Dragon X Penalty

The silence between us lasted for what felt like an eternity. I could still hear my simulated pulse pounding in my ears, and only just now felt the breath coming back into my lungs as the adrenaline wore off. Before me stood the Exile, calm as ever, wearing no expression save for a small, contented smile as the sun crept steadily further below the horizon behind her. Slowly, she raised her hand, and pointed at me. ...No, wait, not at me, but rather, at –

“...Are you going to pick that up?”

And then the moment was completely shattered.

Right. My sword. We were supposed to be fighting right now, and – wait, hang on, the battle wasn't even over yet! What was I doing, getting so complacent? I hastily rushed over to where my blade had planted itself in the pavement and set about extricating the weapon, then turned my attention to our remaining foe.

...Who was just kind of standing there, slack jawed, waving his hands at us and saying the word “Fireball” over and over again as nothing seemed to happen.

“You don't need to worry about him,” The Exile said casually, walking up beside me. Once again, I heard the faintest hint of smugness creep its way into her voice, and once again, I couldn't help but wonder... was it possible she had planned all of this all along, too? But more importantly, if his magic wasn't working, then...

“What did you do?” I asked her. She just shrugged innocently in response.

“Nothing. He did this to himself.”

The answer came to me around the time that Rozas seemed to think of it, too, and began frantically searching his inventory for something.

All that powerful magic she had goaded him into using couldn't have come cheap. She hadn't just been buying us time – she'd been wasting his MP so that he wouldn't be able to stop her from finishing Dain off! While I had just been fighting for my life moment to moment, she had taken advantage of the distraction I made, played both of them for fools, and won the battle handily in a single, decisive blow.

“...You... just how much of this did you plan out?”

“Well, I didn't anticipate your interference, if that's what you're asking.” She pursed her lips slightly, but ultimately lowered her head in a gesture somewhere between a nod and a bow. “But you did make things much easier, so... thank you.”

“Heh. My pleasure,” I answered – and I really meant it. I'd just been screwing around, playing at hero, but this encounter had turned out much more fun than expected. That being said... there was still one issue to take care of.

Pulling my last health potion from my inventory, I popped the cork and downed the whole thing in one gulp. It tasted thick and fruity, like some kind of children's cold medicine – but it filled my HP bar almost all the way back up to full. Then, shouldering my sword, I turned my focus back to the rather flustered Rozas, who had just finished chugging a potion of his own and currently seemed to be weighing the value of his life against his rapidly decreasing odds of victory.

“Well, then. How about we finish things where we left off? You got the one I was fighting, so it's only fair I get this one!” I declared cheerfully, savoring the immediate step backwards that Rozas took as his eyes darted between the both of us. Maybe he'd learn his lesson and stop picking on people just because he had the advantage of numbers on his side, now that he knew what it felt like to be the one surrounded. But, to my surprise, rather than agreeing with me...

“No. Let him go.” The Exile placed a hand on my sleeve, shaking her head at me vigorously. Her calm expression gave way to one of the gravest sincerity, and I couldn't help but stop in my tracks just from how serious her green eyes looked.

“Why? He attacked you, right? Nothing wrong with roughing him up a bit in return.” Turnabout was fair play, after all. Not that it mattered – the moment she held me back, Rozas saw his opportunity, and made his choice. He turned towards the safety offered by the distant lights of Alharth, and ran as fast as he could.

“We can't. I'm out of MP myself, so I can't finish him off. And if you kill him, you'll suffer the penalty,” The Exile said, giving a dismissive shrug. “Nothing we can do about it. It's bad enough that you went and got two strikes already.”

Oh. Right. That emblem above my head. Wait, hang on, what did she mean “two?”

“Huh? Why are there two now?!”

“The first penalty is for attacking a faction member,” The Exile explained. “The second, for lowering their HP into the red.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess I did do that,” I muttered. “Shame, too. Another good hit and I probably could have...”

“You're lucky you didn't.” She didn't even give me a moment to entertain that thought. “If you actually kill an ally, you become an Exile, and the penalty becomes permanent.” Given the emblem still floating over her own head, and her own bitter expression, I had a feeling she was speaking from experience here.

“What is the penalty, exactly?” I asked. “I don't seem to be suffering from any debuffs or anything...”

“Characters aligned with your faction will treat you as an outlaw,” She sighed. “NPCs will try to arrest you or flee on sight, and other players in your faction can get a reward if they kill you. It makes it difficult to enter towns at all, and if you stay in the field you just get PK'd.”

...Well, that wasn't good. For a variety of reasons, really. Most players had already headed back to town for the night, so I probably wasn't in any immediate danger... but I had also planned on meeting back up with Gray and Dairoku there. Not to mention that, even if this was just a dream, it was one that prided itself on its realistic mechanics. After all the fighting I had done today, I needed to rest to get my stamina back up. And unlike a certain somebody, I hadn't eaten roughly a dozen bags of popcorn this afternoon. My virtual appetite was at an all-time high, and without food, I wouldn't be in any shape to keep fighting tomorrow.

“I guess I shouldn't have let myself fall for such an obvious trap,” I muttered, facepalming at my own recklessness.

“It's not your fault.” I was surprised to see the stoic Exile looking genuinely concerned. Was she trying to comfort me? “The system doesn't explain the penalties very well, and once you've flagged yourself, there's not much you can do about it, so people abuse it like this all the time.”

Once again, it sounded like she was speaking from experience. Maybe I should have asked her about it – but something in her tone gave me pause. She had been nothing short of an enigma during our first meeting, but now, seeing her showing her emotions this plainly... I just felt like whatever had happened to earn her her own emblem was probably too personal for an outsider like me to pry into. So, instead, rather than dwelling on this heavy mood for too long...

“Well, it could be worse,” I shrugged. Right. This was just a silly game I was trying on a whim anyway – and it wasn't like this was the first mistake I'd made, nor was it likely to be the last. What was done was done, so rather than worrying about it, I'd just have to deal with the consequences of my own choices as they happened. So, restoring my cheeky grin to its proper place, I laughed the whole thing off.

“I guess I owe you one for stopping me,” I said. “Since it's not permanent, I can just wait until the penalty wears off, right?”

The Exile seemed surprised that I was taking things this lightly, but nodded. “They disappear once a day, so... After two more days, you'll be back to normal.”

...Ah. That was going to be a problem.

“...There's no other way to get rid of them?”

“There is an alternative, but... that method is honestly worse than the penalty itself.”

“Worse how? What do you need to do?” I tilted my head.

“You let a player from your faction kill you. If they do that, they'll get a reward, and you'll lose one of your marks – but you get a massive death penalty to all of your stats, and it lasts for however long the strike had left.”

“So it goes from not being able to enter town safely to not being able to leave it,” I sighed. That was out of the question. I'd rather at least die out in the field doing something than just spend the next two virtual days twiddling my thumbs in the starting village – particularly since after those two days were over, I'd have to wake up again, and go to school.

“Right... not exactly a fan of that. Guess I'll be camping out tonight,” I sighed, thinking to myself out loud. But much to my surprise, that idle thought got an answer.

“Would you like to stay the night with me, then?”

…

...Eh?