Jacob ran as fast as he could to the melee while watching Kronos trade blows with the tutorial boss. The sharp clang of metal rung out through the courtyard with every exchange. Kronos jumped back from the boss as Jacob approached and yelled, “Stop! Keep at range and flank with your spells! I’ll keep up the pressure!”

The boss paused in his attack laughing and taunted the two, “You two are complete noobs. Who calls out tactics like that for your opponent to hear? I’m not some scripted boss oblivious to your plans.”

Kronos grinned as he stepped further away from the boss and said, “Heh, I’m not the one who gave up the momentum giving his opponents precious time to recover. Who’s the noob now?” Kronos darted to the side attempting to draw the boss away from Jacob, who in turned ran in an arc to flank the boss.

The boss slowly turned his helmeted head following Kronos and spoke with incredulity, “You’ve never actually played the boss role yourself, have you? The only reason I’m stopped is because the tutorial stage places a limit on higher level players with action points. You may have been recovering, but so have I!”

The boss turned his back on Kronos to face Jacob. He raised his shield and longsword in a salute and called out, “I, Rothven, declare you marked by Fate for death!” Rothven clanged the guard of his sword against his shield and pointed the tip of his blade at Jacob. An orb of white electrical energy shot forth from the blade hitting Jacob square in the chest.

Jacob blinked in confusion as he felt no pain from the blast and received no notifications of a debuff. Jacob shrugged as he checked his mana pool noting that he had recovered to a total of 93 M.P. He stood his ground and conjured a Hellfire Ball into existence with the flick of his wrist. Just as he had thrown the spell at Rothven, Kronos yelled, “No! Run away now! He’s going to harvest your Fate!”

Rothven laughed in delight raising his shield to mitigate the flames from Jacob’s spell. “You guys really are scrubs. This is too easy!” He sprinted towards Jacob with inhuman strides sounding like a sack full of bouncing metal pots.

Jacob stumbled in shock at the speed and turned to run as Kronos attempted to catch Rothven from behind. Jacob pushed with all his might trying to get more speed but managed only five paces before Rothven was on him. A sudden shock from his suit was the only warning he had as Rothven’s blade pierced him from behind.

-60 *Critical* physical damage.

Rothven whispered with malice, “Trash!” as he pulled his blade free from Jacob who stumbled away while covering the newest hole in his chest. Jacob’s face twisted in anger as Rothven prepared to strike again.

Jacob’s chest felt numb from his wounds. His movements were sluggish due to his critical state. I need to do more! Swam the thought through Jacob’s mind as he attempted to block Rothven’s blow with the blade in his left hand. Even as the blades met, Jacob stepped to the right letting the force from his opponent’s strike guide him closer to Rothven.

Rothven’s blow was too much for Jacob to maintain his grip on his sword sending it flying to the ground. Both of Jacob’s hands flew out to latch onto anything they could find for purchase. His right hand managed to grab the top of Rothven’s shield to keep himself from falling.

Rothven let out a grunt as he twisted the shield and pushed Jacob off balance once more. Rothven swung his blade to bear on Jacob and thrust sideways to pierce the half-devil’s side. Jacob had righted himself in time to see Kronos launching into an aerial attack. Jacob flicked his wrist slamming the conjured Hellfire Ball into Rothven’s face blinding the man. Jacob had no time to celebrate as Rothven’s blade sunk deeply into his flank and the flames of his own spell engulfed him.

-25 physical damage.

Jacob crumpled to the ground as his vision darkened. The last sight he had was of Kronos slamming his twin blades into the back of Rothven causing the man to buckle under the blow. Rothven tore his helmet off removing the flames from his sight and whirled around to attack Kronos. Jacob could see no more before everything went black with the arrival of a notification.

Death!

You have died! Fear not though for Fate can intervene restoring you to full health. All you must do is pay the price!

Revive?

Cost: 1 Fate, 1-hour cooldown.

YES

NO

Jacob hesitated with his finger over the yes button. Is this like my contract ability? Did Rothven’s earlier ability set me up for paying him my Fate if I revive? Do I go with Kronos’ plan still? He paused in consideration. Be pragmatic. You said you were going to learn from Kronos. The quickest way to figuring out these answers would be to revive. But can I trust Kronos’ plan? He left me wide open to attack by initiating that flanking maneuver. Did he use me as bait!?

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Jacob withdrew his hand from the notification window partially closing his hand into a fist. Maybe, that was part of the plan to create an opening? If so that’s upsetting, but logical since I’m not capable of putting out as much damage as him. He sighed in frustration. I’ll have to give him the benefit of the doubt and go with the plan still. Refusing to revive will result in a loss of potential gains and a possible ally.

He wasted no more time in pressing yes. His vision came flooding back with him looking to the sky. He was jerked up into the air as blood that had been spilled onto the ground flowed back into him in streams. His wounds were quickly knitted as he was dropped onto the charred grass.

The clash of metal demanded his attention. Eight paces away fought Kronos and Rothven. Kronos circled around Rothven probing with his blades to find an opening past the other’s shield.

Rothven’s face was marred by burns from Jacob’s last attack. A wicked grin split Rothven’s reddened pale face as his long sun-kissed blonde hair fluttered on the wind. He taunted Kronos with glee, “First, was the mage his Fate now mine. Now you are marked and on the verge of death. Soon, you too shall gift me your Fate!”

Kronos glanced past Rothven to Jacob and screamed, “Now!”

Rothven jumped back bringing his shield up to defend against an expected blow from Jacob. Instead, shock painted his face as Kronos used the opening to impale himself on Rothven’s sword while stabbing down with his own two swords in the gaps of Rothven’s armor.

Both players spasmed from the attacks. Kronos flashed a battle-crazed grin at Jacob as blood dribbled from his mouth. “Light him up!” he spat through mouthfuls of blood and released his blades giving Rothven a bear hug to hold him in place.

“With pleasure!” said Jacob returning the same battle-crazed grin. He raised both hands and flicked two Hellfire Balls into existence thanks to his mana being restored from the Revive. One after the other were flung at the entangled pair, engulfing the two in flames. Unsatisfied with just two attacks, Jacob continued summoning Hellfire Balls and flinging them as he strode closer the blazing inferno.

He stopped just two paces from the pyre of burning bodies, his wrists still flicking to summon the Hellfire. No more were able to form though due to Jacob having emptied his mana pool from the attack. He breathed heavily in excitement and exhaustion watching the flames die down.

A groan and grunting could be heard from the pyre. The mass of Kronos’ charred demonic body was shrugged off revealing the crippled form of Rothven below. The boss wheezed out a weak laugh as he dropped his shield and drew his sword out of Kronos. Rothven placed his empty shield arm against his chest and triggered an ability as he said, “The Light Restores!”

A surge of white light shone through his cracked skin restoring some of his vitality. He stomped unsteadily forward one step and reached up to pull out one of Kronos’ blades. With a gasp, he freed himself of the blade tossing it behind him. He took another step and drew out the other blade tossing it to the ground as well.

“So close yet so far from victory!” mocked Rothven.

Jacob backed away with every step Rothven took. Panic had returned to Jacob’s face as he looked to his surroundings trying to find a solution. I don’t have any weapons or mana left to attack with. I need time. Time to restore my mana so I can attack or time for Kronos to Revive. Either way I need to buy time.

Jacob attempted a grin that faltered half formed on his face as Rothven lunged at him. A large gash tore through Jacob’s side as he attempted to dodge the attack unsuccessfully.

-28 physical damage.

Surprised with Rothven’s movements, Jacob turned tail and ran as fast as he could. Just run! He probably can’t keep up with those injuries.

Rothven cackled and pressed his shield arm to his chest shouting, “The Light Restores!” Again, he was bathed in light recovering from his wounds. He stretched as the light faded returning his mobility. He sheathed his sword and charged after Jacob.

Jacob glanced behind to see the paladin giving chase and gaining on him. Jacob looked forward just in time to avoid tripping over one of the corpses from the beginning of the fight. He cursed himself checking his path was clear before chancing another look at his pursuer. He yelped as he saw Rothven mid-jump tackling his feet. Both slammed hard into the ground.

-10 physical damage.

Rothven was the first to stand as he delivered a kick to Jacob’s stomach. The blow knocked him back stunning him for a few seconds.

-12 physical damage.

Rothven stood victoriously over Jacob, drew his sword and raised it in salute as he said, “I, Rothven, declare you marked by Fate for death!” He pointed the blade at Jacob finishing the ability trigger.

Once more, Jacob was engulfed in the light seemingly unaffected. He immediately rolled away in fear trying to scramble to his feet. Rothven took the opening and sliced open Jacob’s back.

-64 *Critical* physical damage.

Jacob for his part rolled onto his back in pain panting. Rothven gave him a smirk and said, “GG!” as he began to swing down. Jacob flicked his wrist launching a Hellfire Ball into Rothven’s face and rolled to the side barely avoiding the swing from Rothven’s blade.

Rothven screamed in anger, “Just die already!” as he patted the flames from his face.

“Did that already.” Replied Kronos from behind Rothven. “Your turn!”

Kronos plunged his blades into Rothven and pulled them out in quick succession. Rothven stumbled and fell to his knees with his head hanging in exhaustion. Kronos lined his blade up with Rothven’s neck and swung hard decapitating the boss.

Kronos let out a deep sigh and grinned at Jacob. “Did you miss me?”

Jacob let out a heart-felt laugh and said, “Yeah, I did. I was really worried you had left me in a bad situation.”

Kronos chuckled as he sat down by Jacob. “I’ll be honest. I seriously thought about leaving you behind and just taking my losses. That player had some pretty good skills and knew how to fight.”

Kronos flashed his grin as he looked Jacob in the eyes. “But then I felt guilty about abandoning you when you followed my plan. So, what choice did I have when you were proving to be such a good minion?”

Jacob raised an eyebrow at Kronos, “Minion?”

Kronos laughed, “Yeah, what else do you call someone who follows the orders of another to a T?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a competent ally?” provided Jacob. Both laughed at the exchange of words. Jacob leaned back to rest on the ground and said, “I’m just going to rest here for a few minutes to recover. I’ll help with the looting in a bit, ok?”

“Yeah, no problem man.” Said Kronos as he stood up. “I’m going to check the guards first then.”

Jacob nodded his head as he replayed the fight in his head waiting for his body to recover.