“So, we’ll be muckers. Getting rid of muck?” Alastair started vocalizing, “♩Where does all the muck go? Nobody knows. The muck. The muck. We must get rid of the muck.♬”

Flor and Alastair were walking toward the main street, already dimly lit, when the gas lamps at either end went out.

“Well, that doesn’t seem good.”

“I agree, my mucky love. Let’s run to the main street.”

Flor was already moving in that direction. She seemed significantly more agile than he was. She called to him. “I’m your love, but mucky love is a bit much.” Before she got a couple of steps, she noticed two people blocking the exit to the main street. “Uh, Alastair, I think the lights are out for a reason.” He didn’t answer, so she turned to see a man with a knife advancing on them from behind. Alastair was seemingly frozen in fear.

“We have nothing to steal,” she said.

“Too bad, then. We’ll have to teach you a lesson for being poor.”

“That’s absolutely the stupidest thing I’ve heard today, and I had to watch the Prison Release Workers Program video. You’re gonna pay for making me hear it.” She rolled her shoulders and stepped toward Thug 1. Her interface flashed and a five by seven grid came up before her. Alright, let’s see how combat works in this game. The grid filled in with colored runes of red, green, blue, and bone. She also saw one random purple rune. So, match three, huh? I wonder if I can move diagonally or only cardinally like in the so-called “general 2 puzzle.” The four sub-interfaces surrounded the combat interface. She didn’t care about the empty coin purse but wanted to see how time, energy, and health worked in a fight. {The clock currently stood a bit after 2, which meant fourth 2, or 26:00 (there are more than twenty-four hours in a day in this fantasy world. Or maybe there are twenty-four and they divide it differently. Whichever makes you happier.) The energy sat at 32. And her health remained at 3.}

She reviewed the board ahead of her, wondering if it would be turn-based back and forth or if this thug had his own board she couldn’t see. The thug across her grinned and made a threat with his knife. Flor saw a way to swap red and blue runes to match six. She mentally selected to do so, and saw her fists glow red and punch at the thug, who took the punch with an “oof.” She returned to her previous position and realized she was glowing a faint blue. The thug recovered and stepped forward with a swing of his knife and she involuntarily held her arms up, where the blue glowed brighter before flashing away.

So, either simultaneously selected on separate boards, or his turns are fast enough in response to mine. And red must be “attack” while blue is “block”, or maybe “heal” that acts as a block. An indicator came to her interface:

Two turns until the enemy is reinforced.

Alastair was still frozen beside her, or maybe he was simultaneously in the same puzzle, but either way, it was a bit annoying that the enemy could seemingly have more than one participant and she couldn’t team up with Alastair.

She selected a move that would combine four bones. It’s probably not the best move, Flor, but we didn’t give you a tutorial here, and I’m sure she didn’t bother to read the player’s manual. (Hey, if you’re listening, it’s because the player’s manual is a separate download, not included in the normal download. You can find it online if you are ambitious enough.)} The bones combined into a skull and crossbones. That’s foreboding. The thug grinned and stepped forward. This time the knife cut across her face and she noticed that her health decreased to 2. She didn’t feel anything specific from the cut, so perhaps the game covered the pain sensation. {Or maybe it’s hidden away in an interface with the default as off.}

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

How much health do these thugs have? Hopefully only two. Let’s see. She swapped a red and a green rune which matched three of both. Her fists glowed red again and she gave the thug a strong sidekick to the stomach. As she returned, a wave of green flowed through her then faded away. She noticed her health crept back up to three. Thugs have more than two health. Green restores health. Probably useful. The thug started to glow a faint green.

The interface ticked down.

One turn until the enemy is reinforced.

Let’s finish this round. Flor swapped a blue for a red, forming a sideways T of six red runes. She stepped forward like a boxer; left jab (blocked), right jab (blocked), left to the gut. The thug groaned, fell to his knees, and faded from the interface.

The interface ticked down again.

The enemy is reinforced.

Two thugs, likely those from the entrance to the side street, appeared before her.

You have been reinforced.

A cartoon of Alastair appeared in the interface and gave a goofy wave. Well, at least I’m not alone in this now. Maybe? How do you work, cartoon Alastair? Despite her anger at being cornered in an alley by thugs, Flor desired to be done with this fight so she could experiment with in-game time.

She selected a move that combined four blue runes and set her up for a big follow-up on the next turn. She raised her arms back to a fighter stance and glowed a faint blue. The thugs smiled and tossed their knives back and forth in unison. Cartoon Alastair snapped his finger and the blue surrounding her glowed brighter. The thugs advanced together and lunged at both sides of Flor. Flor knocked both knives away and flowed through the middle of the two thugs, who looked around sheepishly. Flor swapped a red and a blue, resulting in a four-three combo. Alastair snapped two fingers and her red fists flashed brighter as she punched one of the thugs in the side of the head and then pivoted and slugged him in the kidney. The thug fell to the side and then faded from the interface.

The last thug turned to face her and squared up. He wasn’t grinning any longer. I’m at three health and seem to have boosted abilities from the cartoon Alastair, so let’s see what that skull and crossbones do. She mentally clicked it since there wasn’t anything to swap it with. Cartoon Alastair tsk-tsked at her.

The thug reached below the interface and came up with a second knife. {Perhaps from one of the other defeated thugs. Who are we to dispute game physics?} He swiped both knives up and across his body, hitting Flor twice over. Again, no pain, although her health blinked to one.

So the crossbones does a bit of nothing. Here we go. Play it safe and heal and block or go for a wipe out? Ooh. Let’s see if the game works like I think it might. One-two-three combo. One green up to swap with a blue. The blue runes combined and flashed off the screen. Flor glowed blue, then more so as Alastair snapped.

The thug advanced and swung both knives again, but Flor ducked away from them. The green runes lined up in a set of three, combined and flashed. Flor saw her health climb back up to two then three as Alastair snapped. With the disappearing blue runes, three red runes lined up. Flor’s hands grew red, then deeper with a snap. Before the red runes disappeared, a larger skull and crossbones slammed into the board, causing the board to appear to shake. Flor stepped forward and pummeled the thug, one-two. Then a skull appeared above the thug, and he swooned and fell over and faded away.

Combat complete.

Attempt again? Yes/No?

No way to that! The combat interface disappeared and Flor was surrounded by three vanquished thugs.

Alastair came out of a daze and said, “Well, even though I don’t normally like match-three puzzles, that was kinda neat.”

“Nah, too brutal for my liking.”

“Maybe next time we can swap and I can do the front line and you can provide support. I wonder if it’s a class thing.”

Flor sighed. Then smiled. “Maybe.”

“Can we loot these guys? Do you think they’re alive? Should we report them to the Warden?”

“Sure, let’s at least take their knives, but let’s leave it at that. We can throw the third in the river by the tavern to get rid of it.”

“Fine, fine. I think they’re breathing, but they aren’t going to wake up happy. Let’s go back to the tavern.”

***

Summary of combat:

Turns: Eight

Flor Attack: 21 points

Flor Defence: 13 points

Flor Heal: 4 points

Flor Magic: 0 points

Flor Critical: 1 critical

Support Attack: 2 points

Support Defence: 2 points

Support Heal: 1 point

Support Magic: 0 points

Enemy Attack: 31 points

Enemy Defence: 7 points

Enemy Heal: 0 points

Enemy Magic: 0 points

Loot: Three knives

Grade: D