The battlefield was set and the combatants had arrived. However it felt more like a stage. The battlefield that they had drawn for the Item Hunt turned out to be a dungeon just outside of Als Atbor. It was a Requirement Dungeon, which meant that only those that the System granted direct access to were allowed in. The name of the dungeon was "Fallen Colosseum" and with a single glance all of the Adventurers had figured out why.
Fallen Colosseum was stylized after the Grand Colosseum of history. However, it was much smaller. The stands around the dungeon's entrance could only seat around a hundred people comfortably. Despite that, both sides of the stands were filled to the brim.
To one side sat the members of The Curious Glades and their friends. There was no uniform in the group. They looked like strangers plucked out of their respective adventures and thrown onto the stands. There was no structure to their Classes or their Gear. They truly were a haphazard group.
The opposite side of the dungeon's stands held their opponent in the Faction War: Hades Collective. True to the name and in direct opposition of Merrick's Faction, the Hades Collective was perfectly uniform. Dressed in blackened armor with red trimmings, They sat still, steady, and prepared to go to war.
They were organized in a way that implied they were ready to charge across the field to directly attack The Curious Glades. Their melee fighters were up front, with their ranged and magical fighters tucked behind with a sort of rear guard of Paladins around them.
Between the two groups, was the ruinous floor of the Fallen Colosseum. It was where the name had come from. There was a single pathway through the middle: dirt propped up by magic and wooden beams. The pathway was only five feet wide and on either side was a sheer drop into the dungeon below.
Merrick and Thom stood at their end of the path. The Faction Leader of the Hades Collective, a hooded Sorcerer by the cliche name DeathX, stood at the opposite end. In between them, in the direct middle of the path, stood the War's Officiant. This time the Officiant was dressed like a Medieval Knight in full armor with a heavy lance slung over their shoulder.
It was unsure if they were a Mouseion employee set to regulate the event or if they were a regular Adventurer, however everyone on the battlefield knew that the War's Officiant was the one who handed out points and could disqualify either side. In the past, Factions had tried to sway the Officiant and it never ended well. It was best to stay neutral and simply score points.
As the clock struck time, the War's Officiant swiped at a System Menu. The Faction War was about to begin. Before that, the true nature would be revealed. All of the Adventurer's in attendance waited for the Officiant's announcement with bated breath. Merrick could see through the slit in the Officiant's lowered visor that they were savoring the moment.
Finally, the announcement came.
"The Faction War between the Curious Glades and the Hades Collective will be an Item Hunt. The current dungeon, Fallen Colosseum, will prove as the battlefield and all Adventurers not directly involved will watch from the stands via System terminals. As is traditional in an Item Hunt, only a few Adventurers will be selected. There will be three rounds, with one Adventurer from each Faction entering the dungeon at the start of the round. Once the round ends, any living Adventurers will remain in the dungeon until the War has concluded."
The Officiant paused on that point. The Curious Glades half of the stands erupted in quiet murmurs. Merrick had honestly been expecting worse. If he was in the first round, it would be much easier than expected. However, when he looked at Thom, Merrick found that his Faction Leader was not as relieved as he was. Thom still looked stressed. There was more.
After a moment, the Curious Glades' quieted down and the Officiant decided to continue.
"The participants in the first two rounds will be randomly selected from the entire roster of the Faction with the exception the officially listed Faction Officers beside the Faction Leader. The final participant will be selected by the Faction Leader and can be any unselected member of the Faction, except for themselves."
There it was. Merrick nodded. Thom had picked him for the last round. There was a chance that Thom could be randomly selected still, for either of the first two rounds, but Merrick as the Vice-Leader could only be in the last round.
"Finally," the Officiant continued, "if the Faction does not have any Faction Officers to fill the last round. The Faction Leader can select themselves to participate."
Merrick let out a nearly subconscious sigh of confirmation. That was why DeathX stood alone. Hades Collective was placing its bets on their Faction Leader and RNG-esus. If all of their Faction Officers had been disbanded, those roles defaulted to the Faction Leader, and any of them could be randomly selected. Then DeathX would potentially be joined by the best of his Faction, while Merrick could be with the worst of his.
While Merrick was ruminating on that and trying to come up with a strategy to take down the Leader of the Eighth best Faction in Dungeons Below, the participants for the first two rounds were drawn. Unfortunately, Merrick's prediction came true.
For the first round, Hades Collective would be represented by their former Faction Commissioner, a Druid named Desci. The Curious Glades, on the other hand, were represented by one of their newer members, the Rogue that Merrick had helped defeat a Chimera: Alric. He was not the worst Adventurer in the Faction, but he was still just a sprout when it came to dungeons.
For the second round, Hades Collective struck gold again. Their former Vice-Leader, a Paladin named Grunt, was selected. Merrick had seen Grunt fight in the PvP arena once before. He was a force to be reckoned with. In terms of speed, though, Merrick had faith in his opponent in the second round. A Knight-Errant named Yorin was selected. Merrick had not delved with Yorin specifically but he knew the Class was a light-build Knight-variant.
The first round was up in the air in Merrick's mind but he assumed they would lose that point. The second round would go to the Curious Glades simply because Paladins are too slow. The third round… Merrick was not sure. If none of the Adventurers were killed in the previous round, it could lead to a three on three brawl for control of the item. On top of that, Merrick's opponent for the round was DeathX, the Faction Leader.
To make matters worse, while Thom was prepping the other members, an unforeseen guest saddled up next to Merrick. The information broker from the alley looked like they had seen a ghost as they tapped on Merrick's shoulder.
Merrick knew the news was going to be bad, but he asked for it anyway. "Did you find anything?"
The information broker shook their head, "It's not about that. I heard from a client that Hades Collective does not care about winning this Faction War."
Merrick faked a smile, "That is good for us then."
The information broker shook their head more deliberately this time. "No, it isn't. They plan on taking out your members, and then you, to prove that you don't belong in the Top Ten."
"So this could be a long one…"
"It'll be one on one, then two on one, and then finally three on one."
Merrick's fake smile was replaced by a real one. "I feel honored. DeathX didn't feel like he could beat me on his own, so they restructured their entire Faction just to stack the deck for the third round battle against me."
"Take this seriously."
"I am." Merrick nodded and patted the information broker on the shoulder, "Thank you. I really mean that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to tell our thief to throw his round."