The tournament grounds turned out to be nothing more than the market square. Honestly, Ludo didn’t know what he expected. The little wooden stalls had been moved to the edges, where their owners still hawked their goods.
Well, I guess it’s probably good for business.
He hummed as he looked at the two rows of four long tables.
What kind of game are they going to play anyway?
Ludo floated alongside Teffania as she headed directly for the tent with a small crowd outside it. Every now and then, he bumped into something. He was still getting used to how to move in this form. It was absolutely nothing like walking.
A minute later, Teffania joined the line in front of a table. There were only nine people in front of her.
Guess it’s not really a big thing here. I sort of thought there’d maybe be a few dozen at least.
As Ludo studied them, he noticed that most of them were men. Not only that, but most of them were at least a decade older than her.
One of them, a wiry guy with dirty hair, glanced at her and turned away. That instantly riled Ludo up. He could tell the guy was being dismissive of her. As if someone’s gender affected their ability to play a game. He silently said a little prayer of his own, hoping the guy was knocked out in the first round.
Luckily, Teffania didn’t seem to notice.
Seems like I’ve got some time to kill while Teffy waits. Hm, what should I do?
It didn’t take him long to decide to poke around his menus a bit. Perhaps he could find some useful information. However, there wasn’t much to explore. It didn’t have a ton of different tabs, and the majority were empty. But there was one thing that caught his attention.
Followers
Name: Teffania
Faith Generation: 1 per prayer
And then the rest of the tab was empty. Ludo really wanted to rub his eyes.
I guess Faith must be my major resource. Like AP, mana, or stamina.
Of course, when he double checked, yeah, he only had 1 Faith. Surprisingly, he didn’t find anything like a health or experience bar. Hell, he didn’t even find any stats like Strength or Agility.
This is so weird.
But then, a random thought sprang to his mind.
What happens to me if Teffania stops giving me Faith?
Now that worried him. Would he just go back to the void? Or, would something more…
final
happen?
He mentally shivered as he pondered the matter.
Is my whole existence reliant on this one woman?
Ludo turned to stare at her.
I have to make sure nothing happens to her. Wait. Is this what they call… A toxic relationship?
It was only natural to make that sort of connection. After all, he
literally
couldn’t survive without her, and he was naturally going to have to be overprotective of her.
Ugh, my head hurts. Let’s not think about it.
When he finally pushed his spiraling thoughts aside, he noticed the line had moved. It was already the turn of the wiry man in front, and Ludo barely caught his name. Garrs.
Why does he sound so confident?
The guy seemed to expect some sort of reaction to his name. However, the man behind the desk didn’t react at all.
Ludo chuckled as Garrs’ cheeks flushed red.
Serves you right.
He snorted. Some coins hit the table before Garrs stormed away.
The guy didn’t even clean himself up properly.
Finally, it was Teffy’s turn.
She stepped up to the table and placed a few coins down gently. The man behind the desk didn’t bother to look up. He was already writing something in thin scratches on a piece of paper.
Is his job dangerous?
Ludo thought as he stared at the man’s crooked nose. It had clearly been broken a few times.
“Name?” The man asked in a dry tone.
“Teffania.”
He wrote it down. “Entry fee is five coppers.”
“It’s already on the table.”
“Oh,” the man glanced at the coins with a bored expression before nodding. “The first round starts when the bell rings. You’ll be at table four.”
“Thanks.”
The man waved her away, and Ludo couldn’t help but think the whole exchange was rather boring. In fact, there wasn’t much of an air of excitement around the event.
Are games just not popular here?
When he thought that, he wondered if there were other Gods of Games out there. Back on Earth, many cultures had different gods from each other that ruled over the same thing. Maybe it was the same here?
But, if that’s the case, shouldn’t there already be a God of Games here?
Ludo watched her walk away from the tent. Unexpectedly, he felt a tinge of pride. She didn’t seem nervous at all.
Table four turned out to be the second from the left in the back row. Ludo quietly sized up her already seated opponent as Teffy took her own seat. The man across from her was about the same age as her and had a smirk plastered on his face.
“First time?” he asked.
“I can tell. You’ve got that look about you.” He continued as he leaned back in his chair when she didn’t answer. “Don’t worry, cutie. I’ll go easy on you.”
At that moment, someone who looked like one of the organisers came along and placed a gameboard between them. Ludo floated up over it to get a better look.
Is that a map?
The board was a grid of squares with symbols stamped into them.
Hm, that one looks like a mountain, and that should be a river. So, terrain? Ah! It’s a strategy game!
A stack of cards and two dice were then placed next to the board.
“Name’s Tokan, by the way. Won the last three tournaments in my own village. Figured I’d try my luck here for a change. You know, find a bit of fresh competition.”
Before Ludo could even shoot a glare in the guy’s direction, Teffania spoke up. “Are you going to talk through the whole game?”
The smirk on his face twitched. “Just trying to be friendly.”
“Don’t bother.”
Now it was Ludo’s turn to smirk at the way she’d shut him down. It was rather satisfying to see a cocky nobody get put in his place. Unfortunately, he remembered coming across this behaviour many times in his past life. Where people thought they were the best players ever, and it was always someone else’s fault when the team lost.
It was really a shame that some people just couldn’t accept responsibility for their mistakes. I mean, how hard was it to pay attention to your position and not let yourself get lured away from your team, all because you want to chase a kill?
A bell rang from the side, and every player took a dice.
Hm, so they’re rolling to decide the turn order.
Ludo drifted lower and watched as they began setting up.
Eh? This reminds me of that board game where you try to conquer the world.
Perhaps it was a bit more complicated with the terrain and whatever was on the cards. But that just made it more exciting to him.
He almost laughed at that realization.
At least I should be able to follow what’s going on.
Tokan had the higher roll, so he drew a card first. Ludo sighed as Tokan’s smirk grew wider.
He drew something good.
Then, the game began.
Ludo sighed as he watched Tokan play the way he’d seen hundreds of people do back on Earth. He began with aggressive early pushes. Snatching territory left and right from Teffy. The early land grabs made him look dominant, but Ludo knew better. That sort of play made your borders weak. It was the kind of play you used when you wanted to force your opponent to fold early and make them feel as though they couldn’t make a comeback.
However, Teffy didn’t fold under the pressure.
She’d lost five territories in the first four turns. Not only that, but her dice rolls were just awful. Tokan was laughing now. To be fair, to the untrained eye, it certainly looked like he had it in the bag. He wasn’t even trying to hide his glee. Players from the other tables were already starting to glance over and shake their heads.
But Teffy wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to him. She was busy studying the board.
A smile crept over her face as she played a card on her fifth turn.
That’ll teach him.
It was a supply shortage card, and she targeted Tokan’s largest territory with it. His smirk abruptly vanished as he glared at her. Now he was going to pay the price for overextending his frontlines. All those early grabs had left him completely dependent on his supply lines. Which the card had just severed.
“That’s…” He stammered. “That’s a good play. Well done.”
Oh? Maybe he’s not as bad as I thought?
“Thank you,” Teffania replied as she picked up the dice for her next attack.
Ludo watched in fascination as she worked her way through the rest of the game. She wasn’t a flashy player. There were no big, dramatic moves. She just kept nibbling away at Tokan’s position. Eventually, he didn’t have enough troops left to hold it together. By the eleventh turn, he only had three territories left. Then, two turns later, he had none.
Their match ended among a small scattering of polite applause.
The pair shook hands briefly before Tolkan walked away with his head hung low.
He’s probably regretting not staying in his own village now.
Quest: Test of Worth
Status: Complete
You have gained +2 Faith
Ludo blinked at the notification, right before a second one flashed.
Blessing Granted to Teffania
Duration: 24 hours
Ah, so that’s what she got? Hmm, should be pretty useful.
He thought as he read the details.
Considering it would affect a big part of the game, it actually seemed like quite a generous and absurd blessing to receive.
Of course, Teffania knew none of this. It wasn’t like she had a convenient game system to deliver the news. Instead, she was gathering the cards into a neat little pile. Ludo quickly glanced at the other matches and concluded that they wouldn’t be ending anytime too soon.
Just as he wondered what they were supposed to do now, an official quickly approached Teffy. He quickly directed her toward a group of tents at the edge of the square.
They must be waiting areas then. I guess they were prepared.
The tent that Teffania chose only had a wooden stool, a table, and a jug of water inside. However, she didn’t sit down. No, she just stood there for a moment as she let out a long breath.
She must have been tense.
Oh.
Ludo suddenly felt a familiar burst of warmth.
She’s praying.
Faith +1
Before he knew it, his little orb of a body grew into the golden human golden one again. He could already feel the waves of relief leaking from Teffy’s mind as he took shape.
Teffania turned to stare at him with a huge smile on her face.
“I won,” she said in a girlish way as if she were expecting something.
“Splendidly I might add.” Ludo chuckled.
She nodded. But a moment later, with a more serious expression, “Was that you? The supply card I drew?”
“No, that was all you.”
She seemed relieved to hear that. However, if she was happy he hadn’t interfered, why did she bother asking him for a way to help her win in the first place? He didn’t get it.
“But the next round will be different. You’ve earned my blessing.”
Her eyes lit up as she stared at him with her hands clasped over her chest. “What is it?”
“It’s called,” Ludo paused as a smirk appeared on his face. “Against the Odds.”