Doomed to Die in 3 Minutes

Experiments with Spells 101

In the middle of the celebrations, Corai ran straight to the caravans where most of his belongings lied, along with those of all the other actors. He had to pack up and leave if he was going to be an adventurer. It was in the dead centre of the city, covered in bright lights and surrounded by merry people partaking of drink. The scent of freshly made food wafted in the air while the aroma of wine invaded his nose. He wasn’t the Demon King Zelo right now, just plain old Corai.

So, people didn’t pay him much of any mind as he walked towards the back of the line and began to shuffle through his personal things and stuff them into bags and pouches. Just as he was almost done he felt the tip of a sword in its scabbard tapping upon his right shoulder from behind.

“So, that’s it? You’re just going to be leaving like that? Not saying a word to anyone? I didn’t think you hated us that much.” Corai slowly turned around to face Alan. His fellow actor, the lead in fact, who would always play the part of the hero while he was the villain. Despite his harsh words, there was a bright smile planted on the plucky fan favourite.

“You know that’s not… I got permission from the Lady already.” Corai blushed a bit from embarrassment. He never had liked farewells no matter the circumstances. “Sigh, after all this time you’re still someone who likes to avoid conflict, yet just a few hours ago you were jumping into the mouth of a monster? Do or die, I guess. That’s the type of man you are.” 

Alan places his back against the caravan and stood shoulder to shoulder with Corai. “...Are you sure you want to go? This job pays well, you clearly have fun doing it, and maybe we can show it more directly, but all of us really love you. You’re goofy and clumsy, but we know you’re always doing your best. Do you have to go that badly?”

Corai kept silent as the question sat in his mind. He sighed as he built up the words to reply. “I know, man. I appreciate it, really, I do. When I had nothing else, with a little hope, prayer, and some begging you guys let me join you and show you my stuff. You trusted my bizarre magic and my crazy scripts. You all gave me a chance to really make a living. I’m grateful for that, and I’ll always be. In this life and the next… but I…”

Alan laughed and began to project his voice. “Adventure is calling! I must set out to become the mighty hero! Justice does not rest! It is burning eternal, the flame within the hearts of mortals will smother evil! Watch as I cut down the wickedness of the world!” 

Cheers come from the crowd as Alan finished. Corai looked away and buried his face in his hands. “That was the first script where I had the leading role. When you gave it to me, I thought you were crazy, but it turns out people love overly dramatic things like that. I was so embarrassed to scream that out at the top of my voice while acting so serious but the stars in the eyes of the audience blew that away in seconds. It was good, man. Be proud of it.” 

Alan chuckled as he nudged Corai in the ribs with his right elbow. “Without you, I would never have been as famous as I am now. Every wild night I had with a lady, that’s thanks to you!” 

“Pfttttt…! Ah, really? You’re thanking me for… yeah. Yeah, you do owe me! So don’t try and stop me. Help me get out of here… and hey, I’ll find you guys and come back whenever I have a spare moment. So, this isn’t goodbye… thanks. I needed that. It’s good to know you’re on my side.” 

The two men closed their eyes and smiled together, content with what was said, giggling childishly as they began to recant memories of their time together… their laughter melded with the other partygoers and travelled across the winds through the city. Eventually, they both died down and Corai broke the flow with a question.

“The first day we met. Do you remember how we fought?” 

Those words were enough for Alan to understand what was being asked of him.

“Since you’re serious about this, let’s do a quick test of your powers again. Follow me. I’m not taking no for an answer.” Alan began to walk away from the crowd and Corai followed until they had both left the gates of the city and walked into the wilderness nearby.

“Remember this? I was curious about your magic, so I made you hit me with it, while I threw stuff back at you. Man, I beat the crap out of you that day. Still, everything was impressive, so we hired you on the spot.  If you’re going, let’s make sure you stacked every card in your deck first.”

Alan unsheathed his prop sword and threw the scabbard to the earth while pointing the glimmering tip towards Corai’s heart. “Today is the day I become undefeated under the sun!”

Another line that was in a play from ages ago which had been inspired by…

“Fool, you have thrown away your sheath. You clearly do not intend to return alive from this battle, but I will excuse this as a moment of absentmindedness. Pick it up.” 

Both men were grinning like idiots with smug and confident smiles.

“I will not need it ever again after today! That is why I have discarded it. When I have taken your life, not only will I reign supreme… this will become a world which no longer needs swords! Now, silence your tongue! We are warriors. We speak with our actions! Here I come!” 

Alan leaps forward gripping his sword with both hands, he lifts it above his head and swings it downwards with all his force. 

“Chaotic Afflictions!” Corai threw out the spell he was most curious about at this moment. Maybe he had overlooked something or simply had not tried everything. There were also spells he never bothered to try, or learned about only after becoming an actor, and he would not need them. Now, he could really see what he could do. 

Chaotic Afflictions. It was basically the RPG spell or technique that would inflict every single non-special ailment upon all targets. Bonk. The prop slammed against his head seemingly without a shred of resistance.  

“So… uh, do you feel any worse?” Corai nervously stammered, hoping he had done something besides just get hit. Alan takes a second as he pulls his sword back and contemplates.

“I think I feel a bit sick? Like, just a bit queasy. A tiny bit heavier too? A little warm, I guess? Oh, a snap of cold too? That’s odd. Ah. It’s more like… I’m stuck in bed? Yeah, it feels like I’m in a warm bed with a mild fever while drinking hot chocolate.” 

Corai’s head fell down and looked like it wanted to bury its head in the sand like an ostrich.

“Right, I guess it’s like… putting a scarf around someone’s neck is technically a form of binding, but it isn’t hurting or restraining them. A microscopic morsel of poison no matter how potent isn’t going to kill someone. Burning without side effects is just heat and heat without power is just being warm. The same for freezing but inverted I guess. I guess the heaviness is petrify applied with slow spells but it sure felt like you were at top speed to me…” 

Alan bonked him on the head a second time while he was blabbing.

“Chill. We have plenty of time. We’ll find something you can use, and if not, well now you know.”

Corai knew offensive spells weren’t going to cut it. They had to be something that relies on effects rather than power. Or were simply direct in its application and effects. 

“Okay! Let’s try this. Attack me. Over and over. Don’t stop until I tell you.”  Alan flourished his blade at the invitation. “Well, you asked for it. Don’t blame me.” So, he, of course, started swinging. Corai began to whisper. “Warp. Time Stop. Warp. Time Stop.” 

Strike after strike rained upon Corai, who seemed to only be able to take it. It looked to Alan as if his body was very minutely shifting every moment, but nowhere near enough to actually dodge a blow. Despite this, with each repeated strike Corai was not flinching or wavering.

His eyes seemed fixed upon the very tip of the sword as if waiting for something…

Swish. The sound of something cutting through the air. Finally, the sword had not met its target. Not because of the careless of the wielder but from the positioning of the target.

The blade has missed by a literal hair. 

“...That will take some practice, sigh. I guess Warp can only move my body about an inch. Time Stop basically just helps me see things a little better, it doesn’t last long enough for me to do anything at all but track with my eyes. So it’s just helping me prepare my next action. It’s also pretty damn tiring to use over and over again.” Corai grumbled. His body had a few pink marks now from the repeated beatings, it was going to be sore in the morning. 

“Hey, man. It’s something. It looked really cool from here, at least for a second.” Alan tried his best to reassure him but it wasn’t doing much. “Okay, I want you to start chucking low-level magic at me.” There was a slight pause between the two. “Alright, if that’s what you want. Spark of Flame!” A small arrow made of bright red flame spat out of the air above Alan’s head towards Corai. He stretched out his right as if to catch it.

“Cancel Magic!” For daring to make this attempt the man began to wince in pain as a minor burn covered his right palm at the moment of impact. “Ouch, that looks like it hurts. You sure about-” Corai lifted his left arm to silence his friend. “Keep going.” Alan lightly shrugs as another arrow shoots out.

“Cancel Magic Effect!” This time Corai swings his left palm into the flames and… no burning. No yelp of pain. No red marks. “Okay. That’s… weird. My health went down but I don’t feel any pain from the fire. It’s more like I just got punched by a ball made of mana. Hey, hit me with every type of element, one by one. Gotta see how this pans out.” 

There’s a chortle from Alan in response to those words. “Gotcha. We have all night. You can leave in the morning. I’m going to hit you with everything I got, then we’ll get a drink, you can pass out till noon and start your big adventure then. I’m not going to take no for an answer!” 

So the two comrades battled through the night. To be more accurate, one just kept taking hits, but it was important to them. A temporary farewell and it helped prepare them both for the change in their lives coming forward...