by Edward Brody
“It may seem petty, but there’s a deeper reasoning to it.”
“And a goal also prohibited by the Mages guild, I might add.”
“Then I guess we have one thing in common.”
Liam laughed. “What are your fighting skills like?”
“I’ve got a good mix so far. I just started putting emphasis into magic, but I get by.”
“You get by?” Liam asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Yeah… I do alright.”
Liam stopped his horse, and I turned as I rode ahead of him.
“Why don’t we test your skills a bit,” Liam said. “If we’ll be fighting together, perhaps it’s best we see what we’re each capable of.”
I slowed Sora to a halt, and fully turned towards Liam. “Test my skills?”
Liam slid off his horse and reached for a wooden staff on his back. “A duel. Show me what you’re made of!”
You have been invited to a standard duel with: Liam Greatsky
Do you accept this duel? Yes/No
“I don’t think that’s necessary. Why waste our time and energy when we’ll likely be fighting something soon?”
“Are you scared to lose?” Liam asked. He threw his staff in the air then twirled it as it landed gracefully in his hands.
I creased my brow. “No… It just seems—“
“I’m two levels lower than you. You have at least one advantage already.”
“Yeah, but I just started using a staff. I’m still not used to it. And I—“
“Now’s a good chance to give it a spin. Or you can use your sword.” He tilted his head and fluttered his eyelashes.
I took a deep breath and huffed as I turned my head from side to side. We were in an open field, and there was nothing anywhere nearby. Liam seemed pretty harmless and way too overconfident considering my level advantage. “What kind of combat skills do you use?”
“Water magic, primarily,” Liam said.
What do you think? I silently asked Sora.
Be careful.
We’re in the same faction. It’s just a duel, right?
Well, if you choose to move forward, I’ll be nearby if things get sketchy.
I slid off Sora and instinctively reached for my sword, but as soon as I touched the handle, I moved to grab the staff instead. I didn’t really want to fight Liam, but like he said, it was a good opportunity for us to see each other’s skills. I planned to do our mission without my sword, so I’d stick to my staff while dueling as well.
“Aren’t you going to tie your horse down somewhere?” I asked.
“No need. He’s well trained.” Liam patted the side of the horse, raised his chin, and the horse trotted several meters away.
I turned to Sora, nodded, and she moved to get out of the way as well.
I had gained a couple levels over the past few days and remembered that I had some unassigned points, so I dropped them in place and went over my stats before accepting the duel.
“Alright then,” I said.
You have accepted the duel with: Liam Greatsky! Get ready to fight!
Liam was standing about twenty meters away. He raised a hand out to his side. “Shall I allow you the first move?”
“Up to you,” I said. I lifted my staff, aimed towards Liam and focused on using its on-cast ability.
A small spark of electricity jumped out of staff and twirled as it flew towards Liam. It was fast-moving, but Liam easily ducked out of the way. He straightened his back and glared at me as a cocky smile widened across his face.
Again, I shot a spark from my staff, but this time I reached out my free hand and shot a Fireblast right after it.
Liam leapt to the side of the on-cast energy and leaned back almost into a backbend to avoid the Fireblast.
I tried to run to the right to get to his flank, as Liam bent his back. But as soon as I took my first step, my feet slipped wildly, and I fell sideways, hard on a thin sheet of ice below my feet—a spell Liam had apparently cast.
Fire Curtain, I thought.
A ring of fire formed closely around me, and the heat was enough to make the ice start melting right away. I rose to my feet as quickly as possible without slipping on the ice again.
When the flames disappeared, Liam was still standing near the same spot, and I immediately shot another on-cast spark, then cast Clumsy on him. I heard the ringing in my ears to let me know that the spell connected.
Again, Liam tried to dodge, but this time he was a little slower, allowing the spark to barely graze his robe. He looked a bit surprised by the hit, but quickly turned and started running for me.
He swung his staff, releasing a bolt of energy that was similar to my Arcane Missile spell, but in a larger diameter. It was fast, giving me only a split second to jump and roll out of its way.
When I ended my roll, I shot an Arcane Missile at Liam, but he held his forearm out as it rushed towards him. A round shield of ice formed and attached to it, blocking the missile from doing any damage.
I turned to run and get some distance between the two of us, but as soon as I started running, my feet felt heavy, and a cold chill rushed all over my body. I was running, but definitely moving slower than normal.
A snowflake appeared below my status bars.
Chilling Grasp: A cool chill overwhelms you, slowing your movements temporarily. Movement speed decreased by 20%. Spell duration: 5 seconds. Source: Liam Greatsky
I turned back around to face Liam in my slower state and was greeted with a hard projectile of ice to the side of my leg. The projectile seemed round, but with small, pointy icicles pointing all around that both pierced and shattered on impact. It was enough to make me cry out in pain and drop to one knee.
Fire Curtain, I cast again, this time right in Liam’s running path. He slammed into the fire, grunted, and came out the other side with his robe starting to catch fire. He released his staff, fell to the ground, and immediately began to roll. A sheet of ice formed underneath him, and the fire was quickly quashed.
I reached my hand out to cast a Fireblast as he turned to reach for his weapon, and as soon as his hand found a grip, he turned, and blocked the blast with his staff. The weapon looked scorched where the Fireblast made impact, but it was mostly undamaged.
Liam ran towards me as I pushed myself back up to my feet, held my staff out, and released another on-cast from my staff. I glanced at my status bars and was still relatively healthy, so Boiling Blood wasn’t an option.
Liam leaned out of the way of the spark, closed in on me, and swung his staff in an upward motion.
I used my staff to intercept the blow, but he quickly jolted the other end his staff sideways, giving me a hard thwack to my ribs.
Advancement! You have learned the skill: Staves. Never trust a man with a staff. For he could be a feeble gimp who can barely walk or a clever adversary, hiding his power in a simple piece of wood. Staves is linked to the base stat Dexterity. Increase your Dexterity to increase your affinity with Staves.
I cringed and leaned in the direction of the pain, and again, he swung his staff up.
I raised my staff to block the attack, but his assault was too strong. On impact, my staff was knocked out of the way. He swung his staff a final time, connecting with the side of my face, dazing me for a second.
When my vision cleared, Liam was holding me by the shoulder of my robe with one hand, and his other hand was placed about a foot away. A long, thin, icicle was growing out of his palm, and its sharp point was a centimeter from my head.
You have lost the duel!
Liam smirked. “Is this how Arena Champions fight?” He leaned in and pecked his lips on the side of my cheek.
I grabbed his arm, shoved him away, and the icicle on his palm began melting and quickly fell as water to the ground.
“I haven’t been to the Arena in some time. I don’t suppose there’s much to see.” He leaned over, lifted his staff off the ground, and turned towards his horse.
I gulped as em
barrassment washed over me. I hadn’t had my heart set on winning the duel, but with Liam being below my level and being quite the fruity fella, I expected the fight to be a little less one-sided. And kissing me? What the actual fuck?
As I picked myself up and dusted my robe off, Sora moseyed over to join me. Are you okay, Father?
I’m fine.
She lowered herself, and I pulled myself on to her saddle.
He fights well, Sora projected.
Yeah, I replied. I guess I should be happy about that, since we’re on the same team. Just didn’t expect him to dominate me so easily.
You just recently started the mage thing, so don’t feel bad. Had you used your sword, like you usually do, it may have turned out differently.
Liam pulled his horse up beside me and smiled.
“Just so you know, I’m not into dudes,” I said.
“Dudes?” Liam asked.
“Men,” I clarified.
Liam laughed loudly and slid sideways on his horse, almost falling off. “Don’t worry, Gunnar! You’re a handsome guy, but I prefer someone with a little more pizazz.”
“Pizazz?”
Liam shook his head and clicked his tongue of if calling a horse. “If you don’t have it, you don’t have it.” After finishing, he paused a moment and winked at me.
I wasn’t sure what he meant by me lacking pizazz, but I wasn’t going to read too much into it. I didn’t really care what he thought about me, really. He was a little surprising, though—Gay Reborns? I figured there would be plenty of them in the game, but I hadn’t considered non-straight NPCs. It was actually a little cool that Dr. Winston sprinkled in a little diversity. It made the world feel even more real.
We rode mostly in silence for some time—Liam looking straight ahead, smiling and amused at seemingly nothing at all, and me pondering what I had learned.
Sora was mostly right. Had I used my sword, the fight would’ve been less one-sided, but I wasn’t sure if I could’ve won. His abilities seemed to complement each other quite well, while mine weren’t as well-rounded.
I needed a defensive spell, like a shield of some sort if I were ever going to be fully effective at range. And while Clumsy was clearly very useful, I needed more utility, like a slow or that slippery ice thing he had pulled on me. I’d have to keep that in mind when buying new spells.
I figured if he gave me a few levels, I’d be able to challenge him and show him exactly what it meant to have a little pizazz.
Chapter Nine
2/10/0001
“Tribute for Addenfall,” Liam said and threw several gold coins on the ground. The keemus scurried around trying to pick each one of them up.
“Tribute for Addenfall,” I said, leaning over and handing a few gold coins directly to one of the fur balls.
“Jaxxxxxy!” a keemu cried. He leapt up, grabbed the bottom of my robe, and pulled. “Where Jaxxxy?!”
I chuckled. “He’s in Edgewood. He hasn’t been around in a long time, has he?”
“Noooo!” the keemu whined. “Tell Jaxxxy to come back!”
I nodded. “I’ll tell him to visit sometime. I’m sure he still misses Addenfall.”
Liam’s horse reared its head back and neighed.
“Come on!” Liam whined. “You’ve got your tribute! Now hurry along. You’re scaring my horse!”
I frowned at Liam. “Show a little respect. We’re in their home.”
“Oh please,” Liam said. He rolled his eyes then rattled his head. “Let’s hurry to the location and see if this trip is worth the headache.”
“I need to stop at Mist Vale, remember?”
“Right…” Liam took a deep breath. “I almost forgot.”
I pushed Sora ahead to take the lead and urged her into a light sprint. I had traveled to the Vale enough times to know the direct path to get there, but Sora was a little more agile than a horse when traveling. It took a little longer than it would have if I had her running at full speed.
When we reached the thick brush of the Vale, we had to slow down even more until we found a path, but once on the road leading to the Village, Liam kept up nicely.
I raised a hand peacefully when approaching the guards, knowing that they’d likely draw their bows and order us to halt if we were too hasty.
“Mages!” one of the elven guards yelled. “What brings you to the Vale?”
The elf on the other platform squinted and leaned forward. “Is that our ambassador?”
“It’s me,” I said. “Just coming for a visit. I need to update the King and Queen about a few things.”
“The King and Queen have yet to return from Galien,” the elf said.
“Adeelee?” I asked.
“You’ll find her somewhere inside, I’m sure. She’s around.”
“Good,” I said. “Don’t worry about my friend. He won’t cause any trouble while we’re—“
“Not necessary,” Liam interrupted. “I’ll wait for you around here. “How long will you be?”
“You sure?” I asked. “The Vale is great… You’d love it.”
“I came on this journey for profit. Not for sightseeing.” He raised his chin to me. “Ten minutes? Twenty?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think it will take more than thirty minutes or so.”
“Fine,” Liam said. He smacked his lips together and turned his head around. “This forest is quite beautiful, nonetheless. I’ll find some action nearby and return here in thirty minutes.”
I nodded, slid off Sora, and gave her a pat. “Wanna wait around somewhere near here ‘til I’m back?” I didn’t have any small magic pellets that could alter her size.
It would be my pleasure. I feel quite comfortable here in my native home.
I turned and started walking down the path leading towards the center of the village, when one of the guards cleared his throat loudly. When the other one cleared his throat equally as loud, I stopped and looked up.
The elf tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.
I took a deep breath and shook my head. “Sorry, I almost forgot.” I kneeled and bowed my head, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Liam trotting away without giving any sort of formalities.
“You may rise, Ambassador.”
Chapter Ten
2/10/0001
My first stop in Mist Vale village was an obligatory visit to the vendor who sold elven pie. The first portion was so good that I had another before I headed towards the palace.
I raised my eyebrows to the two guards who were standing at the base of the slope leading up to the palace when they didn’t cross their weapons or make any effort to block me from going up. They apparently recognized me, even wearing my new attire.
“Do you know when the King and Queen are returning?” I asked.
The guard who was usually more temperamental glanced at his companion before saying, “There was an incident in Galien, so they may be gone for some time.”
“Adeelee?”
He flicked his chin up. “She’s likely in the palace, unless she’s slipped out without notice.”
“Thanks,” I said before starting my trek up the slope.
“What’s with the robe?” the other guard yelled as I climbed. “You choose to be a mage now?”
“I’ve been a mage for some time,” I yelled back. “Putting a bit more focus into it, I guess.”
They said nothing more as I continued upwards.
When I reached the entrance to the palace, the guards at the door also seemed to recognize me. “What can I do for you ambassador?”
“Adeelee?” I inquired.
“Follow me,” one of the guards said as he stepped away from his great cat and waved his hand in the direction he was heading.
I followed the guard down the hall of the palace, passing the two elevated thrones of the Queen and King, passing all the beautiful marble and stone carvings on the walls and pillars.
“Is the Princess around?” the guard asked as he poke
d his head inside a large library room with packed bookshelves spread across the walls and other neatly placed bookshelves lined up throughout. An elf in a plain white robe, who was reading a book standing up, raised his head at the question. “She’s training in the western garden, I believe.”
The guard nodded, and I followed him as he continued down the hall.
We almost reached the end of the hall, before we crossed a platform over the water than ran through the center of the palace, and he opened a large door on the opposite wall. Inside the door was a large area with four white walls that had vein-like vines running up the sides. There was no ceiling, and sunlight beat down on various large plants and flowers all along the outer edges. Perfect, dark green grass was all across the floor.
In the center of the open garden was the largest plant—a long thick green stem with two smooth, curved petals arching from the stem and clamped close together in the front. It seemed to be some variation of a venus fly trap, but bigger than a large horse.
“Not here either,” I said to the guard. “Maybe she’s left the castle.”
The guard smirked, then turned toward the center plant. He straightened his back and cleared his throat. “Your Highness!” he said loudly. “You have a visitor.”
Suddenly, the mouth of the large plant began to open, revealing a pinkish, moist interior and Adeelee sitting inside, cross-legged in meditation. As soon as the plant was fully open, she slid down to the ground, and the plant she had been sitting in clamped back up and began retracting into the ground, shrinking as it moved, so that it could fit into a small earthen hole below.
“Gunnar?” Adeelee questioned with a curious smile.
“Yeah.” I smiled back. I lifted my arms and looked down to the Mages Guild gear. “I’m dressed a little different, but it’s me.”
“Well, nice of you to visit. You’re a member of the Mages Guild now?
I nodded. “With the promise of progression. I hope that doesn’t have any effect on my status with the High Elves Faction.”
