Chapter 103

Merder Stadium, Atlanta - 4:01 PM

Earlier today you all saw the thrilling battle royale where eleven participating teams proved their mettle in order to join the illustrious Chaos Cup, and I am pleased to announce that we are ready to begin! One by one, the teams will be teleported-

“What a blow hard,” I said, crossing my arms as I tuned out the administrator’s voice. “Yo, Howard, you know who’s next to me yet?”

“What?” he asked loudly, glancing back at me.

“I asked who I’ll have starting off on the discs next to me,” I repeated.

“Don’t you already know?” he called back. When I tilted my head and waited for a real answer, he grumbled but started tapping the screens. “Looks like you’re next to BYOB and the Thunderstealers, which is one of the teams with two people on it.”

I nodded. “BYOB is run by Dave Carpenter, who’s one of Branson’s associates,” I told him. “Make another bet that Dave, not the manager but the player on their team who is also named Dave, is going to be the first to get shunted out of the match.”

“I’m running out of funds, here, man,” Howard complained. “I have my own personal stash, but-“

[[Points Transfer]]

Would you like to transfer 685 points to Player [Howard Cooper]?

Yes

No

I hit Yes and reduced my points back down to zero. Howard threw his hands in the air. “You were gone for, like, what? Two hours? How are you able to get so many points so quickly?”

“I’m the Warmonger, Howard,” I stated, winking at the man. “Never forget that I’m the most dangerous person you’ll see for a long time.”

“That sounds rehearsed, like you’ve said it a billion times before,” he said, but leaned back and accepted the points transfer.

I was about to tell him he was wrong, but shrugged after I thought about it; that was my go to warning. Instead of bantering, I looked back at the stadium as the teams started teleporting in.

- start with our MVP teams! On disc number one, we have downtown Atlanta’s very own Dunbar Runners!

A screen with video showed up on the glass I was looking through, showing Manny, Joanna, and Tito appearing on the disc. “Manny, Spirit Axe. Joanna, Syndicate Shade. Tito, Crowd Stopper,” I muttered to myself. Their gear hadn’t changed at all since I had seen them at the Monstersmith’s booth, though their leader hadn’t pulled out his axe just yet. Joanna played to the crowd, but she was the only one.

“You say something?” Howard asked. I waved him off, and he huffed. “Alright, sure, don’t talk to Howard. I wouldn’t either if I were you.”

MVP team number two, Summer Breeze!

This one was Jamie’s team. She appeared wearing what looked like form fitting plastic armor and had just as many weapons holstered on her as she had earlier today. She scanned the manager’s suites, but quickly gave up. They were tinted in a way that no one could see into the ones that were occupied, only out.

Two men appeared on the disc with her, one wielding two shields and the other wielding a curved sword. They were both kitted out in full suits of leather armor with pistols at their belt. These were Branson’s thugs. While the two men were dangerous and very well armed, they couldn’t keep up with Jamie. The swordsman in particular wasn’t thrilled that he had to take orders from someone that was essentially a mercenary.

“Jamie, Weapon Master. Blake, Shield Tank. Charlie, Smuggler. And safe from danger, their dear manager, Jacob Branson,” I said, lifting my hand and flicking the glass where the two men’s heads were.

MVP team number three, Adrenaline Junkies!

“Noah, Rage Eater. Lucy, Raging Hulk. James, Savage Defender.”

This time, a group of teenagers in protective sports gear materialized on the disc and immediately started playing to the crowd. Noah was the least covered, but still wore pads on his elbows and knees and a helmet on his head. Lucy looked like a catcher at a baseball game, and James was fully dressed as a hockey goalie.

The synergy and teamwork between these three made them great opponents. Noah’s class lived up to its name and fed off of Lucy’s rage as a Raging Hulk. Normally, she would go berserk after raging for too long which was dangerous even for her teammates, but it was kept in check. This allowed them both to fight for much longer than they could individually. James had a rage buff as well, though in matches like this he kept to protecting his reckless teammates from harm.

MVP team number four, Most Valuable Prisoners!

“Lucas, Knife Master. David, Gunner. Tristan, Swordsman.”

The MVPs known as MVP were prisoners from Phillips State Prison. After dealing with their own scenario inside the building, Lucas received an MVP token and the Knife Master class. The four of them were invited here specifically by Benedict Merder in order to make a spectacle of things.

The three men all wore orange jumpsuits, and Lucas was making a show of twirling two curved daggers in his hands. David had a M1 Garand rifle with a green stock and started pointing it at the teams that already showed up. Some flinched, but most ignored him. Tristan wielded a large, black-bladed claymore but didn’t pander to the crowd or the other teams, instead choosing to stand there stoically.

We, of course, have one more MVP waiting for you fine viewers but, as a special case, he is going last.

The crowd looked confused, but couldn't do anything but accept it.

And now, onto the winners of our battle royale. Starting with the first place winners, BYOB!

“Ben, Barroom Brawler. Grey, Mobile Opportunist. Dave, Handyman,” I continued.

As another of Branson’s teams, the group was well funded and fully kitted out. The first two each wore chain mail armor with Ben sporting two obnoxiously large gauntlets and Grey wielding a pistol and a short sword.

They were both fighters who were fast on their feet, though the Barroom Brawler gained Strength buffs from consuming alcohol. Mobile Opportunists were dangerous due to their usage of traps on the fly. Grey, in particular, had a selection of bear traps favorited in his inventory so he could reach them quickly.

Dave wore leather armor with a tool belt full of items. Since this game was about getting to the top of the mountain, he would have to go first. His class, Handyman, was not combat based but focused on skills instead. Grey would have the next best shot of making it to the top given his class, but the Handyman would be the one who made it up the fastest. That was why he was my first target.

We have the Team Titans!

Another group of teenagers appeared on the screen. “Kenji, Shadow Boxer. Claire, Animal Soul. Preston, Divine Oracle.”

Preston was the first healer class to be introduced. He wore a closed white robe with a red stripe bisecting it diagonally like a sash. The man seemed bulky, and I knew he was wearing metal armor underneath it.

The Animal Soul class that Claire had was an interesting one. It was a step up from a Druid but specialized in transforming into different animals. At this stage, she could only change into two. One was the bird that I was expecting to see once we started, and the other was a dog. The lightly armored woman fidgeted, seemingly unable to keep still.

Preston’s abilities were the reason why Claire was able to make it up the mountain so fast. He provided the woman with shields to protect her from any ranged attackers who watched her transform into a bird. Kenji was their main attacker left behind to babysit Preston while he was making sure Claire was safe. True to his class, all he wore were blue boxing gloves, shorts, and shoes.

Four Best Friends!

“Jayden, Gun Tank. Haley, Local Celebrity. Pierce, Violent Negotiator,” I muttered.  “And the fourth best friend, their manager, Melissa, who will not be appearing in these events.”

Of the three, Jayden and Haley lived up to their classes the most. Pierce looked like he was simply going to a fancy party and was wearing a black suit with a matching tie and white undershirt. He had a wooden cane that he leaned on, but otherwise had no discernible weapons on him.

Jayden was covered head to toe in olive green plate mail, carried a ballistic shield in one hand, and wielded an MP5 in her other. She had some of the highest defense and burst damage on the field today. The only real issue with the Gun Tank class was the reliance on ammo for their offense. More would be made by crafters, but it was good to remember that there was never enough ammunition to go around in the monster apocalypse.

Haley went in the opposite direction. She wore an outfit that wouldn’t look out of place at an idol concert, wearing a frilly Gothic Lolita dress, high heels, and a black hat that literally said the word “Idol” in big, gold text. Instead of any weapons, she held a microphone in her hands. The Local Celebrity was a support class, though it could also deal sound-based damage if needed.

Atlanta’s Worst Team!

“Albert, Raider. Louis, Mauler. Walter, Intervention Specialist. Branson’s third team.”

Albert and Louis were both big men who obviously put too many points into strength. They each wore animal pelts for armor and wielded huge hammers with heads as big as their own, though the former also had a nasty meat hook attached to his belt. They were a couple of bruisers, but very effective ones. If you were caught by the Raider, who was the faster of the two, then you would be dragged to the Mauler and the end result was not pretty.

Walter was a healer wearing vestments who had abilities that allowed him to restore hit points and remove his allies from bad positions. Given how slow Louis was, this was a very effective team composition to make sure everyone was where they needed to be at the right time. I had toyed with the thought of being an Intervention Specialist throughout my runs just because their movement abilities seemed fun and incredibly useful, but never got around to it.

Team Trouser Snake!

“Daniel, Guiding Light. James, Blasphemous Priest. Bill, Glass Cannon,” I muttered. This was one of the most interesting teams to me, consisting of a buffing paladin, a healer, and a bruiser with low hit points. Both Daniel and James were kitted out in heavy armor, with the Guiding Light carrying a large tower shield. Bill, however, did not wear any armor at all.

Instead, he brought with him a literal glass cannon. Sitting in the center of the disc was exactly what you would get if you took a cannon off of a pirate ship and gave it a futuristic aesthetic. Unlike the guns here, this one didn’t fire physical ammunition. It instead coalesced the mana from Bill’s massive reserves to fire balls of light that exploded whenever they hit something.

Very dangerous, and it immediately put the other teams on edge for good reason. Team Trouser Snake never made it very far in the first round, though Daniel and James both did admirable jobs of protecting Bill until they were both taken out, leaving the Glass Cannon vulnerable.

Best In Show!

“Olivia, Illusionist. Ava, Conjurer. Robert, Shield Champion. Branson’s fourth team.”

Two women appeared on the next disc with a man in full chain mail. He had what looked to be three riot shields welded together to create a massive tower shield, but he carried it easily enough despite its obvious bulk. He pulled a spear from his inventory and waved it at the people nearest their disc while magical streams of light began to weave around the party. This was Olivia working her magic.

The Illusionist was tall, dark, and gorgeous, wearing a robe that shifted colors in rapid succession. Even from this distance, I needed to squint and focus in order to give it my full attention. Ava was the opposite of Olivia, being short and pale but no less stunning. She wore a light blue outfit that stopped just short of her knees and showed off her shoulders and no small amount of cleavage. Waving her staff in the air, she catered to the crowd just like Robert.

The Diamond Breakers!

“Jeremiah, Hammerman. Thomas, Gumshoe. Heather, Tribal Tinkerer,” I muttered before looking back at my manager. “Yo, Howard! This is the team led by Jenny.”

“Just don’t let her know I’m here,” he said, keeping his eyes glued to the air in front of him.

“Your name is on the plaque, man,” I chuckled. “And she’s in Branson’s pocket. She’ll find out eventually.” When Howard groaned, I looked back towards this new group.

Jeremiah was the biggest one there by a wide margin. He was likely the tallest contender in the Chaos Cup and, based on his physique, leaned heavily towards a Strength build. He held on to two hammers, each ending with a head that looked like they were made from traffic signals.

Thomas, their Gumshoe, had a skill based class and carried two daggers in his hands. He was staring at the mountain, and I knew he was already using his abilities to find the fastest way up. The man would find it, of course, but with little to back him up in the way of defensive abilities, he wouldn’t make it far.

Their last member, Heather, brought them all together. The three of them all wore similar armor that looked like someone took a bunch of street signs and fashioned them into protective gear. Most notably, Jeremiah the Hammerman had a stop sign dominate his chest. She had also made his traffic signal hammers, and wielded a belt-fed nail gun.

And the last of our full teams, the Sherwood Forest Knaves!

“Robin, Marksman. Oliver, Highwayman. John, Wild Hunter. The last of the teams on Branson’s payroll.”

The team materialized, but they were the blandest team so far. They wore matching brown and dark green leather armor that made it difficult to distinguish who was who. Instead, you had to look at their equally plain weapons. Robin wielded a black compound bow, Oliver was holding the most generic crossbow ever conceived, and John had throwing axes in both hands and two more on his belt.

Needless to say, even as they tried to cater to the crowd they received a muted response in return. Their gear was practical, but it wasn’t very exciting.

Only my disc and the ones that had two circles on them were left now.

This Chaos Cup, we have three teams made up of confident dynamic duos! First off, the Jugglernauts!

“Isabella and Jack Delarosa, both Jugglernauts,” I muttered.

A pair of jesters appeared on one of the remaining discs. Twins of a sort far more normal than the ones I fought at the Big Top, Jack was kitted out in a pink and black striped clown outfit while Isabella wore the same but in black and blue. The two of them had already started juggling knives, axes, and a golden apple. During their routine they would switch up who was in control of the fruit, and they were overall pretty good at it.

Even though the class sounded like a joke, it was a lot more powerful than its name would imply. A team of two Jugglernauts could absolutely make it far in a competition like this. They had abilities for melee attacks, throwing attacks, and a strong defense that gave them damage reduction based on the amount of things they were throwing around at any given time. It made sense to just stop their juggling, but it was a lot easier said than done.

Secondly, the Tag Team Champions!

“William and Theodore, both Tag Team Champions.”

Two large men wearing black and red singlets appeared on the next disc. Their arms were already raised as they played to the crowd nearest them with all the confidence and ham you’d expect from a pair of professional wrestlers. That was essentially what they had become.

Unlike the Jugglernauts which could work just as well separately, the Tag Team Champion class was one of the few that worked better in tandem than together. They received both defensive and offensive buffs from just being near each other and had the ability to get out of crowd control spells or abilities by “tagging out” with their partner.

And third, the Thunderstealers!

“Samantha, Thunder Striker. Michael, Scavenger,” I said before speaking up. “And next up, the Warmonger.”

“Knock ‘em dead, dude,” Howard said, though he continued staring at the space in front of him.

The screen changed to show a woman in a yellow suit and a man wearing patchwork clothes and a cloak that looked like it was made of trash appear on the disc.

Samantha’s hand crackled with electricity as she raised it high above her head. A light boom of thunder released into the air shortly after, causing the trees around the disc to waver from the sound. She was one of the more deadly area of effect specialists in the Chaos Cup. Her spells and abilities gave her both great damage and debilitating debuffs.

Her partner, Michael, wasn’t a slouch either. Even though he was literally covered in garbage, the Scavenger class made it so his clothes were just as potent as some of the other light armor shown so far. I could make trash into weapons by using them as projectiles, but his abilities actually worked towards that goal. A broken bottle in his hand was just as strong as a dagger in another’s.

And our final team with only one contestant, the Warmonger!

One moment I was in the manager’s suite, and the next I was standing on a disc over a small forest. Looking up, the mountain appeared a lot bigger from down here than it did up there.

The open ground was littered with boulders of various sizes as it gradually swelled higher until about half of the way up, where it changed into a craggy spire. There was a single path spiraling upwards once you reached that point, but it stopped roughly thirty feet from the top, leaving you with a free climb the rest of the way.

It was faster to avoid the trail, anyway. The spire was thick, and going around it was a pain. Those who were afraid of heights despite assurances that they couldn’t die in the Chaos Cup would take that path, leaving them as easy pickings for anyone with long-range capabilities or were simply higher on the mountain.

Turning around to face the crowd, I raised both of my arms above me as I walked back and forth on the small disc.

“Why are you alone?” a clearly drunk man yelled from the front row. “Are you stupid and unlikable?”

“Yes!” I yelled back, giving him a thumbs up. “You hit the nail on the head, buddy!”

Ladies and gentlemen of the Merder Stadium safe zone, your teams are ready! All that’s left before we begin the event is to spin the Wheels of Chaos!

Giant wheels appeared above each floating disc and started spinning. I glanced around at the other team discs that weren’t obscured by the mountain. Sure enough, just like Howard had said, only one other team picked more than one. I could see Atlanta’s Worst Team far from me with two wheels above them. I had three above me.

“Embrace- Chaos! Embrace- Chaos!” I chanted, throwing my fist in the air to the rhythm of my words. It took a few moments, but some of the people in the crowd got into it and chanted with me.

I kept this up even as the wheels started to slow down one by one, revealing a colorful roulette-style paint job. The different strips were so small that there was no way to read what they altered until the system message popped up to tell you what about the event was altered. My heart raced with excitement as the first of these screens popped up to show me what was being changed.

[[Wheel of Chaos!]]

Alteration 1: Your most powerful skill, [Break Free] has been sealed for this match.

I scowled. That was hardly an alteration if I was never intending to use it here in the first place. Break Free was for emergencies and scenario bosses, not for beating up the equivalent of children with sticks. I couldn’t lament for too long, as the second wheel was coming to a stop.

[[Wheel of Chaos!]]

Alteration 2: The following three abilities will be sealed: [Pull], [Spin], and [Split].

“Okay, now we’re talking,” I said aloud. Losing Split meant my telekinetic firepower was effectively halved and Pull was a staple of my kit. I could afford to live without Spin, but it had its uses that I would undoubtedly miss. A cold wave washed over my mind, and I felt myself lose access to those abilities as the final wheel stopped.

[[Wheel of Chaos!]]

Alteration 3: Four of your skills and/or passives will be combined randomly to make two new skills.

[Crash Test] + [Heavy Strike] = [Heavy Crash]

[Deep Sea Swimmer] + [Air Step+] = [Water Walk+]

Benedict Merder started speaking again, but I couldn’t care about what he had to say at all. I quickly pulled up my skill menu to check on the new combinations.

[[Skill]]

Heavy Crash

Pick a direction adjacent to the ground and move up to Dexterity*½ feet in that direction at twice your fastest speed. If any objects are in your way, you violently burst through their space, knocking them away or breaking through them. This deals damage equal to Strength*8. If an object you hit stops you, deal damage equal to Strength*10 but then you also take that damage. After using this skill, you cannot use it again for 30 minutes.

[[Skill]]

Water Walk+

You can safely walk or run on any terrain primarily made of water so long as you do not stop. This includes ice, snow, and clouds.

Heavy Crash was a great addition even if it lowered my throwing power by getting rid of Heavy Strike. The damage was doubled over Crash Test except in the cases where I was actually stopped by an opponent or object, where it was greater as a last ditch effort. With a Strength stat of 42 with my Writhing Belt Whip in hand, I wasn’t looking forward to the 420 damage I would receive if something managed to block me. It was still a one time skill since it had a 30 minute cooldown and this match wasn’t going to last that long, but once would be enough.

Water Walk+, however, was borderline useless to me at the moment. Air Step would have made it a lot easier to maneuver around the mountain, but there wasn’t any of the applicable terrain around for me to even use this new version. Perhaps if it had been an actual mountain that was tall enough to have snow on it, but then the event wouldn’t be over in an hour.

I shook my head as a new screen appeared in front of me.

[[Mandatory Quest: Climb Mount Merder!]]

You have made it to the prestigious Chaos Cup as an MVP! The Wheels of Chaos have been spun, the teams are ready, and Mount Merder awaits!

Objective: Climb to the top.

Time limit: 1 hour.

Reward: Determined by results.

Snapping away the rather sparse Mandatory Quest screen, I stretched my arms and legs before pulling out one of Talpsra’s javelins from my inventory. A good distance away on my left was BYOB, and the Thunderstealers were the same distance away on my right. Five people, but only one was my target.

I raised the javelin.

On my signal, let the ascension of Mount Merder begin! Take your mark! Get set! And goooooo!

A loud gunshot went off throughout the entire arena like a starting pistol at a race. In an instant I pivoted, lashed my arm out, and threw the javelin at Dave the Handyman with all my might. Even with my considerable Strength, the distance was vast and it would have lost a lot of energy by the time the weapon made it to him. Luckily, it was only Pull that was sealed.

I Pushed the javelin so that it maintained course. The team was so concerned with getting off of their disc, which continued to hover in the air instead of offering them a safe way down, that none of them noticed it coming close. Making a last second adjustment with Lift, the javelin would have slid right into Dave’s ear if he hadn’t disappeared a split second early due to the safety restrictions.

When a contestant would get hit by an attack that would drop them to 0 hit points or less, the system would automatically teleport them out of danger and deposit them back into their manager’s suite. In this event, they would stay there since there weren't any respawns. That changed in the next, and some teams would even take advantage of it by using the short time between revivals to talk to their managers and get a better picture of who was winning or losing.

[[Notice]]

You are the first player to defeat another player in this event.

Points will be tallied at the end of the event.

Turning to the crowd, I looked directly at the man who heckled me before. I raised both of my hands like a cat. “Meow!” I yelled before I jumped backwards into the forest.