Chapter 12 – Swords and Sorcery
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“Alright. So next up is- “said Vlad but Amanda quickly interrupted him and said: 

“You know, wouldn’t it be better to know a little about our leader first before we let the others speak? As the person who has gathered us all here, I think that much is to be expected”.

A surprise was evident in Vlad’s face but soon he washed it away with serenity.

“You are quite right. Very well then, prepare your ears and eyes for my speech”

Vlad cleared his throat and spoke.

“My father is a great businessman and my mother a beautiful singer. They loved each other very very much and from their love a courageous young boy blossomed. That was me. His hair was silky grey. His eyes were glistering blue like the ocean”

“Enough with flattering your own jimmy” exasperated Amanda.

“Oh, okay. If it’s not enjoyable for you to hear I can stop… I like dancing, laughing and singing. I used to play golf with my father a lot. Those were golden times. I also liked inviting some of my friends to our palace-like home. The place was just too big for the few of us. I enjoy playing the violin, going for a walk, oh and swimming. I love doing that. You guys should give it a try”.

“Enough! why can’t you people be telegraphic” roared Amanda.

“Well, that’s the exact opposite of what you asked me to do before” said Vlad.

“Women, their mood swings like a pendulum” spoke Mikhail.  

“Quite the poetic one, aren’t you” said Mei with a giggle.

 Who is next?” asked Vlad.

Diego stood on his feet, took a deep breath and spoke.

“My name is Diego. I’ve been in this game for about three weeks now.  If circumstances were better I would be standing here with my little sister…her name is Gabi. But unfortunately, this isn’t the case. She was kidnapped by some thugs and they have taken her as a hostage. Unless I find 3000 gold in four days and bring it to those bastards they will probably kill her. That’s the reason I have joined in this quest. I need to get gold as fast as possible”.

Everyone glued their big eyes on him.

“That, that’s…terrible” said Mei.

“Hey, you’re not acting in some sort of an action movie, right?” said Vlad sarcastically.

“I’m serious!”

“Yeah, he is. Bold and I teamed up with him and are trying to save his sister”
said Mikhail.

“Wow, okay. In that case, that really is a tough spot to be in. Nevertheless, I’m grateful that you chose to join our team” said Vlad.

Emma pushed the table with her palms and stood up.

“I’ll give some of my gold to you in case you don’t make it to 3000. This is just so sad“

“No, you’re both being weak. How is letting those bastards go with the gold acceptable? We’re now big in numbers. Let’s find those little devils and teach them a lesson” cried Thompson and banged his ale on the table.

“I don’t know where they are. They only gave me a location of where the meeting is gonna take” said Diego.

“I see” said Kenji calmly.

Everyone still looked at him as if waiting for more treacherous tales and sob stories but Diego did not talk further. Realizing that his turn was up, Thompson jumped up to his feet.

“I, Thompson Watson, have trained at the art of sword fighting since ten. Been doing the duty of bodyguard for a while. Until I was kidnapped and forced into this game of survival three weeks ago”. 

“A person who can handle swords? That is quite useful” noted Natalia.

Thompson gleefully sat back to his chair. Now, it was Bold’s turn. He scratched his head, surveyed his surroundings and lazily got to his feet. He could almost feel a physical pressure when the team all stared at him.

“Come on, don’t tell me you’re shy” said Mei gaily.

“Not to mention after everyone else has proudly introduced themselves. Do it with a bang will ya!” said Thompson.

“It’s not that I’m shy. It’s just-”

I don’t want to introduce myself. Shit, why do I have to bring up my worthless life and report it to these people?   

“My name is Bold. I like…playing video games, surfing the net…”

“Umm, yeah. I like doing those too. There is nothing shameful about that” said Vlad.

“What do you do for a living? Are you a college student or something? Hurry up and answer. We don’t have all day.” demanded Amanda.

“I don’t study”

“Then you must work right? Don’t tell me. You work in a game company?!” cried Emma. 

That’s it. I could just lie about being a worker in a game company.
I work at EA and I make all those goddarned clickbaity cashgraby moneymaking-
NO, YOU FUCKING IDIOT. THEY’LL KILL YOU IF YOU SAY THAT.

Alright alright.
Being a shitty video game developer wouldn’t earn their trust in this death game anyway. But then again, lying now only to become a joke later on, is far worse.

Seeing as how everyone still patiently waited for him he realized he had no choice but to tell the truth. 

“No, I don’t work and I don’t study”

“So, what do you do then?” asked Natalia.

“I stay home…all day”

“So…you’re a NEET? Am I right?” said Vlad.

Bold dodged the glares of others and nodded.

“Do not be embarrassed. There are worse fates than being just a NEET” said Kenji.

His words made Bold feel a little better about himself and he fell back on his chair.

“How long have you been in this game?” asked Amanda. 

“Three days. This is the fourth day” said Bold. 

“So, you’re one of the latest captives huh?” said Natalia.

Bold nodded.

“Hey, I just realized. Natalia sis didn’t introduce herself” said Emma.

Natalia smiled and said:

“My name is Natalia. And there isn’t much interesting stuff about me. I’m Vlad’s sister. We’re pretty close to each other so our lifestyle is pretty similar. His life is my life, in a way”         

“Oh, reeaaally?” said Emma with a sly grin.

Vlad looked a bit embarrassed for a moment and declared:

“Now that everyone is finished, let’s dig in, shall we?”

Emma and Thompson’s cries were heard and everyone started their feast.

                 After they finished feasting they all headed towards the enormous park outside the inn. It was a place decorated with tall bulky trees and well-decorated bushes. And at the center of the park was a round unoccupied grassy plain, perfect for training and sparring.

“Alright, everyone. Do a little warm-up and we’ll check what talents we have got. I also brought swords, daggers and a few paper bombs” declared Vlad.

After five minutes of exercising, fire started to glitter in Thompson’s eyes and it was clear that he was getting a bit restless. Vlad in noticing this, announced something that would clearly fulfill him:

“How about some 1 on 1 duels to see who can do what? Not to mention It will be entertaining”.

“YES, I just love the sound of that. Can I be the first to go? Of course, If you think I’m being a bit rude-” said Thompson but Vlad interrupted his doubting comments and said:

“No no no. That’s fine Thompson. If anything, I’m glad that someone’s up for a challenge. Who will be his opponent then?”

“Vlad, if you don’t mind. I am quite interested in fighting myself” said Natalia.

“Ahh, I see. My sis is a great sword wielder herself. Perhaps she wanted to test your skill”.

“Not very keen on fighting a woman but alright”

“Chauvinistic males declaring their chauvinism out loud. Not very surprised” grumbled Amanda to herself. 

Emma and Mei’s eyes glittered with excitement and they sat on the bench nearby in a hurry to see the show. Everyone else followed them. Both Natalia and Thompson opened up their profile screen and agreed upon a friendly duel.

“50 HP of damage in total or surrendering of the foe will result in victory. No time limit. Please take your stances” announced Vlad.

Natalia and Thompson distanced themselves approximately 5 meters from one another and brought out their swords. Thompson had a large broadsword while Natalia’s was a straight one. 

“Now, BEGIN”.

Just as Vlad uttered those words Thompson yelled:

“King’s ignition”

Flame burst up and engulfed his entire sword, protecting and strengthening it. Natalia however, did not give care and typed on her wristboard. Giant ice needles appeared in front of her in the air, its tips aiming straight at Thompson. It was the spell ice shards.

“Oh, bullocks”

Thompson ran away as fast as he could when the needles rushed towards him. Some of the ice needles managed to hit his heel and chin. But ignoring the pain, Thompson successfully took refuge behind a bulky tree. The raging needle rain made the tree seem like a porcupine’s back but none of the needles reached Thompson.

Natalia did not want to make it easy for her opponent. While the rain of ice distracted him, she rushed towards the tree from the other side. When she was closing in, Thompson jumped out from behind the tree and raised his voice.

“Serpent's strike”

The fire surrounding his sword rushed to the tip of the blade. From the condensed flame, a beam bulleted towards Natalia, taking the form of a snake with deadly fangs. It hit Natalia’s abdomen and created a blast strong enough to burn her body and blow her away. She cried in pain and fell on the ground with her back. Instead of celebrating his successful attack, however, Thompson had a grumpy face.

“Sorry about that milady. But a duel is a duel”

But Natalia did not complain. As soon as she noticed that she was showing weakness, she pushed the ground with her hands and got up to her feet fairly quickly. She grabbed her fallen sword and took a fighting stance. Respecting the opponent’s fighting spirit, Thompson raised his hat a little bit with his free hand and charged at her the next second.

Natalia pulled out her sword and attempted a slash when her opponent came close but Thompson blocked the blow successfully with his sword. The swords grinded against one another so did the teeth of the two combatants.

“King’s ignition”

Thompson’s sword burst into flames and with its horrendous heat, his sword dug into Natalia’s blade by an inch. Realizing that the clash could no longer continue, Natalia kicked Thompson in the navel, jumped back and attempted to stab him. But Thompson parried the attack skillfully and both of them engaged in a skillful volley of strikes. But not a single strike was successful in hitting its target due to each side’s superb deflection and parries.  

“W-wow. They’re good” muttered Bold as he observed the fight from a distance.

But the balance of the blows was soon broken as Thompson increased his speed further and landed a poke on her shoulder and leg. He continued his aggressive attacks until Natalia took a complete defensive stance. He threw a barbarous blow after blow on Natalia’s blade with his burning broadsword until it snapped in half.

Thompson placed the tip of his fiery sword at her throat. Soon Natalia formed a respectful smile on her face and dropped her broken sword on the ground. Vlad clapped his hands and everyone joyed and gathered around them.

“You guys are so cool” yelled Emma at the top of her lungs.

“It’s good that we have such great sword wielders. I bet our chances of success will be high so long as you two are on our side” added Kenji.

“Alright, guys. Stand back. Let’s give it to the next battle. Who wants to- “

“Isn’t it better to just make a lottery? People who aren’t keen on fighting might be left out” said Mikhail.

“Hmm, that sounds reasonable” said Vlad.

He took a piece of paper, wrote the remaining people’s name on it, scrapped it into pieces and put them in a box.

“Anyone wanna draw from this?”

Mikhail raised his hand and arrived next to Vlad. He happily gave the box to Mikhail. He dug into the the box with his hand and pulled out a small piece of paper, opened it and declared.

“Bold”

Cries of excitement were heard from the team but Bold was more tensed up than being happy about it. Just being chosen for the second battle. And not just against a stranger but against him. But he knew he couldn’t just pussy out on everything.

He slapped his face and walked towards Mikhail. They shook hands and distanced themselves from one another. Bold was planning on bringing the sword Vlad has given to him out but Mikhail had no weapon so he dared to follow him as an example.  

“Now…BEGIN” 

 

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