Chapter 6
“If Life was a Game”
Zofia walked around the Freshman dorms with what looked to be a board game in her hands. She made her way to the Resting area and placed it on a long rectangular table. She found some seats and moved them to the place where she set up the game.
Luetta walked by and saw Zofia setting things up. “Oh! Is this a table top MMO!?” Luetta asked Zofia with such excitement in her voice you would think that someone granted her forbidden wish.
“Sure is. I figured since we are all trapped here during Indigenous Day we might as well do something to pass the time.” Zofia responded, as she removed a set of characters from their cases and placed environment objects on the board.
David then walked by next and saw that both Zofia and Luetta were setting up a board game. He shook his head seeing them place the items across the map. David then grabbed some of the items as well, correcting the locations of the objects on the board.
“This is how the objects should be placed on the map. See, in this game you want to make sure there is an obvious path of progress for the players. The way you both had it made it look too natural, which is not typically how this game is set up.” David explained to the two girls who already seemed annoyed that he was the one to show up.
“I’ve played this game many times, but since we aren’t playing this professionally, I figured we could just have some fun with it. Thank you for your concerns though, David.” Zofia tried to respond amicably.
“No problem, I am always here to help women in need.” David responded completely oblivious to Zofia’s discontent with his bumptiousness.
The three continued to set up the table.
Keith eventually joined the group out of complete curiosity.
“Okay, now here are some character sheets, choose which race you want to be, and your class, and create a backstory that makes sense for your character.” Zofia handed out a packet of sheets to the players.
They all looked through the list of character races on the sheet, and at the classes.
“Wow, that was good. Indigenous Day Food is always so filling. I think I’m going to take a little nap when I get back to the room.” Maria said to Aiden as they both reentered the dorm.
They both walked by the table.
“What’s happening there?” Maria looked over to the table and saw a group who typically would not have been hanging around each other.
“It seems as though they are about to begin playing some sort of board game.” Aiden responded.
“So they haven’t started yet?” Maria saw this as an opportunity to gain yet another success for the General. “Let’s join them before they begin!” Maria said, walking to the table.
“I guess she forgot about her nap.” Aiden thought to himself as he followed her.
“Hey guys, I see you are about to begin playing some sort of game. Can me and Angeal join too?” Maria asked the table.
“Are you sure you even know how to play this game, it’s actually not so easy to —.” David began to say before Zofia interrupted him.
“Yes, there is still room to play.” Zofia said to Maria and Aiden.
“Sweet.” Maria pulled up another seat and Aiden sat beside her. Zofia handed Maria and Aiden a packet.
“So there you will see a series of races and classes. Choose from them, also create a backstory. This is a role playing game, so the better in character you are the more fun it will be.” Zofia explained to the two.
“So how do I win?” Maria asked.
“Well you win as a Party. Just survive the campaign, and achieve the mission. Once you do that then it would be considered a win. I am going to keep it short for us today, so don’t expect anything too in-depth.” Zofia responded to Maria.
“You aren’t going to play?” Luetta asked.
“I am, I am the Game Master, otherwise known as the God of the World you all will be playing in. I will be controlling NPCs, Monsters, and guiding you all through the story. I’ll be doing all of this by way of my special dice.” Zofia said, showing off her bag of dice.
“Oh this is dice based, that’s good news for me.” Keith said with an eager look on his face.
“Well let’s get started.” Zofia said as she began to read off the Story.
“We begin our tale in the bustling Town of Lucrecia. A Special Celebration was being held to celebrate the coronation of the New Queen. Among the crowd present we have members of the Queen’s Guard, the Secret Hand of Royalty, the Magician Guild, and foreign dignitaries. After the first part of the Coronation, members in attendance eat a lavish meal in the banquet hall.” Zofia paused and then looked at the players. “Okay, is everyone ready to be introduced?”
They nodded their heads.
“Keith and David, since you are both part of the Royal Guard I want you both to roll to see who will be the Captain and Vice-Captain.” Zofia told the two.
They both grabbed a dice and rolled. David’s die landed on a 5.
“Nice, looks like I’m going to be the Captain.” David said before looking at Keith’s Die and saw that it was a 6.
“You might need to adjust your glasses because I am obviously the Captain now.” Keith responded with a laugh.
“The Royal Guard greeted the new Queen.” Zofia said.
“You are looking well, your Majesty. I am Sir Turaneous Philip Von Nic the Third. The Captain of the Royal Guard. I have plus 20 in strength and plus 15 in intuition.” Keith started saying before David interrupted him.
“You aren’t supposed to be saying your stats to the NPCs.” David quickly said to Keith.
“If I remember, you are the Vice Captain, so it would be wise of you not to correct me. Plus, my character is honest and forthcoming with information, so it is not unlike him to introduce his stats.” Keith responded to David.
“Fine, whatever.” David responded annoyed.
“This here is my Vice-Captain.” Keith continued as if he was not interrupted.
“Greetings, your Majesty, I am Sir Unic El Luchador, as you may have noticed I am a High Elf. My family has a long history of serving the Royal Family and you can trust me to also be ready for your every command.” David said to the Queen.
“Just as Sir Turaneous and Sir Unic introduced themselves a horde of Monsters burst through the ceiling of the Banquet Hall. The guests were in a panic. The roof above crumpled and fell on top of those in attendance. A group of High Demons followed behind the Horde and were on a direct path to the Queen. Suddenly an arrow flew across the room, attached to it was a smoke bomb. The one who shot the arrow quickly joined up with the Queen.” Zofia then gestured for Luetta to introduce herself.
“Ah! That’s me.” Luetta said before getting into character. “We have to get you out of here. My name is Countess Fairess, I am an Archer for the Castle Guard. Sir Turaneous and Sir Unic help me carry the Queen out of here.” Luetta said in Character.
“Okay, you all roll for success.” Zofia told the three. “You will need to roll above a 10 for it to be a success. Keith you roll two dice. Luetta you roll two 8 sided dice, and David you roll a 20 sided die.”
Keith, Luetta, and David all rolled their dice. Luetta rolled a 5 and a 6 for a total of 11, she had a success. David rolled a 6, which was a failure. And Keith rolled two 6’s for a total of 12, however it was a critical success so he was able to cover for David’s roll.
“The three of you were able to carry the queen to safety. Sir Turaneous picked up the Queen and placed her on his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck feeling fully protected. Countess Fairess provided some balancing support while Sir Unic tripped on some stones along the way and suffered a loss of 3 to his health.” Zofia told the story.
“My character is not clumsy, so he would have never done that.” David said to Zofia.
“Then roll better. You didn’t even roll above half of what your die was capable of.” Zofia responded.
“The Queen was now safe in another wing of the Royal Chambers. But the sounds of battle could still be heard in the other room. Suddenly everything went silent. Following the silence a Demon burst through the Chambers and stood in front of you three. Hand over the Queen if you value your lives. The Demon said.” Zofia then gestured for their actions.
“I want to roll to attack the Demon with my Slash of Righteous Fury.” David asked Zofia.
“Sure.” Zofia responded.
David rolled his 20 sided die again. This time he rolled a 13 which was enough for it to be a success.
“Sir Unic launched an attack at the Demon. It was a direct hit. The Demon suffered 12 damage.”
“Nice one!” Keith congratulated David.
“The Demon was now angered and decided to collapse the floor below. Everyone fell and the smoke covered the room. When you all came to, the Queen was missing and the building was destroyed. You all managed to survive because the slash from Sir Unic was just enough to leave enough material below to cushion your fall. However you all lose 7 Health as a result.”
“Ouch, that is a lot. I’m nearly dead.” Luetta said aloud.
“The people below were clearing the rubble looking for the Queen. An Assassin picked up the trails of the Queen and followed them to the room that you three were in.” Luetta then gestured to Maria.
“Finally.” Maria said before she began role playing. “You are all lucky to have been rescued by me, The Great Feline Hominin Assassin Da Lao Hu. There is no way anyone would have found your bodies in all this debris. Now I expect praise.” Maria said to the Group.
They all just looked at her.
“If you want to be healed, I expect thank you’s.” Maria said to them.
“Thank you.” Luetta responded.
“The Assassin Da Lao Hu rubbed her amulet attached to her neck and summoned a mage Spirit from within.” Zofia said and then gestured to Aiden.
“What shall I do for you my Master.” Aiden said in Character.
“Heal all of the Archer’s Health with your magic!” Maria said to Aiden.
“Okay Angeal, you will have to roll a 10 sided die. Whatever you roll will be multiplied by 10 and that is the percentage of health you will leave Countess Fairess with.” Zofia explained to Aiden.
Aiden rolled the die. “Maria said to heal all of her health. So I will make sure it lands on 10.” Aiden thought to himself.
His die landed on 10.
“The Countess was healed for all of her health and with the added bonus of plus 2 to her accuracy.” Zofia explained.
“What about us? I am down to just 25% of my health.” David said to Maria.
“You didn’t say thank you, so no healing for you.” Maria responded.
“Angeal, you know you can just heal us right, you don’t need to obey that fake rule.” David said to Aiden.
“I am a summoned spirit of the Great Assassin Da Lao Hu, I am forever indebted to her and will obey every order she gives me. Therefore I won’t go beyond what she commands.” Aiden responded as The Mage Spirit.
“Fine, whatever. Thank you Great Assassin.” David said to Maria.
“Hmm, I’m not a fan of your attitude. Therefore I will just allow you to be healed up to 60%.” Maria responded to David.
“As if you could actually control that.” David said.
Aiden then rolled a 6 and he was healed up to 60%.
“And what about you, Captain of the Royal Guard?” Maria asked Keith.
“Well I am a Berserker, so the lower my health the higher my attack is. So it’s actually better if I am almost dying.” Keith said to Maria.
“The Right Hand man of the Queen ran up to the group. Please save the Queen, you all look like brave warriors, I fear for her life. Please. The Right Hand said to you all.”
“Of course, it is our duty as servants of the Queen to come to her rescue.” David said in Character.
“We will do all we can to ensure her safe return” Keith added.
“With my arrows I will bring her back unharmed.” Luetta chimed in.
“What do we get if we bring her back?” Maria asked the Right Hand Man.
“What do you mean? This is the Queen we are talking about, it is your duty as a servant to rescue her.” David said to Maria.
“I am an Assassin, I am loyal to no one but my employer. I came looking for a new target. And of course my Spirit is a Spirit, so he has no loyalty to anything in the Human World but me. I’m going to need you to sweeten the pot, Right Hand dude.” Maria said to him.
“Of course, I understand. You will be compensated with a Noble Title, Wealth and of course a serfdom. The Right Hand man responded to the Assassin.” Zofia continued the story.
“I think I can work with that.” Maria responded.
“How despicable.” David said as he nodded his head towards Maria.
“I spotted the High Demon Traveling towards the Lost Forest of Souls. I pray that our journey is safe, and successful. The Right Hand of the Queen said to you all.” Zofia informed the group.
“Can I look around for horses?” David asked Zofia.
Zofia rolled her dice. “You look around for horses and you see a greedy owner of a stable.” Zofia to David.
“I want to buy 2 horses.” David said to Zofia.
“That will be 4 Gold. The Stable Owner says.” Zofia responded.
“4 Gold! But I only have 25 Silver.” David complained to Zofia. Zofia looked at him confused.
“Did you say that to me as the GM or are you saying that to the Stable Owner?” Zofia asked.
“I’m saying it to you, but I get it.” David turned his attention back to the board. “This is a mission to rescue the Queen, surely that price is too much for such a noble mission. Rescuing her majesty is of the utmost importance, thus I implore you to hand over the horses.” David said in character.
Zofia rolled her dice. “Whether the Queen is around or not, I still need to pay for food. Giving away my precious animals is out of the question. The Stable Owner responds to Sir Unic.” Zofia said after seeing such a low roll.
“I think it is better for us to continue on foot for now, pressuring this Stable Owner could lower our reputation in town.” Luetta said in Character to David.
“If we obtain horses then the amount of monsters we encounter would be great;y reduced, increasing our overall chance of survival. I would rather have us steal the horses than proceed without them.” David argued against Luetta.
“You think you could actually lower the Price from 4 Gold to something we can afford? I myself only have 10 Silver on me.” Luetta responded to David. “How much do you have, Sir Turaneous?” Luetta asked Keith.
Keith looked down at his sheet. “I have 30 Silver.” Keith said to Luetta.
“So 65 Silver in total, we are still 35 off from having 1 Gold. How much do you have Da Lao Hu?” Luetta asked Maria.
“I have 2 Gold.” Maria responded.
David’s face then lit up looking at Maria.
“But I am not going to hand it over. There’s no reason for me to do so. I travel faster in a forest than a horse, and I regain stamina in the darkness. So the Lost Forest of Souls is perfect for me. Honestly you guys would probably just hold me back.” Maria said to the group.
“You are an assassin, so your Health is abysmal at best. Once you enter the demonic castle where there is an environment buff, you would die nearly instantly.” David informed Maria.
“I will give you 1 Gold then, if you all give me the Special Items you have.” Maria responded.
“You can’t use my item, it’s the Axe of Agamon. It’s only wieldable by Berserkers.” Keith said to Maria.
“I can convert it to Mana Level using my skill Mana Absorption. So I won’t be using it.” Maria told the group.
“Is a horse really that important?” Luetta asked David.
“I hand Da Lao Hu my Kingdom’s Blade.” David said to Zofia.
“You did that.” Zofia responds.
“I guess that’s a yes then.” Luetta said to herself, feeling a bit upset that David decided to continue the transaction without asking for their opinions.
“I hand Da Lao Hu my Seeker Bow.” Luetta said to Zofia. Zofia nodded her head.
“And I hand my Axe of Agamon to Da Lao Hu.” Keith said. Zofia nodded again.
“I give 1 Gold Coin to Countess Fairess, because Sir Unic seems to have terrible luck.” Maria said to Zofia.
“Your team has finished their transaction with one another. The Stable owner watched as you all made a noble sacrifice.” Zofia said to the group.
“I would like to ask to purchase 1 of your horses for a Gold Coin.” Luetta says in Character.
Zofia rolled her dice. “Sorry, I was already giving you a deal with 2 Gold Coins for each, I usually sell them for 3 each. The Stable Owner says to the Countess.” Zofia continued the story.
“The best I can do is 1 Gold and 10 SIlvers.” Luetta responded.
Zofia rolls her dice again. “He is willing to offer it for 1 Gold and 50 Silvers, but he seems to have grown impatient.” Zofia tells them.
Luetta looked at David and Keith. “You think I should continue to try and hassle it down?” Luetta asked.
“He honestly should be giving them to use for free.” David responded.
“I just say go for it. He already said that they go normally for 3 Gold, so we are getting it half off.” Keith said to Luetta. “Plus he is already impatient, which means that he is probably aware that after a City attack, people would probably want to flee and he could make a profit.” Keith said, surprisingly insightful.
“I pay the stable owner for 1 horse.” Luetta says to Zofia.
“You and your party exchange 1 Gold and 50 Silver for your horse.” Zofia tells them.
“The three of us can ride on this horse, and Maria, I mean, Da Lao Hu can run.” David said.
“Sure, I was going to do that anyway.” Maria responds.
“Your Party travels towards the Lost Forest of Souls. Within the Forest there are Goblins and Orcs in every direction. But the speed at which you are traveling has their weapons miss you. Until you are forced to cross over the Passage of the Damned. The Bridge seems old and broken, and the plummet below is unknowable. The Bridge is made from damaged rope and nonuniform wood. It is obvious that those who traveled before you had broken some pieces of the bridge while they crossed.” Zofia illustrates the story.
“It’s likely that if we tried to bring the horse the bridge would collapse and we would all die.” Luetta said to the group.
“I could use my ability, reinforce armor, to increase the durability of inanimate objects. That could probably work on the bridge.” Keith said to the group.
“What’s the Mana cost?” David asked.
“It would cost 12 Mana. I have a total of 15.” Keith said to David.
“Wait, before you do that, how long would it last?” Luetta asked Keith.
Keith looked down at his sheet. “It has a 5 second duration.” Keith said.
“How long is the Bridge?” Luetta asked Zofia.
“I can’t tell you that, your characters will have to figure that out themself.” Zofia responded.
“I use my skill, judging distance, as an archer to determine the length of the bridge.” Luetta said to Zofia.
“Roll your 20 sided die.” Zofia said to Luetta.
Luetta rolled an 18.
“The Countess uses her keen sight to determine the length of the bridge. It is 250 meters long. And with her keen sight she also notices that there is a 5 meter hole in the center of the bridge.” Zofia informed the group.
“If we assume that this horse has an average speed of their horses, which is around 80 Kilometers an hour, then it would take about 5 seconds to travel 110 meters. Which is less than half the distance of the bridge. So it would never make it.” Luetta said to the group.
“Seems like we will have to leave the horse and just travel across slowly.” Keith said to the group. “But it cost so much.”
“So the horse will just need to increase its speed 300% for 5 seconds? I can make that happen.” Maria said to the group.
They then looked over at her.
“What will it cost us?” David asked.
“You catch on quick.” Maria smirked. “But this time, I’ll give this one to you, on the house.” Maria responded.
“Well, it seems like we have everything we need. Looks like we can continue.” Luetta said to Zofia.
“Maria and Keith, roll your 6 sided die.” Zofia told the two.
Both Maria and Keith rolled a 6. For critical success.
“Your party gets on your horse. The Increase Speed spell increased the horses speed by 400%, and the reinforced armor spell, not only increased the durability of the bridge, but it also increased the durability of the bridge for 6 seconds. Giving your party enough time to navigate through the holes that were on the bridge. You all successfully crossed the Passage of the Damned.” Zofia informed the group.
They celebrated and the story continued.
“Nightfall had arrived in the Lost Forest of Souls. The environment becomes cold indicating the presence of ghosts. A dense fog covers your path, seeing beyond the fog is impossible.” Zofia said to the group.
“So we are lost?” Luetta asked.
“That is correct.” Zofia told her.
“Do we have any bright ideas?” Luetta asked.
“I could try and swing at the fog to see if that’ll clear it.” Keith said to Zofia. Zofia rolled a few dice.
“Despite you rolling extremely high numbers, because of the fog’s properties nothing happened. But thankfully, because your ability to control your swings were so high, the properties of the fog did not hurt your party.” Zofia said to the group.
“Well that’s good information to know. If we act on the fog we could end up getting hurt.” David said to the group.
“Obviously.” Luetta responded.
“I use my ‘sense weak point’ skill.” Luetta says to Zofia.
Zofia rolls her dice.
“You use your skill, and you can make out a floating object within the fog. It’s standing in front of your team.” Zofia tells the group.
“I want to strike the object using my ‘haste strike’ skill.” David said to Zofia.
“Wait, she said that it was standing, so doesn’t that imply it’s a person. And since we haven’t been attacked, it’s probably not aggressive.” Maria said to David.
“This is a turn based game, just because it hasn’t attacked probably is because it lost priority, so it has to wait for us to perform our actions.” David explained to Maria.
“Hmm, I don’t know. Still seems a little off.” Maria said to David.
“I continue with my attack.” David said to Zofia.
David rolled a success.
“Sir Unic attacked the floating object. You hear a loud scream coming from the fog. It deals 10 damage to everyone in the party. Sir Unic, and Countess Fairess have fallen into critical condition, and Sir Turaneous, Da Lao Hu has died.” Zofia told the group.
“Wait?! I died!” Maria complained.
“Yes, you are an assassin, as you see, your health is only 8, so a 10 damage is enough to kill you, and because it was an AOE you had no defense against it.” Zofia explained to Maria.
“Well, that was fun while it lasted.” Keith said as he got up.
“Isn’t this the Lost Forest of Souls, so that means that their souls should still be around here, correct?” Aiden asked Zofia.
“That’s correct, unlike outside of the Forest where souls would immediately go to the afterlife, souls in the forest remain in the forest.” Zofia explained to them.
“Since my contract with Da Lao Hu was broken because she died, I want to use my ability to ‘commune with the dead’.” Aiden said to Zofia.
Zofia rolled her dice. It landed on a critical success.
“I want to speak to the fog.” Aiden said to Zofia.
“You commune with the fog, she is furious about being attacked earlier, it will take a lot to appease her fury.” Zofia said to Aiden.
“I want to offer 36 mana for the souls of Da Lao Hu and Sir Turaneous.” Aiden said to Zofia.
“Your character only has 20 Mana, you can’t perform that action.” Zofia informed Aiden.
“Then I want to exchange 18 Mana to return Da Lao Hu first.” Aiden requested from Zofia.
“You know, if she returns, she will have 1 HP and 0 Mana.” Zofia told Aiden.
“That’s fine.” Aiden said to Zofia.
The fog returns the soul of Da Lao Hu. She is now in the Spirit Race.
“Oh, I’m back alive!” Maria says as she re-entered the game.
Zofia then rolls. “The fog absorbs 5 Mana from the weakened body of Sir Unic, and 4 Mana from the weakened body of Countess Fairess.” Zofia informs them. “It’s your turn Luetta.”
Luetta thinks for a bit. “I would like to sacrifice the rest of my Mana to the fog to try and appease it.” Luetta says.
Zofia rolls. “You have given the fog your remaining 3 Mana. You feel your magical powers weaken. The Fog seemed pleased with your offering. It has settled down.” Zofia tells the group.
“Guess it’s my turn.” David said. “I use my ‘Silver Guard’ technique to prepare a defense.” David said to Zofia.
“It was a success, you have used 2 Mana to create a shield that protects against 5 Damage.” Zofia told the group. “Since Keith is dead, we move to Maria.” Zofia says.
“You should use your Mana Absorption Skill to absorb Mana from the Axe of Agamon.” Aiden told Maria.
“I guess I really can’t do anything else.” Maria responded. “I use my skill Mana Absorption.” Maria said to Zofia.
Zofia rolled. “You succeeded in Absorbing the Mana from the Axe of Agamon, you have 10 Mana at your disposal. The Axe of Agamon grumples aways.” Zofia said to Maria.
“I want to use Absorb Mana from Spirit.” Aiden said to Zofia.
“Choose your target.” Zofia responded.
“I want to take Mana from Da Lao Hu.” Aiden responded. Maria was shocked.
“Oh wait, I am a Spirit, and you probably have a plan.” Maria said aloud.
“You have successfully removed 10 Mana from Da Lao Hu.” Zofia confirmed Aiden’s success.
Zofia rolled. “The fog in an attempt to remove Da Lao Hu failed in their attack.”
“Well I don’t have any Mana and I only have 1 HP, so I can’t really do much. I have one more turn before I can use my Keen Sight again, and my other skills use Mana, so can I just look around?” Luetta asked Zofia.
“Countess Fairess looks around, she sees fog all around her. She sees Sir Uni croached beneath a protective shield. Next to him she sees the dead body of Sir Turaneous, Da Lao Hu is weakened and practically fading away. The Spirit originally contracted with Da Lao Hu stands tall but nearly faded as well.” Zofia updates the Players.
“I am preparing to use my Omne Slash Skill.” David said to Zofia.
“Please don’t. I don’t want to die. We are already trying to revive Keith.” Luetta says to David.
“If we don’t bring down the fog, then the fog will just end up killing all of us slowly and we would have done no damage.” David responded to Luetta.
“You won’t be able to put out enough damage to get rid of the fog. And one more attack like before will just eliminate all of us.” Luetta said to David.
“That’s why you should have put up a shield rather than sacrificing your Mana.” David responded. “Besides, if we are going to die anyways, I would rather go out fighting.” David added.
“Whatever.” Luetta said exhaustedly.
“Sir Unic prepares an Omne Slash. The attack will occur next turn.” Zofia informs the party. “Keith is still dead, so we will skip his turn.”
“I use Mana Absorption on Seeker’s Bow.” Maria says to Zofia.
“You succeeded with removing 10 Mana from the Seeker’s Bow.” Zofia informed Maria.
“I use ‘Freeze Enemy’ on Sir Unic to prevent them from moving.” Aiden said to Zofia.
“Both David and Aiden roll a 20 sided die to see the result.” Zofia told the two.
Aiden rolled a 20 and David rolled a 1.
“It was a complete victory, Sir Unic is frozen in time for 3 turns. Upon unfreezing their Omne Slash will activate.” Zofia told the group.
“Wow, I never thought I would get betrayed by Angeal.” David said to Aiden.
“The fog, after witnessing the efforts the team are using to prevent further harm to it, decides to support the party and attack the common enemy. It strikes Sir Unic, dealing 2 damage, but because of the Shield no damage was taken.” Zofia said.
“See, I told you that it was malicious, now look, I can’t move for 3 turns. I only have 1 HP, and my shield only has 3. So your strongest fighter currently alive can’t even attack.” David complained.
“I sit down, so that it knows that I am not showing aggression.” Luetta says to Zofia.
Zofia rolls. “Though you stumble a bit from your low health, you managed to sit down without harming yourself. David is still dead, so we skip his turn.”
“Oh, I’m a Spirit now, so that means I can use Absorb Mana from a Spirit, right?” Maria asked Zofia.
“Yes you can, but because you weren’t born as a spirit you have a very low chance of success. You will need to roll an 18 or higher on a 20 sided die. 18 will give you 1 Mana, 19 will give you 2 and 20 will give you 4.” Zofia informed Maria.
“I use Absorb Mana from a Spirit on Angeal.” Maria says.
Aiden and Maria then rolled 2 20 sided dice.
Maria rolled a 1 and Aiden once again rolled a 20.
“Your attempt to absorb Mana from a Greater Spirit resulted in a complete failure. You lose all of your Mana to the Greater Spirit.” Zofia said to Maria. “Angeal you now have 23 Mana. 1 from the 1 Mana recovery per turn you get as a Greater Spirit and 10 from Maria.”
“I use Commune with the Dead to the Fog to offer 18 Mana in exchange for Sir Turaneous’ Spirit.” Aiden said to Zofia.
“You Spoke with the Fog and in exchange for 18 Mana, Sir Turaneous was returned. The Fog seemed pleased with the offer.” Zofia informs the Party. “The Fog attacks Sir Unic for 2 Damage, but again, because of his Shield no damage was received.”
“I probably shouldn’t restore my health, because that could be a sign of aggression.” Luetta mumbled to herself. “I remain seated.” Luetta tells Zofia.
“Because Sir Unic is frozen in time we skip their turn.” Zofia said. “Keith it is now your turn.”
“I use my Berserker’s Strike to destroy Sir Unic’s Shield.” Keith said to Zofia.
“Because of your Berserker Spirit you gain an extra attack power, which would kill Sir Unic if you have anything over a light failure.” Zofia told Keith.
“Sure.” Keith responded.
He then rolled his dice. It landed on a light failure.
“Sir Turaneous aims his mighty weapon at Sir Unic. He stumbles and falls, but because of its amazing power it still deals 1 damage. The Shield of Sir Unic had been broken.” Zofia said.
“Well I would have taken 2 damage next turn anyways, so it’s not like it mattered.” David said.
“I want to go before Maria this turn.” Aiden asked Zofia.
“I have no problem with that.” Zofia responded.
“I don’t either.” Maria said.
“I want to use ‘Soul Tie’ to fuse the Soul of Sir Unic to the Kingdom’s Blade.” Aiden asked.
“Because Sir Unic has the Status Effect of ‘Frozen in Time’, and has 0 Mana, and has only 1HP it would be impossible to defend himself against a Greater Spirit with Full Health. So Sir Unic was successfully bound to the Blade. It can so longer be used as Mana Material though.” Zofia told Aiden.
“I offer the Kingdom’s Blade to the Fog.” Maria said.
“Wait! That has my Soul bound to it. Is that deal allowed?” David asked Zofia.
“The Weapon belongs to Da Lao Hu, so she could do whatever she wants with it. Your Soul being bound to it only affects what happens when things are done to it, not the object itself. So she is allowed to give the blade away.” Zofia told David.
“This sucks!” David exclaimed.
“The Fog is pleased with the offer of a Human Life. It takes the Sword with the Soul of Sir Unic and vanishes. The Fog is no longer blocking your path. You all can clearly see the Demonic Castle ahead.” Zofia informed the Party. “Sir Unic has been released from being Frozen in Time and the Omne Slash striked nothing.”
“Somehow we all made it through, though all of us have no Mana left.” Luetta said to the group.
“Are we really about to take on the Demonic Castle despite our conditions?” Keith asked.
“It’s complete nonsense. Practically suicide. We are severely under-leveled, out of HP and MANA, and lacking our Special Items.” David pointed out.
“Whose fault was it that we are under leveled? You want to blast through the early part of the journey by using a horse.” Luetta said to David.
“The horse makes it so that we would have gotten here before the Queen ended up dead!” David yelled.
“Don’t you raise your voice at me, little man!” Luetta stood up from her seat and looked down at David.
“Oh yeah, enjoy being taller for now. Once I get older it’s going to be over for you.” David responded.
“Dang, calm down. It’s just a game David.” Keith said, trying to resolve the situation.
“It’s a game they are playing badly. If it wasn’t for Luetta, Maria and our GM this quest probably would have been simple.” David blamed the girls.
“I noticed something similar about the group you just wanted out, maybe you want to elaborate on that more, David.” Zofia gestured.
“It should be obvious, you know what I mean. Or I could be wrong about that, after all, you are part of that group.” David responded.
David was in a mood where he just wanted to see everything crash and burn. He was upset over the fact that he was being attacked in the last scenario despite trying to resolve it.
“If this is discrimination I will report you.” Zofia said to David.
“You can’t prove I am discriminating against anyone. If anything, since I was the one who ended up being attacked, I should be reporting you.” David responded to Zofia’s warning.
“It’s dice! You idiot! You rolled bad numbers and everyone had to adapt to it. No one is targeting you!” Luetta said to David.
“Everyone but you seem to realize that we were role playing in the game. You decided to take it personally.” Keith suggested.
“That’s why guys like you, despite having the ability to be alpha, will be working under people like them.” David pointed at the girls.
“I’m not going to keep playing if David is going to keep being like this.” Luetta said as she got up from the table again.
David sat in his seat with his hands crossed. “We didn’t need you anyway.” David responded.
“You literally contributed the least to the quest. I identified the bridge, Keith made it stronger, Maria increased the horses speed, Angeal solo revived the party, and appeased the fog. All you did was suggest we get a horse which caused us to keep critical leveling opportunities.” Luetta pointed out to David.
“I shine when there are those capable of receiving it. You all are dull. I’m a flashlight surrounded by rocks.” David said.
“I’m done.” Luetta said leaving the room.
“Dang, and I just got revived. Oh well, guess I will join when you all play again.” Keith said as he also left.
David remained seated.
Zofia looked around. “Yep, I think I should put this away.” Zofia said as she began to pack up the pieces.
Maria and Aiden helped Zofia put away the game set. They put it away silently because David was irritable and throwing a tantrum.
“Thanks for joining in!” Zofia said walking to her room.
Aiden and Maria then walked to room 808.
“Dang, I wanted to actually defeat the demon!” Maria said laying on her bed.
“You have dozens of actual video games that allow you to do that.” Aiden said to Maria.
“But in that game we were able to just come up with anything and it would work out. In regular games all I can do is just hit stuff, and follow a story.” Maria responded to Aiden.
“I think it’s going to be quite some time before that kind of game is going to exist.” Aiden said to Maria.
“But it does exist, we were just playing it.” Maria said with a grin on her face.
“As in an actual video game, not a story that depends on another person to tell.” Aiden clarified to Maria.
“You know who I bet could make it right now.” Maria’s grin grew even larger.
“No, he is back with his family for the holiday. We shouldn’t interrupt that to fulfill your short lived desires.” Aiden said to Maria knowing who she was suggesting.
“I guess it’s only fair, after all that occurred to him since coming to this school, it’s only right he gets to return.” Maria responded agreeing with Aiden. “Guess I really do just need to wait.” Maria sounded disappointed.
Aiden was unmoving in his decision.
“Oh, I still think we should finish the quest though. Let’s invite Zofia, Luetta, and Keith to room 888 so that we can continue.” Maria said.
“You’re planning to leave David out?” Aiden asked.
“Obviously.” Maria responded.
She got off her bed and knocked on Zofia’s door first.
“Maria, what brings you here?” Zofia asked.
“I want to continue our quest, I was starting to have a pretty good time.” Maria said to Zofia.
“Despite what it became in the end?” Zofia responded.
“That was one person’s fault, everyone else was pretty cool.” Maria said. “Angeal said that we can use his room to finish up, since it’s pretty clean and empty.”
“”Sure, I can set it up there. Whoever wants to finish the campaign could join too.” Zofia said.
Zofia then closed her door to get the game set.
“Lead the way, Angeal.” Zofia said to Aiden.
Maria then went to Luetta’s Room and to Keith’s Room. Luetta was accompanied by her roommate Joyce.
They all went to room 888 and played the campaign unbenounced to David.
“Sir Unic collapsed due to his elation from seeing the Demonic Castle. He passed on and his soul was claimed by the Lost Forest of Souls.” Zofia updated the story.
“Who is Sir Unic?” Joyce asked.
“Just some jerk of an NPC.” Luetta responded.
Maria, and Aiden got to finally experience a campaign start to finish on a Tabletop RPG. The team worked together to resolve more puzzles that Zofia came up with, and developed strategies to overcome all odds.
“Guess it really does take one unpleasant person to ruin an event.” Maria said.
“Makes you wonder if you were ever that person?” Aiden asked Maria.
“Me? Unpleasant? Never.” Maria laughed.
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