His hands were like claws wrapped around the head of his black cane, he had a large shaggy beard and mustache like a vagrant, but dressed in the finest attire. His clothing seemed custom made from his best to his pin-striped slacks, complimenting his vest with a white assorted topaz jewel at its center. He wore rings on all his fingers, with several jewels enforcing the image of a fine gentleman, contradicting by his scruffy looking hair on his face. He smiled as he walked up in front of the 3 players standing under the watch of a giant spotlight in the void of dark space.
“So, you’re the lucky three,” he said in a large smile expressing the glimmer of a row of fangs across his face. “A frog, a fish, and a bunny, sounds like the beginning of a bad joker, or a nice dinner menu.” He smacked his lips like a hungry cat for emphasis.
“Love the drama, but I fail to see the amusement.” Chance said, staring into the stranger's golden eyes.
“Is there any need to be dramatic?” Fi asked. “I mean we haven’t even introduced ourselves.”
“My father always said it’s appropriate to let the host start first.”
“Good manners, I respect that in this new generation.” He said, picking up his cane under his arm. “My name is Benji-Benjamins, part owner of the wishing pond casino and leader auditor in these current affairs.”
“An auditor? Like you’re here to examine our finances?”
“No, no, more in the informal sense.” He said, waving his one free hand.
“He means he’s attending here to observe, but not get credit, I do that in my free time.” Fi said. “Chance always says it’s not necessary since I’m not getting credit.”
“You’re basically adding more work to what you need, so why bother?” Chance interjected.
“Why not, I mean we come to college to learn, like you come here to relax.”
“For being so smart, you can be really be so dumb, bubble head.” He said, rubbing his temples with anger.
“Ha, ha, who says we all can’t be good sports about all this?” Benjii said walking around the circle of light like a tiger waiting to pounce. “Now, as an auditor, it is my job to see if any of you is worthy of this grand prize. A skill that has never been released, but only the worthy will be capable of handling it.”
“That sounds more like a survey, than an audit.” Chance said.
“True, but unlike a survey I won’t be the one weighing in the final results, there are much higher rollers at work here.”
“What do you mean by that?” Cee wondered.
“Perhaps those explanations are best left until afterwards.”
CLANK! He tapped his cane again against the hardened, dark surface and then stared at the gamers again with sharp piercing eyes.
“So, I’ll show you my skills if you show me yours. Then we’ll see who comes out on top when the real fight begins.”
“You’re seriously giving us a head start.”
“Anyone can gain success, but not everyone can use it well. Plus, you’ll be happy when things really start.”
“Is he trying to intimate us?” Fi whispered to her friends.
“I agree with Fi, something doesn’t feel right about this.” Cee confirmed.
“Never look a gift horse in the mouth is my motto, if we draw at the same time it may improve our odds for success.” Chance said. “It’s your funeral Benjii!”
Benjii didn’t make a strike, but simply waited like a statue as the deck of fates determined each person’s new move of succession.
Okay, so what do I do now? Cee thought in the stillness of inert space.
It’s like riding a wave, ride it and you'll be fine, you lose focus when you hit the surf. Chance’s voice echoed across the vast emptiness. We’ll start with a cooperative strike, coupled with a double dose of reinforcement and hit him hard and fast.
What if it’s not enough to take him down?
Then we’ll reassess, see if you can find anything with that a double does of Intuition, the odds are slim but something should come up. Meanwhile, Fi and I will engage in a corporate strike before he has time to recharge.
Ah-ha, now you’re starting to think like a real team player. Fi’s voice echoed in the void.
What happens if that’s not enough to take him out. Cee interjected.
We still got numbers on our side Cee. Fi explained. More than three players can produce at least a three part, Triple Effective Combo, with your passive skills we might even pull out a triple-tredecuple. Every player is bound by the deck of fate, so it’s all just luck in the end.
Does anyone find something off about this strategy? He’s not even putting up a fight like he’s just waiting for something, and he’s smiling, like he knows something.
Like I said, you can’t lose focus and this strategy rarely fails in the first round.
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Cee was still unsure, but could only hope for the best at this crucial moment that she wouldn’t sink and ride this blitzing strategy to victory.
[ 3 Hands Combine to make Full House. ]
[ Your combination IS TRIPLE EFFECTIVE! ]
[ Activate Reinforcement Lv. 1 ]
[ Activate Reinforcement Lv. 1 ]
[ 3 Hands Combine to make 5 of Kind. ]
[ Your combination IS TREDECUPLE EFFECTIVE! ]
A light as green as an emerald glass started resonating from each of the player’s body’s. Benjii stood perfectly still with a gain under one arm and the others flicking his long nails like a cat stretching his claws. Chance made the first move charging first with his hands stretched forward like a wrestler going in for the take down, but it wasn’t aimed at Benjii. He passed him with rapid steepness, brushing his shaggy bear with his sheer velocity.
He continued to move across the stage, building moments as green blur 12 times across Benjii’s unmoved form. On the 13th and final run the game head forward with his elbow thrust forward in a blaze of green energy that matched the heat of sun as he called out.
“Rabbit Charge!” He said expecting to take him down in one blow.
In the moment, before he landed his assault Benjii stopped fiddling with his fingers and blew on the tips of his nails and whispered.
“Presto.”
BOOM! Chance crashed into a solid object that took it to the ground with a vice-like grip. A cloud of white smoke obscured Chance’s vision, so much that he couldn’t see who or what he had caught in his hands. When the smoke settled he saw that it was not who he had expected.
It was a large human shaped doll, dressed like Benjii to resemble his form but in cheap costume jewelry and clothes. The scarecrow had a large toothy grin that seemed to mock Chance as he quickly realized that he had tackled the wrong target. Suddenly, a single playing card landed on top of the dummy’s face with the word, “Surprise” written on the front. Chance looked around and noticed that it was raining exactly copies of these same cards flying out of thin air. Furiously he looked around, and spotted Benjii standing a few feet away clapping his hands as he watched with glee.
“You’re pretty fast, but apparently your mind is not as quick as your legs.” He said. “Who’s next?”
A flash of light came across his face as Fee started walking toward him with her Starry Strut. With the flashing of stars blasting at every angel of her form she looked like a high profile movie star walking on the red carpet. On her 13th step, she struck a pose like the goddess of beauty with a light so blinding that it would have made any man fall to his feet.
“You’re very bright, but I just can’t see it.” Benjii said played with a set of sunglasses that had appeared on his face.
He played with them for a second before taking them off, tossing them in the air, making them disappear into the surrounding darkness. He took out his cane from out of his shoulder and then pointed to Cee with it as if trying to intimate her.
“What about you, do you got a little magic in your step.” Cee had been watching all this display of performance the whole time, not knowing what to do and holding back to see if her fears were truly founded. “Here, let me give you a little push.”
With a turn of his ebony cain, the ground became like a large floating mirror under her feet. The shaking of the mirror causes Cee’s body to shift and bend like standing on the ground of a moving ship. Her body began rocking back and forth, forcing her to retaliate with her own dance moves to counter the balance of the platform. On the 13th step, the glass evaporated into a mist of white smoke, cushioning her body as it floated gently to the ground.
“Can’t say it was great, but it was definitely a dance.”
Cee didn’t know what to do, but she could see Fi and Chance commence with their strategy. While they were prepared for a cooperative double strike, Cee remembered what she had to do, returning to Inert Time to use her skill.
He countered every 13 skills with his own, but how is that possible with just one player? Cee thought as she waited for the results of her ability. I mean he’s got to be very experienced or...
[ Activating Two Act (Lv. 2) ]
[ Activating Intuition (Lv. 1) ]
[ Act Failed. ]
[ Unable to Identify. ]
[ Activating Intuition (Lv. 1) ]
[ ACT SUCCESSFUL!]
[ Indication Successful! ]
[ Identified 1 Passive Skill. ]
When time resumed, it’s natural course Cee caught a glimpse of the skill window appearing before her face. She only had a few seconds to read it, but it was enough for her to panic as she tried to warn her team.
“Wait, don’t...” It was too late, as Fi and Chance had just finished preparing their cooperative combination attack.
[ Your combination IS TRIPLE EFFECTIVE! ]
It was only a triple combination but magnified two folds, forming a two person act of highly coordinated glimmers. In tandem they switched each struck, Chance his rapid fists and Fi with bombs that resembled miniature mirror balls were filled with glitter and smoke. Armed only with his cane, Benjii parried Chances punches causing him to be thrown off target, then in a fluid motion he swung at Fi’s glittery bomb and batted it away.
Cee watched as the glitter bomb exploded in the darkness, then turned back to watch Chance and Fi continue their feral assault expecting their opponent to fail, but she knew it would do no go. By the 3rd and final strike, Benjii held his can up like a sword and smirked a cocky grin.
With the tip of his cane he retaliated with fury of strikes so fast they were almost imperceptible to any of the players. Twice he struck Fi and five times he struck Chance knocking them both to the floor with one great finishing slash. When he was done he sheathed his cane under his arm like a sword and turned his gaze to the falling players.
“You’ve put in a good effort, but I’m afraid you skills are...lacking.”
“How did you did you do that?” Fi asked as she looked up to Benjii with a calculating stare. “You just pulled off a four part-tredecuple act, that’s pulling 5 of kind. For one player at level 7, the chances are less than one hundred-thousandth of a percent of getting 4 in a row, that should be impossible.”
“I should have seen it after the third time.” Chance said, rising to his feet. “Three times is a pattern, but I failed to see that cause we were so caught up in the act.”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you guys!” Cee said with her window of identification still open. “Look at this!”
With one turn of her wrist the screen was reversed to show everyone the skill that she had identified. It solicited the same reaction that Cee had the first time she saw it in person illuminated in bold letters.
[ Benefactor No.13 (Lv. 8)
An administrative skill.
Can perform a tredecuple successful action,
Can only be performed 8 times a day.
Cost: G$ 50,000,000 per use ]
“An administrative skill?” Chance said with his slack jaw. “That means...”
“I thought all skills were ranked from 1 to 7, but this...” Fi said in disbelief. “It’s like finding an imaginary number, you know it doesn’t exist but then it just comes out of nowhere.”
“You’re saying that 8 doesn’t exist in Fortuna Sands.” Cee questioned this sudden realization.
“I can tell that you haven’t been playing for long, maybe I should clarify a few things.” He walked around the players once swinging his cane by the hook of his hand. “There are special privileges that can be bought and earned in Fortuna Sands, these vary from premium members to shareholders in Fortuna. You could call it a paid bribe for victory, but there is no rule against it except in specially authorized events that prohibit its use. However, these abilities are only limited to the title of patron or donor with one exception.”
“The Unlucky 13.” Chance trembled at this name.
“Who are they?” Cee asked gathered with her friends.
“The 13 administrators that built this game.” Chance said.
It was then everyone felt the same feeling of being trapped between a rock and hard place. They were not only facing the game, but one of the game makers themselves. Which means, winning this victory would be a lot harder than anyone could have guessed.