The next morning Team TIM met for breakfast at Green Luna. Rami, Bonetta, Grimmy and Alice all sat down, ordered their food, and started talking about the day’s itinerary.
“Alright,” said Grimmy, “I finished all the strategies and formations that our team is capable of, given your classes, skills, and spells. I will transfer the notes to the party interface under the ‘Strategies’ tab. I expect you to memorize them by the end of the day.”
A new window opened in front of Alice’s face:
You have been added to the ‘Strategies’ tab. Do you wish to accept?
Yes or No?
Alice mentally selected yes.
“Wow, Grimmy, you did all of this last night?” said Rami blankly, staring at the translucent window in front of him only he could see. “There’s hundreds of different formations and strategies here.”
“Three hundred and eighty-seven to be exact,” replied Grimmy. “Now, after breakfast, we will make our way to the guild and pick up a few quests so that we can test these out.”
“Umm… Grimmy? Can we change the names of the strategies to something easier to remember?” said Alice.
“What’s hard to remember about ‘Strategy 193-098’,” replied Grimmy, not understanding Alice’s concern.
“Well… You have another one called ‘Strategy 193-089’. You just switched the last two numbers. That’s kind of confusing.”
“Well, that’s because they are the same strategy but with the last sequence of spells inversed. It makes perfect sense to call them like that,” replied Grimmy, offended.
“I’m just saying that if you named them with actual words and not just numbers it might be easier to call out in a fight.”
“I don’t see the benefit, but if you want, you are welcome to change their names,” said Grimmy.
A few seconds passed, before Grimmy regretted his decision to let Alice name the strategies.
“Alice, what is ‘Bonny goes Boom Boom’!” said Grimmy.
image [https://i.imgur.com/7THHRk0.png]
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Joe was finally back in his domain after five millennia. No one was more excited than Lucilla of course. She had been longing for this day since the day Lord Death had left. She knew how important his position was for the integrity of the universe and never thought it was a good idea for him to leave in the first place, much less to be among lowly mortals. They were not worthy of even laying eyes upon him.
“Lord Death, you called for me?” said Lucilla as she entered Lord Death’s throne room.
“Oh Lucilla, we’ve known each other for more than ten millennia now, you can call me Joe.”
“Joe? Lord Death?” asked Lucilla in shock. Lord Death, or Joe, had never asked her to be so informal before.
“Yes. Joe. I was called like that a few days ago and it has a nice ring to it,” said Joe, twirling his hand.
“Of course, Lord Joe…”
“No, just Joe.”
“Of course… Joe. You called for me?” asked Lucilla, still bowing.
“Yes Lucilla, could you please arrange a meeting with the other pillars at everyone’s earliest convenience?”
“Yes sir. May I ask what the purpose of the meeting is for? The other pillars will surely ask.”
“Ah yes, tell them the meeting is for me to introduce my champion and the team that will be representing me in the upcoming tournament.”
“Lord Death! I mean Joe. This is excellent news! It’s been a long time since you were represented in the tournament. The entire domain will be delighted. I will make proper preparations here as well, and I will of course let you know once the meeting has been set,” Lucilla said, already writing notes in her interface. “I know there is still 3 years left, but we have to be ready, and there are a lot of things we need to do.”
“Thank you, Lucilla. I appreciate the enthusiasm. That will be all.”
“Of course, Joe.” Lucilla bowed again and left the throne room.
As soon as Lucilla exited the throne room, she yelled, “STEVE!”
“Yes ma’am. How can I serve you?”
“We are entering a team in the upcoming tournament.”
“That is fantastic news, Ms. Lucilla. I will spread the word and get started on the preparations.”
“Oh Steve, we’ve known each other for more than ten millennia now, you can call me Lucilla,” said Lucilla in the same nonchalant tone Joe used with her a while ago.
“Mmm… but that’s what I just called you?” said Steve.
“No, I meant you can drop the ‘Ms.’”
“Why? Are you Mrs. Lucilla now? Did you get married? I didn’t even know you were seeing someone. Who is the brave soul? I mean lucky… who is the lucky soul?”
“What? No, I did not get married. What are you talking about? Ugh, forget it, Steve. Just go and spread the word. Lord Death has a new champion.” Lucilla grinned.
image [https://i.imgur.com/7THHRk0.png]
The team had picked up five quests from the guild. All hunting quests ranging from killer bears to fire elementals. They spent all day traveling around Ambar City hunting for such monsters. Just like last time, Grimmy opted to skip lunch in order to finish the quests. Once the quests were done, Grimmy suggested they do some drills to practice the formations they didn’t get to practice during their hunts.
“Grimmy, we are tired, and we are hungry. Let’s go back to the city so we can have dinner already,” said Alice groaning.
“We are almost done, Alice; I don’t hear Bonetta and Rami complaining.”
“Grimmy, Rami passed out 10 minutes ago and Bonetta stopped doing drills right after Rami passed out.”
“Oh, is that what Rami is doing? I thought he was trying out some new meditation pose.”
“Grimmy!”
“Fine fine. We are done for the day. Let’s go back. You should feel proud of yourselves. Rami reached Lvl 10. And got a new skill, Bonetta was able to level up a few of her skills and you are now Lvl 9. If that’s not progress then I don’t know what is,” said Grimmy proudly.
Bonetta lifted Rami and threw him over her back and the team started making their way back to the guild to turn in the quests. They reached the guild, got their reward, and collapsed on a nearby table while Bonetta went to the bar to get the team some well-deserved beers.
“We made a total of 15 gold coins from today’s quests. That should be enough to buy Rami and Bonetta some gear and enough supplies to go after the bandits.”
“Gear?” said Rami as he lifted up his head from the table at the mere sound of the word.
“Yes,” said Grimmy, “you need a proper conductor for your water magic, not that thing you call a wand, and Bonetta needs some sort of metal knuckles to help her do more damage with her fists given that she does not like to wield any weapons.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Bonetta from behind Grimmy as she sat down carrying beers for everyone.