Strength (+50): lvl 13 (100/140)

  Wealth (+5): 11,206 Gold

  Glory (+150): 3,850

  Level (+1): 44 (100/450)

  Skill Points (+1): 4

  Item: Bastion Shellsteel Ingot x8 (Epic) — A heavy sea-green alloy ingot reinforced with riveted iron plates fused directly into its surface, and dried streaks of translucent green ichor cling to the seams. Armor crafted with this ingot gains +40% Resistance to Piercing and Grapple effects, and reduces damage taken from ambush or surround attacks by 20%. Weapons ignore an additional 25% of Natural Armor and deal +30% damage to heavily armored or carapaced enemies.

  But even with their success, the lead didn’t last long.

  Bursting through the hole above and several corridors on all sides around them—visible through Karl’s Lunar Sight—other gladiators began pouring into the castle. Their blurred speed gave Karl the idea that they had divine blessings or enchantments that allowed them to move with superpowered speed.

  “Björn, tell us where to go!” Mýra shouted as she gripped her shield, looking warily at a flock of metallic Egyptian crocodiles with gilded bronze scales and red eyes slithering through a nearby archway.

  Although some of the crocodiles were distracted by other gladiator teams moving through the layered castle, about seven of them targeted Karl and his friends.

  Björn’s eyes began to glow as they always did when he activated the Allfather’s Wisdom to perceive secrets in the area.

  “There!” Björn shouted, pointing toward one of the rivets in the dome ceiling. Though Karl could see with perfect clarity, the chaos of the arena caused him to completely miss the crescent-shaped gear with asymmetrical teeth attached to one of the circular grooves.

  “I’m on it,” the Trickster said, shooting his grappling hook to the roof and pulling himself upward. “You guys deal with the crocodiles and those turtle things. I’ll do the harder task!”

  Karl didn’t have time to argue as the crocodiles hissed and dashed toward them, ready to tear them to pieces.

  “Keep them at bay!” Karl shouted as he swam effortlessly backwards alongside Sporus. Karl activated his Grave Silence Rune to join Sporus in his invisibility and avoid leading the monsters to them.

  Glory (-225): 3,625

  Seeing that they didn’t follow, Karl swam up from Kara and the others, who used both a Baldr shield and a Bifrost barrier to briefly halt the machine crocodiles tearing their teeth into the magical barriers.

  At the same time, Karl and Sporus peppered the hissing crocodiles with the Venomcore Fanghead Arrows, with Karl’s attacks now 50% stronger from his rune. Even with their thick hides, the stacking arrows quickly drained their Health, further aided by a spilled tonic by Mýra that swelled like a dark cloud around the monsters. It must have been painful, for the crocodiles squirmed and hissed in agony.

  Björn and Kara took advantage of the moment, dissolving their shields and striking with barbarity, killing those that remained, although two were directly attributed to Karl and increased his Stamina from his stealth attacks.

  Strength (+20): lvl 13 (120/140)

  Stamina (+20): lvl 5 (20/60)

  Wealth (+2): 11,208 Gold

  Glory (+120): 3,745

  Level: 44 (220/450)

  Item: Sobek-Gilded Ingot x3 (Epic) — A burnished bronze-gold ingot formed from interlocking scale-plates fused at unnatural angles, each edge etched with crescent glyphs and blood-red inlay. Weapons crafted with this ingot gain +25% Movement Speed and +40% Damage for 3 seconds after emerging from stealth or invisibility. Armor grants +35% Resistance to Bleed and Rend effects.

  “I got the key part!” the Trickster shouted, waving the golden piece high above them as he began swimming back down, which the System confirmed a second later.

  Key to Life Parts: 1/3

  The moment of celebration, however, was robbed when, out of the many halls connected to the central dome, came the group of Hawaiians they had seen earlier. Karl almost didn’t recognize them because of how fluidly they moved through the water. It looked like the water bent around their forms and carried them forward, launching them through the dome without resistance.

  As they moved past, water slammed into Karl and Sporus, knocking them backward as if they had been hit by a tidal wave. The world spun, and Karl was immediately disoriented.

  A hand shot out and caught him before he could go any farther.

  It was Björn, who groaned under the pressure that had thrown him back while keeping Karl from spinning anymore. Kara had caught Sporus, who had been closer to her.

  Karl’s eyes flickered upward to where the Hawaiians had gone. They were already at the top of the dome, where the remaining crocodiles and turtle monsters were battling the other gladiators who had poured in through the opening above, all trying to reach one of the key-tooth gears hidden in pockets along the ceiling.

  One of the Hawaiian warriors, reminding Karl very much of Maui with his massive chest and muscles the size of Karl’s torso, dashed forward with inhuman speed. The current swelled around him as he forked a crocodile through the mouth, hoisting it triumphantly overhead.

  One of his men followed with a violent trident strike aided by the water. The trident, along with the slicing current it carried, severed the crocodile completely in half, sending oily blood spilling into the water.

  The other three Hawaiians blasted rival gladiators away from the roof with water-based abilities, likely enhanced by their sea divinity. Thankfully, the Trickster leapt aside just in time, avoiding being turned into scrap metal by the warriors whose tattoos glowed with power.

  Karl was mesmerized by how fluidly they moved, effortlessly blasting aside the sirens who descended through the dome’s opening before surging through and swimming far beyond.

  We’ve got to keep moving, Kara thought to Karl, as more gladiators poured into the dome along with monsters trying to stop them.

  As Karl collected himself and shoved one of the blood puddings down his throat—grossly muted by the water—they received an awful System message, presumably triggered by the Hawaiian warriors they had just witnessed.

  Escape Vaults Remaining: 499/500

  Pressure immediately mounted on Karl’s chest.

  It seemed that warriors blessed with sea divinities would reach the vaults first. They needed to move now, or be devoured by the growing waves of monsters for spectacle.

  27

  THE KEY TO LIFE

  The dome quickly became crowded as nearly a thousand gladiators flooded in, some destroying the roof with abilities Karl didn’t take the time to decipher. Massive chunks of marble plummeted downward, one smashing into a group of Africans swimming toward them, intent on killing Karl and his friends. As gory as it was, Karl didn’t feel too bad since it spared them a fight.

  All the while, more escape vaults vanished as faster contestants completed their keys.

  Escape Vaults Remaining: 457

  “On me!” Karl shouted as his friends—including the Trickster, who had finally rejoined them—grabbed hold of him.

  Karl Elf Leaped them into the nearest corridor. He had no idea where it led, only that they couldn’t remain in the dome, which had turned into a meat grinder as sirens swarmed from above and seduced and destroyed anyone they reached.

  They burst into a long, curved corridor whose walls were covered in rotating bronze veins, constantly shifting as if the passage itself was alive. Within the spinning veins ran hidden glass-and-bronze tubes glowing with golden fluid, scattered along the rotating cylinders of the Roman industrial castle. There were a few air pockets within the hall where dozens of gladiators were refilling their oxygen; only, those areas were swarming with the marble-metal sirens who attacked with a ruthless, albeit breathtaking, frenzy.

  “We need to grab one of those,” Björn said, slamming his battleaxe into a siren that rushed them upon their arrival, destroying her face with a single, effortless swing. His eyes glowed like they always did when he sought the Allfather’s wisdom.

  Karl wanted to clear the area fast, especially as hundreds of gladiators spilled into the swirling chamber from multiple archways, followed by more sirens, turtle creatures, and crocodiles.

  “I’ll get it!” Karl shouted, unwilling to rely on the Trickster this time and wanting Kara out of danger as she blasted incoming sirens with her beam of light.

  Karl fired an arrow and teleported toward one of the rotating cylinder cores, landing a meter ahead of where it would surface from its continuous revolution. As he reached down to grab it, a blast of water slammed into his back.

  He hurled headfirst into the cylinder, shattering it and spilling its golden fluid into the water and his mouth, which tasted like honey.

  What the hell, Karl thought, scrambling to turn around, only to see two samurai with glowing katanas closing in. They shouted in their own tongue before driving both blades straight into Karl’s chest, skewering him to the ground like a kebab.

  Immediately, all the air in Karl’s lungs exploded from his lips, mixing with his blood that seeped from the wounds.

  Health: 0/160

  The katanas glowed with burning energy, which must have guided them past the Dwarven Moltenveil plates he wore.

  System Message: “Tattoo Applied — Mark of Sæhrímnir.”

  Enchantment: Once per long rest, if killed, you are revived with 25% Health in a blast of spectral bacon and heat that knocks down enemies within 10 feet.

  Bacon exploded outward, sending the two Japanese samurai flying backward from him.

  Karl! Kara shouted through the Pack Link. He couldn’t see her with his own eyes, nor could he move, as he was pinned to the wall. But he could see through her vision that she and the others suffered in their accuracy from the Glær’s Guiding Antlers tattoo since his Health was so low.

  He needed to get the cylinder and get his team out of this nightmare.

  Karl immediately regretted sparing the samurai’s lives during the labyrinth floor, but there was little he could do as he squirmed against the blades. His Health recovered slightly as the bacon floated around him, and he immediately shoved the last two blood puddings into his mouth, barely able to chew as blood spewed through his lips.

  With one hand, he withdrew the Shard of Máni and desperately hacked at the katana blades. Doing so only made the pain more severe as the embedded weapons cut through his flesh and organs, even while the System continued to heal him.

  The two samurai, briefly disoriented by the spectral bacon blast, finished turning around and swam back toward him. Each held a pair of throwing stars, which they began hurling at him.

  Two dark shadows whizzed past Karl, knocking the throwing stars aside mere centimeters from his face. Karl could only guess it was Sporus, but he had no time to look.

  The samurai, their attacks countered, shouted and charged forward to finish off the one who had slaughtered their friends and who refused to die.

  So soon, little wolf, Fenrir growled within Karl’s mind, waiting anxiously for his death.

  The brief taunting from Fenrir gave Karl an idea. It was probably foolish, but it was the only thing to do.

  Karl activated his Moonlight meter, transforming into a burst of violence. His flesh morphed and twisted into his beastly state, allowing him to slip free of the katanas impaling him.

  The flash of fear in the samurai’s eyes told him they knew they were doomed.

  Karl surged forward, grabbing one in each hand and smashing them together in the water, again and again, rattling their lamellar armor.

  Another werewolf crashed into them and seized one of the samurai from behind, dragging him away from Karl as the beast swallowed his head whole. Kara didn’t give the samurai even a moment to scream.

  You okay? she thought to him as she gorged on the headless body.

  For now, Karl said, finishing off the remaining samurai with barely a flick of strength.

  Alpha Path: lvl 11 (100/210)

  Wealth (+2): 11,210 Gold

  Escape Vaults Remaining: 378

  “We need to move,” Karl said as the Trickster, Sporus, Björn, and Mýra finally reached them.

  “Try not to break any of these,” the Trickster said, shooting out a claw to snatch one of the golden cylinders and twirling it around.

  Key to Life Parts: 2/3

  Hundreds of gladiators swam through the corridor, chased mostly by sirens, though a pack of crocodiles slid toward them, metallic tails flicking in anticipation.

  Karl’s Health was dangerously low, and he was starving. Before hunting for the third piece, it would be wiser to restore his Health.

  Together with Kara, and with the Trickster latched onto Karl’s back, firing explosive acorns, they swam straight at the crocodiles. Karl activated Moonflayer Veil and Moonfang Strike, draining nearly all his Stamina, but it would be worth it.

  He vanished from sight, save for the Trickster launching acorn grenades at crocodile faces. Karl lunged ahead of Kara and hurled himself into seven of them at once.

  Before the beasts could barrel-roll him into disorientation, he did it to them instead. He twisted through the water in violence, claws glowing with moonlight as lunar bleed tore through their Health. Snapping at one another in confusion, the crocodiles failed to find him.

  Kara tore through the distracted ones with her teeth, while arrows from Sporus buried themselves in the eyes of any that tried to flank them. Thankfully, Karl devoured four of them, their metallic meat filling his twisting stomach that hungered for more, and giving him seven more of their ingots.

  Alpha Path: lvl 11 (140/210)

  Wealth (+4): 11,214 Gold

  A few Egyptian gladiators, unlucky enough to be close, were swept into the carnage. Karl grabbed the legs of three and dragged them into his claws. His teeth made quick work of them. They tasted far better than the crocodiles.

  Alpha Path: lvl 11 (170/210)

  Wealth (+6): 11,220 Gold

  He didn’t dwell on the morality of it, or lack thereof. He needed the Health and Stamina if they were going to survive getting out.

  “Have you had your fill yet?” the Trickster said as Björn, Mýra, and Sporus caught up.

  “I think so,” Karl growled, earning a disgusted glance from Mýra, who looked horrified by the slaughter.

  “I think the last part is outside,” Björn said, his eyes glowing with the Allfather’s wisdom.

  “Where’s the nearest exit?” Kara asked as they watched the fighting hordes around them.

  “Those two little doors over there,” the Trickster said, pointing to the far end of the hall. Unfortunately, hundreds of gladiators were fighting there, all trying to reach the same corridor.

  “Do you want to switch back and use your bow?” Sporus asked as sirens and turtle monsters pushed closer, now charging them outright.

  “No time,” Karl said. “Hold on to me again.”

  “I’m really not a fan of this kind of transportation,” Björn said as he gripped Karl’s fur too tightly. Kara held onto Karl’s lower waist, which he very deliberately did not think about.

  Once everyone was on, Karl activated Rune of Overpressure Leap Mk II.

  Glory (-190): 3,555

  He vented forward eighty meters toward the exit, leaving a fiery trail that boiled sirens, turtle creatures, and any gladiators caught in their path. Karl and Kara cleared the way with their claws. Mýra held Livia’s shield in front of herself, Björn, and Sporus, the three bracing behind it as bodies splattered past like insects on a car window.

  Thankfully, Karl couldn’t hear the screams over the roar of fire and destruction.

  The impact of their quasi-rocket group must have maimed over a hundred gladiators and monsters, fatally taking down at least fifty-three men and monsters, and boosting Karl’s werewolf experience dramatically.

  Alpha Path (+3): lvl 14 (40/240)

  Reiði Points (+3): 7

  Moonlight Meter is now 190/190

  Wealth (+81): 11,301 Gold

  Glory (+90): 3,645

  Level: 44 (310/450)

  Karl also received seven more Bastion Shellsteel Ingots and ten more Siren Resonant Ingots from the insane slaughter. And the surge of Glory, Stamina, and Health flooding into him from their explosive jaunt filled him with such a rush that, when they burst through the doors and back into open water, he didn’t even realize where they were headed.

  They slammed into a giant, shadowy mass.

  Karl first thought it was a wall, given how black the surface was, but as they drifted backward from the violent impact, two massive white eyes flared to life like floodlights.

  The collision knocked the breath out of everyone except Karl, who could still breathe thanks to his Abyss Pearl. The others had to rely on the metal regulators at their lips to draw in their minute of air.

  No one had time to react as the bald, shadowy figure rose from the depths of the arena and reached out with an inky hand to crush them.

  “It’s an umibōzu!” the Trickster shouted, not needing to breathe since he was metallic.

  “By the gods,” Mýra whispered, as everyone grabbed onto Karl again so he could Elf Leap them away. But he was still in his werewolf form and couldn’t access his bow, and the massive arm was moving with lightning speed.

  “Use the Punch-Clock Heart!” Sporus shouted as everyone secured their grip on Karl again.