Spiteful Healer

“Okay…” Aegis let out a gasp of air, sitting on the bench in front of the multiple livestream displays of the gladiator arena. The tournament's first match was beginning, and the competitors had already been instructed to exit their waiting rooms and enter the arena.

From the left side of the oval arena, Seraxus and his party stepped out, walking slow and proud as the audience erupted in boos and angry shouts. This did nothing to wipe the smug smile off of his face.

Opposite his party, Starcry’s team entered the arena. Her demeanor varied drastically as she looked up with a warm smile to the audience members in the stands nearest, waving and bowing to them and thanking them for their support. Their cheers were of encouragement and pride, most of which came from the Vindicators in the stands who were sporting their red guild tabards proudly.

“How bad do you think this is going to be?” Aegis asked as he tilted his head to look at Pyri, standing at the end of the bench that he sat on, with Lina at his side, leaning forward towards the displays and watching them intently. Rakkan was pacing behind them, eyes glued to the screen. At the same time, Darkshot leaned up against the back wall and tended to Darkwing on his shoulder, who was looking anxious and jittery due to the sounds of the loud crowd cheers reverberating the walls of the chamber around them.

“Pretty bad.” Pyri shrugged with an apologetic look as she glanced back at Aegis briefly. “I mean, in terms of video game opponents, these avatars of darkness are deceptively difficult. The Simbox technology allows the game to read our emotions somewhat… So, using those emotions as a power source for the bad guys would mean that a large portion of the player base would need to be able to control their emotions to combat them. If you can't do that, you need to be able to overpower the dark emotions with positive ones at least, and… well… frankly…” Pyri hesitated to say it, but Aegis already knew it himself.

“It’s a lot easier to spread negativity than positivity.” Aegis finished her sentence.

“Yep.” She nodded. "It worked for a bit, but, look,” she motioned to the display where Seraxus entered the arena. "His wings are already starting to retake form. You might’ve given Yumily an impossible task.”

“Maybe.” Aegis agreed.

“Have a lil faith, guys, she’s the number one bard for a reason right?” Darkshot asked.