The Great Show

"Places, everyone!" Agatha called to the performers waiting behind the stage. "And remember, careers are born from a performance that burns so brightly that the actor feels as if they were turned to ash afterward… so give it your absolute best or you'll never work in this town again!"

Funnily enough, Leo could see that instead of demoralizing the performers, Agatha actually lit a fire in their eyes with her unveiled threat.

"Break a leg, dearies!" Morgana called.

She'd made it her business to be supportive with this aspect of the event, and when Leo had asked her why only this part, Morgana revealed that she was actually a patron of the arts.

"Why do you think I let you get away with all your crazy plans?" she laughed her tinkling laugh at him.

He watched her encourage each performer with a pat on the back or a shake of the hand, taking note that her violet eyes lit up with each brush.

"She's doping them," Leo realized.

"Yes," Donatella agreed. "A reaper's blessing for the upcoming task."

Leo chuckled softly to himself as he made his way toward his partner who'd shown off a side of herself he hadn't seen before.

"We should find our seats too, kid," Leo said as he tapped her on the shoulder. "Let's leave the experts to manage backstage."

And with a final wink at Agatha, Leo dragged Morgana out of town hall where they'd set up backstage and onto the town square which they'd transformed overnight into an open theater with enough space to fill ten thousand seats.

"Adventour's really gotten bigger, Leo," Morgana said in a delighted tone as she took her seat in the back. "Only a month ago, the square could barely fit two thousand… and now look at all these curious little heads…"

Leo nodded in agreement. "Well, we did build the town to grow with the player base… as long as we've got enough soul stones in our reserves it'll keep on growing to fit our needs."

"A brilliant stroke of arcane application, if I do say so myself," Morgana grinned.

"And you do," Leo grinned back.

As they spoke, more and more players began to pour into the square, and Leo noticed that a very small number of them, around two-hundred by his estimate, no longer looked like the humans they once were. Many actually sported the same twin horns, reptilian tails, and colorful skin tones as Thorminator.

It was a stark reminder for Leo that of the twenty-eight known evolutions now, the Draconic Magician was extremely popular. And that wasn't all; even this evolution had branched out beyond Thorminator's original development. Besides his fire type, there were now water, earth, and wind type Draconic Magicians as well, with each possessing an equivalent elemental breath attack.

"What's your favorite evolution so far, Morgana?" Leo asked.

"Hmm," Morgana's brows furrowed. "It's a toss-up between the Blood Bard and the Beguiling Songstress, I think. They both possess such interesting abilities I enjoyed taking for myself."

"Why do I get the feeling that you just wanted to learn how to sing and dance better," Leo replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Shut it, Leo," Morgana frowned at him. "And you? Which are your favorites?"

"I'd say the Stormchaser's my favorite for a pure spellcaster build, but the Eldritch Champion or Dusk Knight, both warrior-mage hybrids, could give Stormchasers a run for their money," Leo deduced. "But in terms of utility, the Wraith Warrior is still the best. Although I got to say I love the Toxic Avenger's debilitating abilities."

"An Artificer is more interesting ability-wise," Morgana countered. "Also, I prefer the Ghoul Paladin's regeneration over a Wraith Warrior's phasing power."

While Morgana and Leo debated over the capabilities of several player evolutions, the lights on the stage lit up, signaling to all that the show was about to begin.

The audience turned silent, and after a moment more of quite, the curtains were pulled open, revealing a lone figure standing on the stage.

"Gather closer that you might hearken the story of betrayal between a knight and his lady fair." Donatella spoke to the crowd with a resonant voice that rang clear all the way to the back. "Morgana, mistress of Adventour, and her once dear friend turned bitter rival, the foul Death Knight, Ser Maleagant!"

"We were never friends," Morgana whined. "Maleagant was a snake who tried to steal claim to my early achievements…"

"Yes-yes, women are oppressed even in the Abyss," Leo answered tiredly as he'd heard her lecture this a hundred times before. "Don't sweat it… Agatha's just dramatizing the story a bit."

Donatella bowed and then disappeared in the blackness at the back of the stage, giving way to the two actors who walked in from either side of the stage. One was a tall man in a black suit of armor while the other was a teenage girl in a red dress.

Each began a monologue professing their friendship and their desire to steadfastly serve the Lord of Death.

"Always and forever," the knight said. Words that were readily repeated by the girl, "Always and forever…"

"Dude," the brown-haired man sitting in front of Leo elbowed his blonde companion. "These guys can't be NPCs… they're acting's way too good!"

"Seriously," the blonde agreed. "I mean, I'm getting the chills here."

"Can you believe how awesome this is compared to those lame smoke effects they used a month ago?" the brown-haired man chuckled.

"The devs are finally getting off their lazy asses," the blonde chuckled. "You think those are actual players on stage?"

"Probably, although Donatella's a confirmed NPC… she owns that bar on Main Street," the brown-haired man answered.

"Nah, man," his friend shook his head. "There's a rumor going around that the devs sometimes takeover the NPCs… I mean, do you notice how f**king life-like Maestro gets sometimes?"

Morgana kicked out at the back of their chairs. "Shut up, you degenerates… I'm trying to enjoy the show!"

Both players shut up instantly, and Leo knew that the reason they hadn't turned their backs to see who was being rude to them was because of the overwhelming fear creeping up their backs that Morgana's killing intent had accidentally instinctively activated.

That's why you never mess with a reaper, Leo thought.

Act one, which had been filled with scenes of the knight and the girl taking on quests assigned to them by a mysterious robed figure sitting on a black chair, ended an hour later with the black knight suddenly stabbing his partner in the back.

"Wh-why?" the girl asked as she fell to the floor on one knee.

"Because thou shone more brilliantly than I," the knight explained as he raised his sword for the killing blow. "Thou are the damsel… there cannot be two knights. Only I fit this role."

A chorus of boos resounded in the air as the audience fumed at the knight's betrayal.

"You're F**king petty, a**hole!" someone yelled.

"Hashtag me too, jacka**!" another called.

The knight swung his sword down, but the girl raised her hand in the last second and sent a bolt of lightning exploding onto the knight's chest.

The audience responded with a wild cheer for the girl.

"Equality just smacked you in the a**, bastard!" Someone shouted.

The cheering only grew louder from there.

"That's right," Morgana nodded approvingly. "I'd never lose to that pathetic oaf."

The curtains closed abruptly only to open mere moments later to reveal that Donatella was back.

"Now, dear friends, you all bore witness to the knight's dastardly crime," she said in lyrical tones. "And although she struck him down, our dearest Morgana spared his life… one final act of kindness for a once dear friend… But in exchange, the dastardly Maleagant sent his minions after her to hound her for all eternity."

Donatella stepped back so that Bront, son of Brontes, the only cyclops available for this specific role, stepped onto the stage wearing a wig that was a familiar shaggy mane of hair while carrying an ax that was all too familiar to those who'd fought against him.

"The Decapitator!" Donatella yelled. "A mighty foe who once stalked the borders of Adventour!"

Bront roared, causing the audience closest to the stage to pull back in fright.

"I think that's the loudest I've ever heard him speak," Leo chuckled.

The girl playing Morgana appeared on the right of the stage, and as she raised a finger forward, four performers dressed in the getup of the four players who'd slain the Decapitator leapt up to the stage.

The audience cheered yet again. Calls for, "Goddess of gaming wisdom!" and "Black Howler is our lord and master!" rang out.

But perhaps loudest of all were the cheers for the quick-footed, blonde woman with the twin gladius in her hand.

"Lyghtning marry me!" someone called.

"Lyghtning fan club represent!" a group of men seated in the middle seats chanted together. "Cheer up, loves, I'm here to save the day!" They repeated the line Lyghtning was now famous for.

The battle continued on the stage until Ath3na performer dealt the final blow by smacking Bront lightly on his head.

The curtains closed on this scene only to open once more to Donatella and the girl who was now sitting on a black chair like a queen on her throne.

"With the defeat of his executioner, the Death Knight Maleagant's power in the Abyssal Plains has finally weakend," the girl called. "And now… it is finally time for me to end our long, long struggle and lay my dearest friend to rest…"

The girl bowed her head, but when she raised it once more, her eyes were alight with a violet glow.

"Impressive acting and makeup," Morgana exclaimed. "Remind me to give them all a bonus after this, Leo."

"My dear reapers of Adventour!" the girl called to the audience.

"Holy sh*t!" someone nearby yelled. "This play's got an interactive portion…"

"Man, this game's the best!" another responded.

"My dear reapers of Adventour!" the girl repeated to drown out the noise that had built up. "Maleagant's stronghold is now ripe for a raid… will you take up this challenge? Will you face off against the knight of death?"

Murmurs of "yeah," began among the audience.

She stood up from her chair and raised her fist.

"Will you answer the call!" the girl yelled in an emotional voice.

And there wasn't a single voice in that crowd of thousands who didn't answer her. Even Leo, who, like everyone else, had been caught up in this inspiring moment.

The girl, a smirk playing on her lips, waited for the roaring to die down before she spoke again.

"Sadly," she began. "Not all of you can go for I would not want you all to die for this selfish cause… only the strong, only the brave, only the worthy may answer my call to arms…"

Donatella clapped her hands together and the two giant screens on either side of the stage came to life, revealing to the audience a scene which they'd only seen in the movies or in telegram cards from Rome.

"Morgana gives you… the Coliseum!" Donatella announced.

The audience was silent, and Leo guessed that they were all shocked by how life-like the Coliseum was. If only they knew what kind of effort went into building it.

The girl sat back in her chair and motioned for Donatella to continue.

"Here, those among you who seek glory will compete for a chance to join the Abyss' first raid!" Donatella announced. "For only the bravest may be allowed first access into the Death Knight's Stronghold, Deathman's Wonderland!"

The announcement of the first Abyss raid sent the audience screaming. Finally, the game was moving past vanilla and moving on to bigger things.

Leo chuckled to himself. Normally, waiting a month for an update like this would have been unthinkable back in the mortal plane. People were starved for content after all. But the Abyss was such an interesting game that no one minded that they had to wait for things like covens and professions and raids to appear in-game.

"I present to you," Donatella spread her arms wide while she yelled over the audience's screams, "The Deathly Challenger's Cup!"

If anything, the enthusiastic screaming just got louder.

Donatella raised a hand in a gesture that still the crowd.

"A word of caution," she said ominously. "The Deathly Challenger's Cup which starts in three days is not for the faint of heart…"

The screens on both side of the stage showed off the event logo along with details on how to sign up. A single line caused many in the audience to gripe and bellow unfairness with the rules: "Players who sign up for the Deathly Challengers Cup and fail during the competition will receive the penalty of the Reaper's Wrath —Losers will permanently lose all their equipped items and all their stored soul stones. They will be banned from logging in for one week."

This harsh but necessary rule was one Leo decided to add so that they could weed out the weaklings early on for he believed only someone willing to risk it all could be worthy to challenge Maleagant.

"Join up," Donatella yelled to the now stunned crowd. "Only if you dare…"