I Am Gamer III

by Gabriel Rathweg

  I stared at the man for longer than necessary, for so long that he and his men shared an uncomfortable look. Good, I wanted them off balance, plus the guy was a total douchebag, I loved the slang that I now knew from bonding with Law. We just hadn’t had the kind of swears and curses that my fiancé and the brothers O’ Conghaile, them especially, taught us. Also, the new idioms and expletives just felt great to say. Bull Bear turned his gaze back to me and this time he didn’t try to hide his feelings, his visage screamed his emotions out loud. The way his eyes squinted and the exaggerated sneer on his lips showed what he really thought of me.

  “Listen wench, I don’t have time for your petty female games…” Bull Bear began.

  Dancing Lion’s eyes went wide and this time her saber was out of her sheath in a split second, my hand on her shoulder was the only thing stopping her from striking the man down. Bull Bear took me halting her as a sign of weakness and then snorted continuing his rhetoric. Not realizing that with every single word he spoke his situation became worse and worse.

  “Good, at least you have the sense to control your bitch.” He laughed. “As I was saying we don’t have the time for your…”

  I ignored the rest of the idiocy that was spewing out of his mouth and focused on my second in command. The rage was visible in Dancing Lion’s aura, it was a tangible thing, the insult had been too much. Besides, I was pissed too, so I just nodded at her and let go of her shoulder.

  “Don’t kill him if you can help it.” I instructed, and she just nodded in response, turning and striding towards the still speaking Cheyenne scion.

  The man paused as Dancing Lion approached and stopped just a foot from him. She was almost two feet shorter than him, as she was just a little under five feet tall and he was at least six foot and change.

  “Oh, what is it you want little girl? Let me finish talking with your head bitch and then we can spend some quality time together.” Bull Bear said, giving Dancing Lion a leering grin and motioning suggestively with his whole body.

  This caused both his companions to laugh loudly and then make lewd gestures at her as well. Bull Bear gave his friends a gesture to stop but I could tell he wasn’t serious, and his response was more mocking than ever. He looked back at Dancing Lion with a patronizing expression.

  “Apologize.” She said, simply.

  “Why would I…” Bull Bear started to say.

  Dancing Lion’s empty hand shot out like a striking snake and slapped the big man on the side of the face with a loud crack. Even though it was an openhanded slap with her goddess and magically enhanced strength from being a Rider it hit like a haymaker. Bull Bear rocked to the side surprise followed by pain clear on his face. He held a hand up to his rapidly swelling cheek as anger blossomed in his eyes and he snarled then threw a punch at Dancing Lion.

  The smaller woman moved at the last second, swaying to the side and Bull Bear’s punch missed by centimeters. Dancing Lion grabbed his arm as it went by and pulled forward, yanking him off balance and sending him tumbling forward to crash down at the base of the chair I was currently sitting in. His two companions reacted as I expected and both rushed Dancing Lion, looking to tackle the smaller woman.

  The Jicarilla scion turned as they rushed her and easily dodged them both, sliding in between them with a dancer’s grace and taking advantage of their off balanced attacks. I watched as Dancing Lion dismantled the two men with quick unarmed punches, kicks, elbows, and knees. My mind wandered for a moment and I thought back to the training and knowledge Law had given me before he left, and what I had subsequently taught the Riders.

  TRACK 8 – BALL FOR ME – POST MALONE, NICKI MINAJ

  MOON FLOWER

  “So, this is probably the best fighting style for most people with smaller stature and less muscle than a larger warrior or in your case a larger man. It’s pretty hardcore but I figured you’d be into learning about it, what do you say?” Law asked.

  “Wait, so I get learn a way to kick your ass? Oh, I’m definitely in.” I said, grinning at my man.

  “Ha, good, as you can see you know the style now, that was imparted due to your new abilities.” He explained.

  I checked and then saw he was right. I had a new message which I pulled up and quickly read.

  SKILL LEARNED…

  SILAT (Level – 1)

  This is an umbrella term for a class of marital arts that is widely proper all throughout Southeast Asia. It is a full body fighting form incorporating strikes, grappling, throwing, and weaponry. Every part of the body is used and subject to attack and defense. It is practiced not only for physical defense and offense but also for psychological strengthening and mental fortitude.

  I closed the window after reading the description and refocused on what my fiancé was explaining.

  “…since you have the technical knowledge, I figure with some practical examples you should be able to become proficient with it and be able to use it rather quickly. Are you ready?” Law asked.

  “Am I ready? This is the fighting style you use, of course I want to do it. I’m going to fuck you to shit!” I exclaimed, smiling like a shark, although my words seemed to have the opposite effect on my fiancé, and he chuckled loudly at me.

  “While I would enjoy that immensely my dear, I think you meant to say, I’m going to fuck your shit up.” He replied, still giggling.

  “Yes, what’s the difference? It doesn’t matter, let’s get this road on the show!” I replied, accessing the information I had just received and dropping into a Silat fighting stance, a low growl escaping my lips.

  Law stopped laughing as he caught my demeanor, cleared his throat, taking a fighting stance of his own just a few feet away.

  “Ok, I see you’re not screwing around. Let’s start with some basic moves and then get more advanced from…” He began, I didn’t let him continue and struck first.

  While I had just learned this style of fighting, I was no novice to battle. She who strikes first laughs last, my father would often say. This was a good philosophy and had always worked in the past, but this time it didn’t. Law reacted the moment I moved forward and dodged my blow with ease, coming towards me and inside my attacking fist then he hit me with a knee strike to my middle, which I barely blocked, and followed it up with an elbow strike I barely saw coming from my periphery. Even though I could see the attack I couldn’t move out of the way in time and then, nothing.

  My eyes fluttered open and I looked around me a little disoriented. I saw my fiancé looking down on me with concern on his face.

  “Are you ok?” He asked.

  I smiled up at him in response then I remembered his elbow and put the pieces together, my smile quickly changing to a scowl.

  “Yes, I’m fine, let’s continue and don’t you think of holding back!” I said brusquely, standing up, ignoring his proffered hand and brushing myself off before getting back into a ready stance.

  “Ah, ok then let’s go.” He replied, dropping back into his own fighting form.

  I rushed in again just as he set himself and history repeated itself. This time though, I blocked the first elbow he threw. This time when I woke up, I didn’t say anything and just got myself ready. My fiancé quietly reset himself and we continued in this vain for a bit. By the time I woke up from my tenth or was it eleventh knockout, I wasn’t quite sure, but I knew I was getting the handle of it. Each of our successive bouts went longer and by the end of the morning I was proficient enough not to get knocked out, although I was still getting hit and my body felt bruised from head to toe.

  “I think you’ve got the hang of it.” Law said, after our last bout.

  “Yes, now let us head to the bathing area, I want to wash all this sweat, stink, and blood off. Plus, I seem to have a raging need to, as you corrected me earlier, fuck the shit out of you.” I said, grinning at my fiancé, then turning and walking away.

  “Oh, that’s a great idea!” He exclaimed, following close behind.

  I shook my he
ad grinning at the memory and the sexual escapades that had gone on during and after our bath. Fighting had an instinctual way of making me super horny and my fiancé only ignited that feeling even more. I really was lucky to have such an amazing man in my life, the fact that I knew he felt the same about me made it even better. We had fucked the shit out of each other for a few hours that day, it was of my fondest memories. I shook my head and refocused on the just finishing bout.

  Dancing Lion had made short work of the two Cheyenne warriors and the commotion had caused the guards outside to rush in with weapons drawn. I waved them away and they looked around concerned but left with a nod and salute, just as Bull Bear groggily made it to his knees. They had learned to listen to me without hesitation immediately after the revealing of Chief Crows Feet as a Skinwalker. They were one hundred percent loyal and trusted me implicitly now.

  My second in command walked slowly over to Bull Bear, who was mostly coherent and saw the diminutive warrior woman stalking towards him. His nose was bleeding, and his face was puffing up from the strike, and then more so from his face slamming into the base of the chair.

  “Gah, you bwoke my noshe. I’ll kill…” He started to rage.

  Dancing Lion didn’t even pause, she just open faced slapped him again. Her first strike hit the opposite cheek from earlier and she followed it up with slap after slap, giving the big man no respite. His angered shouts turned to yelps and grunts of pain. Dancing Lion gave him the ultimate insult by beating him with no weapons and with open hands. My love called it a bitch slap. I finally realized why it was funny and chuckled softly then stood up. My comrade had punished the man enough. I walked down and grabbed her arm mid swing and she turned to me her gaze fierce and full of bloodlust.

  “That’s enough Dancing Lion. Look at him.” I said, letting her arm go and pointing to the weeping man.

  Her gaze turned back to the broken Cheyenne scion and she seemed to snap out of her rage fueled daze. Still, her expression didn’t soften, and she spit on Bull Bear the ultimate sign of disrespect.

  “As I warned earlier, you would do well to watch how you speak. Now, take your warriors.” I scoffed and laughed at the term. “Take them and leave, run back to your father, tell him we know he is a Skinwalker. We know and we are coming. You are lucky we let you live.”

  He shuffled away in sobbing stints, moving to his men who were just regaining consciousness. The two of them got up and then all three stumbled out of the yurt, heads down and moving as fast as their beat-up bodies would let them.

  “You… you are crazy, what Skinwalker nonsense? I will tell my father about this, be warned we will return.” Bull Bear croaked, over his shoulders as he ran.

  Dancing Lion bristled and moved to go after them, but I just shook my head in the negative and grinned. A second later Fuzzy roared and Winston whinnied as loud as they could.

  Shouts and screams of the three Cheyenne sounded out followed after by the laughing of the guards outside.

  “What’s that smell?” One of the guards, Laughing Lizard, called out.

  “They’ve pissed themselves.” Another guard, Jumping Frog, guffawed.

  “And shit themselves!” The third guard, Clawing Snake, laughed.

  More roaring, screaming, laughing, and then the sounds eventually faded away.

  Dancing Lion and I shared a laugh so good that we both ended up crying. It was a few minutes before we got control of ourselves and caught our collective breath. Then she turned serious and gave me a questioning look.

  “Why do you let them leave?” She asked, perplexed.

  “Because, I’m not sure that they are truly evil. Jerks, assholes, stupid, and idiotic, but not evil. If they truly don’t know what their Chief has become, then we may still help them.” I replied.

  “Ha, then maybe I shouldn’t have beat them so badly.” Dancing Lion mused.

  “No, the douchebags deserved it. Send a few of our best scouts to trail after them unseen. I would like more information before we get there.”

  Dancing Lion raised her eyebrow in question.

  “We need to go save the ones we can if possible, and if that idiot can help, we are going to use him. Whether he wants to or not.” I said.

  “I guess so, you’re the First Rider. I’ll go get the scouts. I think your sisters are back.” She said, waving as she walked out.

  I went back and sat down on the chair. My periphery had been blinking for a bit. It was time to check my messages, I pulled up the first.

  NEW COMPANION GAINED, FUZZY MINION OF HASTEOLTOI…

  NAME – Fuzzy Minion of Hasteoltoi – Mount

  PET CLASS – War Bear – Purple – Legendary

  LEVEL – 7

  EXPERIENCE – 28468//40000

  HIT POINTS – 150/150

  WEAPONS – Claws x 8, Bite x 3

  SKILLS – Furry Armored Hide (Level – 6), Furious Roar (Level – 4), Taunt (Level – 1)

  ARMOR – Furry Armored Hide

  Fuzzy is one of the goddesses Hasteoltoi’s younger mounts. One of the goddesses past times is raising sacred beasts and training them for war, among other things. This animal was practically raised from birth to fight in battle. Both parents were sacred beasts and Fuzzy comes from a long line of them.

  Wow, the bear was so strong, and it was so high a level, thanks for the gift Hasteoltoi. The one thing I saw though that intrigued me was the skill Taunt. I checked the unfamiliar skill out.

  TAUNT (Level – 1)

  This skill lets allows the user the ability to use their magical power to focus an aura that taunts all enemies in a ten-foot radius, causing them to want to attack the user. This skill gains in power and ability as it levels up.

  I closed the screen and pulled up the next.

  2173 EXPERIENCE GAINED BY RIDERS OF EARTH AND SKY… WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASSIGN EXPERIENCE EQUALLY… Y/N?

  I selected yes and pulled up the next message.

  NAME – Moon Flower

  RACE – Human

  ALIGNMENT – Neutral Good

  CLASS – Fiancé

  EXPERIENCE – 2138/2500

  LEVEL – 3

  HIT POINTS – 36/36

  MAGIC POINTS – 36/36

  The Companions to Jack-of-all-Trades are their own entities but gain bonuses from being a companion. The Fiancé class lets both fiancés share skills and all other aspects of life. The amount increases with level. Class gets own experience and upgrades different than Jack-of-all-Trades.

  NAME – Winston ‘Triumph’ Wrath

  PET CLASS – War Stallion – Purple – Legendary

  LEVEL – 3

  EXPERIENCE – 1692/2500

  HIT POINTS – 30/30

  WEAPONS – Hooves x 4, Bite x 1

  SKILLS – Leathery Armored Hide (Level – 1), Double Tap (Level – 1)

  ARMOR – Natural Hide

  The Mount is the secondary animal companion to the Jack-of-all-Trades. By sharing a portion of his master’s experience, the Mount will level up and gain skills of its own. Leveling up will increase abilities and intelligence of Mount, allowing communication between him and his Master over longer distances and with greater clarity.

  THE RIDERS OF EARTH AND SKY (LEVEL – 3)

  FIRST RIDER – Moon Flower (LVL 3)

  SECOND RIDER – Dancing Lion (LVL 2)

  ELITE RIDERS – Ice Blossom (LVL 2), Night Star (LVL 2), Stone Fox (LVL 2)

  RIDERS – JICARILLA 15/15 (LVL 2)

  SKILLS – HORSEMANSHIP (LEVEL – 1), ARCHERY (LEVEL – 2), SPEAR WEILDING (LEVEL – 1), FAMILIAR (LEVEL – 1), SWORDSMANSHIP (LEVEL – 2), BUILDING (LEVEL – 2), SILAT (Level – 1)

  Gifted with knowledge by the goddesses Ateantsic and Shakaru, The Riders are innately bonded with their companion horses and have the skill to ride and care for them as if having done it from birth. The Riders are the first of the ancient horse warriors reborn from legend. The Rider and horse are now able to sense each other’s thoughts at a base level, the ability will
grow with level and usage.

  The Riders and me were so close to leveling, maybe even the next battle. I closed the last message and headed out. There was still a lot of work to do.

  TRACK 9 – DAYS GO BY – DIRTY VEGAS

  That first day was a nonstop affair. After we had eaten and talked things out the work had begun. Sage returned having learned what he needed about his new skills and abilities. The brothers as well had leveled up and were comfortable with the new processes. After that, the warriors and all the other people living in the fort town came to the main hall area. When they were all gathered Sage quieted them down then cleared his throat and explained what the new goals were, who I was, and about the new war against those who caused The Great Suffering, along with the addition of monsters of legend.

  Runners were sent to Asgard on the inland sea and they were told to have the Chief and the rest of Arun’s family come to Thrudheim. The news of the attack by the horde of monsters was relayed, then he explained how we all would be fighting in this war, every man, woman, and child of the Norse Ojibwe, and every single other tribe. Then he turned it over to me.

  The mass of people, I guesstimated about a hundred and fifty or so, looked at me with expectant faces. Thanks Sage, I shook my head, then refocused on the crowd and cleared my throat.

  “It is as Sage has said, now we are all one people. You are now my tribe and my family. Now it is time to build, train, and prepare. Already, the monsters gather, the bringers of The Great Suffering are marching to finish the task they started so many years ago. We will be going nonstop from now on, we will be exhausted, every day will be a study in agony, but I promise you it will be worth it. We will destroy our enemies, take our vengeance, and save our people. Are you ready?” I finished the last, raising my voice and fist into the air.