Rizza was looking at him waiting for an answer, and not only a nod or a shrug, but a real answer. She was wearing her usual dress with the magic staff and her colorful blue hairs, however in that moment Zortex considered her as dangerous as an hideous monster. The others had gotten used to leave him outside of conversations, so they didn’t really look at him as if he was part of the group, but rather as a powerful tool at their disposal for battles. More like a clone from Star Wars rather than a human. But now that illusion was broken, for one of them at least.

Did I speak? I cannot remember. I was all focused on the battle and I might have unconsciously said something. What did I say? Fuck! I think I said something like: ‘Look out’. What do I do now? Maybe if I say nothing she will just think that she imagined it. Yes, that is best option. I will summon Pravin and look busy doing something else.

Zortex said nothing and he activated the spell and Pravin appeared at his feet and then climbed his body to rest on his shoulder. He even avoided looking in the direction of Rizza, as if she had never arrived, and he started moving in the direction of a nearby shop selling food. Just because he risked losing all his food every time he died it didn’t mean that he would just bring with himself minimal rations. He wanted to buy enough food to last him a week, so he would have the time to search for a new source in case of accidents.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me! I told you that I know that you can speak. You could answer me just this once if you want. I will not tell the others, not even Jake.” Rizza said following him.

Just leave me alone. I didn’t ask to be in your group, so just don’t disturb me. You have a boyfriend, so just find him and fuck each other somewhere away from me. That is what I would be doing in your situation. These kids don't know how lucky they are to find other people to mate with. If they had lived my life they would spend more time in the bedroom and less time harassing shadowed men who wants to be left alone.

“I will keep following you. Anyway I have nothing else to do until the other two respawn. It is easier if you speak now, so then you can do whatever you do without me sniffing at your back.” Rizza told him.

Aaaaahhh! Leave me alone!

Zortex reached a nearby shop and started looking at the foods on display. There wasn’t much to choose, but that wasn’t what made Zortex angry. The prices had risen again since last time he was there and they would take a large portion of his remaining money.

This isn’t fair! I understand about offer and demand in the economy, but the cities should have sent a lot more rations to even the prices. What should I do? Damn it, I will buy enough to last me a couple more days and then I will have to make full use of what they will give me at the camp. From now on, when I will be in the forest I will start collecting the corpses of the monsters. If Srenc can eat them, so can I. I have dealt with more disgusting things. The chicken-like birds looked quite good actually.

Zortex bought some of the cheapest food and stored it away.

Team 17

Jake: Hey guys. Where are you now? I’m in the plaza.

Rizza: Me and Shad are at the store with the yellow doors. Just wait a minute and we will be there.

Jake: Coming toward you.

Perfect. Now that Jake is here he will take all the attention of Rizza, so she will leave me alone.

As soon as Shad and Rizza exited the store they saw Jake running to them and without stopping he hugged his girlfriend raising her from the ground.

Good job! Now wrestle her to the ground! Anyway...time to give them some privacy and disappear. Zortex thought distancing himself from the couple.

“Why didn’t you want to contact me outside of AoL? We could have spent the time together in another world waiting for the respawn....” Jake asked her.

“I told you that I want to experience this world as if it was the only one we have available. It makes the experience feel more real. It also gives us a reason to values our lives more.” Rizza answered him.

“I understood, however we have just started dating and we had so little time to spend by ourselves in this mission…I hoped that for this once we could skip that rule...you know....a bit of alone time...” Jake protested looking dejected.

“But now the wait has made us so much happier to see each other again. That’s why I want this feeling. Anyway we just started dating, it’s not like we are about to get married” Rizza told him, maybe a little annoyed.

I hate newly formed couples. They are so lovey-dovey that they make me want to puke. Just find a room and have sex. There is no need for all this crap.

“Anyway, did you hear Shad speak to me during the battle? He did it just before I got killed.” Rizza had left the embrace and now she was pointing at Zortex.

What the fuck!!!!! BITCH!! You said you wouldn’t tell the other guys. Zortex was grimacing under his Shadow Mask.

“Really??? I didn’t hear a thing and I saw you die, so I was still alive when he should have said something. I’m sure you just imagined it.” Jake told her.

Ahahahahah! In your face bitch! Thank god Jake is an idiot that could not even pay attention to what other people were saying.

This time it was Rizza’s turn to frown. “I’m sure he spoke to me. He can speak to NPC, albeit when no one can hear him, so it’s not like he doesn’t have a voice. There must be some kind of rule that permits him to speak in certain situations.”

Team 17

Gera: I’m back. Where are you guys? Never mind. I just saw you.

Gera saluted them and walked to their position. She was wearing a different armor than the previous one, so maybe she had dropped it at her death. The rapier was still the same, and that was what was most important about her.

“This was my first death. I have to admit that it was a pretty traumatic experience. Imagine it happening in real life. Of course you would not be traumatized afterwards because you will be dead, but still you understand me, right?” Gera said, looking quite excited rather than traumatized.

“Sure, this was also my first death here, but it was more difficult for me to see Rizza die. In that moment I didn’t realize that she was not really dead, therefore I behaved as if it happened in real life. I need to get used to the fact that we will die plenty of times in the course of our life in AoL. I don’t know….I didn’t feel like this in the other worlds I visited, even though I died plenty of times over there. Maybe because it is different to get hit by a laser gun rather than being stabbed to death by a monster.” Jake answered.

“Nevertheless I am happy that finally Shad has started speaking to us. Maybe it will make the mission easier if we can converse with him.” Gera told the group, looking at Zortex in the face, expecting something from him.

What?? Did she hear that?? I can fake ignorance with one of them, but not with two….Zortex wanted to punch himself.

“I told you Jake! Gera heard him speak to me” Rizza had a smug face at this remark.

“Not only to you. He spoke directly to me telling me to protect his back while he casted a big spell. You can imagine how surprised I was. My eyeballs were about to shoot out of my face like in the old cartoons. So, can we hear again your voice?” Gera was now looking expectantly at him.

Zortex’s heart was beating furiously and he was sweating under his clothes. At that moment they were all looking at him and the pressure was killing him.

What the hell…I’m not ready! But I will never be ready. At least they are already speaking to me, so I’m not the one trying to start the conversation. It’s now or never…

“No” Zortex answered and then he walked away, leaving them standing there, befuddled by what they had just heard. Zortex answering ‘No’ by voice to their question was basically saying ‘Yes’ because what they wanted was to hear the voice.

That’s it. After one year I have finally spoken again to another human being. Now that it is done I feel much better, but hopefully they will not make me speak again in the near future. That would be embarrassing. It would be better to not speak anymore during the quest, and afterwards I will move away to a place where nobody has ever seen me and I will try to behave as a normal person. Yeah, that’s a good plan! Now I deserve a treat….the red fruit called ‘Frago’ has a sweet taste and it is perfect for this occasion. Zortex took out one of the fruit he had just bought and he ate almost all of it, leaving some for Pravin. He didn’t wait for the others, but he just moved in the direction of the military camp, where he could get back to the mission.

4 hours later

Zortex arrived at the camp, the rest of Team 17 on his heels. Around two hours after he had left Asiago, the rest group had caught up to him. He had tensed up when they had rejoined, but luckily they hadn’t made any comment.

The guards at the entrance saw a silent group moving their way, a bad mood in the air. Zortex had been happy for a while, but the joy of speaking had soon faded away and it had been replaced by the sorrow of losing his food. He didn’t know why the others were silent, and he didn’t believe it was just because he wasn’t speaking again, but he soon understood why Jake was silent.

“I shouldn’t be the Team Leader” Jake said.

Agreed Zortex thought.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Gera asked.

“I made too many errors. I am not suited for command. It is better if someone else is in charge and I will follow the instructions” Jake replied.

“This is stupid. Just because we lost a battle it doesn’t mean that everything you did is wrong. There were too many enemies. As simple as that.” Rizza interjected.

“Every time we enter the forest someone else needs to save me. Let’s be honest and say it: I am the weakest in the team. Shad can kill half an hunting party without a sweat, Gera always defended me against twice the amount of Srenc I engaged, and you can fry in an instant any enemy unlucky enough to enter your range. It wouldn’t be too troublesome to just be the weakest, but I am also the one losing my calm the easiest when battle starts. We should decide for a new leader.” Jake said to Rizza who was walking hand in hand with him.

All the Team stayed silent for a while. They didn’t want to offend Jake, but they could not deny that what he said was true. It was Gera who broke the silence:

“Ok, I can try to be the leader this time, however it is not something that I like. Leadership is too much responsibility and I prefer to enjoy my time here without that weight. Depending on how we perform I could give it back to you, or to the others, although I don’t think that Shad would like it…right?” The others looked at him.

Ehehe. Who does she think I am. Obviously I would not fall for such a trick to make me talk. I will just stay silent as usual. Anyway Gera is the best option. She is quite composed and skilled. Rizza and Jake are too soft.

“Ok! It’s decided. Let’s go to the Captain and deliver the news and check the new maps. In five days a lot must have changed” Gera prompted them to go.