The most powerful force wasn't a weapon. It was . Hills turned charges into tumbles. Rivers were instant death for heavy armor. And cliffs? Cliffs were the true final boss. A hundred elite Samurai could be defeated by one Bard (a man with a lute) if the Bard stood near a ledge. The Samurai, in their eagerness, would charge, slip, and plunge into the abyss in a beautiful, silent cascade of armor.

Dr. Vance closed her laptop. She looked at her history books—battles of Gettysburg, Waterloo, Thermopylae. All lies.

Her evidence? A strange, glitchy simulation she found buried in an ancient hard drive. It was called Totally Accurate Battle Simulator , or TABS.