I was dead, and because of that, everyone else was probably going to die too. I’d been around the block enough times to know that this was nearly inevitable.

“Come on!” I exclaimed, jumping to my feet and yelling at my computer screen. “Where was the damn healer?”

“A goblin got him,” a voice answered from my headset.

My friend Matt was playing the same online RPG that I was, and I could see his character on my monitor. He was playing a rogue, a class that specialized in sneaking around, stealing things, and stabbing enemies in the back. As I watched, his character went invisible and escaped while a massive horde of goblins rushed through the room and killed off the rest of our group.

“Apparently, the tank missed one,” Matt teased me.

Of course, I was the tank in question, so I scowled at the suggestion that this team wipe was my fault. I was an experienced tank. In fact, that was my preferred role, and the one I usually played in these games. But that being said, even an awesome tank like myself, can’t always contain all the agro.

I grimaced and watched the monitor as my entire group was wiped out, except for Matt, who’d run away. I couldn’t blame him for that, because that was the kind of thing that class did. In fact, being able to sneak away from dangerous situations, or avoid them entirely, was the whole point of playing that class.

A minute later, my own character respawned at the save point, halfway through the dungeon. If I hadn’t known better, I never would have been able to tell that Karock the Invincible had been dead just a few seconds before. But that was the advantage of video games to real life. In video games, death was only temporary.

“Okay people,” I said into my microphone, getting into character. “I’ve sharpened my axe and knocked the dents out of my armor. Now it’s time to go kick some goblin ass…”

There were a few brief comments from my headset, mostly from members of the team talking trash, though I didn’t pay much attention. Instead, I lead the group into the next room, which was still clear of monsters from the first time we’d gone through. It didn’t take long to get back to where we died, and to meet up with Matt, who’d been waiting on us. Then, we made another attempt on the boss.

A horde of goblins came pouring out of the side doors, trying to overwhelm us again with sheer numbers. This time, we were ready for them. I charged in with shield raised and axe swinging, keeping their attention while the damage dealers on our team focused destroying them. We’d done this the last time too, however, the main difference was that several people watched the healer’s back, so he didn’t day, and as a result, he was able to keep me from dying. After a ten minute fight, we cleared out the goblins, killed the boss monster, and then looted everything we could find.

“Nice run,” I said once we were done.

I was feeling pretty pleased by a new shield that had dropped. The stats weren’t much of an improvement over my old one, but any improvement was a good thing.

After this, everyone else dropped off the channel, leaving only Matt and I behind. “So,” Matt asked me. “You up for another run, Jerry?”

I hesitated for a moment, tempted to go ahead. “Sorry,” I said with a reluctant sigh. “I can’t. I’ve got to get up early for work.”

Even though I couldn’t see Matt through the headset, I could clearly picture him nodding his head absently. “Well, I guess your tuition isn’t going to pay for itself.”

With a chuckle, I responded, “Not all of us are nerds with scholarships.”

“Yeah,” Matt said with a chuckle. “Man I’m glad I’m not a dumb jock.”

“Bite me,” I told him with a chuckle of my own.

I spent the next minute chatting with Matt before I logged off. Then, with a grunt, I stood up and stretched. Long gaming sessions always left me feeling a little stiff and sore, even if some of that was all in my own mind.

In spite of the fact that I was an avid gamer, I didn’t fit the usual ‘gamer’ stereotype. I wasn’t some pasty fat guy with no social skills, who hid away in his mom’s basement. Like Matt said, I was a jock. I was six foot three, with the kind of solid build that came from years of athletics, and a lot of time in the gym.

Back in high school, I’d been something of a typical jock, competing in almost every sport that the school offered. Football, wrestling, basketball, and I’d even spent one year swimming, though my build was a little too bulky to be very aerodynamic in the water. Unfortunately, in spite of my athletic enthusiasm, and the fact that I had a bunch of trophies with the name Jerry Tanner etched on them, I hadn’t been good enough in any single sport to earn a scholarship.

My lack of a scholarship had been a disappointment, but not a surprise. Fortunately, there were other ways to pay for college, such as student loans, and the fact that I’ve been working like crazy to earn money for my tuition. In fact, now that summer vacation was here, I’d been working a full time job so I could pay for my next semester.

Since I was no longer competing in any actual sports, I’d been making up for that by spending a little more time in the gym, and hitting the weights six days a week. I’ve even been playing around with the idea of trying out for an amateur bodybuilding competition.

Once I’d finished shutting down my computer and had stretched enough to get the gamer kinks out of my back, I began to get ready for bed. Like I’d told Matt, I had to work tomorrow, which meant that I had to get up even earlier, just so I had time to hit the gym first.

--------------------

I was leaning back in my chair while keeping my eyes on the TV. Technically, it was Matt’s chair since he owned it, but this was the one I always sat in whenever I came over to visit, so tended to think of it as ‘mine.’

“Good shot,” I said, nodding in approval.

Matt was playing a console game, a first person shooter called Target of Opportunity, where he was playing a soldier and had to run around shooting people with a variety of different firearms. First person shooters weren’t really my thing, so I just sat back and watched him play.

“Thanks,” Matt responded, not taking his eyes from the TV. “I just need to find my target.” Then his character took a sudden hit to his life points, and he scowled, adding, “And that sniper…”

I continued watching the screen for a couple more minutes before turning my attention to Matt. He was short and wiry, with curly dark hair and a somewhat nerdy look. In fact, he was almost the exact opposite of me. Back in high school, whenever anyone saw us together, they probably assumed that I was taking his lunch money, but the truth was, we’d been best friends since middle-school.

The way I figured it, Matt and I balanced each other out pretty well. I kept him from getting too sedentary and out of shape, while he motivated me to study and get decent grades. I’d introduced him to paintball, and he was the one who got me hooked on gaming. He’d warned me about my psycho ex-girlfriend before it was too late, and I’d hooked him up with a hot cheerleader girlfriend.

“So,” I said, picking up Matt’s paintball gun. The air cartridge wasn’t installed, so there was no chance of an accident. “You still up for Saturday?”

“Of course,” Matt responded with a grin. “You know I’m not gonna miss out on the chance to shoot Cody.”

“Didn’t think you would,” I responded with a grin of my own.

Cody wasn’t a bad guy, but he was cocky and had a tendency to talk a lot of trash, especially to Matt. However, since he was on the paintball team we were going up against on Saturday, Matt would have his chance for revenge.

“Just don’t let your boss call you in for overtime,” Matt told me. “We’ll need your ugly mug to intimidate those guys.”

“Not a problem,” I assured Matt. “If they need someone to drive the forklift, Mike will be there.”

Matt and I began talking strategy for our match, though he continued playing Target of Opportunity as we did so. He wasn’t even distracted enough to mess up his game, at least not enough to really notice.

It was around this time that Teri came into the room, holding a big bowl of popcorn. She took one look at us and asked, “What are you losers up to?”

“Five foot seven,” Matt answered without hesitation.

“Six foot three,” I said almost simultaneously. This was an old joke, that was like my favorite t-shirt. It had seen better days, but was too comfortable to throw out.

Teri was Matt’s kid sister, a fifteen year old with long brown hair, who was just starting to really fill out. In another year or two, she’d probably be pretty hot.

I suspected that Teri might have a crush on me, not that I’d ever do anything about that, even after she filled out the rest of the way. Not only was Teri my best friend’s sister, and jailbait too, but I’d also watched her grow up and tended to think of her as my own annoying little sister.

“Hey, Jerry,” Teri greeted me in a somewhat friendlier tone.

“Hey, Teapot,” I responded with a nod of acknowledgement.

Teri gave me a look of annoyance at the old nickname and even flipped me off, but didn’t say anything. The first time I’d ever met Teri, she’d been practicing her routine for a school play and had been singing, “I’m a little teapot,” over and over, hence my own personal nickname for her. I didn’t use it very often, just enough to provide the occasional annoyance.

“So,” I asked, “What’s up?”

“Not much,” Teri responded with a forced casualness. “I’ve just been practicing for my driver’s test…”

“Cool,” I said, holding back a chuckle.

It was pretty obvious that Teri was excited about getting her license, which would be in another two months, after she actually turned sixteen. She’d been practicing for the last few weeks, and made sure that everyone knew this.

Teri sat down in a chair that was fairly close to my own, and immediately began to play on her cell phone. She didn’t seem to be watching the game, though she occasionally looked up and made the kind of comments that could be expected of a little sister.

“You stink at this,” Teri announced after Matt was caught in an ambush. “Maybe you should do something you’re good at, like… Well, I guess that would be nothing.”

“If you can’t be quiet, you’re welcome to leave,” Matt responded with a snort. “Of course, asking you to be quiet is asking the impossible, so you might as well just leave now…”

“Ah, the pleasant sound of siblings arguing,” I said with a chuckle. “Makes me glad I’m an only child.”

“You’re lucky,” Matt and Teri said at the same time.

Eventually, I noticed the time and apologetically announced, “I’ve got to get going. Work in the morning.”

“No problem,” Matt told me with a nod of acknowledgement. “Just don’t forget Saturday.”

“I won’t,” I promised.

Then, as I left, I absently wondered if I might be able to fit in a little game play before bed. One quick dungeon wouldn’t hurt, and I was close enough to leveling Karock that I could justify cutting into my sleep time to finish it. I was grinning in anticipation as I started the drive home.

I’d been at Matt’s place for a little longer than I’d intended, and it was getting a bit late out. It was late enough that the sun had set and there were few cars on the road. I preferred it this way, because I didn’t have to deal with nearly as many jackass drivers.

My tiny apartment was only about ten minutes away from Matt’s place, so it was normally a pretty short trip. However, my fuel gauge was getting a bit low and I decided to stop for gas, which would probably add another ten minutes to my trip. There was enough in the tank that I could make it home without any problem, but then, I’d just have to gas up on the way to work tomorrow, and stopping now was more convenient.

The gas station looked like nearly every other one that I’d ever seen, with a couple rows of pumps and a small convenience store where you could pick up some snacks or something to drink. I’d been to this particular gas station a few times before, and knew that this one had a small frozen yogurt machine near the register.

At the moment, there was only one other vehicle at the pumps, a nice looking motorcycle. It was one of those crotch rocket types, though I couldn’t tell anything more than that. Motorcycles weren’t my thing, but this one looked pretty damn fast.

With a shrug, I went on inside to pay for my gas and pick up a couple snacks for work. That, and stock up on some energy drinks, since I’d need the boost for my early morning workout tomorrow.

I had nearly reached the door when a girl came out, immediately catching my attention. She was a hot looking blonde, about nineteen or twenty, which was around my own age, and she was wearing a black leather jacket.

The girl was busy unwrapping a pack of cigarettes so didn’t seem to notice me at first, but when she did, she exclaimed, “Jerry?”

At that moment, I suddenly realized who this girl was. I should have recognized my former girlfriend sooner, but the last time I’d seen her had been more than a year ago, and she’d had a different hairstyle.

“Nadine,” I responded in surprise.

Nadine Fairlan stared at me with a gleam in her eyes and a faint sneer on her lips. She took a cigarette and lit it, not taking her eyes off me in the process. Only after taking a deep drag, then blowing the smoke out in my direction, did she speak.

“Well, this is a surprise,” she said.

“Yes,” I agreed, not sure what to say next. ‘It’s nice to see you again,’ would have been a lie.

“You look even more buff than you used to,” Nadine said, giving me an appreciative look, before abruptly asking, “You using steroids now?”

“No,” I answered evenly. “Not my thing.”

I didn’t bother to admit that there were many times when I’d been tempted, especially when I’d been trying to get the attention of some scouts so I could earn a scholarship. Maybe if I’d been willing to take that risk, I would have played well enough. Or maybe, I could have really messed up my body and life. There was no knowing what could have been, nor any reason to dwell on it.

Just then, Nadine’s cell phone began to ring. She took it out of her jacket pocket and backed away from me before answering.

“Yeah,” answered, still moving away from me. “You found them? Great. Where?” There was a pause before she said, “I’m about half a mile away. I’ll be there in just a minute.”

Nadine hung up the phone, smirking as she did so. It was an expression that meant that she was about to make someone very unhappy, and I was just grateful that it wasn’t me.

“See you around, Jerry,” Nadine said in a tone that could have been a promise or a threat. Then, Nadine went and climbed onto the motorcycle, giving me one more look before she took off, nearly racing out of the gas station.

“And there goes a whole crap ton of crazy,” I muttered with a shake of my head, before I continued with my business.

Ten minutes later, I left the gas station with a full tank and a couple snacks for later. By this time, I was even more eager to get home, and looked forward to getting a little more XP for Karock before bed.

I hadn’t gone very far when I saw a sudden burst of fire, like some kind of explosion from an action movie. It was off to the side, in a large empty lot that looked like there had once been a building there. A ball of fire, about ten feet wide, appeared out of nowhere and then vanished a moment later.

“What the hell?” I blurted out in surprise.

No matter the cause, explosions in town weren’t good news. The smart thing would have been to just call 911 while driving away as fast as I could. However, as Matt liked to joke, I was just a dumb jock, so I slammed on the brakes instead.

Jumping out of my car, I yelled, “Hey, what’s going on?”

Even as I said this, I knew I was being stupid. My curiosity was getting the better of my common sense, but I was too stubborn to change my mind now.

For a couple seconds, I just stood there, looking over the lot. There were several people there and it looked like they were fighting, but it was dark enough that I couldn’t make out many details. I might have changed my mind and hopped back into my car, if it wasn’t for the fact that I saw a motorcycle laying on it’s side. It was the same motorcycle that I’d seen at the gas station a short time ago.

“Crap,” I grumbled, remembering the brief conversation I’d overheard Nadine having.

Whatever was going on here, Nadine was involved. That gave me another reason to turn around and go the other way. However, I wasn’t the type of person to just up and run away. So instead, I did what I always did when in doubt, I charged forward and counted on my own strength and determination to get me through.

I walked into the lot, tensing up as I got ready to fight. I didn’t know if I’d have to, but I wanted to be ready, just in case. From this new position, I had a much better look at what was going on, but it didn’t make a lot of sense.

The first person that my eyes went to was Nadine, who for some reason, was wearing what looked like some kind of lightweight red and black armor. I was pretty sure that there hadn’t been enough time between the gas station and now, for her to change into this cosplay getup. But as surprising as her outfit was, that was nothing compared to the fact that she actually had a ball of fire in her hand.

A short distance away from Nadine was another person in a strange costume, though I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, because he or she was wearing some kind of green and black robes, with a hood that shadowed the face. This person was holding a nasty looking scythe, which glowed with a purple aura.

Both Nadine and this robed figure seemed to be attacking the two other people who were present. One of them was a large and muscular guy, who held a massive sledge hammer. No, as a gamer, I should have recognized a war hammer sooner. He looked almost like he’d stepped right out of one of my games.

The last person was a girl with long red hair, who was standing back behind the guy with the hammer. She was wearing an odd white and red dress, and was holding a golden staff. If the hammer guy looked like a warrior from my game, she looked like a caster of some kind.

“What the hell is going on here?” I demanded.

Nadine was the only one who seemed to notice me, as she alone turned to look in my direction. Her eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, and especially not like this…”

At the same time, the robed figure leapt at the man with the hammer, swinging the scythe. Suddenly, a black clad ninja appeared right behind Robe, trying to stab him from behind with a katana. However, Robe reacted in an instant, snapping and slicing the ninja in half.

The girl cried out in horror and Hammer charged at Robe. Their weapons met with a loud clang. Nadine snapped her attention away from me and threw the ball of fire at the girl, who was no longer able to hide behind Hammer. The ball of fire hit a glowing transparent wall, which appeared in front of the girl.

I was shocked, horrified, and completely confused by what was going on, and by Nadine’s involvement in it. A man had just been murdered in front of me, and it seemed that everyone else was trying to do the same thing to each other…with balls of fire and monster scythes.

“Get back here and protect me,” the redhead yelled to Hammer.

Nadine smirked as both of her hands burst into flame, right before she charged straight at the redhead. The girl shrieked and scrambled backwards, swinging her staff and creating another glowing wall of light in front of her. Nadine hit this wall and was knocked back a little, but only for a moment. From that look in her eyes, I knew she wasn’t going to give up that easily.

I didn’t know who this girl was or what Nadine had against her, but I knew my one-time girlfriend, so I was siding with the redhead. With barely a conscious thought, I ran forward and tackled Nadine. Normally, I don’t like hitting chicks, but in this case, I was making an exception.

As soon as Nadine hit the ground, she twisted around and hit me, knocking me off her with a surprising ease. Then, she scrambled back to her feet and sneered down at me with that familiar look of contempt.

“You should have minded your own damn business,” Nadine exclaimed.

“Yeah, but you know me,” I responded with a chuckle.

Nadine sneered. “Yes, I do. You’ve always been an idiot.”

“I was smart enough to dump your ass,” I reminded her.

Without saying another word, Nadine abruptly came at me. She grabbed the front of my jacket, and to my shock and confusion, she lifted me up off the ground…with one hand.

“What the hell?” I blurted out in stunned disbelief. But considering everything else I’d already seen, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised at one more crazy thing.

“You know, I’m glad you’re here,” Nadine announced with a malicious gleam in her eyes. “It gives me the chance to do this…”

A ball of fire suddenly appeared in Nadine’s hand, and before I could get free of her grasp, she slammed it into my stomach. An instant later, a burning, searing pain, tore through my stomach and insides. Before I could even get the scream out of my threat, the agony spread over my entire body.

“Oh yes,” Nadine moaned, sounding like she was having an orgasm. Then, she dropped me to the ground. “Thanks for the boost, Jerry…”

I screamed in agony while smelling a horrible stench, which a voice in the back of my head identified as my own burning flesh. I was on fire. I was being burned alive. Terror and desperation join with the pain, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

Somehow, I remained aware of my surroundings enough to see Nadine throw a blast of fire at Hammer, hitting him from behind and covering his entire body in flames. Robe immediately ran around him and swung his scythe at the redhead. He hit another wall of light, then his scythe cut right through it.

“NO,” the girl cried out in desperation, swinging her staff. She caught his scythe and knocked it aside. “Even if you beat me, I’ll beat you when I come back…”

“No, you won’t,” a man’s voice responded.

Robe punched at the redhead with his free hand, which was glowing with an eerie purple aura, similar to what had surrounded the scythe. He struck her in the solar plexus, and suddenly, the purple glow spread to her entire body, covering her with what looked like purple flames.

“You got her?” Nadine asked with a sadistic glee.

“Yes,” Robe answered in a cold tone. “I’ve removed her from the game…”

The redhead had already collapsed to the ground, but that didn’t seem to be enough for Robe, who then swung his scythe at the motionless body. From my position, I couldn’t see what kind of damage he’d done, but he seemed satisfied, as did Nadine, who laughed.

By this point, I was no longer screaming, though that wasn’t because the pain had stopped. It was simply because my body no longer seemed capable of screaming. In spite of the burning agony, I was still alive, though I knew it wouldn’t be for long. And truthfully, I hoped…prayed for it all to end. At that moment, all I wanted was for it to end.

Then, my silent prayers finally seemed to have been answered because I sank into a cold, soothing darkness. At least, until I saw the light.

I was dead. If by some miracle I had survived, then I had no doubt that I would have been better off dead.

First, there had been the searing agony as my body was burning inside and out, and then, the soothing release of darkness. Now, I saw the light in the distance and wondered if I was supposed to walk to it.

I had no idea how long I floated in the darkness, with no sense of my own body, and staring at the light. It could have been seconds or even hours. Eventually, I realized that the light was coming towards me.

When the light was close enough, I could see that it was shaped like a human. Like a woman. She stopped a short distance in front of me, giving me a good look.

The woman was enormous, standing at nine feet tall, at least. She towered over me, making me feel like a little kid in comparison. That was a strange experience for me since I was used to being taller than most other people.

She was unbelievably gorgeous, with the kind of looks that made an airbrushed supermodel look plain in comparison. Her hair was long and lustrous, waving around behind her as though caught in a breeze, and ending at her ankles. Each strand seemed to be made of light, shimmering through different colors as it moved. The rest of her body glowed too, with some kind of inner light, but nowhere near the brilliance or variety as the hair. And then, there was her clothes, or at least the ribbon of light, which seemed to be what passed as clothes.

“Mortal,” she said, her voice sweet and melodic, somehow seeming to go straight to my very being while bypassing my ears entirely.

At that moment, I was suddenly aware of my body again, though there was no pain or discomfort. I looked down at myself, seeing that I was standing in the darkness, which was lit only by this giant woman. My body seemed to be completely whole and unharmed, not to mention naked. I quickly covered myself.

“Who are you?” I demanded, trying to hide my fear, confusion, and downright embarrassment at being naked in front of this enormous woman, by at least trying to act confident. “What the hell is going on?”

“Your life has just ended,” the glowing woman answered, going straight to my second question without bothering to introduce herself. “You were killed by Nadine Fairlan, the chosen champion of Pfath, god of fire and pain.”

The glowing woman said this matter-of-factly, as though it was no big deal. All I could do was gape as I tried to absorb all this. I was still trying get over the fact that Nadine had killed me.

In the same calm but melodic tone, the glowing woman continued. “One of the gifts Pfath gave her is called ‘sadism’, where if she causes sufficient pain in another, she is granted a brief increase in power. She used you to power her attacks on my champion and her companion.”

I just stood there, staring up at this giant glowing woman and feeling stunned, though I realized after a few seconds, not nearly as stunned as I should have been. My heart should have been pounding in my chest, but I didn’t feel anything like that. Maybe it was because I was supposedly dead.

Then again, was I really dead? Everything that was going on was too strange to be real. Maybe I was drugged…or suffering from a head injury. What was the last normal thing that I remembered? Visiting Matt and his sister? Getting gas? Maybe I’d been in a car accident and was hallucinating all of this.

“You are neither insane nor hallucinating,” the giant woman said, sounding almost amused. “What you are is dead, or more accurately, on the cusp between life and death, held in this moment by my will.”

Still staring up at this woman, I gulped, deciding that whether or not I was imagining all this, it would probably be a good idea to treat this as if it was real…just in case. “Why?” I asked, intimidated by her sheer size and presence. “I mean, I still don’t get what’s going on…”

“Your death came about, because you attempted to protect my champion,” she answered calmly. “You failed in that, but succeeded in earning my attention, and even a small degree of my favor.”

“Does that mean you’re going to save my life?” I asked hopefully.

The giant glowing chick shook her head. “That life is over. Your lungs have drawn their final breath, and your heart has beat its last. The rules would not allow me to interfere, were this not the situation.”

I blinked at that. “Rules? What rules? You make it sound like this is some kind of game…”

With a deep scowl, the glowing woman stated, “That is precisely what this is. This is a game, but one of great consequence.”

“I don’t understand,” I admitted.

For several long seconds, the giantess stood there with a thoughtful expression, before she began to explain. “I am the goddess Maelyne.”

“Goddess?” I repeated with a nervous gulp.

The giant glowing woman…Maelyne, continued. “Long ago, my kind discovered the folly of warring amongst ourselves. With our power, even a minor skirmish can cause untold devastation. During our only great war, most of our world was destroyed. Before it could be obliterated entirely, we came to truce and agreed upon an alternative method of fighting. Now, we resolve our conflicts in your world, through proxies. We each choose a human to champion our cause, and embue them with gifts and power. Our champions compete against each other, and we rise or fall upon their success.”

“What the hell?” I blurted out. “That’s total crap… You mean, Earth is just some kind of game board to you, and we’re all just pieces?”

“No,” Maelyne responded, her voice still calm and melodic. “Our champions are the game pieces. You are, at best, what you would refer to as…an NPC.”

I clenched my hands into fists as I glared up at this supposed goddess, angry at the insult. I was many things, but I sure as hell wasn’t some damn NPC. NCPs were Non Player Characters in games, the ones who were part of the game itself, with no will or purpose other than to fill space and provide plot or material support of some kind to the actual players.

“I’m no NPC,” I exclaimed defiantly.

Maelyne didn’t seem to notice my anger, or she just didn’t care. If she really was some kind of goddess, and admittedly, I kind of believed her, then that probably made sense. From what she’d already said, her people just seemed to think of humans as being nothing more than pieces in their game. However, she was taking the time to explain what was going on, so that was a point in her favor.

For several long seconds, Maelyne just stood there, staring down at me with a thoughtful expression. “You are familiar with games,” she finally said. “Both athletic competition and simulated combat.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, giving her a suspicious look. “Is that a problem?” I knew some guys at the gym, who would mock the hell out of me for being a gamer, and wasn’t sure if I was about to get it from her too.

Then, with a faint look of amusement, Maelyne mused, “If Gorath had been allowed to compete in this round, I believe he might have chosen you as his champion.” Before I could think of how to respond to that, Maelyne continued, “In our latest round of games, many of the rules have been inspired from the games of your world. This should make it easier for you to understand what you have become involved in.”

“You use people as pieces in your game,” I responded, thinking of the strange fight I’d gotten caught up in. “Like gladiators… It’s not exactly rocket science.”

“Each champion is given gifts and abilities,” Maelyne told me with a serious expression. “These depend on both the nature of the patron, and the inclinations of the champion. As they compete…as they gain experience and achieve success, their powers and abilities grow stronger, allowing them to serve their patrons even more effectively. These gifts, and the power that comes with them, are the reasons most champions agree to serve in this role.”

This talk about gifts and abilities really caught my attention, because I’d seen that kind of thing in action already. Back when I’d been dating Nadine, she hadn’t been able to lift me up with one hand, or create balls of fire. Obviously, those were some of the gifts that Maelyne had been referring to. In fact, she’d already said that Nadine had one gift that was called ‘sadism’.

“That does sound kind of like a video game,” I agreed.

“As I have said, this is a game,” Maelyne responded with a deep scowl. “But one with grave consequences for my kind. The success or failure of our champions, determines our own success or failures. And though we do call this a game, it is more akin to war, one with a great many rules to keep it civilized and limited in scope.”

My eyes remained fixed on this giant glowing woman, and I could see her own anger and frustration. Then, something dawned on me. “They killed your champion…”

“Yes,” Maelyne said, her glowing eyes flashing red for a moment and making me instinctively step back. “Normally, this would be a minor problem, as I am allowed to return my champion to life, up to three times. However, Arakthiel, god of the void, has found a way to remove his rival’s champions from the game…permanently. His champion has been given the power to destroy human souls, and has used this ability on my own champion. I could return her body to life, but without a soul, there is no purpose in doing so.”

“What happens if you don’t have a champion?” I asked, though I already had my suspicions.

“What happens in an athletic competition, if your opponent fails to appear?” she asked me.

“They forfeit?”

Maelyne nodded faintly. “And in a war, if one country’s army fails to appear at the field of battle…”

“They forfeit,” I repeated quietly.

“Indeed,” Maelyne responded with a grim expression. “Without my champion, I am vulnerable. My enemies can seize or destroy my home, territory, and people, while I will be powerless to stop them.”

“I…I’m sorry,” I said, not sure what else I could say.

“And I am sorry for your death,” Maelyne told me, staring down with a faintly sympathetic expression. “You were not involved in our game, yet died because of it. You died because you attempted to protect my champion.”

“I died because Nadine is a psycho bitch,” I spat out bitterly.

Maelyne smiled faintly in apparent agreement. “As you were not part of the game, your death neither benefits nor harms me. However, by living, you could be of great benefit…”

“What?” I blurted out, suddenly feeling hope again at that last statement. “I thought you said you couldn’t bring me back…?”

“I cannot,” Maelyne agreed with a twinkle in her eyes…literally. Her eyes were both glowing a little more brightly than before. “However, what I can do, is restore my champion to life…and repair her injuries.”

“Okay,” I admitted uncomfortably. “I’m confused.” I could almost hear Matt teasing me about being a dumb jock.

“Arakthiel used a loophole to remove my champion from the game,” Maelyne explained triumphantly. “I want to use a loophole to restore her… However, there is a very small window of opportunity, so it must be done now, or not at all.”

The goddess crouched down, as if she was going to speak to a child, so I was now able to look her directly in the eyes. They seemed to be looking right through me, sending a shiver up my spine.

“If you agree,” Maelyne told me, “I will restore my champion to life…with your soul to replace the one that was destroyed. You would live again, as my champion. You would inherit all of her gifts and abilities, along with her status within the game, including the responsibility of serving as my proxy. If you accept this bargain, you will face grave danger, and perhaps even the risk of having your soul destroyed utterly. However, you would live again. You would gain abilities beyond what most mortals will ever possess. And, you will have a chance to take revenge upon the one who killed you…”

At first, all I could do was stare at Maelyne with my mouth hanging open in stunned disbelief. That was insane. Completely and totally insane, and not the kind of crazy that came from getting a few too many concussions either. This was like padded room crazy. But in spite of that, I no longer had any doubts about all this being real, or that Maelyne was telling me the truth.

I wanted to live. I REALLY wanted to live. It was too soon for my life to be over, and I wasn’t about to throw in the towel, just because that bitch Nadine decided I should. Getting revenge on her would just be a nice bonus.

“Deal,” I announced, holding out my hand.

Maelyne stared at my hand for several seconds, as though trying to decide what she should do with it. Then, she smiled faintly in amusement and reached out to shake. Her massive hand easily engulfed my own, making me feel even more like a little kid in her presence.

“Your previous experience may serve you well in this,” she said. “But beware the other champions. Many will attempt to strengthen their position in the game by removing their competition between contests.”

“Yeah,” I responded, remembering how I’d ended up here in the first place. “I got kind of got that impression…”

“Now go and serve me well my new champion,” Maelyne commanded with a smile. “Your loyalty will be rewarded.”

As soon as Maelyne had said those words, a soothing warmth spread from her hand into my own, and then through the rest of my body. When I looked down, I was surprised to see that I was now glowing as well, though not as brightly as she was. However, this only lasted for several seconds, before everything exploded into a burst of light, and my world changed forever.

--------------------

I was laying on the ground when I awoke. It was cold, hard, and uncomfortable, but for some reason, I didn’t really mind too much. I felt light and full of energy. I felt…good.

As I opened my eyes and sat up, I saw that it was dark out and that I was still in the empty lot where I’d died. A horrible stench filled the air, and I recognized it as the same smell from when I’d been burning. There were a few small fires where the dark smoke and foul smell were coming from, and my stomach churned and threatened to turn inside out as I realized that they were human bodies.

“No freaking way,” I blurted out, staring at one charred body in horror. “That’s me…”

My own body was sprawled out in front of me, a charred and ruined mess. Enough remained unburnt, that I was able to recognize myself and the clothes I’d been burning. The other burnt corpse belonged to Hammer. And as I looked around, I saw one more dead body, that of the ninja who’d been cut in two. That body left a mess of a whole other kind.

“Shit,” I gasped, covering my mouth to keep from throwing up. “Fuck. Shit fuck.”

As I staggered back, away from the bodies, I suddenly realized that if that was my body over there… I paused at that and slowly looked down, gulping as I did so. Maelyne had warned me about what to expect, but I hadn’t really put two and two together, or at least, I hadn’t let myself think about what it meant.

“Crap,” I muttered.

My body was NOT my body. At least, it sure as hell wasn’t my old body, the one that I’d grown up with and was intimately familiar with. The one that was currently a charred ruin, just a short distance away. This was a different body entirely, though from what Maelyne had said, it was mine now, and probably would be for the rest of my life.

I was smaller, shorter, and without nearly the size or mass that I was used to. And even more distressing, was the fact that I was now a chick. I was wearing slacks and a blouse, both dirty from laying on the ground, but they showed my new body off well enough to make it obvious that I was a girl. Hell, I had two nice round bumps pushing out of my chest, which made quite a statement by themselves.

I could have just stood there, staring down at myself in shock, but a flicker of common sense told me that this wouldn’t be a good idea. There had been quite a show with all that fire and fighting, so it was amazing that the cops hadn’t shown up yet to investigate. They were almost guaranteed to show up sooner or later, and when they did, I didn’t want them to find me here…with three dead bodies.

Once I got over my initial shock enough to think straight, I went to where I left my car, only to get another surprise. It was on fire, though the flames were just burning down. Apparently, it hadn’t been enough for Nadine to murder me, she had to destroy my car too.

“Bitch,” I snarled.

Since I no longer had a car and didn’t think that hitchhiking was a good idea at the moment, I began walking the rest of the way back to my apartment. This gave me time to think about what was going on, though mostly, I just thought about how Nadine had murdered me…how I’d burned to death.

When I finally reached my apartment, I discovered a small problem. Namely, that my keys had been in my pocket, back with my real body. Because of that, I ended up standing in front of my door with no way inside.

“This is NOT my day,” I groaned, in what was probably the greatest understatement of my life.

I was dead. That was the first thing I remembered when I woke up in bed. Remaining where I was, I slowly let everything come back to me, knowing from the strange feel of my body that it hadn’t just been some sick nightmare.

When I was finally ready to face reality, I sat up and looked around my small studio apartment. Last night, when I’d gotten home, I’d been locked out of the place. Fortunately, I’d remembered that I’d been leaving my window cracked open to provide some air-flow during the summer. Leaving my window unlocked might have been pretty stupid from a security perspective, but this time, it happened to work out in my favor.

“This is crazy,” I said, staring down at my hands, which I held in front of me.

These were not my hands. They were smaller and more delicate looking. Girl hands. And while I stared at them, I was aware of some other differences that were even more noticeable.

As I stood up, I looked down at myself, getting a good look at my naked body since I’d undressed before bed. I’d looked myself over last night, at least a little bit, but I’d still been too much in shock to do more than give myself a brief examination.

“Don’t freak out,” I told myself. “You’re alive. Remember that. This is a lot better than being dead.”

With that in mind, I made my way to the bathroom where I sat down on the toilet to do my business. I’d already experienced the novelty of relieving myself with my new equipment last night. It was different, but not worth making a big deal over. At least, that was what I told myself, since it wasn’t like I had much choice about it.

While I emptied my bladder, I tried not to think about how strange my entire body felt, which was nearly impossible. Instead, I ended up thinking about all the differences, even creating a mental list that kept growing longer and longer.

“This is so freaking weird,” I muttered, gently poking my soft and fleshy chest. I was no expert, but I guessed I was probably a C cup, maybe even a D.

Once I was finished on the can, I stood up and looked myself over again. If I was being honest, I had to admit that my new body was very nice. It was slender and curvy in all the right ways. However, it still wasn’t MY body, not the one I was used to, so it felt totally wrong to me.

“You’d better get used to it, Jerry,” I reminded myself. “There’s no going back…”

I suddenly remembered my old body, or what was left of it, and shuddered. No, there was definitely no going back. This was my body now, and I was lucky to have it. Maybe, if I told myself this enough times, I’d actually believe it.

Then with a sigh, I flexed my muscles, not that there was anything there to flex. My old muscles were gone, along with my old body. That was frustrating, because I’d put a lot of time and effort into building those muscles, and I’d been pretty damn proud of them. This new body was in decent shape and had a little visible muscle tone, but nothing more. This wasn’t a body that engaged in frequent athletics or daily trips to the gym. I missed my muscles every bit as much as my manhood, and stood there for a minute, silently mourning them both.

My eyes went to the mirror above the sink and stared into a pair of green eyes. My old ones had been a sort of bluish grey. These green eyes were set into a face that was pretty, maybe even beautiful. There were a frcouple freckles and even a small scar on the chin, but these just helped add a little more character. Red hair framed the face, and cascaded down behind me, to the middle of my back.

“The redhead,” I said, recognizing the girl from last night. I’d known that I was in her body, but seeing in with my own eyes made that just a little more real. “Who are you?” I asked, before correcting myself. “Who WERE you?”

I didn’t know anything about Maelyne’s former champion, about the girl whose body I wore. Not even her name. There hadn’t been any money or identification on this body when I’d woken up in it. She might have had a purse, but if she did, I hadn’t seen it at the lot, nor had I even thought to look for something like that. Now, I regretted that, since it would have been nice to know who I was supposed to be.

After a minute, I turned away from the mirror and left my bathroom. However, my thoughts remained on the question of who I was now. I didn’t know anything about this body, the person who had it before me, or even about the gifts that Maelyne had given her. Since I was supposed to be taking over as Maelyne’s champion, that kind of information would have been useful.

“It would be nice to know if I was diabetic, or something,” I grumbled aloud, thinking about all the problems I could have if I didn’t know my own medical issues. “Hell, I could be deathly allergic to peanuts, for all I know.”

Suddenly, I felt something strange…a presence. It took me a moment to realize that it was Maelyne, and that she was somehow communicating with me, almost like she was whispering into my ear. There were no actual worse, but a moment later, I just KNEW what she was telling me. As soon as I’d received the message, her presence withdrew and vanished, leaving me alone again, and admittedly…a little shaken.

“Okay, coach,” I said, looking up, simply because that seemed appropriate when talking to a goddess I couldn’t see. “I’ll try it…”

I took a deep breath, then mentally focused on the word ‘status’, just like Maelyne ‘told’ me to. Suddenly, an image appeared in the air in front of me, almost like a computer screen, but without any actual computer or monitor being attached. And of course, there was writing on this screen.

NAME: HEATHER MARIE SIEVERS
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 18
PATRON: MAELYNE, GODDESS OF LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: 100%
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.

“Well,” I commented, after reading through the message several times. “I guess this answers some of my questions.”

According to this, I was now Heather Marie Sievers, or at least, that was the name of the person this body had previously belonged to. The idea of actually taking over her name and identity, along with her body, was kind of creepy and disturbing. I knew that the real Heather was no longer around to care, but this was like the ultimate identity theft.

“I’m sorry for this, Heather,” I apologized. “I’m not the one who killed you, and I’d give just about anything for last night to have never happened.”

Then, I looked over the ‘patron’ section again. It said that Maelyne was the goddess of loyalty and protection, which was actually a bit of a relief. If she’d been the goddess of something like sex, humiliation, or evil, I would have begun worrying about our deal.

As I looked over the screen in front of me, trying to determine if there was anything else I could learn from this, I noticed several tabs on the side. I cautiously touched the next one, and like a touch screen monitor, it changed windows. Now, the page was different, though surprisingly, very familiar.

STRENGTH: 7
STAMINA: 8
ENDURANCE: 10
-
AGILITY: 11
REFLEXES: 8
DEXTERITY: 9
-
INTELLIGENCE: 11
CHARISMA: 13
AWARENESS: 10
-
MANA POOL: 330
MANA RECOVERY: 167
HEALTH: 120
REGENERATION: 120

Maelyne said that the gods had been inspired by some of our games, and the proof of that seemed to be right in front of me. This looked like a stats page from some online game, or like the character sheet from a pen and paper role playing game.

I looked over the screen, noting that these traits had been separated into four groups, with related traits being grouped together. The last group, which dealt with mana and health, seemed to be using an entirely different scale to measure those traits. At least, that was my assumption, considering just how much higher those numbers were than all the other ones.

This page was definitely interesting, but it didn’t tell me as much as it seemed to. For one thing, I didn’t know the range of numbers available. My strength was listed as being seven, but was this a seven out of ten, or was it a seven out of a hundred? That was an important detail. At the moment, I simply didn’t have a good point of reference.

“I don’t feel very strong,” I said, flexing my muscles again and wincing. I felt light and full of energy, but not especially strong.

A moment later, I suddenly wondered how strong Nadine was. Yesterday, she’d picked me up off the ground with one hand, and she’d made it look easy. How high was the stat on her strength? Higher than mine? Lower? Somehow, I doubted that it was lower, which made me wonder, just how much higher than mine it was.

I was still considering these stats when my phone started to ring. My cell phone had been in my pocket, which meant that it had probably been melted beyond recognition. However, I still had my landline phone, which was convenient for whenever I forgot to recharge my cell. That was the phone that was ringing now, but I made no move to answer it. After a couple rings, it went over to voice mail.

“Jerry,” my manager’s voice came from the machine. “Are you there? If so, pick up.” He waited a few seconds, then continued, “You didn’t show up this morning, and you didn’t call in sick. I just want to know if you’re all right…”

The call ended without any response. I wasn’t sure what I sounded like now, but I was pretty confident that I no longer sounded like myself. If I’d answered the phone, that probably would have created some wrong ideas, and possibly a lot more problems for me.

“Sorry, Paul,” I said to the empty air. “I’m not coming in today…or ever again.”

I looked down at myself and shuddered, suddenly realizing that I couldn’t go back to work like this. I couldn’t go back to college in the fall. Hell, I couldn’t even go home. What would I tell my parents? There was no way that they’d believe me.

For a minute, I just stood there, frozen in dread as I considered what I’d just lost. It hadn’t just been my manhood and muscles, but EVERYTHING and EVERYONE in my life. It felt like a fist was crushing my heart and soul in a way that was every bit as painful as being on fire.

“No,” I said, trying to shake myself out of this growing depression. “Cut the crap. You died and now you’re getting another chance to be alive. There’s nothing to cry about.” Of course, I wasn’t sure how much I really believed it, but that did help for the moment.

After shaking myself out of this, I tried to focus on what I needed to do. First was getting dressed, and then, it was getting something to eat. When I was done with that, I could figure out my next step.

Unfortunately, I didn’t exactly have a lot of clothes around that would fit my new body. One of my former girlfriends had left a light jacket behind when we broke up, but other than that, the only thing I really had to wear were the clothes I’d woken up in. They weren’t exactly clean, but it wasn’t like I had much choice.

Next was breakfast, though that was going to be a bit of a problem. I didn’t have anything in the fridge, and all the snacks I’d bought last night had probably been burned up along with my car. My only choice was to grab something from the vending machines in the laundry room.

Once the decision was made, I grabbed my coin jar and made my way to the laundry room. To my relief, the machine had been refilled recently, so there was still a good selection to pick from.

A few minutes later, I started back towards my apartment with my arms full of food. My eyes were probably bigger than my stomach, especially now, but most of this could wait until later. For all I knew, this was my lunch as well as my breakfast.

I was almost back to my apartment when I saw the building manager standing beside my door, along with a cop. I froze where I was, far enough away that they didn’t notice me, and close enough that I could hear a few words of what they were saying.

Though I missed most of what was said, I heard the cop say, “…car was found burned…”

With those words, a weight sank in my stomach like a lump of lead. I didn’t bother to remain and listen to the rest, because I’d heard enough. If they found my car, then they would have found the bodies as well. As of now, Jerry Tanner was officially dead.

I stared out the window of the bus, firmly clutching the duffel bag that sat on the seat beside me. This bag contained everything I owned, which admittedly, wasn’t much.

A few hours ago, the sight of a cop at the door of my apartment had been enough to make me realize that I couldn’t stay there. Jerry Tanner was dead. Murdered. And if anyone found a girl staying in his apartment, especially one that none of his friends or family had ever heard of, there would be a lot of awkward questions, which I really couldn’t answer.

“Somehow, I doubt that anyone would believe the truth,” I muttered to myself.

After the cop left, I’d snuck back into my apartment and filled my duffel bag with everything that I wanted to take with me. Actually, there had been no way I could take everything I wanted, so I’d only taken what I needed, which wasn’t very much. It was depressing to realize that I’d left behind almost everything I owned, including all the trophies and medals, and even my gaming rig computer.

At the moment, people on the bus were giving me looks, as though they thought that I was homeless. That was understandable since I was wearing dirty clothes, and my hair needed to be washed and brushed. I looked like a homeless person. In fact, considering that I’d just left my apartment for good, and had no place to go, I actually was homeless. However, in spite of that, I wasn’t penniless. I still had all the money that I’d saved up for my tuition, and I was definitely going to need it.

I looked around the bus at the other passengers, feeling nervous about the fact that one of them could be a champion, and I might not even know it. What if someone came after me, the same way Nadine and Robe guy went after Heather? What if THEY came after me? I shuddered at the memory of what Nadine had done, then took another look around…just to be safe.

“I hate riding the bus,” I muttered under my breath. That had more to do with the other passengers than with the bus itself. Riding on the bus wasn’t usually my thing, but it wasn’t like I had any better choices.

When I reached my stop, I was relieved to finally get off the bus. One guy had been watching me a little too much, though I suspected that it was simply because he was a pervert and not because he was serving some god. Well, maybe the god of perverts, if there was such a thing.

It was strange for me to feel so nervous around other people, because I’d never been worried like this before. I was used to being bigger and stronger than most people around me, and confident in my ability to take care of myself. Because of what Nadine done, that was all gone. Even if I somehow got my old body back, things just wouldn’t go back to normal. Nadine had broken something deep inside me, something that couldn’t be easily fixed.

“Psycho bitch,” I spat out bitterly.

A minute later, I walked into a small café near the bus stop, bought myself a coffee and sandwich, then made myself comfortable at a small table in the corner. I took one sip of my coffee, then opened my duffel bag and pulled my laptop. Normally, I only used it for school work, but this was a lot easier to take with me than my desktop rig would have been. This might not be that good for gaming, but at least I could still access the internet.

“Thank God for free wifi,” I said. “Or should that be thank goddess?”

In spite of my deal with Maelyne, I had no intention of worshipping her. That hadn’t been part of our agreement. Besides, I’d never been very religious before, and saw no reason to change that just because I’d met an actual goddess, or at least, someone who claimed to be one.

While I sat there in that café, a mysterious redhead who was typing away at a computer, I almost felt like I was some kind of spy or hacker. But the truth was, all I was doing was checking the local news sites to see if there were any stories about my death. So far, I hadn’t found a single story about a crazy fight or three bodies being discovered. The closest I came was a small article about an ‘abandoned car’ having been set on fire and burned, with the driver being missing.

“Did they even bother to look in that lot?” I asked myself in disgust. I figured that the smell of burnt people would have been enough to make them investigate.

I leaned back and finished my coffee and sandwich, which should have been only a small snack to me, but now filled me up as though it was a full meal. It seemed that my smaller body also came with a smaller stomach, so I’d have to keep that in mind.

Once I was finished eating, I turned my attention to the other reason I’d come to the café. I logged into my email account and began typing a message. This was actually something that I probably should have done first, but I’d put it off as long as I could.

‘Hey, nerd boy. Something really weird happened to me last night after I left your place. I mean, Twilight Zone weird…like that show you made me watch. The kind of freaky weird that you’d never believe if I just told you, so I’m coming over today to tell you about it, and to prove I’m not nuts. This won’t be easy to believe, so I’m gonna copy this from my other email and game accounts. I figure, a hacker might get into one of these accounts, but not all of them. That should help to prove this is really me. Honestly, you’re the only one I know, who MIGHT believe me, and I don’t know who else to go to.’

I finished typing, then went back and fixed a couple errors before hitting send. As soon as I did that, I did what I said I would in the message, and sent the same message from several other accounts. If this didn’t get Matt to at least listen, I didn’t know what would.

About ten minutes later, I got up and left the café. I figured that I’d waited long enough, and knowing Matt like I did, if he hadn’t seen his email yet, it wouldn’t be long before he did. Still, I was a bit worried about everything that could go wrong with this, and about what I’d do if Matt didn’t believe me. But in spite of that, I’d never been a quitter before, and that hadn’t changed now just because I’d traded my balls for boobs.

Matt didn’t live very far away from the bus stop and café, so it only took me another ten minutes to reach his house. There was a small part of me that just wanted to wait out front, giving Matt more time to read the email and think about it. However, you can’t score any points if you don’t at least try, so I went straight to the door and rang the doorbell.

When the door opened a few seconds later, Teri stood there. She took one look at me, then loudly called out, “Hey, Matt… Your girlfriend is here…” I nearly choked at that.

“I don’t have a girlfriend right now,” Matt responded from somewhere behind her.

Teri gave me a skeptical look before responding, “Well, she looks kind of homeless, so I figured she was here for you…”

“Yeah,” I said. “Pretty funny, Teapot. But I am here to see Matt…”

“What…?” Teri gasped, obviously confused about my use of the nickname.

“What’s going on?” Matt asked as he came to the door and gave me a look of curiosity and confusion. “Who are…?”

“It’s me,” I blurted out, feeling nervous and more than a little self-conscious. I wasn’t used to feeling like this, and I really didn’t like it. Forcing a weak smile, I added, “I emailed you about twenty minutes ago.”

From the look on Matt’s face, he’d read the emails and knew what I was talking about. It was also obvious that he still had no idea of what was going on. He looked confused, but also suspicious. I grimaced at that, knowing that this wasn’t going to be easy.

“It’s me,” I repeated, calmly walking right past Teri and Matt, and going into their house as though I’d been invited in. “Jerry…” I gestured down at myself and gave a pained smiled. “Obviously, some really weird crap happened last night…”

Teri stared at me for a moment, before exclaiming, “She’s crazy…”

“Look,” I started, trying to figure out how I could explain this and not come off like the crazy person they obviously thought I was. “Last night, I stopped and got gas, and ran into Nadine…”

“Nadine?” Matt asked, with his eyes narrowing with even greater suspicion. “Wait… Nadine put you up to this, didn’t she? This is some kind of prank…”

I let out a sigh of exasperation, silently cursing Nadine and the fact that I’d ever met her. Back when we’d first started dating, I’d had no idea of just how messed up she was. She’d been pretty, outgoing, and definitely passionate. However, she had a darker side, one which I hadn’t seen at first. Nadine liked to hurt people. She seemed to get off on causing pain, whether physically, mentally, or emotionally. From what I could tell, it gave her an adrenaline rush, or maybe, just a sense of power.

Nadine had been nice to me, at first. In fact, she’d been great. However, she hadn’t been quite so pleasant to the people around me. She pushed buttons, made emotional digs, and even caused a few minor accidents, just because she could. Then, she began doing this to me, slowly enough so that I didn’t catch it right away. It was Matt who pulled me aside and pointed out that I was in the beginnings of an abusive relationship, and that it was only going to get worse. He was the one who opened my eyes to what Nadine really was.

“Oh, that bitch is responsible for this all right,” I spat out bitterly. “But this sure as hell isn’t a prank. I know I don’t look like it anymore, but I really am Jerry…”

“I don’t know who you really are,” Matt responded, backing away from me, “or what your game is…”

“I can prove it,” I exclaimed, almost desperate at this point. “Back in our freshman year, Deke Morrow slipped you a laxative brownie…and you crapped your pants, right there at school. You hid in the audio-visual room for an hour while I went to get you some new pants.”

“Really?” Teri asked, giving Matt a speculative look. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head, about how she could use this to tease her older brother.

“And then,” I quickly continued, “in our junior year, I asked you to help me cheat on my math test, so I wouldn’t fail the class and get kicked off the team. You refused, but helped me study for it instead, so I ended up getting a B…”

Matt was starting to soften under the memory of these shared experiences, but he wasn’t there yet. I knew him well enough to know that he was trying to figure out how I could know about either events. He probably just figured that Nadine told me, which would only make him more likely to believe his first assumption, that I was part of some prank that Nadine was playing. I had to come up with something that Nadine wouldn’t know, or something that would convince him to actually listen to me. Then, I had it.

“Status,” I announced, activating the status screen. It appeared in front of me, exactly like it had a few hours ago. I figured, the sight of some holographic computer screen, floating in the air in front of me, would be enough to shock Matt into actually believing that something supernatural was really going on. “There,” I said, smugly pointing to the screen.

“What?” Matt asked, looking confused.

“What are you pointing at?” Teri asked, looking just as confused as her brother.

I blinked at that, since this wasn’t what I’d expected. “This,” I snapped, pointing to the screen again. “Can’t you see it?”

Then, I realized from their expressions that they couldn’t. It seemed like I was the only one able to see the screen, which could be a good thing since I could check it out in public without drawing a lot of attention or shocking the people around me. However, at the moment, it was causing my big ‘show and tell’ bit to backfire, making me look even crazier than I already had.

Teri gave me a worried look and ran out of the room, coming back just seconds later with one of her dad’s golf clubs in hand. “Get out of our house,” Teri demanded, threatening me with the club. “I don’t know who you are, but go…”

When I didn’t move fast enough, Teri came at me with the golf club. I didn’t think she’d try to seriously hurt me, but I didn’t want to take the risk and stepped back. I remembered the way that Heather had protected herself from some of the attacks back in the lot, and wished that I knew how to do that. And suddenly, I realized that I did. A wall made of light appeared in front of me, just in time to block the golf club.

For a moment, the three of us all stood there, staring at the glowing wall in stunned silence. I couldn’t believe that actually worked. The wall faded away and vanished, and only then did Matt turn his attention back to me.

“What… What was that?” he asked, looking worried.

“Magic…I think,” I answered honestly. “Maybe now you’ll listen to me. Like I said, I’m Jerry…”

“You can’t be,” he protested, no longer sounding quite so certain. Now that he’d gotten a look at one piece of weirdness, that made him a little more likely to accept that there was more out there. “How…?”

“Nadine…murdered me,” I said in a grim tone, shuddering as I remembered it.

Matt just stared at me, obviously still skeptical and suspicious, but also now curious as well. “Then, why are you here now…looking like…?” He gestured at my body.

With a snort, I responded, “Would you believe divine interference?” And with that, I told him and Teri everything that had happened.

--------------------

I leaned back in my usual chair while Matt and Teri both stared at me. Over the last hour, Matt had called my cell phone multiple times, without getting an answer once, and the two of them took turns asking me questions that only I would know. Now, they’d accepted that, in spite of what I looked like, I really was Jerry.

“This is really strange,” Matt said.

“How do you think I feel?” I responded with a snort.

“You’re really a girl now,” Teri said, looking but curious and disappointed at the same time. “Maybe we should call you Jeri now… You know, with only one ‘R’ and an ‘I’.”

“Like Jeri Ryan,” Matt added with a faint smile. “Seven of Nine was hot…”

Teri elbowed her brother, then said, “I’ve never met Nadine, but you’ve both mentioned her a couple times, and she sounds pretty bad…”

“Nadine…with superpowers,” Matt said with a grimace. “Not a good combination.”

“You have no idea,” I told him with a grimace. “None…”

“But what about your abilities?” Matt asked eagerly. He was staring at me with a gleam of excitement in his eyes. “You said that this goddess gave you some kind of powers too too…like that force field…”

I nodded at that. “Yeah, but I don’t know anything about that stuff yet.” Then I shrugged, adding, “I do have a status screen…”

With that, I activated my status screen again. I’d noticed that it tended to vanish and disappear whenever I was distracted and stopped paying attention to it. Now, it was open and in front of me again, just like that morning.

“Can I see it?” Teri asked.

“I have it open and in front of me right now,” I said, gesturing to the screen on front of me. There were several tabs on the side, which I realized, I still hadn’t looked at yet.

Matt shook his head. “I can’t see anything…” He came over to me and stared at where the screen was before shaking his head again. “What does it say?”

“The first page is basic character information,” I answered, looking it over. “You know, name, age, and the equivalent of my health and status bars.”

“Awesome,” Matt said, excited about the whole thing. I almost wished I could share that feeling.

“The next tab is my stat screen,” I explained as I looked it over again. Nothing had changed since this morning. “Strength. Stamina. Endurance…”

Most of those traits and what they actually represented, varied a little between different game systems, but were generally about the same. For the most part, this looked like it could have been taken from nearly any game, though I did notice a couple things that were a little unusual. A lot of games had ‘wisdom’ as one of the traits, but that wasn’t included in this list. Instead, I had awareness. Charisma was a slightly odd one too, because that was more common in pen and paper roleplaying than in video games.”

Out of curiosity, I touched ‘awareness’, and a small popup appeared.

ENVIRONMENTAL, PERSONAL, AND SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. HIGHER LEVELS IN THIS TRAIT INCREASE THE LIKELYHOOD OF TRACKING A TARGET, SUCCESSFULLY IDENTIFYING TRAPS AND AMBUSHES, AND SEEING THROUGH CERTAIN MAGICS.

“Cool,” I said, getting curious looks from Matt and Teri, who couldn’t see what I was doing. With a faint smile, I explained, “Just taking a closer look at these stats.”

Out of curiosity, l touched each of the traits listed and read the popup explanations. Strength was obvious. Stamina was how much I could exert myself before getting tired. Endurance was how well I could handle physical stress and injury, or basically, how tough I was. Agility was grace, balance, and how easily I could move my body. Reflexes was the speed at which I could react, so I guessed that this, along with agility, would determine how well I could dodge attacks. And then there was dexterity, which seemed to focus on hand-eye coordination and accuracy.

“How good are your stats?” Matt asked curiously.

“Honestly,” I admitted with a shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t know what the baseline is for these, but my highest one is charisma, with agility and intelligence both being two points lower. I seem to have a pretty big mana pool too, so it looks like I’m probably a caster.”

Matt gave me a look of amusement. “High charisma and intelligence? You? That is new…”

“Bite me, nerd boy,” I responded, flipping him off.

Teri laughed at that. “Yeah, real charismatic.” Then, she asked, “So, what’s a caster?”

“A magic user of some kind,” Matt answered. “Usually, low physical power and light armor, but a lot of magic.” He considered this for a moment before asking, “Since you’re some kind of champion for this goddess, does that mean you’re a cleric? Or maybe even a paladin…”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. I hadn’t seen any class or archetype listed on my stat sheet so far. Then again, I hadn’t looked through all the tabs either. “But if I’m a cleric, then every other champion in this stupid game would be too…”

“Good point,” Matt said.

I clicked on the next tab and was rewarded with a new window that I hadn’t seen before, yet like the others, familiar to the games I played.

EQUIPMENT:

ARMOR:
LIGHT ARMOR-
-ARMOR RATING 60
-20% PROTECTION FROM ALL MAGICAL DAMAGE
-PREVENTS THE WEARER FROM BEING PHOTOGRAPHED OR RECORDED BY NON-MAGICAL MEANS

WEAPONS:
STAFF-
-REDUCES MANA COST OF MAGICAL ABILITIES BY 10%
-INCREASES EFFECTIVENESS OF SHIELD ABILITIES BY 20%

It was an equipment page, listing all of Heather’s…my gear and equipment. Instead of separate listings for each piece of armor, like most games did, this had the armor all placed under a single entry, with a picture beside it. The picture was of the odd white and red dress that I’d seen Heather wearing in the lot, and it had the stats listed. It had a similar entry for a weapon, the golden metallic staff that I’d seen Heather using.

“My armor and gear,” I said aloud, for Matt’s benefit. “It looks like I am a clothie caster.” I said with a bit of disgust, because I’d always like playing warrior types, the kind with big weapons and heavy armor.

I reached out and touched the picture of the armor, trying to see if I could zoom in or get some more information. Suddenly, the air around me shimmered and sparked, and a moment later, I was wearing the armor. I jumped to my feet in surprise, then stared down at myself in shock and horror. I was wearing a dress. A DRESS.

From my new perspective, I was able to make out a lot more about this outfit than I had last night. I seemed to be wearing some kind of spandex, or at least a skin-tight, crimson body stocking, that covered my entire body from the neck down. On top of that, there were white gloves, white wrist bracers, and a pair of white, thigh length boots. And on top of that, there was the white and red dress, which seemed to have some subtle armor and padding built into it as well. A few pieces of gold metal were embedded into the wrist bands and dress, probably just for decoration.

Matt stared at me for several seconds before blurting out, “You’re a magical girl…”

“I am NOT,” I exclaimed.

“You are too,” Teri added with a laugh. “Totally a magic girl…”

“Well,” Matt admitted with a faint smirk, “you do look a bit more serious and badass than most magical girls in anime, but you did do a sparkling transformation sequence, so… Magical girl.”

“Bite me,” I responded, flipping him off.

“And where is that charisma again?” Matt asked.

I glared at Matt, then suddenly realized, that he was taller than me. Not by a lot, just two inches. Still, Matt, my short best friend, was now taller than me. That realization hit me like a hard-core tackle, knocking the mental wind right out of me. Damn, I was short. I was probably only about five foot five now.

“If I can make this suddenly show up like this,” I muttered to myself, trying to think about how to change back to my other clothes. After a couple seconds, I figured it out, and was back in the dirty clothes that made me look homeless. I wasn’t sure which outfit was worse.

“So, what else can you do?” Teri practically demanded. I could see the eager curiosity written all over her face.

“Don’t know,” I answered, clocking on the next tab of my screen. “Let’s see…”

This tab contained exactly what I was looking for, because it was a list skills and abilities.

SKILLS:

STAFF FIGHTING- RANK 3
-YOU KNOW HOW TO FIGHT USING A STAFF. HIGHER LEVELS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

FLIRTING- RANK 5
-YOU KNOW THE ART OF FLIRTING WITH OTHERS, ENCOURAGING POSITIVE REACTIONS, AND LOYALTY. THIS WORKS BEST WITH THOSE OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER. HIGHER LEVELS OF CHARISMA INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

The ‘skills’ section was pretty short, with only the two entries. Somehow, I doubted that these were the only skills that Heather had possessed, so these must be the only ones that related to the game. Or maybe, these were the ones that she’d acquired from the game, though most pretty girls seemed to know how to flirt.

ABILITIES:

SHIELD WALL- RANK 5
-CREATE A MAGICAL BARRIER TO PROTECT YOU FROM DAMAGE.

MAELYNE’S SHIELD- RANK 1
-CREATE A MAGICAL BARRIER TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND THOSE CLOSE TO YOU FROM DAMAGE.

LESSER HEALING- RANK 3
-HEAL MINOR DAMAGE.

COMPANION 1-
-PERMANENTLY BIND A COMPANION TO YOUR SERVICE. THIS COMPANION GAINS +5 STRENGTH, +5 STAMINA, AND +5 ENDURANCE.

COMPANION 2-
-PERMANENTLY BIND A COMPANION TO YOUR SERVICE. THIS COMPANION GAINS +4 AGILITY, +4 REFLEXES, +4 DEXTERITY, AND STEALTH.

PROTECT COMPANION- RANK 2
-CREATE A MAGICAL SHIELD TO PROTECT A COMPANION.

As I read through these abilities, it felt like a lump of lead was settling into my stomach. Now, this was a real kick in the balls. Maelyne said that I’d inherit her previous champion’s abilities, and it certainly looks like I had, but why did she have to give me THESE ones?

“Crap,” I exclaimed bitterly.

“What’s wrong?” Matt asked.

Not only was I a squishie caster, and a support one at that, I was also a minion master. A lot of RPGs had some kind of class or archetype that specialized in controlling pets or minions, and sending them off to fight in their place. That kind of thing might be fine for other people, but not for me.

I was a pretty straight-forward guy, and I liked jumping into the action, up close and personal. I was a tank, and I had a lot of experience being one. I ran in, got everyone’s attention, and protected my team by taking all the aggro and damage on myself. But this was…a support class, minion master, which was the exact opposite. This was the build for someone who’d stand back where it was safe, while sending expendable minions out to fight and die for them.

This had to be some kind of sick and twisted joke, maybe even one from Nadine. It was one thing to be turned into a living video game character, and be expected to risk my life fighting for some goddess I’d never even heard of before yesterday. But now, I was expected to do it with a class that was the exact opposite of my own inclination and experiences.

“I am so freaking dead,” I moaned. “Again.”

The hot water felt good against my skin, which made it difficult to ignore the strange signals coming from my body, though I certainly tried. This was the second shower that I’d had in this body, and I was going a little slower than the first time and ignoring my new body a little less. I still had a hard time believing that this was my body, and had been doing the best I could to simply ignore it and pretend that everything was normal.

Yesterday, after I’d convinced Matt and Teri of who I was, it hadn’t taken long before they’d both insisted that I take a shower and get clean. I’d done so almost reluctantly, and I’d rushed through it as fast as I could, not wanting to face this nearly alien body. And in the short time it had taken me to get clean, Teri had somehow found me some clean clothes to wear. They hadn’t been a perfect fit, but they’d fit close enough to work.

Matt had also convinced his parents to let me stay there for awhile. I wasn’t sure of the details, but apparently he’d told them that we were friends, that we we’d been in a couple of the same college classes, and that when I’d just come out as a lesbian, my family had completely disowned me, and had thrown me out. After his made-up sob story, they’d agreed to let me stay in their spare bedroom for a couple days.

“I have a couple days to figure out where to go next,” I mused as I climbed out of the shower.

I had enough money, that I could rent a small room or apartment somewhere, if I actually had some identification. Since I didn’t have any identification, that wasn’t too likely at the moment, nor was finding a new job. I’d probably have to see if I could find where Heather lived, and if I could find a copy of her driver’s license…assuming she had one.

“One problem at a time,” I reminded myself, as I began drying off.

My new skin seemed a lot more sensitive than what I was used to, so I had to be a bit more gentle about drying off. Again, I tried not to think too much about my new body as I did so. It was all too weird. My chest was NOT supposed to push out this much, and it certainly wasn’t supposed to be soft and squish, or to feel so good when I touched it.

When I came out of the bathroom a short time later, wearing the clean clothes Teri had provided, I was still busy trying to dry my hair. It was long, wet, and heavy, and was holding water like a sponge. No matter how much I twisted, squeezed, and ran a towel through it, it remained a wet mess.

“What are you doing?” Teri asked, staring at me with a look of surprise.

“I’m drying my hair,” I grumbled.

“Not like that you aren’t,” she exclaimed.

“It’s not like I have a lot of experience with long hair,” I reminded her with a scowl. “I’ll probably get it cut short so it’ll be easier to deal with.”

Teri just grinned. “I bet you’d look super cute with a pixie cut…”

I glared at Teri, but it didn’t have the impact that I was used to. Instead of even being the slightest bit intimidated, Teri giggled. That was yet another blow to my masculine ego, and I wasn’t sure how many more it could take.

“Sit down, and I’ll help you with your hair,” Teri told me. A minute later, she was going to work on my hair with a hairdryer and brush, explaining, “With long hair, you really have to take care of it, or it will knot up and look sloppy…”

I wasn’t sure how long I was stuck there, while Teri lectured me on proper care and maintenance of hair. I wanted to tune it all out, but knew that it might be useful, so forced myself to pay attention. It was like sitting through a math class, when I wanted to be just about anywhere else, but knew that the material would be important for the test.

By the time Teri was done, I had to admit that my hair looked and felt much better. In fact, this was definitely the best my hair had been, since I’d woken up with this body. I still wasn’t convinced that it was worth all the time and effort of taking care of it, but I had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

Matt came into the room just a minute after this, though he paused at the doorway and stared at me. It was obvious that he found me attractive, which was extremely awkward and uncomfortable for both of us. However, he shook it off after a couple seconds, then tried to act as though nothing had happened, much to my relief.

“I was looking at the local news sites,” Matt announced, “and I couldn’t find anything at all about that fight you told us about, or about anyone finding the bodies…”

“I couldn’t find anything yesterday, either,” I said.

“Well,” Matt continued with a scowl. “I drove past that area last night, and again this morning, and there isn’t any crime scene tape. And when I stopped this morning to actually go look…I didn’t see anything. No bodies…”

“What?” Teri exclaimed in surprise. “Did someone steal them?”

I groaned at that, and when Matt and Teri both looked at me, I had to ask, “Do you know how weird it is, that I have to worry that someone stole my body?”

“No offense,” Matt responded. “But everything about this is weird.” He was clearly trying not to stare at me.

“Good point,” I agreed.

“What are you going to do now?” Teri asked.

I considered that for a moment before admitting, “I don’t know…”

“Maybe you should make a list,” Matt suggested. “First, a list of your current problems, and then we can talk about how to solve them…”

“Well, you’ve kind of got the wrong body,” Teri pointed out wryly. “But I don’t know if you can fix that.”

Matt nodded. “Other than without a LOT of surgery, and then, there’s only so much you can do with that.”

“This is pretty freaky,” I said, gesturing down at myself. “But I don’t think there’s much I can do about it. I mean, it is better than being dead… A LOT better…”

“You don’t have any job, home, or identification at the moment,” Matt continued. “But you know the name of the person who used to have that body, so we might be able to find where she lived and worked…”

“And you can’t forget about the game,” Teri offered.

I rolled my eyes at that. “Trust me, I haven’t forgotten.” I scowled at that, then said, “It’s only a matter of time before I have to play, and I don’t know much about these new abilities I have.”

I didn’t bother to mention that I wasn’t very happy with what those abilities were either. I’d never play a character with those abilities, but now I was stuck having to live with them…or die. That was enough to make me shudder at the reminder of my previous death. I did NOT want to repeat that, which meant, I’d have to learn how to use what I had…whether I liked it or not.

Matt gave me a worried look. “What if Nadine and that other guy come after you?”

“They probably think I’m dead,” I said, with a shrug. “Or that Heather is dead. I’ve probably got a little time, but I don’t know how much.”

“So, what are you gonna do?” Teri asked, giving me a worried look too.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” I admitted with a scowl. “Back when I was playing sports, there was one thing that every coach agreed on… You can’t win unless you put in the time and work before you ever get on the field…”

“And in non-jock speak?” Matt asked with a faint smirk.

“Practice,” I said with a sigh. “I need to figure out what I can do now, and how to do it better. That means, I’m probably gonna need a lot of practice.”

“And where are you doing to do that?” Teri asked. “I mean, it’s not like you can go practicing magical superpowers in our back yard, without the neighbors noticing…”

“I know a place,” Matt said.

The two of us looked at each other, then as one, we both announced, “The Heap!”

--------------------

The Heap was an illegal dump site, where people had been abandoning furniture and appliances for decades, because it was often cheaper and easier than taking them to a real dump. The various hills that surrounded the area made it difficult for anyone to really see the place, which was why it was such a long favored junk yard.

Back when Matt and I had been in middle-school, this had been a popular area for some kids to play hide and seek, or to race around on their bicycles. But then, the city council decided to clean up the area, chasing away all the kids in the process. Within a year though, people began dumping their garbage here again, though by that point, the kids had already found other places to hang out and never bothered to return.

I looked around the Heap, which looked much the same as the last time I’d been here, a couple years ago. There was a rotting mattress, leaning up against an abandoned refrigerator, with a recliner and washing machine sitting beside them. Wherever I looked, there were piles of this clutter, which made an enticing yet dangerous playground for kids.

“There’s nobody around,” Matt called out, after having walked around the area. “So we should be good, unless someone shows up with a new load of garbage.”

“If they do, we’ll see them coming,” I responded.

Since the coast was clear, I brought up my invisible screen and began looking over my skills and abilities again. Then, my eyes settled on the section for ‘gifts’, which like the one for ‘skills’, was actually pretty small.

GIFTS:

LOYALTY: YOU GAIN POWER FROM YOUR COMPANION’S LOYALTY. AS THEIR LOYALTY INCREASES, SO DOES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR ABILITIES.

MAELYNE’S BLESSING: THE CONDITIONS HAVE NOT BEEN MET.

I didn’t know what the difference was between ‘gifts’ and ‘abilities’, though ‘loyalty’ looked like it was probably a passive and none of the abilities had been. Loyalty didn’t give me any percentages, but looked like it might be a useful power…IF I had companions, IF they were loyal, and IF the bonus was high enough to be worth it. There were way to many ‘ifs’ for my satisfaction. And as for the second gift, ‘Maelyne’s blessing’, it was greyed out, and apparently not even active.

“So, what are you going to do first?” Teri asked.

Matt give his sister a look of annoyance since she’d insisted on coming, but he didn’t say anything. I understood, that he didn’t like his kid sister tagging around, but at the moment, she was just as involved in this as he was. In fact, she was the one who’d helped me with my hair, and found clothes for me to wear, so she’d probably been even more helpful than him, so far.

“It’s magical girl transformation time,” Matt teased me.

I flipped him the bird, then activated both my armor and weapon. Suddenly, I was surrounded by sparkles and light, and a second later, I was wearing the armored dress again. Or maybe, it might have been a little more like a tunic than a dress. At least, that was what I told myself. And in my right hand, I held the gold metal staff that I’d seen Heather fighting with.

“Now, we just need to find you a magical animal,” Teri announced excitedly.

“Maybe that’s what these companion abilities are for,” I mused.

However, in spite of the fact that I was curious about those ones, I decided to start at the top of the list. That meant ‘shield wall’, which was the only ability that I’d actually seen in use, or had actually used myself so far.

“Shield wall,” I called out, willing that power to activate

Suddenly, a glowing wall of light appeared in front of me. My screen was still up, and I watched as my mana bar went down. From what I could tell, shield wall cost me about 50 mana points. Since my mana pool was at 330, that wasn’t very expensive. I nodded in satisfaction because I now had a better idea of how much this particular power cost to use.

“I wish I’d brought a baseball bat,” Matt said as he looked over the glowing wall. “I want to see how tough this is…”

“Will this do?” Teri asked, holding up a golf club.

Matt gave her a look of surprise. “Is that Dad’s… Nevermind.”

Teri took a swing and hit the glowing wall, though the club bounced right off as though it was a real wall. I’d seen Nicole bounce right off this thing, so I wasn’t surprised. Unfortunately, the shield only lasted for about ten seconds before it faded.

“Try it again,” Matt suggested. He held up a metal pipe that he’d found next to one of the junk piles.

I activated the ability again, though this time, I didn’t say anything out loud. After all, Heather hadn’t said anything when she used the ability, and I’d already used it once yesterday, without having to say anything. As soon as the glowing wall reappeared, Matt began smacking it with his bar, while Teri used the golf club. After another ten seconds, it vanished again.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m getting a better idea of how much it costs to use, and how long it lasts. I still don’t know how strong it is though…”

“And it’s not like we have calibrated testing tools out here either,” Matt pointed out.

I activated the shield wall a few more times, getting a little more familiar with the ability. Each time, Matt and Teri continued to test it, even throwing rocks and random pieces of junk. I was just thankful the thing held, because they were getting a little carried away, and I could have been beaned in the head.

Next, I decided to test Maelyne’s shield, which was listed as only being a rank 1 power. I’d never seen this one used, so I had Matt and Teri back up before I activated it. As soon as I did, the shield appeared, but instead of just being a glowing wall in front of me, there was now a glowing dome above my head.

“Nice,” Matt exclaimed.

“Yeah,” I agreed, looking around at the dome I now stood within. Unlike the wall, this shield was protecting me from just about every direction.

However, I quickly saw a small problem. My screen was still up in front of me, so I saw that this ability had taken about 200 mana points to activate. That was expensive compared to ‘shield wall’, but what was worse, was that my mana bar was still dropping. Maelyne’s shield was still sucking power, and as soon as my bar hit 0, the dome vanished.

“That thing is a total gas hog,” I said in annoyance.

In games, it always frustrated me when some power cost so much to use, that you couldn’t afford to actually use when you needed it most. From just this one test, it looked like Maelyne’s shield was going to be one of those powers.

“Try it again,” Teri told me with an eager grin. She was clutching the golf club in a way that gave little doubt about what she had in mind.

“I can’t,” I responded with a scowl. “I’m all out of juice…”

Then, brushing the long red hair out of my face, I focused on my screen, watching as my mana bar slowly filled back up. It took about ten minutes before the bar was full again, which was a good sign that this wouldn’t be a very effective power in a fight. What good was a shield that could only protect you for half a minute, then left you completely defenseless for the next ten minutes?

“Okay,” I said once I was ready. “Let’s try this again…” I brushed a couple strands of hair out of my face again, then activated Maelyne’s shield.

Matt and Teri immediately went to work on the shield, hitting it with bar, golf club, and rocks until it ran out of power and vanished again. After that, we had another long wait before I had the power to try it a third time.

“This should protect you against some angry baseball players,” Matt told me. “But we don’t know how strong it actually is. Is it strong enough to protect you from someone with a gun?”

“No idea,” I replied with a sigh. “I’d prefer not to find out the hard way.”

We tested this ability a couple more times, with Matt trying to find new ways to damage the shield, though we didn’t really have many options at the moment. We were in the middle of a junk yard, so there were plenty of things to throw, but unfortunately, we didn’t have anyone strong enough to actually throw the big things. Then, a popup suddenly appeared on my screen.

MAELYNE’S SHIELD HAS INCREASED TO RANK 2.

“It looks like I just leveled up my shield,” I announced, feeling rather pleased by that, in spite of the fact that I couldn’t see myself being able to use it very much. Still, every athlete liked to see their performance improve, and every gamer liked to level up.

“Gratz,” Matt told me.

“So, what next?” Teri asked.

“My next power is lesser heal,” I answered with a slight frown. “But without anyone being injured, I don’t know how to really test that one…”

“I volunteer Matt,” Teri immediately responded. She held up her golf club and grinned evilly.

“I’d rather not,” Matt said, giving his sister a flat look.

“It’s just a healing spell,” I said, remembering how those usually worked in various RPGs I played. If someone was at full health, it probably wouldn’t do anything. And since I wasn’t about to ask Matt or Teri to risk something that I wouldn’t, I activated the ability and tried to focus it on myself. A moment later, I felt a pleasant warmth through my body, but nothing else. “About what I expected. And no, I’m not injuring myself to make sure it actually works.” When Tina began to grin, I added, “Or Matt either.”

“But you’re welcome to volunteer,” Matt quickly told his sister. She responded by flipping him off.

The next ability on my list was ‘companion 1’, which didn’t even have a rank listed next to it. I assumed that this was because the power didn’t rank up like the others, though I could be wrong. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time.

I was curious about the companion abilities, because the description was a little vague. Did Heather already have companions that this would summon for me, or would I have to find my own? Would any animal work? Wanting to see for myself, I activated the power. Nothing happened. I didn’t even lose any essence.

“Not real impressive,” I muttered to myself.

Just as I was clicking on one of the companion abilities again, Tina touched my arm and asked, “So, what do you have for us next?” This time, my mana bar suddenly dropped all the way to 0, and Tina jumped back with a gasp of surprise.

“What’s wrong?” Matt demanded.

“I don’t know,” Tina answered with a strange expression. A moment later, she pointed to the air on front of her and asked, “Can you guys see this?”

“See what?” Matt asked.

When I looked at the space in front of Tina, I could actually see a screen in front of her, much like the one I had. Hers had some writing, but I couldn’t make out what it said.

“There’s a message right here in front of me,” Tina announced with a look of amazement. “It says, ‘Maelyne’s champion has invited you to become her companion. Do you accept?’”

“NO,” Matt and I both exclaimed at once, while Tina just grinned and responded, “Yes.”

An instant later, a new popup appeared on my screen. TERI LOUISE CORSKEY IS NOW YOUR COMPANION.

“Oh wow,” Teri gasped, staggering back for a second. “This feels awesome…”

Matt immediately glared at me, demanding, “What did you do to my sister?”

“It was an accident,” I protested defensively. “Besides, Teapot was the one who agreed…”

My eyes went back to my screen, where one of the companion abilities now had a side tab, along with a small bar beneath it labeled ‘loyalty’. So, this was how I acquired companions. Matt was never going to forgive me for this

“This is so awesome!” Teri exclaimed from the next room over. I was in the guest bedroom, right next to her room, so had no problem hearing her.

I was sitting on the edge of the bed, with a brush in my hand, and was feeling an odd mixture of self-conscious and satisfied. I’d just finished drying and brushing my hair, which had taken about half an hour. Now, my hair felt nice and smooth between my fingers.

It felt strange to have long hair, especially since I’d always had it short before. And even though I’d only had long hair for a couple of days now, I’d already decided that it was a real pain in the butt. It was heavy when wet, kept falling into my face, getting into my food when I was trying to eat, and it took way too much time and effort to maintain. As it was, I kept thinking about how much easier things would be if I simply cut it off.

“Definitely a pain,” I muttered as I ran the brush though my hair again, even though it didn’t need it.

Though I’d never admit it to anyone else, and barely even acknowledged it myself, there was one good reason why I hadn’t cut my hair short yet, and why I probably wouldn’t. Vanity. Even though I’d never really thought about it in those terms, I’d always been a little vain. You don’t spend as much time in the gym as I do, building muscles, unless you wanted to look good. Whether I liked it or not, I was a girl now, and probably would be for the rest of my life. Since I was going to be a girl from now on, I figured that I should at least try to look good as one, and I’d always thought that long hair looked better on girls than short hair.

“Looks like I’ll have to get used to this,” I grumbled with a note of disgust in my voice, which might have been just a little exaggerated for the sake of my pride.

As I’d learned yesterday, when Teri had been helping me with my hair, there was something oddly soothing about running a brush through it. I didn’t really understand what it was, but once the knots had been worked out, the act of brushing long hair had been almost relaxing.

Once I was finished, I set the brush down and muttered, “The next thing you know, I’ll be trying makeup…” I snorted in contempt, deciding that this was a line I’d never cross.

I stood up and was about to leave the room, when the door was suddenly flung open and Teri burst inside, exclaiming, “Hey, Jeri… She stood in front of me, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and a too small t-shirt. “Look… None of my clothes fit me…” She sounded absolutely delighted by that.

“Yeah, I see,” I responded, caught between the desire to stare at her, and the feeling that it was completely inappropriate.

Teri had been a bit of a late bloomer, but now, it was all hitting her at once. She’d filled out noticeably during the night, and was now showing some of the curves that she’d previously been lacking in. She was probably even a B cup now, though I also noticed her muscle tone, which was firm and pronounced. Teri now looked like an aerobics instructor, or at least, someone who spent a lot of time in the gym. It turned out that being my companion had certain benefits.

Last night, we noticed that Teri had grown larger. All of her clothes had become tight, and she was two inches taller than normal. Obviously, she’d grown even more during the night. Yesterday morning, she’d been five foot four, and now, she looked to be about five foot eight. Not only had she grown taller than me, but she was now also taller than Matt.

I stared at Teri for a moment, then brought up my screen. When Teri became my companion, a new tab had appeared for her, so I clicked on that and brought it up again.

COMPANION 1

NAME: TERI LOUISE CORSKEY
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 15
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: NA
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.
SPECIAL ABILITY: INCREASED HEALTH AND REGENERATION

STRENGTH: 11
STAMINA: 14
ENDURANCE: 12
-
AGILITY: 10
REFLEXES: 8
DEXTERITY: 8
-
INTELLIGENCE: 9
CHARISMA: 10
AWARENESS: 7
-
MANA POOL: NA
MANA RECOVERY: NA
HEALTH: 150
REGENERATION: 150

Yesterday, before we’d gone to the Heap, I’d told Matt and Teri about my various abilities, including the description on my companion abilities, which said that my companions would each gain a permanent stat increase. Teri had accepted my accidental companion invitation, because she wanted the stat bonuses for herself. Now, Teri was my ‘companion 1’, which came with +5 strength, +5 stamina, and +5 endurance, and her body seemed to be changing in order to handle those new physical abilities.

I had to admit, that was jealous of Teri. I had a strength of 7, while hers was now an 11. Not only was she taller than me now, she was also stronger…by a good amount. I seemed to have the normal strength of a girl my age and build, who only engaged in moderate exercise. I suspected that Teri was going to end up near my old strength level.

Teri’s strength, stamina, and endurance had all been on the lower side to start with, so the bonus wasn’t quite as impressive as it could have been for someone else. If someone like the old me had been given those bonuses, then he would have ended up as a physical powerhouse. This would have turned an already athletic guy, into a real tank.

This line of thought made me think of Hammer, and realize that he and the ninja were Heather’s companions. Maelyne had said something about that, but I’d been so distracted by my own problems, that I’d barely given any thought to them. Now, I felt a little guilty for that.

“I wonder if I’m gonna get even bigger,” Teri said, looking down at herself with an expression of satisfaction.

“I don’t know,” I answered, biting down the jealousy. “It’s not like I’ve done this to anyone before…”

“Well, thank you,” Teri exclaimed, grabbing me in a very firm hug.

She was definitely a lot stronger than before, which made the envy burn even stronger, though I tried to push it down. It wasn’t like I could have used that ability on myself anyway. I’d already tried that with the second companion ability, just to see if I could get those stats.

“Now, if Matt was as happy about this as you are,” I said with a wry smile. Matt was still mad at me, and the fact that his little sister had grown taller and stronger than him, would only make this worse.

“I’m gonna need a whole new wardrobe,” Teri announced, her eyes seeming to gleam with excitement. “We can go shopping together…” She practically squealed with delight while I groaned.

A minute later, Teri and I went into the living room, where Matt was already up and playing around on his laptop. He stared at Teri with a scowl, obviously frustrated to see that she’d changed even more since last night. I could see the same jealousy in his eyes which had probably been visible in my own. It was hard not to be jealous of Teri.

“Did you find any way to release Teri?” Matt asked.

“No,” I answered. Teri just smirked. “I tried, but there doesn’t seem to be any options to release a companion once they’re bound. And it says in the description that it’s permanent…”

“Which means, you’re stuck with me,” Teri announced before grabbing me in a hug. This time, I was pretty sure she squeezed a little harder than necessary on purpose. Then, she smirked at Matt, adding, “And it looks like you’re gonna have to get used to being my little brother.”

“Sorry,” I told Matt, knowing that this would definitely change the dynamics of their sibling rivalry, and not in Matt’s favor. I felt bad for doing this to my best friend. Then again, it would also give me something new to tease him about.

While we were talking, I noticed the duffel bag on the floor near Matt. The stock of a paintball gun was sticking out, and that immediately reminded me of what day it was. Saturday. The day of our scheduled match.

“Aw, crap,” I blurted out, gesturing towards the duffel. “I forgot all about the game…”

Matt gave me a wry smile. “I probably would have too, if that happened to me…”

“I’m just sorry I can’t go,” I said with a sigh, feeling bad for leaving him and our other teammates in the lurch.

“Why don’t you?” Teri asked with a grin. “You can just tell everyone that you’re Matt’s girlfriend. Of course, nobody will believe he could get a girl as cute as you, but…”

“Bite me,” Matt told his sister.

Teri just grinned. “You wanna arm wrestle, little bro?”

Matt glared at her, then at me. I had a feeling that I’d be paying for this for a long time. Then again, because of all the teasing material it gave me, it might actually even be worth it.

Before Matt could come up with a good comeback against Teri, their mother came into the room. Gail Corskey was a middle-aged woman, with shoulder length brown hair that was starting to turn grey, and she radiated the whole ‘mom’ vibe. She took one step into the room, then froze and stared at Teri.

“Teri,” she gasped in surprise and a bit of confusion. “What happened to you…?”

“Um,” Teri responded self-consciously. “I…um…grew…”

“Where have you been, Mom?” Matt asked, as though confused. “You know Teri has been going through a growth spurt…”

“Yes,” Gail responded, still looking a bit shaken and confused. “But…”

“I mean, a whole inch in one month,” Matt continued.

Not to be left out, I added, “I think she’s grown at least two inches since the first time I met her.”

Gail shook her head at that. “I guess I just haven’t been paying attention lately. You kids grow so fast, I just can’t keep track of it…”

“And Teri does tend to slouch down a lot,” I said, even though it wasn’t really true. Still, it was common for a lot of teenagers, so Gail nodded absently, as though that explained everything.

Gail was obviously a bit embarrassed at her own ‘lack of observation’, so quickly hurried back out of the living room saying why she’d come in the first place. As soon as she was gone, and out of hearing distance, the three of us all laughed.

“I kind of feel sorry for Mom,” Teri admitted.

“Me too,” Matt told her. “But how in the world could we possibly explain your sudden growth. I mean, Mom and Dad aren’t exactly open minded about this kind of thing.”

I nodded agreement since my own parents were the same way. They were too caught up in their own lives to really pay much attention to mine, and so certain that they knew how the world worked, that they’d never hear a word anyone said which contradicted that. Well, my parents were probably a little worse about that than Gail would be, but there was a reason I hadn’t called them when this happened.

“You know,” I suggested, looking at Teri. “For the next couple months, you should probably wear loose clothes and slouch a bit, at least, whenever you’re around your parents or anyone who’d really notice…”

“I guess,” Teri reluctantly agreed, almost pouting. She was eager to show off her new body, so probably wouldn’t take my advice.

--------------------

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” I said as Matt and I arrived at the park where the paintball match was scheduled to take place.

I hadn’t wanted to come here today, since it would be weird hanging out with my friends when they didn’t even know who I was. However, Matt talked me into it, pointing out that a bit of familiarity might help my mood. As much as I might not like it, he was probably right too.

“Okay, Han Solo,” Matt said, giving me a look of amusement.

I flipped him off, then brushed the air out of my face. “I guess that makes you the Wookie…” Matt fried to make the famous Chewbacca growl, though not very successfully. I just rolled my eyes. “You are such a nerd.”

Matt and I climbed out of his car and grabbed our gear, which included the stuff I was borrowing from him. Unfortunately, my own gear had been left behind at my apartment, and I didn’t want to risk going back there. If Jerry had been reported dead, or at least missing, since my own body seemed to have disappeared, I didn’t want to take the chance that someone might connect that to ‘Jeri’.

The rest of our team was already there, getting geared up and ready at a nearby picnic bench. I was a little nervous about letting them see me like this, and perhaps even afraid that they might realize who I really was and tease me mercilessly. I knew that was stupid, since there was no way anyone could recognize me, but the fear was still there, tickling the back of my brain. So, I did what I usually did when confronted with something I didn’t like. I walked right up to the picnic table while Matt hurried to catch up.

“Hi,” I greeted them, trying to give my best smile. “You must be Lucas, Tyler, and Mac.”

Lucas was a lean black guy, whom I’d known since my sophomore year in high school. We’d played football together for a couple years, though he’d always been more interested in the track and field events.

Standing beside Lucas, in cowboy boots and a Stetson, was Tyler. Tyler liked to think of himself as being a cowboy, though the truth was, he’d probably never seen a live cow or horse in his life.

And then there was Stuart Macenzie, or Mac as everyone called him. He was a bit on the hefty side, leaning a bit more to chub than muscle, but not so much that it got in the way. I’d always told him that I’d be happy to take him to the gym and help him get into better shape, but he’d never taken me up on it.

“Hey,” Matt said as he caught up. He gave me a dirty look, then turned his attention back to the others, seeming a bit unsure of what to say.

“And who’s this fine lady?” Tyler asked, giving me a curious look.

Since Matt seemed to be floundering, I gave them a smile and said, “I’m Jeri. One ‘R’ and an ‘I’.

“Jerry couldn’t make it,” Matt said, finally getting his act together. “Honestly, I haven’t been able to get hold of him at all for the last couple days, and I’m getting a bit worried.”

“So, you brought your girlfriend instead?” Lucas asked, looking more amused than upset.

“Oh, we’re not dating,” I quickly assured him, then realized that this quick correction could be taken the wrong way and give them all some awkward ideas. “We’re just friends…”

Matt was in the groove now, because he added, “I figured that since Jerry couldn’t come, we needed someone to fill in, and I took their similar names as a sign…”

I could see the hesitation and doubt in all three faces, so decided to put on the charm a bit. “I’ve played a bit of paintball before,” I assured them with a friendly smile, that I hoped was confident and outgoing. If I came off as friendly, and confident in my own abilities, that would go a long way towards convincing them to let me play.

“Nice to meet you, Jeri,” Tyler said with a grin. “And welcome to the team.”

“The other guys should be showing up at any time,” Lucas told me.

Mac nodded, then gestured towards the wooded area of the park. “We’ll be playing in there. The whole area from that bench back is game.”

“These guys are pretty good,” Tyler told me. “But ignore anything Cody says. He likes to talk trash and get under your skin…”

“Tell me about it,” Matt grumbled.

We chatted for a few minutes, ‘getting to know each other’, as well as talking a bit about strategy. When the other group arrived, Lucas, Tyler, and Mac all began to move out, leaving me and Matt behind.

Once the others were out of hearing distance, Matt abruptly demanded, “What were you just doing?”

“What?” I asked in confusion.

He gave me a suspicious look. “You were flirting with them.”

“WHAT?” I repeated in surprise. “No way…”

“I’ve seen girls flirt before,” Matt told me, “and you were definitely flirting with all three…”

“No,” I started, only to consider my actions over the last ten minutes.

I was just trying to be friendly to the guys, and maybe even charm them a bit in order to get in their good graces for the game. I hadn’t been trying to flirt at all, but now that I thought about it, I realized that some of my body language may have suggested otherwise. It hadn’t been anything intentional, but…

“Crap,” I gasped, suddenly remembering that one of my skills was ‘flirt’. “That’s a real thing?” And somehow, I’d actually tapped into that skill and used it, without even consciously trying.

“You have those guys wrapped around your finger,” Matt said, giving me a disturbed look. “I mean… Wow… If I didn’t know who you really were, I’d swear you were working them for all you had…”

“I have a charisma of thirteen,” I said self-consciously. In the current setup, charisma was defined as the ability to charm and influence other people.

Until now, I’d only thought about that as a number on a page, no different than the stats on any of my other characters. I’d considered how my strength and stamina stats related to my new body, but for some reason, I hadn’t thought that ones like intelligence or charisma would translate too, probably because I didn’t want to consider the idea that my mind could have been altered along with my body.

“Just…don’t try any of that on me,” Matt said.

I nodded agreement. “I wasn’t planning to,” I told him.

After this, Matt and I went to join the others, who were holding their paintball guns and posing a bit, trying to look tough for our opponents. It was a bit of an intimidation game, where we all tried to psyche each other out.

“Hey, runt,” someone from the other team called out. I didn’t even need to look to recognize Cody. “Did your mom sign your permission slip?”

“Come up with something new,” Matt responded, the annoyance visible on his face.

“You’re kind of grumpy,” Cody joked with a broad grin. “Or is that Dopey? Do you need your diaper changed or something?”

Matt was turning red, so I decided to step in. Since I’d been so successful with getting my team’s attention, I thought I’d try it again on Cody.

“So, do you do this often?” I asked Cody, trying to come off as sexy and flirty. I immediately had his full attention.

“Oh yeah, I play all the time,” Cody said, holding up his paintball gun.

I gave a look of mock surprise, pushing a hip out, rolling a shoulder, and then just staring at him. I barely thought about what I was doing, as it all came by instinct. Regardless, it seemed to be working.

“Can I see your…gun?” I asked suggestively.

Cody handed it over without any hesitation. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing. It wasn’t like I was some kind of supermodel. On a scale of one to ten, I was probably a seven, maybe even an eight if I was being really generous.

“This looks so impressive,” I said, trying to look innocent and sexy. Matt snickered from behind me while the rest of my team just stared. “What does this do?” I pulled the trigger. “Ooops.”

Cody grunted and touched his chest, where I’d shot him with his own gun. Still trying to look sexy and innocent, I handed his gun back. He was so surprised by this turn of events, that he never even seemed to think about retaliating. Then again, maybe he just didn’t like the idea of shooting a chick at point blank range.

As I walked away, Matt snickered. “I can’t believe you did that. You shot him with his own gun…”

“If I’m gonna be stuck like this,” I said with an evil grin, “I might as well take advantage of the benefits.” Then, I held up my own gun, loaded in the paint balls and made sure it was ready to go. “Now, let’s go kick their butts…”

Sunday mornings in the gym were an old and familiar part of my weekly routine. There was a certain comfort to being surrounded by weights, treadmills, and grunting people who were pushing their bodies as hard as they could. At that moment, I felt more like my old self than I had since waking up in this body.

After the paintball match yesterday, I’d wanted a better idea of my new physical abilities, and just what I could do. I figured that there was no better place to figure that out, than at the gym. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who needed to test out some new physical limits either. Teri had been eager to come and see what she could do now too.

Teri had finished growing yesterday, and now stood at a height of five foot ten, which made her five inches taller than me. She’d also developed some nice feminine curves, and more importantly, some impressive muscle tone. Teri now had the look of a serious fitness model, one who was just edging into the female bodybuilder range.

I glanced at Teri and felt the stirring jealousy. It wasn’t fair that I’d lost all my height and hard-earned muscle, while she just had it all handed to her in the blink of an eye. Of course, there were a lot of other things that weren’t fair either, and if I let myself dwell on them too much, I’d end up getting pissed off and bitter. So with a little effort, I tried to squash that jealousy and focus on why I was there.

I held up a weight, which I curled with one arm…barely. Just last week, this weight would have been almost nothing to me. It had been too small for me to have any use for. But now, it was about the most I could lift one handed. With a grunt, I set it down on the ground.

“That settles it,” I said with a grimace. “A seven in strength, ain’t all that impressive.”

My time in the gym had proven that I only had the strength of an average girl of my age and build, who didn’t engage in a lot of exercise. I was kind of disgusted by that, as well as disappointed, though I wasn’t surprised. That matched with everything else I’d noticed about my new physical abilities.

“And how the hell did Nadine get so strong?” I grumbled to myself. Now THAT was REALLY not fair.

“I never thought that I’d be stronger than you,” Matt said, giving me a wry look.

Matt had come along, but more to keep Teri and I company than to do any lifting himself. Instead, he’d designated himself as our ‘coach’, which meant that he stood back and watched, and took notes about how much weight we were able to lift. That was actually important information, because you couldn’t improve if you didn’t know your starting point.

“And I never thought I’d be stronger than you,” Teri added with a broad grin. She picked up the weight that I’d been working with and exclaimed, “Wow, this feels so light…” Matt and I both gave her jealous looks.

“You need to use the proper form,” I reminded Teri. “If you don’t lift with the right form, you won’t get the best benefits, and you can injure yourself…”

Teri smirked. “You’re just jealous because I’m stronger than you now.”

“Yeah,” I admitted with a scowl. “But I’m still telling you the truth.”

After having spent the last hour in the gym, a few things had become clear. I was a lot weaker than before, and my stamina had dropped too. However, I was a lot more flexible than I used to be, and was able to maneuver my body around more easily. Of course, my agility was listed as being 11, which made me think that I should probably try some gymnastics or something, just to see what I could do there.

Teri was stronger, tougher, and had a lot more stamina than ever before. I’d worn myself out on the treadmill, but she’d continued going with lots more energy to spend. She wasn’t quite as strong as I used to be, though she was a lot closer than I would have expected. From where she was at now, with a strength of 11, I guessed that my old rating probably would have been a 12, or maybe even a 13.

Matt watched his sister lift some more weights and shook his head, obviously stunned at her new strength. He still wasn’t happy about the fact that his little sister, was now taller and stronger than him. Having her actually prove it in front of him was like rubbing salt in the wound.

I was pretty disgusted by my own performance and had decided that I was going to keep coming to the gym. With my new body, there was no chance that I’d ever get anywhere close to where I used to be, but at least, I’d be able to get in better shape. And the truth was, at this point, any improvement would help.

When Matt excused himself to go to the bathroom, Teri cautiously asked, “Have you thought about…you know?”

“About what?” I asked, a little confused. “Mind reading isn’t one of my abilities…”

“Have you thought about making Matt into your other companion?” Teri asked. She looked a little guilty. “I mean, if you made him better too, he might not feel so bad…”

“I’ve…thought about it,” I admitted.

Teri seemed to brighten up again. “You have?”

“Yeah,” I responded, brushing a couple strands of my hair out of my face as I thought about how to answer. “The truth is, I didn’t really want to make you into a companion, because I didn’t know much about that ability or what it would do to you…”

“But now you know,” Teri pointed out with a smirk.

“Yeah,” I agreed, though I met her smirk with a scowl. “But now, I’ve accidentally pulled you into this game with me. I don’t really know what that’s going to mean for you, and I don’t want to drag Matt into it too… At least not any further than he already is, and not until I know a little more…”

Teri nodded at that. “I guess that makes sense.” Then she brightened up again. “But this is totally awesome…” She gestured down at her body, grinning as she did so.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” I responded with a faint chuckle. From her point of view, that was probably the best thing that had ever happened to her. I just hoped that she was able to keep thinking that.

“So,” Teri said, abruptly changing the subject. “I need to go get some new clothes this afternoon. You wanna come with?”

I groaned at that. My first impulse was to give an emphatic ‘NO’, since I’d always hated shopping, but the truth was, I did need new clothes. For the last couple days, the only clothes I’d had to wear were the ones that I’d woken up in, or that Teri had found for me.

“Sure,” I reluctantly agreed. However, seeing the gleam in her eyes, I quickly added, “But no getting carried away. I don’t have enough money to buy a lot, and I don’t want to spend half the day shopping…”

“Fine,” Teri responded with a roll of her eyes. I had a feeling that she was going to try dragging our trip out anyway.

With a shake of my head, I moved to the leg press machine. If I was doing a real workout, I’d focus on one area of my body rather than doing a bit of everything, but I wasn’t trying to do a real workout. I was just trying to get a better idea of what I could do. The real workouts would start another day.

I was settling down into the machine when a popup suddenly appeared in the air in front of me. For a moment, this caught me by surprise, since I hadn’t activated my game screen. Then, I actually read the message.

THE NEXT OFFICIAL CONTEST BEGINS IN 24 HOURS. TRANSPORT WILL BE PROVIDED.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Teri asked from beside me. From her expression, I assumed that she still couldn’t see my screen, even if she was my companion now.

“The game,” I answered quietly, closing the message as I did so. I opened my main screen and saw that there was now a timer in the corner, counting down from twenty-four hours. “I start playing tomorrow.”

--------------------

It was late at night and I was sitting on the edge of my bed, unable to sleep. Everyone else had gone to bed an hour ago, except for Teri. I could hear her moving around and making noise in her room, though I had no idea what she was doing, except perhaps for testing out her body with some pushups, crunches, and the like. If I were in her position, that’s what I probably would have done.

I was completely exhausted, but my thoughts wouldn’t stop racing. I thought about my death, my rebirth, and my new body. I thought about this game and my own position in it. Could I even survive playing? Heather couldn’t, and she’d been using her own body and powers she was familiar with. If she couldn’t survive, how could I do any better?

With a deep scowl, I told myself, “I’ve never been a quitter before, and I’m not about to just give up now.”

Then I let out a long sigh, thinking that it had been such a long day and I was ready for it to end. Now, if only my brain would cooperate and give my body the sleep it craved.

This morning, I’d worked myself to near exhaustion in the gym, as I tried getting a better idea of what my physical capabilities and limits were. The whole experience had been educational but disappointing. After I’d spent all those years exercising and pushing myself, becoming bigger and stronger, I’d lost it all. I was probably weaker than I would have been if I’d never lifted a single weight in my life.

Once I’d recovered from the exercise, Teri had taken me shopping, and as I’d expected, she broke her promise not to get carried away. Armed with her parents’ credit card, she’d been on a mission to get a new wardrobe, and she’d insisted on dragging me through every step of it along with her. I’d tried on more clothes than I’d even had in my old closet, and she’d talked me into buying a few more pieces than I’d intended.

“If I ever have to buy another bra, it will be too soon,” I muttered with a shudder of dread.

During our trip, Teri had acted as though she was having the time of her life. She’d been delighted to try out all those clothes, especially the ones that showed off her new body. And of course, she’d also been overjoyed by all the attention people now paid her.

Admittedly, I’d taken advantage of the opportunity to flirt with a few boys and even charm a couple clerks into giving me discounts. Mostly, I did this because I was bored, and had wanted to experiment a little more with my new abilities. Since charisma was now my highest stat, I figured that I should at least take advantage of it a little.

Teri had been completely tireless. With her new stamina, she’d still been ready and eager to keep going, long after I’d been completely wiped out. After today, I was NOT going to ever let her drag me on another shopping trip again. The next time I needed new clothes, I’d go in, grab what I wanted, and get right back out again, just like I always had before.

Of course, today had also been filled with more than just the physical activity. There had also been the notification about tomorrow’s contest. I didn’t know what the contest would entail, only that it would be dangerous, with high stakes for everyone involved.

I’d wanted to look for a new apartment today, a job, and anything I could find about Heather. Unfortunately, I’d been too busy to do any of that, and I had absolutely no idea if I’d even survive tomorrow, so all of that could be pointless anyway.

I let out a long sigh of exhaustion and pulled up my screen. The timer was still counting down in the corner. However, that wasn’t what I was looking at. A short time after I’d received the popup about the contest, I’d also received another message, one that seemed to come directly from Maelyne. I clicked on the new ‘message’ tab that had appeared on my screen and brought up the message.

A BRIEF REMINDER OF THE CONTEST RULES

Beneath this header were two pages, which answered a lot of my questions about the games, though not in as much detail as I would have liked. This had some useful information, but clearly wasn’t designed to be a player’s guide, merely a ‘reminder’ of how things worked. I’d already read it three times today and wasn’t going to bother reading it again.

According to this, there was a group of neutral gods called Arbiters, who oversaw the game, enforced the rules, and resolved disputes between the players. These Arbiters also had their own champions, ones who were very powerful, but instead of competing in the game, their jobs were to help organize the various competitions on Earth.

The actual competitions, which seemed to be what the official part of the game focused on, were the things I was most interested in since I was supposed to compete in one tomorrow. From what I could tell, each contest was different, with its own goals, rules, and challenges. Of course, I also got the impression that there weren’t a lot of rules, and that attacking your opponents was not only allowed, but encouraged.

Unfortunately, even after reading this message, I still didn’t have much idea of what I’d be facing tomorrow. This ‘reminder’ left out a lot of important details. However, there were a few things that were never said directly, but were hinted at.

One thing that caught my attention earlier, after the third time reading through, was that it mentioned that the Arbiters oversaw the system, though it didn’t explain what that meant. Did that mean the Arbiters were the ones who controlled this whole screen thing? Could they look at my character sheet? And if so, could they also read any of the messages or popups that appeared? If that was the case, it could explain why Maelyne had called this a ‘reminder’, and why she hadn’t given me any more information about what was going on. Maybe, she didn’t want these Arbiters to know about the little switcharoo she’d pulled.

“Maybe I’ll ask her,” I muttered as I closed out of my screen. “If I ever get to talk to her again…”

I let out a long sigh, then pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I was so tired, and not just physically. Everything that had happened over the last few days had really taken a toll on me. At that moment, it felt as though all of my emotional barriers had been worn down, and the tears began to flow all on their own.

Part 9

I was worried. The countdown timer on my screen had just reached five minutes. There were only five minutes until this competition started, and I still had no idea of what it would entail.

There was nothing unusual about feeling a little nervous before a big game. In fact, it was kind of expected. However, before now, I’d always known what I’d be going up again before the game started. Whether it was the football field, the wrestling mat, or even a swimming pool, I always knew what to expect, and I’d been able to do everything I could to train and prepare ahead of time. But this time, it was like I was going in blind. It was like being asked to play in a baseball game, when you’ve never even seen anyone play the game before.

“And these stakes are higher than any game I’ve ever played before,” I muttered.

“You don’t have to compete,” Matt said, having overheard me. “You can refuse…”

“No, I can’t,” I told him with a weak smile. “I made a deal with Maelyne, and she’s held up her part.” I took a deep breath, silently reminding myself that even if everything was different, I was alive. I was alive because Maelyne had saved me. Then, with a broader grin, I added, “Besides, I’ve never run away from a challenge before, and I’ll be damned if I start now.”

“Well, good luck,” Teri said, looking a little self-conscious

I’d already told Teri that, even though she was now my companion, I planned on leaving her behind. I didn’t want to drag her into this and put her in danger. I was the one who’d made the deal with Maelyne, not her.

I glanced at the clock, then slowly walked out of the house and into the front yard. The contest message had said that transportation would be provided, though that did bring up a few questions. What kind of transportation did it mean, and how would they know where to find me? Were all the champions tagged with tracking devices, maybe through the screen system?

“So,” Matt asked. “Do you have any ideas about how they’re going to pick you up for this thing?”

“Maybe they’re coming by helicopter,” Teri offered with a grin. She looked up into the sky with an eager expression.

“No idea,” I admitted.

I watched the timer count down on my screen, and once it reached 0 seconds, a new popup suddenly appeared.

THE CONTEST IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. PREPARE TO BE TRANSPORTED.

The air around me was suddenly filled with sparks, similar to when I shifted into my armor, but much stronger. There was the crackling of electricity, a flash of light, and then, everything was different. I was no longer standing in front of Matt’s house, but in what appeared to be a large parking lot, which was surrounded by old warehouses.

“Eeep,” a familiar voice cried out from behind me. “Where are we…?”

I turned to look at Teri, who was looking around with an expression of surprise. There was no sign of Matt, even though he’d been standing right beside his sister. It looked like I wasn’t being given any choice about whether or not to leave her behind.

“Sorry,” I told Teri, feeling guilty about dragging her into this. “It looks like you’re in this after all…”

My attention went back to my surroundings, but not to the old and apparently abandoned warehouses. I looked around the parking lot, which didn’t have a single car that I could see. Instead, the pavement was heavily cracked, and had weeds sprouting up all over the place. There were also a dozen other people nearby, most of whom were wearing costumes or armor of some type.

“Are they the other champions?” Teri asked me warily.

There was a flash of sparks and light, and suddenly, two more people appeared. One was dressed up in some kind of samurai armor, or at least, some armor that was inspired from the samurai. The other was a woman, who was wearing black leather armor.

“I think that’s a good assumption,” I responded grimly. A couple more champions appeared.

Since I didn’t want to be left out, or be open and vulnerable without armor, I activated mine. A couple seconds later, I was wearing my armored dress and feeling ridiculous. Still, it was better than nothing, and not really any worse than what everyone else was wearing.

I clutched my staff tightly as I looked around at my competition, trying to get some idea of who they were and what they could do. The costumes and weapons were pretty varied, which made me feel like I was in the middle of some cosplay competition. I’d never been to one, but Matt had shown me some online videos.

A short distance away from me, there was a blonde girl, who appeared to be Teri’s age, or even a little younger. She was wearing a frilly pink dress, and was holding a gold metal staff that was a lot more intricate and fancy looking than my own. Matt had jokingly called me a magical girl, but this girl really looked the part.

While looking around, I noticed that I wasn’t the only one with a companion. One guy had a huge wolf beside him. I didn’t know if it was a worg, a dire wolf, or something else entirely, only that it looked dangerous as hell.

But if the guy with the giant wolf was intimidating, there was another guy who was completely terrifying, though in a completely different way. He was big and a bit on the chubby side, but he was wearing some kind of black latex outfit, which had a lot of chains and zippers, along with a hood which covered his entire face. One look at him was enough to make me think of the Gimp, from Pulp Fiction. And then, as if this wasn’t all creepy enough, he was actually holding three people on leashes, two women and a man, all dressed in similar fetish gear.

“Who is this guy?” I whispered to Teri. And who was his patron…the god of BDSM?

“Some of these people look really scary,” Teri whispered back, looking more than a little worried.

I nodded agreement, then froze as I caught sight of one champion that really did scare me. He was wearing green and black robes that made it difficult to determine his build or features, and he held a large scythe, which I’d seen in action before. It was Robe, the man who’d killed Heather. No, he hadn’t just killed her. He’d destroyed her very soul, which was far far worse.

“What’s wrong?” Teri asked me, before quickly adding, “Besides the obvious.”

“The guy with the scythe,” I responded in a grim tone. “Don’t go anywhere near him. He’s the one I told you about…”

“No way,” Teri gasped, staring across the parking lot at Robe.

A moment later, a familiar voice exclaimed, “YOU!”

I snapped around and saw Nadine, wearing the same black and red armor that she’d been wearing the last time I saw her. She was staring at me with an expression of surprise and anger. Obviously, she’d never expected to see Heather again.

“You look surprised to see me,” I said, clenching my staff more tightly.

I was afraid. Hell, I was terrified…of Nadine. I wasn’t used to being scared, at least not like this. My heart was racing and my knees suddenly felt wobbly, but I refused to let Nadine see that. I wasn’t about to give that bitch the satisfaction of seeing what she’d done to me.

“We killed you,” Nadine snarled. “You were supposed to be gone for good…”

“It looks like you failed,” I responded, taking a certain delight in the fact that she didn’t know who I really was. It wasn’t much, but even small victories counted. “All that trouble, and I’m still here.”

Nadine’s eyes flashed in rage and I saw her form a ball of fire in her hand. I was braced to activate my shield wall in an instant. However, she made no move to attack me. In fact, none of the champions were actively fighting each other. Was there some kind of truce or ceasefire before the official competition? I was starting to suspect there was. Nadine wouldn’t have held back otherwise.

“I see you have a new sidekick,” Nadine said with a cruel smirk. “Honestly, your old ones looked a lot tougher…and they were easy to kill.”

“Bite me, bitch,” Teri responded, flipping Nadine off with both hands.

“I’ll deal with you soon enough,” Nadine told Teri. Then, she looked back at me, “And then, we’ll finish what we started with you. One way or another, you’re going to leave the game…”

Before I could think of a good comeback for that, Nadine turned and walked away, going straight towards Robe. Knowing her, she was probably going to give him an earful over his apparent failure.

“So,” Teri said, trying to look brave. “That must be Nadine. She’s a bitch.”

“Tell me about it,” I grumbled.

A moment later, I finally noticed the three people who were standing in front of the group…and above it. They looked like they were standing on an invisible platform, ten feet above the ground.

One of them was an old man, with severely thinning hair and a short and well-trimmed white beard. He had a serious expression and scowled as though he’d just taken a bite out of a lemon. Standing beside him was a slender black woman, who appeared to be in her forties. She had extremely short hair, little more than peach fuzz. It looked like her scalp had been completely shaved a week ago, so all that she had now was the stubble which had grown since. The last person on this invisible platform, was a dark-haired man with richly tanned skin, who appeared to be in his thirties.

“Do you know who they are?” Teri asked me, looking towards those three.

“They work for the Arbiters,” I quietly explained, thankful for the ‘reminder’ that Maelyne had sent me. It was nice to actually know more about what was going on than someone else, though I was pretty sure that I still knew a lot less than any of the other champions. “They’re called the Coordinator, the Referee, and the Cleaner. Apparently, they only go by those titles, and I have no idea which one is which.”

According to the ‘reminder’, these three worked together as the Arbiters’ agents on Earth, and each of them had different responsibilities. The Coordinator was responsible for organizing the contests and setting up anything necessary for them. The Referee was just that, a referee who watched over the contests and made sure that nobody broke the rules. And then there was the Cleaner, who was apparently their version of a janitor. He or she was responsible for cleaning up afterwards, and making sure that no outsiders interfered. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know what that last part meant.

The old man held up his hand for attention, and immediately, everyone went silent and gave him their attention. “A new contest begins,” he stated in a calm voice that somehow carried. “Somewhere among this warren of buildings, are three glowing pillars. The first three champions to claim a pillar, will be declared the winners, and will receive the rewards of victory. And remember, whether you claim victory or not, your performance will reflect upon your patrons.”

“What does that mean?” Teri whispered to me.

“Apparently,” I said wryly, remembering something that had been mentioned in Maelyne’s message, “the gods have a bunch of side bets going.” I shrugged at that. “Maybe it’s like a boxing match, where they give points for how you fight. I don’t know.”

At this point, the woman took over and said, “The boundaries for this contest are clearly marked. Leaving the designated contest area will be considered a disqualification. Once the third pillar has been claimed, all hostilities will cease.”

Since the woman was the one who was talking about the rules, I assumed that she was the Referee. That meant, the old guy was probably the Coordinator, which left the younger one as the Cleaner. I felt a faint stirring of satisfaction at figuring out which of these guys was which.

After this, the Referee announced that the contest had officially begun, and all the other champions immediately rushed towards the various buildings around us. I hesitated a moment, saw where Nadine and Robe were heading, and then went in the opposite direction. Since I had no idea where these pillars were, it didn’t really matter where we started.

“Stay close,” I told Teri, knowing that it wouldn’t be safe to leave her behind in the parking lot. It was better to keep her close, where I could use my abilities to protect her. “Basically, it sounds like this is a fancy game of capture the flag.”

“Yeah,” Teri responded with a nervous laugh. “It sounds simple.”

“Yeah,” I agreed with a deep scowl. “Simple.”

Teri and I went into one of the warehouses, which had clearly been abandoned. There were several holes in the ceiling, which provided a pretty good clue about that. However, the place wasn’t completely empty. Dozens of stone cubes, varying from a couple feet across to about ten, were scattered about the place. This meant, there were plenty of places to hide a pillar, or for people to hide themselves.

“Careful,” I whispered to Teri. “There could be an ambush…”

“Okay,” Teri said, looking around warily.

I gave her a worried look. Teri shouldn’t have been here, and wouldn’t have been if I’d been more careful while testing out my new abilities. That specific ability had been meant to turn someone into a tank, but her original stats would have been too low to allow for that. As it was, Teri didn’t even have any armor or weapons, so she was vulnerable and I’d have to look out for her.

We slowly moved around the warehouse, looking for any sign of either a pillar or one of the other champions. Just as I was starting to think that we’d picked the wrong warehouse, I saw a faint glow, coming from a dark corner between some of the cubes. If I hadn’t been standing in just the right spot, I never would have noticed it.

“I see something,” I told Teri, getting excited.

This was my first competition, and it looked like I was going to get one of the wins. I guess there really was such a thing as beginner’s luck.

I hurried over to where I’d seen the glow, but it wasn’t until I was much closer, nearly on top of it, that I saw that there was no pillar. Instead, there was some kind of glass or crystal sphere, that was about the size of a tennis ball. It was dark green, but glowing from somewhere inside, which gave it an eerie and mysterious look.

“What’s that?” Teri asked.

“No idea,” I admitted, getting tired of saying that. The ‘reminder’ hadn’t said anything about crystal balls, nor had anyone mentioned that during the contest briefing.

Just then, I heard steps behind me and snapped around, only to see a skinny guy who was dressed in black fetish gear, which included a ball gag. I recognized him from earlier and knew that he wasn’t alone.

“Watch out,” I told Teri, right before I spotted two more of the S&M minions. “The Gimp has to be around here somewhere…”

With those words, the Gimp came stepped out from behind one of the cubes. He slowly reached up and unzipped the zipper that covered his mouth. That was really creepy.

“Give that to me,” the Gimp ordered. “Give it to me, and I’ll make it worth your while…” He stuck out his tongue and made licking motions which made me cringe.

“Ewwwww, gross,” Teri exclaimed. “Total perv…”

“I don’t think so,” I said. I had no idea what this crystal ball was, but if he wanted it, I wanted to keep it for myself.

The Gimp gestured with his hand, and his three companions all started to come closer. I raised my staff, not sure if I should even hit them. From the way they all looked, they might enjoy it.

One of the Gimp’s companions jumped at me, but I dodged to the side and then smacked him alongside the head with my staff. When the other two came at me, I swung the staff and hit each of them as well. I’d never used one of these things to fight before, but it was coming pretty easily for me. Of course, staff fighting was listed as one of my skills.

While I was dealing with the latex minions, the Gimp came around behind me. I’d just barely noticed him when he attacked, using what had to be one of his abilities. A bunch of glowing ropes or tentacles, which seemed to be made of light, appeared in the air in front of him and came reaching for me. I immediately tried swatting them away with the staff, only to have them grab hold of it and yank it from my hands.

“On your knees, slut,” the Gimp commanded.

I punched the Gimp as hard as I could, though he barely seemed to notice it. I didn’t know if this was because I was so weak now, or if he was tougher than he looked. Either way, my knuckles hurt and I didn’t have anything to show for it.

“Crap,” I exclaimed, calling up a shield wall, right between me and the Gimp. Unfortunately, that still left his three goons free to come at me from the other side.

“Oh no you don’t,” Teri exclaimed, throwing herself at one of the latex minions and knocking him back, right into the girl.

The last of the three fetish pets pulled out a wicked looking knife and lunged at Teri. She jumped back, letting out a shriek.

At this point, I finally remembered one of my abilities, which should be perfect for this. I activated ‘protect companion’, and Teri began to shimmer as a force field appeared around her body, just in time. The Gimp’s minion sliced at her with the knife, but it seemed to bounce right off, giving Teri a chance to knee him in the balls. Whether he liked pain or not, that seemed enough to take the air out of him.

Teri’s protection wore off just a couple seconds after my shield wall. The Gimp was already taking advantage of that opening, forming a ball of swirling green energy in his hand. I had absolutely no idea what that could do, but had no intention of letting him use it on me.

“Why couldn’t I get some offensive powers?” I exclaimed in frustration and even a little fear. “I’d kill for a freaking magic missile.”

“You’ll make a lovely pet,” the Gimp said before giggling in a way that was incredibly creepy. “Once I break you, Hachthar will reward me…” He giggled again.

The Gimp threw the ball of green energy at me, but I threw up another shield wall. Fortunately, my shield was strong enough to block his attack, much to my relief. I began to feel just a little more confident. I might not be able attack, but I seemed to have a pretty decent defense. However, defense didn’t win games.

“You are one serious creep,” Teri announced, right before she threw herself at the Gimp.

“Watch out,” I cried out, wondering what she was thinking.

The Gimp was already forming another ball of green energy in his hands, so I desperately tried to protect Teri the only way I could, by putting another shield on her, right before she reached him. I just hoped that shield was as tough as my shield wall.

“You’re MINE,” the Gimp said triumphantly.

A moment later, the Gimp was face down on the floor, with Teri pulling his arm back, in what looked like a VERY painful way. Then, she dropped down, driving her elbow right into his back. I could almost hear the crack of his arm breaking in the process.

“Two years in judo class, pervo,” Teri exclaimed.

“Wow,” I said, staring at Teri in stunned disbelief. I remember a couple years ago when she’d been taking those judo classes, but I’d completely forgotten about them. “That was…impressive.”

“Thanks,” Teri said with a broad grin, giving the Gimp a couple swift kicks, including in the groin. He moaned a couple times, but they sounded almost like moans of pleasure. “Creepo.”

Two of the latex goons were still up and trying to sneak up on me again. I threw up a shield wall between us, took advantage of the opportunity to grab my staff, and then gestured for them to come at me. They both paused, looked at each other, then ran away.

I let out a sigh of relief then leaned on my staff. That whole fight had been scary and exciting at the same time. In a way, it was exhilarating to be able to actually use my new abilities for real, but on other hand, this just reminded me of how weak I now was. I had no offensive abilities at all, other than being able to smack someone with my staff.

Then, I looked to Teri, who had a few good bruises forming from the fight. But in spite of that, she was grinning, obviously pleased with herself and how she’d taken down the Gimp. I felt a stirring of jealousy, though I was proud of her at the same time.

“Good job,” I told Teri, giving her a faint smile. It looked like my new companion was going to be a little more helpful than I’d expected.

A seconds later, a new popup suddenly appeared in the air in front of me.

THE FIRST PILLAR HAS BEEN CLAIMED.

I looked at Teri and told her, “One down, two to go. Let’s see if we can get one of them for ourselves.”

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…”

I was relaxed. At the moment, I was sitting on the bleachers of my old high school football field, which almost felt like I was visting an old friend. I’d spent countless hours on this field, either playing or practicing. In a way, this place had almost been like a second home to me.

“How long until the game starts?” I wondered aloud. Or was I here to watch practice? Suddenly, I couldn’t remember.

As I looked over the field again, I finally noticed that it was completely empty. There were no players, cheerleaders, or even marching band members. The stands were almost completely empty as well. I was the only person there. Or at least, I thought I was, until I realized that someone was sitting right beside me.

Maelyne was sitting on the bleachers, looking every bit as beautiful and imposing as the last time I’d seen her. She towered over me, yet somehow, I hadn’t even noticed her until just then.

“I’m dreaming,” I blurted out in sudden understanding.

“Greetings, my champion,” Maelyne said, smiling down at me. “Yes, we are within your dream. This is the first opportunity that I have had to communicate with you directly again.”

“It is?” I asked in surprise. “Is this because of those Arbiters?”

Maelyne nodded her head in acknowledgement. “The Arbiters oversee our games, and ensure the rules are followed. Some of these rules limit direct contact with our champions, so that we do not influence you overmuch.” Then she smiled again, “But following your completion of the contest, I am allowed to congratulate you on your performance and give you some small advice…”

That answered some of my questions, though certainly not all of them. “I thought you just didn’t want the Arbiters to know what you did… I mean, about putting me in Heather’s body…”

“I would prefer they not know,” Maelyne admitted, scowling slightly. “Though I violated no rules of the game, should this become known, there could be consequences. Imagine, if you will, if other gods used this technique to…replace…any champion who displeased them. Known champions could become unpredictable, and the balance of the game could shift in dangerous ways.”

“That could be…bad,” I said, imagining what this game would be like if gods started tearing out people’s souls and replacing them on a whim. I shuddered at the very thought.

“Indeed,” Maelyne agreed. “Left unchecked, such practices could cause our game to escalate, potentially into direct war between the gods. My people have avoided such a thing for generations, though admittedly, some forget those horrors and wish to bring a return to those days…”

I scowled at that, remembering both the contest, and the way Nadine and Robe had murdered Heather. “At least we wouldn’t have to do your fighting for you…”

Maelyne stared down at me for several long seconds, making me cringe a little beneath her gaze. I could feel the power in that stare, and for a second, I wanted to cringe. Finally, she said, “You do not understand.” She held her hand up and said, “Look, and see the difference in our levels of power…” A moment later, a new screen appeared in the air, one that showed HER stats.

NAME: MAELYNE
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 1329
DOMAIN: LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 87%
MANA: 68%
STATUS: NEGATIVE STATUS-CONTEST FORFEITURE 1, CONTEST FORFEITURE 2, CONTEST FORFEITURE 3. POSITIVE STATUS-CONTEST BONUS.

DIVINITY: 32
-
STRENGTH: 59
STAMINA: 112
ENDURANCE: 96
-
AGILITY: 42
REFLEXES: 48
DEXTERITY: 60
-
INTELLIGENCE: 58
CHARISMA: 62
AWARENESS: 74
-
MANA POOL: 17068
MANA RECOVERY: 11050
HEALTH: 14855
REGENERATION: 10676
DIVINE POWER: 9080

I stared at the screen with my mouth open. I’d known that Maelyne was a LOT more powerful than me, but to actually see her stats compared to my own… It was almost mind-blowing. And this didn’t even show her skills and abilities.

“These contest forfeitures,” I started, gesturing to the screen.

“Each, a loss of power and status,” Maelyne explained with an almost pained smile. “As I have told you, this game has serious consequences for my kind. If my champion loses overmuch, I could potentially lose everything…including my life.” Then, her smile became a little more pleasant. “And when you found a hidden prize, I too received benefit from that.”

“Glad to know I was useful,” I said wryly. I was just thankful that I’d survived that contest.

“As you can see,” Maelyne said, indicating her screen. “My kind are far more powerful than you can imagine. The weakest god is a hundred times stronger than the most powerful champion. If my kind warred directly, our world would be destroyed and the battle would overflow to your world, causing untold devastation there as well. And should this world survive that war, where do you think the refugees would go? The survivors of my world would come here, which would be a great misfortune for your race.”

I gulped at that, shaking a little at the very idea. “Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t be good for us…”

Maelyne looked down at me with a gentle smile. “There is good reason that my kind no longer come to your world physically, and why even communication with our champions is limited. At one time, we came to this world for our game, involving ourselves more directly. We gained power and leverage, not only from the feats of our champions, but also from the number of humans who worshipped us. This lead to wars among humans…and escalations among ourselves, which could have turned to direct combat. Now, we distance ourselves from the games, and from the human world. It is best, for both your people and my own, to leave these conflicts in the hands of our champions.

“I guess I can see that,” I admitted grudgingly. Then, just so she didn’t think that she actually had to convince me, I added, “We made a deal, and I was going to stick with it anyway. I just have a lot of questions about how this all works…”

“I imagine you would,” Maelyne told me, smiling faintly. “I will attempt to answer what I am allowed to in the brief time we have left…”

Suddenly, Maelyne paused and looked around with a grim expression. She put a finger to her lips in the familiar gesture for, ‘be quiet.’ I glanced around but didn’t see anything unusual, other than the fact that we were still at my old high school.

“You have survived another contest,” Maelyne announced as she stood up. “And your performance was…adequate. But when the next contest comes, my champion, you should endeavor to win it…”

I stared at Maelyne, quickly getting what she was up to. The ‘shush’ and sudden change of topic both suggested that she thought we were being listened in on. Well, she had warned me that the Arbiters liked to keep an eye on things, and that she wanted to keep them from learning about what had happened.

“Now go, my champion,” Maelyne commanded me, “and plan your strategy with our allies, as we discussed.”

A moment later, I bolted upright in my bed, gasping for breath. I looked over at the clock, muttered a brief profanity, then curled back up in my blankets and tried going back to sleep. Hopefully, this time there wouldn’t be any divine interruptions.

I stared at my laptop, scowling a bit as I did so. I’d spent the last half hour searching for Heather Sievers, but so far, I hadn’t found anything. Actually, Google did bring up results for a couple different women named Heather Sievers, but none of them seemed to be the one I was interested in.

“Too old,” I muttered, finding one article about a Heather Anne Sievers, who was the prosecutor in some big trial. “And Heather V. Sievers is a retired teacher…”

After a few more minutes, I closed my laptop in frustration. Matt was a lot better with computers than I was, so maybe he’d be able to find something about MY Heather. Unfortunately, I couldn’t ask him at the moment.

Matt was at work and wouldn’t be back until mid-afternoon. Unlike me, he didn’t have any financial worries as far as college was concerned. Between his scholarships and his parents, his schooling was all paid for. However, extra spending money was always nice, which was why he had that part time job at the game shop.

Teri wasn’t at home either, since she’d left a short time ago to visit a couple of her friends. I was pretty sure that the main reason she’d gone, was so that she could show off her new body. She’d been doing a pretty good job of hiding it from her parents, by wearing baggy clothes and slouching down a lot when they were around, so I couldn’t begrudge her too much.

“And I am not jealous of her,” I muttered, without much conviction.

A moment later, I looked down at myself and smiled faintly. My brand new clothes, which had fit perfectly when I bought them, were now a little on the tight side. It seemed that the extra points I got from that green sphere, had changed body. Like Teri, I’d gone through a growth spurt, though mine wasn’t nearly as drastic as hers. I’d grown about an inch taller, and my muscle tone was definitely more pronounced.

“Now, I just need to find a few more of those,” I said with a chuckle. With a few more, I might even be able to get back to my old strength level. “But I can worry about that later…”

I turned my attention back to my computer, which was now closed and turned off. That hadn’t been very helpful, so it was a good thing that I wasn’t really relying on that to tell me about Heather. I’d found another source of information, one that had already paid off far more than the computer had.

I felt a little guilty as I opened up Heather’s purse and looked inside. Technically, it was my purse now, but that didn’t really ease my guilt. Still, she didn’t need it anymore and I did.

“The Cleaner,” I muttered with a shake of my head. He was the one who found the purse and gave it to me. And the only place he could have found it, was at the lot where Heather and I had both been killed.

From what I could tell, the Cleaner didn’t just play janitor for the competitions, but he cleaned up at the unofficial fights too. Since my body hadn’t been found, I could only assume that he was the one who’d made the bodies, along with all the other evidence, vanish. I didn’t know whether to be angry at him for that, or grateful. There were both advantages and disadvantages to being a missing person, rather than a murder victim.

Instead of dwelling on the Cleaner, I focused on the purse and what was inside. I’d searched through it yesterday, and was familiar with the contents. I still wanted another look.

There were tampons, pads, and some makeup, the kinds of chick things that I should have expected but hadn’t. This was followed by Midol, Aleve, and a set of keys. Next, came her wallet, which included a couple hundred bucks in cash, some credit cards, and most importantly, an out of state driver’s license.

“Like that does me a lot of good,” I muttered, glancing at the driver’s license again before setting it aside.

And then, there was a small stack of mail, which provided most of the information I actually needed. The mailing address was different than the one on the driver’s license, and it happened to be local. One envelope even explained why Heather had moved to the area. She was going to attend the college in the fall.

“Now I know where you live,” I said, carefully putting everything back into the purse. I winced a little at the sight of the tampons and pads since it was a reminder that I’d probably need to start using that stuff now. “Time to go take a look.”

A short time later, I called an Uber and caught a ride to the address on the mail. I was curious but nervous, wondering what I was going to find though also feeling a bit like a stalker.

When I arrived at the address, I saw that it was a small house at the end of a cul-de-sac. There seemed to be very little yard, but that didn’t really matter to me. I was more concerned about what was inside the house than on the outside.

I spent a good minute or two, just standing in front of the house and watching it. Was this really where Heather lived? Did I actually have any right to go into her home or snoop around her life? Once I began second guessing myself for coming here, I knew it was time to make my move.

One of the keys that I’d found in Heather’s purse, was a perfect match for the front door. As soon as the door unlocked, I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that I actually had the right place. A second later, I went inside.

“Not bad,” I said as I looked around the living room. It was certainly nicer than my old apartment had been, though not as nice as my parents’ house. “Looks comfy…”

I’d barely begun looking around, when I heard a noise from the back door. I froze, wondering for a moment if Heather had a dog, or worse…a boyfriend. Seconds later, a young woman came into the room, freezing at the sight of me. She was a fine-featured black woman, about my own age. And for some reason, she seemed familiar.

“HEATHER!” she abruptly exclaimed, running over and grabbing me in a hug. “You’re back… Where have you been? Are you okay?”

I stood there, feeling a little overwhelmed and not sure how to respond. Should I pretend to be Heather and bluff my way through this, or maybe just pretend that I’d been in an accident and had ‘amnesia’. Then again, the amnesia excuse might work in my mom’s soaps, but I doubted it would work in the real world.

“Hey, Cassandra,” the dark-skinned woman called out. “Our roomie is back…”

There was a thumping sound from the stairway as someone raced down from the upper floor. I just groaned, wondering how many more people were going to turn up in what I’d thought was an empty house. I hadn’t seen any cars parked in front, but obviously, that didn’t really mean anything.

A second young woman emerged from the stairs, then paused at the bottom to stare at me for a moment. She was dressed almost entirely in black, in what was definitely a goth style outfit. Her black hair was pulled back, and she had dark lipstick and mascara, which added to the goth look. It took a moment, but I realized that I knew this girl. I knew both of them.

The goth was Cassandra Markham, a girl I’d gone to school with, though we’d only been in a couple classes together and had never socialized. The black girl was Lauren Gayle, another former classmate, who used to hang around with Cassandra back in high school.

Lauren had been one of Nadine’s rivals, or enemies, if you wanted to be more accurate. Nadine had told me some horrible things about this girl, though it wasn’t until after I’d learned the truth about Nadine, that I realized much of that had probably been lies.

“That’s not Heather,” Cassandra exclaimed with a snarl.

Suddenly, Cassandra had a bow in her hand, with an arrow drawn back and aimed right at me. Bow Girl. Cassandra Markham was Bow Girl.

“What are you talking about?” Lauren demanded, backing away from me looking concerned.

“I ran into her yesterday,” Cassandra said, not taking her eyes off me. “Whoever this is, she fooled me at first…”

“Look,” I said awkwardly, holding my hands out so she could see I wasn’t a threat. Of course, I was also about to throw up a shield to protect myself. “You’re making a mistake…”

Cassandra just continued to glare at me, the suspicion clear in her eyes. “If you were really Heather, you’d know I have a really high awareness. I can tell when you’re lying.”

I scowled at that, unsure of what to do. Maelyne told me that she didn’t want the Arbiters or any of the other patrons to find out what she’d done, but Cassandra already knew that something was wrong. And then I remembered the last thing that Maelyne had told me in my dream last night…that I should plan a strategy with my allies. At the time, I’d thought she meant Matt and Teri, but what if she didn’t…

“I’m not the Heather you know,” I admitted, keeping my eyes on Cassandra. “But yesterday, when you thought I was, you helped me…”

“Who are you?” Cassandra demanded. “What did you do to Heather?”

“I didn’t do anything to Heather,” I responded, trying to keep my voice even. “She’s dead…gone…but I didn’t have anything to do with that… In fact, I tried helping her…”

Lauren gasped, then glared at me. “What do you mean she’s gone? And why do you look like Heather?”

“She must have some kind of shapeshifter ability,” Cassandra answered grimly, before ordering me, “Drop it.”

“I wish I could,” I responded, still keeping my eyes locked on that arrow, which was aimed at my chest. “But I can’t.”

“What do you mean, you can’t?” Cassandra asked, her eyes narrowing.

“I’m not a shapeshifter,” I explained. “And this really was Heather’s body…” I paused at that, then added, “Maelyne told me to keep this quiet, but if you were Heather’s friends…I’ll tell you. Just point that damn thing somewhere else.”

“What do you think?” Lauren asked Cassandra.

The goth hesitated a moment before lowering her bow. “She’s telling the truth, and doesn’t seem hostile…”

“So, who are you, and what the hell is going on?” Lauren demanded of me. “And what do you mean, that’s Heather’s body?”

I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. “I don’t know Heather,” I said, not sure how to explain this. “I only met her once…the night she died. She was being attacked by two people, Nadine Fairlan…” Cassandra scowled while Lauren let out an actual growl. “And that freak with the scythe…”

“Mason,” Cassandra said grimly. “Andrew Mason, the champion of Arakthiel, god of the void.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Anyway, when I saw Nadine going after Heather, I tried to stop her.” I snorted at that. “Fat lot of good that did. That bitch killed me for my trouble…”

Lauren and Cassandra shared a look, before Lauren said, “It sounds kinda like you know Nadine…”

“Yeah,” I admitted with a nod and a scowl. “And I know who you two are too… We went to school together…” They both gave me a look of surprise, as well as confusion. “Anyway, Robe…Mason, he killed Heather and…and destroyed her soul.”

“The soul killer,” Cassandra gasped with a look of horror. “No fucking way…”

“What?” Lauren asked, looking confused. “What are you talking about…?”

“I heard that Mason has an ability called soul killer,” she explained, her voice shaking. “It’s supposed to destroy someone’s soul so their patron can’t bring them back… I didn’t believe it was real…”

“It’s real,” I said with a deep scowl of my own, feeling a knot in my stomach as Lauren began to cry. Cassandra looked almost like she was in shock. “Maelyne couldn’t do anything about Heather, but she…saved me.” The girls both stared at me expectantly, so I quietly added, “She put my soul into Heather’s body…so I could take over as her champion.”

Lauren and Cassandra continued to stare at me, and I could see all the grief and confusion as they processed what had happened to Heather. I could only imagine how hard it was for them, to see me in Heather’s body. As it was, I felt even more guilty and self-conscious than ever before.

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” I told them quietly. “I don’t really want to use her body like this, but I don’t have a lot of choice. It’s either this, or be dead for good.”

“Who are you?” Lauren asked intently. “You said that we went to school together…”

I gave a short, bitter laugh at that, then admitted, “I’m still trying to figure that out.” I took a deep breath to brace myself, before adding, “But I used to be Jerry Tanner.”

Both of them stared at me with their mouths open.

--------------------

I was comfortably positioned in ‘my’ chair, with a soda beside me and a game controller in my hand. I was taking a turn at Target of Opportunity, while Matt and Teri watched, offering a running commentary that made me feel almost like I was playing Mystery Science Theater instead.

“Aw, fall down go boom,” Matt said after I fell off a building and landed right on top of an enemy soldier.

“I hope you don’t play THE game that badly,” Teri said. “I really don’t wanna get killed…”

“Shut up,” I snapped in annoyance. “It’s the controls for this game. They don’t make a lot of sense…”

“I never have a problem with them,” Matt pointed out. “Maybe it’s because you’re a dumb jock…cheerleader.”

“Bite me,” I said, pausing just long enough to flip him off before turning my attention back to the game.

The truth was, I wasn’t fond of first person shooter games, and would have much rather preferred to play my other game. Karock was still close to leveling, and I hadn’t played him in days, not since before this had all happened. I missed being a tank, both in the game and in real life.

But as much as I wanted to play Karock, I was also thinking about making a cleric or some kind of support type mage, just so I could get a little practice with the types of tactics that those classes used. Considering my current situation, that almost seemed like practical training, rather than playing a game.

“So,” Matt said a little more seriously. “Cassandra Markham is a champion too…”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Apparently, her patron is some goddess of secrets, romance, and the moon.”

I thought about Cassandra, and how she’d appeared as Bow Girl. During the competition, she hadn’t been wearing her goth makeup, so between that and the armor, she hadn’t looked much like her usual self. At the house, I never would have recognized her as Bow Girl, if she hadn’t actually pulled the bow out.

“Awesome,” Teri exclaimed with a grin. “She seemed really cool…”

I nodded at that, though I doubted that I’d spoken so much as half a dozen words to Cassandra back in high school. Back then, we’d run in completely different circles, so it seemed strange that we were now running in the same ones.

“Quite a coincidence, that you, Nadine, and Cassandra all end up as champions,” Matt said with a thoughtful expression.

“I talked to Cassandra about that earlier today,” I said with a shrug. “Apparently, when the gods decided to start holding their games in this area, most of them picked new champions from within the same age group. According to her, half the champions are between eighteen and twenty.”

Teri stuck her tongue out at Matt. “It looks like you missed your chance, little bro…”

“I don’t know if there’s a god of nerds,” I added with a grin of my own, which resulted in Matt flipping me off.

“So, Heather was roommates with these girls, Lauren and Cassandra?” Teri asked. “How does that work? I mean, isn’t Cassandra the competition…?”

“Yes and no,” I answered, trying to think of how to explain this when I still had so many questions of my own. “Officially, it’s usually each champion for themselves. However, some of the gods have alliances, so their champions are encouraged to help each other too…”

“Like Nadine and the guy with the scythe?” Matt asked.

I nodded at that. “Apparently.”

Matt considered this for a few seconds, then admitted, “It’s good that you’ll have someone watching your back…assuming that Cassandra will still help you.”

“She said she would,” I said with a scowl, though I wasn’t sure how that was going to work out. Cassandra was Heather’s friend, so would she help me for Heather’s sake, or would she resent me for using Heather’s body? I didn’t know. “We’re going to meet up tomorrow and do a little training.”

“Can I come?” Teri immediately asked.

“I was hoping you would,” I admitted. “Since you’re my companion, you’re going to be stuck in this too…”

Matt scowled, definitely not happy with the situation. However, he understood that I didn’t really have a lot of choice in the matter. Once Teri had accepted my accidental invitation, she’d become bound to me…and the game.

“I…I want to come too,” Matt said, giving me a steady look.

“Sure,” I responded with a shrug. “You might have fun watching…”

“That isn’t what I meant,” Matt replied, scowling as he did so. He took a deep breath, then blurted out, “I want you to make me into your companion.”

“What?” Teri and I exclaimed together.

“Look,” Matt explained. “I don’t like this situation, and I’m not happy about you dragging Teri off into these contests, where she could get killed. I want to look out for my sister, and watch your back too, and the only way I can do that, is if you upgrade me the way you did Teri…”

“You know I can’t upgrade you in quite the same way?” I reminded him. “My second companion slot is for some kind of rogue or thief class…”

Matt nodded at that and gave me a self-conscious smile. “I know. I also know that I like playing that kind of class, so it should work out…”

I stared at Matt for several seconds, trying to decide what I should do. On one hand, I’d already made Teri my companion, which gave her a lot of benefits. Benefits that I was jealous of, and Matt probably even more so. And of course, I could definitely use more help in watching my back. But on the other hand, I didn’t want to drag Matt into this whole mess as well. I didn’t want to risk him getting killed in one of these stupid contests. In the end, it was the look of determination in Matt’s eyes that convinced me.

“Fine,” I said, activating the ‘companion 2’ ability and sending Matt an invite. A moment later, I received the popup.

MATTHEW LAWRENCE CORSKEY IS NOW YOUR COMPANION

“Wow,” Matt blurted out a moment later. “This feels…”

“Awesome?” Teri asked excitedly.

“I was going to say amazing,” Matt responded. “But yes…”

Teri grinned at her brother. “It’s like, you feel strong enough to do anything…”

“Not quite,” Matt said with a thoughtful expression. “It’s more like…I feel faster, and more in control of myself.”

With those words, Matt abruptly did a summersault across the room, looking smooth and graceful while doing so. He came to an easy stop right before running into the wall.

“Nice,” I told him with a grin. “But not too surprising. I mean, you just got a nice boost to your agility, dexterity, and reflexes…”

“And stealth,” Matt reminded me. “You said that your second companion would also get stealth abilities…”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But I don’t know if that means you can turn invisible, or if you’ll just know how to hide better.”

Matt considered that for a moment. “I think, maybe a little of both.”

Matt picked up a couple random objects and began juggling them, doing so with an ease that impressed me. That plus four to dexterity was going to be great for party tricks. I watched him for a few seconds, through brought up his new stat page.

COMPANION 2

NAME: MATTHEW LAWRENCE CORSKEY
GENDER: MALE
AGE: 19
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: NA
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: STEALTH- RANK 1

STRENGTH: 9
STAMINA: 10
ENDURANCE: 9
-
AGILITY: 13
REFLEXES: 13
DEXTERITY: 15
-
INTELLIGENCE: 12
CHARISMA: 9
AWARENESS: 11
-
MANA POOL: NA
MANA RECOVERY: NA
HEALTH: 100
REGENERATION: 100

I looked over Matt’s stats, and was surprised to realize that we both had the same intelligence level of twelve. I was used to thinking of Matt as being the smart one, while I was the strong one. However, it seemed that things had changed even more than I’d realized. A knot seemed to form in my stomach at that realization, and my sense of self-identity took even more damage. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before it was destroyed entirely.

“Welcome to Team Maelyne,” I told my best friend with a slightly forced smile.

“Congratulations,” Teri exclaimed with a broad grin, before sticking her tongue out at Matt. “Just remember, I have more seniority than you…”

I looked around the Heap, hardly able to believe that I was back here again so soon. Then again, this was the perfect place to practice my abilities and train, which was why I’d suggested it to Cassandra in the first place.

“This place is a dump,” Laura exclaimed as she looked around. “Literally…”

Lauren had come with Cassandra, saying that she was just there to watch. However, I noticed a bulge in the side of her purse and was pretty sure that she’d brought a gun. The real reason she’d come was that she didn’t trust me yet, and wanted to watch her friend’s back. I could certainly understand that, and even respect it.

“I haven’t been here since I was a kid,” Cassandra commented. Then she smirked and added, “Though my brother used to come here all the time to smoke weed with his buddies…”

“There are better places than this for that,” Lauren said with a look of disapproval.

Cassandra nodded at that, then looked at Matt. “It’s like a fucking class reunion around here. If Nadine shows up too, I’m shooting her in the head.”

“If that bitch shows up,” I responded with a scowl, “I’ll help you.”

Lauren gave me an odd look. “I seem to remember you and her being real close…”

I gave a bitter snort. “That was a long time ago...and well before she burned me to death.”

Lauren shuddered at that, probably imagining either how much that would hurt, or just how horrible a way to die it was. Whatever she was imagining, the real thing was even worse.

“Maybe we should get started,” Matt suggested. “I have to work a short shift this afternoon, so I’d like to get as much out of this while I can…”

“Good idea,” Cassandra said, giving him a disapproving look. Maybe it was because she was a champion and he was only a companion. Or maybe, it was just the fact that he was a nerd.

Cassandra shimmered and sparked, and a moment later, she was now dressed in the leather armor I’d seen her in before. She had the bow in her hand, which actually looked pretty wicked. Its style was a little more fantasy themed than what you’d usually find people using in the real world.

Following Cassandra’s example, I switched over to my own armor and summoned my staff. Admittedly, I didn’t look nearly as dangerous or impressive as my goth ally.

“You know,” Cassandra said, giving Teri a skeptical look. “I don’t know why you made her into your tank. No offense, but even with your boost, you’re still not tough enough to be a decent tank…”

“Hey,” Teri protested, flipping Cassandra off. “I’m a great companion…”

“Maybe for the Doctor,” Matt responded wryly. “As comedy relief.” Then he told Cassandra, “Jeri bound her by accident.”

I blushed a little in embarrassment. “I was trying to figure out my abilities…” Then I defended Teri by pointing out, “She really helped me out against that latex guy and his fetish brigade…”

Cassandra and Lauren both snickered at that. “Maybe,” Cassandra responded with a faint smirk. “But Shwartzman is the weakest champion…unless you tie him up. He gets some kind of weird bonus whenever he’s in bondage or something. Don’t ask.”

“I won’t,” I promised, shaking my head.

“Gary and Dave were pretty tough,” Cassandra said, skeptically glancing at Teri and Matt. Obviously, they didn’t match up to what she expected of a companion.

“Dave was Heather’s boyfriend,” Lauren offered with a pained expression. “And Gary was his best friend… They were…good guys.”

“They were meat heads,” Cassandra added with a snort. “But they were good in a fight.”

Matt just met her skeptical look without blinking. He might not have a lot of experience in real fights, but he knew how to play a stealthy type character, and more important, he was loyal. If I’d ever doubted that, one look at his loyalty bar would have fixed that.

“Well, let’s get this going then,” Cassandra announced, looking at me.

With that, Cassandra pulled back her bow and an arrow just appeared in her hand, already notched and ready to fire. I’d seen that kind of thing in video games, where the inconvenience of having to carry a ton of arrows was often ignored, but not in real life.

Cassandra fired her arrow at me, but she’d gone slow, giving me time to form a shield wall. Matt and Teri ran to opposite sides, obviously trying to catch Cassandra when she couldn’t focus on all three of us at once. However, she fired two arrows in rapid succession, one at the feet of each of them.

“If you’re going to fight, you two are going to need weapons,” Cassandra pointed out.

Lauren, who’d backed off to keep from getting hit, said, “Dave had this huge hammer…”

I remembered seeing the hammer that she’d been talking about. “The cleaner probably has it,” I said, thinking about how the Cleaner had returned Heather’s purse to me. “Unless Nadine or this Morgan guy looked his body first…”

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Cassandra said.

“Especially Nadine,” Laura added with a clear note of anger. “That bitch once broke into my locker and stole everything I had in there, just to piss me off…”

“That sounds like Nadine,” I agreed.

“You’re right about us needing weapons,” Matt said thoughtfully. “Unfortunately, the only thing I have at home is a kitchen knife…”

Teri made a show of rolling her eyes in an exaggerated manner. “Why couldn’t you be like every other nerd, and have a collection of ninja swords and throwing stars?”

“Enough with the chit-chat,” I announced, trying to channel my old football coach. “We need to focus on why we’re here, and not waste this good practice time…”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am,” Teri responded sarcastically as she snapped to attention and gave me a salute.

After this, we actually went to work with some serious practice and training. Due to the drastically different nature of our abilities, it was difficult for Cassandra and I to really go against each other. She was a sniper who would keep back and shoot arrow after arrow at me, while I just threw up one shield after another. That didn’t really do either of us much good, though admittedly, I did get better at timing when to throw up my shields, so I could get the most out of them.

Matt and Teri took turns going after Cassandra and me, without much success. With my shields, neither of them could get near me. Cassandra didn’t have my defense, but she had a few tricks of her own, and was able to avoid them.

I watched in amusement as Matt activated his stealth ability, which worked something like turning him into a chameleon. His entire body blurred and blended into the environment so that it would have been easy to miss seeing him. Then he tried sneaking up on Cassandra, while Teri was charging straight at her.

“I don’t think so,” Cassandra announced, firing an arrow into the ground in front of Teri, where it exploded, knocking my companion back. An instant later, she snapped around and fired a second arrow into the ground, right in front of the stealthed Matt, knocking him back as well. “One of my gifts gives me really high awareness. I can see you coming a mile away…”

“That stinks,” Teri grumbled in annoyance. “I mean, you’ve got that bow, and I can’t even get near you…”

“That’s the point,” Cassandra pointed out.

“But why a bow?” Teri asked. “I mean, wouldn’t a gun be even cooler…”

“Certainly more modern,” Matt added, annoyed that Cassandra had seen through his special ability so easily.

Lauren laughed at that. “They do have a point.”

“One,” Cassandra said, holding up a single finger, specifically, her middle one. “I have a couple abilities that work with my bow. Two…” She held up a second finger, the middle finger of her other hand. “Guns aren’t allowed. Apparently, the gods think that having guns is too much like having extra abilities, so they’re banned…”

“Too bad,” I said with a shrug. “But I guess it makes sense. I mean, the gods want all the champions to rely on them for their powers…”

“Pretty much,” Cassandra agreed. “They’ve all got these enormous fucking egos…”

“Including your patron?” Lauren asked with a smirk.

“Especially her,” Cassandra responded with a smirk of her own. “Anyway, the rules are, absolutely no firearms.”

“What about crossbows?” Matt asked curiously.

“Oh, those are allowed,” Cassandra told him. “There’s one asshole who likes to use one…”

“Well, thanks for all the help,” I told Cassandra. “And the advice. Maelyne didn’t exactly give me the players guide or anything when she dumped me in this, so it really helps.”

“No problem,” Cassandra told me. “We are allies, after all.”

I nodded at that, fully aware of the fact that Lauren and Cassandra were both uncomfortable with me. It was no surprise since I looked like Heather, and was a constant reminder that their friend was not just dead…but truly gone.

“It’s been very interesting, learning how to use these new abilities,” Matt said almost apologetically. “I’d like to practice a little more on my own, to get a better idea…but I’m out of time. I have to get going if I want to get to work on time.”

“I am SO glad I don’t have a job,” Teri said.

“No,” Matt responded wryly. “You just use Mom and Dad’s credit cards... But one day, they are going to cut you off…”

Teri gave her best cute and innocent look, which was harder to pull off now that she’d had her growth spurt. “I’ll just have to make sure that day never comes…”

“What about you?” Cassandra asked me. “What are your plans for this afternoon?”

I hesitated a moment, then admitted, “I was going to go out looking for a new job and apartment… I kind of lost my own when this happened…” I gestured down at myself.

“But you’re staying with us,” Teri protested.

“Not for much longer,” I pointed out with a sigh. “Your parents only said I could stay for a few days, and your mom is already starting to hint about my leaving…”

“Yeah,” Matt agreed with a scowl. “Dad said something about that to me too…”

Teri looked annoyed at that, then looked to Cassandra and Lauren. “Then maybe Jeri can live with you guys… I mean, Heather was your roomie…”

Lauren and Cassandra immediately shared a look while I quickly said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“Heather…I mean, Jeri is right,” Cassandra responded.

Matt stared at me with an expression of sympathy, maybe even pity. “As far as everyone outside of us is concerned, Jeri is Heather. She has Heather’s body, which includes her fingerprints, DNA, and legal identity…” Then, he told me, “For all practical purposes, you ARE Heather…”

“But I’m not,” I reminded him, tapping my temple. “Not in here…”

“Maybe not,” Matt said. “But we’re the only ones who know that…”

“He’s right,” Lauren grudgingly admitted, giving me a look of sympathy too. “From what you’ve told us, your old life is totally gone, and now you’re stuck with Heather’s…”

I let out a sigh and shook my head, then ended up brushing the strands of hair out of my face. “Trust me, I’ve already thought about that. Why do you think I tried to find where she lived, and what she did for a living? I can’t use my own birth certificate, diploma, or driver’s license. I HAVE to use hers… But I don’t want to take over her entire life. It’s… It feels kind of creepy, like I’m a psycho stalker or something…”

“Well, I guess you can take over her identity without taking over her entire life,” Cassandra said, almost grudgingly.

“Heather was our friend,” Lauren told Cassandra, “and even if she’s gone, we still owe it to her to help. I mean, do you want to let Heather’s body end up homeless?”

Cassandra winced at that. “Nice way to turn up the guilt. Are you a Jewish grandmother or something?”

“Heather’s share of the rent is paid up for the next two months,” Lauren continued, this time talking more to me. “And all her clothes are in her room. I guess it makes sense for you to come live there…at least until you figure things out a bit more.”

I could hardly believe what we were all discussing. Sure, it made a lot of sense, but there would definitely be problems with me moving into their house.

“That would be really weird,” I pointed out. “For all of us.”

“My whole life has gotten pretty fucking weird lately,” Cassandra said with a wry smile. “How is this any different?”

“And those living arrangements would make it easier for you two to work together,” Matt pointed out, looking between me and Cassandra. However, he let out a sigh and admitted, “But it will make it more difficult to work with us…”

“You know,” I said, gesturing around the Heap. “I came out here to get a little practice in, not to find a new place to sleep…”

“Well, it looks like you got both,” Cassandra told me with a smirk. “And by the way, Heather did all the cooking and cleaning at the house, so you’ll need to take care of that now…”

I just gave Cassandra a skeptical look. “Now, why do I doubt that…?”

I stood in the doorway with my duffel bag in one hand and a couple shopping bags in the other. The duffel held everything that I’d taken from my old apartment, and the shopping bags contained my recently purchased clothes. All together, this was everything I owned.

“Thank you for letting me stay here,” I told Gail and Michael Corskey, my hosts for the last few days. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t.”

“It was our pleasure,” Gail told me with a warm smile. “You’re welcome to come back and visit anytime…”

“Thank you,” I repeated with a smile. Since Matt and Teri lived here, there was no doubt that I’d be coming over to visit quite often.

Gail’s husband, Michael, said, “I’m just glad you were able to find a place…”

“And you said that you’re going to be sharing a house with a couple other young ladies?” Gail asked curiously.

“A couple girls I went to school with,” I said with a faint smile. “One of their housemates recently left, so they had room for a new one…”

Michael nodded approvingly. “That’s your good luck then.”

After giving Gail a brief hug, I turned to Matt and Teri, both of whom were watching me leave. “Don’t worry,” I assured them. “You haven’t gotten rid of me that easily…”

“I should hope not,” Matt responded with a chuckle.

“So,” Teri joked, “you’re like a rash?” Her parents both gave her looks of disapproval, so she slouched down in her baggy clothes, trying to look smaller.

I gave them all a friendly wave as I said, “Goodbye,” again, then turned and walked out the door. Matt and Teri stood in the doorway, watching as I walked into their driveway, where a bright-yellow VW Bug was waiting.

“You got everything?” Cassandra asked from the driver’s seat.

“Yep,” I answered as I tossed my bags into the back seat.

When I’d learned Heather’s home address and had gone there to check it out, I’d mostly been interested in learning as much as I could about her. However, I had to admit, I’d also considered the possibility of moving there. Since I no longer had a permanent place of my own, and Heather no longer needed her home, it made sense for me to use the place myself. Of course, that had all changed the moment I’d learned she had housemates. I’d never imagined that those housemates, while knowing who I really was, would actually invite me to stay there anyway.

Cassandra pulled out of the parking lot and began the relatively short drive to the house. It amused me a little, to realize that my new home was even closer to Matt’s place than my old apartment had been. However, thinking about my old apartment just made me realize that it was probably safe to sneak back and grab some more of my old stuff. After a few long seconds, I decided against giving into that particular temptation. I’d already said goodbye to my awesome gaming rig and all my trophies, and that was all there was to it.

“Nice car,” I told Cassandra, more to fill the silence than for anything else. Still, the bright yellow color wasn’t as bad as pink, but it was still far different than what I would have expected from a goth.

“Glad you like it,” Cassandra responded with a smirk. “I mean, technically, it is yours now…”

“What?” I asked in surprise and a bit of confusion.

“This is…was Heather’s car,” Cassandra told me, her expression darkening. “She let me borrow it since mine was in the shop, but then…” She went silent, not needing to say what had happened next. Heather had never come back to reclaim her car.

When we reached the house, Cassandra handed me the keys and said that she’d already gotten her car back from the shop. I looked at the keys, which actually matched some on the keyring I’d found in Heather’s purse. I guess these must be the spare keys then.

“I don’t think you had a chance to look around much, the last time you were here,” Cassandra told me as we went inside. “Three bedrooms upstairs, the common rooms all down here.”

Lauren was sitting in the living room with a laptop open on the coffee table in front of her, and several books beside her. She looked up and added, “Heather’s room is the first one on the right…” She pointed to the stairs.

“Hard to miss it,” Cassandra added with a smirk. “She put her name on the door…”

“Okay,” I said a little awkwardly. “Thanks.”

Neither of my new housemates really bothered giving me a tour, probably because they thought it was weird showing the place around to someone who looked like Heather. So, I went around the house, poking my nose into all the common areas before going to check out my new room.

My new room did have Heather’s name on the door, and the name plate was even decorated with pictures of flowers. I winced at the sight, realizing that this was why Cassandra had been smirking. At least, I hoped that it was only because of this. When I opened the door and stepped inside, I saw the real reason. This was definitely a girl’s room.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I blurted out, feeling even more like an intruder than before.

The room had some good space, and was a little larger than the room I’d actually grown up with. However, the bedspread and pillows were all violet, as were the curtains. A small vanity sat in the corner and was covered with makeup. There were also two book shelves, and while one was indeed full of books, the other was loaded up with various dolls and stuffed animals.

“I don’t have to keep it like this,” I said, already knowing that I’d have to redecorate. Even if I was stuck with Heather’s body, there was no reason that I should be stuck with her personal style too. At the same time, I knew that I’d probably feel bad about throwing out any of her crap. “I’ll figure it out later…”

Even though I felt like both an intruder and a pervert, I looked through the closet and dresser drawers, including the underwear drawer, trying to get an idea of what I had to work with. There were a lot of clothes here, ones that would actually fit my new body. Then again, I remembered the small growth spurt I’d gone through, courtesy of my extra attribute points, and realized that Heather’s clothes could all end up being a bit tight.

“But at least it’s something to start with,’ I mused.

One thing I noticed, while searching through the room, was that everything was neat, clean, and organized. Knowing myself, it wasn’t going to stay that way for long.

When I was finished looking around, I went back downstairs, where I found Lauren still sitting on the couch with her laptop and books. Not having anything else to do at the moment, I sat down in one of the chairs and looked around. Damn, this was awkward.

“So,” I said, gesturing to the books. “Doing some research?”

“Homework,” Lauren answered with a wry smile. “I’m taking a couple summer classes so I can graduate a little earlier…”

“Not a bad idea,” I said. I might have done that myself, if I hadn’t needed to save up a bit more for tuition.

“The goal,” Lauren explained, “is to get all the basic stuff out of the way as fast as I can, so I can get into pre-med, and eventually, med school.”

“Pretty ambitious,” I said, impressed since I’d never really had that kind of ambition myself. “Any special kind of doctor?”

“Cardiologist,” Lauren answered without hesitation.

I blinked at that. “That’s a heart doctor, right?”

“Yeah,” Lauren agreed with a faint smile that seemed to be hiding a pained emotion. She was silent for a couple seconds, then explained, “My uncle died of a massive heart attack, about ten years ago. My dad has already had two heart attacks, and my sister was diagnosed with a heart murmer. You could say, it’s kind of personal for me…”

“Wow,” I responded, not sure what I could say to that. “I guess you’ve got some serious motivation to study hard.”

“Damn skippy,” Lauren said. Then she gave me a curious look and asked, “What about you? What are you…were you majoring in?”

I shrugged at that, admitting, “I hadn’t decided on a major yet. I was thinking maybe something like nutrition, sports medicine, or physical therapy. You know, something where my experience would actually be useful.”

Lauren gave me a sympathetic look, knowing that I’d just lost every single credit I’d earned last year. And since Heather hadn’t even started college yet, I didn’t get the benefit of inheriting some of hers.

“I don’t know,” I admitted with a sigh. “I’ve got no idea what I’m going to do now, other than try to survive this game…”

“I can’t believe Nadine did that to you,” Lauren said with a scowl. “I mean, I always knew that bitch was nasty, but I never thought she’d actually become a murderer…”

“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “I know what you mean…” I brushed a few stray hairs out of my face. “I don’t know how much of that is just Nadine being an evil bitch, and how much might be her patron… Hell, her patron is a god of pain, and he gave her a gift that makes her more powerful when she hurts other people… Maybe he picked her because she’s a bitch, and maybe he’s encouraging her to be even nastier… In the end, I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“No,” Lauren agreed sadly. “It doesn’t. I just hope I never run into her again. After all the fighting we did back in school, I figure that she’d jump at the chance to kill me too…”

Lauren and I just sat there for a couple minutes, with neither of us saying anything else. Our conversation had turned a little dark and had ruined the mood. Eventually, I got up and started for the stairs.

“What are you up to?” Lauren asked curiously.

“I think I saw some workout clothes up in the room,” I answered. They’d looked almost brand new. “I figure, I need to get in better shape, and its good weather for a jog…”

-------------------

“Eight,” I grunted as I pushed the bar up. I wasn’t benching much more than the bar itself, but you had to start somewhere. “Nine…” I strained to lift the bar again. And then, the final rep of my set. “Ten…”

With Teri’s help, I rested the bar, then sat up on the bench and stretched my arms. My pecs were hurting a little from that, but it was the good kind of pain, the kind that said I’d had a good workout.

“Thanks for spotting me,” I told Teri, who’d decided to come with me to the gym this morning.

“No problem,” Teri responded with a grin. She made a show of flexing her biceps and joked, “I need to feed these pythons too…”

I rolled my eyes at that. While her muscle tone was great, and she definitely had some biceps, they weren’t really up to ‘python’ level. However, I wasn’t about to burst her bubble because I’d heard more than a few guys making the exact same statement, when they had even less muscle. And besides, Teri had come to the gym to take advantage of her new body, and learn how to keep it in that shape.

“My turn,” Teri cheerfully announced, about to get onto the bench.

“Not yet,” I told her, trying to keep my jealousy from showing. “You’re going to need a bit more weight.”

I pulled out the sheet of paper that Matt had filled out the other day, the one where he’d listed how much we’d been able to lift. After I saw what he’d put down for Teri, I began putting some more plates on the bar.

“We’re going to start you off a little light,” I told Teri, “so you can get used to this. Right now, we’ll work on your form, then increase the weight a little.”

Teri eagerly positioned herself onto the bench and began to lift the weight, though I had to correct her on her positioning and form. If anyone had been watching us, they might have been confused. After all, Teri was the one who looked like she spent a lot of time in the gym, not me.

I put Teri through a couple sets, still focusing more on form than weight. The entire time, I tried to push down my feelings of jealousy and feel happy for her. She was excited by all these changes, and was determined to keep them. There was no way that I was going to do anything to discourage her now.

“Are you going to spot Matt too?” Teri asked, gesturing to her brother, who was doing cardio on one of the cycles.

“Only if he starts lifting,” I answered with a chuckle.

So far, Matt hadn’t done any lifting, and had only played around with the treadmill, cycle, and stair climber, but I was still impressed that he’d come to the gym at all. After all those years I’d nagged Matt to come work out with me, it took his little sister getting stronger for him to actually listen. I guess that was the motivation he really needed.

My eyes went to the treadmills and I frowned slightly. I’d recently discovered a new dislike of running. It was the bouncing. The bouncing got a bit uncomfortable, not to mention distracting. If it hadn’t been for the sports bra I’d found in Heather’s old room, I probably wouldn’t have bothered with it.

At first, I’d been a little surprised to find the sports bra and athletic clothes in my new room, because Heather hadn’t seemed to be big into exercise or sports. However, I learned from Lauren and Cassandra, that Heather might not have spent much time in the gym, but she had been into yoga. That was probably why my new body felt so limber and flexible. I’d never had any interest in yoga before, but I’d begun thinking that it might not hurt to check it out.

For now, though, I needed to focus on what I was doing, which was getting a good workout and teaching Teri how to do that the right way. I picked up a couple smaller weights, humiliatingly light, and began to do some curls while Teri mimicked my movements.

“You know,” Teri told me between sets. “I’ve decided to sign up for judo classes again…”

I gave her a curious look. “Oh?”

She looked self-conscious and a bit uncomfortable. “After what happened at that contest… I…those guys scared me.”

“They kind of freaked me out a little too,” I admitted.

Teri looked a little relieved at that. “I figure, if I’m ever gonna have to do something like that…I wanna be able to protect myself a little better…”

“That makes sense to me,” I said, looking at the weights. That was a large part of the reason why I’d come to the gym, after all.

“And my judo was really rusty,” Teri admitted with a look of annoyance.

Around this time, Matt had finally gotten tired of the cardio workout and had come over to join us. He gave the weights a skeptical look, then cautiously picked a couple dumbbells from the rack. They were a little too heavy for him, but he was trying to compete with Teri, which only made him look like even more of a rookie.

“Let’s find a better size for you,” I told Matt.

Once Matt had a set of weights that were a little more appropriate, I began showing him how to curl them properly. He grimaced in distaste, but did as I instructed.

“So, how are the new living conditions working for you?” Matt finally asked.

“Too early to tell,” I admitted uncomfortably.

I’d barely known Lauren and Cassandra back in high school, so it was a bit strange to suddenly be living with them. Of course, the whole situation was pretty damn weird, and my living arrangements weren’t nearly weirdest thing I had to deal with.

“My new bedroom needs to be redecorated,” I said with a sigh. “Badly…”

“I can help,” Teri quickly offered.

“No thanks,” I replied with a shudder. “That would only make it worse. I’ve seen your room, remember? The last thing I need are posters of unicorns, kittens, and boy band members…”

Teri responded by sticking her tongue out at me. “You have no taste, Jeri…”

Matt chuckled faintly. “Well, it can’t be any worse than having all those gaudy sports trophies all over the place…” Then, he asked, “So, what’s it like, living with two girls?”

“I just spent the last week living with two girls,” I responded with a smirk.

Teri snickered at that while her brother flipped me off and said, “Bite me.”

“I’ve only been there for one day,” I reminded Matt. “But so far it’s…weird. I mean, Lauren slipped and called me Heather once or twice, but for the most part, they remember I’m not her.”

Matt nodded at that and gave me a sympathetic look. “You’re a constant reminder of what happened to her.”

I nodded in agreement. I was pretty sure that Lauren and Cassandra were both relieved by the fact that I wasn’t happy about being Heather, and that I didn’t want to just slip in and take over her life. As it was, I was doing too much of that already, though it wasn’t like I had a lot of choice. I had to take over her place in the game, and I needed her identity just to live in the real world. This wasn’t like some movie, where I could just go to the corner store and have some guy make up a new identity for me, along with all the paperwork and records.

“I think that they’re sort of pretending that I’m really Heather’s twin sister,” I said wryly. “I guess that’s a bit easier to accept than what’s really going on.”

“That’s reasonable,” Matt responded thoughtfully. “I know it’s hard to believe you’re really Jerry in there, and a most of the time, it’s easier to try thinking of you as someone else…”

“Well, enough with the chit-chat for now,” I told Matt and Teri. “If we have the energy to talk, we have the energy to work a little harder…”

Both of my companions groaned at that, while I just grinned. Sure, I wasn’t nearly as strong as I used to be, but at that moment, I really did feel a lot more like my old self again.

I was sore. My arms, shoulders, and chest all hurt from my workout yesterday, but it was the good kind of pain, the kind that told me I’d had a good workout. This was the kind of pain I could actually be proud of.

Yesterday, I’d gotten a good workout, and I planned to go to the gym again this afternoon to work my lower body. However, right now, I was trying ignore this pain and discomfort, so I could focus on my current task. I was trying to exercise a different muscle entirely, one that I tended to overlook.

I was in the living room, sitting on the couch with my laptop open on the coffee table, a couple college text books on either side, and of course, my screen open in front of me. My attention was on my stat page, where I was looking at the numbers and trying to figure out what my own numbers might have been before I’d ended up in Heather’s body, with all her stats instead of my own.

“Obviously, my strength and endurance were a lot higher,” I mused to myself. “My agility was probably a couple points lower. And my intelligence…”

I let out a long sigh, wishing that I’d been able to see my own ‘character sheet’, and what stats I would have had before all this happened. It would have been a lot easier to understand exactly how I’d changed if I had something to compare it to.

The thing that I kept going back to was that I currently had an intelligence of twelve, the same rating as Matt. And as much as I hated to admit it, before this all happened, I was pretty sure that my rating would have been two or even three points lower. I wasn’t stupid, but I hadn’t been any genius either. The first step in overcoming your limits, was in knowing what they were.

“Am I really smarter than I used to be?” I asked myself.

I didn’t feel any smarter, not really. However, I’d spent the last hour or so testing myself, and I was starting to believe that I actually was. I’d borrowed a few college textbooks from Lauren, including a couple for classes that I’d taken last year, and some I hadn’t. I’d read through some chapters then tested myself with the quizzes at the end, and I had seen a difference. It wasn’t like I suddenly understood calculus or knew all the information. However, I read a bit more quickly than before, was able to understand the material more easily, and I’d even been able to remember what I read a lot better. And while this could have been my imagination, I doubted it. It was too noticeable.

“At least I got something good out of all this,” I said with a sigh. “Besides the superpowers…” And of course, a second chance at living.

In spite of the fact that getting smarter should be considered a good thing, it still worried me. This was yet another blow to my damaged sense of self. I was big. I was strong. I was an athlete. I was a jock. I was a guy. I was a gamer. And I definitely wasn’t a nerd or brain. Very little of that was true anymore, and this scared me almost as much as the idea of being burned alive again. If that wasn’t true anymore, then what was? Who was I now?

“I know I’m not Heather,” I muttered. In spite of how I looked, and the fact that my ‘character sheet’ had Heather’s name on it, that was one of the few things I was certain of.

I was still considering this when Cassandra came into the room a minute later. She had a diet soda in one hand and a bag of Oreo cookies in the other.

“What are you up to?” Cassandra asked, giving me a curious and slightly confused expression. I wasn’t actually taking any classes, so it probably seemed strange to see me sitting there with several textbooks.

“I was just looking over my stats,” I answered, gesturing to my screen, which she couldn’t see. I neglected to mention WHY I was looking at them.

“Pretty fucking crazy, isn’t it?” she asked as she separated a cookie and began go eat the filling first. “I mean, everything you can do, right in front of you in black and fucking white…”

“No kidding,” I agreed. “And what’s really crazy, is just how powerful these gods are. I mean, Maelyne showed me her character sheet, and if I remember right, her weakest stat was like, thirty points higher than mine…”

“Really?” Cassandra asked in surprise. Her eyes gleamed with interest. “Maelyne actually showed you her stats?”

“Yeah,” I responded. “I think she was trying to impress me. I take it that your patron hasn’t shown you hers.”

Cassandra barked out a short laugh. “No, and I’m pretty sure she never will. Armestia really likes her secrets.” A couple seconds later, she offered me a cookie and asked, “So, what did her stats look like?”

“They were all really high,” I said, trying to remember what I’d seen on Maelyn’s sheet. I’d been asleep and a little distracted, so I didn’t remember many of the specifics.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes at that. “Well, she wouldn’t be a goddess if she was at our level…”

“True,” I agreed. “I think one or two of her stats broke a hundred, but I can’t remember which ones. The big difference was that her mana and health levels were through the roof.” I also remembered one other detail. “And she has another resource attribute called ‘divine power’. I figure, all the gods probably have that one.”

“Probably,” Cassandra agreed. “But I don’t think we’re likely to find out for sure.”

With that, I took one more look at my stats, smiling wryly before I closed out my screen. At least now, I knew what these stats meant, and had a good point of reference.

Strength was the easiest one to understand, because I could see all our numbers, as well as how much we’d been able to lift. I figured that a normal guy, who was only moderately active, was probably a nine or ten. A couch potato would be lower, and anyone who went to the gym and worked out would be higher. A real athletic guy like myself, was probably between a twelve to fourteen. This was just a guess, but I figured that the strongest guy in the world, would probably land around nineteen or twenty.

My guess was that the rest of the attribute stats followed a similar pattern, with the average person being between nine and eleven, and with the top human limit reaching around a twenty or so. With that in mind, this really put Maelyne’s stats in perspective.

“Looking at her stats was actually kind of depressing,” I admitted to Cassandra.

Cassandra considered that for a moment before saying, “Yeah, I can see that. It’s no wonder those gods look down on us. Compared to them, we’re almost like fucking bugs…”

“Or rodents, at best,” I agreed with a sigh. “Fortunately, we don’t have to fight them. Only their champions.”

“Thank goddess for that,” Cassandra responded wryly, while handing me another cookie.

--------------------

I stepped out of the gym, feeling sore and tired, yet also relaxed and full of the kind of energy that you could only get through a good workout. Today, I’d done a bit of work on my core, but had mostly focused on cardio. I wasn’t trying to get bulked up for football, wrestling, or anything of the kind. I just wanted to get in better shape, to get stronger and improve my stamina.

“I still can’t believe you do this kind of thing for FUN,” Matt exclaimed from beside me. He still hadn’t learned to appreciate a good workout.

“Quit being such a wimp,” Teri teased her brother. “Besides, you could use a little time in the gym…”

Matt glared at his sister. “Easy for you to say. You didn’t have to spend a single minute in the gym to get into that shape, so you haven’t earned the right to nag me…”

“I think these give me the right,” Teri bragged, flexing her arm and showing some nice muscle.

“Knock it off, Teapot,” I said, giving Teri a flat look.

Teri grumbled at that but stopped teasing her brother. At least for the moment. I had no doubt that the usual sibling rivalry would resume the moment they got home.

I glanced over to Matt, who was still frustrated by Teri’s changes, and I couldn’t blame him. I was still jealous myself. And while he did get some physical benefits from his own stat increases, they weren’t nearly as obvious. He’d always been lean and wiry, but now he seemed a little more so. What was more noticeable, was that he now moved with an almost easy grace and balance.

We were about halfway across the parking lot and ‘my’ car, the yellow VW Bug, was in easy sight, when I noticed something from the corner of my eye. Or more accurately, someone. I snapped around and saw a familiar looking blonde on the other side of the parking lot. Nadine was dressed in workout clothes and was heading to the same entrance that the three of us had just left.

“Crap,” I groaned, just a moment before Nadine noticed me. “Double crap…” If there had been an actual stat for luck, then I was pretty sure mine would have only been a one.

“Nadine,” Matt gasped beside me, having seen her as well.

Nadine stared at me for a moment, as surprised to see me as I was to see her. Then, a cruel smirk formed on her lips.

“Sievers,” Nadine called out, dropping her bag and coming right at us. “I didn’t think I’d get another chance at you so soon…”

Even as Nadine was saying this, she shimmered and shifted into her armor. A large ball of fire formed in her hand, about the size of a bowling ball, and she threw it right at me. Matt reacted in an instant, shoving me and Teri aside so that the fireball missed us and hit the side of a car, which was suddenly engulfed in flames, as though it had been hit with a molotov cocktail.

“Thanks,” I told Matt, before yelling out, “Are you crazy? You want to do this in public?”

“The cleaner will erase all the evidence,” Nadine responded with a sneer. “And make all the witnesses forget. You know that…”

Nadine formed balls of fire in each of her hands, though these ones were a bit smaller than the first attack. She came charging at me, but I threw a shield wall up between us, then scrambled back and activated my own armor and weapon.

“You were right,” Matt gasped. “She’s even crazier than she used to be…”

Nadine went around my shield, but it had already served its purpose in slowing her down. “Matt Corskey,” she exclaimed, looking surprised. Then she laughed. “You know, I killed Jerry…”

“I heard about that,” Matt responded, watching her with a worried look.

“You’re next,” Nadine announced as she lunged right at Matt, obviously intending to drive a ball of fire into him the same way she’d done to me. However, Matt quickly dodged to the side, avoiding her attack. She blinked in surprise and tried again, but Matt was too fast. His reflexes and agility were going to make him hard to hit. “You’re fast…too fast.” Her eyes widened in realization. “She’s made you into her companion…”

The look on Nadine’s face was nearly enough to make me smile. I liked it when she was frustrated and annoyed, and Matt was doing a good job of encouraging this. Nadine had never liked Matt, and I imagined that she liked him even less now.

“You were a psycho back in high school,” Matt said. “And you’re a psycho now.”

Matt looked like he was holding his own, or at least, keeping out of Nadine’s grasp, but I was still worried. I threw a ‘protect companion’ shield on him and Teri both, and just in time. Nadine suddenly exploded in flames that shot out in every direction at once, blasting Matt before he had a chance to get away. He yelped and jumped back, though the shield kept him from taking any serious harm.

While Matt was distracted from the flames, Nadine charged forward and hit him. He started to dodge, but it was too late to avoid the hit entirely. Her fist grazed his shoulder in a glancing blow, but I’d seen how strong she was now and even a glancing hit would hurt.

“Leave him alone, you bitch,” Teri exclaimed as she charged Nadine. I just barely managed to get another shield on Teri, before Nicole threw a ball of fire right into her chest. Teri screamed in panic and jumped back, even though the flames didn’t seem to be doing much actual damage.

Teri’s shield faded away just as Nadine’s hands both burst into flame. My former girlfriend had a manic look in her eyes as she announced, “You’re going to give me just the boost I need to finish off Sievers and get some nice bonus points for my patron...”

I reacted without thinking, moving more out of instinct than conscious thought. I charged Nadine and used my staff to smack her as hard as I could. She snapped and hit me with a blast of fire in my chest. My armor protected me from some of the damage, but not all, as I felt the sensitive skin on my breasts blistering and burning. I howled in pain, and with the horrified remembrance of my nightmarish death, while Nadine just laughed.

“Now that is just the boost I need,” Nadine announced as she began to form a ball of fire between her two hands, which only grew larger and larger. I’d played enough games to recognize an alpha strike when I saw one. She was about to hit us with her most powerful attack.

“Look out,” I exclaimed, diving at Teri and activating ‘Maelyne’s shield’.

My magical dome formed just a second before we were engulfed in flames. Fire surrounded us on all sides, as if we were in the middle of a bonfire. I could feel the blistering heat even through the shield, which I was afraid would fall. If it hadn’t been for the fact that my shield was soaking up all my mana to reinforce it, Nadine’s attack probably would have broken through.

“No way,” Teri exclaimed, staring with wide-eyed fear at the flames surrounding us. I just grimaced and hoped that I could hold out long enough.

As soon as the flames vanished, I dropped my shield. It had already eaten up way too much of my mana, and I’d need what little I had left.

To my surprise, Nadine was on her knees, howling in pain. For a moment, I was confused why, until I remembered that her patron was the god of fire and pain. That was a pretty powerful attack, and in some games, that kind thing had a large downside. In this case, I suspected that she had to suffer some pain herself in order to actually use it. As far as I was concerned, that was a good thing, since that was a damn powerful attack, and I was in favor of anything that would discourage her from using it.

Matt had been far enough back that he’d been able to avoid the bonfire and was now sneaking up on Nadine. He leapt out of nowhere and punched her, knocking her back before she could recover.

“OUCH,” Matt exclaimed, jumping back and holding his hand. “That hurt…”

“Learn to throw a punch,” I exclaimed in frustration, jumping forward and swinging my staff. Nadine raised her arm to block it and winced in pain at the impact, which I took to be a good sign.

“I don’t know how you’re still here,” Nadine spat out, forming another ball of fire in one of her hands.

“Hey, bitch,” Teri exclaimed running up to Nadine.

Nadine snapped around to deal with Teri, seeming to forget about me for a moment. I swung my staff at her again, intending to give her a nice smack upside the head and maybe knock her out. When my staff made contact, there was a cracking sound and Nadine dropped to the ground with her head bent at a bad angle.

“Crap,” I exclaimed in shock. I’d meant to knock her out, not to kill her. While I was trying to absorb what had just happened, a new popup appeared in front of me.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED AN OPPOSING CHAMPION.

REWARD: +20 MANA POOL, +20 MANA RECOVERY, +20 HEALTH, AND +20 REGENERATION. YOUR COMPANIONS GAIN +20 HEALTH AND +20 REGENERATION.

I was a bit surprised to get another reward since this hadn’t been a competition, just me trying to survive an attack. It seemed that simple self-defense counted as far as the game went. Then again, Cassandra had told me that the gods had a bunch of side bets going during these unofficial encounters, so apparently, this still counted.

Even though I was hurting from my burn, I still opened my screen to check the change to my stats. Once I saw that, I noticed that Matt’s health was at 88%, which reminded me that I wasn’t the only one who’d been hurt. He’d taken a nasty hit on his shoulder, and had been lightly burned.

“Here,” I said, using ‘lesser healing’ on Matt, which used up the rest of my mana.

Matt let out a sigh of relief and rubbed his shoulder. “Thanks. That feels…” Then he paused to stare at me with his eyes widening. “Why didn’t you heal yourself first?”

“I’m fine,” I lied. My chest hurt like hell. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough mana to heal myself.

“You idiot,” Matt exclaimed. “Just like a dumb jock…”

I smiled faintly at that while trying to ignore my own pain. Now that the real excitement was over, I was noting the pain a LOT more. A moment later, I suddenly noticed something. My screen was still open in front of me because I was watching my health and mana levels, so I saw it when the loyalty bars on both my companions went up.

“Hey,” Teri blurted out, pointing at Nadine. “Look…”

I looked at Nadine, or at least her body, and saw it was sparkling. As I watched, her body vanished, leaving no trace that it had been there.

“She’s gone,” Teri exclaimed.

“Great,” I grumbled with a wince. “I have a feeling we’ll see her again…”

“But she’s dead,” Teri protested.

“So was I,” I grimly reminded her.

My mana had recovered enough that I could afford another healing, so I immediately used it on myself. My pain faded, though didn’t go away entirely. I was now back up to 95%.

“Come on,” I said, looking around nervously before hurrying to my car. “I don’t want to be here if the cops show up…”

By the time I’d slipped behind the wheel, I’d recovered enough mana to heal myself again. Once I did, all the remaining pain vanished, including all the aches from my workout. I just hoped that I didn’t wipe out the benefits of that workout along with the pain.

I pulled out of the parking lot, eager to get out of there before something else happened. When I glanced in my rearview mirror, I saw the Cleaner standing there, looking over the area where we’d fought. I didn’t mention this to Matt or Teri.

“You are SO dead,” Teri exclaimed, glaring at Matt.

“Bite me,” he responded, casually flipping her own.

Lauren laughed at that. “It’s no big deal…”

However, Teri couldn’t resist arguing further. “But he took the last cookie…”

“And I have more,” Lauren assured her with a chuckle. “Just let me go get them out of the kitchen…”

Cassandra turned to me and asked, “Are they always like this?”

“Pretty much,” I admitted wryly. “You should see them when they really get going.”

The goth stared at Matt and Teri for a few seconds more before admitting, “I’m not sure if that would be entertaining or annoying.”

“A bit of both,” I assured he with a chuckle.

I leaned back in my chair and looked around the table where everyone was gathered for lunch. Teri and Matt had come over to eat with us, though this wasn’t really the casual meal it seemed. I was quite aware of the timer that was counting down on my screen, and I was pretty sure that Cassandra was keeping an eye on hers too.

It had been three days since I’d fought Nadine at the gym, and to my relief, I hadn’t seen any sign of her or Robe since. However, yesterday, twenty-three hours and fifty minutes ago, I’d received another popup warning of a contest. Now, we were all having lunch together and getting ready to go.

Teri had prepared for our upcoming contest the best she could, though it still wasn’t nearly enough. She was wearing knee and elbow pads, and had an aluminum baseball bat sitting on the floor beside her. What she really needed was some serious armor and a real weapon, but I had no idea where to get that kind of stuff, or how we could afford it.

Matt had made his own preparations, and had come dressed up in some of his paintball gear, which included black cargo pants and a black long sleeve shirt. In addition, he had a large bowie knife hanging from his belt, though I was pretty sure that he had no idea of how to actually use the thing.

I hadn’t bothered with any special preparation, at least not as far as clothes and weapons went. Those had already been taken care of for me. However, I had done a bit more training and had leveled a couple of my abilities. Hopefully, this would help.

My eyes went to Cassandra, who ironically enough, had skipped the war paint. Instead of her usual goth makeup, she’d gone a bit lighter, probably so it didn’t all get smeared. Now, even without her armor, she looked a lot more like Bow Girl again. As far as I was concerned, this was a good look for her.

“How much time do you have left?” Lauren asked Cassandra, though she glanced to me as well.

“Only a few minutes,” Cassandra answered with a sigh. “Then it’s back to the fucking war…”

“Do you have any idea of what to expect?” Matt asked her. He’d asked me the same question earlier, but I hadn’t been able to answer.

“Not much,” Cassandra said with a scowl. “But the last contest was pretty short and straight-forward, so you can bet your ass that they’ll make this one more complicated.”

I nodded at that, not taking my eyes off Cassandra. She’d told me a lot about the game and what to expect from the various contests. Without her, I probably would have felt even more out of my depth than I already did. However, I also knew that I’d be competing against her. We were allies, and would watch each other’s backs, but when push came to shove, we each had our own patrons and were obligated to do the best we could for them. If it was a race, with only one possible winner, then we’d do what we had to.

“Time to get ready,” Cassandra said.

Cassandra stood up and moved away from the table, then in a burst of sparks, she was suddenly dressed in her armor. Her wicked looking bow was now clutched firmly in hand, though she didn’t seem to have any arrows on her at all. Of course, when you had the ability to actually summon your own arrows, there was no real reason to carry a quiver.

I followed Cassandra’s example by backing up and switching over into my armor. I was really trying to think of it as armor, rather than a dress, to protect my already damaged ego.

Looking at my counter, I said, “Thirty seconds and counting.”

Matt and Teri both picked up their gear and got ready. He slipped on his paintball mask while she gave her baseball bat an experimental swing.

“Be careful,” Lauren said with a worried look. “And come back safe.”

“You bet your ass I will,” Cassandra responded with a smirk. “Those fuckers don’t stand a chance.”

Teri snickered. “I wonder if we’ll have to fight that perv again. If so, this time I’ll be ready…” She swung her bat again, grinning as she did.

As soon as my timer hit zero, the popup appeared.

THE CONTEST IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. PREPARE TO BE TRANSPORTED.

A couple seconds later, we were transported via the now familiar sparks and sparkles. I suddenly found myself in a new location, one that obviously wasn’t another empty parking lot.

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore,” Matt exclaimed nervously.

We were standing in the middle of a large room, which was shaped like an octagon. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all made of large grey bricks, while a dozen glowing spheres floated around the ceiling, acting like light fixtures. And then, adding to the strange atmosphere, there was a large wooden door placed along each of the eight walls.

“This place is totally creepy,” Teri said.

“This place looks like it came straight out of some game,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, it does,” Matt agreed.

Cassandra didn’t say anything, though she was looking around us with a deep scowl. I followed her gaze and saw her look past some of the other champions and settle on Robe. It was easy to forget that I wasn’t the only one who had a grudge against that bastard. Now that Cassandra knew that he’d killed Heather, she had a large grudge against him as well.

Seconds later, I spotted Nadine, on the other side of the room. I tensed up and clenched my staff more tightly, but didn’t make a move. I’d known her patron would probably bring her back to life, but for once, I would have preferred to have been wrong.

Matt elbowed me and then pointed to where the Coordinator, the Referee, and the Cleaner were standing on their invisible platform. I gave them my full attention, knowing that the show was about to begin.

“A new contest begins,” the Coordinator began speaking in a calm and even tone that easily carried through the entire room. “For this contest, you will enter a warren of tunnels and chambers, which are filled with dangerous creatures, of varying types and levels of power. Your performance will be judged on numerous factors, including the threats you overcome and how you contribute to your team. In addition, there are three mid-level opponents and one high-level one, which will be worth greater rewards and considerations.”

The Referee took a single step forward and announced, “Teams of up to four champions each, are allowed for this contest, but are not required. This contest will end in twelve hours, or when the mid and high-level opponents have all been defeated, whichever comes first. Once you begin, you will not be allowed to leave the warren until the contest is over. If you do not enter the warren through one of these doors, within a reasonable length of time, this will be considered a forfeit.”

“No way,” Matt whispered to me with barely contained excitement. “We’re going a dungeon run. A real-life dungeon run…”

“I know,” I said, a little excited about that in spite of myself.

I’d done countless dungeon runs in the various games I played, so I knew exactly how dangerous this kind of situation could be. Team wipes were bad in a game, but in the real world… I shuddered to think about it. But in spite of that, I couldn’t help but get excited.

As soon as they called the start to the game, about half the champions ran for one of the eight doors, which seemed to have been picked at random. Some champions went through by themselves, or with only their companions, but others seemed to be forming small teams as they ran.

“Which door?” I asked Cassandra, glancing around the room at the remaining champions, who were trying to form some quick groups.

“First, we need the rest of our team,” Cassandra responded.

I was about to argue that we already had four people, until I remembered that the Referee had specifically said up to ‘four champions’ and not ‘four people’.

“And there he is,” Cassandra said a moment later.

I looked too where she indicated and saw a large man walking towards us. He looked like he was in his thirties, and had to be the largest Asian guy I’d ever seen. He was close to seven feet tall, and looked like he had some serious muscle. However, it was hard to be sure because he was also wearing some heavy plate armor, which had some odd coloration. His armor was dull, and seemed to be shades of reddish brown, which I took to be rust at first. When he got closer, I changed my mind and decided that his armor looked like it was mimicking rock instead.

The newcomer held a large shield in one hand, which was the same coloration as his armor. In his other hand, he held what seemed to be either a mace or war hammer. It was hard to tell, because it looked more like a large rock with a handle stuck into it, than anything else. Nearly everything about this guy screamed out that he was a tank.

Cassandra leaned over and whispered, “Don’s patron is Kraag, god of stone and patience. He’s a friend.”

When the huge man…Don…got closer, he paused to look us all over. His gaze settled on Matt and Teri, before he finally looked at me.

“What happened?” he asked in a deep voice.

“Mason and Fairlan killed Heather’s old companions,” Cassandra quickly said, before I had a chance to respond. “She’s taking it pretty hard.”

Don nodded at that. “Sorry to hear it. I liked Gary.” He didn’t mention Dave, which probably said something about how well they got along.

“This is Matt and Teri,” I said, gesturing to my friends.

Don looked at Matt and Teri again, his expression a bit skeptical, though he tried to hide it. I couldn’t really blame him. Teri wasn’t big enough or armored enough to be a proper tank, and Matt didn’t look all that dangerous either. However, Don didn’t say anything about that. He just nodded.

“Our usual roles,” Cassandra said, more for my benefit than Don’s. “I’ll scout and snipe, you keep our enemies occupied, Matt and Teri will help with damage, and Heather will heal.”

We didn’t bother planning any more strategy beyond this and deciding which door to go through. We were all aware of the Referee and her threat to disqualify anyone who hung around here for too long.

While we walked to our chosen door, I noticed one of the other groups was standing back and watching us. I felt chills going down my spine, and knew that these guys were going to be trouble.

Robe…or Mason as he was really known, just stood there with his scythe. I couldn’t see his face very clearly, but I could still feel his gaze. Of course, Nadine was glaring at me with a look of pure hatred, so it would be safe to say that she held a grudge for the way I’d killed her. There were also two other members of their group, whom I’d seen in the crowd, but had never met.

One was a large guy, about Don’s size, who was wearing plate armor with a fantasy style design right out of some game, and carrying a massive greatsword. He was wearing a helmet that covered his entire head, so I could see even less of his face than I could Mason’s.

The last member of that group was a darker-skinned woman with long black hair that was tied up in a braid. She wore a loose and flowing, blue and white dress, which seemed to move about on its own. There was a bored expression on her face, and she wasn’t even looking in our direction.

“Those guys are going to be trouble,” Matt said.

“Big trouble,” Teri agreed.

Cassandra snorted. “I’d be shocked if they don’t try to fuck with us somehow…”

“We’ll see,” Don commented, as though he wasn’t the least bit concerned.

Once we’d gone through the door, Don casually closed it behind us and then chuckled. I wondered why he was so amused, until he stepped back and activated one of his abilities. Suddenly, the ground rose up into a large stone column, right in front of the door. He stepped back and repeated the process two more times, completely blocking the door and the tunnel behind us.

“Now, shall we continue?” Don asked with a smile.

That sounded good to me and the others. We started down the corridor until we came to an intersection, with new paths going to both the left and right. And then, to give us even more choices, there were stairs in front of us, going up and down.

“Four ways to pick from,” Matt said.

“Eenie meanie minie moe,” Teri began.

“Shhhh,” Cassandra snapped. “I hear something…”

“Which direction?” I asked.

Cassandra pointed down the stairs. There was a brief discussion of whether we should go towards the noise or avoid it, but the simple fact was, we needed to take out some of these creatures if we wanted to make any progress in this contest. So, down we went.

At the bottom of the stairs, we found a large room, which looked completely empty. That was a bit of a surprise because I could hear the sounds now, coming from all around us.

Matt walked ahead of the group, looking around with a thoughtful expression. “If this was a game, I’d expect to find a mob or two in any room this size.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “This place definitely has that vibe.”

Suddenly, the ground dropped out from Matt and he let out a yell as he began falling. However, his reflexes and agility were high enough that not only was he able to react in time, but he was actually able to leap back to solid ground.

“You scared the crap out of me,” I said, looking at the large hole in the floor. I moved a little closer and could see that it went down about twenty feet, and there were spikes along the floor.

“How do you think I feel?” Matt asked.

“Incoming,” Cassandra called out.

A second later, I realized that the strange noises I’d been hearing, were coming from beneath us…and from the hole. They were getting louder, closer… Then a rat crawled out from the hole, the largest one I’d ever seen in my life. It was about the size of a large dog.

“It’s an R, O, U, S,” Matt exclaimed with a grin. “A rodent of unusual size…”

That might haver been funny if it wasn’t for the fact that another giant rat appeared, and then another. More of them began climbing out of the hole, nearly pouring out.

An arrow appeared in the head of the first rat, with two more hitting the rats next to it. That was all the signal we needed for everyone to join in the fun.

Teri shrieked in fear and disgust, then began smacking the nearest rat with her baseball bat, continuing to do so even after the thing was dead. Cassandra just backed away, though she continued to shoot arrows as she did so. As ranged DPS, she worked better from a distance.

Don calmly walked right into the middle of the rats and began swinging his weapon. The rocky mace smashed into one rat after another. He ignored their biting and clawing, which couldn’t make it through his armor, though he did have to knock a few of them aside.

I silently cursed my lack of offensive power, then tried to get my head in the game. One rat came at me so I threw up a shield wall. As soon as my wall dropped, I swung my staff at the creature, smacking it hard enough to knock it back. Then I swung at several more of them.

Matt lunched forward and stabbed one of the rats with his bowie knife, then quickly jumped back. He did this several more time, looking rather pleased with himself. After doing this a couple times, he stealthed, fading from view, though I could still see him. He came up to one rat without it seeing him, and stabbed it as well.

“A trash mob,” Matt announced rather smugly. “I won’t even need my secret weapon for these guys…”

It didn’t take long to finish off the giant rats, though to my disappointment, there were no drops or loot from this mob. Instead, all we were left with was a pile of dead rats.

“Well, this was a nice warmup,” I said, feeling a little pleased since I’d actually had the chance to get in and do some damage with my staff. “Now, let’s go find a boss to kill.”

I hate goblins. Goblins were a staple of nearly every fantasy RPG, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to find them in this dungeon, but I was. They were short, with slimy green skin, big pointy ears, lots of sharp teeth, and bad attitudes. A group of them had also ambushed us a couple minutes ago.

We were in another large room, where we were still fighting with the goblins. I hadn’t been able to count them, but was sure that we were facing around a dozen. Unfortunately, they weren’t standing out in the open so I could count them, or where Cassandra would be able to conveniently shoot them.

“These things are getting on my fucking nerves,” Cassandra snarled.

Cassandra was crouched down behind a large chunk of stone debris, using it as cover. She popped up just long enough to let loose with an arrow, then ducked back down, right before a ball of fire passed through where her head had been.

I was crouched down behind a chunk of rubble too, as were Teri and Matt. Don was the only one who wasn’t bothering with that, as his armor and shield protected him for the most part. Still, I hit him with a ‘lesser healing’, just to top off his health since some of the goblin’s attacks were managing to do a little damage.

“It’s gonna take forever to beat them like this,” I said in frustration.

“True,” Don agreed in a calm tone. “It would help if they’d stand still and fight…”

These goblins weren’t behaving like the mindless mobs from a lot of games, where they’d attack Don all at once, and conveniently, get within easy range of his mace. Instead, these ones were taking cover, hiding behind various pieces of rubble, then trying to ambush us. Some of them would sneak around and try to attack us and then run back to cover, while others remained there and threw fireballs or spears. It was getting pretty damn frustrating.

Three fireballs hit Don at once, and though he blocked one with his shield, two others got through. His armor took the brunt of the damage, but not all of it. Since he wasn’t one of my companions, my ‘protect companion’ ability didn’t work on him. I’d already tried. All I could do was heal him a little.

While I was focused on Don, one of the goblins snuck around the rubble where we were hidden and leapt at us from behind. Matt jumped at the goblin and slashed him with his bowie knife, then jumped back, right before the goblin could impale him. Teri swung her baseball bat and connected with the goblin’s head.

“Gross,” Teri cried out. “This is totally gross…” However, that didn’t stop her from smacking the goblin a couple more times, until it stopped moving.

“I need a better angle,” Cassandra called out. “I can’t see any of those little pricks well enough to hit them…”

“Good point,” I said, stepping out from my cover and throwing up a shield wall. A fireball immediately bounced off it. “I’ll cover you…”

Cassandra gave me a look of surprise and then nodded agreement. A moment later, she left her cover and raced over to join me behind my shield. Teri stood there beside us, ready to smack any goblins that tried to come at us from our exposed side.

Matt didn’t say anything, but he faded from view and snuck away. I smiled faintly at that, knowing that he’d be helping us in a different way. Any goblins that he took out, especially any of the ones throwing fireballs, would be a huge help.

I put up another shield wall and we moved behind that one, right before the first one faded out. I repeated the process, creating one shield wall after another, which gave us the cover we needed to move across the room. Cassandra shot at any goblin that tried approaching us, so Teri only had the opportunity to hit one of them.

“This should do it,” Cassandra said, once we were positioned on top of a mound of rubble. “Don, get back…”

Once Don had backed up, Cassandra formed another arrow, though unlike most of her arrows, this one appeared to be made of silvery light. She fired the arrow into the air, not seeming to be aiming for any specific target. Then the arrow split and split again, until there were a dozen arrows that rained down in the area. This attack didn’t seem to be very accurate, but it was enough to hit at least one goblin and to make several more dive out from their covered positions in order to avoid getting hit.

“Gotcha,” Cassandra exclaimed, firing several quick shots and killing these goblins.

Another goblin jumped out into the open with a fireball in each hand. He was in the process of throwing them at us, when Matt suddenly appeared behind him and stabbed him in the back.

“Pawned you,” Matt announced. He was a serious gamer, so of course, he was really getting into this.

I threw a shield on Matt and then on Teri since I didn’t want to leave them open to ambushes. While I was doing this, Cassandra fired another glowing arrow into the air, raining more arrows down onto the goblins and driving a few more out of their covered positions. One of them immediately leapt back behind cover, but Cassandra pulled out another glowing arrow and shot it right through the rubble, as though it wasn’t even there. It didn’t take long to finish off the remaining goblins.

Once we were done clearing the room, Don went up to Cassandra and commented, “Heather seems to be taking a much more…active role.”

“Mason and Fairlan killed her and both of her old companions,” Cassandra responded. “I think it was an eye-opening experience. Heather isn’t the same person she used to be.”

“I can see that,” Don said.

“Hey,” Teri suddenly exclaimed. “I found something over here…”

I looked over to where Teri was crouched down beside one of the dead goblins, and saw what she was referring to. There was a small wooden box beside the goblin, maybe about the size of a brick. I might not even have noticed it if not for the fact it had some symbols on it that were glowing.

“It looks like we get some loot after all,” Matt commented, though he looked a little disappointed that there wasn’t more. “What is it?”

“This could be good,” Cassandra said with a smirk. “Or it could be worthless…”

“We’ll take that!” a new voice announced.

I snapped around and saw another group of champions, three of them, standing halfway across the room. I grimaced at that, since the last thing we needed after dealing with these goblins, was to get into another fight before we had a chance to recover.

The one who’d spoken was a woman, who appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties, with shoulder-length blonde hair, and some lightweight armor that seemed to be white cloth with bits of golden metallic armor over it. In her hand, she held a spear with a glowing gem set into the head.

Standing beside the woman was a figure dressed in grey and black, with a dark grey cloak that leaked smoke and shadow from the edges. I couldn’t make out many details, other than that this one was a guy.

The third member was a guy, who looked like he was around my age, maybe twenty or twenty-one. He was tall and well-muscled, similar in size and physique to my old body, and he was wearing brown leather armor with bits of bronzed metal armor added to it in various places, such his shoulders and chest. In his hand, there was a rather nasty looking, one-handed battle axe.

“I didn’t hear them coming,” Cassandra said with a scowl. “Careful. They might have some kind of stealth ability.”

“You were supposed to be quiet until AFTER we ambushed them,” Cloak exclaimed, turning to glare at the woman. “Are you SURE your patron is the goddess of light and wisdom, because I’m noticing a rather obvious lack of the latter?”

“It looks like we’re going PVP next,” Matt said.

The guy with the axe grinned as he called out, “I’ve got dibs on the cute redhead…”

I looked around for the cute redhead, only to realize that he meant me. I was the cute redhead.

“Aw, crap,” I grumbled. Teri snickered beside me while Cassandra just smirked.

“You cost us the advantage,” Cloak told Spear Chick in a disapproving tone. “But we still need those points… Get them…”

At those words, all three of the new champions came at us. I was tired from the goblin fight, as were the rest of my team, but we didn’t have time to rest and recover. Instead, we braced ourselves and prepared to fight.

In spite of calling ‘dibs’ on me, Axe Guy found himself facing Don, who’d calmly stepped in front of him. Axe met shield, then mace met air as Axe Guy dodged Don’s attack. They continued going back and forth, though I was too busy to pay much attention to the details.

Cassandra immediately opened fire on Cloak, though I couldn’t tell if she hit him or not. Smoke and shadows poured out around him, covering him in darkness and leaving little more than a black cloud in the middle of the room. Cassandra scowled and fired several more shots into that cloud, though nothing seemed to change.

Spear Chick came right at me, seeming to ignore the fact that I had two companions. When she leapt at me with her spear, looking like she was going to try impaling me, I threw up a shield wall and she ran right into it. I almost burst out laughing, though for Teri, there was no ‘almost’ about it.

“You’re going down, Sievers,” Spear Chick exclaimed with a smirk. “Everyone knows you’re one of the weakest champions…”

“Then it’s a good thing that everyone knows wrong,” I responded.

As soon as my shield vanished, Teri rushed forward, swinging her baseball bat. Spear Chick swung her spear and knocked the bat aside. I managed to get a shield on Teri, right before the head of the spear hit her. If I’d been a second slower, my friend and companion would have gotten a nasty slice right across her chest.

Teri didn’t seem too worried about the loss of her bat, because she used the brief opening to grab onto Spear Chick and throw her to the ground. I’d seen Teri do this kind of thing a couple times and knew that in a couple seconds, Spear Chick would be pinned, and would probably have her arm pulled back into some painful position.

Spear Chick went down, but when Teri moved in to pin her, she responded by releasing a brilliant flash of light that blinded me for a moment and did even worse for Teri. Teri scrambled back, unable to see, while Spear Chick quickly got back to her feet.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” Spear Chick exclaimed as she kicked Teri.

She lunged at Teri with her spear, but I reacted, first by throwing another shield on Teri, then blocking the spear with my staff. For a moment, Spear Chick gave me a look of surprise, then she slashed at me, though I knocked it aside.

“Bring it on,” I said, not about to let her hurt Teri.

I swung my staff at Spear Chick, who blocked it and then tried to slice me. We danced back and forth, spear against staff, though I quickly realized that she had the upper hand. She was stronger than I was as well as more skilled with her weapon. Still, I was too damn stubborn to let that stop me.

We fought without using anything but our weapons for about half a minute, and I was slowly being pushed back. I grimaced and tried to think of how I could turn this around.

STAFF FIGHTING HAS INCREASED TO RANK 4.

I grinned at that, though didn’t let it distract me. In the blink of an eye, I was doing better. I was actually able to fight with a staff better than I had before, but Spear Chick still had the advantage, just not as large of one.

While I was fighting with Spear Chick, I was somewhat aware of the other fights going on. Don and Axe Guy were still going at it, and seemed to be at a stalemate. Cassandra also seemed to be at a stalemate with her opponent, Cloak. She kept shooting arrows at him, though the mass of smoke and shadows just kept moving, seemingly unphased by it all.

“You’re jousting at shadows,” Cloak said in an amused tone. “Such a waste of time…”

“Conrad James,” Cassandra called out to Cloak. “Champion of Lequettra, goddess of smoke and shadow. I know too much about you to fall for your fucking head games…”

I was momentarily distracted by everything else that was going on and Spear Chick took immediate advantage of that. She lunged forward and past my guard. I managed to shift to the side enough so that she didn’t impale me, but she would have sliced through my side if not for my armor deflecting the hit.

“Nothing personal,” Spear Chick exclaimed, “but my patron and I need the points… You understand…”

Suddenly, Spear Chick began to glow, bright enough that I couldn’t bear to look at her. She tried to impale me again, but even though I couldn’t see, I could still activate my shield wall.

I didn’t know what Spear Chick planned to do next, because she screamed instead. The bright light stopped, though I still had a lot of spots in front of my eyes. I rubbed my eyes while backing up, and was then able to start making things out again.

Matt was standing off to the side, and I saw that he’d finally decided to break out his secret weapon. He held a paintball gun in his hand and was blasting Spear Chick with it.

“Ouch,” I said, almost feeling sorry for the girl.

I knew from personal experience that normal paintballs could leave some nice welts, but Matt wasn’t using paintballs. He was firing ball bearings, with a gun that had been modified with a larger and more highly pressurized air canister.

The only reason Matt had been reserving this gun until it was really needed, was that he couldn’t carry much extra ammo or the spare canisters. That would have been too much too much weight and too bulky, especially for a sneaky type that relied in speed and agility.

“That’s going to leave some bruises,” Matt exclaimed, firing a couple more shots.

Spear Chick’s armor seemed to be protecting her fairly well, but part of her armor was still just cloth, and there was only so much that could do. Matt fired several more shots then backed up, ready to dodge if she retaliated.

“You CHEATER!” Spear Chick yelled. “Guns aren’t allowed…”

There was a flash of light, though this time it didn’t come from Spear Chick. It took me a moment to realize that I was froze, unable to move. I felt a moment of panic, until I saw the Referee was now standing a short distance away from us.

Spear Chick grinned triumphantly and exclaimed, “Her companion is using a gun…”

The Referee turned to stare at Matt with a flat expression. “Firearms are strictly forbidden in any competition…”

“This isn’t a firearm,” Matt quickly protested, holding the paintball gun out sideways so that the Referee could get a better look. “It doesn’t use gunpowder or bullets, just compressed air.”

The dark-skinned woman stared at the paintball gun for several long seconds before announcing, “Objection overruled. This weapon fires projectiles via stored energy in a similar manner to bows, crossbows, and slingshots. This is not a firearm, and technically, does not violate any rule.”

“WHAT?” Spear Chick exclaimed with a look of disbelief.

I wasn’t surprised by this ruling since Matt had asked Cassandra a lot of questions about the rules, especially the ones concerning firearms. When he found out that the rules specified that ‘firearms’ were banned, not ‘guns’, he’d come up with the idea of using a paintball gun. He was too much of a fan of paintball and first-person shooters, to not take advantage of this opening.

“The contest may proceed,” the Referee announced, right before vanishing in a burst of sparks and sparkles. As soon as she was gone, I was free to move again.

With the Referee gone, the fight immediately resumed. Teri picked up her baseball bat and swung it at Spear Chick while Matt fired several more shots at her with his paintball gun. I stood back, cursing my lack of offensive power while throwing shields around my companions.

Cloak tried closing in on Cassandra, but her arrows were keeping him back, even if they didn’t seem to be doing much. Don and Axe Guy were still going at it, with neither of them making any progress. For a moment, I considered trying to help one of my allies, but the truth was, they were too far away for me to hit with my healing ability, not that they really seemed to need it. So, I once again turned my full attention to my own fight.

Spear Chick snarled and slammed the base of her spear into the ground. There was a flash of light, and I was suddenly flung backwards, where I hit the ground and rolled a couple times. I scrambled to my feet, feeling a little dazed. Then I realized that not only had I dropped my staff in the process, but that there were now seven Spear Chicks standing there.

“What the hell?” Teri demanded as she scrambled back to her feet. “Is she a rabbit or something?”

“Probably illusions,” Matt responded, opening fire with his paintball gun. Only one of the Spear Chicks yelped in pain.

Teri grinned and ran at the real Spear Chick, while Matt kept the girl focused on him. A moment later, Spear Chick was slammed into the ground, while her spear was sent flying. Teri immediately went to work, elbowing the champion and trying to get a good grip on her.

“Judo for the win,” Teri exclaimed, just a little too quickly.

“Get away from me,” Spear Chick exclaimed, somehow slipping right out of Teri’s grip and scrambling back to her feet.

I rushed forward, hesitating to put another shield on Teri because I was low on mana and didn’t want to use up what little I had left, unless I had no choice. When I was almost on them, I realized that I’d left my staff behind. Fortunately, there was a spear on the ground beside me, I snatched that up instead.

“Switch opponents,” Cloak yelled out to his people.

As soon as Cloak announced this, a thick cloud of darkness poured out from his personal patch of shadows and began spreading out, making it difficult to see much in the large room. Fortunately, it was strongest near him, so I wasn’t completely blind. When it started to thin out, I saw Axe Guy was running straight for me.

“She has my spear,” Spear Chick protested, hesitant to leave me with her weapon, but also not wanting to attack since she was now unarmed.

Axe Guy reached me a moment later, and he swung his axe ahead of him, causing Teri and Matt to leap back. When he swung at me, I used the spear to divert his axe. Fortunately, fighting with a spear wasn’t much different from a staff, so I was able to use the weapon fairly easily. I managed to divert a couple more attacks, and even retaliated with one of my own, though Axe Guy’s armor protected him from taking any real damage.

YOU HAVE LEARNED A NEW SKILL:

SPEAR FIGHTING- RANK 1
-YOU KNOW HOW TO FIGHT USING A SPEAR. HIGHER LEVELS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

I was startled by this popup, though I didn’t let it distract me. Instead, I focused on dealing with Axe Guy, and mostly, on keeping him distracted until Teri and Matt could sneak around to attack him from the other side.

“You’re cute when you’re fighting,” Axe Guy said, giving me a cocky grin.

“Too bad I can’t say the same,” I responded with a shudder.

When he swung his axe at me again, I created a shield wall between us, which blocked his strike. From this perspective, I was able to take a moment to glance at the others. Don was fighting Cloak, and not appearing to have much luck. Cloak was still a mass of shadows, and he was right on top of Don, slowly whittling the tank down. Cassandra, on the other hand, kept shooting arrows at Spear Chick, who kept dodging them and running away.

I looked back at my own opponent and smiled faintly as an idea came to me. While Axe Guy battered at my shield until he could break through, I dodged to the side and went around my own shield in order to hit him in the side with the spear. This time, I got through enough to do a bit of damage.

“Not bad,” I said, feeling rather pleased with myself.

But before I could repeat this trick, the spear suddenly vanished from my hands. I looked around in surprise and confusion, until I saw the spear reappear in Spear Chick’s hands.

“Crap,” I exclaimed, realizing that she must have sent her spear back to wherever it was stored, and then summoned it again. Well, if she could do that, then so could I. A couple seconds later, I had my staff in hand again, just in time since my shield wall was fading away.

Matt suddenly appeared behind Axe Guy and tried to shoot him in the back, at nearly point-blank range. There was a loud ‘BONG’ sound from Axe Guy, which sounded like massive bell or gong. The sound was deafening enough to make me grab my ears. Axe Guy just grunted and swung his axe at Matt, who barely managed to jump back in time.

“My patron is the goddess of bells and some other stuff,” Axe Guy commented with a smirk. “Not exactly what you’d call combat stuff, but it does come in useful…”

“What did you say?” I asked, having a hard time hearing him through the ringing in my ears.

“I can’t hear you,” Teri yelled.

Axe Guy slammed his axe into the ground, sending out a shockwave that sent Teri and Matt flying backwards. Matt rolled as he hit the ground, though Teri hit with a nasty impact. I pulled up her status screen and saw that her health was down to 74%. I used almost every last bit of mana I had left to heal her. However, a moment later, I realized that I may have made a mistake since Axe Guy turned and charged straight at me.

“Awe, crap,” I exclaimed, using my staff to deflect his blow, though the force of it nearly tore my arms off.

I scrambled backwards, trying to avoid one axe swing after another. And since I no longer had the mana to use any of my abilities, all I could do was try to buy myself some time until someone came to my rescue. At that moment, I REALLY wished that I was playing a tank.

Suddenly, the ground beneath me crumbled and fell away, just like it had to Matt in the rat chamber. And unfortunately, I wasn’t nearly as quick or nimble as my friend, so I fell down the hole, along with Axe Guy. I hit the bottom pretty hard, leaving me a bit stunned. It took a couple seconds to realize that I was actually pretty lucky because there were no spikes, just a rocky floor.

“Ow,” I grumbled as I slowly got back to my feet. My entire body felt like one solid bruise, but at least nothing seemed to be broken.

Axe Guy was getting back to his feet and was giving me a cocky grin. It was only then that I realized I’d dropped my staff…again. Not that it would do me much good. I didn’t have the physical power to really go toe to toe with him in a melee fight. I was a squishie clothie, not a tank, and a clothie without any mana at that. I was damn near helpless, though that didn’t mean I was going to just give up.

I looked around in desperation, trying to find something…anything that I could use to my advantage. I was in another large chamber, but there didn’t seem to be any monsters in this one, just us.

“Great,” I grumbled as I ordered my staff to go back into storage, then summoned it back to my hand. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. “Just frickin great.”

I needed a weapon, something other than this staff. I was out of mana, so couldn’t use any of my abilities, but I realized that I did have one option…if I was willing to use it. Axe Guy was still coming towards me with a cocky grin, so I made my decision.

“There’s no way I can beat you,” I gasped, shifting my body language and the tone of my voice. “You’re too strong…”

“You’ve got that right,” Axe Guy said, looking pleased by the compliment.

I just stared at him as though he was the most impressive person I’d ever seen, then I smiled faintly in appreciation. Axe Guy puffed up right before my eyes. Even with a charisma of thirteen and a flirtation rank of five, I couldn’t believe how easy this was.

“Maybe,” I said with a faint smile and putting a note of suggestion into my voice, “when this contest is over, we can…talk.”

“I’d like that,” Axe Guy responded with a grin.

He continued moving towards me, though he’d lowered his axe and no longer seemed hostile. I just backed away and moved to the side, leading him around like a puppy on a leash. Still, I couldn’t let myself get too relaxed, or show how disgusted I really felt. So, I gave him a fawning look, let out a faint gasp, and moved to the center of the chamber, where I’d noticed something a few minutes ago. The bricks didn’t look quite right. I’d seen that same thing in two previous chambers, and was counting on my guess being right.

As soon as I’d lured Axe Guy to the right spot, the ground crumbled beneath him. He tried twisting around so he could grab the ledge as he fell, but I reached out with my staff and pushed him back. He fell down the newly formed hole with a scream that abruptly shut off. When I peeked over the edge, I saw that like the first trap hole we’d encountered, this one had spikes lining the bottom. I shuddered at the sight.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED AN OPPOSING CHAMPION.

REWARD: +20 MANA POOL, +20 MANA RECOVERY, +20 HEALTH, AND +20 REGENERATION. YOUR COMPANIONS GAIN +20 HEALTH AND +20 REGENERATION.

I stared at the popup for several seconds before letting out a sigh of relief. After the goblins, then fighting with two other champions, my health had been down to 32%, though that was mostly due to the nasty drop. I’d come too damn close to getting killed, but in spite of that, not only had I survived, I’d come out of it even stronger.

“Now for my next problem,” I muttered, looking up at the ceiling and the hole I’d fallen through. How the hell was I going to get back up there to my crew? And of course, I also had an even greater problem. If Matt ever learned that I’d actually flirted a guy to death, I’d never hear the end of it.

I was alone. I was alone in the middle of a fricking dungeon, which was packed full of dangerous creatures and even more dangerous champions, with no companions, and almost no offensive capabilities at all. There was almost no way that I’d be able to survive on my own long enough to meet up again with the others.

“Well, this sucks balls,” I grumbled as I looked around.

There was a tunnel off to one side, so I wasn’t trapped in this chamber. However, I had little doubt that it would be dangerous to go wandering around. For all I knew, there could be a couple starving trolls just waiting for me through that passage. In spite of the danger and uncertainty, I knew that I didn’t really have any other choice.

Just then, someone called out from above, “Hello? Are you down there?”

I paused at that, then looked up to the hole in the ceiling that I’d fallen through. It was about thirty feet up, so I’d been pretty lucky that I hadn’t broken anything. I’d spent nearly ten minutes yelling at that hole, hoping that someone would hear me, but nobody had answered…until now.

“I’m here,” I called back, having recognized the voice as Matt’s. “I don’t know how I’m going to get back up though…”

There was no response at first, then Cassandra’s voice called out, “Is Tyler still there?”

I didn’t know who Tyler was, so assumed that she must be referring to Axe Guy. “No. It’s just me…”

“Stand back,” Cassandra yelled.

A couple seconds later, Don dropped down from the hole and hit the ground in front of me. He landed on his feet and hit hard enough to crack rock. However, unlike me, he seemed unharmed by that drop.

“Fancy seeing you here,” I said.

Don just smiled and asked, “Need a lift?”

The large tank gestured for me to come over to him. I did so, and once I was beside him, he bent down and touched his weapon to the ground. There was a rumbling sound and the ground began to shake and then rise. I nearly jumped in surprise as I realized that the ground beneath was actually growing taller, acting like an elevator. It took about a minute to lift is all the way back to the hole we’d come through.

“Thanks,” I told Don, not sure how I would have gotten back to the others if it hadn’t been for him.

As soon as I was back in the upper chamber, Matt demanded, “Are you all right?”

“I am now,” I said, thinking about how much of my health I’d lost in that fight. Fortunately, between my regeneration rate and casting a couple heals on myself, I was back to full health and feeling good, if a little tired.

“What happened to Tyler?” Cassandra asked, giving me a curious look. Obviously, she was wondering how I could have possibly beaten him.

“I kicked his butt,” I answered with a smirk, only to get a couple skeptical looks in response. “Fine. I pushed him into a spike pit.”

“Ouch,” Teri said with a shudder.

Matt nodded at that. “Good thing for him that his patron can bring him back.”

“Just be careful,” Cassandra pointed out. “Patrons can bring back their champions, but not companions. If Maelyne could do that, she probably would have brought back Dave and Gary.”

Matt paled a little at that. “Okay, so rezzing won’t work for me. Good to know.”

“What about you guys?” I asked, looking around and wondering where the other two champions were. “What happened with Spear Chick and Cloak?”

Cassandra snickered at that. “I don’t think Marissa will like being called Spear Chick, but James would probably prefer being called Cloak. He likes to try playing the whole dark and mysterious thing…” Then she snorted. “Fucking poser.”

“Cassandra killed the girl,” Teri said, looking as though she couldn’t decide whether to be impressed or disgusted.

Cassandra nodded at that. “Got her in one shot. Turns out, Matt’s little paintball gun smashed the living shit out of her, and took out a good chunk of her life first. You and Maelyne will probably get some nice contribution credit for that one.”

“And with both of his companions defeated,” Don continued, “Conrad decided to flee…”

“And just in time,” Cassandra added, fixing him with a flat look. “He was taking you down, bit by bit…”

Don looked embarrassed at that. “True,” he admitted. “But you would have helped me before it came to that.”

“What about the loot drop from earlier?” Matt abruptly asked. “You remember, that box the goblins dropped before these guys showed up…”

“I suppose we should decide who gets it,” Don said, pulling the box out of some pouch on his belt. If he’d been intending to keep it for himself, I never would have known from the casual way he held out the box. “How shall we decide?”

“What is it?” Matt asked with a greedy gleam in his eyes.

“It unlocks a new skill,” Cassandra answered with a shrug. “But we won’t know which one until it’s unlocked. It could be something good, or complete crap.”

“I didn’t bring any dice,” Matt said thoughtfully, “so we probably can’t roll for it. How about drawing straws?”

“Good idea,” Cassandra replied with a smirk. “But companions can’t use these things…”

“What?” Matt asked with a look of surprise.

Don nodded. “Yes. Only champions can claim these prizes.”

“You can try, if you want,” Cassandra told him. “But it won’t do any good.”

Matt took the box and tried to open it, but it remained locked. With a grumble, he handed it back to Don.

Instead of drawing straws, we decided to play a little rock-paper-scissors to settle things. It took a couple games, but Cassandra won, much to my disappointment.

“Okay, what did I get?” Cassandra mused as she opened the box. She stood there for a moment, staring at the space in front of her, obviously reading her screen. “Okay, gymnastics, rank one. Can help with dodging and improves effectiveness with more agility.”

“Awesome,” Teri exclaimed with a grin. “I bet that would be great for cheerleading…”

Cassandra stared at her for a moment with a look of horror before saying, “I’m going to pretend you never said that.”

Now that we were finished with the chamber, we decided to continue on our way before anyone else could drop in on us there. Cassandra led the way, scouting ahead just a little to make sure that we didn’t run into any more traps. It was a good thing too, because she found a few more, which gave us a chance to avoid them.

It was about an hour after we’d left the goblin chamber, when Cassandra came to a stop in the middle of one passage. She just stopped and stared ahead with a suspicious look. When I looked, I didn’t see anything unusual. Or at least, I didn’t see anything that stood out from any of the other passages.

“What do you see?” I asked.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Cassandra mused.

“Matt can go check it out,” Teri offered with a grin. “He’s good at setting off traps…like that one pit you fell into earlier.”

“I ALMOST fell into it,” Matt corrected her.

Teri rolled her eyes. “Details…”

“Shhhh,” Cassandra said, bringing a finger to her lips.

Cassandra then bent down and picked up one of the small pieces of stone rubble that were scattered about the various halls and passages. She studied it for a moment, then abruptly threw it down the hall. Suddenly, the walls closed in on both sides and smashed together.

“Holy shit,” Matt blurted out.

“Yeah,” I agreed, not taking my eyes off the corridor. The walls slowly moved apart again, until the passage was once again opened. “If we set that off, we would have been turned to pancakes…

“Jelly,” Matt corrected me with a scowl.

“Follow me,” Cassandra ordered us. “And only step where I do.”

“I feel like I’m in an Indiana Jones movie,” Matt commented as we carefully followed after Cassandra.

“Yeah,” Teri agreed. “Like the one with that big rock that chased him…”

Once we were all past that section of the corridor, we let out a sigh of relief. Dungeon runs were a lot of fun in games, but the real-world version was turning out to be a huge pain in the butt. Monsters, traps, and ambushes from other champions. And on top of that, we weren’t even getting much in the way of loot or XP for all our trouble.

“I just hope we don’t run into any more of those gross slugs,” Teri announced with a look of disgust. “Yuck.”

I nodded agreement, remembering the slugs we’d run into about half an hour ago. They’d been in one of the passages, all over the walls and floor. Each slug had been about a foot long, and their slime had been like acid, eating through just about everything. In the end, it had been easier to go around them than it had been to kill them all, then wade through the acid slime that they’d left behind.

“It looks like we’ve got another chamber up ahead,” Matt pointed out.

That was enough to put all of us on our guard, as if we hadn’t been already. So far, in most of the large rooms and chambers we’d found, there had been small mobs of dangerous monsters, traps, or both. Fortunately, most of the ones we’d encountered hadn’t been very difficult to deal with, but that could change at any moment.

When we stepped into the new chamber, I immediately noticed that this one was different. For one thing, this room was nicer, with less rubble scattered about. There were tapestries hanging from the walls, along with a few decorative weapons and shields. And then, sitting on a massive throne against the far wall, was an enormous figure. He was humanoid in shape, but unbelievably ugly, with grayish-green skin, large yellow eyes, and tusks.

“What do you think?” I asked Matt. “Troll or oger?”

“I’m thinking mini-boss,” Matt answered with a nervous look.

I agreed that this had to be one of the mid-level threats the Coordinator had told us about. A mini-boss. He certainly looked nasty enough to fill that role. In fact, I probably would have thought him to be the dungeon boss, but something told me we weren’t there yet.

The massive creature, a troll I decided, stood up from his throne, revealing his full height to be around twelve feet tall. He looked muscular yet fat at the same time, as though he had a powerful frame that was just covered with lot of padding. Since he was only wearing a loin cloth, I got a much better look at this body than I would have preferred. Then, with a snarl, he grabbed his weapon, a massive double-bladed axe.

I gripped my staff more tightly and warned Teri and Matt, “Stay close enough so I can shield you, and be careful…”

“Yes, Mom,” Teri responded with a smirk. I just silently flipped her off.

A couple seconds later, the fight was on. Don charged straight for the troll, playing the role of tank and trying to keep the monster’s attention focused on him. Teri and Matt both went in to try fighting the Troll too, though they came around from opposite sides. That made me get up a little closer to the creature than I wanted, but that was the only way I could keep my companions in range.

The troll’s massive axe slammed into Don’s shield, knocking him back several feet. However, he just calmly stepped forward again and braced for another hit.

“Hey, ugly,” Teri called out, right before she hit the troll with her baseball bat.

“Don’t taunt the troll,” I yelled at her, putting a shield on her right before the troll swept around and hit her. She went flying and hit the ground hard. Normally, that kind of hit would have broken some serious bones, though my shield kept her from getting anything more than some nasty bruises. I healed her, then added, “Don’s the tank. Let him do his job.”

Matt hadn’t bothered to stealth, though he did position himself behind the troll before opening fire with his paintball gun. He’d already used up most of his ammunition earlier, so he was only able to get off a few more shots before he ran out entirely. After that, he slung the paintball gun over his shoulder and drew his bowie knife.

Cassandra backed up to the far end of the room, then just stood there, taking aim with her bow and shooting. Her arrow glowed brightly, then hit the troll in the chest and exploded, knocking the monster back a bit. She took aim and fired a second shot, then a third.

The troll abruptly jumped at me, swinging his axe. I threw up a shield wall and jumped back. He destroyed my shield with a single blow, though I’d already gotten back out of reach. Don immediately charged the monster, hitting it with his mace and getting its attention again.

“Damn,” I muttered in frustration. “This sucks…”

I hated this. I wanted to be the one up and in that troll’s face, not standing back and letting everyone else fight for me. However, with my current abilities, there wasn’t really any other choice. Still, I might not be happy playing a support class, but I took my job seriously and was going to do it the best I could. My team was counting on me.

Shield on Teri. Shield on Matt. Heal Don. Heal Teri. Check on Cassandra to make sure that she hadn’t gotten in trouble while I wasn’t looking. Shield on Teri again. Shield on Matt again. Another heal for Don.

“Go down already,” I snarled, glaring at the troll. I really wished that I could see his health bar, just so I could tell how close we were to beating him.

A minute later, the Troll collapsed to the ground, no longer moving. He had nearly two dozen arrows sticking out of his body, and he’d taken a lot more damage from everyone else. Well, nearly everyone else. I hadn’t given a single point of damage in the fight, since attacking the troll with my staff would have been pointless.

“That was a little easier than I expected,” Matt admitted.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But there were five of us going after him. If anyone tried to solo him, I bet he would have been a real bastard to beat.”

Don gestured to a wooden chest that had appeared beside the troll’s body, and suggested, “Perhaps we should see what our large friend has left for us.”

All five of us immediately circled around the chest, eager to see what was inside of it. It was definitely bigger than the wooden box that the goblins had dropped, though it certainly wasn’t the large pirate chest that I’d always imagined most treasures came in. And when we opened it, instead of a pile of gold and jewels, there were several small items.

“Another skill box,” Cassandra said, pulling out a small box that was identical to the one that had been dropped by the goblins. “A dagger…” The dagger was smooth and elegant looking, with a black tint to the blade, though it didn’t seem especially fancy. It looked like something that was meant to be used, not to be shown off.

After the skill box and dagger had been removed, the only thing remaining in the chest were three crystal spheres, much like the one I’d found during the last contest, though smaller. These were each the size of golf balls. One of them was a green crystal, one blue, and the last was red.

“Attribute points,” Don said with a smile and a nod of approval. “Very nice…”

“Definitely,” Cassandra agreed. She looked to Matt and began to explain, though I knew her words were really meant for me. “The green one contains a random point for the first bracket of attributes, strength, stamina, or endurance. Blue is for the second bracket, and red for the third.”

Matt stared at the spheres with a scowl. “I assume that companions can’t use these either…”

“Correct,” Don agreed, giving Matt a sympathetic pat on the back. Then he looked at me and Cassandra. “Considering our specialties, I suggest that I take the green sphere, Cassandra the blue, and Heather the red.”

“That sounds good to me,” Cassandra agreed.

I didn’t say anything, though I did take the red sphere and crushed it in my hand. I immediately received a popup.

YOU HAVE CLAIMED A BONUS PRIZE: +1 AWARENESS.

“What about the box?” I asked, gesturing to the smaller box. “Rock, paper, scissors again?”

Cassandra hesitated a moment, then reluctantly said, “I got the last one, so it’s only fair that I sit this one out…”

I looked to Don, thinking that since his patron was the god of stone, that he’d pick rock. I was wrong.

“Trap building,” Don said in an even tone after he’d claimed the skill. I couldn’t tell if he was pleased by that or disappointed.

I looked at the last remaining item from the chest, the dagger. None of us were knife fighters, or at least, none of the champions were.

“Do either of you have a use for that?” I asked Cassandra and Don. When neither did, I gestured to Matt. “Do you mind if Matt gets it then?”

Matt brightened up at that, and a second later, I handed him the dagger. He looked it over for a moment, grinning almost like an idiot at finally getting a prize. Of course, Teri pouted a little, and would undoubtedly demand her own present later on, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

Part 19

Since the mini-boss was dead and the loot divided, we continued on our way. We ran into another group of goblins, a couple lizard men, and a giant rat the size of a pony, but none of them dropped any more loot.

At one point, we even saw another champion. However, he took one look at us, saw that he was outnumbered, then turned and hurried back down the corridor he’d come from. We weren’t hunting other champions, and were happy to let him go.

Then we came to another large chamber, that reminded me a great deal of the one we’d found the troll in. Like that chamber, there was a massive creature in the middle of the room. However, unlike that one, this creature was already dead.

“Snakes,” Matt exclaimed with a smirk, while staring at the body of a giant white snake. “Why did it have to be snakes?”

“Another mini-boss,” I said. “And someone beat us to him.”

I looked over the snake, relieved that it’s head was actually separated from the body. If the head had still been attached, I probably would have been worried that he’d come back and attack us. Then again, if it did rez or respawn, that would give us a chance to earn some loot from it.

“At least two of the mini-bosses are dead,” Matt said. “Do we know about the third one, or the big boss?”

“I haven’t seen any popups,” I said, thinking about how I’d received one every time a pillar had been claimed during the last contest. So far, I hadn’t seen anything like that in this one. “I guess they’re playing this one a little closer to the vest, to keep us all guessing.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Cassandra agreed. “The gods running this whole thing are a bunch of fucking pricks.” Nobody argued with that.

By this point, we’d been in this dungeon for a good eight hours or so, and we were all tired and hungry. Unfortunately, none of us had thought to bring any food, and we weren’t about to try cooking up any giant rat. So, we sat back and rested for a bit, then continued our journey, hoping to find either the last mini-boss, or even better, the final boss.

We continued on for another hour before we began to hear some loud noises from somewhere ahead of us. We stopped and listened, but couldn’t make out any details. However, whatever it was, shook the ground a little, which made us all nervous.

“If I’ve learned anything from video games,” I said, “It’s that these are the signs that a big boss is nearby…”

“She’s right,” Matt said.

For several seconds, we all stood there staring at each other, then we hurried down the passageway, towards the source of the noise. We passed two traps, which had already been tripped, and a small pile of goblin corpses. Obviously, someone had been through here before us.

Since most of the obstacles in our path had already been cleared out for us, it only took us another five minutes to reach the next big chamber. It was enormous, well lit, and seemed to be made out of marble rather than the dull grey stone or chiseled rock of every other room. But the thing that made this room the most impressive, was the enormous monster right in the middle of it.

“It’s a DRAGON,” Teri exclaimed with her mouth dropping open.

There was a dragon in the middle of the room, large enough that he made the troll look tiny in comparison. The fearsome creature spat out a blast of flames, though it wasn’t directed at us. Instead, hit another champion, one who was dressed in samurai inspired armor.

“But where’s the hoard?” Matt asked, pointing out the fact that there were no piles of gold or treasures.

“We’re too late,” Cassandra scowled in frustration.

There were half a dozen champions here ahead of us, and they were already fighting the dragon. The first one I’d spotted was the guy in samurai armor, followed by the magical girl. Then I realized that the remaining four champions were Nadine, Robe, and their two partners.

“Crap,” I spat out in frustration. It was bad enough that we’d arrived late to the fight, but what really bothered me was that Nadine and her friends were the ones who’d beaten us.

“Fucking pieces of shit,” Cassandra snarled. For a moment, it looked like she was about to help the dragon by attacking Nadine.

“I don’t think they can claim dibs on the final boss,” Don pointed out with a wry smile. “And remember, the Coordinator said that our performance would be rated partly by how much we contributed to the group effort…”

In spite of the fact that I REALLY wanted to attack Nadine, even more than I wanted to avoid her, I owed it to Maelyne and my team to stay focused. So, I gave a grudging nod, then looked to Teri and Matt. Neither of them looked happy, but they nodded back.

“If I can’t kill that bitch right now, at least I can steal her kill,” Cassandra said.

Since we were all agreed, we charged into the fight, following the same tactics that had worked against the troll. However, before we could get close enough, the dragon blasted the samurai wannabe and turned him into a smoldering pile of ask. I gulped at that, realizing that I was going to have to be on my A game.

Cassandra stood back and began shooting arrows at the dragon, which got the attention of the other champions. Nadine noticed us and snarled, giving me a look of pure hatred. That actually made me feel a little better about this.

Don charged forward to engage the dragon, though unlike with the troll, he didn’t just brace himself to take the hit. Instead, he slammed his mace on the ground and several spiked columns of stone rose up in front of him and poked into the dragon, forcing it to back up a little. Teri and Matt were smart enough to not get anywhere near the dragon’s front half, which meant we faced the back side…and a tail instead of fire.

“Look out,” I exclaimed, forming a shield wall right before the dragon’s tail would have hit me.

The blow was hard enough that my shield immediately shattered, though it had done its job and kept me from getting splattered. I threw shields around both of my companions, then surveyed the fight.

Robe was attacking the dragon’s side with his scythe and a blast of purple energy. I guessed that the soul killer thing he’d used on Heather, didn’t do much against dragons. Still, it looked like he was doing a lot of damage, not that I could really be certain since I couldn’t see any health bar. The big guy with the heavy armor and greatsword, was coming at the dragon from the other side, giving the lizard some nasty looking gashes of his own.

The girl in the blue and white dress, whom I’d noticed at the start of this competition, was floating up in the air, seemingly held there by a powerful wind. It almost looked like she had some kind of tornado going on around her, which she then turned and fired at the dragon’s head.

I remembered that during my first competition, one of the people who’d claimed a pillar, had been the champion of some goddess of wind and air. I wondered if this was the same person.

The magical girl was floating up in the air with a golden glow and was firing beams of golden light at the dragon. I wasn’t sure how much damage she was doing, though she was certainly trying to contribute.

And finally, there was Nadine. The dragon spat a blast of fire right at her, and I silently cheered as she was engulfed in flame. However, she seemed almost entirely unharmed, though I should have expected that. Her patron was some kind of god of fire, so of course it made sense that he’d give her some kind of protection from it.

Of course, my own team continued to fight during this as well. Matt rushed forward and slashed at the dragon with both his bowie knife and new dagger, then quickly dodged back as soon as the dragon moved.

Teri rushed forward and tried beating on the dragon wit her baseball bat, though that didn’t seem very effective. I kept throwing shields on her, because she couldn’t move out of the way as quickly as her brother, and the dragon knocked her down several times, apparently unaware that she was even there.

Don was attacking the dragon straight-on, using some stone attacks to add to the damage, though not as much as I might have expected. I could only guess that he just didn’t have enough mana to keep up that kind of attack, which probably meant that he’d slotted all of his spare attribute points into extra health instead of his mana. If I was a tank, that’s what I would have done.

Cassandra was the furthest away from the dragon, and was probably the safest person here because of it. She just kept her distance and fired arrow after arrow, most of which glowed and either exploded on impact, or went deep into the dragon’s hide, doing some nice damage.

Suddenly, the dragon roared and leapt up into the air, or at least tried to. The chamber was too low for the creature to really fly. However, he came down on the other side of the chamber, close to Cassandra. The force of his impact shook the ground and knocked Cassandra back, sending her bow flying.

“Cassandra,” I cried out, immediately running towards her. I cursed the fact that I couldn’t put a shield on her, especially since the dragon was turning around to face her.

“Oh fuck,” Cassandra exclaimed with a look of terror.

She tried getting up and running for her bow, only to fall flat on her face with a wince of pain. I guessed that she must have injured her leg a little when she’d been knocked down. But in spite of that, she got back to her feet again.

When I was in range, I healed Cassandra, though that wouldn’t do anything for the dragon’s fire. It opened its jaws and spat out a blast of flame, right at Cassandra. I dove towards Cassandra, grabbing hold of her and activating ‘Maelyne’s shield’, an instant before we were completely engulfed in flames.

“Holy fuck,” Cassandra blurted out as the fire raged around us. It was getting hot, hotter than when Nadine had blasted Teri and I with her super attack, though my shield held until the flames stopped.

Dropping my shield, I gasped for breath. That had been close. WAY to close. Still, Cassandra was still alive, and that was the important thing.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Just fucking peachy,” Cassandra responded, staring at me for a moment with a strange expression. The she said, “Thanks,” before running for her bow.

Robe, who I still thought of as ‘Robe’, even though I now knew his real name, formed a ball of purple energy in his hands and fired it at the dragon. However, he missed the dragon by a good distance and the ball was coming towards me instead.

Before I could call up a shield wall, Matt hit me and pulled me aside. The purple ball of energy hit the ground and formed a small crater.

“What the hell does he think he’s doing?” Matt demanded furiously.

“Friendly fire,” I answered grimly. He was taking advantage of the opportunity to attack me, while making it look like an accident. I didn’t think that anyone would actually buy that though.

Nadine looked pissed that Robe had failed, and I could almost see the little wheels turning as she considered how she could try it too. But then, she looked around at the other champions and smirked. I could almost see the lightbulb going off above her head.

“This can’t be good,” I said, having a bad feeling about this.

A second later, a wave of flame exploded out from Nadine and hit everyone who was too close to her, which included the magical girl, Teri, and her own teammate, the girl with the blue and white dress. Each of them was hit with the flames and screamed out in pain.

“TERI!” Matt and I exclaimed at once.

I ran towards Teri, cursing the fact that I’d gotten too far from her to use a ‘protect companion’.

Teri was on the ground, crying in pain. Her clothes were a little charred on the edges, and the exposed skin of her arms were bright red, and it looked like a couple blisters were already starting to form. I immediately healed her twice, which took up most of my remaining mana.

“That bitch,” Matt snarled, glaring at Nadine with a look of hatred.

However, Nadine was completely ignoring us. Instead, she formed a single ball of fire in her hands, one that I recognized as her alpha strike power, the one Teri and I had barely survived back at the gym.

“She was boosting her powers,” I said in realization.

Nadine fired the ball of intense fire straight at the dragon, while screaming in agony. Her attack struck the monster and flames engulfed half its body. The dragon raged and howled, firing back blasts of its own fire, though everyone scattered before getting hit.

I glared at Nadine, knowing why she’d attacked Teri and her own teammate. She’d been using ‘sadism’ to boost her power, so she could do more damage to the dragon. However, that didn’t mean that I was about to forgive that bitch for what she’d done.

“Time to take that bitch down,” Cassandra said, glaring at Nadine.

For a couple seconds, I thought that she was going to kill Nadine right then and there, in a ‘friendly fire’ accident. However, she shifted position and fired at the dragon instead. A glowing arrow hit the dragon right in the eye, which infuriated it even more than Nadine’s attack had.

We’d been hitting the dragon with nearly everything we had, and it was taking a toll. I didn’t need to see its health bar to know that it was almost dead. A few more attacks was all it took before the dungeon boss finally collapsed to the ground.

“We did it,” Matt cried out triumphantly.

“Yeah, we did,” I responded, knowing just how close we’d come to being killed, and not just by the dragon.

I glared at Nadine, feeling tempted to try attacking her, even if I didn’t have any offensive power. However, I held off. The dragon was dead and the contest was over. Or was it?

“We didn’t get any popups saying the contest was done,” I pointed out.

Cassandra muttered a stream of profanities that I couldn’t quite make out before saying, “One of the mid-bosses must still be around.”

“So, we have to go back and look for that thing?” Teri asked, staring at me in horror.

“Great,” I grumbled. “Just freaking great.”

Since that fight was over, I glanced over to the magical girl, who was injured from Nadine’s attack. She was one of my competitors, but she wasn’t an enemy. After a moment of consideration, I healed her, though my mana hadn’t recovered enough to give her a second healing right away.

“Thank you,” the magical girl said.

“No problem,” I told her. Then, when my mana had recovered a little more, I healed her again and finished the process, which she seemed to appreciate.

“What are you up to, Sievers?” she asked, giving me a look that seemed equal parts gratitude and confusion. I realized that she and Heather might have had a history, but before I could think of what to do about that, she rushed off.

It was only then that I noticed the treasure chest beside the dragon, and the fact that everyone else was already digging through it. There was no calm discussion of what was inside or who would get what, only a mad rush to grab whatever they could.

By the time I reached the chest, it was empty. I grimaced at that and thought about protesting, though I knew it wouldn’t do any good.

Matt came over and said, “I got this for you…”

He handed me a gold metal ball, that was about the size of a golf ball. It wasn’t crystal, like the skill point spheres had been, so I wasn’t sure what this item was for, but I was grateful to Matt for getting it.

“Thank you,” I told him.

I was about to try crushing the metal sphere, but Nadine and Robe were giving me some calculating looks. Matt and Teri positioned themselves beside me, as though they were my bodyguards. And to my surprise, so did Cassandra and Don.

“Later,” Robe told Nadine. “We still have a chance at more points…”

Once Nadine and her group turned and left, I let out a sigh of relief. “So,” I asked Dan and Cassandra. “Did you guys get anything from the chest.”

Cassandra held out one of the larger crystal spheres, though this one was golden in color. I knew what the green, blue, and red ones did, but not the golden.

“This will give me a nice increase in all of my resource attribute points,” Cassandra said as she crushed the sphere.

“Nice,” I said. I considered asking her what my prize was, but didn’t want to give away my lack of knowledge to Don. Because of that, I tucked my metal sphere into my pocket, then suggested, “Let’s go look for that last mid-boss.”

“Good idea,” Cassandra agreed with a smirk. “Maybe we can find it before the bitch brigade.”

With that, we all went back through the door we’d come through, turned into a side passage that we’d only passed coming in, and began our search. We only made it twenty feet down this corridor before the popup appeared.

ALL REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED

THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. CEASE ALL HOSTILITIES.

Unlike with my previous contest, there was no listing of who completed which requirement, probably because that could have been a long list since we were working in teams. Still, I was curious about who had taken down that snake and that last monster.

THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. PREPARE TO BE TRANSPORTED.

“I guess this is it,” I said, not sure what to say to Don since he still thought I was Heather.

“And this didn’t even take the full twelve hours,” Matt added with a look of exhaustion. “I can’t wait to get home and crash in bed…”

“Ditto,” I agreed.

A second later, we all began to spark and sparkle. The last thing I registered before we all vanished, was Matt saying, “Beam me up Scotty…”

I was asleep. I understood this fact the moment I realized that Maelyne was sitting across from me, in what looked to be a large and comfortable chair. The realization that I was dreaming seemed to bring everything a new clarity and focus.

Maelyne smiled faintly as she said, “I took the liberty of choosing the setting of our meeting this time.”

The setting seemed to be some kind of comfortable den or living room, with book shelves, a fireplace, and a small table on the side. There were also two chairs that were facing each other, and Maelyne and I occupied those.

As I looked around, I noted that everything was built to Maelyne’s scale, which made me feel even smaller than I did when it was just the two of us. The only exception seemed to be my own chair, which was built to a normal human size, though it was on a bit of a platform to lift me up closer to her range.

“Would you care for a cup of tea?” Maelyne asked me politely.

I was a little startled by the question, because that certainly wasn’t what I would have expected from a goddess. Still, I responded, “Yes, please.”

I wasn’t really a tea drinker. Nothing against the stuff, but it just wasn’t my thing. Still, it was a good idea to be polite to a goddess, and to accept a drink when my host offered it.

Maelyne poured two cups of tea, one of the cups being her size and one being mine. Then she handed me the smaller one, which I took a careful sip from. I didn’t usually like tea, but this stuff was pretty good. Maybe that was because it was made by a goddess, or maybe it was because this was only a dream.

“I am quite pleased by your performance in this last contest,” Maelyne told me with a smile. “Because of your actions, I was able to recover a part of the power and status that had been forfeit from a previous loss.”

“I…I didn’t to much against that dragon,” I protested in surprise. “Other people did a lot more.”

“But you contributed against the dragon,” Maelyne told me. “And against the other challenges. But even more importantly, you protected your people, those who are most loyal to you.”

“Of course I did,” I responded in surprise. “What’s the point of having these powers if I don’t protect my people?”

Maelyne smiled at that and her eyes seemed to gleam more brightly. “Precisely. I just wish your predecessor had understood that.” Her smile turned to a look of sadness. “I fear that I made a mistake in choosing Heather as my champion.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, taking a sip of my tea.

Maelyne was silent for several seconds before answering. “Heather didn’t understand the value of loyalty the way I thought she did. She didn’t truly understand that loyalty must go both ways, or that she was not the only one in need of protection.” There was a pained look on her face. “If it had been within my power to save her, I would have done so in an instant. But knowing what I do now, I would not have chosen her at the start. She was not well-suited to the game, so this was not fair to either of us.”

In spite of the fact that I’d never known Heather, I still felt like I had to defend her. “These aren’t the easiest abilities to work with. I mean, she didn’t have any offensive powers at all, and when you’re dealing with chicks who can throw fire and crap, there wasn’t a lot she could do.”

“Those abilities are a reflection of my own,” Maelyne said with a hint of reproach, though she didn’t really seem to be offended. “They are a sliver of my own power.”

With a gulp of nervousness, I quickly said, “No offense, but… Well, that’s the problem. You can’t win fights with only defense…”

Of course, I’d played enough games to know that defensive and support class mages had other ways of contributing. In my case, I had two companions that were probably supposed to dish out all my damage for me. Matt and Teri were supposed to be my offensive power.

Maelyne took a dip of her tea, watching me as she did so. Finally, she said, “The abilities that a champion is given, depends on both the powers of the patron, and the inclinations of the champion. A wise patron will choose a champion with compatible inclinations, though sometimes the match isn’t as good as we expect.” She frowned at this, and I could tell she was thinking about Heather.

I took a sip of my tea while considering this, noticing that I still had a feminine girl’s hand. Glancing down at myself, I saw that I was definitely still a girl. But since this was just a dream, shouldn’t I have been back in my old body?

“Champions are given freedom to influence, and in some ways, direct their own development,” Maelyne continued, pausing to take another sip of tea. “If I had initially chosen you as my champion, you would have put your extra attribute points into strength, endurance, and health, rather than into charisma and magic. You would have chosen to compete more directly than Heather, and your abilities would have reflected this. Now, you have abilities that may not reflect your preferred method of fighting, but you will have to use what you have. I fear that in this game, you cannot simply respec your character.”

“I kind of figured that much,” I admitted with a wince. “I’m sorry about complaining and all. It’s just a little frustrating since I’m used to getting a little more physical.”

“Quite understandable,” Maelyne responded with a faint look of amusement. “You came into this late, and with less input than any other champion. I am pleased, and even impressed, that you have done as well as you have. After this last competition, I believe that you would have made a fine champion if I had chosen you to start with.”

“Um…thank you,” I responded, not sure what else to say.

“I can understand your concerns,” Maelyne told me with a serious expression. “Some abilities require specific prerequisites, such as certain attribute levels, before you can even receive them. After your performance in this competition, you have earned a new ability. Following the path that Heather began, I was going to give you ‘summon companion,’ which would allow you to transport a companion to your side. But if you would prefer, I can give you an offensive ability instead.”

That immediately caught my attention because I needed some offensive power. I needed a way to get in and actually fight. However, I couldn’t help but thinking about the battle with the dragon, and how Teri had been injured because I was too far away to protect her. I also remembered what had happened with Axe Guy, when I’d been separated from the others, and had been forced to deal with him on my own.

“An offensive power,” I mused aloud, “or one that lets me protect my companions better…and call them as reinforcements.”

I let out a long sigh at that painful decision, though Maelyne remained silent. She merely took a sip of her tea and continued to watch me.

After a minute, I reluctantly said, “I’ll take the summon companion… If it can help me get my friends out of trouble…”

Maelyne smiled faintly, seeming pleased by the decision. “Very well,” she said. “Your new ability will be ‘summon companion.’ I would give you both, were it allowed, but it isn’t. As it is, I am bending the rules by giving you this choice now.”

“I appreciate it,” I told her honestly. It was nice to feel like I had at least a little say so in all of this.

“Our time here is quickly coming to an end,” Maelyne told me. “And there are things you must know. I have enemies, ones who are more ambitious than I previously suspected.”

The fact that she had enemies wasn’t a surprise at all. These gods played a pretty cutthroat game and didn’t seem to have any problems with using humans as the game pieces, or our world as their board. I could only imagine about the rivalries and grudges that made this game necessary.

“I hold a position of strategic importance,” Maelyne explained. “And I protect another in a similar strategic position. Because of this, I stand as an obstacle to their ambitions, so they will do anything to remove me, which means, they will…and have…targeted my champion.”

“Nadine,” I said, feeling a shiver run down my spine. “And Robe…Mason.”

“Indeed,” Maelyne agreed. “Their patrons are among those arrayed against me. “I must apologize that our conflict resulted in your death, and that I had to ask you to stand against them as my champion. You are in even greater danger than most champions because of this.”

“Nadine is a psycho bitch,” I said with an angrily scowl. “It’s not your fault she killed me.”

Maelyne nodded faintly at that. “Nevertheless, you are doing me a great service, at great personal risk, so you have my gratitude. If I could protect you from these risks, or properly reward you for your service, I would do so.”

“Um…thank you,” I said a little awkwardly. This conversation was getting into weird territory, but then again, everything had been pretty damn weird since the night Nadine had killed me. “I guess you can’t change the rules mid-game. All you can do is play the best you can.”

“Correct,” Maelyne responded with a faint smile. “Be careful. Our enemies will come after you again, and you must be prepared.”

Suddenly, Maelyne looked around and scowled. This was just like the last time we’d talked, so I could only guess that we were being watched now.

“Remember what I told you, my champion” Maelyne said in a more formal tone than what she’d been using. “And know that you are capable of more than you realize.”

With those words, my dream ended and I woke up in my new bedroom. I looked at the clock, muttered a brief profanity, then curled up to try getting back to sleep.

Every woman needs to enjoy a long, hot, soapy bath on occasion. At least, that was what Lauren had told me a short time ago when she’d been trying to convince me to take a bath this morning instead of a shower. And after giving in, I had to admit that she might have had a point. It felt good and relaxing to simply lay back and soak in the hot water.

After the events of yesterday, I didn’t feel the least bit guilty for sleeping in and then taking a long bath. Of course, I wasn’t going to take it easy and relax for too long. I planned on hitting the gym pretty hard this afternoon. If I’d learned one thing from that contest, it was that I still needed to get into better shape.

With my eyes closed, I stretched out, relaxed, and thought about the contest, or at least, about the popup that had appeared after I’d returned last night.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED A COMPETITION.

REWARD: +2 ATTRIBUTE POINTS AND + 100 RESOURSE ATTRIBUTE POINTS.

COMPANION 1 REWARD: +1 ATTRIBUTE POINT, +50 RESOURCE ATTRIBUTE POINTS, AND ARMOR.

COMPANION 2 REWARD: +1 ATTRIBUTE POINT, +50 RESOURCE ATTRIBUTE POINTS, AND ARMOR.

Last night, I’d gone to bed without slotting my new attribute points, so they were still there waiting for me. At the time, I hadn’t wanted to deal with that while I was tired and not thinking clearly, but now, I had all the time I needed to consider how I’d use those points. Of course, this morning, I’d woken up with another popup.

YOU HAVE RECEIVED A NEW ABILITY:

SUMMON COMPANION- RANK 1
-YOU MAY TRANSPORT A COMPANION TO YOUR SIDE. RANGE 100 METERS. INCREASES IN RANK WILL INCREASE THE RANGE OF THIS ABILITY.

I opened my screen and read through the description of this new ability and wondered if I made the right decision. An offensive power probably would have been a lot more useful than this, but then again, this might help me save my friends one day.

“Too late to change my mind now,” I said.

Then I turned my attention back to the new attribute points that I’d earned. I grinned in anticipation since I now knew that any improvements I made in my stats would actually improve me for real. The question was, what should I spend them on?

Maelyne had pointed out that I could slot up health and my physical stats, which would make me better suited for fighting directly. However, I realized that even if I did this, I’d never be able to catch up to Don, Axe Guy, or any of the other straight-forward fighters. All it would do was take the focus away from what my current strengths were, so I’d begin to fall behind in that area too. Nothing had really changed since the last time I’d had a free point to spend.

“Now, what should I spend you on?” I mused aloud, though the truth was, I already knew.

Normally, I would have ignored charisma, but that whole flirting thing had saved my butt against Axe Guy, and that kind of thing might come in useful in the future. Because of that, I put one point into intelligence and one into charisma. Since I’d already gotten a point in awareness yesterday, that didn’t need as much immediate attention.

As soon as I slotted those points, I felt a moment of dizziness as my intelligence actually increased a little. I smiled faintly, realizing that my intelligence level was now one point higher than Matt’s.

“I guess I’m not a dumb jock anymore,” I said with a wry chuckle.

I felt something from the charisma as well, or at least, I assumed it was from the charisma. There was a certain sense of confidence, which sort of welled up in me a little. However, I didn’t waste time dwelling on that. Instead, I turned my attention to the resource attribute points. I had a hundred of those to spend. Since I’d run out of mana a couple times lately, this was a good chance to fix that. I put fifty points into my man pool and the other fifty into mana recovery, then I looked at my stats.

NAME: HEATHER MARIE SIEVERS
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 18
PATRON: MAELYNE, GODDESS OF LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: 100%
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.

STRENGTH: 8
STAMINA: 9
ENDURANCE: 11
-
AGILITY: 11
REFLEXES: 8
DEXTERITY: 9
-
INTELLIGENCE: 13
CHARISMA: 14
AWARENESS: 11
-
MANA POOL: 420
MANA RECOVERY: 307
HEALTH: 160
REGENERATION: 160

“That should help with my mana problems,” I mused. “But I should probably increase my health too, if I get a chance.”

Of course, I still had a couple attribute points to slot, the ones that were for Matt and Teri. However, I wasn’t going to do that until I’d talked to them.

I finished my shower and climbed out of the tub, then reached for a towel to dry off, when the bathroom door opened I suddenly found myself facing a nearly naked Cassandra. The only thing she had on was a large towel, which was wrapped around her mid-section, but that was a lot more than I was wearing. I let out a yelp of surprise and quickly scrambled to cover myself up, but Cassandra burst out laughing.

“You don’t have anything that I haven’t seen before,” Cassandra said with a smirk. She continued watching me with a look of amusement, obviously having a little fun at my expense.

“I knew this was going to be awkward,” I grumbled. What made me think that I could move in with two chicks and not have something like this happen? Then again, moving in with a couple guys probably would have been even worse.

“Sorry to barge in,” she apologized, though she didn’t look like she meant it. “But you were the one who left the door unlocked…”

Cassandra stared at me for a couple more seconds, then with a smirk, she turned and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I watched her the entire time, letting out a sigh of relief once she was gone, though also feeling a little disappointment.

The goth chick had a very nice body, one that was even better than I’d realized. She was lean and well-toned, with curves in all the right places. I didn’t remember her being so athletic looking back in school, and she didn’t strike me as the type to spend much time in the gym, so I was guessing that she’d boosted her stats a time or two instead.

“I have got to get me some more stat boosts,” I said, thinking about the ones I’d just slotted a short time ago. Intelligence and charisma might have their uses, but I still wanted to get stronger. “At least I know how to do that the old-fashioned way.”

Once I finished drying off, I wrapped an oversized towel around my mid-section, the same way Cassandra had gone. One thing about being smaller was that I couldn’t have done this with my original body. Then again, all I’d needed to cover up then, had been right below my waist.

I left the bathroom and saw Cassandra had still been waiting. “All yours,” I told her.

“I hope you left me some hot water,” she said.

Smiling wryly, I told her, “Maybe a little bit…”

“For someone who’s only been a girl for a couple weeks, you’re sure turning out to be a bitch,” Cassandra told me with a smirk to let me know she was teasing.

“I have a good role model,” I replied with a smirk of my own.

Cassandra burst out laughing. “Now I’m starting to wish we would have hung out more back in school. Of course, I would have had to deal with the testosterone poisoning, so that probably wouldn’t have worked.”

After this, Cassandra went in to take her own bath while I went to my room to not only get dressed, but also to brush and dry my hair. Taking care of my hair was a pain in the butt, but it had become a relaxing part of my new routine. While sitting in one place, brushing my hair, I had time to think and work things out. In a way, it was a bit like working out in the gym.

An hour later, I was sitting in the living room, now fully dried and dressed, with a book open in front of me. This was one of the text books that I’d borrowed from Lauren. I was reading through it, noting that my reading speed, memory, and comprehension, all seemed to have improved a little more since the last time I’d tested this. I was still absorbing what it meant for me to be smarter than ever before. And I was almost looking forward to school starting up again, so that I could actually make use of these new brains.

Lauren was sitting a short distance away, doing a little studying of her own. Apparently, she had a paper due and was trying to get it finished up, so I was keeping quiet and trying not to disturb her.

Cassandra came into the room, now finished with her own morning routine. She was once again dressed up in her usual goth wardrobe and makeup, though I couldn’t help but thinking about what she looked like beneath all that, or at least, about the limited amount that I’d seen. I gave her a good once over, being subtle about it so that she didn’t notice. I might be in a chick’s body now, but beneath this sexy skin, there was still a red-blooded guy.

“How did your contest go?” Lauren asked for the first time, apparently wanting to ask Cassandra rather than me. “I mean, you both obviously made it back, but…”

“It was pretty rough,” Cassandra admitted. “They dumped us right into the middle of this huge fucking dungeon, so we had to fight all sorts of creepy shit…including a dragon.”

“A dragon?” Lauren gasped with a look of awe and horror.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Luckily, they let us team up…”

“That’s good,” Lauren said, nodding in approval. “I like it better when you get to get together. It’s always good having someone watch your back.”

“Definitely,” I agreed.

Over the years, I’d played a lot of sports, including a lot of team sports. I’d long since learned the value of teamwork, and that it was a lot more fun to play with others. There was something awesome about sharing a victory with your buddies.

Lauren grinned and asked, “So, did you get any interesting prizes…”

“I picked up a few,” Lauren admitted. “Apparently, I’m now a gymnast…” She smirked at that, though I’d seen her trying out a cartwheel this morning when she hadn’t realized anyone was watching.

“I got this,” I said, holding up the golden metal sphere.

Cassandra’s eyes widened. “Nice…” I could see a look of hunger, which told me all I needed to know about how valuable it was.

“But what is it?” I asked. “And how do I use it?” I’d tried squeezing the metal sphere, just like I had the crystal ones, but nothing had happened.

“It’s an equipment upgrade,” Cassandra explained. “Just touch it to your weapon or armor, and instant upgrade.”

“Really?” I asked.

I got to my feet and stepped into the middle of the room, then I called my armor and staff. As soon as I switched over, I held up the metal sphere and considered how I should use it.

Upgrading your armor was usually a good thing, and I could definitely use the improved survivability this would give me. However, I already had some good defensive abilities, and what I really needed now was more offense. Upgrading my staff might give that to me. Or it might not. It might just improve the abilities my staff already had, which improved my shield strength and mana use.

“But that would still be useful too,” I mused.

With my decision made, I touched the golden sphere to my staff. Almost instantly, the sphere melted into a liquid and began flowing over the staff. It flowed to the red gemstone on the head of the staff, then continued flowing upward, forming a point, one which began to flatten and take shape.

“It turned into a spear,” I said in surprise.

The gemstone on my staff was still there, but a golden spear head had formed above and around it. There were a few other changes to my staff as well, but they were subtler than the new blade. I immediately pulled up my screen to see what else might have changed.

WEAPONS: SPEAR-STAFF
-THIS WEAPON COUNTS AS BOTH A SPEAR AND A STAFF
-REDUCES MANA COST OF MAGICAL ABILITIES BY 15%
-INCREASES EFFECTIVENESS OF SHIELD ABILITIES BY 30%
-10% OF ALL DAMAGE ABSORBED BY YOUR SHIELDS IS ADDED TO YOUR NEXT ATTACK

I stared at these stats for several long seconds, deciding that this upgrade was more than worth it. Not only had the existing stats improved by fifty percent, I’d also gained my first offensive power. Technically, it seemed to be more of a damage buff than an actual offensive power, but it was a LOT more than what I had before.

“And it relies on me using my shields,” I thought aloud.

I remembered Maelyne’s last comment, about my being capable of more than I realized. Had she known this would happen? Or more importantly, had she arranged it? Was this the offensive ability that she’d offered me last night? I had a feeling that I’d probably never know for sure.

--------------------

“Come on,” I complained. “That’s a load of crap…”

“Don’t cry, just because I pawned you,” Matt responded with a smug grin.

I was at his house, sitting in my usual spot while we played a new game that Matt had just bought. It was a fun game, but Matt kept kicking my butt. The problem was, Matt’s hand-eye-coordination was MUCH better than it used to be. When I’d made him into my companion, I hadn’t thought that it would come back to bite me like this.

“You want a turn?” I asked Teri in disgust.

“No thanks,” she responded, not looking up from the cell phone that she was playing with. “I’m good.”

“Chicken,” Matt teased his sister.

Teri casually flipped him off, then asked, “You want to arm wrestle instead?” When Matt didn’t respond to her challenge, she smirked. “Chicken.”

Since I was done with the game, at least for now, I set down my controller and said, “I saw that you guys both got some new armor…”

Matt and Teri shared a grin. “Yeah,” Matt said with a look of satisfaction. “We both got popups after we got back last night.”

“This is so awesome,” Teri exclaimed, setting down her phone and jumping up. “Look at this…”

A second later, Teri was now covered in lightweight armor that was similar in style to what Nadine wore, though it was closer to the color and patterns of mine. It was red with white trim, and covered everything from the neck down. In addition, she also had some light protection for her head, which was somewhat similar to the tiara that Wonder Woman wore in the comics, though it wrapped around a bit on the side to offer a bit more protection there as well.

“Cool,” I said, immediately noting that her armor looked a lot sturdier than my own did. I’d already looked up the stats earlier, though I couldn’t resist doing so again.

EQUIPMENT:
ARMOR: UPPER MID-LEVEL ARMOR
-ARMOR RATING 200
-20% PROTECTION FROM ALL MAGICAL DAMAGE
-PREVENTS THE WEARER FROM BEING PHOTOGRAPHED OR RECORDED BY NON-MAGICAL MEANS

“Nice,” I said, feeling a bit jealous of her armor.

Not only did Teri’s armor look a bit tougher than mine, mostly because it didn’t look like a dress, but it also had more than three times the armor value. Of course, I quickly reminded myself, I’d had the opportunity to upgrade my armor than morning, and I’d chosen not to.

“That should give you a lot more protection,” I told Teri while giving her a nod of approval.

“Now for mine,” Matt said, shifting over to his armor as well. I immediately pulled up the stats on his equipment.

EQUIPMENT:
ARMOR: UPPER LIGHT ARMOR
-ARMOR RATING 80
-INCREASES EFFECTIVENESS OF STEALTH
-LEAVES NO FOOTPRINTS
-20% PROTECTION FROM ALL MAGICAL DAMAGE
-PREVENTS THE WEARER FROM BEING PHOTOGRAPHED OR RECORDED BY NON-MAGICAL MEANS

WEAPONS: BLACK DAGGER
-CAUSES TRIPLE DAMAGE WHEN THROWN

“Definitely ninja gear,” I told Matt, who looked a little smug. “And it looks like you’re going to have to practice knife throwing.”

“Tell me about it,” Matt agreed with a smirk.

I looked him over, noting that there was a second knife sheath at his waist, just the perfect size for the bowie knife that he’d been using yesterday. However, the bowie hadn’t shown up under his equipment, nor had his paintball gun, or Teri’s baseball bat. It looked like the only equipment that actually showed up on this screen, were things provided through the game.

“Just don’t ask me to call you Cyrus Shadowstep,” I said, naming the character that Matt usually played when teaming up with Karock.

“Oh, I’m much cooler than Cyrus,” Matt assured me. “I mean, I can do this stuff for real…”

It took a great deal of effort to keep from rolling my eyes. “Well, I got an equipment upgrade of my own.” And with that, I made my own weapon appear.

“Awesome,” Teri exclaimed. “It turned into a spear…”

“Yep,” I agreed, twirling my spear with a casual ease since all of my staff skills seemed to carry over. “And it gives me an occasional damage buff when using it. Not too impressive, but it’s better than what I had before.”

“Very nice,” Matt agreed.

After sending my spear back to storage, I said, “And that reminds me. Both of you earned an attribute point, and I wanted to talk to you before slotting them…”

Matt’s eyes seemed to light up at that. “I’ll take mine in strength…”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I mean, you play a lot of rogue and thief types in game… How would you slot one of your characters?”

Matt glared at me for a moment, then admitted, “It depends. Strength can increase damage dealt, but by these rules, dexterity would increase accuracy and my chance for a critical hit…” He considered this for a moment, glanced at Teri, then repeated, “Strength.”

“Okay,” I said, slotting strength for Matt. Then I looked at Teri.

“I want more strength too,” Teri announced, flexing her arms and blowing a raspberry at her brother. I was pretty sure that she just didn’t want him catching up to her.

I was already jealous enough of Teri as it was, so it was almost painful to do as she asked. When I was done with that, I had to slot their resource attribute points. I didn’t bother asking them where they wanted those, since the options were so limited. I put all of those points into their health stats, increasing each of theirs by fifty.

“Wow, this does feel good,” Matt said, stretching his body and flexing his arms. He hadn’t developed any extra muscles yet, but I knew from experience that his muscle tone would improve soon enough.

“All right,” Teri exclaimed with a broad grin. I could see the eagerness in her eyes, especially when she flexed, obviously imagining her own muscles growing again.

After they calmed down a little, Matt asked, “What about you? Did you get any stat increases?”

“Two points,” I admitted. “Intelligence and charisma.”

“Intelligence is a good choice for a mage,” Matt told me with a thoughtful expression. However, between the look on his face and how well I knew him, I was pretty sure he thought that I’d wasted a point by slotting it into charisma. After dealing with Axe Guy, I’d disagree on that one. “At this rate, you’ll catch up to me soon…”

I just smiled at that, not bothering to point out that my intelligence level was already higher than his. I’d save that little detail for the next time he tried calling me a dumb jock, or even a dumb cheerleader.

“Oh,” I added in a cheerful tone. “I also got a new ability, called ‘summon companion’, that lets me transport you guys to me whenever I want.” I didn’t bother to mention that there was a range limitation, though I did grin evilly. “Now, who wants to be my guinea pig?”

I was sitting in a café, where I was finishing up lunch with Lauren and Cassandra. The two of them had talked me into going out for a little ‘girl time’, which mostly consisted of them window shopping and drooling over things that neither could actually afford to buy.

Today had seemed like a good day to spend some time with my new roommates, and get to know them a little better. And for once, I could do so when the game wasn’t involved in one way or another.

“So,” Lauren asked Cassandra, “have you had any luck with the new job.”

“Not yet,” Cassandra answered with a look of annoyance. Then she looked to me and explained, “I lost my last job when I got hauled away for a contest in the middle of my fucking shift. For some reason, my boss didn’t like that shit.”

“I wonder why,” I responded wryly. “I lost my last job because I died, and for some reason, I don’t think my boss would understand my new look.”

“Probably not,” Lauren agreed with a smirk.

At the moment, Lauren was the only one of us who actually had a job. She worked the late shift as some ‘boutique’, though I wasn’t really sure just what a boutique actually sold.

“At least you don’t have to worry about it,” Cassandra said, which confused me.

“I don’t have that much saved up,” I pointed out with a sigh. “I still need to find a new job, since apparently, Heather didn’t have one…”

Lauren snorted at that. “I don’t think that girl ever worked a day in her life.”

“Not like she really had to,” Cassandra added.

“Was heather rich or something?” I asked in surprise.

“Not really rich,” Lauren admitted. “But she definitely wasn’t poor either.”

Cassandra said, “Okay, I guess you really need to know this, considering…”

“Considering I have her body,” I finished for her, feeling a stirring of guilt.

Cassandra and Lauren both nodded at that, looking a bit sad. Then Cassandra shook it off and glanced around the café to make sure nobody would overhear us talking.

“Heather’s mom died a few years ago,” Cassandra told me with a serious expression. “Her dad is some corporate architect, who is totally married to his career. From what Heather said, they aren’t…weren’t very close, so you probably won’t have to deal with him much.”

“Any brothers or sisters?” I asked.

“She was an only child,” Lauren answered.

I let out a sigh of relief, since the picture I was getting, was that Heather didn’t have any close family. I felt bad for the girl, but this would make it a little easier on me. I didn’t know what I would have done if I’d had to pretend to be her to her parents or siblings.

“And you won’t have to worry about looking for a job,” Cassandra told me. “At least not right away…”

Lauren nodded at that. “Heather’s grandparents left her a trust that covers tuition, expenses, and an allowance, until she either graduates or drops out.”

“That’s good,” I said, feeling a little awkward.

That trust had been meant for Heather, not me, so I felt a little guilty for taking advantage of it. Of course, as far as everyone else was concerned, I was Heather, and had every right to that money, though I still knew better. Of course, I was going to use it anyway, even if I did feel a little bad about it.

“At least that’s one less thing I have to worry about,” I said.

“Do you know when the next contest is going to be?” Lauren asked with a worried look. Cassandra and I both shook our heads. “It just seems that they’re coming more frequently…”

“I noticed that too,” Cassandra admitted. I was a little surprised at that. Then again, I hadn’t been involved in the game long enough to really see any pattern yet. “I don’t know what it means. Maybe those gods are upping the ante or something.”

“Maybe,” I agreed, remembering what Maelyne had said about her enemies being even more ambitious than she’d previously realized. Now I wondered what was going on behind the scenes. What exactly were all those gods up to? “Maybe we can ask our patrons the next time we see them.”

“Armestia isn’t the type to answer a lot of questions,” Cassandra told me wryly. “So you’re more likely to get answers than I am.”

I nodded at that, knowing that I’d probably never find out what the gods were really up to. All I could do was make my own preparations and try to survive the game. The last contest had been four days ago, and I had no idea when the next one would be, so I’d been training and practicing in order to get ready. So far, I’d leveled up one rank each in spear fighting, protect companion, and summon companion, but there was only so much I could do without getting more attribute points.

Talking about the game was a little depressing, so Lauren tried to change the subject. “Have you tried makeup yet, Jeri?”

I shook my head vehemently. “No, thank you.”

Cassandra smirked at that. “How do you know you won’t like it, if you haven’t tried it?”

“I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like a liver milkshake either,” I pointed out, “and I don’t need to try it to be sure of that.”

Lauren gave me an amused look. “Well, you’re a pretty girl now, so you should learn to take advantage of that… You know, embrace it…”

Cassandra snickered. “You know, that reminds me…” She stared at me for a moment with a smirk. “You slotted a little charisma, didn’t you?”

“What?” I replied in surprise. “One point. How did you know?”

“Heather slotted a couple of her points into charisma,” Cassandra explained with a smug look. “Each time she did, she became a little more attractive, and developed a little more…presence. I noticed the same thing with you, a couple days ago.”

I was a little startled by this since I hadn’t realized that charisma would actually change my appearance, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d already seen how other attributes could affect a person’s physical appearance.

“You definitely have a bit of a presence,” Lauren told me with a look of amusement. “Even when you’re not doing anything, people can’t help but notice you…”

“True,” Cassandra agreed. “Heather liked the attention, but I didn’t think you’d go for it…”

By this point, I was blushing a bit. Finally, I admitted, “Back in the dungeon, when I got separated from everyone else, I had to trick the guy with the axe in order to beat him. I figured that if I ever got in that situation again, I wanted my charisma to be high enough that I could pull that trick again, if I had to.”

“Not a bad idea,” Cassandra admitted, though she still looked amused. “And as a bonus, you get to look just a little hotter…”

I blushed even brighter, suddenly even more aware of the way that people were watching me. Guys had been staring at me, or at least watching me with a lot more interest, ever since I’d ended up in this body. Now, I realized that I may have accidentally made this even worse for myself.

After this, we finished up with our lunch and got up to leave. However, as we stepped out the door, I paused to look around. Since there were people out to kill me, or even worse, I made sure to look for any signs of another ambush. Nadine wasn’t going to catch me by surprise again.

“It’s clear,” Cassandra said, looking around as well.

“I figure we still have time to hit a couple more shops,” Lauren announced, seemingly unaware of the way Cassandra and I had been looking around for any signs of danger. “There’s a great little bakery down this way, that makes the best cupcakes…”

Fifteen minutes later, we stepped out of the bakery with a container full of ‘gourmet’ cupcakes, of several different flavors. I’d never been a huge fan of sweets, but I had to admit, the banana caramel cupcake looked like it was going to be delicious.

“This is going to kill my diet,” Lauren said, “but I figure, an extra half hour on the elliptical will take care of it…”

“Quiet,” Cassandra abruptly ordered, earning a look of surprise from Lauren.

That wasn’t like Cassandra, so I looked around, sure that she had a reason. Then I saw it. Or more accurately, I saw HER.

There was a young woman across the street, staring straight at us. She was about our age, though maybe a couple years older, with short brown hair, and a sneer on her lips.

“Yours or mine?” I asked Cassandra. I’d seen this girl before, at the gatherings before both of the contests I’d been in.

“This one is mine,” Cassandra answered grimly. “This bitch is here for me…”

The other girl shifted into her armor, which was very similar in design to my own. It was cloth armor that looked like a dress, though it was a silvery-white color that seemed to be covered with frost and ice crystals.

“Fuck!” Cassandra spat out. “Not here… Too many people in the way…”

“We can take her,” I assured Cassandra. I momentarily tried to summon my companions, but Matt and Teri were both out of range.

“No,” Cassandra insisted. “Leave her to me…”

And with that, Cassandra shifted into her armor and ran down the sidewalk while the other girl raced across the street and chased after her. I hesitated a moment, but Lauren made up my mind for me by following them. I joined in the chase.

Cassandra ran down an alleyway and the other girl followed. Lauren and I turned the corner in time to see Cassandra shooting an arrow at her opponent. The other girl held out her hand and a wall of ice appeared in front of her, acting as a shield and blocking the arrow.

“Keep back,” I warned Lauren. Cassandra might have told me to stay out of this one, but I was ready to jump in if she really needed me.

“Come on, Mary,” Cassandra called out. “I put in arrow in your ass the last time you tried this shit. Do you really think this time will be any different?”

The girl, Mary, snarled, “My patron is a goddess of ice and vengeance… You didn’t think I was just going to let this go, did you?”

Mary went around her own ice wall and threw a bunch of icicle daggers, then quickly ducked back behind the wall, using it for cover. Several arrows hit the ice and exploded, destroying Mary’s protection, though she’d already moved to the side and fired a blast of white energy, which hit a wall near Cassandra and caused it to become covered in ice.

“This is crazy,” Lauren gasped from beside me.

“No kidding,” I responded. “You should see how bad the contests get…”

Cassandra dove to the side and practically ran up a wall before turning and firing another shot at Mary. Mary threw up another ice wall, then slipped around it just long enough to throw another burst of icicles.

They continued trading blows, with Cassandra dodging Mary’s attacks, while Mary kept using her ice wall. I was especially interested in that, because it reminded me a lot of my own shield wall.

“You know, that shield is pretty fucking annoying,” Cassandra exclaimed. “I think I’ll just pretend it’s not there…”

Cassandra fired another arrow, though this one went through the ice wall as though it wasn’t there. It was the same thing she’d done to one of the goblins back in the dungeon. The arrow struck Mary in the shoulder, knocking her back while she screamed in pain.

“You’re gonna pay for that,” Mary yelled, getting back to her and yanking the arrow out of her shoulder with a look of agony. However, in spite of that and her pissed off expression, she also seemed…pleased. “You’re gonna pay big time, bitch.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” I said.

Mary began to glow with a silvery color, and I could almost feel the power building. It took me a couple seconds to realize what was going on, and once I did, I immediately activated Maelyne’s shield around me and Lauren.

“Alpha strike,” I exclaimed, a moment before a wave of silvery energy exploded from Mary.

There was an explosion of cold and ice, which tore through everything nearby. Shards of ice ripped through the walls and ground, while every surface suddenly froze solid. Even inside my shield, I could feel the intense cold.

“CASSANDRA!” Lauren yelled in fear.

I was worried too, but when I looked to where Cassandra had been, there was no sign of her. Somehow, when that instant blizzard appeared, my goth friend had managed to slip away.

“Where’d she go?” Mary demanded in surprise and confusion.

Arrows suddenly appeared in each of Mary’s legs, making her drop to the ground with a scream of pain. Another arrow appeared in her hand, nailing it to the ground.

“I’m up here, you fucking idiot,” Cassandra yelled out. She was on top of the nearby building, though how she’d gotten up there so fast, I had no idea.

Cassandra had another arrow drawn back and aimed at Mary, but didn’t fire. After several seconds, she grinned.

“Ah, there it is,” Cassandra said with a look of satisfaction. “It looks like you just officially lost this one…”

“What does she mean?” Lauren asked me.

I shrugged in response. “She probably got a popup, telling her that she defeated her opponent.”

“Nice,” Lauren said, looking relieved at that.

Cassandra dropped down from the building, hit the ice-covered ground, and then promptly slipped and fell on her butt. I burst out laughing while Lauren snickered.

“I’m gonna get you for this,” Mary snarled, though from the look of her, she wasn’t about to do so anytime soon.

“You attacked me,” Cassandra reminded her. “But be glad I don’t want to kill you a second time. I don’t want the guilt of killing you for good, but I will if you come at me again.”

Cassandra came over and joined us, changing back into her normal clothes in the process. Lauren gave her a quick hug, obviously relieved that the fight was over.

“Come on,” Cassandra said. “I’m done shopping… Let’s go home…”

“Sounds good to me,” I said, glancing back at Mary and deciding that I really didn’t want to ever get on Cassandra’s bad side.

I stared across the table at my two opponents, narrowing my eyes as I tried to guess what cards they had. Then I glanced down at my own cards, being careful not to show any reactions. I had a damn good hand and didn’t want them to realize how good.

Lauren played her card, then asked Cassandra, “Do you think she tracked you down specifically, or just saw you on the street and decided to take the opportunity…”

Cassandra played her own card. “Could be either, but I’m guessing she just happened to see me. Mary Addison isn’t really a tracker…”

I nodded at that, not really knowing much about this Mary, other than what I’d seen earlier today. “I’m just surprised that everyone is sharing their real names. I’d think that it would be a lot easier if everyone kept that kind of thing to themselves…”

“We didn’t get much choice about that,” Cassandra told me with a look of annoyance. “Before they started the first contest around here, they introduced everyone and announced who our patrons were.” She gave a wry smile. “So much for any secret identity shit…”

“From what you’ve told me,” Lauren said, “I wonder if they did that to make it easier for you all to find each other. I mean, that would make it easier for everyone to fight between the contests…”

“Good point,” Cassandra agreed. “You might be right about that too. Anyway, I beat Mary in our first contest, and she holds a grudge. Apparently, she gets some kind of bonus whenever she goes after someone she has a personal grudge against too.”

“Which explains why she keeps coming after you,” Lauren said.

“I imagine it must have been…interesting…when you first saw Nadine was one of the other champions,” I mused.

“No kidding,” Cassandra responded. “Fucking bitch.”

Lauren nodded in emphatic agreement, then decided to change the subject. She looked at me and suggested, “You know, what we were talking about earlier today…”

“We talked about several things today,” I pointed out.

“Makeup,” Lauren said. “When we’re done here, we should hook you up with some makeup…”

“I don’t think so,” I quickly responded.

“Consider it an experiment in femininity,” Lauren said, now more as a gentle teasing. “Or just getting used to being a girl. This is the kind of thing that every woman is expected to have at least a passing familiarity with, even those who don’t wear makeup most of the time.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Cassandra said with an evil grin. “If I win, you wear makeup tonight…”

I shuddered at that. “And what do I get if I win?”

“What do you want?” Cassandra asked with a look of interest.

I considered this for a moment. Wearing makeup would be pretty embarrassing for me, so what could possibly match that? After a moment, I had it.

“If I lose, you can put makeup on me for tonight,” I said, confident that this wasn’t going to happen. I had a damn good hand after all. “But if…no…WHEN you lose…you have to dress up like a cheerleader for the night…”

Cassandra stared at me in horror while Lauren burst out laughing. “Fair is fair” Lauren told Cassandra, smirking a little as she did so.

“Fine,” Cassandra said after a few seconds. “It’s a bet…” We shook on it.

“Now, to make sure I don’t lose,” I announced, putting my card down on the stack. “Draw four…”

“You bitch,” Cassandra told me, giving me a glare as she drew four cards.

“Skip,” Lauren said when it was her turn.

“I choose red,” Cassandra announced as she put a wild card onto the pile.

We continued going around the table, putting one Uno card after another into the pile. I had a wild card, a draw four, and a couple skips, so was pretty sure that I’d win. However, Cassandra threw down a few good cards of her own, making me draw a couple more cards, just when I thought I was nearly empty.

“Uno,” Lauren announced, holding up her last remaining card.

“Crap,” I muttered.

Cassandra and I had been so focused on going after each other, that neither of us had paid much attention to Lauren. On Lauren’s next turn, she played her last a card and won the game.

“I guess it’s a tie,” I told Cassandra.

“Oh no,” Lauren said with an almost predatory grin. “Your bet was that the loser would have to wear makeup or dress as a cheerleader, and guess what...you BOTH lost.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Cassandra gasped.

I let out a long sigh. “All right. Let’s get this over with.”

“What?” Cassandra asked, giving me a look of surprise. “You’re not going to argue?” She actually looked disappointed at that.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve lost a bet and had to wear makeup,” I said, smiling wryly. “But at least, this time it might actually look nice on me…”

Cassandra and Lauren were both staring at me. “That’s…surprising.”

I shrugged at that. “Back in high school, some guys used to make some pretty stupid bets. I lost one once, and had to go to a Halloween party in drag.”

Both girls burst out laughing. “Well,” Cassandra said with a smirk. “If you can handle that, I guess I can handle being a fucking cheerleader for one night…” Then she smirked. “Then again, we don’t have any cheerleader uniforms around here…”

This time, it was Lauren’s turn to smirk. “You know, I was on the cheer squad for awhile, and I do still have my old uniform upstairs…”

After this, our Uno game was officially over. Since I wasn’t protesting the makeup as much as either girl expected, and apparently, wasn’t as much fun because of that, Lauren decided to start with Cassandra.

Half an hour after this, Cassandra came back downstairs, now dressed in a cheerleader uniform instead of her usual goth clothes. As strange as that was to see, it was even weirder to see her with her new makeup. Gone was all the goth makeup, and in its place was something much more normal, or at least, more normal for a cheerleader. Cassandra was wearing blush and even pink lipstick. I almost didn’t even recognize her.

“You look good that way,” I said.

“Fuck off,” Cassandra responded, flipping me off. However, she was smiling as she did this. “Now, it’s your turn…”

Lauren stepped out from behind Cassandra and held up a large makeup case, staring at me with a look of anticipation. I let out a sign and resigned myself towards what was to come.

Since I wasn’t wearing any makeup, they didn’t have to clean anything off my face before we started. All I had to do was sit there and not fidget too much while Cassandra went to work.

“You have great skin,” Lauren told me while handing a small brush to Cassandra.

“It’s the charisma,” Cassandra said. “Heather had a couple acne scars before she slotted points into charisma.” She leaned back to stare at me for a few seconds before adding, “Maybe I should slot a couple points in there too…”

“I can’t imagine that would be very useful in a fight,” Lauren commented.

“You’d think not,” I admitted self-consciously, “but it saved my life.”

I thought about Axe Guy and how easily I’d lured him into that trap. However, I couldn’t really feel proud about beating someone like that.

“Okay,” Cassandra announced. “We’re done…”

Lauren held up a mirror so I could their handiwork, and for several seconds, I could only stare in surprise. Like Cassandra, I didn’t look anything like myself…or like Heather. In fact, I looked more like Cassandra than she did at the moment.

Cassandra had done my hair up a little different, but the most noticeable thing what I was now wearing goth makeup, with dark crimson lipstick that was close to being black. In addition, I also had a spiked collar around my neck, which added to the imagine.

“Definitely different,” I said a little awkwardly.

In spite of the way that I’d acted like this was no big deal, I was still extremely self-conscious, probably even more than I had been the last time I’d lost a similar bet, and I’d still been a guy back then. Maybe, because then, I’d been pretty secure in my masculinity, but now, my self-image was crumbling away to nothing.

I made a couple faces at myself in the mirror, imagining what I’d look like if I let my roommates push me the rest of the way. Goth clothes, black nail polish, and maybe some jewelry or piercings… It might be interesting to see, but I wasn’t about to plant that idea in their minds.

“Good,” Cassandra said with a smirk. “Now, if I only had a fucking camera…”

“Like this one?” Lauren asked, holding up her cell phone and taking a picture of Cassandra, then another one of me.

Cassandra rolled her eyes and muttered, “I can’t believe that I look like a cheerleader…”

“Could be worse,” I pointed out.

Cassandra gave me a strange look, then abruptly announced, “This calls for a drink…”

The temporary cheerleader went to the kitchen and came back with a bottle of cherry flavored vodka and three shot glasses. A minute later, the three of us took our first shot.

“Tomorrow,” I said, trying to ignore the fact that I was wearing goth makeup, and looking at a cheerleader Cassandra, “I’m going to practice, after the gym. I want to get Maelyne’s shield and my healing ability up another rank before the next contest.”

“Good idea,” Lauren said as she poured another shot for each of us. She had a sad expression for a moment, before saying, “Heather never really practiced. I think that if she did, she might still be around…”

Cassandra nodded grimly at that. “I feel bad for saying this,” she told me with a grimace, “but I like working with you a lot better than I did with Heather.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise. “I thought she was your friend.”

“She was,” Cassandra quickly responded. However, from her guilty expression, I had a feeling that their friendship might have been a little complicated. “To be honest,” she grudgingly admitted, “Heather could be a bit of a bitch at times…”

“That’s true,” Lauren agreed, handing Cassandra and I another shot, which we both promptly downed.

“She really liked manipulating guys,” Cassandra continued, “especially after she slotted the extra charisma, and always thought that everyone else should protect her. She…wasn’t a good teammate. But you… You jump in and I respect the fuck out of that.”

“I noticed that,” Lauren said. “This afternoon, when that girl jumped Cassandra, you were ready to watch her back, without her even asking.”

This conversation was making me a little uncomfortable, even more uncomfortable than the makeup was. I didn’t like being compared to Heather, because it was far too easy to do, and it reminded me that I was in HER body. Every time I thought about that too much, I still felt a bit guilty.

“I used to be a dumb jock,” I joked weakly. “And one thing that every jock learns, is that you can’t win at a team sport unless you actually have a team.”

“Jock wisdom,” Lauren said wryly.

“But she does have a point,” Cassandra admitted with a wry chuckle. “Leave it to a jock to know the value of teamwork.”

“And what would a brooding goth know about teamwork?” Lauren teased Cassandra.

I smirked at that. “Well, for tonight at least, she’s an honorary cheerleader…” Cassandra flipped me off for that.

We continued talking, and even had another shot apiece, though we avoided any further comparisons between me and Heather. Eventually, Lauren got up and went to the bathroom. While I watched her leave, I took advantage of the opportunity to catch a nice peak of Cassandra’s cleavage.

“You know,” Cassandra said a few seconds later. “I have really high awareness. Did you really think that I wouldn’t notice you checking me out?”

I turned bright red at that. “Sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cassandra said, moving a little closer to me. “You want to know a secret?”

“What’s that?” I asked, more than a little aware of her very close presence.

She leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I kind of like it…”

When Cassandra pulled back a little, the two of us stared into each other’s eyes, then cautiously moved in for a kiss. Her lips felt good against mine, and my body began to respond in some really weird ways. Or at least, really weird ways for a guy, but probably pretty normal for a chick.

Just then, Lauren came back into the room, so Cassandra and I quickly broke apart before she could see us. Cassandra and I stared at each other a little awkwardly, though I knew that I had to be blushing like crazy.

When Lauren wasn’t looking directly at her, Cassandra winked at me, and with a smirk, suggested, “Maybe we should continue this conversation later.” And with that, she downed one more shot of vodka, then got up and went to her room, strutting a bit as she did so.

I just groaned at that and tried not to let Lauren know what I was thinking or feeling. One thing was for sure though. If I’d still been a guy, tonight, I definitely would have needed a box of Kleenex.

I looked around at the gathered champions, seeing some familiar faces and taking note of those who were absent. There was no sign of either the Gimp, or the guy with the giant wolf. A couple others were missing too, though I hadn’t actually met those ones before. Had they been killed off too many times to bring back, or had Robe gotten to them, removing them from the game in an even nastier way? I’d probably never know.

Once I was done looking over the competition, I turned my attention to my friends. Matt and Teri stood beside me, both of them wearing their new armor. Teri had grown just a little more muscular since our last competition, which along with her armor, made her look a little dangerous. Matt didn’t have the physical presence of his sister, but he had his paintball gun slung over his shoulder, and as he’d proven with Spear Chick, he knew how to use it.

Cassandra stood nearby with her blow slung over her shoulder. I took a moment to admire her curves, then quickly looked away before she caught me doing it. However, from the satisfied smirk on her lips, I was pretty sure that she knew.

It had been three days since we’d gotten a little tipsy and kissed, and though there hadn’t been a repeat of that, or even a conversation about what had happened, something had definitely changed between us. Ever since then, Cassandra had been subtly encouraging me to check her out, whether it was bending over to give me a better look at her cleavage, or walking in front of me with an extra sway to her hips. I still wasn’t sure what to think of this flirting. Was she messing with me to amuse herself, or was she actually interested in me?

“You know,” Matt said with a thoughtful look. “This is a lot of trouble to go through, just to entertain some bored gods.”

“I don’t think they consider this entertainment,” I responded, remembering some of the things that Maelyne had told me. “I think it’s more of a cold war situation. They’re really at war, just fighting each other with pawns and proxies instead of putting each other into a position where things might go nuclear…”

“That…makes sense,” Matt admitted. Then he gave me an odd look. “I’d expect sports metaphors from you, or even gaming ones…but not political.”

I shrugged at that. “I did a history report once on the cold war…”

Matt snorted at that. “I remember. In fact, I remember helping you work on it too…”

“Hey,” Teri said, elbowing me in the side. “That Coordinator guy is about to talk…”

I looked up to the invisible platform, where the Coordinator, the Referee, and the Cleaner stood. They began the same way they did with the last two competitions, with the Coordinator announcing what the contest would be. This time, it was going to be a race, with the first champion who crossed the finish line being declared the winner.

“Sounds simple enough,” I said, though I knew better than to assume that simple meant easy.

Then I realized something else. This was a race, not a relay or team competition. That meant, this time, Cassandra was my competition. From her grim expression, she was thinking the same thing.

“Great,” I grumbled, not at all happy with that. Cassandra and I worked well as a team, and I REALLY didn’t want to face her as an opponent, and not only because she was my friend.

I took another look around and saw Don looking towards us. He gave me a nod of acknowledgement. Nadine, however, was standing beside Robe and her other two teammates from the last competition, and was giving me a dirty look. I was just thankful that looks couldn’t kill. At least not hers, though I wasn’t certain about all the other champions.

“Good luck,” Cassandra told me before grinning. “Just not too much.”

“Same to you,” I told her. Then with a grin, I impulsively asked, “Wanna bet which of us gets to the finish line first?”

Cassandra’s eyes lit up with interest. “What are the stakes?”

“How about the same ones as last time?” I suggested.

Cassandra’s grinned more broadly. “You’re on.”

“What bet was this?” Matt asked.

Before I could answer, or at least come up with a believable lie since I wasn’t about to admit to wearing makeup, the Referee called out the start of the race. Nearly everyone began running in an attempt to get an early lead.

The first part of the race was through downtown, though I wasn’t sure which town, or if they’d created it the same way that they had the dungeon. All I knew was that it certainly looked like a real city center, though there were absolutely no people present besides us.

I ran down the middle of the street, with Matt and Teri right beside me. There were cars, but they were all parked right in the middle of the street, as though the drivers had simply stopped, gotten out, and walked away. It was actually pretty creepy.

Even though this contest was just a race, fights were already starting to break out among various competitors. Off to the side, I could see Spear Chick and the magical girl fighting it out. At any other time, I might have stopped to watch, but I couldn’t afford that.

“See you at the finish line,” Cassandra exclaimed, before she abruptly changed direction and ran down an alley, probably to try finding a shortcut.

“Think we should follow her?” Matt asked.

I remembered the way Cassandra had somehow gotten on top of the building during her fight against Mary, when I hadn’t even seen her moving. “No. I have a feeling that it wouldn’t do any good.”

“Let’s just get out of here as fast as we can,” I suggested.

“Good idea,” Matt agreed. “While everyone else is fighting, we might be able to slip through without anyone noticing…”

We continued running down the street with the intention of getting through the first section of the race as quickly as we could. There were just too many places for other champions to hide, which meant, too many places where we could be ambushed.

Unfortunately, I was proven right a couple minutes later when a ball of fire suddenly hit the ground ahead of me. It would have hit Matt in the back if he hadn’t seen it coming in time to dodge aside.

“Aw, crap,” I exclaimed, clenching my spear tightly and looking around.

Nadine came charging out of an alleyway with both hands on fire, and with a look of fury on her face. I braced myself to throw up a shield wall or put shields on my friends, but then I saw she wasn’t alone. Nadine by herself as bad, but I’d already proven that I could beat her.

“Shit,” Matt exclaimed when Robe suddenly leapt at him, swinging the scythe.

“We’re kind of outnumbered here,” Teri pointed out, drawing my attention to the final two champions who were with Nadine.

I immediately recognized Nadine and Robe’s teammates from back in the dungeon. There as the woman with the blue and white dress and the massive guy with the heavy armor and greatsword. After our encounter in the dungeon, I’d asked Cassandra about them, because I’d been pretty sure that sooner or later, I’d have to face them.

According to Cassandra, the big guy was Steve March, champion of K’raethar, god of steel, war, and resolve. She said that he was really tough, which was no surprise if his patron was a god of war.

The girl was Denise Harker, champion of Br’ieze, goddess of wind and air. She looked bored with this whole situation, and like she was there because she had no choice rather than because she actually wanted to attack us.

“You know, you guys are wasting a lot of time,” I pointed out, putting a shield on Teri right before Nadine hit her with a burst of fire. “At this rate, you’re going to lose the race…”

“Your death will benefit my patron more than winning this race will,” March announced in a grim tone. But in spite of that, he turned to Harker and said, “You’re the fasted one of us, so go win this race while we deal with Sievers.”

“Fine,” Harker said, almost looking relieved. “Have fun with that.”

Harker abruptly turned and ran, then launched herself up into the air with a powerful gust of wind. For a moment, I thought she was going to just fly through the race, though she only made a long jump of about thirty yards before landing again, then rushing off in a burst of speed.

“Damn she’s fast,” Matt exclaimed.

“I owe you for killing me,” Nadine snarled at me.

“Not as much as I owe you,” I responded grimly. My heart raced with a mixture of fear and anger. I could almost feel the fire burning me again, which made me shake just a little.

Nadine formed a large ball of fire in her hands and looked like she was about to throw it right at me. However, she snapped around and threw it at Teri instead. Teri jumped back, right into the path of Robe, who was coming right at her with the scythe.

At that moment, I suddenly realized that Nadine and Robe had planned this in order to take out one of my companions. Knowing Nadine, she’d done this to hurt me more than anything else. I could have thrown a shield on Teri, but that was probably what they were expecting. So, I decided to change it up and used ‘summon companion,’ immediately transporting Teri to my side in a burst of sparkles.

“WHAT THE HELL?” Nadine demanded in surprise.

Teri responded by flipping her off. “Too slow…”

March charged straight at Matt, who jumped back and opened fire with his paintball gun. The ball bearings bounced off March’s armor and didn’t seem to be doing anything more than annoying him.

“Don’t waste your ammo,” I warned Matt, though Matt was already switching over to his knives. I didn’t know if those would do any more than the paintball gun, but maybe he’d get lucky and find a gap in the armor.

I threw a shield on Matt, though it wasn’t necessary since Matt jumped back out of the way.

Nadine came at me, throwing two fireballs in a row, which hit my shield wall. I stepped back and formed another shield wall, right before my first one faded away. The look of frustration on Nadine’s face brought a smile to mine.

Robe came around and tried to get me from the other side, which wasn’t protected by a shield wall. Teri saw him coming and slammed into him, then knocked him to the ground. He began glowing purple so I threw a shield on Teri, just in time.

Teri screamed in pain and jumped back. I immediately hit her was a ‘lesser healing’, but even with the shield and the healing, her life was down to about 50%.

“Crap,” I exclaimed, healing Teri again and throwing up a shield wall between me and Robe.

“I don’t know how you survived my soul killer,” Robe said. “But you made me look bad to Arakthiel.”

Robe hit my shield with his scythe a couple times, and he knew as well as I did that the shield wouldn’t last much longer. Nadine worked around my shield, obviously planning to catch me between her and Robe.

“Hey, bitch,” Teri exclaimed, swinging her bat at Nadine, in spite of the fact that she was still shaky from being hurt by Robe. The bat connected to Nadine’s side, and my psycho ex-girlfriend let out a yelp of pain. I threw another shield on Teri, right before Nadine hit her with a burst of flame.

As soon as my shield wall dropped, Robe came at me with his scythe. He probably expected me to throw up another shield wall, but instead, I surprised him by lunging forward and trying to impale him with my spear. He reacted quickly enough to bring his scythe up, though he couldn’t knock my spear far enough away. Instead of catching him in the middle of the chest, I only hit him in the side.

“Gotcha,” I exclaimed triumphantly.

This might have only been a glancing hit, but that was all I needed. There was a flash of light from the tip of my spear, and suddenly, Robe’s side was a shredded and bloody mess, with a large chunk of flesh actually missing.

My upgraded spear could absorb ten percent of all damage that was blocked by my shields, and use it as a damage bonus on my next attack. The thing is, that damage bonus stacked, so each time Robe hit my shield, or Nadine blasted it with fire, part of that damage was being added to my spear. And now, I’d just let all of it out at once, right into Robe’s side.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED AN OPPOSING CHAMPION.

REWARD: +20 MANA POOL, +20 MANA RECOVERY, +20 HEALTH, AND +20 REGENERATION. YOUR COMPANIONS GAIN +20 HEALTH AND +20 REGENERATION.

“That’s for Heather,” I muttered under my breath. It was just too bad that he’d probably be brought back to life.

“Holy shit,” Teri exclaimed. “Jeri just one-shotted the creepy robe guy…”

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT?” Nadine demanded, seeming offended that I’d actually done something other than just defend.

“I’m not exactly helpless anymore,” I responded with an evil grin, savoring the look of worry on her face.

Of course, I might have an offensive power now, but it was melee only…unless I threw my spear and left myself unarmed, only through my weapon, and it was reliant on me playing defense. As I’d just proven, this new trick could be extremely useful, but there were a lot of limitations involved in using it.

Nadine snarled and began to form a large ball of fire in front of her, charging her alpha strike. Teri immediately backed up to my side, which saved me the trouble of transporting her back to me. As soon as she was within range, I activated Maelyne’s shield. Matt was far enough out of range that I didn’t worry about him.

Intense flames rushed over my shield, but I’d survived this attack before and was confident I could survive it again. In fact, I had more mana to spend on the shield than before, and I had a larger buff on my shield strength, so it would be easier to weather this time.

As soon as the flames ended, I dropped my shield, only to see Nadine on her knees, grimacing from the pain. She glared at me with a look of hatred, as though I was somehow responsible for causing the pain.

Matt chose that moment to open fire with his paintball gun, blasting Nadine with the ball bearings. She howled, though I was pretty sure her armor was protecting her from most of the damage.

March came at Matt, who saw him coming and leapt out of the way. The large champion swung his sword at Matt and missed, hitting a car and slicing right through it with ease. Then he apparently decided to ignore Matt and turned his attention to me.

“You’re more dangerous than I remember,” March announced, right before swinging his swore at me. I threw up a shield wall, which he destroyed with a single strike.

“Crap,” I blurted out, creating another shield wall, which he also destroyed with a single blow.

“Unlike my allies, I don’t have anything personal against you,” March said. “My patron needs to remove yours, and removing you from the game will help him do that.”

“How about I remove your head instead?” Teri asked as she swung her baseball bat at March. It bounced off his armor without effect.

When March turned to focus on Teri, I gulped and immediately put a shield on her. Then I lunged at him with my spear, trying to get him from behind. I hit him right in the middle of the back, and my spear unleashed all the bonus damage that I’d built up from him and Nadine. There was a flash of light and his armor was cracked and dented in that spot, but nothing more.

“Aw, crap,” I exclaimed.

March snapped around, swinging his sword at me. Matt hit me and tackled me to the ground, right before the blade would have sliced right through me.

“I need to save up my bonus a bit longer,” I grumbled in frustration.

Unfortunately, March was damn tough, maybe even tough enough to survive my most powerful hit. There was a limit to how much damage my spear could store up for later use, but I hadn’t gotten close to the cap yet. If I could survive enough attacks from March and Nadine, I might build my attack power up enough to do some real damage to him.

Just then, someone called out, “If you don’t mind, I would like to step in…”

A second later, Don was there, using his shield to block March’s attack. The blow was powerful enough to knock Don back a step, though my ally retaliated by smashing his mace into March’s side.

“Thanks,” I said, grateful for Don’s help, but a little confused by it.

“Of course,” Don responded. “We are allies…”

I backed up and watched as Don and March exchanged blows. Nadine looked like she was about to jump back into the fight, so Teri went at her. However, Nadine burst into flame and drove Teri back.

“Go ahead and finish the race,” Don told me. “I’ll keep these champions occupied…”

“You won’t win the race that way,” Teri pointed out.

Don just chuckled while blocking another blow from March. “I’m too slow to win any race, but that doesn’t mean I can’t ear favor with my patron in other ways…”

“Alright then,” I responded, touched by Don’s act. Now this was someone who knew the value of teamwork. I healed him, even though he didn’t really need it yet. “Good luck then. Hopefully in our next contest, we’ll be able to team up for the whole thing again.”

“I look forward to it,” Don told me with a nod.

With that, Matt, Teri, and I all ran off, leaving Don behind to deal with our opponents. Nadine tried to follow, but stone column ruse up in front of her and blocked her path, just long enough for us to get away.

The first stage of the race had been in the middle of some city, though I still wasn’t sure if it was real or somehow created just for this contest. Considering the fact that I came to the end of the first stage, and the end of the city just a couple minutes after leaving March and Don, I was beginning to suspect the latter.

“Well, this came out of nowhere,” Matt commented.

Right in front of us, the city surroundings came to an abrupt end, and suddenly, there was a stretch of desert in front of us instead. The sandy ground was relatively flat, though I could see some dunes rippled across the landscape as well.

“Look,” Teri said, pointing to the distance. I could see several other champions racing across the desert, and a couple more who were fighting each other.

“It looks like we’re changing zones,” Matt said with a grim expression. He held up his paintball gun to check the ammo, then slung it back over his shoulder. “I suggest we avoid any more fights and just get through this as fast as we can.”

“That sounds good to me,” I agreed. Then I looked over the distance ahead of us and groaned. “I’m already tired. I definitely need to slot more stamina…”

Matt nodded at that. “Yeah, definitely.”

“I think I’m good,” Teri responded smugly, earning dirty glares from Matt and me both.

We began moving across the desert at a steady pace, realizing that this was a marathon instead of a sprint. Because we weren’t going as fast as we could, we saw a sand pit soon enough to go around it. If we’d been going any faster, we might not even have noticed it until we were caught in its pull and sucked under. However, that close encounter was enough to warn us that there would probably be other traps around too.

“Someone is coming towards us,” Matt pointed out a short time later.

I glanced over to where he was pointing and saw that someone was indeed coming towards us at a quick pace. It took me a few seconds before I could make out enough details to realize who it was.

“Mary,” I said. “She’s the ice chick who jumped Cassandra a couple days ago.”

“Well, she’s running right towards that scorpion pit we saw,” Matt pointed out.

Suddenly, Mary dropped down and out of sight, right around the area where we’d previously seen a huge nest of scorpions. When she didn’t come back into view, I shook my head, almost feeling sorry for the girl.

“And that is why we look before we leap,” I said, earning chuckles from Teri and Matt

After this, we continued on our way across the desert, finding a massive next of snakes, which we went around, and another sand pit, which we also avoided. Fortunately, no other champions tried to come after us, or if they did, the environment dealt with them before we’d even seen them. Either way, it took us little more than half an hour to get across the desert and to the next stage of the race.

In nearly the blink of an eye, we went from being in a desert to being in the mountains. There were several paths that went off in different directions, though all of them looked like they would be dangerous to stray from. The one we followed quickly led to a high granite wall on one side of us and a steep drop on the other. The only good thing was that the path was wide enough to drive a car down, if we’d actually had one.

“Damn,” Matt grumbled as we walked along the path. “It’s chilly up here…”

I looked over the side and peered down the cliff. If we fell off, there was no doubt that the fall would kill us. I was a little more concerned about that than I was the cold.

Teri looked a little green as she peered over the edge, then quickly backed away. “Is it too late to point out that I really don’t like heights?”

Matt smirked at that. “It’s not the fall that gets you. It’s the sudden stop at the end.”

“Bite me,” Teri responded, flipping him off.

I looked around, seeing no sign of any other champions, but I knew that this didn’t mean anything. If I’d learned one thing from the last couple contests, it was that threats could be hiding around each and every corner, and not all of those came from other champions.

With that in mind, I looked up at the granite wall beside me. It was steep and rough going, but I didn’t doubt that some people would be able to climb it. That meant we had to keep an eye up above us as well, because I didn’t want to get caught by surprise if someone decided to start dropping boulders on our heads.

“Let’s get out of here as quick as we can,” I said, glancing up again. I really didn’t like this situation.

A short distance further, the path widened out a great deal, which made me just a little nervous. This reminded me a little too much of the dungeon, where the paths led into chambers which contained the real threats. I looked around this larger space but didn’t see any threats. In fact, the only thing I saw were a bunch of large rocks scattered about, which looked like remnants of a rockslide.

“Careful,” I warned, looking up the cliff. “Someone might have dropped those rocks down here on purpose…”

A moment later, the hidden danger revealed itself, though not from the direction I expected. The scattered rocks all began to move, and then unfold almost like they were a bunch of stone armadillos.

“What the hell are those?” Teri demanded.

We were now facing about two dozen creatures, each of which was between two to three feet tall and made of stone. They consisted of torsos, with beady little eyes and huge mouths that were full of jagged teeth. Arms and legs came out of the torsos, though there was no sign that they possessed necks or heads. In fact, they reminded me a little of the Tasmanian Devil from the Looney Tunes, but hairless and made of rock.

Matt reacted first and opened fire with his paintball gun. Ball bearings hit several of the creatures and bounced off, causing a couple of chips, but not much more.

Teri swung her baseball bat at the nearest creature, then let out a loud yelp. “It’s like a hitting a stupid rock…”

“I think they are rock,” I pointed out, not bothering to attack any of them with my spear. Instead, I put shields on Matt and Teri, then backed up a little.

A couple of the creatures charged right at me, their mounts wide open and showing rows of stone teeth, that looked almost looked like a bunch of flint arrowheads. I put up a shield wall and then ran into it, then kept trying to bite through the thing. Matt and Teri came up to either side of me, trying to keep the stone creatures from going around my shield, though they’d already proven that they couldn’t do a whole lot of damage to things.

Matt threw his black dagger at one of the creatures, since it could do three times the damage when thrown. However, in spite of practicing for the last couple days, he wasn’t very good at throwing knives, and hit the thing hilt first. I didn’t know if it actually did do three times the damage, though a couple stone teeth were knocked out, which only seemed to piss the creature off even more.

I spent the next several minutes alternating between shielding my friends and creating shield walls. These creatures were tough enough that they were forcing us to play defense, though for me, that was nothing unusual. My powers were made for defense. However, once I’d blocked enough of their attacks, I was ready for a counter-attack.

“Gotcha,” I exclaimed, lunging at the nearest creature with my spear.

Normally, my spear wouldn’t have been any more effective than Teri’s bat or Matt’s knives, but I’d built up a nice damage buff during this fight. I hit the creature with my spear, and suddenly, it shattered, cracking into a half dozen chunks that fell to the ground.

“One down,” I announced. “Two dozen to go…”

“I don’t think we’ll be able to take all of them that way,” Matt pointed out.

“It’ll take WAY too long,” Teri agreed.

“And I don’t have the mana to keep this up for that long,” I added with a grimace.

More of the creatures leapt at my shield wall and bounced off. Each hit was another little charge, waiting for my next attack. However, as I’d just pointed out, I didn’t’ have enough mana to keep throwing up shield after shield. We had to find another way of dealing with these guys.

“Too bad my shield is stuck in one spot,” I growled in frustration.

Then I paused as an idea suddenly hit me. What if it wasn’t? Every time I’d created a shield wall before, it had been anchored in place, but what if it didn’t have to be? What if it was only anchored to that spot because I assumed it had to be?

I held my spear out in front of me, lengthwise, while gripping it firmly with both hands. What I was trying to do was an act of inspiration…and desperation. As soon as my shield wall faded, I activated another one, though this time I focused on anchoring it to my spear instead of the ground. A couple seconds later, I stepped forward, and to my delight, my shield wall moved forward as well.

SHIELD WALL HAS INCREASED TO RANK 6

I ignored the popup and focused on pushing forward. Fortunately, this didn’t seem to rely on my physical strength, though unfortunately, it was using my mana instead. My mana continued to drop, much like when I used Maelyne’s shield, which meant that I wouldn’t be able to keep this up for too long.

Teri gasped in surprise and blurted out, “I didn’t know you could do this.”

“Me either,” I admitted, still focusing on my shield and pushing forward.

“You’re pushing those rock things,” Matt exclaimed.

“Like a freaking bulldozer,” I agreed.

A couple seconds later, I reached the edge of the cliff and pushed a half dozen of those creatures over the edge. I let my shield drop so I wouldn’t keep using up mana, then threw shields on Matt and Teri so we could move back from the cliff and get into a better position.

The remaining rock creatures were pissed and came charging at us, though Matt and Teri held them off long enough for me to catch my breath. Once I was sure that I had enough mana, I made another shield wall and repeated the bulldozer trick, taking out another five.

When I was finished with my second bulldozer move, and was trying to recover enough mana to make one more attempt, one of the rock creatures got past Teri and Matt and came charging at me. I hit it with my spear, though I didn’t have as much damage storied up as I had during my last attack, so instead of shattering it, I only split it in two. Still, it was enough to do the job.

Another creature came at me a couple seconds later, though I didn’t bother trying to impale it. Instead, I used my spear like a staff and swept its legs out from beneath it, then gave it a good shove in the direction of the cliff edge.

“Go for the legs,” Matt announced, having noticed my brief fight. “They seem to be the weak spot…”

“Good to know,” Teri responded, swinging her baseball bat low and trying to hit a creature’s legs. It worked, knocking the creature to the ground where it was easier to deal with.

It took us a couple more minutes, along with one more bulldozer move, to finish off the last of the stone creatures. Once the last one was gone, a crystal sphere appeared on the ground, though it was only one of the smaller ones.

“A blue one,” I said before crushing the crystal in my hands.

YOU HAVE CLAIMED A BONUS PRIZE: +1 AGILITY.

“Agility isn’t bad,” I said, though there were other stats I might have preferred. As it was, I might have to try out gymnastics or yoga, just so I could see what I was capable of now. “Maybe I can get Cassandra to take a gymnastics class with me…” I chuckled at that.

While I was doing this, Matt was scrounging around, picking up some of the ball bearings that he’d shot at the creatures so he could reuse the ammunition. That was one of the advantages that this stuff had over bullets.

About ten minutes later, we reached the spot where this stage of the race ended and the next began. We left the mountains and stepped right into a jungle, which was rich with thick green vegetation. There was a path for us to follow, but it twisted and turned enough so that we couldn’t see very far ahead.

“Careful,” I warned my friends. “This place is great for an ambush.”

Suddenly, almost as if using those words as its cue, a tiger leapt out of the brush. Matt responded in an instant, throwing his dagger and then slashing out with his bowie knife. He hit the tiger in the side and neck, so it collapsed to the ground dead, a few seconds later.

“That was close,” I said, shaking a little since I didn’t even have time to throw out any of my shields. If matt had been any slower, he could have been killed.

“And you want to get a cat,” Matt teased Teri, who flipped him off.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Teri said. “Maybe a dog… A little one.”

I took a good look at the tiger, then at the ground around it. There were no signs of any loot dropping this time. So with a shrug, I started walking down the path, hoping that we could get this over with before we had any more problems. Somehow, I didn’t think we’d be that lucky.

The jungle stage was dangerous and we’d already learned not to underestimate it. We found two traps on the trail that we might have walked right into if we hadn’t been looking for them, along with another trap that someone had already tripped.

We were probably about halfway through the jungle area when we heard another champion up ahead of us. At least, I assumed it was a champion since all I could really tell for sure, was that it was some guy, who was swearing loudly. But then, the cursing turned into a scream which was abruptly cut off.

“Careful,” I warned Matt and Teri.

Matt went first, because out of all of us, he was the one with the best reflexes and agility. He’d already proven that he could get out of the way at the first sign of trouble, faster than either Teri or I could.

A minute later, we came to another pit trap that had been tripped. There was blood all over the spikes, but no sign of a body. Either the victim had somehow managed to escape that, which seemed unlikely, or they’d died and their body had been transported away. I was pretty confident that it was the second option.

Once we finally stepped out of the jungle, I let out a sigh of relief. “This is the last stage,” I said, wondering how many champions had made it this far, and how many there were ahead of us. We were closing in on the end of the race, which meant that someone else could be crossing the finish line at any moment.

The new stage looked like we were in a desert again, but not the barren and sandy desert from before. This one was flat, with mountains in the distance, and scrub brush all over the place. There were even a few cacti and tumbleweeds. Of course, even more noticeable than that, was the fact that we were at the entrance of what looked to be a town from the old west. We were staring straight down the main street through town, perhaps the ONLY street, and it was lined on both sides by very old-fashioned wooden buildings.

Matt snorted. “Why do I get the feeling that this is going to come down to a shootout at high noon?”

“I wonder if there are any horses,” Teri mused, looking around with an excited gleam in her eyes.

“If there are, they’re probably fire-breathing monsters,” I pointed out wryly.

“We’re not the first ones here,” Matt said a moment later, about the same time that I saw the other champions.

The town wasn’t very large, and I could actually see the finish line on the other side of it. However, the champion version of a shootout was going on right between us and the finishing line. Axe Guy and the samurai wannabe were going at it right in the middle of the street. At the same time, the magical girl was going at it with Harker, bouncing from one rooftop to another.

“I told you there’d be a shootout,” Matt said, holding out his paintball gun and looking like he wanted to jump right in. But then he grimaced and said, “Maybe we should go around.”

“Good idea,” Teri said. “For once.”

I nodded agreement, then started to move around the backside of the buildings, avoiding main street entirely. However, I quickly hit an invisible wall that wouldn’t let me past.

“Crap,” I grumbled.

There might be ways around that wall, but I had a feeling that using them wouldn’t be a good idea. In fact, I was pretty sure that going that way would earn us a visit from the Referee, which wouldn’t be good.

“I guess they want us to go this way,” I said with a grimace, gesturing down the center of the street.

“I can probably sneak through,” Matt said with a smirk. “I can steal this bitch…”

“But I’m pretty sure that I have to be the one to cross the finish line,” I pointed out. “Not one of my companions.”

A couple seconds later, I saw a blur of darkness emerge from a doorway and rush towards the finish line. Cloak was trying to make it through without fighting, and I felt my heart jump as it looked like he was about to win the race.

Suddenly, someone emerged from the ground in the middle of the street, almost popping up out of the dirt. This newcomer wore green and brown clothes, which included some kind of poncho, hood, and bandanna over his face. He opened fire with a crossbow, shooting right at Cloak. But unlike during our fight in the dungeon, when Cassandra kept missing, Crossbow got him. The darkness vanished and Cloak collapsed to the ground with a bolt sticking right out of his chest.

“Okay, sneaking through might not work,” Matt admitted with a grimace.

Crossbow fired at another champion who was trying to make a dash towards the finish line. Suddenly, Crossbow was hit with a blast of wind that sent him flying back, well away from the finish line. Harker dropped to the ground where Crossbow had been standing, then had to immediately leap away again as the magical girl came after her.

“Let’s go,” I said, throwing shields on Matt and Teri, then starting down the street, intentionally going to one side, where we could move along the sidewalk and hopefully receive less attention.

We hadn’t gone very far before someone yelled out, “YOU!”

“Not good,” I said, seeing Spear Chick charging towards us.

There was a flash of light, and suddenly we were facing eight copies of Spear Chick. She was using her illusion ability again, and she was charging at all three of us before we had a chance to figure out which was the real one.

“Gotcha,” Teri exclaiming, swinging her bat at a Spear Chick, and going right through it.

Matt opened fire with his paintball gun, hitting two of the Spear Chicks and revealing that they were two more illusions. I threw up a shield wall to block two of the others. However, the remaining Spear Chicks were going around my shield and attacking me.

“I don’t think so,” I exclaimed, blocking an attack, only to find that there was nothing there. I felt burst of pain in my back as the real Spear Chick impaled me from behind. I screamed.

“JERI!” Matt cried out.

Matt and Teri rushed to my aid and Spear Chick was forced to back off. I dropped to my knees, grimacing in pain, though thankful for my friends. With Spear Chick off my back, I managed to heal myself.

“Time to get serious,” Matt announced, stepping back and then fading from view as he activated his stealth ability.

Matt moved around to try getting Spear Chick from behind, but she snapped around and lunged at him with her spear. Apparently, she had no problems seeing him, even with his stealth. Either she had a high enough awareness to see him, or she had a special ability that did something similar.

With a yelp of surprise, Matt shifted position and only barely avoided being hit. He backed up, looking shaken by how close he’d come to getting stabbed. He had been getting a bit cocky with his new abilities, and Spear Chick had just burst that bubble.

“So, you’ve got a new weapon,” Spear Chick announced, staring at my spear. “Good choice…”

“You do have good taste in weapons,” I responded.

Spear Chick came at me again, and though I could have blocked her with my shield wall, I wanted a chance to test my skills out against her again. I blocked her attack then gave a brief lunge of my own. When she came at me again, I dodged to the side, thankful for my new agility. However, I realized that I still needed to react faster or she was going to get me anyway.

“Reflexes,” I muttered under my breath. “I need more reflexes…”

In spite of my improved skills, Spear Chick was still stronger and better than I was. But of course, I wasn’t about to just give up. All I had to do was land one good hit and I could surprise her with the damage.

Spear Chick gave me an evil grin, and suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light that blinded me. I yelped in surprise, then felt another sharp pain in my side.

“I can’t see,” Teri cried out, swinging her baseball bat around wildly. I could barely make her out.

“Time to finish you off,” Spear Chick announced, “earn some extra points, and then go for the big prize…”

“I don’t think so,” I exclaimed, forming a shield wall in front of me.

There was another sharp pain in my side as Spear Chick was further to my side than I’d realized. I might have activated Maelyne’s shield, but Spear Chick was too close and probably would have been caught inside the shield with me, which would have defeated the purpose.

Just as my vision was starting to return, Spear Chick lunged at me, clearly intending to finish me off before I could fight back. But then, she suddenly screamed in pain, giving me the opening I needed to run my spear right into her stomach. I hadn’t saved up a lot of damage this time, but what I did have was enough to blow a hole in her stomach.

“Crap,” I exclaimed, horrified by the damage.

I stepped back, wincing in pain and only then noticing the arrow sticking out of her shoulder. I looked around but didn’t see any sign of Cassandra, who was the obvious source.

“Thanks,” I called out while I healed myself. I’d been down to 64% health, so it took a couple hits with my lesser healing to get back to normal.

“Are you okay?” Cassandra called out, drawing my attention to where she stood across the street.

“Yeah,” I responded with a wince of pain. “Thanks…”

“I felt bad for leaving you like that,” Cassandra called back, “when I know those guys are gunning for you.”

Suddenly, Spear Chick lunged at me with her spear again, her face a grimace of pain. Teri’s baseball bat smacked her alongside the head, laying her out on the ground.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED AN OPPOSING CHAMPION.

REWARD: +20 MANA POOL, +20 MANA RECOVERY, +20 HEALTH, AND +20 REGENERATION. YOUR COMPANIONS GAIN +20 HEALTH AND +20 REGENERATION.

With that popup, I knew that Spear Chick really was down this time. I just wondered if Cassandra got any points from this, for her part in the fight.

Cassandra and I stared at each other from across the road, remembering that we were still competitors as well as friends. At the same time, we both looked to the finish line, saw that the path was currently clear, and then we began to run.

“Come on,” I gasped to myself, running down my side of the street as fast as I could while Cassandra ran down the other. I seemed to have the lead at the moment, though not by much. “Cardio… I definitely need to work on my cardio…”

All of the other champions were occupied with their own opponents and didn’t seem to realize that Cassandra and I were both racing for the win. Or at least, that was my assumption until Crossbow leaned out of a doorway ahead of me and took aim at Cassandra. He didn’t even seem to notice me coming up on him.

For a brief moment, I realized that Crossbow was about to inadvertently help me. Once he took out Cassandra, I’d have an open path to win. Even if he only delayed her, that would be all the help I needed. However, that moment quickly passed.

Even as I launched myself at Crossbow, bringing my spear down across his arms to make him drop is weapon, I knew it would cost me the race. But at that moment, I didn’t care. I couldn’t let him shoot Cassandra.

“What…?” Crossbow gasped in surprise.

“What are you doing?” Matt demanded of me. “The race…”

Crossbow snapped around and sent a blast of dust and sand into my face, though I made a shield wall and blocked the rest of the attack. Matt and Teri rushed to my side and were about to attack Crossbow, when the popup appeared.

THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. CEASE ALL HOSTILITIES.

WINNER: THE CHAMPION OF ARMESTIA, GODDESS OF SECRETS, ROMANCE, AND THE MOON.

“What?” Teri asked, looking around in surprise. “Did we lose?”

“Yes,” Matt answered, giving me a look of disapproval. “We could have won…”

“I know,” I responded, looking towards the finish line, which Cassandra had already crossed. “But he would have shot her…”

“And she would have come back,” Matt reminded me. “Her patron would have rezzed her…”

I turned to glare at Matt. “Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not about to just stand there while someone kills a friend, just because they MIGHT come back. Trust me, dying isn’t something I want any of my friends to go through, even if they can come back…”

Matt grunted in acknowledgement, but he still didn’t look happy. When it came to video games, he’d always been pretty competitive, so it was no surprise it was carrying over into this game as well.

THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. PREPARE TO BE TRANSPORTED.

“We’ll win next time,” I promised Matt and Teri, right before we were sent back home.

When the sparks and sparkles cleared, I found myself standing in my living room, which was exactly where I expected to be. This was where I’d been waiting right before the contest began, so this was where they’d transported me back to once it was over.

“That was AWESOME,” Teri exclaimed from beside me.

Teri and Matt had come here, to wait for the contest with Cassandra and me. It was a lot more convenient to gather here than it was at their house. After all, at their house, there was always the chance that their parents could walk in on us. Since none of us wanted to explain the armor, or why we were appearing or disappearing in bursts of sparks, this seemed like the smartest move.

“Those rock monsters were crazy,” Teri continued excitedly. “And a tiger… We actually fought a tiger…”

“I fought a tiger,” Matt pointed out smugly. “You were standing around and picking your nose at the time.”

I was not,” Teri protested.

“Congrats on the win,” I told Cassandra, trying not to feel jealous. I could have won, but I’d made a conscious decision to save her instead, and I refused to regret that.

“Thanks,” Cassandra told me, giving me an odd look. “And thanks for helping me…”

“You helped me first,” I pointed out. If it hadn’t been for Cassandra, then Spear Chick might have killed me. I didn’t know if Maelyne had any more rezzes available for me, or if Heather had already used them all up, but I really didn’t want to find out the hard way.

“So, what prize did you get for winning?” I asked, glancing to my own popup.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED A COMPETITION:

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

Cassandra looked at her own screen and grinned. “Three attribute points that I can spend anywhere I want, and a hundred and fifty resource points I can slot…”

“Nice,” I said, nodding in approval.

“I also unlocked a new ability,” Cassandra continued a little smugly, though she didn’t explain what that ability was. “I think, one point in agility, one in dexterity, and the last one…charisma.”

While I watched, Cassandra seemed to change just a little. It was subtle, but she did become just a little more attractive, and she had more of a…presence. If I hadn’t been paying attention, or hadn’t been looking for it, I might have missed this entirely.

I nodded at that, then went to slot my own points. Strength and reflexes were my two weakest attributes, with both of them being at an eight. I definitely could have used more strength, though after a couple of these last fights, I realized that I needed better reflexes. The faster I could react to danger, the better chance I had of throwing up a shield in time. Strength would make me feel a lot better, but reflexes would improve my chance at surviving…and protecting my friends.

“There,” I said after slotting my new points into my reflexes and mana pool.

Matt scowled, staring at his own screen. “I didn’t get anything this time.”

I gave him a curious look, remembering how after our last contest, he and Teri had both been given armor, while I’d been given points to slot for them. I pulled up my companion sheets and saw no additions to their equipment, and no spare points to slot.

“Teri didn’t get anything after our first contest together either,” I pointed out thoughtfully.

“Companions don’t get rewards like champions do,” Cassandra explained. “As far as the game is concerned, you two are just extensions of Jeri.” She gestured to me. “You’re both here as part of her abilities, so whenever you two get upgrades, it’s because she’s ranked up her companion abilities. At least, that’s how I understand it.”

“It makes sense,” I said, feeling sorry for Matt and Teri. They helped me with all those fights, but didn’t get anything for it this time.

“That sucks,” Teri grumbled. Matt didn’t look happy either.

“If you think about it,” I said, trying to make them feel better. “You both got your rewards up front…with all those stat boosts.”

Teri immediately brightened at that. “Yeah, these are great…”

She made a show out of flexing her muscles, even though her armor made it difficult to see them. Still, I knew that beneath the armor, Teri was pretty jacked now. In fact, she looked like she could be a fitness competitor or an amateur bodybuilder.

Over the last couple weeks, Teri had definitely changed, and not only physically. Because of her new size and strength, she was much more confident than before. She was less likely to run away or avoid confrontations with other people, and a lot more likely to solve her problems with physical force. As they say, when the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail.

Matt’s own physique wasn’t nearly as improved as Teri’s, but he’d definitely received some benefits of his own. Compared to him, most people were slow and clumsy, and that was starting to change his own perspective too. What would it be like, knowing that you had that kind of edge over everyone around you?

Then another question occurred to me. Was I changing too? Of course I was. That was obvious, and one of my biggest worries since waking up in this body. However, I realized that I was probably changing in some ways that I hadn’t even realized yet, and that worried me.

I used to be big and strong, but now I was small and weak in comparison. I used to be a guy, but now I was a girl, and still trying to wrap my head around everything that came with that. I used to be a jock, and while I still went to the gym regularly, my highest stats were in charisma and intelligence, and that was undoubtedly having an effect on my own perspective.

“Are you okay?” Cassandra asked me.

I gave a self-conscious smile. “Just thinking about things,” I said, deciding to leave it at that.

Cassandra had already changed out of her armor while I’d been lost in thought, so I followed her example and changed out of my own. Matt and Teri changed a couple seconds later.

“We’d better get going home,” Matt told me with an apologetic shrug. “I have to work in a couple hours, and want to get showered and cleaned before then.”

“You need a shower,” Teri told him with a smirk. Matt flipped her off. Then she turned to me and said, “See you later, Jeri,” before giving me a hug, which only emphasized how much bigger and stronger than me she now was.

Once Matt and Teri were gone, Cassandra stared at me with a smirk. “You remember at the start of the race, we made a little bet…”

My eyes went wide as I remembered the bet. “Crap…”

Cassandra gave an evil laugh, then ran upstairs. A couple minutes later, she came back, holding up a cheerleader’s uniform and a makeup case. “This time, YOU get to be the cheerleader…”

I stared at the cheerleader uniform and makeup with a sinking feeling in my gut. I was just thankful that Lauren had to work, because she probably would have encouraged Cassandra to take this even further somehow.

Letting out a sigh of resignation, I said, “Fine. Let’s get this over with…”

Cassandra grinned evilly at that, but instead of taking advantage of the opportunity, she paused to give me a thoughtful look. “I think Matt had the right idea. Shower first, paying off your bet second.”

“After all that, I think I’d rather just soak in a hot tub for awhile,” I thought aloud.

“A bath it is,” Cassandra said before gently pushing me towards the stairs.

I took Cassandra’s advice and went up to take a bath, telling myself that I was only doing it because she told me too. That was a nice little rationalization that let me avoid feeling bad about this new guilty pleasure. This was yet another reminder that I was changing, and that I was no longer the person I used to be. But as I slipped down into the hot water to soak, I didn’t really care.

“This does feel good,” I said with a sigh of contentment.

After that contest, with all the running and fighting, this was just the thing I needed. Of course, my regeneration rate was increasing with every victory over another champion, and that didn’t hurt with the rest and relaxation either.

I had no idea how long I remained where I was, soaking in the hot water, before I decided that I had better get out and face the music. It was with a great deal of effort that I climbed out of the tub and grabbed a towel to dry myself off with. And it was at that very moment that Cassandra came into the bathroom, almost as though she’d somehow timed it.

For several seconds, Cassandra and I stood there, silently staring at each other. The sense of awkwardness and deja-vu was incredible, especially since I knew for a fact that I’d locked the door this time.

Like the last time this had happened, Cassandra had an oversized towel wrapped around her mid-section. Her hair was wet and she’d obviously just come out of the shower since the house had a shower stall in the other bathroom, but only the one tub.

“Sorry for interrupting,” Cassandra said, giving me a look of interest. “I needed to grab my hair dryer.’

“No problem,” I responded, trying to act like this was no big deal.

This was just like being in the showers and locker room with a bunch of other guys after a game. At least, that was what I tried telling myself, without much success.

“It’ll just be a moment,” Cassandra promised with a smirk.

As she bent down to pull her hair dryer from the drawer, I was extremely aware of her close and nearly naked presence. At that moment, I clearly remembered the kiss we’d shared, and my body began to respond. I gulped at that, hoping she didn’t notice.

“Don’t bother getting all the way dressed,” Cassandra told me as she turned to leave. “I’ve already got your clothes all picked out…” Then she paused to look me over again, while I tried covering myself without looking as nervous as I felt. “Have you shaved since your…accident?”

“Shaved?” I asked in surprise, rubbing my chin and cheek, which still felt smooth and hairless.

Cassandra began snickering. “I guess we’ll have to get that taken care of…” She went into another drawer, explaining, “Heather kept her razors and stuff in here…”

Seconds later, Cassandra proceeded to give me a lesson on shaving…from the female perspective. I was less than thrilled with the idea of shaving my legs and pits, until my tutor asked me if I planned on going ‘hippie’ instead. Needless to say, just like when it came to my hair, my vanity stirred again, and I got to experience what it was like to shave like a girl.

After this, Cassandra and I both got dressed, her in her usual clothes, though she kept her makeup light, and me in the cheerleader uniform she’d provided. This wasn’t the same uniform that she’d worn previously, and it was actually a pretty good fit. That made me wonder where she’d gotten it from since I didn’t remember seeing it in Heather’s closet.

The real surprise came when Cassandra gave me the shoes, a pair of high heels. Back when I’d been on the football team, none of the cheerleaders wore heels like this when they were cheering. They could have broken an ankle or worse if they had. However, I didn’t bother arguing with Cassandra, just like I didn’t bother to point out that our bet had only been for makeup, not for a full costume. Still, I’d lost the bet and wasn’t going to be a bad sport about it, even if she was pushing things a bit far.

The high heels were a bit awkward to walk in at first, but I quickly got the hang of them. I was pretty sure that he only reason I managed so well instead of breaking my ankle, was the fact that I had an agility of twelve, which gave me a decent amount of grace and balance.

“Nice,” Cassandra said when she looked me over. Then she held up the makeup kit and smirked. “Have a seat…”

I let out a sigh and took my seat. I’d survived this the last time, so I could survive it this time. And though I wasn’t about to admit it to Cassandra, I was curious about what I’d look like when she was done.

Cassandra did something with my hair, then she put on the makeup. I just sat there, trying to be patient, though it wasn’t easy. And once she was finished with the makeup, she still wouldn’t let me get up or see what I looked like. Instead, she pulled out a bottle of bright pink nail polish and gave me another evil grin.

“Not exactly a great match for your skin-tone and hair color,” Cassandra explained, “but I couldn’t resist.”

Once Cassandra was finished, she finally let me see the results. I had blush, eyeshadow, pink lipstick, and of course, the polished nails. She was right that the colors didn’t quite match my skin or hair color, but it was still quite a strange sight.

“Its…interesting,” I said politely. The makeup was actually lighter than when Cassandra had done me up as a goth, but definitely more in the ‘bimbo’ style. “I never thought I’d end up as a cheerleader.”

“It suits you,” Cassandra said with a smirk, before looking me over with an expression of satisfaction. “Very hot.”

“Um…thanks,” I responded.

Cassandra moved closer, then leaned forward until she was almost in my face. We stared at each other for several long seconds without either of us saying anything.

“So,” she finally asked in a husky voice. “Do I have to get you drunk again or something?”

That was all the invitation I needed to kiss her. I’d been wanting to do that again ever since the last time, so I took immediate advantage of the opportunity.

“I’ve always wanted to make out with a cheerleader,” Cassandra told me once we broke apart.

“Well, I’m glad I could help fulfil your fantasy,” I replied with a smile. “But you know, I might have one or two of my own…”

With those words, Cassandra and I grabbed each other and began kissing again, even more passionately than before. And this time, Lauren wasn’t there to interrupt us.

--------------------

I was comfortable. I was sitting back in a recliner that was an absolutely perfect fit for my body, as though it had been custom made just for me. Off to the side, just the right distance away to keep me warm, but not too warm, was a fireplace with a blazing fire. And then, there was the cup of delicious smelling tea.

“Thank you,” I told Maelyne as I took a sip from my cup. It was good. Really good. This stuff was really starting to grow on me.

“You are welcome,” Maelyne responded with a faint smile.

I took another sip and then looked around the room. It was the same place that Maelyne and I had met the last time, so I wasn’t sure if it was based off a real place, or if she’d made it up just because it was nice and cozy.

“You have just finished a competition,” Maelyne said, “so we have another opportunity to speak. But as always, our time is limited, even here in a dream.”

With a nod of acknowledgement, I admitted, “I could have won, but didn’t.” I felt bad for disappointing Maelyne like that, especially since I knew how important this was. However, I refused to feel guilty for saving Cassandra’s life.

“Yes,” Maelyne responded, taking a sip of her tea and then looking at me again. “Instead of finishing the race, you chose to stop and help another champion.”

“I’m sorry,” I told Maelyne. She’d been counting on me and I’d let her down. If only Crossbow hadn’t shown up when he did.

“Don’t be,” my patron said with a smile. “It does me no harm at all to have one of my allies win. In fact, in this situation, it may even benefit me…”

That made me blink in surprise. “I…don’t understand.”

Maelyne’s smile widened a little. “You chose to protect your friend instead of winning. You chose loyalty over victory. And while your victory would have helped me, I am proud of your choice. It was an action worthy of my champion.”

“Um…thank you,” I said, not sure what else I could say to that. I’d expected to get chewed out, not complimented.

“By acting as you did,” Melyne continued, “you have earned me some consideration… points in the game. And by protecting Armestia’s champion as you did, when you might have benefitted more by letting her fall, you have reinforced our alliance. You have earned Armestia’s goodwill and my favor.”

Since I still didn’t know what to say to this, I nodded politely and took a sip of tea. This really was good stuff. “I’m glad it worked out then. I was a little worried that you’d be mad.”

“I cannot be angry at you for protecting one you care about,” Maelyne told me with an amused smile. “I understand the value of loyalty and the importance of protecting those you care about more than most of my kind.”

“I imagine you do,” I responded wryly. Then, since we were on the topic of protecting the people I cared about, I cautiously said, “Matt and Teri were wondering how they could get stronger…” I quickly added, “The armor was great, and it’s really helping, but they were hoping to get some weapons or more attribute points too…”

Maelyne nodded faintly, not looking at all offended like I feared she might. “Your companions do not earn credit in quite the same fashion or rate that you do. However, you should know that by the time you complete the next competition, they should have earned enough to receive both attribute points and weaponry.”

“Thank you,” I said again, knowing that Matt and Teri would be happy to hear this.

Maelyne’s expression darkened. “Be careful, my champion. Our opposition is moving in unexpected ways. Two of my kind…allies who are not even involved in the current games…have disappeared. And as you already well know, they are likely to come after you again as well. The sooner your companions are fully armed and prepared, the better you will all be.”

“Then you should be careful too,” I said. I had no idea of what Maelyne was really facing in her world, but I knew that she was worried about it.

“Thank you for your concern, my champion,” Maelyne told me with a faint smile, as though amused that I would be worried about her. “Until we speak again.”

I woke up in bed and groaned, wondering why all my visits with Maelyne had to end this way. Couldn’t she just drop me back into my normal dreams? Why did I have to wake up each time? Then I noticed that I had a popup.

YOU HAVE EARNED THE BLESSING OF MAELYNE, GODDESS OF PROTECTION AND LOYALTY.

MAELYNE’S BLESSING: 20% PROTECTION FROM ALL DAMAGE. WHILE PROTECTING OTHERS, SHIELD STRENGTH AND SHIELD DURATION ARE INCREASED BY 50%

I bolted upright in bed, now fully awake. I stared at this popup in stunned amazement, hardly able to believe what it said. According to this popup, I’d just become quite a bit more powerful, at least when it came to protecting my friends.

In spite of the popup, ‘Maelyne’s blessing’ wasn’t entirely new. It had already been on my ‘character sheet’, in the ‘gifts’ section. However, until now, it had all been greyed out, saying that I hadn’t met the conditions to use it. But now that I’d unlocked the gift, I knew exactly what the requirements had been. I’d had to earn Maelyne’s favor, which I’d done, ironically enough, by helping the competition.

I was home. At least, that was what it felt like. The gym had been something of a second home to me for a long time, and I always felt comfortable there. In fact, it was the one place where I always felt the most like my old self. Since the old me was fading away a little bit more every day, I was clinging to this last piece of my old life as tightly as I could.

At the moment, I was on the elliptical machine, which was where I’d been for the last half hour. Today, I was doing a bit of work on my core, but was mostly focusing on cardio. Back in my old body, I’d focused more on strength training than cardio, but with my new body came some new workout needs.

When I finally climbed off the elliptical, I was breathing hard and drenched with sweat. I was tired, yet buzzed from all the exercise and activity. I could already tell that today was going to be a good day in the gym. A second later, almost as if reading my mind, a new popup appeared in front of me.

YOUR STAMINA HAS INCREASED +1

I grinned at that, feeling a moment of triumphant glee. I’d actually done it. I’d actually improved my stats using nothing more than hard work and exercise. It wasn’t nearly as fast or easy as finding some prize in a contest, but I’d just proven that it could be done. That gave me hope for some of my other stats, especially strength. Over the last couple weeks, I’d been working hard to get stronger, so I now felt confident that I’d be leveling up there too before long, and all from my own efforts.

“What are you so happy about?” Matt asked from the machine beside me. He was sweating and breathing hard too, even though he’d been on that machine for half the time that I’d been on mine.

“My stamina just went up,” I told him with a grin. “Proof that time in the gym pays off.”

“I’d rather find some of those crystal balls,” Matt grumbled, before admitting, “Not that they’d do much for me.”

“So, this is your best way of improving,” I pointed out, not mentioning that he’d probably get another skill point after our next contest. I wanted to motivate him to workout, not dangle the ‘easy’ way in front of him.

Matt nodded at that, even as he grumbled under his breath. “Maybe we should get Teri over here too. You know, miserly loving company and all that…”

“Yeah,” I agreed, looking across the gym to where Teri was doing some curls.

Teri was so impressed by her strength and muscles, that she’d been focusing almost entirely on them, and had been neglecting her cardio. Of course, her stamina was currently pretty good, higher than mine or Matt’s, so she probably thought she didn’t need to work on her cardio so much. I was a little worried that if she didn’t use it, she could lose it. But since she’d gained all these improvements by magic, rather than by hard work, I wasn’t sure if they would fade away or not. Personally, I didn’t want to find out the hard way.

I took a few drinks from the bottle of water that I’d brought with, but was already considering my next exercises. If anything, earning a point in my stamina had inspired me to work even harder. If I could get one point that way, maybe I could earn some more. Of course, that same line of thinking made me wonder if I could earn more intelligence points by studying. That might be worth checking out.

“You know, I was thinking,” Matt said, his expression going serious.

“Oh?” I asked, not making any of the obvious jokes.

“Those people who are after us,” Matt continued, glancing warily around the gym. “Nadine, that robed freak, and the others…”

“Yeah,” I said with a scowl. I hadn’t seen any of them in the last four days, not since that race. And while I was relieved at that, I was also a bit worried. “I keep expecting them to show up again…”

“And THAT is my point,” Matt said. “We just sit around, waiting for them to come after us. I think we need to take the offense and go after them for a change.”

“Not a bad idea,” I admitted, a little surprised to hear Matt talk about ‘going on the offensive’. That had always been more my line of thinking. Or at least, it used to be. Now, I wasn’t really built for going on the offensive anymore.

“The old Jerry would have gone after them by now,” Matt said, echoing some of my own thoughts. “I think you’re getting into this whole defensive thing a little too much. I can understand why, considering how all your powers work, but we can’t beat them if we’re always reacting instead of acting.”

“You’re right,” I said.

“But,” Matt started to protest, only to pause and stare at me for a moment in confusion. He’d expected me to argue with him, and the fact that I wasn’t, had derailed his entire line of thought.

“But do you know how to find them?” I asked Matt. “Do you know where Nadine or Robe live? I don’t. I’ve tried looking online, and I couldn’t find anything useful. If you can, I’d be happy to mess with them.”

“Not yet,” Matt grudgingly admitted. “But you can bet I’m going to find out.”

“And I’ll ask Cassandra,” I told him. “Maybe she knows something we don’t.”

Matt gave me a curious look. “What about Maelyne? Can’t you ask her?”

I snorted at that. “It’s not like I have her phone number and can just call her,” I pointed out wryly. “And even if I could, that kind of help is probably against the rules.”

By this point, I was done with my break, so I took one more sip of water, then got up and went to work on my core for a bit. Matt followed behind, not ready to let go of the conversation quite yet, even though there was no point in continuing until we had more information.

After we were all finished working out, Teri and I went to the women’s locker room to shower and change. It was still strange for me to be in there, and even stranger, to have everyone else act as though I belonged. I still felt like someone was going to point at me and either laugh of scream.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this,” I said.

“I can definitely get used to this,” Teri said, flexing her muscles.

She had a pretty good pump on after her workout, and she was more than happy to show off. Then again, she liked showing off her new physique, and I didn’t know how much longer she was going to keep hiding it from her parents. Somehow, I couldn’t see her doing that for much longer.

I was still a bit jealous of Teri, especially when she was showing off like she was now. However, the envy wasn’t quite as sharp as it had been, nor did it come as often. Who knows, maybe one day, it would be gone entirely.

“I can’t wait until the next time I get some points,” Teri said with an eager grin. “And a weapon…”

Of course, I’d told Teri and Matt about what Maelyne had said, and now they were both looking forward to our next contest. After surviving three of them, I had mixed feelings. Sure, you could get some great benefits from those contests, even if you didn’t win them. And admittedly, my pride and competitive spirit were demanding that I win this next one, or least try as hard as I could to do so. But on the other hand, those competitions were dangerous, and I didn’t want myself or any of my friends to die.

“So,” Teri said, giving me a grin. “Are you and Cassandra dating?”

“What?” I asked, both surprised by the question and self-conscious about the answer.

“Come on,” Teri said with a smirk. “I saw the way you two kept looking at each other yesterday…”

“I wouldn’t really call it dating,” I responded after a couple seconds. “At least not yet. We’ve made out a few times, but we haven’t gone out on a real date yet…”

Teri nodded at that, then abruptly asked, “What about Lauren? Is she seeing anyone?”

I gave Teri a look of surprise. “I didn’t know you were into girls…”

She snorted at that. “I’m not, but Matt is, and I think he likes her…”

“Really?” I asked.

But as I thought about it, I realized that Teri was probably right. Matt had been paying a lot more attention to Lauren than I would have expected, though knowing my friend, he was too shy to make the first move. I suddenly had the feeling that Teri was planning to play matchmaker. The gleam in her eyes just confirmed that for me.

Once Teri and I had showered and changed, we met up with Matt and prepared to leave. This was a different gym than the one where Nadine had jumped us before, but we weren’t taking any chances. Matt activated his stealth and went into the parking lot first, making sure that there were no ambushes waiting before he came back and told us it was safe.

“I’ll see you guys later,” I told them, giving Matt a nod of acknowledgement. We already had plans to meet up with Lucas, Tyler, and Mac tomorrow for another paintball match. I was ‘filling in’ for Jerry. “And be careful.”

Once Matt and Teri were gone, I climbed into my little yellow car and began the drive home. I’d told Teri that I wasn’t really dating Cassandra yet, but that was going to change tonight when we went out on our first pseudo-date to test the waters. I could hardly wait.

--------------------

I stared across the small table to Cassandra. She was dressed a little nicer than usual, though definitely still in a goth style. Her makeup was also a bit more subdued.

Admittedly, I was underdressed in comparison, because I hadn’t done anything special for our date. I’d come with the expectation that things would be casual, but apparently, Cassandra had a slightly different idea of what that meant than I did.

So far, our conversation had been a little on the normal side, and not all that romantic. In fact, we’d been taking a bit about the game, and she’d been telling me a little about some of her previous competitions.

“I really liked that one,” Cassandra told me. She took a bite of her salmon before adding. “They held that one at night…”

“Why does that make a difference?” I asked.

Cassandra smirked. “One of my gifts gives me some really nice buffs whenever I’m exposed to moonlight.”

“Ah,” I responded with a nod of understanding. “I don’t imagine you can use that buff in many contests.”

“Nope,” she agreed with a sigh. “A real fucking waste if you ask me.”

This was the first time that Cassandra had mentioned that particular gift to me, but then again, she’d never told me about all of her abilities, and I knew she was keeping a few of them to herself. She liked to play things close to the vest, even with her friends, but I suppose that was appropriate for someone whose patron was a goddess of secrets.

“I can’t wait until the next time we have a contest at night,” she said with a sigh.

“Well,” I told her with a chuckle, “I just hope that when we do, we’re teaming up again.”

“Me too,” Cassandra said with a smile. “I like having someone to watch my ass…”

“It’s a very nice one,” I assured her, “and well worth watching.”

Cassandra beamed at that, definitely looking pleased. “You’ve got a pretty nice ass yourself.” She paused for a moment before admitting, “I always thought that Heather looked hot, but she was straight as a fucking arrow, and her personality… Well, I liked her as a friend, but could never see us as anything else, even if she had been a bit more flexible…”

“I was curious about that,” I admitted a little self-consciously.

“No offense,” Cassandra told me, “but I never thought I’d be into a jock…or a former one. But you’re not the meathead I thought you were back in school…”

“New body and new stats,” I pointed out wryly. “Trust me, it messes with your perspective like crazy.”

“I’d imagine,” she responded, giving me a sympathetic look. “I can’t imagine what that’s like… Shit, I’d go fucking insane if that kind of thing happened to me… How the hell are you still sane?”

“Who said I’m sane?” I asked with a faint smile.

I took a sip of my drink, a cup of tea. I’d never been into tea before, but after Maelyne had introduced me to the stuff in those dreams, I thought that I’d give it a chance, and I was glad that I had.

“Part of it is that I don’t have much choice,” I explained. “I died, and this is my second chance. It’s weird as hell, but a lot better than the alternative.”

Cassandra nodded. “I can see that.”

“Part of it,” I continued, “is that I have Heather’s body. I mean, this body has always been female. I have her DNA, her brain, and all the other junk. Maybe that all helps, you know, like with muscle memory or something…”

“I hadn’t thought about that,” Cassandra admitted.

Then I gave her a wry smile. “And part of it is that I’m just good at hiding it. Trust me, I’ve screamed in frustration, I’ve cried in my pillow, and sometimes, when I look in the mirror, or look down and see these,” I gestured to my breasts, “I have a moment of panic.”

Cassandra gave me another sympathetic look. “If this is going too fast for you…”

I appreciated her consideration, though it wasn’t necessary. “Actually, it’s nice to have some good things coming out of all this…” I gestured to myself and gave her a wry smile. “And it’s good to have more motivation to move on with my new life…”

Of course, that was all easier said than done, but I was trying to adapt to my new body and life. There was no going back, and whether I wanted to admit it or not, I wasn’t the same person that I was before, and not just physically.

Cassandra smiled at that, then looked around to make sure that nobody was watching. A couple seconds later, she held something up for me to see. It took me a few more seconds to realize that it was a pair of glasses. Ugly glasses with thick frames, and one of the nerdiest pairs that I’d ever seen.

“I was thinking,” Cassandra told me. “If you’re up for it, tonight we might play a little jock and nerd?”

“And which of us would be which?” I asked with a smirk.

Over the last few days, I’d learned that Cassandra had a thing for dress up and role playing. I probably should have figured that out considering the first two times we’d kissed. And though I’d never been into that kind of thing before, it was actually kind fun to go along with it.

“I’m flexible,” Cassandra told me with a smirk of her own. “But I’ve always been curious what it would be like being a meathead…”

“How about the gymnast and her coach?” I suggested, remembering the skill that Cassandra had found in the dungeon. From the gleam in her eyes, I could tell that she liked the idea.

After we finished our dinner, we got up to leave. Cassandra leaned over and whispered to me, “You know, if we’re going to be together, you should know that I have a deep dark secret.”

“Oh?” I asked curiously.

Cassandra made a show of looking around to make sure that nobody could overhear us, then whispered, “I’m really a romantic at heart…”

My heart raced a little at having her pressed so closely to me, and at having her lips so close to my ears. “I think I can live with that…”

I made a mental note to get Cassandra some chocolate and flowers. But what kind of flowers would a goth like?

We walked down the sidewalk together, heading to the movie theater, though we hadn’t decided what to watch yet. I had a feeling that this was going to be an interesting conversation.

Suddenly, Cassandra said, “We’re being followed…

I quickly looked around, preparing to activate my armor and weapon, but I didn’t see the threat. Then Cassandra gestured upward and I saw what she was referring to. There was a quick burst of movement as someone leapt from one rooftop to another, almost quicker than I could follow.

“Harker,” I said with a scowl.

I didn’t have any personal problems with Harker, and I was pretty sure that Heather hadn’t either. However, she was allies with Nadine and Robe, so I wasn’t about to trust her any further than I could throw her with my current strength level.

“Let’s lose her,” I said, immediately changing direction and walking down a side street.

“She’s changed course,” Cassandra pointed out. “She’s still following, so we can try losing her in one of these shops or stand and fight.”

“Matt and Teri are too far for me to summon,” I pointed out, “so I don’t know how much use I’ll be in a fight.”

“Harker is fast, but not much of a fighter,” Cassandra pointed out. “And with both of us, we shouldn’t have much problem.”

Harker may have somehow heard what we were saying, or maybe she just realized that we were going to turn and fight. Either way, she decided to hit us before we were ready. She dropped out of the air and landed right in front of us, hitting Cassandra and I with a powerful blast of wind that sent us tumbling backwards.

“FUCK!” Cassandra exclaimed, changing into her armor before she’d even finished rolling.

I didn’t react quite as fast as Cassandra, and it wasn’t until I stopped and got back to my feet that I was able to activate my own armor and weapon.

“Great,” I grumbled. Now, I not only had to worry about being ambushed by Nadine and Robe, but by their friends too. This was REALLY starting to piss me off. “Just frickin great.”

Cassandra fired an arrow at Harker, but the other girl moved too quickly. And when Cassandra fired again, a powerful wind blew, knocking the arrow off course. Harker just looked annoyed.

“Nothing personal,” Harker said.

“I’m gonna put an arrow in your fucking ass,” Cassandra snarled.

“Hate the game, not the player,” Harker responded, turning and firing another blast of air at Cassandra before coming after me.

“Don’t worry,” I told her as I formed a shield wall to block the blast of air. “I have enough hate for both.”

Harker shot up into the air, going above me, and then coming down behind me, where I didn’t have my shield to protect me. Fortunately, I was able to throw up a new shield wall in time.

Cassandra ran up the side of a wall and fired several arrows at Harker in rapid succession, but Harker leapt out of the way while sending out a blast of wind, knocking the arrows off course and making it easier for her to avoid them.

“She’s not really trying to beat us,” I blurted out in realization. This whole situation reminded me of the night this all began for me, when I’d run into Nadine at the gas station. “She’s just keeping us busy…”

“Shit,” Cassandra exclaimed. “She’s keeping us busy until her reinforcements arrive…”

“Too bad you figured it out,” Harker said as she hovered in the air a short distance away. “But at least I don’t have to keep this up anymore…”

“What do you…?” I started, only to see something coming from the corner of my eye.

Snapping around, I threw up a shield wall, just in time to keep from being hit by a ball of fire. It only took me a second more before I saw Nadine, who was coming at me with both of her hands on fire.

Harker immediately fired another powerful blast at Cassandra, which surprised me because I was actually closer, and she could have hit me from my side if the shield wall. Cassandra was thrown away from me by the wind, and Harker chased after her.

“Keep her occupied,” another voice ordered.

I looked over and saw March coming at me with his greatsword. With a deep grimace, I muttered, “How did a great day turn so crappy?”

My attention darted between Nadine and March while my heart raced with fear. I was outnumbered and overpowered. I had some damn good defenses, but they could force me to burn through my mana and wear me down. Still, I wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

“LOOK OUT!” Cassandra yelled from down the street where Harker had blown her.

March charged straight at me, so I threw up a shield wall between us. Suddenly, I felt a burst of pain through my back while my spear was knocked out of my hands. I screamed as I dropped to the ground, only to realize Robe was now standing above me with blood dripping from his scythe.

“Now I’ll make sure your soul is gone for good,” Robe announced.

My enemies were surrounding me, so I couldn’t activate Maelyne’s shield without trapping them inside, and it would have been pointless to create a shield wall. They had me. They bad me completely trapped.

“Don’t waste your time,” Nadine snapped. “Obviously, her patron gave her some kind of protection against your soul killer.”

“Then I’ll just kill her again and be done with it,” Robe said, swinging his scythe at me. To my surprise, March used his sword to block the scythe.

“Not yet,” March said. “Remember, if her patron brings her back, we’ll have to hunt her down all over again… We need to remove her from the game before the next contest…”

My back hurt like hell, but that was still mild compared to what Nadine had done to me before. I used ‘lesser healing’ on myself, which helped with the pain, but not my situation. I desperately tried to think of a way out of this, and the only chance I had was my spear.

“Three against one,” I said with a grimace, exaggerating the amount of pain I currently felt so they’d underestimate me. I willed my spear back into storage. “A bunch of freaking chickens…”

With that, I called up my spear again. However, even as my spear appeared in my hand, March’s armored fist came down and hit me in the side of the head. Everything went dark.

I was dead. At least, that was my first thought, though I soon realized that I would have better off if I had been dead.

I woke up to find myself stretched out on a table with my hands cuffed above my head, while my feet were similarly cuffed on the other end. Then for that extra sadistic touch, someone had also used barbed wire to help tie me down too.

My entire body ached, and not just where the barbed wire was digging into my skin. These assholes hadn’t been very gentle about kidnapping me, and I felt like they’d taken the opportunity to rough me up a little more while I’d been unconscious.

“Since we’re not going to just kill her,” Robe asked from a short distance away. “What are we going to do with her?”

At the moment, Robe’s hood had been pulled back so I got my first clear view of his face. He was a skinny guy with dark hair and a goatee. Without the hood, he came off a bit more as creepy than scary.

March was still wearing his armor, though he’d taken off his helmet, so I got my first look at his face as well. He was clean shaven, with short dark hair and well-tanned skin. Most women probably would have described him as having rugged good-looks, though I didn’t care about that.

“We can have some fun with her,” Nadine suggested with a sadistic grin. “Hell, I can use her to keep myself buffed…”

“You’re a psycho,” Harker said, though she almost sounded bored.

“Kr’aethar told me that Sievers is the key to beating Maelyne,” March explained. “If we have Maelyne’s champion, we can use that to get to her…”

“Yeah,” Nadine agreed with a look of impatience. “Pfath told me the same thing, but he didn’t explain how.”

Harker gave a wry look. “Br’ieze hasn’t told me anything, other than that I have to help you idiots, so that she can come to Earth and get worshippers.”

“That’s what all of our patrons want,” March said. “Among other things.”

“We have a couple options,” March said, looking at me. I closed my eyes and pretended that I was still unconscious. “If we kill her right before the next contest, her patron won’t have time to bring her back to compete…”

“Good idea,” Nadine agreed. “If we’re gonna kill her again, we might as well time it right…”

Robe gave a short laugh. “Well, it’s a good thing Arakthiel just sent me a message, telling me what we needed to do. I mean, killing the bitch would work for one contest, but like you said, if Maelyne is able to bring her back afterwards, we’ll just have to come after her again…”

“And what did Arakthiel tell you?” March asked.

“If we kill the bitch again,” Robe explained in a smug tone, “she MIGHT come back. The only way to make absolutely sure that she isn’t a problem, is to make is to make it so she isn’t Maelyne’s champion anymore…”

“And how do we do that?” Harker asked, now looking more curious than anything.

“Arakthiel says she has to renounce Maelyne,” Robe answered. “If she completely renounces her patron, then the game won’t recognize her as Maelyne’s champion anymore. And if she swears to serve one of our patrons instead…”

“She can become another champion of Kr’aethar,” March said, looking as though he wasn’t sure to be happy about that or not.

“Of course not,” Robe responded. “But that would get our patrons some major points in the game.”

“Yes, I imagine that would,” March said.

I felt chills run down my spine as I listened to them talk and plan. At least now I knew why they’d kept me alive, though I was starting to wish they hadn’t.

A minute later, Nadine abruptly announced, “Wakey wakey!” That was followed by a searing agony on my thigh and a scream from my throat.

“You BITCH,” I spat out at Nadine once I was able to talk.

“You killed me,” Nadine said, glaring at me with a sadistic gleam in her eyes. “You’re going to pay for that…”

I didn’t bother pointing out that she’d killed me first. Nadine didn’t need any excuses, because even if I’d never hurt her at all, she still would have been more than happy to make me scream in pain. Back when we’d been dating, Nadine hadn’t gone to this extreme, but she’d definitely enjoyed hurting others.

“Let’s start with a little…warm up,” Nadine suggested with a laugh, reaching out with a flaming hand and touching my other thigh.

“This is just sick,” Harker grumbled, definitely not looking happy about this, though she didn’t do anything to interfere.

“Maybe,” March responded. “But it is necessary. The other attempts to remove her from the game didn’t work, which leaves only this.”

Harker got a little defensive. “I mean, Sievers doesn’t seem like she’s worth all this trouble…”

“She isn’t,” Robe agreed. “But her patron is. You know that.”

Nadine didn’t seem to even be listening to her friends as she touched me again. I screamed, remembering the night I’d died, burned to death by this same psychotic bitch. The feelings of deja-vu and terror were overwhelming.

“This is too much for me,” Harker said. “I don’t want to watch this…”

“Nadine seems to be enjoying herself,” Robe commented. “I say we leave this to her for now…”

March, Harker, and Robe all left the room, leaving me behind with only Nadine with company. At that point, I would have preferred to have had any of them staying back instead, not that they asked my opinion.

Nadine burned me several more times, though she didn’t seem interested in interrogating me or in demanding I renounce Maelyne. In fact, I wasn’t sure she even remembered why she was doing this.

Finally, Nadine stopped and said, “I guess I can’t do much more at the moment, at least not without killing you…”

I was gasping for breath, trying to breath through the agony. I was barely aware of what was going on, only that every inch of my body hurt like hell. It was like the first time, only slower.

“I’ll give you a little time to heal up and regenerate,” Nadine said in a frighteningly cheerful tone. “It’s a good thing we champions heal so fast…”

After Nadine left, I remained where I was, both wanting to die so this would end, but also wanting revenge. I wanted to hurt that bitch as much as she’d hurt me. I wanted her to pay for everything she’d done.

Nadine had been right when she’d said that champions heal fast. My regeneration wasn’t nearly as high as a lot of the more physical champions, but I would heal a lot faster than any normal person. If I waited here long enough, I’d probably heal from everything that she’d done to my body. Fortunately, I had other options as well.

Once I’d recovered my wits, I used ‘lesser healing’ on myself. It didn’t do enough, but it did repair some of the damage, which reduced some of the pain. I healed myself a couple more times until I was almost entirely healed.

It was only at this point that my mind was clear enough again, for me to realize just how much worse Nadine could have hurt me. I was terrified of her coming back and continuing, but tried to distract myself by thinking about what little protection I had.

Maelyne’s blessing protects me from twenty percent of all damage. My armor, which was torn up and charred, but still on me, protected me from twenty percent of all magical damage. That meant, I’d only received sixty percent of the damage that Nadine was dishing out. That was a terrifying thought.

“These would have been great powers for a tank,” I muttered to myself. As it was, the forty percent that I’d been protected from could easily have been the difference between life or death, or for my being so out of it that I wouldn’t be able to heal myself. “At least now I have a chance…”

I tried getting my hands free, but it did no good. As much as I tried to get loose, all I ended up doing was hurting myself with the barbed wire.

March came back into the room a short time later, which meant that I couldn’t keep fighting against my cuffs. Instead, I remained as still as I could, pretending that I was unconscious from what Nadine had done to me. My armor was badly torn and charred, so he didn’t notice that beneath it, I was healed again.

By this point, I had absolutely no idea of what time it was, nor was I even sure of the day. I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious when they brought me here, how long I’d been left on my own before Nadine began working on me, how long she’d tortured me, or even how long I’d been playing possum. Everything was just a big blur of confusion.

I hoped that March would leave the room soon so I could try getting out of the cuffs. Unfortunately, between him and Robe, I didn’t have another moment by myself until Nadine returned.

“Wow, it looks like you healed up nicely,” Nadine announced, sounding oddly pleased by that. “You must have slotted your regeneration like crazy…”

“It looks like you’ll have to start over,” Robe commented.

However, Nadine just smirked. “You mean I GET to start over.”

And with that, Nadine’s hand burst into flames again and she touched my leg, making me scream in pain. There was no way I could keep pretending to be asleep now, nor any purpose.

“Now, where were we?” Nadine asked, running a finger along my arm and leaving a train of burning skin behind. “Oh yes… You were going to renounce Maelyne and promise that you wouldn’t be her champion anymore…”

“Screw you,” I spat out.

Nadine slapped me, burning the side of my face in the process. I screamed again.

“You know, this is all Maelyne’s fault,” Nadine continued. “You wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t picked you and then given you such lame powers… I mean, it’s like she fucking sabotaged you from the very start… I bet she’s laughing her ass off at this…”

I no idea how long this session lasted, because time stopped having any meaning for me. Nadine alternated between punching and burning me while talking about how this was Maelyne’s fault, and how I could make it end just by renouncing her and my position as her champion.

Eventually, Nadine took a break, leaving me a burned, broken, and bloody mess. I’d been in too much pain to even think about healing myself, and once she left, I was still too out of it to remember that ability.

Awareness slowly came back to me, even with all the pain. I had popups. Two of them. I had absolutely no idea when they’d come in or how long they’d been there. It took me a long time before my mind even focused enough to realize what they said.

BY YOUR LOYALTY, YOU HAVE EARNED MAELYNE’S BLESSING: RANK 2.

I read this popup several times, feeling stunned and confused. Maelyne’s Blessing was a gift, and gifts didn’t rank up or level. I’d had a conversation about this same thing with Cassandra and Don while we’d been wandering the dungeon, and both of them had insisted that this was the case.

The second popup was more familiar.

THE NEXT OFFICIAL CONTEST BEGINS IN 24 HOURS. TRANSPORT WILL BE PROVIDED.

I still didn’t know how long ago that notification had come in, and I didn’t feel like looking at the timer. In fact, I was scared of looking at my stats and seeing just how low my health was. There was no doubt that it was low, and that I was barely holding on.

Since I had a period of clarity, or at least semi-clarity, I finally remembered my healing ability. I felt it rush through my body, though I barely noticed any difference. I used it a couple more times before I actually started to feel any relief, which told me just how badly I’d been hurt.

Once I was finally healed, I let out a sigh of relief and finally turned my attention to my screen. The timer said that I had less than three hours until the contest

“Crap,” I muttered, trying not to think about how much time I’d lost.

Since I doubted that Nadine and her allies were going to let me compete, I knew that my time was limited. It wouldn’t be long before she returned to give me one more chance to turn on Maelyune, made sure that I was too injured to actually compete, or just killed me when there wouldn’t be time for me to be rezzed for the contest.

I had a moment of terror and panic at the thought of her returning, along with desperation. I had to get out of there quickly, or I’d never get another chance.

I struggled against my cuffs and chains but didn’t have any more luck than I had earlier. After I realized that this was pointless, I looked at my screen, looking over all my assets and hoping that something would jump out at me. And then, I saw it.

MAELYNE’S BLESSING- RANK 2. 20% PROTECTION FROM ALL DAMAGE. ALL DAMAGE PREVENTED THIS WAY IS ADDED TO YOUR NEXT ATTACK. WHILE PROTECTING OTHERS, SHIELD STRENGTH AND SHIELD DURATION ARE INCREASED BY 50%

I let out a gasp of surprise, then read through the notes a second and third time. ‘All damage prevented this way is added to your next attack.’ That was new. It was a variation on the damage buff on my spear, but it was definitely a new addition to that gift.

“Too bad it doesn’t do me any good while I’m tied up,” I muttered in frustration, struggling against my chains again.

Then it suddenly dawned on me that this gift didn’t say anything about requiring my spear. I gasped as the implication hit me, and for the first time, I really felt hopeful about my chances.

Maelyne had just given me the keys to my freedom, though I had a feeling that she’d stretched the rules to do so, if she hadn’t straight-out broken them. I wasn’t sure what rules she and the other gods were supposed to follow for their game, but I did know that I had a way out of this, and I only had a small window of opportunity to use it.

Unfortunately, it was at that moment that Nadine returned to the room, and she wasn’t alone. Robe was with her.

“I figure we’ve got two hours to finish breaking her,” Nadine told the robed figure. “And if we can’t, we’ll just kill her before the competition starts. Either way, she won’t be a problem this time around.”

“Cold,” Robe said, though he nodded his approval.

My heart jumped up in fear as I clearly remembered what that bitch had done to me. I wasn’t going to give her the chance to do it again, so before either of them could get too close, I activated Maelyne’s shield. I might have done that a little sooner than I needed to, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

“What the fuck?” Nadine snarled in surprise and anger. “She’s healed again…”

Nadine blasted my shield with several fireballs while Robe threw a ball of purple energy against it. My mana began to drop under the pressure, but I couldn’t worry about that. It only had to hold out long enough for me to get free.

I struggled against my cuffs again, but this time, I didn’t try to slip out of them. This time, I focused on trying to hit them with my hands. Normally, this would be less than useless, but thanks to the damage buff that Maelyne had given me, there was a flash of light and the cuffs shattered. I laughed in delight, especially at the fact that Nadine herself had given me all the damage that I’d used to break loose.

“She’s getting loose,” Nadine exclaimed in frustration.

“Even if she gets out of those chains,” Robe calmly reminded her, “she isn’t going anywhere. Sievers is trapped in her own bubble…until she runs out of mana.”

Robe was right, so I desperately scrambled to undo my other bindings. I tore myself up a bit from the barbed wire, but with my hands free, I was able to work myself free from that. The only thing remaining were my ankles, which were cuffed about as well as my hands. And unfortunately, I’d already used up my stored damage.

“Not all of it,” I frantically reminded myself.

Even though I had no idea where my spear had gone, that wasn’t a problem. I simply willed it to go back into storage, then I summoned it again in my hands. Without hesitation, I stabbed at the shackles holding my ankles and they shattered and blew apart.

I climbed off the table, grimacing in pain as I did so. Though I’d healed most of my injuries, I’d hurt myself again in the process of breaking myself free. Apparently, blasting apart cuffs resulted in my hands and feet being bruised and torn up, and I couldn’t afford the mana to heal them just yet.

“Play through the pain,” I told myself bitterly, repeating a favorite line from one of my old coaches. “Walk it off.”

I dropped my shield to conserve what little mana I had left, though I still had to deal with Nadine and Robe if I wanted to escape. Acting more on desperation and instinct than anything else, I held my hand out and formed a shield wall, though I didn’t anchor it to anything at all. Instead, I focused in pushing it away from me as hard as I could, which soaked up every last bit of mana that I had. Still, my shield flew back, slammed into Robe, and continued going until it slammed the psycho into a wall.

Even though I felt a brief moment of triumph, I didn’t have time to enjoy it. Nadine was coming at me, but I was completely out of mana. So instead of throwing up a shield, I had to dive for cover behind the table. A ball of fire flew right over my head, just barely missing me. At that moment, I was grateful for my relatively high agility. Now, if only my reflexes had been a little higher.

“I’m gonna burn your ass to a cinder,” Nadine threatened. She was nearly foaming at the mouth, which would have made me smile if it wasn’t for the fact that I was out of defenses.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood out and a cold chill of dread ran down my spine. My eyes were drawn to Robe, almost on their own.

“Enough,” Robe said as he got back to his feet. His voice was strange and creepy, somehow echoing and sounding hollow at the same time. And then, I saw his eyes, which were glowing purple. “Mortals cannot be trusted with even a simple task...”

“Mason?” Nadine asked nervously. “Andy?”

“Aw, crap,” I gasped, feeling like I was about to piss myself.

Robe was radiating a feeling of overwhelming power, similar to what I felt from Maelyne, but much colder and hungrier. At that moment, I knew without a doubt, that this was no longer Robe. Somehow…I was facing his patron.

I’d always thought of myself as being a pretty brave guy…person. Hell, my first reaction to most threats was to charge right in with fists swinging. However, this time was different. This time, I KNEW that there was nothing I could do against the being who wore Robe’s body.

“Crap,” I groaned in terror, shaking as I did so. “I’m screwed…”

There was no doubt that Robe’s patron was going to come after me, so I did the only thing I could think of. I threw my spear as hard as I could…at Nadine. It ran right through her stomach, completely impaling her, and for a moment, I REALLY wished that I still had some damage stored up. Then while they were distracted, I turned and ran out the door as fast as I could.

The building I’d been held in was an empty office building that had several ‘FOR LEASE’ signs on the outside. It seemed that Nadine and her crew had been squatting in it, which was one of the reasons they’d been so hard to find. Apparently, since they were so big on hunting down champions outside of the competitions, they’d all taken precautions to make it difficult for other champions to do the same thing to them.

I managed to slip out of the building without running into March or Harker, much to my relief. I wasn’t in any shape to fight either of them at the moment, much less Robe’s patron. So as soon as was free, I hurried to the next building over, and then the next, trying to stay hidden and out of sight. Eventually, I collapsed in exhaustion behind a parked car.

My hands and feet were killing me, and I suddenly wondered if I might have broken a bone or two during my escape. Until now, desperation and adrenaline had kept me from really noticing just how bad they were. Out of a morbid since of curiosity, I brought up my status page.

NAME: HEATHER MARIE SIEVERS
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 18
PATRON: MAELYNE, GODDESS OF LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 76%
MANA: 23%
STATUS: MODERATE CONTUSIONS AND MINOR LASCERATIONS ON ALL HANDS AND FEET. MINOR TO MODERATE CONTUSIONS OVER REST OF BODY. MINOR BURNS ON LEFT THIGH AND RIGHT FOREARM. MAJOR EMOTIONAL TRAUMA.

“Okay,” I said with a sigh of relief. “Nothing broken, just bruised.”

Of course, I noticed my mana level, which had recovered a bit during my dash from the building. I immediately took advantage of that to heal myself several times in a row. It took three heals before my health was back to 100% and all the physical damage on my status bar was cleared.

My body might have been healed, but I was still physically and emotionally exhausted. I wanted to just curl up and take a nap, but at the same time, I had no doubt that when I closed my eyes, I’d only have nightmares. Besides, I wasn’t really safe yet. I was too damn close to my enemies…to Nadine.

“I need to get home,” I said, shaking a little as I did so.

I had to make sure that Cassandra was all right. I was pretty sure that if they’d captured her like they had me, or if they’d killed her, then Nadine would have bragged about that while torturing me. Since she hadn’t said a word about Cassandra, I could only assume that she got away. However, I still had to see that for myself.

With a great deal of effort, I managed to get back to my feet. Then I looked down at myself and grimaced in disgust. My armor was little more than rags. If those bastards attacked me again, my armor would be useless. In fact, it was worse than useless. It would make me stand out, drawing attention to me so that it would be far too easy for them to track me down.

A second later, I sent my armor and weapon back into storage. I was now dressed in my normal street clothes, which were clean and undamaged. Of course, I was still covered in blood and grime, but a lot of that was beneath my clothes so wouldn’t be as noticeable.

“Not like I can do much better at the moment,” I muttered.

My next step was to get home, hopefully before the competition started. Even if there hadn’t been any other reasons, I still had to warn Cassandra about Robe. It didn’t take me long to figure out my next move.

A middle-aged man was coming towards a car parked a short distance away from me. It only took me a couple seconds to make my decision, then I shifted my posture and body language as I prepared to use every bit of charisma that I possessed.

“Help me,” I gasped. “Please…”

The man froze and stared at me with his eyes going wide in shock, worry, and sympathy. “What happened to you? Are you all right”

“Some guys grabbed me,” I responded tearfully. I didn’t need to fake being nervous or afraid. “I got away….”

“Oh God,” he gasped, pulling out a cell phone. “I’ll call the police…”

“Can I borrow your phone, please?” I asked. “I want to call home and let my friends know I’m all right…”

He handed the phone over without a moment of hesitation. I called Cassandra’s phone, but nobody picked up. I tried not to feel worried about that. After all, Cassandra never picked up from an unfamiliar number, so this was nothing to be worried about. I could have sent her a text, but I didn’t want to do that from someone else’s account, especially when he was right there watching me.

“Can you…can you give me a ride home?” I asked, playing up the sympathy angle. It was so easy to do, it actually scared me a little. “I’ll call the police once I feel safe…”

“Sure,” he quickly told me. “Climb in…”

The helpful stranger, Jim as I soon learned he was named, gave me a ride back to the house. Once I assured him that I’d be safe there, and thanked him profusely, he left, happy to have done a good deed.

As soon as I stepped into the house, Cassandra was immediately there, exclaiming, “JERI!” Before I could even respond, she grabbed me in a tight hug. “You’re alive…”

“I…escaped,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile that probably came off as a little forced.

Cassandra stared at me with an expression that was mixed relief and worry. “Holy fucking shit… What did those fuckers do to you?”

I sat down and sank back in the recliner as I tried to think of how to answer. I shook from the memory, and the last thing I wanted to do was talk about it. But for some reason, I suspected that the longer I waited, the harder it would be.

“Can…can I get something to eat?” I asked in exhaustion. “And drink…”

“Sure,” Cassandra told me, starting for the kitchen. However, she paused in order to yell up the stairs, “HEY! JERI’S BACK!”

Seconds later, Lauren and Matt came running down the stairs, surprising me a little to see them together. Before I knew it, both of them were by my side, simultaneously announcing how relieved they were and bombarding me with questions.

Instead of answering, I cautiously asked, “How long was I gone?”

“Two days,” Cassandra answered with a grim expression.

She came over and handed me a plate with a couple slices of leftover pizza, and a glass of water. I drank half the glass in one long gulp, then immediately began to wolf down the pizza. I hadn’t realized just how hungry and thirsty I was until then.

“They took you two days ago,” Cassandra said, her voice shaking. “I couldn’t do anything… Not a single damn thing… Those fuckers just grabbed you and ran…”

“Are you okay?” Matt asked, giving me a worried look. “You look like crap…”

“Trust me,” I responded with a forced smile, “I looked a LOT worse…”

“What happened?” Lauren asked. “What did they do to you?”

I closed my eyes for several seconds. “They… Nadine…hurt me.” I was shaking at that, and suddenly, Cassandra’s arms were wrapped around me again.

“That fucking bitch,” Cassandra snarled. “I’ll put an arrow through her…”

“I put a spear through her guts,” I offered, giving a genuine smile at that memory. “But I didn’t get any popups or points from it.”

“That bitch deserves LOT worse than that,” Lauren insisted with a flash of fury in her eyes.

“Yeah, she does,” I agreed with a long sigh. “She…tortured me. She tried making me renounce Maelyne and say I wouldn’t be her champion anymore… Apparently, they can remove people from the game that way too…”

“Fuck,” Cassandra snarled. “That’s serious…”

“It gets worse,” I said.

Matt gave me a worried look. “How could it get much worse than kidnapping and torturing you?”

I took a deep breath, not sure how to explain this last bit. Finally, I blurted out, “We’re all screwed now…”

‘What do you mean?” Matt asked. “Did you renounce Maelyne?”

“No,” I answered. “Robe… His patron…Arakthiel…showed up.”

“WHAT?” Cassandra demanded, staring at me in disbelief. “You’re shitting me…”

“I wish,” I told her grimly. “He…possessed Robe…Mason. He’s controlling him completely…using him like a frickin meat puppet… For all I know, he scooped out Robe’s soul and destroyed it…”

Cassandra stared at me with a look of horror. “Holy fucking shit…”

“From what I understand of the game,” Matt suggested cautiously, “that’s against the Gods’ rules…”

“Definitely,” Cassandra said with a worried look. “That totally changes the game.”

--------------------

I was asleep. Dreaming. I felt safe, secure, and…protected.

As awareness crept up on me, I realized that someone was holding me…hugging me. At first, this reminded me of when I’d been a little boy and when my mom held me during a lightning storm, reassuring me that I was safe. Then I realized that the person holding me wasn’t my mom, but Maelyne.

Maelyne seemed to sense that I was now aware of what was going on, because she released me and pulled back. For the first time, I noticed that we were in the same den where we’d met the last couple times, but the chairs were gone. Instead, we were sitting on an enormous couch, one that was built at her scale, which made me feel like I was just a little kid.

“I regret that I could not protect you from your ordeal,” Maelyne said, giving me a sad smile. “Just as I regret that it was your service to me which led you to that place…”

“It…wasn’t your fault,” I said, thinking about Nadine.

The very thought of my former girlfriend was enough to fill me with fear, anger, and disgust. However, Maelyne reached out and put her hand on mine. Suddenly, that thick morass of emotions seemed to sooth and recede.

“You could have ended it at any time, had you but renounced me,” Maelyne continued in a gentle tone. She smiled down at me, and again, I was reminded of when I’d been a kid and when my mom had given me a similar look of pride.

“Nadine would have just killed me,” I said, though at the time, that would have been an enormous relief.

“Indeed, he would have,” Maelyne agreed. “But that would have been the easier path, and an end to your pain.”

I scowled at that, once again feeling a rising of the fear and anger, though Maelyne’s presence helped to calm it right back down again. What she said was true, but there was no way in hell I would have given Nadine that satisfaction, nevermind the fact that I would have screwed Maelyne over if I’d done that.

“Your loyalty is greatly appreciated,” Maelyne told me with a gentle smile, “especially in such a difficult situation.”

“You’re welcome,” I responded, not sure what else I could say to that.

Then Maelyne’s expression darkened. “As you have seen yourself, the situation has…escalated. My opponents are on the move, and have begun taking direct action within my world, and within yours.”

“Yeah,” I responded grimly. “I saw that last part.”

Maelyne’s eyes flashed with anger, and even if I hadn’t seen her expression, I would have felt how pissed off she was. I was just thankful that it wasn’t directed at me.

“Arakthiel has betrayed his own champion,” Maelyne stated in a cold tone. “He has destroyed the mortal’s soul and cast it into oblivion. And while I believe that this is an appropriate fate for the one who murdered your predecessor, the fact that it came at Arakthiel’s own hand…”

I just stared up at Maelyne, realizing that she was more offended by Arakthiel’s betrayal than by exactly what he’d done to Robe. Of course, she was the goddess of loyalty, so betrayal of any sort was literally against everything she stood for.

“Why would he do that?” I asked. “I mean, Robe…Mason was his champion.”

“Arakthiel wants to end the game…and the uneasy peace it brings,” Maelyne explained. “He is the god of the abyss, and as such, he seeks the end of all things. This is merely one important step.” She shook her head and added, “The god of the abyss has always been dangerous, but he has also grown impatient, which makes him more so.”

“Each of my opponents has a reason for their actions,” Maelyne continued. “And for their alliance. Kr’aethar, god of steel, war, and resolve, wishes to end the peace and return our kind to war. He wants conflict and conquest, the kind that my people have not known for thousands of years.”

Maelyne scowled. “Pfath, god of fire and pain, seeks to burn the world to the ground, and then savor all the pain and suffering caused by this.”

I nodded at that one. If Pfath was Nadine’s patron, and was the one who’d given her ‘sadism’ as a gift, then that said everything I needed to know about him.

“Br’ieze, goddess of wind and air,” Maelyne continued with an almost sad expression. “She seeks freedom from the rules and constraints of our game. She wishes to enter your world, gather worshippers, be free to do whatever her whims desire.”

The goddess shook her head faintly, and I could see the worried look on her face. “They have other allies as well, though ones without champions. Each has their own reasons for what they do.”

“And they all want to end this game?” I asked, remembering what Maelyne had told me about it. According to her, this game was all that kept her kind from fighting amongst themselves and destroying their world, and possibly even my own.

“Yes,” Maelyne agreed with a grim expression. “Their alliance seeks to end the game, to conquer my world, and to turn yours into a playground for their amusements, leaving your entire race as little more than pets.”

My eyes widened at that, as I realized just how bad things had just become. The game was seriously messed up, but at least it kept things from being worse. From what Maelyne had just told me, the worst-case scenario was just starting to happen.

“The game is in disarray,” Maelyne admitted. “I do not know how much longer the game will stand, or how many more competitions there will be. But in spite of this, the game remains important. Victory in the game can give me the leverage I need to protect my allies, and hopefully, defeat our enemies.”

“I’ll do what I can,” I promised.

“I know you will,” Maelyne responded, giving me a gentle smile. “Our time comes to an end again. Now waken, my champion. The contest begins.”

I suddenly woke up to find Cassandra gently shaking my shoulder. “Time to get ready,” she said while handing me an energy drink, which I immediately began to gulp down.

After getting home, I’d taken a brief nap before the contest. Very brief, yet somehow, still long enough or Maelyne and I to have our conversation.

I stood up, noticing that Cassandra had changed into her armor. Matt was a short distance away, already in his armor too. And then, I saw Teri, who’d shown up while I was sleeping, and who was also ready to go.

“It looks like I’m the last one to get ready,” I said, summoning my armor and spear. When I glanced down at myself, I saw that my armor was as good as new, without any sign that it had been damaged.

“Be careful,” Lauren said, looking around at each of us with a worried expression. I noticed that she gaze lingered on Matt for a couple seconds long. “And you’d better all come back.”

“You can count on it,” Matt told her, before abruptly announcing, “Four to beam up, Scotty…”

An instant later, the sparks and sparkles began, and then we were gone.

The setting was an underground parking garage, which was extremely well lit. There were only a few cars scattered about, but what really caught my attention, was the fact that there was a LOT more headspace than in any real parking garage that I’d ever been in. I figured that this was probably because we were in the gathering area before the contest, and the Coordinator wanted to play up the theatrics.

“This is like a parking garage for semis,” Matt said, echoing my own thoughts on just how large and open this particular parking garage was. “But man, I bet this would be an awesome place for a paintball match…”

“I think you have an unfair advantage now,” I pointed out.

“This place looks kind of creepy,” Teri announced as she looked around, though she actually looked excited at that. “I bet this contest is a zombie apocalypse or something.” Then she excitedly suggested, “Maybe we have to see who can kill the most zombies…”

“That might actually be fun,” Matt added with a grin.

I just nodded, not feeling very enthusiastic about that idea at the moment. In fact, I wasn’t really feeling enthusiastic about anything. It had only been a couple hours since I’d escaped, and I hadn’t had nearly enough time to rest and recover, physically or mentally.

“Are you going to be okay?” Cassandra asked, giving me a worried look.

“I’ll manage,” I told her with a forced smile.

Teri gave me a worried look of her own. “I can’t believe they’re making you come and do this… I mean, they could at least give you the day off or something…”

“Somehow, I don’t think the gods work that way,” Matt said.

With a shake of my head, I agreed, “No, they don’t.” I remembered Maelyne’s warning about what was going on, and said, “Be careful…even more than usual. Some of the gods aren’t bothering to follow the rules anymore.”

“This whole game is fucked up to start with,” Cassandra muttered. “Now, it sounds like it’s turned into a fucking shit storm.”

“Definitely,” I agreed.

“We looked all over for you,” Teri whispered to me with a guilty look. She looked like she was about to start crying. “We didn’t know where you were…”

“I know,” I responded, wanting to reassure Teri that I didn’t blame any of them for what had happened to me.

Before I could say anything more, the Coordinator, the Referee, and the Cleaner made their appearances. As usual, they stood on top of some invisible platform where they could look over the gathered champions.

“A new contest begins,” the Coordinator began, the same way he did with every contest I’d been in. “At the very top of the building above us, there is a locked vault. The first champion, or group of up to three champions, to open this vault, will be declared the winner or winners. However, in order to open this vault, you will require three keys. There are seven keys scattered throughout the building, and any three of them will work on the vault.”

“And I bet the building is full of zombie office workers,” Teri whispered with a broad grin.

“Aren’t all officer workers zombies?” Cassandra whispered back with a smirk.

The Coordinator opened his mouth to say something else, when there was a sudden flash of green and purple. An instant later, Robe…Arakthiel was standing behind the old man. A burst of purple energy tore out of the Coordinator’s chest, and I immediately recognized the attack since I’d definitely seen it before…the night Robe had killed Heather. The soul killer.

While this was going on, Harker and Nadine launched their own attacks on the Referee and the Cleaner. The Referee was hit with a blast of wind that caught her by surprise and sent her flying off the platform, right into March’s sword. At the same time, the Cleaner vanished in a wave of flames.

This all happened in seconds, and was over with before I could even react to this sudden attack. All around me, champions were gasping in shock at how quickly and easily the three had been taken down.

“No fucking way,” Cassandra blurted out, drawing an arrow and firing it at March, though it merely bounced off his armor.

Arakthiel leapt off the invisible platform and landed beside the Referee, who was still moving, in spite of having been cut nearly in half. He held out his hand and fired a blast of purple energy. A second later, the Referee’s body was gone…along with a large section of the ground.

“The Arbiters have been injured,” Arakthiel stated in his creepy voice. He looked down to where the Referee had been. “The link between patron and champion makes then vulnerable to indirect attack…from a direction they did not think to guard against. I should have done this centuries ago… As of now, the game is finally over…”

All I could do was remain frozen in shock, realizing that the other champions hadn’t realized what was going on yet. They still thought they were facing Robe…not his patron. They had no idea just how outmatched they were.

Then the entire parking garage exploded into chaos as every champion burst into action at the same time. Several champions turned and ran, taking advantage of the opportunity to get away while they could. However, most of the champions charged forward instead. Maybe they realized that they’d be next. Maybe they thought that they’d get a lot of extra points by taking down the people who’d killed the Arbiter’s representatives. Or maybe, just like in any good bar fight, they just wanted in on all the action.

“This is for what you did to Jeri,” Matt exclaimed, opening fire on Nadine.

“I was happy to kill him,” Nadine responded with a laugh.

Teri snarled with anger and opened fire with her own paintball gun, which I hadn’t even realized that she’d brought until now. Nadine snarled in anger and sent out a wave of fire. Matt jumped back out of the way, though Teri couldn’t move fast enough. I summoned her back to my side, not wanting to take a chance on those flames.

“Don’t just stand there and take the hit if you don’t have to,” I warned Teri. “You’re not tough enough to get away with that, not even with my shield.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Teri grumbled, opening fire again, though her accuracy wasn’t anywhere near as good as Matt’s, and she was missing nearly every shot.

“We have GOT to take you paintballing with us,” I muttered, deciding that she should get some practice.

Teri misunderstood though and grinned at Matt. “You hear that, nerd boy? She’s totally impressed…”

I threw up a shield wall and blocked a couple fireballs, though my heart jumped at the sight of them. Still, I forced myself to remain where I was instead of turning and running. My friends were counting on me and I was NOT going to let them down. No matter what, I was going to keep them safe. But even as I threw shields around Matt and Teri, I tried to keep track of what else was going on around me.

Don and March were trading blows while Harker went at it with the magical girl. However, it was Arakthiel who really concerned me. His scythe was burning with purple flames, ones which matched the ones from his eyes. If anyone was paying attention, they would have realized that something was seriously wrong with him, but everyone was too caught up in the excitement to pay attention.

Cloak came at Arakthiel, covered in his aura of darkness. However, Arakthiel wasn’t the least bit concerned by that patch of smoke and shadows, and lashed out with his scythe. The weapon sliced right through the darkness…and through Cloak himself. The cloak of smoke and shadows vanished, letting everyone see what was left of Cloak.

“THAT ISN’T MASON!” I yelled out, trying to warn everyone. “IT’S ARAKTIEL! HIS PATRON IS POSSESSING HIM…”

“Can they do that?” someone asked from behind me, though I didn’t look to see who.

“Yeah, it looks like they can,” Cassandra answered, firing several arrows at Arakthiel, though he easily dodged them.

As much as I wanted to watch what everyone else was doing, I had my own fight to deal with. I turned my full attention back to Nadine, feeling a strange mixture of terror and rage. I wanted to turn and run away, but I also wanted to attack her with everything I had.

For several seconds, I just stood there, staring at Nadine and feeling paralyzed by indecision. But then, she threw a blast of fire at Teri, and that shocked me out of it. I threw a shield on Teri and hoped that she remembered the warning I’d given her earlier.

Matt fired at Nadine with his paintball gun, and she spat out a few profanities before exclaiming, “I’m gonna burn your ass the same way I did Jerry…”

Then Nadine abruptly snapped around and fired a powerful blast of flames at Teri. I immediately threw another shield on her, but the flames hit it and burned through the shield in seconds. Enough fire remained from the attack to get through and hit Teri, who shrieked in pain.

“NO!” I snarled as the rage surged up enough to drive the fear back.

I summoned Teri back and healed her, but she was still shaken from the pain of the injury. I glared at Nadine, knowing that I couldn’t let her hurt me or my friends again. One way or another, I had to stop her…for good.

A second later, I acted, more out of anger and determination than from any conscious thought. I formed my shield wall in bulldozer mode and charged straight at Nadine. Even as I did this, I knew it was reckless and stupid, but that wasn’t going to stop me. Instead, I quickly decided that if I was going to charge in with that kind of reckless abandon, I had to do it right.

“LEROY JENKINS!” I yelled as I slammed right into the stunned Nadine, driving her back.

Flames burst up against my shield and tried to get around it, but they weren’t quite powerful enough. As soon as the flames faded, I dropped my shield so I could have a clear shot at the bitch with my spear. However, a burst of flames exploded out, causing me to yelp in pain, jump back, and drop my spear, all at the same time.

“I’m going to kill you, Sievers,” Nadine snarled.

Nadine winced in pain and held her stomach, right where I’d impaled her a couple hours ago. Obviously, my attack hadn’t killed her, but she hadn’t healed all the way yet either. That injury might give me enough advantage to win this.

“You already killed me,” I spat back, lunging forward and punching Nadine on her cheek. Nadine was stronger than I was, but she’d hurt me enough so that my punch had a little extra ‘ooomph’ behind it. There was a flash of light and she cried out in pain and surprise. “And I’m not Heather, you psycho bitch…”

Nadine gave me a look of confusion, obviously having no idea what I was talking about. I knew that Maelyne wanted to keep this a secret, but there was no longer any real reason to do so, other than my pride. As Arakthiel had already demonstrated, our enemies already knew how to replace souls.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Nadine demanded. Her fists burst into flames as she prepared to come at me again.

I clenched my own fists, wishing that I had some more damage saved up to hit her with. That damage buff would have been a great trick for a tank, just like that protection. However, I wasn’t nearly tough enough…or masochistic enough…to really take advantage of it.

“Don’t you recognize me?” I demanded with a bitter sneer. “Oh wait, you can’t, because I have a new look…thanks to you. I’m Jerry. Jerry Tanner.”

“WHAT?” Nadine blurted out with a look of stunned disbelief.

I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of her distraction and summoned my spear back into my hands. An instant later, I slashed at Nadine, trying to hit her in the stomach, in the same place I’d gotten her earlier. However, in spite of the pain and distraction, Nadine reacted faster than I expected and blocked my spear with her arm. Her arm exploded.

Nadine shrieked in pain as she dropped to her knees, grabbing at the shredded ruins of what had been her arm.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED AN OPPOSING CHAMPION.

REWARD: +20 MANA POOL, +20 MANA RECOVERY, +20 HEALTH, AND +20 REGENERATION. YOUR COMPANIONS GAIN +20 HEALTH AND +20 REGENERATION.

“I did it,” I gasped, backing away. I managed to beat Nadine again, and this time, it hadn’t just been luck.

“Are you crazy?” Matt demanded, appearing by my side and giving me a worried look. “You aren’t a front-line fighter.”

“Leave her alone,” Teri demanded of her brother. “Jeri earned the right to kick her ass.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Matt grudgingly admitted.

I healed myself then looked around the parking garage, where everyone who remained was still fighting. Don and March were still going at it. Harker was blasting Axe Guy with a massive burst of wind that sent him toppling end over end, right into Crossbow. And then there was Arakthiel, who was fending off four champions at the same time, without much apparent difficulty.

Nadine was still on the ground, having been taken out of the fight from the shock and pain of losing her arm. As far as I was concerned, this wasn’t nearly enough, and I wanted to finish her off for good. However, the idea of going after someone who was already down and defeated left a sour taste in my mouth, no matter how much she might deserve it.

But then, Nadine suddenly burst into flames and began screaming in agony. I jumped back, readying myself for her new attack. Matt and Teri positioned themselves beside me, ready to deal with whatever it was that she was going to pull now.

“You should have killed her when you had the chance,” Matt said with a grim expression.

Teri had abandoned her paintball gun for her bat, which she was clutching tightly. “Yeah,” she agreed. “I’m getting tired of fighting this bitch…”

As Nadine got back to her feet, I saw that while her body was covered with flames, her ruined arm now seemed to actually be made of them. But in spite of that, Nadine didn’t even seem to notice these changes to her arm. She screams of pain had cut off and she was now eerily silent.

“No,” I gasped in suddenly realization. A cold weight like lead settled into my guts as I took a nervous step backwards. Our problems had just become a crap ton worse.

“Burn and suffer,” Nadine announced in a cruel and eerie tone, that definitely didn’t belong to her. Then Nadine…Pfath, god of fire and pain, said, “I too have had enough of my champion’s failures… I will take matters into my own hands…”

“Oh shit,” Matt gasped, realizing what had just happened.

That was immediately echoed by Cassandra’s, “FUCK!”

Cassandra fired several arrows straight at Nadine…at Pfath, hitting her in the chest. The arrows burned away and the burning god looked around, apparently unharmed. Obviously, Pfath was a lot tougher than Nadine.

Just as I was starting to fear that things couldn’t possibly get any worse, I felt another shift in the air…and another surge of power. This time, it came from March, or at least, from his patron Kr’aethar, god of steel, war, and resolve, who was now possessing him as a meat puppet too.

“NO!” a voice suddenly called out.

To my surprise, it was Harker, who was staring at her own allies with an expression of horror. Her team had just become a LOT more powerful, so it took me a couple seconds to realize why she was so bothered by that. Her allies had just been possessed by their patrons, and she realized that she would probably be next.

“This is insane,” Harker exclaimed. “This isn’t what I signed up for…”

And with that, Harker took off, running away as fast as she could. Her own teammates, or at least their patrons, watched her go with unreadable expressions. Several champions took advantage of that momentary distraction to attack again.

“Look out!” I yelled, throwing shields on Teri and Matt. I raised my voice so that I’d be easier to hear over the chaos, “They’ve all been taken over by their patrons!”

Arakthiel leapt at Crossbow, blasting him with a ball of purple energy that caused his entire body to disintegrate and vanish. At the same time, Kr’aethar swung his greatsword at Don, who blocked with his shield. The blade sliced right through the shield and came down into Don’s shoulder, cutting partway through the armor.

“DON!” I called out, healing him and wishing that I could do more.

“Destroy these champions,” Arakthiel commanded the other gods. “We can injure our enemies through their mortal pawns…”

Pfath held out her hands, forming a ball of flames between them. She was preparing for another attack, and when I looked to where her eyes were locked, I saw several injured champions. Axe Guy was sprawled out on the ground, in a puddle of blood, with his leg bent at a horrific angle. Spear Check was crouched down beside him, looking hurt as well, though she was still trying to protect him.

“Crap,” I muttered, desperately wishing I could throw shields on other people, besides just my companions. These people might have been pains in my butt, but there was no way I could just stand there and let them get burned alive. “Cover me,” I ordered Matt and Teri.

I ran up to where Axe Guy and Spear Chick were crouched down, and immediately threw up a shield wall between us and Pfath. Then I followed that up by activating Maelyne’s shield, creating a second layer of protection right before the flames came at us. The ball of fire hit my shield wall and burned right through it, then hit my second shield, which held at the cost of my mana.

“Hold on,” I cried out in desperation as my mana level quickly dropped.

“We’re gonna die,” Spear Chick blurted out in terror, though I did my best to ignore her.

As soon as the attack was over, I dropped my shield with a sigh, then used my remaining mana to heal Spear Chick and Axe Guy. I only healed a small part of Axe Guy’s damage, but hopefully, it would be enough to help him survive until his regeneration was able to fix the rest. I was pretty sure that his regeneration was high enough to take care of that fairly quickly.

Spear Chick gave me a look of surprise. “Thanks…”

I looked over our shared enemies, three gods with a LOT of power. They were a lot stronger than their champions, but they didn’t seem quite as powerful as I would have expected. If they had been, they could have just snapped their fingers and killed all of us, but they were obviously having to put a little effort into it instead. Since they were possessing their champions, maybe they couldn’t use their full power. Maybe those bodies were like a bottleneck, limiting how much of their power they could really bring out. For some reason, that idea felt right to me. Then again, it may just have been wishful thinking so I could at least feel like we had a chance.

“They’re getting ready for another attack,” I said, noting the way all three of the possessed champions were standing. A bit louder, I called out the warning, “GET READY!’

“Look out!” Matt cried, throwing himself at me and knocking me aside, right before a large glowing hole appeared right beneath where I’d been standing. Axe Guy and Spear Chick hadn’t moved in time and dropped down into the hole with a loud yell, right before they vanished along with the hole.

“What the hell?” I demanded, looking around and realizing that this wasn’t the only hole to have opened. Everywhere I looked, holes had opened up beneath all the champions, and then vanished again once the champions had dropped through. “What are they doing…?”

I turned to face the nearest champion, Pfath, so I could defend myself from whatever this was, only to see Pfath fall through a hole as well. It took me a couple more seconds to realize that the other gods had also fallen through similar holes.

“What’s going on?” Teri demanded, looking around with a worried expression.

It wasn’t until that moment, that I realized that everyone else was gone, having fallen through these holes. The only ones who remained, were me and my companions.

“Where’d they go?” Matt demanded. “And what did they do?”

A new voice answered from behind me. “That was my doing.”

I snapped around and saw the Cleaner standing there, though he looked badly injured, with severe burns. The man looked like he could barely stand, but that alone was a miracle since I’d though he was dead.

“They are gods in mortal form,” the Cleaner said with a grimace of pain. “Too powerful for mortals to defeat. So, I did the only thing I could to save the champions...I created portals to return everyone to their starting places. This may not defeat the gods, but it gives everyone a chance to escape.”

“Then why are we still here?” Teri asked, looking around in confusion.

The Cleaner smiled faintly, though it was obviously a little forced. “Because, it seems that you escaped your portal home…” He fixed his gaze on Matt, who merely shrugged.

I stared at the Cleaner for a moment, then healed him several times in a row. After three times, he seemed to have been fully restored, and he no longer looked like he was in pain. He still seemed tired, physically and emotionally, but no longer in physical pain.

“Thank you,” the Cleaner said, giving me a grateful smile.

“What happens now?” I asked quietly.

“This competition has been cancelled,” the Cleaner told me with a deep scowl. “And the game has…ended. There will be no more competitions for the foreseeable future.”

“So, it’s all over with,” Teri said with a look of relief. “No more competitions…”

“No more competitions,” I agreed with a scowl of my own. “But it isn’t over. Now, there’s going to be war…with no rules to keep things from going too far.”

“Yes,” the Cleaner agreed. “The competitions may have seemed extreme, but they were a necessary evil that prevented something far worse.”

Matt nodded thoughtfully. “Like an escape valve, that let the pressure out under controlled conditions, so it didn’t build up and explode.”

The Cleaner merely nodded agreement. “You should return home and prepare for what is to come.” He gestured and a new hole appeared in the air in front of us. It wasn’t a hole, but a portal, and I had no doubt that if I stepped through it, I’d end up back at the house, right where we’d left from. “But before you go, you might as well have this…”

“What’s this?” I asked, accepting a cloth bag from the Cleaner. I gave it a skeptical look.

“These were to be the prizes for this contest,” the Cleaner answered with a forced smile. “They no will not work for me, so I have no use for them. And as you are the only one remaining, I leave them all in your hands…”

A moment later, the Cleaner turned and walked through a new portal that appeared in the air in front of him. He vanished along with the portal, as he literally left me holding the bag.

I sat up in bed, thankful that I’d been able to sleep without being invade by any ‘special’ dreams. But at the same time, that also worried me a little bit. If there had been any time that Maelyne could have gotten away with contacting me, it would have been after what had happened at that contest.

When I glanced at the clock to see what time it was, I was surprised to realize how long I’d been asleep, though I probably shouldn’t have been. The last few days had taken an incredible toll on me. The kidnapping, torture, escape, and then the contest, had all left me physically and emotionally drained, so once I’d returned home and the adrenaline had faded, I’d crashed hard.

As I climbed out of bed, I absently brushed my hair out of my face. For a brief moment, I considered getting it cut down to a more reasonable length. After all, long hair was a real pain in the butt and kept getting in the way. But at the same time, I knew that I wouldn’t do that. As hard as it was to admit, having long hair had kind of grown on me.

“Time for a shower,” I muttered with a smile. “Or better yet, a bath… A long, hot, and well-deserved bath…” And since my last shower had been a couple days ago, before I’d been kidnapped, I had no doubt that I was in desperate need of this.

A short time later, I settled down into a bathtub full of hot water, letting out a long sigh as I did so. That felt great, though the water
was starting to cloud up from the dried-on blood and grime. I made a mental not to change my sheets.

In spite of how good the bath felt, I didn’t stay in there for too long. I had other things to do, so once I was cleaned, I climbed out and began to dry off. Then almost as if on que, the door opened and Cassandra stepped in, pausing to say, “Ooops…”

“Ooops?” I asked wryly. “Really? As you keep reminding me, you have really high awareness, so don’t even pretend that you didn’t notice the bathroom was occupied…”

Cassandra just smirked at that. “I guess you caught me.”

Even though I was self-conscious and wanted to cover up, I decided to tease Cassandra instead. I dropped the towel and stood there completely naked, acting as though I didn’t even notice. Her eyes wandered over my body with a look of definite interest.

“This feels a LOT better,” I said, stretching out and watching Cassandra’s eyes bulge out a bit, though she tried hard to hide it. She wasn’t the only one with a bit of awareness.

As I walked past Cassandra, strutting just a little bit, I couldn’t resist smirking to myself. Who says that ‘flirting’ only works guys?

I enjoyed teasing Cassandra, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it for too long. Heavens knows, I’ve had girls drag it out with me, just to amuse themselves at my expense. Once I gave her a long kiss and let her cop a feel or two, she was happy to forgive me.

Once I was dried and dressed, I went to the kitchen to find something to eat. After everything I’d been through, I was starving.

“Where’s Lauren?” I asked, realizing that I hadn’t seen her around since waking up.

“She’s at class,” Cassandra reminded me.

“Oh, yeah,” I responded. It was easy to forget that some people still had normal lives, with things like classes and work to worry about rather than fights to the death. “I kind of envy her.”

Cassandra nodded her agreement. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Ever since I accepted Armestia’s offer to be her champion, everything has been so fucked up.”

“The whole game is screwed up,” I admitted. “But, I guess it’s over now. At least, the Cleaner said there weren’t going to be any more competitions, so we probably won’t have to worry about that until the gods get all their own crap settled down.”

“And how long that will be?” Cassandra asked with a snort. “But what worries me is that those lunatics are still running loose, and I’ve got the feeling that they’re still going to come after us.”

“Me too,” I said with a sigh. “Which reminds me…”

I ran to my room, then came back a minute later with the bag that the Cleaner had given me. Once I’d returned home from that disastrous contest, I’d stuffed the bag under my bed. I hadn’t wanted to open it immediately, not in front of Matt and Teri. That would have been like opening Christmas presents in front of them, when they didn’t have any of their own to open.

“The Cleaner gave this to me because I was the last champion there,” I said, emptying the contents onto the table in front of us. “Of course, it might have helped that I’d also just healed him…”

“Holy fuck,” Cassandra blurted out in surprise.

I nodded agreement at the sentiment. “Yeah. Apparently, these were the prizes and drops from that last contest.”

Spread out on the table in front of me was a skill box, a large crystal sphere, three smaller crystal spheres, and a gold metal sphere. This was a treasure worth its weight in gold, especially when it came to helping survive our enemies.

“The Cleaner just gave you this?” Cassandra asked, as though she couldn’t quite believe it.

“Yeah,” I said, still hardly believing it myself. “He said the contest was cancelled, and that he couldn’t use any of it.”

Cassandra gave me a curious look. “Are you just showing this off, or are you going to share some of it?”

“Share,” I said.

Honestly, I had been tempted to keep it all for myself, and to not even tell Cassandra about it. I wasn’t proud of that, but it was what it was. In the end though, I couldn’t bring myself to leave her out of this. I owed her too much to pull something crappy like that on her.

“I’ll take this,” I said, picking up the large crystal. It was a golden one.

“Do you mind if I take this then?” Cassandra asked, pointing to the gold metal sphere.

“Go ahead,” I told her. I definitely could have used an upgrade to my armor, but I knew that she could use some improvements in her gear as well. And since I was the one who had the last upgrade, it only seemed fair for her to take this one.

Cassandra immediately summoned her bow and placed the gold metal sphere onto the side of it. Suddenly, the sphere melted and liquid metal flowed up and around the bow, changing it a little and leaving swirls of gold tracing all over the weapon.

“Oh, very nice,” Cassandra said with a grin. “Increased range and damage.”

“Awesome,” I said, crushing the crystal sphere I’d picked out.

YOU HAVE CLAIMED A BONUS PRIZE: +50 MANA POOL, +50 MANA RECOVERY, +50 HEALTH, AND +50 REGENERATION.

“Wow,” I gasped when I saw the numbers. “That is a nice bonus…”

“Yeah,” Cassandra grinned at me. “These things are fucking awesome.”

I picked up the skill box and stared at the thing for a couple seconds, wondering what it might have. From what I’d seen, these things could contain useful skills, or ones that wouldn’t do much at all. Still, I was curious and hopeful as I opened it.

YOU HAVE RECEIVED A NEW SKILL:

LOCKPICKING- RANK 1
-YOU KNOW HOW TO PICK LOCKS. HIGHER LEVELS OF DEXTERITY AND AWARENESS INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

I let out a snort of annoyance. “Well, that sure would have been useful a bit earlier."

Cassandra hesitated a moment and then picked out one of the smaller crystal spheres, the golden one. “This is it for me,” she said, crushing the sphere in her hand. “Fifty-three points for mana recovery. Sometimes, I think they put completely random numbers into these things, just to mess with people.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” I commented with a snort. “They probably have some kind of bet going on with it too…or at least, they probably used to…”

We were both silent for several seconds after that, since neither of us really needed the reminder that the contests were over, but something much worse may have taken their place. For the moment, neither of us wanted to think about that.

I picked up the two remaining spheres and crushed them both at the same time.

YOU HAVE CLAIMED A BONUS PRIZE: +1 STRENGTH.

YOU HAVE CLAIMED A BONUS PRIZE: +1 DEXTERITY.

“YES!” I exclaimed with a grin. “I got some strength…”

“Congratulations,” Cassandra told me with an amused look.

“I can’t wait to hit the gym again,” I said, eager to see just how much that came out to. However, after everything that had happened, I knew that I needed to take another day or two off just to make sure my head was on straight.

“You know,” Cassandra mused. “I wonder what that last contest would have been like, if they hadn’t cancelled the damn thing…”

“Zombies,” I answered flatly. At Cassandra’s look of surprised, I admitted, “We were a little curious, so we took a quick look around before we left, and there were zombies. But since we already had the prizes, and I was pretty sure they wouldn’t give any more prizes for finishing a cancelled competition, we just took a peek, then left.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have wanted to stick around either,” Cassandra admitted. “I just wish I’d been given a fucking choice about it. Or at least some warning.”

I chuckled at that. “Yeah, that was quite a surprise, the way the Cleaned booted everyone. But he probably saved a few lives doing that too…”

“Probably,” Cassandra admitted. “I don’t know how I could have beat those three… I mean, gods…” She shuddered at that. “Fucking impossible.”

“Yeah,” I agreed with a shudder.

“And what they did do the Coordinator and the Referee,” Cassandra added with a shudder. “Maybe their patrons can bring them back…”

“Not likely,” I told her grimly. “That thing Arakthiel did to the Coordinator was his soul killer…the same thing his champion did to Heather.”

Cassandra shuddered. “Fuck.”

I nodded agreement. “And you saw whatever it was he did to the Referee. I’m not sure what he did, but I’ve got a feeling she isn’t coming back either.”

“Good point,” Cassandra said with a sigh. “When gods are involved, all the normal rules go out the window.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, thinking about Maelyne and everything she’d told me. It might have been silly since she was a goddess, but I was actually worried about her.

After this, Cassandra and I were silent for a good minute before she quietly admitted, “I’m scared. Going up against other champions is one things, but gods…”

“Me too,” I admitted, putting my arms around her in a hug. “Me too…”

--------------------

This was the first time that I’d seen Don outside of his armor. He was still huge, and I could see his solid muscles through his shirt, but without the armor and weapons, he was nowhere near as intimidating. In fact, he came off more as a ‘gentle giant’.

I took my eyes from Don and looked around the rest of the table where Cassandra, Matt, and Teri all sat with me. All of us were wearing normal clothes, which made sense since we were in a coffee shop and trying to avoid notice. Well, we were trying to avoid it as much as we could with someone like Don, was who built a bit like the Hulk.

Cassandra’s phone beeped and she looked down at it. “Lauren just texted,” she said. “Everything is clear.”

“Good to know,” I said.

It had been a couple days since the ‘incident’ at the last competition, and we’d decided that it was time to come up with a plan. Cassandra knew how to contact Don, and we’d asked him to meet us here, at a neutral place. He was an ally, and had saved our butts before, but considering the situation, we weren’t ready to trust anyone with the location or our home just yet.

At the moment, Lauren was across the street, keeping watch in case any of our enemies showed up. Of course, Cassandra’s high awareness would have made her an even better lookout, but she had to be in here for the meeting. I was just thankful that Lauren had offered to help like this, because it made me feel a little better to have someone keeping watch.

“So, the Cleaner was responsible for sending us back,” Don said after I’d told him about what happened at the competition, after everyone had left. Of course, I hadn’t mentioned the prizes that the Cleaner had given me. “That does explain a few things.”

“I’m pretty sure the Coordinator is gone for good,” I told Don with a scowl. “Arakthiel used the soul killer on him. And as for the Referee… I don’t expect to ever see her again either.”

“At least the Cleaner survived that,” Don said with a nod. “He probably saved most of us, but unfortunately, our enemies are still hunting us down. Yesterday, one of them got to Mitchell.”

“Damn,” Cassandra said with a sad shake of her head. “I kind of liked him…”

“Who?” Matt asked, saving me the trouble of asking. Heather probably knew who Mitchell was, so asking in front of Don might have revealed more than I wanted to. Then again, there wasn’t any real reason to keep my real identity secret anymore, other than pride and embarrassment. Of course, those reasons were more than enough.

Cassandra quickly answered, “Blue cloak, light armor, and he used a trident.”

I nodded at that since I remembered seeing that guy in the competitions, though I’d never actually run into him. Between his trident and the fact that I’d once seen him fire a blast of water at someone, I’d guessed that his patron was some kind of god or goddess of water or the ocean.

“Yes,” Don agreed with a sad look. “Pfath attacked him in his home and burned the entire place to the ground…”

“Not a good way to go,” I said quietly.

“And Kr’aethar killed Mendoza,” he added. I had absolutely no idea who Mendoza was.

Cassandra snorted. “He was a fucking asshole.”

Don nodded faintly. “I’ve left my home and went into hiding to make it more difficult for them to find me. If you haven’t done that already, I strongly suggest you do.”

“I talked to Armestia last night,” Cassandra said. “She said that she’s hiding my house and keeping anyone from finding it.” Then she smirked, “It pays to have a goddess of secrets for a patron. She’s really good at hiding things when she wants.”

“Any chance she could hide our house too?” Teri asked, looking a little worried.

“You two are welcome to say with us if you want,” Cassandra said to Teri and Matt. “It would probably be best if you two stick close to Jeri anyway…”

“Jeri?” Don asked, giving me a curious look. “I thought your name was Heather…”

“Jerry…as in Tom and Jerry,” I told him with a wry smile. “It’s a nickname and a private joke.”

“Ah,” Don responded, nodding in understanding.

Then before Don could ask about the ‘private joke’, I decided to get us back on topic. “They’re coming after us one at a time, so if we want to survive, we have to stick together and watch each other’s backs.”

Don nodded. “A wise course of action. However, considering the power of those we face, I believe we will need more allies…”

Matt let out a snort. “Considering the fact that we’re facing gods…basically epic bosses, we’re going to need a full raid party.”

Don gave him a blank look. “I don’t understand…”

“What he means,” I quickly explained, “Is that we’re going to need all the champions…”

“Good luck with that,” Cassandra responded. “There is no fucking way that we’ll be able to find everyone.”

A second later, a new voice announced, “Then perhaps I can help with that…”

I snapped around, getting ready to form a shield, when I saw the Cleaner, who was now dressed in a suit and jacket, looking more like some kind of businessman than anything else. Without waiting for an invitation, he pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with us.

“You aren’t the first champions with the idea of working together against these gods,” the Cleaner explained with a grim expression. “But you are the first to begin gathering. I can help with the rest.”

I was wary. I watched nervously as champions stepped out of glowing portals and began gathering around, just like they were getting ready for a new competition. Each and every one of them was armed and armored, which added to this similarity and made me concerned that one of them might attack us.

There was one notable difference in the way the champions appeared. In every competition I’d been to, the champions appeared in a burst of sparks and sparkles, but this time, they were stepping out of portals. In other times, the system that the Arbiters had set up was responsible for transporting all the champions, but this time, it seemed the Cleaner was using his own abilities to provide transportation instead.

“You know,” Matt said from beside me. “Since the Referee isn’t here to keep everyone in line, there isn’t anything to keep people from attacking each other.”

“It would be a good opportunity to get more points,” Cassandra agreed. “But at the moment, we’ve all got more important things to worry about.”

I nodded my own agreement, then added, “And we don’t even know if we’d even still get any points, since the game has fallen apart…”

“But this is still kinda dangerous,” Teri said with a nervous look. “If those guys come after us…”

I glanced at Teri, remembering that in spite of her new size and strength, she wasn’t even sixteen yet. “Don’t worry, Teapot,” I assured her. “Right now, we all have the same enemies.”

Once everyone had arrived, I looked around, disappointed by how few champions had shown up. Either the others had decided not to risk coming, or they were no longer around to do so. Either way, I was afraid that we might not have enough people to matter.

Of course, I was there, along with all of my friends and allies. Matt and Teri both stood on one side of me while Cassandra stood on the other. Don was standing only a short distance away, enough to show that he was with us.

Axe Guy and Spear Chick stood next to each other, and I couldn’t help but noticing that Cloak was missing. Of course, that was no surprise since I’d seen him get murdered, but his absence here was a good indication that he hadn’t been brought back. Spear Chick saw me watching and gave me a nod of acknowledgement. I nodded back.

Mary, the ice bitch who’d attacked Cassandra last week, had been glaring at Cassandra ever since arriving a short time ago. However, since she made no moves towards us, I let myself focus on the other champions.

There were two more champions whom I’d seen in the gatherings but had never actually encountered up close. One was a black guy around my own age, who wore a long red overcoat. I had no idea who he was or what he could do, and it suddenly struck me that I should have asked Cassandra for more information on all our competition.

And standing beside him was a dark-haired woman, who was nearly six and a half feet tall, wearing gold and silver armor, and wielding a massive two-handed hammer. The hammer was so large that I would have imagined that even Don might have had problems lifting it, though she seemed to have no problem doing so.

And finally, the last person to arrive was the magical girl. She floated a couple feet in the air and looked around with an expression of excitement, as if this was all some kind of game.

“Thank you for coming,” the Cleaner announced. He wasn’t standing on any invisible platform or looking as formal as he normally did. “To start with, this is not a contest. The usual rules and prizes are gone. In fact, it is quite unlikely that any of you will ever compete in another contest. The gods appear to have abandoned the game as a way of resolving their conflicts, and some of them are now targeting us directly, as a way to indirectly attack our patrons.”

The magical girl held up her hand as if she was in class, but before she could be called on, she asked, “Does this mean the Coordinator and the Referee are gonna help us too?”

The Cleaner hesitated for a moment before admitting, “No. The Coordinator’s very soul has been destroyed. As for the Referee, her body was utterly obliterated, along with the link to her patron. While her soul was able to pass on to wherever souls go after death, her patron no longer has the ability to bring her back. In fact, you should all know that if you die at the hands of these gods, it is extremely unlikely that your patrons will be able to restore you.”

There were gasps of shock, looks of worry, and whispered mutterings at that, but not everyone was surprised. Most of the champions already knew about Robe’s soul killer, though few had actually believed it was real until now. And those who’d seen the Referee being murdered, had seen just how powerful and overwhelming that final attack had been.

“We face gods, occupying the bodies of their own champions,” the Cleaner continued. “They are powerful, far more than any of us alone, but they are still only able to use a fraction of their true power. This gives us a chance.”

“They killed Conrad,” Spear Chick announced. “Gods or no gods, they need to pay for that.”

“REVENGE!” Mary yelled, though I didn’t know if she was actually friends with any of those who’d died.

“This is a matter of survival,” Red Coat said. “They’re coming after all of us.”

Cassandra leaned over and whispered, “That’s Randal. His patron is the goddess of blood and bone.”

“That sounds pleasant,” I commented wryly.

“Gross,” Teri said with a look of disgust.

Hammer Woman, the chick with the massive hammer, stepped forward and announced, “If we all stand together, we can crush even the gods.”

“That’s Alejandra,” Cassandra whispered to me. “Her patron is the god of strength and courage. She might not look it, but I think her bonuses max out her strength.”

“Wow,” Teri said, staring at Hammer Woman with a look of interest. This wasn’t the kind of interest that she’d give someone she was attracted to, but more the kind that she’d give someone she admired. I just silently groaned, suspecting that my friend and companion had just found a new role model.

“You all know each other,” the Cleaner said. “You have competed against each other. Fought against each other. And in some cases, you have even killed each other.” He paused to look around the group and admitted, “I have watched many contests and have cleaned up after many of your battles, but until now, I have never fought.”

“So, the Cleaner is a rookie,” Axe Guy said with a chuckle. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Those guys never fought…”

“I don’t know,” Spear Chick said. “Did you see what the Referee did when Caldwell tried jumping her?” She shuddered at that.

“Well, she’s not here,” someone else pointed out. “How the hell are we supposed to fight against GODS?”

“We’re dead,” Spear Chick said. “They’re gonna kill us all…”

I could see the mood in the room turning dark, and I knew that this wasn’t good. Things were bad enough as it was, and if everyone was convinced that there was no point in fighting, then we really would be done for. Our whole alliance was about to fall apart before it had even begun. I couldn’t let that happen.

“Listen,” I started to say, but when nobody even looked my way, I raised my voice and tried again. “Listen…” This time, about half the champions looked towards me, which was probably the best I was going to get at the moment.

“What’s up, Sievers?” Magical Girl asked impatiently.

“We’re scared,” I announced loudly. “We’re all scared, and we have damn good reason to be. We’re facing gods who’ve tossed the rules and are coming at us directly. They’re picking us off one at a time, just so they can get to our patrons… Our patrons probably won’t be able to help us much, because they’re in the middle of fighting their own war…”

“Great motivational speech,” Matt said in a tone that just MIGHT have been a little sarcastic.

“We’re outmatched,” I continued with a scowl. “At least one on one. But remember, we don’t have to face them one on one. If we stick together, we can watch each other’s backs. Remember the way the Cleaner pulled all our butts out of the fire back at the last contest? Imagine what we can do if we all work together. Hell, we might even be able to beat those bastards…”

“That’s true,” Axe Guy grudgingly admitted. “But still, those guys are pretty damn strong…”

“But they’re also fighting a war on two fronts,” Spear Chick exclaimed. “Here…and back at home.”

Hammer Woman nodded at that. “I have no doubt that Vr’iel is fighting them tooth and nail…”

“If we’re able to keep them occupied here,” I pointed out. “Our patrons have a better chance of dealing with them there…”

“And we have a better chance of surviving,” Cassandra added.

There were more mutterings now, but the tone had changed. Now, it was hopeful and almost optimistic.

“Most of my abilities will be useless against gods,” the Cleaner said with a faint smile. “But my ability to open gates gives us the advantage of mobility.”

“And we have numbers on our side as well,” Don said.

“I’m in,” Spear Chick announced.

“Me too,” the magical girl quickly added.

Over the next minute, everyone confirmed that they were in. Of course, they probably wouldn’t have come unless they were already thinking about working together and fighting back.

Cassandra put a hand on my shoulder and said, “Good speech. I think you just helped us build a resistance.”

--------------------

I was facing off against Spear Chick…again. I watched her carefully, waiting for her to make a move. I was ready to react as soon as she did. As I expected, it didn’t take long before she lost patience and lunged at me, though I blocked her attack and dodged to the side. This was followed up with an attack of my own.

The two of us went into a long series of attacks and blocks. Stab. Block. Slash. Dodge and stab. Spin and kick. Block. Block. Slash. Lunge. Sidestep. This continued for about ten minutes, with both of us getting quite a few bruises and small cuts, but no serious injuries.

Once we finally stopped, Spear Chick said, “You’re getting better…”

“Thanks,” I responded with a faint smile.

Over the last day, I’d spent quite a bit of time sparring with Spear Chick, or Marissa since that was her real name. In that time, my staff fight and spear fighting skills had each gone up a rank. I was pretty sure that my spear fighting rank was close to going up yet again from all this sparring.

Unfortunately, it turns out that beating each other in sparring matches doesn’t count as defeating an opposing champion, so we didn’t get any points from it. Of course, I’d noticed that before, back when Cassandra and I had been training. I didn’t know how the system could tell when we were fighting each other for real, as opposed to training, but somehow it could.

“This is a good way to kill the time,” Marissa told me, and I could only agree.

It was a little strange, being on such good terms with Marissa when she’d previously come after me, while out for blood. But apparently, I’d earned a lot of goodwill from her and Axe Guy both, when I’d saved them from Pfath.

“How did you do that move, when you swept my feet from under me?” Marissa asked curiously. “My spear fighting is higher than yours, and I can’t do that one…”

“It’s a staff fighting move,” I explained with a faint smirk. “It turns out, spear fighting and staff fighting complement each other.”

“Really?” Marissa asked in surprise. “I guess I might have to try working with a staff for a bit…”

If Marissa and I had still been opponents in the game, I never would have told her this, since she only would have used it against me. But now that we were working on the same side, it made sense to help her get stronger. The stronger she was, the better she could watch my back.

Since I was done with sparring for the moment, I turned and began wandering around the warehouse where we were all staying. I had absolutely no idea where this place was, but neither did anyone else, besides the Cleaner. He’d been transporting us all here and back, when we needed to leave, but had been keeping the location a secret for security reasons. Basically, if nobody knew where we were, then they couldn’t trade that information to our enemies.

Even though we’d only been here for one day, we’d already set up a nice little camp. There was a kitchen, showers, and lots of parceled areas to give us a bit of privacy. It wasn’t bad for a short term living space, but this definitely wouldn’t work for anything long term. All of us were hoping that we could deal with these gods pretty quickly, so we could go back to our ‘normal’ lives.

It didn’t take long to find Teri, who was ‘sparring’ with Alejandra, though she wasn’t anywhere near strong enough or skilled enough to hold her own. Still, Teri seemed to be having fun.

I found Matt a minute later. He was playing video games with Becky Robinson, the magical girl. So far, he was winning, which was no surprise considering his gaming experience and dexterity, but she wasn’t nearly as far behind as I would have expected.

Since everything was calm at the moment, this would have been a great time to hang out with Cassandra and maybe sneak in a few kisses. Unfortunately, she was on guard duty, patrolling the area and keeping an eye out for any intruders. We might be hidden, but if our enemies did somehow manage to find us, we needed all the warning we could get, and Cassandra was the perfect person for that.

I was considering my options and alternating between taking a shower and doing a little training with my abilities to try leveling them. At the moment, there wasn’t a lot else to do, not until we had a plan to deal with our enemies.

Suddenly, the Cleaner yelled out, “Everyone, please come here…”

“I wonder if he found anything,” Red Coat Randal mused aloud.

“There is one way to find out,” Don pointed out.

Nearly everyone who could hear the Cleaner gathered around him. Cassandra was still missing, along with Mary, but both of them were doing guard duty.

The Cleaner didn’t waste time, and simply announced, “I found someone who knows where our enemies are staying.”

That immediately got everyone’s attention. One of the problems we’ve all had, was that we had no idea how to find the gods. The Cleaner could have located any normal champion, but not those who were possessed by gods. And since we didn’t know where to find them, we didn’t have much opportunity to go on the offensive.

“Where are they?” Axe Guy demanded, though he wasn’t the only one.

The Cleaner gestured to the side where another portal opened beside him. A couple seconds later, a figure stepped out of the portal and stood there, looking nervous.

“Harker,” I exclaimed in surprise as well as a bit of anger. I hadn’t forgotten her part in catching me so that I could be tortured.

Harker was wearing normal clothes, not her armor. She looked worried, and I couldn’t blame her for that. A lot of people here had a grudge with her for her part in what was going on.

“Why did you bring her here?” Marissa demanded. “Her patron knows where she is and will tell their allies…”

“I don’t have a patron anymore,” Harker said in a quiet tone. She looked up and I could see the fear in her eyes. It took me a moment to realize that it wasn’t us she was afraid of. “I…I’m not a champion anymore. I cut ties with Br’ieze before she could take me over…”

“Harker has agreed to tell us where her former allies are located,” the Cleaner announced. “Now, we can plan our assault.”

Champions gathered in the middle of the warehouse while the Cleaner stood in front of us. This was a great deal like the gathering and briefing period before every contest, though of course, it wasn’t. For one thing, there were fewer of us than there usually was, and for another, the stakes were much higher.

Each and every one of us had prepared for the upcoming fight in our own way. Don had spent a couple hours sitting on the floor, calmly meditating. Mary, on the other hand, had spent the same time throwing ice attacks against targets to get herself ‘warmed up’, as ironic as that was.

My own preparations were a little more practical, and of more direct benefit, in my opinion. I’d thrown up a series of shield walls, then had several champions attack them with everything they had. And while that might seem to be wasting my time, or as though I was simply doing the same thing Mary was, the truth was that I was charging the damage buff on my spear. The damage buff bar was now full, and my spear was holding as much extra damage as it could store. That meant, the next time I attacked someone with it, I was going to have a very nice burst of extra damage.

“I’m worried,” Matt quietly admitted from beside me.

“Me too,” Teri said.

I nodded at that since I understood completely. I was terrified, especially when I thought of facing Pfath again. Or Arakthiel. Dying was bad enough, but to be burned to death again…or having my very soul destroyed. Both of those prospects were absolutely terrifying. I’ve literally had nightmares about both of those things happening.

There was a time, not that long ago, when I would have charged into danger without thought or hesitation. Those days were behind me now. I was still willing to fight do whatever I needed to, but now, I was a lot more aware of the risks and consequences.

“You don’t have to come,” I told my friends. “You aren’t champions, so those bastards probably won’t care about you… I won’t blame you if you back out…”

Matt chuckled at that and gave me a forced smile. “Actually, I was worried about what Mom and Dad are going to say about all this…”

“Yeah,” Teri added. “They’re going to be pissed about us disappearing. Of course, I’ll just blame it all on Matt…”

“Bite me,” he responded.

The truth was, their parents would have every right to be worried, but I didn’t think that they’d be much of a problem. After all, the Coordinator and Referee might be gone, but the Cleaner was still around, and his whole job had been to take care of things like this. When everything was done and over, he’d probably show up and erase or alter a few select memories, and everything would be back to normal. At least, I hoped that was how it all worked out.

“At least Lauren isn’t caught up in this,” Cassandra said with a scowl. “She’ll be safe at home.”

“Yeah,” I said as I nodded in agreement. At least Lauren wasn’t involved in all this.

It was at this point that the Cleaner began to speak. “Remember,” he called out loud enough for everyone to hear. “We have the advantage of surprise and must make full use of it. As soon as you arrive, you must strike the enemy gods as hard and fast as you can. If we are lucky, we may be able to kill them before they have a chance to properly defend themselves or retaliate. If things turn against us, I will immediately pull everyone out of there.”

“That sounds good to me,” Axe Guy exclaimed. “Let’s get this show on the road…”

Portals began opening up in front of us and my new allies began running through. Cassandra grabbed me and gave me a passionate kiss, one that was enough to make my toes curl and my other parts…respond.

“I’m not complaining or anything,” I told Cassandra, “but I’m not sure this is the right time…”

“This is the perfect time,” she responded with a smirk. “I get a buff whenever I kiss someone I have romantic feelings for.”

I wasn’t sure if Cassandra was joking or not, and before I could even respond, she ran through one of the portals. A moment later, I followed, along with Matt and Teri.

I found myself in another warehouse, very much like the one I’d just left. However, the most immediate difference I noticed, was the fact that there were stone and metal cubes of various sizes, stacked up and scattered around the place. It only took me a second to realize that this was one of the warehouses from the first contest I’d competed in.

“Déjà vu,” Teri gasped from beside me.

The three gods, Arakthiel, Pfath, and Kr’aethar, were all standing motionless in the middle of the warehouse, almost as though they were mannequins or statues. The lights were on, but nobody was home...almost as if they weren’t really there. And that was it, I realized. They weren’t all there. The gods were mostly elsewhere, and instead of giving those bodies back to their champions, they’d just left them on pause.

For a brief moment, I thought that this was going to be easy, that we’d be able to take down Robe, March, and Nadine’s bodies before their patrons even realized we were there. However, that hope only lasted for a couple seconds before it was dashed. The three gods suddenly came to life again and began to fight.

“Look out,” I cried, throwing shields on Matt and Teri, and then forming a shield wall in front of me.

Cassandra appeared at my side and used my shield as cover while shooting around the side. Several arrows struck Pfath, though they immediately caught fire and burned away. When she shot at Arakthiel, he was able to dodge the arrows entirely.

Everyone rushed in to target one of the gods, though it wasn’t easy to actually hurt them. Kr’aethar was extremely tough, and I watched as Don smashed a mace into his face, and he just shrugged it off. Arakthiel had amazing reflexes and was able to dodge nearly everything that was strong at him. And Pfath, she was covered with an aura of flames that simply made it difficult to get too close.

Red Coat Randal charged at Arakthiel while wielding a sword and shield, both of which were actually made of bone. A single slash of Arakthiel’s scythe cut the sword in half, along with the top half of the shield. Randal immediately switched over and began lashing at the god with several whips that appeared to be made of blood. Tendrils of blood began to wrap around the god, trying to tie him in place.

While Randal was keeping Arakthiel’s attention on him, Alejandra leapt at the god from behind and smashed him with her massive hammer. As far as I was concerned, Alejandra should have been the one tanking, because she was the one with the armor and abilities to take that kind of punishment, but I wouldn’t argue with anything that worked. Arakthiel went down in a smear of shattered bones, but a moment later, he simply got back up again, acting as though the hammer blow had never even happened.

Spear Chick and Axe Guy were facing off against Kr’aethar, who just shrugged off all their attacks. Marissa had a dozen of her illusions out and were surrounding the god, but he seemed to see right through all of them and came at the real Marissa. Marissa screamed and Axe Guy jumped in front of her, taking a powerful blow from Kr’aethar’s greatsword. The blade sliced through Axe Guy’s axe and into his arm.

“Crap,” I exclaimed, hitting Axe Guy with two heals in a row. I would have done more if I’d been close enough. As it was, I had to throw another shield on Teri, along with a shield wall to protect myself.

I wanted to charge right in but knew that this would be a waste of my abilities. Instead, I stood back and did everything I could to protect my friends and allies. I threw out shields and heals almost as fast as I could, all while hoping that my mana would hold out long enough. My mana pool and mana recovery had both increased a great deal since I’d joined this game, but they still had limits, and this fight was already pushing them to that.

Then I suddenly saw an opportunity. Pfath was fighting Don and had her back to me. I didn’t hesitate to throw my spear at her as hard as I could. The fact that she was using Nadine’s body only made it more satisfying. My spear struck her in the middle of the back, and all of the damage that had been stored within, was released in one powerful burst. Pfath was literally blown in two.

“Holy shit,” Cassandra exclaimed. “You just fucked her day up good…”

“Good aim,” Mary called out with a laugh.

Becky, who was floating overhead and firing blasts of energy from her staff, cheerfully called out, “One down, two do go…”

For a couple brief seconds, I stood there with a smirk, feeling as though I was on top of the world. However, that only lasted until I saw Pfath’s body being pulled back together and being reformed. In mere seconds, Nadine’s body was once again whole and covered with flames.

“Aw, crap,” I blurted out in frustration.

That had been my most powerful…and only real attack, and all it had done was slow Pfath down for a few seconds. Of course, the gods could all rez their champions, which was exactly what they were doing…while ignoring all the rules and limits that normally applied.

“Fuck,” Cassandra spat out.

“I didn’t even get any points from that,” I said, which was definitely unfair. Pfath might not have stayed down, but I felt that I should have at least gotten some credit for putting her down in the first place.

It was at this point that I noticed something from the corner or my eye. When I turned for a better look, I saw Harker on the other side of the warehouse, standing on top one of the cubes and watching the fight. A couple seconds later, I suddenly remembered that she hadn’t come with us…and she was wearing her armor.

“CRAP!” I exclaimed in sudden realization. “IT’S A TRAP! HARKER SET US UP!”

Since Harker had been spotted, she stopped holding back and rushed forward, sending out a small tornado from her hands. It rushed into the mass of chaos, catching Becky, Mary, and Randal, and sending all of them flying off in random directions. Then she fired a powerful blast of wind right at me, though I blocked it with a shield wall.

“How did you fake losing your patron?” I demanded. Cassandra was really good at telling when people lied, and she hadn’t caught it.

“Br’ieze left me and took all my abilities,” Harker answered, sending another blast of wind at me. “Then an hour ago, she took me back as her champion…”

“I thought you were afraid she was going to turn you into a meat puppet,” I blurted out, gesturing towards her allies.

“Br’ieze promised that she wouldn’t do that,” Harker said, looking a bit smug. “She doesn’t want my body. She wants to come here in her own body…”

Teri stepped forward while swinging her baseball bat and began walking towards Harker. The other champion gestured at Teri, and suddenly, Teri began grabbing her throat in the universal sign that she was choking. I immediately summoned Teri back to my side, where she let out another gasp, this one of relief.

“I couldn’t breathe,” Teri said.

“She has a couple new tricks up her sleeve,” I said, though I shouldn’t have been surprised. I wasn’t the only one who’d been gaining new abilities and getting stronger.

“You’re going to die,” Harker stated, giving me a look of pity. “All of you are. For good. I’m sorry about that, but it’s the only way…”

A howl of pain came from behind me and I glanced back, only to see Don standing there with a glowing sword blade emerging from his chest. Kr’aethar stood behind Don and was still impaling him. Red energy swirled around the blade and seemed to tear up Don’s body and armor.

“NO!” I cried out in horror.

I hit Don with several heals in a row, desperately trying to keep him alive. My heals had no effect at all. I was too late. Kr’aethar pulled back his blade, letting Don’s lifeless body collapse to the ground.

A second later, Arakthiel leapt at Mary, hitting her with a burst of purple energy that I immediately recognized as the soul killer attack. Mary collapsed to the ground, her body still alive, though it was now an empty husk.

“You’re all going to die,” Harker announced again. “You can’t beat gods…”

Harker raised her hands to launch another attack, then suddenly let out a strange gurgle before collapsing to the ground. Matt was standing behind her, holding two bloody knives in his hands.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED AN OPPOSING CHAMPION.

REWARD: +20 MANA POOL, +20 MANA RECOVERY, +20 HEALTH, AND +20 REGENERATION. YOUR COMPANIONS GAIN +20 HEALTH AND +20 REGENERATION.

“Pawned you, bitch,” Matt said grimly. “That’s for trying to kill my sister.”

“WE NEED TO RETREAT,” I called out.

In spite of being a total bitch, Harker had been right about one thing. We couldn’t beat these gods. We could take them down, with a lot of effort, but the problem was they wouldn’t stay down. They just got right back up and acted as though nothing had happened. As long as they could do that, and keep killing us off one at a time, there was no way we could win.

“ARAKTHIEL!” a new voice called out. It was a cold, hard voice, and it was coming from Mary.

Mary stood back up, revealing that ice crystals were forming all over her body and armor. More ice spread out along the ground around her. A sense of cold power now radiated from Mary, or at least, from the being that now occupied her body.

“YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO MY CHAMPION,” Mary’s patron exclaimed.

Ice spread out from this newly arrived god, then exploded outward like icicle shrapnel which hit several champions. She leapt at Arakthiel, sending out more freezing cold and explosions of ice. It was obvious that she didn’t care who got hurt in the process, as long as she could get Arakthiel.

“We need to withdraw while we can,” the Cleaner announced as several of his portals began to appear near or even beneath the various champions.

“At last,” Pfath announced, turning to stare at the Cleaner with a cruel smile. “The champion of Emnyle, Arbiter and goddess of memory and gates… We’ve been waiting for you to show yourself, mortal…”

“You were waiting for me,” the Cleaner gasped in realization.

Marissa and an injured Axe Guy vanished as a portal appeared beneath them. Becky, the magical girl, fired a blast of golden energy and sparkles from her staff, hitting Pfath right in the face, before she dove through a portal and vanished too. Randal was sprawled out on the ground, and he wasn’t moving. I didn’t know if he was dead or alive, but Alejandra grabbed him, tossed him over her shoulder, and jumped through a portal.

Kr’aethar drove his sword blade into the ground and there was a flash of red energy which exploded outwards, sending the Cleaner flying back. All the portals began flickering.

Pfath held out her hands and sent out a blast of fire. Matt grabbed Teri and pulled both of them into the nearest portal, right before it closed and vanished. That left Cassandra and I as the only remaining champions, besides the Cleaner himself.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Cassandra said.

“Good idea,” I agreed, rushing with her towards the nearest portal, which was starting to flicker.

Suddenly, the wind began to pick up and I had a horrible sinking feeling. I glanced over to where Harker’s body had been, and it was now floating in the air with a tornado swirling around it.

“So much for Br’ieze’s promise to Harker,” I said with a grimace.

Another god had just entered our world. This whole situation kept escalating more and more. I couldn’t help but remembering what Maelyne had said would happen when her kind fought each other, and unfortunately, I was already getting a glimpse of it.

“Can this get any more insane?” Cassandra demanded.

At those words, a massive blast of fire collided with a burst if frigid air and ice, resulting in an explosion of steam. I didn’t wait to see if that could get any worse, and immediately shoved Cassandra through the waiting portal. Before I could get through it myself, a powerful wind threw me aside. I hit the ground hard, and before I could return to my feet, the last portal vanished.

“Not again,” I gasped in frustration. “Why does this crap keep happening to me?”

I might have asked if the gods hated me for some reason, except that I already knew for a fact that a couple of them did. That really was depressing to think about, so I tried not to.

I looked around the warehouse, gulping in fear. The very air had come alive and turned hostile. Powerful winds tore through the space, threatening to knock me over blow me away. However, that was only the start of it. Purple energy, waves of flame, and vortexes of ice crystals swirled through it all, creating a storm cloud that was bursting with raw power.

“Crap,” I whispered, realizing just how dangerous it was to even be inside the warehouse. The entire place had become a lethal deathtrap for anyone who was mortal…like myself. I formed a shield wall between me and the gods, then looked around for a way out. “Not good…”

If this was what five gods could do while limited by human bodies, I did NOT want to see what would happen if all the gods fought in their own bodies. Once again, Maelyne’s warnings came to mind, and for the first time, I understood just how easily a war among them could destroy the world.

At this point, the five gods were fighting amongst themselves, four against one. They didn’t even seem to be aware that I was still there, and for that, I was grateful.

Explosions of energy rippled through the air, and then one of them hit me, tearing right through my shield wall. A surge of intense agony tore through my body, ripping me apart. I screamed out, desperately trying to form another shield, but it was too late and darkness claimed me once again.

I was dead. Again. This was REALLY starting to get old.

When awareness came to me, I wasn’t surprised to find that I was in Maelyne’s den once again. Maelyne handed me a cup of tea without saying a word.

“Am…am I dead again?” I asked since the last thing I remembered was being caught in the crossfire from a couple gods fighting.

“No,” Maelyne told me with a faint smile. “Though I will admit, you would have died had I not interfered and protected you from further injury.”

I was a little startled at that. “Isn’t that against the rules?”

“Definitely,” Maelyne responded with another faint smile. “But as the game has been discontinued, there is no longer any reason to follow the rules.”

“Then things must be pretty bad,” I said.

“Indeed,” Maelyne admitted with a scowl. “War has come to my world, for the first time in thousands of years. My power and resources are stretched thin as I protect my home, my people, and my allies.”

I gulped at that. “Those gods are attacking us…”

“I know,” Maelyne said with a sad look on her face. “I am fighting with their alliance here, and do not have the resources to fight them on your world as well. I will protect you and yours however I can, but understand, the only way to defeat them is here...”

“They’re coming after us,” I said grimly. “All of us. They’re killing all the other champions…”

Maelyne nodded at that, and I could see the pained look in her eyes. “While occupying mortal bodies, they can only use a fraction of their true power. Unfortunately, even in those bodies, no mortal has a chance of truly defeating them. Your kind simply lacks the right kind of power.”

“I saw that,” I admitted, remembering how I’d blown Pfath in half, and she’d just reformed and acted as though it had been nothing.

“My allies and I will defeat them here,” Maelyne told me, “and that will stop them in your world as well. For now, avoid them if you can. If they attack you, I will…”

Suddenly, Maelyne cried out in pain. She jumped to her feet and looked around with an expression of surprise and even fear.

“What’s going on?” I demanded, feeling more than a little worried. If something could make a goddess afraid, I didn’t want to know how bad it would be for me.

“I am under attack,” Maelyne exclaimed, giving me a quick look and adding, “Take care, my champion…”

A moment later, I was torn from the dream in a way that almost felt like a physical blow to my entire being. It was jarring and painful, nothing like the way all my previous conversations with Maelyne had ended.

I woke up on the concrete floor of the warehouse. My entire body hurt like hell, and when I slowly sat up, I saw that my armor was burned and shredded. From the state of my armor, I was lucky to feel anywhere near as good as I did. Obviously, I must have been out of it long enough to have healed so much from that kind of damage.

For several minutes, I remained where I was, listening to my surroundings and trying to get a sense of what was going on. I didn’t hear any fighting. In fact, I didn’t really hear anything at all, which I took as a good sign. It was only then that I healed myself.

After getting to my feet, I slowly looked around. The entire warehouse was a ruin, with most of the floors, wall, and ceiling all being blackened, charred and straight-out shredded. About half the roof was missing, and a large section of the concrete floor had been shattered.

“Not a good sign,” I whispered.

There were also a couple cubes between me and where the main fighting had taken place, but they were blackened and cracked. My eyes widened at that. If those things hadn’t been there to shield me…

“This must have been one hell of a fight after I passed out,” I said as I looked around.

Then I saw Don’s body, or at least, what was left of it. For the most part, he’d been reduced to a skeleton inside his now crushed, burned, and twisted armor. I shuddered at the sight and even felt tears starting to form. I hadn’t known Don very well, but I’d liked him.

“You deserve better than this,” I said sadly. He deserved a LOT better than to be murdered by some asshole god.

Since Don’s body was still there and hadn’t vanished the way I’d seen other people’s bodies vanish, I could only assume that his patron wasn’t bringing him back. The Cleaner had warned us that those killed by the gods, probably wouldn’t be able to be resurrected.

“No more rezzes,” I whispered.

I stood there for a good minute or two, mourning Don and feeling guilty for his death, though I wasn’t sure why. Intellectually, I knew that I wasn’t responsible for his death, but emotionally… Some part of me still blamed myself.

Then as I was turning to leave, I saw another body that had been concealed by some of the debris and cubes. When I got closer, I saw that it was Mary’s body, which had literally been cut in half. There were also severe burns as well.

“I guess your patron didn’t last against them either,” I said, a little surprised by that. Then again, she’d been one god against four. “At least you took one of them with you…”

A short distance away was Harker’s body. It had been torn to pieces, by what I suspected had been icicle projectiles. I didn’t feel bad for Harker or her patron. As far as I was concerned, both of them deserved worse.

When I looked around the rest of the place, I found no sign of March, Nadine, or Robe’s bodies, much to my disappointment. It looked like those three had probably all walked out of there.

“Where’s the Cleaner?” I mused as I looked around. I hadn’t seen any sign of his body, though I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad.

Since the warehouse had been abandoned, and seemed to be safe, I switched out of my armor and back to my normal clothes. Then I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket so I could call home. Unfortunately, there was no signal.

“Just great,” I grumbled to myself. “This time I bring a cell phone, and I can’t even use it.”

With a snort of disgust, I put my phone back into my pocket and switched back to my armor. At the moment, I’d probably need that more than a phone with no signal. Once my armor was back, I noticed that it was fully clean and repaired again.

“That is definitely useful,” I mused. “Now, if only I could do that with the rest of my clothes.”

I carefully left the warehouse, only to see more abandoned warehouses nearby. This was definitely the same place where my first competition had been held. I could even see some of the damage caused by the various fights in that competition.

Going into the next warehouse over, I saw that it had taken a little damage inside as well, but nowhere near as badly as the one I’d just been in. This damage had been caused by the competition, not by a group of gods fighting it out with each other.

“I wonder if there are any bonus prizes left behind,” I muttered. However, I seriously doubted that there were.

After the cancelled competition, the Cleaner had recovered all those prizes and gave them to me. There was no reason to think that after a completed competition, that he wouldn’t recover any unclaimed prizes as well. Still, it didn’t hurt to keep an eye out, just in case.

I went through several warehouses but found neither bodies nor prizes. I even checked my phone a few more times and saw the same thing as before. No signal.

Eventually, I came to a warehouse where I could hear talking from within. I froze at that since I recognized the voices as belonging to the hostile gods.

“Crap,” I whispered, unsure of whether I should turn and run away, or get closer to find out what they were up to. My curiosity got the better of my good sense.

I slowly crept towards the voices, using the cubes as cover, and keeping far enough back that I’d be harder to notice. I knew that Cassandra had an amazing sense of awareness over her surroundings, and I didn’t want to take any chances that these guys might be the same.

Kr’aethar, Arakthiel, and Pfath were there in their borrows bodies, but they weren’t alone. The Cleaner was there as well, though it was obvious that he wasn’t there by choice. He was laying spread-eagle on the ground, with his hands and feet being tied to the ground with bands of red energy.

I gulped at the sight, feeling worried about the Cleaner. I didn’t know why they wanted him, or why they were keeping him alive, when these same gods had previously tried to kill him along with the Coordinator and the Referee.

“It is unfortunate that Br’ieze has lost her pawn,” Pfath commented.

“It matters not,” Arakthiel responded. “She will enter this world soon enough. As will we all…”

“I care not for this world,” Kr’aethar said. “The true challenge will be in conquering our own… In defeating those weaklings who relied on that foolish game to protect them…”

“Regardless,” Arakthiel told him. “We must still open the veil between our worlds…and this mortal will help us with that…”

“AWAKEN!” Pfath commanded, putting a flaming hand onto the Cleaner’s chest.

The Cleaner screamed in agony and I bit my tongue to keep from screaming in sympathy, because I knew exactly what that felt like. He fought against his bindings, to no effect. I had a feeling of horrific deja-vu as I watched this.

“Your patron has escaped our grasp,” Arakthiel told the Cleaner, “but you hold a fraction of her power, perhaps even enough to do what we require…”

“What do you want?” the Cleaner demanded with a look of terror on his face.

Pfath stood over him with a sadistic grin her face…on Nadine’s face, which I was quite familiar with. “Open the veil,” Pfath commanded.

“There is a veil between our worlds,” Arakthiel told the Cleaner. “One put in place by the Arbiters, including your patron Emnyle, goddess of memory and gates. The way between worlds has been locked, and Emnyle is the only one who still possesses the power to travel the worlds. You possess a fraction of that very power… Now, open the way…”

I remained where I was, biting my hand to keep from yelling out. I wanted to help the Cleaner, but I was under no illusions about my chances. I couldn’t fight those gods, and certainly not by myself. My strongest attack had only annoyed Pfath, and my shields would only slow them down for a couple seconds at most. If I tried to do anything right now, I’d only get killed before I could do anything.

It didn’t take much more ‘convincing’ before the Cleaner did what they wanted. A portal rippled and opened up in the air in front of them. It was only about five feet across, quite a bit smaller than the other portals I’d seen the Cleaner open, but it looked a bit different and radiated an eerie power that I could feel in my bones.

“It is too small,” Pfath exclaimed. “And not strong enough to withstand the power of my true body…”

“Make it larger,” Arakthiel commanded. “More powerful…”

“I can’t,” the Cleaner gasped tearfully. “This is the largest I can make it…”

Arakthiel stared at the Cleaner for several seconds before announcing, “The mortal speaks the truth… He has not enough of Emnyle’s power to do more…”

“So, we find Emnyle,” Kr’aethar said, “and force her to open the portal from our own side…”

The flames around Pfath became more intense for a moment. “Emnyle is too powerful and well-hidden to easily capture, which is why we targeted her champion instead…”

“Then we must return to our original plan,” Arakthiel said. “We must acquire Fraethe, god of keys. If we cannot access a gate to pass through the veil, then we force Fraethe to unlock the bindings that prevent us all from passing on our own…”

Kr’aethar laughed, though it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “That task should be much easier now that Maelyne is no longer able to protect him.”

Those words immediately caught my full attention and filled me with dread at the same time. Maelyne had told me she was under attack…

“Fraethe is weak,” Pfath said with a hiss. “It will be easy to make him do as we wish…”

“And this time, he will be unable to hide behind Maelyne,” Arakthiel added with an evil smirk.

“We should have killed her,” Kr’aethar exclaimed in obvious frustration and annoyance. I felt a surge of hope at hearing those words.

“Maelyne is trapped and imprisoned,” Arakthiel told him. “She can no longer interfere in her plans… Once we have Fraethe, we can destroy her at our leisure…”

Pfath laughed, though it was a cruel laugh that promised nothing but pain and suffering. “She will pay for standing against us…”

“Then,” Kr’aethar added, “we can seize her territory and use it to attack her allies… Those weaklings will fall before us…”

Pfath looked down at the cleaner and sneered. “This one’s portals are too weak for our purposes, but we can still use him to harm Emnyle.”

“We can also use him to find the remaining champions,” Arakthiel pointed out. “Once they have all been destroyed, then we can use him against Emnyle.”

“Crap,” I whispered, shaking as I did so. This was bad. This was worse than bad.

I tried summoning Matt and Teri, just so I had some backup. However, neither of them appeared. I had no idea how far away they were, but it was obviously out of my range. It looked like I really was on my own.

My eyes went back to the Cleaner, who was being held prisoner much the same way I had been. I grimaced at the sight and silently promised myself that I’d find a way to help him. And then, I’d help Maelyne.

Maelyne had saved my life, and had helped me escape from Nadine. If she was being held prisoner, I owed it to her, to help her escape too. I had absolutely no idea of what I could do, but I had to try.

“As Matt would say,” I quietly told myself, “there is no try. There is do…or do not.”

A minute later, the three gods slowly walked away, leaving the Cleaner behind. It was obvious that they weren’t worried about him escaping, which may have been confidence in the power they were using to hold him, or simply arrogance. They were so-called gods, so it was probably a bit of both.

Once I was sure they were gone, I made my way over to the Cleaner who was moaning in pain. I healed him several times. Then his eyes opened and he gave me a look of surprise and gratitude.

“How are you still here?” the Cleaner asked me, looking a little confused.

“You left me behind when you evacuated everyone,” I quietly explained. “Again.” Then I pointed to the glowing bands of energy holding him to the ground. “Let’s get you out of these…”

If he’d been chained up with cuffs the way I’d been, I could have simply picked them, courtesy of my latest skill. Unfortunately, these chains were made of energy, and I had no idea how to deal with that.

“Can you transport yourself out of these?” I asked cautiously.

“No,” he responded with a scowl. “Their power prevents me from transporting myself…”

“I…I might be able to get you out,” I warned him. “But it may hurt like hell.”

“Do it,” the Cleaner told me without hesitation.

I nodded at that and then held out my spear. Between all the damage that my shields had soaked up, and the damage that I’d taken while the gods had been fighting, I had quite a bit of damage buff stored up.

“I have two shots at this,” I said, considering my options.

With that, I slammed my foot down on the ground as hard as I could, activating the damage buff that shattered the concrete around the Cleaner’s arm. Enough shrapnel came up to tear into his arms and maybe even break a bone or two. However, the glowing energy band vanished, leaving one arm free. I went to the other side and repeated the process, jamming my spear into the ground instead.

“Sorry about that,” I said as I healed the Cleaner.

With two of the bands destroyed along with much of the concrete floor beneath the Cleaner, the two remaining bands faded away. He slowly got to his feet, though he looked physically and emotionally exhausted. I could sympathize, having been there myself not so long ago.

“We need to go,” the Cleaner said with a shaky voice. “We need to get away from here…”

He opened a portal and stepped through, vanishing from view. That portal began to shrink and fade, as did the other one which the gods had force him to open. I glanced back and forth between the two for a couple seconds, before doing what I always did when in doubt. I charged forward.

I was in awe. The world around me was breathtaking. I couldn’t really think of any other way to describe it.

The ground I stood on appeared to be made of marble, with small flecks of crystal rippling through it. In addition, there were various symbols on the ground, with some of them appearing to have been etched with crystal, while others were glowing and looked like they were somehow with light.

As I looked around, I saw the marble was actually some kind of road or long pathway, but it wasn’t the only one. There was another path made of darker stone that looked like quartz, and one that was made of crystal. In fact, there were several more paths that seemed to have been constructed from different materials, and they wound together in a strange yet artistic manner.

Nearby, what I had originally taken to be yet another of these paths, actually seemed to be some kind of stream or narrow river. However, instead of being filled with water, it appeared to be filled with mercury or some other silvery liquid. Bubbles of this chrome liquid rose up from the stream in several places and floated away.

“Weird,” I whispered, staring at a bridge across this silver stream. The bridge itself was made from some kind of gleaming crystal, or perhaps even diamond.

There was a lot of this crystal around me. There was one path made of the stuff, along with a lot of the buildings and bridges, though with different colors. There were also numerous towering spirals, most of which were crystal, but not all.

“Those ones look like giant unicorn horns,” I said aloud.

To my left, I saw a towering building…a skyscraper…that seemed to be made from an unbelievably large, living tree. To my right, there was a much shorter and stockier building that appeared to have been made of shiny black stone. And then there was one that literally seemed to be made from water.

I was in the middle of a city, but it was unlike any city that I’d ever seen before in my life, or had even imagined. Everywhere I looked, there were things that stood out to me as being vaguely familiar, but almost completely alien at the same time. In a way, this seemed more like a dream than reality.

One of the strange things that I quickly noticed was the lack of people. In a city like this, even one so strange and alien, I would have expected to see more people. I was there for nearly five minutes before I saw my first person…if he could be called that.

A massive man, who stood at least twelve feet tall, hurried past in the distance. Smoke or clouds seemed to pour from his beard and hair, trailing behind him and floating up into the sky.

While I watched, a woman joined this giant. She was even taller than he was, though not by much. And from what I could see at a distance, her skin seemed to be tree bark, which along with her long skinny limbs, made her look a great deal like a human shaped tree.

Another woman flew overhead, with large wings that seemed to be made of swirling light. I couldn’t tell just how large she was, only that she was bigger than any normal human.

“Gods,” I whispered with a mixture of amazement and fear. Most of my encounters with gods hadn’t gone very well for me or anyone else.

None of these gods had noticed me, for which I was thankful. However, I had definitely noticed them, and the fact that all three of them had been moving with a great deal of urgency.

It didn’t take long after this before I noticed the storm in the distance. The storm clouds were thick and dark, and I could see flashes of green lightning. And as if that wasn’t shocking enough, there was also a towering pillar of flame that seemed to go from the ground, all the way up into the sky.

“No freaking way,” I gasped, suddenly realizing that this wasn’t the weather. It was a battle between gods.

Maelyne had told me that the last time her people had been in open war with each other, they’d nearly destroyed their world. Now, after seeing that, I was beginning to get an idea of what she meant.

“Talk about a crap storm,” I whispered with growing sense of dread.

I looked around, wondering where Maelyne was and feeling hopeless about my chances of finding her. When I’d seen the portal to her world, I’d foolishly assumed that she would be close to where it went. However, that obviously wasn’t the case, and I had absolutely no idea of where to find her, or what I could do once I did.

“I’ll just have to keep looking,” I told myself, knowing that there was no turning back. The Cleaner’s portal had closed behind me, leaving me trapped here until I found another way home. “I REALLY didn’t think that through…”

There was a reason Matt had always called me a dumb jock, and it looked like the extra IQ points I’d gained, had actually changed me all that much. In some ways, that was actually a relief, but not right now.

When I saw another god coming near, I quickly hid behind some kind of sculpture that was probably supposed to be some kind of abstract art. I didn’t belong here in this world, and I was well aware of it. If any of these gods saw me, it probably wouldn’t be good for me. After all, they’d probably just think of me like a rat or something.

As I continued to sneak around without any idea of where I was or where I was going, I began to notice other signs of the war. There was another building grown from a live tree, or at least, what was left of it. The thing had been burned to little more than a giant charred stump. A couple crystal spires had been shattered, and there was even a huge crack that ran across a number of paths. However, that was nothing compared to a huge crater I found, that dropped down about a hundred feet. I could see the glow of lava on the bottom of the pit, or at least, that was what it looked like through the smoke.

“This place can’t take much more of this,” I said in realization. The city was quickly falling into ruin and destruction, and the war had only just begun.

Then I saw another god, one that sent chills of terror down my spine. I immediately dover for cover and hid, peeking out from around the corner of a building to get a better look at him. He was twenty feet tall and his entire body looked like it was made of steel. In fact, he looked like a massive steel statue, except that he was moving…and radiating a sense of power. I’d felt that power before and immediately recognized who this was.

“Kr’aethar,” I whispered, sure that I was about to piss my pants. This was Kr’aethar in the flesh…his own flesh. He’d been powerful, virtually unstoppable in March’s body, so what would he be like in his own? I had absolutely no intention of confronting him and finding out.

Kr’aethar swung his arm and a wave of red energy shot out into the distance, where it sliced through a crystal tower. The whole structure was cut in half and collapsed to the ground in ruin. The giant god didn’t even stop to admire his work before he charged into the ruin to finish the job.

I didn’t remain where I was to watch Kr’aethar destroy buildings and anyone inside. Instead, I hurried away, hoping that he didn’t notice me. If he saw me here, he’d probably step on me and squash me like a cockroach.

“Please don’t see me,” I whispered, trying as hard as I could to remain small, insignificant, and out of sight. “Please don’t see me…”

Just when I thought I’d safely gotten away from Kr’aethar, a voice behind me asked, “And what do we have here?”

I snapped around, immediately throwing up a shield wall, even though I knew it wouldn’t do much good. But instead of Kr’aethar, I found myself staring up at a giant woman who was nearly ten feet tall. She had long silvery hair that seemed to glow, and her clothing seemed to be a swirl of shadows and darkness that was moving around her body.

“A mortal?” the giantess…goddess mused as she stared down at me. “And sneaking around in places it is not meant to be…”

To say I was intimidated would have been an understatement. I could feel her power, and knew without a doubt, that she could kill me with ease. However, I was tired of being scared and hiding, so my stubborn side bubbled to the surface and I glared at her defiantly.

“How did you find me?” I demanded.

I’d thought I was doing a good job of sneaking around, so to be found, and then have a ten-foot woman sneak up on me at the same time… This wasn’t good for me at all.

“You were trying to hide,” she answered with a look of amusement, “and that drew my attention. I can sense when someone is trying to keep a secret, especially when they are as desperate about it as you are.”

My eyes widened at her words, and I suddenly realized where I’d felt her power before. It felt similar to when Cassandra was using her abilities.

“You’re Armestia,” I blurted out.

“Yes, I am,” Armestia responded, seeming faintly pleased that I’d recognized who she was. “And I know who you are too, Jeri Tanner, champion of Maelyne.”

I gulped at that, not bothering to ask her how she knew who I was. She was Cassandra’s patron, and she’d obviously been keeping an eye on Cassandra the same way that Maelyne had been watching me.

“The question is, what are you doing here?” Armestia asked me with a scowl. “This is not a safe place for your kind…”

“It doesn’t look safe for your kind either,” I replied.

Armestia nodded faintly. “No, it is not.” She fixed me with her gaze and I saw that her eyes were an eerie silver color that glowed. The same eerie glow seemed to emanate from beneath her skin as well, though it was the glow from her eyes that unnerved me. It felt as though she was looking into my soul. “I see… You came to help your patron. How…loyal.”

“It seemed like the right thing to do,” I said self-consciously.

The goddess turned to her companion, whom I hadn’t even noticed until then. He was about the same height as her, though his entire body seemed to be made of smoke and shadows, much like Cloak’s shadowy aura. I wondered if this was Cloak’s patron.

Armestia spoke this to shadowy god in a strange language that was unlike any I’d ever heard before, and he responded in the same language. Then he nodded before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

“Come,” Armestia told me. “It is too exposed here. We will speak somewhere safer…”

She didn’t give me any warning before picking me up and holding me in her arms as though I was a small child. Then she suddenly took off running, moving at an amazing speed. Shadows and light swirled around her body and trailed behind us.

Armestia raced across the strange city with the kind of speed that would have gotten her a ticket on any freeway short of the Autobahn. Then she leapt up into the air and in a flash of light, we were somewhere else. She leapt again, and again we were somewhere else. She was teleporting, though only short distances each time. I suddenly realized that this might be how Cassandra pulled off some of her tricks.

Just a couple minutes after we began this mad dash, Armestia ran into one of the crystal buildings and set me down just inside. Without saying anything, she continued walking through the building, leaving me to run after in order to keep up with her.

We went into a large room, which was twice the size of the gym back in high school. The room, like everything else I’d seen, served to remind me that I was somewhere strange and alien. The walls were marble with veins of glowing crystal all over the place. There were no corners or angles in the room, as everything was rounded so the floor just flowed into the wall.

There were already three people waiting in the room, all of them gods. One was nearly twenty feet tall, with a body that seemed to be made of chiseled stone, making him look like a statue. I immediately guessed him to be Kraag, Don’s patron.

Beside him was a curvy and somewhat heavyset woman, who came off as ‘matronly’. She was about the same size as Armestia, which meant that she towered over me.

The last of the people waiting in the room was an elderly, stocky looking man, who was ‘only’ about seven feet tall. Compared to all the other gods I’d seen, they probably thought of him as being a midget.

All three of those gods turned to look at me. Armestia simply said, “I found Maelyne’s champion, wandering around.”

“How did a mortal get here?” the matronly woman asked Armestia.

“Emnyle must have opened a gate,” the giant ‘midget’ said.

“Our enemies forced her champion to open a gate,” Armestia explained. “Maelyne’s champion took advantage of the opportunity to search for her patron.”

“This is…surprising,” Kraag said, staring down at me with a calm expression.

“I’m…sorry about Don,” I said a bit awkwardly.

Kraag slowly nodded but didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he looked to Armestia, probably wondering why she’d brought me here. Honestly, I was wondering that myself.

“Do you know where Maelyne is?” I nervously asked Armestia. “And can I do anything to help her?”

The ‘midget’ looked to Armestia. “She is definitely Maelyne’s champion.”

“Indeed, she is,” Armestia said with a smile. “And she is quite close to my own champion.”

“We were looking for an opportunity to free Maelyne,” the matronly goddess said, giving me a curious look. “This child may be the opportunity we were seeking…”

“That was my thought as well,” Armestia admitted.

I stood up a little straighter and tried sounding confident as I asked, “How can I help?”

Armestia crouched down so as to be closer to my eye-level. “Our enemies attacked Maelyne but underestimated the strength of her defenses. They could not breach her shields, so trapped her in place instead, turning her shield into a prison. They expect us to come to her aid and lay in wait to ambush us.”

I stared at Armestia, wondering what my part would be in this, and then it hit me. “But they wouldn’t expect me…”

“You would pass beneath their notice,” Armestia said in agreement. “You do not possess enough power to easily draw their notice. We will draw the attention of our enemies, while you reach Maelyne and free her.”

“I’m in,” I announced.

Armestia stood up again, looking pleased. She said something to the other gods in their strange language, and each of them responded, though I couldn’t understand a word of what was said.

After a minute, Armestia turned back to me. “My intention was to gift this to my champion.” She held up a silver metal bracelet. “It will hide her presence from our enemies, protecting her the best way I am able. Now, you will deliver this to her in my stead, and it will protect you in that fashion until then.”

“I’ll make sure Cassandra gets it,” I promised.

“Fraethe,” Armestia said to the ‘midget’.

The ‘midget’, Fraethe stepped toward and gave me a skeptical look. Obviously, he had his doubts about the plan, or maybe, just about me.

“Take this,” he said a bit gruffly, handing me an old-fashioned and ornate looking key. “This will unlock the bindings that hold her.”

“Thank you,” I said a bit awkwardly.

Back in the warehouse, Pfath, Kr’aethar, and Arakthiel had mentioned Fraethe, whom they’d called the god of keys. They were after him since they seemed sure that he could let them cross over to Earth in their real bodies. I hesitated a moment, then told him what I’d heard.

“Many have been after me since the Arbiters sealed the veil,” Fraethe said with a faint nod. “Maelyne protected me and was captured while doing so. If I can repay her protection by feeing her, then I will happily do so.”

I nodded at that, then asked, “So, where do I go?”

“I will show you the way,” Armestia told me. “But first, there is one more thing you will require…”

“What’s that?” I asked.

Kraag stepped forward, then bent down to my level as much as he could. Without a word, he held out his hand, revealing a small box that was sitting in his palm. I immediately recognized a skill box from the competitions.

“Um…thank you,” I said politely.

I carefully took the box and hesitated a moment, wondering what was inside. Somehow, I doubted that it was just some random skill. In fact, I was pretty confident that they wouldn’t have given this to me without a good reason, and there was only one way to find out what that was. I opened it.

ORAEVIAN- RANK 1
-YOU UNDERSTAND ORAEVIAN, THE LANGUAGE OF THE GODS. HIGHER LEVELS OF INTELLIGENCE AND AWARENESS INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL

“Jeri, champion of Maelyne, goddess of protection and loyalty,” Armestia said in a formal tone. She was speaking in the same language that they’d all been talking in before, but this time, I could understand it. “You are being tasked with a challenge of greater importance than any competition, and of greater risk, yet if you succeed, we can promise no reward beyond the freedom of your patron. Now go, champion of Maelyne, and serve her as you never have before.”

The guard was short. Not as short as Fraethe, but at eight and a half feet tall, he was the second shortest god that I’d seen. Still, even at that ‘short’ height, he still towered over me by three feet.

I crouched down and hit around the corner where the guard couldn’t see me. The bracelet Armestia had lent me would hide my presence so that he wouldn’t be able to sense me. However, that wouldn’t do any good at all if he actually saw me instead.

“I can do this,” I whispered, nearly shaking with fear. But in spite of that fear, there was absolutely no way I was going to turn tail and run. I’d already decided that I was going to do this, and I was too damn stubborn to change my mind now.

Before I could move on, another god…goddess arrived. She was ten feet tall and dropped out of the sky, landing right in front of the guard. She was beautiful in an almost too-thin way, with long white hair that whipped around in the wind. In fact, as she stood there, the wind continued to blow around her. Was this Br’ieze?

The newcomer and the guard talked for a couple minutes, speaking entirely in Oraevian, the language that I’d only just learned. They talked about how their war was going, naming several gods that I’d never heard of before. I couldn’t understand everything they said, but that was to be expected. My Oraevian was only rank 1, which meant that my vocabulary was probably a bit limited. Still, I understood enough.

After the goddess left, shooting up into the air with a powerful burst of wind and then flying off, I continued on my way. I made my way past the guard, and once I was successfully past him and out of his line of sight, I let out a long sigh of relief. However, I didn’t lower my guard. I’d made it this far, so didn’t want to get careless and screw things up now.

I turned my attention to the floor, and to all the symbols that were etched there. These were the same symbols that I’d seen all over the place since arriving, and which I’d previously thought might be decoration. Now, I knew that this was actually Oraevian writing. In fact, these were the local equivalent of road signs. I’d been given the ability to read Oraevian, just so I could use these signs to help me find my way.

“Where is it?” I whispered to myself, trying to find the markings that Armestia had told me to look for. “There it is…”

With that, I followed the signs, just as I’d been doing for the last two hours. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself, because I knew that I was nearly to my destination. When I read the next signs, I received a popup.

ORAEVIAN HAS INCREASED TO RANK 2.

I smiled faintly at that. At this rate, I’d be reciting Oraevian poetry in no time.

For a brief moment, I just stood there, feeling like I was the hero in some epic story, on my way to rescue the damsel in distress. However, that only lasted a couple seconds, until I reminded myself that I was no hero. In fact, if I was in a faerie tale, I’d probably be the plucky animal sidekick.

“I’m and mouse,” I said with a sigh of disgust. “I’m just a mouse, trying to sneak a key into the captured heroine…”

This was a humbling realization, but one that would help to keep things in perspective. As far as these gods were concerned, I was just a mouse, and that was the entire reason they’d trusted me with this mission. I could sneak into places that they couldn’t, and I could get to Maelyne without being noticed. Yep, just like the animal sidekick in a faerie tale.

With that, I looked around, knowing that there were magical traps and sensors scattered about. These would sense the power of any god who approached, which was why Armestia and the others hadn’t come. I wasn’t a god, and therefore, was able to slip right on past without being detected.

“Squeak squeak,” I said wryly. “Now, where did they put that damn cheese?”

A minute later, I reached my destination and immediately saw that I was in the right place. There had once been one of those crystal buildings there, but now, it was gone. It had been shattered and destroyed, with massive shards of it scattered about. However, right in the middle of where the building had once stood, was a large crater. In the middle of the crater, floating in the air where the ground should have been, was a glowing sphere, made of shimmering energy.

“Maelyne’s shield,” I whispered, recognizing a more powerful version of my own ability. “Literally.”

Massive silver chains wrapped around the glowing sphere and were anchored to the sides of the crater. In addition, black tendrils with thick spikes, wrapped around the sphere as well, making it look like thorny vines were trying to strangle it. Even from where I stood, I could tell that if Maelyne dropped her shield, then those thorny vines would crush and impale her, which effectively turned her shield into a prison.

“How long has she been doing this?” I asked in awe. I knew that my shield sucked up a ton of mana, so I could only imagine how much it must be costing Maelyne. “A crap ton.”

I tried not to think about how much mana this shield had already taken, or about what would happen should Maelyne run out of mana. She’d held it this long, so I told myself that she could hold it for a little longer. But in spite of that, I also began to move a little faster…just in case.

I walked around the edge of the crater, still being careful to stay low and not be seen. Once I reached the nearest spot where the chains were anchored, I stopped and examined it with a scowl. There was a certain frustration that came with having a lock picking skill but finding that every lock I encountered was magical in nature, and completely immune from normal lock picking.

“Good thing I have this,” I said, pulling out the key that Fraethe had given me.

The key looked a little fancy and old-fashioned, but not like it was really anything special. Still, I could feel a power radiating from it. Fraethe’s power, and he was the god of keys. According to Armestia, the ‘midget’ god could unlock any lock, seal, or binding…including the ones holding Maelyne. This was the very power that our enemies were after, and I currently held a portion of it in my own mortal hands.

“Here goes everything,” I said, touching the key to the chain, just like I’d been instructed.

As soon as the key came in contact with the chain, it vanished in a flash of light. The chain suddenly began to crumble apart where the key had touched it, and this spread up the lengths of the chain, from one link to the next. Each link crumbled away, leaving nothing but a trail of falling dust behind. It only took seconds for this to reach the sphere, then to spread over the rest of the chain, and to the black thorny vines.

It only took about a minute for all the chains and the black thorny vines to crumble away. Once they were gone, the shimmering sphere began to move, floating towards me. I cautiously stepped back, not taking my eyes off the thing. It settled onto the ground a short distance away from me, then vanished, revealing Maelyne.

“This is…unexpected,” Maelyne said as she stared down at me. She looked exhausted, though she still radiated a sense of power and confidence. “How did you come to be here, my champion?”

“It’s a long story,” I answered self-consciously.

The truth was, it hadn’t actually been very long since Maelyne had been attacked during our last conversation, but a lot had happened since then. I wasn’t sure how to even begin explaining.

Maelyne just stared at me for several long seconds before announcing, “I see…”

I gulped at that. I’d come to realize that if you have a high enough awareness, you could pretty much read people’s minds, and that was what she’d just done to me. That probably should have felt like a violation, but it didn’t. Maybe because she was smiling at me with a look of pride.

“I gain power from the loyalty of my followers,” Maelyne admitted to me. “Your loyalty alone may have given me enough strength to survive my attackers.”

“Um…you’re welcome,” I responded, not sure what else I could say.

However, Maelyne wasn’t finished. She crouched down beside me so that she could look me right in the eyes, then she reached out with her hand and gently touched my cheek.

“True loyalty is not a bond of convenience, nor a chain to bind another,” she told me with a clear note of pride in her voice. “True loyalty is not one sided. It goes both ways and strengthens both parties. You have shown a loyalty beyond what I could even have hoped for in my champion, and know that I value this more than I can say.”

Then Maelyne stood up again and looked around with a grim expression. It took me several seconds before I saw what she was looking at. There were several specks in the distance, coming right towards us. Gods. It had to be.

“Aw, crap,” I gasped in sudden realization.

All those magical sensors and traps that I’d simply walked past, were meant to go off if they detected a god. And now that Maelyne was free, they must have detected HER.

“Have no fear,” Maelyne told me. “You risked a great deal to protect me from my enemies. Now, it is my turn to protect you…”

The sky above us began to blow and howl, with the winds becoming faster and harder until I felt like I was in the middle of a hurricane. I put up a shield wall to provide cover and Maelyne smiled faintly at that. Suddenly, I had another shield on me, a personal one covering my entire body, which I recognized as the same shields I put on Matt and Teri…only stronger. A LOT stronger.

A second later, the white-haired goddess that I’d seen talking to the guard, appeared, floating in the air above us. This time, I had no doubt that this was Br’ieze, Harker’s former patron.

“I know not how you escaped your prison, Maelyne,” Br’ieze announced in Oraevian, “but you save us the trouble of peeling you from your shell.”

“We were friends once,” Maelyne responded with a look of fury. “You betrayed me. You betrayed all of us…”

“I refuse to be bound by that game,” Br’ieze spat out. “I refuse to be bound by those ridiculous rules… I will do what I want…when I want. We are gods, and it is time we take our due once again…”

The wind was blowing even harder, and if it wasn’t for the shield that Maelyne put on me, along with my own shield wall, I probably would have been blown away. As it was, all I could do was look around.

There was a tornado…a trailer park destroying tornado, rather than the little ones Harker had created, passing right through the middle of the city. It was almost like being right in the middle of some disaster movie.

And as if Br’ieze herself wasn’t bad enough, the other god I’d seen in the air had arrived as well. I could see him well enough to tell that he was a man with wings…six of them. All six of his wings were huge, with black feathers. I had absolutely no idea what his thing was, and I was afraid that I was about to find out.

Suddenly, bolts of silver light shot out of nowhere and hit this newcomer. One bolt shot through each of his wings, tearing each of them apart. The god dropped to the ground like a rock, only to get hit with a half dozen more of these silver bolts.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think Cassandra was shooting…,” I started, only to pause and realize that it wasn’t Cassandra who was shooting at that god, but her patron. Armestia was doing her part to help us.

“The game existed to protect us all,” Maelyne told Br’ieze. “To protect our world. Because of the actions of you and your allies, Horgath has been swallowed by the ocean, Kellar was buried in lava, and all of Laint is crumbling to ruin…”

“I…don’t…care,” Br’ieze exclaimed. “I WILL be free… I will have the worshippers I deserve…”

“So be it,” Maelyne responded with a note of finality.

Maelyne held out her hand and fired a blast of golden energy at Br’ieze, hitting the floating goddess and sending her flying back. A bubble of golden energy suddenly appeared around Br’ieze, trapping her within, though she obviously struggled to escape.

“The death of your champion cost you power,” Maelyne stated. “Then, your host body was destroyed while you were riding it…which hurt you a great deal. Even in my weakened state, you are no match for me…”

It was at this moment that the guard I’d seen earlier, appeared. He charged in, firing a ball of glowing green energy at Maelyne, who seemed to ignore it…until a shield wall appeared and blocked the attack. The guard leapt to the side, firing four more balls of energy, all from different angles. New shield walls appeared and blocked each of them with ease.

The guard glared at Maelyne and held out his hands, firing out dozens of balls of green energy, which flew off in different directions, then changed directions in the air so that all of them came at Maelyne from different directions. She casually formed a shield over the both of us and the attacks were all stopped.

“We need to get you to safety,” Maelyne told me. “Emnyle can return you home.”

Maelyne gestured to the guard and he was suddenly trapped within a bubble as well. A moment later, his bubble shot off into the distance, taking him with it until he was completely out of my sight. However, she didn’t do that to Br’ieze. Instead, she fired a blast of golden energy at the trapped goddess, which went through the bubble and hit Br’ieze in the chest. Br’ieze collapsed and went motionless. The bubble vanished and she was unceremoniously dropped right into the crater.

Since Br’ieze and the guard had both been dealt with, Maelyne turned and calmly walked away from the crater and the site of her imprisonment. I followed behind, feeling like I was a kid trying to keep up with adult. It was pretty embarrassing, but that seemed about normal for a human in a place like this. At least this time, I wasn’t being picked up and carried like a toddler.

As we walked, I could feel the ground shaking, and it only grew more intense. Sounds of crashing and explosions echoed from ahead of us, but Maelyne didn’t hesitate to walk straight towards the source, leaving me running to keep up.

Once we were past the magical sensors and traps, I finally saw the source of the noise and shaking. Kraag was there, and he’d created a massive stone wall about fifty feet tall, which was blocking enemy gods from coming at us. Several of these other gods were currently trying to break through the wall, which I could see since sections of it kept breaking open and giving a glimpse of those on the other side. However, the wall immediately repaired itself before they could actually come through these openings.

When one god leapt right over the wall, he was suddenly shot full of silver bolts, which seemed to come from nowhere. Obviously, Armestia was hiding somewhere and playing sniper, much like how Cassandra did.

“Maelyne,” Kraag said in an even tone. “It is good to see you free…”

“It is good to be free,” Maelyne responded with a faint smile. “However, I would have preferred to not find myself immediately on the field of battle…”

“That was not our choice,” Kraag told her. “The anarchists have responded in much greater numbers than anticipated.”

At this point, several more gods arrived on our side. I had absolutely no idea who they were, or whether or not they might have champions I’d met during the contests. What I did know was that they faced the wall, ready to fight anyone who broke through.

Maybe the newcomers knew something I didn’t, because a couple seconds later, a huge section of the wall exploded. Kr’aethar stepped through the shattered wall while his allies quickly rushed through behind him. In an instant, Kr’aethar and Kraag were going at each other.

“Remain close to me,” Maelyne said, giving me a reassuring smile that promised she’d keep me safe.

Gods on both sides were now going at each other in a way that reminded me a little too much of the battles I’d been in recently, just with a LOT more firepower. The ground cracked and shattered, creating a gaping chasm that ran right to a building. The building crumbled and fell into the chasm as I watched.

A pillar of blue energy exploded from beneath one god and shot up all the way into the sky. Above me, everything became tinged with the blue glow, until red lightning suddenly began crashing down, striking one god and blasting a large hole in the ground. At the same time, Kr’aethor literally threw Kraag through the wall of a building, then charged in after him.

“This is freaking insane,” I gasped, horrified by the casual destruction.

The city was literally being destroyed as I watched. And in spite of all the chaos and destruction, I still the feeling that the gods were holding back. Perhaps, even with all this going on, they still feared what would happen to their world if they all cut loose with everything they had.

“This battle is escalating much further than I think anyone intended,” Maelyne commented. “Even our foes.”

One thing I quickly noticed was that our side seemed to have the advantage, and that was mostly due to Maelyne. She put shields on every one of her allies, protecting them while they fought and keeping them from being injured or killed. The enemy gods didn’t have that kind of protection so went down a lot easier.

Maelyne held out her hands and shield walls appeared throughout the battlefield, blocking multiple attacks at once while simultaneously giving our allies a place to take cover. I watched in amazement since I could only create two shield walls at one time, and only within a couple feet of me. Maelyne had two dozen, and some of them were more than a hundred yards away. This was a demonstration of the same power that she’d given Heather and me, but on a whole different level.

This whole display was a powerful demonstration of how even a purely defensive power could affect the outcome of a battle. However, I’d seen Maelyne using offensive abilities against Br’ieze and the guard, and she wasn’t doing that now. Why not? Then I suddenly wondered if she was holding back because of me, because she wanted to demonstrate how powerful her defensive abilities really were.

Before I could ask Maelyne, things suddenly shifted. A massive wave of flames rushed down the streets and paths, rolling over some buildings and even opposing gods, who screamed in pain. Maelyne threw out her hands and created shield walls in front of everyone on our side, which was in addition to the personal shields they already had. The burning wave continued rolling through the battle, but only our enemies were hurt by it, thanks to Maelyne’s power.

“Pfath,” Maelyne said in Oraevian, using an almost formal tone. “God of fire and pain.”

Even as the flames faded away, a figure emerged from where they’d been. He was nearly twenty feet tall and looked to be made of living fire. Even if Maelyne hadn’t named him, there would have been no mistaking who this was.

Maelyne stared at Pfath with a hard glare that was filled with a cold fury. Pfath had played a large part in starting this war, but even if he hadn’t done that, and if he hadn’t been a part of having me kidnapped and tortured, the fact that he’d just casually injured his own allies would have been enough to piss her off.

“I am still weak from my imprisonment,” Maelyne told me with a grim expression. “And I have used up far too much of my remaining power in this battle…” Her eyes narrowed. “But I cannot let this affront stand…”

With those words, Maelyne held out her hands and fired a massive blast of gold energy, right at Pfath. The flaming god saw the attack coming and moved aside so that the blast only caught him in the shoulder. Still, he was thrown back and his shoulder was torn to pieces. Char and embers exploded from the ruined shoulder and what little that remained of his arm flickered and faded.

A bolt of silvery energy suddenly struck Pfath in his other shoulder, and my eyes were drawn to Armestia, who had come out of hiding. She stood on top of the ruined wall, on a part that was still standing. She didn’t have a bow in hand, though when she held out her hands, two more bolts of energy shot out.

“I THINK NOT,” a deep and grating voice announced, right before Kr’aethar stepped in front of Pfath. The bolts of silver energy struck him in the chest but didn’t seem to have any effect all. “MY ALLY WILL NOT FALL TO SUCH A WEAK ATTACK…”

Kraag came out of the ruins of a nearby building and charged at Kr’aethar…at a slow pace. Don hadn’t been much for moving fast, and it seemed that he’d inherited that from his patron.

Suddenly, Maelyne snapped around and formed a shield wall right in front of her. An instant later, faster than I could follow, a flash of purple hit her shield and went right through it, then tore right through her side. Maelyne yelped in pain and grabbed her side, which was torn open and bleeding what almost looked like liquid light.

This all happened in the blink of an eye, and it took me a couple more seconds to catch up, and to notice the figure standing…floating in front of us. He was about ten feet tall, with a black body that seemed to be made of the darkest, hungriest black I could imagine. Green smoke and rags were wrapped around this black body, which made it a little more solid looking. And then, the creature held a giant scythe made of purple energy.

“Arakthiel,” I whispered with a gulp, recognizing the cold and hungry power that radiated from him.

“You waited until I was tired and distracted,” Maelyne said with a grimace of pain, “then struck me from behind. I would expect nothing else from a coward.”

“Cunning and strategy,” Arakthiel responded in his eerie voice, which sounded even stranger now that it was coming from his own throat rather than the one he’d borrowed from Robe. “Not cowardice.”

I took a fearful step back, knowing that he was well beyond my ability to fight now. My eyes darted to the ground beneath him, which was dissolving and vanishing, simply from being in his presence.

“Maelyne,” I said, giving her a worried look. She was tired, injured, and obviously in a lot of pain.

Arakthiel swung his energy scythe at Maelyne again, but this time, she suddenly had a spear in hand, which she used to block his attack. The spear immediately began to burn and dissolve, but she used it to launch a couple more attacks. They traded blows for only a few seconds before the spear vanished. A moment later, a bolt of silver energy hit Arakthiel from behind.

Arakthiel howled in pain, while Maelyne gave him a dark smile, saying, “Cunning and strategy.”

Armestia fired several more bolts at Arakthiel, but he moved in a near blur, dodging each of them. While doing so, a cloud of purple energy began building around him, one that radiated a sense of hunger and death.

“Now to destroy you, Maelyne,” the god of the abyss exclaimed. “And your little champion too…”

A dozen bolts of silver energy came flying at Arakthiel, hitting the area where he’d been floating just a moment earlier. Two of them even hit him, though not before he released the mass of purple energy.

“NO!” Maelyne cried out, throwing up several shield walls in front of us, trying to stop the purple energy. However, it oozed around the shield walls, dissolving them in the process.

Maelyne couldn’t protect us with a bubble shield, the way she’d used to survive her previous attacks, because Arakthiel’s energy was too close and would have caught inside the shield as well. She threw another ‘companion’ shield on me while desperately trying to push back the purple energy, but it was no use. It had us completely surrounded and enveloped.

“YOU WILL NOT HAVE HER!” Maelyne screamed with a fierce determination.

She threw herself over me, using her own body to shield me from the purple energy. I could see it running over Maelyne, eating away at her flesh as though it was a powerful acid. I could see the agony in her eyes…and the determination.

“MAELYNE!” I cried out in shock and horror.

“I will protect you,” Maelyne promised, even as glowing blood dribbled from her lips.

Maelyne put her hands on each side of my face and looked me in the eyes. I could see the fear and worry in hers, though they weren’t for her. They were for me. She was pushing as much mana into my shield as she could, holding it in place, in spite of the fact that the purple energy was trying to eat through it. I could tell that she no longer had the energy to spare for that either.

“If this touches you,” Maelyne said in a whisper, as though she had a hard time getting out the words, “it will destroy you utterly. I won’t let that happen. I will protect you from that fate…”

All I could do was stare back at her in horror, and not only for myself. Maelyne was dying right before my eyes. In desperation, I tried healing her, but even as I did this, I knew that I didn’t have nearly enough mana or power to even make a dent in this. But still, I tried, hitting her again and again. Maelyne just smiled at me with a look of pride.

“Do…you…trust…me?” she asked, her voice almost gone.

“Yes,” I answered without hesitation.

Maelyne smiled at that, then bent down and kissed my forehead, almost like a mother kissing a small child. As soon as she was done with that, she suddenly twisted my head. I felt a sharp pain in my neck, and then there was only darkness.

I was alone. I stood in the middle of a vast empty darkness with no sign of anyone else. Since I’d been here once before, I knew exactly what this meant. I was dead. Again.

This was the same place where I’d found myself after Nadine had murdered me, the place where I’d first met Maelyne. However, this time, I hadn’t been murdered by an enemy. I’d been killed by someone I trusted.

“Jeri,” a voice said from behind me.

Turning around, I saw Maelyne standing there, though something was obviously wrong. She still glowed, but it was fainter than normal, and she was…transparent. I could see right through her. In fact, I could barely even feel that aura of power she usually radiated.

“You killed me,” I accused.

“To save you,” Maelyne responded with a sad smile. “To protect you from something far worse…”

“Arakthiel,” I whispered, shuddering a little as I did so. “He’s… Scary…”

Maelyne nodded. “His power is…an abomination. If he’d killed you, he would have destroyed you utterly. Your soul would have been consigned to oblivion. But by killing you myself, before he had the chance, I have the opportunity to resurrect you…to restore you to life.”

“So, you can bring me back again?” I asked in relief.

I knew that patrons could bring back their champions, but that they could only do it a couple times. She’d already brought me back once, in Heather’s body, but I had no idea how many times she may have brought Heather back before then. During this whole game, it had seemed safest to just go with the assumption that I didn’t have any more chances.

“Yes,” Maelyne told me with a pained expression. “One last time. I can even restore you on your own world, since this is one of the few ways through the veil between worlds, albeit, a way that my own kind cannot use.”

I let out a sigh of relief at that, then stared at Maelyne. She looked bad. Really bad.

“What about you?” I asked, feeling worried for her. “Will you be all right?”

“No,” she answered quietly. “You are not the only one who died.”

“WHAT?” I gasped in surprise.

I’d seen Maelyne being injured by that purple cloud, and had seen her dying because of it. But she was standing right in front of me, so I’d assumed that she’d somehow survived.

“I have taken my last breath,” Maelyne continued, “and have spilled my last drop of blood. Arakthiel’s power has destroyed my body entirely, leaving nothing behind. I am here with the last vestiges of my life and power, a brief pause on my journey to the hereafter.”

“But you’re a goddess,” I protested.

Maelyne gave me another sad smile. “Even my kind can die, though it is normally very difficult to kill us, and even harder to destroy our souls. My end was certain, the moment he struck me with his blade. At that instant, his power began to consume me…to eat away at my life. Once that began, nothing in my power could stop it.”

“But can’t you just rez yourself” I pleased with tears in my eyes. “If you can bring me back…”

“I fear that is not possible,” Maelyne answered in a gentle tone. “If my body remained intact, there would have been a chance, but Arakthiel ensured that this was not so.”

“But…,” I tried again, feeling almost desperate to find a way to save her.

“There is no need to fear death,” Maelyne assured me with a gentle smile. “It is merely the next state of existence. However, your time has not yet come. There is too much for you to do, to learn, and to live for. One day your time will truly come, and when it does, I hope we will meet again. But for now, there are people who require your protection…”

I stared up at Maelyne, still stunned and shaken by what she’d told me…and incredibly sad. I hadn’t known Maelyne all that long, but in that time, she’d become very important to me, and not just as a patron.

“But how can I protect them?” I asked with a grief-filled resignation. “I can’t fight them. I’ve tried. They’re too powerful.”

“You cannot fight our enemies directly,” Maelyne agreed with a faint smile. “They are far too powerful for you to face directly. However, you can use their own strategy against them. While they ride mortal bodies, they are vulnerable and can be injured.”

I shook my head in disagreement. “That doesn’t work. They just shake it off and heal…”

“They are gods,” Maelyne said, stating the obvious. “Even when riding mortal flesh. Truly injuring them requires something…special.”

I blinked at that. “Something special?”

Maelyne stared down at me with a strange smile. “I have one final gift for you, my former champion,” she announced, her odd smile deepening for some reason. “One that will allow you to retain your abilities, even when you no longer have a patron. One that will allow you to defeat our enemies and protect your people.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly, not sure how I should respond to this. Maelyne was basically on her deathbed, saying her final words, and we both knew it.

“Destroy their host bodies,” Maelyne instructed me. “That will drive them from your world and leave them severely injured and weakened in mine. That will give my allies the opportunity they need to defeat these treacherous creatures for good.”

“I’ll do my best,” I promised, not bothering to wipe away the tears that were running down my cheeks. “It’s…It’s been an honor, being your champion.”

“The honor was mine,” Maelyne responded with a smile.

Maelyne was even more transparent than before, and I could barely even feel her presence. She was fading fast.

“I no longer need a champion,” she told me with a gentle smile, “though your friends and loved ones do. Go back and protect them. Protect your world.”

With a nod, I promised, “I will.” Then I tearfully added, “I’ll miss you…”

The dying goddess crouched down in front of me and gently took my face in her hands. In spite of what she’d done the last time she did this, I wasn’t at all worried or afraid that she’d hurt me.

“And I will miss you too,” she responded in a whisper. “Until we meet again…my daughter.”

With that, she bent down and kissed my forehead again, and suddenly, everything changed.

--------------------

I was alive. I was also stunned, confused, and…sad.

I remembered the vast darkness after my death. I remembered my conversation with Maelyne…and her kiss goodbye. I remember being filled with energy and life, with a bright light, and then the feeling like I was being born all over again.

When I opened my eyes, I was bombarded with new popups, but I was still too dazed to make sense of that now. I pushed that aside for the moment and just tried to deal with things one at a time. The first thing I needed to deal with was the question of where I was.

“JERI!” an excited voice suddenly yelled.

“Teri,” I responded at seeing her run into the room.

It was only at this point that I my senses came back to me enough to realize that I was laying on the floor of the living room, in the house I shared with Lauren and Cassandra. I was home. I was also completely naked, except for a silver bracelet on my wrist.

“You’re back,” Teri exclaimed as she rushed over and grabbed me in a hug, which was a bit awkward sine I didn’t have any clothes on.

“Yeah,” I said, sitting up and looking down at myself. “I guess I am…”

I ran my hands over my body, letting out a sigh of relief. It felt good to be alive again…to have a body again. I hadn’t been dead for very long, but it had been long enough to remind me just how much I preferred being alive.

And as I ran my hands over my soft skin, then my breasts, I let out a sigh of relief. It was nice to have my body back. However, a moment later, I suddenly wondered when I’d begun to think of this as ‘my’ body rather than Heather’s.

My thoughts were interrupted by several more people rushing into the room and crying out variations of, “You’re back.”

“And you’re naked,” Matt blurted out in surprise.

“Watch it,” Lauren exclaimed, punching Matt in the arm and giving him a firm glare while I tried covering myself up.

“Are you okay?” Cassandra asked as she took a blanked that was folded over the back of the couch and draped it over me. “We were worried…”

“I’m…fine,” I lied as I got to my feet, pulling the blanket around me and holding it in place.

“What the fuck happened?” Cassandra demanded with a worried look. “Did you just get rezzed?”

I took a deep breath and tried to center myself. I was still a bit shaken up by everything that had happened. “Yeah, I was just rezzed.”

Matt’s eyes went wide. “That’s why you suddenly popped up naked…”

“Who did it?” Teri demanded angrily, as if she was already planning to hunt them down for revenge. “Who killed you?”

“Maelyne,” I answered, earning several looks of surprise and confusion. “She only killed me to keep Arakthiel from doing it first…”

“What’s been going on?” Matt asked me with a worried look. “What in the world happened to you?”

I let out a wary sigh, then looked around. Everyone was staring at me expectantly, with a lot of questions burning in their eyes. This was going to take some explaining and I wanted to get my head together first.

“I need something to eat first,” I announced. “Then I’ll explain…”

Lauren nodded at that. “I’ll get you something then.”

“Thanks,” I told her, sitting down on one of the chairs while being careful to keep the blanked wrapped around me.

While I sat there waiting on my food, I asked a few questions of my own and found out what had happened after the failed raid. Since the attack had been such a failure, and because all the survivors were afraid that Harker had compromised the hideout, the whole ‘rebel army’ had broken apart, and everyone went their separate ways. All my friends came back to the house since Armestia had at least provided a little protection for this place.

Lauren came back with a cup of tea and a plate with a couple sandwiches, which I quickly began to devour. However, I took my time as I sipped the tea, especially when I saw how impatient everyone was to hear about what had happened to me.

“You never came back with us,” Teri blurted out first.

“They got the Cleaner,” I responded, pausing to take a sip of tea. “All his portals vanished, and I couldn’t get through the last one in time…”

“I can’t believe you even survived that shit,” Cassandra said. “But how the hell does Maelyne get involved?”

After taking another sip from my tea, I began to explain what had happened. I told them how I’d rescued the Cleaner, then went into the world of the gods in order to try rescuing Maelyne. I got some skeptical looks at this.

“That reminds me,” I told Cassandra as I removed the silver bracelet and handed it to her. “Armestia asked me to give this to you. It makes it so people…and gods…can’t really sense your presence. I gave it a trial run for you, and it definitely works.”

“Really?” Cassandra asked, staring at the bracelet before putting it on. “You really met Armestia in person?”

“Yeah,” I responded with a chuckle. “She seemed pretty nice. Anyway, I ran into her, then she introduced me to a couple other gods, and they helped me rescue Maelyne. Well, they gave me the key to free her, then let me sneak in since I wasn’t powerful enough to trip any of the sensors around her prison.”

“So, you risked your life to save Maelyne,” Teri exclaimed, “and she goes and kills you?” She snorted at that, looking angry. “That’s just lame… If I ever see her…”

“She’s dead,” I blurted out with tears starting to form. Everyone stared at me in surprise. “Maelyne died saving my life.”

“What?” Cassandra gasped. “But she’s a fucking goddess…”

“Arakthiel got us with some kind of alpha strike,” I explained quietly, shuddering as I remembered it. “Maelyne…she killed me to keep him from doing it… The last thing she did, was rez me and send me back…”

“Holy shit,” Cassandra whispered, obviously stunned by the idea that a goddess could be killed.

“I’m…sorry for your loss,” Lauren said in a gentle voice. “I know she was important to you…”

“She was my patron,” I responded quietly, though that was an understatement. Maelyne had been my patron, but she’d also become something a little more, though I didn’t know how to describe it.

“Fuck,” Cassandra gasped.

“Are you still a champion?” Matt asked, giving me a worried look. “Do you still have your abilities?” He paused for a moment to look at his own screen. “I still have mine…”

I blinked at that, remembering what Maelyne and I had talked about before she’d faded away. “She said she was going to give me some kind of gift that would let me keep my abilities…and let me beat those bastards.”

“That would be useful,” Matt commented wryly.

“What is it?” Teri asked.

“I…don’t know,” I admitted. “I haven’t really looked yet.”

With that, I finally turned my attention to the pupups that had appeared when I first woke up again. I’d pushed them out of my mind and sight, but it only took a thought to bring them back.

YOU HAVE BEEN RESSURECTED.

The first popup was pretty obvious and not even worth the effort of reading. I didn’t need any popup to tell me that I’d been resurrected. However, the second popup caught my full attention.

MAELYNE, GODDESS OF PROTECTION AND LOYALTY CONSIDERS YOU AS A DAUGHTER AND HAS GIFTED YOU WITH MAELYNE’S GREATER BLESSING.

MAELYNE’S GREATER BLESSING: YOU POSSESS A DEVINE SPARK, A SLIVER OF MAELYNE’S ESSENCE. DIVINITY AND DIVINE POWER HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED.

“What the…?” I gasped, staring at my screen in stunned amazement.

“What’s wrong?” Teri asked with a worried look.

I read through the popup several times, trying to make sense of what it said. Then I looked at the next popup, which was nearly as surprising.

YOU HAVE ACQUIRED DIVINITY 1: +1 TO ALL ATTRIBUTES. +100 TO ALL RESOURCE ATTRIBUTES.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I read this. That explained why I felt so good and energized. I’d thought it was just a side effect of being resurrected. I gulped and looked over my stat sheet.

NAME: JAERI
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 18
TITLE: DEMI-GODDESS OF LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: 100%
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.

DIVINITY: 1
-
STRENGTH: 10
STAMINA: 11
ENDURANCE: 12
-
AGILITY: 13
REFLEXES: 10
DEXTERITY: 11
-
INTELLIGENCE: 14
CHARISMA: 15
AWARENESS: 12
-
MANA POOL: 700
MANA RECOVERY: 537
HEALTH: 390
REGENERATION: 390
DIVINE POWER: 100

“No way,” I gasped with my mouth just dropping open. This wasn’t possible.

“What’s wrong?” Cassandra asked.

“Nothing,” I responded with a shaky voice. “Maelyne gave me…” I paused at that, not sure how to describe what she’d given me. Tears ran down my cheeks as I said, “It says she thought of me as her daughter…”

Cassandra didn’t say a word to that. She just reached out and gave me a hug.

I climbed out of the bath tub and stretched. That felt nice. My whole body felt good, especially considering everything that I’d recently been through, such as getting killed again, and being resurrected only yesterday.

While I dried off, I examined my body, taking careful note of all the changes. Yesterday, I’d gained a lot of attribute points…nine in total, or even ten if I included the new ‘divinity’ attribute. Since one point in that one had given me a single point in every other attribute, I wasn’t going to count that among the rest. It was…different. Nine attribute points was a lot, even if they were all spread out so that I only got one point in each attribute. It all added up.

Over the last twenty-four hours, or actually a little less, my body had definitely changed. I’d grown about an inch taller, had become more graceful, more attractive, and my body had even filled out a little more, somehow becoming a little more athletic and a little curvier where it counted at the same time. None of these changes was very impressive or noticeable on their own, but when combined…

“Wow,” I said, not sure of what else to think about this.

I had mixed emotions about all these changes. A part of me, the vain part, was quite pleased by it all and wanted even more. However, the shattered remnants of my old masculinity just whimpered a little more. That part of me was in a losing battle and knew it, though it wasn’t about to just give up and fade away without a fight.

“At least I got a little taller, stronger, and tougher because of this,” I told myself awkwardly.

That didn’t do a lot to assuage my faded male pride. There was no denying that I looked good. In fact, I looked like I could be a fitness model. Of course, I wasn’t nearly as jacked as Teri, and it would take a few more points in strength, or a lot of time in the gym, before I was at her level. I wasn’t nearly as tall or strong as I used to be, but every little bit I gained made me feel a little better.

Then with a snort, I reminded myself that the extra height and muscles might help my pride, or at least, help me feel like I’m not so small and weak…but it didn’t do crap for my abilities. And more importantly, it didn’t really help me protect my friends.

I finished drying my body, then went to work on my hair. I smiled faintly as I pulled out a brush and began my daily ritual. It was calm, relaxing, and let me think things through while I worked. And at the moment, I had a lot of things to consider.

A short time later, I got dressed, discovering a new problem in the process. I was going to need new clothes again because my latest growth spurt meant that everything I had was now a little too tight.

When I went to the kitchen for breakfast, I found Lauren was already up and making breakfast for herself. She was in the middle of making an omelet, while having one of her class books open beside her. I smiled faintly at the sight.

“You want one too?” Lauren asked me.

“Sure,” I answered, always happy to let someone else make breakfast for me.

“Okay,” Lauren said as she began fixing up another omelet. After a few seconds, she gave me a smug look and added, “But that means you get to take care of the dishes.”

“Fine,” I grumbled without much enthusiasm. I didn’t want to do dishes but didn’t bother to argue since it was only fair.

I was about halfway through eating my breakfast when Cassandra finally made her morning appearance, having obviously climbed out of bed a bit later than Lauren or I. She was wearing a black robe with little images of bats and skulls all over it.

“Coffee,” Cassandra moaned in a tone that I might have expected a zombie to say, ‘brains…’

Cassandra poured herself a cup and then sat down beside me. She drank about half the cup before she started to really come alive again.

“I talked with Armestia,” Cassandra finally said.

“So, how’s she doing?” Lauren asked, though I wasn’t sure if she was just being polite, if she was honestly curious, or if she was playing her part to get the conversation going.

Cassandra took another long sip of coffee before answering. “She didn’t come right out and say it, but she feels pretty bad about what happened with Maelyne. I think she blames herself for not being able to kill Aralthiel before…”

I nodded at that. “She kept shooting at him,” I said, not really sure if ‘shooting’ was the right term. I hadn’t seen Armestia using a bow or anything, just firing this blasts from her hand. “But that bastard was so fast…”

“He’s a god,” Lauren pointed out.

Cassandra gave me an odd look. “I still can’t believe you actually met Armestia in person. I haven’t even seen her in person, and I’m her champion…”

“She seemed nice,” I offered a little awkwardly.

“Well, she said that she’s pleased you survived,” Cassandra told me with a wry smile. “And that she’s surprised by what Maelyne did.”

“Oh?” I asked, playing innocent.

Cassandra gave me a suspicious look. “Armestia didn’t give me any details, but she said you’re keeping a secret from me.”

“You’ve got me,” I said with a dramatic sigh. “I have a deep dark secret.” I looked around, then in a conspiratorial tone, I said, “I used to be a guy.”

Lauren burst out laughing. “Yeah, I think we know that. You keep leaving the toilet seat up, though I have absolutely no idea why. It’s not like you pee standing up anymore.”

Cassandra snickered, but gave me another look. “Somehow, I don’t think that is what she was talking about.”

“Fine,” I said, letting out another sigh. “Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this and didn’t know how to bring it up…”

“You said that Maelyne gave you a new gift,” Cassandra said. “Does this have something to do with that.”

“Yeah,” I agreed with a frown.

“You feel a bit different somehow, and I noticed that some of your stats are a little higher,” Cassandra continued, still staring at me. “Definitely a little more charisma, and that isn’t the only one.”

“No,” I agreed with a sigh. “It isn’t.”

Lauren snorted. “Well, stop being so mysterious and spill it already…”

I chuckled at that for a moment, then looked at Cassandra. “I told you how Maelyne gave me a last gift, one she said would help against those bastards…”

“I remember,” Cassandra said. “You said it was called Maelyne’s Greater Blessing, but you didn’t say what it did.”

“It gives me a divine spark,” I reluctantly explain. “Apparently, it’s a piece of Maelyne’s essence or something. I don’t really understand what it is…only what it did. And then, only a little bit.”

“Now you’re really getting me curious,” Cassandra said.

I hesitated, still not certainly how to explain this part, especially when I didn’t understand it myself. “My status screen doesn’t list a patron anymore. Instead, it says that I’m the demi-goddess of loyalty and protection.”

Lauren nearly spat out her coffee while Cassandra gasped, “What the fuck does that mean?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted with a shrug. “I think it’s just a technicality thing, just because I have that divine spark now.”

“And what does it do?” Lauren asked me. “Besides giving you a fancy title?”

I snorted at the title. “I have a divinity attribute now,” I said, giving Cassandra a wry smile. “And a divine power resource attribute…just like what Maelyne had on her stat sheet, but a LOT less.” Then so I didn’t sound like I was trying to brag or anything, I quickly added, “I only have a divinity of one.”

“And what does that mean?” Lauren asked.

“What does divinity do?” Cassandra asked at the same time.

I brought up my status screen and clicked on ‘divinity’ for an explanation.

INCREASES THE MAXIMUM POTENTIAL FOR ALL ATTRIBUTES AND RESOURCES. HIGHER LEVELS OF THIS TRAIT INCREASE THE POWER AND RESILENCE OF THE BODY AND SOUL.

“It says it increases my maximum potential,” I answered. “But it also gave me plus one to all my attributes.”

“To ALL your attributes?” Cassandra asked. When I nodded agreement, she exclaimed, “Fuck… That’s like, nine fucking points…”

“Yeah,” I agreed with a wry smile. “It was a bit surprising… But since they’re all spread out, it’s not like any one thing improved all that much.”

“True,” Cassandra agreed. “But I don’t think Maelyne would have given you all that if it didn’t help…”

I nodded at that. “Maelyne told me that we couldn’t hurt the gods…even when they were using human bodies. She said it takes something special.”

“You said that you found Mary’s body…and Harker’s,” Cassandra said thoughtfully. “But they were both possessed…which means that god possessed bodies can be taken down…”

“By other gods,” I said, having considered this myself. “Or by people who have access to divine power.”

Cassandra’s eyes lit up at that. “Holy shit… You mean, you might be able to kill those fuckers?”

“I think so,” I said with a sigh. “I mean, a lot of that is assumption, but I’m pretty sure that’s why Maelyne gave me this. I still won’t be able to kill the gods, but if I figure out how to use this divine power…I might be able to take out their host bodies and knock them back to their own world…with a bloody lip at least.”

“Now THAT sounds promising,” Lauren said.

“Definitely,” Cassandra and I both agreed.

I got up and went to make myself a cup of tea, thinking of Maelyne at the same time. After all, she was the one who’d introduced me to the stuff, though I really wish I had a way to get some of her tea for myself. Nothing else compared to it. I let out a sigh, feeling sad at her loss.

“You know,” Lauren said, giving me a thoughtful look. “Yesterday, you told us that one of your popus said that Maelyne thought of you as her daughter. Maybe… Maybe this whole thing is her way of adopting you.”

“Maybe,” I responded without much conviction. That did seem rather unlikely. She was a goddess, so it was hard to believe that she’d adopt a human, even one who’d been her champion. “I think she was just trying to give me a chance to survive and fight back.” I considered the other popups that had been waiting for me when I awoke, and the other things that Maelyne had given me. “But whatever her reasons, Maelyne paid an enormous price to give me this chance, so there is no way in hell that I’m going to let it be in vain.”

--------------------

“So, what’s it like being a goddess?” Teri asked me with a grin.

“I’m not a goddess,” I responded in annoyance.

Cassandra just smirked. “That’s not what your status sheet says…Jaeri.” She carefully pronounced the name different than the usually ‘Jeri’ so that I knew she was trying to use the altered version.

I scowled at that, wondering why I’d told Cassandra about the name that now appeared on my status screen. Apparently, Maelyne had changed my official name in the system from Heather Marie Sievers to Jaeri, probably so that I could have my own identity instead of relying entirely on Heather’s. I wasn’t sure if Maelyne had accidentally misspelled my name, or if she’d done it intentionally, though I strongly suspected the latter.

“It must be strange,” Lauren said, giving me a curious look. “I mean, turning from a guy into a girl, and then into a goddess…”

“I…am…not…a…goddess,” I said in a flat tone that earned snickers from the other girls. “I have a divinity of ONE.” I held up one finger. “That’s almost nothing. I don’t feel any different, and haven’t notice anything different. I’ve met goddesses, and trust me, I’m no goddess…not even a demi-goddess.”

With that, I picked up my cup and took a sip of my tea. At the moment, the four of us were sitting in the food court of the local mall, after having just hit a coffee ship. We’d spent the last couple hours shopping and had decided to take a break.

Honestly, I’d only wanted to pick up a few new pieces of clothing, running in, grabbing what I wanted, and then running back out. Unfortunately, Lauren had insisted on making an outing of it, and Cassandra had immediately agreed, probably just to see how uncomfortable she could make me.

I looked down at the bag of clothes that was sitting beside my chair and let out a sigh. I couldn’t believe that I had to get more clothes…again. Buying clothes all the time seemed like a waste of money. I might be a chick now, but I didn’t think that I’d ever get that whole shopping obsession that most chicks seemed to have.

My thoughts turned to Matt, who’d come to the mall with us, though he’d immediately gone off on his own. In fact, he was probably still hanging around at the game shop, and I wished I could be there with him.

“Are we safe here?” Teri abruptly asked.

Cassandra glanced around before answering. “I’ve been keeping watch and haven’t seen any threats.”

Teri nodded at that. “But being out like this…when those guys are after us…”

“We can’t just hide away for the rest of our lives,” I said with a grimace. “And they’re just as likely to find us if we stay in one place… Well, in any one place besides the house…”

Cassandra chuckled at that. “Protecting the house is about all that Armestia can do to protect us. She said that her resources are pretty stretched. In fact, I bet all the gods are busy protecting their own asses, which is why they haven’t been helping their patrons much…”

“It’s pretty bad over there,” I said, remembering how much destruction I’d seen, and just how casually it had been happening. “I mean, they’re knocking down buildings like it’s nothing, and I think Maelyne said something about them losing a few cities…”

“Fuck,” Cassandra gasped.

“Yeah, that sounds pretty bad,” Lauren agreed grimly.

“And the really scary thing,” I admitted, “was I think they were still holding back.”

We were all silent after that, at least for a minute. Finally, Teri asked, “Do you really think you can hurt those guys now?”

“I…hope so,” I said with a scowl. “Maeylne said I’d be able to, but I certainly haven’t tried it out yet.” Then I let out a long sigh, shook my head, and quietly admitted, “I don’t feel any more powerful, so I’m just not sure…”

“We need help,” Cassandra said with a grim look. “Everyone else ran off and went into hiding…”

“So much for the rebel alliance,” Teri muttered.

I smirked at that. “Someone has been spending too much time with her brother.”

“Bite me,” Teri responded, flipping me off as she did so. Cassandra smirked.

“You’re right,” I told Cassandra. “We can’t deal with this on our own, so we need to find the other champions and convince them to help again.”

Teri rolled her eyes. “After the last time, good luck with that…”

“She has a point,” Lauren said. “I mean, I wasn’t there or anything, but if everything went to hell as bad as you said it did…”

“I know,” I grumbled. “Trust me, I know.”

After this, we got up from the table to leave. I immediately noticed the way that people were looking at me, and not just the guys. People had been looking at me…staring at me, ever since I’d ended up in Heather’s body. Guys always stared at a pretty girl, but with every point of charisma I gained, the more intense those stares became.

I picked up my empty cup and mused, “Well, if guys want to keep staring at me, I might as well get some use out of that…”

With that, I went back to the coffee shop and the guy who was serving drinks. I shifted my body language with an ease that still surprised me, gave him a suggestive smile and batted my eyes. A minute later, I walked away with a free refill.

“Well, that was fun to watch,” Teri said with a snicker.

“Yes, it was,” Cassandra added with a smirk and an appreciative look.

“Well, I’m done for now,” I said, holding up my shopping bag and taking sip of my tea. “Let’s find Matt and get going. We’ve got some planning to do, and this isn’t the place to do it.”

I walked across the mall parking lot, just so I could drop my shopping bags off at the car. Personally, I was done with shopping and wanted to go home so we could work on our plans for how to deal with those three bastard gods. Unfortunately, my friends weren’t done shopping yet, and since I was outnumbered and outvoted, neither was I.

“Maybe I should go check on Matt,” I said, looking for an excuse to get away from the clothes and jewelry that Cassandra, Lauren, and Teri were interested in.

Matt was probably still hanging out in the game store, testing out one of their latest games. I wanted to be doing that too, even if I hadn’t actually played many games lately. Being stuck in a real live video game, with serious life and death consequences, kind of took the fun out of playing regular games. Still, it would be way better than going through another clothing store.

“We don’t need Matt,” Teri exclaimed. “This is a girl’s day out…”

I groaned at that, wondering why I’d ever let myself get drafted by the other side. Oh yeah, because if I hadn’t, I would have been dead for good.

“You know,” Cassandra whispered to me. “There’s a costume shop on the other side of the mall, and I saw a Slave Girl Leia costume in the window…”

Though I wasn’t a big geek like Matt, I had definitely seen the movies. Who hadn’t? “You’d look pretty good in that,” I responded with a faint grin.

Cassandra smirked, asking, “Who said it was for me?”

I blushed at that, then blushed even more deeply when Teri exclaimed, “Get a room…”

Cassandra suddenly paused and looked around with a worried expression, sniffing the air as she did so. I immediately tensed up and tried to see what had caught her attention.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I smell smoke,” Cassandra answered.

She pointed towards large cluster of buildings across from the mall, and I could see a little smoke coming from one of them, smoke that became thicker and more noticeable as I watched. Then the whole building exploded into flames.

“Aw, crap,” I exclaimed, suddenly having a VERY bad feeling about this. “Pfath?”

Cassandra hesitated a moment, staring at the building with a look of intense concentration before nodding. “Fuck. Yeah, I can feel her…but just barely.”

A couple seconds later, the neighboring buildings caught on fire as well. I could only watch in horror, knowing that as bad as things were, they were only going to get worse. I’d seen Pfath’s real body and the kind of damage he’d caused with ease. Compared to that, this was a mild campfire. Pfath finally emerged from the flames and paused to look in our direction.

“How the fuck did she find us?” Cassandra demanded, touching the silver bracelet on her wrist. “I thought this thing was supposed to keep them from sensing my presence…”

“Yeah,” I responded with a deep scowl. “But I’m not wearing one.”

“FUCK!” Cassandra spat out, shifting into her armor.

I shifted into my armor as well, saying, “Honestly, I don’t think she even noticed us until now. I think she was either amusing herself, or trying to draw some champions out of hiding…”

“You should probably get going,” Teri told Lauren, shifting into her own armor as she did so. Unfortunately, her baseball bat didn’t go into storage the way her armor did, so she didn’t currently have any weapons.

Pfath started running towards us, leaving a trail of flames on the ground behind her. The sight of it all made me a bit nervous, or more honestly, terrified. Though I’d never admit it to anyone else, everything I’d been through had left me with a touch of pyrophobia.

Cassandra began firing arrows at Pfath, including some with a little extra ‘oomph’. The arrows hit Pfath and burned away, though a couple of them seemed to blow nice sized holes in the god’s borrowed body. Unfortunately, Pfath immediately healed and kept coming at us.

“No good,” Cassandra spat out bitterly.

I threw a shield on Teri, then summoned Matt to my side. He appeared beside me, looking a bit confused.

“What the hell…?” he started, obviously wondering why I’d pulled him away from whatever he’d been doing. Then he saw Pfath and gasped, “Oh…”

Matt immediately shifted to his armor, though the only weapon he had on him was the one dagger. Still, he was better off than Teri.

“I thought we were going to come up with a plan before going after these guys,” Matt said.

“Yeah, but she decided not to cooperate,” I responded.

“Armestia’s champion,” Pfath exclaimed once she was close enough.

Pfath gave Cassandra an odd look, probably wondering why she couldn’t sense Cassandra’s presence, even though she was obviously right there. And for someone with the kind of awareness that a god must possess, that had to be a bit frustrating.

“And Maelyne’s champion,” Pfath added a few seconds later while staring at me with a cruel sneer. “How do you live, mortal? Arakthiel destroyed you along with your goddess…”

“And he did a piss poor job of it,” I responded, making sure there was a shield wall in front of me that the others were using for cover. However, I was prepared to throw up some more protection the moment I needed it.

“This sucks,” Teri blurted out. “I can’t even go punch that bitch…”

“Yeah, and it’s not like I can sneak up on her,” Matt grumbled, giving his dagger a skeptical look. Of course, he could still throw it without getting too close, but Pfath had already demonstrated her ability to simply shrug off damage.

Pfath fired a blast of flame at me and it smashed against my shield wall and quickly burned through it. I immediately threw up another shield already knew that Pfath had much more powerful attacks, so this was either something of a warm-up, or she was up to something.

“You will die screaming, mortal,” Pfath called out in Oraevian, probably having no idea that I actually understood what she said. Then she said something else, though I couldn’t quite make it out. Apparently, I didn’t have the vocabulary for that yet, though I was pretty sure it was profanity.

“Bite me,” I called back in Oraevian, which earned me a look of surprise and confusion.

“Hey, bitch,” Lauren called out, making me gasp since we’d told her to run away.

I glanced back to Lauren and was surprised to see her standing there with a gun in hand. She’d obviously decided to pull it out of her purse, and while this would normally be a good time for something like that, it was a STUPID idea when dealing with gods.

Lauren opened fire, hitting Pfath several times in the chest and stomach. The god snarled in annoyance but didn’t seem to be seriously hurt.

“Damn,” Lauren gasped, taking several nervous steps back. “I always wanted to shoot Nadine, but in my imagination, it was always a little more…effective.”

Lauren took careful aim and fired one more time, this time getting Pfath in the middle of the face. It was a messy hit that would have killed any normal human, but unfortunately, Pfath wasn’t human. She dropped to the ground but caught herself and slowly stood back up. Her ruined mess of a face healed right in front of our eyes.

“Fuck,” Cassandra gasped, looking more than a little worried.

Pfath snarled and send a wave of flame right at Lauren. Cassandra screamed in horror and looked like she was about to run to Lauren’s side, but a wall of flame separated them.

“LAUREN!” Cassandra screamed.

The flames wrapped around Lauren and surrounded her on all sides, though left an island of safety in the middle. The wall of flames began closing in, and I realized that Pfath was messing with Lauren, trying to terrify her as much as possible before killing her.

If Maelyne had been there, she could have simply created a shield around Lauren and protected her, but I didn’t have that ability. Unlike Maelyne, I couldn’t create shields around just anyone. However, there was one way I could help her.

“Come on,” I exclaimed, desperately activating one of my abilities.

“What the hell?” Lauren exclaimed with a look of surprise. A second later, a new popup appeared.

LAUREN MICHELLE GAYLE IS NOW YOUR COMPANION.

I immediately summoned my third companion to my side. Lauren appeared beside me, much to her surprise, and that of my other friends.

“When Maelyne sent me back,” I quickly explained, “I got a third companion slot.”

I threw fresh shields on all three of my companions, then quickly glanced at Lauren’s status screen.

COMPANION 3

NAME: LAUREN MICHELLE GAYLE
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 19
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: 100%
STATUS: NO INJURIES OR ILLNESSES. NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECT: TERRIFIED.
SPECIAL ABILITY: LESSER HEALING AND FORCE BLAST.

STRENGTH: 8
STAMINA: 10
ENDURANCE: 9
-
AGILITY: 10
REFLEXES: 9
DEXTERITY: 10
-
INTELLIGENCE: 13
CHARISMA: 11
AWARENESS: 12
-
MANA POOL: 100
MANA RECOVERY: 100
HEALTH: 100
REGENERATION: 100

These stats weren’t bad, and as my third companion, she’d gained +2 to intelligence, charisma, and awareness, as well as a few abilities of her own, lesser healing and force blast.

“You’ve got a couple abilities now,” I told Lauren. “Be ready to use them.”

“I do?” Lauren asked in surprise.

“You’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly,” Matt told her, before asking me, “What abilities?”

“Healing and some kind of force blast,” I answered, not taking my eyes off Pfath. “But honestly, I don’t think your force blast will be any more effective than your gun.”

Pfath blasted us with flames, though this time I threw up a shield over all of us, and it was just in time. Unlike the last attack, this one was actually intended to hurt. I grimaced as my mana slowly dropped, though I was thankful that I now had enough of it available to make good use of this ability. And thanks to ‘loyalty’, adding Lauren as a companion had just given my powers a bit of a boost.

“Fuck,” Cassandra blurted out in frustration. “We’re trapped…”

I was suddenly reminded of the way that Maelyne had been trapped within her own shield, but this wasn’t the same situation. For one thing, I didn’t have enough mana to hold out nearly as long as she did, and for another, I was pretty sure that Pfath couldn’t lock us down on her own. All she could do was try to burn us out, so this had become a contest of stamina.

“How far can you teleport?” I asked Cassandra.

“What?” she blurted out in surprise. “How did you know?”

“You can teleport?” Matt asked her in surprise.

“Awesome,” Teri added.

“It’s not really teleporting,” Cassandra finally answered. “I mean, it’s short distance, and line of sight, but if there’s anything between me and where I’m trying to go…like fire or a force field…I slam into that instead.”

“Gotcha,” I replied with a nod of understanding. That meant she couldn’t just teleport out of here. That also explained why she hadn’t just teleported over to Lauren earlier. “When I drop the shield, get some distance so you can snipe this bitch…”

“Good idea,” Cassandra responded with a snort. “Except I can’t do it when anyone watches.”

“Why the hell not?” Matt asked in surprise. “You’re not usually that shy…”

Cassandra snorted. “Armestia is the goddess of secrets, so one or two of my abilities only work when I’m using them in secret…”

“Then get ready to run,” I told her with a scowl.

Even as the flames burned around my shield, Pfath screamed out, “YOUR DYING SCREAMS WILL BE AS PRAYERS TO MY EARS…”

“This bitch is an even bigger pain in the ass than the old Nadine,” Lauren exclaimed.

The flames finally died away and I let out a sigh of relief, not sure how much longer I could have kept that up. It seemed that as powerful as Pfath was, she had her own limits as too, at least, she did while using a human body.

Dropping my shield, I said, “Now!”

Cassandra immediately began running, as did Matt and Teri. I refreshed their shields, though they both quickly ran behind some of the parked cars. Lauren remained with me, looking scared and confused.

“Don’t worry,” I promised. “I’ll protect you.”

Lauren nodded relief, then asked me, “How do I use these powers?”

“Imagine that you’ve got a button or switch in your head,” I told her. “Then push it.”

“Got it,” Lauren told me.

A second later, she fired a beam of golden energy from her hand, hitting Pfath in the chest. The god staggered back a little but wasn’t harmed.

“Damn,” Lauren exclaimed in frustration. “I was hoping…”

“Yeah,” I told her with a scowl. “These bastards are like end bosses. They shrug off just about everything…”

I threw up a shield wall and then glanced at Lauren. She seemed to be holding up all right, at least for now.

For a moment, I considered the energy blast that she’d fired at Pfath. It was a much smaller, much weaker version of what I’d seen Maelyne do, and I couldn’t help but feeling a little jealous at that. That kind of thing really would have been useful, but instead of getting that, I get an extra companion slot. Then again, if I hadn’t been given the companion slot, I never would have been able to protect Lauren.

“At least I’m not the only healer around now,” I muttered, thinking of Lauren’s healing ability.

However, like Matt’s ‘stealth’, Lauren’s ‘lesser heal’ and ‘force blast’ didn’t have a rank on them, which probably meant that they were currently stuck at a base level and couldn’t be ranked up the way my own abilities could. And that meant, even though Lauren and I both had ‘lesser heal’, the same ability, mine would be a more powerful version.

My attention went back to Pfath, who’d now formed balls of flame in each hand. It appeared that she was done with her little breather and was ready to get going again. However, she hesitated and looked around, apparently trying to decide who she should target. I had an idea.

“You’re ugly,” Teri called out from where she was hiding behind a car. “And those flames make your butt look big…”

I chuckled at that. Teri might not have the stats for a tank, but she certainly had the taunts

“Good job, Teri,” I called out, making sure to throw another shield on her. As soon as Pfath threw the fireballs in her direction, I summoned Teri back to my side and told her, “Try to keep Pfath distracted…”

“Aye aye,” Teri responded, giving me a mock solute before running back off again.

Cassandra had gotten a bit of distance and was firing arrows at Pfath again. These weren’t doing a lot of damage, but the constant barrage of arrows kept the god distracted. Matt took advantage of that to throw his dagger at Pfath, hitting her right in the back with it. The dagger vanished as Matt put it back into storage, then Matt pulled it out and repeated the attack.

“What can I do?” Lauren asked me nervously.

I glanced at Lauren again. She had her gun and force blasts, but absolutely no armor. I hesitated a moment, then told her, “Go over near Cassandra, and heal her if she needs it.”

Lauren nodded and then ran do to as I’d instructed. I let out a sigh of relief that she wasn’t arguing with me and made sure to put another shield on her.

As soon as Pfath turned to deal with Matt, I made my move. I formed another shield wall and pushed it at Pfath as hard as I could. The shield flew across the space between us and hit the god, sending her flying back and onto her butt.

Cassandra and Matt both took advantage of this to launch more attacks, and even Lauren tried to join in, though her force blasts didn’t have enough range to hit from where she was now at.

I held my spear in front of me, anchored a shield wall to it, and charged straight at Pfath. As soon as Pfath was back on her feet, I slammed into her, knocking her back. She exploded in flames, but I held a shield wall up between us to keep from getting burned. Damn, this was HOT, and NOT in the sexy way either.

“I will burn you down to your bones,” Pfath exclaimed, “and the last of Maelyne will be gone…”

Pfath began increasing the intensity of the flames, and they were starting to go around my shield. I cursed at that, knowing that it was now or never. With that, I dropped my shield and immediately felt the burning heat, though I didn’t let that stop me. Instead, I rammed my spear right into Pfath’s guts, impaling her with everything I had. I felt a strange surge of energy, then saw a burst of light, and a moment later, Pfath exploded.

I staggered back, crying from the burns and desperately trying to heal myself. One heal and I felt better. Two heals and I was almost back to full health. I’d caught Pfath by surprise after she’d moved most of the heat to the sides, so I didn’t get hit nearly as hard as I would have if I’d dropped my shield a couple seconds earlier. Still, it hurt like hell.

I took another step back, holding my spear ready and preparing to use another shield. Pfath had collapsed to the ground with nearly her entire torso destroyed. An arm was on the ground about five feet away from the rest of the body. The whole thing was still covered in flames, but they quickly died out and vanished. I still expected Pfath to jump back up, but instead, a popup appeared in front of me.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED AN OPPOSING GOD HOST.

REWARD: +1 ATTRIBUTE POINT. +300 RESOURCE ATTRIBUTE POINTS. YOUR COMPANIONS GAIN +200 RESOURCE ATTRIBUTE POINTS.

My eyes widened as I read the popup and realized what it meant. “We… We won. She’s…actually gone.”

“Awesome,” Teri exclaimed as she came out from behind a car. “Is she really gone?” She gave Pfath’s…Nadine’s remains a nervous look. They didn’t show any signs of coming back to life.

“Finally,” Cassandra said as she came over to join me with Lauren following close behind. “We finally got rid of that bitch for good…”

“You killed a god,” Lauren said, staring at me in surprise.

“Actually, we only killed her host body,” I said a little awkwardly. “And sent Pfath back home with a black eye.”

“But she isn’t here anymore,” Matt pointed out, “and that’s what counts.”

I nodded at that and looked around, finally noticing that a bunch of the cars in the parking lot had been damaged in the right, and some were even still on fire. Fortunately, my car wasn’t among them. The buildings across from the mall were still burning away and fire engines had arrived to begin putting them out. Another fire engine was coming towards us, along with some cop cars.

“Fuck,” Cassandra exclaimed with a look of annoyance. I saw where she was looking, and it wasn’t just at the cops. We had an audience, and there was no telling how people had been watching us. Since we were in the middle of a mall parking lot, it was a good bet that someone had been watching us from the very start. “We are so fucked…”

“Not necessarily,” a new voice said. I looked over and saw the Cleaner, though I wasn’t too surprised.

“I’m glad to see you’re all right,” I said. The last time I’d seen the Cleaner was after I’d helped him escape from Pfath, Arakthiel, and Kr’aethar.

The Cleaner gave me a polite nod, along with an odd look. “And I’m glad that you are doing well too…” He paused and looked around, scowling as he did so. “You had all better leave. I’ll take care of this…”

“But,” Teri started to protest.

“I may not be very good at fighting,” the Cleaner told her with a smile, “but I am very good at cleaning up messes like this. Now shoo. I have a lot of work to do here…”

I leaned back in my recliner and took a sip of tea from my cup. At the moment, I was tired, yet still riding the wave of adrenaline and excitement from earlier. What I really needed was to relax and calm down a bit.

“I can’t believe we killed a god,” Teri exclaimed from the other side of the living room. “That was AWESOME!”

“We downed a boss and even got some XP from it,” Matt said in agreement. “Pretty impressive considering that our entire raid group couldn’t do anything.”

“And we owe it all to our very own demi-goddess,” Cassandra said with a smirk, knowing how much I didn’t like being called a demi-goddess. But before I could argue or protest, she came over and gave me a kiss. That earned my forgiveness…this time.

“We’ve taken Pfath down before,” I reminded everyone. “The only difference is, this time she didn’t get back up.”

“It was still pretty badass,” Matt said with a grin. “We should be able to beat those other two with no problem.”

That was enough to make me shudder. I might have won against Pfath, but I wasn’t looking forward to facing the other two…especially Arakthiel. Robe had been scary enough because of that soul killer attack, but after what Arakthiel did to Maelyne… He truly terrified me now, and for damn good reason.

“Somehow, I don’t think it will be that easy,” Cassandra pointed out. “We’ve fought those assholes before, and they’re pretty damn tough…”

“And I’m not really any more powerful than before,” I pointed out with a sigh. “Other than giving me a few extra attribute points, the only thing that divine spark did was give me a little divine power, and from what I can tell, the only thing that did was mess with Pfath’s ability to repair her body.”

“It’s still a great secret weapon,” Matt said.

“I’m not arguing that,” I said. “But it isn’t some silver bullet to solve all our problems.”

We all went silent after this as we considered the situation. Lauren was the first one to break it, hesitantly saying, “I’m glad you saved me and all, but I hope I don’t get hauled off to one of your competitions…”

“Lucky for you, there aren’t any more competitions,” Cassandra said. Then she gave me a curious look. “How long have you had a third companion slot?”

I let out a sigh. “Since I came back. Apparently, I either earned enough XP to unlock my next ability, or Maelyne gave me a freebee when she left.” I shrugged at that. “Honestly, I didn’t think that I’d actually use it on anyone…”

When I first saw that ability, I’d actually been both surprised and disappointed. After all, I’d been hoping that my next ability, if I ever gained another one, would have been something like Lauren’s force blast, or maybe even the ability to protect people who weren’t my companions. That would have been extremely useful when we went up against those remaining gods, especially if we were able to get any other champions to help us again.

I opened my screen and looked at my latest ability, letting out a faint sigh as I did so. It might not be the ability I’d wanted, but it had let me save Lauren, and that was the important thing.

COMPANION 3-
-PERMANENTLY BIND A COMPANION TO YOUR SERVICE. THIS COMPANION GAINS +2 INTELLIGENCE, +2 CHARISMA, +2 AWARENESS, LESSER HEALING, AND FORCE BLAST. MANA POOL AND MANA RECOVERY ARE UNLOCKED.

“That reminds me,” I announced. “There’s something I’d planned on doing once we got back from the shopping trip, but in hindsight, I think I probably should have done before it.”

“What’s that?” Cassandra asked.

I looked at the ‘equipment’ page of my status screen and the new addition that had appeared there after my resurrection.

STORAGE CHEST:
-CONTAINS PACKAGE FOR JAERI
-CONTAINS PACKAGE FOR TERI CORSKEY
-CONTAINS PACKAGE FOR MATT CORSKEY
-CONTAINS PACKAGE FOR COMPANION 3

A second later, I summoned the storage chest the same way I activated my armor and weapon. It suddenly appeared in front of me, a wooden box about the same size and shape as that old-fashioned foot locker my grandma used to store her old photo albums in.

“What’s that?” Lauren demanded, giving the box a nervous look.

“A little something that popped up in my equipment page when I came back,” I explained.

“Why didn’t you say anything about this before?” Cassandra asked me.

“I thought you liked secrets,” I teased. She gave me a flat look, then flipped me off.

The chest was unlocked and opened right up without any problem. Inside, I found four smaller boxes, each of which had a name on it. Well, one of them just said ‘companion 3’, but the other three were named.

“It’s like Christmas,” I said, handing boxes to Matt, Teri, and Lauren.

Teri tore into her box first, revealing that it contained a pair of black metal spheres, a large green crystal sphere with a silver metallic band around it, and a skill box with a silver metal band.

“Ohmygod,” Teri blurted out, nearly bouncing with excitement.

The first thing Teri did was open the skill box, then she let out a gasp of surprise. A popup appeared in front of me.

COMPANION 1 HAS AQUIRED THE SKILL KICKBOXING.

KICKBOXING- RANK 1
-YOU KNOW KICKBOXING. HIGHER LEVELS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

“This is AWESOME!” Teri exclaimed, jumping up and throwing a few punches and kicks into the air.

She immediately grabbed the crystal sphere and crushed it in her hand.

COMPANION 1 HAS CLAIMED A BONUS PRIZE: +1 STRENGTH, +1 STAMINA, AND +1 ENDURANCE.

“YES!” she exclaimed with a broad grin. She flexed her muscles and announced, “This is gonna be awesome. I’m gonna be so strong.”

I felt another stirring of jealousy at Teri’s good fortune. At this rate, I was never going to catch up to her.

“What do I do with these?” Teri asked, holding up the two black metal spheres.

“No idea,” Cassandra answered. “I’ve never seen black spheres before. Then again, I’ve never seen any skill boxes or crystal spheres that work for companions.”

Teri cautiously squeezed one of the black metal spheres in her hand, and it suddenly began to melt, grow, and take on a new shape. In mere seconds, Teri was holding what looked like a silver and black baseball bat, with metal studs all along the sides. It was a war club.

“Oooooh,” Teri said, swinging the war club a few times and grinning broadly.

She grabbed the other black sphere and squeezed it. Like the first one, it melted, then began growing and taking on a new shape. Seconds later, she held a shield. It was triangular shaped and a bit small to protect her full body, but would probably still be useful. I stared at both weapons, then checked out their stats.

WEAPONS:

CLUB-
-20% ADDITIONAL DAMAGE

SHIELD-
-HIGHLY RESISTANT TO DAMAGE

“Very nice,” I said in agreement. “And the best thing is, those can go into storage with your armor.”

“Now I’m really curious about these,” Matt said, revealing the contents of his box.

Matt had a skill box with a silver band, one black metal sphere, a blue crystal sphere with a silver band, and glass tube containing a dozen glowing golden spheres. Like Teri, the first thing he did was open the skill box.

COMPANION 2 HAS AQUIRED THE SKILL KUNG FU.

KUNG FU- RANK 1
-YOU KNOW KUNG FU. HIGHER LEVELS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

Matt grinned as he announced, “I know kung fu.” Then he crushed the crystal sphere.

COMPANION 2 HAS CLAIMED A BONUS PRIZE: +1 AGILITY, +1 REFLEXES, AND +1 DEXTERITY.

“Nice,” Matt said with a smirk. “Very nice.”

He followed that up by squeezing the black metal sphere. And just like with Teri, it began to melt and reform, growing and taking a new shape. Seconds later, he held a black and silver paintball gun. His eyes gleamed with excitement.

PAINTBALL GUN-
-DOUBLES RANGE AND ACCURACY

For a moment, Matt just stared at the paintball gun, then his eyes went to the glass tube with the glowing marbles. He held the tube up next to the paintball gun and I suddenly realized that this was a tube of ammunition, though I suspected they were more than mere paintballs.

“I guess it’s my turn,” Lauren said, revealing the contents of her own box.

Lauren’s box contained a black metal sphere, a white metal sphere, a red crystal sphere with a silver band around it, and a skill box with a silver metal band. She looked these all over and then followed Matt and Teri’s example by opening the skill box first.

COMPANION 3 HAS ACQUIRED THE SKILL STAFF FIGHTING RANK 1

“Well,” I said, gesturing to the black metal ball. “I think we can guess what weapon you’re getting.”

“I suppose I should see,” Lauren responded, looking a little nervous as she squeezed the sphere. A couple seconds later, she had a black and silver staff in her hand, with a clear crystal at the head.

WEAPON: STAFF
-ABILITIES COST 10% LESS MANA

“What does the white one do?” I asked Cassandra, though I already had my suspicions.

“No fucking clue,” Cassandra responded, giving the white metal sphere a curious look.

When Lauren squeezed the white sphere, melted and began flowing up her arm, earning a squeal of surprise. She jumped to her feet and began shaking it off, or at least trying to. However, the white liquid kept spreading up her arm, then over her entire body.

“Take it easy,” I told Lauren with a faint smile. “I think it’s turning into armor…”

A few seconds later my suspicions were proven correct. Lauren was now wearing her own set of clothie armor, very similar in style to my own. Hers was white with red trim, and like mine, also resembled a dress. I looked her over, then checked her armor’s stats.

ARMOR: LIGHT ARMOR
-ARMOR RATING 60
-20% PROTECTION FROM ALL MAGICAL DAMAGE
-PREVENTS THE WEARER FROM BEING PHOTOGRAPHED OR RECORDED BY NON-MAGICAL MEANS

“Not bad,” I said with a nod of approval. “About the same as my armor.”

“It looks good on you,” Cassandra assured her.

“Not exactly my style though,” Lauren said, looking down at herself with a skeptical expression.

The last item from Lauren’s box was the red crystal sphere. She crushed it in her hand and I immediately received a popup.

COMPANION 3 HAS CLAIMED A BONUS PRIZE: +1 INTELLIGENCE, +1 CHARISMA, AND +1 AWARENESS.

“That should be useful,” I told Lauren, who still looked a little stunned. “Plus three to all your mental stats in such a short time…”

“Just don’t go preening around like Heather did when she got the charisma,” Cassandra teased her.

Matt stared at Lauren for a moment, apparently noticing the increased charisma. I could feel the changes to her charisma, and a stronger presence from her.

“The intelligence boost should be really useful for classes,” Matt pointed out.

“True,” Lauren agreed with a smile. “But I’m not looking forward to any of this other stuff… She gestured down at herself and at the staff. “I’m not a fighter, and don’t want to put myself in danger.”

Cassandra said, “The contests are over, so you probably won’t be hauled off against your will. You can get the benefits, without all the risks.”

“And there are some great benefits,” Matt added with a nod of agreement. “If you’ve just been given a few points in intelligence, then there’s a good chance that you’re the smartest person here now.”

Lauren snorted at that, then gave me a wry look. “Jeri, how many points do you have in intelligence.”

I hesitated a moment before answering, “Fourteen.”

“WHAT?” Matt gave me a look of surprise. “But I’ve only got twelve.”

“I’m a clothie caster,” I pointed out wryly. “And I’ve earned a few extra points…”

“Like nine at once,” Cassandra added with a smirk. “Lucky bitch.”

“I guess she isn’t a dumb jock anymore,” Teri said with a snicker.

Matt glared at his sister. “Maybe not, but you are…”

“Bite me,” Teri responded, flipping him off.

“What did you get?” Cassandra asked, giving me a curious look.

I turned my attention to my own box, which I hadn’t even opened yet. I’d been too distracted by what everyone else had in their boxes. Mine looked nearly identical, though it had ‘JAERI’ written across the top. However, when I opened it up, I found that it was nearly empty compared to the others. The only things inside were two gold metal spheres.

“Wow,” Matt said. “And I would have thought that Maelyne would have given you a lot more than she did us…”

“She did,” Cassandra pointed out. “But she just gave it to Jeri a bit more directly.”

I picked up the gold spheres and saw that they each had some writing on them. One said ‘armor’ while the other said ‘spear’. That certainly narrowed down my options on how I should use them. I quickly switched over to my armor and summoned my weapon. Then I held one of the spheres against my armor.

“Here goes nothing,” I said.

The sphere melted and began flowing into my armor, reminding me a great deal of when I’d previously used a sphere to upgrade my staff. My armor shifted and changed, though not a great deal. When it was done, my armor looked much the same, though it now had some gold metal trim. Out of curiosity, I looked at the stats.

ARMOR: LIGHT ARMOR
-ARMOR RATING 200
-30% PROTECTION FROM ALL MAGICAL DAMAGE
-PREVENTS THE WEARER FROM BEING PHOTOGRAPHED OR RECORDED BY NON-MAGICAL MEANS

“Not bad,” I said with a faint smile. My armor rating had gone up more than three times, and I’d gained an additional ten percent protection against magical damage. “Armor upgrades are always good.”

Next, I took the second sphere and pressed it against my spear. The last time I’d done this, my weapon upgraded from a staff into a spear and gave me my first and only real offensive ability, so I wondered what would happen this time. Just like before, the sphere melted and flowed into my weapon, which shifted and changed just a little. Once it was done, my spear looked a little different, though not by much. Then I looked at my ‘equipment’ page

WEAPONS: MAELYNE’S SPEAR
-THIS WEAPON COUNTS AS BOTH A SPEAR AND A STAFF
-REDUCES MANA COST OF MAGICAL ABILITIES BY 15%
-INCREASES EFFECTIVENESS OF SHIELD ABILITIES BY 30%
-20% OF ALL DAMAGE ABSORBED BY YOUR SHIELDS IS ADDED TO YOUR NEXT ATTACK

My eyes widened a bit as I saw the new title that my spear possessed. I took a deep breath, then read over the rest. The actual upgrades were a lot less extreme than the last time, but they were definitely impressive. My damage buff had increased from ten percent of all damage absorbed by my shields, to twenty percent, and the bar that showed how much damage I had stored, had increased a great deal.

“I still only have one real attack,” I thought aloud, “but it charges twice as fast, and can potentially do five times as much damage with a single attack.”

“Now that sounds impressive,” Matt said.

“Yeah,” I replied, nodding in agreement. “But I still have to rely on other people to charge it up for me.”

“What?” Matt asked with a wry look. “Are you afraid people won’t try killing you enough?”

“Good point,” I responded with a sigh. “That hasn’t really been a problem so far.”

“Now I’m feeling left out,” Cassandra said with a look of annoyance. Since she was the only one who hadn’t been given a gift today, I could understand why.

“I’ll make it up to you later,” I promised.

“Do you have anything for a fourth companion slot?” Matt asked curiously.

“Nope,” I replied, shaking my head. “No fourth companion ability, and no box for a fourth companion.”

“Too bad,” Teri added with a grin. “I was hoping we’d be able to build a whole army of companions. That would be totally cool…”

I just rolled my eyes at that, then looked over at the three companions I did have. All three were now wearing their armor and had their weapons out, though Lauren still looked pretty self-conscious.

I didn’t know why Maelyne gave all this to me instead of sending it to Matt and Teri directly, the way she had their armor. Maybe it was because they hadn’t earned enough XP to unlock it, or maybe it was just a lot easier to let me distribute it instead. What I did know was that these upgrades would help us in our fight against those gods and could very well be the difference between surviving or not.

With a faint smile and a heavy heart, I whispered, “Leave it to Maelyne to try protecting her people, even after she’s done.”

I looked down at my storage chest which was now empty, and willed it to return to wherever it had been stored before. It vanished, making me smile just a little. I didn’t know if I could store just anything inside of it, but I had a strong feeling that I could. And if so, that meant I now had a real inventory space, just like from one of my games.

Since we were all focusing on new toys and upgrades, I turned my attention to the extra points that I’d earned earlier. Until now, I’d been too distracted to slot them.

I tried putting my unspent attribute point into ‘divinity’, hoping I could get another boost across the board. If I could boost every stat by spending only a single attribute point, then I’d be stupid not to do it. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t accept it. ‘Divine power’ wouldn’t accept the resource attribute points either.

“Too bad,” I muttered to myself. “That would probably have been too easy.”

Since that didn’t work, I put my unspent attribute point into my reflexes, because being able to react faster could save my life, and those of my friends. My mana pool was pretty good, so I split my new resource attribute points between mana recovery and health. As soon as I was done with that, I slotted the resource attribute points for my companions, splitting Lauren’s between her mana pool and mana recovery, while Matt and Teri got more health and regeneration.

Once I was finished slotting my points, I took Cassandra’s hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. My gaze swept over my friends and I shuddered as I imagined what Arakthiel could do to them. I wanted to keep them away from that monster, to protect them from his threat. However, the only way to end that threat was for them to help.

“Maelyne gave us a chance,” I said, looking at each and every one of them. “She gave us the tools we need to protect ourselves…and each other. Now…the rest is up to us.”

I sat up in bed and rubbed at my eyes, wanting to go back to sleep but knowing that I couldn’t. Last night had been filled with dreams, though none of them were visitations from Maelyne. I was sure that if she was still around, she would have visited me again after I’d beat Pfath. The fact that she didn’t was proof that she really was gone. There was a cold hard lump in my stomach at that thought.

A minute later, I grudgingly climbed out of bed, threw on my bathrobe, then stumbled down the hallway towards the bathroom. Apparently, being a demi-goddess didn’t make mornings any easier. I absently wondered if there was a god or goddess of mornings, and decided that if there was, they had to be with the bad guys.

Once I reached the bathroom, I did my business then washed my hands and splashed some cold water on my face. That helped me to wake up a little, but looking into the mirror gave me a bit of a start and helped wake me up the rest of the way.

It wasn’t that my reflection had changed at all last night, but the simple fact that a part of me still expected to see a guy staring back from the mirror, especially when I was half-asleep. Every time I looked into the mirror, there was at least some disorientation, though it was getting less and less with every day. Who knows, maybe one day I’d look into the mirror and not think that there was anything strange about it at all.

“Not likely,” I said.

Of course, the fact that my body and face continued to subtly change nearly every time I acquired some new attribute points, only made this a little more jarring. It was hard to get used to a new self when that new self was still changing.

I ran my fingers over my face, feeling the smooth skin and tracing the features. This wasn’t Heather’s face, not anymore. A few extra points in charisma had made some changes since she’d last worn it, and it seemed to be picking up a bit of my own character as well. Not my old physical features of course, but more the fact that my own expressions were a little different than hers had been, at least that was what Lauren and Cassandra said. Slowly but surely, this was becoming MY face, in spite of the fact that I was sometimes still surprised to see it staring back from the mirror.

I turned my attention to the rest of my body and examined it with my usual mixture of feelings. There was appreciation, pride, gratitude, embarrassment, and shame. The last two were fading away, but they were still there, echoed by the same remnants of the old Jerry that was continually surprised by my reflection. The fact that this voice was fading provided its own mixed emotions, both relief and concern.

“There is no doubt,” I said with a sigh. “You are one totally messed up chick.”

That was way better than the alternatives, and Maelyne had saved me from those twice. In spite of how weird this whole situation was, I was still thankful to have this chance. I was thankful to still be alive, even if it meant that I had to become someone else.

“I appreciate what you gave me,” I said to Maelyne, wherever she was. And I gave a silent thanks to Heather as well. She might not have given this body and life to me intentionally, but I still owed her my appreciation at the very least.

Ever since I’d ended up in this body, I’d been worried about losing my old self, and wondered who it was I was becoming. Just when I started to get an idea of who Jeri was, this whole ‘divine spark’ thing occurred, and I had absolutely no idea of what that meant for me or who I would become. It meant that I was having to ask those same questions all over again.

After I was done examining myself, along with shaking off this self-reflective mood, I turned my attention to the practical matter of taking a shower. I wasn’t in the mood for a nice long soak in the tub this morning, but a hot shower still hit the spot.

Then came the almost zenlike act of brushing and drying my hair. My hair was silky smooth, without any knots or split ends. And as I brushed it, it seemed to fall right into place with very little effort. In fact, now that I thought about it, I hadn’t really had any ‘bad hair days’, at least not since I’d first ended up in this body, when I had much more important things to be concerned about.

“The charisma,” I said in realization. This was just one of the benefits of having high charisma stats. “That and a good complexion.”

Every stat increase came with benefits, and not just the obvious ones. Strength came with more muscle mass and definition, which improved how you looked and felt, as well as how other people saw you. Endurance came with increased height and overall body mass, which had similar social effects. I still wasn’t sure about what divinity did beyond increasing all my other stats, but I knew there was more to it than that.

As soon as I was finished getting dried and dressed, I went down to the kitchen to get something to eat. Lauren was already up and sitting at the breakfast nook with a couple books open in front of her.

“So, how do you like being a companion so far?” I asked her wryly.

Lauren looked up from the book she was reading. “It’s…strange. I mean, yesterday was absolutely terrifying, but these benefits…”

“They are pretty good,” I agreed.

“My memory is a lot better,” she said, gesturing to the book. “Which is really helping with the homework and studying. And this healing ability…”

“Perfect for a doctor,” I said.

Lauren nodded agreement. “Definitely.” Then she frowned. “But I am worried…”

I nodded at that. “Yeah. I wouldn’t have brought you into this if I’d had another choice…”

“I know,” she responded with a wry smile. “And trust me, I appreciate it.” She glanced around for a moment before adding, “And now I understand what Cassandra is going through a bit better. We’ve been friends for years, but then she became a champion and… Well, I’m thankful that I wasn’t pulled into all that, but at the same time, I kind of felt left out. I mean, my best friend was going into life and death battles, and I couldn’t do anything to help.”

Lauren let out a sigh and then stared off into space, or at least, that was what it would have looked to anyone else. I could see her checking out her screen, obviously still amazed at being able to have it.

While Lauren was doing that, I went and poured her a cup of coffee while I made myself some tea and a couple slices of toast. By the time I was done, Lauren had shaken herself out of it a bit.

“It must have been pretty hard,” I said, giving her a sympathetic look. “I mean, Cassandra got those awesome abilities and kept getting those stat improvements.”

“Yeah,” Lauren agreed, looking a little guilty for that.

“And with Heather going through that too,” I added, feeling a bit sorry for Lauren. “You must have really felt left out.”

Lauren hesitated a moment before admitting. “A bit. I did feel left out, but I was also thankful that I wasn’t part of all that…”

“Well, you’re a part of it now,” I said with a sigh.

“And I’m still not sure what to think about that,” Lauren grumbled. She closed her eyes for a moment and let out a sigh. When she opened them up again, she looked at me. “I didn’t meet Heather until after this all started. Cassandra met her right after they’d both been chosen, and their patrons told them to work together. She was pretty nice at first, but it started going to her head at the end…”

“It must be really hard having me around,” I commented, feeling a little guilty.

“Not really,” Lauren assured me. “I mean, it was at first, but when I look at you, I don’t see Heather anymore. Sure, you have the same face and voice, but you use them differently…if that makes sense. I mean, you talk differently and have different body language. It makes a BIG difference.”

I chuckled at that since Lauren’s words echoed my own thoughts from a little earlier. It was nice to know that this wasn’t all in my head, and that other people could see the differences too. That made me a little better about it.

Just then, Cassandra’s voice called out from the top of the stairs. “I’m coming down, so someone had better have my coffee ready…”

I rolled my eyes but went and poured some coffee while Lauren snickered. I noticed that she made sure to get a firm grip on her own cup, just in case Cassandra decided it was easier to snatch hers.

Cassandra came down the stairs, still looking more than half-asleep. She came straight to the breakfast nook where I placed her coffee in front of her. None of said a word until she’d emptied nearly half the cup.

“I had another talk with Armestia last night,” Cassandra said.

“Did you talk about anything interesting?” I asked curiously, feeling a tiny stab of jealousy.

“A little,” Cassandra admitted, taking another sip of coffee, then reaching over and snatching a piece of my toast. “She told me where to find those fuckwits.”

I stared at her in surprise. “You know where Kr’aethar and Arakthiel are?” When she nodded, I demanded, “Where?”

Cassandra smirked. “How do you feel about zombies?”

--------------------

I was nervous. I was excited. I was apprehensive and terrified.

The idea of intentionally confronting Arakthiel and Kr’aethar simultaneously filled me with a cold dread and a fierce determination. I’d seen what those two could do, both in their host bodies and in their real ones. They’d killed multiple champions…and gods.

I had no illusions that I might somehow be immune to their powers, or that I was invulnerable. I didn’t want to die again, nor did I want to see any of my friends hurt or killed. However, I also knew that they were monsters who had to be stopped. In the end, the only way to protect my friends from those bastards, was to put them down for good.

I looked around the living room where the five of us were gathered. Cassandra was sitting next to me while Lauren was close to Matt. Teri was by herself, though she’d positioned herself to be close to her big brother, without being too close.

Together, the five of us had defeated Pfath, and that should have filled me with confidence, but it didn’t. Pfath had been by herself, but Arakthiel and Kr’aethar wouldn’t be. However, what was even more important was that we’d caught Pfath by surprise. She’d had no idea that I actually had the ability to hurt her, but that was an advantage we no longer had. I had no doubt that once we sent Pfath back home with her tail between her legs, that she…or he since that was his real gender…would have warned his allies.

“Let the Council of Elrond begin,” Matt announced in a somber tone.

Lauren elbowed him in the side. “A little late for that. We’ve already been talking for the last hour.”

“You are SUCH a nerd,” Teri said in exasperation.

“Bite me,” Matt responded to his sister, flipping her off. “I don’t need to hear it from the dumb jock.”

Since ‘dumb jock’ no longer quite worked for me, he’d begun using it for Teri instead. Admittedly, she now looked the part a bit more than I did.

As Lauren said, we’d all been here for the last hour, trying to come up with a plan for defeating Kr’aethar and Arakthiel. We’d done some brainstorming and had come up with a few ideas, though nothing really solid. Unfortunately, we were quickly running out of time. We knew where they were at the moment, but there was no guaranteeing that they’d stay there for very long.

This was just like waiting for a competition, except that instead of watching the timer on our screens, we were watching the clock. After all, we weren’t the only ones involved in this particular mission. According to Cassandra, Armestia had arranged transportation for us, and that transportation was scheduled to arrive in just half an hour.

“I still think we need to get a bunch of machine guns,” Teri announced. “That would be so cool…” She stood up and them made a show of shooting some imaginary guns.

“Do YOU know where we could find some?” Matt asked his sister with a skeptical look. “Because I sure don’t.”

“Or how to use them?” Lauren added with a skeptical look of her own.

“I don’t think it would even work, anyway,” Cassandra pointed out. She gestured to Lauren. “Lauren shot Pfath a couple times, and she shrugged that off as easily as she did my arrows.” Then she nodded to me. “Jeri is the only one who can really hurt them…or at least…make those asshole STAY hurt.”

“And I’m still not even sure how I did it,” I admitted self-consciously. “I think I charged my divine power into my spear when I attacked, but it was more instinctive than anything else.”

“Well, whatever you did worked,” Cassandra told me with a smirk, “so just do that again.”

We continued talking about this for a bit longer, until our time was nearly over, then we all got ready by summoning our armor and weapons. Lauren looked especially uncomfortable with hers, though she insisted that she was going to come along anyway. And though I was a little worried about her, I was also thankful to have another healer along.

My eyes went to Cassandra, and I was startled to notice that her armor was different than usual. Her armor had changed about as much as mine had, after I’d used that upgrade on it.

“Armestia gave me an upgrade of my own last night,” Cassandra explained with a smirk, gesturing down at her armor as she did so. “So I wouldn’t be left out. She said that she couldn’t spare much power, but she gave me what she could.”

“Every little bit helps,” I said, nodding in approval.

It was just a minute after this that a portal opened up in the air and the Cleaner stepped out. He looked around the room at each of us, pausing at Lauren since she was a new addition to our group. Then he nodded.

“Emnyle said that you would require transportation,” the Cleaner said with a faint smile. “Along with a few other things.”

“If you could provide us with more time to plan and prepare, that would be great,” Matt commented.

The Cleaner chuckled. “Sorry, but temporal manipulation is beyond my abilities.”

“Too bad,” I responded.

With that, the Cleaner stood aside and gestured to the portal, clearly indicating that we should go through.

“Come, Fellowship,” Matt announced in a dramatic tone. “To Mordor…”

Matt went through the portal first. Cassandra and I looked at each other, then I shrugged and said, “What a nerd,” before following.

We arrived in the familiar location of an oversized parking garage. The place looked almost identical to the last time that I’d been there, except that all the bodies were gone. It looked like the Cleaner had probably taken care of that, the same way he did everything else.

What really surprised me though, was the fact that we weren’t alone. The few champions that remained after that last big fight, were already there waiting.

Spear Chick and Axe Guy stood side by side. Spear Chick…Marissa gave me a nod of acknowledgement and a friendly smile, while Axe Guy just stood there with his arms crossed, trying to look tough. He came off as trying just a little too hard.

Alejandra was with Randal, which surprised me a bit. The last time I’d seen Randal, he hadn’t been moving at all, so I’d thought he was dead. For once, I was happy to see I was wrong.

Becky, the magical girl, gave us an exaggerated bow. Her staff and armor didn’t look quite the same as before, so it looked like her gear had been upgraded the same way mine had been. I gave her a polite nod and a smile, while she waved back.

Don was noticeably absent from the gathering, which only reminded me of his death. I felt a knot in my stomach at that memory, which also reminded me of Maelyne. Those bastards had killed too many people, and I couldn’t let them continue.

Alejandra was the one who spoke first, announcing, “Vr’iel told me that if I wanted another chance at those bastards, I should come with the Cleaner.”

Marissa looked around and said, “My patron told me that Jaeri had a way of taking these guys down.” She scowled for a moment before asking, “Now, who the hell is Jaeri?”

“That would be me,” I said, stepping forward. “Maelyne decided to give me a new nickname.”

Of course, my situation was a bit more complicated than that, but these guys didn’t need to know all the details. Just the ones that were relevant.

“So, Sievers has a way of taking down three gods?” Axe Guy asked, looking more than a little skeptical of that.

“We only need to worry about two of them,” Cassandra said. “We took Pfath down yesterday…for good.”

There were some mutterings and skeptical looks at that, but the Cleaner announced, “She speaks the truth. Pfath’s host body was permanently destroyed. I cleaned up the scene myself.”

Now there were some looks of shock, and everyone was staring at me, trying to figure out how I could have done something that nobody else could. They wanted…needed an explanation. They needed to know that it really was possible to beat our enemies.

“Maelyne…my patron…is dead,” I announced, standing up straight and cranking up my charisma as hard as I could. “I was there. I watched Arakthiel kill her with my own eyes…”

There were more gasps and mutterings, but I’d expected no less. I’d just told them that our enemies were capable of killing our patrons…of killing gods. If they had that kind of power, then what hope did any of us have? However, they needed to know this. They needed the perspective.

“I was in their world,” I continued. “I was in the land of the gods. I saw them with my own eyes. I saw their city…and I saw them fighting. I saw Pfath, Arakthiel, and Kr’aethar in their real bodies, and I could feel how powerful they are. And I watched as they destroyed their own city…and as they murdered other gods. I saw the devastation, so believe me when I tell you, that if they come to Earth, then our world will burn. If they’d destroy their own world so easily, then there is no telling what they’d do to ours.”

Everyone was staring at me, giving me their full attention. I looked around at each of the champions and companions, meeting their eyes. I silently impressed on them how serious this was, and I showed them my own determination.

“Maelyne died while saving my life,” I said. “And my soul. The very last thing she did was to give me a new ability…one that can hurt these bastards. One that can destroy their host bodies and keep them from regenerating. I used this ability on Pfath and won, but now, I need help with the remaining two. I might have the ability to hurt them, but I can’t defeat them alone. I need your help.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Becky exclaimed and everyone else quickly bust out in agreement.

“Good job,” Cassandra told me, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“So, where are these guys?” Axe Guy asked with a deep scowl.

“They are currently located near the top of the building above us,” the Cleaner stated. “Near the final stage of the competition.”

“Then why didn’t you just transport us straight there?” Randal asked in annoyance.

“Because I cannot,” the Cleaner admitted. “They took precautions against another assault, which prevents me from opening a portal too close to them. I believe that they chose this location because this pocket world was created by the Coordinator and his patron, and cannot be accessed by just anyone. The competition it was created for was never completed, so they are guarded by numerous threats and challenges.”

“So, what does that mean?” Becky asked with a look of impatience.

I stepped forward and looked towards the start of the competition where I’d previously taken a brief peek. I knew what was ahead of us, at least in general, and I was ready to face it.

“It means,” Cassandra announced, “that If we want to take these fuckers down, we’re gonna have to work for it.”

“Oh, they’re going down,” I said, already walking towards the real start of the competition. “Even if I have to go through a whole freaking zombie apocalypse to do it.”

I hate zombies. They were smelly, disgusting, and worst of all…surrounding me.

When I stepped into the large corporate office, I saw that the space had been broken up by countless cubicles. The very sight of the place made me feel bored, until zombies popped their heads up from each and every cubicle, almost like prairie dogs. Seconds later, the horde of zombie office workers came rushing at us.

“Oooh gross,” Teri cried out, though that didn’t keep her from fighting.

Teri’s new shield wasn’t very large. In fact, it was pretty small as far as shields went, not protecting a very large section of her body. However, the shield’s small size meant that she could use it to push the zombies back, while still being able to attack with her club, without the shield getting in the way.

While Teri was doing that, Matt slipped around behind the zombies without being seen. None of them had the awareness to see him when he was stealthed, so it was easy for him to get behind a zombie and stab it through the head with his knife, then leap back and do it again. He wasn’t bothering with his paintball gun because his usual steel ammo didn’t do much against these guys, and he wasn’t going to waste the special ammo that Maelyne had given him.

“This sucks,” Cassandra exclaimed in frustration.

Cassandra’s fighting style worked best from long distance and in open spaces where she’d have a clear shot. Unfortunately, being inside an office building was not working well with her usual tactics. Still, she was doing a lot of damage.

An arrow hit one zombie in the forehead and took him down, then the next. If we’d been in the open, she could have rained down a couple dozen arrows at once, taking out whole groups of zombies. It was too bad that she couldn’t do that here without the risk of hitting our allies.

Axe Guy and Marissa fought side by side, using a tactic that seemed to be working very well for them. She created a bunch of illusion copies of herself, then sent them running towards the zombies. While the zombies grabbed mindlessly at her illusions, not understanding why they couldn’t grab the pretty blonde snack, Axe Guy went at them with his axe, tearing them to pieces with little effort.

Randal and stood back and let the zombies come to them. He was wearing some kind of bone armor and wielding a sword and shield that also seemed to be made of bone. Alejandra just swung her massive hammer, destroying each zombie she hit with a single blow.

Becky stood back with me, using my shield wall as cover since the ceiling wasn’t high enough to let her levitate above the battle. She fired beams of light and sparkles from her staff, most of which seemed to either throw the zombies back or leave them completely dazed and confused. I still wasn’t sure about how her abilities worked.

As for me, I alternated between throwing shields on my companions and healing anyone who got hurt by the zombies, which wasn’t happening very often. Fortunately, these zombies weren’t like the traditional ones and didn’t seem capable of infecting their victims.

One group of zombies broke past my friends and allies and came straight for me. I created a new shield wall and pushed it at them as hard as I could. The wall smashed into four zombies and sent them flying back across the room. That was an impressive looking move, but it ate up too much mana to use very often.

“Nice,” Lauren said from beside me. She fired one of her force blasts, then looked around for someone she could heal.

“If you thought that was something,” I said with a grin.

I threw my spear and hit one zombie right in the chest. It exploded from the large damage buff I’d built up already. A moment later, I returned the spear to storage, and then called it back to my hand.

“And to think, you’re jealous of my blasts,” Lauren commented wryly.

“That was cool,” Becky told me with a grin, right before firing one of her own blasts at a zombie.

If this had been a normal competition, the way it had originally been intended, this would have been a bloodbath. We would have had to deal with not only the horde of unending zombies, but also each other. However, since all the champions were actually working together for once, we tore through the zombies in almost no time at all.

Once the room was clear and no new zombies appeared to rush in, Matt exclaimed, “For the Alliance!”

“For the Horde!” Randal called back a second later. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, flipped each other off, then grinned.

“What in the world is THAT about?” Lauren asked in confusion.

I just chuckled at that. “If you’re going to be hanging around me and Matt, we’re gonna have to introduce you to the wonders of Azeroth.”

“Damn,” Axe Guy exclaimed, looking around at all the destroyed zombies. “I’m not seeing any drops…”

Cassandra and I glanced at each other and shared a faint smile. Neither of us said a word about the fact that I’d ended up with all the bonus drops after the competition had been cancelled.

“Hey,” Marissa exclaimed. “I found a key.”

“Me too,” Teri added, holding a fancy looking key up as if it was a trophy. It actually resembled the one that Fraethe had given me.

“There was supposed to be some kind of vault at the end of this one,” I reminded everyone. “But I don’t know if it’s even still there since the contest was cancelled…”

Matt chuckled at that. “Well, it won’t hurt to keep the keys anyway…just in case.”

After we looked over the entire floor to make sure it was cleared of zombies, just so we didn’t get any coming at us from behind while we climbed the stairs to the next floor. There were only two zombies on the stairs, and they were taken out before most of us even had a chance to see them.

The second floor was much like the first, but there were no cubicles. Instead, there was a wide-open space which was filled with zombies.

“Let me,” Cassandra said, pulling out her bow and firing a glowing arrow. A couple dozen glowing arrows appeared beside it in mid-air and tore through the zombies, doing a lot of damage.

“My turn,” Becky exclaimed, running forward and swinging her staff. Suddenly, zombies began floating up into the air and settling up against the ceiling like helium balloons.

Teri had an evil grin on her face as she swung her club around and asked, “Anyone else feel like playing pinata?”

We tore through these zombies with the speed and ease of a well-practiced dungeon party, which filled my heart with warmth…literally. Whenever I threw a shield around one of my companions, or protected one of my allies, I felt a faint but pleasant warmth flow through me. I remembered feeling something similar when we’d been fighting Pfath, though I’d been a little too distracted to pay it much attention.

One zombie came out from a back office, wearing a rumpled suit and tie. He even paused and awkwardly adjusted his tie…badly…like it was some half-remembered mannerism from when he’d been alive. That is, if he’d ever been alive, which I seriously doubted. These weren’t real animated corpses, but something else, created specifically just for this contest. At least, that was my understanding of things, though I could be wrong.

Matt walked right up to this zombie, put his new paintball gun right up against the zombie’s temple and fired a steel ball right through his head, while exclaiming, “Say hello to my little boomstick.”

“I think you’re mixing your references,” Lauren said with a look of amusement.

“You’re trying too hard, nerd boy,” I teased him, getting flipped off in return.

On the third floor, we ran into yet more zombies, though these ones were quite a bit bigger than the previous ones we’d faced. These ones were more like zombie bodybuilders than zombie office workers, and most of them wore security guard uniforms. These guys were stronger and faster, but not really any more difficult to take out.

We went through the next couple floors without much difficulty. It turns out that when champions are working together instead of fighting each other, the competition challenges weren’t actually much of challenge.

While we did this, I held back from attacking any of the zombies myself. Sure, it would have been fun to live out a zombie flick and tear apart the horde of undead, but they weren’t the real enemy. If anything, they were just there to slow us down, so I didn’t want to waste my limited damage output on them. Instead, I was saving my damage buff for when it really counted.

“I found another key,” Becky announced, holding it up proudly.

So far, we’d recovered six of the seven keys that had been spread throughout the challenge, and we only needed three of them to open the vault. Not that the vault meant anything now, but there was still a certain excitement in finding the keys anyway.

Personally, I was a little more impressed by the fact that I ranked up my ‘protect companion’ ability. Since I was using it almost nonstop, that wasn’t really much of a surprise.

It didn’t take us long to finish off the remaining floors and to clear them of zombies. However, once that was done, we didn’t celebrate. After all, the real challenge was still ahead of us, or at least, above us. Since we hadn’t seen any signs of Arakthiel or Kr’aethar within the building, that left only one place they could be. The roof. I could feel them above us. I could sense their power.

“Right there,” Cassandra said, pointing to a specific spot. From the way she held her bow, it was clear that she was thinking about trying to shoot them from beneath, not that it would do much good. She knew that too, which was why she held off.

“Remember,” I told everyone, “those guys won’t hesitate to kill you…or worse. Don’t give them the chance. Try to keep them off balance so they can’t focus on any one of us.”

“And they blocked the Cleaner from opening portals too close to them,” Cassandra reminded everyone, “so he can’t pull us out again if things go bad.”

“It’s do or die,” Alejandra said, standing there with her massive hammer slung over her shoulder. “There may no longer be any competitions, but I am still Vr’iel’s champion and will make him proud.”

Cassandra leaned over and kissed me on my lips. “For luck,” she told me with a smirk. “And a buff.”

There was only one flight of stairs remaining, and with that, we all began walking up it. Of course, they were waiting for us. They’d chosen this place because they knew that sooner or later, someone would come for them again, and they wanted to make us jump through hoops before we could get an ‘audience’ with them. Either that, or they wanted to wear us down a bit before the confrontation. Since they were gods, and unbelievably arrogant ones at that, I was betting that it was more the former than the latter.

The roof of the building was wide open and clear, without any of the antennas, air conditioning units, or other things you’d expect to find in such a location. Instead, there were two gods in human bodies.

Kr’aethar was sitting in a large throne made of crushed metal. That throne was the only thing on the roof besides us and our enemies. From the look of the throne, it had probably been made from the vault which had been placed there the competition.

“I guess those keys won’t be very useful,” Matt pointed out wryly. Then he called out to Kr’aethar, “You know, that thing would look way more impressive if it was made of swords, instead of just a big block of junk.”

About twenty feet away from Kr’aethar and his throne, Arakthiel stood with his arms crossed, radiating every bit as much arrogance and power as his ally. I felt a knot of terror in my gut, remembering what had happened the last time I’d seen Arakthiel. Out of the enemy gods that we’d been facing, he was the one who terrified me the most. Even more than Pfath had.

Both of the gods watched us, though neither of them said a word. At least not at first.

“Pfath spoke true,” Kr’aethar announced in Oraevian, clearly talking to Arakthiel, though his eyes were locked on me. “Maelyne’s champion yet survives and bears a shard of her power…”

“Impossible,” Arakthiel responded, also speaking in Oraevian. His attention locked on me as well. “I consigned Maelyne and her champion to oblivion myself. Yet here the champion stands, somehow still alive and reeking of Maelyne’s power…”

Kr’aethar stood up from his throne and warned, “Power enough to cast Pfath from his mortal host.”

“What the hell are they saying?” Axe Guy demanded.

“No idea,” I lied.

They were obviously speaking Oraevian because they didn’t want us to know what they were saying, so I had no intention of revealing that I understood the language. Fortunately, it seemed Pfath hadn’t warned them about that little detail, since at the moment, I needed every advantage I could get.

“Now,” I said, not wanting to give our enemies the chance to make the first move.

With that single word, everyone burst into action. Alejandra, Axe Guy, Marissa, and Randal all rushed forward, spreading out as they did so. Becky just floated up into the air while giving her staff a dramatic swirl. I almost expected her to pull some kind of magical girl transformation, in spite of the fact that she was already wearing her armor.

Cassandra actually did the opposite, moving back to the far side of the roof, getting as much distance between her and our enemies as she could. She had no place to hide or take cover, so they’d be able to see her. However, I knew that she hoped her bracelet would keep her presence hidden enough so that they wouldn’t pay much attention to her.

Lauren backed up, though remained close to me. As we’d discussed earlier, her primary job today was to play healer and keep everyone’s life topped off as much as possible. My job was to protect everyone as much as possible and heal when I could afford to, and of course, to take those bastards down once I had an opening.

Alejandra charged straight at Kr’aethar, swinging her hammer. He brought up his sword, which flashed with red energy, but before he could block, Randal struck him from the side. Randal slashed at him a couple times with his bone sword, not doing much damage. However, red tendrils began to wrap around Kr’aethar and entangle him.

Axe Guy nearly mirrored Alejandra’s move as he charged straight at Arakthiel. However, when Arakthiel dodged back to avoid him, Cassandra fired several arrows and hit him in the chest. The arrows crumbled away, but while he was dealing with that, Marissa got close enough to blast him in the eyes with a brilliant burst of light, and then she tried to impale him. He reacted fast enough to avoid getting impaled, though she still tore into his side.

I threw fresh shields on each of my companions, then created a new shield wall in front of me. But while I was doing that, I kept my attention firmly locked on our enemies, waiting for an opportunity.

Kr’aethar swung his massive sword at Randal, but Becky took the opportunity to blast the god with a beam of energy. Suddenly, Kr’aethar levitated up into the air where he flopped around without any leverage.

“What was it you said earlier?” Alejandra called out to Teri. “Ah yes. Time to break the piñata…”

Alejandra smashed her hammer into Kr’aethar as hard as she could, crushing a large section of the armor on his chest. Cassandra immediately fired several shots into that area and Randal threw in his own attacks. A couple seconds later, Kr’aethar dropped to the ground with a thud.

“There,” I said, seeing the opening in Kr’aethar’s armor. That was just what I was waiting for.

Using my bulldozer move, I charged straight at Kr’aethar. He saw me coming and raised his sword, only to get hit in the side by Alejandra.

“You truly think you can stand against the god of war?” Kr’aethar demanded with a loud roar. “Deluded arrogance…”

“Maybe,” Randal responded. “But it’s been working for us so far.”

I stood right in front of Kr’aethar, and I could feel his raw power pushing against me. My heart raced with fear and excitement. This was my chance. This was my opportunity.

Kr’aethar swung his sword at me, but I knew my shield wouldn’t hold. He’d torn through my shields before, and I had no reason to believe that this time would be different. Because of that, I threw up a second shield wall so that he’d have to break through two of them. His blade still tore through both my shields, but they slowed him down enough for me to act.

I leapt to the side and slammed my spear right into Kr’aethar’s chest, directly into the weak spot in his armor. There was a flash of golden light from my spear as all my damage was released in a single burst.

“GOTCHA!” I exclaimed triumphantly.

Kr’aethar was thrown back from the attack, with his armor being torn apart and shredded. There was a gaping hole through the armor now, enough so that I could see his ruined flesh. There was blood, and gore, and bone, enough to make me want to empty my stomach in disgust.

“YES!” Teri cried out excitedly. “You got him…”

With Kr’aethar down, I turned my attention to Arakthiel, who was still being kept busy. He was leaping around, dodging attack after attack, and not being given the chance to launch his own. I saw an opening but couldn’t take it. I’d just used up every bit of damage that I’d stored up, and it would take awhile to build it up again.

Since attacking was out for the moment, I shifted back to a defensive position, throwing shields on my companions and creating a new shield wall between me and Arakthiel. Unfortunately, for me to build up more damage, I’d either have to get him to attack me…or my companions. I really didn’t like the idea of letting him intentionally attack them.

Teri rushed in, swinging her club and trying to catch Arakthiel from behind. He snapped around and raised his scythe to block the attack. As soon as he threw a ball or purple energy at her, I summoned her back to my side. I didn’t want to risk him getting through her shield.

Matt had just switched out the ammunition in his paintball gun and loaded it with the special ammo that Maelyne had provided. He fired one glowing ball, hitting Arakthiel on the shoulder where it exploded in a flash of light. Arakthiel howled in pain and leapt away…leaving his arm behind.

“Wow,” I exclaimed with my eyes going wide. “Impressive.”

Unfortunately, as with nearly every other attack, the damage was short lived. Arakthiel’s arm actually flew back to his shoulder where it slipped back into place and healed. In mere seconds, there was no indication that he’d been injured at all.

“Good way to slow him down,” I called out to Matt. “Especially if you kneecap him…”

Matt grinned at that. “Good idea.”

Matt fired a couple more shots at Arakthiel. Arakthiel easily dodged the first and then used his scythe to block the second. Hitting him was easier said than done.

Suddenly, the ground beneath me shook and I felt a surge of power…and not from Arakthiel. I turned to stare at Kr’aethar, who was getting back to his feet. Most of the armor on his chest had been destroyed, along with the chest itself, but that didn’t seem to be stopping him.

“CRAP!” I exclaimed, realizing that I should have expected something like this. I hadn’t received any popup about him being defeated.

Kr’aethar was severely injured, and to my relief, he didn’t seem to be healing the way the gods normally did. Unfortunately, he was still alive, which meant that he was still extremely dangerous.

“Fuck,” Cassandra exclaimed.

Kr’aethar stood there for a moment with red lightning shooting over his body, then he started to stagger over towards his metal throne. As soon as he touched it, the metal began to melt and flow up his arm.

“No,” I gasped, my eyes going wide as I realized what he was doing. “STOP HIM!”

Alejandra immediately leapt at Kr’aethar, but the god snapped around and backhanded her, sending her flying back. Then he stood up, now standing nine feet tall. The metal from his throne had spread over his entire body, forming another layer of armor, a layer much thicker and more massive than his old one. Now, he looked like a giant steel statue, similar to how his real body looked, only much smaller.

“These mortal insects are more vexing than I expected,” Kr’aethar exclaimed in Oraevian. “And Maelyne’s champion has actually hurt me…”

“Indeed,” Arakthiel responded in the same language. “For that, she will face the oblivion she somehow escaped…”

“It is time to crush them all,” Kr’aethar stated.

With that, Kr’aethar stomped his foot on the ground, which shook and shattered. A shockwave exploded out from his foot and spread out, throwing back anyone near him. Suddenly, I found myself flying back over the edge of the building.

“I’ve got you,” Becky called out, firing a blast of light at me.

One second, I was about to fall to my death, and the next, I suddenly stopped. I looked around in surprise, seeing that I was now floating in the air, just like Becky herself was. And when I looked down and saw the ground about seven floors beneath me, I gulped nervously.

“Thanks,” I said, feeling just a little shaken from that close call.

Before Becky could pull me back to safety, Arakthiel leapt at her, swinging his scythe. Becky screamed and dropped to the ground, just barely avoiding the scythe. In the same instant, the power that was holding me up in the air vanished, and I suddenly plunged towards the waiting ground.

I was dead. Or at least, I was going to be in just a couple seconds.

I screamed as I fell, plummeting towards the waiting ground below. My life flashed before my eyes in an instant, though one small part jumped out at me for attention. An instant later, I knew what to do.

“Please work,” I cried out, activating ‘Maelyne’s shield’.

A familiar shield formed around me, though instead of being a dome the way I’d always seen it on the ground, it was a bubble, which completely surrounded me. I came to an abrupt stop, hitting the bottom of the bubble with a painful thud that would probably leave bruises. However, I was no longer falling. In fact, I was how hovering in the air, being held there by a bubble…the same way Maelyne had been held above that crater.

MAELYNE’S SHIELD HAS INCREASED TO RANK 4

“It worked,” I gasped, letting out a sigh of relief. Then I chuckled weakly at the rank up.

Now, I was about five stories above the ground, suspended in the air by a force field bubble. This was a hell of a lot better than falling all the way, but it did leave the question of how I was going to get back up to where the fight was going on.

When Maelyne had been in a similar situation, she’d actually moved the bubble with herself in it, so I tried to do the same. I tried willing the bubble to go back up, or even just over to one of the windows so I could climb back into the building. However, the bubble didn’t move at all.

“Crap,” I muttered in frustration. It seemed that I might be able to make a bubble like Maelyne had, but I didn’t have the ability to move it. Maybe I needed to get rank that shield up a bit higher. “Now, how do I get back up there?”

In this situation, it seemed that the best way to go up was to first go down. I released my shield and dropped, then quickly formed it again to stop myself. After this, I repeated the process again and soon found myself back on the ground.

“That took a lot of mana,” I said in annoyance, though fortunately, I now had enough mana to handle that kind of thing.

After taking a deep breath to steady myself, I looked around. I was on the ground just outside the building I’d climbed up through. And unfortunately, none of us had thought to clear the zombies outside the building.

Several zombies were already coming towards me. I clutched my spear and spat out, “This is freaking ridiculous…”

For a couple seconds, I considered summoning my companions to me. Not only would they help me deal with these zombies, but I’d also keep them away from Kr’aethar and Arakthiel. Without my being there to protect them, they were in a lot more danger. However, the reason I didn’t summon them back to my side, was because Lauren was now the only healer up there, and could make the difference between someone living or dying.

“It looks like I’m on my own down here,” I muttered. “Crap.”

More zombies had noticed my arrival and began coming at me as well. They weren’t moving especially fast, but it wouldn’t tale long for them to overwhelm me.

“Well, I’m not about to just give up like some little bitch,” I called out to the zombies. “That’s not my thing.”

When the first zombie reached me, I lunged forward with my spear, stabbing him right through the eye. He collapsed to the ground, no longer moving. I repeated this with the next zombie.

As more came near me, I created a shield wall on each side, forcing them to come straight at me through a narrow opening. I was channeling the zombies through a bottleneck where I could deal with them one at a time.

When my shield walls faded, I created another one and pushed it away from me as hard as I could, knocking back the zombies and giving me a chance to breath. I used this opportunity to create two more shield walls and repeated the process.

After taking down a couple more zombies, a popup appeared.

SPEAR FIGHTING HAS INCREASED TO RANK 4.

“Nice,” I said, not taking my eyes off my enemies.

It only took me a minute to finish off the remaining zombies, and I let out a sigh or relief when I did. Then I looked back up towards the top of the building and scowled, worried about how the fight was going.

“How do I get back up there?” I asked aloud, though the obvious answer was that I’d have to run up the stairs again. Of course, that just left the question of how I was going to get back into the building, at least until I saw a door.

I ran to the door, only to find it was locked. I grimaced in annoyance, then chuckled when I remembered my lockpicking skill. I’d finally get a chance to actually use it, so it was a good thing that I’d brought a lock pick set, just in case I ever got captured again.

Half a minute later, I was through the door and running across the building, and then up the stairs. While doing this, I made a mental note to get more stamina if I ever got the chance. At that moment, more stamina would have been great.

While I ran up the stairs, I kept a close watch on my status screen, or at least, on my companion’s statuses. They were all still alive, much to my relief, but I was worried, especially when Teri’s health bar suddenly dropped by half. A few seconds later, her health went up again, and I let out a sigh of relief since Lauren had obviously healed her. As soon as I was in range again, I put shields on all three of them.

When I reached the top floor, I found that the fighting was now occurring there instead of on the roof. In fact, there was a massive hole in the ceiling, where everyone must have come down from. After seeing what Kr’aethar had done on the roof, I wasn’t too surprised.

I paused for a moment, just long enough to take in all the details and determine what was going on. The fight was now going on inside, but everyone was still using the same hit and run tactics, keeping our enemies from being able to focus on them. That seemed to be working, because as far as I could tell, we hadn’t taken any losses.

Kr’aethar’s massive metal form stomped through the large office space, smashing the walls, furniture, and anything in his way. He swung his fist at Marissa, only to have Alejandra leap at him from behind and hit him on the back of his head with her hammer. An instant later, several arrows struck his armored hide, though they did little but annoy him.

My eyes went up to the hole in the ceiling, and I could see Cassandra standing on the roof. She saw me, gave a smile and wave, then fired several shots at Arakthiel, who jumped to the side and avoided them.

“Good job keeping everyone alive,” I told Lauren, throwing up another shield wall.

Lauren had been crouched down behind a support column, but came rushing over to join me. She fired a force blast at Arakthiel, catching him from behind and knocking him off balance. Cassandra took advantage of this opportunity to send several arrows through him.

“Gotcha,” I exclaimed, throwing my spear at the god. Unfortunately, Arakthiel slipped to the side and avoided my attack.

“This one has become…annoying,” Arakthiel stated, staring straight at me. He raised his scythe and was about to attack me until Axe Guy charged him from the side and forced him to dodge.

“Glad to see you’re still alive,” Marissa called out to me. “I thought you were done for…”

“Takes more than that to kill me,” I responded, ignoring the fact that I’d already been killed twice.

“Can you do anything about Randal?” Becky asked.

I followed her gaze to Randal, who was standing back with a bone shield held up for protection. He wasn’t attacking, and it took me a moment to realize why. One of his arms was missing, severed just above the elbow. From the grimace of pain and determination, it looked like he was running on pure stubbornness and willpower.

“I tried healing him,” Lauren said with a worried look. “But I couldn’t do much…”

“Lesser healing,” I said, using my ability on Randal, though I didn’t expect to do a whole lot more than Lauren had. “I don’t think it’s powerful enough to grow new limbs…” From what I could see of Randal, I might have eased the pain and helped the stump to heal up a bit, but his arm hadn’t suddenly grown back.

Matt came forward and opened fire, shooting Kr’aethar in the chest with the glowing ammo that Maelyne had given him. Each hit exploded, creating softball sized craters in the god’s armor. I felt a surge of excitement since Matt was breaking through and was about to crack the armor above the area where Kr’aethar was already injured.

“Focus on his chest again,” I called out, throwing more shields out on my companions, then creating a shield wall to the side, between me and Arakthiel. “If we can crack him open again, we can finish the job…”

I didn’t have enough damage buff saved up to do a whole lot, but since Kr’aethar had already been seriously injured, I suspected that it wouldn’t take much. I just had to get past this extra armor.

Several arrows struck Kr’aethar’s chest, and when he went to block it, Alejandra took advantage of the opportunity to swing at his head again. Arakthiel tried rushing to Kr’aethar’s side, only to have Axe Guy, Becky, and Teri going after him with a series of attacks that forced him on the defense.

“I’m out,” Matt announced, quickly backing out of the way so that others had a clear shot.

My eyes were locked on Kr’aethar and the new opening that had been created in his armor. There it was…my opportunity. I hadn’t been able to take him down the first time, but this time was going to be different. This time, he wasn’t going to get back up.

I pulled my bulldozer trick and charged at Kr’aethar again, counting on Alejandra to and Marissa to keep him distracted. But just as I got within reach, he snapped around and punched at me. His fist crackled with red energy and smashed right through my shield wall.

“DAMN,” I exclaimed, desperately trying to drive my spear through the opening in his armor.

Kr’aethar reacted faster than I’d expected and grabbed hold of my spear, tearing it right out of my hands. A moment late, he drove my spear right into my own shoulder, doing so with enough force that he threw it at the same time. I screamed in pain even as I was thrown across the room where the spear sank into the wall, pinning me in place.

“JERI!” Cassandra screamed in horror before opening fire with a steady stream of arrows aimed right at Kr’aethar’s face.

I continued screaming in agony, though the truth was, I’d felt much worse pain. This hurt like hell, but was nothing compared to being burned alive. So after a few seconds, I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming and sent my spear back to storage, removing it from my shoulder in the process.

Lauren rushed to my side, hitting me with a heal. It felt good, but wasn’t nearly enough to repair all the damage. She didn’t have enough mana left to do much more.

“Hurts,” I gasped, trying to get back up but I only collapsed to my knees.

Kr’aethar slowly moved towards me, his fists both crackling with red sparks. His damaged armor melted and reformed as I watched, repairing the hole so that it looked completely undamaged. All that work for nothing.

“YOU AREN’T GOING TO TOUCH HER!” Teri yelled, stepping between me and Kr’aethar. She held out her shield and her club, facing down a god to protect me.

“Ditto,” Matt said as he stood beside Teri, his paintball gun in one hand and his black dagger in the other.

I gasped in pain and fear. I couldn’t get back to my feet at that moment, and I couldn’t even see clearly. Everything was just a little blurry.

Suddenly, I could see strange glowing threads connecting me to Matt, Teri and Lauren. I could see something…some energy…flowing to me from these threads. Loyalty. I was seeing their loyalty. And as soon as I realized that, I also realized that I could see the same kind of energy flowing from me into them. It was flowing both ways, making a loop.

“Loyalty flows both ways,” I whispered, remembering what Maelyne had told me.

With that, I noticed more threads…ones connecting me to the other champions like Marissa and Becky. These threads were much finer and not nearly as powerful as the ones I had with my companions, but they were there. And then I saw the one connecting me to Cassandra. It definitely wasn’t the same as the ones to my companions, but it was still clear and bright.

My vision blurred further and I could make out even more threads, ones that weren’t connected to me at all. There were bright threads between Matt and Teri, between Lauren and Cassandra, between Marissa and Axe Guy, and strangely enough, even some faint ones between Kr’aethar and Arakthiel.

“Loyalty,” I repeated, growing more confident in what I was seeing, and becoming sure that it wasn’t just some hallucination. I was somehow seeing a web of loyalty, of how we connected to each other. I took a deep breath and felt the energy flowing into me, filling me with greater strength and power.

When I blinked, it was all gone. I could no longer see all the glowing threads, but I knew that they were still there. With a grimace of effort, I got back to my feet, healing myself several times in a row as I did so. I still hurt like hell, but it was much more manageable now.

Kr’aethar continued forward. I threw shields on my companions. Matt opened fire with his paintball gun, though he was out of the glowing ammo and had been forced to use the steal balls instead. They bounced off the god’s armor without even leaving any dents. And when Kr’aethar got close enough, Matt was forced to dive to the side.

Teri was more stubborn than Matt and not nearly as fast. Kr’aethar back-handed her with his massive fist, and she merely raised her shield and tried to block it. The hit knocked her back and caused her club to go flying. Her health went down a little, but between her shield and armor, not to mention the shield I’d put on her, she’d been protected from most of the impact.

“Gotta do better than that, jerk-face,” Teri exclaimed.

Kr’aethar took another swing at Teri, who merely grabbed his arm and pulled down, causing the massive god to roll over her body and slam into the ground. It was an impressive move, but Kr’aethar was far too strong for her to pin, even if she did have better leverage at the moment.

I threw another shield on Teri and prepared to summon her to my side. Then I had an idea.

“Come on,” I muttered, making my storage chest appear in front of me.

Before the fight, I’d thrown a few things inside of it that I thought might be useful. Unfortunately, a rocket launcher hadn’t been one of them. As useful as that might have been, I had no idea where to get that kind of thing. What I pulled out a moment later was a container full of paintballs, which I tossed to Matt.

“What am I supposed to do with these?” Matt asked, surprised since those were ordinary paintballs. Then his eyes widened as he realized what I intended. “Got it…”

Marissa, Axe Guy, and Becky were still keeping Arakthiel occupied while Randal tried helping as much as he could in his injured state. Once I made sure Arakthiel wasn’t coming at me, I looked back at Kr’aethar. Teri had him on the ground for the moment, while Alejandra was taking advantage of the opportunity to pound on him with her hammer, creating some nice dents in his armor. However, there was a flash of red light from the downed god. I immediately pulled Teri back, and just in time. Alejandra screamed and was flung back while her hammer exploded into shrapnel.

Matt opened fire on Kr’aethar, shooting him in the face with one paintball after another until his entire face was covered with neon orange paint. These couldn’t hurt the god, but they could make it very difficult for him to see.

“These mortals are annoying,” Kr’aethar announced in Oraevian as he tried wiping the paint from his face. However, all he did was smear it around since his massive metal hands weren’t good for something like this. “They are like insects that keep stinging…”

“Then we should finish this quickly,” Arakthiel responded in the same language. “Beginning with Maelyne’s pawn… She is the only one with a sting that can harm us…”

I couldn’t see Kr’aethar’s face beneath his armor, but I imagined that he was giving an evil grin. “Then we crush her between us…”

I gulped at that, suddenly more than a little worried. My defenses might be strong, but I couldn’t hold off both of them at once. Hell, I could barely hold off one of them when they were actually focused on me. Fortunately, I understood what they were saying, which meant that they’d inadvertently warned me of their plans.

Arakthiel swung his scythe around himself, releasing a wave of purple energy that forced all the champions away. This gave him the opening he needed to break free from the steady attacks and to launch himself straight at me. At the same time, Kr’aethar charged at me from the other side, even though he was still half-blind. Like they said, they were going to crush me between them.

I threw up ‘Maelyne’s shield’ and pushed as much mana into it as I could, trying to give it enough strength to hold. “MATT,” I called out. “Remember the Carver’s Park match a couple months ago, and that plan you came up with…?”

Matt’s eyes widened as I reminded him of a paintball match that had resulted in a rather painful defeat. “My plan didn’t work…”

“Not that time, but it might now,” I called back.

Matt nodded, looking around with a desperate expression as he did so. His eyes settled on Becky and he grinned as he ran over to her side.

I turned my full attention back to the gods who were attacking me. Arakthiel’s scythe was glowing purple and raised for a strike. What worried me even more was the fact that purple smoke was now writhing around the scythe. It looked like the same thing he’d used to kill Maelyne, only a much weaker version. I had no doubt that it would be more than enough to kill me.

Kr’aethar came at me from the other side with both of his hands crackling with red electricity. He didn’t scare me nearly as much as Arakthiel did, but I had no doubt that he was quite capable of killing me as well, and that he fully intended to do just that.

They reached my shield at the same time and struck as hard as they could, obviously intending to shatter my shield and kill me with a single blow. If I channeled all my divine power into my shield, it might even be strong enough to survive the attack. However, right before their attacks could hit, I dove to the side, dropping my shield in the process so I could get out of the way.

“NOW!” Matt yelled

At that instant, Becky blasted Arakthiel with her levitation attack. But instead of floating up into the air, he was suddenly pulled straight at Kr’aethar, who couldn’t see well enough to dodge in time. Their attacks struck each other instead of my shield like they’d intended. There was an explosion of light as red electricity and purple smoke collided, and when it cleared, two bodies were sprawled out on the ground.

“Holy shit,” Marissa exclaimed.

“Are they dead?” Teri asked nervously.

“Kr’aethar is missing half his body,” Alejandra pointed out.

I stared at Kr’aethar, feeling both triumphant and sick to my stomach at the same time. Half of his armor, the outer layer that he’d created from his throne, was missing, as was a great deal of his body beneath. This time, nearly his entire torso was gone, and I could see the floor right through his chest. Even his neck was mostly gone, leaving his head almost entirely severed.

“Nearly Headless Nick,” Matt joked weakly.

“But you didn’t touch them,” Teri said, looking more than a little nervous. “If you didn’t use your divine power stuff, they’re only going to get back up.”

“Teri isn’t the only one with divine power,” Lauren pointed out with a sick look on her face. “I bet both of them have it too…”

“They probably have more of it,” Matt agreed. “A LOT more.”

I let out a long sigh of relief, thankful that my plan had worked. A few months ago, Matt and I had played a paintball game at Carver’s Park, where his gun had broken in the middle of a match, so he couldn’t shoot back. He’d come up with the idea of tricking a couple of our opponents into shooting each other, though it hadn’t actually worked out like he’d planned. This time it had worked perfectly.

Since Kr’aethar and Arakthiel had taken each other out, there were no popups or rewards, much to my disappointment. However, considering the circumstances, I could happily live with that disappointment.

“So, it’s over?” Becky asked.

“Not yet,” Cassandra said as she dropped down from the hole in the ceiling. “I can still feel that fucker’s power…”

Now that Cassandra mentioned it, I realized that I could still feel the cold and hungry power of Arakthiel. Arakthiel twitched and began sitting up, revealing that while he’d been badly injured by Kr’aethar’s attack, it hadn’t been enough to finish him off.

“You will all face oblivion,” Arakthiel announced in English while a purple energy began to swirl around him.

Suddenly, an arrow appeared in his throat, then Cassandra fired two more. The arrows crumbled and vanished while the god started getting back to his feet. A second later, there was the sound of a gunshot and Arakthiel was thrown sideways with a hole in his head. Two more gunshots quickly followed, hitting him in the throat and shoulder.

“We can’t let this bastard get back on his feet,” Lauren exclaimed before firing several more shots into the god. She continued doing this until her clip was empty.

Lauren was right and everyone knew it. Arakthiel was too dangerous for us to just stand back and let him recover. Once he got moving again, his reflexes would make it far too difficult to hit him, and we’d be right back where we started. Well, almost back where we started. Kr’aethar was down for good.

Marissa, Axe Guy, and Cassandra all attacked Arakthiel at once, hitting him with enough damage that it would at least slow him down. Matt was standing beside me with both his paintball gun and dragger drawn, keeping back and out of the way, but ready to jump in and do any damage he could.

I just stood back and scowled, silently cursing the fact that I didn’t have enough damage buff built up to do anything. At least not from my shields. With that thought, I reached over and snatched the dagger from Matt’s hands, willed divine power into the blade, and then threw it at Arakthiel as hard as I could. I might not have built up much damage buff from my shields, but I had taken some nasty damage to my body, and Maelyne’s Blessing meant that I could add twenty percent of that to my next attack.

“GOTCHA!” I exclaimed as the dragger hit Arakthiel in the stomach.

There was a flash of light at impact as the all that damage I’d added in my attack had been released. In addition, the dagger itself had the ability to deal three times the damage when it was thrown, so it had just tripled everything I’d put into it. Arakthiel collapsed back to the ground with a gaping hole through his body.

YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEFEATED AN OPPOSING GOD HOST.

REWARD: +1 ATTRIBUTE POINT. +300 RESOURCE ATTRIBUTE POINTS. YOUR COMPANIONS GAIN +200 RESOURCE ATTRIBUTE POINTS.

“It’s done,” I said, letting out a long sigh of relief.

“It’s really over?” Teri asked, giving Arakthiel’s body a wary look.

“Our part is,” I told her with a faint smile. “The rest is up to the gods.”

I was awake. Barely.

When I awoke, it was in a nice, soft, comfy bed. An arm was draped over me and I could feel someone else pressed close. Cassandra.

A smile formed on my lips as I remembered last night when the two of us had slept together for the first time. Well, we’d done a lot more than merely sleep, and the memory of that made my smile grow. There were definitely some good things about being a chick.

But as comfortable as it was to lay in bed next to Cassandra, my bladder was demanding attention. I climbed out of bed, being careful not to wake Cassandra, though her eyes opened anyway. With her high awareness, slipping past her was always difficult, even when she was asleep.

“Morning,” I said.

“Fuck you,” Cassandra grumbled before closing her eyes and turning over.

I glanced around the bedroom, which was visible thanks to the morning light coming in through the window. There was a French maid costume that had been tossed on the floor, and which had actually looked really nice on Cassandra. We’d flipped a coin over who would wear it, and fortunately, I’d won the toss, though next time, I might not.

I grabbed my robe from the back of the door, then went to the bathroom to do my business. A couple minutes later, I was in the kitchen, making myself some tea while brewing a pot of coffee for Lauren and Cassandra. I was just finishing up with this when Lauren made her appearance.

“Morning,” I greeted her, in a much better mood than I normally was in the morning. Getting laid could do that for a guy…girl.

“Morning,” Lauren responded in the same tone.

“So,” I asked as I poured her a cup of coffee. “How was your date last night?” From her smile, I could already guess.

“It was good,” she told me with another smile. “Matt took me to a pretty nice restaurant, then we went to the movies, and finally found a nice park where we just sat and talked…”

I was pretty sure that they’d done more than just ‘talked’, even if that part may have come after the park. However, I was polite enough not to say anything, mostly because I didn’t want her teasing Cassandra and I about the new evolution of our relationship.

I took a sip of my tea, then rotated my arm a bit to ease the faint ache in my shoulder. This was a remnant from when Kr’aethar had pinned me to the wall with my own spear. It had been three days, and I’d healed my injury multiple times, but the ache kept coming back. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d been impaled with a magic weapon, or because it was a god who’d done it, though I suspected it was actually just psychosomatic. In time that would probably fade away.

With a deep sigh, I marveled at the fact that it had only been three days. Three days since I’d fought a pair of gods…and won. Sure, they’d both been in human bodies at the time, but it was still an amazing achievement. In fact, it was such an achievement, that I figured that I’d earned more than just the one attribute point and handful of resource attribute points I’d been given. Hell, I hadn’t even gotten any credit at all for my part in taking down Kr’aethar.

I’d slotted the attribute point from Arakthiel into stamina, mostly because I remembered promising myself that while I’d been running up the stairs. Stamina was always a good thing. I’d split the resource attribute points between health and regeneration, trying to catch them up to my mana a bit more.

While I’d been slotting my points, I’d noticed something odd. I hadn’t slotted a single point into divine power, but for some reason, it had actually gone up several dozen points on its own anyway. I suspected that this might have something to do with those threads of loyalty that I’d seen during the fight, or the small surges of power that I felt when protecting people. Unfortunately, Maelyne wasn’t there to answer my questions, so I’d have to figure it out on my own, probably with a bit of trial and error.

“So, it’s really over?” Lauren asked me with a nervous look. She’d asked the same question a couple times over the last few days, and obviously had a hard time letting herself believe it was.

“As far as I know,” I responded, giving her the same answer I had before. “Arakthiel, Kr’aethar, and Pfath are all gone, and they were the ones causing all the trouble.”

“But they aren’t dead,” Lauren pointed out with a scowl. “All we did was send them back where they came from. For all we know, they can just make new champions and possess them…or even find a way to come here in their own bodies.”

I shuddered at the thought, knowing that Lauren was right. Even though we’d defeated our enemies, they were still alive and out there. It was indeed possible that they might come back someday, and maybe even more powerful than before. However, those were also possibilities that I didn’t want to think about, at least not at the moment. For now, I just wanted to celebrate our victory.

“Maybe,” I reluctantly admitted to Lauren. “And maybe we’ll find out more this afternoon.”

I reached over and picked up the envelope that we’d found on the front door yesterday. My name was on the front, along with Cassandra’s and Lauren’s. Inside, there was a fancy looking invitation.

‘You have been invited to a celebration lunch at 12 PM tomorrow. Casual attire is requested. Transportation will be provided.

Sincerely, Mehdi Hassan, formerly known as the Cleaner.’

“Even if we don’t,” I added with a smile, “I’m not turning down a free lunch.”

Lauren gave me an amused look. “You know, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

“Did someone say free lunch?” Cassandra asked as she came in, still looking more than half asleep.

Without a word, I handed her a mug of coffee. She took a long sip, seeming to ignore how hot it was, then let out a contented sigh.

“You make me coffee,” Cassandra finally said, giving me a smile. “I think I’ll keep you.”

I smirked at that. “After last night, I certainly hope so.”

Lauren looked back and forth between us before saying, “That’s more than I needed to know.”

This time, it was Cassandra who smirked. “Then you really don’t need to know that after breakfast, we’re going back upstairs for a repeat…”

“No, I really don’t need to know that,” Lauren said with a look of amusement.

I gave Cassandra a wry look. “Do I get any say in that?”

Cassandra looked like she was considering it for a moment before she flashed me a grin, shook her head, and replied, “Nope.”

--------------------

It was nearly noon, and we were all gathered together in the living room, waiting on our transportation. Matt and Teri had come because they’d received an invitation as well, so it only made sense for us to travel together.

I sat on the couch with Cassandra leaning up against me. Matt was sitting in a recliner with Lauren on his lap, and he seemed a little uncertain of what to do about that, much to her amusement. Teri was sitting in the other recliner, a little annoyed at being the only one there who didn’t have a significant other.

I think it was starting to dawn on Teri that with her new size and physique, it might be a little more difficult to find a boyfriend than it had been before. Sure, she looked great, but most guys weren’t thrilled with the idea of having a girlfriend who was stronger than they were.

All of us were dressed in normal clothes, with no visible armor or weapons. The invitation said that casual attire was requested, which we took to mean that we weren’t supposed to show up in our armor. That was actually quite a relief, because it meant that the Cleaner wasn’t expecting any trouble.

As soon as the clock struck twelve, a portal opened up in the air. I smiled faintly and said, “Prompt as always.” There was no sign of the Cleaner himself, but he was obviously responsible for the portal. A few seconds later, we all stepped through.

I found myself inside of a small but nice looking restaurant, which only had eight tables. Several of the tables already had occupants, ones I recognized. There was Marissa and Axe Guy at one, with Becky, Alejandra, and Randal sitting at the one beside them. And then I saw the Cleaner.

“I’m glad you could all join us,” the Cleaner announced, gesturing towards two tables that were beside the occupied ones. “Order anything you like off the menu. This is my treat.”

“Thank you,” Lauren said while the rest of us echoed the sentiment.

We took our seats and I ended up sitting with Cassandra and Teri, while Matt and Lauren were at the table beside us. All four tables were close enough together that we could easily talk to each other, and we did. It was a little strange though, since this was the first time that all of the champions had been together in a social situation without the threat of combat or death hanging over our heads.

“Last night, I finally had to tell Mom and Dad about all this,” Teri said, gesturing down at herself with an annoyed look. “I mean, it’s not like I could keep hiding this.”

“I’m surprised you got away with it as long as you did,” Lauren told her.

“Dad isn’t very observant,” Matt said with a chuckle. “And Mom thought she was imagining things and losing her mind…”

“Wow,” I said, imagining how weird that conversation must have been. “Did you tell them…everything?”

I frowned, feeling a little uncomfortable about the idea of them learning about me. Sure, I’d liked Gail and Michael, but I didn’t really want them knowing about my being turned into a chick. Hell, I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of most people finding out about that. It was kind of personal…and embarrassing.

“I kind of skipped over the whole death match thing,” Teri said, apparently not realizing that my concerns were a little more personal.

Matt nodded at that. “They don’t need to know about the whole Hunger Games thing.” He gave a wry look. “We had a nice long conversation about it all this morning. Well, about a lot of it…”

Teri smirked. “They kind of think that we were doing video games…”

“And larping,” Matt added with a chuckle. “Just with real magic.”

“Anyway,” Teri told me, “Mom feels guilty that she didn’t notice anything sooner, and kinda pissed that we didn’t tell her about any of this, while Dad is totally jealous…”

She held up her arm and flexed it, showing a nice solid bicep and looking smug as she did so. Matt gave her a look of annoyance, which contained a bit of envy as well. I could sympathize.

“That must have been an interesting conversation,” Cassandra said with a chuckle.

Matt rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “You have no idea…”

A minute later, I noticed Randal and his arm. The last time I’d seen him, his arm had been cut off above the elbow, but now he had an elbow, and the stump was right above his wrist. I was confused by that, until I heard him explaining it to Axe guy.

“My patron is the goddess of blood and bone,” Randal said, “so growing a new arm for me isn’t that hard for her.”

A short time later, after everyone had ordered but before the food arrived, the Cleaner stood up and called for everyone’s attention. “I have spoken with Emnyle, my patron, and she has told me much of what is occurring among the gods.” He paused at that and looked around. “Some of you may already have been told this by your own patrons, but not everyone has…” His eyes quickly darted to me.

“Armestia told me a bit,” Cassandra commented.

Randal and Marissa both nodded at that while Becky stared at the Cleaner in anticipation. It seemed that me and my companions weren’t the only ones to be left out.

“While you were attacking Kr’aethar and Arakthiel,” the Cleaner explained, “the allied gods used the opportunity you all provided to attack them and the other anarchists…directly. You left Kr’aethar and Arakthiel injured and severely weakened, so the allies were able to defeat them and win the battle…and most likely…the war.”

“The war?” Matt asked with a look of surprise.

“So, it’s really over?” Teri added a moment later.

“Armestia told me that she killed Arakthiel herself,” Cassandra offered. “She said that she shot him right between the fucking eyes…”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked, feeling a little hurt. I had a personal interest in what happened to Arakthiel after that bastard had murdered Maelyne.

“I was going to,” Cassandra responded, looking a bit embarrassed. “But I got a little distracted…”

“What about the other two?” Alejandra asked with a scowl.

The Cleaner smiled at that. “According to Emnyle, Kr’aethar was severely injured during the fight and was captured, though Pfath escaped and went into hiding. From what I’ve been told, the anarchist’s leadership have been almost entirely killed or captured, and their forces are broken. There may be a minor skirmish or two left for them to deal with, but the war itself is over. This is why I invited you all here to celebrate.”

“We did it,” Becky exclaimed triumphantly. “We won…”

“We couldn’t have done it without Sievers,” Marissa pointed out, nodding towards me. “She’s the one with the ability that actually put them down…”

There were a couple cheers at that, which made me blush self-consciously. “It was a team effort,” I reminded everyone.

We’d defeated Arakthiel and Kr’aethar, but I certainly hadn’t done it alone. Whether it was keeping our enemies distracted and unable to focus, breaking open Kr’aethar’s armor, or throwing the two of them at each other, everyone had played a part. If the Cleaner hadn’t provided transportation, or brought the other champions, then there was no way we could have won.

“Every person here played an important role in that,” I said. “I’m just the person who delivered the final blow.”

That seemed to please everyone even more, and the conversation quickly went back to the fight and the parts that everyone played. Becky bragged about throwing zombies up into the air so that they couldn’t fight us, and about flinging Arakthiel into Kr’aethar, at Matt’s suggestion, while Alejandra recounted how she’d broken through Kr’aethar’s armor.

I listened to everyone and smiled, enjoying the celebratory atmosphere. There was a reason that I’d always preferred team sports to one on one competition, and why I preferred working in a group or party rather than solo playing in my various video games.

It didn’t take long though before someone asked, “So, what happens now?” I looked over and saw that it was Randal. “Are the competitions going to start up again?”

“No,” the Cleaner answered with a thoughtful look. “At least, not anytime soon. The gods have to finish cleaning up their mess first, and reestablish the game. From what I’ve been told, they’ll need to select new Arbiters since some of the old ones were killed, and Emnyle may or may not be among the new ones.” He hesitated for a moment, then continued, “Though I wasn’t explicitly told this, I expect that sooner or later, the contests will begin again…probably with new champions and in a new location, so that they can start fresh. However, this could be years…or even decades away.”

There was a long silence at that as we all absorbed what he’d said. Becky raised her hand, but didn’t wait to be called on before asking, “If we’re not gonna be doing contests anymore, then are we still gonna be champions? Are they gonna take away our powers?”

“That would be good to know,” Axe Guy agreed.

“I…don’t know,” the Cleaner admitted with a grimace. “But I expect it to be up to each individual patron on whether or not they want to revoke their patronage.”

“Well, that kind of sucks,” Marissa grumbled.

Teri leaned over to me and said, “At least you don’t have to worry about that.”

I scowled at that, not happy about the reminder. Maelyne made sure that I wouldn’t lose my abilities, and I was thankful for that, especially since it meant that I’d had the power to protect my friends. However, there were still a few raw emotions about that subject, especially when I thought about Maelyne’s death.

“I don’t think that any of you really have anything to worry about though,” the Cleaner said. “Emnyle told me that even though the game was disrupted, the allied gods were still continuing to play it in some fashion, and were collecting points based off your actions…and their own.”

There was another burst of mutterings and whispers, though I realized, we shouldn’t have been surprised. These gods had been playing their game for thousands of years, and their entire political system seemed to have been based around this game and the leverage they gained while playing it. It shouldn’t have surprised anyone that some of the gods would cling to their familiar system in one form or another, even in the middle of war.

“Among the gods, there is a certain prestige in having a champion,” the Cleaner said, waiting until everyone had quieted down a little. “Especially in having a successful champion. All of you have not only survived against three gods. You’ve triumphed. I imagine that this would provide a great deal of prestige and status for your patrons, and I cannot imagine that any god would want to lose that by revoking your patronage just because you are no longer actively competing.”

“That makes sense,” Randal commented, staring at his bandaged stump as he did so. He was probably thinking about how it would have been easier for his patron to abandon him than to heal him after his injury.

“I don’t know about the rest of you,” Cassandra said, “but I’m pretty sure my patron isn’t going to fuck me over.”

“Mine either,” Marissa added.

I held my drink up and announced, “To loyalty, whether it’s with patrons, allies, or friends.”

“To loyalty,” everyone echoed. I felt a pleasant warmth at that, and for a brief second, I thought I saw the glowing threads again.

“And to Maelyne,” Matt added with a serious expression. “With her last breath, she not only saved Jeri, but she gave us all the chance to survive…and to win.”

I felt a stirring in my heart and for a moment, it almost felt like she was still there, or at least, a part of her was. A moment later, we all raised our classes and echoed, “To Maelyne.”

I was alive. I was happy. These things might seem small or obvious, but I wasn’t going to take either of them for granted. As someone who has died…twice…I appreciated what it meant to be alive, and what it meant to truly live.

It had been several months since my first death, since I lost my body, my life, and my very identity. And though I’d been given new ones, they’d belonged to someone else, and it had taken me time to make them my own. The truth was, I was still in the process of doing that and suspected that I would be for a long time to come.

Today was Halloween, over two and a half months since that final battle with Kr’aethar and Arakthiel. Since then, there had been no more competitions, no more mad gods, and no more fights to the death. Life had gone back to normal, or at least, as normal as it could be for someone in my situation. I was still trying to figure out what ‘normal’ was for me now.

College had started up again, and going back to school helped me to feel a little more normal. Unfortunately, all of the credits I’d earned last year had vanished along with my old body and identity, so I had to start my freshman year all over again. That was extremely frustrating, especially since I even had to take most of the same classes. The only good thing about that though, was that this time around, the classes were a LOT easier.

The attribute points that I’d slotted into intelligence were really noticeable now that I’d gone back to school. I could read a lot faster than I used to, understand the material easier, and remember it all without even trying. I was now getting straight A’s in all my classes, and had even helped Matt a time or two, in spite of the fact that he was taking sophomore classes. It was a strange reversal in our relationship, and one that neither of us wanted to talk about.

“But he’s still the nerd,” I mused aloud. “Not me.”

I might be damn near a genius now, but I was still more jock than nerd, or at least, that was how I preferred to think of myself. The truth was, Teri was a lot more involved in sports than I was now, though I did still go to the gym nearly every day.

As I thought about my intelligence and how those extra points were making classes easier, I also found myself thinking about my other points. Ever since the contests had ended, there had been no more points given out as rewards, and no new abilities had been unlocked. All the champions had ceased their character progression, at least, we’d all stopped doing so the easy way.

I’d found that I was still able to get more attribute points, but I had to earn them the hard way. After all my time in the gym, I’d earned extra points in strength, stamina, and endurance, and my studying for classes had unlocked another one in intelligence. Of course, I’d also unlocked extra points in dexterity and awareness too, though I wasn’t quite sure how I’d done that.

Every point I earned made a difference, and I could see the effects on my body. My body hadn’t suddenly changed the way it did whenever I slotted a point, but I did show the results from countless hours in the gym. I looked fit, strong, and sexy. And to my amusement, I was probably stronger than I actually looked. I didn’t know if it was my agility, my charisma, or just the genetics I’d inherited from Heather, but while I was getting stronger, I wasn’t really bulking up the way Teri had.

“And she’s still ahead of me,” I grumbled, wondering if I’d ever catch up to her. After all, I wasn’t the only one who’d earned extra points by spending time in the gym.

All these thoughts passed through my mind as I looked myself over in the mirror. I looked hot. Damn hot. There was still a faint voice in the back of my head, little more than a whisper, that said I should feel embarrassed or ashamed by this fact. I didn’t listen that voice much anymore.

At the moment, I was wearing a particularly sexy outfit that included a pair of black, thigh-length, stiletto heeled boots. The rest of my outfit followed a similar theme since I was also wearing a black top with a built-in corset, and whish showed off a good amount of my cleavage. I had on a pair of black gloves, which went up past my elbows. There was a black studded collar around my throat, a couple black studded bracelets around my wrists, over the gloves, and I had a couple of loose black studded belts around my waist.

My makeup was currently done up to match my outfit, with dark eyes shadow and lipstick that was somewhere between crimson and black. In addition, my hair was pulled back and done up in a single long braid. I looked hot…though a bit scary.

“Halloween costumes,” I said wryly, looking myself over again. “This is definitely not my thing.”

Cassandra and I had decided to pick out each other’s costumes, which had seemed like a fun idea at the time. But then, we’d revealed our choices to each other. Cassandra had picked out a goth costume for me, though I actually looked more like a dominatrix than a goth. I suspected that this was intentional. Either way, Cassandra seemed more than a little pleased with the way I looked.

Just then, while I was staring at my reflection, I saw my eyes suddenly change. One moment they were their normal green color, and the next instant, my irises were glowing iridescent instead. I blinked and my eyes were back to normal.

“Great,” I said with a sigh. I would have rubbed my eyes, but I didn’t want to smear the makeup that Cassandra had worked so hard to get right.

This wasn’t the first time my eyes had flickered like that, and I was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be the last. A few odd things had been happening to me, or at least, odder than normal, and I was pretty sure that they were all related to that divine spark I’d been given.

I pulled up my status screen and quickly glanced over it. The last time I’d noticed my eyes change like that, my weapon had changed from being listed as ‘Maelyne’s spear’ to being ‘Jaeri’s spear’. This time, nothing had changed there, though I noticed that I’d gained a few more resource attribute points in each of my pools. That wasn’t really new though, since over the last couple months, I’d seen those pools go up on their own several times, without a single popup to notify me of it happening, or to explain why.

Before I could give this anymore thought, Cassandra called out, “Hey, are you done in there?”

“Just admiring your handiwork,” I told her with a smile.

I came out of the bathroom and saw Cassandra standing there, dressed in the costume I’d picked out for her. She was dressed as Zelda, from the game series of the same name. It was amusing to see Cassandra with blonde hair, even if it was only a wig. Of course, this wasn’t the first time I’d seen her with a wig on, but it still fun to see how different she could make herself look.

“I did a great job,” Cassandra stated with a smirk. “You look fucking awesome. But there’s something missing…”

“A little color?” I asked.

“Nope,” she responded with an evil grin that didn’t belong on Zelda. Then she handed me a coiled leather whip.

I stared at the whip for a moment before musing, “Why am I not surprised…”

“It’s the perfect accessory for that outfit,” Cassandra told me.

“Someone was being a bit tricksy,” I said, unrolling the whip and giving it an experimental snap in the air. “I think someone needs to be punished…”

Cassandra just grinned. “Oh no, not that. Whatever shall I do?”

A minute later, Cassandra and I went downstairs where Matt and Lauren were already dressed up and ready for the costume party. Matt was dressed up with a blonde wig and an orange jumpsuit. He’d forced me to watch the anime Naruto a couple times, so I recognized the character he was dressed as.

“Figures you’d want to go as a ninja,” I said.

“Yeah,” Matt agreed with a grin. “But I wasn’t about to go the generic route.”

Then he looked me over and smirked. He was about to say something, only to get an elbow in the ribs from Lauren, who was currently dressed as Nurse Joy. I saw Matt’s influence in the pick

“You look…nice,” Lauren said, though she was struggling to hold back a laugh. She’d obviously been in on this with Cassandra, and immediately proved that by pulling she’d been holding behind her back and snapping a picture.

Everyone was here and ready for the costume party, except for Teri. This was going to be a college party, and while Teri was a friend and companion, who’d helped to save my life on multiple occasions, she was still a high school student and wasn’t allowed to attend.

Teri had grumbled and complained about this a little, though it was more out of obligation than for any other reason. After all, her school was having a costume party as well, and I knew that she wanted to attend that with her friends, including her new boyfriend.

“You know,” Matt told me, carefully stepping out of Lauren’s reach, “you’re really going to get a lot of attention like that.”

“I know,” I responded with a sigh, before giving Cassandra a flat look. She just smirked and looked pleased with herself. “Trust me, I know.”

“A LOT of attention,” Lauren added, earning a glare from me, which only caused her to snicker.

“When we get back,” I announced, fixing Cassandra with my gaze, “someone is getting punished for this.”

Of course, I knew quite well that this was what Cassandra was hoping for, and the look of anticipation simply confirmed that. This was just another of Cassandra’s dress-up games, and I had no doubt that I was going to have fun playing along a little later. But for now, I had to deal with the party.

I was a bit self-conscious about going out in public like this, even if I did look really damn hot. However, I wasn’t going to let that stop me. In fact, that nervousness only motivated me to give it my best. When in doubt, charge forward. That had worked well with my new life so far, and I saw no reason to change things now.

“Come on,” I announced, standing up a little straighter, throwing my shoulders back and my chest out, and pushing my charisma as much as I could. With that, I walked to the front door, putting a little extra strut into my walk. “It’s time to go kick some butt.”

--------------------

The large room was carved of marble, with veins of glowing crystal running through nearly every surface. Floor, ceiling, and walls all gently sloped and blended into each other, creating a rounded space with no hard angles or corners.

In the very center of the floor was a pool filled with liquid silver. It was calm and still, looking more like a mirror than the liquid it was. Directly above the pool, floating near the ceiling, was a glowing sphere that strongly resembled a moon. This sphere, part light source, part décor, and part…other, lit the room with its silvery glow.

A goddess stood beside pool and stared down at the reflected moon, as well as the other images that flickered across the surface like ripples. Most of these images were of her champion, who was in the middle of a romantic evening with her lover. Armestia smiled at the sight, but after a minute, she gestured at the pool and the images vanished. At times like this, it was best to give her champion some privacy.

Just as Armestia turned away from the pool, she felt a presence at the edge of her awareness. It was one that she’d been expecting, so she patiently waited as the presence grew closer and closer until it finally reached her door.

The newcomer stood in the doorway where he waited for Armestia to acknowledge him. He was fifteen feet tall, about average for a male of their kind, with hair and a beard that glowed with an iridescent light. His body was encased from the neck down in perfectly fitted armor, which was a physical manifestation of his own power.

Armestia looked the god over for a moment, then in a formal tone, greeted him. “Welcome Gorath, god of dedication and fortitude.”

Gorath stepped inside. “Greetings Armestia, goddess of secrets, romance, and the moon.”

“I am pleased that you accepted my invitation,” Armestia told him with a smile.

Gorath nodded. “How could I not? But you know I cannot remain long. I need to see how the repairs are going in my territory and ensure that my people are doing well…”

With a faint laugh, Armestia told him, “If I’d ever doubted that you were Maelyne’s brother, that statement alone would have confirmed it.”

This was followed by a moment of respectful silence as their thoughts simultaneously turned towards their shared grief.

“I wanted to kill Arakthiel myself,” Garoth admitted with a scowl. “That is why I joined the assault on the anarchists.”

“I am sorry for taking that opportunity from you,” Armestia responded. “But not for killing him.”

Garoth nodded at that and gave a dismissive wave. “Vengeance is not my domain, and I will not dwell on it. However, I am pleased to have captured Kr’aethar, and to have left him in such condition that he will cause no more problems for centuries, at the very least.”

“Assuming he is ever released from his prison,” Armestia agreed. “And Pfath has finally been eliminated as well. The anarchists are no longer any threat to the peace. Their leadership has been decimated while the rest have been captured, killed, or scattered.”

“True,” Gorath said with a scowl. “But some do remain free and will undoubtedly cause problems in the future…”

“Indeed,” Armestia agreed. “And it is about the future that I asked to speak with you.”

Gorath chuckled faintly at that. “I see you’ve heard that I’ve been asked to serve as an Arbiter.”

“Yes, I have,” the goddess told him with a smile. “And congratulations. I am confident that you will be a fair and impartial one. However, that is not why I wished to speak with you.” When Gorath gave her a curious look, she continued, “I wished to speak to you of Maelyne’s territory and people.”

“I have no ambitions or desire for my sister’s territory,” Gorath stated with a grimace. “If necessary, I will look after her people and territory, and will honor the alliances she made…as much as I can while honoring my duties as an Arbiter. However, I have work enough in restoring my own that I would prefer not to assume these responsibilities in addition.”

“Maelyne left an heir,” Armestia stated, earning a brief look of surprise from Gorath.

Gorath stared at her with a faint scowl before responding. “I heard that my sister passed a shard of her essence to her champion, but that is merely placing a seed in salted ground. The seed may hold potential, but will never grow beyond that, and will be lost upon the host’s death.”

“Normally, that may be true,” Armestia admitted. “But in this situation, Maelyne planted her seed in fertile ground, and it has already taken root.”

“What?” Gorath demanded, giving Armestia a look of surprise and skepticism. “Surely you’re mistaken.”

“There is no mistake,” Aremestia assured him. “Maelyne knew quite well what she was doing when she chose her daughter and heir. The girl shares Maelyne’s values and is naturally inclined towards her domains. Jaeri bears a surprising compatibility with Maelyne’s essence, and is already on the cusp of reaching her second level of power.”

“That is…surprising,” Gorath said with a thoughtful expression. “This is rare, but not unheard of.”

“No,” Armestia responded with a knowing smile. “It isn’t unheard of.”

“My own grandfather had once been a mortal champion,” Gorath admitted. This kind of thing was often considered an embarrassment among their kind, and few were willing to admit such a thing. “One of the very first.”

Armestia gave a nod of acknowledgement, and continued, “Maelyne’s shard has already bonded to Jaeri’s very being, making her Maelyne’s daughter in truth as well as title. As I told you, she is on the cusp of reaching her second level of power, and she will only continue to grow stronger after this. In time, she may pass the threshold…”

“In just a century,” Gorath continued as he understood what Armestia meant, “we may have a new goddess of protection and loyalty. If so, she would be able to assume Maelyne’s territory…”

“And her place in the game,” Armestia finished with a nod.

Armestia gestured to the pool and new images began to play across the surface. Images of Jaeri entering their world and rescuing Maelyne, then standing beside her at the end. Images of the young demi-goddess as she faced three gods in mortal flesh, and as she forced them from those bodies, leaving them weak and injured enough that they were easily defeated in their real forms.

“Courage and loyalty. And she played an important role in ending our war,” Gorath admitted after watching the images. “I believe my sister may have chosen wisely.”

“Jaeri will need a mentor,” Armestia explained with a smile. “Someone who can help her understand her new powers and what she is becoming. Someone who can guide her into becoming a worthy successor for Maelyne.”

Gorath stared at Armestia. “This is why you called me here. You wish me to be this mentor.”

“Yes,” Armestia agreed.

“You speak as if you know her well,” Gorath pointed out.

“She is my champion’s lover,” Armestia admitted, “And I have met her in person.”

The god gave her a curious look. “Then would it not make more sense for you to take this role?”

“Who better to mentor her than her own uncle?” Armestia asked him with a faint smile. “This will give you two a chance to know each other better, and to bond. I suspect that the two of you will get along quite well. Besides, I may soon be too busy mentoring my own heir…”

Gorath gave her a look of surprise. “I was unaware that you had an heir.”

Armestia merely gave him an enigmatic smile but didn’t explain, though this was common for her. As the goddess of secrets, she made a habit of always keeping some information for herself.

“Then I will do it,” Gorath said with a thoughtful look. “Once she reaches the second stage, I will make contact.”

“Jaeri will be lucky to have your guidance,” Armestia told him.

“She will need it,” Gorath said with a scowl. “Many of the anarchists are still free, and it is only a matter of time before some of them create their own champions, and either send them to interfere in the competitions or to get revenge for the defeat of their leaders.”

“You make a good point,” Aremestia admitted. “Jaeri may yet face danger from anarchist champions, and possibly even the anarchists themselves.”

Gorath’s scowl turned into a faint smile. “But this may be to our advantage. If my new niece is anything like my sister, she will not hesitate to throw herself into battle in the name of protecting others, and facing such opponents will only help her grow in strength more quickly.”

“You will need to prepare her for these challenges,” Armestia told him. “And hopefully, the child will be willing to listen and learn.”

They spoke for a little longer before Gorath left. Once he was gone, Armestia turned her attention back to her pool. Images of her champion once again began to flicker across the surface, making Armestia smile in pride.

“I will need to prepare you too, my champion,” Armestia mused. “For any battle that finds Jaeri, is likely to draw you in as well.”

Armestia’s attention focused on one image, which showed Cassandra and Jaeri kissing. Her smile deepened at the sight. Their romance warmed her heart, and she wanted to see it last for a very long time to come.

“Now my champion,” Armestia said aloud, “Let us see if your ground is as fertile as I believe…”

And with that, Aremestia turned from the pool and prepared for the task ahead of her. She had a very important seed to plant.

THE END

NAME: JAERI
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 18
TITLE: DEMI-GODDESS OF LOYALTY AND PROTECTION
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: 100%
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.

DIVINITY: 1
-
STRENGTH: 11
STAMINA: 13
ENDURANCE: 13
-
AGILITY: 13
REFLEXES: 11
DEXTERITY: 12
-
INTELLIGENCE: 15
CHARISMA: 15
AWARENESS: 13
-
MANA POOL: 782
MANA RECOVERY: 737
HEALTH: 790
REGENERATION: 536
DIVINE POWER: 187

EQUIPMENT:
ARMOR: LIGHT ARMOR
-ARMOR RATING 200
-30% PROTECTION FROM ALL MAGICAL DAMAGE
-PREVENTS THE WEARER FROM BEING PHOTOGRAPHED OR RECORDED BY NON-MAGICAL MEANS

WEAPONS: JAERIE’S SPEAR
-THIS WEAPON COUNTS AS BOTH A SPEAR AND A STAFF
-REDUCES MANA COST OF MAGICAL ABILITIES BY 15%
-INCREASES EFFECTIVENESS OF SHIELD ABILITIES BY 30%
-20% OF ALL DAMAGE ABSORBED BY YOUR SHIELDS IS ADDED TO YOUR NEXT ATTACK

STORAGE CHEST:
-BOOKS
-KNIVES
-PAINTBALLS
-CLOTHING
-CELL PHONE

---------------

SKILLS:

STAFF FIGHTING- RANK 5
-YOU KNOW HOW TO FIGHT USING A STAFF. HIGHER LEVELS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

FLIRTING- RANK 5
-YOU KNOW THE ART OF FLIRTING WITH OTHERS, ENCOURAGING POSITIVE REACTIONS, AND LOYALTY. THIS WORKS BEST WITH THOSE OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER. HIGHER LEVELS OF CHARISMA INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

SPEAR FIGHTING- RANK 4
-YOU KNOW HOW TO FIGHT USING A SPEAR. HIGHER LEVELS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

LOCKPICKING- RANK 2
-YOU KNOW HOW TO PICK LOCKS. HIGHER LEVELS OF DEXTERITY AND AWARENESS INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

ORAEVIAN- RANK 2
-YOU UNDERSTAND ORAEVIAN, THE LANGUAGE OF THE GODS. HIGHER LEVELS OF INTELLIGENCE AND AWARENESS INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL

---------------

ABILITIES:

SHIELD WALL- RANK 6
-CREATE A MAGICAL BARRIER TO PROTECT YOU FROM DAMAGE.

MAELYNE’S SHIELD- RANK 4
-CREATE A MAGICAL BARRIER TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND THOSE CLOSE TO YOU FROM DAMAGE.

LESSER HEALING- RANK 5
-HEAL MINOR DAMAGE.

COMPANION 1-
-PERMANENTLY BIND A COMPANION TO YOUR SERVICE. THIS COMPANION GAINS +5 STRENGTH, +5 STAMINA, AND +5 ENDURANCE.

COMPANION 2-
-PERMANENTLY BIND A COMPANION TO YOUR SERVICE. THIS COMPANION GAINS +4 AGILITY, +4 REFLEXES, +4 DEXTERITY, AND STEALTH.

COMPANION 3-
-PERMANENTLY BIND A COMPANION TO YOUR SERVICE. THIS COMPANION GAINS +2 INTELLIGENCE, +2 CHARISMA, +2 AWARENESS, LESSER HEALING, AND FORCE BLAST.

PROTECT COMPANION- RANK 5
-CREATE A MAGICAL SHIELD TO PROTECT A COMPANION.

SUMMON COMPANION- RANK 3
-YOU MAY TRANSPORT A COMPANION TO YOUR SIDE. RANGE 100 METERS. INCREASES IN RANK WILL INCREASE THE RANGE OF THIS ABILITY.

---------------

GIFTS:

LOYALTY- YOU GAIN POWER FROM YOUR COMPANION’S LOYALTY. AS THEIR LOYALTY INCREASES, SO DOES THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR ABILITIES.

MAELYNE’S BLESSING- RANK 2. 20% PROTECTION FROM ALL DAMAGE. ALL DAMAGE PREVENTED THIS WAY IS ADDED TO YOUR NEXT ATTACK. WHILE PROTECTING OTHERS, SHIELD STRENGTH AND SHIELD DURATION ARE INCREASED BY 50%

MAELYNE’S GREATER BLESSING- YOU POSSESS A DIVINE SPARK, A SLIVER OF MAELYNE’S ESSENCE. DIVINITY AND DIVINE POWER HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED.

COMPANION 1

NAME: TERI LOUISE CORSKEY
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 15
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: NA
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.
SPECIAL ABILITY: INCREASED HEALTH AND REGENERATION

STRENGTH: 14
STAMINA: 15
ENDURANCE: 14
-
AGILITY: 10
REFLEXES: 8
DEXTERITY: 8
-
INTELLIGENCE: 9
CHARISMA: 10
AWARENESS: 7
-
MANA POOL: NA
MANA RECOVERY: NA
HEALTH: 620
REGENERATION: 370

---------------

EQUIPMENT:
ARMOR: UPPER MID-LEVEL ARMOR
-ARMOR RATING 200
-20% PROTECTION FROM ALL MAGICAL DAMAGE
-PREVENTS THE WEARER FROM BEING PHOTOGRAPHED OR RECORDED BY NON-MAGICAL MEANS

WEAPONS:
WAR CLUB-
-20% ADDITIONAL DAMAGE

SHIELD-
-HIGHLY RESISTANT TO DAMAGE

---------------

SKILLS:

KICKBOXING- RANK 2
-YOU KNOW KICKBOXING. HIGHER LEVELS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

COMPANION 2

NAME: MATTHEW LAWRENCE CORSKEY
GENDER: MALE
AGE: 19
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: NA
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: STEALTH- RANK 1

STRENGTH: 11
STAMINA: 11
ENDURANCE: 10
-
AGILITY: 14
REFLEXES: 14
DEXTERITY: 16
-
INTELLIGENCE: 12
CHARISMA: 9
AWARENESS: 11
-
MANA POOL: NA
MANA RECOVERY: NA
HEALTH: 570
REGENERATION: 320

---------------

EQUIPMENT:
ARMOR: UPPER LIGHT ARMOR
-ARMOR RATING 80
-INCREASES EFFECTIVENESS OF STEALTH
-LEAVES NO FOOTPRINTS
-20% PROTECTION FROM ALL MAGICAL DAMAGE
-PREVENTS THE WEARER FROM BEING PHOTOGRAPHED OR RECORDED BY NON-MAGICAL MEANS

WEAPONS:
BLACK DAGGER
-CAUSES TRIPLE DAMAGE WHEN THROWN

PAINTBALL GUN-
-INCREASED RANGE AND ACCURACY

---------------

SKILLS:

KUNG FU- RANK 2
-YOU KNOW KUNG FU. HIGHER LEVELS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.

COMPANION 3

NAME: LAUREN MICHELLE GAYLE
GENDER: FEMALE
AGE: 19
HEALTH: 100%
MANA: 100%
STATUS: NO INJURIES, ILLNESSES, OR NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS.
SPECIAL ABILITY: LESSER HEALING AND FORCE BLAST.

STRENGTH: 8
STAMINA: 10
ENDURANCE: 9
-
AGILITY: 10
REFLEXES: 9
DEXTERITY: 10
-
INTELLIGENCE: 14
CHARISMA: 12
AWARENESS: 13
-
MANA POOL: 300
MANA RECOVERY: 200
HEALTH: 200
REGENERATION: 100

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EQUIPMENT:

ARMOR: LIGHT ARMOR
-ARMOR RATING 60
-20% PROTECTION FROM ALL MAGICAL DAMAGE
-PREVENTS THE WEARER FROM BEING PHOTOGRAPHED OR RECORDED BY NON-MAGICAL MEANS

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SKILLS:

STAFF FIGHTING- RANK 3
-YOU KNOW HOW TO FIGHT USING A STAFF. HIGHER LEVELS OF STRENGTH AND DEXTERITY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS SKILL.