Chapter 2: The Battle of 1000 heroes.

The Swords and Magic convention was the biggest role playing event of the year, every fan of fantasy stories, or even medieval times, was supposed to be there. The park was the size of ten football fields, and there were many activities for everyone to enjoy, ranging from horse riding to video games, for the ones who loved physical activities, there were swordmanship tournaments, but if you prefer to play it safe, you could also fight with foam swords, the food was also thematic,  it was the perfect place to be with family or friends, and it was almost impossible to visit everything in one day. Knowing this, it shouldn't be a surprise for anyone to see a huge line just to get in the convention.

The amount of people who decided to spend the day in the event was massive, children, teenagers and adults. Many of them were dressed specially for the event, all around you could see knights, samurais, wizards, necromancers, barbarians, rogues, scoundrels, ninjas, archers, pretty much every possible character of role playing games, specially the ones from the Swords and Magic tabletop game.

In current year, massive multiplayer online role playing games were very popular, computer ones and cellphone ones, but Swords and Magic made the difference going back to the old method of playing it like a board game with your friends, the basic rules were easy to learn, but the system had advanced challenges too, and it was more and more complex the more experienced the players were. That alone made it the most popular game of all, because it was friendly with new players and complex for veterans. It included thousands of pre-made adventures for the players to enjoy and an easy guide that taught how to create your own adventures.

A few months ago, there was a big announcement, a world tournament was going to take place, the first stage was the qualifier, players could assemble teams called "parties" with up to 10 members and participate in a guided adventure, in all the game stores of the world, only 100 fortunate teams were going to be chosen for the final event. And those 100 teams, 1000 heroes in total were going to have the privilege to play the latest edition of Swords and Magic during the tournament, and experience the new legendary adventure "The fantastic world of Meruidian". Rumors said it was going to include, new classes, new rules, new species to play, new monsters, everything you could possibly imagine. The competition was fierce, and the 1000 heroes were chosen, today it was the final event, the battle of 1000 heroes.

The 100 teams were going to play the new adventure and do their best to complete the objectives before the time runs out. The first team to finish it, would be declared the winner, get status of legendary party, have their characters immortalized in a Swords and Magic film next year, get a limited collector's edition of the new adventure, as well as recieving a solid prize in cash for all the members. Ashram's group was one of the 100 parties, and the battle was about to start.

The dark elf Faye looked around the place with a clueless expression in her face.

- Where exactly are we supposed to register? this place is huge...

- Let me see\, answered Ashram the druid looking at a map of the convention. - Ok\, it's two hundred meters in that direction\, said while pointing at a building that looked like a rock castle.

- Oh my god\, why is this place so full? stupid geeks... said Mathew the paladin\, while showing scorn in his eyes.

- My friend you would even complain about the sky being too blue hahahah\, said Runkdar the dwarf while laughing.

- Maybe i should remind you that you are as geek as they are\, we all are. In fact\, it is possible we are even more geeky because we quialified as one of the 100 teams. Answered Mila the witch\, forcing a smile but feeling slightly bothered by Mathew's attitude.

- At least the line to register is shorter\, since there are only 100 teams\, said Kunoichi the ninja girl while taking a bite of a burger.

- Where the hell did you get that from? asked Runkdar quite surprised\, - and why is that meat coloured like a rainbow?

- Zafiro found the UniBurger stand\, they are selling unicorn meat burgers and hothelldogs. Answered Kunoichi while pointing at Zafiro\, who had a burger in each hand and a paper bag under her arm with what seemed to be even more UniBurgers.

- Are they good? asked Runkdar with a suspicious look on his face.

- "Delicious till the last hoof" its their motto. Said Kunoichi while taking another bite at the unicorn burger.

A few moments later, Runkdar was also eating a UniBurger, Zafiro bought enough for everyone. They ate happily while waiting in line to register, except for Faye, who refused to eat something made of unicorn meat.

- Unicorns are not real\, you know? this is just cow meat\, said Ashram.

- Killing cows is also cruel\, i dont eat meat\, i am vegan. Replied Faye.

- More for me then\, said Runkdar while grabbing Faye's burger as fast as a rogue grabs a bag.

They were still talking about the UniBurgers when a tall man dressed in black robes aproached to them, there was a small badge on his chest that said "staff".

- This way please\, it is your turn to register -\, said the man with a very deep voice as if he was really a necromancer or an acolyte of a sinister deity.

They stopped their conversation and followed the man in black through the door. Inside the building. Inside there was a huge crowd, the hall was extensive, about 100 meters long and 80 meters wide, the roof was high and the whole place was decorated with images of legendary monsters, real life size statues of many archetypes of heroes, along with all sorts of magic items and artifacts hanging on the walls.

The group was mesmerized by that sight, and walked mindlessly towards the registration table, where some staff members dressed as wizards of the high council of the five, welcomed them. Ashram was the first one to regain his five senses, and pretending this was not his first time in such a place, showed them the badge that credited the team as one of the qualified one hundred parties. They asked for their IDs and after confirming their identities, another staff member showed up carrying a box with the new edition of the game and the new adventure set. It was sealed so that all participant teams would have exactly the same chance of winning. The group thanked the staff and followed the wizard who was going to be their storyteller and judge for the tournament to their table.

In tabletop role playing games like Swords and Magic, a storyteller is the person who narrates the adventure, controls the monsters and challenges the party is supposed to face. In the case of a tournament, the storyteller was also an official judge, who made sure the team followed all the rules. There were also cameras all around, filming the hall, so cheating was almost impossible.

- Soo\, i guess we were not the only ones who had the idea of coming to the tournament dressed as our characters -\, said Kunoichi\, trying to make everyone calm down\, as she saw his friends quite nervous.

- Huddle time guys -. Said Ashram. The party moved together hugging side by side and almost touching each other heads in a circle\, like if it was some kind of instinctive move. - We have done this a million times\, together\, we have faced all kinds of monsters\, demons\, and even demonic gods of destruction\, we have saved villages\, rescued innocents from the hands of evil\, protected kingdoms\, traveled to the bowels of hell and returned. This is just another adventure\, maybe our biggest one\, but we will face it like we always do\, together. I don't know what we will face when the timer starts\, but i know we will overcome anything if we fight as one. No fear\, LET'S HAVE FUN. After hearing Ashram's words\, everyone touched hands\, their hearts felt warm and they were not nervous anymore\, they raised their hands to the fake sky that was painted over them and said at unison - LETS HAVE FUN -. Pronouncing those words as if it was some sort of spell that would grant them victory no matter what was against them.

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