vs. Ganeleon

Zorro hides in our inn room while I take stock of our possessions outside.

We received 14 emprientes from Bertrand at the start. We also got another 10 from Guillaime.

Of those, we spent 3 on room and board, and 2 on the materials I used to finish the quest.

Meanwhile, we want to get to the Final Tower as soon as we can. We’ll depart Kameleon Town, cross a dry prairie, enter the Confederation Capital, sneak around the Empire and get to the dungeon of that Bandit Lord/Head/Brains or whatever you call that thick-skulled boss.

I had instructed Zorro to rent a horse and cart; a wagon costs about 3 emp to rent as long as we return it to a stable in the capital.

“Woah boy,” I say. The horse side-eyes me. Maybe we should have also paid for a handler.

Inside the cart’s a food-crate and a barrel of water. The water’s cheap since it’s leftover rainwater, but the food sets us back 8 emp. Preserved fruit and jerky may not taste good, but they definitely eat up cash.

I hop down from the cart and dust myself off. The sun’s gone, and a waning gibbous hangs amid stars. The moon casts its light on an empty road, no human or kameleon in sight.

I take a walk.

Despite having been in this world for just two days, I feel like I’ve done more than I had in a lifetime.

What I had thought my life’s passion had been was construction; I went to school to be an engineer because “I liked to build things.”

Of course, this naive raison d'être didn’t survive contact with the field. What we constructed was digital, mathematical, and rigorous, a far cry from tinkering with legos or playing camp.

I switched to programming because I wanted to make my own games. And as that turns out, computer science will teach you more about crunching numbers than making worlds; and game-programming pays peanuts - it’s best to get an office job.

What I did enjoy in college was activism - I was very rowdy back in the day, and was even involved in certain student groups. While the politics went over my head, what I loved about them was the feeling that I was changing the world.

This sense, somewhere between graduation and adulthood - of an ability to meaningfully ‘change the world’ - had been completely lost.

But as I stroll through these dark streets, watch the bats flutter overhead and the kameleons hustle home - a wisp of this ambition returns.

I’m a low-level character, sure, but given enough time, effort, and training in this RPG, I’ll reach the same level as Zorro - overcome her - and be the person I wished I were. Killing the Bandit Lord will be proof of that.

“It’s cold.”

My reverie’s finished; and I’ve managed to dreamwalk to the edge of town. There’s nothing beyond the buildings except a long stretch of desert, that gradually transitions to prairie-grass.

“Hmmm..?”

Far west, there are rows and rows of torches and tents. A banner hangs down dead, til a breeze brushes past me and makes the flag unfurl. It’s an emblem; a purple rose, thorns sharp as tacks.

**********************************************************************

I return to the inn, disturbed. “The Imperia looks ready to strike at any moment and I doubt the kameleons will resist.”

Zorro shrugs, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Bam-bada-bam! If they invade, I’ll just knock em’ all out. They’re just mooks after all.”

“You can’t rely on levels to win every fight,” I say. “I killed a King Rat about sixty levels higher than I was.”

“But we’ll disappoint Bertie if we leave without seeing him.” Zorro flops onto the bed next to me. “...what you’re worried about is that we’ll be ambushed in the middle of the night, right?”

A rotating-dial rests rests on the nightstand. You jam your finger into a hole, and spin the wheel til it lands on a number for you to call.

Zorro attacks it, pointer and pinky twisting the dialer every which way. Despite it being technology from her own world, she struggles until I intervene. “What number?”

“511…” She says.

I put it in and hand her the receiver.

“Innkeeper!” Zorro demands.

“Yes, miss?” Ganeleon's reply emerges from the reciever in a smooth voice that almost - but not quite - masks his fatigue.

“Can you do something for us? You said you’d fulfill our every need.”

“That is something I say to all my customers miss.” Ganeleon says diplomatically.

“If someone asks if we’re staying in this inn, can you tell them we’ve already left?”

Ganeleon remains silent. There’s a long scritttch as if he’s clawing his chin.

“Verrrry well. I will accede.”

“See!” Zorro shouts after she hangs up. “It’s safe, it’s safe enough! If the Imperia sweeps Kameleon Town tonight, they won’t know we’re here - we’ll just sneak out in the morning.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s safe. But if it means so much to you, then we’ll stay.” I say. “Although I’d be much more comfortable if we gave Ganleon a tip, or a bribe.”

I squeeze our moneybag, and it puffs out air.

“Ahahaha… about that…” Zorro says.

Come to think of it, when Zorro walked into the inn earlier, she carried in piles and piles of swords. She’s left them in the corner haphazardly, and their blade-points stick out to create something like a deranged porcupine.

“How much emp did that cost?”

“... 8 emp.”

14 (Bertrand funds) plus 10(quest award) equals 24.

3 (inn cost) plus 2 (quest supplies) plus 3 (cart rental) plus 8 (food supplies) plus 1 (spare clothes) plus 7 (Zorro’s weapon spree) equals…

“That’s all the money we have!!!”

“Wait, wait, wait, it’s not as bad as it sounds.” Zorro says. “It’s a bargain, a bargain!”

She’d bought enough swords and armor to fit a small mercenary outfit. Foils, epees, longswords, and scimitars too. There’s even a tall pike, piled with the rest.

“I put down 8 emp as a deposit. Regis and the others said they’d let me return the ones we don’t need after we’ve tried them out. So I thought I’d get a nice variety.”

“I see…”

That’s a little irresponsible. But if I find something effective, then maybe I can forgive her.

Some part of me’s even beginning to feel excited. Do I want the weapon of a swashbuckling musketeer? The sword of a classic hero?

I had never understood the appeal of clothes-shopping, but with these accessories in front of me I get it; I have the power to completely reimagine who I am.

“Let’s try the pike first. It’s a long spear with good reach, so I’ll be able to strike at mobs from afar.”

I clutch at the spear but it’s so heavy, it’s as though it’s glued to the ground.

It’s about ten feet tall, and made from a staunch mud-gray iron. It makes sense that it’s hard to lift.

“Using a spear would have been unwieldy anyway. Let’s try something easier to maneuver...”

I heft a smallsword, a hilted blade that runs about two feet. Or I at least try to; the base slides from my fingertips.

“The foil! The foil is the most lightweight of them all.”

I wrap my hand around the wiry end.

“...” Nothing happens.

“I see…” Zorro murmurs. “Maru, can you show me your stats?”

Maru | Level 11 Journeyman

Shld 105/105 | Str 7 | Def 10 | Agi 16 | AP | 15/15

Exp: 8/260

“Strength isn’t just about shield damage.” she says. “It also affects the weapons you can equip. If it’s too low, most will be out of reach…”

“But when I fought the rats I used a torch!” I protest. “That’s far heavier than an epee!”

“The torch didn’t give you any stat bonuses, so it doesn’t count as equipment.” Zorro replies.

I kick the sword, and now it moves, clattering into the corner with the rest of the untouchable blades. I sigh.

I don’t need a weapon when I have a Zorro. I can be her tactician and support, and what I can’t solve with my brains or her muscle I can try to ameliorate with some well-placed fireballs.

That’s what I’ve been doing all along. So why do I feel like there’s an blade digging into my heart?

“You said you wanted to be a knight, right?” Zorro says quietly.

“I told you, I’ll protect you til we get to the Final Tower. Even if that just means making camp.”

“But, you’d have liked it, right? The title, the training, the honor, the support that they’d give. The guarantee of being a hero.” says Zorro. “You’ll deny it, but I know that you would have.”

“That’s not important when compared to our travels, Zorro-”

“Kneel.” says Zorro, and her voice changes, to be the same as the one I heard when she first woke on the train. Calm, commanding, but soft.

Without fully understanding, I drop to one knee. We look at one another; while I’m like this I’m about two heads shorter than the sword-wielding girl.

She draws her rapier, and taps me on the left shoulder, on the right shoulder, then on my crown.

“You may rise a knight,” says Zorro.

I stand, and I’m taller than her once again. As I look down at her, her face is flushed.

“W-well, I don’t really remember the process exactly, so I kind of made things up. B-but you’re part of the knighthood of Z-zorro now, an honorable circle that dates back to, well, today-”

“Thank you.” I say, and I hug her.

“But I’m not done with the ceremony..” she mumbles, chin nestled on my collar. She draws away, and presents her own sword.

“This is the Scaling Sword. It’s power rises to meet your level. So it should work for you. It’s your reward for uh, knighthood.”

Scaling Sword obtained!

SCALING SWORD

[A sword that gives the wielder an attack bonus equal to their level]

---

Maru | Level 11 Journeyman

Shld 105/105 | Str 7+11 | Def 10 | Agi 16 | AP | 15/15

Exp: 8/260

---

“I’ll use this instead.” She says, picking a rapier from the mess.

“I can’t just take this. You’ve had it for who knows how long.”

“Come on, number-munching dork. Giving you the Scaling Sword and myself a weapon with flat-damage allows us both to fight effectively. It’s what’s best for the party.” She smiles. “My party.”

I accept it, but not before a riposte.

“Only a lady can give out knighthoods, and they're meant those who guard her;” I say, “that means you’ve just admitted that you’re under my protection. Though you’re more a ‘laddie’ than a ‘lady’...

For a moment it seems that we’re about to test swords, but then she bursts into a laugh.

Perhaps it is because we’re so distracted that we fail to notice the door’s swaying, as if someone had crept in.