Game 32: Four Winds

“Your teamwork disappoints me,” the knight told them. “The Game is about survival. To survive is to lie, to cheat, to betray, to steal, to do whatever is necessary in order to win.”

“You don't like teamwork?” Takeshi asked the knight.

“Life is not just about having more than the other guy,” the knight continued. “It's about you having everything and the other guy having nothing.”

“Looking for a fight, are we?” Sora asked the knight.

“It's not yet time for you to fight me,” the knight told them. “There is still much left for you to do. Only the one who finishes the Tower of Power can face me. I am the Granter of Wishes.”

With that, he disappeared, leaving the heroes with way more questions than answers.

•

The next day came quickly. Takeshi woke up as he usually did, safe and sound in his bed. But something seemed off. Having been so used to the hustle and hustle of Innsbruck in the morning, Takeshi made a quick note of how quiet everything was.

He stepped outside, finding nobody around to even say hello to. He would search the town square, Mac's Market, the mayor's house, the hotel, and everywhere else in between. But he could not find anyone.

Takeshi Ishida was all alone.

He explored the entire town in search of clues that could have explained the disappearance of the villagers. He overlooked it at first, but he eventually spotted a note attached to the bench at the center of town by a knife.

The note read:

If you want to conquer my Tower of Power, you will have to learn to fight alone. Continuing to care for your so-called friends will only result in pain and suffering for you. In the game of life, the only person you can rely on is you. Are you really prepared to fight for your wish? What are you willing to sacrifice for that wish? Complete my challenge, if you dare.

- Lazlo Cardona

Takeshi quickly connected the dots. Lazlo and the Granter of Wishes were working together. They may even be the same person, given how similarly they sounded when they speak. Yeah, Takeshi thought to himself, they must be the same person because not only are their voices nearly the same, but their mannerisms are very similar as well.

While this note did explain why the townsfolk disappeared, it did not say where they were or whether they would be returned home. The only way to find out, Takeshi reasoned, would be to complete this challenge Lazlo had given him.

Before he could wonder any more, Takeshi was suddenly ambushed by the Slicer.

“The Slicer?” Takeshi was shocked to see the man with the arm blades standing, towering over him. “You're supposed to be dead!”

“Does this feel dead to you?” Slicer asked as he prepared to attack again. “Spin Dash!”

Takeshi had no time to react; the Slicer's attack hit its target, sending Takeshi flying and reducing his Life to four.

“Nope. Definitely not a dream.” He then held out his white orb. “Let's rocket!”

The two fought as they always had, sword vs. arm blade, magic vs. cunning. Takeshi's experience in The Game gave him the upper hand very quickly. Just like in the Emerald City, though, Takeshi again refused to finish off his opponent.

“Coward!” The Slicer began to taunt Takeshi. “In order to survive, you must fight!”

As much as Takeshi hated to admit it, the Slicer was right. Trying to only fight defensively would only get him in trouble, like it did in the Emerald City. Slicer tried to launch a Fireblast attack, but Takeshi swatted it away with his sword. Takeshi fearlessly charged through the flames and slashed at the Slicer. But he vanished, leaving Takeshi alone once again.

“Maybe this is a dream…” Takeshi told himself.

“I wouldn't be so sure about that, Takeshi,” another familiar voice told him. Takeshi turned around to see Proteus standing on the bench. “That's Level 1 complete.”

“Proteus… Oh, am I glad to see you!”

“Well, I'm not,” Proteus sneered. “The boss sent me on a quest to steal your fancy weapons and armor.” Before he could even react, Takeshi was disarmed and defenseless. Proteus immediately morphed into his ragbunny form and ran off with Takeshi's stuff. “Catch me if you can, loser!”

Takeshi was stunned. “Okay, definitely a dream. Proteus can't speak in his animal form.”

•

Takeshi and Proteus raced across the Badlands. Dream or not, Takeshi caught onto the nature of this challenge. He had defeated the Slicer (twice) with Proteus’ help. He had captured Proteus with Rita's help. Each “level” in this challenge would only get tougher.

Just like before, Takeshi pulled alongside the ragbunny, jumped off his speeder, and tackled the creature. He had gotten his stuff back, but Proteus was gone. Takeshi had no time to react as the next challenge started immediately after. It was one of the monsters from Telemachus Manor.

“WE WANT YOUR SOUL!”

“Oh, come on!” Takeshi complained. He barely had time to equip his sword before the monster attacked again. He had to think very quickly with this part of the challenge. He had never actually defeated one of these monsters.

“WE WANT YOUR SOUL!”

“Alright, Takeshi, remember what Rita said about finding its weak spot…” Takeshi quickly noticed this monster had a rose-shaped curse mark on its belly. Takeshi went in for the attack and caused the monster to vanish in just one hit. He then looked around for his next opponent.

“Cheater!” a voice called out in the distance as an electro-whip slashed right at him. Three Lives remaining.

Takeshi caught a glimpse of his attacker. It was the bandit that attacked him on the night he rescued Aisha.

“What do you mean cheater?!” Takeshi asked angrily. “I'm doing what you asked me to do!”

“You remembered advice someone gave to you, Takeshi,” the bandit answered. “That's not fighting alone! That's receiving help! You cheated!” The bandit slashed at Takeshi two more times, bringing his Life down to one. “You will do this challenge again and again until you learn! You can only rely on yourself!”

•

Day 2. Takeshi woke up once again safe in his bed. Once again, he was the only person in the village. Once again, he found Lazlo's challenge note. Once again, he had to fight the Slicer. This time, however, he had no weapons, no armor, no special items. The Slicer made quick work of the defenseless Takeshi, knocking out all four of his Lives in no time.

•

Day 3. Takeshi tried to read some books on metalworking so he could fashion his own sword and armor. The Slicer crashed into his room, called him a cheater, and quickly defeated him.

Day 4. Takeshi tried to set a course for the Emerald City. He failed.

Day 5. Takeshi tried to look for items again. It didn’t work.

Day 6. Takeshi tried to make his own weapons. He failed.

Day 7. Takeshi tried to find any sort of items he could get his hands on, but he was ambushed by the Slicer anyways. He found a fallen beehive on the forest floor and quickly chucked it at him. Proteus realized he had nothing to steal from Takeshi, so he just left him alone.

When it came time to battle the first monster, Takeshi simply ran away. He led it to the edge of a very tall cliff and allowed it to simply dive off of it.

The bandit complimented him on his efforts. “I think you're finally starting to get it, Takeshi. Nobody's coming to save you! You must save yourself at everyone else's expense!”

“Will you just shut up, already?”

Takeshi and the bandit fought hand-to-hand. Takeshi's goal was rather simple: find the bandit’s weak spot and steal his weapon from him. Would it be considered cheating? Maybe, but he would also finally be making progress in this challenge without any help. Takeshi angrily snatched away the whip and struck the bandit once with it.

The Player Hunter was next, and the plan for him was very similar to Takeshi's plan for the bandit. Takeshi very quickly disarmed the Player Hunter and stole his gauntlet/spear. Unarmed and defenseless, the Player Hunter was defeated quickly.

“Well done, Mr. Ishida,” a cold, stony voice told him. “Well done. However, you still have much to learn before you can win The Game.”

Takeshi turned around to see Mr. Set standing there, mocking him. Takeshi allowed the rage that had been building up in his body from having to repeat this challenge over and over again to get the better of him. In rapid succession, he defeated Mr. Set, the giant man-eating spider, the Slicer (again), the fake Takeshi, and a giant slime dragon. Nothing seemed to get in the way of Takeshi reuniting with his friends.

And then… Takeshi came face to face with his friends.