BornAndTorn 129 The Wheatstone 2

The badly damaged landscape was a testament to the fierce battle between the 2 parties. Not only had the surrounding trees been toppled or uprooted but also the ground partially frozen. Cracks and furrows could be seen everywhere and some parts were still burning.

Amidst heavy breathing, Laura began to speak to Samantha.

" Who would have thought, that after all of this it would end like that?" her voice sounded ragged but had a playful undertone.

Her eyes flew over the battlefield, lingered for a while on the corpse of their adversary before finally ending up on Samantha.

" The infamous Moirai, the thorn in our eyes had finally fallen. He was brought to justice by the n.o.ble Samantha and her pure and untainted charm." Laura had a wide grin on her face as she began to tease her friend about the way the fight had been won.

After their long adventure had finally come to an ending every feeling of tension dropped and they began to feel elated. Bickering about the situation was natural as they were still enjoying every last bit of it.

But Samantha did not seem to mind her current clothing situation as she even began to move her lasciviously in front of Laura. She replied nonchalantly as if she saw nothing wrong with it.

" I do not see the problem. After all, he is my "husband" and if someone is allowed to see me like this, who else but him." The combination of her words and her movements caused a laughing fit on Laura.

No one of them had imagined that disposing of the top part was enough to decide the battle in their favour. The decision to remove said clothing article was not done with this in mind, it rather was born out of their desperate straits as it did not look like they would win the fight.
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They had thought, that fighting in this state was a custom, which Moirai strictly followed. They had hoped that the NPC would react to this and treat them differently afterwards. But the dazed gaze and a sudden stop was certainly not the thing they had expected.

" As his wife, I will have to avenge his death. Come and fight me." She said playfully mimicking the fighting stance of Moirai while throwing some exaggerated punches in the air.

" Look at this body and all of the strength contained in it. Do you think you stand any chance against this body of mine?" Laura could not stop laughing at the display from Samantha. Her performance was strikingly similar to the behaviour of their nemesis.

Samantha even copied some poses Moirai used in their battle, from the menacing glare with the chin pressed downwards or the weird fighting stance while clenching both of her fists. Everything which Moirai did was made fun of. Which caused heartfelt laughter on both sides as they both poked fun at the fallen NPC.

" What a stellar performance, I did not see any difference. It was just like seeing him right in front of me for a second time." Laura gave Samantha a thumbs up after witnessing her friend given her best impression.

" But he is mine. After all, it was my magic which caused his demise. So it should be more than obvious, that it is my duty to use him to my heart's content. Of course, one my heart and soul are appeased I will let you enjoy him."

The feeling of shame Laura lived through after her fight against Moirai was still lingering in the depths of her mind and what better method to get rid of those was there, then letting them out on the NPC responsible for her distress?

Afterwards, she would force him to teach him his techniques and copy his abilities before giving the NPC away to her best friend so she can use it in the upcoming tactical battle, something that Laura had next to no interest in.

Something which Samantha had always excelled in. That is why she saw nothing wrong with her taking control over Moirai, in hey eyes both sides did not suffer any loss in this arrangement.

" It was only due to my appeal, you had the chance to hit him. Your magic alone had not even managed to hurt him before he was mesmerized by my brilliant tactic. I do not want him to get wasted under you. I want to understand how he functions and everything about the strange fighting style he uses. Your cheap self-gratification is not worth pa.s.sing on such a chance."

" Excuse me, I find it hard to call your lack of clothing a brilliant tactic. isn't it rather wasteful to let this NPC rot away under your care by giving him so simplistic tasks? You should know, that there is not a single other NPC who is as strong as Moirai and you want him to answer your questions? Who would care about what fighting style he uses, when all about him stems from the developers of this simulation?"

Laura replied sternly looking at Samantha vehemently refuting the claims thrown at her. Although this discussion had been held already, it was something entirely else after they were just a short step away from accomplishing their goal.

Samantha was aware that the desire of Laura could be solved by letting her do her bidding with Moirai, but the tournament was of high importance for her household. Once the n.o.ble lineage was involved she could not act in her interest anymore but only for what was best for her family

Sadly for her, the choice of letting Moirai get taken away for an unknown period of time was too much of a risk, which made this option impossible. All she could do was make concessions and hope that her friend understands the position she is forced to take in this matter.

The trauma Laura had suffered and the amnesia which kept on eating her from the inside was something she had to be taken care of regardless. All of this had to be done by her own 2 hands and as of now, it was Samantha who stood in her way.

Finding an agreement with both sides can agree on, was easier said than done, as both sides were adamant on achieving their will. It was at this moment a certain someone approached with a smile on his face as well.

" Sorry to interrupt this important discussion but I am certain it can wait for another time. "

Both of them turned around after hearing a voice they were all too familiar with. Shock and visible confusion appeared on them as they could not fathom why exactly they could hear this NPC talking to them.

Their eyes kept on turning back between the corpse lying in front of them and the newly arrived person, leaving them even more in a mess.

The NPC continued without giving them enough time to catch their breath.

" First I have to congratulate the two of you. It was you 2 who managed to beat your first a.s.signed Moirai the fastest. You might wonder why after your hard-fought battle, another Moirai appears in front of you."

Laura and Samantha found themselves still unable to realize what was happening right in front of their eyes. The sudden appearance of a second Moirai was not something they could stomach in a matter of seconds.

" Each Moirai is vastly different in behaviour and fighting style, but they all serve the same purpose. They are intended to help the player overcome his limits by fighting against an unusual enemy. You have done just that and achieved victory, although, the manner was outside of our expectations."

Although the 2 of them had still not fully understood what was happening in front of them, they began to calm down and to think about the words said to them. Some details still did not make any sense to them, but their focus had returned. They noticed the big differences between the 2 Moirais present. One was big and full of muscles while the other one had a smaller frame but had burning hair on top of his head.

His bearing was also somewhat different as he was not emitting any aura or feeling of danger when he was looked at by a stranger. He was a lot more direct, while still sounding as calm as possible.

" I am scheduled to be your next opponent. The fight will start once I have answered your questions and concerns. This is a privilege granted to you because of your initial involvement in the development process of Moira and your success in this test"

" What? How many different Moirais are there?" Laura stammered dumbfounded by the words of the Moirai which calmly stood in front of her awaiting their questions.

" Currently the amount of Moirais is 1252 with the number still rising to accommodate the increasing number of players partic.i.p.ating in this trial. The majority out of these 1252 is a unique NPC made out of a combination from every experience it made in this world."

This information was still a surprise to Laura and Samantha. Primal Survival was a simulation, they knew that much, but the entire concept of over 1000 thousand NPCs like Moirai was hard to fathom. What were the developers planning with such a ludicrous amount of NPCs?

" What are the developers trying to achieve?" Samantha inquired after thinking for a while. There had to be a deeper meaning for Moirai other than just training the player. Indeed fighting something like Moirai was a way to strengthen the player, but there had to be a deeper meaning to this idea.

" As I had mentioned prior the developers intend to train the players. Their aim is to prepare the players as good as possible for the inevitable battle against the evil horde of monsters. For this very matter, they will give their all to see their plans through to the end."

" But why do they use Moirai for this? Was there not a better alternative?"

" After an initial test period, the fighting against monsters proved to be ineffective as it was not taken for full. The same can not be said about Moirai, it had learned out of its many battles to create a suitable challenge for the task of training the players"

Both of them nodded as this was something they had observed as well. Otherwise, their underlings would not have had the time to create a compet.i.tion comparing their tenacity and durability of their nether regions.

They considered this a satisfactory explanation, that shed some light on the existence of Moirai. Though this did not mean, that they had run out of questions to ask rather far from it. Just one aspect about this NPC had been solved, there were still several other mysteries that were left unsolved as well.

" Why did the original version speak so strange? "This was another detail, which had bugged Laura and Samantha. The entire conversation they had held with it felt wrong and strange.

" The first version of Moirai did not possess the necessary ability to speak our language. A blank slate in this matter made it easier for the NPC to focus on the battle and to not get distracted by the conversation. So its words were nothing more than a byproduct it learned while traversing the plane of Primal Survival"

" Why were we chosen for its successful development?"

" This was not done intentional but it was a choice made by the NPC itself. The NPC itself sought to battle only the strongest and it was apparent that you met those criteria. During the fight, it started to absorb and improve the fighting style."

Samantha could only shake her head, this was exactly something she could not understand. Why would the NPC have such a weird fighting style, to begin with? Even with the constant adaptations and refinement, the approach to combat did not fit into the game at all.

Moirai did not fight like a monster but he was also not a human. Not only was he attacking the body but also the mind of the enemy as well. There was no monster who attacked the mind in such a fashion. The concept of psychological warfare was unknown in this world.

" What is the style of battle Moirai follows?"

" This question is hard to answer, each version of Moirai possesses his own strategy it follows to try and win. Some try to overwhelm the enemy with brute force, while others rely on other means to kill their target. There is nothing every Moirai has in common."

The Moirai finished his sentence before and did not wait until they had thought of the next question.

" I am truly sorry, but the time we had is finally over. Our fight will start as planned but beforehand, I will give you a chance to fix your attire. The method will not work a second time. You can also continue your fight, in your current appearance if you prefer. Not that I would mind it"

Samantha appeared thoughtful as she spoke.

" Allow me some time to consider. Laura would you join me it feels a bit lonely if I am the only one."

Without any break whatsoever Samantha threw several icicles flying into Moirai, who managed to easily to dodge the sneak attack.

" You can not say, that I did not give you a chance."

With a big grin on the face of Moirai, it began the fight, which seemed a lot faster than the last one.

" Let me be your Wheatstone."