Sworded Affair

Chapter 54: Superstar

[Floor cleared.]

Emma just stared at the notification, genuinely lost for words even as the door opened at the end of the arena, presenting her a path out of a frozen tableau that had long outstayed its welcome.

"Why is that a thing?" She spoke at last, Epitaph fading into nothing as all tension left her frame. "The final boss was more or less as expected, but then a fake second phase? Is it to bait people into wasting cooldowns or consumables?"

[Got it in one! Granted, this particular addition wasn't for purely practical purposes. All Fool’s Day is an important holiday in the magical community, probably the most important in fact, more so than even the likes of Easter or Christmas. It’s inevitable really, that a society founded upon the premise of fooling reality to bring miracles to life, would place such a premium upon the virtues of deceit. A lot of thought and work would have gone into the holiday events, far too much to restrict their activity to a single day of the year; in Scholomance, every trial has a small but existent chance of pulling in a holiday event. You're unlikely to see another, barring some truly ridiculous luck.]

"Next floor then, probably," Emma smiled ruefully, before finally heading through the gateway to the seventh floor.

---

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you here today," Felix began, prompting a round of booing and groaning. "Yes, I know it's cliche, but this is actually important."

Before him, a motley crew consisting mainly of military personnel (serving and retired), professional athletes, gangsters and serial killers slowly came to order. Whilst Felix was fairly tolerant in casual settings they knew he wouldn't hesitate to remove speaking privileges had the clamour continued for too long, so the murmurs and whispers didn't last more than a minute or two in the end.

"As I was saying," Felix resumed once silence fell. "We're just over a third towards the initial quota of a thousand people for this Dungeon to really thrive, and we expect the speed of acquisition to increase shortly. This is thanks to several innovations in the deployment of Wolf Demons, meaning if all goes well, we could hit the quota in as little as a month, even taking into account the growing distance our hunters have to travel, now that nearby settlements have been emptied. I'm sure you've been wondering why I need so many people, right?"

A sea of nods confirmed his suspicions, everyone so eager to hear the truth that nobody even interrupted him.

"There's many details I can't or won't explain, but it all boils down to this."

With an exertion of will, Felix made his administrator console visible, revealing a single one of his ongoing quests to the eager crowd.

[Administrator Quest: Panem et Circenses

Objective: Connect to the global Weave. [X]

Objective: Synchronise Academia Mortalis with the System Broadcast. [X]

Objective: Connect to at least one other Dungeon.

Objective: Host your first gladiator games, with at least a thousand participants.

Rewards: Tech Level increase (1940s), Quest: Silica Delenda Est]

"We're going to be gladiators?" Jen gasped, summoning her chainsaw into her hands to give the serrated blade a loving caress.

"The world is in a dark place," Felix continued. "But humanity is resilient; as a species, they will survive, adapt and conquer, working towards regaining their former glory. But whilst material concerns such as food and shelter aren't too hard to come by, with a bit of ingenuity, entertainment is a whole other story. At least in the short term, people are going to be far too busy trying to survive to have time for leisure; which is why we're going to let them live vicariously through our games.

Technology has failed, but we're still here, and if there's anything that's enthralled crowds since the dawn of time, it's the thrill of deadly violence. Once our preparations are complete, the games will be broadcast anywhere and everywhere the Weave can reach; seeing everyone here fight, die, and get back up to try again. Now to be clear, participation isn't mandatory; I have no need for conscripts who'll inevitably give a poor showing, lacking in fighting spirit.

But I think you'll all want to participate anyway; I selected you all for a willingness to fight after all, and the rewards are simply too good to pass up. Not only will participating help unlock more perks for the Dungeon, things like radio and vinyl music to make everyone's downtime more comfortable; but there are also personal perks up for grabs if you place highly. Physical enhancements, level ups, fame and adoration from a global fan base, and an eventual path towards manifesting in the outside world again. So, what do you say, everyone?"

"We who are about to die, salute you!" The crowd roared as one.

---

Of course, as happy as Felix was at the great reception, that didn't mean his job was done for the day. Whilst his gladiators relocated to the newly created gymnasium to train for the upcoming games, he was the Dungeon Master who had to make it all happen. Whilst most of the steps had proven simple if time-consuming, the final hurdle was proving increasingly intractable despite his best efforts and reinforcement from the Dungeon Core itself.

[Access denied.

Connection lost.]

"Attempt number 213 has failed," Felix sighed. "Mana link unable to be sustained for longer than thirty seconds, due to irreconcilable differences in density and quality."

And wasn't that a galling thing for him to admit; but try as he might, Felix was simply unable to recreate the pure Mana that powered Scholomance. The efficiency of the sorcerous tower when it came to mana consumption beggared belief, and its strict standards were similarly enforced upon any Dungeon seeking to connect. Even after two hundred attempts, Felix was still expending more than three times the mana per second that Scholomance's guardian would tolerate, leading to the current standstill.

"You're not going to get anywhere, trying to brute force the connection." A voice spoke; soft and calm, yet enough to send Felix into a panic all the same, given that it was coming from inside his Dungeon Core. "My tower dislikes such one-sided exchanges, Scholomance is much more in favour of give and take."

Redirecting his consciousness to the Black Desert, Felix found himself confronting a young girl; one who looked no older than twelve, wearing an oversized witch hat and carrying a staff taller than herself. If anything, Felix thought her innocuous appearance only made her appear more intimidating, when set against what the System was telling him.

[Fragment of Will (Overmind) - Level 93]