“Alright folks, now that we are four and almost ready to start school,” my pause brought the groans I hoped for, “I’m thinking of this like it was a quest line. We have to get through several steps to get to the boss. This isn’t a kill the boss quest. It's a convince the boss to help us quest.”

  “If we do that, then what?” Ingrid asked.

  “Then we spend a long-time killing monsters, and possibly people, to make the town and area safe for people who don’t want to be the adventurer type. Or who can’t be,” I told them.

  “It also means we need to level up as fast as we can. We have to be more powerful and harder to kill than we are now.”

  “In some of the GameLit books, it's called progression. I’m hoping there will be adventurer guilds for the people who want to do this. Even if they just want to be safer and get loot, it’ll help. If not, we should start one.”

  Bhaarrt was nodding yes to the idea.

  “We’ll do that when we need to. Or tomorrow, whichever comes first.” Even that old joke got a small laugh.

  Turning in place, I pointed to the officer in black police SWAT gear, standing on the grass in the shade of a maple tree near the building. His head kept turning to watch the people around him and the other police near the building.

  “He looks like he’s directing the other cops out here. He’s our first target. If we can convince him, he should be able to get us inside. We’ll play it from there. Bhaarrt, does he look like a vet to you?”

  “Bhaarrt think so. Might know him. Maybe still army. Reserve.”

  “Thought so. Keep practicing the Hulk voice. Hopefully, people will think you’re the green Hulk, not the Banner Hulk, and underestimate you.”

  “Bhaarrt like!” he almost shouted. It drew some attention from people nearest to is. A few moved further away. His grin was almost terrifying. I gave him a thumbs up.

  “My idea is to show him how powerful magic is compared to his guns. I think my MANA SHIELD will last against a full clip of his pistol. Maybe his AR too, but I don’t know. I think I could stop both of them at once, but I don’t want to test it yet. I’m gonna put up a shield on that tree and have him shoot at it. Then fire a MANA BOLT through the leaves.”

  “The goal is to convince him the government needs our help to defend the town and save people. The cops can’t do it alone, even if some of them know how to use their powers.”

  Looking at their nods, it was obvious what the other three were thinking. “I also want Urako to help with a bit of sleight of hand and misdirection.”

  “Whadda, you want me to do?”

  “I want you in full STEALTH mode while I’m doing this. I’ll put the shield about two, three feet in front of the tree. Stay close to me and when the shooting stops, you slip in between the tree and shield. When I tell you to appear, you drop STEALTH and look like you were standing there all along without a care in the world. You’ll look perfectly safe. Which you were, because you weren’t there.”

  “He thinks I was there and jest couldn’t see me?”

  “Yup. And you don’t get shot even if my shield fails. If it fails, you don’t move. I’ll ad-lib from there.”

  “If it doesn’t work?” Ingrid asked.

  “Then I’m open to whatever. If someone has a better idea, let it out. I’m not mister know-it-all. I just have a good imagination and, at the moment, enough power to carry this one off.”

  “I hope.”

  “The thing is, we want this guy on our side, not against us. That’s true for everyone inside as well.” I looked at the three standing in front of me individually, then continued.

  “I don’t want to fight the cops. There are more of them than us and they can bring in the Army Reserve and Guard with even bigger guns. I don’t want to be on their bad side.” I waited a few seconds for a response, but only saw Ingrid shaking her head in agreement.

  “OK then. Let’s do this. Bhaarrt. If you will please gently, with a big emphasis on gently, make us a path through any people between here and the officer. Ingrid, you’re behind him and Urako or Shadow, whichever you prefer. Just stay close behind Ingrid in STEALTH mode.”

  All three of them nodded that they’d heard me. “I’ll try to stay far enough behind Ingrid so I don’t step on your heels. I’ll move to the front on the left side when we get there. You and Ingrid shift to Bhaarrt’s right and closer to the tree. We’ll make it up as we go from there. Questions?”

  Urako told us, “I like Shadow. Ninjas sometimes took other names. VANISH, then HIDE IN SHADOWS are abilities I can get that lets me fully vanish from sight when I go into them. When you’re little, you need to hide sometimes.”

  “I’m sorry you had to hide, Shadow. You’ll be doing more hiding now, but for good reasons,” I added. “Bhaarrt. The sergeant's name is Carlos Torres. I think he used his own name for his character. If you know him, give whatever help you can.”

  “Name familiar. Not know well.”

  “Isn’t he the vet you were hanging with at the veteran’s picnic last May?” Ingrid asked.

  “Maybe. We’ll see,” Bhaarrt answered. “Bhaarrt find out,” He started gently. At least gently for a just over seven foot tall Half-Ogre on the move. This meant people who saw him coming moved out of his way as fast as they could. It opened a path for us.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  I’d been trying to watch for Shadow and didn’t see her, so I stayed a good six feet or more behind Ingrid in case she was between us. I hoped my last few points of MANA would regenerate before we got there.

  Bhaarrt in motion got us noticed, and we soon had lots of open space in front of us. I saw Sergeant Torres looking our way. We started walking over a hundred feet away from him and in under five seconds; he was tracking us. He looked like he was talking to someone on the radio mic clipped to his tac vest while he watched us.

  When Bhaarrt stopped, we spread out as planned, but before I could say something, Bhaarrt said in his gruff, but almost normal voice, “Carlos. I’m Daryll from the 87th. We met at a picnic last May. We was bitchin’ about our time in the sand over a couple of beers.” Carlos looked at him, very puzzled.

  “Yeah. I’ve changed since the thing happened. We need your help.” Bhaarrt added.

  “Maybe. What’s the problem?” Carlos asked.

  Bhaarrt pointed at me with his maul. “Will here seems to know more about what happened and what will happen. He can tell it better’n me.”

  Taking my cue, “Sergeant Torres? I’m William Bannister. The world has become something like an RPG video game like Final Fantasy or Warcraft. That’s why we have magic, stats, and levels of ability we can see on our, for lack of a better term, Character Sheet. I can see other people’s stats as well.”

  His eyes hardened as he looked at me after hearing that. “You’re a Level 1 Warrior with skills in guns, batons, and shields. You boosted your STRENGTH, DEXTERITY, and WISDOM. You’re thinking like a cop and if you keep reacting like one, you and a lot of other people will end up dead.” The sergeant scowled at me when I said that. Without speaking, his nod let me continue.

  “If I’m right, in a few hours we are going to get waves of game type monsters appearing. You might down a Kobold or Goblin, but your gun won’t do shit against a slime or other things that could appear. They’re going to be trying to kill people. If you try to arrest them, they’ll kill you or die trying. Some of them can have magic and that can stop most of your weapons or go through your armor.” The last part got to him.

  “Why should I believe you? Why’s this happening?”

  “First, because I’m a long-time gamer. A VERY long-time gamer. I know how to think and act in game terms. They seem to apply to what happened. Second, I’m a Mage and I can cast magic and your weapons can’t hurt me, but I can hurt or kill you. And, I can prove that without hurting you or anyone else.”

  Letting that sink in for a few seconds, I continued, “Third, you’re a Level 1 Warrior. I’m a Level 6 Mage or magic user. The next best you’re going to find right here is Ingrid, who’s a Level 2 Healer. She got there by being an EMT and healing people today. I don’t know how many accidents there were, but I’m sure it was a lot and some people died.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. How do I know you’re that level and how’d you get there?”

  “If you have someone with the REVEAL STATS ability, they can literally see it. That’s how I can see things about you. I got there by being the FIRST MANA MAGE in the game or whatever you want to call it. I didn’t know it was a thing. The system gave me a five-level boost.” I stopped to let that sink in.

  “Whatever this is, it feels like games I know. Games I’ve run. Not the same, but close enough. It’s like starting a new game. I know how to do that.”

  “What are you looking for? Free rein to go around killing people? Not going to happen. We still have laws, and I won’t let that happen.” Carlos stare at me with his, ‘this cop is not happy with you and you’ll do what he wants or else look’.

  I think they must teach that at the police academy, or maybe he was a sergeant in the army. I’ve heard they teach it too.

  “No. What I want is to help people who don’t know how this works and those that do to form up into small groups who can protect others who can’t protect themselves. I want the city, county, and police’s help in doing that. The university too. Bhaarrt here’s a Tank. That means he gets all the bad guys to focus on him because he can take the damage and deal out some, too.”

  “Ingrid’s a Healer.” Her hand gave him a quick waive “She keeps him healed while people like me kill whatever we’re fighting until we go fight the next batch.”

  “The primary way of leveling up in games like this is killing things that are trying to kill you. If you don't want to fight, then you’ll have to find people to fight for you or are strong enough to protect you. You’re a protector. You’ll fight to save others. So will I.”

  All we could do was wait while he thought. I didn’t want to hit him with too much. One step at a time. “Was it too much already?”

  “Why’s this happening?”

  “I don’t have a fucking clue. I’ve got wild guesses we can go over another time. Also, I’m guessing the city and county heads are inside.” I pointed at the former factory next to us, which now held city and county offices.

  “Trying to figure out what to do. We need their help to keep most of the people in town alive for the next couple of weeks. I came to you because you looked like the guy in charge out here. That means you can contact the people inside.” He nodded, telling me he could reach them.

  “I can prove my magic is more powerful than your weapons, with no one getting hurt. If I can do that, it means we could force our way inside and people will get hurt or killed. I don’t want that. I’ll leave before I do that.”

  “You’d leave on your own? Why? Why do you think they’d help you, or believe you?”

  “I’d leave because I don’t want to hurt you or anyone here. People should get to make their own choices. I believe you take responsibility for your choices. I’ll still help where I or we, if the others still choose to work with me, can help. If people die who we could have saved, that choice is on you.” His scowl said he didn’t like my last words. Good.

  “How’re you going to prove I can’t stop you?”

  “One of the spells I have is a shield. It puts up a barrier that stops and absorbs damage. It lasts until it goes away or takes enough damage to take it down.” I pointed at the tree next to him. “Take this Maple tree, where you've been standing in its shade.” He nodded. “Could you put every round in your pistol’s magazine into that tree without missing at, oh, say, ten feet?”

  “A hell of a lot further out. Ten feet is nothing.” Carlos looked smug.

  “I’ll bet you passing me on to the people inside that you can’t. No one will be between you and the tree. If you hit the tree once, we stop and I lose. There won’t be any ricochet. My shield can absorb the shells.”

  “I hope!”

  “One full clip. Are you willing to take that bet? If you need more proof that my magic bolts will go through your body armor. You can take it off and put it against the tree and we’ll see if I’m right. I don’t want anyone to get hurt, not even the tree. And…you’re in charge of safety.”

  As they say, you could see the gears turning as he thought about it. He’d see magic in action. Either he’d put one bullet into the tree and it wouldn’t hurt the tree much. Or he couldn’t and I’d prove my point. “I can’t guarantee they’ll help you,” he replied at last.

  “I know. All I ask is you tell them what happened and what I said will happen. If you can help us later, to keep people alive, help us. That’s the other thing I’m asking for.”

  “OK. If I get permission for the demo.” I nodded. He clicked his mic again. “Suz. I need someone with rank out here ASAP. I want permission for a live fire demo and they need to see it.”

  Whatever came through his earpiece, I couldn’t hear, but I saw him nod, then smile. “The captain’s coming,” he said. “We wait for him. Suz, or Lieutenant Susan Greene, drew the short straw for tac ops communication or she’d be here too.” He looked at Bhaarrt. “She was at that picnic, too. Former MP.”

  “About so high,” Bhaarrt said, holding his hand about breast high on Ingrid, then raising it an inch or two. “Yeah. I remember her and the guy who hit on her. I think he still had some skin left when she stopped cursing at him.” They both laughed at the memory.