Ravens of Eternity

His body heaved visibly as he fought vainly to catch his breath. And his armor was covered in scratches and cuts, some of which bled.

“Dammit, human!” said the challenger, “How’re you this damned good?!”

“Practice,” Eva responded.

“Gah! Don’t ridicule me! I practice every cycle!”

“Clearly, not enough.”

Incensed by her taunting, the challenger gathered himself up, grit his teeth, and leapt towards her. Though his wounds stung and weakened him, he knew he had no choice but to attack. Playing defensively was always a poor move in the arena regardless.

With a shout, he stepped in and slashed at her with strong, powerful crosscuts. Although she evaded and parried his blows easily, he didn’t seem to relent.

.....

“Just give up,” she muttered.

Eva then side-stepped to the right, spun inwards, and kicked outwards. Her leg swung across with great speed, and her foot connected squarely on his left ribs. His armor made a THWONG noise as it absorbed the majority of that impact.

And not only was his advance completely canceled, but there was so much energy that he was even pushed back slightly. Once again, he took a few steps backwards to stabilize his balance. But before he had a chance to fully recover, Eva pressed the advantage and stepped right up to him.

She bore down on him with the same relentless crosscuts, but with her own footwork and technique.

It was a devastating combination.

As she circled and flanked him, her blade crisscrossed his body. Her maneuvering and constant attacks kept the challenger unbalanced and barely able to defend himself.

By the end of her assault, he was cut to pieces, and blood poured out of the many gashes in his armor.

The pain from the dozens of cuts enveloped his consciousness, and kept him from focusing his thoughts. He stumbled as the dizziness spun his mind in circles.

Eva drew back her blade, and tensed herself to launch a killing blow. But before she could do anything else, the challenger fell to his knees, then onto his face.

There was a soft whine as his body settled into the dirt.

“Ra’ventrii is the Winner!” the announcer cried out. “It appears the human has caused her first knockout win! This increases the odds and pot payout by a few points! Congratulations!”

Eva looked at her passed-out opponent, sheathed her beltknife, then bowed to his unconscious body.

The crowd cheered her wildly. Many even began to chant her name.

~

“You see what I mean?” said Gravoss. “We can’t let this farce keep going. A human in the arena, sweeping up wins and coin. Wantonly killing true duelists. What a gods-damned joke.”

Both Gravoss and Senator Konleth sat in a private booth up in the Pit’s stands. Though they weren’t as close as Alevos’ box seats, they still had a great view of the arena. Particularly the one where Eva fought.

If they could see into the mirrored windows of each booth, both parties likely would have spotted each other. Luckily, they were designed to keep their occupants safe and private.

Both of the elderly Drogar watched as Eva picked up her unconscious foe, slung him partially over her shoulder, then with the help of a medic, dragged him to the center platform.

“Clearly a capable human,” replied Konleth. “Certainly isn’t as soft as the rest of its species. But it can’t possibly beat our best.”

“Who cares how capable it is?! It’s tearing through duelists like they were paper! It’s doing Seed Leaps by the hundreds!”

“I’m guessing that’s a bad thing? I’m not much for games of chance. I prefer to play games that I can influence, that I can control. Much more fun that way.”

Gravoss threw his hands in the air and replied with exasperation in his voice.

“Of course it’s bad!” he said. “Most fighters climb slowly and rely on challengers for fights and coin. Few make huge leaps like that. Usually only First or Second Tier duelists. They’ve got the training and the sponsorships to get them there.”

“What, so this ape’s somehow going to contend against top Drogar athletes? And win?” asked Konleth.

“Heavens, no! That’s impossible. But what it can do is keep the odds high and enjoy lucrative payouts. Just look at the trends! They’re wrecking the sure bets. Real Drogar duelists are getting edged out and burned. My pockets are feeling the losses. Hard. It’s just damned unbelievable.”

Konleth glanced at the fight cards up on the screens, and noted the odds that were listed for each of the fighters. He quickly noted that Eva’s odds were far higher than everyone else currently on the field.

“So just bet on the ape and make a killing,” he said.

“Are you mad?” replied Gravoss. “You want me to support an ape? And even if I do make a bet, it won’t change the odds to any real degree.”

“Well, aren’t you throwing a Reborn at it? That should take care of your betting, shouldn’t it? If the ape’s dead, then no-one can bet on it.”

Gravoss harrumphed loudly, and crossed his arms in annoyance.

“Sure, I’ve got a Reborn ready to stomp it into the dust,” he replied. “It’s never gonna get past the Fifth Tier. But that’s not the underlying problem.”

“I’m guessing you’re about to tell me what that is,” said Konleth.

“This is only the first ape in the arenas. Imagine a few years down the line, and our arenas have dozens of ’em. And then not long after that, they’ll be everywhere else. Competing against us. Taking the livelihood away from us Drogar. On our own planets.”

“Look. I’m not saying I like that any more than you do. But what the hell am I going to do about it? If the Empress wants apes, then we get apes.”

Gravoss narrowed his eyes at the Senator.

“Don’t you write the laws?” he said.

“I can’t just wave my hand and get you laws,” Konleth replied. “They aren’t casks of Eluthean Spirits. But it doesn’t mean we can’t get the things we want. If you want meaningful change, you’re gonna have to contribute.”

“And what’s this contribution gonna cost, hm?”

“How about a few crates of power armor? Lost or stolen somehow, of course.”

~

Alevos stretched out while sitting in his chair. A satisfied groan escaped his mouth as his arms reached out above him. He then relaxed his whole body and dug himself further into his seat.

“My ledger’s never been so fat and happy,” he said. “Have I already told you how this is the best idea you’ve ever had?”

“Only a few hundred times, yes,” Szereth replied. “And for the record, this is far from the best idea I’ve ever had. Can we say reactive nanomesh substrate? I won awards for that!”

“Alright, fine. Top ten, easily. No way it ranks lower than that.”

Szereth chuckled at his friend.

“I’m glad you’re happy with all this,” he said. “You insufferable bastard.”

Down below on the arena floor, the central platform came back up with a host of new duelists. They greeted the crowd with waves and smiles as their fight cards popped up on the screens above.

The crowd cheered and booed with equal ferocity.

“Since Freya keeps winning,” said Doleth, “her odds keep falling. What was the last one? 23 to 1?”

Alevos turned towards her and shrugged slightly.

“Just how things are,” he replied. “The lower the odds, the more confidence in the duelist. Absolute winners have fractions of odds. 0.03 to 1, for example. Their payouts are abysmal.”

“But we don’t have to get there,” added Szereth. “We can still keep her odds high, simply because of her species. And since we’re not going for the Top Tiers, well... we’ve got nothing to worry about.”

As Szereth spoke, Alevos pored over the new duelists’ fight cards and reviewed their stats. Since they were only Sixth Tier duelists, their odds were relatively low. Even the highest sat at almost 10 to 1.

Alevos perked up when he saw a promising duelist.

“Oh! I’d better put a few coins on that one,” he muttered.

“Do you ever stop betting?” chided Szereth.

Before Alevos could rebut, the door to the booth opened, and both Eva and Severas stepped in.

Eva was still in her armor, but her helmet was pulled back and the whole suit was powered down. She handed her blade over to Alevos, who immediately inspected its edge.

“Congratulations on your win,” said Miko.

“Thanks,” Eva replied. “I feel like we’ve only just gotten started though. And also, I’ve done the four fights, so it’s time to renegotiate my contract.”

“Has it been that long already?” asked Alevos.

“Do you honestly even want to keep going?” said Szereth. “Like we said before, from this point onwards, you’re only going to start seeing truly tough competition.”

“Like the Reborn,” said Alevos. “Who we need to avoid as much as possible.”

After having looked over her beltknife, Alevos handed it back to Eva. She, in turn, hung it back on her belt.

“Not sure that’s doable,” she said. “I mean, anyone could challenge me for my Seed position. I could easily pick non-Reborn to challenge, but nothing stops them from going after me.”

“Not anyone,” said Miko. “Only ones ranked under you can challenge you. So perhaps if you stay underneath a Reborn, you will never fight one.”

“You could do that,” said Alevos, “but it’ll also kill your odds and your pot. A few already do that, but their payouts are minimum at best.”

“What? Why do they do that?” said Eva. “They too afraid to climb the ranks more? Do they think they’ve peaked or something?”

“Something like that, yeah,” replied Alevos. “Some enjoy gatekeeping for the sake of it. Others enjoy taking down gatekeepers specifically. It’s a weird sport, honestly. It’s all a matter of playing with odds. Not just their own, but of the other duelists around them.”

“So odds are malleable?”

“Every challenge that occurs contributes to the surrounding duelists’ odds. It’s really just spectators speculating on duelists’ skills. As rankings change and Seeds change hands, so do the odds.”

Eva looked off to the side and thought about that for a moment. They could easily manipulate the odds. Or, at least to some degree.

.....

“That kinda implies that if I challenge a Reborn,” she said, “my odds are going to skyrocket. Isn’t that a good thing for us?”

“Sure,” answered Alevos, “higher risk equals higher odds. Higher pot, too.”

“Simple as that?”

“No, not that simple,” interjected Szereth. “Higher risk means higher chances for loss. Taking on a Reborn is going to end in tragedy. For us, for you.”

Eva turned torwards Szereth, a bit taken aback.

“After seeing what I’m capable of, you’re still doubting me?” she asked.

Szereth sighed. He had to hand it to her – she had confidence in herself. It was good, but also a little reckless.

“Maybe you ought to watch a Reborn fight,” he said. “Maybe that’ll convince you not to mess with any of them.”