Ch. 10: Floating The Worries Away

Just like Gorge hoped, Jon came to him, asking for advice.

He wanted to know what class to choose and what skills he needed to acquire.

Gorge asked what Jon's goals were in Royal Road and was just a little surprised to hear about the dragons.

Calling Silia, he told her his need, and his trusty secretary sent an email with all the information an hour later.

It turned out that dragon slayers came in all shapes and sizes. Every class could choose to upgrade and gain the skills of dragon slayers. Since the average level of players finishing the dragon-slayer class quest was around one-hundred and ten, Jon was in no hurry.

"Just do whatever you want for now. Enjoy the game and try out different things. Meet people, find friends and make enemies… look at all these things you can learn in the game. Choose something you like and tackle it. If you ever get stuck I'll be here to help you." He looked at Jon's unsmiling face, and warmth spread through his body. In the two weeks that passed the boy began to change. He was far from the cheerful kid he once knew but, Gorge could now recognize from time to time the child he remembered and loved in the man who was standing before him.

Jon logged back in, still not sure of what direction to develop. As he didn't really have any preferences he decided to learn skills as they came. His goal was now to raise his level and Gorge advised him to do quests to reach his goal faster.

He opened his menus one by one. Ignoring the stares around him, he read through the floating windows in front of his face.

Stat Window

Avatar: Jon Type: Chaotic

Level: 14 Class: Mage

Title: Leader of the Pack

+10 Charisma

Taming animals is 20% easier and faster.

Life: 1030 Fame: -82 Mana: 625

Strength: 98 Dexterity: 94 Vitality: 61

Wisdom: 40 Intelligence: 68 Focus: 13

Leadership: 0 Perception: 3 Luck: 0

Offence: 9 Defense: 10

Resistance to Magic:

Cold: 5%

Fire: 2%

Holy: 1%

Affinity to Elements:

Holy: 1%

Skill Window

Masteries:

Alchemy Mastery Level 3

Archery Mastery Level 3

Cooking Mastery Level 5

Knife Mastery Level 3

Magic Mastery Level 5

Sneak Mastery Level 3

Passive Skills:

Control Magic Level 2

Magic Capacity Level 2

Meditation Level 2

Owl's Instinct Level 2

Active Skills:

Power Shot Level 2

Repair Level 1

Sharpening Level 3

Silent Strike Level 3

Speed Stab Level 3

Spell Window

Heal Level 2

Healing Rain Level 1

Quest Window

In Progress:

Helping the Bookkeeper

Completed:

Family Matters

Frozen Vegetables

He read his only ongoing quest in detail, and finding it interesting enough, he made up his mind to complete it. But first, he had a few things he had to do. The first was learn ice magic like he wanted to. Thanks to Unknowadd's special brew it didn't take too long.

You Have Completed the Book: "The Basics of Ice Magic"

Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)

Ice Affinity Acquired

You have learned to channel the ice element through your body and to your spells.

Increasing your affinity with the element will raise the efficiency and power of ice spells.

Affinity: 1%

You Have Completed the Book: "Controlling Water and Lowering the Tempreture"

Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)

You Have Completed the Book: "Beginner Spells For the Aspiring Ice Mage "

Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)

"Ice Dart" Spell Learnt

Controlling the ice element with your mana, you are able to freeze the water in the air.

By shaping the ice into the form of a large dart you are then able to propel the projectile forward using your magic power.

The dart flies in a straight line and upon impact causes freeze damage and turns the area of impact to ice.

Cost: 30 MP

Casting the spell, a small icicle the size of his hand slowly formed. Floating over his palm, Jon extended his arm and let the dart fly.

It impaled itself into the stone wall. Breaking apart, it left a small round area of the wall frozen. The frozen circle was the size of a basketball and soon melted away together with the broken pieces of the dart that fell to the floor, turning into a small puddle of water.

"Cone of Frost" Spell Learnt

By channeling the ice element through your body, you are able to quickly collect the surrounding moisture surrounding you, and expel in a chosen direction as frozen mist.

Projected in the shape of a cone, the mist slows down your opponents and pushes them away from you.

The small, sharp ice particles damage your opponents' health and have a small chance of completely freezing the target.

Level 1: Freeze Chance - 2%

Cone angle – 15 degrees.

Cost: 5 MP every second

You Have Completed the Book: "Freezing Your Enemies"

Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)

Left with a few hours of the Scholars Brew effect, and having finished what he came to do, he read a few more books just in case he would ever need their knowledge.

You Have Completed the Book: "Conjuring Fire"

Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)

Fire Affinity Acquired

Manipulating your magic power you can now forcefully create friction between atoms to create a small spark.

Feeding the spark your mana, you are able to start a flame anywhere and everywhere.

Better affinity with fire elements allows you to create bigger and hotter flames with less mana consumption.

Affinity: 1%

Dipping the tip of his tongue in the magic potion he was able to finish the last book just before the effect wore off.

You Have Completed the Book: "Wielding Pure Energy"

Wisdom Rises By 1 (+1 Wis)

Lighting Affinity Acquired

Tapping into the natural reserves of electricity in the atmosphere you can use your magic to channel it through your body.

Lightening spells deal the most damage and cost almost nothing to cast.

However, the lighting element is amongst the hardest elements to control, and is highly unstable.

Affinity: 1%

-'I'll need to ask Gorge how to raise my affinity…'- Jon wondered as he closed the book and left the library.

-'One down and two to go.'-

He stretched his limbs, feeling his spine crack a little, and looked around remembering where to go.

The bronze barbarian could be seen from a far.

It attracted players to the marvel steps around it, announcing with great pride that behind him stands the great and powerful warriors guild.

Both players and Npcs flooded the building, in contrast to the small rogue's guild next to it.

The large building left no doubt in any one's mind that the warriors' guild was rich. Statues of warriors, both male and female, stood on every step. The gates were guarded by two huge, marble lions, and although the decorated doors of the gate were open wide a small giant of a man, stood and watched the people who walked in and out of the guild.

As Jon passed him, he felt that even with the enormous and heavy armor the man was covered in, the long two handed sword he leaned on, could slice anything with precision and speed.

-'It could be fun, decapitating a dragon in one swing…'-

A small line stood before the reception desk. He used the repair skill on his equipment while he was waiting.

Fighting alongside wolves had left his armor torn and broken. Most of the items had almost zero durability and restoring them back to full hardly even raised the experience on the skill.

-'It seems it will take longer than I thought… I'll need to find a way to level up the skill fast…-'

When Jon's turn came the Npc asked him for his name and five gold coins. In return he gave him a participant's number. A massage board stood next to the desk and on it was the explanation.

"The warriors guild is sorry for the inconvenience, but at the moment we don't have enough free room to accept anyone. As such, the warriors guild is organizing a small fighting tournament the winners of which will join the guild," it said.

The date of the tournament was in three game days. At the end of the massage were the rules, which basically said that every participant accepted the risk of death and injury and that range weapons were banned.

Sizing up his competition, Jon saw mostly newbies and low level players, only two or three caught his eye as people to look out for.

With three days on his hands, he went to the citadels training ground to stretch his muscles and work out a sweat. A month of reading books and working in the kitchen made him feel a little sluggish.

A small crowd gathered around one of the training dummies and in the middle was a man in beginner clothes swinging a wooden sword with incredible determination.

The few glances he managed to get through the crowd, made Jon hope he wouldn't have to meet the man in the tournament. He was clearly experienced with the sword and unlike all the other beginners he had seen on the grasslands, this man had fire burning in his eyes.

"He's still at it?" a player asked him as he got close. He didn't seem to want an answer in return so Jon ignored him, but another player, a girl, spoke out.

"Thirteen days in a row now. I swear he's crazy…"

"You don't say…"

"Some guys tried to copy him but they quit on the second day. What he's doing is exhausting…"

"Maybe he's an Npc."

"He must be," another player joined the conversation, "no player ever got on good terms with the training instructor."

"Didn't anyone try to ask him for a quest?"

"Pointless! He simply ignores you and keeps on whacking the poor scarecrow."

"I heard some guys saying you can gain status points by doing what he's doing…"

"Ooohh…" they all said in the same time.

"I still don't think it's worth it. I rather go kill some monsters."

"Yep," said the girl.

-'Pathetic…'- Jon looked at them with an expression almost bordering on disgust.

He wasn't surprised stat points could be gained from that. He also had numerous stat rise from simply repeating the same action.

-'But…'- he looked at the guy, who was still swinging the wooden sword. The sound of it cutting though the air was heard over the murmur of players surrounding him.

Jon understood why he was doing what he was doing, however he felt that was to extreme. He wondered at what motivated him.

-'Hmm… but then again, I also came here for the same reason…'- Jon stood there for some time, not looking at anything in particular. He then turned around and left as quietly as he came.

-'I've spent twenty years getting stronger... Sure it saved my life but now what?'- He looked back at the man again and remembered his long and perilous daily training regimes.

-'FUCK NO!'-

For the first time in, Jon knew not how long, he felt lost.

There were so many things to do but for some reason none of them appealed to him. He looked around and suddenly felt surrounded and although in a completely open space, he felt claustrophobic. Paranoia kicked in and he was sure he was being watched.

He ran on impulse.

People and buildings turned into a blur around him as he sprinted. His high dexterity stat amplified his movement speed and at first he stumbled a bit. He would raise one leg into the air before the other one had the chance to come back down. This caused him to fall down hard and tear the skin of his palms.

He got up without delay and with fear slowly spreading through his mind, he started running even faster.

Falling down a few more times he simply rolled back to his feet and continued running.

He felt that he was perused but was too afraid to look back. The wide street looked incredibly small and cramped and as he bumped into players and Npcs he refused to drop his speed.

When the city gates came into view, Jon was already used to his new speed and when a merchant's cart blocked his passage he sped up and jumped over it.

With his body twisting through the air he missed the top of the cart by mere centimeters. He dropped badly and almost twisted his ankle but managed to continue running nonetheless.

Guards stood up and moved to look at him run towards them. This sight flashed him a memory of a time guards tried to force him back into his cage. The place his arm got broken at that time inflamed in pain as if the bone cracked apart all over again.

As the pain spread throughout his body, Jon's awareness slipped away and a primal state of being took over him. It was in this state that he kept on running until his body simply gave up on him.

The knees were the first to give out.

They buckled under him and he crashed to the ground hitting his chin and breaking his nose on a tree root in the soft ground.

His lungs were on fire and each breath felt like a lump of coal that burned the insides of his mouth, singing his lips as it finally came outside. Jon was sure that he was breathing out flames, but in the short moments he managed to keep his eyes open he saw white vapor spread out as his breath came out in small clouds.

His heart pounded on his chest like a hammer and all of his muscles threatened to cramp and never loosen up again. He pained all over, yet as the cold, night time air settled on his still body he started feeling better.

Realizing how foolish he just acted he drifted off into sleep. Not shallow restless sleep, but deep almost childlike sleep which lasted long, healing and mending both his tired body and his restless mind.

The rays of the sun warmed his stiff body as he awoke. His clothes were still damp from the morning dew and his undershirt stuck to his chest from the dried blood, but he didn't mind.

He didn't open his eyes yet, he wanted to go back to sleep again. As soon as he awoke, memories of yesterday surfaced up and he became afraid again.

He had trouble understanding what was happening to him. He felt as if the floor had disappeared under him and everything he was used to wasn't reliable anymore.

Every bad experience he had ever had came to mind. It started from simple shameful memories and eventually arrived as close upon home as possible.

The memory of his bedridden mother filled his head and as much as he tried to ignore it, it remained, as vivid as the day it had happened. His nose was filled with the smell of antiseptics while his father, on his knees, cried over his mother's dead body.

Jon was five then, and as young as he was he understood what happened.

His mother got sick a year before and for the past six months she hadn't even left her bed. He recalled now, how the sight of his great, strong, almighty father, crying before him shocked him so much that his own tears got stuck inside and refused to come out.

He loved his mother and was always close to her but when she died he didn't feel sad for long. He never forgot her; he simply accepted her death and moved on. People around him thought it was an unusual behavior for such a young child but no one said anything.

Unlike Jon, the father took his wife's passing away in a bad way.

He blamed himself for her death. He believed that if only he spent more time with her she wouldn't have gotten sick. The blame corrupted his soul and as if to repent, he began to pay less and less attention to his company and more and more time to Jon.

The more time he spent with his son, the more responsibilities were dropped on Gorge.

In his mourning, Gorge dedicated his whole life to the success of Jon and his father, and by keeping the company safe he satisfied that need of his.

Jon's father, a veteran of the third world war, was a firm believer that a strong, healthy mind could only inhabit a strong and healthy body.

As an officer in WWIII, he was taught how to fight unarmed and fell in love with it. When the war ended and the world began rebuilding itself from the ground up, he made a fortune from a large gold deposit he discovered during his battle companies.

He used this fortune to create a small company that trafficked in electronics. With the connections he made during the war and the wealthy family he came from, this small company soon became one of the leading hi-tech firms in the post-war world.

However, leading a peaceful life didn't make him forget his passion for martial arts, and as the years passed and his company stabilized in the competitive market, he turned this passion into a hobby. Masters from all over the world instructed him in various arts of fighting and weapon masteries.

Before the death of his mother, Jon took very little interest in his father's hobby; instead his entire day was occupied by private tutors. In the fourth year of his life he had already started learning high school level topics. He was raised as an heir to the company and everything in his life was centered around it.

After the mother's death, Jon's father took over the instruction responsibilities from Gorge, and added martial arts training to Jon's daily regime.

The father and son quickly bonded through the harsh training and even when Jon grew up and there wasn't much more he could learn from his father, they still sparred regularly.

The father never remarried. No matter how many women Gorge tried to pick for him, the father seemed to treasure his wife regardless of how many years passed.

It was on Jon's eighteenth birthday that the second tragedy struck him.

His father died.

It was an accident but Jon blamed himself for it. He washed his hands numberless times, but the warm feeling of his father's blood remained.

He could live with that feeling; it was the cracking sound of his father's bones, being replayed over and over in his head that made him run away.

A whisper of that sound began to appear in his mind as he remembered his past. Luckily though, a real sound demanded his attention sending the soul wrenching whisper back into his subconsciousness.

Jon opened his eyes and looked around him, seeing only green wherever he looked, he stood up in wonder.

-'How far did I run?'-

The answer came as he read the systems massages that blocked his field of vision.

Dexterity Rises by 1(+1 Dex)

Dexterity Rises by 1(+1 Dex)

Dexterity Rises by 1(+1 Dex)

Swift Buff Learned

While the buff is active unnecessary movement are reduced and every action you perform becomes cleaner and more optimal.

Cost: 50 Mp

Effect: Speed Increases by 5%

Duration: 2 Minutes

The heart of the forest had a magical ambiance to it.

Trees, with trunks wider than a building, encircled a clearing that was shaded by very high leaves that blocked the sunlight.

The little sunlight that did come through bounced off everything, giving a mystical glow to the vegetation. The clearing itself was covered with deep pools of clear, calm water and enormous dragonflies floated over the water surface.

Jon's feet left prints in the tall, bright green grass. Plants of all shapes and sizes spread their fragrance, which mixed together turning into a sweet yet gentle aroma.

He looked at where the sound came from, and on the other side of the clearing, where a large pool of water disappeared amongst thick tree roots, stepped out a deer the size of a horse.

As he looked closer, Jon's fear came back in full force and his paranoia got worse. The deer had a humanlike face that was colored bright red. Its numerous antlers looked like a peacock's tail.

For some reason the sight scared Jon stiff.

The monster stepped leisurely towards the water. With each step, flowers bloomed and died around its hoofs. The closer it got the faster Jon's heart began to pound.

When it was at the edge of the water it didn't stop but simply kept on walking. The hoofs sunk into the water for a moment but on the next step the deer continued straight, walking on the top of the water surface as if it were solid ground.

It moved forward until it reached a small island where it had to cramp its hoofs together to stand up. Lowering its big ugly head it sniffed a small puddle the size of a soup bowl which collected in the middle of the tiny island.

Jon saw how the puddle began to shine, illuminating the monster's human face from below and making it even uglier.

Through clear water he could see fish swim away in a hurry.

A rustling in the bushes behind him caught his attention and a gigantic white wolf stepped out into the clearing. Bigger than an elephant, the wolf moved gracefully towards Jon.

At this point, even though Jon knew he was inside the game the fear in him threatened to stop his beating heart.

The wolf, which at a close distance looked more gray than white, sniffed Jon in a slow inhale and stared at the monster deer when it was done. Something must have passed between them, because the wolf lowered its head and bent his front feet in a bow, after which it walked back into the cover of large trees, disappearing in the thicket.

As though he could feel it, Jon knew that the monstrous deer lowered its head again.

This time it puckered its cracked lips and as if it was kissing a loved one, it carefully touched the puddle of glowing water.

A shockwave spread through the clearing hitting Jon in the back and propelling him head first into one of the pools.

As strange as it was, the moment the shockwave hit him, as if blown away by its force, all of his fear was blasted out of him. Completely under water he rose to the surface and gently lifted his head to the cool air.

Waiting for the water to drip down his head he opened his eyes and looked at the clearing with an out of place calmness.

Ripples covered the water pools, and the leaves shook back into stillness.

The deer was gone and with it the puddle.

Soon, the clearing went back to its quiet self.

Jon didn't leave the water. The feeling of it against his skin was to his liking and he simply floated in one place with closed eyes.

In his sudden calmness, he analyzed the events that transpired and sorted out the extreme emotions he felt.

'That must be what a panic attack feels like..'- -

Hours passed but Jon still floated. Fish came out of their hiding and nibbled on the dead skin from his hands. Bugs landed on him and sucked salt off of him.

He dozed off a couple of times but it didn't matter to him.

Piece by piece he put together the reason for what he knew now was an emotional breakdown. It was that man, the one that struck the scarecrow relentlessly in the training ground, that was the cause. Seeing him work hard, made Jon remember how he himself worked hard.

This memory triggered another memory which triggered another, and eventually, everything he had repressed for the past five years suddenly flooded him and sent him running in fear.

But now it was okay. It seemed weird to him but although he still blamed himself for his father's death, he now accepted the fact that it wasn't his fault.

Once he made peace with that, everything else seemed to settle into place and when he opened his eyes, he felt like a new man.

-'It's been long over due.'-

He opened his main menu and logged out of the game, not even bothering to step out of the water.

Jon opened the door to Gorge's office room and stepped in.

"Jon?" Surprised, Gorge looked at his watch.

There was still time before dinner and he had never seen Jon come out before he needed to.

"Has anything happened?" He stood up and walked to Jon.

-'I've missed you!'- Jon thought as he hugged his old friend.

Gorge froze and didn't know what to do, but he hugged Jon back nonetheless. There was no need to say anything more. Gorge seemed to understand after a while Jon's intentions and without noticing, tears started running down his cheeks.

"Welcome back, Jon." He said for the second time this month, feeling that this time, the man he considered as his own son even if they weren’t related by blood, truly came back.

"What did I miss?" Jon asked as they parted.

This simple question sent a new wave of tears down Gorge's cheeks.

For two days they talked.

Although Gorge did most of the talking, it was no longer a one sided conversation.

Gorge saw how much it pained Jon when he explained how his father's death affected the company, but Jon wanted to know.

"I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"You're doing a good job and I don't feel like it."

"You do not feel like it? It is your destiny to lead. You have been born and raised for the role!"

"That’s when my father was still alive."

"You… what are you… how can you…" In a loss for words, Gorge went quiet for a while and Jon waited patiently.

"Jon, this is your company," he said in a calm and controlled tone. "The majority of the shares and money are held under your name. My role was to protect it until you take over, and now that you are here, my work is done!"

"No."

"You can not refuse!"

"Gorge," he took a deep breath, "I never wanted to be a C.E.O, and I only accepted the role because of my father. I wanted to work with animals when I was a kid but now I don't know what I want to do, all I know is that taking your position is not something I want to do. Keep it, and keep doing what you were doing."

"Jon... you need to understand that the situation is not that simple. The board of directors will see you as a threat. They will not ignore you! Especially Yo! The man will do anything to take over your father's company and will stop at nothing to either get rid of you or get you over to his side."

"If what you say is true, I have more than enough wealth to live comfortably till the day I die, you can have all my shares, I don't want them. This Yo won't have anything to fear if you're the official C.E.O"

They argued like that for some time, slowly Gorge realized Jon wouldn't budge, so he gave up, in a way.

"When did you become so stubborn?" Gorge sighed. "Have it your way! We shall keep everything as it is. I hope that eventually you will change your mind but until then I will hold the fort for you, so to speak."

Jon didn't respond.

"What are you planning on doing instead then?"

"In the near future… nothing. I thought about seeing the world but in the past five years I've traveled the whole globe and seen more than I ever wanted to."

"What di..."

"Gorge, please…" Jon looked at his friend's eyes, "Honestly, I don't want to do anything, just act lazy. I've never tried that."

"Hmm… You do not have to do it here, do you?"

"Not really."

"Very well. We will go back home in the end of the month, ok?"

"Sure."

"I am glad to have you back, Jon."

"I'm glad to be back, Gorge."

"I wonder how long you will laze around… you never could stay still for long," Gorge said to the empty room. Jon left some time ago but he stayed, sitting on an armchair and staring at the electric fireplace. He was smiling and humming to himself pleasantly.

Gorge was in a celebratory mood and so he took out his antic wooden pipe and poured himself a glass of the finest scotch.

"Pour yourself a glass dear, I am going back next month."

"Great news, sir." Silla's voice came out of the speakers as her head appeared to float before Gorge's armchair.

"I do not see you pouring."

"You know very well I don't drink, sir."

"Such a shame… at least drop the formalities. You never listen to me, but tonight I am not your boss. I am in a good mood and I would like to share it with you."

"Good news?" a small pause in which she seemed to struggle a bit but then added "Gorge?"

Gorge's mood got even better.

"Yes, I will be flying commercial home. And make sure the tickets are not business class."

"What?" Gorge enjoyed her flustered sight.

"And I will need two tickets."

Silia rolled her eyes and gave up on trying to understand. She knew there was logic behind everything he did, and she loved working under him, but sometimes he acted like her senile grandfather. She learnt to just go with him at those times.

"There's something you need to know before you start drinking… Gorge."

"What is it dear?" He lowered the glass from his lips.

"She called again…"

Gorge's hair seemed to stand up as anger flared in him but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Is it something important?"

"No, sir."

"Silia, no honorifics, please." He said with a fatherly smile and downed his glass in one go.

A bird sang outside the window.

During the day hundreds of birds crocked and chirped, believing the sounds coming out of their beaks were beautiful songs while in reality all they did was make noise.

But during the night, the birds that kept silent during the day, unwilling to compete with others, burst out with their beautiful melodies. They did not care if there was anyone out there to hear them; they did it because they would die if they didn't. Luckily, tonight there was someone listening and these birds much rather have one person who listened than a whole crowd pretending to.

Jon lay on his bed, listening to the sweet melody.

He went to sleep early, and used to sleeping for three to four hours a night, he woke up early as well. As a kid he suffered from insomnia, and even after it passed he never managed to go back to a normal sleeping schedule.

Jon tried to laze around and do nothing, but he got bored. Things bored him pretty fast in general, and laying on his back the birds melody didn't hold his interest for long.

-'Is this what it's going to be like from now on?'-

He rolled around for another hour forcing himself to stay in bed. The moon was still up in the sky and the day hadn't even begun.

Making a grunting sound he got up and went down stairs. Preparing a quick snack, he was surprised at how easily he could handle himself in the kitchen.

Sitting down in the living room he searched the internet for ways to spend one's free time. He wasn't ready for what jumped at him on the screen.

Advertisements for "Royal Road" dominated his view; everything seemed to relate itself to the game.

Shows, sports, vacations, tourism, Royal Road took over every aspect of entertainment there was. It didn't matter what Jon searched for, in the end it still came back to Royal Road. There were even schools that took place entirely inside the game.

With every search word, eventually leading to the same thing he gave up and decided to go for an early morning swim. For two weeks he had been living on a gorgeous island yet he never took time to enjoy it.

As he walked down to the beach his mood slowly worsened and while he floated in the sea, the waves gently rocking him back and forth, his mood turned foul. Even the breathtaking sunrise before him couldn't lift the black cloud that seemed to surround him.

The cause of it was the fact that he found it all dull.

Sure, the scenery was beautiful, but so was the scenery in Royal Road. At some places it was even better than real life. The "Heart of the Forest" area looked much better than anything he had ever seen.

But what was more important than looks was the content.

Real life couldn't surprise him anymore. As he floated in the seemingly endless sea he knew that that was all there was to it. In Royal Road he always had to be on his guard since there was no way of knowing what would happen next.

He swam around, feeling his muscles clench in the sudden effort and enjoy the exercise. The water was just the right temperature and the little wind that was blowing a few moments ago was gone, now that the sun rose higher in the sky.

Every thought he had eventually boiled down to one conclusion; he needed to play the Royal Road.

Jon didn't know what it was he wanted to do but he knew that playing the game would give him four times as much time to decide. More so, everything he had learnt in the game could be applied to real life.

-'Maybe I'll learn to play an instrument…'- From this moment his mind began to race.

He stepped out onto the beach and lost in his thoughts he walked back and forth.

So many possibilities opened up before him, he didn't understand why he hadn't seen it before. Every hobby he had ever wanted to have he could have inside the game and he would have four times as much time to enjoy them.

'-And I don't have to stick to hobbies…'-

The game allowed complete freedom, the psychopath he had killed taught him that, so why not play around with the system.

There was one thing he got really good at in the past five years and in the skirmish he fought in, he proved to himself that in the game he could do everything he imagined.

-'I fought together with wolves! And the aerial moves I pulled off never worked in real life… maybe I can make my other fantasies work as well?'-

Feats of superhuman strength, speed and agility flashed in his mind. By switching super powers with magic, the ways in which he imagined himself defeating opponents and fighting in wars seemed innumerable.

Imagining the things he might be able to do made his blood boil. It was the same feeling he had right before he faced an oncoming army with his wolves. It was a feeling he got addicted to in the first years of his underground fighting, but forgot about when the thrill of fighting disappeared. Now that he remembered this feeling he wasn't able to relax.

Jon started sweating. A fire lit inside him and it was burning him from the inside.

He walked fast, almost running, back to the wooden house and nearly slammed through the door when it refused to open.

Gorge offered him breakfast but Jon refused politely and headed straight to the capsule in the living room. He turned back in his tracks and headed into the kitchen while the capsule powered up.

"So you are hungry?" Gorge said with a laugh, the sound of processors from the capsule mixed with it.

"No." Jon spoke from outside the kitchen, not bothering to enter as he wasn't planning to stay for long. "Gorge, I haven't decided what I'll do with my life yet, but that doesn't meant I'll stop playing Royal Road." He paused to see if Gorge would say anything but when no response came he continued.

"Royal Road is a game! I don't need a special reason to play it. As long as I enjoy it I won't stop. Whatever else comes along let it come; I'll tackle it when it comes. For now, I want to spend my free time playing the game I enjoy the way I enjoy playing."

The looked at each other until a beeping sound from the capsule announced that it was ready for use. Once the silence was broken Gorge breathed out a small sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Have fun," he said to Jon sincerely and resumed eating.

Jon went back into the living room and entered the capsule. The darkness enveloped him as the lid closed, but a few seconds later he closed his eyes and let his consciousness enter the game.

Frightened fish hurried to get away from him.

His body materialized underwater and he was gasping for air. Kicking the soft sand on the bottom he jumped out of the pool breathing deep, enjoying the sweet, moldy air of the forest.

He climbed onto the bank and shook some of the water off. Looking around himself he felt at peace that he had made the right decision.

The heart of the forest felt like a magical place, and it probably was.

Jon wanted to return to the citadel but he had no idea where he was. After some looking around he chose what looked to him like the largest tree trunk. The first branches started far up and there was no other foot hold on the ancient tree so holding an arrow in each hand he used them to climb it.

It took him more than half an hour, but eventually the thick blanket of leaves was penetrated and direct rays of sunlight blinded him and made his eyes water. He didn't realize how dim the clearing actually was.

He almost fell down when he tried to wipe away the tears but managed to grab hold and keep climbing. Passing the tree tops around him he knew he chose correctly. The tree he was climbing was taller than the rest and the closer he got to its highest point the farther he could see.

The green forest spread out to the horizon, blocking anything that could have been hiding amongst it from sight.

New Achievement

Going Up

You've earned this achievement for climbing a 100 meter tree.

Bonus: +5 Strength

Achievements Earned: 1/76847

He thought the mountains to his north were familiar and when he looked to the south he saw, what he hoped was the tallest tower of Seraborg citadel. He wasn't sure but there was nothing else to do but go in that direction and check.

Jon started to climb down but stopped when he saw the time. The sun would soon begin to set and that appealed to him. Sliding down to a sturdy branch he found a comfortable position, leaned his head back on the tree trunk, and basking in the warm evening sun, he waited.

-'What a way to start a new page in my life.'-

Jon smiled, set an alarm clock through the main menu and dozed off.