Side Note

I eventually reached the pyramid entrance, which was twice my height and adorned with so many decorations. Each and every single golden piece was unique from the others. I recognised a few things, like the one that was weapons of folks I knew closely, like Mel's bow or Sherry's axe, and even mundane things I knew were connected to people I knew, like a bowl of soup that was clearly a reference to Merida. There were some symbols I didn't recognise, however, most notably a golem, a robot, and a piece of parchment with a quill next to it. Myka wasn't lying when she said she put effort into this. I pushed open the door, putting in effort due to its weight. 

I was greeted with the grand sight of a coliseum, its stands wholly empty and its walls in complete disrepair. The battlefield section was different, with countless bloodied weapons lodged inside the dirt. Halberds, morningstars, staffs, greatswords, katanas, and much, much more. I looked up, noticing a starry night, completely hiding the fact I was inside a pyramid. What stood out to me most were two things. A lone figure standing at the centre of this grand arena made for gladiators and the vehicle beside me that greatly hinted at who was first. 

I walked to the centre of the stadium, and there standing, with her great axe on full display, was Sherry Phobos, looking somberly at the weaponry surrounding her. I quickly grabbed my daggers, stepping into a combat stance, when Sherry raised her hand towards me, shaking her head. 

"I'd win, and you know that." It's true. She has the Chariot, after all. "I am not here as a foe, but rather as assistance. You're a combat prodigy, so tell me, what is a current weakness you have?"

"Uhh… I don't have Mel?" Some backline support would be nice.

"In a duel situation is what I meant, obviously."

"Oh, then my weapon. Daggers suck when the opponent can just swing their sword outside of my range, and I can't really use them as projectiles since I have magic." Although, I could just flood the surrounding area with a bunch of daggers. Christie didn't mention a limit for materialising daggers, so I assume there is none. Then again, those daggers would hurt me as well.

"Which is why I'm here. You may take one weapon from this arena." I looked around, seeing only weapons whose quality was subpar. They all were bloodied, blunt, rusted, and unwieldy, most likely from years of use. "All for the price of a story."

"Do I have to tell a story? I've got plenty of stories." Like the story of how a single cup of tea led to the near collapse of the Hamblin meat trade. Both edible and sexual meat. Hamblin has a lot of prostitutes.

"No, I'll be the one telling the story. So, grab a weapon." Oh, storytime. My favourite.

I looked around at the weapons, noticing a detail. The weapons closer to Sherry were of better quality, although still very clearly damaged, with one exception: A halberd that stood right beside her, with a glimmer similar to the axe she held in her dominant hand. Not only was it better quality, but something about it drew me to it: a sense of familiarity. I will admit the halberd was always one of the more fun weapons to wield back in Combat Class, but it was more than that.

I walked to in front of Sherry, meeting her gaze, before grabbing the dark halberd, which dematerialised, entering my Ring of Lurking Darkness. "Ahh… wonderful choice. That weapon's story is rather short compared to every other weapon here. One day, a maid with shadow black hair was brought to the gladiator arena and forced to participate. Unlike the rest, who used weaponry either provided by the slavers or gifted by patrons of the coliseum, this maid simply created a halberd from her shadow. Her fights were boringly quick, so the only notable thing about her was her lack of speech and the fact that she is only one of four gladiators still alive to this day. Funny thing, you know her."

"Kyrie, right?"

"Yes. A beautiful name, wouldn't you say?"

"I guess it's alright."

"Now," Sherry took out a tiny wooden replica of her axe, then threw it towards me. I caught it, only to see my feet suddenly turn transparent. The effect looked like it was going up my entire leg, onto the rest of my body, yet I could still feel them. "Every single one of us has some sort of item you're supposed to take to go to the next floor…. and one last thing: Whips and half-vampires don't do well in close quarters."

Sherry sent me off with a smile and a salute. I may not have hung out with her for that long, but I can at least say that she was the best driver I've ever known… and also the only one.

I found myself inside a… cake shop? It's a familiar one, however… the one in Hamblin? I noticed the counter was unmanned, so I took this as an opportunity to look out the window. I saw that beside the cake shop was a grand mansion that looked very much like the architecture of ancient Bellum, back when vampires were prominent. Merry, then? A more striking detail would be the blood-red moon, however. Do I know anyone related to vampires? Oh my god, was Speedy a vampire the whole time?

I walked up to the counter, looking behind to see if that maybe the person I had to face on this floor was just hiding behind it, finding no one. I only found a bell with a sign next to it that said 'Ring me', which is exactly what I did. Ringing bells is fun. In fact, I did it again. Soon enough, a familiar woman came to the counter, wearing a baker's apron.

"We meet again, Madeleine. You should come to Bellum someday, so I may formally thank you for rescuing me."

"Umm… you seem familiar."

"Haha… you know my niece, my daughter, and my sister? Well, my daughter did say you're quite bad at remembering faces. I'm Cherry Phobos, holder of Bloodbath and baker of Blood-Infused Cakes. Remember now?"

"Oh, Merry's aunt!"

"Yes, yes!"

"So… am I fighting you?"

"Oh, soon. Just let me exit."

"And me?"

"Stay in the shop for a few moments." She took off the apron and then walked outside of the shop. I did exactly as she said and stayed inside the shop, even as it started getting hot, making me want to exit. Did she leave on the magic heater… or maybe it's because the building is on fire. Well, shit.

I immediately ran to the door, only to realise it was blocked by… crystallised blocks of blood? That baker, she set me up! This is just like those three other bakers I knew in Hamblin! I immediately stomped the ground, causing cubes of the earth to rise out of the ground and then fly through the door, opening up a path, which I quickly went through. As soon as I exited the burning bakery, I heard the sounds of a whip cracking from behind me. I turned and found Mila standing on top of the building, holding a whip that was lit aflame, and beside her was her mother, with bat-like wings flapping, letting her float above the fire.

"It's time for some tests, Madeleine. I want to see your limits." With wide eyes and a manic smile, Mila jumped off the blazing cake shop, striking me with her weapon. I dodged to the side, not wanting to get hit with a burning whip, then jumped as soon as I finished dodging, as Cherry swooped down, trying to swipe at me with a sword made out of blood. That is so cool… and now they're both taking turns attacking me. So far, it's been easy to dodge them, as they both seem not as refined as some of the folks I've been forced to fight, but I've noticed a problem… Mila is learning. With each strike, I can tell she's getting much better at predicting, aiming, reducing attack time, and much more. No wonder she's called The Prodigy. I'll need to take care of her first.

The next sword swipe Cherry tried hitting me with, I swiftly sidestepped, then, without missing a beat, immediately kicked the sword out of her hand, sending it away and causing her to panic. When she notices I'm not following up, she bolts backwards to retrieve her sword, leaving just Mila and me.

"Ah, a duel." Mila cracks her whip. "This will allow for better data, surely."

She sends her whip at me, but I quickly answer it by summoning the dark halberd my shadow clone used, making the whip wrap around its handle. Mila looks surprised, having not anticipated that. I pulled the halberd hard, making Mila fly at me, who seemed glued to her whip, which I followed up with a simple kick to the head, immediately knocking Mila out. At least she lasted longer here than her bout in the Madeleine Royale.

I noticed Cherry was now charging at me, her vampire fangs on full display. I know Sherry said something about half-vampires sucking at close combat, but since I didn't use that advice on Mila's whip, I guess I won't do the same on Cherry. I grabbed Mila's leg, then flung her right at Cherry, who was caught off-guard. Their heads collided, knocking the two out. Huh. That was easy.

I walked over to the two and started searching their body with haste. The sooner I get through this pyramid, the quicker I get to Mel. Eventually, I found a diary Mila had that had my name on its cover. This must be where she writes her stuff about me. As soon as I grabbed it, my legs started going transparent. Onto the next floor.

I found myself in a long queue, filled with people whose eyes were lifeless, with bodies that seemed drained. Oh… this is the afterlife, isn't it? I wonder who I'll meet here.

Chapter namesake: Firestarter by The Prodigy

pojlk

We are going to be having a lot of callbacks. Try guessing who the person Madeleine will meet based on the floor's description, it might be fun. Maybe not. Who knows?