Valeriano spent some more time looking through the Egypt and China sections. They were similar to the Rome section. A few friendly people showing off their villages, and some less friendly people posting their videos in response. The game was too young for any real changes or events to have happened yet.
Valeriano decided to stop wasting time. The forums lacked any real tips and tricks, just posting well-known information, so he logged back in.
Valeriano returned to the same spot he logged out in, behind an out-of-sight bookshelf. The swarm of people had moved on. They will soon return, and in greater numbers. Better do this quickly.
Valerian walked up to Prisca’s desk, and she waved at him as he approached.
“Valerian, you little sleepy head.” Prisca said with a smile. “Did your studying go well?”
“Yep, learnt a lot.” Valerian said, a bit embarrassed. Though, if the feeling came from lying to this kind old lady or not, he did not know. “But for now, I’m wondering if there’s any training hall, or something like that available?”
“Hmm, you’re leaving me now?” An almost undetectable hint of sadness appeared in her eyes. Our time together was short, but he reminded me of my grandson...
Prisca shook her head, ejecting the sad thoughts from her mind. “Well, can’t keep you here forever, I guess. Let me show you on this map.” She took out a map of the city, marked the training hall, and gave it to Valerian, which he gladly accepted.
Sweet, a map! Rule number 9: Never turn down a free gift!
“Built only last year, as a public training hall, so not surprised you didn’t know about it. To spend so much money, and not advertise its existence… it’s an odd building for sure. Anyone can go there, take a few swings at the dummies, or spar against other beginners. Before you go, take this.” She handed Valerian a handful of coins. “Your wage. It’s not much, but will buy you some bread.”
Valerian looked closely at the few coins in his hand.
Denarius, plural denarii, a type of coin the Romans used. Rome used many types of coins during the passings of time, and the decision to compress them all, into one single coin, was to make them easier to handle for the users.
If one grew up with all those coins, they would be easier to deal with. However, not so much for someone playing a game, suddenly jumping into a world with as many as nine types of coins during the Augustan era. Needless to say, the modern gamer would complain. Not to mention, there was a coin called ‘as’, which meant the plural became ‘asses’. Something had to be done.
Also, to buy a house would cost a lot more than buying a chicken at the market. To avoid the problem of people rolling around wagons of the single currency, the denarius got changed a bit. Instead of only silver coins, they got changed into three versions: Copper, silver and gold!
Same name, but different looks. More accurately, copper denarius with a value of one, silver denarius with a value of one hundred, and gold denarius with a value of one thousand!
However, while this solved day-to-day transactions, a big problem remained. The rich! If they wanted to buy a mega palace in cash, which would cost millions, then they could only roll in with wagons of denarii. Not practical.
So, one last coin was created. A coin made to combat inflation, as the rich hoarded all the coins, forcing the state to print new ones for the normal population: the solidus, plural solidi. Also made from gold, but heavier and much higher quality. It had a value of one million!
All the denarii coins had the face of some Emperor, some descriptive text, and on the back, a famous Roman building, symbol or God. The current Emperor always sat on the gold denarius, but the other two coins wore former Emperors, as a way to honor them. This meant some coins were more sought after than others, even though their actual value remained the same. Some rich collectors had hoards of coins with their favorite Emperors on.
The solidus, however, had an eagle, spreading its wings, surrounded by a wreath of leaves. Below it, stood four letters: SPQR. The back only had a few words, different for each coin: famous Roman quotes and sayings.
The details on the solidus coin were exquisite, almost too good. Probably made by using some Developer’s magic, not the ancient Roman method.
Since the solidus was made by using some Developer’s magic, the sayings covered the whole Roman period. A small easter egg left by the Developers, in case a user got their hands on one of those coins. The NPCs did not think twice about it.
Valerian felt he had observed the coins for a long time, and shook his head, trying to get rid of the odd feeling.
Valerian did a quick count, resulting in ten copper denarii in his hand. Maybe he could get some day old bread with that?
“Oh, right, can I have that key back?” Prisca said, smiling a bit apologetically.
Valerian cursed inwardly. Having a key to the library would be a huge asset! “Sure, here, almost forgot! Good thing you reminded me!” Valerian made a stiff laughing sound as he handed over the key.
Valerian thanked her for all the help and said goodbye, promising her he would return before leaving.
Valerian exited the library and took out the map. He estimated it would take around twenty minutes to go the training hall, unless he got lost.
One unique thing about this game, was how it hid all the signs that it was just a game. There were no HUD, menus, life bars, stats etc. That also meant there were no mini map or compass system. Full immersion was more than possible. Just another reason for its ‘18+’ rating. In fact, most VR games had a 18+ rating. There were just too many things that could provoke indecent behavior, not to mention the realistic violence. Only a few puzzle games, where the user had no actual body, had a 15+ rating.
Valerian calmly walked down the nicer streets of Rome. They were packed with people wearing togas and tunics similar to his own. The roads were surprisingly orderly and clean. Guards stood watch every few hundred meters, keeping an eye out for ruffians looking for trouble. Street merchants constantly shouted out, trying to lure people to buy their goods. A far cry from the streets he began his journey on. Well, that was only one day ago, but still.
Valerian window shopped in the finer shops along the way, but backed away when he heard the prices.
“Oh!” Valerian repeatedly made sounds of surprise. The artworks and buildings were incredible to watch up close. The Developers made a good job of re-creating ancient Rome.
“Out of the way!”
A voice suddenly shouted behind Valerian. He turned, seeing a large horse only a few decimeters away from him.
“Ah!” Valerian jumped to the side, avoiding the rude horse. Well, maybe it was wrong to blame the horse.
“Don’t blame me if you get crushed!” The cart driver looked over his shoulder, shouting to Valerian, as he drove past. He turned back to the horse. “Faster horse!”
The sound of the whip made Valerian cringe. Poor horse…
Valerian shook his head, getting back up from the ground. “Ah! My...my clothes?!”
Turns out, the roads were not that clean, after all. Nooooooo!
His white tunic...got stained! Some dirty water, and some brown sludge, touched his tunic as he sat on all fours.
Valerian resisted the impulse of ripping the tunic off, and continued his walk… The cold, damp spot stuck to his body, irritating him the whole way towards the training hall.
Valerian tried to distract his mind, looking around for famous buildings and statues. He found the Colosseum, Pantheon, and the Forum, to name a few.
Hm, kinda makes you wonder what time period we are in. Maybe the Devs just placed some in, even though the years did not really fit...
What really got his mind off the damp, sticky clothing, was a marching Centurion. He wore a helmet with a sideways crest, a cloak, mail shirt armor and a sword on the left side, unlike the Legionaries who wore it on the right. The Centurion twirled around with a vine stick, used to punish any disobedience, in his hands. Eighty fully geared Legionaries followed behind. Walking in the middle of the formation, was a banner carrier, holding the red SPQR banner the faction Rome used to claim territory.
Valerian got curious, and followed them down the street. After a while, the Centurion and his men reached the ‘Great Portal of Rome’. The mysterious portal that allowed them to travel to the New World, where the main part of the game took place.
The portal suddenly appeared one day; forming inside a single archway Triumphal Arch, completely blocking the street that went through. The portal looked a bit chaotic, not very safe nor stable. The colors changed constantly, usually a mix of many, but sometimes unifying, creating a single colored portal.
The Centurion stopped, talking some with the guards. They saluted each other, and the Centurion waved his men to enter first, making sure no one ‘accidentally’ stayed behind. Once everyone had entered, he also walked in, only taking a single last glance at his home: Rome.
The Triumphal Arch trembled slightly each time someone crossed the threshold, looking like it was about to shatter, but it unexpectedly held.
Valerian observed the entire process. The heavy security around the portal, made sure no one without access could travel to the New World.
Five hundred heavily armed men, and four towers, with archers on top, guarded the portal, all day and all night. The state claimed the nearby buildings, turning them into barracks for the troops. The white stone roads and buildings wore a faint shade of red, telling the gruesome tale of the riots that happened around the portal. After the first few riots, wooden walls and gates got put up, funneling everyone into a single entrance, allowing the soldiers to deal with many times their numbers. The riots finally stopped after the citizens tried to storm the walls, but instead got mowed down by arrows and pila. A disastrous attempt to storm the portal with over three thousand civilians dead.
After all, once the population heard about the Paradise on the other side, a world with countless possibilities, many poor wanted to pick up their things and go. That would mean an empty Rome, but more importantly, a hollow and weak Empire. If the New World grew stronger than the Old World, why should the ones living there, keep sending their hard-earned supplies back through the portal?
So, the Senate worked hard to create a new law, creating a hard limit on the normal population that could enter each day. Users, of course, did not count.
Each faction faced the same threat, and did similar things. China let three thousand through each in-game day, Egypt, two thousand and Rome, one thousand. For now, these numbers kept the balance between the worlds just fine.
Not only did the normal people travel through the portal, countless wagons carrying goods did as well. The incoming wagons, entering the New World, all entered the portal in the same direction. But the ones coming back with goods from the New World, exited from the other side.
This automatic two-way system made the traffic flow much faster, they never had to fear accidentally crashing into the incoming traffic. Because the New World was more resource rich than the Old World, a never-ending trail of wagons filled the roads, bringing the treasures, ores and new types of food, to all the corners of the vast Roman Empire. As a result of the portal, people immigrated to Rome from all the corners of the Old World, wanting to take a look at this new Wonder of the World.
Valerian nodded, memorizing the nearby area. Now that I know where the portal is, time to find that training hall. Should probably learn to swing a sword before going out. Turns out, this game is quite dangerous.
Valerian found the training hall, and craned his neck, trying to read the sign above. A large concrete building, built in a rectangular shape. The barren walls and entrance did not make it a welcoming building, and if Valerian did not know about its true purpose, he would never had entered. The only decoration was a man-sized statue of Mars, the Roman God of War. It stood a few meters inside, out of sight, unless one entered. The whole building just looked unfinished.
A bored-looking man sat behind a small wooden desk. Valerian asked if he was in the right place.
“Yep, this is it. The great public training hall.” He scanned Valerian with his eyes. “You can borrow training gear here, if you don’t have any. Hope you won’t need any reminding that it must be returned...”
Valerian held up a finger. “Sorry, gotta ask something… why is this place so… rudimentary? Everything in Rome have such grace and elegance, yet this place is…”
The man looked up, thinking for a bit. “Well, our great leader decided to cut the fundings for the art. The artists got sent to the New World instead, they got a whole city to deck out in there. Heh, funny story, the guy in charge I complained to, said he didn’t even know why they decided to build the public training hall in the first place. Oh well, enough of that. Let’s go to the equipment room, get you some gear.”
The man guided Valerian to the equipment room. Seeing the lack of reaction from Valerian’s side, the man sighed.
“You don’t know how to put it on, do you?”
Valerian shrugged, somewhat embarrassed. He did look up the gear online, but to see it in the ‘real world’, he was a bit clueless on…well, everything really.
The man begun to hand Valerian pieces of clothing and armor. “Right, start with changing into this linen shirt and tunic. You look like you only own the clothes on your back, so no need to make them dirty...dirtier, in your case. Take this scarf to protect your neck against chafing. Now, put on the Lorica Segmentata. And finally, the Cassis, actually, some call it the Galea instead, not sure which came first, or why we apparently have two names for it, but anyway, it goes on your head.”
Valerian put on the metal helmet, wishing he had a mirror. The sudden weight made him clunky to move around, but he assumed he would adapt soon enough.
“We don’t give real weapons to beginners, so take this wooden sword and a wicker shield. They are twice as heavy as normal weapons, in case you were wondering. Since it’s such nice weather today, the Centurion trains outside. Just follow that hallway. Any questions? No? Good.”
Before Valerian even had the slightest chance to say anything, the man left, heading back to his desk.
When Valerian changed out of his tunic, he placed it on a random chair, but since the man left, he put it inside his inventory.
Valerian slowly moved down the hallway, still not quite used to the extra weight.
---
Time describe the gear a bit more, can skip, or skim through, if already mastered the art of googling.
The Lorica Segmentata, was more likely called the Lorica Laminata by the actual Romans at that time, since the Segmentata word was first used during the 16th century. However, in-game, everyone will call it Segmentata, to avoid any confusion.
The plates of Lorica Segmentata armor were soft iron inside, and mild steel on the outside, making the plates hardened against damage, without becoming brittle. This was a deliberate act, called case hardening, and is carried out by enriching the surface iron with carbon from organic materials packed tightly around the piece, which is then heated in a forge.
The strips were arranged horizontally on the body, overlapping downwards, and they surrounded the torso in two halves, being fastened at the front and back.
The upper body and shoulders were protected by additional strips, the shoulder guards, and breast- and backplates. The form of the armor allowed it to be stored very compactly, since it was possible to separate it into four sections, each of which would collapse on itself into a compact mass. The fitments that closed the various plate sections together, the buckles, lobate hinges, hinged straps, tie-hooks, tie-rings, etc. were made of brass.
There were many types of helmets, but the most common one in-game were the Imperial Gallic type. Another slightly less common was the Imperial Italic. They drew these names from their main manufacturers, rather than wearers. The Gallic version, made in Gaul, generally held a higher quality than the Italic, made in Italy and other places in Europe. They caught up eventually, though.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
However, in-game, in the New World, an imported Imperial Gallic type, will be more valuable than a homemade Imperial Italic type. Unless the user can attract some master crafters to their settlement.
The Galea, the helmet, had a large neck guard, metal cheek guards, and a protrusion at the forehead, giving light protection against downward slashes. A crest holder sat on top, but mainly only used by the Centurions, at least, during battles.
Valerian still wore his usual Caligae, the sandals, on his feet.
In case anyone want to learn some more about those, here is some more info: The open design of Caligae allowed for the free passage of air to the feet and, unlike modern military boots, was specifically designed so as to reduce the likelihood of blisters forming during forced marches, as well as other disabling foot conditions like tinea or trench foot. Socks were not normally worn with Caligae, although in colder climates such as Britain, woolen socks were used.
Many users also wore socks, being used to them from real life. The further north one went in the New World, the colder it got, which meant everyone also used socks there.
Caligae were constructed from three leather layers: an outsole, the middle openwork layer which formed the boot's upper, and an insole. They were laced up the center of the foot and onto the top of the ankle. Additionally iron hobnails were hammered into the soles to provide the Caligae with reinforcement and traction, and were also an effective weapon against a fallen enemy.
---
Even before Valerian reached the outside area, he heard the shouts and grunts of training. Soldiers ran around in full gear, formed in groups of eight.
One man stood on a meter high stone, waving his stick around, shouting orders at them. The Centurion!
It looked like they did formation training. Valerian watched them perform a Testudo, meaning tortoise in latin.
---
In the Testudo formation, the men would align their shields to form a packed formation covered with shields on the front and top. The first row of men, possibly excluding the men on the flanks, would hold their shields from about the height of their shins to their eyes, so as to cover the formation's front. The shields would be held in such a way that they presented a shield wall to all sides.
The men in the back ranks would place their shields over their heads to protect the formation from above, balancing the shields on their helmets, overlapping them. If necessary, the legionaries on the sides and rear of the formation could stand sideways or backwards with shields held as the front rows, so as to protect the formation's sides and rear; this made the formation slow and they covered very little ground.
---
However, only a few seconds after the soldiers completed the formation, the Centurion shouted another order to the archers, also training there, telling them to fire upon the formation!
The archers did not delay, immediately turning around, and fired three salvos at the Testudo, before stopping. They only used blunt arrows, but those would still hurt, and if hit badly, could cause great injury. The arrows hit the shields like rain, bouncing off in all directions.
Surprisingly, the soldiers under the shields seemed to be unhurt. The formation was a complete success!
Valerian looked around a bit more, the training field was quite chaotic to watch. Something always happened.
Valerian squinted, looking off into the distance. Five people, dressed and equipped the same way as him, awkwardly fought against some wood and straw dummies. Users!
Valerian walked up to them, asking if he needed to do anything special to start the training or just start practicing. Who knows? Maybe the effort only counts if I activate some hidden quest first?
“Yeah, talk to the big guy on the stone. Don’t worry about interrupting him, it’s why he’s here.”
Valerian walked over to him.
“Excuse me, was told to speak with you about starting the training?” Valerian said, making sure he spoke loud enough for the Centurion to hear.
The Centurion glanced over. “Hmm, another new face. Very well, go and join the others in swinging at the dummies, until you can control the sword. Once you feel ready, do some sparring with the others. Focus on stabbing movements, since that’s what your weapon specialize in.”
Valerian spent two hours learning the way of the sword. At first, it was quite dull, but with time, he noticed he improved. He had greatly improved compared to when he first started, but compared to the real soldiers, on the other side of the field… not so much.
During a quick break, Valerian observed the real Legionaries, trying to emulate their stance and technique. When they struck the dummy, it shook greatly, sometimes even leaving behind marks. When Valerian, and the other users, struck their dummy… it barely trembled.
During the two hours of practise, two users left, and two new joined. Still at even numbers, and everyone somewhat used to fighting with a sword, Valerian suggested some sparring.
“Yeah, I’m sick of these dummies. First blood wins?”
“Sounds good. How should we decide the match ups?”
“How about, one of us closes his eyes and turns around. The others form into a random line, and the one with the eyes closed, says six numbers? Fight the number next to you, and then we can have winners and losers fight each other.”
They all agreed, but decided to only fight one battle at a time, so the others could watch and learn.
The first duel was between a small, weak looking guy, at around one meters sixty, and a huge two meters tall muscle mountain. Surprisingly, and very cliché, they were named David and Goliath!
“Haha! Those names! C’mon David! Pull your special move!” Tom shouted. One of the other users.
“Uh…” David looked up and down, but could find no way to defeat the much bigger Goliath.
“Ready?” Goliath said with a grin. He did the reverse, he looked at David, finding no way he could lose.
However, this duel did not end like the ancient biblical duel. Goliath rushed in as soon as the battle started, shield bashing David. David cowardly hid behind his own shield, but instead of blocking, he just flew away like a punctured balloon, landing over two meters away. Physics… even in-game, they can not be underestimated!
“Holy shit… David, you alright?” Jack ran over, poking the pitiful David.
“Uh… wh-what happened?” David said in a weak voice, as he slowly raised his head up from the dirt.
“Think you need to study the David versus Goliath story a bit more, you seem to have misunderstood.” Tom crossed his arms, shaking his head in disappointment.
Next match-up was more even. Jack vs Tom. They had the exact same height, one meters seventy-six, and looked faintly similar.
“You two...are not much of role players, are you?” Valerian said.
“Hey, what about that David guy? Isn’t that also a normal name?” Jack said, defending his naming sense honor.
“Good point... Still, David sounds more ancient than yours. Anyway, get started already.” Valerian gestured with his hands, making them hurry up. He wanted to fight as well. Probably, should never have mentioned the names. Valerian faintly suspected those names were their real ones.
“You got time to talk with others, when fighting against me?!” Tom said, a hint of joyfulness in his voice, and charged out.
Boring everyone to tears, that is what their fighting style could be described as. They ended up circling around each other, looking for holes in their, unexpectedly solid, defenses for ten minutes.
Finally, Jack began to tire, holding up the heavy shield and sword made his arms burn, and since he could feel himself running out of time, he rushed to end the duel quickly. A mistake.
Jack tried to stab Tom in the face, which Tom dodged, easily countering the attack with a slash down on Jack’s extended arm, which caused Jack to drop his sword.
“Ow… that really hurt…” Jack said, rubbing his arm.
“Well, watch it, or there will be more of that later!” Tom said, smiling smugly.
Jack jumped Tom, and a wrestling game began. Everyone was a bit shocked over the sudden event, but decided to continue with the duels. After all, the wrestling seemed more like a game, than an attempt to kill each other. Perhaps they knew each other?
Finally, Valerian’s turn to fight arrived.
“Name is Valerian, nice to meet you.”
“Brutus. Let’s have a good duel.”
“You! You bastard!” Valerian instantly recognized that name, and pointed with his sword. Though, angry at first, he quickly calmed down, realizing Brutus actually did nothing wrong. “Heh heh, I picked that name, then I suddenly got an error when trying to confirm it.”
“Really?” Brutus raised an eyebrow, but not much else. “Hey, first come, first served, you know. Now get ready!” With that, Brutus raised his shield and Valerian did the same.
The two slowly moved closer and closer, occasionally exchanging a few blows, testing out the shields. Unsurprisingly, it was almost impossible for them to deal any real damage to each other. Or so Valerian thought.
Brutus suddenly did some quick footwork, like he no longer got dragged down by the heavy armor, rushing up to Valerian’s side. Brutus shot out with his wooden sword, stabbing Valerian in the ribs, before Valerian could swing around with the shield. Even though no blood got spilled, it still counted.
Valerian lost the battle, but learned some important things. A big shield could not always protect against a faster opponent, but more importantly, he learnt that the pain setting was quite high. Perhaps, even at real life levels.
“Ouch, nice stab there. Hit me right in the ribs.” Valerian said, wincing from the pain.
“That’s where I aimed.” Brutus said a bit nonchalantly. He sat down on the ground, resting until the next fight.
The others clapped their hands at the only proper winner in the duels so far.
“Nice stab!” Jack said.
“Excellent stab!” Tom shouted out.
Jack looked at Tom with sour eyes. He one-upped me again!
Just as Jack was about to jump on the smiling Tom, Goliath grabbed Jack’s helmet, stopping him dead in his tracks.
“Uwah!” Jack exclaimed, his hands reaching for the thing applying pressure on his head.
“Hey, no fighting! You are missing the duels, and disturbing us.” Goliath said, shaking Jack’s head a bit before throwing him down again.
“Eh, it’s fine. We know each other in real life.” Tom said, barely able to contain his laugh. Watching Jack being treated like a rag doll was just too funny!
“Yeah, we are twins!” Jack said, after he adjusted his helmet back into place.
“Really? The helmets block your face a bit, but still… didn’t realize.” Valerian entered the conversation.
“Yeah, Tom changed his face a bit. Made himself better looking... to get some girls! Hah! Can you believe it!? Playing an ancient civ war game; to get girls!” Jack howled with laughter. Finally he had something he could ruthlessly pull out, and Tom could do nothing in return.
“Hey, you said you would stop bringing that up… Besides, who knows what kind of female warriors wants to try ruling the ancient world. They got suppressed in real life, so now they have a chance! Imagine some Cleopatras, Jeanne d’Arcs and...well, those are all I know...” Tom said, his words making a few of the other men nod in agreement.
“Not sure the second one fits in here, but anyways. Let’s get on with the next fight!” Valerian had enough of the talking, wanting to get to his next fight. After all, the clock was ticking.
David decided to sit his next fight out, said he needed more practice on the dummies. This meant Valerian and Jack would fight after the winners had fought. Since Brutus just fought Valerian, Tom and Goliath stepped up to duel.
“Goliath, you better not let the fight drag out, like last time Tom fought.” Valerian said. A mix of joke and deadly seriousness.
“Don’t worry. Attacking is my speciality! Tom! You better keep your shield up!” Goliath charged Tom and swung time and time again, striking the shield each time.
“Uwah! Calm down!” A half kneeling Tom shouted from behind his shield. He now knew how David felt.
Goliath went into a Berserk state… well, looked like it, at least. Over twenty swings already, every single one striking the shield. Goliath let his shield arm hang to the side, completely abandoning his defense. Tom did his best to block the attacks, completely abandoning his offense. In fact, he long since dropped his sword, and now used both hands to support the shield.
On the side, Valerian said in a low voice: “Wow, told him not to dally, but this is…”
“Yeah…” Jack said, frowning, and his mouth twitched slightly.
Angry your twin getting beat up? Valerian thought to himself.
“But, this is awesome! Haha, look how silly Tom looks!” Jack suddenly laughed out, taking Valerian by surprise.
“Suddenly, I’m glad I lost instantly…” David said.
Cracking sounds appeared, getting louder and louder with each swing.
“Oh shit!” Tom suddenly got pieces of wicker on his face. Where did it come from? His own shield, of course!
The shield crumbled under the blows, not designed to endure such a barrage of attacks.
Holes formed, and Goliath did not let the chance slip. “Huah!” Goliath cried out, as he stabbed through a hole in the shield, stabbing Tom in the chest, knocking him down.
A decent fight. Goliath focused on heavy blows, while Tom defended. However, did they really learn how to fight like a Legionary? Questionable.
Tom stayed on the ground, holding his chest, rolling around in pain. “Aargh!! Why does it hurt so much?!”
“Hm? Is it really that painful?” Goliath asked. He felt Tom overreacted. After all, it was just a game. Limbs could get blown off, without the user even flinching, in most VR games.
Valerian and Jack got ready. No one bothered to check on Tom.
This time Valerian tried to use his newfound knowledge, using what Brutus did to him. Hard part was: When? It needed to be used in an explosive manner with perfect timing.
The two started slow, as usual, testing each other.
Valerian waited, observing Jack’s movements, playing it passively. Valerian focused on Jack’s feet, watching them as they stepped on the dirt, kicking around small stones and creating dirt dust.
Jack had a different idea. He decided to take after Goliath, the one who just showed how powerful overwhelming might could be! He saw Valerian looking down, appearing distracted by something, and decided to end the game quickly. Jack charged Valerian!
Jack’s sudden feet movement turned him into a blur, only for Valerian though, since he had a tunnel vision on Jack’s feet. Those feet suddenly turned into a rapidly approaching shield!
Valerian pupils shrunk from the shock, and raised his head up, holding up his own shield by reflex. However, there were still a tiny amount of time until Jack reached him.
The shocked Valerian quickly recovered, and decided this was the perfect time to execute the secret plan! Jack charged in like a bull, and if Valerian could dodge, and flank, he would win!
Valerian moved his feet in small rapid steps, kicking up a small dust storm, wanting to have complete control over his movement direction. The aim was to avoid and circle around Jack.
However, the extra weight from all the gear, plus the sudden unusual movement, meant that Valerian simply stumbled, falling headfirst into Jack’s charging shield bash.
Suddenly, everything went dark.