Valda weaved her way through the crowd of people, smashing her mace into anyone who stood in her way. She wasn't using any active abilities, probably to conserve stamina for later. She kept dodging and jumping out of the way of attacks until a woman appeared in front of her with a rapier and tried to stab her.

  Valda tried to knock the rapier away before she could get impaled, but it cut her arm in the process. Nothing she couldn't handle, but this woman was clearly skilled. Valda engaged her in combat, swinging her mace into her side. The woman dodged the first attack, but Valda followed it up with another attack on the other side, which the woman blocked with her arm.

  A symbol appeared above the woman's head and Valda's head at the same time. It was the image of a mace breaking a bone. The explanation read:

  Crushing Blows: Chance to apply the "crushed" debuff condition to opponents when landing an attack with a bludgeoning weapon. The effects depend on the area of the body that was hit. The head is applied Disorientation (missed attacks), chest is applied Staggered (reduced speed), arms get applied Weakened (reduced attack damage), and legs get applied Hobbled (reduced dodge chance). Effects can stack.

  The word Weakened appeared above the woman's head and the Crushing Blow symbol appeared on her arm and her arm flashed red. Valda smiled wickedly at the applied status. Switching her rapier to her other hand, she resumed her attack. Valda used Evasive Maneuvers ability to dodge the attack, and then Rush to appear behind her.

  Valda swung the mace into the woman's leg from behind, applying the Hobbled condition. The woman turned around but was unable to dodge the next blow. It hit her in the shoulder, applying Weakened on her other arm. One of the things I noticed was that the blows weren't breaking any of her bones yet and they were only doing fractional damage.

  In my old world, each of those blows would have completely disabled the woman's limbs, but apparently here, higher-level people were sturdier than that. Instead of destroying her limbs, with the aid of the Crushing Blows ability, Valda was able to apply conditions to different areas that simulated—in a quantifiable way—what would happen in my old world.

  Standing her ground, the woman straightened her posture and unleashed a Flurry of Stabs move on Valda. Valda held her mace defensively, but the woman's thrusts were so fast that Valda received several stab wounds to her arms and shoulders. They were small punctures—the weapon being a rapier—but they were deep and the damage began to add up. Valda used Rush to retreat backwards, and then Disarming Strike to smack the mace out of the woman's hand.

  Her eyes went wide when her rapier clattered to the ground twenty feet away. She turned and ran to get her weapon, but Valda Rushed up to her and slammed her foot into the woman's butt, sending her falling to the ground. Instead of sprawling to the ground, she rolled on the ground, picked up her rapier as she rolled, and sprang back up onto her feet, with her sword drawn. She took out a stamina potion and drank it.

  "I didn't want to have to do this on someone who won't be my last opponent, but you are too formidable for me to hold back." She nodded at Valda.

  A giant brown bear attacked the woman from the side, and she rolled out of the way. She lunged in, stabbing the bear several times in the side, until it fell over and transformed back into a man. He didn't seem able to get up, so two officials standing near the sidelines hauled him out of the ring and provided him with aid.

  With that taken care of, the woman brought her attention back to Valda who was fighting an opponent of her own. He was a shifty rogue who kept vanishing and reappearing behind her. Eventually Valda waited for him to disappear and then just swung behind her, hitting an invisible person. The rogue became visible again and rolled on the ground before coming to a stop and having to be dragged out of the ring.

  Valda and the rapier wielder faced each other again. "Thank you. You're not too bad yourself." Valda wiped some blood off her cheek.

  "Let's not dawdle." She tussled her hair. "On guard!" The woman lunged forward, her rapier held straight out.

  Valda tried to Disarm her again, but the woman parried the move using an ability called Perfect Riposte, and stabbed Valda through the stomach. Valda grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her in closer. Valda head butted the woman in the face, knocking her back without her sword. Pulling the sword out of her stomach, Valda threw it out of the ring.

  The woman drew a dagger from her belt and began dancing and dashing around Valda using an ability called Dance of Dexterity. She took small slashes at Valda every so often when she saw an opening. Valda swung and missed several times.

  Trying to keep her eyes on the woman, Valda used Evasive Maneuvers to dodge out of the way of another move called Precision Strike that the woman had aimed at Valda's heart. After dodging, Valda used Impact Strike to shake the ground beneath their feet and knock the woman onto her back.

  As she was falling, Valda grabbed the woman by the throat and slammed her into the ground, holding her for three seconds while she struggled to get out of Valda's grip. When the three seconds were up, Valda let go and the woman disappointedly trudged out of the ring.

  "This isn't over!" The woman pointed a finger into the air as she walked away.

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  Valda gulped down more stamina gummies and looked around. There were about ten people left fighting one another, except one man in tattered green and gold robes who appeared to be aiming a green bolt of magic at Valda. He had been trying to attack her unawares, but as soon as she spotted him, he panicked and released the bolt of energy. Valda used Evasive Maneuvers to dodge out of the way, and the bolt hit the ground, creating an explosion of dirt and dust.

  The spell had been called Force Bolt according to the information above the mage's head, and it was a spell that did less damage than normal in favor of a significant knock back effect. He had been trying to knock Valda out of the ring. Valda Rushed up and slammed him in the chin with her mace, knocking him ten feet back.

  She walked ominously towards him and ducked as an arrow flew over her head. As she walked forward, the mage scooted backwards away from her until she looked down and he looked down, and he was on the other side of the line, representing the barrier of the ring. He slammed his fist into the dirt, got up, and walked away.

  A spike of ice shot over her head and smashed against the protective barrier that prevented attacks from leaving the ring. Valda instinctively dodge rolled to the left and spun in the air, so when she got back on her feet, she was facing her attacker.

  It was a sorceress, dressed in white and light blue, forming ice spikes in the air. She fired them one at a time, but Valda smashed them out of the air with her mace while advancing on the woman. The woman backed up as she formed more icicles in the air. Once she had about a dozen, she fired them all at once.

  Valda engaged Rush to run out of the way, but one got her in the calf. She yanked it out and threw it at the woman. The woman seemingly not having any dodging ability, formed an ice shield to block the singular spike. Seeing an opportunity to advance without the woman being able to see her, Valda ran right in front of the shield and prepared an Impact Strike, bringing it down on the shield.

  The shield shattered to pieces as Valda brought the mace down. When the mace hit the ground, it sent out its characteristic shockwave, knocking the sorceress back. Valda Rushed again and slammed her mace into the woman's stomach, knocking her to the ground, where she had to be dragged out of the ring.

  A shadow fell over Valda and she immediately dodged to the right. A massive great sword smashed into the ground where she had just been standing. A mountain of a woman in barbarian style armor effortlessly lifted the sword, roared at the sky, and brought it down again at Valda. Valda dodged and attacked the woman's legs with back-to-back mace attacks, applying the Hobbled condition three times to the same leg.

  Pivoting on her immobilized leg, the woman swept her sword around, smashing it into Valda's back and knocking her to the ground. Valda had a huge gash on her back, but she didn't back down. Instead, she brought an Impact Strike down on the foot of the woman's other leg, applying another Hobbled condition and smashing her foot.

  Now, barely able to stand, she switched the sword to one hand and swung it at Valda as she ran around behind the woman, but Valda was too fast. With her opponent blindly stabbing behind herself, Valda dodged left and right, while slamming her mace into the woman's back repeatedly. The woman fell down to a knee and pivoting around, swinging her sword in a wide arc.

  Valda used Evasive Maneuvers to disappear out of the path of the sword and end up a few feet back. After the woman had finished her swing, Valda Rushed forward and smashed her mace into the side of the woman's face, knocking her to the ground. The woman started to get up, but Valda repeatedly slammed her with Impact Strike after Impact Strike until she stopped moving.

  A cheer in the crowd went up as the woman was dragged out of the ring and given medical attention. Looking around, Valda was the only one left in the ring. She had won the bout. Valda threw her hands up and smiled at the crowd. The crowd cheered again. Brent, Delia, and I joined in the cheers.

  An official-looking man wearing fancy clothes and holding a bone white wand with intricate carvings walked up to Valda and spoke to her holding the wand like a microphone.

  "Good afternoon folks. My name is Tom Tickleheimer. And what's your name, young lady?" The man grinned a wide, toothy grin. He was wearing black gloves and a top hat. The wand amplified his voice so the crowd could hear them.

  "Valda." She had her arms held stiffly by her sides and she shook as she spoke. Huh. I wouldn't have expected her to be nervous in front of a crowd, but she clearly was.

  "Valda, it is." The man spread an arm wide and spoke into the wand. "Well, you heard it here, folks! The winner of the level 9 free-for-all battle royale is Valda!" He leaned in to talk to Valda again. "Valda what?"

  "St-Steelheart." She was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

  "Valda Steelheart everybody! Give it up for Valda Steelheart!" He mimed clapping, and everyone in the crowd clapped and cheered. "And she's just won a shiny new platinum coin!" He tossed Valda the coin, and she barely caught it. More cheers went up in the crowd.

  "Thank you!" Valda waved the coin around, finally loosening up slightly.

  "Valda, are you going to continue on to the next round?" Tom raised his eyebrows in anticipation.

  She leaned in. "No."

  Tom leaned back and grimaced in fake shock. "Why?" He put the wand under Valda's mouth again.

  "Because I want to spend time with my boyfriend." She smiled at me.

  "Oh, she has a boyfriend, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry gents!" He said the last part with his hand covering one side of his mouth like he was telling a secret, but everyone could hear him. "Well, it was nice to meet you Valda. Enjoy the rest of the fair!" He escorted her out of the ring and she walked the rest of the way over to me, Brent, and Delia.

  "So, are we ready to go anywhere else, but here?" Valda tried to herd us away from the arena. I could tell she didn't like having so many eyes on her. We left willingly, ending up back at the booth.

  I set everything back up and began selling my wares while whittling figures and toys for children that walked by. I sold another dozen music boxes and quills until a strange figure came by the booth. He wore a long black coat, black pants, boots, and an uncollared shirt with purple and black stripes on it. He had long dirty black hair and had clearly never brushed his teeth, because they were brown.

  His voice was deep and gravelly. "It appears you've started up a new business. Selling adventuring gear not working out for you?"

  "Do we know each other?" I raised an eyebrow at the strange man. I had never seen him before that I could remember.

  "You don't know me, but I know you, Gwen Reddinsbury." He snarled at me, but I wasn't about to be intimidated by a man who hadn't bathed in over a month, so I stood my ground.

  "Is there something I can help you with, sir?" I puffed out my chest, which surprised him and made him step back. He had been leaning uncomfortably close.

  "No. I'm just here to tell you, Barton Traxby sends his regards." He slinked away into the crowd, disappearing from view.

  "Regards about what?" There was no response. A few people looked at me, trying to figure out if I was talking to them or not.