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Grinning, Eric breathed in, about to add something definitely not for ladies' ears.
 
Dan planted his elbow in his ribs, causing my friend to burst out coughing.

Then he turned back to me. "What do you know about combat tactics? Tell me."

I shrugged and gave his words some thought. "I allow him to stealth past me, then take out the Torch. It allows me to see the target. Then I kill him."

Eric grunted, impressed by my brevity. "Well, right. Don't forget to control him. He knows you will, so he's wearing the right gear. You need some different control spells that won't allow him to break free and hide in stealth."

"Did I say otherwise? You have something to offer?"

He nodded and reached into his bag producing a pair of enormous, weird-shaped steel gauntlets. He
 
pressed a clasp or something which rattled, releasing silvery blades.

Winnypore's Moon Blades

Item class: Rare

Weapon type: for combat mount only

Damage 46-58, Speed 2.4, Durability 190/220.

Effect: Gives a 11% chance to blind target with moonlight, paralyzing it for 1.6 sec.

Awesome. Teddy would love them. I would love them myself if I could afford them.

"Aha. Claws of Winnie the Pooh," Eric butted in. Then he added, seeing our confusion, "That's what we call them here. They look the part, don't you think?"

Dan
 
produced a handful of rings and poured them into my open hand. "These will bring you up to the limit. Winnie's Claws are four grand. The rings are rather simple, seventy hits and about fifty gold each. But you'll have eight of them. They just might save your skin, if necessary. Oh, and can I have my Fire Rings back, please?"

Oh. I'd hoped he wouldn't remember them. Never mind. My inner greedy pig wept as I exchanged the rings.

The sight of my agony made Dan laugh. "I promise you that if you win the final, I won't ask for this stuff back. Whatever you have is yours. Wait a sec. I got a message."

His eyes clouded as he switched to his inbox. "I see. Bets are six to one against you. Don't put too much pressure on our broker. If you want to bet, go to the other two."

The more you have, the more you want. I had three grand, Taali only two. And this seemed to be a safe thing. We could be missing out on a whole lot of cash. It was sink or swim.

I turned to
 
Dan. "I don't suppose you could lend me some money for half an hour?"

He gave me an appraising look. I hated to be indebted to him of all people, but we were already up to our ears in his little schemes so the least we could do was put the situation to good use.

"Very well," he finally said. "I have some idea of how much you've bet. I'll send word to Mr. Simonov and he'll double it. Good enough?"

"Perfect. Thanks!"

"It'll all come good," he said slowly, making it clear it was no free ride.

Taali gave me a frightened look as if saying, 
are you sure we have to do it
? I lay a soothing hand on her knee: 
cheer up, babe; we'll make it
.

Dan jumped to his feet. In a typically digital gesture, he squinted his eyes at the virtual clock. "That's it. You've got five minutes. Better get ready."

I knew what he meant. I summoned Teddy and showed him his new outfit. He even seemed to stand taller when he clicked the blades in an out a few times sending sparks flying over the paving stones. I leaned back against his warm side and closed my eyes. Hummungus froze as if afraid of disturbing his master. Was it my imagination or was he really changing? Growing more, er, alive? Showing some glimpses of emotion? Or was I going off my trolley?

Eric next to me sniffed, shifting from one foot to the other. Taali cuddled up to me, hugging my arm. So calm and secure...

The bell. Taali started. Eric slapped my shoulder. I got back to my feet and gingerly retrieved my arm. It was time.

Again—the arena, the golden sand. My opponent, calm and confident. I lowered my head ever so slightly, greeting him. The rogue mirrored my actions. I seemed to like him. How weird. This wasn't a snobbish schmuck like that wizard. I paused for a second and did something against all logic. I PM'd him.

PM. Some unhealthy activity here today. I shouldn't bet on your winning. Bad idea.

The next second, I received his reply.

TY. Already know. Not the 1st time. Seen them around. Never bet where they operate ;-)

I seemed to be lucky when it came to rogues. Having said that, I hadn't seen Cryl for a while. I wondered if he was stuck in jail like I had been, nailed for stealing something he shouldn't have to.

The bell. Rebuff. Time to give it all. I had enough mana to handle him. Now I had to keep him in my sights and hopefully not die too early.

Bell. No more bets. The stealthed rogue disappeared from sight. I took five steps forward, exposing my back and inviting him to use my negligence. Would be good to catch him between my pets and the edge of the arena. My brain pulsated in unison with the countdown. It was time.

I attached the
 
staff to my belt and clutched the torch. Activation: max. The rogue backed off, exposed by the rays of True Flame. So he'd seen one of them before? Well, tough.

I turned to my beasties. "Attack!"

The rogue unstealthed, darted to one side to avoid the lit-up area and disappeared again. Oh well, time to do a bit of running. The arena was rather small, about fifty feet in diameter at most. I zigzagged across it, but he was nowhere to be seen, the bastard. I did it again. This time I saw him, trying to squeeze his way along the barrier. I bolted for him. Attack! He tried to duck this way and that, saw it was no good and went for me. My pets intercepted him halfway. I promptly cast Deadman's Hand, but still the rogue made it through to me. We engaged in close combat. Not all of his combos worked face to face: most of the best ones were of either the backstab or vault kinds. But it was no picnic, I tell you. He showered me with blocks of rapid shallow hits interspersed with powerful bleed combos. I was still trying to control him, but he was too fast. My magic shield collapsed. Too bad. Bone Shield went out with a flash. Numerous flesh wounds hurt, disrupting my concentration. In a flash of light, I used the Moon Blades to paralyze him. Ducking aside, I cast Life Absorption, but the rogue was already going for me, dripping blood from my beasts' attacks. I bolted again, trying to keep my distance, but the rogue was faster. Even under pressure from Hummungus and the demoness, he caught up with me in under five seconds. His armor was covered in blood, his health shrunk to 50%. He was no tank at all. He couldn't be, what with his meager armor and hits, his stealth and magic-resistant armor.

I stood there taking his hits, casting an occasional Life Absorption. I lasted about fifteen seconds purely on my armor and stuff until paralyzation kicked back in, sending the rogue's life into the orange zone. His speed dropped. Time to play tag again. I made him chase me around for another half-minute while my pets finished the job. At the last moment, I turned round and activated the last Life Absorption. I thought it would be fair. He deserved being killed by his adversary and not some wretched zombie.

I won.

Congratulations! You've just won the East Castle Guest Tournament!

1000 points Fame received!

Fame Alert!

Your Fame has exceeded 7000 points!

You've reached Fame level 3: Everybody knows you.

Friendly faction vendors might surprise you with lower prices. You will also gain access to some secret quests. Local dignitaries may invite you to their official functions.

The stands were raging, people throwing down likes and ribbons into the arena. Gold glittered in the sand. Did they have a special collection boy or was I supposed to crawl on all fours picking up their offerings? I bowed slightly to the audience and walked over to the exit—not mine but the one where Dan had just reappeared, smiling. I came over to him. He gave me a bear hug; we slapped each other's shoulders causing the stands to scream with delight again.

"Everything OK?" I asked.

"Great. Everything went without a hitch."

I shook his hand one last time and hurried to where my friends were
 
jumping with impatience. I glimpsed a magic bubble cover the finance sector as Dan and three of his high-level clan members hurried toward it, about to seize the winnings. How much could it be?

I hugged Taali and kissed her. Total strangers applauded me and I accepted their praise. Then I peeled off my armor and basked my tired body in the breeze. Taali suggested I wash my face; she brought a pitcher and poured some fresh water onto my head and shoulders. Life was good.

A couple minutes later, Eric came back running—he'd been checking our winnings. He was beaming, which told me he'd been paid in full.

"The two have been skimmed for every penny. Here's your cut," he announced.

He handed me thirty four thousand gold. Not bad. I very nearly went into weight overload. This was serious money gamewise. My inner greedy pig was beating his head against the wall, ecstatic.

"And that's for you," Eric handed Taali her share. Twenty-two grand. She cried softly. I stroked her thick hair and whispered
 
in her ear, soothing her.

She looked up at me, tearful. "I'm scared."

"Of what? No one can take it from you. There won't be any problems. Besides, it's not that much money, after all. A couple grand USD, big deal."

"I didn't mean that. I have some more money saved back in real life, too. Now I have enough to buy a gun. But I'm scared..."

"Normal," I said. "If you were calm and cheerful, now that wouldn't be normal. You sure you don't want to give this whole revenge thing a miss? Alternatively, you could hire someone. Find a junkie in need of a fix and pay him to plant a rusty nail into the client's liver."

"No. I must do it myself. It's personal."

I could understand her. Logically, it made sense. If someone killed your sister, whether directly or not, you had every right to smoke the motherfucker and he had to be grateful it was only him and not his entire family up to his cousins twice removed. But Taali wasn't the type. She'd get burned even as she bought the weapon. All those Internet hired killer ads and guns-and-drugs forums were 99% police joints to trap naive wusses. Even I was totally inadequate when it came to advice giving. Besides, I now lived in a different world.

"Taali, we just won't be able to pull it off. You'll get into trouble before anything else. Shall we leave it to the pros? Eric here spent half his life in the army. I'm sure he has all the right contacts and skills. And he's digital—he has no reason to rat on you."

She paused. Then she breathed what sounded like a sigh of relief. "Okay. As you say. I'm an idiot, I know. So stupid of me to even think about it. And now I've dragged you into it, too."

"Relax. We're not in the system, not yet. The local moneybags may well be, for succession purposes. Good for them. To all intents and purposes, the criminal law doesn't apply to us."

"To us?" she said. "To you, Max. You're local. I still live in real life."

"Oh, right. I keep forgetting. But do you understand that sooner or later they'll single you out? What you gonna do once you smoke them?"

"There's only one place where I could be happy," she said. "Here. And they can't really get to me here. I'll have to go perma."

I paused remembering a poet's words. 
You're responsible for what you have tamed.
 I couldn't say whether it was love but we felt good together. We walked the same road, and I wouldn't mind our journey to be long enough. I leaned toward her and kissed her.

"Very well, babe. You know where you can stay at first if you want to. There's your portrait in the room already, anyway. And I might give you a tip about how to rig a capsule and meet my mom in the process."

I
 
patiently waited for Taali to wipe away her tears and only then waved to Eric. He stood a short way off, shifting from one foot to the other, unwilling to be in the way of our whispered secrets. He might look like a gorilla on steroids but he had a lot of tact. Great guy. I poked his shoulder with a fist and whispered, unable to contain myself, "Thanks, bro."

Eric looked perplexed. "What for?"

"For everything. What would you say to us meeting in the Three Little Pigs, say, tomorrow night? We have reason to celebrate."

"Why not?"

"Excellent. There's another thing we'll have to discuss. Taali here plans to go perma. But before she can do that, she has to pay off a few debts in real life."

"You need money, then? I've been meaning to buy a few things but they can wait, I suppose. How much do you need?"

"Thanks a lot, but that's not what I meant. These aren't the kind of debts you pay in gold. This kind of stuff you pay in lead."

Eric wrinkled his forehead. His eyebrows rose. He looked at Taali. With a sniffle, the girl nodded.

Eric shook his head in disbelief. "Can you ever do anything normal? You can't just sit quiet, can you? Shit. I hope it's not contagious. Never mind. We'll talk about it tomorrow. There's our cloak and dagger coming to see you again. He can't live without you these days."

Dan
 
looked pleased with himself. He strode toward us, confident and straight-backed, like a baron crossing his castle courtyard. Then he turned to a good-looking woman nearby, pointing at his non-existent wrist watch and waving an open hand in the air. Apparently, he wasn't going to stay with us for long.

He gave me a firm handshake and gallantly bowed his head to Taali. "Great job. It went like clockwork. Those two are stripped to their underpants. Shame we won't see them again. So, Mister Robin Hood and his merry men, are you happy with the pickings?"