Welcome to the End of Ages Tournament
Register as an individual
Register as a team (five max)
Rules
Van selected the rules section. The section quickly expanded in front of him.
Welcome to the End of Ages Tournament! This tournament can be undertaken as an individual or as a team! If you play as an individual, you will be randomly placed in a team for group events. There are five events totaclass="underline"
The Gauntlet: Conquer a deadly gauntlet and earn points by killing monsters, evading traps, and completing the event quickly!
Capture the Flag: Steal the opposing team's flag before they can steal yours!
Meanest Mother: A team versus team brawl with an old twist!
Escape the Room: Can you escape from a dungeon room before it implodes?
Survival Quest: Only those with the greatest endurance can survive this one!
Van tried to find additional information, but those descriptions were the only descriptions available. He looked around the display system a little longer, but to no avail. Those vague offerings were the only rules that were available. With a sigh, he brought up the Register as a team display. He quickly filled out all of the information and muttered a quick prayer to whatever deity would be listening right now. They were going to need all of the help they could get.
"Welcome to the tournament," the Orc grunted as he pointed to the door behind him. "Please enter, as the tournament begins in twenty minutes."
"Man, these times keep jumping around," Van mumbled as he waved his team on. "Let's go!"
They walked up to the door that was jutting out of the back of the tent. The words Zone: End of Ages floated above it.
"Of course, it's going to be its own special zone," Fredlin grumbled. "They're gonna have total control in there."
"They have total control everywhere," Sang said as she walked up and put her hand on the doorknob. "But that doesn't change the plan one bit. You guys ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Van said. "Let's do this. Let's win this tournament!"
"Or, at the very least, survive it," Kylian quipped.
CHAPTER FIVE
Sang squinted as the bright lights blinded her for a moment. Pushing through the door into the new zone had led them to a large iron gate. Hordes of other players were crowded around the gate and Sang could barely count the sheer number of players.
"Man, what a place!" Van whispered as he pointed at a gigantic castle located behind the steel gate. The sky was blood red and lightning was constantly flashing across the landscape.
"Greetings, adventurers!" came a voice from above the crowd. Everyone craned their necks to look upwards. A large red dragon was slowly gliding down to the top of the iron gate. It perched atop the gate and beat its wings a few times before leaning its head down toward the crowd. "You are here because you wish to join Draco! This is such a noble goal, but be warned, for it is a quest fraught with peril and danger! The Gauntlet is the first test!"
"That's really a Draco operative?" Sahara whispered.
"Shhh, it might hear you!" Fredlin growled back.
"The rules here are simple. You must enter this castle through the dungeon and get to the throne room. In doing so, you will encounter traps, monsters, and maybe even a puzzle! Every time you achieve any kind of victory, you or your team will receive points! Those who continuously die or incur injuries will lose points. At the end of this round, only those with 500 points or more will be able to continue to the next part of the journey. The faster you finish this round, the more bonus points you will receive. Are you ready? Begin!"
The doors to the gates swung open wide and players began to pour through. As soon as a player would cross through the gate, they would vanish. This meant the dungeon would be an instance, which was a specifically generated area just for Sang and their team. No one would have to interact with other players yet, so this at least was a good sign.
"Charge!" Van shouted at the top of his lungs as he drew his warhammer out and ran toward the gate. His team followed after him, all of them shouting out battle cries. As soon as they crossed through the gate, they were transported to an underground area.
"Whoa!" Sang said as the floor beneath her shifted. "Where are we now?"
"From the looks of it, I believe we're in a dungeon," Kylian said. "But that's just a hunch based on what the dragon told us earlier."
"You don't need to be so sarcastic," Sang replied as she examined the area. They were in a large room with a few torches dimly providing light. The stench was unbearable.
"There are no doors here," Van said. "Kylian, start searching for secret doors, and the rest of you, get ready for a fight."
Sang nodded and grabbed her bow, nocking an arrow on it. A timer could be seen in the corner of her HUD – it read 00:00:30. It was counting up, which meant that this was how it would track their time. On the left-hand corner of her screen was a large display that read Tournament Points: 0.
As Kylian walked along the walls, pressing his hands and searching for a secret door, a loud hissing sound came from above them.
"Crap!" Van shouted as he pointed upwards. "Murder holes!" He was pointing at a few small holes in the ceiling.
"The hell is a murder hole?" Sang asked. Arrows answered her question as dozens of arrows began to fire out of the holes toward the team.
"Get behind me!" Fredlin yelled as he raised his staff high and muttered a few arcane words. A powerful field of energy wrapped around the team and the words Arrow Resistance hovered above them.
Sang could hear footsteps above them now, as well as the grunting of Orcs. She aimed her bow and fired through one of the holes. The words Hit 350 damage clipped through the wall. She heard the sound of a thump, and the words Kill +10 points came onto her screen.
"Come on, Kylian!" Van shouted. "Find us something." Arrows were flying down hard, but they were bouncing off of the energy field that Fredlin had created. Fredlin's staff was still high in the air as he continued to chant.
"My spell won't last much longer!" Fredlin called out.
"I'm looking as hard as I can," Kylian said, "but I’m not finding anything."
"Enough standing around!" Van said as he grabbed Sahara. "Give me a boost!" he ordered, and she knelt down. He rushed up to her and, with her assistance, leapt up to the ceiling, swinging his massive warhammer into one of the murder holes. The ceiling cracked apart and began to crumble. A few dozen Orcs spilled out from the opening.
The words Alternate Route Found +15 points appeared in Sang's HUD. The Orcs were scrambling to stand up, but Sahara was hacking away at them already, dealing loads of damage to them.
Sang fired off a few more arrows, killing two of the Orcs and gaining more points along the way. Her experience bar was beginning to fill, as well. If they kept this up, she'd be able to level up in a matter of hours.
"Nice work, team!" Van said once they finished killing the ambushing Orcs.
"We gotta move," Kylian said as he threw a rope with a grappling hook up the shattered ceiling hole. "Time's a'wasting!"
They all scurried up the rope and into the next room. The walls of this area were different, as they were made of pure steel. And as soon as the last member of the group climbed onto the new floor, the hole sealed itself up completely.
"That ain't good," Fredlin said as he pointed to where their entrance hole had been. There was a loud click followed by a grinding noise.
"That doubly ain't good," Kylian retorted as he pointed to the steel walls that were now slowly beginning to close in on them.
"Okay, think fast – how do we get out of here?" Sang asked as she scanned the area, looking for some way of escape. The ceiling was made of steel, just like the walls, and the two big walls on opposite sides of them were the ones that were starting to move.