by Oliver Mayes
Lillian had something in mind.
Richard had evaded her for the third time when Lillian activated Divine Might and sprinted full-on. It only took a second to reach him. She thought she might catch him out with the pattern he was displaying: four seconds then a dive, maintaining his health as much as possible. Magnitude clapped his hands above his head as soon as he sprung from below, merging the end of his first tunnel with the start of the next. He hadn’t even looked at her. That lined up with what Damien had shown her in his footage: Magnitude had known Damien’s location even when he was out of line of sight. A sensory ability, related to his earth mage theme.
Keeping Divine Might activated, Lillian continued her blitz. Magnitude responded the exact same way. So it hadn’t been a fluke. He definitely knew. Lillian’s mana had been low even before this started. Magnitude was always moving in a straight line, always the same distance away to what Lillian assumed to be the maximum range of the ability. Behaving so predictably was a cardinal sin in PvP. As much as Lillian wanted to keep this up and let Richard drain his own health some more, it wasn’t viable. She’d run out of mana before he ran out of health, assuming he didn’t change tactic. If her mana dropped any lower she wouldn’t be able to enact her plan. Enacting it right now would give her less than five seconds of full use. Deactivating Divine Might so her mana regen could kick in would allow Magnitude to draw further ahead and fully regenerate. She had to make this work now.
Lillian planted the balls of her steel-plated feet deep into the floor. Her toes curled into the ground, through her steel boots, searching for purchase to propel her forward to where Richard would next appear. With Excalibur in hand and Divine Might activated, her strength was high enough to damage her own gear if she didn’t exercise restraint.
The situation did not warrant restraint.
Magnitude’s head disappeared from view and she launched, leaving a pair of craters where she’d expended maximum force. In flight, she activated her level 50 trait. Uriel’s Blessing. Excalibur glowed white hot, then burst into flame.
Uriel’s Blessing: Mana cost: 510, Damage: 50 + (Str x 0.1) per second for 10 seconds, Effect: Armor Piercing 50%
Uriel, the angel of repentance, bestows holy fire on your weapon for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
This was only the third time Lillian had activated this ability. The first had been a private test on a fully armored training dummy in her Throne Room, to see whether it was really as good as it claimed to be. It was. The second time was in battle, when she’d been using it to sear through the gate. She’d simply pierced it with Excalibur up to the hilt and dragged it across the middle. It had been working, until Archimonde had showed up. It would’ve worked afterwards, too, if Damien were capable of not being himself for five minutes. That had turned out alright though, in spite of everything.
Lillian had not chosen this trait because it sounded cool and looked pretty. Whatever Magnitude was, this trait was the cure. It would kill plenty of other things as well, but this unknown class in particular. Richard’s pudgy little body had at least one useful benefit besides magic resistance. He was completely encased in his jade armor. There were no gaps to exploit. The armor piercing would allow Lillian to create her own gaps. The burning effect would prevent Magnitude’s natural healing. That she could house these effects in an indestructible legendary sword was the stuff of nonsense.
Magnitude popped out of the ground right in front of her. He wouldn’t know where Lillian was, because she wasn’t touching the ground. It only took him a fraction of a second to realize something was terribly wrong. Because Lillian ran him through.
Magnitude skidded through the dirt as the rest of Lillian collided with him, Excalibur cutting a furrow through the earth where it protruded out of his chest. His health was at 32% and dropping fast. Lillian’s mana was nearly completely empty from activating Uriel’s Blessing, and she only had a few seconds of Divine Might left. She didn’t waste time activating Numbers:14. All that was left was the killing blow.
She was withdrawing Excalibur to administer it when Magnitude’s health dropped to 19%. His right hand swept through the ground and up, backhanding a boulder into Lillian’s face. One second of space was all he needed.
“Renewal!”
Magnitude’s health was restored to full and the burning effect was gone. Lillian had only just reopened her eyes when the light of Magnitude’s activated artifact blinded her. She’d really hoped to kill him before he could use the damn thing. She set her shield in front of her, protecting herself from any boulders that might be coming. Two slabs of rock smashed into her on either side instead. Her mana bar empty, Divine Might fizzled out. Her armor had shielded her from some of the damage, but now it was a crumpled mess and her health had been cut down to 60%. Magnitude had 85% health and rising.
At least she’d tried. Which is when Andrew spoke to her over the voice chat. It was so long since he’d spoken she’d forgotten it was still active.
“I saw the *pip* flash, I’m on *pip* my way, how *pip* it looking over *pip* there?”
Lillian was too busy to wonder why Andrew’s voice was cutting in and out. Now Magnitude had gotten her in this position, he was pressing his advantage. Magnitude threw another boulder at her as she advanced on him, and she sliced it in half with her still-burning sword, marking the end of her stamina. He only had one resource to worry about compared to Lillian’s three, all of which were low.
Now he had control of this, Lillian would never get it back. Her burst strategy had failed and he was wearing her down by attrition. If Andrew showed up, that just meant Magnitude would get both of them. Andrew wouldn’t have been able to keep up with them once Magnitude had started running anyway. He had to stay away.
“Don’t come, I—”
Magnitude placed his palms on the floor. Lillian jumped backward just in time to avoid being crushed, but her stamina was now so low she couldn’t maintain balance. She hit the floor and rolled to her knees, panting. She only just managed to raise her shield in time to block the next boulder thrown at her, which protected her from most of the damage but sent her tumbling further.
“—I tried, I couldn’t beat him. Defend the wa—”
Magnitude’s palms hit the floor again. His health was low, but he was intent on finishing her off. Lillian activated Divine Might a fraction of a second before the slabs hit and braced. It wasn’t worth much with her stamina so low, but it was the best she could do. She reduced the damage, but not by much. If only she’d started this fight with full stamina and mana, things might have been different. They’d won the war, but she’d always regret not making Magnitude pay for what he’d done. Andrew’s voice, oddly demure given the circumstances, came back over the chat.
“Don’t be *pip* so dramatic, I’ll *pip* be there soon to *pip* sort this out.”
No! Why was he coming here? He had to know he couldn’t handle Magnitude in a one-on-one fight. The only reason Lillian wasn’t dead yet was that Magnitude had run out of health to attack her with. He was down to 18%. He was biding his time, allowing his health to rise back up now he was in control. Lillian staggered to her feet and adopted her combat stance. She had to kill Magnitude before Andrew got there.
She took a step forward and Magnitude took a step back. Really? Still afraid of her, even only a spell or two from victory? Which is when Lillian heard the faint, rhythmic pips from behind her. She couldn’t turn her back on Magnitude to see what it was. She didn’t have to: Andrew Blinked to her side and twisted his wrist. It shone green and a circle of glowing runes appeared in his palm, turning anticlockwise. His other hand held out a health potion in front of Lillian at chest height.
“Drink.”
Magnitude raised a hand, as if to ward his brother away.
“Andrew, I don’t want to fi—”
The moment Lillian took the potion Andrew Blinked again. He was standing right in front of Magnitude. His right hand twisted and the green circle glowed and span in h
is palm. His left index finger jabbed Magnitude on the nose. He uttered a single high-pitched syllable as ridiculous as the gesture it accompanied.
“Boop.”
Magnitude seized Andrew’s hand in one of his and was cocking the other one back to punch his younger brother into tomorrow when Andrew Blinked again. His third Blink in five seconds. It was supposed to have a thirty-second cooldown. That glowing green circle had to be his level 50 ability. If Lillian had understood what it did correctly, it was pretty mint. He was resetting the cooldown of his Blink instantly. Why he’d gone to all that effort just to boop Magnitude on the nose was—
Magnitude screamed. Lillian stared at him dumbfounded. He had a single scratch on his face. A tiny slither of blood was trickling out of it. His health was no longer regenerating. It was frozen, at 48%. Even that tiny cut was enough to cancel out his health regeneration. Andrew tipped a mana potion to his lips, mumbling to Lillian in singsong over the comms from behind it.
“Stop gawking and drink the potion, please.”
Lillian tipped the bottle up as fast as she could and started drinking it down. Magnitude had the same idea. A potion appeared in his hand, but before he could drink it Andrew had flung an Arcane Bolt and steered it into the potion. It exploded in Magnitude’s face. Andrew nonchalantly finished off his own potion, then went back to staring at his brother.
Magnitude completely lost it. With a scream of rage, he dug his hand into the earth and hurled a boulder at Andrew. Andrew Blinked through it and was standing in front of Magnitude again. Wrist twist–
“Boop.”
In the second it took Magnitude to equip his pickax weapon, Andrew had already Blinked back to Lillian’s side. A second cut had appeared on Magnitude’s face and he was down to 38% health, mainly by his own hand. Whatever spell Andrew was using, it was hardly doing any damage at all. Andrew drew another mana potion and thrust that at Lillian, too.
“Drink.”
Magnitude turned on the spot and tunneled away from them. He emerged, his health at 18%, and thrust his hand out for another potion. Andrew was on him in two Blinks and a twist of his hand. He fired a single-handed Arcane Beam directly into Magnitude’s face. It was just a short burst, but more than enough to break a glass bottle.
“Boop. Lillian, I need some muscle. Come here, please. Boop.”
While the show had been going on, her stamina had regenerated a great deal. Lillian jogged over. Magnitude was trying to run while Andrew kept pace at a brisk walk, periodically jabbing the back of his brother’s head with a single outstretched finger.
“Boop. You hear that, Richard? Boop. That’s the sound of all your plans. Boop. Dying. Boooooooooooooooooop.”
Magnitude turned and took a swing at Andrew. Andrew took a step back, then stepped back in and deftly tapped him on the head yet again. Lillian walked past Magnitude, her sword drawn, and blocked his path. Andrew didn’t take his eyes off Magnitude as he gave his instructions.
“We don’t know what the cooldown on his artifact is. Boop. I’d rather not do this again, so take it off him, please. Boop.”
Every time he tapped his brother Andrew made the same ridiculous high-pitched noise, jarring completely with the gravity of the situation. It was annoying Richard to no end, but there was nothing he could do about it. All his points were in strength or constitution. Without the stamina or agility to support running and without the necessary health to use his personalized Blink, he couldn’t even get close enough to Andrew to hit him.
Lillian had to remind herself what Magnitude had done, in order to reconcile it with what Andrew was now doing. Cornering a player and stealing his artifact was pretty low, even on Andrew’s worst day. Magnitude backed away as Lillian advanced on him. Andrew lost his temper.
“I’ll make this simple: give me the artifact or Lillian will take everything on your person and kill you where you stand. Boop. If you give us the artifact, I’ll give it back when I’m finished talking to you and I won’t kill you. Boop. As a bonus, if you cooperate I’ll stop ‘booping’ when I do the spell. Boop.”
Magnitude swatted his hand away and sneered at him.
“How da—”
“AH-AH-AH! Don’t talk to me, we’re long past that. Shut up and do as you’re told. Boop.”
Magnitude glared at him, his fists shaking in impotent rage. He’d stopped talking, but he didn’t hand over the artifact.
“Okay. Lillian, remo—”
Magnitude thrust his hand out and a piece of artistry appeared within it. His artifact looked a great deal more elaborate than the one he’d given Andrew. Just a day ago Andrew’s artifact had seemed so incredible, yet now items which far outclassed it were appearing all the time.
Andrew didn’t seem to care much. He tapped the underside of Magnitude’s hand, reapplying the same spell again but without ‘booping’ him this time, and leaned in to examine the artifact. Lillian examined it with him.
Gaia’s Embrace: Upon the verbal command “Renewal”, your hit points are immediately restored to full and any adverse effects on you are removed. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
New information. That’s nice to have. Andrew took it one stage further.
“The artifact you made for me granted a level 50 arcane mage trait. I guess this one’s a minecrafter trait?”
Lillian heard the word and furrowed her brow. It had come out of nowhere. She hadn’t realized what it meant yet. Magnitude did. He looked horrified. Andrew glanced up at Magnitude, nodded in satisfaction at his turmoil and then looked at Lillian.
“Oh, sorry, didn’t explain that properly. Richard is a minecrafter. That’s the name of his class. I saw Damien’s guesses and did some research – the armor made of precious minerals, the pickaxe as a weapon choice for a caster, the magical manipulation of the ground, overlapping the dwarven lore so neatly. Yeah, Mobius Enterprises pulled a fast one on us. Until now.”
Lillian looked at Magnitude, knowing his class name, and it appeared above his head. The question marks were all gone. Magnitude’s biggest advantage was lost; he was now a known entity that could be researched, recognized and understood by all. Andrew kept blithely talking, as if he hadn’t undermined his older brother’s efforts to remain a mystery with a carelessly uttered word.
“You can take the artifact back, we won’t be here that long. Keep your hand out though, unless you’d rather I went back to poking your face.”
Magnitude numbly dropped the artifact into his inventory. Andrew was already talking again. Dismantling.
“The spell I’m using is called ‘Inflict Wounds’. There’s a reason for that: it inflicts a bleed for ten seconds on top of the initial damage and has a one-second cooldown. Shorter than the duration of the bleed, which is all that matters.”
He was periodically tapping the back of Magnitude’s hand as he spoke.
“I always thought it was a joke ability. No mage wants to get within poking distance of their enemies. It has at least one very useful function, though: making your construction-based class completely useless in combat.”
Lillian wondered why he was explaining it in such detail. Then it hit her: he was broadcasting this information live.
“Any damage-over-time spell will work. Corruption from an occultist is a surefire winner, for example. I picked this lame, ignored, easily accessible ability because I wanted to show everyone how vulnerable you are.”
Andrew had been talking long enough for the Inflict Wounds spell to bring Magnitude down to 5% health. Four whole percentage points after four minutes of affliction. Yet Magnitude was completely crippled by it.
“If you had healers with you they could Dispel these effects and this would’ve been more complicated. But your recruitment strategy for the Carlisle-Elite stipulated prospective members had to kill Empire players. The Carlisle-Elite had no dedicated healers! Bit of an oversight, don’t you think?”
Magnitude swung at him out of nowhere, only for Andrew to Blink out and then back in again behind him, pokin
g the back of his head for good measure. Magnitude had completely lost any semblance of control over his fate, or anyone else’s. Andrew was drawing this out. Lillian understood, but she still felt it was enough.
“Andrew, you’ve got him where you want him. He’s taken enough of our time.”
“Sure, sorry. I’m about ready to wrap this up.”
Andrew pulled a utility belt out of his Bag of Holding, then swapped them around. The Bag of Holding was in the palm of his hand.
“Disconnect from inventory.”
He tossed the Bag of Holding in Magnitude’s face.
“I don’t need any “gifts” from you. Or anything else. The artifact you crafted from my material is gone, but seeing how you stole from Rising Tide’s vault and framed it on me, we’ll call that even. You have no reason to contact me, so don’t. Have a nice life. I wish you the best of luck.”
He grabbed Richard’s limp, outstretched hand and shook it. Reapplying Inflict Wounds for the last time. Andrew released him and stalked away on foot, equipping his utility belt. Lillian took his place in front of Magnitude. She only had a few seconds to make a very important decision.
“You’re really not killing him?”
Andrew looked Magnitude up and down, then back to Lillian, and shrugged.
“He’s dead to me.”
That was all well and good, but thousands of players hadn’t shown up that day so Lillian could preside over a metaphorical death. She drew her sword, immediately activating Uriel’s Blessing and Divine Might. Magnitude stood motionless. It wouldn’t have made any difference if he ran, but he had no will to survive. He’d been keen enough to submit his artifact before. Now he was past caring.
Lillian almost felt sorry for him. Almost. She planted her feet.
“My heart isn’t as big as Andrew’s.”
Richard’s health had just started ticking up again when Lillian dragged Excalibur across her body at waist height. A quarter of her full stamina was expended in a double-handed, stone-crunching, flesh-searing blow. Richard’s head rolled across the floor. His body teetered forward and hit the ground with a thud. Game.