Part 1 of 2 due to its length!

The rise of Cain as a Boss character was a silly one should someone ever managed to trace it to its the origin. Cain started as a wandering character without any title where he wandered around the central region, passing the edge of Arcanum for three months before moving to somewhere unknown.

It started with five players who took up banditry as their calling, waylaying players and NPCs, not fearing being marked as a murderer. They failed less than their success due to their cunning, always aiming for only those they could manage with their numbers, until they stumbled onto Cain.

A single NPC who was dressed well, and traveled alone, Cain was a prime target for the thugs. Until he demolished them and moved on.

When the five thugs came back, they were furious at their failure and sought out more of their brethrens nearby. After two days of asking around, they finally caught up with Cain, promising participants precious loots as a lure. Fifteen of them ganged up on Cain and he overwhelmed them all with strong magics, killing them wholesale.

After a few more repetitions, the number of Cain’s attackers increased to 300 players. He became a challenge to the bandits, for they should never fear a wandering NPC. Some smarter ones knew they should move somewhere else. Even smarter ones quit being a bandit, thinking there might be some players eventually felling them the same way as this NPC.

This was the first time Cain unleashed his might. A small part of it, but enough to strike terror in the heart of the bandits. By the time he was done, the plains where they fought turned into a barren, cracked earth for a hundred meters. Bandits that respawned after spoke with hushed terror of that occasion. Cain was a dragon in the form of a man. So they said.

The key reason why Cain was continuously challenged hinged on his status as an NPC. The rumor of a human NPC with the strength of a Dragon spread around the central. He became both a legend and rumor.

The next year when Cain passed again, no bandits molested him. But a large band of players numbering over 600 unwisely chose to attack him. Those unfortunate players were rewarded with death and embarrassment. This was when Cain cast his first Grand Magic. At that time, Royal Road was but less than half year since its release. None understood what they faced yet and in ignorance, they were slaughtered to the last. A deep ever burning crater was formed from the spell that he cast that day. Fiery elemental beasts roamed that portion of the land since then.

That battle struck not true fear in their heart, but awe and admiration. This was Royal Road. Players that die spawn again after 24 hours.

A Mage as strong as a Dragon. That was what they talked about in Arcanum. When the words were eventually simplified, it became Dragon Mage. By then Cain had disappeared. The word on ‘Dragon Mage Cain’ became synonymous to a challenge to the great guilds. The 600 odd players and made an alliance, and spread footage of their battle. It was not known when Cain’s profile appeared in Unicorn’s Royal Road Webpage. But when it did, it sparked a frenzy. Here was a Boss that equalled a true Dragon, and he was within their reach!

There was no need for long chain quests with great difficulty or extremely high level. A World Boss! They could die as many times as required, but Cain only need to die but once.

Thus, the players that realised the possibility of obtaining end-game items began preparing for the next arrival of Cain.

When Winter finally participated and inadvertently died due to the spell Cain cast, he was contending with over 7000 players.

There was no real information yet on why Cain wandered, but everyone looked forward to challenging him again the next time he visited. Despite their loss, most of the players were treated to a sumptuous buffet of magics.

xXx

Ronald relogged back slightly late as he was engrossed in searching for informations related to Dragon Mage Cain. There were plenty of web pages containing information about the NPC, but most had little more than the official page other than hearsay and speculation on what magic he had and a list of his known spell. The list shocked Winter as they appeared to be a progression, as if Cain got stronger with more players attacking him!

In the first recorded combat with over 80 players, he used low tier Wizard spells such as <>, <>, <> as the main AOE with a few multi-targeting and defensive spells, before finishing the rest with single target ones.

The first major battle that could be considered a real raid, the 300 players could not even get close when Cain erected numerous <> around him before a blast of inferno erupted from the center of the ice enclosure, killing all players. This battle was the shortest of all recorded ones. It was overpowering.

If the previous ones were overpowering, the next major campaign on Cain was bone-chilling. The level of magic thrown around was considerably less than what Winter witnessed, but this was the point he began casting multiple AOE. The players got close enough for him to cover himself with <>, a high tier Earth Magic well known for its defensive strength. If in the previous recording Winter saw the world was on fire, in this one the world exploded. A fiery meteor dropped from the sky, blasting everyone off their feet, lifting their life too. The shots taken after Cain passed was a large crater miles wide that burned with ghostly blue and red fire. Players began naming the place <> since then despite the official name being <>. It definitely did not look like a plain when Cain was done.

As to the latest one, Winter was not sure what they would name it after. Winter could think of a few cool ones if the formation of bone white whatever substance created from the spell was still around.

It was still around when he logged back in. And he stood in the empty patch where Cain was. He spied a clear path where Cain probably walked to exit the obstruction he made. He did not get the chance to admire it more than a few seconds back then, but the spikes were milky white like ivory. When Winter knocked on it, it did not feel like metal. Shrugging, Winter checked on his level that dropped to 170 after he managed to level it up from testing his capabilities as a Battlemage. The loss of one level was not critical compared to average loss of between 4% to 6% proficiencies on everything. He died enough that for some skill he rarely used, like <> to roll back to 0%.

Shrugging and saying ‘oh,well’ to himself, Winter opened the system message. He wondered what message he would receive. Thinking it was some random public announcement, Winter was surprised that he received a skill instead!

Created unique skill usingInspiration

Dragon Fang (Active) - Tier 8

Mana consumption: 500

A unique skill created from your great inspiration! Mimicking Dragon Mage Cain’s formidable Strategic Class Spell, it magically summons straight and sharp fangs of dragons in a radius around you. Automatically set at one Meter. Though it’s ability cannot be compared to the original, it might be possible to continuously improve it. Designed as a defensive magic, it packs great offensive power! Nobody will ever believe that it is an Earth Element magic!

Additional information:

+20% mana cost with every radius improvement.

Increase in damage, size and density with proficiency.

’Pierce the Heaven! Dragon Fang!”

Winter was overjoyed. The skill was a mana drain, but the damage was crazy huge! It could not be compared with any previous skill he owned. 5434 damage in a blow! Winter was floored. That was at level 1 too!

“Pierce the Heaven. Dragon Fang.” Recited Winter clearly. The circular pattern of magic spread from underneath him when he uttered the first word, as if the game understood what he wanted. When the last word left his lip, from within the smaller circles at the edge of the large circular pattern, bone white thorns - no - fangs rose almost instantaneously. The speed was so quick that Winter was surprised he managed to dodge it when Cain casted the spell.

Within the server, there was a file that made up Cain. The official name of the spell was <>. It has nothing to do with Dragons at all. Winter’s mind subconsciously made up the skill and relation to fangs of dragons from his own imagination. How powerful was a machine that could translate the subconsciousness?

“Pierce the Heaven. Dragon Fang!” Winter’s yell rang out. The rising fangs were weaker both in size and damage than Cain’s. Cain’s was three meters tall, while Winter’s fangs only reached his chest. Physically manifested magics has durability. Defensive type magics were especially sturdy too. Winter’s cast area bisected Cain’s already summoned thorns.

*Clang* *Smash*

Winter’s next row of summoned fangs bisected Cain’s already summoned thorns. It shattered like glass, leaving only bare nubs visible between the gaps of his first circle of dragon fangs.

You inflicted -326 durability damage [19674/20000]

“What the F.uck.”

The density of his fangs were not great. Only eight were summoned. It gave him enough gap in between to be walked easily. Out of curiosity he slammed his fist to the ivory surface of the proudly standing thorn. It was numbed from the impact.

You inflicted -326 durability damage [19674/20000]

Winter wondered how long this vista would stay. If the durability was anything to go by, until it was destroyed, or Cain unsummoned it. Winter might be surprised if he ever checked the spell detail that this spell has no dismissal <>. Out of further curiosity he kicked his own summoned fangs.

You inflicted -2 durability damage [298/300]

He shrugged when he saw how weak his fangs were. It was no surprise. Winter left walked out of the two hundred meter forest of thorn radius using the path Cain carved out. Winter walked carefully as the ground uneven. He noticed that the path was dotted with large white disks barely protruding out of the ground. He did not give it much thought. Cain did carve out a path out, literally. He used a spell to mow down a single straight, wide path out of the sturdy spell. But how many would notice such a small detail?

Lost in his thought, this small nugget was locked inside his brain, never pondered further, together with most of other unnecessary observations.

xXx

“Looking at the poster on the notice board containing news on Cain’s passing, Winter was unimpressed at the REPLACE. The rising dragon fang’s perfect circle was broken by a straight line extending to the West. It still made an impressive picture, but lacking compared to seeing it in person. Even less impressive compared to the first time Winter looked at it in the air.

[Another Victory by Dragon Mage Cain!] The print read.

Posters and news notice could be made by Journalist profession that was surprisingly popular as they could be used as a reference to apply for jobs too in real life, like plenty of other profession in Royal Road such as Painter, Cook, Sculptor, Tailor just to name several. Winter, that did not know, thought the article was quite interesting clicked on the bottom right corner, copying it digitally to his own window page. It was quite ingenious system as it would not cause others to block the passage should one want to read the news.

The article put a concrete data on Cain’s might. The confirmed casualty was 7463 with possibly more unaccounted for. Interview with the prominent participating guild resulted in general comments such as “We will try again.” “We will get him next time!” or “We have to kill him!”. What was not written by the author but subtly expounded was how strong this NPC was. The articles showed the devastation Cain caused. Winter saw the bare patches of ground and craters that littered his way back and a collapsed rock formation that resembled nothing other than rubbles. Smiling to himself, Winter tapped the [Save Article] option at the bottom. A thank you mail popped up in his mailbox from the author that Winter immediately tossed into the bin.

At first Winter wanted to proceed to test out his skills and level up. But the article contained a piece of information written in passing by the author. “Should one dare to challenge this Dragon in the form of a man, they should head West before he disappears. But one should be wary, for you also court certain death should you insist on testing your might. For there may yet be a single player within this Versailles Continent that is a match to this dreadfully strong NPC.”

Winter decided to rent a horse, spending 50G to hire the fastest horse the Groom profession player has and immediately rode out of town. He roughly knew where the structure Cain created, [Forest of Thorns] was. Using the passage Cain made as a guide, Winter slapped the reins of Swiftwind, his rented horse, heading to Northwesterly direction.

xXx

Winter caught up with Cain with surprising ease. He was not even hiding, walking in plain sight. Winter actually spent more time leaping up in the air boosted by his spell to check if he could spot the NPC. He was getting a little nervous too when the sky began darkening. Good thing some fool thought to accost Cain and the blown up crater he passed a while back, still smoking told Winter he was in the right direction. Before the sky darkened, Winter caught up with Cain.

The NPC already made camp on a rise. Dismounting, Winter was about to offer a greeting when a lightning bolt shot from Cain’s palm. Alarmed, Winter’s honed response kicked in and he immediately dove sideways. Even then the spell grazed him, sending a small surge of electricity that made his body tingle. And -2457 HP damage.

Before Winter could shout out, another three spells in succession were already lined up. Calling up a coffin, Winter altered the trajectory of his fall. His body tumbled sideways from the impact. A narrow pillar of fire erupted from the spot he was supposed to fall. At that spot too, a large crescent of Wind element spell sliced horizontally. It sliced the top of his life saving block of stone. Winter was not sure what the third spell was since it remained inactive as he was completely out of the target zone. He shivered regardless as it was guaranteed to kill him should it hit!

“What was that for!”

Winter shouted while he activated another <> and began to cast successive <>, a useless token defense in the face of Cain’s might, but an ingrained habit in the face of danger.

A bluish swirl was on Cain’s right palm that was pointed at Winter’s direction. No spell was coming to the nervous Winter however. Cain instead appeared to pause, peering at him carefully. As if he thought better, he threw the spell upward. The bright glow passed a very large magical circle and exploded into falling icicles! It covered a very wide area, over a hundred meters in size! There was no way for Winter to escape!

Winter has but a second to decide. He rushed to Cain’s position. It was the right choice as there was no way Cain would aim an AOE spell to his own spot. Winter felt a blow to his midsection. His vision dimmed while he was tumbling in midair. Without knowing what happened, Winter died.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

xXx

If someone ever saw the listing of what spells Cain has in his repertoire, they would confer to him the title of <> instead. It was an unimaginable number to casters as they only use at most 30 spells regularly. But they were players, not an AI that has the backing of Versailles, the greatest body of Quantum computing technology that still remained secret. One but have to imagine how boring it is to cast only 30 types of spells repeatedly when one has over a thousand at their fingertip. No wonder Cain barely ever cast the exact same spell.

The spell that killed Winter was another never before seen magic. It was a magical trap triggered by proximity. A tier 9 spell, <> acted like a landmine on steroids. It did not work like a real landmine, instead it was rather mundane in execution. A six foot long pole of earth three by three in size would burst from the ground, attacking the direction where it was triggered from. It was not deadly when players used it against another player of their own level. But with Cain’s level, mastery and magic damage, even the simplest spell could be deadly!

So Winter was catapulted forcefully into the air, something that never happened to him before and died in mid-air.

“AHHH!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! WHAT THE FRICK!!!!” Winter was screaming madly. He was running zigzag to avoid spells falling from the skies. They were getting stronger and stronger the further he ran. His health was falling rapidly from the indirect damages alone!

Finally spotting the gully he was aiming for, Winter dove into the cover with alacrity. The booming sound of thunder followed him and sped his journey into the proverbial rabbit hole. Landing with great “Oomph” Winter was finally safe!

Heaving in and out, he was mentally exhausted. He finally figured Cain’s detection range. Approximately 500m! Whoever heard of such absurd aggro range! He died four times before even getting to this point. And he only wanted to freaking talk!

It seemed as if Cain responded to any stimulation with extreme force. He cursed the game designer for creative Cain with such a silly function. Winter would never have thought that Cain began as a normal neutral NPC until he was accosted continuously that resulted in his current extreme response. Good thing the distance also appeared to be the NPC’s maximum magic range, else Winter’s ass would be grass.

Crawling up the gully’s edge, Winter observed Cain already seated again, tending to his own fire. Winter began approaching the NPC again but another magic was already flying off to his direction before he finished twenty steps. Quickly activating his acceleration, Winter dove into the gully again. A solid bluish ball the size of a watermelon whooshed past his head.

“Dangerous, dangerous.” Winter muttered to himself. This was the longest period he managed to survive Cain. The previous three attempts of Winter approaching Cain was not pleasant. He was impaled, blown up and flattened. He could not get a word out at all! It was frustrating! Beyond frustrating! He openly grumbled at how unreasonable the NPC was.

Winter would have expected such treatment from a real Dragon, but because the NPC was shaped like a human, he thought it was very nonsensical response. Probably only Winter would be thinking this way as other players treated any encounter with a Boss to be hostile without any doubt.

Sitting down on the ground, Winter sighed heavily. He was at wits end on how to make contact with Cain. It would sound silly to any other player, but Winter was such a person. He played Royal Road not for any lofty goal aside from fun. His level was not a big concern to him should it ever dropped back to 1, only inconvenient. As it was, he was at 168 after subtracting the deaths and levels he recovered from hunting while tracking Cain.

He rarely used <> it was such a waste as it was too strong and mana draining. Its usage range was rather close too should he want mobs to be impaled. Using his normal spells and sword was infinitely easier.

“Wait a second… players?”

Winter was not sure whether it would work or not. But he would lose nothing if it failed.

“Call Arachna.” Winter intoned. In a burst of black smoke Zorya appeared. She coolly looked at Winter, greeting him. “How may I serve you, Master.” Her head was bowed slightly in respect.

Winter was ignorant on how a pet’s AI in Royal Road works. Thus, he just treated Zorya as another normal NPC albeit different in form. Most pets in Royal Road has better AI grade than normal NPC surprisingly. Carrying Winter’s instruction, Zorya climbed out of the gully. Winter’s head, the only part of his body that was visible from Cain’s view poked out. He was holding his breath as Zorya slowly approached the invisible line where Cain would begin throwing deadly spells. And nothing happened.

Giving himself a pat on the back, Winter did a fist pump. He released the virtual breath he held in his lung. Now he could only wait if it would actually work.

Her six legs rapidly eating the distance even at a leisurely walk, Zorya reached Cain’s position. Winter could see Zorya bowing at the edge of the camp. Words were exchanged. Zorya that was much taller than Cain in her monstrous form dropped her spider body, making the height difference less noticeable. Winter was not sure how far Zorya would carry out Winter’s instruction, but he waited impatiently. After what felt like an interminably long time, Zorya’s body rose up. Winter immediately perked up. She waved at Winter to come forth. He passed the danger zone with trepidation. He was still unsure on Zorya’s loyalty. He should not have worried as aside from being extremely jittery, no deadly or earth shattering spells were flying to him. Finally approaching to within talking distance, Winter bowed to Cain politely.

“Greetings. May I share your fire?”

Winter felt these words he read in old fantasy novels the most appropriate. Not saying anything or even looking away from the root he was gnawing on, Cain nodded imperceptibly. Unsure, Winter moved a few steps forward. When no danger was detected, Winter finally sat beside Zorya, sighing in relief. He also thought he was extremely stupid and wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He could have saved three levels that way too!

*Silence*

Zorya was content to remain seated, just watching the fire crackling. Winter was not sure what to say to Cain. He feared he would say something that could literally make his head roll. He furtively took a few glances at this formidable World Boss capable of slaying thousands. [Dragon Mage Cain] in bright gold script bobbed with every motion of Cain’s head make.

He did not appear to be old. Probably early 30s. Smooth complexion with caucasian features. His eyes were common brown with flecks of deeper brown, almost gold from the reflected firelight. His clothings was of obviously good quality even at a glance. It gave off a nimbus of soft white golden light if one looked at it too long. The staff he casually laid on his side has intricate carvings despite its common blocky shape. The scripts shone with akin to a pulse, arcane blue in color. Winter half wondered if he did not notice it because he was too focused at the battle. He never really had a good look as this was the first time he ever got this close to Cain.

“Master, may I hunt for food if my services are not required?”

Zorya’s melodious voice startled Winter. He gave his pet a frown and only now noticed that her satiety was rock bottom. His own was not much better.

“Just stay.” Winter ordered. He began taking out his cooking pot. He ate on the road quite a lot recently, between stalking Cain and killing mobs on the go, he never spent much time relaxing like this for quite a while. The last time he did something like this was while he was still with Reki, Samuel and Rinne. Winter’s thought wandered to them, recalling Samuel’s dumb attempts at getting close to Rinne and Reki that gave Winter a cool gaze full of rebuke whenever he carried his bullying too far and Rinne that sang songs to liven up the atmosphere after they were seated awkwardly after being rebuked.

While Winter was reminiscing, his hands moved in an automatic manner. Tubers were cut, meat diced and ingredients like salt, pepper and leftover bones he used as stock was tossed inside. Winter’s cooking proficiency was not very high despite repeatedly cooking things as he never deliberately grind for it. It was only at Basic level 8. Compared to his tailoring that reached Intermediate level 2, it was a far cry.

But the food he cooked was more than enough to satisfy his own taste. Winter was also a decent cook. He should be as he had to raise five children on his own, the result of various commitments he made. He has no idea what the rest were doing right now, but Celine was at the forefront of his thoughts as she contacted him recently, asking where he was within Royal Road. Winter replied to her latest mail but did not talk much. He knew she was probably in need of assistance but like always, too stubborn to ask for it.

That was very much like Christina when she was still alive. Too much pride.

The pot dinged while Winter was lost in his thought. He took off the lid, letting a wafting fragrance of well prepared soup drift in the air. Taking a deep breath, Winter inhaled the rising steam containing the essence of the soup. He only made the dish randomly but it turned out to be quite good.

Mixed Monster Soup. A soup made randomly from intermediate monster meat as its bade well cooked by one skilled in profession and seasoned properly. It increased 40 satiety with every bowl consumed and add 10 STR for 24 hours. It was a product he created with assistance of <>.

Ladling the first bowl, Winter handed it to Zorya that had a strange expression on her face. Winter ladled the next one for himself and was about to consume it when he felt a chill. Gazing up from his uneaten bowl of delicious soup that Zorya busily consumed, he stared into the intense gaze belonging to Cain.

In real life, Winter would have sweated buckets. He had met plenty of powerful and quite scary men and was not this nervous! Feeling slightly defiant, Winter narrowed his eyes and matched his will with Cain, forgetting he was an AI. Reproduction of sense in Royal Road was so complete that it could replicate feelings and emotions well through expressions. Winter felt no hostility or anger in Cain’s gaze. Instead he felt… longing?

‘He was not even really staring at me!’

Confused, Winter followed Cain’s gaze…. to his steaming bowl of soup!

Unsure what to do, Winter smiled awkwardly and offered his own bowl of soup, his hand extended woodenly. Cain flicked his gaze to Winter, his eyes boring down intensely, his brow scrunched up, as if he was thinking some very important manner. Finally the Cain’s right hand extended and snatched the bowl of soup from Winter’s hand and begin to consume it with gusto.

There were no words of thanks or gratitude of any kind offered to Winter. In fact Cain faced sideways from Winter, as if he was slightly embarrassed while he was consuming his food. Winter smiled at how fast he ate and took out another bowl from a set of ten and was about to ladle his own share when two hands thrust out in front of him.

Zorya’s eyes were imploring seductively, though the thick brownish soup that dribbled from her chin sort of ruined the coy image she was trying to portray. Cain’s gaze was one full of determination and something else Winter could not detect. Hunger for good food was an alien feeling to Winter as he always had food whenever it was available. In Royal Road good tasting food was surprisingly a rarity, especially to NPCs. Only nobles usually have a decent diet.

This scene was repeated six times, annoying Winter and most importantly, completely depleted the soup he cooked. In the end he packed away the pot and ate a delicious <> he rarely consumed to spite the two greedy NPCs. He savored the looks of dismay Zorya had on her face and very guarded look of interest in Cain’s face. Winter finished the last scrap of the fish with a smack of his lips, exclaiming how delicious it was.

“Ah.” Zorya let out her voice in disappointment as the Winter even licked his fingers though it held no taste at all as it was not real life food. The flavor was genuine enough and the action was done purposely to annoy both of them.

*RRRRUUUUMMMBBBLLLLEEEEE*

Thunderclouds suddenly gathered from distance, fingers of lightning flashing. Winds were picking up and began blowing violently. It was so violent that Winter was nearly bowled over and Zorya was forced to use her bulk and hug to ground while her hands were shielding her face. Only Cain was unaffected as the wind seem to part around him, only tousling his hair ominously.

As fast as it began, it stopped. The dark clouds dispersed. The winds died down. Everything was back to normal so fast that the unnatural weather seemed to never have existed.

Winter was completely bewildered, looking left and right in confusion.

Zorya scooted closer to Winter, bending her upper womanly body to his ear.

“Master, you angered Grandmaster Cain with your callous display earlier. If you keep this up, Zorya fears that you will need to visit Freya for a couple days.”

The words might be flowery, but Winter got the idea. Cain was displeased with him. Got it.

“This humble one suggest you offer some even more delicious dish to show that Master regrets his mistake.” Zorya continued whispering softly. Winter swore Cain could hear what Zorya said as his left ear appeared to be cocked and was pricking up despite facing away from them.

Frowning, he looked at Zorya and saw through her instantly.

“You glutton spider…. you just want to eat more food don’t you!” Winter also spoke in low voice since it suited the mood and action they were doing.

“If Master by chance shares his food with this humble one, she will be extremely grateful.” Her expression was so angelic and sincere if the bottom half of Zorya’s body was not a spider, Winter could pretend to fall for it.

‘Seriously… what is with all the NPCs I encountered! One problem after another! Lord forgive me for never praying to you! But just grant me a meeting with normal NPC for once!’

Obviously the Lord don’t give a shit about Winter. He has better and more devout players to grant favors. So Winter turned to inner cussing before taking out his pot again to cook his best dish. It has been a while since he cooked <>.

While it was cooking, Winter pondered on his interactions with the two NPCs. They acted like a bunch of kids instead of adults! He could not believe that Cain that was unflappable when facing thousands of players and Zorya that was wicked to the point Winter needed to be constantly on guard could be swayed by food. By food! Even Minalan and Adria were not affected this much.

Shaking his head to express how unbelievable it was, Winter shared the <> that dinged to indicate it was done. It was a weird dish, making everything around him feel rosy and brighter aside from increasing both the Stamina and Luck stat.

The camp suddenly felt cozy, his two companions that was devouring the fish did not make Winter feel like he wanted to just give them a few stabs.

Zorya had an expression of pure bliss when she came up for air in between bites. Cain did not feel so oppressive anymore and when Winter looked closely might have cracked a very small smile while once in a while. Looking at the two of them, Winter suddenly felt tired. He stood up and logged out immediately without giving any notice.

Seated there Winter was reminded of that the last Christmas where none of his family members could gather together as each have their own reasons. He secretly missed all of his kids but was always too embarrassed to say it. All of them knew of Ronald’s true feelings but was really unable to gather for Christmas dinner that year.

Plopping on the bed face down without even bothering to eat dinner, Winter slumbered in a few minutes.