A party of three, Sherbie, Bruiser and I make our way up the mountain on our way to challenge a hill giant. The rain’s cleared up and it’s looking to be a nice morning.

  It feels neat to be riding in a party, like we’re regular tough guys. Unstoppable, so long as we’re together. It’s too bad Bruiser’s already said he’ll go off on his own just as soon as we finish this quest. Or is it? I gotta be honest, Mr. No Exit’s more talkative than Sherbie, and way more obnoxious.

  “Alright, alright. So you’ve got a good head for TC fights, but how are you in a real crisis situation?” Bruiser challenges me.

  I mean, I’ve got dysautonomia, so in reality, not great. But there’s no way I’m admitting that to him.

  “I do good in crisis situations. I can totally keep a level head.”

  He snorts beside me as his lizard waggles its body back and forth on its way up the mountain. “Doubt.”

  “The hell, man? I’m totally chill!”

  “Do you think you could land a plane?”

  “What?”

  “If the pilot died with a plane full of passengers, could you go up there and land that plane?

  “Hell yeah, I could!”

  “I don’t think you could.”

  “I could land a plane, be the president and fight a wolf all at once!”

  “Yeah, Rev’s got that big dog in him!” Sherbie pipes up.

  Bruiser throws back his head and laughs widely. “Alright, big dog, I’m glad you’re on our side. No friendly fire, alright? Hahaha!”

  Is this guy making fun of me?

  “Alright, tough guy, what’s your deal?” I ask. “People say you’re an ex MMA fighter. Is that true?”

  “Might be.”

  “Well?” I urge him when he doesn’t elaborate. “Were you big time?”

  “UFC roster big time enough for you?”

  “You mean you were famous?”

  “What’s with this were business? Don’t act like I’m some sort of has-been, kid.”

  “Then—you are famous? In real life?”

  “Oh, you’ve heard of me,” he assures me with a confident smirk. “You’ve definitely heard of me. Course you don’t need to spread that around. I’m content to keep a low profile on Tetra Chronicles.”

  A low profile? Bruiser9000?

  “Yeah,” he goes on, scratching his neck, “it’s hard being the most humble person I know. But it wouldn’t be right for me to get a big head, just cuz I’m a celebrity. Just cuz chicks can’t get enough of me.”

  Aw, dang! Right in the virgin! My one weak spot!

  “Yeah, I’m smashing smoking hot chicks every night. Different chicks, hottest chicks you’ve ever seen, they love me cuz I’m swimmin in money. Yeah one night I accidentally forgot six thousand dollars at this chick’s house, I didn’t even go back to get it…”

  Sherbie and I exchange glances.

  “Is six thousand dollars a lot of money to regular people?” he asks me, aside.

  “Yeah, I think so…”

  “…then I beat the hell out of her boyfriend. The next night he came up to me at the bar with like ten of his buddies looking for a fight. I said, you wanna step out back? I’ll send all you motherf*ckers to the hospital…”

  Is he just bragging? It’s hard to tell with Bruiser. The stories sound far-fetched, and yet I can’t help feel there might be a grain of truth to them.

  “…and my third mugshot photo was the best picture I’ve ever taken. Yeah, I basically ran stuff in that prison, I was top G…”

  “Wait, they let you stay in the UFC after you went to prison?”

  Bruiser pivots on a dime. “Hey, I might have done some stuff I regret in my past, but you don’t gotta follow in my footsteps. I’m not that guy anymore, you know what I’m sayin? You kids learn from my mistakes.”

  Oh, man. Did I seriously look up to this guy? What a blow-hard he turned out to be.

  “It’s true what they say,” I murmur to Sherbie. “You should never meet your heroes…”

  Sherbie nods very seriously, and I forget he has no idea what I’m talking about.

  “Anyway, it looks like the quest area is coming up on our map. This is a 10 party boss so we should plan our approach carefully.”

  “Nah, we’ll be fine,” Bruiser assures us. “Just follow my lead.”

  “We should plan our strategy,” I say stubbornly. “Just because you’ve fought him before—”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “That’s right. I’m the one that fought him before so I’m the one with the experience. So just let me worry about the fight, and you two just stand there and do what you do best.”

  Damn it. Is he looking down on us because we’re not damage dealers?

  We go a little further till Bruiser puts his hand up, reins in his lizard and dismounts, unsummoning the beast with the motion. After exchanging glances with Sherbie, we do the same.

  “We’ll go on foot from here. You two challenge him straight on, I’ll go around and take him from the back. Do your best to keep him on you, alright Big Dog?”

  Hmph. So we ended up planning our strategy after all. He just wanted to be the leader. Well, it’s a solid enough plan. Guess I’ll go along with it. For now…

  We continue our approach. All banter and bragging has dwindled to a tense silence, and I’m filled with an unexpected thrill.

  Is this how my ancestors felt, going off to hunt mammoth with their clansmen? Side by side with trusted comrades, each with his own specialized task, a unit, a perfectly oiled machine of war. In this moment I am closer to those ancient men than I’ve ever been. Or is that just my imagination running wild on me again?

  Bruiser stops and gestures ahead of us to a boulder littered hillside. Seated on one of the massive stones is the giant, hunched over, head over his knees as he devours the bloody carcass of a cow in his hands.

  Badump!

  Down! I pull Sherbie with me to hide behind the nearest boulder.

  [Heart rate accelerating. 136 BPM. Automatic system shutdown if heart rate reaches 150 BPM.]

  Holy heck, he’s big. At full height I doubt I’ll come up to his hip. And the sight of him devouring his prey, the sound of breaking bones and smacking lips carried on the wind is making me feel light headed.

  Of course Bruiser is completely calm. He gestures that he’s going around, that we should wait till he gets in position. I nod, putting a hand on Sherbie’s shoulder when he looks confused and ready to jump up and charge. Bruiser hurries off, hunched low. I watch him duck behind the next boulder with bated breath.

  [Heart rate 143 BPM. Automatic system shutdown if heart rate reaches 150 BPM.]

  Calm down, Rev. If you despawn here, it’s all over.

  “Right,” I say to Sherbie, who looks nervous and eager. Just like a golden retriever on a secret stealth mission, if he had a tail, it would be wagging so hard. “We’ll charge the big guy on my signal. You stay within casting distance of me, and go no further. If he goes after you, run.”

  “Run,” Sherbie repeats enthusiastically.

  I’m sure he must already know this but just to be safe—

  “Your only job is to keep me alive. Bruiser too, to a lesser extent, but me especially. If I go down, we all go down, understand?”

  “I won’t let you die.”

  “And I won’t let you die,” I swear to him, and we clasp hands firmly.

  “Let’s do this,” Sherbie says with a grin.

  I don’t share his enthusiasm, but the sentiment is the same. “Let’s do this.”

  Just then I become aware of a foul scent carried on a hot breeze, smelling of fresh blood and old tooth decay, so putrid I could puke.

  No. Don’t tell me—

  Sherbie and I look up at the same moment, and we see it in the same moment. High above us, the deformed face, the dully lit eyes, the smug yet manic grin.

  The giant! He must have scented us, he—

  An explosion of pain in my right arm. The blow from the giant’s club shatters the boulder and sends Sherbie and me flying. Flying. The wind is whistling in my ears, it’s surreal to see the world whizzing past. Then it all comes crashing to an abrupt halt.

  [-590 HP]

  Ooff. What level is that thing?? Damn it, a ten party boss is built different. Even with my armor—

  Shit. Sherbie! I’m a tank but my buddy has no armor at all and his health isn’t even five hundred!

  I see he’s rolled to a stop some distance from me, his cloth armor decimated to reveal the strategic sexy places of his lithe elven body. Guess he never figured out how to turn that off…

  Is he dead? I think I took the brunt of the blow, so there’s a chance he survived it, but there’s no time to worry about that now. On earth shaking footsteps, the giant is already thundering toward us.

  I struggle to my feet and charge him without stopping to think, praying my aggro will pull his attention and he’ll leave Sherbie be.

  Even with the pain reduction my right arm is numb, but that doesn’t stop me from pulling out my shield to meet his next blow.

  [-68 HP]

  The shield shouldn’t be negating so much damage—unless that first blow was one of the giant’s skills, in which case, it should mean he won’t be able to use a power shot like that every time. I wonder what the cooldown is on that thing. Is it too much for me to hope it’s an hour?!

  BOOM!

  I guess so…

  [-194 HP]

  Thank the TC gods for shield damage reduction.

  This time I hit the ground running, determined not to give the giant even a second to notice my fallen friend. Drink a potion, quick! Meanwhile the giant is running right back at me, clearing the ground in great, earth shaking strides.

  [-71 HP]

  I catch the giant’s next blow with my shield. Good. All his attention’s still fixed on me.

  Well, maybe not so good after all.

  Suddenly the giant lets out with a roar and another skill, unleashing a flurry of blows in what feels like an effort to pound me into the ground like a tent stake.

  [-64 HP]

  [-83 HP]

  [-75 HP]

  [-77 HP]

  [-81 HP]

  Holy shit, I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die!

  One minute in my aura’s not going to be enough. If I don’t get backup soon—!

  “Regrowth!”

  Sherbie? You’re still alive?! With your support, maybe I can—

  [-225 HP]

  Maybe not. I’m flying again. Even with the heals, I’m as good as dead.

  I struggle to rise from that last blow. My body hurts in more ways than I can assess in a single moment, and all my stamina seems drained.

  [HP critically low!]

  “10,000 MEGATON HAMMER!”

  Damn it. There he is. That bastard sure knows how to make a flashy entrance. But does he have to wait till the last minute?

  “Rejuvenating Touch! Rejuvenating Touch!” I look up to see a half naked elf frantically slapping my back with healing spells.

  “Thanks, man. Now get back. If you die, we’re finished.”

  “Right!”

  Going into this, I thought the tank was the most vital role, but this fight makes me realize every single member of this team is vital. If even one of us falls here, we’ll all be wiped.

  Thanks to Sherbie and my own skills, my health is regenerating rapidly. I’m already at over 40%, so I force myself to move. Get back in there, Rev. Bruiser’s tough, but he won’t last more than a few blows from the giant.

  I rush back into the fray, pulling the giant’s attention with my aggro and catching him in my aura. He turns around and catches the edge of my shield with his club, sending it flying.

  Damn it! A disarming blow! Fortunately I’ve got a backup.

  I pull out my second shield and brace for another hit while Bruiser does his job, absolutely whaling the tar out of the giant’s backside, calling out his moves like they were the names of real skills, and not just some nonsense he made up on the spot.

  “Take that! Flash kick! Bruiser blast! Pain level 9000, yeah!”

  Well, at least he keeps it entertaining. More importantly, his attacks keep stunning the giant, so that means I’m taking less punishment than I ordinarily would.

  “Regrowth!”

  Thanks to my aura and Sherbie’s persistent overtime heals, I’m almost back up to full health, and I’m starting to feel a spark of optimism.

  We’re doing this. Working together as a team, we’re actually going to take down the giant.

  Then Bruiser gives a shout that sends all my hopes crashing to the ground.

  “Almost down to 30% health! Heads up, kid! He’s about to get a big power boost!”

  Just then the giant throws back his head and roars with fury, sending a spray of red into the air, darkening the entire battlefield with blood.

  “There’s the switchover!” shouts Bruiser. “This is where shit gets real!”