Chapter 7

After leaving the Dungeon, Arcius exited his room, and headed to the third corridor. Once again, it seemed to be endless, but a single step took him to the other end. Here, he found himself in a massive bar, easily 10 times the size of his E rooms. There were various doors leading out of this bar.

On these doors, in typical glowing white letters, were the name of various activities. Some of the doors had lists of names instead of only one. Looking at these, Arcius recognised several of them, ranging from games that test logic and strategy, such as Chess and Ektrii, a Ralectoran game that was essentially Mahjong crossed with Poker and Checkers, to casual games, such as Earth’s video games and Elpin’s VR games.

There were also other activities, such as Yoga, and Liins, a sort of meditation based Martial Art from the Criinsu. Many of the activities, however, were unknown to him. However, despite this, it was no less obvious what purpose this place served.

This was a leisure centre, a place of relaxation. If the Gym/Arena/Pool, or exercise, area is there for the Gods to exercise their bodies and solve their conflicts, and the inspiration room there to invigorate their imaginations, then this place existed to nurture their minds and souls.

Looking around, it seemed no one else was here this time. He also had another window appear to tell him the rules of the signs.

Colour

Meaning

White

Unoccupied

Green

Occupied. Can be entered.

Red

Occupied. Private. Cannot be entered.

They were essentially the same as the exercise are, save for no limit on when Private mode can be used. After sifting through the various doors, Arcius decided to play a few rounds of Crenjiou. It was essentially a fusion of Chess and Solitaire with a few extra features, and was made by the Rojiou.

The game itself was as such: you have a game board consisting of 72 spaces, making up a 3 space wide path. Each of these paths is one of three colours, red (symbolising rage), blue (symbolising inner peace), and purple (symbolising the balance between the two). There were 24 pieces of each colour, representing various individuals from Rojiou history.

Each piece had a base, the shape of which determined there type. Those shapes were: circle, triangle, square, pentagon, and hexagon. If a red and blue piece of the same base type are placed upon the board, and you choose to have them fight, a coin is flipped. One side is red, the other blue.

The side that is face up upon flipping determines which piece is removed from the board. If a purple and non-purple piece do the same, the coin is also flipped. If it lands with the non-purple pieces colour face up, that piece is removed. Otherwise the purple piece is removed. Each colour has: 2 hexagons, 4 pentagons, 4 squares, 6 triangles, and 8 circles.

The goal is to have the all 24 blue pieces on the board, with as few red and purple pieces as possible. The game ends when any colour succeeds. At the end, 2 points are awarded for every blue piece, and 1 point removed for every red or purple piece.

Pieces are randomly drawn, 3 in total, but 1 at a time, from a bag containing all of the pieces, with the requirement to play the pieces in the order drawn, or if no play is chosen, to draw again.

This particular game was a favourite of Arcius’, as it was introduced to him by an Elf from the Rojiou, who was a very dear friend. As such, whenever he had the time, he’d play a round or two. So it was that he entered the room, set it to Private, and then began.

His skills were a tad rusty, so his first round did not end too well. He reached the end with the purples, had no reds, and only 10 blues. The result was -4 points. Having reacquainted himself with the game, he played again, finishing again with the purples, but also with 17 blues, and unfortunately 3 reds, leaving him with 7 points, a fairly decent score for the average player.

However, he knew he could do better, so he played again, time and again, and lost himself in the game. As time flew by, he found himself reminiscing over times long past, playing games such as this with Jiou Lin Roon, the Rojiou Elf. Roon was a particular fan of improvising two-player versions of normally single player games, so that they could face one another.

In his modified Crenjiou, one player controlled red, one blue, and they shared purple, taking it in turns to wither draw, place, or fight. The point system had the player’s colour earning them 2 points per piece, with -1 point per piece of another colour.

Minutes, then hours, then days, then weeks, and finally 3 months passed, with Arcius playing Crenjiou, while remembering his friend. 2 weeks in, he had even swapped to playing the modified version against himself. He recalled the days spent playing Ilruun against one another.

He recalled their co-operative struggles at completing the complex and profound game of Vri. He recalled the journey they went on, across numerous worlds. The people they met, the places they saw, the creatures they fought, he recalled it all. He only ended his reminiscing, and his time playing, when he finally recalled Roon’s death.

It was an ignoble end. A greedy noble from the world of Treyus had been after a rare treasure they had acquired from a nearby Dungeon. Normally this would be no cause for concern for the two of them, as they held enough status and power that most such people would only try to bargain and trade, which, as the treasure was useless to them, was what they were after anyway.

But this noble was beyond greedy. Beyond arrogant. He was so obsessed with the boost the treasure would give to his status that he decided to simply try and take it. He waited until Arcius was busy with other trades, and then requested that Roon meet him for a trade proposal. Of the two, Roon was always the more trusting, and did not think to check the food and drink offered by the noble.

Said food and drink was poisoned with the Triilyeer Flower seed’s toxin, a particularly nasty move, as the toxins within said seeds temporarily seal the victim’s ability to both move and use Mana, although they can be actively negated with Mana if one is aware of them.

He waited until Roon was fully paralyzed, and then executed him and stole the treasure. Needless to say, Arcius found out when Roon used one of their artefacts to contact him, an ingenious tool that required no Mana manipulation ability to use, and was able to be activated before his movements were also sealed.

Although he was not yet known as the Great Mage, Arcius’ magical abilities were vast even then. He personally burned the noble’s house to the ground, and left his corpse impaled in the streets, frozen in an immensely humiliating position. Roon’s corpse was found, and taken back to the Rojiou, for a proper burial as per their customs.

Having reminisced, Arcius wiped away the tears that had formed, put away the game of Crenjiou, and left, returning to his room. Had anyone else been around, they would have heard him mutter one thing: “Creions alltrinti, meiaroun Triinjiou.” Rest well, my dearest friend.