[p=center]The Winged Knight[/p]

[p=center]Volume 1 - Chapter 2.5 - Return to the Palace[/p]

After the bright light enveloped Aurelius when he logged out of Royal Road, Marcus found himself back in the Palace. He immediately walked over to the screen-wall and looked into the lab. Dr. Allison was there, but she wasn't alone. One of the men he had previously seen but not been introduced to was there as well. He was short, but very muscular. In fact, he looked more like a body-builder than a scientist.

I guess people are not always what they seem, huh. I feel like I should take that to heart.

"Hello Allie, still as radiant as I remember." I said with a gracious smile.

"And I'm sorry to say I was never introduced to the gentleman next to you. We should remedy that immediately, don't you think?" I asked curiously with a smile.

They both looked at me, and Allie answered me with a smile: "Hello Marcus, and yes, we should. Please allow me to introduce you to Dr. Matthew Johnson." she said waving her hand at the man.

Dr. Matthew looked me straight in the eye and said: "It's nice to meet you. I've been monitoring all you've done in Royal Road, and I must say I was very impressed you managed to complete the training." he told me seriously.

I answered by blushing a little. Damn it, I need to overcome my embarrassment of compliments!

"Yes well, thank you for that." I said still slightly embarrassed. "And it's nice to meet you too Matt. I suppose the whole team has watched and re-watched my saddle debacle?" I said with a grin trying change the subject and to regain my composure.

They both started laughing at that, and I joined them.

"Yes, that was... hilarious." Allie said still quivering from laughter. Matt's booming laughter had also finally died down, his voice was impressively deep and seemed to almost shake the walls.

At least someone could get something enjoyable out of that embarrassment. I thought with a small smile.

"It was certainly one of the most embarrassing things I've done in my life. But you all could at least enjoy it, right?"

"Yeah, we certainly did. You can count on that." Matt said trying to stifle another batch of laughter. "I think Diane, that's Dr. Diane Tarell even made a screensaver out of it." he said with a large smile.

I suppose it'll haunt me for months to come at least. I thought sighing inwardly.

"And where is the rest of the team?" I asked trying to change the subject again.

"You can see the time behind you, It's currently 23:30. And we had the night shift so the rest went home." Matt answered me in a disappointed tone.

Oh, it really is. I suppose my sleep schedule has become completely warped by sleeping in Royal Road all the time. But why does he sound disappointed?

"Why do you sound disappointed? A hot date? Even hotter than me?" I asked in mock outrage.

He smiled at me and said: "Yes well, she was definitely hotter than you. And I wasn't supposed to take the night shift, but Dr. Erica Tamberlaine's babysitter was sick and couldn't make it. And someone had to watch her daughter, so I had to take her shift instead. And therefore I had to reschedule my date." he said in a disappointed tone.

"I suppose I should be sorry you had to be forced to stay here and watch me, but I can't really express it sincerely since I know what an absolute delight I am. Therefore I can only be sorry for your date having to miss not just your good company, but my great company as well." I said with a grin.

He laughed a little and said: "I'm sure she's absolutely devastated to be missing your company, whom she don't even know."

I just looked at him with a superior smile.

"I'm so great that women who've never even met me, can still feel a subconscious longing for me. The moment she sees me she'll probably feel a deep hole inside she never knew existed starting to be filled completely by my presence." I said with a haughty expression.

This time we all laughed together.

When I'd finally recovered I asked them: "By the way do you two also play Royal Road?"

Both of them looked at each other, then back at me.

"Of course we do, everyone in the team plays. For that matter I'm pretty sure over 95% of everyone who works at Unicorn Corp plays it. We can play it for free you know, just buy the capsule at a reduced price and play without the monthly cost. Why do you ask?" she asked me interested.

"That makes sense. Since you watched me, you know I just got the hidden class Swan Knight. So I was wondering just how rare a hidden class is? You all must know much more about Royal Road than me, but I thought that my class, stats and especially that sword was incredibly good for my level." I told her seriously.

They just stared at me. And then they started to laugh again.

What's so funny now? I thought bemused.

So I waited patiently until they finished. And when they did Matt told me: "Marcus, hidden means hidden. I know you're new to the game and you spent your first month in that training so I guess I'll explain. In Royal Road there are normal classes, hidden ones and unique ones."

"Just as the names implies, normal are those that almost all players have, and hidden are very rare. I don't know the exact statistics but I'd guess it's something along the lines of 1 player in 100,000 that gets one. And unique classes? Pfft forget about it. There are probably less player than fingers on my hand who has one. And that's out of hundreds of millions of players." he told me seriously.

"You're the first player I ever saw with a hidden class, and your stats are monstrous. They could easily belong to someone of level 50. What this means is that since you've improved your stats so much now. You'll have a big advantage throughout the rest of the game. And the sword was incredible since you can use it now at level 6. That sword should probably be used normally at around level 50, but since you have all the required stats to use it, and it doesn't have a level requirement. You can use it now at level 6 which is pretty overpowered. So you can probably use that sword until level 50-65 without worrying too much."

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Thank you Kat! And thank you Orianna! So I guess this means I'll have an advantage throughout the rest of the game, huh. I thought highly satisfied my training had paid off this much.

"Wow, I was pretty sure I was going to have an advantage by completing this training. But I didn't think it'd be that big." I said wonderingly.

"Yes, I'm pretty envious of your stats... though I don't envy the training you went through. How could you do it?" Allie asked me seriously.

I thought about the question some, then answered with: "Honestly, I was pretty scared in the beginning when that guard described her to me. But all of that kind of went away after I met her and knew what she was going to do. And I always saw it as the next day will be easier than the last. Though that wasn't really the case, with running, yes. But with sparring it just got harder and harder, which I'm sure you guys saw?" I asked them.

"Yeah, we watched you spar so many times. I mean you did improve greatly throughout, and I'm pretty interested in that Flowing Water Style. I'd never heard of it before, and decided to search the internet for some info about it. I found none. Seems like it's rare enough that none of the normal sites knows about it. But it looked very useful." Matt told me interested.

"Yes. It's actually pretty great. I haven't tried it in real combat against monsters, as you know. But I kind of consider Kat to be something much worse than anything I would encounter for a long time. She must be very high level. Anyway, back to the style. I'm used to it now, but it feels great dodging a blade minutely and then counter-attacking at a vital spot. It gets both easier and harder as the skill develops. The basic stuff gets easier, but more advanced things start to come out the higher the skill gets." I told them excitedly.

"But what I really wasn't prepared for, was just how much I would love riding." I told them with a blissful smile remembering the wind in my hair as I rode at full speed out onto the streets.

Both Matt and Allie looked at each other. They were actually there to see it when it happened, and it stunned them. They had discussed it afterwards and both of them agreed that he looked like he'd been born to ride. And although neither of them had told the other, they both thought he looked incredibly majestic when he rode Marengo.

"Yes, you were very good at it. And you certainly seemed to enjoy it!" Allie told me with a smile.

"Yes, it was one if not the best feeling I've had in my entire life. I can't wait to get a horse of my own in Royal Road." I said with an eager smile.

"I must warn you though Marcus, horses are expensive. A good knight's horse, like you want. Would probably cost at least 500 gold. Probably more. So I know you really want one, but it will probably take a long time." Matt told him cautiously.

Marcus was shocked, and his face clearly showed it.

I was an idiot! 500 gold?! I only have the starting money right now, and that's what? 5 copper? And isn't it 100 coppers is 1 silver, and 100 silver is 1 gold. And I need 500 of them? That's going to take forever. I thought dejectedly.

Allie upon seeing my face quickly tried to comfort me.

"It's not that bad Marcus, you'll probably be able to get it in no time. And, there's still the chance that you could catch and tame a wild horse." she said encouragingly.

Though that's so astronomically rare that it would probably be likelier to find a pouch filled with 500 gold. she thought a bit guiltily. Marcus on the other hand had cheered up considerably at the prospect of finding and taming his own horse.

I see! I can just try to find my own horse. And being the romantic that I am, wouldn't that be destiny to find a wild horse and tame it on my own. I thought positively. Though in the back of my head I probably realized just how slim a chance that really was.

"Well, I guess I'll just see what happens. Anyway I logged out to check up on you guys since I've been logged on this whole time. But I think I'm going to head back inside." I told them apologetically. The truth was I was eager to return to my adventure.

"Sure, we can talk later. But please log out more now. Don't just stay connected for another month. Also I would like to introduce you to the rest of the team." Allie told me seriously.

"Deal. I promise I'll log out fairly regularly, I'm not sure how often. It will depend on the quest and situation etc." I told her.

I really shouldn't have been logged on for a month straight. But I was so exhausted I just collapsed in the bed there, and if I logged out I would have lost so much time in game.

"Anyway, I'll be back later. Have a lovely evening watching my graceful form." I told them with a smile and logged onto Royal Road again.

"Should we have let him log on again this fast?" Dr. Mattew asked Dr. Allison after Marcus logged onto Royal Road again.

"I'm not sure. The problem is if he's trying to replace his old life with Royal Road. But since he's promised he'll log out more now, we just have to make sure he follows it. In the worst case scenario we'll forcibly log him out if he refuses to disconnect." she told him.

"We just have to trust him for now. And if it seems like it's getting worse we might have to institute some sort of rule of how many hours a day he can play. Well, that's only if it does get worse. Let's just watch him for now. And next time he logs out we can try to make it so his next log-out will match daytime, so he can be introduced to the rest of the team." she finished in a serious voice.

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