GAME OF STONES pt 1

What in the world did Caldoran mean? The whole bar shook with a cheer after hearing that word. Everyone left what they were doing and started coming towards the bar from each corner, like a pack of wolves circling a prey.

"Oh this is gonna be fun," Ezekiel said, getting off his seat and stretching.

"Are we gonna fight?" I asked, also getting up.

"Not we," he smiled. "You. You're gonna fight…over there."

He pointed at the martial arts rink hovering in the south corner. Then he further said;

"When a Knight challenges another Knight or a Guardian to a one on one duel, it's called Caldoran; Game of Stones."

"Game of Stones?" I asked, looking at him. "Who the hell comes up with these names?"

"Better hurry up Guardian," the Granule said. "Or I'll take all the good stuffs."

He walked towards the rink and the crowd followed. Zeno sighed with a smile.

"Try not to hurt yourself Ezra."

"Or better yet," Ezekiel said. "Try not to kill the rodent."

The rodent was going to kill me. I didn't know anything about this game of stones, and why would I get challenged out of the blue like that. From my observation of the Granule, I noticed he enjoyed the attention he was receiving. Perhaps he was popular, or perhaps due to his size he had the urging need to feel noticed and accepted, or perhaps it was just my detective instincts overreacting. Either way, I had a feeling I wasn't going to enjoy this Caldoran.

We entered the rink and stood on opposite sides, twelve feet apart. In our midst was the hovering ring. Immediately our presence was registered, a small green screen appeared before us with the biometrics of a palm on top.

"Log in to play," a voice from the screen said.

I placed my hand on the screen and it scanned it. Then it turned blue and the voice said;

"Identity confirmed, status; Second Guardian. Would you like to hear the rules."

"Of course," I replied.

At that five icon bubbles appeared on the corner of the screen opening a mini screen that each had a rule written on it. The first rule I noticed was from the icon on the right, and it said;

A player must not kill another player. And if a player does kill another player, he, she or it shall be expelled from the Guild.

The second rule I noticed was directly under that rule.

A player is only permitted to use three powers from his, hers or its ability arsenal

And the third rule followed;

If the game is between a Knight and a Guardian, the Guardian is required to use only ten percent of his, hers or its strength level and power level.

The fourth added;

If the game is between a Knight and a Guardian, the knight is required to be at Level Fifty in the Training Arena and possess a Level status of at least Solo Master.

The fifth was quite straightforward, it said;

A player is only allowed to choose a weapon from the asernal once, and that weapon shall be used until the game is over. Choose wisely.

And finally the sixth said;

The victor shall claim half of the power stones belonging to the loser.

After displaying the rules for me, another icon popped up in the middle of the screen with the words; Click here to choose your skin and weapon. Immediately I clicked on it, a small round platform resembling a frisbee hovered before my feet and I was asked to step on it. I looked over to the Granule and saw that he had already stepped on his, so I did likewise.

My feet didn't touch the surface of the frisbee, rather it hung some inches over the surface and before me a 360 view holoscreen appeared all around me at arms' length. There were images of weapons and clothes on the screen. Weapons like odd axes whose heads resembled crescent moons and the rings of the planet Saturn, swords with oddly shaped blades, spears, daggers, chain boulders, iron clubs, weird metal gloves, bow and arrows, slingshots, blaster guns and pink balls, just to mention a few.

Apparently the clothes were referred to as skins. The skins appeared to have special abilities tagged to them and you only got to pick one just like it is for the weapons.

"Once you pick a weapon and a skin," Ezekiel yelled from the crowd. "The game automatically begins!"

"Keep your eyes on the ring in the middle!" The keeper exclaimed from where he stood. "You get a glimpse of the scenery chosen by the rink!"

The scenery for the fight. Of course. I stared at the ring in the middle as it rotated slowly, then I saw what I needed to see. Immediately I picked the suitable attire for the scenery and for the weapon, I picked what I was familiar with, a blaster gun. It appeared in my hand the instant I clicked on it. The crowd sighed when they noticed what I had picked, then they cheered as they watched one of the strange axes appear in the hand of the Granule. He smiled, nodding his head.

It appeared we had the same idea for our skin. An outfit that resembled the uniforms of star troopers from the star wars franchise. The only difference was that the helmet we wore was totally transparent.

The moment the AI of the rink noticed we were done with our choices, the ring hovering in the middle moved higher up and then flipped on its side horizontally. Then a voice from the rink said;

'Players, get ready.'

After that, the ring above expanded greatly, covering the whole space of the martial arts rink, then it dropped quicker that the heartbeat of a hummingbird, placing the Granule and I in a simulation of the cosmos, in the middle of a Nebula. Then the AI said;

'Begin!'