Three hours into the test server, I figured out how to use Conviction.

Honestly speaking, I should have figured it out sooner. Originally, I thought it would be like a mana system in the other Virtual Reality games I’d played. Picture the ability in your head, activate it, and viola. Problem was, I didn’t have an ‘Activate’ button, so to speak. Thus, I would learn the hard way. I had spent the first two hours simply fighting enemies non stop, hoping to find the secret to its activation through combat. The unlimited health and stamina I held was an amazing boon towards my progress. Not to mention, it really helped acclimate me to the game. [A Ticket To Hel] was different than most virtual reality games. It felt… cruder, than other games I’d played. Instead of a slow, wind up quest guide that had been planned out since the development, there was a fast, hardcore rushdown with sinfully skilled enemies that simply tried to kill me.

It was a nice change of pace.

The combat was interesting, to say the least. It played like a [King of the Iron Fist] game, a series long since disbanded when Virtual Reality started to thrive. No longer were there single script enemies that held just a few combat codes which could be adjusted to on the fly. Instead, a multitude of randomly mixing attack patterns were lashed seamlessly at me in nearly every fight. I’d tried interrupting a particularly obvious combo a great sword knight kept using on me and was completely floored. A downwards slash connected to a spinning backslash, translating into a front forward kick. He’d done the combo three times in a row against me and I’d planned on using it against him. After baiting out the first downwards slash I rushed in, fully expecting to slash my flail against the back of the knights head. Instead, he suddenly crouched low, transitioning from a backslash to a back hand, flooring me and sending me careening towards another zone of battle.

“I’m starting to think I’m part bird. Why else would I be flying so much in one game?” I brushed the non existent dust off my legs after I crashed, brandishing my flail and shield immediately as I scanned for more enemies.

“FOR THE PRYDE! CHARGE!!!!”

Suddenly, the entire world shifted. No longer was I on a blood soaked battlefield, surrounded by the smell of blood and sweat. Armies that stretched farther than the eye could see suddenly warped and disappeared, surrounded by broken black mountains with jagged tips. The atmosphere became sombre. Soft dirt had become solid rock and I suddenly lurched, displaced by the sudden change in scenery. I fell to the ground with a soft thud. A hand was thrust before my face and I almosted attacked the knight who’d set it there. Unlike the others he wore no helmet, flowing blond locks thread from light laying freely across his face. He was, I noted, extremely handsome. Every feature on his face was perfectly symmetrical, from the sharp chiseled jawline to the pointed blond eyebrows that sat on his face. Even his eyes looked to be perfect, two golden orbs of glowing blue light. I was, I had to admit, slightly jealous.

“Why are your eyes glowing?” His eyebrows rose slightly when I asked. Instead of answering he simply shook his hand again. I grabbed it and he yanked me to my feet. I noticed I was only a slight bit taller than him, rather surprising since I usually had to look down on most people.

“Ser Knight! We need more men for the cavalry charge. Our forces are near depleted after the Battle of Test Seyvar. Here, take my lance and shield. I must see to the king at once!” Before I could utter a world a lance and greatshield were suddenly thrust into my hands. A squadron of knights, all holding the same lance and shield as my own came barraging past me. They only ran about fifteen feet before they stopped in uniform, smacking their lances to the ground separating their ranks. I blinked and an entire horde of horses was suddenly in front of them, each outfitted with steel plate mail that lined the entirety of their equestrian bodies. My jaw hung open a bit at that. Where had they…?

“Ser Knight! Come hither!! The king will call for the charge at any moment!!!” Shaking my head I sprinted towards the pack, the lance and shield feeling absolutely weightless in my hands. I noticed while I ran that I had somehow transformed into one of the very knights that had terrorized me on the battlefield. Shining silver armor adorned my form, the small symbol of a dragon with seven swords through its body etched into the center of my plate mail. Solid steel gauntlets and boots felt similarly weightless. It was pretty badass looking, I had to admit. I reached the group and mounted my horse in a smooth motion. Years of riding in virtual reality games gave me some surprisingly useful skills.

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“Ser Knight. It would be my honor if you could take the point.” Inwardly I rolled my eyes.

The game was about to set me up for something stupid, wasn’t it?

I could only sight and canter my horse to the front, dropping the tip of my lance and inch from the ground and setting my shield. Shit was about to get hectic, I knew, and I was already planning my escape route when the call sounded.

“CALVARY! PIERCE THE GATE!! SYNCHRONIZE YOUR CONVICTION AND CHARGE!!!” My horse went from a dead rest to a full sprint in the matter of a moment. It was all I could do to grip my thighs and pray I didn’t fall off. The gate the speaker(Who I think was the same man who helped me up earlier) was talking about was pretty obvious. On the other side of the battlefield, a large, romanian style castle held what looked to be Daemons and Gazers. There were hundreds of them up on the wall. The walls themselves seemed to be at least 60 feet high, the figures of the enemy blurry from my current vantage point. The gate was large and studded, held in the center between stone sculpted arches with a series of hieroglyphics running across them. My best guess was magic, though considering the lack of it I’d seen so far I was skeptical. Some sort of rune based system?

“Link our Convictions! Focus them towards Ser Knight. He will be the spearhead of the charge!!” I could barely hear the knight behind me scream orders, the speed of my horse whipping all noise away from my ears. Mid charge I began to feel a sort of… weight, settle on my shoulders. It was not a physical weight. More like a mental pressure, sharp and unbidden and it rested upon me.

‘Welp… I assume this is conviction?’ The weight began to grow in pressure, the numb trickle turning into a sharp and fiery sensation. Strangely enough, it reminded me of a knife and a cutting board, myself being the latter. The question was, how did I become the knife?

“Ser Knight! Activate your Conviction!! We are nearing the gate!!!” I focused on the growing weight on my shoulders. It began to turn into something physical, transcending from a mental pressure to a physically sharp pinch in my shoulders. I began to focus even harder, trying to transform the pressure to something… more. The guide had said to picture what I viewed as strength. What did I view as strength in this moment? Glancing towards the rapidly approaching gate, I made a quick decision.

A spear.

One that would pierce through the gate. Pierce the walls, the daemons and gazers. A spear that could pierce through any obstacle in its path.

In my mind's eye it appeared. A large, blue blade, studded with gems and trinkets. It was at least 60 feet in length, the blade being 20 feet by itself. Hundreds of runes emblazoned the shaft and blade, each a language of its own and pulsing with power. Oddly enough, I could barely picture anything other than the blade itself. Was this because I linked my Conviction with the knights, or was this a by product of the Conviction itself?

*Thunk*Thunk*

Two feathered arrows slammed into my shield, puncturing through and nearly throwing me from my horse. Worse, the Conviction that I held in my head vanished and an audible groan of pain came from the knights behind me.

“Ser Knight! You must keep strong in your Conviction!! If it falters, we will all die!!!” Briefly I wondered why I didn’t feel any feedback, but I put it down to the unlimited health and energy the system was giving me. I formed the Conviction in my mind again, tensing an imaginary mental as we neared the gate. The picture formed with a flare in my mind, becoming clearer and clearer as the seconds passed. Above me, a slight shimmer in the air began to form an outline.

“Thunder Steps!!” Arrows began to fall like snow as we charged towards the gate, the previous gallop of our horses increasing twofold as we sped like lightning towards the gate. Lightning flickered around our horses as we charged. Through the wind I heard two screams behind me and a crash of steel. The conviction in my mind flickered and the outline above me disappeared entirely, but the picture in my mind stayed strong. I clenched my jaw until it ached, and the outline formed again. The pauldrons in front of the portcullis began to tip, boiling hot pitch slowly turning the ground in front black.

“We’ll have to jump the tar! Ser knight, imbue your conviction into your lance and strike the gate!!” The gate was dozens of meters away and the distance was closing rapidly. Furiously I tried to overlap the picture of my spear to my lance. A small part of me wondered how much easier this would be if I could close my eyes. The air around my lance began to shimmer and a golden outline began to glow around it. Faintly glowing runes began to scribble themselves around the thick haft of metal. More arrows began to appear around our group as the daemons and gazers aimed to where we were going to be instead of directly at us. Another knight fell from the hail of arrows and it was all I could do to hold my current strength of conviction.

“FOR THE PRYDE! FOR THE ALLIANCE!!” My horse suddenly jumped, clearing the black tar in a single leap and thrusting me towards the gate. With a hoarse cry I thrust my lance forward, slamming my lance into the gate and shattering it in a single blow. Large chunks of the gate blew outwards, dust and debris clouding my vision as I landed. The conviction I held suddenly burst like a bubble, a suddenly mental pain thundering in my head. My lance slipped out of my hand and I clutched my head, leaning forward onto my horse and barely managing to grab its mane with my shield hand.

“Pitfall trap! Evasive maneuvers!!” I could only look on in horror as my horse ran straight through towards the hole, a pitiful scream of fear escaping its lip as we descended towards the pit. Hundreds of spears were stuck into the ground, corpses of knights stabbed haphazardly through them.

‘Here I am, once again, flying far, to netherland.’ I muttered a small tune as my horse twisted in mid-air, the uneven weight upending me from my horse and sending me the saddle. If I had to guess the rebound on this was probably going to suck. I brought my limbs as close to my body as I could and twisted to face the rapidly approaching spears.

The rebound on this was going to absolutely suck, wasn’t it?