“Mili, don't be difficult.”
Looking back, it would be the last time Ricardo would hear his sister being addressed with that name. He hadn't even been the one saying it, yet he couldn't help being consumed by guilt. He had believed on those words at the time–as the rest of his family.
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December 10th, 2023–a week before the end of the school year–had been a normal Sunday, at least most of the way. The whole family dressed up in the morning for Mass, their parents dragging Ricardo and his sister around for the subsequent social pleasantries. The weather had been getting warmer in Lima, but it wasn't unbearable–summer was still a couple of weeks away. They had lunch at the mall, and a movie in the living room. Until the topic of the school's Spiritual Retreat came forth.
“Mili, don't be difficult.”
Dad sat in a padded armchair, to the left to the couch Ricardo was sharing with mom and sis. His voice hadn't been particularly harsh. Still, it didn't leave room for doubt.
“I... I really don't want to go.” His sister's arm trembled next to him.
She was sitting with her knees up to her chest–a pillow in-between–her eyes partially covered by her long, black hair. Ricardo tried to focus his gaze towards the TV–which displayed the home screen–hoping he wouldn't be involved.
“You need to socialize more. All your classmates will be there. And, if anything happens, you can always call the teachers.” Mom insisted, taking advantage of all the family being together.
“Please, Ricardo. Tell her.” Mom glanced at him with tired eyes, before standing and leaving with dad.
Ricardo hated being put on the spot. Specially because he did understand his sister's position–he hadn't wanted to go to his Spiritual Retreat either. It was a tradition of their Catholic school, for all the students graduating from Primary education. For him it happened last December, though–at the end of his first year of Secondary–coming out of a couple of years of remote learning and forced isolation.
“Don't be too worried about it.” Ricardo turned half-way in his seat, noticing his sister's wet eyes for the first time. She was big–and taller than him–it was easy to forget she was only thirteen.
“I didn't want to go at first too,” said Ricardo, smiling at the thought. “A whole weekend without TV, computers or phones, sleeping with classmates that you barely know.”
It had seemed like a nightmare at the time–him dreading it for weeks, planning ways to get out of it. His parents had pressured him, not accepting a no for an answer. And, despite all his misgivings, it had been a wonderful experience–one he wouldn't want Mili to miss. He had to convey that, somehow.
“But that's the great part,” continued Ricardo, raising his voice a bit. “Being forced to be together all day long, everyone gets closer. It's the chance to make friends.”
Ricardo kept talking about the structured games and play-acting that they would do during the day, and the free time they would have in the evening. He didn't know if it would help to reassure his sister, but at least she would know what to expect.
Mili didn't look convinced. At least she didn't cry.
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The year 2022 had been one of changes, Ricardo starting Secondary school the least of them. He remained in the same campus, with the same classmates–they just moved to a newer building.
It was the first day of December–less than three weeks left before his year's Spiritual Retreat–the bell signaling the end of the school day having just rung. In-person classes had restarted more than half a year ago–he still wasn't used to seeing so many people in the same place.
“Ricardo, hey!”
The voice came closer–rendering him unable to ignore it and keep on his way, which had been his first reaction.
“Yes?” Ricardo sighed as he turned around. A tall student with chestnut-colored hair and tanned skin smiled at him–Sandro. Genetics were so unfair. Three years ago, he had been another scrawny grade-schooler, not unlike himself. Yet, he had barely recognized him when they met again last March.
“You are coming to the spiritual retreat, aren't you?” asked Sandro, leaning on the row of lockers at his right. The school hallways were fairly empty–most students still in their classrooms–chatter coming through the half-opened doors.
“Yeah, I guess I am.” Ricardo answered with a sigh. He really, really didn't want to go. But that wasn't an option, according to his parents. He didn't even have roommates yet, being resigned to whomever that would have a free slot remaining.
“Wanna join our room?”
Ricardo thought he had misheard at first. From his class of forty, there were eighteen male students, which mostly conformed three groups. First, the sports enthusiasts–mainly soccer players–who would claim the fields at recess. Then, the music snobs, who would listen to their alternative rock and fiddle with a guitar. And lastly, the gamers, who sat on the stairs and played on their cellphone–Sandro was closest to them. Well, there was a fourth group, composed of only one member. Him.
“We are five at the moment. If you want to join, we can submit the room registration right now.” Sandro looked at him expectantly, enumerating their current members.
“Okay.”
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Sunday evening–after finishing the conversation with Mili–Ricardo went to his room in a hurry and turned on his laptop. The last roleplaying session with his friends from school–a couple of weeks ago–had been canceled, which put a wrench to his plans. And it couldn't be reprogrammed, since they were in the middle of the final exams. But–after much negotiation and plenty of insistence–this Friday they had promised to come. It would be the last session of their campaign, having a break until their next school year.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
It had to be perfect.
Ricardo opened his campaign documents, going through the different rooms of the final dungeon he had planned. The final boss of the campaign was going to be a zombie hydra, a callback to one of their most successful combats. Unlike the original monster, the zombie version would be unkillable by normal means, regenerating from any of its parts. For beating this foe, they needed to get the blessing of the goddess, which was supposed to happen in the scrapped last session.
He closed the laptop and rolled on his bed in frustration. It would be a huge letdown if he just let them kill the zombie hydra like a normal monster. Having a deus-ex-machina magical fountain in the middle of the dungeon was also a no-go. If only he had been able to skip the family Sunday, he could have poured himself into fixing his scenario.
He needed something powerful, exciting, that would leave everyone eager to start a new campaign the following year.
The new campaign...
Ricardo stood with a jump, sat on his desk and opened the laptop. He did have another final boss planned–the one for next year's campaign.
A dragon.
Resistant to magic and physical attacks, it would need a unique, otherworldly magic to be beaten. Something that their new party member would provide. He had already filled the corresponding character sheet, his cursor hovering over the name.
Sorry, I'll plan something for you later.
But first was first. The interest in the current campaign had been waning and he needed something special now. He had to scrap his plans and use his best weapon. He needed to end strong, even if that meant cannibalizing next year's campaign. Else, there wouldn't be any group remaining to play it anyway.
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The first couple of days after joining Sandro's retreat group didn't bring any change to Ricardo's nonexistent social life. He still went alone to the library during recess, revising books or working on his assignments. Well, not all was study. When he was feeling lazy–not unusual those days–he would read webnovels on his cellphone. The one he was hooked on had its protagonist's world turning into a roleplaying game. Ironic, since he didn't even own a gaming console. He didn't play games–he would rather read about getting sucked inside one.
It was Monday afternoon–a week before the beginning of their final exams, two weeks before the spiritual retreat. At this point in the year, his classes consisted of reviews and self-study. He already had his notebooks under his arm, ready to bolt out.
“Ricardo!”
He stopped in his tracks and turned around. Trying to ignore Sandro was a futile endeavor.
“Yes. I'm here.” The bell started in the middle of Ricardo's answer.
“About the retreat, you know how we can't bring electronic devices,” said Sandro, putting his notebooks over Ricardo's desk.
“Yeah. They said it from the beginning.” Among the boys, the gamers would be affected the most by the restriction.
“Anyway, we found this,” Sandro opened a file on his cell phone's screen. It was a pdf document, a roleplaying game manual of sorts. And it had a red dragon on the front page.
“Maybe we could play something like this, printing out the relevant pages,” continued Sandro, scrolling down the document.
“I guess it's an option,” said Ricardo, scanning through the content. It seemed like a medieval sword and sorcery RPG at first glance. He couldn't deny it catching his attention.
“The thing is, I tried to learn it over the weekend and I can barely understand it,” said Sandro, smiling sheepishly. “If it's you, you'll probably get it with one reading.”
“I can try.” Ricardo smiled, his mind already immersed in the possibilities.
The following days passed in a blur, Ricardo dissecting the manual and watching every newbie gameplay video he could find. Finals? He wasn't concerned–being diligent all year long had its advantages. While his classmates worried about their exams, his mind was full of medieval towns, fantasy monsters, adventures, and lots of dice.
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That Monday Ricardo had kinda messed up his math exam, which was a first for him. Despite that, he smiled all the way through it–a dragon. Maybe staying up most of the night–fitting a new final boss into their year-long RPG campaign–hadn't been the most proper use of his time. Though, he didn't regret it one bit. He hadn't fine tuned the details, but he could feel it working.
“For the final session, I’m thinking big, really big.” Ricardo smiled while almost skipping towards Sandro, in a reversal of their usual roles.
“Like the hydra we defeated before?” Sandro gave him a close-mouthed smile as he picked up his writing implements.
“Nah, better than that, Sandro. A dragon, a huge firebreathing dragon!” Ricardo had inadvertently raised his voice, looking around after the fact.
“How are we going to beat that? We only have Friday’s before summer vacations.” Sandro grinned, walking next to Ricardo as they left the classroom.
“Don’t worry, I have everything planned. We are going to level hard.” At that point Ricardo truly didn't have everything planned, but he was sure he could get there in the few days remaining.
“It sounds great.”
“It’ll be. I’ll be there just after school to set the campaign. We need to update the character sheets of the ones who didn’t come last time.”
“I wonder if they’ll come…”
“They said they will. It’ll be the last session of the year.”
It was true that they hadn't had full attendance in months–ending with the cancellation of their previous one. Yet, Ricardo had to believe they would come. They had promised.
The two students kept walking in silence for a few blocks, until their paths diverged. Ricardo kept going through the scenario in his head as he followed his route in auto-mode, finding himself in front of his house sooner than expected.
Opening the front door, Ricardo checked out the keys hanging on the holder. Mili was already back, her pink dolphin keychain facing him. He hanged his keys cautiously and went directly to the stairs, pretending to not notice the chubby grade-schooler watching TV in the living room. He skulked to his room and closed the door behind him.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like Mili, she was Ricardo’s only sibling and they had been close in the past. It’s just that she was extra clingy these days. And he really needed to make the next roleplaying session a success. Vacations would come soon anyway, he could make it up to her later.
Ricardo turned on his laptop, opening the bestiary file and checking the corresponding stats for the monsters in the scenario. For them to be able to beat a real dragon, they would need to level fast. Maybe an experience boosting blessing, maybe stat bonus weapons... He started scribbling on a spreadsheet.
After what felt like a short time, he heard a soft knock against his door. He kept writing for a bit until he knew she wouldn’t turn back.
“Going.” Ricardo closed the file and opened the door. Mili was standing outside, balancing two paper bags in her left hand while fidgeting with her right.
“Mom called; she’s doing overtime today.”
“I see. Thank you.” He took the bags from Mili while she moved her mouth soundlessly.
“Good night.” Ricardo added, turning around. He heard Mili’s good night just as he closed the door.
Before the end of the night, Ricardo finally got his calculations to make some sense–at least more than in his sleep-deprived weekend attempt. He still had a few days left. And then, to hunt a dragon.
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Ricardo's Spiritual Retreat took place in an ex-convent that had been closed ages ago, which the church used for miscellaneous events. It was an old two-story building, an inner patio in the center of a hollowed square. The white walls and roofs had been repainted recently, though the floor tiles met with irregular edges over the unleveled floor. The usual place–a retreat house an hour from Lima–was in use by the students graduating Primary that year.
The first day's activities weren't too hard on him. Friday morning had been mostly an extended religion class–with some introspection periods in-between, which Ricardo exploited to ponder the contingencies if the players went outside the planned scenario.
At lunchtime, he explained some of the mechanics to the rest of the group. Roleplaying would be a challenge, and he would have to lean on Sandro. He had not only read the manual before, but also sat next to him on the bus, getting instructions on the ride.
Ricardo had already checked all his materials as soon as they got to their room. All would be fine.