A sarcastic laugh and a slow clap fills the air, echoing across the cavernous room. One by one, the three armed men walk into the center of the room. Sammy`s joyful demeanor immediately goes morose and she takes a stance behind me, hiding herself behind my figure. Does she sense their hostility? Or is something else at play? I put away my stick and ready myself to draw my Ice Blade at a moment`s notice.

　　"I`ve got to hand it to you, ladies," the first man with the rust-colored suit of armor says, emphasizing that last word with entirely too much venom in his voice. "When I heard a couple of girls were going into these mines, I figured they`d be a useful distraction. Maybe take out a couple of the weak monsters and clear a path for us. If we got lucky, maybe the two of you would rough the trolls up a bit, make life a bit easier. But never in my wildest dreams did any of us expect that you two would actually take down their boss."

　　"It`s too bad, ain`t it?" the second man says. His armor is a bit cleaner, his stance a bit tighter. "You see, there`s 6,000 dols waiting for each of us back in Rigatoni. But, we ain`t in the mood to share, now are we, boss?"

　　"That`s right."

　　The third man, the tallest by several inches nods and approaches out of the shadows. He wields a sword that seems to glow ever so slightly in the darkness, and that glow is refracted by some gemstone dangling about his neck - an accessory of some sort, though this guy doesn`t drop an item in the game so I am uncertain as to its precise function. He`s definitely far tankier and stronger than his minions - Sammy can sense it too from the way she shudders as he speaks.

　　"Now then," the third man continues in what I`d describe as a stereotypical Italian mobster accent. "Since yous two ain`t getting the picture, I`m gonna spell it out for you. The two of yous gonna be taking a nice long dirtnap down here, for the rest of your short miserable lives. You get me?"

　　"What`s he saying?" Sammy asks.

　　"Exactly what I figured. They plan to kill us both and take our share of the money for themselves."

　　"You knew?"

　　"I had a suspicion, at least. Given how antsy you were around them, I thought you had the same feeling about them."

　　"No, I- Ash, I don`t really want to talk about it right now."

　　"Be on your guard, Sammy. They`re about to attack. Do what you can; I`ll cover you."

　　"And by that&"

　　"No pulling punches. Save enough magic for the return trip, but otherwise, let`s make these bastards pay."

　　I pull out my Ice Blade and stand between her and the three men. I doubt these three are going to go down as easily as the troll. Not because they`re stronger, but because we`re fighting human beings. I would add intelligent`, but I`m not sure about that part. In LSO, the strategy is to strafe around the room as the protagonist while having Sammy pelt them with long range magic, slowly whittling their health down until you can isolate the leader and take them down in a one-versus-one without being flanked and scored on all sides. I don`t expect that to work here, but then I get an idea.

　　The Taunt ability is completely worthless in the game itself since the AI is so simple and easy to manipulate, but here, it just might be worth it. Channeling my inner fighting spirit, no, strike that, the spirits of every twelve year old kid on their first trip to any competitive Y-Sphere lobby, I blurt out the most heinous thing I could muster from the depths of my decades as a gamer and streamer.

　　"I had sex with your mom last night!" I shout. "Showed her a better time than your dad ever could!"

　　"The hell did you just say, you little bitch?"

　　"You heard me, Bozo! I said I showed your mother the best time of her life last night! She thanked me and invited me back again tonight! Said it was my reward for introducing her to the wonderful world of lesbianism!"

　　"Oh, that`s it you little& Now you`re really going to die!"

　　I shake my head - you don`t threaten someone`s life after you`ve already done just that. But the results are plenty effective - the man in the silvery armor charges me. His face contorts with vicious rage, his eyes red with bloodlust and violent wrath, though his movements are so unrefined and clumsy that it`s easy to slide under his sweeping blow and gash his leg before his comrades arrive to back him up.

　　"And here I was, being told that fighting like a girl was supposed to be an insult? But look who`s literally running circles around you boys now!"

　　Their attention is definitely focused squarely on me - even their boss has let loose as the three of them chase after me. Sammy, for her part, seems bewildered by my antics, but regains her composure long enough to pelt the three men with two consecutive casts of triple Firebolt. I`m going to owe her a lot of apologies when this is done. But that`s a job for later.

　　I sprint along the outer edge of the roughly cylindrical room, taking advantage of my slightly faster speed to stay just out of their attack range. Another advantage that the player character has - on the battlefield, they move about five percent faster than most enemies, and there is some equipment out there that increases movement speed even further. Quite an overlooked boon by most casual players in my experience, who tend to prefer boosts to their strength and defense stats primarily. Though I have heard of at least one player who went full defense and built one of the most disgusting tank builds I`ve ever heard of. Required stupid amounts of RNG to go right and it`s definitely not viable for speedrunning, but absolutely genius.

　　With a quick thrust, parry, and riposte to the back of the knee, the silver-armored soldier goes down. Two left, though they seem to have shaken the taunt as the bronze knight breaks off and heads for Sammy. Shit! Not good at all. Especially given how she`s shaking in her boots at the mere sight of the guy. And with her weak defenses, she`ll fold in just a couple hits.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

　　But I refuse to let that happen. I channel the vitriol of all my haters and trolls online and use my taunt skill once again.

　　"That sword looks way too big for you!" I shout. "Are you sure you aren`t compensating for something? Puh-leeze; I`ve seen greatswords smaller than that monstrosity!"

　　Much to my delight, the man in the bronze armor turns back toward me with fire in his eyes, his face so red it nearly glows in the dim caves.

　　"Tarrel, calm yourself!" the man in gold armor says. "Can you not see that she is riling you up? Stop listening to her insults and use your brain for once! Or do you want to end up like Lawrence over here?"

　　"But Boss!"

　　"You take care of the wench over there. I`ll handle Miss Foulmouth."

　　"Both of you just go away!" Sammy yells out. "Why can`t you just leave us alone? What did we ever do to you?"

　　All around Sammy, the air crackles and pops and fills with violent green streams of energy arcing through the air. Her face, plainly visible through the glow of the electrical discharge surrounding her body, looks pained, her teeth gritting, her entire self struggling to contain whatever spell she`s just learned.

　　The spell fires a moment later, sending violent bolts of lightning toward the boss of the thugs. His facial expression, writhing in pain, his muscles making unnatural movements, the painful screams make me shudder as he falls to the ground. The last man darts toward me, but I dodge toward the ground and strike his exposed ankle tendon, sending him tumbling next to me. I scuffle away from his groaning body, recoiling both from the sounds as well as the newly acrid stench of fried troll meat and shit fermenting in the air.

　　I rise up, sword in hand, quietly stepping over toward Sammy while constantly looking behind for any signs of an ambush, either from any trolls that might still be lurking or from the men who just attacked us - as far as I know, I only injured the two I fought. Though, seeing the charred face of their leader, it seems he was less fortunate. Good riddance. I pick up the talisman dangling around his neck and identify it.

　　Amulet of Calm

　　A small talisman that calms its wearer.Grants immunity to [Berserk]. Provides increased resistance to [Taunt] and [Infatuation]. Wearer susceptible against [Enfeeblement] effects

　　That makes sense, given how he seemed less affected by my ability. I pick it up and stow it in my inventory before walking over to Sammy, who has since collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. I lean against the wall beside her, keeping watch while she recovers.

　　"Sammy," I say after a moment of silence interspersed only by the sounds of her breathing and the occasional moans from our semiconscious assailants. "I need to apologize. I-"

　　"You don`t have anything to apologize for, Ash."

　　"But I do, Sammy. I was rude, I`ve been inconsiderate toward you, toward how you`ve been feeling. I`ve been so focused on our missions, toward getting through the challenges we`ve been facing, preparing for the ones I anticipate ahead, that I haven`t spent enough time and energy on how you feel. I-"

　　Sammy struggles to claw her way back to her feet, and after a moment, I extend my arm to her and help her up. The two of us have a moment, just looking at each other, and I feel myself blush as my eyes take in the absolute goddess of beauty standing before me. I turn away slightly, but Sammy only giggles.

　　"Was it true what you said earlier?" she asks.

　　"I don`t know who any of their mothers are. I just know that back& where I`m from, that`s a common insult. I didn`t really think much of it - all I could think about is that I needed to keep their attention on me and away from you. I`m a swordfighter, after all; it`s my job to stay on the frontlines and protect you."

　　Sammy smiles. "I& I wonder sometimes if the two of us meeting together was just the whims of fate, or if something, somewhere, wanted us to be here."

　　"I`d like to think that it was," I say. "But, we should get going. You look spent and even I took more than my fair share of cuts and scrapes while parrying." I pause for a moment. "That, and if we hurry, we might be able to still save those two. Personally I don`t care either way, but I get the feeling you`d like to see them healed up."

　　"You think I could learn some healing magic to help people out? Like them& and you?"

　　"You probably could, Sammy. If that`s something you want to do."

　　"I`d like that. Though, changing the subject back& Is it true that you`re& um, what was the word that you used? A lesbian?"

　　"Yeah. Knew from around the time that I was twelve. I`ve tried a couple of times, back where I`m from, to go on dates with men. But, I`ve just always been attracted to other women. It`s been difficult at times, but now, I wouldn`t change that about myself even if I could."

　　"You know, you never talk about where you`re from, Ash."

　　I stammer for a moment as the two of us start walking out of the cave through the path we came. "It`s a lot different from here. Though, I think it`s very, very far away. So far away that I don`t know if I can ever go back."

　　"It sounds like a wonderful place, Ash. I hope someday, I`ll get a chance to visit your hometown."

　　"I- I`d like that." If it`s even possible. One more thing to think about when we have some downtime. But for now, though it may only be about lunchtime, I`m ready to call it a day.

　　Experience: 4887

　　To Next: 513

　　Experience: 4809

　　To Next: 591

　　Ashley Lancaster

　　Level 11

　　Samantha Relford

　　Level 11

　　HP:

　　216 / 748

　　HP:

　　421 / 512

　　MP:

　　54 / 110

　　MP:

　　14 / 159