“Booty Time!” Ghimli yelled running to the chest right in front of him and opening in one single move.
I don’t know what I was expecting, a light, a fanfare or the Zelda theme, but nothing really happened, it was a simple chest with gear inside. Ghimli took every single item from the chest, and like a clothing store, a tag was hanging on each of them, we took a second to read through them all.
Large Chest Piece
+2 Defense
Heavy Mace
1d6 Damage
Wooden Shield
+1 Defense
Money Bag
10 Gp, 10 Sp, 100 Cp
The Money bag was the same for all of us, but the gear was catered for each of our classes. Next to open their chest was Bea.
Rogue Cloak
+1 Stealth
Silver Daggers
1d4 Damage
Light Leather Armor
+1 Defense
The Silver daggers were amazingly crafted, they had a small curve on the tip and what looked like serration on the hilt, was a really good example of what we would find on Amanda’s chest.
Expertise Scimitar
1d6 Damage
Medium Leather Armor
+2 Defense
Arcane Focus: Necklace
+1 MP Modifier
The scimitar was entirely silver, the hilt had a red gem and the sheath was made of a really dark wood. It was a masterpiece.
Finally was my turn.
I took a hesitant step to my chest and opened carefully, I still wasn’t sure that it wasn’t a mimic. If years of TTRPG teach me something was that, everything could be a mimic. On top of the pile was a golden shield, it took the entire length of the chest and had a giant hole on the middle. I read the tag and it had more questions than answers.
Holy Shield
+3 Defense. Commune with the gods for the Full effect.
What did it mean with “Commune with the gods?”. I left my wondering for later, as a sword caught my eye.
Long Sword
1d6 Damage.
The sheath was made of iron with leather straps wrapping all around it, just like the hilt. I thought it was heavy blade, but it was surprisingly light, and the balance was perfection. I didn’t know how to judge the balance of a blade, but I could feel it.
I put the money bag aside and took out the last item of the chest.
Heavy Chest Plate
+3 Defense, -1 Dexterity
It was the only item with a downside of it, but I was the most protected of the Party. I wasn’t looking forward for the role of tank. After we equip our gear, the chests vanished.
“Very Well!” Fabio’s voice came from behind us, and we turned around ready for a fight. He raised his hands and grinned. “I Surrender. Now, seriously. How cool is that gear?!”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“They are cool, I give you that.” Bea said, fiddling with her new daggers. “But you still didn’t explained what we are doing here.”
“Oh, Right, you didn’t let me finish.” He cleared his throat and continued. "Welcome to Hyndior! Or, more precisely, to Jhorn, on the kingdom of Kethlen. For centuries there was a battle for all the resources of Hyndior, Metal, Water, Gems, you name it, but with the rise of the King of the Beasts all this war stopped to face a common enemy.
The War of the Beast King, as it was called, lasted for decades, taking a heavy toll on all the kingdoms. But a hero rose for the occasion and formed a party to defeat the King. After long and hard battles, they were able to banish the Beast King and a new era of peace begun through all Hyndior.
As the last kingdom to fall, Ketlhen was chosen as the capital of the new order of trade and diplomacy, and the first one to call upon new heroes when the Beast King inevitably escaped his banishment.
This bring us to now. The Beast King’s seal is weakened, and his return is nigh. You are part of the defense force against the rise of the beasts."
The room fell silent for a second, until Amanda burst out laughing. “What the hell, Fabio? This is such a cliché! What, you’re saying that we’re the only hope for an entire planet?”
“No.” He said, offended. “You’re one of the hopes for an entire planet…”
“Come on, dude.” Ghimli chimed in “You can’t be serious.”
“Hey, I didn’t write this story. And it’s not even a module off the shelf. This is real life, and, sometimes, clichés are used because they happen often…”
“Lets say that this is true, Fabio” I said, pushing my fingers into the base of my nose to suppress a migraine that was coming. “How do you expect us to fight a Beast King with only basic gear?”
“Oh, that’s a good question. And good questions deserves good answers. You don’t. We have a couple of years before the seal is broken, and another couple of years until he recovers his full force, and everyone that was summoned have to get stronger in the meantime. It’s not gonna be easy, some of you will die. Not ‘you’, but the royal 'you’. Oh, you get it.”
“Fine. But why us, Fabio? What have you done?” I asked what everyone was thinking.
He sighted heavily before answering. "You guys were the only ones that I could trust to take this seriously. You knew how I was after my parents died, and I messed with the wrong, or right, people trying to find myself. In one of the retreats that I took once a year, I achieved what the monks called nirvana and saw Hyndior in all their glory. I saw the war before the rise of the Beast King, and the war against him, I saw the creatures that I wished was real and was transported here. I was the first one. After me, there was a dozen more, between authors of fantasy novels, gamers and Game Masters. We all had one thing in common, we wished to be transported to another world.
But the things were different from what we learn on Animes, we can’t use advanced technology knowledge to advance this universe because the laws of physics weren’t the same. When magic enters the picture, we have to embrace it or be left behind. But, to answer your question, I am your ambassador for this new world. I’m your Game Master. I want to protect this world, and make you stronger in the process. I’ll not be around much, but I’ll be watching through it all."
We felt silent after the explanation. I couldn’t believe that he had done this to us, we’re were his friends, and he toss us into danger like some sacrifice cattle. I wasn’t the only one thinking about this, the always calm Ghimli was flexing his hands into a fist trying to calm himself.
“You mean,” Ghimli started with a calm voice “That you put me and my sister in danger for your own fucking power fantasy?” He started to yell through the last sentence.
“No!” Fabio said. “Not at all. It’s all our power fantasy! You, of all people, should know, Ghimli. We talked about this for years…”
“We were fucking teenagers, asshole!” Ghimli shouted, throwing a chair in Fabio’s direction that stopped mid air in a shimmer blue wall.
“Temper, Andre.” Fabio said with anger in his voice. “I’m your GM, and what I gave, I can take. I’ll be back when you guys are better behave. In the meantime, why don’t you try to level up?”
Fabio faded from our views when the timer on the center of the table started to glow red, with the number 2 showing.
“We should leave this room” Amanda said, dragging Bea through the arm. “I don’t want to know what happens when this dice hit zero.” We all nodded and follow her through the exit, entering once again the cozy tavern that we were minutes before.
The crowd was cheerful, all with new gear and drinking away, we were the only ones with dread on our faces. Our table was still waiting for us, with fresh drinks and a new plate of meat on the center. We gulped down our beers in silence, looking down and digesting what was said by Fabio.
“I think…” Amanda started. “I Think we should follow Fabio’s instructions.”
“What the hell, Amanda?” Ghimli said.
“I think she’s right” Bea said. “We don’t really have a choice, we have to survive, and to survive we need to get stronger. I don’t like it, but we’re on this boat together. I don’t think I could trust my life to another group other than this one.”
“Calm down, Andre.” I said. “They are right and you know it. If we do this, we need to do it for us, not for some isekai main character OP bullshit. We need to survive for us. Agreed?” They all nodded in agreement. “Good. Now, where do we start?”