Chapter 251: Uncertain Reversal

Chapter 251: Uncertain Reversal

Dallion kept staring at the golden box, as if by doing so hed gleam whats inside. It was obvious that the opponent standing across from him wasnt the generalit was merely an echo created by Dallions realm, which meant that his skills were no better than Dallions. And still, there was a deep sense of fear, as if Dallion had brought a knife to a gunfight.

The easiest thing to do was play on the assumption that the general had the same skills at the same level. And yet a voice in the back of Dallions mind kept on repeating, but what if he didnt? There was more riding on this than just a level. If Dallion failed, hed have to face a real life opponent, which would be considerably more difficult without a boost.

Nil, can you give any advice on this?

Its been a while since Ive played anything of the sort, but even if I were fully familiar with the strategies, Id respectfully decline. This is your leveling, dear boy, not mine.

Some help you are, Dallion grumbled mentally. Deep down, though, he knew that the echo was right. Receiving help during a trial was more than cheating on a test. There were no shortcuts here. Anything Dallion avoided would return to haunt him down the road and would do so with interest.

You arent stumped already, are you? The general tilted his head. When in doubt, why not do something extreme? Youre in the lead, after all.

Shut up.

There was no point in using his prize now. Leaving it for later, when the general had wasted more tokens, was clearly the proper choice. If Dallion happened to win this round, hed simply go all in at the next one, and if he lost, then hed gain control of the later battles.

I wont use my prize, Dallion said, then placed a harp token on the table.

Typical newbie move. The general shrugged. Still, if thats how you want it.

The box vanished, revealing the exact same three tokens the general had played last round: a glove, an eye, and a sword. If Dallion was right that both of them shared the same skills, that meant that the general was out of perception tokens. Maybe this was the perfect moment to test that.

I pass.

Are you sure? The general arched a brow. This is quite a good prize. I forgot to mention that each prize is better than the last.

I figured that out by myself, Dallion lied. Besides, you never said I needed more skills to win a combat. Looking at what you have, music should be enough.

For a single moment, Dallion saw the generals left eyelid twitch. The truth was that Dallion had only said that to annoy the man, but seeing the reaction, it seemed that he had stumbled onto something. Apparently, token quality mattered and in far greater numbers. Could it be that Dallion had been tricked to add more tokens than he had to the previous round? An attack was needed to win a battle, which by default made all attack tokens much more valuable than the rest. However, music could also be used as a means to achieve victory.

The general placed a second sword token on his side.

Lets start combat, he said in a far less friendly tone. Dallions hunch, it seemed, was correct.

I use my music to convince you not to surrender, Dallion said, pushing his only token to the middle of the table. As he did, one of the generals sword tokens moved forward on its own.

I attack again, the general said, pushing the second token of that type. And claim the prize.

The result was one to one. Now the game really could begin. By Dallions calculations, he already had an advantage. What was more, this round would determine whether his strategy had merit.

The reward for the third round is repetition. A golden cylinder appeared. You can use it to copy any other token you have on the table.

Only tokens I have? Dallion asked. None of yours?

You can copy my tokens as well, the general said reluctantly. Will you use your sphere token?

No, no need. Lets play as we have till now.

Thats not what you said last round. Besides, the harpsisword can create music as well.

In that case, I force you to surrender, once more. The final harp joined the rest of the tokens.

And I do Dallion pushed the token of his training stiletto forward. Surrender, my stiletto, that is. Cant say it would have done much damage anyway in its current state.

A typical amateur move, the general said, although there was a note of annoyance in his voice.

Dallion tried to see what other emotions there were, but he found that he was unable to. It seemed that during the course of the game, he lost the ability to perform any skills he used up. That was probably another rule that the general had forgotten to mention. It also meant that Dallion had to be extra careful with his bidding. There was no telling if hed lose all perception if he ran out of tokens, making him an easy target.

I use my shield to stand ready, the general said.

I use my acrobatics to attack from a different spot.

And I use my reaction to turn in that direction.

I use my Nox dagger to break your shield.

I create an instance using mind, to prevent that from happening.

The movements were getting faster and faster. Tokens almost flew to the center of the table, along with the obligatory explanations. Nothing was left to chance, no explanation was wasted.

I use acrobatics again to attack from the side.

And I create another instance.

I use Nox to attack you directly.

And I block with my guard skills.

In that case, I do nothing and just watch Nox slice through your shield and keep attacking! Dallion almost shouted. This was itthe moment he was waiting for. There was nothing that the general could do now. If he had used his swap prize and reclaimed a music token early on, he would have had the ability to counter the familiar, but now it was too late. Shields and weapons were useless against Nox, and Dallion was very careful to make sure that his opponent used the word block and not evade.

Interesting. The general looked at Dallion, then back at the table. I guess I have to concede this one. There are a few things I could do, but youll still win in the end. Before we move to the next round, though, Id like to reclaim an attack. One of the golden swords disappeared, replaced by the golden pyramid.

Just as I thought, Dallion was rejoicing on the inside. The rational part of him warned him not to celebrate yet, but he was having difficulty seeing how his opponent could win the next round. Not with all the tokens he just wasted. According to Dallions calculations, the general had one attack skill, three weapons, as well as two potential attacks using body. All of this could easily be countered using Dallions mind, reaction, and guard tokens. Not to mention he had Lux if things became really complicated, as well as the third rounds prize.

The fourth rounds prize is the ability to erase, the general said as the table cleared once more. That grants the ability to remove any token on the table.

I dont think itll come to that. Dallion placed the sphere on his side. I want you to bid first.

So, you finally used it? Not a bad choice, but you know its useless for battle. You should have used it in the second round, instead of music.

Im using it now. Dallion fought to keep himself from grinning.

I see that, and have no choice but to follow the games rules. A sword token appeared on the table. I suppose you were expecting that. Not the most elegant approach, I must admit, but it sometimes takes force to achieve victory. Now what else should I add he scratched his chin. How about three more?

Dallion froze. There were four identical sword tokens on the other side of the table. Not only did that mean that the generals skills were completely different from Dallions but it also showed that his skill levels were far greater.

I warned you not to celebrate early. The man grinned. All I needed to do was to get rid of your annoying familiar and harpsisword. It would have been better if you bid your flaming chicken last round as well, but then again, one cant expect everything to go according to plan. So, what will you do now? Let me have the eraser prize, or keep on bidding. Who knows? Maybe youll get lucky? Maybe Im just bluffing, after all?