DIGITAL BATTLEGROUNDS

Marcus stared at his chemistry textbook, but the words kept shifting into images of fire raining from clear skies and earth swallowing guardsmen whole. Every time he tried to focus on molecular bonds, his mind wandered to a wizard who could freeze men solid and shatter them like glass.

"Dude, you've been staring at that same page for like twenty minutes."

Tyler's voice cut through Marcus's spiraling thoughts. His hallmate sprawled across Jake's desk chair, laptop balanced precariously on his knees, headset hanging around his neck like some kind of technological jewelry.

"Sorry." Marcus closed the textbook with more force than necessary. "Just having trouble concentrating."

"Yeah, I can see that." Tyler studied Marcus with the observational skills he usually reserved for optimizing streaming setups. "You're being weird. Ever since you woke up. It's like you're worried about something but can't talk about it."

Marcus felt a familiar pang of isolation. Tyler was right. He worried about something he absolutely couldn't talk about. How do you explain terror when magic is real and a dark wizard is conquering kingdoms in a parallel world where your family lives?

"Where's Jake?" Marcus asked, deflecting.

"Library. Again. That guy studies more than anyone I've ever met." Tyler shifted his laptop screen toward Marcus. "Actually, perfect timing. I need a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"My duo partner for tonight's tournament bailed on me. Food poisoning or something equally inconvenient for my content schedule." Tyler's expression took on the desperate quality of someone whose entire self-worth depended on gaming metrics. "I need someone who doesn't suck."

Marcus looked at the screen, which showed what appeared to be a complex real-time strategy game with multiple armies positioned across a detailed battlefield. "Tyler, I don't really play"

"It's not about playing, it's about thinking. Look." Tyler pulled up a replay of a previous match. "See how this team coordinates their units? It's all about resource management, timing, and adapting to unexpected tactics. You've been doing that kind of thinking with your bio homework."

Despite himself, Marcus found his attention caught by the strategic elements on screen. Small units moving around terrain, supply lines stretching between bases, scouts gathering information about enemy movements.

Tyler leaned forward, his streaming instincts kicking in. "Look, I know you must've played StarCraft or Age of Empires or maybe Warcraft. This isn't that different. It's new and has a good prize pool. I know we can't win, but it's hot content right now and I need to catch this wind."

Marcus nodded slowly. The strategic elements reminded him of decisions he'd made in Valdris. Managing resources, timing attacks, reading enemy movements.

"Plus," Tyler added with the shameless manipulation skills of a true content creator, "I'll owe you a huge favor. And I'm really good at finding information online when people need it."

That caught Marcus's interest. Tyler's research abilities were genuinely impressive. He could track down obscure gaming strategies, historical references, even academic papers when he needed background for his streaming content.

"Okay," Marcus said finally. "But I'm warning you, I have no idea what I'm doing."

"That's fine! I'll handle the micro-management, you just think big picture strategy. Tell me where to send troops, when to attack, that sort of thing. I get tunnel vision when I'm focused on one aspect of a game."

An hour later, Marcus began to understand why Tyler took gaming so seriously. The strategic complexity genuinely engaged him, requiring constant adaptation to enemy movements and resource management that felt familiar from his work in Valdris. It reminded him of childhood when he'd played games carelessly before high school, when he'd abandoned almost all his hobbies to become a doctor. All in the name of helping both his Valdris family and fulfilling his Chicago family's dreams. Two birds with one stone.

"Okay, they're massing forces on our eastern flank," Tyler said, fingers flying across the keyboard as he managed individual units. "Standard pincer movement. What do you think?"

Marcus studied the battlefield display. "What if we don't contest it? Pull our forces back, make them overextend, then hit their supply lines?"

"Ooh, I like that. Defensive withdrawal into counter-attack. Classic." Tyler began repositioning their armies according to Marcus's suggestion.

For the first two matches, their strategy worked reasonably well. Marcus found himself thinking about terrain advantages, resource allocation, and timing in ways that felt surprisingly natural. Tyler handled the complex execution while Marcus provided the overall strategic direction.

Then they ran into a team that played completely differently.

"What the hell are they doing?" Tyler muttered, staring at his screen in confusion. "This makes no sense. They're spreading their forces out randomly, attacking multiple targets at once. It's completely inefficient."

Marcus watched the enemy's seemingly chaotic movements and felt a chill of recognition. "It's not random. Look at the pattern."

"What pattern? They're just oh." Tyler's voice trailed off as the enemy's strategy became clear. "They're not trying to win pitched battles. They're disrupting our resource gathering, hitting our scouts, keeping us from getting information."

"And forcing us to spread our defenses thin," Marcus added, his mind racing. "We keep trying to predict their next major attack, but they're not planning one. They're just wearing us down."

"It's like they're playing a completely different game than we are," Tyler said, genuine admiration creeping into his voice as their carefully planned armies got picked apart by unpredictable hit-and-run tactics.

They lost. Badly.

"Okay, that was actually brilliant," Tyler said after the match ended. "Unconventional, but brilliant. I've never seen anything like that approach."

"Have you seen tactics like that before?" Marcus asked.

"Not in my elo. Most people suck and play because of my content. Warriors of Waldara won this week's game rotation among my subs." Tyler pulled up his browser. "But you know what? I bet there are communities discussing this kind of thing. Unconventional tactics, asymmetric warfare theory."

"Asymmetric warfare?"

"Yeah, when one side uses completely different methods than the other. Like guerrilla tactics versus traditional military." Tyler's fingers flew across the keyboard. "Look at this. There's a whole subreddit dedicated to unconventional RTS strategies."

Marcus leaned forward, reading over Tyler's shoulder as he scrolled through discussion threads about irregular tactics, resource denial, psychological warfare in gaming contexts.

"And check this out," Tyler continued, opening another tab. "Discord servers where people analyze historical military tactics and adapt them for strategy games. Some of these discussions are incredibly detailed."

Marcus felt his pulse quicken as he spotted thread titles about defending against superior forces, using terrain advantages, disrupting enemy supply chains. The discussions were focused on gaming, but the underlying principles were exactly what he needed.

"This is fascinating," Marcus said, meaning it completely.

"Right? I had no idea there were so many people thinking deeply about this stuff." Tyler bookmarked several sites. "Want me to send you some links? Might help with your strategic thinking for future matches."

"Yeah, definitely." Marcus watched Tyler navigate between different communities, each dedicated to analyzing tactics and strategy from various angles. The internet's ability to connect people with shared interests never stopped amazing him.

"Marcus!" Jake's voice echoed from the hallway before he appeared in their doorway, carrying an armload of library books and wearing an expression of academic concern. "There you are. I've been looking for you."

"Hey Jake," Marcus said, closing Tyler's laptop screen quickly. "How was the library?"

"Productive. But that's not why I'm here." Jake dropped his books on his desk. "Why didn't you come to study group yesterday?"

Marcus felt the familiar weight of living two lives pressing down on him. In Valdris, he'd dealt with magical threats and evacuation orders. Here, he was supposed to be a focused pre-med student.

"I've been having some family issues," Marcus said finally. "Back home. It's complicated."

Jake's expression softened immediately. "Oh. Family problems? That sucks, man."

"Yeah, they're dealing with some difficult circumstances. I'm worried about them."

"Well, if you need help with anything studying, whatever just ask. That's what friends are for."

Tyler, who had been uncharacteristically quiet during this exchange, spoke up. "Yeah, man. And hey, if you ever need to research anything. Family legal issues, medical questions, whatever. I'm really good at finding information online. Seriously, there's a community for everything."

After Jake left to actually study and Tyler departed to edit his gaming footage, Marcus sat alone in his room, staring at his chemistry textbook again. The words still wouldn't stick, his mind still pulled toward images of magical armies and impossible threats.

But Tyler's casual mention of research communities had planted an idea. If Marcus was going to help his Valdris family survive what was coming, he needed information. And Tyler had shown him that the internet held people discussing exactly the kind of strategic thinking he might need.

He opened his laptop and began typing: "historical defense strategies small forces."

The first search results weren't exactly what he needed, but they were a start. And Tyler was right. There really was a community for everything.

Even, apparently, for preparing to fight dark wizards, if you knew how to frame the questions properly.