Taking a deep breath, Nika called out her first two critters: LeafEater and Desert Rose. Then she held her breath and called out "Ash."
Nothing miraculous happened, so Ash simply stepped up beside the team's two fighters. There was no outcry, and she wasn't forcibly removed. Nika took that as a good sign that the game would allow her into the battle.
It was the champions right to go first, and she led with attacks that brought Nika's two critters down to almost no life. One more hit like that and Ash would be standing alone on the battlefield. That meant Ash had two choices. She could use her full party heal or she could try to take out a monster.
She chose to heal the critters. Probably the best thing to do. Hopefully, the champ had started off with her best attacks and the critters wouldn't simply die with the next one as they were back to full health.
When her critters attacked, the damage was minimal. This wasn't looking very good. Then Ash did something risky. She threw a fire spell at the Champ's VeggieMot without waiting for her turn in battle. After all, the critters were required to work with turn-based fighting, but the players weren't.
The fireball seemed to flow in slow motion toward the plant critter, which tried to shrivel into itself to no avail. Once the flames hit the creature, it disappeared from the stage and a fully-grown Desert Rose appeared where it had stood.
Without even pausing to let the champion attack them again, Ash threw another fire spell. These were her lowest costing spells in terms of mana, but they were powerful enough to do the trick with much higher level critters. The players being max level must equal out to the critter max level of one hundred. So even a weak attack could do the job against an opposite element.
The battle didn't last too long after that. The champ managed to get in another round of attacks, but within the space of three rounds, all of her critters were headed to the clinic for healing. It had only gone the third round to allow her to get her last monster out and into battle.
Once more, they bowed to the champion who bowed back but with not nearly so pleasant an expression on her face as before. Then she put a ribbon around Nika's neck that held a green key. The key puzzled Nika, but she accepted it anyway. A prize was a prize.
Next up was the water elemental champion. Ash stopped her before she could step up on the fighting platform.
"You need to rearrange your critter roster before you fight," Ash said. "I'd suggest ThunderClap and Desert Rose again at the very least." The girl thought for a minute. "Maybe Boxy Fox to round it all out."
Nika grinned at her. "You're thinking two players to polish off the lineup?"
"Yup. My lightning should work well against the water, and they'll probably have a fire monster in their crew to take care of the opposing plant critters," Ash said.
Dean stepped up. "So I get a chance, right?"
One look at his face and Nika couldn't very well say no. He was far too excited. She gave him a nod. "You're up, Ranger."
"This is so cool," he said. "Actually fighting Trials' monsters. Who would have guessed it?"
Not her, that was sure.
Finally ready, they stepped up on the dais and once again gave the champion a bow. This one, a muscular and balding middle-aged man, didn't bow back. Instead, he gave them a fierce scowl. "You dare challenge my crew of ultra-strong water elementals?" he said, the scowl deepening even further. "Then this will be the end of your journey."
The man called forth ThunderClap, BirdTalker, and Flippin Frog. Nika responded with a single critter: Desert Rose. Her plant would have a decent, if not very powerful, attack against two of the foes at least. Dean and Ash immediately stepped up on the raised platform as Nika called out their names.
The water champ growled when he saw her lineup and immediately took out his Flippin Frog, stepping onto the platform himself instead. Crap, he was a hand to hand combat fighter and Nika's two warriors were distance fighters.
"Looks like I have a purpose in this fight after all," Evan said. "Put me in."
What's fair for the goose, Nika thought. If the champ could change monsters, so could she. Thinking quickly, she switched out Ash with Evan, hoping that the girl wouldn't take it personally.
The champ came at Evan even as his monsters mounted their attacks against Dean and Desert Rose. Evan had the champ down within minutes, and once the older man was out of the battle, it spelled the end of his back up monsters too. The monsters on the stage had already been dealt with by a grinning elven ranger and his powerful ElfShot.
Nika looked over to see Ash frowning. "We did win, right?" Nika asked.
"It would appear so," Ash said. "But where is our trophy? I'm pretty sure we are going to need that blue key in order to get to the Grand Master."
Evan heaved the large man over onto his back and pointed to him. "You gals talking about that key there?"
The blue key was hanging from the man's neck in plain sight. In all the excitement, they hadn't even noticed it. Evan reached down and pulled it over the man's limp head and handed it to Nika. She slipped it on to dangle by the green one, and they left the stage.
"Fire is next, right?" Nika asked.
"Yes, and I'm all set to go again," Dean said. Then he hesitated. "Maybe you should send Ash in with me? I'm not exactly fireproof, even if I wouldn't burn quite so quickly as a plant."
That sounded fine with both Nika and Ash. For the critter lineup, she went with ThunderClap again, paired with LeafEater. If this champ followed the others, they'd have a plant monster back up for the obvious water elementals most recruiters would have at the ready.
This champ was a very young boy, maybe ten years old. He was actually holding a small stuffed version of FireStorm. Nika glanced over at Ash and could tell she wanted one. Too bad she couldn't try to buy it from the champ once they won. Of course, getting it to the real world with them might turn out problematic. She'd just have to find the girl one there.
The fire champ fell quickly to the Dean and Ash combination as so many had before him. But this was the first time Nika actually felt a little bad about winning. At least the youngster took it all in stride, handing over his red key with a smile and a bow.
Now, with all three keys dangling from her neck, Nika and her crew headed toward the final stage.
This platform was much higher than all the others, with a long staircase leading up to it. At the bottom of the steps was a green gate. Nika inserted the green key into its lock and it swung open, granting them access. Mid-way up the stairs was a red gate and the top of the steps gave forth to a blue one. Each of them unlocked and swung open with the twist of one of the trophy keys, and finally, the small group stood before the platform of the Grand Master Champion.
Before stepping up the final few stairs leading to the dais, Nika turned to Ash. "Any pointers as to which monsters to use?"
Ash shook her head. "Not really. Just pick your strongest. We don't know what the Grand Master will throw at us. Could be anything."
She didn't know just how true her words would turn out to be. The group stepped up onto the stage and the final Grand Master Champion turned to face them.
"Ah, shit," Evan said.
Nika had to agree with him.
The Grand Master was none other than Gaia.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Reboot
When Louella opened her eyes and found herself back at the save fountain, she just couldn't help but laugh. They had rebooted! They were still alive.
Okay, so not really, but at least they still had some kind of life here in the game. What more could a ghost ask for than that?
She turned to see Cameron sitting on the stones of the fountain grinning at her.
"See?" he said. "I told you we'd be fine."
Louella laid back down and shut her eyes, feeling all the worry and stress of the past several days fall away from her. They'd made it.
Gaia and her minions had taken them down pretty easily once the others had left them, but that had been expected. Now, finally, every
thing was as it should be. Nika and the others were home, and Louella and Cameron in a very weird way were home too. Kind of.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Crap," she said. "We still have to get out of this cavern don't we?"
Cameron sighed. "I'm afraid so," he said. "In hindsight, it might have been more prudent to put the portal here after all."
"Yeah, I'm thinking so too," Louella said. She would have said more but just then a moan came from the other side of the fountain. With an uneasy feeling, Louella got to her feet and stepped around to see who it was. She was sure that she'd seen every one of the team cross through that portal. Had she missed someone?
Worse still, had the game thrown one back because they no longer had a body to return to?
Once her vision fell onto Striker, lying there with his head in his hands, she let out the breath she'd been holding. "It's Striker," she said over her shoulder to Cameron. "He rebooted here too."
The dwarf opened his eyes and struggled to sit up, still moaning. "What the bloody hell just happened?" he asked.
"You got beaten, just like us," Louella told him, reaching down to give him a hand up. "But, hey, we lived to tell about it, so all's well that ends well, right?"
"I suppose," the dwarf muttered. Then he looked about. "Where is my goddess?"
"She's gone home," Cameron said.
Striker staggered over to sit on the low fountain wall alongside Nika's father. "Can I go to her?"
Cameron shook his head. "I'm afraid not, friend."
Striker put his head in his hands once more. "Then what am I to do? My whole purpose in life is to be with my goddess. If she is not here, then what use is this pitiful life? I'd rather have died at her side than this."
"I would have thought your whole purpose in life would have been to serve your goddess," Cameron said thoughtfully. "There are still lots of ways you can do that." He paused a moment, grasping the dwarf's shoulder. "Besides, young man, it isn't as if you'll never see her again. She'll come to visit us often."
The dwarf cracked one eyelid and looked at Cameron. "She will?"
"Of course, she will!" Cameron said.
"And I can serve her even with her not here?"
Cameron leaned down to whisper into the dwarf's ear. "Didn't she tell you to protect me and Louella?"
Louella thought back. She did remember Nika saying that in an earlier battle.
Striker nodded, sitting a little straighter. "She did at that," he said. Then he looked back into the darkness of the caverns and lost a little of his excitement. "I guess that means I'll be fighting more cave cats, doesn't it?"
"Maybe," Louella said, looking at Cameron.
"Maybe?" Cameron asked.
She looked pointedly at the backpack the man still carried. The game hadn't taken it when they rebooted. "It will take us hours to get back to the cave's mouth and the portal," she said. "That's if we don't end up getting rebooted again. How long would it take you to program a portal here?"
In response, he opened the backpack and took out the terminal. "Not all that long, and if it takes longer, it will be well worth it," he said.
Striker glanced at the terminal and then back up at Cameron. "You might be able to make another of those magic swirling doorways here? One that can take us past the cats?"
"That's right," Cameron said. "But it will take a while. I'm afraid you might get a bit bored in the meantime."
The dwarf sighed. "Not bored at all if it means not facing those beasts again this soon," he said. "In fact, a nap sounds right pleasant about now." Striker looked over at Louella. "Promise you'll not leave me behind?"
"I give you my word," Louella said solemnly. Then she dug into her inventory. "Would you like something to eat before you go to sleep?"
"Aye," he said. "That would be grand indeed." He took an apple and in less than a minute, the core lay beside him as he curled up and drifted immediately off to sleep.
"That didn't take long," Cameron said.
"I don't think he's been sleeping all that much lately," Louella said. "He's been too busy trying to watch Nika's back."
She looked over at Cameron busily tapping away at keys and fell silent. He didn't need her yammering to distract him from his work. Not for the first time, she wished they'd stolen two terminals instead of just one. She was feeling rather useless just watching him work.
When the first giant yawn hit, she realized she was being silly. She also realized that Striker must be smarter than she'd thought. He'd known a nap was in order right from the start.
Louella looked over at Cameron, hesitant to break his concentration. "Wake me if you need me," she whispered.
He nodded, his fingers never hesitating in their flight across the keys. She wished she could do that. When she was keying, the whole world melted away. She was rather jealous that he could stay tuned in even while working. Maybe he could teach her his trick. After all, they'd have lots of time together. The rest of their virtual lives, in fact.
It didn't seem like she'd been asleep all that long when she felt Cameron's hand on her shoulder giving her a gentle nudge.
"It's ready," he said.
Looking up, she saw the swirling magic doorway as Striker had called it, open and ready a few yards from the fountain. It was one of the most welcoming sights she had ever seen.
"Time to go home?" she asked, reaching over to poke Striker into waking up.
Cameron gave her a fatherly smile and a short nod.
"Time to go home."
CHAPTER THIRTY: Trial's Gaia
At least this Gaia was a smaller one, Nika thought, studying the goddess. She really wished there was some indication of how powerful she was though. The clerk had said the Grand Master would have critters around the fifty level mark, but that didn't tell her how high Gaia's level was.
The goddess did seem different though. For one thing, the wind wasn't moving her robes as it had always done in the past. In fact, if anything the goddess looked a bit confused to be standing there. Of course, her confusion ended when she spied Nika and her friends standing before her.
"You again?" Gaia asked, outraged. "I thought I dealt with your puny group once and for all!"
"Surprise," Nika said gravely. "Here we are yet again."
The goddess looked her in the eyes. "What will it take to get rid of you all?"
Nika shrugged. "If we win this battle, that would do it," she said. "We'll all go through the doorway that opens and be out of your hair."
Gaia’s brow creased as she raised a hand to comb through her hair.
"It's just a figure of speech we use," Nika said, trying out a smile. This form of Gaia was at least a little bit more approachable. Whether or not that meant anything was yet to be seen.
"You know I cannot simply let you win," Gaia said. "No matter how tempting it is to be done with the lot of you. You must take the win honestly," She paused. "Do you think you can do that?"
Nika thought she heard a wisp of hope in the goddess' voice. She must be as tired of them as they were of her.
"I certainly hope so," Nika said.
Gaia nodded, then raised to her full, towering height. Not quite what it had been in previous battles, but still impressive. And, yes, the wind came from nowhere to start blowing her robes in its breeze. Some things were just meant to be.
"I call forth Blood Elf and Desert Bandit," Gaia shouted, raising both her hands into the air. So much for this being a critter battle.
Nika thought quickly. As long as Gaia didn't take the stage, that should mean she wasn't in the fight, even as a healer. If that were the case, then Ash could sit this one out. Should Gaia step in, Ash could too to even the numbers.
"Tiger-man and Amazon," Nika called out, stepping onto the stage as she did so.
The others filed in at the stage's edge, ready in case Nika needed to call them in.
This time they didn't have the advantage of the monsters they faced having to take battle turns. This fight was real-time
all the way. But without Gaia healing her warriors every time they got down to half-life and giving them added strength each time she did so, at least the fight was a fairly even one.
And Nika and Evan had something Gaia's warriors didn't have. A raging motivation to end this. That seemed to make a big difference. Within a very few minutes of battle, they had their two warriors down and both Nika and Evan were still above half-life. When her elf and bandit were defeated, Gaia stepped up on the platform and called forth two more blood elves.
Nika wiped the virtual blood from her lip and called in Ash. Even as she stepped onto the stage, the girl cast full party heal. From what Nika had been told, potions couldn't be used in the Trials' arenas, but then this wasn't your typical arena. There wasn't a critter to be seen right now.
Taking a small risk, she tossed Ash a large mana potion and was happy to see the girl smile. It must have worked. Good. Nika had a good supply of those, and she'd keep feeding them to Ash if the girl could just keep the party healed and fighting.
Gaia had still not made a single attack on them, leaving the fighting to her warriors. Though she did start to heal them. That wasn't a good sign at all. How were they supposed to kill them if she kept healing them at every turn?
Maybe the answer was to keep the goddess too busy to cast her spells. Nika raised her ax and darted between the two fierce elven warriors in a rushed run straight to Gaia. Taking the biggest risk of all, she used her AllOut ability and poured some of her health points into her attack at the same time she activated her ax's ability to give her even more strength and attack. Gaia stepped back in surprise, but she didn't seem to have the same powers as she did within the Gaia's Rebirth gameplay.
The goddess raised her hands as though she expected something to happen, but nothing did. A look of shock came over her lovely features as she realized her powers had been taken from her for this final battle. Then her expression turned stony and a glowing sword appeared in her hand.
Nika's Viking speed and strength that her ax lent her were enough to allow her to dodge the goddess' blade and circle around to her open side. Swinging her ax as hard as she could, she felt it cut into Gaia's side. But the goddess had speed and strength of her own. A quick twist of her body just as Nika's ax landed took what should have been a killing blow down to little more than a scratch.
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