Fundamentals of Teamwork

"Holy sh*t," Ath3na cursed. "Did we make it to number thirty or are we too late?"

She and her newly formed party just arrived at the Healer's District in the southeast part of town where they joined the back of a line so long it snaked out of the Apothecary's shop and into the adjacent street to its west.

Behind Ath3na, Black Howler cleared his throat. "We would have gotten here earlier if you hadn't been so anal about training together first…"

"Excuse me for wanting to sync up with my teammates before going on a quest with them," Ath3na countered.

The pair of them stared daggers at each other.

"Question for you, love," the fourth team member whispered into Thorminator's ear. "Are they always going to be like this?"

He shrugged at the blue-eyed blonde with the British accent beside him. "Don't know, Lyghtning… let's hope not."

"I thought it was sick when Ath3na asked me to party up, you know… But now I'm not sure I want to stick around just to watch mommy and daddy have at it all day," Lyghtning sighed. "Oh, hey, look! We made it… after all…"

An NPC had stepped behind Lyghtning while carrying a signboard in her hand that read, [LINE ENDS HERE]. Only, the sight of her ghastly appearance caused Lyghtning to jump behind Thorminator for protection.

To his credit, Thorminator held his ground, but even he had pulled his big bulk back to avoid brushing against the NPC whose tattered green dress and the weeping face half-hidden behind the veil of red hair made his eyes widen in obvious fear.

"Blimey, it's Sadako…" Lyghtning whispered into Thorminator's ears.

Now, before Thorminator could agree or disagree with Lyghtning, Ath3na jumped into the space between them so she could speak to the NPC.

"Does this mean we made it?" she asked pointing toward the sign in the NPC's hand without showing no hint of fear at the NPC.

The banshee, for she was a banshee, nodded her head. "Best get a move on, woman… your losing daylight standing around here."

"Alright," Ath3na said before she turned around and caught sight of her two teammates looking oddly back at her. "What?"

"Nothing much… I just think you're aces," Lyghtning laughed.

Thorminator nodded in agreement, leaving Ath3na confused about what they were talking about.

Visitors to Harkness' Apothecary were invited in per team which was the reason the line was moving so slowly. However, people quickly noticed that no one had walked out of the apothecary after they'd entered it. Moreover, once in a while screams could be heard from inside, leaving those waiting outside to wonder just what was going on in the stone building.

"Have any of you noticed it?" Ath3na asked.

Thorminator gazed confusedly back at his team leader. "Notice what?"

"There's a pattern here," Ath3na explained. "Twelve teams have gone in but we've only heard the screams seven times… meaning there's a chance five teams have already passed whatever task Harkness gave them.

"And the other seven?" Thorminator asked.

"I think they failed," Ath3na guessed.

"So how do we avoid a cock-up too?" Lyghtning asked.

"Time," Black Howler answered before Ath3na could. "Some teams are called in pretty fast which means whoever came before them completed their task quickly. And the screaming only happens after a team's been inside for more than three minutes. That means speed plays a key role in whatever we have to do."

She glanced sideways at Black Howler and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing… I just didn't think a brute like you would use your head like that," Ath3na commented.

"You are annoying," Black Howler stated matter-of-factly.

Another round of bickering began, and it would last up to the moment it was finally their team's turn to cross the threshold beyond the open double doors of Harkness' Apothecary.

Inside, they met Harkness, a tall, dark-haired female in a grey gown. She had alabaster skin and bushy eyebrows over eyes that were pale, almost white but with a shade of blue in the irises. She might even have looked normal if it wasn't for the third eye on her forehead.

"Greetings, substitute reapers," Harkness said right before a coughing spasm could begin.

"You're sick," Black Howler noted.

For answer, the triple-eyed woman unfurled the sleeves of her dress so they could all see the red rash on her alabaster skin.

"Unfortunately, I too have succumbed to the malady that threatens the lives of those inside Dante's Drip," Harkness admitted. "The Maenad's Tear is a rare poison whose cure is difficult to make, requiring ingredients I have sadly run out of…"

Harkness waved her arms to the sides, and then spotlights came to life on the wooden bar counter to her right as well as on the leftmost wall of her shop.

More than a dozen goblets were placed on the bar counter, most of which were made of shiny gold and had adornments of expensive jewels. On the other hand, the left wall was covered with torn pages of what seemed to be recipes for different alchemical concoctions. A broken clock hung above the recipes.

"The malady has put me in a dazed state and so I cannot identify for you the proper recipe I require… you must figure it out yourselves and only then will I be able to tell you what ingredients I need for the cure…" she explained. "Now, heed my words…"

Harkness then pointed a shaky hand over at the bar counter.

"One of these shall grant the gift of sight, revealing thus what was once unseen… Watch what you take for you must choose right, as most are poisons to make you scream…" Harkness recited. "Two are harmless your allies must drink, while just one shall be allowed to pick. Hurry for time continues to sink, tarry not so you might save the sick."

The moment after she finished her rhyme, the clock on the left wall began to tick, prompting all eyes to watch as the big hand began its countdown.

"Brilliant, now we have to solve a bloody riddle while on a time limit," Lyghtning pointed out.

"Luckily, we've got the goddess of gaming wisdom here to figure the riddle out," Thorminator added in a confident tone.

All of her companions turned expectantly to Ath3na who was already tapping a finger to her lips, a sure sign that she was in the middle of processing the information given to them. It was half a minute later when she turned to her companions and gave them her deductions.

"Three of us have to drink from the goblets while the fourth team member must choose which goblet they should take," Ath3na deduced.

She turned her gaze on Harkness who simply nodded back to her.

Wasting no time, Ath3na moved over to the goblets so she could inspect them all.

"Hold on… shouldn't only one of us drink from those things?" Lyghtning asked as she strolled over to join Ath3na by the counter.

"One will drink the goblet that offers the gift of sight but two other party members have to drink as well," Ath3na pointed out.

"Two are harmless your allies must drink," Black Howler repeated.

Ath3na didn't dare respond for fear of breaking her concentration. She leaned in on the counter and took stock of the different goblets, looking for the tell-tale signs that must be hidden somewhere on their golden surfaces.

"Hurry up… we've got three minutes," Black Howler reminded her.

"Only two now," Ath3na replied. "Now shut up… I'm trying to concentrate."

A minute later, Ath3na finally picked up two goblets and passed them off to Thorminator and Lyghtning.

"You want us to drink this?" Thorminator asked as he gazed down at the frothy liquid inside the goblet.

He shared a glance with Lyghtning.

"I don't know… this is all a bit dodgy, isn't it?" Lyghtning commented.

"Those two are the only goblets that are similar to a fault…" Ath3na said quickly. "They even have the same rose pattern of rubies on the metal. Everything else is varied."

"Forty seconds," Black Howler reminded everyone.

Thorminator chugged down the goblet's contents.

"We're all nutters," Lyghtning sighed right before she too downed the goblet.

Not waiting to see what would happen to her two companions, Ath3na returned to the bar and picked up a third goblet which she offered to Black Howler.

He took one second to gaze at the small and tarnished goblet before taking it from Ath3na's hand and drinking the clear liquid inside.

The effects were immediate for Ath3na could see that Black Howler's eyes were suddenly aglow with ethereal light.

"Ten seconds," she said, nearly screaming the words at him.

He crossed the room in long strides then ripped out the recipe on the wall just as the clock began to chime.

Ath3na looked over her shoulder at Lyghtning and Thorminator, both of whom sported reddening cheeks. And for a moment, Ath3na thought she'd guessed wrongly and doomed her companions. But then Thorminator began to laugh out loud.

"It's a really strong beer," he said, raising the goblet to Ath3na.

"It's just brilliant how I'm feeling all plastered inside a VR game, Lyghtning smirked. "I reckon this type of immersion's never been done before."

Ath3na rolled her eyes at the pair of them, but deep down, she was sighing with relief that she didn't mess the choices up.

"How'd you know?" Black Howler asked as he tossed her the goblet he'd drank from. "What made this one so special?"

"It wasn't," Ath3na answered. "Out of twenty-three goblets, most of them polished and glittering with jewels, this one," she placed the goblet back on the bar, "was the only ordinary one… that's why it stood out."

A notification popped up in front of everyone.

[CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING PART ONE OF TEAM SYNERGY.]

A second notification appeared on top of the first.

[QUEST REWARDS: 20x LOW-GRADE SOUL STONES]

They all heard the thud on the bar that forced them all to look away from their screens and onto the small velvet sack Harkness had just dropped onto the bar counter.

"Well done," she said. "You've all just learned an important lesson… and that is teamwork requires—"

"—Trust," Ath3na interrupted.

She turned to her teammates and smiled at them — even Black Howler — because they'd trusted in her choices, believing that she wouldn't get them killed, and that was a good start for this party.

"A party that can trust its leader's decisions might just be able to find a cure to help the townspeople," Harkness agreed. "I'll leave you to distribute the rewards amongst yourselves… for now; I suggest you look at the list of ingredients you need to find."

Black Howler passed the recipe to Ath3na so she could read the ingredients out loud to the others.

"One Blood Lotus from the Dark Forest, five dust of shattered dreams from the banks of the River Styx, and one dozen hell-slime cores from the Weeping Meadows…" Ath3na read aloud. "It looks like part two is a collection quest…"

"What are we waiting for?" Thorminator asked. "Let's get to it!"

---

After they'd left her shop via the back door, Harkness pulled open the curtains behind the bar.

"It seems your quest is going smoothly enough," she noted.

"I don't know about that..." Morgana was pouting. "I didn't agree to give them twenty low-grade soul stones, Leo..."

"Which we've already gotten back because a ton of players did die from drinking the wrong goblet," Leo reminded her. "Actually, how many passed this task, Harkness?"

"Sixteen teams passed, Game Master," Harkness supplied. "I imagine the rest have refilled your recent expenses."

Leo chuckled. "Well, let's hope they don't all fail this second task... they don't know it yet, but this won't be a simple fetch quest. Not at all."