Fantasy Justice: Incarceration

Friday, March 19th, 2060

Northeast of Felorius, Unholy Alliance Territory

Another day, another eight grueling hours of combat practice. But at least this time, May had something to look forward to—the Magical Girls were about to take their PvE tests. These challenges would determine if the four women were truly ready to face the dangers of Fantasy’s dungeons.

There were several hundred inmates present in the usual field northeast of the city. Some were involved in private lessons, while others had gathered in anticipation of watching the four women undergo their tests.

Due to their talent at fighting and striking look, the fledgling party had garnered a following. What they still did not have was a fifth member—most new inmates quickly joined a guild, which kept the pool of applicants small. The three aspiring adventurers they had evaluated in the last week had proven untalented. Despite this, they continued to advertise in the usual ways. Sara had even bought an ad in the city’s free newspaper.

Despite being a woman short, the party had just won a contest against the five inmates of Death Legion. The combatants on each side acknowledged the battle with the usual respectful nods.

Like many parties, the teenage members of Death Legion had adopted a gimmick in hopes of gaining a show—in this case, it was a theme of undeath. They were all vampires who always wore their fangs out. Each member was dressed in identical, dark medieval clothing with capes. They were all armed with cold iron swords and shields. Their armor was made of the same metal—half-plate for the tank Aiden, and chain mail shirts for the three mages. The healer Chloe had no visible armor, but she presumably wore a chain bikini under her clothes.

Save Aiden, everyone in the party had a zombie pet—the creatures were currently all lying still on the ground, casualties of the recent conflict. Zombies in Fantasy Justice were boring in May’s opinion—there were no missing jaws, spilled guts, or noticeable rotting about them. They were just extremely pale, with dark circles around their eyes. Each was dressed in peasant clothing. Chloe’s zombie, which looked like a young girl, was as adorable as it was creepy.

Maybe Death Legion’s grim look was not a bad idea on paper, but May felt that they were collectively too nerdy and too white to pull it off. Chloe’s platinum blonde hair, pale skin, and blood red painted lips might have made for a good vampire look—but she was so slouched and timid that she made Pari look fierce by comparison.

Aiden at least had some charisma. But with his messy dark hair and often goofy smile, he was not exactly intimidating.

Finally there were the three mages, who had used their plea bargains to alter their bodies. They were all tall and muscular, with chiseled jaws, five o’clock shadows, and perfect hair. They all had movie star good looks—unfortunately, they had unwittingly based their character models on the same movie star. As a result, they were nearly impossible to tell apart. They had all forgotten to modify their voices as well, and each of them was gratingly dorky. May could not stand the trio, and could not be bothered to remember their names—to her, they were Nerd One through Nerd Three.

In the aftermath of the contest, everyone dematerialized their armaments. All the members of Death Legion but Aiden each held up a hand, which began glowing with their resurrection spells. Different spells glowed in various colors—red for fire, purple for void, white for healing, and so on. Not surprisingly, necromancy was black.

Each of the vampires pointed toward their zombies. There were no magic words in Fantasy—the only requirement to cast a spell was to keep one’s feet planted for the duration, and in some cases to aim at a target. Casting was also accompanied by a low hum.

After three seconds, the spells concluded. The four zombies all rose and moved to stand passively beside their respective masters.

“Good match, everyone,” Sara said.

Aiden grinned. “You guys were amazing. But we almost had you that time!” As May looked at him, his nameplate appeared in her HUD.

Aiden Borodina

XP 0% | I1090239

Murder1

Criminal Conspiracy

Chloe moved to stand near Aiden. She then whispered something in his ear. It was rare for her to speak directly to anyone else—May strongly suspected that the young woman had an autism spectrum disorder.

“She says that she was really impressed by your last attack.” Aiden told Sara.

“Thank you, Chloe,” Sara told her with a smile. The other woman nodded slightly, but did not make eye contact.

Looking to the quiet woman caused a different nameplate to clutter May’s vision.

Chloe Clark

XP 0% | I1090238

Murder1

Criminal Conspiracy

Seeing this caused her to close the HUD—it was often distracting outside of combat. Though she could not help but wonder at Death Legion all having the same crime and sequential inmate numbers. What had these suburban kids done to get themselves thrown into Fantasy?

Clare suddenly spoke. “Aiden. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve been wondering how your party ended up in here.”

May was annoyed that she had been sharing a train of thought with her group’s tank. But she was also pleasantly surprised to see some attempt at tact—no doubt that was Sara’s influence. Ever since the party’s healer had assumed nominal leadership, their tank had been less belligerent.

“Clare...” Sara began. She nodded toward the crowd some distance away.

“No, it’s all right,” Aiden said. “We haven’t made any secret of it.

“There was someone...he hurt Chloe.” She grabbed onto his arm. “And then got off scot-free, thanks to his high priced lawyers. We dealt with it,” he finished darkly. I guess he isn’t as soft as I thought.

“And we would have gotten away with it,” Nerd One added in a nasal voice, “but Wanky talked to the cops without a lawyer.”

“Shut up!” Nerd Three whined. Three got into a slap fight with One, which caused Two to snort in laughter. There were a few laughs from onlookers as well.

“Guys, cool it!” Aiden yelled, looking back toward them. “You’re embarrassing me.” They fell silent, and he then addressed Clare once more. “Chloe had nothing to do with it. But she gave a confession anyway, and no one could convince her to withdraw it.”

Chloe grabbed his arm tighter and shook her head. “Don’t worry, no one’s going to take you away,” he whispered to her, stroking her hair. May immediately understood that she had confessed to stay with Aiden.

“It’s okay, Chloe,” Sara said gently. “No inmate has ever been removed from Fantasy, regardless of exonerating evidence. The company does a very good job of discrediting or buying off whomever they need to.”

May had never thought that she would hear that particular fact being used to comfort an inmate. But it caused Chloe to lower her arms and relax somewhat. On the other hand, Clare looked briefly troubled.

“I guess these days, everyone who isn’t rich might get treated like they’re black,” May noted wryly. “It makes for a sick kinda social progress.”

“This might be the least controversial opinion ever, but fuck the people who run this place,” Aiden joked. “Still, there’s one silver lining about being here—we don’t need any rule books or dice to play our Death Legion characters!” He grinned, while Nerds One through Three gave their obnoxious laughs.

May sighed at them, and then shared a suspicious glance with Clare when she realized that the other woman had done the same.

“It looks like it’s time for our tests,” Pari whispered nervously to May. Following the mage’s gaze, she saw John marking off the testing field using four wooden stakes connected by ropes. When he was done he approached the two parties. Sara had left out the usual wooden recruitment sign today—she now disappeared it into her inventory.

“You’re gonna do great,” May reassured Pari.

“Just relax and try your best,” Sara added.

Pari took a deep breath and exhaled. Meanwhile, Death Legion lined up to greet the new arrival. Their zombies continued to stand aimlessly.

“Hail, General Martinez. Victory for the Goblin Queen!” Aiden shouted. All five of the vampires then gave a salute by putting their right fists over their hearts and bowing their heads.

May heard someone in the nearby crowd call out. “Kiss-ass!” There were a few laughs.

John did not acknowledge the shout. He briefly put his hand over his heart.“Well met, Death Legion! Victory for our glorious Queen!”

“Hey, John,” May greeted him cheerfully.

“Hi!” Sara added. She and Pari waved, while Clare only nodded her head in acknowledgment.

“Magical Girls! You’ve already established to my satisfaction that you can hold your own in single combat. But now is the time to determine if you are ready to face the terrors of this world’s most fearsome monsters!” He continued less dramatically. “Basically, there should be no surprises here after the drills you’ve already done this past week. The important things are to monitor your stats and to follow the oldest rule of massively multiplayer gaming—don’t stand in fire.

“May, you’re up first! Death Legion has agreed to assist with these tests. Their three mages will be firing area bursts at you periodically. They will purposefully telegraph when their attacks are coming. You’ll need to avoid them as much as possible, while doing as much damage to me as possible. During the first phase, I won’t attack. In the latter phases, you’ll have to evade increased attacks from myself and the mages. While all this is happening, targets in the form of Death Legion’s remaining members will periodically run by. Hit them with your own burst spell. Use of potions is not allowed. Straying out the testing area is not allowed. Reach phase three, and you’ve passed. Understood?”

“Got it.” With Sara’s help, May had purchased all four of her spells. The first was impact—it was a costly spell to use in terms of mana supply, but it greatly increased damage on a single strike.

Next, May had an area fire burst for dealing with clusters of monsters. After that were two versions of the same base spell—fire strike and lightning strike. She had both so that she could switch between them based on monsters’ elemental vulnerabilities. These spells passively enhanced damage and were mana efficient. However, a strike spell ended if one ran out of mana.

As the rest of her party and Death Legion walked up to the edge of the testing field, May activated her HUD and used it to materialize her weapons. She then cast fire strike. After the spell, her khopesh swords were wreathed in sporadic dancing flames and sparks that made a slight crackling noise. She also adjusted the clock on her HUD to show the elapsed time of contests. Along with John, she stepped into the expansive, roped-off area.

Death Legion dematerialized their zombies and waited to begin. May kept them in her peripheral vision.

The general materialized his sword, shield, and plumed helmet. On her HUD, May received an offer for a non-lethal contest with various special conditions against two allied teams—John Martinez, and Death Legion. She accepted.

“Begin!” John shouted. The nearby crowd cheered, as did Sara and Pari. May charged at John and began her attack.

The first phase proved simple enough. The mages attacked infrequently—but each time May saw one of the them raise his arm and point at her, she ran about three meters from her current position to avoid the attack. When a mage’s spell struck the ground where she had been standing, it exploded into a semi-transparent hemisphere of elemental damage. The grass was frequently ripped from its roots or burned by the spells, but it regenerated over the following minutes. The area stone burst and ice burst started as chunks of rock and ice respectively—upon hitting the ground, they exploded into shards that fizzled out of existence beyond the radius of the spell. The last mage had an area fire burst much like May’s. The little orbs of fire exploded into a contained inferno.

Each time May moved, John stayed with her. She attacked rapidly with both swords, using impact only when her mana was above twenty-five percent. Given the ridiculous amount of health max XP players had, she was hardly putting a dent in his total.

When May saw Aiden and Chloe suddenly run by, she aimed one of her swords in their direction. It glowed red. Afterward, a fiery projectile shot forth. She had successfully led her targets, and the pair ran right through her field of magical energy. Unlike the mage’s fire burst, May’s explosion was not instantaneous. It lingered in place for four seconds. This gradual damage lowered the mana cost of the spell.

May kept up these actions and took no damage. She kept an eye on her mana and stamina, but they remained at acceptable levels.

“Phase Two!” John shouted after a couple minutes had elapsed. He began making telegraphed, clumsy attacks that were far below his true ability. May dodged or blocked all of them—if she took even the smallest scratch from such a powerful player, her health would reach zero.

The mages began attacking more often in this phase, and she was expected to fire at the running targets more as well. The latter forced her to use impact less to compensate. Despite all this, her performance remained strong.

“Phase Three!” This was brutal. John’s attacks were more competent, and she had to divert almost all of her attention to him. This meant missing Aiden and Chloe a number of times, and taking occasional damage from mage’s attacks due to her lack of awareness. Cold shards of ice chilled her, while stone left scratches. The fire mage scorched her as well. All three of them were firing even more frequently.

The crowd was becoming increasingly excited due to how far May had progressed. But her stats were dropping, and sweat formed on her brow due to her low stamina.

“Phase Four!” John was still holding back, but not by nearly as much. And he not only had maximum base speed, but he carried a rare, raid-tier speed gem. May hardly lasted ten seconds before a scratch to her arm from his sword took away the remaining sixty percent of her health. Her HUD informed her of her loss as she struggled to keep her feet.

“Very well done!” John boomed. “Excellent damage total.” They nodded to each other, and May returned her swords to her inventory. As the crowd continued cheering for her, she waved to them triumphantly. She then rejoined the other magical girls.

“That was amazing,” Pari said, overjoyed. She hugged May—the pair had lowered their separation field a week ago.

“You looked like a bad-ass,” Sara said admiringly. Once Pari stood aside, the healer also hugged May—but she was significantly more affectionate, and threw in a gentle kiss as well. This also drew an excited reaction from the crowd.

“You passed the test by a significant margin,” Clare noted afterward. Her disinterested tone aside, this was the closest she had ever come to paying May a compliment.

“Thanks, everyone.” While her stats had since recovered, May still felt mentally exhausted. She was relieved to have the test over with.

John called out. “Clare, you’re up next! The melee damage and tank tests are almost the same. But sometimes, the mages will fire simultaneously—and instead of firing at your initial location, they’ll try to anticipate your evasions. That will be a good time to use your guard spell.”

She nodded, and materialized her armaments. Clare cast her void strike, and then shield. Purple electricity played along her blade after the former, giving off black sparks. Shield was a passive spell which reduced damage taken in exchange for mana, so long as one had an actual shield equipped. She also had an area void burst, and the aforementioned guard. That spell reduced all damage taken by ninety percent for a short time—but it could only be used once per minute.

Clare stepped into the testing field. “Begin!” Her battle started much as May’s had. She did much less damage, given her lack of the impact spell—but she easily evaded all attacks through the first three phases. She always caught Aiden and Chloe in her brutal, cracking explosions of dark void lightning. She was utterly calm and efficient, making the test look like the easiest thing in the world. The other three magical girls shouted in support of her, but May suspected that Clare could not care less about that.

The mages’ combined attack came once per minute, but Clare hardly needed to guard. She simply feinted in one direction before running in another, causing the mages to go mostly wide of the mark. One time she even started to run before doubling back to her starting location. All three of the nerds fell for it—May begrudgingly admired the woman’s uncanny instincts.

It was not until the fourth phase that Clare started taking minor damage. Her stamina held, with the weight of her heavier armor and shield balanced by her human racial bonus. By this time, both the crowd and the other magical girls were cheering wildly. May was even caught up in the excitement in spite of herself.

“Phase five!” the general finally roared.

John hardly held back his offense at all now. His sword moved so fast that it was hard for May to follow, even with Chronomil enhancing her cognition—what John was doing now would have been impossible in the outside world. Clare was too hopelessly on the defensive to counterattack, or to dodge the mages’ bursts. But somehow her instincts carried her through almost another half minute. Finally John outmaneuvered her and slashed his sword right through her head. A red line crossed her face—May hated to think how that wound would have looked in reality.

The two combatants nodded to each other. “Amazing!” John said after the cheers of the crowd died down somewhat. “I’ve never seen anyone at minimum reach phase five.”

Clare simply nodded again in acknowledgment before dematerializing her armaments. Her wound soon vanished as her health refilled. She walked over to the rest of the party as if nothing remarkable had happened.

“Congratulations!” Sara shouted happily. She tried to hug Clare, but came up short due to the separation field. Clare looked to her in annoyance. “Sorry, I just got caught up in the moment. I can’t believe you set a new record!”

“You made it look so easy.” Pari sounded very much in awe.

“You were impressive out there,” May said evenly. She had assumed when she had first arrived in the game that she would end up leading her own party. And that she would be the best fighter in that group. Neither of those predictions would come to pass, it seemed. May knew she ought to be pleased that she had found such talented allies—and she was. But she was also struggling to keep her competitive feelings in check.

“Thank you,” Clare said.

“You should wave to the crowd,” Sara told her. “The more popular we are, the quicker we’ll be noticed by the company.”

Clare did so, to additional cries of approval. But her expression remained unchanged. How dead do you gotta be inside to not get off on something like this? May wondered.

“Settle down, everyone!” John called out. The cheering tapered off. “Ranged damage test next. Pari, you’re up!” Maybe it was her imagination, but May thought Pari looked a slightly paler shade of green than usual.

“You only need to get through phase two to pass,” May reminded her. “That part really isn’t too hard.” That said, May did not envy her—Clare was a daunting act to follow.

Apparently, Sara was thinking the same thing. “If you want me to go next instead...?”

“No. I’m fine,” Pari said, almost convincingly. She materialized her morning star and shield, and then stepped over the rope.

“Pari, I’ll mostly be standing still,” John explained. “After the first phase, I’ll occasionally charge and attack you like some boss monsters—all you have to do is get out of the way. Oh, and if I lower my shield, that’s your signal to frenzy.” Frenzy was the goblin racial ability. It gave a large bonus to damage and mana, but like the guard spell it was only usable once per minute.

Pari nodded timidly.

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous?” John said. He laughed boisterously. “Won’t you feel foolish about that, after you pass this test with flying colors!”

“...You think so?”

“Pari, you’re a goblin—a member of the most feared race in all this world! Your terrifying battle frenzy would make most mere humans such as myself wet their pants and cry for their mothers.”

Pari giggled as he continued. “Don’t forget, the same green blood that flows through the courageous heart of our Queen flows through your veins!”

“You’re just joking with me now.”

“Not at all! What difference does it make, if there’s some other trivial reality where your brain sits in a jar? In here, your void magic can rip apart the mightiest dragon! Your shield can stop a titan’s sword! Your morning star can dispatch any hunter!

“And let me tell you, there may not be any blood to clean up when you smash in the smug face of one of those bastards...but nothing can wash away their humiliation after they lose to their supposed prey. Never forgot—every time we defeat them, WE DEFY THE VILE CREATORS OF THIS WORLD!” He raised his sword as he shouted this last. Everyone but Clare cheered—even Chloe reacted a little.

“Let’s go then!” Pari cried enthusiastically. Seeing the change that had come over her, May finally understood the purpose of John’s eccentric behavior.

Pari had a somewhat easier test since she was a ranged attacker. Instead of using her weapon, her offense consisted of three separate versions of void burst. One was a default attack, which had a one second casting time but did its damage instantly. Another was instant cast, but with a long lasting effect. Finally, she had an area strike much like Clare’s—though it did its damage all at once.

“Begin!” The repeated loud cracks of Pari’s purple void lightning filled the air throughout the test. Some strikes were blocked by the general’s shield, but most landed home. May eventually caught the scent of ozone from the magic. Pari’s lasting spell caused little jolts of the elemental energy to pass over John’s body. She fired at him over and over, and at Aiden and Chloe when they ran by. Her evasions of the mages’ attacks were somewhat clumsy at times.

When her target lowered his shield, Pari activated her frenzy. A green aura surrounded her, and the effect of her spells became more pronounced—the arcs of lightning were larger, brighter, and louder. The temporary increase of her mana stat both partially refilled her mana bar, and improved spell damage. During the frenzy Pari fired at her maximum rate, only stopping to avoid the mages’ bursts. Afterward, she cast less often to let her mana total recover.

Throughout all of this, May and Sara cheered loudly. Clare silently judged, but at least she looked no more displeased than usual.

“Phase Two!” Now John occasionally ran at Pari to take a swing with his sword, but his speed was far below what he was capable of. She jumped clear and moved away each time. Otherwise, this phase seemed to be proceeding well. Pari did take a little health damage from the mages due to imperfect evasions, but she was still over ninety percent as the clock on the second phase ticked down. May found herself holding her breath tensely during the final seconds.

“Phase Three!”

May sighed in relief, and then she and Sara cried out even more loudly. The crowd was more sedate than they had been during Clare’s run, but they still expressed approval.

As the volume of the mages’ fire increased, Pari grew flustered. She missed her targets more frequently, and took additional damage. Half way through the third phase, her luck ran out. She was slightly slow in dodging John, and took a scratch from his sword that dropped her health to zero. As polite applause came up from the onlookers, the general and the mage nodded to each other.

John smiled encouragingly. “You passed—and went almost a minute further! I call that a convincing victory.”

“Thanks. You’re an amazing teacher.”

He gave a self-depreciating laugh. “Well, it would hardly be fair if I was a screw-up at everything I tried.”

May was puzzled as to what he meant by this. Was he referring to his life before Fantasy? Or did he have regrets about his actions in the game as well? She was not sure if she ought to ask him about the subject. The early years of Fantasy were notorious for conflict among the inmates—that time could not be pleasant to talk about.

Pari disappeared her weaponry and waved to the crowd. She then rejoined the other magical girls. Meanwhile, John called out. “Death Legion! Let’s go over the healing test one more time.” The other party gathered around him some distance away.

Sara hugged Pari immediately upon her return. “Congratulations! I knew you could do it.”

“That makes one of us.”

“You mean two of us,” May added. She also took a turn at hugging the mage. It was hard to miss that Pari was blushing afterward. “Lots of players don’t even pass on their first attempt.”

“Your mistake was taking your eyes off of Martinez for too long while firing at the secondary targets,” Clare stated flatly.

Pari’s grin faltered somewhat, and May glared at the tank.

Sara sighed. “I have to agree, but this wasn’t the time to bring that up.” She turned to Pari. “The low XP dungeons aren’t even as difficult as phase two, so you shouldn’t worry.” After offering this reassurance, she looked expectantly to Clare.

“I wasn’t disputing Martinez’ judgment. Your performance was acceptable regardless of the error.”

That was encouraging, you goddamn robot, May thought irritably. But out of a desire to make Sara’s job easier, she forced herself to remain silent.

“Thanks everyone,” Pari said. “I’ll keep trying to catch up with you.”

John and his companions now approached. “For Sara’s test, we’ll need everyone’s help. May, Pari, Clare. Your job is extremely simple—to stand perfectly still, and take damage for Sara to heal. This will be uncomfortable, so apologies in advance.

“Death Legion will be in charge of attacking you three, and also firing at Sara like in the previous tests. I’ll be using the charge attack again. Sara, do you still want to attack me with your bow as well? It’s entirely optional.”

“Yes. I know I’m not very good with it yet, but I want to kick in extra damage on boss fights when I start running dungeons.” Given that most healing spells were targeted through the HUD rather than pointing, it was not uncommon for healers to do this.

May knew that Sara had two versions of heal—one was instant cast, but recovered health gradually over four seconds. The other was a more mana-intensive party heal that took effect immediately when completed—however, it had a two second casting time. Next was barrier, a spell that temporarily created a protective buffer of bonus health. Her instant cast version was also costly in terms of mana. Sara’s last spell was cure—it removed negative status effects, such as poisons or paralysis. It would not be relevant to this test.

“Let’s get ready then,” John told Sara. She materialized a magical black bow. Sara and John walked some distance away from each other and the rest of the group. Once again, May accepted a non-lethal contest against the general and Death Legion. “Begin!”

Aiden, who was standing behind May, started sporadically hitting her in the back with his sword. It was uncomfortable, though not nearly as bad as it would have been in real life. Chloe’s job was to attack Pari, and one of the nerds was assigned to Clare. However, he still occasionally fired at Sara as well. Despite their discomfort, May and Pari cheered Sara on.

At first Chloe whispered “sorry” to Pari every single time she hit her. This soon got on May’s nerves. Aware of how sensitive the healer was, May used her gentlest tone of voice. “If you could please stop saying that, I would appreciate it.”

“Sorry,” Chloe whispered to her. May was internally incensed, but then the other woman finally fell silent.

Meanwhile, Sara’s test proceeded. In the first phase, she only needed to keep her lasting heal up on her three companions most of the time to keep them at full health. There was a half second delay before one could cast another spell after an instant cast spell. But at least instant spells could be used on the move. This let her run around as needed, and shoot the bow repeatedly at John. The weapon had no quiver—rather, one drew the string back and held one’s hands correctly, and an arrow appeared at the nocking point. Arrows dematerialized shortly after being stopped.

Given her lack of a strike or impact spell, the amount of damage Sara did was limited. She also missed her mark a number of times—one arrow flew into the crowd of onlookers and bounced off someone’s separation field. This drew a few laughs. That aside, Sara did avoid all damage from the mages and maintained her stats near full.

“Phase Two!” The mages fired faster, and the stationary magical girls were struck more often. The health drain they experienced was more than Sara’s default heal could keep up with—she had to occasionally cast her secondary heal as well. That spell partially restored the entire party’s health. John occasionally charged at Sara, but she avoided him easily. She kept up her attacks with the bow as well. Once Sara was forced to cancel a party heal to evade John, which unfortunately wasted the mana. She did not cancel the spell for the area attacks—it was better to just endure these and let the healing effect remove the damage afterward.

During this phase, May looked back over her shoulder at Aiden. “Is it just me, or am I getting hit more often?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her.

But May’s health was definitely lower, despite receiving the same level of healing. “I really think—” She then cried out slightly when Aiden unexpectedly hit her across the butt instead of on her back.

“No questioning the test,” he said mischievously. The three nerds laughed.

“Next time we duel, I am gonna beat you like a redheaded stepchild,” she muttered in annoyance. At an angry look from Clare, she spoke again. “No offense.” Admittedly, she had purposely chosen the phrase to get under the other woman’s skin—why the bitch could not be bothered to cheer for anyone was beyond May.

Sara eventually cast a barrier on May so that her health could recover. Despite the mana expenditures, she did not drop below ninety percent mana.

“Phase Three!” As expected, this was much more difficult. The crowd became more excited as the tension increased. The sword strikes from Death Legion came frequently, simulating an amount of damage that would never happen in a real dungeon except during special boss attacks. The mages cast their spells more often, and John stepped up his own attacks. Sara soon tossed aside her bow and let it disappear into her inventory—she could not longer afford the distraction.

The healer was forced to rely on her party heal and barrier even more frequently, which caused her mana to drop alarmingly. And unfortunately, she could not use a mana potion. May’s health lagged the others—Aiden was clearly still striking her more often. She resolved to bring this up with John after the test.

Sara’s mana bottomed out a minute in—it kept regenerating at the usual rate, but she was forced to cast less often without a reserve. Up until this point, Sara had kept everyone’s health above fifty percent. She could no longer do so. Nearly thirty seconds later, Clare and Pari were alarmingly low, and May reached zero.

Now that she was out, Aiden stopped hitting her. “Finally,” she muttered. Her health regeneration returned to the noncombat rate, and ten seconds later she was free of discomfort.

The strain on Sara’s mana was reduced sharply now that there was one less party member to keep alive. Everyone else’s health climbed back toward safe levels.

“Phase four!” Now the challenge got downright unfair. At least the crowd was enjoying the spectacle. John’s charges came so frequently, Sara could only get off one party heal between them. The mages’ spells barraged her when she did. She had to run around almost constantly, and despite her light armor her stamina dropped. The situation went south immediately.

Less than fifteen seconds after the phase began, Pari was out. “Let’s never do this again,” she said in annoyance, rubbing her back. Chloe stepped away slightly and lowered her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” the goblin player quickly reassured her. Aiden rubbed her arm comfortingly, and she settled down.

Sara was sweating profusely as her stamina finally hit zero, ruining her ability to evade attacks. She cast one last instant heal and barrier on Clare before she was taken out by a stone burst. Her failed attempt to jump out of the way caused her to face plant. May chuckled slightly as the other woman gave a groan of exhaustion.

The final two spells kept Clare above zero health a bit longer. At thirty-six seconds into the phase, the test ended. Everyone but Clare cheered as Sara regained her feet. The healer waved to the crowd. She and John then rejoined the group after they had both acknowledged the battle.

“Truly impressive, Sara!” John boomed. He returned his weaponry and helmet to his inventory. “That time puts you in the ninety-ninth percentile for minimum experience healers.” Finishing third was another blow to May’s ego, but Sara was too damn pleasant to resent.

“I’ve always been a good test-taker,” she said lightly.

“It looks like nerds can be bad-asses too,” May said. She passed one finger affectionately over Sara’s cheek before leaning in to kiss her. Predictably, the crowd approved.

Afterward, Pari grabbed Sara’s hands. “I’m so excited for you! You’re sure to raid with talent like that.”

“Thanks,” she said with a smile. As Pari drew back slightly, Sara looked to Clare.

“You did well.”

“Thank you. We all did even better than I’d hoped. And you should be especially proud, Clare.”

May saw the barest hint of a smile in Clare’s expression. Personally, she did not buy for a second that the party’s tank was not into Sara. At the very least, there was a physical attraction—and maybe there was more. But when May had told the healer this, she had insisted it was unlikely.

John turned to the crowd. “Rough Riders! The Magical Girls have proven that they are ready to face the enemies of our beloved Queen!” He turned to the party, and then suddenly raised a fist into the air. “Huzzah!”

Death Legion and the crowd all copied this gesture and exclamation, though Chloe only did so softly. John then saluted the magical girls by placing his fist over his heart and bowing. The four women returned the gesture.

Aiden and the three nerds offered their congratulations, with Chloe nodding in agreement. The magical girls thanked them for their help. Many in the crowd also approached to offer their praise and well-wishes. By the time all of the onlookers and Death Legion had said their goodbyes and departed for the city gate, it was late in the afternoon.

Once they had privacy, John addressed the party. “I’m very pleased for all of you. I take it you’ll start running dungeons soon?”

“I was hoping we’d start tomorrow,” Sara told him.

“Excellent. Seeing as you’ve all been here a month or less, I can’t say anything for certain. But Sara, May, Clare—I believe all three of you will raid someday, so long as you keep working hard and manage to survive.

“Pari...I don’t mean to discourage you. You’re certainly above average. But only the very best players raid, and I think you only have an outside shot at it.”

Pari smiled. “That’s okay. I’m just relieved I can run dungeons! If it turns out I can’t raid, at least I still might be able to help on Invasion Day.”

“That’s the spirit! I’d be honored to fight by your side.” John led them toward the city gate. “Sara, I have a question about your testing strategy. Could you explain your reasoning for allowing your party to be defeated in the order it was?”

“May was first because she was taking more damage than the others. The other decisions were based on role—in preventing a party or raid wipe, damage are normally less important than healers, who are less important than tanks.”

“That’s correct,” John told her gravely.

There was a brief quiet. “So me taking more damage was part of the test,” May noted. She looked to Sara. “I’m a little surprised you’re comfortable with that logic.”

“I don’t know if ‘comfortable’ is the right word. But healing decisions are made using similar principles to triage—and I came here from a medical background.”

May nodded, and Clare looked satisfied with the answer as well.

They soon arrived at the gate. John materialized his horse and climbed onto the saddle. “Magical Girls, don’t forget about the feast tonight—you all promised you’d come. There’s a veritable mountain of food and drink that cannot be conquered without your aid!”

“We’ll be there with bells on,” Sara said sweetly.

“See you then!” Everyone said their goodbyes except for Clare, who simply nodded. “Hee-yah!” John snapped the reigns and rode away. The four women walked on toward the trolley stop.

“So, moment of truth time,” Sara said. “Are we definitely a party? And are we running dungeons tomorrow?”

“I’m in,” May said.

“Me too,” Pari added.

“Yes to both questions.”

“Fantasy Justice had better watch out for the likes of us, then,” Sara joked. “I have some supplies for everyone.” May accepted her items through her HUD. There were potions of different varieties, as well as a magical torch.

“Did all you read up on the Stronghold of the Giants?” Sara asked.

Clare nodded, while May and Pari shared a conspiratorial glance. “Yes, Ms. Takahashi,” they said simultaneously, sounding like bored students.

Sara pouted slightly. “You both planned that, didn’t you?”

Pari giggled as May answered. “We knew you’d ask about it.”

Sara smiled before continuing. “Oh, one other thing—Clare, I think you should lower your separation field with the rest of us.”

The tank came to a halt, and everyone stopped to look at her. “...Is that really necessary?”

“It would be safer if you did. If you were falling into a pit or something, you’d want me to be able to grab your hand, right?”

“I don’t want anyone touching me unless it’s absolutely necessary. That includes hugs,” she said pointedly to Sara.

“I promise.”

“I wouldn’t dream of touching you,” May added sardonically.

This earned her disapprovingly looks from both Sara and Clare. The latter then fixed her icy gaze on Pari.

“I’ll be good,” she said meekly.

When she received the request through her HUD from Clare, May agreed to lower her field. “Any other business?” she asked Sara.

“Nope. Unless anyone else has some concerns, there’s nothing to do but kill time until the party.”

No one had anything to add, and the group walked onward. If something goes wrong tomorrow, at least we get a last meal tonight.