It hadn't taken Chloe, Francesca and Ricardo long to reach the campsite and they had hid out there whilst a Dwarf NPC kept watch for the guards, fortunately for Chloe it didn't take long for Francesca to get her a change of clothing and as soon as she returned from the village Chloe ducked into her tent all too eager to get out of the dress.
"I swear, if I knew that the noble background would include a dress I would've gone with acolyte." Chloe thought as she finished getting dressed by putting on a crop top, the dress was currently by her side on the floor though Chloe wasn't sure what she wanted to do with it yet. "I'm pretty sure that dress is too small for Francesca and I don't think Ricardo can pull off the "man in a dress" look, also besides the fact that I'm a tomboy all it'll take for the guard to catch me is to see me wearing that dress."
"I'm sure you'll think of something." Silent Magician responded and Chloe nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her Duel Spirit Partner's voice. "We've been spirit partners since you were seventeen and your still not used to me?"
"More like I wasn't expecting you to be able to communicate with me in the virtual world." Chloe responded before picking up the guide from the nearby stool, it had fallen out of her dress whilst she was getting dressed and she sat down on the stool to read it. "Okay, got some basic spells, Hellish Rebuke, ahh, here we go!" Chloe thought as she found the page she was looking for, however one read of it causing a massive sweat-drop to roll down her head. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Chloe, are you decent yet?" Fran's voice rang out from outside the tent breaking Chloe's concentration. "Ricardo and I want to chat in more detail, but he doesn't want to walk in on you getting dressed."
"Literally just got changed." Chloe called back and that was all the older pro-leaguers needed to enter her tent. "You came at the right time, just started reading my plot hook." Chloe added once the pair had made themselves comfortable. "I haven't played much Dungeons and Dragons, too busy working in my dad's game shop when I'm not competing on the pro-leagues, but are the stories for the campaigns usually this bad?"
"What do you mean?" Ricardo asked with a raised eyebrow and Chloe sighed.
"I've been a fan of fantasy a lot longer than I've been a duelist, swords and sorcery epics mostly and yes, that did influence my deck." Chloe explained before she shifted her weight. "That said, "your destiny will come to you when you meet your true love"?! There's more fantasy cliché's in that one sentence than I care to count!"
"Chloe, to be honest, most Dungeons and Dragons campaigns have excuse plots so that the players can go out and kill some baddies." Francesca responded with a chuckle and Chloe shook her head. "Maybe your guide's talking about Lance? I mean, you were dating when Sophia met you for the first time."
"Yeah, we are, still waiting for him to get around to popping the question but that's beside the point." Chloe nodded as she flicked her tail a bit. "Besides, I don't think they'd make it that obvious, otherwise, I think Lance would be part of our group?"
"True but I think the startling locations are randomly generated anyway." Ricardo responded as he shook his head and Chloe nodded. "I mean, for all we know, I could be your prince charming."
"No offense Ricardo but I hope not, I think it being someone I know who isn't Lance would be too obvious." Chloe responded before pocketing her guide. "So, this Lord Ravencraw guy, is he as bad as you said?"
"The guy's so evil that he may as well list "strangling puppies with the intestines of newborn babies" among his hobbies." Fran responded before noticing the odd looks that she was getting for that comment. "Seriously, I2 went a little too far when it came to making him as evil as possible, on top of the whole murdering wives thing, he's a suspected serial rapist and murderer who uses his noble status to avoid justice."
"Really? And Sophia intends to release this to the public as the licensed game of a card game that's mostly aimed at children?" Chloe asked with a skeptical look on her face and Fran just shrugged her shoulders in response. "Though I am wondering if she drew on inspiration from Jack Haynes for the character."
"Oh yeah, that scumbag." Ricardo responded with a frown as he thought back to the missing and presumed dead Orichalcos Duelist. "We never found a body after you defeated Victor, did we?"
"No, same goes for Lance's dad and Victor himself." Chloe responded as she shook her head. "Last I heard, he's been posthumously convicted of at least fifty previously unsolved rapes and murders in Utah and LA, even if he does come back, he's never getting out of jail."
"Let's hope not." Fran nodded before the Dwarf NPC entered the tent.
"The guards are on their way; we need to move." The dwarf said and the three duelists nodded.
"Leave the dress behind, it's not like either of us will wear it anyway." Fran instructed Chloe as she looked towards the dress and Chloe nodded before they proceeded to take down the campsite,
*elsewhere in the world*
Sophia was indeed in the game world but just because she had organized the tournament didn't mean that she was getting any preferential treatment, as far as the computer was concerned she and the other legendary duelists were just another player, that said she did have one thing the other competitors didn't, namely a contact line with the lead technician.
"Didn't take long for a duel to happen huh?" Sophia commented as she talked with the lead technician in a secret area of the virtual world that only she and Kaiba could access, mostly because it contained the only direct line to the real world, there were other rooms like it in the world but only Kaiba and Sophia knew were to look. "I had a feeling it would be someone from the Orichalcos group who would get the first duel."
"Yes, and Chelsea adjusted to the new rules rather quickly." The technician nodded in response and Sophia grinned. "Other duels have started throughout the virtual world but no player vs. player duels yet, seems the players are happy to cooperate on quests for now."
"Once the players start collecting destiny orbs, that won't last." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Any player feedback yet?"
"We've had some and the reactions have been mixed." The technician responded and Sophia frowned in response. "The players love the world and how alive it feels, just to make that clear, but they aren't comfortable with some of the darker themes present in the questlines, the inclusion of rape, murder and arranged marriages have made most of the players uncomfortable."
"I suppose that is understandable." Sophia admitted before she brushed some hair behind her ear. "But when I set out to create this world, I had two things in mind, making it as realistic as possible and having the questlines be randomly generated, maybe I will tone it down a bit for he MMO's public release but until then be sure to keep me updated on further developments."
"Will do, though amusingly, a few players including Chloe Richardson have complained about their questlines being cliché storms, Chloe especially." The technician responded and Sophia couldn't help but laugh at the statement.
"Knowing her love for fantasy novels, that doesn't surprise me one bit." Sophia chucked before sighing. "Like I said, the questlines are randomly generated, and we didn't have the budget to hire some of the most famous fantasy authors around, hell we barely had the budget to hire people who used to work on Dungeons and Dragons."
"For what it's worth, the questline writers have promised to make future questlines more epic, though considering everyone's starting at level one, I suppose these basic quests suit their purpose." The technician responded and Sophia nodded in agreement. "Anything else Sophia?"
"Keep up the good work, I have a quest to work on." Sophia responded as she held up the guide and the technician nodded before hanging up, Sophia left the secret room and looked around. "In the graveyard of heroes, you will find your destiny, maybe the players have a point about these quests being cliché ridden." Sophia thought before walking off.
*back with Chloe's group*
An hour had passed but Chloe's group had finally stopped a bit deeper into the forest, once they had gotten the tents set up Chloe plopped down onto the ground with a huff.
"I am not used to doing this much walking in a day." Chloe commented as she ran a hand through her hair. "Hell, I don't think I did this much walking when I was a Duel Academy Student."
"We're pretty far from your father's estate, we should be okay for the night." Ricardo responded and Chloe let out a sigh of relief as she turned to the Spanish duelist. "You have any idea what your questline might mean?"
"No clue." Chloe responded before she got her guidebook out and started reading the questline again. "Your destiny will come to you when you find your prince charming", how am I supposed to do anything with that? Given how many duelists I saw on the boat, that could be anyone."
"Or it could be Lance." Fran shrugged her shoulders in response and Chloe frowned. "Maybe you need to duel Lord Ravencraw?"
"Maybe, we just need to get him separated from father's goons." Chloe responded before Ricardo started getting a campfire going. "Only thing missing is some marshmallows." Chloe joked once the fire started and Ricardo grinned.
"I didn't see any when we went into the village to get you a change of clothing, so I don't think we'll have much luck there." Ricardo responded before he sat down next to the campfire. "So, what class did you get stuck with?"
"Sorceress, I was expecting something like Paladin but then again, I do tend to use the Spellcaster side of my deck more than the warrior side." Chloe admitted before grinning. "The other stuff? I picked because I wanted to have at least some escapism, I could've easily gone with guild artisan or acolyte rather than noble but, well, how often is it that I get to play a noblewoman? Same goes with Tiefling really."
"I can think of worst reasons." Fran responded with a grin before she sat down. "As for us, I got Paladin and Ricardo got Fighter, we both went with the soldier background."
"What can I say? Wanted to keep things simple." Ricardo responded with a shrug and Chloe nodded in understanding. "I know it's a bit late now, but are you sure you don't want the dress? You did look good in it for what it's worth?"
"Do I need to remind you that I nearly tripped over that thing?!" Chloe asked with an annoyed look on her face before shaking her head. "Besides. I'm such a tomboy that the only time I ever plan on wearing a dress in the real world is when me and Lance get married, though I will admit to liking one thing about the dress." Chloe added before brushing some hair behind her ear. "It reminded me of the dress Belle wore in Beauty and the Beast only blue instead of gold, you know, the one from the ballroom scene?"
"Ah yeah, the "Tale as Old as Time" scene, I still get a laugh out of the glare you gave Lance when he suggested singing that song at Chelsea's birthday party." Fran nodded in understanding once she got the idea and Chloe grinned sheepishly. "That's fair enough I guess." Fran shrugged her shoulders in response before she and Ricardo stood up. "We're off to check on our lookout, if anything happens, we'll let you know."
"Yeah, sure." Chloe nodded before the pair left the tent that she was occupying, Chloe let out a sigh before sitting on the stool and glancing around. "Maybe I can kill time by reading more of my guide, I am an avid reader in real life after all." Chloe thought before getting her guide out and opening the book.
*later*
Chloe had lost track of time whilst reading through her guide and whilst her questline didn't contain much information aside from what she knew already she did take a moment to read through her spells, however her concentration was broken by a commotion outside and she quickly pocketed her book.
"Did the guards catch up with us? Why didn't the lookout alert us?!" Chloe thought before she stood up and poked her head through the tent's entrance, Ricardo and Fran where being restrained by several guards whilst a tall, imposing figure in dark armor interrogated them, Chloe glanced around and quickly got her answer as to why the lookout hadn't alerted them. "They killed him, off course."
"Where is she?!" The black knight demanded as he paced back and forth. "Her father is worried sick, and I don't want to keep him waiting."
"The same father who wanted to marry her off to Lord Ravencraw?" Fran asked only to get smacked across the cheek by the black knight, it was then that Chloe noticed the duel disk on the knight's arm.
"Any other time, I'd be complaining about modern technology in a medieval fantasy setting." Chloe thought as she stepped out of her tent. "But this is my best chance."
"I ask the questions here, not you!" The knight responded before Chloe cleared her throat and the knight looked up. "Ahh, the princess shows her face at last."
"Let them go." Chloe said in a low voice and when the knight didn't budge, she activated her duel disk. "You want to do this the hard way? Fine, I challenge you to a duel! I win, you let us go and tell father to take his arranged marriage and shove it right up Lord Ravencraw's ass! You win…"
"You come back home with us, after me and my men punish you in that tent." The black knight responded and whilst his helmet concealed his face the looks on his men's faces told the whole story and it wasn't a story that Chloe was a fan off.
"Win and get my freedom, loose and get gang raped, dragged back home and eventually murdered by a scumbag." Chloe thought before nodding. "Not the first time I've dueled with such high stakes; I can only hope that the technicians pull me out of the simulation before these men have their way with me." Chloe thought before nodding. "I accept, and I'll happily send you back to father with your tails between your legs." Chloe responded before her deck list appeared in front of her. "Right, deck master system, would help if the guide had a list of deck master abilities."
"Chose carefully Chloe." Silent Magician warned her, and Chloe nodded. "He is dangerous, but I do have a recommendation."
"I'm all ears." Chloe responded and once she heard the recommendation, she quickly made her choice. "My deck master is Silent Magician!" Chloe announced as the teenaged version of Silent Magician appeared beside her (4/1000/1000).
"My deck master is Dark Blade, the Captain of Evil World!" The black knight responded before a second knight appeared beside him, it was almost a mirror image accept Dark Blade had gold highlights in his armor and was carrying a sword (4/1800/1500).
"I dueled a guy who used that in his chaos deck at my last tournament." Chloe thought as she recognized the monster. "It didn't really work because that monster only banishes dark type monsters but on the other hand, it gives me an idea of what deck this guy runs." Chloe thought before narrowing her eyes. "Who'd going first?"
"I am!" The black knight responded before they drew their opening hands and the knight looked over his hand. "I start by setting two cards facedown." The black knight announced as the two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And I summon Rage Soldier!" The black knight announced as a young man in black armor appeared on the field in a state of perpetual rage (4/1400/1200). "I activate Dark Blade's deck master ability, by cutting my monster's attack points in half he can attack your life-points directly as long as he is warrior type monster with the dark attribute!"
"Someone's not being paid by the hour." Chloe thought as Rage Soldier's attack points dropped to 700 and he roared in anger. "At least I have a way to make sure that he won't get to my life-points that easily!"
"Rage Soldier, attack this impudent child's life-points directly!" The black knight commanded and Chloe sweat-dropped as the soldier charged towards him.
"I would point out that I'm 22 but for all I know? My characters supposed to be a teenager!" Chloe thought before playing a card from her hand. "You won't penetrate me that easily…"
"Err, Chloe, phrasing?" Ricardo interrupted her and Chloe's sweat-drop grew larger.
"You know what I meant! Anyway, since you declared a direct attack, I can special summon Expert Defense Warrior from my hand." Chloe announced as the soldier stopped in his tracks whilst a soldier carrying a comically huge shield appeared in front of Chloe and assumed the defensive position (1/0/2000). "He doesn't end the battle phase like Battle Fader but with two thousand defense points? He'll stop anything you throw at him in its tracks!"
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" The black knight asked, and Chloe paused as she went to gloat some more. "I can only use Dark Blade's effect once per turn, but Rage Soldier has an effect of his own, when he attacks a monster that he a higher defense score than his attack score, that monster gets destroyed automatically with no battle damage." Black Knight added and Chloe's eyes widened as Rage Soldier ran threw Expert Defense Warrior destroying him. "Now do you see what you're up against. I end my turn!"
*outside the camp*
Whilst the duel was going on inside the camp another figure was approaching it, but not for the same reasons.
"You will find your destiny when you find your true love?" Amanda Cotreau, who was a Assamir Paladin in game, thought as she neared the camp. "Cliché as all hell, and it's not like my love life couldn't get any more turbulent these past few years…..." Amanda thought before she spotted something glowing in her pocket and retrieved in. "Why is the guide glowing?" Amanda thought before the guide flew out of her hands and above the camp. "Looks like I'll find my answers there." Amanda thought before the guide flew back towards her and she started making her way to the camp.
*back at the duel*
"What the?" Chloe thought as she drew her card and realized that her guide was glowing from inside her trouser pocket, she quickly added the drawn card to her hand before retrieving the guide. "What's this about?"
"Your magic doesn't scare me." The black knight commented bluntly breaking Chloe's train of thought. "Make your move already!"
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." Chloe responded before pocketing the guide and picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown as well, and I summon Gemini Elf!" Chloe announced as she played the card and the twin elves appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1900/900). "Quick question, does Rage Soldier's effect apply to it's original attack points?"
"If your asking if you can destroy my soldier, the answer is yes." The black knight responded stoically, and Chloe nodded. "But he is the least of your worries."
"What I wouldn't do for a Mystical Space Typhoon right now." Chloe thought as she went over her hand before pointing to Rage Soldier. "That's fine by me because a lead's a lead in my book! Gemini Elf, attack Rage Soldier!" Chloe commanded and the elves fired twin bursts of magic at the soldier destroying him and bringing the black knight's attack points down to 6800. "If you hadn't been in such a hurry to take the lead, your life-points would be in better shape."
"Fool! That's what I wanted you to do! Activate trap card, Dark Army!" The black knight announced as the facedown card flipped up depicting Dark Blade leading an army of warriors into battle. "Since you destroyed a level four dark type monster on my side of the field, I can special summon two more in it's place." Black Knight explained before two more Rage Soldiers appeared on the field. "Their effects are negated but that doesn't matter."
"A trap card that Special Summons two level four monsters? If he's not setting up for a XYZ Summon I'll be surprised." Chloe thought as her eyes narrowed. "If he didn't already say that Dark Blade's effect was a once per turn thong, I'd think that was what he had in mind." Chloe thought before going over her hand. "I end my turn." Chloe announced and the Black Knight drew his card.
"I summon my deck master to the field." The black knight announced, and Chloe raised an eyebrow as Dark Blade stepped onto the field. "And now I use my three monsters to construct the overlay network."
"Well, this changes things." Chloe thought as the three warriors were sucked into the dark portal that had appeared behind them. "Does this mean he's changing deck masters? Can he do that?"
"I XYZ Summon Black Knight of the Realm!" The black knight announced as he played the card and a monster that was the mirror image of himself appeared on the field ready for war. (Rank: 4/3000/2500). "And before you ask, he is my deck master now! And I activate his effect! By detaching an overlay unit he can attack your life-points directly!"
"Suddenly my 1200 points of damage doesn't seem that impressive." Chloe thought as the black knight activated another trap. "And this just got worse."
"Army of the Dark Blade allows my monster to attack twice as long as it has an overlay unit." The dark knight explained as the knight got ready for battle. "It'll be over soon! Dark Knight, attack her life-points directly!" The knight commanded and his monster bypassed the Gemini Elves before slashing her twice and bringing her life-points down to 2000. "Make your last pathetic move, I have a duel to win and you have to return home!"
"Over my dead body." Chloe responded before her facedown cards flipped up. "I activate my trap cards, Shock Draw will let me draw one card for each thousand life-points I just took, so thanks for the extra six cards." Chloe added before drawing six cards. "And Damage Condenser allows me to Special Summon one monster from my deck with attack equal too or less than the damage I just took, like Silent Magician Level 4!" Chloe added as she played the card and the youngest version of her strongest magician appeared on the field (4/1000/1000).
"It won't help you; my deck master ability lets me negate any damage from a level four or lower monster and that damage comes out of your life-points instead." The black knight responded before Chloe frowned. "It's your move!"
"Is it bad that I want to see how Chelsea would deal with a deck life this?" Chloe thought as she drew her card though no one in the camp realized that Amanda was taking down soldiers on her way to the middle of the camp. "Then again, she'd probably Judgment of Thunder his Deck Master as soon as possible!" Chloe thought before motioning to Silent Magician. "I activate my deck master's ability, since I control two Spellcasters on my side of the field I can Special Summon a third from my hand with its effects negated and level increased by one, I chose Mathematician!"
"You really think that'll help you?!" The black knight demanded as the old man with the long white beard appeared on the field (3/1500/500) and his level increased by one. "None of your monsters can compare to mine!"
"They don't need to, for my normal summon I bring out Neo, the Master Magical Swordsman!" Chloe announced as she played the card and the retrained version of the old monster Neo the Magic Swordsman appeared on the field (4/1700/1000). "I use Gemini Elf, Mathematician and Neo to construct the overlay network!" Chloe announced as she played the card and the three monsters where sucked into the portal. "I XYZ Summon Alchemic Magician!" Chloe announced as she played the card and the young green haired sorceress appeared on the field (Rank: 4/1500/1500). "She gains 200 attack points for each Spell Card in my graveyard."
"What spell cards?!" The dark knight demanded, and Chloe grinned. "You haven't played any!"
"I'm about too, the rest of the cards in my hand are all Spell Cards, so let's send them to the graveyard with Card Destruction!" Chloe announced before she discarded the rest of her hand and the black knight did likewise causing the magician's attack points to skyrocket up to 2700. "And now for the finish, I banish A/D Changer from my graveyard to force your knight into defense mode!"
"What? No!" The knight demanded as his duel monster counterpart knelt. "You'll pay for this!"
"I'll send you an IOU, alongside a middle finger to my father!" Chloe responded before pointing to his monster. "Alchemic Magician, finish it!" Chloe demanded and the magician pointed her staff at the knight before firing a beam of light at him destroying the monster and ending the duel. "You tell my father that I'd rather die than marry Lord Ravencraw!"
"Your not getting a say in this!" The black knight responded before drawing his sword. "Your coming with me, after we've had our fun, right boys?" The black knight asked but instead of the cheers he was expecting he got silence. "Boys?"
"They've left, and I suggest that you do the same." Amanda responded and the knight turned around to see Amanda handing him a scroll. "The princess and her companions are in my custody, by order of the king, you wouldn't want to risk his wrath, would you?" Amanda added and the knight read threw the scroll before frowning.
"This isn't over!" The knight added before storming off, once the knight left Chloe felt a ping from her duel disk and looked down.
"Defeated a boss, 100XP, not bad." Chloe thought before another ping rang out. "Quest completed? What?"
"Sorry for the late arrival." Amanda apologized as she sheathed her sword and walked up to Chloe. "But I had to avoid his men until I knew for certain that they were after you."
"No problem…." Chloe trailed off before the guides floated out of hers and Amanda's pockets and collided in midair. "Amanda, what was your quest?"
"Find my true love, why?" The Canadian woman asked with a look of confusion on her face before it dawned on her. "Yours said the same thing? That has to be a coincidence, right?" Amanda asked and Chloe nodded before the guides dropped into their hands and Chloe read her questline.
"Now that the lovers have been reunited, Amanda and Chloe must defeat an ancient evil and bring peace to the land." Chloe read the questline several times out loud before it dawned on the two women. "Well, this is going to be awkward to explain to Lance."
"And Adrienne." Amanda responded with a nod of agreement before sighing. "I say we talk it out first, at least your father's men won't bother us for a while."
"True enough." Chloe nodded before they started taking down the campsite. "So much for the virtual world being the craziest thing about the tournament."