Project Athena: Dawn of War Season 1

The Gamble

The gamble

Wylver

The ogre suddenly broke into the wall beside us. It growled at us, then at the minotaur who changed its direction of charge.

The two beasts were locked in a ferocious battle, which Dana and I took as an opportunity to escape. We walked up the stairs, the sound of monsters fighting slowly fading.

I felt lucky when we reached the upper level. Our faces covered in yellow light. The reflection of light from the seemingly endless pile of gold. I had never before seen such treasure in my life. It will be enough to give us a life of luxury.

Dana's jaws dropped in awe of the jewels inside a chest outline with gold. "They said we can keep what we get here, right?"

"They said we can keep the treasures we get during the game sessions when the campaign starts. They will be sort of converted into real-world currency. I don't know if they let us keep this though, as we are just in test."

Dana worked to fill her bags with fortune. "No harm in trying though."

Except there was.

"Who dares try to steal from my treasure."

Dana froze in place as soon as she heard the voice boom inside the room.

I unsheathed my sword. I must have known better. It was too good to be true.

A humanoid figure materialized in front of us. It was a smoke in a shape of a scrawny man, but just smoke in place of its legs. It has the face of a normal human man, like a genie in a movie, but this one radiates a feeling of pure evil.

It seemed like he was interrupted from having dinner as evident from the ghostly chicken leg on his hand.

Dana dropped all the gold she just stashed in her bag.

"I apologize for my friend's misbehaviour," K suddenly jumped in. "She were but just admiring your hoard. In fact, we were just leaving."

"Not so fast." The apparition cutted me off. He talked while chewing the chicken, meat flying everywhere. "You try to steal from me and expect an easy way out? You're not going anywhere until you pay for your disrespect. I will have your heads on a pike."

"I assure you, we meant no harm. We returned everything to its place."

"I don't think so. You may have returned them, but the disrespect cannot be taken back." He eyed me, without stopping himself from chewing with his mouth open, then something suddenly catched his attention. "But perhaps you can give me something in return."

I realized that he was talking about my necklace. It was a gold clover leaf necklace that I received as part of the character. If I lost my items here, would I be charged in the real-world for losing valuables? I might have to clear that up with the organizers later. But is it worth my life? Will I die in the real life if I died here? Why didn't anyone thought of asking that question before. Maybe they assumed that it was just not possible since it was merely a game?

A game.

I looked around. There must be some clue as to where this ghost got all his fortune when he was still alive. He didn't look like the sort who does a lot of physical labor. His mannerisms suggest that he was no noble blood either. It was either he outsmarted people, or got really lucky. Or both.

I noticed a table buried under a pile of gold. There were cards there scattered along with chips. Sure enough, this guy was a gambler.

"I propose a different trade."

"And what is it?" Curiosity was evident in the ghost's eyes.

"How about we play a game." I pointed to the poker table underneath the treasure. "If we win, then you'll let us go with a small amount of your treasure." I wasn't sure if this was the right time to think of treasure, but I knew as an experienced negotiator that it was better to start an offer high and lower it until you reach an agreement.

"Why would I do that if I could just kill you and take away yout belongings?"

"Because you wouldn't be able to get this necklace. Its enchantment prevents others from getting it without the owner's permission."

"I should just torture you to submission then?" The ghost rubbed his chin.

Dana gave me a look that said 'what are you doing?'

I ignored her and turned back to the ghost. "But wouldn't you rather have a fun game?"

The ghost eyed me again. "I suppose. Torture is not really my forte."

I knew it. A gambler cannot resist a gamble.

The ghost snapped his finger and the pile of gold covering the table flew away like there was some small explosion.

Now that I successfully delayed their demise, my problem turned to be how I would win, and how I would make sure that the ghost will be true to his word. It was a gambler after all.

If the ghost lost, then he might just take back his words and kill us. Most gamblers can't accept when they already lost. Unless if the gamble involved one's life. Before the organizers put them inside the game, they let them learn the basics including bits of lore. One particular lore tells of a story of people who broke their oaths. They either died or receive a fate worse tha death. I knew they wouldn't die inside the game, but we had been warned that pain experienced here might be brought back into the real world as some sort of phantom pain. Even if it wasn't real, getting a taste of hell here would cause trauma.

Don't press your luck too much, it might lead to your own downfall. My grandfather's words passed through my mind.

This wasn't a situation that called for luck, rather it was wit and cunning that was needed. In order to outsmart someone, you need to know who that person is. Informatiion was what they needed to survive.

The chair released a loud creaking sound as I sat. The ghost sat on a luxurious red chair inlined with golden patterns.

The ghost snapped his fingers and a red creature with wrinkled skin and no taller than a goblin appeared. Its face though, unlike goblins, didn't look a tiny bit like that of a human.

An imp. Imps are oftentimes the low level demons that the players fight in the beginning, though they were not to be underestimated as they can be vicious like most of their demon kind. The ghost was a demon summoner. That explained his aura. This ghost was no mere monster, but at least they now knew where his powers came from.

The imp shuffled and distributed the cards. The game might be rigged since I already got a bad set of cards at the very start of the game. It was what to be expected of a demon summoner.

It was next to impossible to read the summoner's expressions since his face was not really the stable kind. It continuously morphed and dark tendrils wriggled on it. That was bad since these kind of games rey on reading facial expressions, though I could still read his body language.

I bluffed the first round, but the summoner knew this. He called and landed a straight flush. I lost the first round.

Not necessarily bad. The summoner will get overconfident. It was also the perfect time to strike a conversation.

"So this is how you got all your possessions?"

The summoner shook his head. "It was mostly from trading trinkets."

The imp reshuffled the cards and distributed it.

I looked over the imp in front of him to see the summoner. "And I suppose those trinkets have magical powers, like some sort of talisman?"

The summoner smirked, or so I thought. It was hard to tell with all the tendrils covering his face. "They thought so. Those fools thought that they were outwitting me by exchanging a few of their hard-earned gold for what supposedly artifacts of power. Of course, it was the other way around."

I received a set of bad cards again. "But you couldn't have made so much money just by swindling people, could you?" He looked over the flowing pile of treasure.

The summoner chuckled. "How naive."

He placed his chips on the pot and I called to match the amount.

He put down his cards. "I just did. At first, I was just selling these fake talismans and magical gemstones that were really just painted glass, though they were too dumb to realize that. Then I started getting ambitious. I started swindling lords and stripping them of their own properties." He motioned his hand around the room, likely referring to this castle. "It started well at first, but some of them began to doubt, but they still did not dare to challenge me openly. They still believed that I was an actual wizard."

I was right. He was getting overconfident and talkative. "You weren't then?"

He shook his head. "I only got it later, when the lords and commoners of this land finally united to stand against me. I almost feared them, feared for my life. Almost."

The imp turned the cards, revealing another flush by the summoner, and another lost by me.

"Then I met a real wizard. He was desperate. He needed a dozen gemstones. Real gemstones that is, for I no longer need to create fake ones with all the wealth I have already accumulated. And I doubt that my mundane means can fool a wizard, even when desperate." He smiled, revealing a set of decaying teeth in the upper side of his mouth. The lower part was rather empty.

"So you exchanged a few gemstones in order for the wizard to train you in the arcane arts?"

He shook his head again. His smile getting bigger. He seemed to enjoy talking about himself and hearing other people's lack of knowledge. "No, that would be a really slow process. Everyone knew that it can take months or even years to learn a simple spell. I did not have that luxury. The angry mob was already at my doorstep."

The cards turned. Another lost for me. I glanced at the summoner's pile of chips, and mine that was barely a few now.

"A djinn."

"Like a genie?" I thought if this was the right time to employ my plan. Too early, and the summoner will not take the bait. Too late, and I will run out of chips. There's no time like the present. I thought to myself.

The summoner laughed. I hoped that this wizard cannot read his thoughts, or else he has no chance of winning. Instead, I realized that the summoner was actually laughing at my supposed lack of knowledge.

"A genie? Yes, I supposed that's what they call them now. I don't know where that term came from."

I faked a laugh. "So you traded your gemstones for a magic lamp?"

"A magic lamp?" The summoner's laugh echoed throughout the chamber, which now sounded more like a demonic chant than a laugh.

I took this opportunity to swap one of my current cards with one that K hid in my sleeve earlier, but I realized that I didn't need to. I already got a better set of cards. The imp must have made a mistake. Nevertheless, it was a good thing on my part. I finally had a chance of winning. Now I only have to think of an escape.

I remembered Dana being given fairy dust.If this summoner wished himself to turn into a demon, then the fairy dust could provide a short distraction, but enough for them to get out of the room. But did he really turn himself into a demon? If I was wrong, then the fairy dust wouldn't really do anything.

"It was no lamp, it was a book. A book that possessed a great spirit from the foulest part of the Abyss. Like a djinn, it granted wishes, though greater and came at a price. Of course, I didn't want to pay any price. I instead found a way to merge and take control of the demon. I succeeded, but not without it cursing me. I am now limited to where the book is. I cannot stray too far from the book, neither touch it. Though after years of study, I am now closer to my freedom. I shall lay waste to everything nearby. From mere villages to great kingdoms."

I wanted to ask if the minotaur and the ogre were his, but I was short of time. The imp already turned their cards.