TheShingPen
Luck’s Devastation
Gold Tier
The following day, Zarin and Arlya continued their journey back to Brellin. The forest grew denser as the sun rose higher in the sky. The air felt tense, and Zarin couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. He had been expecting some kind of attack since they left Ridgeview, and the unnaturally quiet road made him suspicious.
‘This is too easy,’ he thought. ‘We barely encountered any wild beasts… something’s bound to happen.’
Fortunately, he’d come prepared. During his time with Torvin, the half-giant had given him a peculiar gift—something Torvin had called a giant’s secret weapon. It looked like a simple glove, but Torvin said it could summon orbs of explosive energy using his MP. The glove had a limited charge, allowing him to summon the orbs up to four times before it needed to be recharged. The power of the explosions, however, was nothing to scoff at.
As they walked along the trail, Zarin subtly adjusted the glove on his hand, ready for whatever might come their way. Arlya, as usual, was quiet, her mismatched eyes scanning the surroundings, though she didn’t seem nearly as concerned as Zarin.
“I don’t like this silence,” Zarin muttered, keeping his voice low. “Feels like we’re walking right into a trap.”
Arlya glanced at him, her expression calm. “If it were a trap, we would have known by now. You’re just being cautious.”
“Maybe,” Zarin replied, glancing around the trees. “But better safe than sorry.”
His instincts were spot on.
They only traveled a little farther when Zarin spotted movement in the trees ahead. At first, it was subtle—just the rustle of leaves—but then, out of nowhere, several armed men appeared, stepping out from behind the trees and blocking the road. More bandits emerged from the forest on both sides, surrounding them. They were clearly waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Zarin quickly counted at least eight of them. ‘Great. This is going to get ugly,’ he thought, his hand twitching toward using his dice skill. But with so many opponents, he knew he needed to do more than just rely on it. He’d have to use everything he had.
One of the bandits, a rough-looking man with a scar across his face, stepped forward, a wicked grin on his lips. “Looks like we’ve caught ourselves a nice little prize,” he sneered, his eyes flicking between Zarin and Arlya. “Hand over everything you’ve got—gold, valuables, whatever’s in that box of yours—or things are going to get messy.”
Zarin quickly glanced at Arlya, who remained unnervingly calm despite the situation. He had been hoping she might have some offensive spells up her sleeve.
“All right, all right,” Zarin said, raising his hands in compliance. “Let’s not get hasty here. I’ll give you what I have.”
He reached into his pack, pretending to fumble for something valuable. But he was slipping his hand into Torvin’s glove. His fingers tingled as the magical energy activated, and a small, glowing orb of light appeared in his palm—one of the energy balls that Torvin had told him about.
He needed to time this perfectly.
In a quick motion, Zarin hurled the orb toward the nearest group of bandits. The ball of energy exploded on impact, sending three flying backward with a blast that shook the ground. Shouts of alarm erupted from the other bandits as they scrambled to react.
Zarin launched another energy ball in the opposite direction, taking out two more attackers. That left five more standing, but they were closing in fast and started spreading.
“Arlya!” Zarin called over his shoulder, expecting her to do something—anything—but when he turned around, his heart sank.
Arlya wasn’t behind him anymore.
In the explosion's chaos, one bandit who sneaked behind them had captured her, and he now had her captured, holding a dagger to her throat. Zarin’s eyes widened. ‘How had I missed him? And why had she let herself get caught so easily?’
The bandit holding Arlya smirked, tightening his grip on her. “One more move, and she’s dead,” he growled.
Zarin’s mind raced. He couldn’t use his glove anymore; it only had two charges left, but he could feel that one more would use almost all of his MP. He needed something much bigger to take them all out simultaneously in this situation. There was only one option left — Fate’s Die.
His heart pounded as he summoned the translucent die, watching it spin rapidly in the air before him. He prayed for something powerful—something that would turn the tide.
‘Come on, just give me the best shot,’ Zarin thought, his entire body tense with anticipation.
The die slowed, glowing faintly as it came to a stop.
Zarin’s heart pounded as the die finished spinning in the ground. The translucent die shimmered, and he held his breath, waiting for the result. Light particles shot out from the die and swirled around him. At first, Zarin thought it looked like the shield again, but something felt different. The energy wasn’t forming a barrier. Instead, it was flooding into his body, surging through him with an intensity he’d never felt before.
He felt lighter and faster, his muscles suddenly brimming with power far beyond his usual limits. His heart raced, and before he could fully comprehend it, he moved with unnatural agility and strength. His entire body was crackling with energy, and his instincts took over.
Without thinking, Zarin activated the glove.
The energy sphere formed in his palm, but something was different this time. The orb pulsed with more power than usual, its surface crackling with raw energy. He hurled it with incredible speed, the ball of light tearing through the air toward the closest bandit.
The orb struck his head hard before the bandit could even react. There was a sickening crack, and the bandit’s head exploded in a burst of energy. The glowing sphere ricocheted off the now-headless body. It immediately slammed into another bandit, hitting him squarely in the chest, breaking bones, and sending him crashing into the ground. But the orb didn’t stop there—it bounced from target to target like a deadly pinball, its speed blurring as it moved faster than Zarin had ever seen.
The energy orb kept tearing through the bandits, smashing into one after another, moving so quickly that they barely had time to register what was happening. Every impact sent bodies flying, and the orb bounced between them with precise, deadly efficiency. Heads and bodies were crushed, and the sound of bones breaking filled the air as the energy orb ricocheted through the entire group of bandits.
The final bandit barely had time to realize what was happening before the orb struck him in the chest. But this time, instead of bouncing to another target, the orb detonated in a brilliant flash of light. The explosion was more potent than before, consuming half the bandit.
When the dust from the quick movement of the orb and the explosion cleared, Zarin stood frozen, staring at the aftermath. The whole attack had lasted less than a second, yet all the bandits—except for the one holding Arlya—were dead or on the ground, bleeding out.
Zarin looked down at his hands, still buzzing with energy. “What… what just happened?” he muttered, struggling to process what he had just done.
The bandit holding Arlya had witnessed the entire display of power. His face turned pale, his grip on her arm slackening as the terror consumed him. He stared at Zarin wide-eyed before his legs gave out beneath him, and he passed out from sheer shock, collapsing to the ground in a heap.
Zarin slowly turned to look at Arlya, who was standing there, her mismatched eyes wide with awe. “That… that was incredible,” she said, astonished.
Still catching his breath, Zarin blinked, trying to shake off the moment’s intensity. “Yeah… I didn’t know I could do that.”
Arlya’s gaze drifted over the scene, taking in the devastation Zarin had unleashed in the blink of an eye. “You moved… faster than I’ve ever seen. And the power behind that orb… it wasn’t like anything I’ve ever encountered.”
Zarin flexed his fingers, feeling the lingering traces of the energy. “It felt like I was… supercharged. Like everything I had was pushed to the limit.”
Arlya nodded, still trying to comprehend what she had witnessed. “You didn’t just throw that orb—it moved like it had a mind of its own, hitting every target perfectly. And that explosion… it was also in the level of Master Tier as your energy field before, but more advanced.”
Zarin let out a deep breath, his mind still racing. “Yeah, that wasn’t the normal effect of the glove. The orb usually explodes on the first impact. But this… it kept going like it was unstoppable.”
He glanced at the unconscious bandit who had held Arlya captive, the only one still alive. “Looks like he was lucky enough to miss the blast.”
Arlya looked at him, her expression shifting from awe to curiosity. “That wasn’t just luck, Zarin. That was something far beyond that.”
Zarin scratched the back of his head, trying to downplay it. “Maybe. Or maybe I just got really, really lucky this time. Don’t forget I got Luck in spades.” He chuckled, though there was a note of uncertainty in his voice. He’d never felt power like that before, leaving him both exhilarated and scared.
As the adrenaline faded, Zarin finally allowed himself to relax and felt how tired he was. He couldn’t move a single step and fell to the ground.