Chapter 9
The river separating the Bowerstone from the Westcliff areas was a wide but lazy one, making its quiet way to the sea as it grew fatter and fatter the closer it got. The day was insufferably hot and Maze was not very glad of his leather armor and black robes. Sparrow and Tasha for once had little energy, the poor lab was walking laboriously by her mistress's side, panting as hard as a dog could. There was a bridge across the river, a ways up stream, but at Maze looked towards the cool sapphire waters they walked along he decided that a swim would do far better than any bridge.
Sparrow heard Maze stop walking and turned to see him shedding his robes and armor and put them in a small leather pack he'd gotten in Bowerstone, then tie the pack to the top of his staff. Then without hesitation his waded into the waters, visibly relived by the cool temperature. He found this was a good place to cross, even getting towards the center of the river it was still only chest high.
"What are you doing?" called Sparrow.
"Not dying from heat stroke." He called back. "Let's see who gets to the other end of bridge first shall we?"
Sparrow shook her head and began walking again but heard a great splash and saw Tasha paddling her way across the river with Maze. He patted her head as she got close and continued to the other side, only needing to really swim in one small spot. Sparrow remained pig-headed and kept to the opposite bank, forcing herself to make it to the bridge.
Maze and Tasha waded along the shallows in the river, now cooled off Tasha regained her exuberance and occasionally ran onto shore to play with sticks and any small animals that were dumb enough to stay still for too long. With the bridge in sight Maze left the water and walked in the cool shade of the trees. He sat down a sun bathe rock and peeled of his wet boots, squeezed the water out of them and let the heat of the day dry them. Not long after he saw Sparrow appear the opposite end of the bridge. Tasha came up with a large stick that she rubbed against his arm.
"Fine." He said, taking the stick and tossing it into the water. Tasha vaulted after it and splashed her way to the toy, then made her way back.
The breeze running over the bridge helped her a great deal and as she got halfway Sparrow saw Maze sitting on the other end, throwing a stick in the water for her dog. Her head feel against her chest and she grumbled something under her breath.
"My, my, don't you look hot?" Maze said as she got to the other end.
Sparrow gave him a look, then hopped over the guardrail and jumped into the river. She fell in with a roaring splash and her dog was not far behind. The tow of them swam aimlessly for a few minutes then came back ashore.
"Your right," she said, her high boots squelching with her steps, "I was hot, I feel better now."
Maze just smiled as she walked by, put his own boots on and left his armor in his pack for now. Their clothes dried quickly and the forest grew much thicker and provided more shade. At last Westcliff came into sight. It reminded him of Knothole Glade, surrounded by thick forest and a slightly slip shod wall of sharpened trees trunks. They were allowed through the gate and Maze felt that inside it resembled a slightly cleaner version of Bloodstone. The town was obviously still being built and the sounds of construction echoed through the town, drowned out occasionally by the raucous cheering of a crowd gathered in the arena building looming at the top of the hill. The partners wasted little time in the unfinished town and made for the Crucible building.
Maze had fought in the Arena in his younger days and though he emerged victorious he had been sorely challenged to win that title. The Arena was no place for a novice and had claimed many a seasoned Hero as well. As he entered the sheltered, musty room below the stands to prepare he hoped for a test equal to the one he faced before, but his hopes weren't high. It wasn't Heroes fighting for glory anymore, it was normal people, painfully weak by comparison.
Maze made sure to stock up on potions, and spoke to Sparrow.
"I'm afraid I'm not going in, already ran the gauntlet." She grinned, "so its my reputation you have to live up to. Good luck!"
She clapped him on the back headed back up towards the stands.
Maze didn't have to wait long before he was ushered to the entrance to the first room. Apparently not many contestants in this batch were living very long. As he entered the crowd cheered half heartily and the two announcers introduced him.
"Good afternoon everyone! This is Allen Murray here with Mad-dog 'The Strangler' McGraw. We have a new contestant here today, this one simply calls himself 'Maze'."
There was some cheering at the sound of his name, but mostly booing. Maze rolled his eyes and readied his staff.
"Right! First up, the terrible, the horrible,"
Hobbes, I'm sure.
"Beetles!"
Oh, please, could you at least try?
One giant Enflame spell made short work of every insect.
The Crucible crowd fell almost completely silent, and the announcer sounded more than a little scared. Mad-dog made a nervous laugh, then said
"He has a few bombs or something on him, I'm sure."
"Y-yes, I think your right."
Maze smirked.
Better get ready for some more shocks then.
In came another wave of beetles, this time felled by a Chain Lightening spell.
"Bloody hell? What's wrong with him?" yelled Allen.
"Nothing, truly. But I do hope you'll let me keep fighting, wouldn't want to cut the entertainment short would we?" Maze fixed his burning eyes on the announcer's box. He could just see them staring back, and saw one of them nod to a nearby man. The door to the next room opened.
"Right then, lets give this man a go, shall we?" Allen's voice was still peppered with fear.
Maze walked into the next room, and once he got in the door closed behind him and he braced himself for the next challenge.
"By the way folks, Maze here just broke the record for clearing the beetle room the fastest." There wasn't much response from the crowd.
"And now, perhaps an all time favorite, the nasty, the vile, the Hobbes!"
Several Hobbes waddled in, all of them melee based. Maze charged his Physical Shield but resisted the urge to draw the Tear of Avo and relied on his staff. He spun his weapon, bashing in skulls and shattering ribs. The sight of blood was what finally got the crowd behind him. He'd cleared the first wave in no time, and made short work of the second even with the mages trying to give melee support.
"Amazing!" blood lust had cleared away Allen and Mad-dog's fear as well, "Another record folks! We haven't seen a performance like this since the Hero Sparrow fought the Crucible!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Allen, there still plenty to go."
Maze stepped through to the next room, quickly downing a mana potion. A pit sat in the middle of this room. Maze smirked as larger, stronger Hobbes entered. He stood with his back to the pit, and let them group around him, adding a little tension. He then jumped over them and landed squarely behind them, then used Force Push to dump well over half of them into the pit. The rest he finished off with Lightening spells and his staff.
The next wave included mages and Hobbes that looked bloated and moved far slower than the others. He unleashed a bolt of Lightening at one and it blew up.
Hmm, useful.
Maze ran about the room a few times, forcing them all to gather up in one group, then hit a few of the bloated ones again. They took out nearly all of the group with them. One Force Push sent all but one into the pit. A single mage stood quivering in front of him. Maze took one step towards it and the creature flung itself into the pit, joining its comrades.
"Well, now, first time I've seen a case of Hobbe suicide."
"Can't say I blame it though. Alright, give it up for Maze everyone!"
The crowd's cheering was much louder now, but not everyone was behind him yet.
That'll change soon. As long as you actually challenge me now.
The next door opened and he went through.
"All right, now for an extra special one. Ladies and gentlemen, for your enjoyment, the unholy Hollow Men!"
Undead shambled into the room. Maze rolled his eyes. Again he let them get dangerously close and released Enflame. Two hits of the spell and the Hollow Men were gone. The second wave came in, but to his chagrin/pleasure they resisted his fire spells surprisingly well. Now Maze drew the Tear of Avo and he couldn't help but smirk as he heard several people gasp. The blade's power was more than enough to kill an undead with one hit, yet he found himself being a little more showy than usual. Now the people were really cheering for him, and Maze scooped up some coins thrown on the floor for him.
"Blimely! That's quite the blade, eh, Strangler?"
"It looks like something out of the Old Kingdom Allen!"
Maze walked calmly through the next door.
"Now, for your pleasure, spared the headsman's block, bandits!"
Now, will you give me a challenge?
Barrels painted black with red skulls littered the room, and Maze decided to make use of them. He moved quickly, using Fireballs to blow up the barrels and kill bandits, then teleporting to a new position and repeating, but he eventually ran out of barrels and still had four enemies left. He charged his Physical Shield spell again impaled one, then slashed another open, beheaded the third and knocked the last one to the ground, finishing him as he lay bell up.
The people in the stands screamed, and the door opened to the next room.
"An amazing performance so far but there's still more! Now for the dastardly, fearless Highwaymen!"
A bandit is a bandit, easy pickings.
Maze saw various switches on the walls, traps no doubt, but how best to trigger them? The Highwaymen didn't waste time and were soon swarming him. He teleported to the other side of the room and pulled one of the triggers. Fire leapt out of one of the holes in the wall, causing three Highwaymen to die screaming and make the whole room smell like burning dog hair. Maze kept up the strategy of luring them towards a hole and then teleporting to the right trigger but they only feel for it three more times. He was a little surprised.
He resorted to simply hacking and slashing them into mince meat, staying at the center of the room so they couldn't use the same tactic he had used on them. It took a little longer but he smiled when a good hit the cut his opponent's sword in half made the crowd roar.
"A hit! A very palpable hit!"
Finally every Highwayman lay dead in their blood and the door opened for the next room. Maze caught his breath and stepped through.
"All right, and old favorite, literally! A monster that has been terrorizing the Albian countryside since the Old Kingdom, the Balverines!"
The furry, blood covered monsters rushed him at once, only to be knocked back by one Force Push. Maze only had time to notice the barrel of explosives hanging from the wall and the holes in the floor before another one charged. He barrel rolled out of the way and tried to look for trigger switches. There were none but he could hear metal gears clacking and some of the spike traps activated, hurting one of the monsters. As some spikes were lowered others came up.
Finally, I was wondering if you were ever going to make this interesting.
Maze relied on his sword once again, using his teleporting to get behind a Balverine and get a few hits in to kill it, always being mindful of the spikes in the floor and using a Force Push to give himself some space from time to time. He whittled their numbers down to the last two, and as he and his targets danced around each other looking for an opening the crowd began to chant his name.
"Maze! Maze! Maze! Maze! Maze! Maze!"
"Well knock me over with a feather he's gotten popular fast. And not only that, he's on the verge of beating Sparrow's perfect time too!"
"Well if he beats it; it won't be perfect anymore will it?"
One of the Balverines rushed him and he jumped aside, slicing open it's abdomen as it barreled past. While it was lying on the ground watching its own entrails spill out he jumped the last one, severing its head. The crowd cheered louder than ever and threw money and flowers to him as he whipped the blood off his blade and headed towards the next room.
"What a reception! But it's not over for Maze yet! He's one final enemy to put down! It takes ten men to kill one of these blighters and it took twice that to capture this one, it's the indestructible Rock Troll!"
Maze furrowed his brow as the troll rose up out of the earth and chortled.
My kingdom for a bow.
He put away the Tear of Avo and slammed down his staff, activating his spell of Slow Time. He then jogged around the troll, avoiding its attacks and throwing powerful fireballs at it, whittling down its health. Chips of stone began falling off the troll and he could see it getting angry, it was now beginning to throw three rocks at time at him. He cast Slow Time again and moving in closer, running backwards around it to make it keep turning, still throwing fireballs at it. It was dangerous close to death when he saw it get ready to jump and cause a mini earthquake, so he backed up out of range but his spell wore off. The troll threw two rock attacks at him, and for a moment everyone lost sight of him in the dust and debris.
Just as all were ready to call him dead, a great blast of fire hit the troll from behind and it died its dramatic death. Maze walked up as it sank into the ground and snatched up the ruby that had served as the creature's heart. He held it up and the people roared. Off in the stands he saw Sparrow jumps up and down screaming at the top of her lungs, and Tasha by her side barking like mad.
"Unbelievable! Simply incredible! I've never seen anything like it!"
"I don't think you will again, Allen! Its official, we have a new champion, and anyone who wants to run the Crucible again will have to live up to Maze's standard!"
Maze bowed for his audience and went around the room a few times, collecting money and goods thrown down for him, and just for show handing flowers to some young girls bending over the wall just to touch him. When he was done he left for the under rooms again, and was patted on the back by many contestants. Sparrow came running up and jumped up, throwing her arms around him.
"Maze! You're amazing!"
She kissed both his cheeks and kept jumping up and down.
"Everyone will be talking about Champion Maze after this!"
"I think they already are Sparrow."
She squealed and ran towards the exit, Maze could only smile and follow her out in his own slow pace.