A New Script Part 1

Night falls as the town prepares for tomorrow’s feast. It is to be held in the honor of the four great heroes who stood up to the Mad God Jupiter. Inside the inn, the three heroes and Gambit sit at a table and discuss the events unfolding both in this world, and outside of it.

“It’s been more than 24 hours since we’ve entered the game.” Free Stuff says dejectedly.

Gambit looks at everyone. There’s a clear worry and hopelessness that can’t be forgotten.

GG asks the group. “How long do you think our bodies will last?”

Free Stuff thinks for a second about all the random factoids he knows. “The human body can only go 3 days without water. If no one finds us, then 3 days. If our bodies end up in a hospital, then I suppose indefinitely.”

“Well, my company should probably be noticing my absence in several hours. Hopefully they report me missing.” GG tries to sound positive, but can’t hide her underlying nervousness.

Narco looks unhappy to be the bearer of bad news. “We entered on a Saturday. They’ll only notice you missing by Monday, meaning a little more than 24 hours. A no-call no-show may seem suspicious coming from you, but it's only a chance if they want to investigate it immediately. Maybe after a few days they will send someone over to your apartment. And that’s the kicker. They’ll send someone to your apartment. How many of you told someone where you’ll be?” No one says anything, knowing he is completely right.

“So then, how often does someone check in on you?” Free Stuff asks, hoping for an optimistic answer.

He frowns. “Once a month, when rent is due. So probably in six days.”

An uncomfortable silence hangs over the table.

“Hey, how are my favorite heroes doing?” The innkeeper says cheerfully, distributing free drinks to everyone but Gambit. “Oh, lighten up. Y’all saved the town. Live a little.” The innkeeper walks away after passing out drinks.

Gambit forces a smile. “He’s right, you know. Can we change the subject?”

Narco gives a smug side eye to Gambit. “Oh yeah, then let’s talk about what you were doing in that fight.”

“Yeah, why didn’t you shoot any arrows or go for a sneak attack? The villagers kind of don’t like you now.” GG asks.

Gambit sighs. “You know me. I don’t care about rewards or accolades or praise. I did what I thought was the right call. I knew we weren’t going to land any meaningful attacks at our current level, with or without me. So I used a racial trait called Curse of the Hunted.”

The two stare at Gambit intently, while Free Stuff obliviously enjoys his drink. They are clearly waiting for Gambit to finish what he was saying, but Gambit appears to be finished.

Unable to wait for Gambit, he finally speaks up. “And? Did it land? Did he notice?”

“Yes it landed. No, I don't think he noticed. And for the question you’re about to ask, about 50 kilometers.”

Narco bangs his hands on the table, which gets Free Stuff’s attention. “You sly devil! How did you manage to pull that off?” He is practically standing out of his seat.

Gambit thinks for a moment. “I guess because I activated it at the same time that GG cast her spell, he probably just thought the slowness spell was carrying extra mana or something.”

“I’m confused. What is Gambit going on about?” Free Stuff says with his face behind his mug.

“I get it, you only play berserker so you might not understand.” Narco pauses to make sure Free Stuff heard that. “Basically, the race of Shadowborn that Gambit likes to play has some innate magical abilities. One of them that you have early on is called the ‘Curse of the Hunted’ which is an extremely powerful tracking curse. It has a long cooldown, so missing a target will likely mean the target is going to get away. It also is easily removed by a disenchanter if the target notices they’ve been cursed. Lastly, the curse is removed when the caster makes an attack against the target, which explains why Gambit pulled himself out of that fight once he noticed the curse landed. While the curse is active, Gambit will have a six sense on Jupiter or whatever his real name might be. He can tell the general distance between him and his target, and the precision of that measurement increases the closer he gets. If that’s not good enough for you to applaud Gambit yet, we can basically tell what direction he is heading or where he is based on the change in that distance. The only drawback is that at this level, Gambit can only have one curse active at a time.”

Free Stuff blinks, his eyes vacant. “Neat.”

“Not just neat. I think it’s fair to say that Gambit did more than any of us did today. He’s earned the title of hero more than me.” Narco pats Gambit on the back as he praises him.

Gambit squirms a little under the praise. “Hey man, don’t sell yourself short. You did tank a blast for the whole town.”

Narco sits down, and looks to the floor remorsefully. “It was the least I could do for Father Peter. He gave me that amulet. If he didn’t, he might still be alive. But then I guess half the town would have died instead.” After a moment of silence, he takes a sip of his drink. “It was a replica of the real amulet of Durlon. Replicas can withstand a large threshold of damage for one instance, but the real thing never breaks. The only way to hurt someone wearing one is with a move that does more damage than the auto barrier can withstand.”

“So that’s how you did it.” Mira says, suddenly appearing from over Narco’s shoulder.

He jumps up, surprised by her presence. “Ah! What are you doing here? Why are you sneaking around?”

Mira crosses her arms and pouts. “I wasn’t sneaking around. I wasn’t even using invisibility. It’s not my fault you’re oblivious.” She mutters.

“What?” He asks, unable to make out what she said.

She sighs. “I was just wondering what the heroes of this village were up to.”

“Just drinking the free ale… and talking.” Narco cocks his head. “Did you need something?”

Mira looks around, avoiding eye contact. “Well I wanted to say sorry, that’s all.”

“Water under the bridge.” He says as he waves his hand. “Besides, I probably could have come up with something better to say while keeping my cards close to my chest. Though, in my defense, I didn’t realize the extent of insufferable those Mad Gods are.”

“Come on Narco, don’t make her beg for it.” GG says. “Mira, would you like to sit with us?”

She nods, and GG pulls up a chair beside her.

As soon as Mira sits down, the innkeeper immediately places a free ale in front of her and leaves. She looks deep into her drink, sighing about the story she’s about to tell. “They’re not all like that. I mean they’re all insufferable as you put it, but each in their own way. While I can assume the rest from second hand accounts, I’ve only met one other one. She was a wicked creature, a heartless witch, an unstoppable entity. There was a town called Flosolis that housed a large Sunshine cathedral and a good chunk of the Sunshine Church’s congregation. With so many Sunshine clerics, we thought the city was above the Mad Gods. Then in a single hour, a vile woman walked into the town, and killed everyone who couldn’t flee in time, one by one. I’m telling you this so you’re prepared if you ever encounter her. She is evil incarnate. She enjoys tormenting her victims and leaving them with just a few hours left. Her power is to age people and objects. All you’ll find left of Flosolis is dust… and me.”

Free Stuff looks at her scrupulously. “Why are you telling us? You’re not trying to *hic* fool us, are you?”

GG stands up and smacks Free Stuff on the back of the head. “That’s enough drinking for you for one night.” She takes his drink away and tells the innkeeper he’s had enough for the night. Free Stuff rests his head on the table, a little sleepy.

“No. I just figured that… I don’t want any more friends dying. Especially by the hands of a Mad God.” Mira traces the rim of her mug.

Free Stuff sits up. “Friends are we? How about we make it official? Join our party.”

Gambit, GG, Narco, and even Mira look at Free Stuff in shock.

“I think that’s something we should discuss as a group first. Or at least with Mira.” Narco says, but realizes none of his words are getting through to Free Stuff.

“What? What’s wrong? Our party needs a healer, and based on what I remember from my play through of this game, Sunshine Priests are healers.” Free Stuff says assertively.

“Game?” Mira asks.