Ascension Trial: Part 1

The coliseum erupted into cheers as the five Champions walked out onto the sandy pit. Erigos looked up at the roaring crowd. Out of the thousands of people, the only face he could make out was the pale sinister grin of Ottothal who stood at the edge of his balcony sipping a dark red liquid.

The battlefield was unaltered, a large open area, designed for the Champions to rely purely on their skill and guile. High stone walls cocooned the sand to make sure there was no escape. In order to make the fight fair, at the start, each Champion is placed an equal distance from the center. Once the horn sounds they battle till only one is left standing. However, the fight does not have to be to the death but rarely does anyone but the winner come out alive.

Erigos found his place. To his right was Fangmar and to his left Maximus. Beside Fangmar was Boldrum and to the left of Maximus, Garrok, who never took his eyes off Erigos.

"Citizens of Yulandi," Ottothal announced, his voice booming across the coliseum, amplified by magic. The noise from the crowd quieted as he spoke. "Today we honor our ancestors' tradition of securing peace among our Kingdoms. Today the Empire will crown a new Emperor…" The crowd cheered. "Let the Ascension Trial begin." The horn sounded.

Maximus began firing arrows at Garrok who by his calculations without a shield was the most vulnerable to his projectiles. Garrok held the staff in his left hand, and the arrows bounced off an invisible wall created by the staff. That came as surprise to the entire coliseum. Magic was permitted but limited to combat and protective spells or enchantments in equipment as well as personal abilities that enhanced your fighting. Obviously some magics were banned such as any alteration effect on or against a fellow combatant, charm and immobilization spells, and teleportation. Not many used it because even though magic was more powerful from far once a skilled fighter got close to a mage, the mage didn't stand a chance.

Harim watched as Garrok wielded the Staff of Power. 'How does he have that,' he thought. "Julius, can you contact Erigos?"

"Ah, I can try, there might be a rule against using magic to influence the Champions."

"Just try."

"Okay…what am I asking him?"

"How Garrok has the staff."

Julius tried but something blocked his magic. He shook his head, "There's a field around the arena it's blocking my magic. I can't reach him."

Harim had to sit back and watch as the half-orc barred down on Erigos wielding all the Artifacts but the sword, which Erigos still held. 'What have you done Erigos.'

Garrok began to sprint, Maximus tried to keep his distance from the advancing half-orc but the speed and ferocity of Garrok surprised him and the flaming red sword that grew out of the armor slashed towards the young man. Maximus was more agile than expected and he flipped backward out of the way. Firing an arrow at the same time. This one clanged off Garrok's red helmet. His fiery eyes fell on the archer, he would deal with him first. Erigos hadn't moved, he stood patiently waiting for Garrok. The ground shook as Fangmar slammed his large axe down, drawing a glance from Erigos.

The ice giant's blade missed the rolling Boldrum. It was an odd matchup, the tallest and shortest Champions squaring off. Boldrum brought his hammer around, pinning a couple of toes of the giant into the sand. Fangmar kicked his foot out sending Boldrum tumbling back a dozen feet. The crowd reacted with worry, Boldrum being a crowd favorite and the majority of people terrified of the giant. Many people didn't care which ruler won the Empire so long as their day-to-day wasn't affected, they did however care about their wagers. The dwarf skidded to a stop, half-buried in the sand, and got back to his feet. The audience cheered, he was alright.

"Come on you frozen dick." He banged his hammer into his shield, taunting Iceifst. Those that could hear him laughed but were quickly silenced by a vicious roar from Fangmar. The giant rushed the dwarf, swung his huge axe around in an attempt to knock the dwarf off his feet again. Boldrum held his ground, planted his back foot, and took the impact square off his shield. It was a sight to behold, twenty feet of giant stopped dead in his tracks by four feet of a sturdy dwarf. The might of the swing would have gone through any normal shield and killed the holder but this was no normal shield. Instead, Boldrum somehow held his ground, stopping the blow as metal on metal rang out.

"Dwarven mithril," Boldrum smiled and jumped onto the axe, running up the shaft, using the shock as a distraction to get close to Fangmar's head. He swung his hammer around slamming it into the jaw of the blue giant before jumping off the shaft. A large tooth flew out of his head and the crowd exploded in cheers. Fangmar didn't seem to be phased as he moved faster than expected catching Boldrum in his free hand. The crowd collectively gasped. With all his giant strength he launched the dwarf into the air. Boldrum sailed sixty feet up a shocked expression now on his face.

As Boldrum tumbled through the air he saw Fangmar ready his axe to strike him as he fell. Boldrum held his shield close, rolled into a ball, and prayed that the axe found the shield. Fangmar watched the dwarven ball fall and swung with both hands on his handle. The blade whizzed through the air, it found Boldrum with such a force that the dwarf flew across the coliseum slamming into the high wall of the sandpit, creating a dwarf-sized hole halfway through the stone wall. The entire place went silent even the other Champions stopped. A roar from somewhere in the audience broke the silence, Molkner cheered for his brother. Fangmar yelled back but stopped as something in the hole moved. A bruised and broken dwarf crawled out of the wall. His shield, with incredible luck, had taken the axe swing and the brunt of the impact from the wall.

As Boldrum stumbled to his feet, the crowd went ballistic, only quieting as they noticed him attempt to speak.

"It'll take more then that to…," He spat out blood and bile. Once again the supporters of Voria cheered, their Champion was incredibly still alive "...Kill Boldrum Grayborn." He fainted. There was a pause from the crowd as they waited for his chest to rise showing he was actually still alive. It rose, he lived, barely.

Fangmar searched for his next opponent. The red armor of Garrok drew his ire.

Garrok pressed his attacks at the nimble Maximus, but with every attack he made the young man dodged out of the way, following up with his own arrows. The half-orc grew annoyed. The staff was no better to him than a shield, he had no connection to the arcana needed to wield it beyond the projectile shield it generated in front of him. He was tempted to leave it but he knew once he got Erigos' sword it would become much more. First, he had to deal with the pesky ranger. A loud impact halted his assault as the dwarf Boldrum slammed into the nearby wall, creating a small crater.

Garrok took the distraction to sneak an attack against the archer, his flaming sword caught his opponent's shoulder. Maximus yelled in pain as the firey blade carved deep into his muscle. The smell of burnt flesh penetrated their noses. He dove to the side, got into a shooting position. It hurt like hell but he could still fire arrows as one impacted the neck of Garrok. If it weren't for the special property of the armor that created a second skin it would have found his flesh. Maximus had already figured out how to attack his sides and back because of the bubble protecting his front, however, his armor was too strong to penetrate. Garrok looked over his shoulder to see Erigos standing off to the side, watching; waiting. From his peripheral, he saw the blue giant approaching from across the coliseum. He needed to dispatch the Orlan Champion, now. Another arrow clanged off his back.

"Enough!" he roared, spun, and rushed his prey. Maximus fired again, Garrok caught the arrow as his sword slid back into the armor responding to his movement. Maximus went to roll backward expecting the sword to reappear as Garrok went to attack, however, he feigned his swing, and Maximus dodged anyways. The half-orc kept his momentum, dropped the staff, and grabbed the scuff of the slippery man. He lifted him off the sand with one arm. The crowd held its breath as Garrok slammed his helmeted head into the boy, breaking his nose. With the caught arrow he jammed it into Champion Desa's throat. The farmer's son let out a gurgle as his lungs filled with blood. Garrok tossed him aside. The sand turned dark, as the body of Maximus Desa bled out.