“Lady Cesnie Kayleic has won the duel, and will proceed to tomorrow’s third challenge!” Sharles shouted.
I realized I was holding my breath, and I let it out with a long release. It had been one hell of a battle, and part of me was glad that the woman won. She’d performed amazingly well against the knight, and I’d been at the edge of my seat for the entire match.
The other part of me realized that her victory was bad news. She would be almost impossible to beat at Castles, and I guessed she would get the four points from the next challenge. It would mean that I would have to get a third place to tie her going into the fourth challenge, or I had to get second place to beat her by one point.
Tomorrow would be a difficult day indeed.
Chapter 26
“How did the challenge go?” Ky asked as he helped me step from the VRIU.
The group in Ohlavar Quest had returned to our rooms after the match and talked for a few hours about what we had done wrong during the challenge. Then I decided to log out for a couple of hours, talk to my parents, and then log back in so I could try to practice more of the Castles game.
“Not that great,” I admitted. “I got last place because of a mistake I made during the planning.”
“Aww that sounds unlike the champ,” Ky said as he grabbed the headset from my fingers.
“Ha, what a lot of people don’t realize is that Jax and Garf did most of the heavy lifting from our build and strategy sessions. Those two guys are actual geniuses. I was always able to just execute our plan the best, so I always ended up beating them whenever we dueled in Astafar Unlimited.”
“Oh, really? I didn’t know,” Ky said. “I’ve watched all your matches. Of course, everyone has. I didn’t realize that about them.”
“Jax would have been a huge help in this last event. I was playing within the rules of the challenge. He would have spotted the loophole like the other teams did. Ahh well, I’m still doing fine. I just need to try to place well tomorrow during the Castles event.”
“Oh, yeah. That is a fun little mini-game the AI thought of. We used to play it at lunch all the time,” Ky said as he started to stir the VRIU juice with his paddle.
“Play at lunch?” I paused my motion of putting on the gray robe.
“Yeah,” Ky said as he turned to look at me.
“I have to play it tomorrow to win at this challenge. How did you ‘play it at lunch?’” I asked.
Ky’s head tilted, and a slow smile crept across his face. The man looked towards the observation room, and then he stepped closer to me. “You can access the game through the terminal in your room,” he whispered. “There is even a tutorial and demo mode so you can make the system play with a specific build.”
“Nice, damn. I wish I had known this earlier,” I whispered.
“Ehh, didn’t hear it from me.” The man winked and then stepped back to the VRIU.
“Jennifer?” I called out to the speakers.
“Yes, Leo?” the woman answered
“I am going to take a lunch break,” I said as I stepped from the alcove and turned off the privacy tint to the observation glass. “I might not come back, or I might. I haven’t decided yet. If you guys want to take a break for a few hours that would be cool with me, but can you be ready to go if I want to jump back in?”
“Yes, Leo. I have a ton of work I can do from here. I’ll be here all day anyway.”
“I’m gonna go help out with a few more units. Jennifer can page me if you want to log in again and I can get here in five minutes,” Ky said.
“Great. If I don’t come back tonight, let’s meet at the usual time tomorrow morning.”
They both agreed, and I bid them goodbye before I walked into my room.
My shower was quick, and I threw my clothes on before darting out of my room. The schedule on my parent’s treatment plan said that they were both going to be having lunch in the cafeteria in a few minutes, and I wanted to eat with them.
I had arrived at the restaurant before them, but I only needed to wait for a few minutes. They were each accompanied by their own hospital staff member, and their eyes lit up when they saw me.
“Leo!” my mom said as she gave me a hug. “What a nice surprise! I thought you were busy working?”
“I decided to take lunch off. I needed a bit of a break,” I said as I hugged my dad.
“Something wrong?” he asked as he studied my face.
“Ehh, not really. Just got my ass kicked today in the game. Can we have lunch together?” I asked my parents, but I turned my eyes to the two white dressed aides that had accompanied them.
“Of course, Mr. Lennox,” one of them said.
“Great,” I turned to the eating area of the restaurant, and we found a table where we could sit.
“If you would prefer, we can leave you three alone,” the other aide said as we sat down.”
“That would be great,” I said as I nodded at them.
“We’ll sit right over here,” the first man said as he gestured to a table about twenty feet away. “We haven’t eaten either. If you don’t mind, we’ll take our lunch break as well.”
“That is fine. Thank you,” I said as they turned to walk to their table.
The waitress came to take our drink orders, and I felt a little surge of joy when my mom ordered her ice tea with lemon and lime. It was a drink she had always enjoyed when I was growing up, but she hadn’t asked for it since the disease started to take hold of her mind.
“How did you get your ass kicked?” My dad asked as he opened his menu.
“We had this challenge to do. It was a dungeon run against four other teams. The rules said that I needed to escort an NPC through and return with an icon from the end. I think the teams that beat me just left the NPC they were supposed to escort at the start of the dungeon. I should have--”
“Didn’t they get caught?” my mom asked with a gasp. “Seems like they cheated.”
“Naw. There wasn’t any way of seeing what was happening inside the dungeon when each team ran it.”
“That is too bad, Leo. What abilities were you running?” my dad asked.
“Oh, I’m doing a healer-protector set up,” I said.
“So, Guardian of Fortune with some heals?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah. I’ve got Spirit of Stone and a few others as well. I’m surprised you know about them.”
“We’ve been having a great time in Ohlavar Quest,” my mom said. “We really look forward to it every day. Your father and I even went on a dungeon adventure a few days ago.”
“You did?” I asked with a touch of disbelief.
“Sure did. I’m using some healing magic. Saving up to get Guardian of Fortune. Right now, I just have Breath of Life, and Saving Grace,” he said.
“I’ve never heard of the second ability,” I said.
“It lets the next attack against the target have a high chance of missing. It is kind of like Guardian of Fortune, but for only one attack, and you can only use it on the same target once every thirty seconds. It helped a little during our last run. I also use a crossbow to help with damage.”
“I have a shield and spear! I get right up in there and stab the monsters with it!” My mom laughed. “It is a great game, Leo.”
“I didn’t know you were both doing dungeon stuff. You just started playing a few days ago,” I said as I looked at the staff members sitting at the table twenty feet from us. The pair of men didn’t look at me, so I guessed that they weren’t paying attention to our conversation.
“Ahh yeah. After we got used to it, the game was easy to learn. It’s like real life, only so much more exciting and colorful,” my mother said.
“Did you both get into a party or something?” I asked.
“Just the two of us. We’ve been exploring one of the starter villages, and the NPCs there needed help with a cave of goblins. They lent us some weapons, and we tried for it. The spear and shield were easy enough to use.”
“You always were tough, ho
ney.” My dad laughed, and he reached over to squeeze her arm.
“I gotta defend my man from those goblins! Ha!” She smiled and shook her head.
The waitress came to take our order. When she left, my dad leaned over the table.
“We saw a map in one of the village trading shops. What continent are you on?” he asked.
“I’m on Rinniji. Where are you?”
“Huh, I didn’t see that on the map, or I don’t recall the name. We are on an island named Portan. It is kind of tropical feeling. Lots of palm trees and white beaches,” my dad said.
“Hmm,” I said as I turned to my mom. “I watched your first session. Weren’t you in a grove of trees that looked like oaks?”
“Oh yes, that was where I first logged in, but then they said they wanted me to go to a different area so I could be by your father,” she explained.
“Who said?” I asked.
“Dr. Pinntay and Dr. Drottar,” my mom said. “They said it would be good for both of us to do activities together. Kind of like starting a new life.” My parents turned to each other and shared a smile that threatened to make my heart melt.
“Ahh, well. I guess that is cool. I’m a bit worried about you two fighting monsters.”
“It’s a hell of a lot of fun, Leo,” my dad said. “You know I was more into those sports games when I was growing up, and I never really got into all the fantasy stuff you, Jax, and Garf loved, but now I can see the appeal. Getting new quests, and gear, and skills. Woowee! It’s a lot of fun. I can’t wait to log back in.”
“How many hours are they letting you play?” I asked.
“Only an hour or so a day. There is a clock at the top that counts down. As soon as it is up, we are supposed to log out. I can see how someone could become addicted to playing. You look terrific Leo. I think your muscles are the biggest I’ve ever seen them.” My mom pointed to my bicep, and I looked down at her finger. I could normally see the Cephalic vein that ran from the front of my shoulder down my bicep. But the muscle there did look larger than I recalled, and I saw way more veins than I remembered. It looked like I had been using steroids.
“You must be working out a bunch. I’m glad you aren’t playing too much,” my dad said.
“Yeah. I’ve been making gains.” I smiled at them. “You have a clock on the top of your UI? How long has it been there?” I asked.
“Since we started logging in,” My dad shrugged.
“Ahh. They said they added mine a few days ago. I forgot to turn it on during the last session. I think we are using different clients to log into the game,” I said.
“What is a ‘client’?” my mom asked.
“It is the software that accesses the game server. Just a nerd way of saying game,” I said to her with a smile.
The food came, and we enjoyed our first half dozen bites in silence. My dad had gotten a hamburger. My mother a soup and half sandwich, and I’d ordered my usual sushi platter with the miso soup. My parents kept exchanging adoring looks with each other, and I felt like my heart was about to burst.
“You both seem to be happy. It makes me happy,” I said as I cleared my throat and tried to blink away the start of some tears.
“We are,” my mom said as she reached across the table to grasp my hand. “I feel almost like I’m a teenager again. I can remember my whole life, and I feel like I have all this energy. Playing the game with your father does seem like a second chance for us to be together.”
“We’ve been hard on you--” my dad started to say, but I interrupted him.
“No, you haven’t.”
“Yes, we have. I don’t remember much of the last ten years or so, but I know you worked your ass off to take care of us. It isn’t supposed to be that way, Leo. Parents take care of their kids, not the other way around.”
“That is how it is supposed to be. I had the money. I love you both. You aren’t a burden,” I said, and even though I didn’t want it to happen, I felt a tear slide down my right cheek.
“We know you quit playing Astafar Unlimited to bring us here,” my mom said. “That must have been quite a sacrifice. We really appreciate it.”
“It wasn’t that hard. I was tired of the limelight, and Sal--” I stopped in mid-sentence. I hadn’t told my parents about Sal since they first met the man when their condition was starting to worsen. I didn’t know if they would remember him, but I also didn’t feel like talking about his death or the attempts on our lives.
“You have done a good thing, Leo. We like it here. We are getting better. Zarra is lovely, we’d like to have dinner with her a few more times if you wouldn’t mind us getting to know her better,” my mom said.
“Yeah. I would like that. I think she would too.” I picked up my last piece of sushi with my chopsticks and ate it before I drank my soup. My parents seemed to have an improved appetite, and they had both finished their meals before me.
“I think you both have some music time in the common area. I have to get back to work,” I said as we stood.
“Can you surprise us at lunch again? Or breakfast, or dinner,” my dad said with a laugh. “Heck, I’m hoping we can end up playing Ohlavar Quest together. Maybe you can teach your old man a few things.” My dad made some shadow boxing movements, and I laughed.
“Sure. I think you both might be on the other side of the world, but I’ll make it over there soon. My work is probably going to take me everywhere.”
“Great, we look forward to it. Bye honey,” my mom said before she kissed me on the cheek. We separated, and I watched them walk toward the common room before I turned and headed for the hallway that would take me to my suite.
As soon as I made it back to my room, I fired up the Castles game at the terminal on my desk. The system had a brief tutorial that covered everything Cesnie already taught me, and then there were a few different difficulty levels I could set the AI at to play against. There was also a matching system that I could use to play against other Arnacript employees, but no one else was querying, so I just had to settle for the computer.
I beat the computer on the easy setting a few times, and then moved it up to the medium setting. This was somewhat more challenging than the easy mode, but I still managed to win three in a row without much mental energy. I was definitely getting better, and I was learning more about how the game was played.
The main idea seemed to be the management of the “support” golem pieces. The pieces were needed to capture the castles in the game, but they were also useful as part of an offensive strategy. There was a balance to them, though. I made the mistake of putting too many on the board at once which hurt my short term offensive capabilities.
With that in mind, there seemed to be three different strategies: First was to limit the number of support golems I played to the bare minimum. This meant I could put up a quick offensive and move to take the opponent's castles with a blitzkrieg type strategy. The issue with this was that if I couldn’t take a castle as quick as I needed to, I risked losing all my forces and having my pieces reset on my side of the map.
The second was the inverse to this blitzkrieg idea. It was putting a bunch of support golems into play with an idea of outlasting the opposition. The issue with this one was that it didn’t truly put out enough damage to take care of any opponent who might have had more than a few support golems in play.
The third strategy was a balanced mix of both offensive and support mixture.
I also realized that there were subgroups of those three core strategies depending on the mix of melee or missile golems. If I went with a “Blitzkrieg” strategy, I could play only melee, or only missile, or a mix of both. Same with the defensive or balanced type strategies.
I started messing around with a few different theories and tried to lose my next few games. I had a good guess as to how the different builds would fare against each other, but the next games proved my hypothesis. Blitzkrieg would beat Balanced, Defensive would beat Blitzkrieg, and Balanced would beat Defensive.
The selection of the golems within those strategies would matter significantly, so I switched the game mode to hard and started running through the three builds using a different mix of either melee or missile golems.
About an hour into it I discovered that a Blitzkrieg strategy with only missile golems as the offensive line was very powerful. I couldn’t move as fast as the melee golems, but I could focus fire down the opponent’s golems easily. It was simple to take out the support golems also, and I started quickly winning every match.
“Hmm,” I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost six in the evening.
I had completely lost track of time, and I wondered if Jennifer and Ky were in the VRIU room waiting for me. I walked over to the door, opened it, and poked my head inside. I saw Jennifer in the glass room but didn’t see any sign of Ky.
“Hey, I’m going to call it a night. I don’t think I’ll log in. Cool?”
“Oh, Leo!” The woman jumped in her chair, and she ran her hands across the keyboard. I couldn’t see what she was working on, and I wondered if she had actually been watching porn or something. She didn’t seem the type, but her face was all sorts of red. “That’s okay. I still have more work to do. Tomorrow morning?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’ll see you then. Don’t stay up too late working.” I smirked at her and then leaned back into my room before I closed the door.
Then I went back to my desk and sat down in front of my terminal.
The problem with “overpowered” builds which first seemed unbeatable was that they almost never were. It was more of a case of players not being able to figure out how to counter it.
Castles seemed to be a well-respected mini game in Ohlavar Quest. It could just be that the NPCs were just spitting out the verbal script the AI was feeding them, and this game could be beaten by any player smart enough to run an only missile Blitzkrieg build, but I really doubted it. There had to be a way to beat me, and until I could figure it out, I wasn’t going to feel comfortable running it tomorrow. Yeah, I might be able to beat the simulation in my room on hard mode with the build, but I doubted that Cesnie Kayleic would lose to someone who figured this out in a few hours. No, there had to be a way to beat it with a specific build or strategy. Then there would be a way to beat that build, and then that build. The truly great games had meta-strategies that peeled back like layers of an onion, and I could look at someone’s skill selection in Astafar Unlimited and instantly know what I needed to run to beat them.
Lion's Quest: Trinity: A LitRPG Saga Page 39