Chương 55: 54. The Rule Masters

No dreams came to me as I slept. It was as if I had been put into a sack only to be released upon opening my eyes. When I did, I was the only one awake. With the arena open to all, I had decided to use the sleeping hall once more. It was almost amusing to watch how the remaining participants had clustered together. The weaker ones had formed a group, living by the illusion that numbers mattered. Sitting on the floor, Marcus had chosen to claim a corner for himself.

With the news of other groups appearing, he had become quieter than usual. To some extent, it still surprised me that he had gone along with the idea of forming a group. In the past, he had remained a loner, getting into temporary alliances only during trials. A short distance from him, Cathy and Eleonor were sleeping comfortably, a bed apart. Neither seemed to be particularly concerned, but then again, if I had a major deity watching over me, I wouldn't be worried either. And finally, there was Carl.

He had done a good job hiding before, but now, thanks to the Observer card, I could see him. There was no doubt in my mind that he had betrayed several people for the sake of his deity. I wouldn't put it past him to have been involved in Sebastian's death. Yet, he wasn't the one to betray me. Still, I had to remain cautious. Four pact-holders in a group of twenty. That couldn't be a coincidence. I knew that Cathy had been approached due to skill, though not the other three.

Somehow, they had received their sponsorship before the start of the trials. Curious how many there would be among the other groups. Assuming we were the average, there could be about three per group, which meant around a dozen in total once the four groups merged. Moving as quietly as possible, I made my way to the arena. The room seemed somewhat different. Each of the walls was painted in a color of stripes: green and yellow, cyan and blue, white and purple, and finally the one I had arrived from—red and yellow.

Chills ran down my spine. This was more than a standard merging of groups. Four sets of colors meant four rule-masters. All of them served the goals and had served the deities, but that didn't keep them from hating each other. Here for another fight? Serp asked, his voice ringing with eagerness.

"Yes, Serp." I went toward the arena.

"Here for a fight." With the prospect of a rule-master's battle, I would be an idiot not to. Nothing happened. Waiting for several seconds, I took out a gold coin and tossed it onto the floor. Immediately, the first goblin appeared. It took considerable strength of will not to slaughter the creatures the instant I saw them. Now that I had gotten myself into shape, their actions seemed laughably slow and predictable. In ten minutes, I had already gone through fifty waves. Only then did I start taking it slow.

At first, I just gave them the initiative of attacking, though that didn't waste nearly enough time. I could have cut off a monster's leg and waited for it to die from blood loss, but that was a disgusting practice and not one to score points with the powers that be. Maybe some of the more sadistic deities would get a kick out of it, but far more would be appalled at my display of weakness. Instead, I limited the types of attacks I used while fighting.

For several rounds, I did nothing but restrict my opponents' actions until they lost the ability to do anything, even move. It would have been nice if I could test Emperor's card, but the only revealed skill on it was Inspire which affected others. When Serp told me that the hour had finally passed, I kicked it up a notch. The saber sliced and pierced through enemies, keeping his abilities as discrete as possible. Then, at the death of the unfortunate Footman, I finally got the much-coveted message.

SERPENT BLADE (Grand Arcana) New skill acquired: BLOOD DRAIN: draws blood from any wound it creates in the form of blood strands. Blood drain? I had to admit I hadn't come across such an ability, but it sounded overwhelmingly strong, even more so than the previous one. In effect, a single nick had the potential of ending a fight. So, this was the power of a Grand Arcana epic. I could only imagine what Serp would become once I managed to awaken him. For the goal, I needed platinum, and that was exceedingly rare.

"Hello, Greg," red and yellow mist seeped out of the floor, surrounding me.

"Training again?" I waited. My skin itched at the mere thought of being in contact with the mist, and Harlequin knew it full well. Taking his time, the entity slowly increased the amount of mist, rising to my knees, then briskly pulling to the side where he regained his usual form.

"It is commendable that you are preparing for the occasion," the form kept on growing taller and taller, towering over me until it reached half the way to the ceiling.

"You are only the second person to have been gifted two Grand Arcana cards so early in the trials." The monster still couldn't get over it. Seeing how powerful each of the two cards was even at their basic level, I could understand his frustration, and it made me incredibly happy.

"I will be relying on you to do a good job during this trial," he placed his hands on my shoulders. Unlike previously, each of them had claws sticking out of the gloves.

"What's so different about this one?" I asked. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"The deities might find your playing games cute, but don't go overboard." The porcelain mask tilted to the side.

"You might fly too close to the sun." The warning was clear. Yet, if I backed down, it would show him that he could press even further.

"I have no knowledge what the trial would be," I said. Being the nitpicker that he was, Harlequin might have objected to that if he had the full picture. On a strictly technical level, I was honest. In the previous run, the first competition between rule-masters hadn't taken place until well within the second year.

"Four groups, four colors." I pretended to be coming to the realization only now.

"Four teams." The mask kept tilting more and more like an old alarm clock, then suddenly snapped back to its original state.

"If you do well, I'll give you a reward," he said. What's your definition of well?

"What reward?"

"What do you want? Coins? Items? Another special?" All my instincts told me to refuse. Nothing good came out of making deals with rule-masters. And yet, I didn't know if I would get a similar opportunity anytime soon. After all, the reward he had given me last time worked out quite well, even if it wasn't what the monster had intended.

"Information," I said.

"What's the purpose of the Arcana keys?" For a moment, it almost seemed as if Harlequin had frozen. For over three seconds he just stood there, completely motionless. Then, he took his hands off my shoulders.

"There are no keys in the Grand Arcana," he announced louder, as if talking to an audience.

"Ask for something else." The dull pain in my stomach appeared once more. Could it be that the siren was right? As it happened, I had asked Harlequin about the key, and he wasn't able to help me.

"Platinum," I quickly went for the second best.

"An ingot of platinum."

"You've become rather greedy, Greg." The yellow parts of the jester's outfit coiled around the red.

"Twice in a row you've asked for things I cannot provide. And I have no intention of making it three." The jester flicked my forehead. PLATINUM SENSE Acquired.

"That should help satisfy your greed." Harlequin floated up into the air.

"If you disappoint me, I'll reclaim what I have given and will take another special as punishment." It was obvious which one he was going to reclaim. The advanced Harlequin's Sight was too much a gift for any low-level player. In return, I had been granted the authority to see and trade with platinum. That put things in a whole new perspective. So, that was the trick. I smiled. Athena's Maiden had once told me that the powers that be could limit the reality participants experienced.

Remove the ability of someone to see gold, and never in their life will they come into contact with the metal. They wouldn't see it, buy it, even read about it unless a greater power granted them a temporary exemption. Just because I had the ability to see platinum in the Grand Arcana didn't automatically mean that I'd find any, but it increased my odds substantially. As time passed, the rest of the participants slowly started to appear.

Experiencing the second-hand rewards of the arena, they were eager for another go. Of course, that only lasted until they saw that they would have to pay for the privilege. Then, the interest quickly faded. Marcus was the only one to spend money. Spending a silver coin, he requested to find a goblin, promptly killing it with his blood dagger. Seeing that arena kills had no effect, he didn't proceed with another. By noon, the entire group of participants had gathered at the arena.

Everyone, myself included, had taken advantage of the last nice meal the food table would provide and was eagerly waiting for the other groups to emerge.

"Congratulations, participants!" Harlequin emerged from the arena floor.

"Despite your overall poor performance, you have provided a good enough spectacle for the deities to grant you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" The bad feeling in my stomach became all that much worse. More often than not, the rule-masters were literal. What others saw as a promise, I identified as a threat. For some, this would very much end up being the last opportunity they got.

"In a few minutes, the gates will open, and three other groups of participants will join you, boosting the overall numbers to forty." As Harlequin said that, cards appeared on the walls: ten on each. It was notable that five of the cards were face down, while the remaining ones were face up. Of course, it was no mystery why.

"Same as before, the winners will get to choose their prizes first," he continued.

"You are free to claim your prize from any wall, but know that if you choose my wall, there's a good chance that your reward would be boosted." I looked to the side, focusing on Eleonor. She seemed rather calm, almost bored. Given the lengths she had gone to create her group, it was surprising that she didn't display at least a bit of enthusiasm. Unless rewards weren't what she was going for.

"As you have noticed, among the cards that have remained visible there are ten curses. All of you are familiar with exactly what those are." No one dared to make a sound, yet some couldn't hide the horror on their faces. Having one curse card was bad enough. Having more was, in effect, a death sentence.

"The other cards are neutral cards," Harlequin used quite a flattering description of them.

"They won't inflict any harm, but they won't particularly aid you either." The jester's head made a three-sixty, looking at everyone in turn as well as all four entrances.

"Make sure you end up in the upper half!" The jester warned.

"Do that and you'll claim your prize and receive a special boon from me. Disappoint me and…" The sentence was deliberately left unfinished, chiefly because, regardless of their personal feelings, rule-masters couldn't punish indiscriminately. If someone disobeyed an order, broke a rule, or tried to harm a person or a rule-master and they would definitely end up dead. Otherwise, the monsters had no power over anyone. The white and purple door opened. From what I could remember, those were the colors of Pierrot.

From what I had heard others say, his voice was a cold dread that made anyone listening want to puke out any drop of joy in their bodies. Possibly, he had been restraining himself during the early trial, for the group that emerged appeared rather normal. I took special care to use Harlequin's Sight on each of them. As I expected, three had made pacts—all minor deities by the looks of it. On average. The standard participant in the group had four cards, which jumped to seven among pact holders.

One interesting observation was that two of the participants were wearing nothing but black. The next to enter was the blue and cyan crowd. Those were Brighella's victims. He and Harlequin had an ongoing rivalry that supposedly went way back to the start of the Grand Arcana. A lot more ruthless and calculating, Brighella reveled in bribery, especially when it was used to harm other participants. That group was larger than the rest, boasting thirteen participants.

Four among them had formed pacts with deities, averaging a total of five cards each. I turned towards the green and yellow entrance. Only they remained. Running the numbers, they had to be the smallest group by far. They had to be under the oversight of Scarpino—a rule-master who lived on plots and schemes. Anyone participant who had been under him was among the most skilled and conniving there could be. If there was anyone who would pose a serious threat, it definitely was them. The door opened.

One by one, the participants walked through. When the final one emerged, my heart stopped.

"Sparta…" I muttered. I had never imagined I'd see her this soon.