[SP - F06] I'm Starting With the Man in the Mirror (The Gemini)

[Reytac 0]

Reytac ducked behind one of the buildings, getting out of sight of the trio of older Amazonian women that had been glaring daggers into his back for nearly twenty minutes now. He had not known what the caveat of this floor was when he first arrived to explore it, but he had learned very quickly. He leaned back against a wall and rolled his eyes – he hadn’t been expecting to be ostracized just because he was a guy, but man, all of the older npcs he’d run into had treated him like he was carrying the damn plague.

“Excuse me.” Reytac blinked at the sound of a voice coming from nearby – a male voice, which was an oddity in this village. He turned his head down in the direction he’d tucked, to see a figure standing near him, dressed in a dark robe that masked their shape, with a hood drawn close around their face, obscuring it from view. “I’ve been observing you for some time now, across different floors – and I feel it’s time for me to make my offer. I challenge you to a one-on-one duel, of fair and honorable combat.” Reytac blinked in confusion.

“Uh… why? I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’d be wise for me to accept a duel from a stranger.” He could tell this was an NPC, there was no cursor and their language had been stilted, like it was run through a translator. The figure bowed low.

“Don’t worry. The duel, win or lose, won’t prevent you from your goal of returning to your love. If you win, you might even get something that will help you on your way.” Reytac chewed his lip, then sighed.

“Alright.”

 

[Reytac 0]

Reytac followed through the forest ducking past tree limbs that dipped down low into his way. The figure that was leading him had remained – not silent, since it would answer his questions, but very, perfunctorily. ‘Where are we going’ was just met with ‘where we need to go’ and when he tried asking what would happen, he was reminded that it would be a fair duel between the two of them. It was – frustrating, and a good reminder that this was not a player but just an npc. For a quest, apparently since as soon as he had agreed a quest log had popped up, but the name had been obscured, with the marker telling him to follow ‘the mysterious figure’.

“Why are you challenging me now?” Maybe a different question would actually get a response.

“You, and I, are ready for it now. You weren’t before.” Now what the hell did that mean? But even as Rey pressed for more information, the figure clammed up, now refusing to utter another word altogether.

 

Edited Tuesday at 10:31 PM by Reytac

[Reytac 0]

The two of them passed through a wall of brush, and Reytac frowned as he looked around. For a moment there, it had felt like he was pressing against a film in the air, like something had ever so slightly resisted his passing. But when he tried to spot what might have been causing that, there was nothing, just trees and shrubs around him like there had been for the last long while. He turned around to question the figure again, only to pause, his jaw dropping slightly.

There had not been a lake in front of them a minute ago, or a clearing around it. There had only been more trees and brush as far as Reytac could see. The figure had come to a stop by the waters edge, and was now standing, facing away from Reytac. Slowly, he approached the figure, but there was no reaction to his approach when Reytac stopped a short distance away.

“Uh, hello?” The figure in front of him twitched, once, but didn’t react again.

 

Edited Tuesday at 10:31 PM by Reytac

[Reytac 0]

Cautiously, Reytac took a step forward, one hand raising towards the figure. “Hey, look, if there’s something you need to do instead of this duel, I’m fine –” Reytac cut himself short when the figure spun around, the robe that had been clinging to it all through the woods falling away. Leaving Reytac staring at a mirror image of himself, from the scar and stubble on his jaw, down to the hammer that appeared out of nowhere. Reytac stumbled over backwards, falling to the ground as he dodged out of the way of the sudden attack, his eyes going wide as he stared at himself in shock. 

“Wh-what-“ 

 

“You shouldn’t be here! You should be home with her not playing some fucking game!” Reytac’s spine froze as he heard those words howled at him from his own lips. Looking again, he saw that the doppelganger looked like it had tears in its, his, eyes as his hammer thunked into the ground, his body shaking. The clones lips twisted into a snarl. 

“So eager to play a game and look where it got you. Stuck, being useless, not there for her!” Reytac rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a second strike as the mirror shrieked at him. 

 

Spoiler

 

Gemini Statistics:

HP:34*30=1020 

Dam: 34*8 = 272

Mit: 34*2 = 68

Acc 2

Eva 2

 

256563    MD:   5    misses

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:40 PM by Reytac

[Reytac 0]

Reytac scrambled back to his feet, putting a little distance between himself and his copy, but the clone kept close. Not close enough for another attack, but close enough that Reytac knew that if he tried to run, the clone would be right there, not letting up. His hands were clammy as he tried to fumble his own hammer out from his inventory, nearly dropping it to the ground. 

“And then, what did you do when you realized you were stuck? You just hid like a fucking coward instead of doing something about it!” Reytac choked, guilt rising in his throat as he managed to get his hammer into his hands. 

“No that’s not true – I – I” 

“I, I,- you hid for months, years. Hoping someone else would get you out, but they didn’t, they couldn’t, not without more help.” The clone stepped forward, not striking out, but yelling into his face. Reytac quailed, his eyes screwing shut. He – he hadn’t hid. He’d – he hadn’t been able to handle it. A breakdown wasn’t hiding – he wasn’t a coward.  

Edited Tuesday at 11:41 PM by Reytac

[Reytac 0]

“No. No that’s not what happened. I’m not – I couldn’t handle it! I – this was supposed to be a fucking game to enjoy with my wife not – not this!” The clone stepped back slowly as Reytac shouted back at it, its lips twisting downwards. The clone lifted up one hand, the empty hand, and jabbed its index finger against his chest.  

“And now, look at you. Traipsing along, looking at dragons like some giddy school child, instead of getting your ass to the front lines and maybe making a difference. It’s almost like you don’t actually”  

“If you finish that I will do my level best to kill you, duel or no duel.” Reytac grabbed the doppleganger’s jabbing finger, his hand tightening around it. The mockery of his eyes widened in its face as Reytac shoved it back, making it stumble.  

Edited Tuesday at 11:41 PM by Reytac

[Reytac 0]

“I know full well what will happen, if I focus only on getting to the front line and out. I’m not ready for it yet. If I went there now, I’d die within days, weeks at best.” Reytac snarled in frustration. He wasn’t going to let this, this, mockery, of himself accuse him of being a coward. He was working, fighting, trying to grow and get to a point where he actually could stand on the front lines and not be a burden. He lashed out, his hammer swinging through the air, trying to push the clone back and away.  

Instead, the clone deflected his swing, sending his arm shooting into the ground. Then, before he could recover, the digital entity retaliated, crushing its version of his hammer into Reytac’s bicep and making the man yelp in pain as his arm went numb. He pulled back, shaking his arm out as the two took slow, steady steps around each other, finally settling into a proper dueling stance.  

 

 

Spoiler

ID:256564 BD:4 MD:10 

Rey misses with Tech-D - 16 En

Gemini hits, deals: 272+2 CRIT Damage vs Rey Mit: 66, deals 208 Dam

Owie

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:44 PM by Reytac