Evening Game
Chapter 28

Ethan and Chione dropped from the skies, looking at the battlefield spanning endlessly below them. On the far end of the landscape was a dark red circle, engulfing the entire field, acting as a wall bordering the playzone and the outside world. Ethan grimaced the second he realized what formed the buildings below him.

Shit!

The land was modeled after the Magia, the country of magic. There was no guarantee that the qualifications map would be modeled after Technologia, but still, each qualification group had different regions, but they got a map where Chione had never played before. The battle royale follows the rule of the land the main event was held in, in this case Technologia, which meant the weapons themselves didn’t change. Countless fortresses and villages cover the land, most structures built with rocks and stones.

Truth be told, what kind of landscape was used in this game shouldn’t matter much. No one, not a single player, had played in the exact area before. Like Ethan, they may have played in Magia, but their knowledge may prove worthless, as the layout itself was drastically changed. What may used to be a good camping spot may turn into the center of a village, for example.

Ethan’s concerns mainly come from the building materials themselves. Magia was based in Wales, and consisted of many castles and fortresses. Unlike the steel and concrete monstrosities of Technologia, nor the wooden towns of Aevimedii, Magia’s stone structures had different strengths and weaknesses when compared to the two places.

It forced him to constantly be wary of the building he was in, and since they were fighting with firearms, no cover would truly be safe from threat, similar to how Mason’s machine gun tore through the wooden buildings of Hokisa. The stone structures would still be stronger, of course, but not as strong as the concrete wonderland of Hatasdei.

Ethan looked around for a place to land, his eyes landing on a large tower placed in the corner of a castle’s walls.

“Chione, head for that tower!”

Ethan pointed toward the tower. It stood tall above the landscape, far higher even when compared to the castle complex it was located in.

“Roger.”

The two zoomed through the air, a couple of other players falling around them. Ethan looked around, making sure none of them were heading toward the same point. The two pulled their parachutes and entered through an opening under the tower’s roof.

Ethan rushed to the center, picking up a handgun that lay on the floor. It was a small, simple firearm only slightly larger than his palm. It had already come with some attachments, like a scope and extended magazine. Some attachments lay in the world, but most weapons spawned with their own. They could swap them to their liking, but not all attachments would be suitable with all weapons.

“Here.”

He threw the handgun at Chione, along with its ammunition as he searched for a second weapon. His eyes wander the floor, not replaceing anything else, not even armor or medicine.

Chione kneeled down and peeked through the opening, looking at the surrounding landscape. She aimed her gun at the courtyard and fired two bullets.

“Got one.”

She declared.

“Good one. Let’s go down.”

“Alright.”

Ethan headed for the spiral staircase at the end of the tower. They ran down, careful to not trip. The tower itself was roughly three stories high, some equipment scattered along the way down. They picked up everything they could, especially since this mode allowed inventory management mid-game.

Ethan found a low-level bolt action sniper rifle and pointed toward it. Chione picked it up while Ethan took an energy-short sword that lay on the floor and continued.

“Defense armor, take it.”

“Roger.”

Chione stopped to equip the armor while Ethan continued his way down. He collected every healing item he could. He saw another short sword, this time physical, and decided to skip it. Unlike other games, Aldhia allowed players to carry as many weapons as they wanted, but it severely limited the space for other items, so players often settled for two.

They arrived at the base, connected with the walls that surrounded the castle. On one side was a large village and a hill at the far end, while on the other was the castle itself.

Ethan gave the assault rifle he found on the floor to Chione.

“Want to trade?”

“With the sniper? No thanks. You’re a better shooter than me.”

“But you’re not using anything?”

“I’ll replace something, eventually.”

Ethan was used to close-distance engagements. His build, his playstyle, all optimized to get him as close as possible to his enemies, cut the gun out of their hands, and finish them with one clean cut. A rifle would only get in the way. Even the revolver, with its terrible accuracy, was used only when he was up close and personal.

The slower bullet speed greatly helped with evening the playing field between long-range players and close-quarters ones.

“... How often do you play against other players?”

“Huh?”

The question came out of nowhere. Ethan kneeled down and hid under the walls. He slowly moved forward toward the next tower. He prepared his sword, or more accurately, energy knife in case someone jumped them.

“I mean, you look so calm, even without any weapon.”

“This is a weapon.”

Ethan showed Chione the knife, its blade’s length no longer than his palm and fingers.

“Can you-”

Ethan heard footsteps coming toward them. He darted across the walls, heading for the next tower. From the other side came a player carrying an assault rifle.

Ethan leaped from side to side. The surprised enemy pulled their weapon up and fired, bullets flying through the air. Ethan dodged some of them, deflecting the others with his ‘sword’. The sight frightened the enemy, who stepped back and reloaded.

Ethan grabbed the knife’s hilt and threw it forward, its blade pointing forward. With one well-placed hit it landed, causing his enemy to collapse and break into shards.

Ethan stopped at the base of the tower, quickly ransacking through the crate that his enemy left behind. From inside, he pulled an energy hammer.

“Impressive.”

Chione said as she approached. She heard sounds coming from below her. She set her sniper on the side of the wall facing into the castle. She aimed and fired, hitting a player running through the courtyard.

“That’s impressive as well.”

“Thanks, but nowhere as unpredictable as you.”

“Oh, does that mean you want to be an agility player next?”

“If that means running wild like monkeys then no.”

“That’s disrespectful to the monkeys.”

“I know. That’s why I don’t deserve to be an agility build.”

“I don’t know the correlation but okay.”

Chione ducked down to dodge incoming fire, coming from behind one of the pillars on the castle’s side. Bullets flew over her, some going into the sky while others went into the wall. The rock walls managed to stop some, but it let some others through. Cracks begin to form around her.

“We need to get going.”

“Wait.”

She took aim and fired, her single bullet flying through the hail. It landed at its target, who was too focused on trying to hit her. It pierced through the enemy’s unprotected head, ending the enemy’s game immediately.

“You’re also quite calm about this.”

Chione glanced at him and lifted an eyebrow.

“You said this is just a game, right?”

“Haha, of course.”

Chione swapped the sniper for his assault rifle and followed closely behind Ethan. Ethan took the rifle the previous player dropped and aimed it upward. He slowly moved up when Chione checked the previous player’s loot.

“Done?”

“Yes.”

Ethan swapped the gun for the hammer and ran upward, Chione guarding their rear. Unlike the previous tower, this one didn’t have a roof covering the top. Once they reached it, they lay down low, hiding behind the stone guard that formed a railing around the tower’s top floor.

“Alright, we need a plan.”

“Shouldn’t we discuss those before the game?”

“No, not with this map.”

All the buildings in the game were destructible, assuming they were located in a yellow or red zone. This battlefield counted as a red zone, thus everything including this tower could be destroyed.

“These structures are particularly weak against-”

The sound of a rocket approaching them caught Ethan’s attention. Ethan looked back at the southeast tower, the place where they had just landed. From the gaps in the opening he could see two people up there, shooting at someone below.

A rocket-propelled grenade, RPG, flew toward the tower’s base, exploding at the area right above the walls. It took out a good portion of the tower, causing the entire structure to collapse, bringing down two players with it.

“... I think we should go back down.”

“Yeah, agree.”

Chione rushed down, her finger on the trigger. Ethan did a quick, last scan of the area, making sure there was nothing up there.

“Where should we go? Should we replace a place to camp?”

Chione asked, slowly moving back out toward the walls.

“Negative. I don’t think I can effectively use this.”

Ethan answered while holding up the hammer. The energy hammer looked like a long stick when it had its face and claw turned off. Both of those parts were larger than the average hammers found in houses, and while it was still an effective weapon, it mainly functioned as a powerful close-quarters weapon. The short face and claw didn’t help on longer engagements, thus Ethan wanted something like his usual sword or spear.

They moved slowly through the walls, hiding themselves under the stone wall that acted as side guards. They made a turn on the middle section, heading into the castle, walking above a section that connected the walls to the main building. Chione led the way, swapping her assault rifle for her handgun, allowing her to move faster and crawled while aiming it forward. Around them, gunshots filled the air, with the occasional explosions here and there.

Fire rose from a nearby town, which quickly spread throughout the village, consuming it whole. Players unlucky enough to be in the area all escaped, running for their lives, only to be gunned down by others who were lucky enough to be inside. RPG and portable missiles, both for anti-tank and air defense, flew straight for the walls, carving holes in the structure.

So far, not one player had noticed their movements. Ethan and Chione tried their best to hide themselves, making as little noise as possible. A pair ran below them, already equipped with what looked to be high-level assault rifles.

“Damn, they’re lucky.”

The two stopped at a crate from one of Chione’s victims.

“Shoot?”

“Don’t.”

“Roger.”

One guarded their surroundings while the other kneeled down and checked the crate. The first player equipped some of the equipment, changed his armor and his sidearm, and swapped positions with his partner. The second player did the same, but with no visible changes.

“A grenade.”

Chione muttered after picking up a grenade lying on the floor.

“Throw it at them.”

“Alright.”

She tilted her body slightly, a small, green fragmentation grenade in her hand. She threw it down, landing not far from the two players. The second they heard it, they turned around. They jumped away, but not before it exploded and dealt significant damage, throwing both players off. Using the chance, Chione stood up and fired, bullets from her handgun landing straight at her target, not a single missed.

It destroyed the enemies’ armor and took them both out.

“Akh!”

She crouched back down, covering her head. Bullets flew past her, others striking the wall.

“Let’s go!”

Chione moved forward, half-running. She aimed her handgun in the direction where the enemy fire came from, from around the tower where they had just been, but she didn’t see the enemy, nor did Ethan.

They both threw themselves into the safety of the castle, taking position on both sides of a large, wooden door with steel plating on it. They hear footsteps approaching from outside, their pacing fast and rushed.

Chione glanced at Ethan, Ethan replied with a nod. Chione suddenly swapped her handgun with a sniper, to which Ethan immediately shook his head.

This isn’t what I expect her to do!

Chione simply grinned. The next second, two enemies came into the room at the same time, shooting their guns blindly. Chione ducked down to dodge the line of sight. She kneeled and fired a bullet, knocking down one of the two players.

Ethan saw it and used the confusion to strangle and hammer down the second player. Chione cocked her sniper and fired a second shot, careful to not fall down from its power. The second shot took out the player Ethan was strangling, while Ethan leaped and finished the first one. Both of them turned into shards, leaving behind nothing but crates of loot.

“Shouldn’t you swap to your assault rifle?”

“It’s low-level, right?”

“I don’t think it’s worth the risk, though.”

Ethan said as he closed the doors and examined the crates, Chione standing guard behind him. He swapped his hammer with an energy sword, similar to the one he owned, and replaced his energy short sword with an assault rifle. He took the rifle and switched the mode from full-auto to single shots. He dropped the previous one on the ground and hit it behind the crate.

“Why single?”

Chione asked as she kneeled and checked the inventory.

“How do you know I switch modes?”

Ethan moved slightly further inside, watching the hallway that led deeper into the castle.

“Heard the click. Why, though?”

“Couldn’t handle the recoil.”

“I see.”

She then stood back up with a visible armor change. She had swapped her armor for a defense-boosting one, similar in design to the ones soldiers used. Chione turned for the door and did a quick check on the outside before following Ethan further into the castle.