One for Luck, Luck for All

A Story by ToumeiMemories

A mercenary for the empire of Sybilia is given an impossible task. He decides to attribute all his skill points to luck in the hopes of making his job easier.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” The enchanter had a look of concern on his face upon hearing my request. “Y’know, it’s not always a great idea to put your eggs in one basket.” “Yeah, yeah, enough with the clichés” I replied. For most people, the advice given to me would prove true, but I don’t belong in the same category as most people.

A jet black tattoo of a dragon ran down the length of my left arm. In Sybilia, tattoos were representative of the different categories of skills an individual can allocate to their own status. Since I requested for luck, I was given the option between a tattoo of a fat cat or a dragon. “What’s got you pushing your luck?’ the enchanter asked whimsically, perhaps a little bit too proud of his own puns. I handed him his five shillings and left without a word. Outsiders had no place poking their noses in my business.

Just before dawn came about, I packed my bags, got on my horse, and left quickly for the mountains. Unknown to anyone else, I was given a mission by the council. The horde was coming and I was assigned to take out the revolutionary leading the foreign army. It seemed to be a dauntingly impossible adversity for an individual; locate the prime head of the invading force amongst the millions of troops surrounding him. However, I am confident in my abilities. After all, who else was insane enough to throw away all other traits and skills and leave their fate in the hands of god?

As I made more progress traversing the mountains and valleys, the sun slowly began to set. Thus, I began to unpack and settle camp. Sleeping on the floor was not a good idea, due to all the bugs and critters, so I setup shelter on the tree. Before fatigue could take over my conscience, my thoughts pondered as to how I would go about assassinating the leader.

“Commander, shall we flank the empire from the left valley or the hills on the right?” I woke up to the gruff conversation between two men. “What is our course of action, commander?” Commander? Surely I wasn’t hearing things correctly; was it going to be this easy to locate my target? “Hmm… flanking from the left has the woods providing us cover from the enemy” the commander pondered. I couldn’t let this opportunity slip me on by. Fate is on my side; the two stood directly below me. Slowly, not to give away my presence, I slid the dagger out of its leather sheath. The leader and his subordinate both weren’t looking towards me.

I jumped.

Yelling a loud battle cry, I gripped both hand on the handle and slammed the dagger into the back of his neck, hoping I would sever the vertebrae and kill him instantly. As the blade made contact with flesh, the enchanter’s words popped out into my head. “Y’know, it’s not always a great idea to put your eggs in one basket” his voiced echoed menacingly. The blade froze against the man’s back, not even leaving a scratch on his skin. Regret came rushing in as I realized I had put all my attributes into luck. This meant I had no strength, agility, or dexterity to my being. The warlord glanced back over his shoulder, his cold blue eyes staring into mine.

I was in a pinch.