Lukas and Kaya prepared to leave the cathedral when their path was blocked by a party of four players. It was the boy named Toby along with two more boys and a girl. All looked to be in their early twenties.

“How did you know?” Toby asked Kaya rather aggressively. “How’d you know we was dead?”

Kaya stammered, not sure how to reply. Lukas intervened to rescue her from the situation.

“Just leave it alone, man. She’s a bit upset.”

How did she know? Lukas also thought secretively.

“And what’s it to you, knight-in-shining-armor?... you her boyfriend or something?”

“The name is Lukas... and I’m her friend.”

“Whatever, Lukas. I have a few questions for you too, you liar.”

“Liar? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What do I mean? You said you killed Obsidius before… you’re fucking level 30, mate. With a wonky build no less; Swordsman Conjurer? What the hell is that?”

“It’s a new character,” Lukas explained. “I beat Obsidius on my other character; Gaius but-”

“Wait, wait, wait…” Toby held out a hand to interrupt. “Gaius? As in Gauis Crowbound? The famous Lord Knight?”

“Yeah…” Lukas replied, unsure what to make of the question.

Toby and his friends looked at each other and broke out in raucous laughter.

“You… you’re having a fucking laugh, mate?” said Toby between giggles.

“What?” asked Lukas in confusion. “I am Gaius Crowbound.”

“You are a liar, is what you are,” said Toby. “What would the bloke having a character like Gaius the Lightbringer be doing with a start-up character like you?”

“I’m trying something new,” explained Lukas. “I think it might be the new META for the Swordsman class.”

Even louder laughter broke out.

“New META my arse… you heard that twat in the suit. ‘This is your new reality’. You’re dead meat with that build, mate. No one will want to party with you. So best of luck to you and your new META.” Toby scoffed.

Lukas had to admit, as obnoxious as he was, Toby had a point. Most of the players in the cathedral didn’t even approach them after Damocles left. They must’ve been interested at first when they heard him say he had beaten the Dark Lord before but most must’ve dismissed him when they saw his current level and build. All of the players had already left without giving them a second glance or even, Lukas was ashamed to think it, thank him for making the deal with Damocles.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. The point is that if anyone of us beats Obsiduis we get to go home,” said Lukas.

Toby stepped closer and was almost face to face with Lukas.

“The thing is, that wasn’t your call to make, now was it? As far as we’re concerned-” Toby turned to his friends and then back to Lukas. “-stealing and crashing that car was the best thing that ever happened to us. We had shit lives before all this celestial horseshit and now we get to live out a fantasy! So you and death girl here make all the deals you want. Just leave us out of it, you wannabe hero.”

Lukas had nothing to say to that. He said what he said to Damocles out of pure impulse as far as he was concerned. Did he make the deal just because he wanted everyone to know he could do it? With Gaius, he would be the most famous person in Patriam but with this new character, he was no one. Again. Same as his past life. Was is it all just a call for attention? Was Damocles right when he said that Lukas secretly thought the world revolved around him?

No. Lukas denied the thought. I did it for mom. I’m all she has.

“Just leave us alone already.” Kaya stepped forward.

Toby scoffed.

“Got a girl defending you now? Whatever… Let’s go boys. We got monsters to kill. Essence to absorb.” said Toby with a mocking grin as his group made their way out of the cathedral.

“Assholes…” muttered Kaya under her breath when they were out of earshot. But she quickly caught herself and made the sign of the cross, remembering she was in a church.

Lukas smiled at the display of faith. Even after meeting a real god much different from her own, she still held to her beliefs.

“What’s the plan, Lukas? Where do we go from here?”

“Well, we can get your class rank up first. We’ll figure things out from there I guess.”

But before they could exit the cathedral, they heard someone call after them.

“Ehem… excuse me, young man.” said a rough voice from behind.

The two turned to see a tall imposing figure a few steps away. It was an old man, maybe in his sixties. He wore a set of steel armor made for Paladin classes and a huge kite shield strapped to his back. His hair and beard were all white with only a few streaks of black left here and there. Everything about the man was old, except for his lively green eyes.

Lukas thought he was another NPC at first glance that was going to offer them another quest, but the man had a status bar.

Name: Boris Alexeev

Class: Paladin Subclass: N/A

Level: 32

He was a player. This was an odd sight. Elderly players were very rare in GFO.

“Uhm… yes?”

“My name is Boris. Boris Alexeev,” the old man introduced himself and held out a large paw of a hand.

“Lukas… and this is Kaya,” said Lukas, grasping the man’s outstretched hand.

“Nice to meet you, Boris,” said Kaya.

“Pleasure. Uhm… forgive me if my English is not good… I am Russian. I don’t speak English, but somehow…” Boris made hand gestures in the air.

Lukas did not get what the man was talking about. As far as he was concerned, the Russian spoke perfect English. But then maybe this was another feature, for a lack of a better term, that Damocles had placed in this bastardized version of Patriam. Because despite being of different ethnicities, it seemed like everyone here understood each other.

“It’s okay… your English is fine,” said Lukas. “Did you need anything from us?”

“I saw you make the deal with the god-man Damocles… I wanted to ask if you could really do what you say.”

“Yeah. I’ve beaten the Dark Lord before. But not with this character, unfortunately. But I know how to do it.”

Boris stared intently at his face for a moment and then nodded, seeming to decide on something. To Lukas’ surprise, the old Russian prostrated himself on the floor in front of him.

“Wha… what are you doing, sir?... please get up.”

“I am told that this is the most humble form of begging someone for a favor… Please, Lukas. Let me join you in your quest. Help me see my grandchildren again. I want to see Alek and Agnia one more time.” Boris begged with a trembling voice.

“Alright. Alright. I’ll help you… Just please, stand up.”

It was a good thing that the cathedral was now empty. The old man’s huge form was very hard to ignore even prostrated on the ground.

To Lukas’ relief, Boris got up. He was then pulled into a giant bear hug. Lukas could feel some of his ribs starting to bruise from the pressure.

“Thank you! Thank you, dear boy!” said Boris, hoisting Lukas into the air.

“P…. plea… please let me down…. I can’t bre…”

The old man seemed to realize his distress and abruptly released him, causing Lukas to drop hard on the stone floor.

“Sorry,” apologized Boris with a crooked smile.

Lukas picked himself up and checked for injuries. His chest was a bit sore but he was fine for the most part. He couldn’t help but notice however that Boris was not among the players seated when they entered the cathedral earlier. He would have remembered that for sure.

“Boris, were you here earlier?” he asked.

The Russian shook his head.

“I wait outside the cathedral every time Damocles speaks to newcomers.”

“Every time? So that means you’ve been here before?... how long have you been here?”

“Almost a year,” the Russian shrugged.

A year? Lukas thought in alarm. How long has this been going on?

“Then what were you doing in the cathedral? You should know everything Damocles had said before, right?” asked Kaya.

Boris sighed heavily.

“Every time there is a gathering of newcomers, I always check… you know, in case I see my grandchildren… Every time I go and I don’t see them I am sad but happy at the same time. Sad because they are not with me and happy because that means they are still living their lives.”

Kaya gave an adoring “Awwww.”

Lukas’ heart gave a pang of pity. He thought what the old man was doing was rather sweet but very sad. Here was a man he understood completely. They had the same yearning to go home. To see their family again. The irony hasn’t escaped Lukas at this point. All the time spent in GFO to escape reality and now that he could not leave Patriam, the first thing he asked for was a way home.

Then he noticed something odd about the Russian.

“Boris, if you don’t mind me asking... if you’ve been here nearly a year, why are you only level 32?”

The old man gave a shy smile.

“I don’t know how to play the game…”

Lukas was sure he didn’t hear it right. It was impossible. The man in front of him was already a Paladin with decent gear for his level.

“Wha… what do you mean you don’t know how to play?”

“My grandchildren play the game…” Boris started to explain. “One day they come to me and say ‘Grandpa, grandpa. Come play with us.’... so I play. It was very exciting but I don’t understand most of it; flashing lights and monsters everywhere… but they were having fun so I was having fun.”

“But you’re a Paladin. You’ve advanced to a rank II class already. Surely you must know something.” said Lukas. He could not understand how a man that doesn’t know the game could get this far.

“Agnia picked it for me,” Boris explained. “They asked me what I wanted to be. I said I wanted to be their protector, their shield. So….” Boris gestured to his armor.

Kaya gave another adoring “Awww”

“Haven’t you tried to at least level on your own or find a party to teach you?” asked Lukas.

Boris sighed and shook his head.

“What was the point?... this game is no fun without the twins. I lost the will to fight. And the other players here have no patience in teaching an old fart like me… This game is for the young… I have no place here. But then you came...” he jabbed a thick finger in Lukas’ face. “You make the deal with the god-man. Now we have a way to go home…That, my boy, I can fight for.” Boris finished with a smile, thumping his chest with a massive fist.

Lukas couldn’t help but smile. This person at least was happy with the deal he made. With a Paladin, they could finally complete the components of every good party; tank, healer and damage dealer. True, the only experienced GFO player was him but under the circumstances, Lukas could not afford to be picky.

“Okay, Boris. If you’re willing to help us, we’ll be glad to have you.”

Lukas swiped the air to open his Friends list and added Boris Alexeev. Kaya did the same. The old Russian looked around as the notifications came in and it took a few seconds for him to find the accept button.

Please don’t let this be a mistake. Thought Lukas.

But upon checking Boris’ stats, things looked promising. His stats were perfectly ratioed between Str, Vit, and Int for making the build referred to by the GFO community as the Paladin Meat Shield. Boris also had good levels on his defensive skills.

Lvl. 4 Guard [Active]

[Effect: Project a large shield in front to absorb part of the damage dealt to the user. Shield health increases with skill level and Vit.]

Lvl. 4 Call of the Martyr [Active]

[Effect: Release an AOE shout that forces enemies to attack you and reduce enemy defenses.]

Lvl. 6 Toughness [Passive]

[Increase P.Def, M.Def & HP regen.]

Lukas smiled as he remembered Gumo’s Crown was still in his inventory. It looks like he won’t have to sell it after all.

“Welcome to the party, Boris.”

The old Russian smiled wide.

“Come, I treat you to some food and drink,” said Boris.

“But… I thought we don’t need to eat here?” asked Lukas.

“You don’t need to,... But you can.” smile the old man. “It is one of the small pleasures that make living here bearable for me. Now come. I know a place with good food and cheap booze.”

Boris led the way to the now crowded streets of Babel. Lukas could see players trading equipment and goods with NPCs and other players as well. Some high leveled players were posted on the city square, recruiting newcomers to their guilds. Lukas saw that people who were just starting out were ignored by the recruiters completely. If that was the common case, then the three of them would have to fend for themselves. He spotted Toby’s party was harassing a merchant NPC for the price of armor near the guild halls and remembered something.

“Kaya… I wanted to ask something...” Lukas started.

“How did I know we were dead?” she asked, predicting the question correctly.

Lukas nodded.

Kaya sighed heavily.

“I am a cancer patient,” said Kaya. “Well, I was anyway… stage four brain cancer… I was bedridden from all the treatments so the doctors used games like GFO for stimulus…It was the only way I got to play with my little sister again. She was super addicted to this game.” she laughed. “The thing is, I wasn’t the only patient playing GFO. There was a group of us in one ward. All terminally ill... There was this one girl. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a perfect smile. Our rooms were directly opposite each other… I saw her in GFO a few times but we never got to know each other that well. I don’t even know her real name.”

Kaya paused for a moment. She seemed to be steadying herself for something.

“About a month ago, I heard a terrible crying from across the hall…. I saw a woman throwing tantrums in front of the doctors. I assumed it the girl’s mom… An hour later the nurses rolled the girl out of her room with the sheets covering her face… I never saw her in GFO again… Not until we got to Babel though. I saw her waving at us from the fields… I never knew her name but I could never forget her face.”

Chills went down Lukas’ spine. A lump of sadness settled in his heart. To think that the girl next to him had to realize and accept all on her own that she was dead and to say it in a room full of people who suffered a similar fate. Lukas felt a sort of adoration and maybe even fondness toward Kaya for her bravery.

“I want to go home, Lukas,” she said. Her voice sounded choked. Her eyes were starting to well up again. “I want to see my little sister again.”

It seems that the three of them all had the same motivation; family.

Lukas gave her a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make it back in no time... We just got a lot stronger,” he said giving a nod toward Boris in front of them. “We now have the holy trinity.”