Olivia gulped as she stood up on the stage. During the Arcane Knight exam, she had been surrounded by other people who wanted to become Knights. Everyone had been like her. All the ones in the stand were Knights scouting for their captain, and the only eyes on her had been through the digital livestream.
None of it seemed that real. At least not compared to this.
She was shoulder to shoulder with Miranda and Olem, two people she respected a lot, and standing before her were three members of a powerful Knight guild, which she was about to have to compete with. Ash, Cinder, and Martel.
To make matters worse, the stands were filled to the brim with actual people. The Licht-Fulk were screaming loudly, pumping their arms in the air, and making bets on who they thought would win. A purple-skinned elf was handing out packets of peanuts or beer, and on the other side of the stadium, a group of cheerleaders were doing some rehearsed dance.
She could feel eyes on her, people judging and debating how well she would do. Her heart was beating faster, and for the first time ever, she wondered if she would disappoint someone other than herself. People were counting on her. She never had to worry about this, not even in the field of battle, because Davi and Ken were usually so bombastic that all eyes were on them, and no one would ever take note of her.
Not know, though.
She was being seen.
"Oy," Miranda bumped her hip into Olivia's, and the silver-haired beauty gave the white-haired witch a crooked smile. "Don't look so gloomy, kid. Remember, I trained you. My kickass skills are coursing through you."
"Y-Yeah." Olivia let out a nervous giggle before her eyes flickered over to Pantheon. "You taught me a few scythe skills. I hope it'll be enough."
"It will." Miranda chuckled. "Besides, we got Olem. He doesn't fight often, but the dude is a monster when he cuts loose. We got this in the bag."
"Really?"
"No." Olem folded his arms. "Without a doubt, we've lost."
"Already!"
"Look at who we're fighting," Olem said bluntly. "We simply can not win."
Ash wasn't anything special. He was a Squire, and while he had improved a lot, he was still nowhere near the level of an actual Arcane Knight. His two teammates, on the other hand, were both extremely powerful.
Martel was widely known in the field due to his unique way of fighting. He wasn't a Title Knight, and so he lacked Knight gear, but that was soon to change, and he was fast on his way to becoming one of the greats. He was a dark-skinned man who went bare-chested, showing off an impressive body. His pants were rolled up, and a curved sword hung from his belt. He was dangerous, powerful, fast, and tricky.
Then there was Cinder. Hope was a girl who had joined the Arcane Knights less than two years ago, and yet she was already a Title Knight, being gifted the name of Cinder due to her mastery of fire magic, which no doubt put both Ken's and Falco's own to absolute shame. She wore a colorful costume, a mix of red and black that looked almost like a jester's outfit, and she carried two handguns that looked like they could knock down a wall. One was pure white, while the other was pitch black, and she spun them around and played with the trigger.
Cinder's lips curved up into a smirk when she saw them looking at her. She was like a predator who knew it had already won.
The arena was fairly big, so Olivia couldn't hear what the three Knights in front of her were saying, but she knew they were discussing a strategy.
From up above, lil Ho floated down. "Alright, folks!" His voice came out loud and booming. "It's time we begin! If you turn your attention to the board, it will select the game that needs to be played! When the game begins, both teams will be given five minutes to read the rules, discuss a strategy, and plan. After this point, you'll be free to do whatever you want to win, as long as it follows within the game's rules. Also, remember the universal rules as well. Absolutely no killing, and you're not allowed to fall out of bounds or leave the arena in any way! With that said, let the games begin!"
The black screen, which had selected the players earlier, lit up and started to flicker. Eventually, a pink-and-blue symbol appeared on it, morphing into two colored crystals, and then various stick figures in the same two colors appeared. Words flashed at the bottom and read out a simple phrase.
"Storming The Castle".
Olivia barely had time to read the words before she became blinded by a bright blue glow. The rods scattered beneath the stone lit up so brightly that even with her eyes closed, she could see them. She was instantly reminded of the Arcane Knights exam and how the stadium would shift and change. Indeed, this was just like that, as when she did open her eyes, she was no longer standing on the stone arena.
Olivia blinked away the dots that had formed from the light in her eyes, and she gazed at the lush forest she was now in. Miranda and Olem also glanced around in curiosity.
The arena had morphed into some sort of wooded area with large trees and a bright blue sky above. Behind them was a stone structure that was shaped just like a generic fantasy castle, yet it was far smaller, being barely ten feet tall and instead looked like a toy. The front of it was also missing, allowing them to see a jagged pink crystal that rested inside.
The castle wasn't the only thing Olivia noticed. Ho stood before them, or at least something that looked like Ho. It was plump like he was, but it carried a tiny wooden shield and a wooden sword. The reason she knew it wasn't Ho was because it had bright pink skin rather than Ho's purple, and its look was blank and robotic. Also, there were fourteen more of the little guys, all standing behind the first.
"Any clue what the game is?" Miranda asked, flabbergasted.
"I've never heard of 'Storming The Castle'," Olem admitted. "Hopefully, the rules will explain it clearly enough."
Right on cue, there was a pink flicker of light, and a tiny crystal suddenly appeared in front of each of them. On instinct, Olivia reached out, and she took it in her hands. The moment she touched it, her head ached, and the voice of Ho echoed around in her skull.
"Greetings! Welcome to Storming the Castle! I'll explain the rules so you three can come up with a plan to beat the other team!"
"Alright?"
"Storming the Castle is a really simple game! All you need to do is storm the enemy's castle before they storm yours! Each team has a crystal they must protect. These crystals represent the health of your castle, and if they're destroyed, you lose! There's a catch, however! Only a lil Ho can break the crystals! Both teams have been assigned fifteen Ho's in total! Your goal is to protect your Ho's so they can storm the castle and destroy the enemy's crystal! Sounds simple? Well, not exactly! There are some extra rules you should know about!"
"I hope you guys are writing this down," Olem grunted.
"I am." Olivia nodded.
"The Ho's are extremely weak; as such, they can be taken out quite easily. Both teams are allowed to take out the enemy Ho's if they want! Enemy Ho's can also take out other Ho's; when two Ho's fight, it's a coin toss on which one will win, so it's best to wipe out the enemy Ho's yourself. Speaking of the enemy, the enemy team can naturally take out your Ho's, and they can even take you out! Should you defeat an enemy, you will be granted one super Ho, which will spawn next to your crystal! A super Ho is strong enough to always beat a regular Ho, and it is slightly harder to beat, but it can still be taken out if hit hard enough by the enemy. Both you and the enemy team also have three promotion points! A promotion point can be used to turn a regular Ho into a super Ho! When the games begin, please select three Ho's you wish to promote!"
"I'm following along so far." Miranda nodded. "Sounds simple enough."
"Does it?" Olem snorted. "Because I'm a bit lost."
"It's pretty simple…" Olivia muttered. "Feels like a video game I played before."
"The next thing I should note is the handheld crystals you are holding to hear this message! This is a teleportation crystal! It has one charge, and you each have one! Should you wish, you can use it to connect to your teammate, and if they agree, the two of you will swap places! Be warned, however, this uses up both charges. All crystals regain a charge whenever an enemy falls. Beating enemy Ho's does not regain charges—only other enemy players. Finally, when you exit this forest, you will be faced with three tunnels. Each tunnel leads to the enemy base, and each one is a little different. When the game begins, and you assign your promotion points to turn three Ho's into super Ho's, you can order the Ho's to do four things. Guard is a command that will cause the Ho to stay put and enter the defensive state. It will only attack when it is approached. Tunnel one will cause the Ho's to go down tunnel one, and they will attack any enemy Ho's they see and then eventually try their best to storm the castle when they exit the tunnel. Tunnels two and three will do the same, but for those tunnels. Self-destruct is a command that will cause the Ho's to explode! This blast is pretty big! Be warned, this kills your Ho's instantly, but can be good in a tight spot! Lastly, the fallback command can be used to cause your Ho's to rush back to your castle. You can give these instructions out at any time, and the Ho's will respond once they hear them, but you can only control your own Ho's. And those are the rules to Storming The Castle!"
"Thanks for telling us." Olivia smiled and nodded.
"The game will start with a loud ring! When you hear that, pick your Ho's to promote and then do your best! Please use this time to come up with the best way to win!"
Miranda rubbed her chin, deep in thought. "This is actually tricky."
"Is it?"
"Yeah." The silver-haired woman nodded. "Think about it. We have fifteen Ho's. There are three of us and three tunnels. Logically speaking, it makes sense to send five Ho's down each tunnel, and one of us goes down it as well, but you run into an issue right away. For one, when two Ho's fight, it can go either way. So if five of our Ho's fight five of the enemy Ho's, there is a chance our Ho's could be wiped out. Since we're part of the Phoenix Flight guild, our luck is shit. Let's say it's heads or tails on a coin flip; we're likely to get tails every time, and in this case, tails means we lose the fifty-fifty. Not to mention, this doesn't account for them doing something else. What if they send six Ho's down a tunnel instead of four? Whichever tunnel has the most is bound to win, and this doesn't even factor in the Super Ho's, which throws another wrench in the plan. This means we need to think carefully about how many Ho's we send down the tunnel and if we leave any behind to guard the crystal."
"There's also the matter of the enemy players." Olivia sighed. "The game seems like it's set up in a way where it wants us to take out the enemy Ho's, that way our Ho's can get to the crystal. They'll likely do the same, not to mention the rule about gaining an extra Ho when an enemy player is beaten. If any of us go down, they get sixteen Ho's, then seventeen, and finally eighteen. Plus, I hate to say it, but there is another matter we have to deal with…"
"Cinder." Olem tapped his foot down, and the golem let out a grunt. "Whoever fights her will lose. This is just a fact. Beating her is not an option. Due to her overwhelming power, she'll most likely defeat any of the Ho's in the tunnel she is in, as well as whichever one of us she comes face to face with. At best, I could hold her off for a bit, but even I am bound to lose. With this in mind, I think it is clear I should be the one to fight her; that way I can hold her off while you two deal with the remaining players."
Miranda shook her head. "I hate to say it, but that won't work."
"It won't?" Olivia looked confused. "How come?"
"Cinder's not stupid. Logically, she is going to attack the weaker member of our teams first, and since she knows she can beat us all, she's pretty much free to do that. Remember the crystals we have? That makes it so we can teleport, but only once. It uses up a charge for both crystals, and there are three of us. This means one person won't be able to teleport unless an enemy is beaten. If Olem does run into Cinder, she'll most likely swap with Martle. Olem is stronger than Martel, but it doesn't matter, as Cinder has so much power she could wipe Olivia or me out in a matter of seconds, regain her charge, then swap with Ash, beat whoever he is, fight, regain her charge again, and then swap with Martel for the final time and take down Olem herself. If she runs into Olivia or me before she runs into Olem, then she'll simply take us down in one attack."
"We could swap," Olivia suggested. "Like if I run into her, I could just swap with Olem."
"You could." Miranda nodded. "But then that recreates the first issue. She'll just use her own swap to ditch Olem and fight whoever Martel was fighting."
"Okay, but couldn't we do the same to her?" Olivia pointed out. "Like, she and Olem run into each other, she teleports over to me, and I could then teleport back to where Olem was? Now Olem is able to fight her!"
"You could, but this poses issue number two." Miranda held up two fingers. "Martel. Olem could beat Martel, but the battle would be long and drawn out. You and I can't. In the scenario you proposed, it goes like this. Olem runs into Cinder. Cinder swaps with Martel. She's now with one of us. We have to swap with Olem. Olem is now holding off Cinder. One of us is now fighting Martel, who will then beat us pretty quickly."
"Fuck," Olivia cursed. "So if we run into Cinder or Martel, we lose!"
"Yep. To make matters worse, they have a one in three chance of running into someone they don't want to. If Cinder doesn't run into Olem, then she basically wins. If she does run into Olem, she can just do the teleport thing like I talked about, and she basically wins. Meanwhile, if we run into Cinder or Martel, we lose. What makes matters worse, if we don't fight at all and decide to guard our crystal, then Martel and Cinder will show up and beat us handily. We also have to do this without losing all of our Ho's."
"It's tricky," Olem admitted. "Perhaps even impossible. The best bet would be Olivia fighting Ash, you fighting Martel, and then I fighting Cinder. I could maybe hold her off long enough for Olivia to get the win. Do you think you could hold Martel off?"
"Not a chance." Miranda shook her head. "Maybe if Merlin were here, but I'm just not built for it. Shit, why couldn't it be night…" Miranda sighed and covered her face up with her palm, feeling queasy. "How do we get Olem to fight Cinder while dealing with Martel and the teleportation issue?"
"Also, I hate to say it, but I don't know if I could beat Ash," Olivia mumbled. "Even if I could, it'd also be a long and drawn-out battle. If Miranda can't even hold Martel off, then I'm also pretty much hopeless."
"Then I guess we'll lose." Olem shrugged. "Let's just do our best."
"Fine by me." Miranda cracked her knuckles. "Maybe I can punch that Cinder bitch once before she knocks me out."
Olivia stayed quiet and kept racking her brain trying to come up with a solution, but they all ended in failure. All but one. "Olem, you could beat Martel, right?"
"I could. It wouldn't be quick, though. I can't beat Martel as fast as Cinder could beat you or Miranda."
"What if that isn't true?"
"What?"
"What if you could beat Martel faster?"
Olivia thought back to the rules. "I have an idea. It's risky, but I think we should try it."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, three tunnels resided. They were large and carved with black bricks. They stretched on and on for nearly one mile, so thick that someone in one couldn't hear a person in the other tunnel. At the end of them, they opened up into a second forest where a mini castle resided that contained a blue crystal.
Cinder held a smirk upon her face as she gazed at Ash and Martel. "I think the plan is pretty simple." She announced. "I'll one-shot one of their scrubs. Martel, you should take the golem. When I'm done cleaning up the small fries, I'll take him out myself."
"What if you run into him?" Martel asked.
"Then I'll swap with you."
"And if one of the girls swaps with him to dodge your swap?"
"Well, then you take one of the girls out and swap with Ash here; take the second girl out, and I'll just beat that Olem guy." Cinder laughed. "Honestly, I can't see a way we lose this. Even if things don't go exactly according to plan, we should still win."
"Don't get cocky," Ash warned. "They have Olivia."
"Olivia?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "I hate to say it, but if anyone could figure out the way to win, it would be her."
Cinder tapped her chin. "Interesting. Still, I think we'll be fine." Her smirk grew. "After all, I'm a badass."
There was a loud buzz, and the Ho's all began to jump up and down.
"Please assign your promotion points to create a super Ho!" Ho's voice said cheerfully in their heads.
Cinder assigned three of the Ho's at random and turned to face the tunnel. "Alright. Let's hunt down some Phoenix Flight members." She cocked her gun and took off.
Ash grabbed his bow, and the image of Olivia's face came to his mind. He scowled before running after. "I'm going to prove that I'm better than her here and now!"