Chapter 41

  On the other side of the door was a large, open space that reminded me of the entrance to a Movie Theater. There were groups of people standing about, with a countdown time on a large screen in the middle of the space, no doubt counting down towards when the event would start. It showed there was about 25minutes to go.

  All around the space, there were flashing lights on monitors and stations, machines that looked suspiciously like slot machines, and a corner that was definitely meant for placing bets on the battle. Then, there was a concession stand, where people were purchasing a variety of food options, judging by the food and drinks that randomly appeared in their hands after they grabbed crystals from the counters offered up to them by people dressed in a manner very similar to the man at the receptionist station.

  Okay, so less movie theater… more… casino meets Kentucky Derby meets… coliseum?

  “Let’s grab some treats,” Guy said as he ushered me towards the food vendors, “then we can enter the arena proper and grab some seats before the event starts.”

  “Where exactly are the seats?” I asked as I looked over the space. Other than the door we’d walked through, and its twin on the other side, I saw no way out of this room. Guy simply flashed me a smile, ignored my question, and hightailed it towards the food line. A flash of light as we walked closer towards the concession, followed by the disappearance of a couple that had just finished up grabbing food, made me blink and pause in astonishment. Okay… I guess my question had been unnecessary.

  “I’ll show you how to get there in a moment,” he laughed, noting my surprise, “but truly, food and drink first. I’m honestly a little bit jealous. Your first time watching a Keeper battle, and it’s going to be such a doozy.”

  “So,” I fingered the crystal he’d given me, the one he’d purchased from the receptionist, “I’m guessing we will teleport to a space like when I battled those two cultists?”

  “More or less,” Guy said with a nod, while we took a spot in line behind a few other people waiting for food. The people would place their left hand on the counter, while talking with the person behind it, before whatever transaction happened, happened, and they grabbed their crystals and walked away. I figured it was going to be like in Guy’s inn, where the menu appeared once you interacted with the counter, and the worker was there to simply help and offer…well, who knew what. Were there special drinks and food only available here, from them? Like the Tamer’s Treat?

  “Never with the straight answers,” I said with a sigh as we moved closer, another person having completed their transaction at the counter.

  “As an information broker,” Guy said, his smile making his moustache twitch, “the straight answers always cost more.”

  I was half tempted to ask about how much gay answers cost, but held back, unsure of how that humor would work with Guy. Wait… how did people… I trailed off that line of thought, figuring it wasn’t worth diving into right now. Sasha and I had definitely hit it off, as Guy had pointed out, and there hadn’t been any disproval or negativity there, so… at the very least, I figured my bi ass was in safe company.

  “At this rate,” I said instead, “I feel like I’ll need to stop giving you such clear and concise answers, without proper payment in return.”

  His eyes twinkled, “you really do pick up on our ways here so quickly.” He started to say something else, but got quiet as we reached the concession stand. Whatever it was, I figured it had to do with my status as a Traveler. Which, I was gathering, was something not meant to be flaunted.

  “Greetings to Keeper’s Concessions,” the man behind the counter said cheerily to Guy and I, “please, feel free to make your purchases, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.”

  I followed Guy’s lead and placed my hand on the counter. As I’d thought, a warm pulse signaled the connection between the magic of the counter, and my gauntlet, and therefore my mind. Immediately I saw the menu in my mind, and I quickly began to flip through the options. I grimaced at the prices. I’d been hopeful they wouldn’t be too costly, but apparently back home wasn’t the only place where a hot dog and soda cost close to twenty dollars at a damned movie theater. Convenience fees, sheesh.

  Not wanting to draw attention to myself, and only slightly bitter about the costs, I quickly flipped through the list twice, just to confirm my decision, before I made my choice. Popcorn, thankfully, was apparently universal. So I snagged a large popcorn for 15 Muney, a large… Bullow’s Blast drink… whatever that was, for another 10 Muney, and a Calfer Burger. I couldn’t bring myself to try what… at least from the picture, was a hot dog… because it was called a Dog Log, and just, no.

  “All set.” I said as I made my purchase, grabbed the three crystals that appeared, and stepped away from the counter. Guy grinned, his eyes looking around the room before they lingered on the area that was most certainly for placing bets. After all… there was literally a string of information rolling across a screen above the kiosks, that showed the expected odds on if Julius would win or not. “You uh, got a gambling problem I should know about?” I asked as he stared at the numbers a bit longer. He didn’t answer, so I nudged him. “Earth to Guy?”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The man blinked and looked back at me, a startled expression on his face. He licked his lips for a moment, then shook his head, though his eyes definitely held a look. What type of look, I couldn’t place, but whatever he’d been looking at, had him a bit perplexed to some degree.

  “Not sure what that statement means,” Guy answered, trying to put on his cheery mask, “but, um, right, let’s get going shall we.” He led me a little bit away from the concessions, the room quickly emptying as more and more people flashed away after completing their bets or purchases, though younger folk still played the games that were set up, likely still just hanging out and wasting time, since there was still 20mintues to go.

  “To teleport to the Keeper’s Coliseum,” he said, as he pulled out the crystal he’d gotten from the receptionist, “you’re going to focus on the crystal, and then mentally select seat assignment. Unlike with when you were teleported, as a contestant, this will give you an option on where to sit, for the event. Of course, the sooner you teleport, the more spacing options are available, though, have no fear, no matter where you sit, you will still be able to perfectly hear and see what is going on.”

  I did as he said, and the prompt appeared in my mind, just as he said. I selected it, and suddenly a massive, 3D overlay of the coliseum appeared in my vision, with seats that were unavailable showing up in red, while those that could still be picked were green. Pretty much every seat close to the actual base of the arena was full, and there were special spaces, also already filled up, that had unique, golden colorations.

  “What are these gold boxes?” I asked softly, curiosity overtaking me.

  “Those are premier seating options. They cost a lot more… but come with some neat perks. For battles such as the one we are about to watch, they’ll have prerecorded interviews with the challenger, as well as Julius, discussing their thoughts going into this battle, their team members, and so forth. Being in such a box also gives the people within special access to track the stats of the Muns in the battle, showing their HP, their attack options, and any status ailments, buffs, debuffs, and so forth. Oh, and,” he grinned, “they come with special services that include special food and drink services, and other entertainment options before the battle begins.”

  “Oh,” so, even here, for the right price you could have a very different experience. Good to know. Though, given how quickly I’d made some Muney already, I had no doubt, sooner or later, I’d find myself willing to splurge a tad for such an experience. Life was too short not to try things, at least once, after all.

  “Mhmm. Most of the time, when there are high profile battles, the date and time will be set about a month in advance. It will give people plenty of time to prepurchase seating options, and reserve special viewing sections.”

  My heart sunk, “oh, so is it first come first serve?”

  “Not quite.” He grinned, “it’s more a supply and demand. With that much time in advance, there are ways to work with the system to generate more or less of the spaces. Doing so requires a certain amount of power within the building, so with enough planning it is easier to ensure generating more luxurious features within the arena doesn’t place an unnecessary strain on the Guardian Crystal within the city.”

  More questions came quickly to my mind with that statement, though at the very least, I figured I had one answer. Those water wheels were in fact power generators, and the city had features that, while luxurious, exceeded whatever the natural energy output of the Guardian Crystal was for the entire city. How that worked across Mutopia, and what implications such things actually meant, I didn’t know. Nor, did I really care. But I did figure sooner or later, I’d at least dive a little deeper into the magic of this world. If only to better understand what I needed to know both to get stronger, and to evolve my Muns and capture more of the unique creatures.

  “Alright,” I turned my focus back to the seating options, noting a set of two. Just like back home, they were designated by a letter, and number. “Want to snag M42 and M43?”

  “Works for me,” Guy said with a nod, “I was personally eyeing O67 and 68, but those work too.”

  I looked where he’d mentioned, and a childish part of me nearly changed my choice. After all, not only was O67 and O68 available, but O69 was open too… nice.

  Before I could let my college humor fly flag though, Guy selected his option, and disappeared in a flash, leaving me, for the moment, standing alone, for the first time since I’d met him, I realized, in an area full of other Tamers. An area that I most definitely could get myself into trouble, I thought, as I eyed the area to place bets.

  But, then I thought better of it, still wondering what it was about that area that had him on edge, and I selected M42, M43 having turned red as he disappeared. That was trouble for future Taylor. Present Taylor, was going to sit her happy ass down, watch what was hopefully going to be an epic battle… and eat a Calfer Burger without trying to feel too guilty, considering I had a Calfer literally slotted into my Gauntlet at the moment, as a member of my team. Hopefully it was delicious. Because delicious things were much easier to not feel guilty about than non-delicious things.

  Even though I already knew, from my time in this world, that no Calfer was actually killed in the making of my burger… well… not permanently killed at least. Who knew living in a real life monster taming world would be so much more confusing and questionable than the games and shows always made it seem. Oh well… when in Rome, I thought, grinning at the irony of that last thought as I teleported into the massive Coliseum, ready to watch two individuals battle for the entertainment of the masses. My lip twitched even higher, as the world turned white for a moment, the strange magic engulfing me to transport me to my seat. I’d just remembered and connected the irony that, with all the other jokes added on… the Keeper’s name was Julius… Ha. Hopefully the challenger wasn’t named Brutus.