The Gimp was dead. Actually, he was just on the ground, moaning in pain…or pleasure. With him, it was hard to tell. Either way, Teri seemed to have knocked the fight right out of him.

I looked at the glowing green sphere that the Gimp had wanted, and I wondered why. This wasn’t one of the pillars that we were supposed to look for, and I had absolutely no idea of why it was on the game field, or what it’s purpose was.

“You know,” I commented. “It would be really nice if I actually had inventory slots I could drop this into.”

A lot of RPGs had inventory slots, where you could store the various things you found while playing. However, I’d looked through my screen multiple times, and I’d never seen any tab for inventory or storage. The closest I had, was the way my armor and staff were stored. Fortunately, what I did have, were a pair of pockets that were hidden in the sides of my dress. These weren’t bags of holding or anything like that, just normal pockets, but one of them would hold this giant marble just fine.

“I don’t think there’s any pillar in here,” Teri said. She’d climbed up onto a stack of cubes to get a better look around the warehouse.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

While we’d been wasting time in this warehouse, and fighting with the Gimp, other champions were closing in on the pillars. One of them had already been taken, so we’d have to really hurry if we wanted any chance of finding the remaining two.

Teri and I quickly left the warehouse on the opposite side from where we’d entered, and immediately saw two more champions fighting. The magical girl with the frilly pink dress, was going at it with the guy who had a giant wolf for a companion.

“This is crazy,” Teri said from beside me. “I mean, totally loco…”

The magical girl was floating up in the air, surrounded by swirls of golden light. The horse sized wolf leapt up into the air, his jaws open, only to have her hold out her staff and blast him with a beam of light. The wolf was thrown back and smashed into the ground hard enough to crack the pavement.

At first, I just stood there, watching the fight in fascination. It was like an MMA match, only a hundred times better. After all, I’d never seen an MMA fighter attacking with a monster wolf or floating in the area. However, after a few more seconds, I finally noticed what it was that they were actually fighting for. Off to the side, almost hidden by some strange clusters of crystal, was a glowing pillar, which was about a foot across and six feet tall.

“There it is,” I told Teri with a grin of excitement. And unlike before, this actually was a pillar.

I turned my attention back to the two other champions who were fighting over the pillar. How could I possibly beat both the wolf guy and that magical girl? Then, I realized that I didn’t have to beat both of them. This was like a paintball game that Matt and I had once played, where it was the two of us against two other teams, in a capture the flag match. Matt had suggested that instead of taking on both teams, that we just let them deal with each other, while we slipped around them and grabbed the flag. It worked then and should work now too.

“Come on,” I told Teri. “We’re going to sneak around.”

We began to make our way around the fight, trying to sneak up on the pillar without either of the other champions realizing it. It looked like this would actually work, though I had mixed feelings about that. Sneaking around like this made me feel like I was a chicken or something. There was a good reason that I didn’t like to play thief or rogue type classes. This sneaking around and avoiding fights just wasn’t my style.

“Not like I have much choice,” I grimly reminded myself. With my current situation, I wasn’t exactly suited for a straight-out fight anymore.

Teri and I had made it about halfway to our goal, when my back suddenly exploded into pain. My legs dropped out from beneath me and I collapsed to the ground, hurting like hell and unable to move.

I felt a surge of terror as I realized what had happened. Nadine must have found me. I’d been trying hard not to dwell on the fact that she and Robe were nearby, though I’d definitely been keeping an eye on my surroundings. Obviously, I hadn’t been paying enough attention.

“Jeri,” Teri cried out.

I tried to respond, though all that came out was a gurgle and a few spasms of my muscles. While I was struggling against this, I noticed strange glowing green tendrils wrapped around me. And then, the Gimp stepped into view.

“Get back, you creep,” Teri exclaimed, lunging at the Gimp, though his latex goons all dogpiled on her.

“Deal with these worms,” the Gimp ordered his goons. “I’ll retrieve the big prize, then I’ll come back for the little one…”

With a silent scream of frustration, followed by a stream of profanities that couldn’t quite make it out of my mouth, I tried to break free from whatever had me, but couldn’t. When that didn’t work, I brought up my status screen, so I could at least try to figure out what the Gimp did to me.

NAME: HEATHER MARIE SIEVERS
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 18
PATRON: MAELYNE, GODDESS OF LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 85%
MANA: 88%
STATUS: NEGATIVE STATUS-PARALZED, POISONED, WEAKENED

Then, as I watched, my health dropped a couple percentage points, then a couple more. Obviously, being poisoned was a damage over time effect.

“Let me go,” Teri cried out while two of the Gimp’s minions grabbed her. The third came towards me.

I was able to start twitching, but not enough to do much. Then, I remembered that I didn’t need to move to activate my shield wall. The goon ran right into it, nearly making me laugh. I followed that up by putting a shield on Teri.

Teri knocked one of the goons to the ground, exclaiming, “Take this, loser…” She twisted his arm in what looked like a very painful way.

From where I was sprawled on the ground, I could see the Gimp running towards the pillar, and I was unable to do anything to stop him. Then, an arrow suddenly appeared in his leg and he fell face first into the ground. A second arrow struck him in the other leg.

Whatever the Gimp hit me with began to wear off, much to my relief. I was able to start moving again, and just in time. My health was now down to 72%. I gave myself shot of ‘lesser healing’ and immediately felt a pleasant warmth fill me. My health was back to 82%.

I was just getting back to my feet when an arrow hit the latex goon that was closest to me. A second arrow struck the leg of the one who was trying to swing a knife at Teri. The third goon had already run over to the Gimp to help him out.

A second later, I saw who’d fired the arrows. A dark-haired young woman walked towards me, one whom I’d noticed back in the parking lot. She was wearing black leather armor, which included bits of silvery chain-mail that almost seemed to be woven through the leather. In her hand, there was an exotic looking bow, which already had a drawn arrow.

This newcomer starred straight at me and demanded, “Where the hell have you been, Heather? We thought you were dead… And what’s up with letting Shwartzman get all over you like that? You know he’s the weakest champion…”

For a moment, all I could do was stare at this woman, who obviously knew Heather, and wondered what I should say. Should I tell her that I wasn’t the Heather she knew, and that the real Heather was dead, or play along with who I looked like? Maelyne seemed to have been playing it close to the vest, which suggested that she would favor the second option.

“But she’s not the one who has to live with this,” I reminded myself. And it wasn’t like Maelyne had given me any clear directions or instructions since the one time we had talked. She’d pretty much dumped me into the deep end with little help or information.

“Are you okay?” I asked Teri, who was looking a little bruised.

Without waiting for her to answer, I healed her, though I didn’t take my eyes off this woman. She’d helped me against the Gimp and his people, but we were in the middle of a competition, and I had absolutely no idea who she was.

“What happened to Gary and Dave?” the woman asked, glancing warily towards Teri. Then, she gave me a sympathetic look before abruptly announcing, “The pillar…”

Bow Girl abruptly turned and ran towards the pillar, and it took me a couple seconds to remember that I needed to get there too. I grimaced in determination and began running. My chances of beating her were slim, but they’d be zero if I didn’t even try.

“Hey, wait up,” Teri called out me, but I ignored her. I couldn’t afford to slow down.

Bow girl was almost there, just fifteen feet away. I was already running as fast as I could, so my only chance was if she tripped. But then, in a flash of light, the magical girl dropped out of the sky, right beside the pillar. She paused, just long enough to blow a raspberry at Bow Girl, then grabbed the pillar. A new popup appeared in front of me.

THE SECOND PILLAR HAS BEEN CLAIMED.

The magical girl blew Bow Girl a kiss, then leapt up into the air and floated away. Bow Girl let out a stream of profanity, obviously pissed at having the pillar snatched away from her.

At the same time, the Gimp was pulling the arrow out of his legs with the help of one of his goons. Bow Girl walked right past him, pausing only long enough to kick him in the face.

When Bow Girl reached me, she commented, “You know, I’d kill the creep, but I don’t think his patron has any resurrections left.”

“I can see that,” I responded.

Bow Girl stared at me for a second with a strange expression. She looked like she was about to say something, when she suddenly leapt to the side, an instant before a scythe blade would have sliced through her.

“CRAP!” I exclaimed, horrified to see Robe standing right in front of me.

I didn’t have time to freak out because he swung his scythe at me next. I activated a shield wall, jumping back as I did so. He slashed at my shield, which stopped his first attack, but not his second. His second slash struck the shield and shattered it.

“Keep back,” I desperately ordered Teri, throwing a shield on her as I did so. “He’ll kill you…”

I activated another shield, then stepped back and formed another. Robe was going to have to work at it to get to me this way, but unfortunately, my mana was dropping quickly. I wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer.

“You should not be here,” Robe said, sounding angry and confused. “I killed you… I destroyed your soul…”

I gulped, trying to hide my fear as I mocked him, “Clearly, you failed.”

Robe looked like he was about to leap at me with his glowing scythe, when he suddenly snapped around, using the scythe to block an arrow. He swung the scythe again and blocked two more arrows, moving with an unbelievable speed. I realized the he must have a really high reflex stat to pull this off.

Just as I was letting out a sigh of relief, thankful that Bow Girl was taking Robe’s attention, Nadine showed up. She threw two balls of fire at Bow Girl, who had to jump back and out of the way. And without her to occupy Robe, he turned back to me.

“I don’t know how you are still here,” Robe said, slicing at the first shield wall and breaking through it. “But I guaranteed your removal from the game, so your continued existence is an embarrassment…”

“You know, I don’t have any problem with that,” I responded.

I noticed Teri, who stood back, staring at Robe with a worried look. I could tell that she wanted to jump him, but was afraid of his scythe. That, and I’d already warned her about what he could do to people. Thankfully, she was actually listening to me, for once.”

Instead of attacking my remaining shield wall with his scythe, Robe held out his hand and a swirling mass of purple energy appeared in it. “Obliteration,” he announced, before throwing it against my shield. My shield wall vanished, as did the one I immediately threw up to replace it.

“This is total crap,” I grumbled, scrambling back and bracing myself with my staff. If my shields couldn’t stop this rat bastard, maybe I’ll just need to give him a good knock alongside the head. However, I couldn’t help but remembering how well that had worked for Heather. “Crap, crap, and triple crap.”

Robe held up his scythe, which was glowing with that eerie purple aura. “Though it may coast me the chance to claim a pillar,” he explained, “destroying you will redeem me in the eyes of Arakthiel.”

But then, just as Robe began to charge, a new popup appeared in front of me.

THE THIRD PILLAR HAS BEEN CLAIMED.

THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. CEASE ALL HOSTILITIES.

1ST PILLAR: CLAIMED BY THE CHAMPION OF BR’IEZE, GODDESS OF WIND AND AIR.

2ND PILLAR: CLAIMED BY THE CHAMPION OF TIRALAE, GODDESS OF MAIDENS AND WONDER.

3RD PILLAR: CLAIMED BY THE CHAMPION OF KR’AETHAR, GOD STEEL, WAR AND RESOLVE.

Robe seemed to ignore this popup as he continued coming at me, swinging his scythe. But suddenly, he was surrounded by a glowing bubble, which picked him up from the ground and held him floating in the air.

The Referee floated in the air a short distance away, giving Robe a disapproving look. “This contest has ended. This is your only warning.” And with that, the bubble vanished and Robe fell back to the ground.

Once Robe was on the ground and back on his feet, he looked up at the Referee, almost as though he wanted to attack her. However, he made no move to do so. Instead, he lowered his scythe and turned to glare at me.

“We will continue this another time,” Robe announced, before he turned and walked off.

I just let out a sigh, thankful that I’d managed to survive this contest. The whole thing had been kind of crazy.

“Now, this is the kind of contest I like,” Bow Girl announced. “Short and easy.”

“She calls this easy?” I said to Teri, who snickered.

Teri looked around, then cautiously asked me, “Is it over?”

“I think so, yeah,” I replied, still watching.

Now that the contest was actually over, champions began to appear in the open. Some had come out of warehouses or wherever else they’d been, and now seemed to be looking around at each other. Maybe they were trying to see who was still around, and who might have been killed off.

I noticed one champion, a man in golden armor, who was holding up a blue crystal sphere, that looked very similar to the green one I’d found. Then he crushed it in his hand, releasing a brief flash of blue light.

“What the hell…?” I muttered, wondering why he’d done that.

I thought about going over to ask him, when I realized that someone was approaching me. I turned for a better look and was surprised to realize that it was the Cleaner.

“Heather Sievers,” the Cleaner greeted me politely. It took me a second to remember that I was Heather now.

“Yes?” I responded cautiously.

The Cleaner held something out to me, calmly saying, “I believe that you
lost this last week, during an unofficial fight.”

My eyes went out to what he was holding, and it took me a couple more seconds to realize that it was a purse. “Um…thanks,” I said as I took the purse from him.

The Cleaner didn’t say another word before he turned and walked away. I watched him go, then looked at the purse I was now holding.

“He gave you a purse,” Teri said, looking amused by that.

I opened the purse and looked inside, then said, “I think it’s Heather’s purse…”

Before I could actually dig through the purse to find out what it held, another popup appeared in front of me.

THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. PREPARE TO BE TRANSPORTED.

“It looks like they’re giving us a ride home,” I told Teri with a wry smile, just seconds before everything started to glow and sparkle again.

“We’re back,” Teri blurted out a couple seconds later.

I looked around and saw that we were back in front of her house. Matt wasn’t there, but I wasn’t too surprised. We’d been gone long enough that I would have been surprised to have found him still waiting.

Teri ran to the front door while I followed behind, holding the staff in one hand and a purse in the other. After a moment of consideration, I sent the staff back to wherever it was stored when not in use, and then I pulled that green crystal sphere out of my pocket. I didn’t want to risk it vanishing too when I switched out my armor, which was what I did next.

“We’re BACK!” Teri called out to Matt, who immediately rushed into the room and grabbed her in a hug.

“I was so worried,” Matt said, before glaring at me, as though it was my fault I’d brought her along.

“We were at this big treasure hunt, fighting thing,” Teri excitedly told her brother. “It was like, totally Hunger Games…”

“I’m just glad we made it out of there in one piece,” I said, sitting down on the couch and letting out a long sigh.

“What were you thinking?” Matt demanded. “I can’t believe you took Teri with you…”

“She didn’t,” Teri protested. “Jeri tried leaving me here, remember? They brought me automatically, because I’m her companion…”

“And I’ve tried fixing that,” I reminded Matt.

While Teri excitedly told Matt about what had happened, I winced a little at the reminder of how close we’d both come to being killed. I’d already died once, and this was the price I paid for getting a second chance. What bothered me most, was the way Teri had been brought into it too.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took several deep breaths to steady myself, then I looked at the popup which had appeared as soon as we’d been transported back.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED A COMPETITION.

REWARD: YOU RECEIVE 1 ATTRIBUTE POINT AND 50 RESOURCE ATTRIBUTE POINTS.

This immediately caught my interest, because it involved one of my favorite parts of playing RPGs…leveling up and making my character stronger. A single attribute point didn’t seem very impressive, but there were the resource attribute points as well.

“One attribute point,” I mused, pulling up my screen and looking over my stats.

I’d been feeling pretty weak, so this was my chance to start fixing that by making myself stronger…or maybe a little tougher. Both of those would be great improvements. However, so were all of the other options.

“But I’m not a tank,” I grudgingly reminded myself. “I’m a magic user…”

With that in mind, I looked at one of the other sections, the one that dealt with intelligence, awareness, and charisma. As a magic user, that was the section I needed to focus on, because those were the traits that would give me the most benefit.

Charisma was my highest stat, at thirteen, while intelligence was tied for second highest, at eleven. Both of these could be useful to me, but the question was, which would be the most useful.

According to the description, high charisma could encourage more loyalty in my companions, which in turn, would then buff the effectiveness of all my abilities. Because of my ‘loyalty’ gift, there was a direct correlation between my charisma and my overall power. However, I wasn’t sure that I liked the idea of intentionally manipulating Teri, just to make myself more powerful. It was the smart thing to do, but kind of a crappy thing for a friend to do.

In most games, intelligence was one of, if not THE most important trait for a magic user. Depending on the game, increasing your intelligence also increased the power of your spells, the amount of mana you had available, or both.

The description for intelligence didn’t say anything about it being related to mana or power, but it did suggest that higher intelligence could lead to greater understanding of my abilities, and could even unlock new ways of using them.

I sat there for several minutes, silently considering my options. Obviously, as a magic user, intelligence and charisma were my best choices. However, the strength was incredibly tempting. I was tired of being so short and weak. Even Teri was taller and stronger than me now.

In the end, I moved the skill point to my intelligence slot, and as soon as it locked into place, I felt a moment of dizziness. It passed pretty quickly, much to my relief. However, when I looked at my abilities, I didn’t see any difference. Apparently, I might need a little more intelligence to get any improvement.

“Now, I feel like I wasted a point,” I muttered, turning my attention to my resource attribute points. These ones went to the last section of skills, the ones related to mana and healing. “At least this should be an easier choice.”

As a tank, I would have put those new points into either healing or regeneration, because I always needed more of both. But as a magic user, I needed more mana. The fact that I’d run so low during the competition, definitely emphasized that. The question was, do I increase my mana pool or my rate of mana recovery.

“Mana recovery,” I announced, putting the points into that slot. My mana pool was already pretty high, and what I needed most, was to be able to recover what I’d already used a little faster.

Teri distracted me from my thoughts by grabbing the crystal sphere and showing it to Matt. “See what we found. I bet this is worth a ton…”

Matt took the crystal from her and looked it over, musing, “I think this might be quartz, but I can’t be sure…”

“Come on, nerd boy,” I teased him. “You can do better than that…”

“I can hardly call you a dumb jock now,” Matt responded as he handed me back the sphere. “Maybe a dumb cheerleader instead…”

“Bite me,” I said, flipping him off.

I stared at the sphere, suddenly wishing that I’d spent my skill point on awareness instead. Maybe then, I’d be able to make out what it was used for. Or not.

“I saw another champion with one of these,” I thought aloud. “And he crushed his…”

With that in mind, I crushed my own, hoping that the other champion really had known what he was doing. The sphere had seemed pretty solid, but as soon as I tried to crush it, it turned out to be fragile, and crumbled to dust in my hands. There was a flash of green light, and suddenly a new popup appeared in front of me.

YOU HAVE CLAIMED A BONUS PRIZE: +1 STRENGTH, +1 STAMINA, AND +1 ENDURANCE.

My body was instantly filled with a strange warmth and energy, which felt great. The warmth quickly faded away, but the sense of energy didn’t, at least not all the way. I felt…stronger. Healthier. Was this what Teri had felt when she’d become my companion? If this was what it felt like to have each of those stats improved by only one point, I could only imagine what it would have felt like to have them increased by five.

“What happened?” Matt demanded, looking worried.

“Are you okay?” Teri quickly added.

“Yeah,” I responded with a grin, looking at my status screen.

STRENGTH: 8
STAMINA: 9
ENDURANCE: 11
-
AGILITY: 11
REFLEXES: 8
DEXTERITY: 9
-
INTELLIGENCE: 12
CHARISMA: 13
AWARENESS: 10
-
MANA POOL: 330
MANA RECOVERY: 217
HEALTH: 120
REGENERATION: 120

“I just found out what that green ball does,” I said, amazed that the green sphere had given me an even bigger bonus than what I’d gotten for competing. “Now, I just wonder how I can find more of them…”