Redemption Arc

Lucian stood near Miriam’s horse as the others filtered into the square where the bandit chief’s body had been displayed. The other groups had finally managed to break through, and though they had no casualties, they certainly hadn’t covered themselves in glory. As a matter of fact, after they’d dealt with the chief, Rowan’s group carried on to deal with the remainder of the bandits.

“What do you think?” Miriam asked him.

Lucian watched as Miriam dismounted. Once down, she stretched her leg.

“About what?” Lucian asked, focused on rehearsing his plan in his head.

“Those brigands were almost single-minded,” Miriam explained. “Each and every one of them fought to the death. Denzel and the others weren’t necessarily wrong—these aren’t well-trained soldiers fighting for a cause. They’re lowlifes robbing for a living. Why wouldn’t they surrender once they saw what they were up against? They could’ve kept their lives, even.”

“I think we’ve lost the chance to ask them,” Lucian remarked.

As Miriam stretched after riding on horseback for so long, Olivia Vantz-Leon walked up to Lucian. She glanced at him a few times, unable to meet his gaze.

“Thank you for earlier,” Olivia eventually said quietly.

“Please, do mention it,” Lucian said, repeating something he’d said to Rowan once before. “Mention it often and everywhere. I don’t have the best reputation.”

Miriam snickered, but Olivia walked off sheepishly after mumbling something.

“They were having a conversation about who killed the most bandits, earlier,” Miriam continued, looking off to where the bulk of the Student Ambassadors gathered around Rowan. “I put your name forth. Three, right? You were among the top.”

Lucian didn’t feel that good about being at the top of the scoreboard. These were real people, and this wasn’t some FPS lobby. He tried to console himself with the knowledge that these were criminals, but it still felt a little tainted.

“It was only because of what you made for me,” he dismissed.

Miriam scoffed. “That’s like giving the blacksmith credit when you kill someone with a sword. You were still the one to use the potions.”

As they were talking, the skies started to grow darker. Lucian looked up knowing what he was going to see. The skies overhead were quickly covered by gloomy clouds. Soon enough, the faintest droplets of water fell upon Lucian’s cheek. Considering the skies had been clear not long ago…

It’s time, Lucian reflected, grabbing his spear once more.

“Rain? Damn…” Miriam cursed. “I hate the rain. Always raining in New Riverra.”

A few moments later, shouts of alarm started to sound out from the shores which they had come from. Everyone looked around to get a sense of what was happening, and Lucian took the opportunity to get closer to Rowan. It was always best to stand near the protagonist, he imagined. A little luck buff.

“Hey. Hey!” Rowan shouted, and everyone looked toward him. He pointed upriver. “The river. Flood’s coming.”

There were a bunch of mutterings all around, most of them questioning what they should do.

“We’re at the highest elevation on this island. There are ships all around,” Rowan shouted. “We stay here and we weather it. If we try and get back on the boats, we’re just going to get killed. Alright?!” he shouted.

After Rowan’s display in taking down the bandit chief, there was a lot more respect for him going around. People gave their confirmation of obedience, even those representing their nation.

Everyone braced themselves uneasily as the tremendous flood of water carried down the river. Some people climbed up on top of the makeshift buildings the brigands constructed to get a better look at things. Lucian stood at attention, knowing this would be the least of their concerns soon enough.

Just when the water was finally about to make it to the confluence, a noise echoed through the air. It sounded like a war horn, but it was much more ominous and haunting. Moments later, a gargantuan stone golem emerged up from the water, standing tall enough to look down on all of them. As it arose, countless creatures slithered out of the water and onto the shore.

The flood—which before had seemed dangerous enough—became a veritable tsunami as it was enhanced by the arrival of these monsters. It started to slam into the ships that were stationed closest to it, overturning them effortlessly and casting the majority of their crew overboard. Lucian’s heart ached seeing it.

Could I have done more? he wondered. Told the school dean what was coming? They’d ask me where I learned. The dean would investigate my background. In so doing, he’d attract the attention of undercover agents, who’d kill me effortlessly. An anonymous tip… that, too, is risky.

As he saw this death, Lucian thought one thing was certain. He needed to find an authority figure he couldrely on—not an easy feat, considering each and every administration for the four great powers were compromised. Alternatively, he could try and take matters into his own hands. But today, for instance… if he went to the place where that dam was being destroyed, no death could be more certain. He couldn’t handle the people responsible.

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Lucian felt a sense of powerlessness, but not for the same reasons the others around him were. Each of the Student Ambassadors were staring at that towering stone monstrosity. That golem there was a late game enemy. Even if Lucian had all the money in the world, he couldn’t take it down. But the dean’s forces could.

Their objective, meanwhile? Survival.

Each of the student ambassadors was in a state of disarray. In times of genuine crisis like this, unified direction was needed more than ever. And into this void, earning the trust of each of these disparate factions…

Rowan held his hand to his mouth and let out a piercingly loud whistle that lasted for three seconds—Lucian grabbed one ear in pain, regretting standing so close. How the hell did anyone whistle that loudly?

“Do I have your attention?” Rowan said, looking between everyone. “I want everyone to listen to me. If we keep our cool, we should be able to handle this.”

“What are you talking about?!” Bethany, a hypochondriac, screamed in terror. “That thing is—”

“That thing will be handled by the dean’s people. They were brought here in case something like this happened, and they’re going to earn their pay,” Rowan said, shouting while remaining calm. “My job is to keep all of you alive right now, and to do that, all of you need to step up.”

Even as they watched, some of the other ships were seized by the rush of water and overturned. Others remained afloat by virtue of interference from those aboard or simple luck. Lucian kept his eye on one boat in particular. It overturned dramatically, and then wedged itself firmly to bridge a puny island that, before, had been separate.

Good. Just as it was, Lucian thought optimistically.

“I’ve no doubt the people that Verne provided are going to help as best they can, but some monsters might slip by. We need to prepare for that,” Rowan said firmly, looking between everyone. “By now, hopefully, you’re used to taking orders from the person who you went with to assault the camp. We’ll split into our original groups, with each one of you four covering one approach. Meanwhile, my group will travel around, mitigating the tide of monsters wherever its strongest.”

Denzel stepped forward. “I think—”

“If you have any protests, remember whose strategy killed that man,” Rowan interrupted, looking toward the bandit chief’s corpse. He focused back on Denzel. “Put aside your pride, and get in line.”

Prince Denzel swallowed, then nodded.

“Good. Let’s prepare this place to resist!” Rowan shouted.

***

They had quickly repurposed the fallen bandit camp into a fortification more suited for their needs. Just as Rowan had predicted, the forces that the Collegium had provided were fighting against the worst of the monsters coming onto shore. Lucian saw many mid to late game enemies among their ranks. Now, the starting eight stood with Lucian on a familiar battlefield.

In the distance… a battle of tremendous proportions raged. Dean Mortimer, Lorenna Brumaire, even Rowan’s father Christoph battled against that hulking golem looming tall overhead. Piercing arrows, bright holy magic, and blazing fires contested the beast in a set piece to rival any top budget movie Lucian had ever seen.

Their battle seemed petty by comparison, but for them, it was perhaps even more difficult.

In the War of Four, the player had to survive ten turns of combat against the approaching monsters. In hardcore difficulty, it was a genuinely challenging task to keep everyone alive. Already, a lot of monsters were swarming toward them. Grotesque mermen and mermaids were in far too much abundance for their protectors to catch them all. For the first five turns, there’d only be physical attackers. Past that, more unique monsters ensured things got difficult. On hardcore, though…

“Lot of these things,” Rowan said, looking out across the battlefield. “Heavens, they’re swarming like cockroaches. This could be tough.”

“I don’t think there’s any cause for doubt,” Lucian said, and Rowan looked over.

“You think we’ve got this?” Rowan said optimistically.

“No. You said ‘could.’ This will be tough,” Lucian clarified.

“Oh,” Rowan said, sighing.

The reason why Lucian spoke with such confidence started to emerge from the water. It settled on the island that had been bridged by the overturned boat. It looked like a humanoid shellfish—a Merspawn Knight, the game called it. It had a bow. It pulled the string back, aiming.

“Watch out,” Lucian said, pointing.

Rowan looked out through the rain, barely spotting the creature. Just in time, he raised up his shield to block—an arrow bounced off its metal.

“Hell!” Rowan shouted, pulling Lucian down to duck behind a makeshift barricade. The Merspawn Knight pulled its bow back and fired once more, hitting another person. He shouted to the rest, “Take cover! They’ve got a ridiculous archer!”

The Merspawn Knight was an enemy that appeared only in hardcore. It would ruthlessly snipe any characters that moved out of cover. Its existence greatly limited their ability to position themselves. It would stay far removed from the conflict, sniping from afar.

“You see its feet?” Lucian asked.

“Is now the time for voyeurism?” Rowan quipped, but looked. He ducked back when it nearly hit him, and wood splinters hit them both. “Is that…?”

“There’s a blessing at its feet,” Lucian confirmed. He gazed out across the battlefield, which was starting to be hidden underneath the swarm of enemies. “I’m going to go kill that thing and get it.”

Rowan grabbed Lucian’s arm. “Are you out of your mind?! You’ll have to make your way past all those things!”

“I wish I was crazy,” Lucian said with a laugh that sounded somewhat unhinged even to his ears. “Might make this less nerve-wracking.”

Despite the dangers, that blessing, coupled with some enemies that showed up in later waves… it was a veritable stat-gain buffet. He could close the distance he had with some of the Student Ambassadors in this fight, single-handedly. He could become a mage worth the name. The only difficult part was taking the island. Once he had it…

“Don’t worry,” he told Rowan, wrenching his arm free. “I’ve planned this out.”

As Lucian stood up and confronted the coming horde, he realized the words were as much to convince himself as they were for Rowan.