Like Samuel, Winter had not really expected them to have a bond of comradeship so quickly. He had initially thought Rinne was bothersome, and Samuel, an annoying bugger. Everything sort of came back to Adria, in a way. When he saw Rinne being harassed, he just had to jump in. It was not the elegant save he had pictured in mind, since he could not bear listening to another second of Samuel’s rapid ranting, yet he did the job.
When he was tackled by Rinne and asked to help them out in their quest, he obliged out of an inability to find a pause to say ‘NO’. Everyone met this sort of person once in awhile. The sort that dragged you along their pace, and you were helpless against it. Winter already had such a person in his family. He ought to be at least immune to strangers doing it to him, yet the outcome was the same anyway.
Upon hearing they were bards, Winter was not sure how much help they would be. So he soloed all monsters on the way by himself. After his first near death experience in a while, he became more curious about the two’s capabilities.
A fast-paced jig was playing. Winter made another neat quick turn and slice, finishing up the last Orc. The Orc’s head parted from its body and fell, then quickly graying out and pixelating.
“That’s the last of it. Let’s move before there are more,” said Winter.
“Sure, dude. But I don’t think we need to worry about mobs. You seem to be handling them well.”
Samuel, when you got to know him a little better, was a nice kid, really. He was rough around the edges, but had a good heart. And he was wickedly skilled with his Lute. Winter had gone through the usual phase of youth. He could not play any instrument, but he saw plenty of his classmates in music class that were pretty damn good with it. Samuel was a class above even the best he knew. His fingers flew with sure deftness and stops.
The tune he played was called <
Rinne was not idle. She was humming the whole time too, though Winter could not hear it since he was too busy battling one mob after another. He had heard enough during their planning session though, to admire her singing ability. If there was a one man band, Rinne was a one girl choir. She sang in three different voices! Winter could not say what amazed him more. Whether the girl thought it was normal to be able to do that, or that a human could even do it. Winter suspected the rather cheeky girl was gaming him. It was probably some sort of bard skill in Royal Road.
<
“No reason to take chances, kid. I am worried about you two when the battles are prolonged. I can run, fast. You two? I doubt it.”
It sobered Samuel up to the fact that Winter, despite his monster-slaying ability, was still a single player. It meant no back ups, no safety nets when things became sour. He was more than mildly impressed, though he would never admit it to the mage, that monsters that should be handled by a complete party could be taken care of so easily by him.
“Whatever, dude,” replied Samuel, letting go of his Lute, leaving it to dangle from him.
“Samuel!” Rinne immediately reprimanded Samuel for his behavior.
A grimace quickly formed on his face. Winter, who had been on the other end of Rinne’s unusually bossy behavior when it came to points of courtesy, was in tacit agreement that when dealing with Rinne, they were best friends.
“Never mind, let’s go,” waved Winter.
They had been roaming around the Orcs’ territory for two days, testing out each other’s ability. Winter thought he would be done with them after they exited the dungeon that had somehow collapsed right after they were outside, buried under rocks and more rocks. But six hours of pleading from Rinne, a log out, and log in. with Rinne still camped out at where he last logged out, and more pleading for him to travel with them (or was it for them to join in his travelling? - Winter was not sure which was which anymore), he gave up and just let her do whatever she wanted.
Since it appeared that they would be stuck together for a while, Winter wished to know everything they could tell about their class. Which surprisingly, and very interestingly, was contrary to what he knew and believed.
Artists and artisans were not the same, for a start. Artisans were normal craft classes. Artists meanwhile, usually mistaken for craft professions by normal players, were actually classes with a performance-related concept. Artists consisted of Bards, which then branched out to Singers (which were actually bards too, but had always been regarded as a different class due to learning different abilities and skill sets), Dancers, and Acrobats. Winter had lost the thread of the conversation after Acrobats. There were a lot more!
Most of their spell effects (in the form of Songs, Tunes, Hymns, etc), were aimed at party members within a broad range. Most of their spellsongs (what the bards actually called their abilities) were the same, since they started with the same class, Bard. Both could do movement speed buffs, minor attack buffs, minor mana restoration, improve vitality and defense improvement. Samuel then had the <
The latest spellsong Rinne had learned <
Rinne was decent with flutes, apparently. She had given a good account of herself during mealtimes, though she was apparently not even close to Samuel’s standard. But since Samuel could not sing even a spit worth, it evened out. The two days were a good time for them. With a Bard and Singer around, it really felt like a true adventure for him. The times of conversation times he had spent awkwardly with Zaya somehow did not compare. In the two days, Winter had leveled up twice, while Rinne went up by seven and Samuel, by nine.
The trip back to town was quite pleasant. Winter opened up the path easily with Samuel and Rinne’s support. Their conversation topics could use a little more work though. They were still probing each other’s comfort points. They had just exited the edge of the forest when Winter spotted a player with a green headwrap, who dashed into hiding upon seeing him. Groaning, Winter could foresee another battle. Somehow, he had the feeling that Daffy might just get him this time.
xXx
It did not take long for Daffy’s friends to surround him. He would have preferred Rinne and Samuel to not be around him. Yet the decision was out of his hands within three minutes after he was spotted. In twos and threes, green headwraps begin appearing. If their skills were about Daffy’s range, he probably could take out ten out of the twenty or so that had gathered to surround him, but they were doing nothing in particular. Winter was interested to find out what they were waiting for, but had a good guess. After going through one adventure with Winter, Rinne and Samuel had become more aggressive somehow. Winter had no idea what caused it. They refused to logout as an option to avoid certain confrontation, and very possible death and its penalties.
Shrugging, Winter and the two waited for the climax of the uncalled for gathering. He had never been in a large scale combat with another player. The castle raid did not count, as he had not been participating in any battle capacity (him cooking food was the only visible contribution!). He supposed he could have logged out and came back in…. half year? No way they would be waiting for him that long. But Winter had never been one to back down from a challenge. He would dodge them as much as he could, yes, but he always gave it his best shot eventually (after whining and bitching about it usually, or when the mood struck and he felt particularly good, just finishing it up immediately).
Therefore, just to tell the group of green headwraps and Daffy, whom he had spotted immediately among the twenties, that he was not going anywhere, he sat on the ground and begin to sew.
“What are you doing?” Asked Daffy.
“What? Can’t you tell? I am sewing,” replied Winter, without looking away.
“I can see you are sewing. But why?” he asked again, as if the answer was not obvious.
“You all seem to be waiting for someone to arrive. I assume there will be another duel. So, I thought at least, I should relax,” said Winter, while putting another hole in the fabric.
“Yeah. Right. This time, you are dead!” As if that was an invitation that Daffy was looking for, he began to share that he had asked someone strong to kill Winter. Winter paused when he heard the word ‘Kill’.
“What is stopping me from breaking through and logging out within the city? I hate dying for no good reason.”
“That’s…” Stuttered Daffy, trying to think up of a reason quickly.
“Because there are twenty-three of us, moron, and only three of you!” One goon to Daffy’s left stepped to his rescue.
“Yes. There are more of us than you!” Spoke Daffy loudly, to cover his pause.
“That did not seem to affect the odds last time. What can you do to stop me? Kill me? Okay. Who is up for it? I would even give you a good shot,” Winter pointed to the goon who had spoken up earlier.
As a general rule of thumb, a regular player was not fond of killing another player. Penalties from a Murderer’s Mark were rather heavy. Winter was not yet clear as to how to remove it. But judging from the hesitation that all players who surrounded him exhibited, they were not ready to do that yet.
“Me? I see that twenty or so of you might make it worth the time for me to spend getting the Mark. A lot of money in those gear, I think. So, really. Who here is ready to kill me? Because If nobody wants to kill me, all of you will be dead!” Winter let out a slightly mad laugh, for good measure.
“You can’t do that!” A nervous voice called from behind him. Winter looked at the general direction where the voice came from, smiling with as much predatory menace as he could summon. From the looks of it, it was a success. Putting back his sewing items, Winter stood and drew his sword.
“Stop me?” cackled Winter. Weapons were drawn immediately. All of them.
That was usually when whatever above chose to screw with him. And they never disappointed. A small commotion broke through the dread that had enveloped the band of thieves. Winter turned around to meet the figure of blond-haired, handsome, rough and tough-looking warrior. The Mark was prominent on his forehead.
“Sure. Think you are up for it, old man?” Whoever this new guy was, he did not waste time drawong his two-handed sword, and took a stance.
“Ah! Umber! You are finally here!”
Daffy, who was probably the most nervous out of all of them, recovered his composure. He was about to launch into more threats ,when Umber’s eyes, which never left Winter, swung his sword idly to smack Daffy on the head. Daffy staggered and fell on his ass.
“What was that for!” Exclaimed Daffy. His voice rose to a whine.
“Shut up.” With those two words, Daffy closed his mouth and began edging away. Rinne, who was better at reading the feel of the virtual air, pulled Samuel, who was oblivious to the sparks flying between Winter and Umber, away. The space between the two were clear.
‘This guy…. I might be in trouble.’
Winter’s inner dialogue worked in fever pitch arguments against each other. He usually never bothered to listen to them as they gave contradictory messages and ones he was usually not happy about. But this time, they were unanimous, “Run!”
Recently, Winter could somehow read if an opponent was strong. He judged that the player in front of him was stronger than him, from his confidence. None but Rinne and Samuel knew that he was a Mage. Maybe he could capitalise that to his advantage.
Moving his left foot a couple inches forward, Winter leapt to make a slash that he intended as a feint, and have his sword come from the other side. It never happened. He was forced to use Reflex to save his own head. Umber’s weapon range was at least one and a half times longer than his sword, and he used it pretty damn quick. The counterslash was straightforward, but sliced down fast enough that Winter’s Reflex had barely kept up with the speed of the swing, as he had been focused on offense. Bending his left knee, Winter managed to alter his posture to a quick half backstep and launched himself forward again in a diving thrust. Umber was pretty damn quick too with his reaction, twisting away so that he only received a small nick instead of eating the whole sword.
You inflicted 60 damage to Umber!
They exchanged positions. Winter stood back up quickly from his roll after the dive, while Umber took his previous stance, that was almost a mirror to his, only with a longer sword.
“Impressive. It has been a while since someone got me,” Umber licked his lips in anticipation.
Everyone thought it was a big deal too. They were whispering and pointing, from what Winter could gather, without turning away from Umber.
“Think you can dodge the next one?”
Umber’s body was rocking left and right in a subtle motion. Winter, who had been paying attention to the motion, almost missed the starting motion of the side swipe. He barely managed to get his sword to a blocking position. He executed a move he had practiced against the strong Dullahans. With his feet off the ground and jumping in the same direction as the blow, Winter was propelled away from the range of the next slash that Umber had prepared for him. His sword was poised for another quick, and very likely, quite fatal downward strike. His grin of pleasure was still pasted on his face.
It somehow annoyed Winter that this player loved killing another player. It did not feel right to him. Problem was, he was not sure he could kill this Umber character. In the short period that they had clashed, his estimate was that Umber was even stronger than Gordon. Killing another player with a Mark gained no penalty. It even had a small bonus of fame and bounty, if the player was notorious enough. The bout between Winter and Umber would be to the death.
xXx
‘First things first. Stall!’
That was a must. Like Umber said. He was not sure he could dodge further attacks if he did not have Reflex. The cooldown period was still left with eighteen seconds.
“Say…. why are you doing this?”
Winter had asked out of pure curiosity, yet he was also using the time they were circling each other to wait for his Reflex to finish its cooldown.
“Does one need any reason to kill?” Replied Umber carelessly.
Not waiting for further talk from Winter, Umber launched into three rapid stabs. Winter managed to dodge the first one, narrowly parried the second one, but the third one hit him square in the stomach.
Critical Hit!
You received 970 damage!
For a proper swordsman, they could probably sneeze at that amount of damage. For Winter, that amounted to over three quarters of his health cleared in one blow. He put a counter blow on Umber’s neck, as he knew he could not dodge the third stab.
Critical Hit!
You inflicted 250 damage on Umber!
Winter groaned internally. He was putting a good hit on his opponent’s neck, an even better spot than his stomach, yet he inflicted less damage! It was probably due to the difference in their armor. He could assume that Umber would have at least five times the amount of health he had. That would make his desperate attack a bare pittance.
“Huh…. Are you sure you are a swordsman?”
Umber carelessly pulled out his sword, and Winter quickly made distance. He was confused. In all of his battles against warriors, he had never scored such a big hit. He turned angrily to Daffy.
“Oi! Did you just give me a small fry? Huh!”
He was brandishing his sword threateningly at Daffy, who cowered and got equally confused.
‘Comradeship is definitely detrimental to me!’ Thought Winter.
Kneeling on the ground, Winter quickly put out two short whispers to Rinne and Samuel.
‘Run when you see me running.’ That was the short message’s content. Rinne gave a slight nod. Winter wanted to throttle Samuel’s neck. Samuel had jumped in surprise and looked at him like he was mad. Anyone who paid any attention (which luckily none did, fixated they were with Umber) could tell that Winter had been communicating with him!
“What are you talking about?”
“I am talking about this swordsman! Are you kidding me? You lose to someone at least forty levels under you! How weak can you guys be!”
Umber’s calculation would not be off if he used a standard swordsman status. Yet of course, he was off by a large margin. Winter, who had discreetly gulped his last health potion, straightened up again and took a stance. He did not stop their argument. In fact, it would be beneficial for him if they kept on going and ignored him for as long as possible, so his health could fully recover. It was short-lived though. Daffy wised up at that moment.
“I don’t care if he is weaker than me! The contract! You have to finish him up!” Screamed Daffy, feeling particularly defiant for once. That cooled Umber’s ire quickly. Contract breaching in the guild was a serious offense. He always fulfilled his contract. Sighing then shrugging, Umber turned back to Winter, who did not say a word while they were arguing.
“Sorry there, puny swordsman. You have to die. Normally, I would prefer to let you go. But he paid.”
“But, Winter is a..” Samuel almost stole Winter’s thunder.
“You! Shut up!” Yelled Winter. Samuel’s mouth closed with a clack. For good measure, Rinne ground her foot on Samuel’s. It did not injure him badly, but he got the point.
“Well. Yeah. He is right,” Winter got back in gear. He quite enjoyed this part, somehow.
“Oh. You are not a swordsman? What are you?” Umber was quite smart, surprisingly, catching on quickly.Somehow, it deflated Winter’s enjoyment.
“I will tell you if you let me go?” Winter asked, without much hope.
“No can do, ” came the instant reply.
“Then I guess you will never find out.”
Umber laughed at Winter’s reply. It was rather audacious to hold a small mystery over everyone’s head in such situation. Umber somehow felt that he could like this mature-looking player. He then narrowed his eyes and tightened his stance. Winter would have licked ten more seconds. His health point would be full by then. The next ten seconds or so, unfortunately, would decide everything for him.
A leaping slash by Umber, which Winter chose not to use Reflex to dodge. Winter replied with a quick chop to Umber’s head, which got parried. Sliding the sword down, Winter kicked at Umber’s chest, but it did not budge at all! Expecting to make some distance, but turning out to be wrong, Winter took the chance to instead, kick off to make some distance. He almost stumbled backwards and fell on his ass. It was what probably saved him, as he did not notice a quick swipe that was aimed at his head. He was looking at the tip from less than two inches away. Using the momentum of the attack, turning it into a spin, Umber was about to do an upwards slash. That was the moment Winter chose to use Reflex. Umber was completely blind in that small fraction of seconds.
First, was the Stone Coffin that ruined his stance. It grew out from the earth at an angle almost parallel to the ground, and tackled Umber’s feet. As much as he tried to correct his stance, the one second he was in the air was enough for Winter to strike four slashes at Umber’s avatar.
Left shoulder, head, right shoulder, head again. The shape of infinity he pictured was formed clearly on Umber’s body. Umber looked shocked that he had been caught completely off guard. Not done yet, Winter planted his sword on Umber’s skull, driving it to the ground, while at the same time, a spike of earth jutted through his guts from below. Winter finished off the impromptu combo with a quick shot of Fire Strike, before time sped up to normal. In the clear view of stunned goons.
You inflicted 25 Earth damage to Umber!
You inflicted 120 damage to Umber!
Critical Hit!
You inflicted 386 damage to Umber!
You inflicted 115 damage to Umber!
Critical Hit!
You inflicted 400 damage to Umber!
Critical Hit!
You inflicted 860 damage to Umber!
You inflicted 315 Earth damage to Umber!
You inflicted 560 Fire damage to Umber!
Umber is stunned for 3 seconds!
Not wasting his good fortune, Winter grew two Stone Coffins, which pinned Umber’s body to the ground. It was also possibly his one and only chance.
In his nowadays well-practiced focus, Winter ran towards the direction of the frontier city, blocked by Daffy and his cronies, while casting Gust. It toppled four players. Time then sped back up to normal.
“Run!” Screamed Winter.
Startled and galvanised, both Rinne and Samuel began running to the opening Winter had made. They obviously would not make it. Not without help. It was up to Winter to stop and stall.
Winter did not recall pulling out his sword and staking Umber to the grassy earth. He was screaming censored profanities very loudly. He just bumped one thug with Earth Coffin and nearly took another one’s head off. Rinne and Samuel needed to reach town. It was not far. Only two kilometers or so. Yet, they would need really big headstart to get there. Agility-oriented thieves (probably) like Daffy and friends, could catch up to them. Winter needed to buy likely two minutes of time before he could make his own escape. First things first.
Daffy recovered quickly from his prone position due to Winter’s spell, and struck out at the mage. Winter did not bother blocking. It was exactly what he needed. The dagger struck at his left rib, instantly decreasing whatever was left of his health to near death, literally. Another blow, even a light one, would possibly finish him. Daffy was shocked at the nonexistent attempt to block. The reply was swift, a chop to Daffy’s left knee, that severed it neatly. Daffy tumbled to the ground, leaving Winter some space to backpedal a couple steps.
“Now….. I have only….” Winter checked his health.
“130 HP left. Next blow will likely kill me. So… who is up to be a murderer!” Cackled Winter.
Everyone froze at that. It was an audacious plan. A player with the mark would have a lot of disadvantages. Foremost of all, the inability to enter a town without being harmed. Winter did not plan to kill anyone. Yet. If all possible, he would stall then run. If he killed someone, it would be Umber. It was a ten thousand to one chance he would be badly killed. Everyone was ignoring his cries for assistance.
“What! What sort of plan is that!” The one closest to him shouted.
To make his point, Winter rushed at him. The kid reflexively attacked Winter. At the very last moment, Winter diverted the kid’s slash high, totally missing. Not having such restraint, Winter chopped off another leg. That was the delaying tactic he chose. The ten minutes it took them to recover their legs, even slowpokes like Rinne and Samuel would be able to make it back to town. That left Winter being chased. Hard. He needed to disable all of them, or at least discourage them enough to leave him alone.
He repeated the same manoeuvre six times, before two fellows wised up enough to help Umber out, so he could do all the killing. Winter cast two more Stone Coffins to bump them off, while he quickly covered the distance to chop off their legs. The two recovered fast enough to wiggle away.
“You bastard! I will kill you! I will KILLL YOU!!!” Cursed Umber from underneath the tightly hemmed coffin. He could not gain any leverage to destroy the spell. Winter ignored the rest of his curses, which were very uncreative in their content, but never lacked in volume.
Winter did not waste an ytime to create a hexagon shape that walled off the screaming Umber like a tent. He retook his position on the direction to the town.
“What are you waiting for?! Kill him!” Yelled Daffy. Everyone with two legs hesitated.
“But…” Spoke one, finished by another, “He has low health! No way will I get a mark!”
Point.
The standoff did last pretty long, with Winter attacking savagely and chopping legs as the main target. Over a minute and a half. Not all was well, really. Three got away from him far enough to run away. Winter pulled every trick he knew. A fireball aimed at the face to dazzle and distract, while he kept running full tilt and aimed low enough, hoping to chop off limbs. He never stayed put long enough for anyone to have a grab at him. Weapons had been abandoned for direct body-grabbing. Twice, and when it failed, he used Reflex wisely to chop off enemies that came close. At one point, a little too close, that he had to stagger one with another Stone Coffin spell. That left him one more, before Umber could get away free. Even then… he did not have much time before the spell wore off on its own.
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Enemies that thought Winter was under the same restriction of ‘not killing’ was right. They left their body open for his attacks, which he was happy to oblige. They had full health, mostly. A lot of them found out after the first couple blows, that he always aimed for their legs. An ankle lost was as good as the whole foot to the knee to him. Even half a foot would slow someone down in a long distance run.
*Clang*
“YOU DIE NOW! MAGE!” Roared Umber. The time was up. He should make his getaway now while Umber was still trying to destroy his makeshift barrier.
Turning to run, was when Winter was most vulnerable. Yet that was his best option. Seven still standing green-headwrapped thugs tried to grasp at him the moment his back was turned. They missed him due to Reflex, which had finished its cooldown, one he had kept for such a purpose. And then he was off.
“*Pant* Think *Pant* He would *Pant* Make it?” Asked Samuel, who ran slightly behind Rinne. She did not answer, intent on reaching the town gates, which were not even a kilometer away now. Two of Daffy’s goons were in pursuit, with another one already dropped out of the race as he was too far away to be of any help. That was how much of a lead Winter had bought the two.
Several puzzled players looked at them being chased on the field, yet ignored the scene. Some knew the thieves’ guild from their stay. Some others were not interested in helping. Other players were indifferent, as it was not their business. Rinne thought her best chance would be the decent-sized party of of at least thirty, just heading out, if she and Samuel could just get to it.
“Please! Help!” She tackled the confused leader. An archer with a very prominent moustache. Samuel did not quite manage to tackle an armored giant beside him, but instead bounced back on his ass.
xXx
It was not difficult for Winter to prevent Umber from killing him. He simply needed to use a lot of Umber’s comrades as a meat shield. Since there were plenty of them, that was no problem. Umber was so enraged that he did not care who he slashed to get to Winter. Winter managed to get another three killed, by throwing them at Umber, or using them as body shields. It was not pretty, and he had managed to make so little distance. He only needed to delay a bit more and more.
It took a little time, but soon, Winter lost cover, when the thieves wised up and never tried to capture Winter by themselves. Between bumps of Earthspike, Stone Coffin and Reflex, combined with his crude swordmanship, he managed to slither around a lot. It helped too, that he used a lot of the coffins to knock Umber down onto his ass. Winter’s running away came to an end anyway, when his mana ran out. As much as he wanted to run and leave them behind, Umber would kill him the moment he turned his back for more than two seconds.
There came a point too, that he finally had nothing else to give, and chose to run for broke. He got caught. Winter only pitied himself for his last view to be killed by Umber. He would have preferred a female player. The prettier the better, if possible. Umber’s glee was quite palpable. He was swishing his sword around, as if he was practicing for decapitation. Winter thought it was overkill, since his HP was barely 250, even with all the recovery he had had. Small scratches, that barely left him keeling over, constantly decreased his health. He could have gotten himself killed easily by any of the greenies. Yet it was not in him to simply give up.
The greenies with missing legs had recovered. Winter had received a message a little while ago that Samuel and Rinne had found some help. Nothing yet. He preferred not to die, yes, but it seemed unlikely that he would survive this. He could not use his hands to type back his reply, since Daffy and another one of his comrades were hanging around his right and left arms. The cheering had been interesting, really. They kept chanting “KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!” continuously.
“Any last words? Mage.”
Said Umber. Winter rolled his eyes, bored. For his last words, he only said, “Just get it over with.”
Hefting his sword in a baseball swing posture, Winter expected Umber to decapitate him. It never happened. It might have, if not for a streak of light that blew everyone off the ground, and left a crater. Winter saw something fast and blue piercing through Umber’s head, before it disappeared.
You are stunned!
Unable to act for 6 seconds!
Somehow, the phrase Bolt from the Blue fit. Groans and exclamations of surprise echoed throughout the field. In the six seconds of stun, Winter admired the disappearing ornately-carved arrow with a broad metallic head. The whole arrow was made of metal, which pixelated quickly, shortly after its impact blew off Umber’s head, and created a crater with its concussion effect.
“Well, that looks fun. Think you can get up, my friend?”
Winter’s ears perked up. He knew the voice. When he turned around, he knew who he would be seeing. The moustache and hunter-style cap with a feather was still the same. The coloring scheme was the same too. The gear had definitely been upgraded though, as it looked more elaborate. Summer did not have his bow drawn. From between the view of legs and armor, Winter saw the small form of an archer tucking in her bow, and began jogging to the rest of them. Somehow, Winter knew she was the one that had killed Umber.
“My friend, you sure have the worst timing. You came to help me when I was ready to kill them?” Replied Winter, while getting up slowly. Summer barked a laugh at that. Winter saw the form of Julianne, who was extremely large and intimidating, booting the running green headwraps. They could still kill Winter, yes, but none were really motivated to do it on their own without Umber.
“Seriously. I got them surrounded,” insisted Winter in good humour.
“Rambo? Really?” Asked Summer. Winter could only shrug, clasping hands with Summer.
Winter was indeed quoting a Rambo joke. An old show he had watched with Daniel when they were younger. It was quite silly when two people claimed to have surrounded the whole troop of army. Winter did not quite get there yet, but he was pretty close. Most of the younger folks with Summer, of course, did not get the joke reference. They understood humor though, so they chuckled politely.
Quickly looking around the cleared field, Winter said to Summer, “I think I need a drink.”
The aftermath was quick. There was no point of fighting, when either side was reluctant to kill anyone. Besides, Summer’s numbers was close to triple of Daffy’s. Reluctantly, Daffy slinked away, spouting the usual line of ‘It’s not over yet’. Typical.
After that, it was a matter of getting back to town for a celebratory drink ,while they traded stories. Winter was surprised that Dougal and his comrades were together with Summer. Winter recognised most of the group that he had joined up with in the siege. There were some additions too. One caught his eye, an archer garbed in a blue leather top and black pants. The bow was exquisitely carved from metal, instead of the wooden one Summer used. At one glance, Winter could tell that this archer was better than Summer. She was a tad short, though, compared to her bow, which was almost as tall as her. She probably barely reached 160cm. Her black hair with blue highlights near the tips reminded him of some sort of calico cat.
Winter did not get to thank her or have a word of conversation with her, as he was too busy catching up with Summer. Then, there was Rinne and Samuel, who had run headfirst into Summer - in Samuel’s case, it was Odette. Winter praised Rinne and thanked her, giving the same treatment to Samuel grudgingly. Rinne thanked him too for buying them time, by giving him a peck on the cheek. The look on Samuel’s face made the trouble almost worth it. He would not spoil it by telling them that he would have done it either way. He expected no thanks from Samuel after the show from Rinne, but surprisingly got it. He did not say it in so many words, but Winter was the type to take what he could get.
“ Uncle. Really. Can you please stop getting yourself in trouble? Please?” Odette was laughing at the story Winter told them, of how he got himself involved in a feud with the local guild.
“ Not my fault. Those youngsters irked me badly,” replied Winter, scowling. His good-natured reply betrayed the scowl.
Rinne and Samuel had logged out early, unable to join the celebrations. They cited having something to do offline. Winter did not pry.
“So. Why are you here, Summer? Another quest?” Winter asked in a slightly more serious tone.
“Now? Yes. Originally, I was here for recruitment, since I was passing through anyway.”
Winter raised his eyebrow in question. He waited for Summer to enjoy his beer. Summer would talk when he was ready. He was, after a long pull which finished up the mug, then slammed it onto the table. Nobody jumped, since the place was full of loudly talking players.
“Where was I? Oh. Yeah. Recruitment,” Summer picked the thread of the conversation back.
“Remember the siege?” Winter nodded.
“We have the castle and the province now, I’ve told you that. What I never told you was that I am now the leader of the alliance,” Summer grinned, pointing at himself with his thumb. Winter’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“You? I guess that is sort of fitting. You like the job? I thought you were busy enough with your current guild.”
Summer waved the comment away, “I can handle it just fine. It is like my current job, really, just more people to manage and more freedom!” Winter toasted at that. “Amen!”
“You have not answered my question.” Summer had a habit of getting sidetracked by his own story. He eventually got to the point, but Winter was not patient enough to wait for the whole night and day for him to get there. So he had to prod Summer many times to get him to proceed.
“It’s recruitment, Uncle Winter,” Odette chipped in. “Recruitment?” She nodded.
“Yes. Recruitment,” Summer stated, as if that was obvious to Winter. Noticing the look of confusion on Winter’s face, Summer continued.
“It is after the siege. We have a castle, we have land, we have enough people. But not enough competent ones. We especially need strong players. You would not be my choice. Sorry, my friend,” said Summer apologetically. Winter just nodded in understanding. His friend would help him in a heartbeat, but he was pragmatic and practical when it came to assigning jobs according to skill level.
“Anyway, Dougal there was actually in the siege, though you never met him.” Summer toasted to Dougal, who was drinking with some of Summer’s group members. Dougal, who saw it, though did not know what the conversation was about, raised a toast in reply too. “While we are travelling, we are supposed to be on the lookout for good players. He recommended you after your act of saving his ass. Imagine my surprise when I recognised the description and skill sets.”
“I don’t know what had happened to you in the past month or so, but you are a little distant,” Summer was understating the issue. Winter knew he was sort of a wreck. Odette was not as good with a poker face as her father. Her countenance told Winter that she was extremely worried. That made Winter realise that he had been acting selfishly. It was not uncommon for him. He was selfish by nature. What he never did, was making his friends worry due to his issues.
“Sorry about that, Odette, Summer. I am okay now. I had it rough for a while. I never expected the game to be so…. emotionally charged,” Odette and Summer gave a nod of understanding. It also contained forgiveness. They had a little inkling that Royal Road stuff was not always happy. They also knew that when Winter felt ready, he would tell them all about it. The issue was dropped. They sipped their mug quietly.
“So, now I am good enough, eh?” Winter grinned at Summer. He gave the aura of smugness that made Odette chuckle and Summer sigh in disgust.
“Yeah. Yeah. You are a monster, according to Dougal. You have extremely good defense strategy, though lacking in offensive capability. He told me that your swordsmanship was near unique, as you are a Mage. He had good words to say about you. I thought it is a good chance to see you again.”
“So. You want me to join you? But I have already joined, haven’t I?” Odette groaned at Winter’s question. Winter could tell he was saying something silly. Summer was trying to keep a straight face.
“Uncle, you are not in our guild yet,” Odette’s words told Winter that he was indeed being a little daft. They were recruiting for a guild. He wondered why Summer did not ask him the last time they met. His best guess was that he never thought it mattered. Winter thought his guess was right when Summer tried not to look in his direction.
“He forgot about it, eh,” smiled Winter.
“Forget about what, Uncle?” Asked Odette. “Inviting me to the Guild,” smirked Winter.
“That’s right. I gave him a piece of my mind for that. I cannot believe he forgot about it,” Summer tried to hide his face with his drink, by drinking and having the mug cover as much of his face as possible. Julianne had always had a better sense of practicality compared to her father. It made Daniel always on the whipped end of an argument with his daughter.
“Okay, you can forgive him now, Odette. I will join. I cannot believe I forgot about it too. I guess we were too caught up.” Summer looked sheepish, when he stopped hiding by using his mug.
A minute later, Winter became part of Summer’s guild. Royal Road Research Society was such a dumb name, that Winter almost regretted his choice. Good thing their Alliance had better taste in names. It was called Surging Wave alliance. Summer refused to tell why it was named that way, while Odette was not privy to the reason. Winter made sure to remember to do an extra bit of pettiness to Summer when he got the chance.
Odette was from different guild, but was also part of the Alliance now. She told Winter the functions and advantages of being in a guild or alliance. Summer was chatting with Dougal, while Odette was telling Winter about the locator, which acted as a party beacon, but worked outside the dungeon too. Then, the guild chat, of course. There was a guild fee that Winter paid promptly (5 gold) and alliance fee (another 10 gold), that made Winter grumble a little. Winter thought it was useless, since he did not plan to be in the alliance’s territory, which was Ranbell castle and the area surrounding it. He told Odette that he needed to journey to Arcanum to finish up his quest.
Summer joined them again, right when Winter began telling that the curse had been lifted and that it was actually worse than when he was cursed. This brought interest from Summer. Winter told them that his skill was much lower than the average mage, due to his mana restriction and his reliance on AOE spells, that were not useful for solo hunting. Summer asked around if any of the alliance members was heading to Arcanum in the common board that could be accessed by members. This impressed Winter, as it had a lot of potentially useful information. There was no reply yet, though Summer told him to be optimistic about it. Somehow, Winter doubted that he would find anyone heading his direction soon, as there was a general call of arms for the whole alliance to enter the Mountain of Sorrow’s center side for a class B quest. Winter had never been to that area, aside from skirting around it. The guide was rather sparse on that account, except to tell all players that had not gotten to level 200 to stay the hell away, or enjoy dying.
One look at a large Basilisk from a distance, made Winter agree on the assessment. Winter told Summer whatever he knew about the area, adding the mapping he had done, and any advice he could give. Summer and Odette were surprised that Winter had braved the mountain pass alone. He would never admit to them that it was not easy, though Summer probably already suspected it. In the end, his story wound down to Rinne and Samuel, and the ridiculously short dungeon that collapsed after they exited to his ‘rescue’. Odette and Summer did not have much to tell, as both of them were chipping around the Southern side of the grand dungeon, and were continuously going deeper into itm while finding exits when they were running out of supplies. Summer and Odette were already beyond level 200, and ready for a profession change, after they were done with their current quest.
“Good luck you two. I would love to join, but I want to finish my quest. I want it to be done as soon as possible. And now that you have a GPS lock on me, you can find me anytime, right?” They chuckled at that.
A little more pleasantries here and there, then Summer logged off, leaving Odette telling Winter about her life in general, which was mainly full of studying, socialising and the occasional partying. That reminded Winter of Aloine. He apologised for Aloine’s treatment, calling her names and all. Odette told him to forget about it, though her look was that of puzzlement. She was groaning in disgust when Winter told her that Aloine had wanted a date with him. Something he was normally happy to oblige, if she had not come at the wrong time. Thanking him for the information, Odette logged off quickly. Shrugging, Winter logged out too. Others were still drinking here and there. He felt no particular connection to the rest of them, however.
xXx
“Think Arcanum has a lot of songs to learn?” Asked Rinne.
“I don’t know. It is supposed to be the center of Magic around the central continent. I think they may have everything related to magic, including spellsongs,” replied Winter.
A ballad tune, courtesy of Samuel who was idle with his hands, accompanied their journey to Arcanum. They had put Daffy and Umber away to the back of their minds, now. The three agreed, after a very short discussion, that they needed to leave the city. A short query to Summer told him that he made the right decision. Summer said he could suppress the hostility against Winter, Samuel and Rinne while he was in town. Since he was already on his way, Summer could not guarantee Winter’s playing experience if he insisted on staying. Rinne and Samuel thought they were done with the city too. They were there to find someone to accompany them to complete their quest, anyway. Since that was done, there was no reason for them to stick around.
“Yo, what you two think of this one?” Samuel, who was done with his solo recital, asked Winter and Rinne.
“It is wonderful, Samuel. You always play the best song,” said Rinne. Samuel beamed in happiness, that made it easy for Winter to deflate his ego.
“I think you can use more practice. Your strumming sucks,” Winter made a disgusted face, though inside, he admitted that the kid had fingers made of gold.
“What! Say that again?” Challenged Samuel.
“I said your song sucks. Compared to Rinne, that is.” Winter was playing dirty. Comparing Rinne’s and Samuel’s skill was like comparing a golden apple to a golden orange. Both were gold, but different in flavor. Like he predicted, Samuel deflated. He probably did not notice he was doing it, but his finger was still playing a tune, only it sounded like a dirge, now.
Rinne, who wanted to scold Winter, had to hold back her laughter at the act too. She slapped Winter on his shoulder to express her disapproval. Rinne let Samuel play for a bit until he went quiet, before she began singing. Samuel instantly perked up and matched the silver voice to a golden tune. This was an old song. Fly me to the Moon. The rendition was beautiful. The air felt as if it was charged, while the two were busying themselves with their songs.
Winter clapped when they were done. Rinne smiled in thanks. Samuel was a little too smug, so Winter had to raise an Earth Coffin to bump him off. Rinne sighed at his juvenility, but did not bother to scold him anymore. Somehow, along the way, Samuel had been demoted to the kid that got bullied by a petty mage. Winter thought it helped him practice his skills.
The road to Arcanum was still a long way off, but it would not be boring.
xXx
Julianne was worried about Penny. They were not even close to being friends. She was neutral to her. For some reason though, Penelope Waters was determined to hate Julianne. She could not think of whatever reason for Penny, as she was called by everyone else despite her objection, to hate her.
Julianne had never been good with subtleties. It was one skill her father had never been able to teach her. The result of the confrontation was quite ugly. She asked Penny straight if she was intending to date her godfather. From the way Penny blew up, Julianne thought her uncle had hurt her schoolmate deeper than he thought.
Though Julianne was not subtle in her approach of things, she was a good judge of character. And Penny was in the region of narcissistic, vain, and in constant self-awe of her beauty. That did not make her a bad person, just someone extremely hard to get along with. Julianne disliked her attitude, though. She constantly told Julianne off when she was dropping subtle insults to her friends. Subtle in her thought she was not, maybe. Julianne was smart enough to pick up such insults, though.
So when Penny ran away crying, giving her extremely baleful looks, it made Julianne wonder what her godfather had said to her. She also did not keep up with her usual fashion. She used a lot of concealer to hide the black bags under her eyes. Her hair was not brushed properly, free of tangles. Her clothes were not crisp at all. She had also forgotten to apply her lipstick when Julianne went to see her. What made her feel bad was the snickers the bystanders gave Penny when she fled. It made her worry if she had deeper issues than insults and words, something physical.
Shrugging, Julianne put the thought out of her mind. She had a class to catch up to.
That bitch! She has the gall to ask what is wrong with me! She must be gloating inside!
Penelope Waters was sobbing in the girl’s cubicle. She ignored the few concerned knocks on the door. None shall ever see her this vulnerable. Penelope wondered if she was all that older man said. If she was shallow, arrogant and conceited. She was the most beautiful girl in the school. Even Julianne Somner was no match for her beauty. She had a lot of friends, and boyfriends, too. Yet she felt something, after being told off by the older man. Something that clicked inside her mind. She wondered if she secretly knew that she was all that the older man said.
Shallow. Arrogant. Conceited. No. Penelope Waters was smart, beautiful and elegant. Everyone had always said that. But somehow, her friends felt off, recently. Her boyfriends and admirers felt hollow. She wondered why she was unhappy. She was the most popular person. Drying her tears, she remembered the handsome player she met in Royal Road. Both of them were connected. He wanted revenge. She wanted one too. Against Winter. Nobody insults Penelope Waters and gets to walk away happy.
She had to be the best. Most beautiful. Smartest. There was no other path for Penelope Waters. Filling herself with her last bastion, Pride, Penelope Waters reapplied her concealer. She needed to talk to Campbell. She had a plan to regain her lost dignity. His, too.
xXx
Campbell was especially chipper today. He just found more information on Winter. He had been seen in one of the border towns near the Mountain of Sorrow. Transferring 500 dollars for the information, Campbell put a direction to shadow the man, plus his two new companions. Thieves’ guilds were very good when it came to information. He should have done it without being told by Aloine.
Ah… Aloine. Beautiful, angry, smart and prideful. Campbell felt an instant liking to the girl behind the avatar. He wondered if she looked like her avatar in real life. Somehow, Campbell felt it was pretty close. That made Aloine worthy in his eye.
Campbell had not had the chance to meet her again since their first encounter in Cosare. Her hatred for Winter was palpable. He found himself savoring the thought of both of them successfully paying back the old man for the humiliation he had inflicted on Campbell, and whatever he had done to the beautiful Aloine.
She rebuffed his attempts to shower her with gifts, sweet talk and companionship, choosing to be aloof and focused on tracking their quarry. Aloine told Campbell that she knew someone offline that had a direct relation to the Mage. There was no contact yet from her for a while now. But Campbell had great patience when it came to inflicting pain and humiliation. He was a winner. Always a winner. He never lost. He would eventually win. Anyone who delayed him from winning must be squashed.
Oh. Zaya. Campbell lost track of her. She was probably ahead of Winter, travelling with a cart. He had no idea why they split up. That was a small, unnecessary detail. That female player would be dealt with after he was done with Winter. Royal Road might be a big universe, but Campbell has a long reach.
Smiling happily, Campbell entered his capsule and booted it up. He had someone to punish.
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Author's Note:
1. Thank you -The Slacker- for the PR. Though you are hard pressed for time!
2. Thanks for friends that had been encouraging me through my blue feeling
3. I know, I know, I am late compared to my usual release time. But better late than never! Sorry too. It is shorter. I hope I made it up with the content.
4. Let me know if you found any mistakes.
5. Enjoy, folks.