Bob's Bar

Bob woke up from his dream full of anxiety. He wanted to know who this Games was, and how the hell did he expect him to live through ten more matches. It was a little early for his meal so he washed off at the sink and started pacing around his cage. He felt a little better knowing he had extra attribute points, but he wondered how he had gotten them. Games said there was some other guy named Bob who gave them to him. He wished he could remember his time before the arena. He was near the bars when the Pitboss came in escorting a new fighter. They looked horrified and were covered in blood. The Pitboss got the man to his cage and then called out for a different person. He escorted them out for their fight.

Bob went back to his sleeping pad, finally hungry enough to eat his meal. After he finished he sat down and meditated. He wanted to make sure his mind was in the right place for his upcoming matches. Time went by quickly and it was time for his next fight. He felt well-rested and in good health. The Pitboss came in and escorted him to the dressing room. He got his gear on quickly but hesitated when it was time to put on his helm. It was weird looking, it was a hard leather cap that went on top of his head and a softer leather flap that covered the back and sides of his neck.

"Stylish ain't it," the Pitboss said jokingly.

"Yeah," Bob said with a sigh.

He put the helm on and followed the Pitboss to the antechamber. Once inside he summoned two of his flasks. The first was the light flask, it was smaller than the other flasks, and the liquid inside looked like clear water. The second flask was his normal fire flask. He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet and tried to limber up before the match began.

~~~

"This will be his first time seeing a magic user won't it," Luck asked.

"It will," Pain answered.

"It should be fine, he will be surprised at first though," Mischief said. "All the avatars are at a loss at first when they see magic for the first time. Tell me Luck who did you manage to wager with this time?"

"Fertility again," Luck answered. "She is adamant about getting her followers back. With interest. She wagered fifteen this time."

Pain and Mischief sat up in their chairs.

"This might be bad," Pain said. "That is a lot of followers, we aren't at the point that we can afford attention from the other ascended, even more so if Life or Death take notice."

"Fertility will make a fuss about losing so many followers, but I don't think she has the same pull as some of the other ascended," Mischief said. "We should be ok for now, I wagered five with Elements. It's his favored that is fighting today. Pain you got Shadow to wager five also?

"Yes," Pain said. "We need to consider getting Bob an ascended patron. Of course, we need caution there as well."

"We could try Hunt," Luck said. "I think he would be a good fit, Bob is a grenadier, but it is still a ranged class."

"Is he here today," Mischief asked. "I didn't see his symbol on any of the boxes."

"I am here," the ascended god Hunt said.

He was standing in a dark corner at the back of the room. All three of the lesser gods jumped in their seats. They turned to Hunt in confusion.

"How in all the hells do you manage to do that," Mischief said.

"I am a hunter, stealth is one of my specialties," Hunt said chuckling. "I overheard my name being said and wanted to see what was going on. You three are up to something. Something big, yes?"

"Maybe," Mischief said. "We are wanting the best for our favored, we felt you would appreciate his talents."

Hunt waved his hand in the air and an energy filled the room. It blocked all of the sound from outside. Mischief, Pain, and Luck were all frozen in place. They couldn't speak, only listen to Hunt.

"You three together can only mean one thing," Hunt said to them. "Games is coming back. I see the thoughts in your heads, rest assured, I will support that. Games was my good friend, and I will do anything for him. With that said, is this favored of yours truly worth the risk you are all taking?"

Hunt waved his hand again, the lesser gods were able to move and speak again. They were visibly relieved at Hunt's words.

"Thank you, Hunt," Luck said. "We knew you two were friends, but didn't think it was the time to fully bring you in."

Hunt nodded his head. "I understand your concern, it is well merited. I will watch the match today. If Bob puts on a good showing I will grant him my favor. I didn't have any wagers today, but if he is the real deal, it won't matter."

~~~

"Ladies and gentleman, it is the final match of the day," the announcer boomed over the crowd. "We have two fighters that have been solo survivors of their duo matches. Who will come out on top? Entering now Favored by Elements and Shadow, Alexander! His opponent, the favored of Pain, Mischief, and Luck, Bob! By the grace of the gods, let this match BEGIN!"

Bob didn't have much time to study his opponent. He did see he was fighting another elf. Alexander wore midnight blue robes, a ring on his right hand, and a medallion around his neck. Bob had never seen anybody wear robes besides Esmay, but she wasn't a fighter. He guessed he was a magic class. He was proven right a second later when he was rolling out of the way of an ice spear flung at him. The projectile was long and thin but looked deadly sharp. He did not want to get hit by that.

Alexander laughed. He loved seeing the shock on his opponent's faces when they saw his power. He flung a second spear at his opponent toying with him. He wasn't sure about the man's class yet. It looked like he was holding something in his hands, but he couldn't see what. He had fought other people in leather armor before, so maybe some kind of ranged class. He started to weave his magic in preparation of another ice spear.

Bob was astounded at how fast the spears were coming at him. He watched as his bastard opponent just stood there with a stupid smile on his face. He didn't make any movements but the spears would form and shoot towards him. He knew he had to get closer, he watched intently as the caster formed a new spear, this one was taking longer than the others. Bob saw it was his chance. He hurled his light flask at Alexander and closed his eyes. He knew it was risky but he didn't want to be blinded when the flask did its thing.

Alexander watched as Bob took the bait. He loved when he saw his opponents think him vulnerable when casting his spell. He was able to hold the spell instead of just immediately launching it, which is what tricked all of his other opponents. He saw the ball that was thrown at him, targeted it with his ice spear, and launched it. As he launched his attack he had a split second where he saw Bob stop and close his eyes. A blinding light seared into his eyes. He screamed and brought his hands up to his eyes. He reflexively cast a different spell.

Bob opened his eyes when he heard Alexander scream, he took two steps and launched his fire flask. He thought the match would be over, the flask would hit center mass on Alexander and be done. He was shocked when a blue wall of ice shot up from the ground and intercepted his flask. The flask detonated on the wall. The wall was eight feet high and the same wide. His flask put a huge crater in the wall, but it did not penetrate it. Yelling a curse, he started to run at an angle of the wall trying to get an eye on Alexander.

Alexander heard an explosion, he was still rubbing at his eyes and blinking rapidly trying to get his vision to clear. The light from the attack Bob through was truly blinding, but he was more concerned about the explosion that hit his ice wall. He started to get some vision back. He saw a blur of movement and launched an ice spear. He started to feel the drain on his mana at this point. His ice wall was an expensive ability, but it saved his life.

Bob saw the ice spear launched at him, but kept running. It flew just to the left of him. It was clear Alexander was starting to get his vision back. He felt like he could summon another two flasks without passing out this time, but he didn't want to risk feeling weak. He summoned his smoke flask and hurled it at Alexander's feet. He saw him flinch and cover his eyes. "Wrong flask," Bob thought in his mind. The smoke flask detonated right in front of his opponent and he sprinted into the billowing smoke cloud.

Alexander was able to see Bob throw another object at him. He had to cancel his ice spear as he closed his eyes and brought his arms up. He had a feeling that Bob wasn't going to be able to bring out another flask that exploded like the one that hit his ice wall. It was a risk, he knew, but he didn't want to be blinded again. He heard the object hit the ground in front of him and let out a long hissing noise. He opened his eyes and couldn't see again. It wasn't the blinding light this time, but smoke. He had trouble breathing as well. He could hear footsteps quickly approaching him and let out another spell. He knew this one would stop his opponent in his tracks. He heard Bob take a sharp intake of breath, But he was surprised when Bobs body slammed into his.

Bob knew Alexander was close, he could hear coughing coming from him. Bob did a jumping lunge toward the sound. He was hit with a freezing cold wind, it felt like his whole body had just frozen solid. His momentum carried him forward and he felt himself slam into Alexander. He heard him grunt from the impact and heard cracking sounds around his body. His body was numb from the cold, he was afraid the cracking sound was his arms or legs breaking off but was relieved when he was able to grab onto Alexander's robes. It was like pins and needles shooting through his hand as he held on but he knew he couldn't let go. His body started to gain more function. He gritted his teeth as his whole body was racked with the pins and needles sensation. He wasn't sure what part of Alexander's robes he had but he started raining down punches. He heard Alexander yell at him to get off and figured out where his head was. He wrapped his legs around his opponent's stomach and dropped savage elbows on his face. He heard the yells and screams coming from Alexander, but didn't stop his assault. The smoke was starting to clear, and he watched as an ice spear flew at him from point-blank range. It slammed into his shoulder and he fell backward. The impact drove the breath out of him, the cold sapped his energy. He started to get up, but immediately dropped back to the ground as another ice spear flew at him. He scrambled to his feet and retreated a few steps. Bob looked at Alexander, it was clear he zeroed his mana and passed out. Bob knew the fight was over. He had won.

"End him," a loud voice boomed.