Marco had decided that flying through the in between place was an ideal setting to review his fights after discovering that he could view his own memories. He watched his earlier battles play out in front of him with calculating eyes- a translucent copy of Marco and the kobold skeleton arrayed before him acting out a past battle. While Marco could remember the fight easily, watching it in front of him was completely different.

Marco’s silhouette stepped on the back of its robe and fell over, eliciting a comment from his present self, “Dumbass.” as he cringed. Being able to watch his fights like this led Marco to the revelation that he couldn’t help but agree with SteelBreaker; he was definitely a newbie.

It was clear to Marco, without any real knowledge of how to fight, that neither he nor his opponent had any kind of training in combat. The kobold acted like a predator hunting its prey with no effort given to prepare for counter attacks while Marco himself seemed fueled purely by self preservation that led to questionable moves in an attempt to deal damage to the kobold.

With a sigh Marco let the last battle fade from his mind, causing the silhouette jumping ecstatically after its victory to disintegrate into specks of light that quickly scattered. ‘At the very least I’m getting more used to it.’ Marco thought to himself with an inkling of pride, ‘I didn’t even throw up after the last one!’

Three skeletons. That was tonight’s body count. The next two fights had gone slightly smoother than the first two as Marco had started to pick up on how the skeletons fought. His most helpful growth was the realization that while the undead were stupid they weren’t as stupid as Marco had led himself to believe.

The skeletons may not have been very good at adapting to new situations but they were able to easily dodge repeated strikes or obvious blows. In addition, he noticed, ‘They seem to know on some level which parts of my body are the most vulnerable.’ as all the skeleton had gone for his neck or heart when given the chance.

Marco’s thoughts were interrupted by a green rectangle fast approaching his position. ‘Ah, that must be my world.’ Marco guessed as he flew into the rectangle. Now back in his body Marco sat up, this time without screaming, as he basked in the feeling of not accidently summoning the image of a skeleton trying to kill him before returning to his body.

“Morning.” said a voice from the other side of the room, Oscar’s voice. Marco turned to see Oscar leaning against his bed frame, eyes examining Marco as if searching for something. “We need to talk.” Oscar said before arraying the room’s chairs facing each other, “Sit.” he motioned.

Marco’s heart raced as he thought about what he had said yesterday, “Look...um… I’m sorry for my rant yesterday. Can we just act like it never happened?” Oscar blinked before responding, “No we can’t, because you’re right. You were pretty agressive but I’ve thought about it, and you’re right.”

Marco got out of his bed and sat in front of Oscar before letting him continue, “I wanted to say I’m sorry. I haven’t been treating you like a friend, and I plan to make up for it.” with a tightened expression Oscar began again, “Now, you need to talk to me Marco. What’s going on? I’m worried about you. You aren’t yourself and I don’t know if it's drugs or something else but please just tell me.”

Marco eyed the floor as he said, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you Oscar.” which earned him an unamused glare before Oscar pressed, “Maybe I wouldn’t believe it before yesterday, but now? Listen Marco, people are talking about you freaking out at lunch yesterday. People are talking about you running off campus. And people are talking about Chad…”

Marco winced before saying, as innocently as he could, “What happened to Chad?” to which Oscar paused before saying, “Look at me Marco... I need you to look at me!” Marco hesitantly met Oscar’s concerned eyes as he anticipated what Oscar was about to say, “Chad is in the hospital. Fractured ribs. Internal bleeding. He won’t tell anyone what happened, Marco. Says he got drunk and fell on a rock in the forest.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Marco carefully proctored his facial expression in an attempt not to let anything show as Oscar tried to read him, “Someone driving by found him on the side of the road, passed out. The police think that he crawled out of the forest to get there.” Marco tried to twist his guilt into sympathy as he said, “Wow. I can’t believe someone would do that to him.”

Oscar paused as he gave Marco a death stare before slowly saying, “Thing is Marco, Chad’s friends were with him right before it happened. They were driving by the grove where Chad was found. They claim that Chad got out of the car to follow someone into the forest. They’re saying it was you, Marco.” As Oscar finished his accusation Marco tried his best to keep himself from freaking out.

“Normally such an accusation would be outrageous. But so would you skipping class, going to the gym… or yelling at someone.” Oscar’s gaze held sorrow as he finished his sentence, “What’s going on Marco? Just tell me, I can help.” Marco again broke his gaze as he whispered, “I just can’t Oscar.”

With rising emotions Oscar stood up before asking, “Why not?! I don’t know what the fuck is happening to you Marco but you need to get help. You can’t act like this! You can’t put someone in the hospital because you don’t fucking like them!” Marco’s face twitched as he hissed, “Yeah? Well maybe you should’ve told Chad that before it came to this!”

Oscar paled at Marco’s accusatory stare before saying, “This isn’t a game Marco. This is real fucking life. You can’t seek out revenge like we used to. You-” Marco stood now, too- in the process knocking over his chair, “Why the fuck not?” he asked as he looked Oscar directly in the eye.

“Why the fuck not.” Marco stated before continuing, “What’s the difference between real life and the games we used to play? Chad was stronger so he beat the shit out of me to make himself feel good. He stole from me. He played games with me for fun. So now, when I’m stronger than him, why can’t I do the same thing to him? You’re wrong Oscar. Life is a game.”

“No.” Oscar said shaking his head, “No its fucking not. In games you respawn. In games you can heal. Tell me Marco, what would you have done if Chad died?” The question hung in the air as Marco’s sizzling emotions began to putter out, “What would you have done if you killed Chad?” Oscar asked him again.

Suddenly Marco’s knees felt weak- he needed to sit, ‘Ah.’ Marco thought as he collapsed onto the ground. Marco thought back to when he almost died to that first skeleton, ‘Is-is that how Chad felt...? It doesn’t matter!’ Marco told himself, “He fucking deserved it!” he roared as his heart beat rapidly in his chest.

“You can’t lie to yourself Marco. It was wrong.” Oscar said as he patted Marco’s back, “Look, it’s ok... just talk to me. You’re not yourself. It wasn’t you who beat Chad like that, it was the drugs.” Marco held tears back as he said to Oscar, “No Oscar. It was me! I almost killed another person because I didn’t like him.”

Oscar shook his head as he said, “No Marco. That’s not you. Tell me what you’re on and I’ll take you to the hospital.” Marco started shaking as he breathed, “There’s no drugs Oscar. No drugs…” Oscar’s expression tightened before being forcefully relaxed, “It’s ok Marco, you can tell me. I won’t judge you.”

Marco grabbed Oscar as he hissed, “I’m not on drugs!” Oscar watched Marco for a moment before asking, “Then what the hell is going on?” Marco’s thoughts raced as he tried to come up with a lie before deciding, ‘Ah, fuck it.’

“You’re going to think I’m crazy Oscar.” Marco whispered. Oscar held up his hand before saying, “Just tell me.” Marco took a shaky breath before beginning, “It started last night…”

At the end of his story Oscar stood still for a moment before he stood up and yelled, “GOD DAMN IT MARCO! Just tell me the fucking truth! Stop lying to me! I’ve tried to be patient with you, what the-” Oscar stopped his tirade mid sentence, mouth gaping, when he saw what was in Marco’s hand.

Marco stood there, shaking, with the magic in hand. He watched as Oscar’s expression distorted from anger to shock, then confusion, before becoming indecipherable. “So,” Marco asked sheepishly, “do you believe me now?”