Chapter 10
“The next challenger duo is Rebecca and Sir Griffin VS Rimlock and Grimlock! You have thirty seconds to prepare yourselves!”
“I-I’m a little nervous,” Rebecca confides as we stand in the arena, the crowd cheering. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I smile. “We’ll win this, and if we don’t, it doesn’t even matter. It’s just a bit of fun; I know we can beat them together.”
She looks at me for a moment, before nodding. “Alright. Let’s w-win this,” she says with determination.
We step into the starting circle, opposite Rimlock and Grimlock as they stare at us. They both look like rogues, which already means they have a dumb combo. The whole thing with duels is coordinating attacks, and they’ll have similar skill sets.
What they’ve done is high risk, high reward. If they’re actually good, they’ll be really fucking good. Let’s just hope they aren’t that good.
“Start!”
The moment the bang goes off, I lunge at the closest one with my enchanted javelin. Rimlock dodges out of the way, which. Expected. I mean, I’m using a ranged throwing weapon to stab him. But, that’s because I wasn’t actually aiming for him.
Luckily, Rebecca catches my drift, and instantly uses a lightning spell to shepherd Grimlock in Rimlock’s direction, and I let the javelin fly. The crowd makes an ‘ooh’ sound as the javelin pierces his armour, doing a nice chunk of damage.
Rimlock scowls whilst Grimlock looks totally calm. I return the javelin to me, glad that I don’t have to literally go and pick it up, thanks to the enchantment which means it will always come back at my command. It also gives me a higher accuracy when thrown and some just generally useful things mechanically, but it also looks badass.
Rebecca did an absolutely stellar job.
Both rogues attack at the same time, four knives aiming straight for Rebecca. My great sword will slow me down too much, so I equip my double swords instead. I know for a fact that Rebecca can take care of herself from that attack, so I spend a moment switching weapons.
This will come down to a fight of speed, and unfortunately, rogues will always have the advantage with that against mages and warriors.
I watch as Rebecca expertly ruptures the ground, forcing Rimlock and Grimlock to slow down for a moment. That’s all the time she needs to cast an entanglement spell, vines creeping up from the splits in the earth and curling around the rogues’ legs.
They both slash at the plants, desperately trying to get away, but Rebecca has already basically won us the fight. I dash forwards, jumping over the vines which try and snatch at me too. Landing next to Grimlock, I quickly deplete the rest of his HP before moving on to Rimlock.
Annoyingly, he actually manages to cut himself free from the vines, but a fireball to the face from Rebecca has him on like 5 HP. Whilst he’s still blinded by the brightness of the fireball (that’s a good spell, it has cool side-effects) I stab him in the back, draining the rest of his health.
The crowd roars as Rebecca jumps into my arms and I swing her around, laughing. “See! I said we’d win,” I say as I put her down, the crowd still cheering at our victory. “I know! I j-just still can’t quite believe it, that was so fun!”
Smiling fondly, I take her hand and lead us to the arena exit, where we collect our reward. It’s essentially just currency and some potions or whatever, but the XP is always greatly appreciated.
“U-um so do you have to go now?” Rebecca asks and I wish I could say ‘no’ so we could keep playing, but I really have to get more of my assignment done. Biting my lip, I give her hand a squeeze. “What if we keep messaging? I can still work for a bit and we can chat at the same time?”
Rebecca’s face lights up, and she nods quickly. “I’d really like that,” she mumbles, her face slightly pink. Smiling, I glance away. I can’t wait to go on a date with the actual Beck.
“Um ok so, I’ll log off now. Text you soon?” I say awkwardly, but Rebecca just nods hurriedly. Patting her arm for a brief moment, I log off and instantly grab my phone.
Griffin🦅: hey
Rebecca🌸: Hey!
Griffin🦅: so um, I was just like wondering
Griffin🦅: well kinda just about you in general
Griffin🦅: I don’t really know much about you
Griffin🦅: thought it might be nice to get to know each other a bit more before the date
Griffin🦅: I know we’ve been playing for like a year anyway, but I don’t know you well
Rebecca🌸: I don’t know you very well either haha
Rebecca🌸: Why don’t we ask each other some questions?
Griffin🦅: sounds good to me
I have one question I really want answering: why do you love me? But, I’ll wait to ask that. We have plenty of time after all.
Rebecca🌸: Umm, I’ll start then
Rebecca🌸: You’re in university, right? What are you studying?
Griffin🦅: um psych, but with a focus on forensics
Rebecca🌸: Wow really? That sounds so interesting
Griffin🦅: yeah haha it is, I really enjoy it
Griffin🦅: what did you study in uni?
Placing my phone down, I roll my wrists around. They’re starting to hurt not just after I play the piano, but when I play video games too. Well that fucking sucks.
I groan slightly, the burning sensation not easing up at all. Maybe I really should go see the doctor about it? But I’m too scared to. I mean, if something really is wrong, and I can’t play the piano anymore, my mother would actually disown me; I’m not even joking.
Picking up my phone again, I look at Beck’s message in surprise. I hadn’t expected him to be a creative guy.
Rebecca🌸: Fine art
Rebecca🌸: I had to choose something which meant I wouldn’t have to talk
Rebecca🌸: Besides, art is something I’ve always been ok at, so it just made sense in the end
I stare at my screen, before groaning slightly. I completely forgot about that. It had never even occurred to me how many other parts of life not being able to talk will have an impact on.
Griffin🦅: could I maybe see some of your art some time?
I don’t really know how to reply, and I don’t want him to think I’m just ignoring his comment, but I also don’t know how comfortable he is with me bringing it up.
Rebecca🌸: I mean sure haha, it’s not that good though I’ll warn you
Griffin🦅: I’m sure you’re better than you think :)
Beck doesn’t reply for a moment, and I assume the conversation is over, turning back to my assignment instead.
My phone pings a moment later, and my heart pinches slightly.
Rebecca🌸: Goodnight, sweet dreams <3
Letting out a slight groan, I tip forwards on my desk. “Stop being so fucking adorable, Beck.”
I quickly text him back, before resigning myself to the cruel fate known as ‘homework’.
Comments (28)
See all