NOVPUBUpgrading buildings was always fun. Theo had feared that the size of the building would influence how many Monster Cores it required for an upgrade. But that wasn’t the case. It needed the same amount any other building did, even if it didn’t get as many upgrades since it was an incorporated building. Yet the idea of adding upgrades to a building so large was exciting, so he got to work. Nothing came at Level 5, but at Level 10 three options appeared.
“Let’s see what we’ve got,” Theo said, clearing his throat as he read the options for Ziz to hear. He wasn’t sure the stonemason needed to hear them, but it was interesting to see what the system would generate for the new building.
[Spoiled Broth]
People attending events in the arena are less likely to vomit while exiting.
Theo stopped reading after the first one. “Excuse me? Is that something that should happen?”
“Is that it? Just one pick?”
“No, but that’s gotta be the strangest upgrade I’ve ever seen. What does exiting the arena have to do with vomiting? And why would that be a normal thing?”
“Best to move on to the next one,” Ziz said, nodding to himself.
Theo cleared his throat again, hoping for better picks. “Next up…”
[Keeping Score]
Any event, no matter how complex or simple, may have its participants tracked on a scoreboard. This board will appear in the style of the building owner’s choice and will be visible to all attendants to see.
[Safe Combat]
Combatants fighting in the arena (in sanctioned matches) will not die as long as this building has power.
“Okay, that’s more like it,” Theo said with a sigh. “Both of those are awesome.”
“Which one has more value?” Ziz asked, scratching his chin.
That was hard to say. Technically, Keeping Score was better since it affected more things. The Safe Combat upgrade made sure no one died, and that was a real threat. Theo decided they were both incredibly useful, and planned to pick both of them. At least the first pick was garbage, pulling it from the running.
“Let’s go with Safe Combat first,” Theo said. “You know how rowdy people can get. Then we’ll pick Safe Combat at Level 20, and hope for something cool at Level 30.”
“Fancy Level 30 arena, huh?” Ziz asked, chuckling. “I can get behind it.”
For now, Theo was happy to pick the Safe Combat upgrade. The combat sports were going to be some of the most intense, so it made sense to have this upgrade. Once Theo made his choice, the arena shimmered with energy. The alchemist looked on with confusion, eventually inspecting the building to check something.
[Large Arena]
Owner: [Broken Tusk]
Faction: [Southlands Alliance]
Level: 10 (42%)
Energy: 0%
Rent Due: SUSPENDED
Expansions:
[Safe Combat]
“Ah, so we have to feed this thing motes,” Theo said. “That makes sense. If we want to use the Safe Combat feature, we need to ensure this thing has enough power to support it. Which means we need to overload it with a crapload of power from Throk’s fake coins.”
“Or real coins,” Ziz said, winking. “Assuming you’re rich.”
“With the amount of cores I’m spending on this, you’d think I’m rich,” Theo said, adding more cores.
Tresk appeared from nowhere, ever the punchline. “Because you are!” she shouted as blood poured from her forehead.
“You’re dripping,” Ziz scolded, pointing at the ground. She had already dripped a fair amount.
“Are you okay?” Theo asked with a wince.
“Oh, yeah. Sledge’s babies are super fun,” Tresk said. She turned around, revealing the tiny teeth marks in her tail. As she gripped her tail to reveal the damage, Theo spotted a missing finger. “They even got my tail.”
“And your pointer finger,” Theo said. “Are they seriously that dangerous?”
“Oh, yeah,” Ziz said. “That’s why you don’t bother a marshling when they have babies. I’ve seen men die trying.”
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Theo shivered, going back to work. He watched as Tresk chugged a few potions. Apparently, marshling babies were mildly venomous so she had to drink a potion to counteract that as well. The alchemist was glad he wasn’t the one to grab Sledge, but he wouldn’t say a word to his companion. She had taken one for the team. Or she was a masochist. Either option.
“Okay,” Theo said, adding the last of the cores. “Nex option coming up. We’re not even considering Spoiled Broth, so this is between the new one and Keeping Score. You guys ready?”
“Yeah!” Tresk shouted, her left eye twitching a few times.
“Let’s hear it,” Ziz said, being completely normal.
The new upgrade option appeared after the building hit Level 20 and Theo read it for his companions to hear.
[Energy Net]
So long as this building has power, attacks performed within the arena (during sanctioned matches) cannot leave the arena floor.
If there was going to be a lot of magic going on, this one would be helpful. The more Theo thought about it, the more he realized how helpful it would be. He wondered if he should even get the scoreboard. The idea was solidified in his mind when he considered some of the attacks he had seen in his day. Things could get ugly if he allowed those attacks to shoot out to the crowd.
“When I get to tossing my daggers, sometimes I don’t care where they go,” Tresk said. “I’d get that one.”
Theo nodded. That was the reality of it. If he didn’t pick that option, people like Tresk would get reckless. He wanted the scoreboard badly, but selected Energy Net for safety. He was basically locked in to picking Keeping Score when he brought the building to Level 30. The only thing he had going for him was that he had run some dungeons. Which meant he had some decent monster cores to work with on top of his normal stock.
“Guess I am pretty rich,” Theo said, getting back to it. As he shoved cores into the building, he checked his stock of monster cores and did some math. He had more than enough cores to get the arena to Level 40, so why not? “Here comes the next one.”
[Shuffled Seating]
At the cost of energy, rearrange the seating of the arena.
“Looks like we’re going with the scoreboard,” Ziz said, cackling. “The seats are perfect where they are.”
That wasn’t just Ziz being prideful of his construction, either. The seating was fine just the way it was, and Theo had no desire to rearrange it. He only thought for a moment before selecting the Keeping Score upgrade. At least this one wouldn’t consume energy.
“This next leg will technically be very expensive,” Theo said, laughing to himself as he pulled those costly cores from his inventory. He held one for only a few moments before putting it into the arena. The stretch from Level 30 to Level 40 would normally take a while, but with some decent cores it happened quickly.
When the new upgrade popped up, the alchemist read it aloud.
[Viewing Wards]
At the cost of energy, allows access to customizable viewing screens. The content of these screens can be controlled from the control room. The amount of screens and the size of those screens can be adjusted from the control room.
Theo looked back to the arena and shrugged. With how many seats Ziz had built, it would be hard for some people to see what was going on down below. Especially if he considered the kind of competitions that were going to happen within the arena. Since the only other options sucked, he went with this one.
“That one has me excited,” Ziz said, rubbing his hands together. “The vision for this arena is coming together.”
Theo wasn’t so sure about that. The idea for the arena had started as a distraction, but had snowballed into something greater. Once other people got interested in it, there was no stopping them. Alise claimed the project was stressful, but the alchemist hoped she was secretly having a good time. If she didn’t complain about the random jobs she was given, she wouldn’t have been doing her job.
“So, have you thought about prizes?” Ziz asked.
“Money makes sense to me,” Theo said. “I don’t even know what the competition categories are, though.”
“You should get a list from Alise. Maybe you could find prizes that make sense for them.”
That wasn’t a bad idea. Theo checked the list of events in the administration interface. Alise had built out a few items, but it was far from complete. First were the combat games, which were broken into a bunch of brackets. Each tier would need a prize, along with a prize for the top three and a grand prize. Next were athletic solo and team games, performance-based games, crafting games, and so on. Some had brackets, while others were free-for-all.
“I’m going to need some help getting this list together, along with appropriate prizes,” Theo said, scratching his chin.
“Look elsewhere!” Ziz shouted. “This isn’t my strong suit.”
Theo nodded. Ziz was right. They lingered around the grounds of the arena for a while, but the alchemist eventually left. He had whittled away much of the day going on an adventure with Ziz, and was now curious how his apprentice’s apprentice was doing. He headed back to town and lingered on the first floor of the lab for a while. He took in the scent of whatever they were brewing on the third floor. Although there were notes that lingered in the air that were promising, there were others that were concerning.
Theo walked up the stairs, taking his time and sneaking as well as he could. He took a deep breath, detecting completed potions and something burning all the same. After he got as much information as he could from the scent, he cracked the door, then flung it open.
“Uh-oh,” Salire said, grimacing. She stood over a section of the lab that had clearly been on fire mere minutes before. “She didn’t do it. It was me.”
Eleanor looked mortified, her complexion white as thick beads of sweat dripped down her face.
Theo strode over, inspecting the charred floorboards. The damage was in the center of the floor, meaning it hadn’t come from the stills. From the way the burned section smelled, he assumed Eleanor had dropped some reactive essence onto the ground. It likely responded to some old residue on the floor.
A smile spread across his face.
“Almost blow the lab up?” Theo asked, his voice containing exactly no anger.
“Almost set it on fire,” Salire said. “Not intentionally, of course.”
“Looks like some seriously reactive stuff,” Theo said.
“It's my fault,” Eleanor blurted out, meeting Theo’s gaze with too much conviction. “I was irresponsible and—”
Theo held up a silencing hand. “If I had a gold coin for every time I almost blew up the lab, I’d have a handful of gold coins. Remember, the building is magical. It takes a lot more than just a small fire to destroy it.”
“Yeah, like a bomb,” Salire said, nodding. “Leave the bombs to Theo, and you’ll be fine.”
“Really?” Eleanor asked, fidgeting with her hands.
Theo nodded. “I don’t see many people who catch my eye, but I think you’ve got some latent talent. A few fires in the lab won’t get you in trouble with me or Salire. But, if you think an experiment will explode, take it to the giant cube.”
“The giant cube?” Eleanor asked, some of her fear dissipating.
“Yeah, you can’t really miss the giant metal cube,” Salire said. “Now, get out of here, Theo. We’ve got some more stuff to go over before the day is done.”
Theo bowed slightly, shaking his head as he was kicked out of his own lab. But Salire knew what she was doing. Eleanor needed to get some Broken Tusker confidence in her if she was going to fit in. That was something that could only come by blowing a few labs up. The alchemist was certain his lab could take it, especially compared to the nonsense he put it through.
