter."

"Ah! Hunters, why would they join this month's Chance and ruin the excitement."

"Not all hunters are good."

"Kwan's spotter wasn't a hunter."

Ned thought if they were expressing their excitements too loud, or they were telling him deliberately that his just another small-fry that wouldn't last against other contestants.

Ned shook his head, looking up at the standing Kwan with a joyful, and a sudden sadness of smile, sensing that Ned would continue the game. "Keep yours, I'll bet mine," Ned said. "I don't need a Spotter, but for decency's sake, I'll ask you to be my spotter. You'll do nothing but to keep quiet."

A brief moment of silence made Kwan realized that Ned wasn't lying. He knew that his bow skills were only good at level four, at five he was struggling. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't get out of the feeling to trust the kid he wanted to rob or sell out before. "Yes," he said, hesitation pulled his tongue back inside its chamber, but it was too late. He said it. "I'll be your spotter."

Ned gestured Kwan to bet all the silver, the three thousand two hundred, they won from the last level. Although Ned was younger, Kwan took the initiative that age was unseen against skills. The same way as to how the brats of the nobles act towards the slums of older generations. And Kwan wasn't even sure if Ned was born of a noble, because of his superior bow skills, and rare magical item. Or, if he was a student traveling by the will of his great master.

Kwan bet and swallowed his excitement. He knew, that the next level was unknown to him and most likely to Ned. He then sat beside Ned, which Ned took the chance to ask for the other participants. Since 'Knowing the enemy is half the battle won'.

"Aside from Swift," Kwan said, trying to hide his excitement, and jittering by making a ball of his hands. He then pulled the telescope hanging on his waist and blew steam on the front glasses. "Don of the House Celian, he rarely joins the game. Some say he was an apprentice of an academy. But, never really get to know him well, since." Scratching his temple as he looked down at the stone pavement as if there was an embarrassing story to tell. "Since, I lost at him twice when bad luck played on my side."

Ned was looking at a kid not far from his right, he doesn't have a spotter. But, his bow wasn't ordinary either. Its bow was a wood coiling front the tip. Its limbs were tillered out in an S-curve, what makes it eye-catching was its golden string. He wore a fitting vest, and pants, with over-praised boots. He wasn't that good looking, might be due to a speck of rough blemish on his chin, or his over holed ears, his hair was swiped back with confidence though.

Ned wasn't interested in what's trendy or with an over-pampered noble. And, certainly, he wasn't concerned with a participant crowded with a number of people and throwing fake smiles to his admirer. His confidence was like his hair, long, and braided down to his waist. His spotter was a female who looked at the guy with a reddish face, while he was surrounded with different admirers, one was a plump lady whose veins popping out crying as if he saw his only life dependant on the guy.

"Liv!" The plump lady cry, saliva spew as if she was overflowing with it.

Liv, the guy the plump lady cried out, was responding by not giving a welcoming smile, not even a gaze, he was more concerned by the lady leaning at the stone pavement while a part of his bosom shows a slip. Which made his spotter blast steam. One thing Ned was curious about, was the necklace made of wood. Ned has been seeing these necklaces only hunters wore.

"And that's Liv," said Kwan, eagerly introducing the other participants. His stiff shoulders cocked as his words breaths out. "A novice hunter, he may be a show-off with his rank, but don't underestimate him, he was good with a bow. People said that he passed the hunter exam only by using a bow."

For Ned, he never underestimated his opponents, some may look like shit. But this shit maybe his defeat if he was overconfident. Outside the arena, he doesn't care about them, unless they were the one who piqued his interest. Like Swift who was calmly sitting, arms crossing, not far from his right.

Kwan frowned as he heard the announcer took over the stage. "For some reason!" He cried. Hand lifted high. "According to our host! Level six will be initiated from here! Who will proceed to the next level from the twenty-four participants left! Let the level six, begin!"

After the announcer cried, starting the game. The red marks that were at the edges of the arena, vanished. What happened next, made the audiences gasped in awe. As the pillars, where the fire behind the glasses, moved in each corner. First, it crumbled, then its sides split open as the stones, of fist-sized shapes, emerged. Then, the stones shone a bright yellow flash, connecting each pillar. This yellow light acted as barriers of thin lines, encompassing the thousand cubic meter arena.

Twenty-four participants were then asked to enter the arena together with their spotters, of they have one.

The fire from the surface of the four, hundred feet, pillars were then dimmed to almost darkness. After the participants step inside the arena, the ground crumbled, making cracks of precise width and length. After it, the stone ground has shaken. Trees rose out the cracks, some were rocks, bushes, grasses, trees with vines. The surface changed in texture as it was now overwhelmed with sands, rocks, and an artificial river in the middle, while the land was textured with uneven ground, giving am ambiance of a real forest.

The audiences gasped, this time, not in astonishment of the transforming arena, but, because of the figures that emerged out of specific cracks.

Ned heard a screech, a cry, and a howl.

Liv, the rookie hunter almost took a step back hearing the wild noise, while his spotter, an innocent lady dragged to a game just because she was good with eyeing, stumbled on her butt, her Oculus rolled in a slope, going downward. It stopped under a green-muddy foot with nails extending almost an inch.

The foot twitched, sensing an item hit it. It growled, and stomped on the telescope, breaking it to hundred prices of glasses. Then it howled. From the distance, the trees leaned until they break, a rumble of countless creatures screeched towards the participants.

Ned draws an arrow, aimed at a dark figure coming toward them. The arrow swooshed, the dark figure fell. Under the orange fiery blast of the light. The creatures emerged. Crooked nose, running on two, hungry canine teeth, human-like eyes, and muddy thick fur crawling out their backs.  Ned pulled another arrow aiming at the approaching creatures, and said with excitement reaching the tip of his bow: "Goblins."