David Lingard: Author

Chapter 17 – Dead & Deadlines

"Grim!" Henderson shouted as he raced down the stone steps from his master bedroom within Castle Valeri to the throne room.

"Grim!" he repeated, though he didn't wait for an answer. "Bring me some breakfast to the throne room; we’ve got work to do!"

Henderson barrelled into the throne room a moment later and took his seat as lord of the castle. Following him, Grim appeared and came to a halt before Henderson, the hob clasping his hands in front of his stomach.

Chapter 16 – A Meeting with Destiny

The Spectral Harbinger that loomed over Jordan while the Paladin was asleep in his bed seemingly unaware of the world around him, looked like it had been draining him for quite a while. Jordan’s Health Points had dropped from their lofty heights of one hundred and nine down to eighty-five. Although this meant many Health Points were still intact for him, Titus knew all too well that Spectral Harbingers were not the easiest creatures to defeat.

But then he remembered what had happened ...

Chapter 15 – Quest Complete

Henderson and his group immediately backed away from the clearing where the onrushing herd of beetles was loudly approaching from, and the wolves quickly darted back towards the castle. The hobs and goblins picked up what they could of their beetles — thankfully, they’d pre-stacked the carcasses they wanted on top of the cleanly-eaten insect, and as much as they wanted it, they all knew that the body of the bull beetle wouldn’t be coming with them this time no matter how much meat it wo...

Chapter 14 – Three on Three

The three hobs that emerged from the portal and were currently charging as one conjoined unit across the arena sands at Titus and his friends were a respectable level fifteen apiece. It was above what the group had been expecting, given the new rules of the Arena and it made Titus wonder what exactly would’ve come through if the portals hadn’t been tampered with.

Hobgoblin Warrior

Level: 15

HP: 2,000/2,000

The three hobs h...

Chapter 13 – New Foe

There was nothing that Henderson could do other than leap back in complete and utter surprise. If he’d been given a little warning that the bull beetle was standing right there, ready to go toe-to-toe with him in his wolf form, then he might’ve thought about doing something other than diving away in fear for his life.

But he probably still would’ve tried to escape the moment he saw those two mammoth mandibles clacking their way towards him.

Henderson had narrowly escaped the...

Chapter 12 – Stood Up

“And we’re sure that we want to go and fight this time?” Petra said as the three made their way along the underground hallways to the arena prep room that stood before the sands. “Because if I’m thinking it, then others might be too, and that means there’s a chance we could be thrown out there alone against three terrible, overpowered monsters. You know that, right?”

“What if the other teams aren’t planning on throwing us out there alone?” Titus countered. “What if...

Chapter 11 – First Hunt

Henderson loved feeling the wind rushing through the fur on his face as he ran on all fours. Ever since the battle where he'd taken control of the Coeurl, he had longed to be in the body of a quadruped again. With four paws touching the ground he could run faster, turn easier, and launch attacks with claws and teeth that his own physical body simply lacked.

It was quick and easy to take control of one of the level one dire wolves; the thing practically had no defences at all, and Hender...

Chapter 10 – Spending Spree

“So what, just spend everything we can and pretend none of this ever happened?” Titus asked. “Because I’m getting a little tired of having to hide everything from everyone. First it was not telling on that ass Henderson when he tried to kill us, then my Class, then the fireball spell… and now its keeping the God of Balance a secret? I mean where does it all end?”

“It’d be nice for us to have a secret for once,” Petra said with a forced smirk. “I mean it’s all you y...

Chapter 9 – Homely

“Seriously, has no one around here ever seen or used a broom before?” Henderson shouted as goblins all around him shuffled their feet on the floor, trying their best to understand what he meant when he kept saying he wanted the place ‘cleaned up’.

“This is a goddamn castle, not a stable! Try to at least think about what that means!”

Henderson had spent the better part of an hour trying to instil a sense of cleanliness into these creatures. Grim had simply stood there t...

Chapter 8 – New Gear

“My friends,” the old man said as the three walked up to him, as if approaching a God was the most normal thing in the world. “You do not need to go searching for my home if you wish to speak with me. How may I help my Champion and his protectors?”

As the God spoke, he did so with a warm smile and his hands spread wide in a benevolent gesture.

Titus stared at the God of Balance, not entirely sure what to make of his appearance, but Petra had no such qualms.

“So, yo...

Chapter 7 – Trial and Error

Henderson peered at the goblin who stood before him. The creature shuffled its feet on the ground nervously, its underbite and saucer-like black eyes making it seem both innocent and jittery.

“And all I have to do is tell you what I want to happen?” he asked Grim.

Grim nodded slowly.

“Yes, my Lord, all that is required of you is to give the order.”

“Then let’s do it. Give this one a level. That costs two CP, right?”

“Two ‘CP’, quite, my Lord,�...

Chapter 6 – A High Cost

People had died. More people than Titus had ever seen before, in or out of the Arena. And he didn’t truly know how to feel about it.

Since Miss Kane had left the Arena and been replaced as Grandmaster by Henderson’s father, Mr Valeri, the place had changed dramatically. With every change came an explanation - or a roundabout one - about the rationale behind it, but there was no rationale that could make death any easier to swallow, was there?

Titus sat in a small stone room ju...

Chapter 5 – Build and Grow

Henderson stared at the creature he’d named ‘Grim’ for a long time. In fact, he stared at him for so long that he wondered if the creature would ever become uncomfortable under his gaze.

Apparently, after an hour of silence between the pair, the answer was a resounding ‘no’.

Henderson had been staring at Grim because he wanted to see what the hobgoblin would do if he didn’t give him any instructions at all. He wondered if the creatures under his command - all twenty-tw...

Chapter 4 – As I’ll Ever Be

"Did you see that?!” Sophia shouted as she watched the stone golem fall. The molten rock on the ground had started to cool, turning from a bright red to dull salmon colour. Titus wondered what would have happened if they'd let the golem die naturally. Would it have transformed into a lava golem? It was a thought he didn't want to put any time or effort into.

Titus turned to see Jordan and Benjamin still holding their own against the smaller spiders, beating them back any time they cam...

Chapter 3 - Are you Ready?

You must report to the central colosseum in ten minutes.

Titus stared at the notification covering his field of vision, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had been practising sword-fighting against Jordan, and the very fact that he hadn’t been hit already after pausing to read the annoying text told him that his friend had almost definitely received the same notification.

“That’s us then,” Titus said as the notification disappeared, and his ...

Chapter 2 – Lord of Chaos

"Do uh… any of you know what I’m supposed to be doing here?” Henderson asked aloud as he watched hobgoblins and regular goblins shuffle in and out of the room as he sat in his new throne. None of the creatures had made any moves to harm him – in fact they didn’t even seem to want to get too close to him – but neither did they seem to really want to talk to him. They’d said a few recognisable words before whilst Henderson had been brought to his new castle, but since the God of C...

(Book 2) Chapter 1 – A New Grandmaster

"Have you uncovered anything of relevance, Kadiz?” Mr Valeri – or as he should now be called: ‘The Grandmaster’, asked.

Kadiz shook his head, not taking his eyes off the man sat in his new chair, at his new desk in his new office in The Arena.

“I am afraid that throughout my investigations, I have been unable to unearth any real incidences where the Contestants have lied to withhold a serious misdeed by Miss Kane. There are always lesser untruths to be expected when deal...

Chapter 75 – Past Misdeeds

“…and in light of what has happened over the last week and even before that, we have no option but to question the appropriateness of the Grandmaster in keeping her post as the head of our illustrious Arena.”

There was a murmur that spread through the chambers. The meeting of the City Council had been called, and it had been opened up to a very small number of citizens as well as a show of faith by the Council. Ever since the great battle outside the City walls, where many Contest...

Chapter 74 - Explanations

Jordan was the first to take action, dropping down onto one knee and facing the ground.

"My God… Lord…" he said, floundering.

"Oh, there's no need for any of that," the old man said. "Besides, if you stay down there much longer, I'm just going to have to join you to balance things out."

"So it's true?" Titus asked. "You are the God of Balance?"

The old man smiled. "Well, my name is Julius," he said. "And I suppose, yes, I am the God of Balance. You can call me eith...

Chapter 73 – The House of Chaos

"If I see you eat another berry, I'm going to run you through!" Petra said as the three friends walked across the heavy wooden drawbridge, chaperoned by the large group of creatures. To their collective surprise, the beasts hadn't killed them on sight; in fact, they hadn't even attempted to start any kind of fight with them. Instead, they just surrounded the group, let them realise that there was no good in fighting it, and then kind of led them towards the castle.

"I still have to eat,...

Chapter 72 - Freedom

As soon as the alarm bells had begun ringing, Henderson remembered what his master and mentor, the nest guardian, had told him: when the time comes for the Contestant to leave the Arena, he would know. The shaking of the very foundations of the City and the following alarm bells were something that Henderson very much knew was his signal to leave, but he didn’t really know where he was supposed to actually go.

He watched as people all around him clambered to retrieve their arms and ar...

Chapter 71 – The Edge of the World

“Well now we know what dark forces lurk out here in the unknown,” Petra said after the group had walked for no less than an hour without seeing anything other than dry, dead, arid, cracked ground. Not a single leaf, branch, twig, or sign of life as far as the eye could see.

“Look, I didn’t make this place and I’ve never been here before, so don’t blame me if you don’t get to see waterfalls and rainbows,” Jordan said. He was clearly upset at the fact that there was nothin...

Chapter 70 - Deserted

The first thing that Titus noticed was the ever-increasing number of experience points he needed to reach level seven. It wasn’t a surprise, but if things kept going up and up like they were, then before long his kills would start being worth less and less. That was, of course, until he found stronger enemies and maintained risk like he was supposed to.

Time wasn't exactly on their side though, so Titus dumped his points into his safe choices, a couple each for Constitution and Agilit...

Chapter 69 – Fireballs & Flora

Titus didn't exactly know what it meant to take Petra's Mana from her but after a few minutes, something became apparent: if he didn't use it, the Mana slowly returned to his friend as if he were holding a leaky bucket. It was just like his Mana regeneration rate, but in reverse.

What this meant, he understood immediately, was that he couldn't just keep getting fed Mana by his friends until he had an infinite amount. But it didn't mean there weren't some great uses for this new ability....

Chapter 68 – Are We Lost?

"Uh, I’m no meteorologist," Titus said as he and his friends continued their long march. "But doesn’t it feel like it’s getting a bit dark to either of you?"

"Of course it’s getting dark," Petra snapped. "We’ve been walking for hours. In fact, I think we’ve been walking in circles... I knew it! I was right all along when I thought we shouldn’t follow this great lummox!"

"Hey, I know what I’m doing," Jordan snapped back. "And we haven’t been walking that long, or ...

Bonus Chapter 1 - Beatrix Mungar (Exclusive)

1.       Excerpt from the diary of Beatrix Mungar. Before the Great War.

The air stank. The Arena itself, in fact, stank. Everything stank. I remember it as I write these pages because it was so prevalent in everything we did down there. But the Arena was never a place of beauty. Never a place people went to try to relax, or find a comfortable existence. No, the Arena was there to provide a training grounds, as I came to understand it, for those who offered...

Chapter 67 – Loot!

There was something odd about the way that the Hobs were lying on the ground. Not the fact that their bodies were entirely broken and bloodied, but something far more irregular than that even. Taking a quick look around the group to make sure there were no more imminent threats about to kill them all, Titus turned onto his hands and knees and patted the dead Hobgoblin.

He had seen a lump. Not a lump like what’d most likely been caused by extended fighting, but more like it had somethi...

Chapter 66 – Fight for your Life

Titus stared with wide eyes as the lifeless and crushed body of his former combat Instructor fell to the ground with a dull thud. But then something amazing happened; the Ironjaw Behemoth that had brought an end to the instructor’s life let out a pained final gasp, stumbled, and then fell backwards as its health pool finally blinked away to nothing following the damage caused by Theodore’s circular blade.

But in the end it hadn’t been quick enough; neither the two Defenders nor Fe...

Chapter 65 – The Greatest Show

It was as if every single contestant and every single monster of Chaos stood still to watch what was going to happen next. The four Instructors, plus Theodore, had stepped forward to face the onrushing stampede of the three Ironjaw Behemoths, and Titus couldn't help but think that even if there were a hundred Instructors standing there to face the creatures, it still probably wouldn't have been enough.

Not being able to see all of the names of the Instructors didn't make too much of a d...

Chapter 64 – A Gathering Storm

“Following us again?” Petra asked the large man. “And you think this is a good way to get us to trust you?”

“I could have simply turned and headed to the North Gate as I was about to and not revealed myself to any of you, but I thought that this way might be of more help.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Petra continued. “It still doesn’t explain why you’re following us in the first place.” Then she turned to Titus and said: “Don’t you think you s...