“This is Anna Silfaris,” said Trent, stepping forward with his hand in hers. The others waved in response, with a few voicing a brief word of hello.

“Oh, who’s she? How do you know her?” asked Simonstar, the boy jumping forward and bouncing excitedly. Before he could actually bowl her over, Svengard had stepped forward and caught him.

“Simon, stay calm lad! It’s not polite to ask such questions,” he rumbled, moving forward himself to shake hands.

“Nice to meet you, armor man,” said Anna, which only caused Svengard to grin.

“And you as well, dress girl!” he boomed.

Svengard had stepped back to allow another to move forward, but Greir didn’t give them a chance.

“I hate to interrupt, and I’m really sorry, but… we have some natives waiting for us down the road. If we’re to reach them in time, we’ll have to double time it as it is.” He moved over, clasping hands to Anna briefly. “It’s wonderful to meet you, and I’m looking forward to meeting you later. For now though, we need to get moving.”

---

The blue drake roared as it charged forward. Greir was at the front, with Svengard at his side, and the pair of them managed to draw the creature’s attention. With it distracted, Svara and Simonstar rushed it from one side, while Chilkaa and Rexamus hit from the other. Jo and Trent acted as the artillery, laying into the creature from the back.

And Anna watched it all with her mouth hanging open.

She’d only awoken in the game two nights ago, and hadn’t seen a real fight yet. Cassidy… or rather, Trent, had shown her the ropes the previous night. The group had been taking a break in a monastery they’d found, training with some of the monks and researching in their library. Anna wasn’t sure she really had it down yet, and the rest of the group had urged her to stay back when they found the drake.

She was glad of that now.

The beast let lose with blue flame that somehow covered whatever it touched in ice. Greir and Svengard both drew gasps as the ice covered them, falling back and trying to hack off the chunks. Meanwhile the other four had caused significant damage with their strikes, and the beast seemed to be slowing. Jo threw a ball of flame that detonated on impact with the creature, causing considerable damage to it.

Then Trent raised his hand.

“Cry for me, oh heavens. Piercing crystal spear!”

There was a crack of thunder, and an actual spear fell from the heavens. Fifteen feet long and wickedly sharp, it raced from the sky and sheared directly through the drake, pinning it to the ground where it stilled.

Greir whistled, while Simonstar ran up to Trent in excitement.

“Oh wow, what was that?” Simonstar asked, clutching Trent’s sleeve and bouncing on the spot.

Trent let the barest trace of a smile touch his lips. “Something new I picked up from one of the monks. I thought it best to give it a shot in a simple battle.”

Anna nearly shouted in surprise. That had just been a minor battle?

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“It had to have been a man that taught you that,” injected Jo with a sigh, patting down her skirt.

Simonstar looked up, confusion on his face. “Huh?”

“Giant spear falling to pierce through an enemy? Count on it,” said Jo, walking forward to continue on their trail.

“She’s just jealous she couldn’t learn it,” whispered Svara, not quite lowering her voice enough to keep it from Jo’s ears.

Who, for her part, pretended not to have heard.

“How much mana did that take?” asked Greir in interest, poking the spear still embedded in the ground with his sword.

“One hundred and thirty. And it only works outdoors,” answered Trent, shrugging. “Still, it seems to have done the job.”

Which caused Svara to laugh. “Oh yes, I think your mighty spear did the job well.”

And Trent only shrugged. “Oh, I have mightier. That was just a warmup. Next time, I’ll show you what I can really do.”

---

“Ok, there’s something I gotta know, boyfriend.”

“Don’t call me that,” said Trent with a shudder.

“Why do you act so cool in the game?”

Trent actually drew back in surprise. “What? No I don’t!”

They had finally arrived in the next town, a moderately sized village named Hazul, and they had checked into an inn for the night. Apparently that was a luxury, as many of the small places they moved through had little more than an extra room or two to offer. As it was, they were having to double and triple up, but at least they’d all have a bed to rest in, giving their characters the associated bonuses.

Anna had laid back in the bed, pulling three blankets over herself to hold back the chill while Trent got the fire going.

Now though, the fire was finally going, and Anna had gotten back out of bed. Instead, she had advanced upon her friend.

“Seriously! Just standing back flinging magic like it’s no big deal, and being all quiet and mysterious in between battles. That is,” she interrupted herself, glancing at Trent with indignation in her eyes, “when you’re not flirting! ‘Oh, look at my mighty spear’ indeed!”

“That… that wasn’t flirting!” hissed Trent, franticly waving his hands. “That was the smaller version of the spell! The other had a cool down, so I was saving it!”

“Oh, really?”

“Really! And besides,” added Trent, pacing the room, “Svara and Greir totally have a thing. I’d never try to intrude on that. I have too much respect for the both of them,” he finished, leaning up against a wall and running his hands through his hair.

“Aha! Doing it again!”

Trent glanced down at the hand he’d been using to ruffle his hair, and forced it into his pocket.

“That’s even worse!” shrieked Anna, watching him pose against the wall.

Trent jumped away from the wall. “I’m not doing anything!’

“Doing nothing is very cool!”

“Well-”

There was a knock at the door. The pair of them glanced at each other, and finally Trent strolled casually up to the door - as if on a catwalk, Anna couldn’t help to notice - and opened it.

Jo stood on the other side, tapping her foot.

“You,” she said, pointing at Trent. “Go sleep in the room with Svengard.”

Trent’s reply was immediate and grateful. “Yes ma’am.” With barely a glance back, he escaped from the room.

“What was that for?” huffed Anna.

Jo only rolled her eyes. “Because we’re supposed to wake up soon, it’s nice to relax for a few minutes first, and we’ll never get a moment’s rest with you two flirting so loudly.”

“We’re not-”

Anna stood there, contemplating lines of attack, and tried again.

“We were just-”

The words died again, her jaw moving but nothing coming out.

Jo just stared.

“I’ll lay down now,” Anna answered meekly, refusing to meet Jo’s gaze.

They laid there in silence - Anna in the bed, and Jo reclined in the chair. When the system clocked ticked over to seven, Anna moved to logout.

And timed perfectly - so that she’d hear it right before she logged out, and too late to stop herself - she heard Jo say, “She’s pretty handsome for a woman.”

When Joanna woke up in her bed moments later, she stared at the ceiling for five seconds before hurling a pillow.