In all the time Shin had known the girl who’d introduced herself as Bex, he’d seen her in several different lights. As a Player, to be kept at arm’s length. As a useful resource, to be carefully utilized. And, increasingly, as a dependable friend, to be appreciated in this deeply mercenary world. But as a hero?

The Schemer was more than a little embarrassed to admit it, but that was not a role he’d even considered for the exuberant girl.

Why not, though? She’d already stood by them through the fires of battle. She’d offered support and friendship throughout every interaction with her adopted pack. She even clearly acknowledged the dignity and personal sovereignty of Shin and the kobolds, a deceptively simple gesture that nevertheless put her in the top fraction of a percent among all Players.

The idea that she couldn’t also step forward to personally shoulder a challenge for the good of her friends was uncharitable of Shin, and he regretted it.

Though it was a little difficult to give Bex’s heroic moment the deference it deserved when her bold declaration of challenge was immediately met with booming laughter.

The girl couldn’t help turning a little red as the other two Players made their feelings abundantly clear, Naotodate booming with laughter as Galwenlas’s face split in the single most condescending smile Shin could have ever imagined. “Hey!” Bex glowered at the two men. “What’s so funny, huh?!”

“Um, you are?” Date finally managed to shake himself out of his reverie, amusement still plastered across his feline face. “You’re five levels lower than me. And you’re still an Adventurer.”

Bex folded her arms, turning up her nose at the rude beastman. “Every bit of research I’ve seen says that you increase your chances at a Legendary Class if you wait until Level Twenty to activate your Class Selection. I’m just being patient, okay?”

“Now now, Date; the little lady is certainly right about that.” Galwenlas unnecessarily tossed his golden hair over his shoulder. “But I’m thinking she maybe doesn’t truly understand PVP?”

“Hey.” Bex snapped her fingers. “Talk to me if you’re going to talk about me. Okay?”

“A thousand apologies, Sweet Lady Bex.” The Grand Elf dipped into a box, offering the girl his most patronizing smile. “But I do think that maybe you should arrange some hands on lessons from Date, or even better me, before jumping into such a complex–”

“I’ve changed my mind; don’t talk to me even if you’re talking about me.” Bex shuddered. “Or, like, ever again.”

Galwenlas huffed, rolling his eyes and muttering not-quite under his breath. “Stuck-up bitch.”

Naotodate cut in before Bex or any of her numerous gathered friends could object to Galwenlas’s insult. “Yeah anyways, I really don’t have to fight you. And I don’t particularly want to either. So–”

“You keep laughing and talking, but all I hear is a literal scaredy-cat.” Bex pulled up an unfamiliar Screen, her eyes fierce as she quickly navigated her way through her options. “There.” She decisively clicked a button. “I just sent you an Official Challenge. Turn it down if you want, but if you do it’s gonna tank your Ranking. Your call.”

“Hm.” The Grappler’s tail thrashed as he considered that, the beginnings of a thought churning in his mind. “...If I agree to fight you, I’m going to stream it for my Channel.”

Bex nodded. “That’s fine.”

“And I’m definitely going to title the VOD ‘Arrogant Newbie Thought She Was So Great’.”

“Whatever fine.”

“Okay awesome.” Date pulled up a Screen of his own, unable to hold back a grin as he tapped out a message. “Gimme a minute to get the blast to my subs out, then we can get started. Pots and Hots cool?”

“Um, sure.” Bex quickly reconsidered. “Maybe we should actually use the Season Thirty-Seven regs?”

“Okay sure, definitely.” Naotdate nodded distractedly, still typing out his message. “That’s a five gold cap, right? Thirty Seven was a good ladder; they should have just kept that.” He shifted an eye back towards his upcoming opponent. “Which Elixir are you gonna use?”

“The Adventurer’s Bundle Elixir?”

Galwenlas loudly sniffed, inserting himself into the discussion. “From the Beginner’s Bundle? You really need to invest in a bespoke buffs strategy. I have a video that explains in terms even a beginner could–”

Bex glowered at the elf. “And we were doing so well not ever talking again. Why’d you go and ruin a good thing?”

“The Adventurer’s Bundle Elixir is fine; I’ve got that one too.” Date clicked send on his message, banishing the Screen with a wave of his hand. “Alright, want to say we go in ten? I want to do a little preamble before the fight, then we can get started.”

“Okay.” Bex nodded, turning away from the sour-faced Galwenlas. “So it’ll be ten seconds of precast, then we go?”

“Yeah, Season Thirty-Seven regs. Oh, but it’s just one-on-one. So,” –He jerked a thumb towards Shin– “No outside boons from the bard, okay?”

Shin was not a bard blah.

Bex seemed equally taken aback by Date’s woeful miss-classing of her friend. “Oh. Yeah, definitely. Absolutely not.”

“Great. See you in ten, then!”

As Bex wandered back towards the pack, her opponent retreating to stretch, Shin couldn’t help but be newly impressed by her fortitude. There had been moments where he and presumably the others had desperately wanted to insert themselves into the confrontation, to come to their friend’s aid? But the girl had more than held her own against the disdain of the other Players.

Now more than ever, Shin was truly impressed with Bex. And he was deeply excited to hear what someone else’s plan was, for once.

“Shin you have to help me I have no idea what I’m doing,” Bex whispered urgently the moment she was out of earshot from the other Players. “I am so screwed for real.”

Whoops.

Gero balked, tilting her head at her protege. “But you were so confident; I thought for sure you had a plan?”

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“I did!” The Player threw her hands out towards Shin. “It was him giving me a shitload of buffs!”

“Oh.” Gero considered that, then shrugged. “Well, it was a pretty good plan.”

“Well it was all for nothing!” Bex couldn’t hold back her panicked cackle, her eyes smoldering with manic energy. “I thought I was being so smart with that Season Thirty Seven stuff, but all I did was give him ten free seconds to buff himself! Grapplers have so many self-buffs, you guys!”

Bittercup was clearly disturbed by the cratering confidence of the woman who was effectively fighting for her freedom, but did her best to hide it. “Hey, um, it’s okay? Maybe let’s not get so hung up on what you can’t do anything about, right?”

“Absolutely.” Hilde gave Bex’s shoulder an encouraging pat. “You can’t beat someone else if you’re already fighting yourself.”

“She’s right, Bex.” Shin firmly pounded a fist into his palm. “We’ll just craft a strategy around what you can do, alright?”

“Right, okay.” Bex sucked in a deep breath, then let it right back out. “Um, well, I’m still an Adventurer, so I still have the Beginner’s Knack Trait? So I can use any type of weapon.”

Shin nodded. “We can definitely work with that. Grapplers are super close range fighters, right?” The Schemer turned his attention to the crowd, and specifically the hobgoblin Soldiers. “Do any of you want to lend Bex your spear?”

Despite still being flustered, Bex couldn’t help a small smile as every single hobgoblin offered their weapon. “Oh, um, thanks everybody.” She picked a polearm at random, gripping the weapon tightly. “I can also cast a couple basic cantrips that High Priestess Momo taught me?”

Okay, that could definitely be something. Shin had seen on more than one occasion just how effective Divine spells could be. “Which ones?”

“Just Bless and Guidance,” Bex grumbled, giving her borrowed spear an exploratory heft. “At least I’ll have something to cast during the precast.”

Shin hummed. “I don’t know Guidance, but Bless gives you Advantage, right? That should be useful.”

Bex shook her head. “Guidance is just a navigation spell, but also that’s not really what Bless does. Well, I mean, sure; it does do that? But only when you don’t have a defined deity to link it to.”

Huh. Shin hadn’t really had cause to consider it, but it was true that he hadn’t witnessed the Bless spell in action since the divine sculpting of Tasan Okaa. Momo had long since gained access to much stronger spells, and so far the other priests and priestesses had had little cause to cast anything besides healing spells. “So what does it do with a God?”

“It just gives you a boost based on your God’s traits? But not their big purviews, so it’s pretty weak.” Bex shrugged. “It’s just a cantrip, so–”

“Bex, I want you to listen to me.” The girl swallowed at the sound of Shin’s insistent tone, her tail stiffening. “How quickly after casting Bless on yourself could you make an attack?”

The Player considered that for a moment, a little confused by the Schemer’s question. “I mean…right away, I guess?”

“Okay, good. And it’s an instant cast time, right?”

“Yes…”

“Perfect. So here’s the plan.” Bex leaned in expectantly as Shin dropped his voice to a hush. “Wait until the very last moment of the Self Buff to Bless yourself…”

Bex nodded in excitement. “Yeah? And then what?”

“Then hit him with your spear.”

The Player’s reaction was in many ways typical of the welcome that Shin’s genius plans tended to receive.

“What.”

———————————————————————————

Bex shifted awkwardly as Naotodate held up a hand, using his fingers to silently count down from five. The entire population fortress had formed a ring around the two Players, creating both an audience and the fighting space, and Shin could only hope that the girl took some comfort in the fact that every single one of the spectators was on her side.

Well. With one noticeable exception. Galwenlas was clearly very excited to see what he imagined would be a one-sided trouncing.

Naotodate insistently waggled his last finger, prompting Bex to shake off her distractions and ready her grip on her spear. No sooner had she done so than Date roared out in boastful exuberance, a large icon that apparently indicated he was ‘Streaming’ appearing above his head as the beastman pounded both fists into his chest. “Yes, it is NAOTO DATE, the TRUE MASKED TIGER! And today’s CHALLENGE is…” He trailed off, taking a moment to squint at Bex. “...what was your name, again?”

The girl grimaced. “It’s BexMex. You know it’s BexMex.”

“Today’s CHALLENGE is MEXBEX!” He threw out a hand towards the girl. “What is your Class, MexBex?”

“It’s Adventurer, and it’s BexMex! You know it’s–”

“And what is your Level?”

Bex growled, her ears flicking forward. “Fifteen.”

“And yet you still thought you could challenge me?!” Date threw back his head in raucous laughter, Galwenlas’s snickering drowned out by the chorus of boos that rained down from the assembled hobgoblins and kobolds. “If only you weren’t so arrogant, MexBex!” Date shook his giant head. “If you had attacked with your horde of allies, maybe you would have survived the day. But instead you–”

The Grappler trailed off, his focus momentarily shifting to one side as if he was reading something. “...no, they’re not Beastmen. They’re kobolds or whatever.” He paused again, nodding along with whatever communique he was receiving. “Yeah, I’m in a really weird part of Magica right now. I’ll absolutely fight the big one after I get through the warm up.”

Shin couldn’t resist cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting out. “It’s gonna be pretty embarrassing when the ‘warm-up’ kicks your ass!”

Date rolled his eyes. “Yeah right; if I lost to a Level Fifteen Adventurer on stream, I’d probably delete my whole account.”

“Do you promise?!”

“Yeah sure whatever; enough from you, bard!” The beastman snorted with laughter at something he read in his messages. “Yes we can absolutely crush the head of the mouthy one. ANYWAYS!” He pointed a massive finger at Bex. “ARE YOU READY?!”

Bex dropped into a low stance, her spear held before her. “Ready!”

“THEN EVERYONE DROPKICK THAT LIKE BUTTON AND POWERBOMB SUBSCRIBE! LET THE MATCH BEGIN!”

As the beastman began to expertly work his way through a series of aggressive flexes and poses, shimmering numbers sizzled into the air high above the combatant’s heads to steadily count down from Ten. Date hit stance after stance, his every muscle bulging as he shimmered with an increasingly vast array of self buffs. He still managed to snarl out a laugh as Bex took a careful sip from her Elixir, apparently the only preparation she had.

“Ah-HA~!” Date thundered as the countdown hit Three. “I’ll even make this SPORTING!” The timer hit One, Bex pressing a hand to her heart as she quickly Blessed herself. “I shall grant you the FIRST–”

The timer hit Zero, and Bex shot forward.

Weakness Exploited!

Perfect Hit!

Critical Strike!

True Damage!

Bex blinked up at the empty space where Naotodate’s head had previously been, the spear actually steaming in her hands from the friction of moving so forcefully. She straightened, Galwenlas choking on his disbelief the only sound in the entire fortress as they all watched the enormous beastman’s decapitated body wobble on its feet. Taken by a sudden whimsy, the girl reached out with a finger to give the Grappler’s chest a little poke, the assembled crowd bursting into frenzied cheers as the defeated Player crashed down to the ground.

So, okay. Shin had assumed the attack would be stronger than expected? But he had also assumed that would just give him a window to covertly unload all of his Opportunism effects on the off-kilter beastman. Would that have been cheating? Yes. Did Shin give a shit. No.

But yeah. This worked too.

For a moment Bex seemed to have no clue how to react, besides flushing a bright red as dozens of onlookers rushed up to congratulate her. She looked around in a daze, managing to find Shin’s eyes through the wild crowd. She grinned at the kobold, opening her mouth to shout something out, only to tilt her head when she noticed Shin pointing behind her.

Bex turned, quickly noticing that Naotodate’s stream was still running. The girl stared at it for a few moments, the gathered throngs falling silent as her tail whipping behind her, then popped a peace sign up at the display. “Have fun deleting your account~!”

The crowd immediately burst back into almost unhinged celebration, everyone exulting in a victory that could only be possible when one is truly on the side of Right. And also when one happens to worship a Goddess who has twenty-six ten-point boosted Zero-Point Purviews.

Everyone, that is, except for Galwenlas. Shin wondered if the Grand Elf could feel the noose tightening around his neck? Because whether he could or not, it was absolutely there.

Two down, One to Go.