The Arena Saga: Bronze Tier

Prologue

Bad Omens- Concrete Jungle

There aren't a lot of things we can claim to be in this world and mean it. What defines a good person and a bad one? Many say that their actions and how they present themselves speak volumes. Some argue charity, religion, familiarity, and faith. Everyone has a definition. Mine is survival and I'm really good at it.

I was born what the high towers call a bottom feeder in a world where man and tech are one and the same. Humans trading flesh for mech. Mechs trading parts for flesh. It's hard to tell them apart most days.

Here on the floor levels of NeoGlover life is colorful, festive, and above all dangerous. I think I had parents once. A long time ago. It's hard to tell how long I've lived. The fog over the city blocks the daylight out. I do remember I got the virus when I was six. There are bits and pieces of my life stored in disks, but the memories that I've lost I will never be able to get back.

The High Tower mad labs "accidentally" released a nano-virus that would level the population by fifty-six percent. Those between the ages of twenty-five and forty didn't fare well. Unfortunately for a lot of us that meant the loss of our parents.

My brother, Max, was thirteen at the time. We were the only ones that survived in a family of twelve. I think it's been ninety or more years since then. I don't remember a lot from before my memories were stored in the gold cloud.

The Nanos in my body keep me alive. They heal all injuries and they adapt to their surroundings. With that comes immunity to most things. There are different ways for us to die. The most common is by cutting enough Nanos out of the body. Even if they're replaced, it would just be a body learning to be a person all over again. The Nanos in our body have their own memory storage. Destroy enough and bye memories. 

The shittiest thing that can happen to us, is getting a digital virus, but little to nothing can get past the Nano firewalls. Hacking the High Tower is a lot like trying to hack god. We can't and some idiots question if the High Tower exists.

See we were told that the virus was an accident and that those who were affected by them would be cured one day, but it was a lie. We are updated regularly and that's not the scariest part of this.

The Nanos are part of a program and if you are a willing participant you can enroll in a live platform as a guest or a user. It's called the Golden Arena. It's based on levels. We start at one. There are a hundred levels and thousands of arena types.

Most bottom feeders get strong enough to make it to the middle levels. Thirty-five to fifty-five. This is known as the Bronze Battle Pass. Anything over that belongs to the High Tower users who willingly chose this life. They probably have some serious engineering in their systems. The rest of us get scraps. Dangerous ones, but none that can go up against one of them.

I've never entered as a permanent contestant. I've only done it for the credits. Girls gotta eat and I have a big appetite. Max on the other hand is a guild master. Level fifty-four and closing in on fifty-five.

Guild masters are top-tier players. They are the first to get their hands on updates and gear. They share their rewards with their guild. The bigger the guild the better the levels and it goes without saying that they get the better rewards.

The name of his guild is pretty lame, but he's kind of a big deal around here so it really doesn't matter what I think. Maxed-Out has over sixteen hundred members city-wide. He has sixteen first officers. Thirty-two second officers. Sixty-four guards. And the Maxed-Out Army behind him.

The rules of the guild are simple. One, once Maxed-Out. Always Maxed-Out. Two, no harm amongst each other. Three, one for all. All rewards are to be shared with the entire guild. Fourth, all members must be permanent players. Five, all members must be over level thirty. Six, all members must participate at least once a month. Seven, fraternizing with outside members is forbidden unless they're willing to convert. Eight, all outsiders must pass the background check performed by a first officer or guild master. Nine has to be the most important to my brother. Death to all First Ward members.