Stan readied his defenses, after thirty minutes of fidgeting with tiny details, moving a bouquet of bones from one end of the shelf to the other and moving a Wretch from the front to the back of a trap to try and maximize the effect of both, he let the Spectral Knightmare engage in an idle routine of swishing its sword back and forth and added a stab every few swings.
It took another fifteen minutes of boring idleness before the Players charged into his domain, playing a perfect plan of positioning and skills embedded with spells that negated his perfectly planned battleground, a combination of area of effect holy magic and powerful demonic attacks devastated his Wretches and Ghosts in seconds and he found himself toe to toe with a powerful warrior eploying demonic enchantments to prevent his ethereal form.
"Fucking cunt" stan heard the demonic Player shouting when his axe cut right through the Spectral Knightmare's body, "if you cast another holy spell on me I will fuck you to death", ripping the axe trailed by blood and ethereal aura, "Fucking fuck STOP" he shouted again.
[System: Notice NPC 371M you have been overwhelmed by a player's attack, initiating Spectator status until respawn in <2> hours]
Stan was ready to initiate spectator status but instead a clear bell rung across the room, framing every detail in it with a soft light.
[System: Attention NPC 371M Parental Supervision has been activated, all interactions are suspended]
A ghostly figure floated from inside the demonic warrior and solidified as a woman, "thats it Aaron", her voice was hard and low, "your grounded", she turned towards the other players that were all frozen by the Supervision status, "I apologize for interrupting your game like this", she turned back towards Aaron, "Log off now".
"But mommmm" he whined to her, "this is a NEW raid", his voice turned angry "you are ruining everything".
"You ruined 'everything' yourself Aaron", she flipped her hand, "log off now".
DennisB looked up from the Ghost she was bashing with her staff, "Finally", she breathed out, "thank you".
"Excuse me maam", HollyN interrupted, "can you please start the grounding after we finish this room?", she gestured around the room, "we kinda need him to tank the Knightmare".
The ghostly mother turned about, "you don't get to decide his punishment", she sounded pissed at the interruption, "I could just pull his plug off but remembering my adventuring days decided to give you a warning", her hand pointed at the boy "now log off".
"Who shot an arrow in her knee?" a chubby enchanter whispered to DennisB who gaffowd a stifled laughter.
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"Shut up Kenny", the slim priestess chuckled but it was too late.
After a few seconds of intense staring the ghost broke into laughter, "good one chubby", she said, "if you have to know you are playing with him right now", she sent a meaningful look towards Aaron, "its been fifteen years since I had time to go on an adventure".
"What the hell mom", the afformentioned 'arrow' cried out, "you can't say things like that to my friends".
Her head turned so fast it seemed to blur "shut up Aaron", she snapped, "I dont know where you got that potty mouth from", her tone was escalating "BUT you Shut the fuck up".
Kenny whispered to Dennis "I think I know where he got the mouth from", which again echoed in the deafening silence.
"You think you're funny Kenny?", Aaron's mom jerked around, "I will tell your mom about that comment".
"Jesus mrs Thorn im sorry",his voice sounded whizzing "please don't call my mom".
"And you should be", turning back towards Aaron she seemed thoughtful, "fine", saying at last, "I will let you finish this Raid", she looked at him "but I'm silencing you from now on".
"No mom Plea" Aaron said desperately but his voice was cut short when the parent supervision came into effect.
[System: Notice NPC 371M resetting the last 5 seconds of play to negate supervision interference]
Instead of waiting for Aaron to jump at him Stan was already fading to his ethereal state, when the blast of holy magic washed the room the Spectral Knightmare flowed towards his throne and the demonic axe missed him, he could see the Player's face contort in a silent scream of frustration.
Materialising back on his throne he could feel the spikes driving into his armor, raising his arms also lifted the chair into a standing position and a metallic cocoon was erected all around him, knowing which Player was casting the holy magic that crippled him, he raised his hand and made a smashing motion that caused the whole room to convulse.
Ceiling met floor and squashed the Priestess, cracking his armored fingers caused the shelves to wrap around the staff wielding fighter and a small shake smacked him to the roof and floor repeatedly.
Stan made fists and air pumped three times towards Aaron, left, right and left, the walls smashed into him and threw him from side to side in the room, crushing him to death.
Drumming his fingers caused spears to shoot from the ceiling and stab the remaining players through their skulls, "Bahahha" he laughed maniacally when the last remaining Wretch turned a Player to another Ghost, in just a few seconds he turned a loss into victory by employing his specially made room enchantment that cost him over twenty thousand credits to set up, of the eleven players that charged into the room two managed to run away and stan was content with his success.
[System: Notice 371M a player has died from your actions, you earned 250 credits]
[System: Notice 371M a player has died from your actions, you earned 250 credits]
[System: Notice 371M a player has died from your actions, you earned 250 credits]
[System: Notice 371M a player has died from your actions, you earned 500 credits]
[System: Notice 371M a player has died from your actions, you earned 750 credits]
[System: Notice 371M a player has died from your actions, you earned 750 credits]
[System: Notice 371M a player has died from your actions, you earned 250 credits]
The list ran down through the butcher's bill, Stan caught his breath and started planning his next battle with the raiding Players, their slip that it was a raid and not just a quest made him realise there were a lot more players coming than he first thought when taking up the role, it also made him understand there will be other animated NPCs around, making him think whether he should contact or ignore them.