David Lingard: Author

Chapter 63 – The Balance of the Gods

The God of Balance or the individual who was sometimes known as Julius, walked across his small living area to the kitchenette that stood alongside it. He'd tried living in huge, lavish mansions and he'd tried living in nothing more than a small tent, but nothing seemed to suit him better than th...

Chapter 62 – Alarm Bells (Again)

"So you're just going to keep the ring?" Jordan asked as he swung his axe lazily at Titus, who blocked with his borrowed sword. "Even though you've been told it's cursed."

"Yeah," Titus replied. "He didn't have to explain any of that to us. If I'd have found out by accident and he'd lied ab...

Chapter 61 – Unleash the Beast

Henderson stood and watched from the corner of the spectators' area of the central colosseum. Because of his punishment and the reasons behind it, the other Contestants had been tending to give him a wide berth, which actually suited him quite well because of what he was doing and had been doing ...

Chapter 60 – Secrets & Lies

You have gained 25 experience points

XP to next level: 77

Titus stared at the notification before his eyes and smiled. It was a small boost for the amount of pain and suffering his party had endured, given the fact that they’d almost been killed by the ...

Chapter 59 – Tensions & Trials

"What do you think all that means?" Titus asked once the dining hall had returned to normal following Miss Kane's exit. It had taken a little while for the Contestants – and the few Instructors present – to get back to a more regular breakfast, but when they had it was obvious that there real...

Chapter 58 – An Inquisition

The Grandmaster stared down at the parchment that had been left on her desk by one of the Arena Hands while she had been attending to her charge. She was tired, and the last thing she needed was to read some ridiculous scroll whereby the City Council told her that they were going to be sending he...

Chapter 57 - Showdown

It was as though there was a blue light pulsating within the goblin and Titus knew that it meant the creature was using his Mana. The understanding that had simply come to Titus was like nothing he'd ever experienced before – like it was a memory or something he'd always known but had been lock...

Chapter 56 – Goblins Gambit

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Jordan's voice was the first thing Titus heard as he shook off the aftermath of the fight. The fall to the ground had winded him, but it had only taken a couple of HP from him and he could certainly deal with that after reading the notification he'd just received. B...

Chapter 55 – Trial by Tree

"Another potion!" Torres exclaimed as Titus hurled yet another fireball across the small room that exploded into the training dummy. The thing must've been enchanted somehow because every time a fireball ruined the man-sized construct, sending splinters everywhere and leaving the thing a smoulder...

Chapter 54 – Unleashing Potential

Petra's pit fight had been as decisive as Jordan's had been, though in truth, she had two great advantages that she always seemed to lean upon: one, she was faster than most of the opponents she faced, and two, nothing she'd fought around her own level seemed to have any innate resistance to the ...

Chapter 53 – Wolves & Skeletons

"That’s three for me and Petra then," Jordan announced as Petra ascended the steps from her pit after the fight in which she’d soundly bested a level three goblin. She’d been fortunate to fight a goblin, having already practised against them and knowing that they really had nothing to offer...

Chapter 52 - Awakened

Jordan, Petra, and Titus slept soundly. It was quite surprising to Titus that it had been the case, given the fact that they were all worried about Jacob down there in the hospital with the healer. However, the fact was that they had expended so much energy during their multiple fights the night ...

Chapter 51 – Dungeons & Secrets

Henderson sat for a long while in front of the bars where the Nest Guardian – his mentor – had previously resided. At first, he thought that whatever had taken the dragon away was simply temporary, or perhaps even an illusion, but eventually he realised the truth: that his mentor was gone, an...

Chapter 50 – Council for Change

The group made their way back to the Arena without anything else happening to cause them any concern, which Titus was rather thankful for. They had moved with far more caution now as Jordan’s Stamina was yet to recover to a usable amount, and Petra’s was also pretty low. In fact, Titus was th...

A Map of the World!

So I've recently discovered Inkarnate - a fantasy map maker that's actually got a nice user interface (If you want to use it and are struggling, give me a shout). Here's an initial depiction of the world that the Arena sits in. Still learning on this one, but it's nice to have a visual guide!

Chapter 49 – A Desperate Situation

"A thousand health points," Petra breathed as she identified the creature standing before them. It was sideways on so it hadn't yet seen the group of Blue-Ranked Contestants and seemed very interested in the man it was holding in its hands. The citizen whimpered because each time the Jötnar Warr...

Chapter 48 – A Blaze of Emotions

Titus had lost all semblance of decorum, platitudes, and mercy. He gladly spent the two Mana that the fireball spell cost and, within the conjuration, he spilt all of the hatred that he'd harboured for his stepmother, Millicent, along with the new knowledge that she was now confirmed to be a witc...

Chapter 47 – Revelations & Departures

As soon as the alarm sounded, Henderson knew that there was only one place he wanted to go. It wasn't to the main hall like everyone had been ordered; he had the feeling that this was all going to be something more important than that. He slipped out of his room after his two roommates left to he...

Chapter 46 – Family Reckoning

“We both missed you very much,” Millicent said before Titus' father could say a word. “But surely you can understand your father’s reaction?”

Titus stared at his father as he moved to a corner of the room, purposefully making no eye contact with his son.

“When you left, yo...

Chapter 45 – Unwelcome Reunion

It looked very much like the goblin knew it no longer had anything to lose. The expression on the creature's face said that if he was going to go down, then he was taking one of them with him. Titus cursed under his breath, thinking fleetingly that if he'd just stayed back and near the young Aren...

Chapter 44 - Standoff

"Jacob, no!" Titus shouted as the goblin took a defensive stance, swiftly drawing his knife and dropping the severed hand from his mouth to the ground. It was like everything had happened in an instant, and Titus didn't know if the goblin seemed so much faster than he'd expected because it was si...

Chapter 43 – Alarm Bells

"I just don't get why you want to trust him all of a sudden," Petra asked as the three of them lay in their beds at the end of the day. "You remember what he did to you, right? How he talks to people, how he treats people? And you think a week in the dungeon is just going to change all that? That...

Chapter 42 – An Unexpected Encounter

Titus sat eating his breakfast with his two friends. The past few days had gone by in no time at all, and the three had made the most of their time without question. They'd attended at least a handful of each of the classes they had available and had even returned to the pits in every moment they...

Chapter 41 - Bonding

"No, please, no more. It hurts so much," Henderson begged as the pain washed over him again and again. "Please, just a short rest, please I'm begging you!"

"You asked for this, Contestant. You welcomed the God of Chaos into your heart and soul, and you assured me that you were strong enough...

Chapter 40 – A Stroke of Luck

You may now select your opponent from those available within the Arena.

Recommended Level: 1

Recommended Type: Melee

Would you like to continue with these parameters? Y/N

Titus stared at the message for a moment, trying to figure out how exactly...

Chapter 39 – The Pit

The group stared at Miss Kane as if she'd gone insane. Everything they'd learned about what the Arena was, what it stood for, and how it operated had just been completely blown out of the water. It was like they'd been riding horses in a wide-open field, travelling merrily from one side to the ot...

Chapter 38 – Payday Choices

You have gained 11 experience points

XP to next level: 83

Titus stared at the text informing him that he'd slowly made progress along his experience bar, closing the gap further ready for his first-ever level up. Eighty-three points wasn't going to come eas...

Chapter 37 – Frostbite Spider

Titus stood at the iron gates looking out onto the golden sands. The sun hung high in the sky, casting a warm glow over the eager crowds awaiting the day's next fight. With Jordan and Petra by his side, he felt reassured about his safety.

The Frostbite Spider sounded terrifying to Titus but...

Chapter 36 – A Delicate Balance

"The God of Balance has been with the people of the City for thousands of years. Of course in the beginning, we were unaware of what this meant or how our lives were influenced by it."

Mr Avery had been all but absent since Titus had first arrived in the Arena and had been awakened to the p...

Chapter 35 – The Circuit

"I... can't... believe... that... this... is... a... lesson..." Titus fought for his breath as he ran 'the circuit' for the fifth time.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually," Jordan replied, markedly less exhausted than Titus. Petra had also kept step with the pair, though she cho...