The team didn’t hesitate, Teddy strode forward wanting to get it over with. Baboa clapped his hands and hoisted himself out of his huge chair. He wasn’t grotesquely fat but had a belly, the gut of a powerful man gone to pasture. He clapped his hands soundly together which stated a round of applause around the room, he then clapped Teddy on the shoulder in a friendly way and steered him towards the wheel.
“Spin yourself or would you have me spin for you?”
“I’ll spin if it all the same to you sir, might as well have my fate in my own hands.”
“Ha! Good man, good luck.” He backed off, giving Teddy some space and started encouraging the crowd by raising his hands. The audience stamped their feet and banged their tankards, they cheered and sung boisterously.
Teddy stepped forward and gave the huge wheel a big shove, it was well balanced and spun easily. It spun rapidly and Teddy stepped back to stand with his team, watching it spin so fast they couldn’t read the options. As it started slowing down they started keeping their eyes on the worst options.
[Lucy, can you pick up anything hinky coming off that thing?] Teddy asked, he knew he had to spin it anyway but for peace of mind he wanted to know if it was rigged.
[Nothing, it’s clean, some residual magic from the manufacturing but nothing that would affect the spin, the fact that I can see that residual magic should mean that it’s not shielded and hiding anything else. It’s true random chance other than the size of the slots.]
Getting even slower now they could see it only had a full rotation or two left in it, they could see roughly where it was going to land. The room went silent, everyone seemed to be holding their breath. The highly bouncy pointer at the top was going to stop in a very sketchy area. It barely ticked from ‘get stabbed by the chef’ onto ‘spin again’. The team, if any of them still needed to, would have breathed a sigh of relief. The room erupted in noise, cheers and laughter around the room. Teddy looked over at Yarraballah to see what the man thought and he raised his hands apologetically.
Teddy looked to Baboa and the big man waved towards the wheel again. The chef had poked his head out of the side door at all the noise and Teddy saw how big the man was, he was a huge Leonid, easily twice the size of a human and carrying the most ridiculous chefs knife, a samurai sword that was at least four times wider than traditional. Teddy couldn’t help but gulp at the thought of almost being stabbed by that knife.
He stepped forward and gave it another confident spin. The rooms noise wound up again, getting excited. This time when the room went silent the pointer rested on ‘Run the Room’. The banquet hall erupted in cheers.
“Our first visitor will run the room!!! As a rare bronze rank visitor he has cheated you all of your entertainment! He will only be required to run the room twice!” Baboa went back to his throne and lifted a panel.
They heard clanking and grinding for a long time, the wall split behind the dais and they saw a long blank room beyond. The seated guests got up and crowded around pushing the Mitchells, Yarraballah and Baboa forward. At the front of the crowd the team inspected the room. It was a long rectangle, about fifty feet long, the room was completely blank white. Both James and Lucy had perception abilities that could see magic and they looked at each other worriedly.
[The room is one giant trap Teddy. I can’t even describe a safe route through, I don’t know what to say.] Lucy said.
“The rules! For what game can there be without rules! Our visitor must earn his passage by running the length of the room four times! On his success or by his effort being deemed worthy then he may pass.” To Teddy it didn’t seem too bad, more like a surprise assault course, then Baboa spoke again and shattered that thought. “Bring forth the collar!” A man came forward producing a well padded suppression collar, a simple clasp instead of locking mechanism for Teddy to wear whilst he ran.
[Aww nuts.] Teddy said.
[You may not have your essence powers but you will still have the attributes, you still have hundreds of hours of mobility training at an exceptionally accelerated speed. The collar will probably shut off your interface powers so we won’t be able to communicate with you. You’ll be fine.] Lucy was trying to boost Teddy’s confidence.
Kyra went on tiptoes and gave Teddy a peck on the cheek and slapped him on the rump to move him forward, they got a lot of cat-calls for that.
“Whenever you are ready visitor.” Baboa told him.
Teddy reached up and snapped the collar on. The interface disappeared instantly. He immediately felt incredibly isolated and vulnerable in a way that he hadn’t really since getting to Pallimustus. He tried to look for any hint of help in the flooring in front of him and there wasn’t even so much as a crack.
With no better option immediately available to him he launched himself forward down the centre of the room. He was three steps in when he felt the first trap spring, he jumped forwards like an olympic hurdler, his forward leg straight while his back leg tucked up, his head and torso naturally bent down which was handy as twin spinning blades appeared from the floor and ceiling in front of him.
Back in the crowd Kyra turned towards Baboa standing next to them, he blinked in confusion as he lost her aura even as she stood right next to him. She was all business as she looked him dead in the eye. Her face was stony and she curled her hands into fists as though she wanted to hit him.
“Mr Baboa, I understand this is all a game to you but if my husband dies or is permanently damaged from this. I will. Kill you.”
The old gold ranker looked at the young woman in front of him and didn’t dismiss her out of hand, he had lived long enough to see such things become possible and she was currently demonstrating powers that made such things more likely. He nodded at her to show he understood and turned back to the task.
Teddy landed on one foot. He had somehow sensed the blades just before they erupted from the floor and ceiling and reacted before he could think about it. Before he had a chance to get his other foot on the floor he pushed off and twisted, throwing his arms around his body and flinging his leg over. He went horizontal, pulling his arms in close and crossing his legs straight. A third blade came out of the wall sideways and he gracefully twirled over it and touching down on the far side without losing momentum.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
[Annoying that he’s that good even collared.] James said.
[I think we’re actually all grateful that he’s that good at the moment to be honest.] Lucy slapped him on the arm.
The next moment for Teddy saw him diving over spikes shooting out of the ground and rolling out into a slide under a spiked barrel that swung from the ceiling. A few traps later saw him touch the back wall and he reversed the route, coming back through much the same, the traps had reset seamlessly into the wall and he couldn’t see where they were coming from again. He got back to the crowd and rushed up to Kyra standing at the front and gave her a smile, a wink and a peck on the lips before backflipping and heading back into the playground of death. He showed off a bit more this time, using one-handed springs and narrowing the gaps.
When he hit the back wall this time something changed. There was a grinding noise and a deep rumbling. Teddy had hit the middle of the back wall in a jump and kicked off with both feet. His powers may be lost to him temporarily but he was using his bronze rank strength and agility for everything it was worth.
When he sprang off he was shocked when the floor suddenly separated into squares held in place by some magic and they all started moving apart. Most dropped away forming huge holes in the floor. The rest all turned various angles and scattered.
“Ladies and gentlemen! All our young visitor has to now do is get back to us and he has passed!” Baboa said to the assembled crowd. He had to roar his words as they were cheering so loudly.
Teddy’s spring off the wall had him diving towards the empty space. He managed to grasp the edge of a metal square literally by the fingernails. He flipped underneath it coming all the way round to land in a crouch and looked at the route through. After a second’s hesitation he set off again, this time leaping from square to square. Some of the squares were moving, some even flipped as they moved. He was making good progress on his third square when it went slightly wrong. His next leap saw a metal spike shoot from the wall and pierced him in the hip. His trajectory was altered and he was fortunate to land on another square. He was over halfway but was now in trouble. He changed tack and used his good leg to jump off over a square that was much closer onto one just behind, as he did he scooped up the near square and carried it with him. His next jump didn’t look like he’d make it and even more so when another spike came out from underneath towards him. He tucked and placed the square between him and the spike and braced his feet against it. As it hit it catapulted him all the way to the end with the assembled crowd. He stood, bloody and defiant in front of Baboa, the blood dripping down his leg to pool on the floor.
A ripple went through the crowd, a tankard was being passed forward all the way to Baboa. He held up a hand for silence and turned to Teddy unsnapping his collar and throwing it aside.
“Welcome traveler, state your name and be a guest amongst us.”
“Theodore Mitchell.”
Baboa passed him the tankard and clapped him on the shoulder leading him back into the banquet hall and when everyone else was through the walls slid closed behind them.
“Welcome Theodore. You are under my protection as long as you are under guest rights and should seek assistance from me as needed. A worthy guest indeed!” At the last comment there was a resounding cheers and Teddy saluted them with the tankard before taking a drink.
They ended up arrayed as they were before. The team and Yarraballah stood in front of the big wheel of fortune.
“And now for our next visitor to spin!” Baboa said excitedly. The men and women went wild cheering and banging the tables again.
“Wait wait wait! I thought we were under guest rights?!” Teddy said through the noise.
“You are, however everyone who steps on board my vessel must spin my wheel!”
Yarraballah raised an eyebrow and Baboa held up his hands.
“Legacy rights of course for you old friend.”
[I’ll go next.] James said as he stepped forward. The important factor why he did was because the wheel of fortune had magically readjusted to take out the dangerous ‘Run the Room’ slot and James wanted less dangerous slots for the girls.
“Welcome visitor! You are prepared to spin the wheel?” Baboa said looking up at James as he came forward.
James only nodded as he reached up and spun the wheel. The Mitchells emotionally held their breath as they watched it spin, they had a much better idea about the level these tasks were now. The occupants of the tables thumped the tops in rhythm howling their approval.
The team were all shocked with what the wheel landed on, even after the first result. It stopped on the one of the tiniest slivers and all the Mitchells looked at each other.
For his part Baboa looked just as delighted as he had on the first result. “Ladies and Gentlemen, our second visitor has spun a fine spin! This has not oft been landed upon and I am delighted to say I have looked forward to this!”
The tiny slither that James had landed on simply said ‘Gift’. The team were worried about what they might have that could be princely enough for a gift to the gold ranker, more than one of hem was worried for the security of the Serenity.
“I have lived a long life as many of you know, I have amassed a tremendous wealth and am delighted to be able to share some of that!”
The team had a small double-take. It sounded as if…
“Visitor, what is your name so I may all you guest and bestow upon you a gift worthy of your bravery for spinning my wheel of fortune.”
“Err, I’m James Mitchell.”
“James! Well met, you are Theodore’s brother I take it?”
“I am. We are.”
“Then welcome on board! You are also under my protection on board and should seek my assistance for any matters that arise.”
[That seems far too easy.] James said on the interface.
[Take it, don’t knock it, the chefs stabbing is still on that wheel.] Teddy said glancing over at the side door that the chef had poke his head out to see the result again.
“Now, James, what gift is befitting for you? A weapon maybe? I have a fine armoury.”
[Now lets not be hasty.] Lucy put on the interface. [There may be value in the gold rank items that he has but if he is as old and as well-travelled as he claims then he may have some truly unique items.]
James was amazed as usual at Lucy’s mind, while the rest of them were subtly overwhelmed by what was going on around them in the mild chaos she was thinking tactically on the late notice opportunity in front of them.
“Thankyou but no, I conjure my weapons or use none.” He replied to Baboa.
“Maybe armour then? I see you are using a mixed set, maybe a full suit of armour for yourself.”
“Again I thankyou but no, I have a soul-bound growth item for armour and I have to plan around that.”
Baboa took a piercing interest in James’ vambrace after taking a longer look all over him. His performers joviality was subdued slightly in thought.
“Maybe a better question is what brings you here, where are you going and what do you intend to do when you get there?” Baboa asked, no longer talking for the crowd but for James and the team. The audience didn’t seem to take notice and went back to drinking and revels.
“We’re on an adventure society contract.” James said, looking to Yarraballah who nodded along as if to say it was fine to say the whole tale. “We are heading to the town of Stonewall, from there on to the mountain city of Honshuraskil.”
“I see, a shame you conjure your weapons and have such a unique item of armour, they are the best weapon and armour smiths on this continent. I have bartered for their services many times. They are unrivalled geniuses in crafting and altering.”
“Well my armour needs upgrading to bronze rank? And it is highly upgradeable with a skilled smith?”
“Aha!” Baboa exclaimed, his theatre voice capturing the attention of the audience again. “A gift has ever been a throwaway item long collected and near forgotten from my horde. A better gift, a more princely gift, can be one that was hard fought for off the back of name and deed. A gift in the form of a favour! I am owed a great task by the master armourer of the town of Stonewall, their forges the hottest, their minds the sharpest and fingers the nimblest over filigree and mail. You will carry my name and favour and have a great works done by the master armourer as your gift for spinning my wheel. Does this meet your satisfaction as a gift?”
[Yes.] Lucy put up quickly on the interface. [That is the most important item you own, yes if we can have the best people working on it then why not!]
“Yes, yes please, that would be very acceptable.”