The two arrived in the exhibitors hall and as soon as they walked through the doors Pepper could feel his chest tighten. He stood there for a second and took a deep breath. He tried to go walk forward and into one of the aisles, but immediately bumped into another group of gladiators who weren’t paying attention.

  He apologized and took a step back as his vision started to blur and he felt the room start to spin. How is it that I can face demons, stand in the center of an arena with thousands of people staring at me, but can’t even navigate a crowded room without dealing with this… condition? He questioned internally.

  Pepper shook his head slightly and was sure that Zeklor had picked up on the fact that he wasn’t being himself. An idea sparked inside his mind and he finally dry coughed. “Do you mind taking the lead? I don’t know what came over me but… My head is just pounding now and making me all sorts of whack.”

  Zeklor shrugged and motioned with his head. “Sure man, let’s head this way.” Pepper followed in behind him and was happy that he had his new friend to rely on in the situation. Zeklor then turned to him and asked. “So, what exactly are you looking for?”

  “Inspiration.” Pepper said. His answer caused Zeklor to laugh but he then followed up. “We have to find something… something that our opponents won’t expect,”

  “Like what though?”

  Pepper reached up and messaged the back of his neck. “You know… in the club matches, my gravity rune was awesome. And it also makes sense in the Pantheon League where the golems are so massive and slow moving. You can time their locations… but here… there is enough speed to really offset that.”

  He paused to take a deep breath and worked to keep the clear vision he had come to appreciate for the time being. “I’ve done two matches now and my cohort know I have the gravity rune. They’ve also seen me use the energy strike. I feel like it’s time I switch that up.”

  Zeklor was nodding along in agreement as Pepper shared his thoughts. He then pointed across the large showroom. “Well, if we want to checkout some new cards, we should probably head to that side of the room where the Rune manufacturer tables-”

  “That’s what we need.” Pepper pointed to the far back corner of the room. He turned and looked at Zeklor and lifted his eyebrows with a cheesy smile.

  “You can’t be serious?” Zeklor asked.

  But Pepper was serious and immediately started to walk in a b-line for the booth. There were garden gnomes gathered around the table, some of which were shaped into positions and gestures that weren’t so family friendly. A banner was hung up and stretched over the booth with wording “We buy broken equipment.”

  Pepper saw a big smile form on Jay’s face as he approached. “Well look what the cat dragged over to my table.” The two shook hands but Jay’s narrowed his gaze directly on him. “There is no way you could tell me that you have a damaged rune card that you want to sell me. So what ace do you have tucked up your sleeve?”

  He couldn’t help but return a confident smile in return. “You’re right… I don’t want to sell you some damaged goods, rather… I’m looking to acquire some damaged goods myself.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  “That’s a fact.”

  Jay had a devious giggle but motioned with his head for the two to follow him. He lead them around a black curtain which was draped down to conceal a large set of bins. They were filled with damaged or unwanted parts, and he narrowed in on the bins with a majority of rune cards stacked inside. Pepper turned and looked at Zeklor who had more of a confused and puzzled expression.

  “How exactly are damaged parts supposed to help us?” Zeklor asked.

  Pepper lifted his hand and gave a motion for Zeklor to calm down. “Just wait… you’ll see.” He started to rummage through the bins and began to pick out different cards. “That Quintek has a good board we can use.” He started to hand the items off to his friend who began to law them all out on a folding table Jay had nearby.

  “For the love of penguins! This Arcaic Light rune looks to be in perfect working condition!” Pepper exclaimed. He slowly rotated the card around a second, then third time to confirm his initial assessment.

  “What is an Arcaic Light rune?” Zeklor asked.

  “It’s the rune you’re going to use for the rest of this invitational.”

  His statement caused Zeklor shake his head in surprise. “It is?”

  “Yes. Though you have had some predictabilities when it comes to your punch combinations. You have a natural strength in your melee and boxing. Think of it as the fact that you’ve naturally told your body, this is what we do in matches. So it is naturally reacting with it as it’s primary option. Well… this is going to allow you to really throw your competition off.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “But, what does an Arcaic Light attack actually do?”

  Pepper laughed. “It doesn’t attack. But even better… it barely uses any energy compared to your water cannon. Which means you’ll be able to throw it up and catch your opponents by surprise.

  “Pepper!”

  “Yeah, what?”

  “But what does it do?”

  Pepper chuckled. “Oh, right, my bad. Think of it like creating your own small, personal sun…” Pepper formed a devious smile on his face.

  Zeklor reached up and grabbed hold of his hair and slightly tugged. “So, if it’s such a good rune, why haven’t more gladiators used them?”

  Pepper started to navigate his holodex to the SEC Regional Rulebook. He utilized the search feature and quickly found the answer he was looking for. A giant smile formed on his face once his search was over. “Ha-ha, see! They are authorized in the SEC!”

  He closed the window on his holodex and then turned back to his friend. “Most of the upper tiered arena’s are almost too big for the rune to have a major effect. But… most of the clubs, such as mine back home, banned the rune. The arena’s are so small that you basically blind all the fans in attendance and they can’t enjoy the match.”

  Zeklor slowly nodded. “But the SEC doesn’t have them banned.”

  “Exactly! It’s one of those loop holes that many gladiators haven’t considered.” Pepper set the rune back down and then looked at Jay. “Who in the world sold you this?”

  Jay giggled. “Heck if I know Pepper. Do you realize how many people come to me with their sob stories? Or who have finally had their last rage quit and just want to off load anything and everything they’ve acquired over the years?” Jay sighed and looked off in the distance. “Their salty tears are like the sprinkles on an ice cream cone to me.”

  Pepper dashed a glance over to Zeklor and was happy to see that the expression on his friend’s face matched his. The two shrugged and then turned back to the bin. He continued to sift through the options until he found a Ronin Bladed Lightning Rune.

  “Oh, this would also be really complimentary for your melee. Do you know about this one?”

  “That’s the one where the electricity forms a blade along the front of the golems fist, but then runs down along the outside of the forearm and ends at the elbow, right?”

  “Yeah… think of karambit-style hooked blades. Only, instead of a physical blade of metal, you have a pulse of electric energy that creates the blade. It gives you a nice slicing and bladed penetration on top of your melee.” Pepper then looked down at the card to confirm the manufacturer emblem imprinted on the card. “If I remember correctly this Ronin lasts for something like 30 seconds.”

  Zeklor then motioned with his head. “What about that chip that appears to be burned out?”

  “That’s the Cross Fire Dispersion Channel. Or CFDC for short.”

  “Well, what good is that card if the CFDC is damaged?”

  Pepper chuckled. “Oh, that little guy? I wouldn’t worry about that little guy.”

  He continued to look through the bin and gathered a few other cards they may need for spare parts and pieces to ensure the cards for Zeklor would work. Pepper also found a damaged Paladin Energy Beam, unfortunately the Rune Process Unit and CFDC were both damaged. But the more he looked the card over the more he felt confident that he could still refabricate it.

  They had basically finished making their selections from the used items when Jay approached them and playfully hesitated. “You know, Pepper. I may have something else, not in these bins that you might be interested in?”

  Pepper grinned and decided to play along. “I don’t know Jay… it would have to be something pretty cool.”

  Jay deviously laughed. “Oh, it’s not just cool. It’s wicked sick.” His smile beamed as he reached for a small black case that had been tucked behind some other items. Jay placed the case on the table and started to undo the latches. He started to open the lid and Pepper couldn’t take his eyes away from the rune card that was inside.

  A Warlock Energy Bomb? Pepper reached inside and carefully handled the rune card. The circuit board was a pearl white, just like the pictures he had seen online. The solder points however, along with the traces running between the chips were all solid black. The rune chamber itself was also a solid black. The whole chip looked like a black hole with an endless void. The same way the rift portals had appeared in his nightmares.

  He couldn’t help but feel this burning desire to use the rune he held in his hands. “Jay… you weren’t kidding. This thing is bad to the bone. I want it.”

  Jay began to giggle. “Oh… I knew you would.”

  “How much?”

  Jay’s face quickly shifted and looked like he was in pain for a second. “Well, that is the rough part. That card alone is 18,000 Flex.”

  Zeklor started to cough uncontrollably. “What?”

  Pepper hesitated. He hadn’t checked his bank account in a while but knew he had a decent amount saved from his commissions with Big D Energy. “Hold on.” He brought his holodex to life and after a moment saw his remaining balance populate on the screen. 23,415 Flex.

  He looked back at Jay. “22,000 for everything we’ve picked out today.”

  Jay’s face distorted and was clearly not happy with the offer posed to him. Pepper was confident from his time working at Rhino’s that the value of the cards could easily fetch 30,000 Flex. However, he also had no doubt that Jay hadn’t spent more than 5,000 Flex on the scrap parts. The one wildcard was the Warlock Energy Bomb. Pepper didn’t know what kind of actual price tag that should go for.

  Pepper felt he could read Jay’s hesitation and was about to decline the offer. An idea popped into his mind just before Jay was about to speak and Pepper acted on it. “And…” He paused for a dramatic effect and could see that there was a slight sense of intrigue on the businessman’s face. “I’ll get you a photoshoot with Big D Energy.”

  Jay’s expression changed to one of a playful nature, and Pepper could easily read the shift in his thoughts towards the deal. Jay rubbed his goatee and gave a slight nod. “My own cardboard cutout with the phrase, ‘you know you love some big girth?”

  Pepper felt the cringe build up inside him. But he pushed past it and conceded. “Sure… I don’t see Ryan even batting an eye at that.”

  Jay began to giggle like he was back in middle school. “You’re alright kid. Okay, you have a deal.”