Chapter 6: A Question of Leadership
“Enjoy your gifts, one last thing before you leave, pick a leader”
There was a grinding of stone followed by a thunk as all the exit points and holes sealed shut within the dungeon plunging the room into total darkness. A series of spotlights came from various points in the ceiling highlighting each member of the party.
“Heh, well, as ex chieftain of the boulderfist clan I led our warriors through many dungeon raids and minor skirmishes with the other races of our land. I have also spent several years working as a freelance mercenary in the shadowlands leading small groups on important missions. I am the obvious choice”
He summoned his axe into one hand while slapping his chest with the other “does anyone wish to contest my right?” he turned to look at Astrid who shook her head.
“Command has not authorized me to take of any kind of mission”
Fred and Annie simply shook their heads as he looked at each of them in turn, without even bothering to consider Eric he grinned “Well, I guess that….”
“No!”
“What?”
Eric stepped forward his fists clenched
“You charged straight into battle leaving our healer exposed”
Uruk grunted “Your the guy with the shield, as I said earlier, its your job to protect them….. And you barely even managed that”
“Your reckless attack of the boss almost got you killed once again leaving the rest of us to fight without you”
Uruk opened his mouth to say something then paused for a moment before responding
“Ok, that was stupid, I am used to having a stronger body than this, it doesn’t change the fact that I killed most of the rats, I killed the boss. I also have the most experience leading groups of people into battle and that makes me” He slapped his hand against his chest “the best Orc for the job.
“All I have seen is that you are reckless, and I do not trust the parties lives in your hands”
The two men stood and starred at each other for a while until Uruk pointed his axe at Eric
“And I will not follow orders from someone who cannot best me in single combat”
At that moment all the spotlights went off except for the ones highlighting Eric and Uruk, a loud voice seemingly comming from several angles at the same time echoed through the room
“Uruk has challenged Eric to a leadership duel, this is a duel to the death, the loser will be resurrected without penalty afterwords. Eric, do you accept the challenge or will you abstain from the position?”
Eric summoned his club and shield, raising them both into a ready position. “Challenge accepted”
Uruk lowered his axe head to the floor a wide smile spreading across his face as he did,
“Oh I think I am going to enjoy this”
“3…2…1…BEGIN!”
The room darkened as the voice counted down and a pair of spotlights beamed down from the ceiling illuminating the two contestants, a series of cheers, squeeks, barks and a range of other noises echoed around the room as they started to circle each other.
Uruk was the first to charge, bringing his axe down in an overhead chop, Eric attempted to deflect the blow to the side but the force of the blow left him staggering backwards. Seeing him off balance Uruk shoulder barged him knocking Eric off his feet, swinging his axe in a circle round his head he attempted to bring it down on top of Eric who rolled out the way getting back on his feet. Uruk grinned at the sight of his opponent shaking and panting after the onslaught he had just endured,
“You can still back down you know”
“Never” Eric reset his stance still shaking slightly.
“I’ll make it quick then”
Once again Uruk charged forward, only this time instead of attempting to deflect the blow Eric stepped into it bashing Uruk in the gut with his shield before he could bring his axe down again, he then ducked down allowing the momentum of the surprised orc to send him sailing over his head, landing on his back with a thud. Not wanting to lose his advantage Eric brought his club down on the orcs head dazing and knocking him back down as he tried to get up. He smacked his head 2 more times before a bubble of yellow light engulfed the orc preventing further attacks.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The crowd roared even louder before fading away into silence, the area lit up again and the victory announcement was made.
“Aannd the winner is….Eric…wow….that was unexpected. Anyway congratulations on obtaining the role of party leader”
A small portrait of each party member appeared in the top left corner of his vision, he focused on each portrait and a small table of information appeared in front of him.
Name: Fred
Age: 74
Role: Healer
Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Mana: 50%
Leadership bonus: Nothing
Name: Uruk
Age: 42
Role: Shock troop
Health: 4%
Stamina: 68%
Mana: 100%
Leadership bonus: Nothing
Name: Astrid
Age: 18
Role: Marksperson
Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Mana: 100%
Leadership bonus: Nothing
Name: Annie
Age: 21
Role: Glass cannon
Health: 100%
Stamina: 100%
Mana: 100%
Leadership bonus: Nothing
Improve your relationship with individual party members to gain more detailed information and leadership bonus(s)
Eric focused on Astrids’ listed role,
“Marksperson?? Thats new”
“The system wishes to be more inclusive when it comes to assigning party roles, we believe that by making them gender neutral we can ensure that both men and women get to feel equally represented within party dynamics.”
Eric shook his head at that statement and muttered to himself
“Political correctness gets everywhere it seems.”
“That statement is erroneous as neither “political correctness” nor “Wokeness” actually exist in this world or any other as meaningful terms.”
“I never even mentioned “wokeness” whatever that is.”
“And why would you? As previously stated, like political correctness it does not exist, now stop wasting everyones time with meaningless drivel so we can continue with the story… I mean game”
Unsure how to respond to that Eric just shook his head before looking round the room, Uruk was holding his head and groaning as he got back on his feet, the bubble of light having disappeared along with the rest of the party.
“Urgh… That was a good fight, your skills are weak but your instincts are good, sometimes thats all you need. I will follow your lead, for now at least.”
“Uruk has gained a leadership bonus: - +5% damage to targets you specifically tell him to attack”
Eric looked over at the now grinning orc and responded with a slight nod
“Good to hear, did you see where the others…..”
*POOF!!*
A thick cloud of smoke suddenly engulfed the room causing them to choke, a few seconds later it had cleared revealing the other party members stood just to the side of the pair, right where they had been before the duel started.
Eric blinked in surprise upon seeing them appear in front of him,
“Where did you guys go?”
Annie grinned, clasped her hands in front of her chest before jumping up and down like a kid in a candy store.
“Right, so we somehow ended up in this really big arena full of people cheering and making bets on the next fight when suddenly you and Uruk appeared in the center and started fighting, my first thought was Uruk is going to win, and he looked like he was, but then you did that thing with your shield and BAM BAM, you win, the crowd goes wild, you two disappear then shortly after we are here.”
Annie stops to take in a deep breath
“I guess that makes you party leader then?”
“So it would seem, I am not really sure what it means, thou I do have access to blah blah blah blah……. What the!?”
“Warning only the party leader may have information related to the party leader screen, trust us, its better this way.”
They all looked at each other confused
“Apparently I am not allowed to give you information about blah blah blah…”
*sigh*
Astrid nodded her head at that statement
“Understood sir, some information must remain classified, how should we address you sir?”
“Just Eric will do”
“Yes sir, Eric sir”
“QUEST UPDATE: LEAVE THE DUNGEON TO CONTINUE”