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Royal Road for Retiree By v4lkyr13
020 - Thou shalt not drink and duel! (Part 2 of 2)

020 - Thou shalt not drink and duel! (Part 2 of 2)

DUEL START

The moment the countdown finished, Campbell leaped forward with his longsword chopping down, expecting an easy victory. He was thoroughly baffled by the blurs of attacks hitting him from many angles.

“Reflex.”

Winter muttered the word immediately the moment the duel sign began. He was pretty lucky, as the youth was faster than he expected. If he activated it half a second later, he might have gotten hit.

Augmented effect! Speed x1.1!

Augmented effect! Speed x1.3!

Augmented effect! Speed x1.5!

Augmented effect! Extended time 0.5 Second!

Augmented effect! Extended time 0.5 Second!

Augmented effect! Extended time 0.25 Second!

Though his bonus of the day was at 6 times, it was more than enough for him to see the youth, as if he was moving in slow motion. Winter landed two hits, to the left rib and hip,before disengaging.

YOU WIN!

The system had announced Winter as the winner the moment he landed his first strike. He, however, could not resist to land more for show.

“How.....”

The youth probably got the message that said he lost, which was why his face turned pretty ugly.

“Okay, so this old man is going to spend the rest of the night with the lady here! Good night!”

Winter thought this was the best time to make his exit, while everyone was still confused. He heard some clapping from the spectators as he grabbed Zaya, putting his hand on her shoulder and began guiding her away.

“Wait! I want a rematch!”

That voice, which could only belong to Campbell, called back. Winter turned his head, to see that the beautiful countenance had transformed to that of someone enraged.

“Too bad, I won, you lost. And you do not have anything I want enough to have a rematch with you.”

In reply, Campbell manifested something. Zaya gasped in surprise. A few players too. They seemed to know what that item was?

“Say... what is that item?” Winter asked the lady who was staring at the manifested item.

Campbell was waiting patiently for Winter to agree to the duel request.

“You don’t know? I thought you are experienced since you dueled him!”

Zaya looked at Winter questioningly. She initially thought she scored another failure, then scored the winner finally, and then she was simply confused now.

“That is the guild leader’s gem. If you have that, you literally own the guild. For one, you can have access to the guild’s vault. And the color of the gem is black. That means he has at least between 10,000 to 50,000 members in his guild.”

Winter whistled at that.

“And he can simply hand it over like that in a bet?”

“I don’t know. I have never heard it done before. But I don’t think you should fight him. You will likely lose this time.”

“Why do you say that?”

“See there?”

Winter looked at the youth’s other hand manipulating windows. His armor and weapons began switching.

“He is changing all his gear to counter your speed.”

“You are right. I think I am done for the night. Let us go.”

“Are you afraid now, old man? Running when the fun is about to begin?”

Campbell challenged you to a duel

Rule: Deathmatch

Do you accept? Yes/No

The window popped up in front of Winter. In normal circumstances, Winter would have rejected it outright and quit while he was ahead. But the combination of two glass of alcoholic drinks and a lady on his arm reminded him of old times. Though Winter would never know it, the drinks did get to his head. With his impaired judgement, Winter decided to show off a little.

“No thanks. I am not interested in your black bauble. How about all your money?”

Campbell was smirking now. He put back the guild leader’s gem back in his inventory.

“You are mad! I can understand if you take the the gem, but money?”

Now it was Zaya that got furious. Winter just disliked women when they got this way.

“Call me old-fashioned?” he replied flippantly.

Winter left Zaya at one side, while the youth manifested his money. It came up in what was disappointingly a small bag. Probably the size of Urbo’s strongbox, a loaf of bread size. Somehow, Winter thought it was appropriate to bet all his money. He dropped his miniscule bag beside the youth’s box. Both of them seem to suddenly have a gentleman understanding how this all would go. It suddenly was not about the girl anymore, but the pride of men (at least in Winter’s mentally unhinged state). Winter heard excited whispers around them, but he was uninterested.

Winter pressed YES and the countdown began.

’The lady was right. This is incredibly dumb.’

Both Winter and Campbell has been fighting for a little over five minutes. Switching armors did make Campbell faster. He nearly had Winter several times. He was forced to use <> to escape. He would love to use magic, but he was barely given any time to catch his breath! The blows kept coming in.

You received damage! HP-250

’Crap!

This was the second swipe Winter had taken since the fight. The first one clipped him pretty good, reducing his health by 1000, with him never getting any chance to retaliate so far. Though his health quantity was boosted by the drink he had (though he was somehow mentally sober now that he was fighting), he was reduced to a less than half health now. He was surviving, if barely, since somehow, the youth was not very good at throwing attacks, as if he was unused to sword fighting. Winter would place his skill with the sword to be around the youth’s. Their movements were probably pretty crude, all brute strength and speed, without finesse. Winter would know, since he had seen a few members of Summers’s party using bladed weapons, and they were definitely better than him and this callow youth.

’I will eventually lose at this rate!’

Winter figured that though their ability was about the same, with him having more cunning, and the youth’s bad telegraphed attack, though fast, could be countered by him using <>, he was outmatched in pure statistical ability from their level difference and specialisation. He was a mage fighting using a swordsman’s rule, here!

Quickly activating another call of Reflex for a quick escape, Winter thought it was another time for a desperate plan.

“Wait!”

Winter shouted. The youth stopped himself from leaping at him. They placed their swords down for the moment.

’My sword here is not lasting much longer too.’

Its durability had fallen to 10/90. It was reduced to 90 from his self-repair attempt, that had decreased its maximum durability.

“Stalling for time, old man? Matters not. I will win eventually. I have to commend you for lasting so long despite your low level.”

’This youth is definitely packing it in, now that he is winning. Never mind. I need more time.’

“It is not that. I am just curious why you wanted that lady badly there.”

“Does it matter? We are through talking now.”

Campbell took his stance again.

“Now, now. Is there any need to be hasty now that you are winning? If you are sure you are winning.”

Campbell seemed to grasp what Winter was implying. He was impinging upon his image of a winner. It was important now for him to win graciously and grandly, because everyone had seen him already lose once before. Winter grasped that this youth was very prideful.

“I am winning, old man. Fine. I will tell you.”

“Okay. Go on.”

“Because she is pretty. And she should be mine.”

“That is all?”

Winter was shocked at how shallow the youth could be. He expected undying love, or love at first sight. Even the crowd murmured their disappointment. Zaya rolled her eyes.

“Yes. Now, can we start again? I do not have all night.”

Campbell said the last part while throwing Zaya a smirk,that Winter judged that definitely any woman would run from.

’I need another minute! Need to stall!’

“What? Is that the best you can do? I, for one, will treat her like a proper lady. What can you do?”

“I can shower her with wealth, power and fame. Can you do that?”

“Well, no...”

“So, I am superior than you and she should like me. Not you. You should be dead and will be soon in a minute.”

“Wait...”

Campbell was not waiting.

“Move forward. Gale Slash.”

Winter was unprepared, as it was the first time Campbell used a skill, at least the visible kind. Winter had been cheating by using internal magic, that he discovered could not be seen from outside. Campbell could probably guess that Winter was cheating somehow. But skills were allowed in a no-holds barred fight, and Winter now had the best excuse to use his full repertoire without consequences, not that he doubted anyone would be rooting for Campbell to win.

You received a devastating attack! HP-1000

Limb Loss: Left Arm

600 seconds recovery time

The attack came so fast, that even Winter, ho had juiced himself up, lost his left arm! It looked to Winter as if the wind propelled Campbell from behind, increasing his charging speed.

It is Midnight now

Bracer of Asric’s Multiplier value is reset

New multiplier value is set to 8

Winter was never as happy as at that moment, to receive the curse from Adria. He was also extremely grateful to whatever creature above that at that moment, had looked down and blessed him with a little bit of good luck. The multiplier could, as far as he was concerned, turn to 1, leaving Winter in an even worse situation than he started. Now, if he could only last another 27 seconds until <> resets, he could begin retaliating.

“Hey, that hurts my feelings, you know. You even sliced my arm off here! Won’t you listen to a man talking here?”

Winter tried to speak as nonchalantly as possible, pointing to his severed left shoulder. He was still holding the sword on his right hand, as he was gesturing. He now stabbed it onto the ground in front of him. He felt his left arm was still there. He could touch his body, his hair, though he could not tousle it, even felt the pressure when he closed his fists, yet it went through the sword he was trying to hold completely. Interesting.

“What else to be said, old man? Are you surrendering? That I will accept. Gladly.”

“Zaya. Can you come over here, please?”

She pointed to herself “me?”, as if she was unsure whether Winter asked for her.

“Think you can give me a victory kiss? I have to get serious now that I only have one arm left, you see.”

Zaya walked to Winter, hesitating. She kept glancing at Campbell,who got more and more furious with every passing second. She figured she could at least give the man a kiss on the cheek for trying to stand up for her this far, folly as it was.

*Peck*

She gave Winter,who exaggeratedly bent his head and turned his head aside for easier access to his cheek, a kiss. Hoots of encouragement could be heard.

“I am liking this too much. Another one if you do not mind?”

Gales of laughter followed his sentence. A little exasperated, but seeing the humor between the increasingly angry Campbell and the situation, she welcomed the chance to give the mature man another kiss, on his other cheek. It was also helped by Winter’s silly smile, while he raised and lowered his eyebrows in a foolishly hilarious beckoning gesture.

“Don’t lose, Winter. I am definitely rooting for you now.”

Zaya gave him a heartfelt hug as a bonus. She pressed herself to Winter as much as possible, thinking that after this, at least she could try to infuriate Campbell enough to leave her alone.

“I believe I will win. Just stay back and watch.”

“Thank you, everyone, for waiting.”

Winter decided to play it to the end now, though for three seconds now, he could use the acceleration spell for his safety net. He bowed with one arm, left and right to everyone, even to Campbell, who would be thought as crass, to attack someone that was completely unprepared.

“Now. Let me say a few words before we get started, shall we?”

“Enough for words! Are you going to fight or not?”

“I am not a Swordsman.”

Winter deadpanned. A hush immediately fell over them.

“What are you talking about? You are holding a sword, you are a Swordsman.”

Everyone was agreeing with Campbell. The mood of the crowd had begun shifting to Campbell. They would have loved Winter if he croaked and died gallantly after receiving his kisses and hug, but now he sounded lame for bringing something like this up.

As his reply, Winter unequipped his sword, which disappeared from the ground, and equipped Sun’areth. Everyone began murmuring again.

“I, am a Magician,” announced Winter, slamming the butt of his half-charred staff down. The top part was black, while the bottom half was white, with beautiful, flowing veins of even paler white. It almost glittered.

“You mean for this whole time I have been fighting a Magician? Nonsense!”

“Clear Mind, Mental Fortitude. Break apart...”

The first spell appeared as a quick glow that disappeared. This spell did not stack, unfortunately, thus it gave Winter no impressive buff, beyond its original 25% mana regeneration. But the second spell....

The <> spell he deliberately did not finish casting broke apart, from one floating pillar into four fireballs in the air, added with another 8 from the bonus, was impressive. 36 balls of fire hovered above and in front of Winter. It lighted the night street better than the torches and falling moonbeam. Nobody could deny him after his display. Everyone knew that no Warrior class could summon this sort of magic.

“Impossible!”

“Too bad. Fire Strike!”

Augmentation effect

Fire Strike x 9 summoned

You inflicted damage!

Continuous attack! HP-1297

You inflicted Knockback status!

You inflicted Stun status! 6 seconds until target is able to move again!

Not mincing anymore words, Winter threw the whole group of fireballs to Campbell,who was unable to dodge, as Winter deliberately left it in a large, covering grid position. Probably over half struck him.

“Mana Bolt! Earth Spike! Fire Ball!”

Winter began to furiously cycle through his spells. The large quantity of <> had knocked Campbell back, and stunned him. The following Mana Bolt struck him with sharp bangs, while Earth Spike pierced his legs and torso. The fireballs further depleted his health, the whole nine of them hitting him squarely. It was impossible for Winter to miss from a six meter distance.

All three spells, multiplied, hit with precision and bonus critical damage, as Campbell was stunned, doubling the damage and ignoring his defensive attributes. Winter had no idea how much health Campbell had, but he had to go down soon, as Winter was not going to last longer at the rate he was consuming his mana. His latest three attacks had taken over 2500 of his health in total.

Campbell, who eventually shook off the stun effect, powered, and ran towards Winter, accompanied with a loud roar, of probably his strongest skill.

“In justice I shall slay! Execution!”

Winter thought the cadence to be completely inappropriate for the situation, even more than the name of the skill. Campbell’s two-handed sword was enveloped in bright, red light. Winter thought to borrow a page from Adria.

“Rise up! Stone Coffin!”

Due to the augmentation effect, it looked as if a block used in a pyramid building flew out from the ground, instead of its usual single wall. Winter was right on target. The suddenly appearing platform launched him up the air. He still had the time to do an overhead slash, before he lost his balance.

“Reflex!”

Augmented effect! Speed x1.1!

Augmented effect! Speed x1.3!

Augmented effect! Speed x1.5!

Augmented effect! Extended time 0.5 Second!

Augmented effect! Extended time 0.5 Second!

Augmented effect! Extended time 0.25 Second!

Augmented effect! Extended time 0.25 second!

Augmented effect! 200% movement speed for 20 seconds!

Winter quickly dodged the incoming red shockwave from the slash effect. It would probably kill him if he got hit, even a bit. The expanding crescent gouged a large straight ditch on the street, and split the stacked stone coffin into two, which then crumbled instantly. Scary!

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Winter thought it was a good time to finish it up, before Campbell pulled anything else that he could not dodge or defend against. The launch to the air did not damage Campbell, but made his footing unstable, as he had nothing to stand on, tumbling ten meters up in the air. Winter idly thought that he would love to show Adria thst he could make the spell grow this large and thick of a stone. It was even taller than him!

While running with the spell in effect, Winter fired more spells, keeping Campbell aloft.

“Mana Bolt, Fireball, Break apart! Fire Strike!”

Winter did not know whether the whole thing was enough to kill the egomaniac. He cast the spell that he never got the chance to try on any mob so far.

“Heavenly wind! Gust!”

Augmentation effect

Mana Bolt x 9 summoned

Fire Strike x 9 summoned

Fire strike x 9 summoned

You inflicted damage!

Continuous attack! HP-225

Chain attack bonus! Damage multiplied by 50%!

Continuous attack! HP-1086

Chain attack bonus! Damage multiplied by 100%!

Continuous attack! HP-3765

You inflicted Knockback status!

You inflicted Stun status! 6 seconds until target is able to move again

Increased size, strength and speed of Gust by 450%!

Another thing to add. If Winter won, he would spend time to train his individual battle spells, aside from Reflex. He relied on it too much, that now, he was impaired on the rest of the spells. His mastery was too low for all spells, except Reflex and Vermillion. Without his fortune from the curse, he would have lost.

The gust of wind was stronger than Winter expected. It blew the stunned Campbell to the main street. Winter thought he should pull out the stops, and damn the consequences.

“Rise up! Stone coffin!”

Augmentation effect

Increased size and defense by 300%!

Stone Coffin x 9 summoned

Stone Coffin x 9 summoned

Stone Coffin x 9 summoned

Stone Coffin x 9 summoned

Stone Coffin x 9 summoned

Stone Coffin x 9 summoned

Stone Coffin x 9 summoned

Stone Coffin x 9 summoned

Winter put to use the Macro function. It resulted in complete walls of stone encircling Campbell. He had shaken off the effect of the stun around the time second layer of rock walls that encircled him went up. He was hemmed in tight, to the point of being unable to move. It was what Winter thought up on the spot. He filed it away in his head for future use, since it worked so well.

“Crimson Lord of Destruction, I beseech rain of fire. Vermillion!”

Augmentation effect

Vermillion x 9 summoned

You inflicted damage! HP-257

You inflicted damage! HP-296

You inflicted damage! HP-301

You inflicted damage! HP-221

You inflicted damage! HP-276

You inflicted damage! HP-295

You inflicted damage! HP-252

You Inflicted Fatal Damage!

Winter has won the duel! Congratulations!

He kept the spell active until he ran out of mana. It did not take long for his leftover mana, despite being boosted by his drinks, self buff, and Sun’areth,to last even two minutes.

Without his knowledge, the pyrotechnics had attracted a lot of bystanders. They stared open- mouthed as Winter poured out all his fury, and wasted the blond warrior. Huffing, he picked up both the little bag he dropped and the strongbox, surprised that nobody tried to steal them while he was busy fighting. He also picked up the sword that was stabbed into the center of the fiery crater. Something Campbell left from the deathmatch.The damaged streets were slowly recovering. Winter then walked back to Sella’s restaurant, to send his drunk friend home.

xXx

“Come on, old friend. Don’t fall asleep again now. You have a daughter to get back home to.”

Winter entered the private dining room to fully rouse the half sober Minalan.

“Theladria, why do you have to leave me so bereft...”

’Is he mumbling about Adria’s mother?’

Winter always wondered what happened to Minalan’s wife. They never talked about that. Judging from what Winter just heard, it seemed like she was not around anymore.

*slap* *slap*

“Wake up! ADRIA! Minalan is drunk!”

“What! Where!”

Bleary-eyed, Minalan jumped from his slouched sleeping position on the dining table, to stand at attention.

“Good. You are awake. Now we can go home.”

Minalan groaned, holding his head, that was probably aching. Winter took it at face value that NPCs could get drunk here, though he had no idea yet about players.

’I was probably a drunken fool for even fighting that man. Twice over!’

“Did I do anything silly?”

“No, old friend. You were a proper drunk. Now, let’s go home before it is morning!”

Shouldering the slumping Minalan, Winter walked out, almost butting heads with Zaya,who had chased after him.

“Sorry. I forgot to thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I was foolish and twice lucky. I’d be damned if I ever do something like that again. Now, shoo.”

Now that Winter was properly sober, he was as grouchy as usual. The complete change of behavior struck Zaya as seriously problematic.

“Can we not at least be friends?”

Zaya wishes to register you as a friend. Do you wish to accept?

“No.”

Winter declined and shuffled past Zaya.

“What did I do wrong?”

Winter scrutinised her as sharply as possible. He probably was not intimidating at all, as Minalan was hanging over his left shoulder, lolling his head and groaning.

“You used me. And I was fool enough to take it up. Twice. So. Move now. And don’t find me again.”

Zaya was speechless. She had been seen through. Twice, and he had played along all that time. She should never underestimate the wisdom of the old. Watching the pair shuffling away, she swore to properly latch onto this player. He was probably her golden ticket.

xXx

Zaya was unable to get the chance to strike up conversation with Winter. She lost him quickly after he zipped away very suddenly, very quickly. Try as she may to run after him, she was outpaced from the get go. She figured it was some sort of mage spell she had never heard of. As a merchant, she was pretty well-informed in a wide range of information. That made Winter’s value go up a very large notch in her eyes.

Not to forget he beat a level 159 player so easily, after toying with him! He even went as far as to match him in swordsmanship first, before resorting to magic, after Campbell ungentlemanly lost and sought a second duel (Author: Winter speeding up was equal to how normal warriors moved, if not slightly faster, for they could move pretty darn quick in combat. In fact, the moments where Winter’s Reflex spell was not active, he appeared to slow down).

Then, he pulled out a sinister-looking weapon, and rained down hell. Zaya had seen a lot of mages fight, even some wizards. She had never seen any player pull out spells that fast in quantity. She must have the secret!

xXx

Winter, who had shaken off the beautiful lady that had used him twice, was frowning. He was beating himself up for being taken in that way. He ought to have known better, as he was old enough to be wise in the ways of the world. But somehow, tonight was special. For some reason, he felt that he wanted to let loose. And look at the result! Near death!

’Well, at least I won. Now, let us see what we have here.’

Damascus Steel Sword (Durability 193/200)

This sword has a small trace amount of Mithril mixed into it, making it really strong, light and sturdy. There isn’t much that is known about the forging technique, but it is acknowledged to be high quality work. Despite its great size, and length, the balance is perfect.

Attack: 37-45

Restriction:

Warrior Class only

Level 150 minimum

250 STR

Sword Mastery Intermediate Level 1

Sword Specialisation Beginner Level 3

Additional effect:

+60 STR

+50 AGI

+15% Attack Speed

+15% Movement Speed

-10% Defense

[i] 'Got to say, the man has, well, had, a good sword. Cannot complain about it. Too bad I cannot use it at all. Maybe I can give it away or something?'

Winter manifested the money he bet from his inventory, took a quick look at it, and dropped it back into its designated wallet, making the current figure of zero for his money back up to its previous figure. His current total wealth was 173 gold and 2 silver. The server had created pouches whenever a player’s money was manifested for transaction, or to be held on hand.

He proceeded to manifest the the money box he won. It was well-crafted, with studding jewels around the side and on the top of the lid. It even had a special mention of “Small Strongbox” when he identified it (It took him twice), unlike his pouch that just said “Money Pouch”

“What the.... the bastard.... the box is locked! Screw this!”

Winter thought of throwing it away somewhere like a garbage, but thought better of it. It looked pretty nice, with the gem studdings and polished metal surface. He put it back in his inventory, to remind himself that he should never get into that sort of trouble again. He also refused something he obtained after near (virtual) death. His severed arm had already grown back, as he walked Minalan home (600 seconds passed). Re-equipping his sword, Winter chose a random spot before logging out to sleep.

Unknown to him, Campbell did not deliberately hand Winter a locked box. It was his theft prevention measure! Campbell simply never thought he would ever lose.

xXx

“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

Eric Campbell,who had just died inside Royal Road, beat his fists against the padded room. He thought it was silly that they needed the room, since he never had any need to harm himself.

He wore a shift of white, like the paddings around him. The capsule that was set in the center of the padded room was the only color not white. It was silver.

Eric could not believe he lost! He had all the advantage. He ran the fight through his head again. Or was he ever? He was unsure, when he rethought back to everything. The mage wiped him like nothing! As a guild leader, Eric knew a few wizards. Some of them cast spells real quick, multiple ones too. It was his first time seeing one that could cast nine! Nine of them at once! It was unheard of.

“Winter..... I will remember your name!”

Eric swore to himself that he would spare no resources to track the person down. Though less humiliating than the defeat, Winter was carrying Eric’s virtual money box. The quantity was a lot less than the guild’s vault, but it was something won from him. And Eric Campbell never gave anything he did not want to give away.

Eric completely forgot that he did not leave the box unlocked, leaving Winter unable to access the wealth inside.

xXx

“Father.. what happened to you last night?”

Adria was cooking their breakfast. She went to sleep early and woke up to the shop unopened at its usual hour, and her father lying down in his bed. She forcefully removed her father from the bed and put him down onto his usual seat.

’Dad went with Uncle Winter yesterday....’

“Nothing. Just misspent time. I learned my lesson,” Minalan still looked a little green.

*Stare*

“I swear. Nothing like this will ever happen again!”

“So long as you promise.”

Adria had no idea what went on during the night, but she was as cheerful as she could be today, after a good sleep.

Meanwhile, the city was in an uproar over a mage that managed to defeat a warrior, with an impressive feat of magic. The rumor eventually reached Jackal, who was seriously wondering if the rumor was true. A swordsman that was also a mage. Or was it the other way round?

He wondered whether it was the same white-haired mature man that he had dismissed quickly before the siege. As someone with military background, he had good memory when it came to faces. Jackal decided that it was worth investigating.

xXx

Winter logged back in after his usual amount of sleep. He slept longer to adjust his re-entry time to morning time inside Royal Road. As he promised, he was going to go fishing with Adria, showing her his favorite spot.

The river flowed quietly in the early morning. It was located barely a four kilometer walk outside the city. Winter was surprised he had never seen it before. He caught low grade fishes, that went towards improving his proficiency in the profession.

“Uncle Winter, it is almost done! Come and eat!”

Minalan initially wanted to join, but Adria was adamant that only she and Winter went. Last Winter saw Minalan, he was sulking while sending them off.

“Okay! I think I caught another one.”

You caught a fish!

Your Fishing proficiency increased by 5%!

Bream x 1 Obtained!

“Hey! it is a pretty big one.”

Winter was holding up a still struggling fish, some 30cm long. He had no idea what sort of fish Bream was, but was confident Adria could make something out of it. Soon, the fish followed the rest of its brother’s and sister’s fate.

“Mmmm... that is so good. I think you will make a good wife, Adria.”

“Really? You think so, Uncle Winter?”

“I guarantee it!”

Winter put up his right thumb as his seal of approval of her cooking prowess. Though the fish provided literally no bonus since it was low-leveled, Adria managed to cook it so deliciously for a satiety filler.

She was smiling blissfully from the praise.

Both of them were in a good mood that morning. Winter forgot all the events before he slept. Summer did not look for him, which was good news, so long as Winter was concerned. Julianne texted him to invite him over to her territory for sightseeing. Ronald promised to consider it seriously. Celine sent an odd mixed message. It sounded like plea of help or a scolding. He could not decide which, so he ignored it. His wayward (adopted) daughter would call him if the need was dire enough.

Albert, the neighbor, never knocked on his front door to invite him over to the Royal Road meeting or whatsoever. All was well for Winter, until Adria spoke next. Winter should have seen it coming, as she did not add the usual honorific.

“Winter.... “

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

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Author's Note:

1. Thank you to -The Slacker- for the diligent PR

2. Thanks to Vim1inc especially for his comments here. Nothing from the usual contributors sadly.

3. This is part 2 of 2. I really enjoyed writing this part.

4. I am off on Holiday from this Thursday. You can expect my last release to be on Wednesday. After that, about two weeks holiday. Sorry, folks.

5. Comment and do let me know of any typo error or mistakes. As much as my PR did, we might have missed something.

6. Sorry folks, I know there is a small mistake about the Italics, but not my fault. I completed the loop but it refused to take. So, leaving it alone for now.

7. Enjoy!