Chapter 25: Falling Behind

Frost awoke feeling disoriented until he remembered that he was lying in his own bed. The game had turned itself off and disconnected him as a safety measure after he had passed out. He was staring at the insides of the helmet with the light filter turned off, another automatic function of the forced disconnect. He tried to stay calm as he took a shower and filled his stomach with the first reasonable thing he could find. The breakfast he ate tasted like sand, his thoughts still focused on the game, preoccupied by the concern that he hadn't done enough to save the fairies. They could all have been killed and he wouldn't know until he returned to the game. He changed his bed's sheets and looked at the time. It was almost nine, meaning he had slept over ten hours and more than a day had passed in the game world.

That was the main reason he wasn't completely stressing and rushing to return to the game. It was already too late to do anything else and inall likelihood the fairies would either no longer be in danger, or they would already be dead. Reid logged into the game, still slightly drowsy from having woken up recently. The recent quest had been the most exhausting ordeal he had ever dealt with, taking a toll on both his mind and body. He wouldn't be able to fully relax until he was absolutely certain that the fairies were safe and would continue to be so.

Frost awoke on the cool ground of a cave with dark grey walls and moving shadows, staring into the face of Emiri who stood directly above him. "Did you have a nice nap?" she asked sweetly, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes. "I graciously rescued you from all of those people after you appeared from out of nowhere and started threatening me."

His cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as he recalled his words to her and he stiffly rose to his feet, swiping away the quest complete window and turning to bow towards Emiri. "Sorry about that. I was pretty desperate."

She smirked, dismissing the issue with a wave of her hand as she turned to one of the walls. The shadows she neared stretched towards her as if they yearned for her touch. She reached a hand out, twirling a tendril of shadow between her fingers as she said, "You disappeared from my sight after you fell. I could still feel your life force through the shadows until three weeks later when your existence was no more. Then you suddenly appeared days later with an absurd request after I had already given you up for dead. What happened?"

Frost summed up the events from the time he fell until Seraya had rescued him a second time, leaving out anything that wasn't important enough. He was full of nervous energy, eager to find out how the fairies were doing without him, making his speech rushed and clumsy. He paused when he reached the point in the explanation where Seraya had been murdered, his voice caught in his throat. He turned away, losing his stiffness as he was reminded of her last moments. It was painful to recall, and he still didn't want to speak of it yet. "After we reached the end of the chaos zone, I had to take the curse and escape through the city with it, so I did. I called out and you didn't answer. No one did. I was desperate when I called out to you a second time."

"Very well.I will send you back to them. I can see that you are anxious to see them again."

"Thank you."

"That was the last time I will save you, so do not expect me to do so again. And Frost."

"Yes?"

"Do not ever threaten me again." she spoke in a voice edged with ice, the matching cold look she gave him from the corner of her eye sent a shiver down his spine as he sunk down into the shadows while floundering for a response. He had none.

Frost took off his mask and put it into his bag before stepping through the foggy window in front of him. He was standing at the edge of the city on the side that led into the mountain, grateful for Emiri's aid and a little frightened by her response to his threat. He had to remember that they weren't friends so much as partners in a mutually beneficial business relationship.

No one paid any attention to him as they all seemed to be in a rush to get somewhere or were preoccupied with their own problems. There was no way they would be able to recognize him anyway. It seemed that everything had already returned to normal, but that was concerning in its own way. There was no commotion about a large group of fairies, which he had imagined there would be if the little people had been discovered. He had already completed the quest, raising his level by two and bringing it to thirty nine, but they could have been killed after the quest was over and he had no way of knowing.

How many of the fairies had died following his lead, trusting that his instructions would keep them safe while he was trying to break the curse. He loped out of the city at a slow run, picking up speed on his way to the meeting place that they had decided on beforehand. He was relatively close, but with all the collapsed passageways, there was no direct path to the cavernous dead end they were meeting at. He eventually made his way there, turning the corner and passing betwen the torches at the doorway. His body moved before his mind did, whipping his sword out of the sheath at his belt as he tensed up. He immediately recognized the two girls standing near the fairies as members of the small raid group he had met in the chaos zone.

He approached them quickly but warily, eyeing them to watch what they were doing while also glancing at the fairies to see how many of them had fallen. His stealthy approach was ruined entirely by the dozens of eyes that turned to greet him, the fairies smiling joyfully at his return. Seeing them unhurt, all of them safe, he fell to his knees, embracing Frey who was the first to reach him. The rest of the fairies were right on her heels and their combined weight bowled him over until they were all in a pile. They cried tears of joy that soon turned into tears of sorrow. It was over, and they didn't have to be so strong anymore. They could grieve for the ones they had lost, ones they had loved.

It wasn't long before they were all breaking down, sobbing over the loss of Ber and Seraya. Frey began to sing a hauntingly sorrowful melody that picked up in volume as the others joined in. Frost hummed the tune, a much deeper bass compared to the high pitched voices of the fairies. They didn't care that there were others with them in the room, watching them in an intimate moment. Nothing mattered in that moment other than the joy in being able to reunite with one another and the sorrow of losing loved ones. Eventually, the fairies fell asleep around him, at least as exhausted as he had been since they had been waiting for him. He stepped gingerly around them, trying not to wake them up or step on them as he left their midst.

He turned to the two girls and the peaceful smile vanished from his face, replaced by a suspicious frown as he raised his sword. "What are you doing here? A dark player and some priestess from the group of hunters. Are you still planning to kill these children, or is there something else?"

"You're the wolf mask, aren't you?" Nala, the pretty fox girl, asked him. "You're younger than I expected."

Surprised by the sudden change in conversation and the accurate guess, he debated lying for a moment, but it wouldn't matter as long as they didn't know his name. A player wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an NPC and another player without knowing their name first. He narrowed his eyes, uncertain of what they wanted. They didn't look ready for a fight, but he wasn't about to let his own carelessness turn a victory into a disaster. "I am known as such. What are you after?"

"She helped protect the fairies so you should be grateful," the priestess barked at him. "She became a dark player for you and your buddies, so show some gratitude."

"Star! That's not why we're here." Nala berated her friend while Frost saw a name appear above Star's head along with the star that announced her as a player. She turned to Frost and bowed her head. "I'm sorry we didn't listen to you about them." She looked past him, towards the sleeping fairies. I realized you were right when I was chasing them down, but I don't think I would have if you hadn't told us about them. Thank you."

Frost raised an eyebrow questioningly, relaxing his guard somewhat as he put his sword away. "If it's true that you helped protect them, then I should be thanking you. Unfortunately, I don't know how to reward you fairly. "

"It's okay, we don't need anything. My name is Nala. If you ever need my help, you can call on me." She held out her hand, giving him a small, hollow blue crystal as light as a feather. It was DWO's way of sending a friend request so that it wouldn't take away from immersion and could be part of the lore. "You can crush it in your hand to create a bond between us that will make us allies." That was in the game's lore explanation of the "bond crystals" that all players started off with a hundred of. They were extremely cheap as well, so there wasn't really a problem with running out of them.

Frost accepted the crystal with a knowing smirk, but he didn't crush it. "I know how a bond crystal works," he said as he slipped it into his bag. Nala's face flushed with embarrassment and Frost couldn't help but stare for a moment. He shook his head which allowed him to change his attention to Shar who was standing next to him, sleepily rubbing her eye as she tugged on Frost's pants. Surprised that she was still awake, he leaned down towards the fairy that was short even among her kind and listened to the words she whispered sweetly into his ear. She confirmed that the beastmen girls in front of them had indeed helped protect the fairy folk from harm at the hands of even their allies. They had turned against their allies even before knowing that they were not demons. She said they were good girls.

Nala and Star had already begun to leave and were halfway to the door when Frost called out to them. "Wait." They turned to face him, looking at him expectantly, but saying nothing. "I will repay you some day."

Nala took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she replied. "You can repay me by staying alive until I'm strong enough to beat you in a duel."

"I promise that we will duel each other in the future, but I have no intentions of losing." He had expected her to ask for money or a rare item, but instead, she had asked for him to stay alive. In order to protect that promise, he couldn't allow himself to die while wearing the wolf mask. The wolf mask was a well known NPC and if he died, the news would spread all over the boards and throughout the game. If he appeared later, it would be known that the man was a player, or else he was a fake. No self respecting game company would dare to unceremoniously resurrect an NPC without proper reasoning and probably some type of special event. He would keep the promise in his own way and never die as the wolf mask until after he met her in that duel.

He watched them go and turned back to Shar, but she had already returned to the others and fallen asleep among them. He collapsed to the floor, finally free from the stress and worry that had plagued his mind far too often in recent days. The grief of losing Seraya, the pain of not being strong enough to protect her and the fairies had weighed heavily on him. All of his concerns and his fears left him all at once, leaving him feeling hollow and weary. He stared listlessly at the floor for a while, letting himself rest and relax as he blocked out thoughts of what he would do later on. His eyes slowly closed as he slipped into a mindless state and meditated as Deke taught him to.

He opened his eyes half an hour later and pulled his bag in front of him to look at the item Seraya had given him in her last moments. He pulled out the unidentified ball of light with concentric rings and closed his hand around it. The weight of a long, heavy metal object settled into his hand, it's appearance silvery. In his hand was the shaft of a bladed spear seemingly made of a single length of shining metal, smooth beyond compare. Frost estimated that the blade of the spear was close to fourteen inches, and nearly two inches wide. Two small blades curved out from the base of the main blade like a half moon melded into the weapon, taking the place of a crossbar.

Candle Lvl 1 Damage: 47-54 Durability 150/150

This spear is made of a mysterious, silvery metal. It's blade can glow softly in the dark if the user wills it to.

Restrictions: Hero of the Fae

'If you are ever lost in the dark, let this be the candle to light your way and remind you that I am watching over you.'-Seraya, The Fae Mother

The message reminded him of his guilt, but it also reminded him that Seraya would never have blamed him for her death. She would have been proud of him for lifting the curse. She would have smiled and told him what a great job he did, even if there were a million things he could have done better. She had helped to heal him in ways that he didn't even know he needed, and she would always be a part of him. She would always be real to him, no matter what.

The spear had impressive stats, the blade was a bit thinner than he would have expected and as a whole, the weapon felt significantly lighter than it should have. It didn't feel hollow, fragile, or fake, and it felt quite sturdy when he hit the blunt end against the ground. He twirled the spear around, marveling at how it felt in his hands. It was flexible and only slightly taller than he was while having impressive durability for a weapon so light. This particular spear was basically a metal staff with a short blade on the end, but that blade would make a huge difference in the way he fought. The most important aspect of the weapon was its level. If it had a level, then it could grow and become stronger with him, meaning there was a potential for him to be able to use candle for quite a while. He had used spears before and learned the basics, but that was mostly for body conditioning and as a part of his martial arts training, so he would need to become reacquainted with the skills and practice using them. He took a look at his stats as he thought about his next move.

Frost Winterstorm Lvl. 39 Titles: Firstborn, Hero of the Fae, Chosen Health: 905 Shadow Energy: 242/242 Stamina: 955/955 Strength: 114 Vitality: 85 Dexterity: 110 Stamina: 105 Wisdom: 50 Intelligence: 70 Agility: 150 Luck: 45 Health Regeneration: 0.95/s Energy Regeneration 0.50/s

He had visited his master Deke only a few times since the game started so that he could ground his fighting techniques in reality, and so that he didn't become a vegetable, as part of his daily exercise. He would need to visit him again and learn a little bit at a time, but he would take Seraya's gift and become a strong player with it. He stepped forward, his body moving in one fluid motion as he spun the spear around his body and brought the blade into an upward slash. Frost stepped further away from the sleeping fairies to practice with the spear, growing comfortable with its weight and length before he ran off into battle unprepared. He continued to practice with the weapon until the fairies woke up.

Frost spent the rest of the day taking them to the city and finding them a place to live. It wasn't hard, due to the fact that fairies apparently repelled evil spirits and supposedly had a positive effect on the magical energies of the places they reside in. The specifics of how their passive magic affected their environment was a little above his head, since he had never paid much attention to the magic system after initially deciding that he would be a melee class. He also chose not to hear out the specifics, because he only wanted to find them a good home and stop wasting time. He was happy to let them take the fairies and deal with all of the work and politics involved in inviting a new race to join the inhabitants of a city. Just knowing that they were safe and would be taken care of was enough for him.

The city offered him a monetary reward so he told them to use it to benefit the fairies. All in all, it was quite the tedious process that left Frost grumpy and uncomfortable from too much sitting and talking. The city had plenty of abandoned buildings that were suitable for them to live in, but they had to find the right place and it was all just an astronomical waste of his time. He asked for the bathroom and used it as an excuse to slip away from the proceedings. He sought out the fairies and said his farewells, planning to continue on his journey toward the southern end of the continent. He wouldn't make it there before the end of the beta, but that hardly mattered. Not ten steps from Baron Spark's office, a message popped up that stopped him in his tracks.

It was a brief message from Deke, telling him to come to Crest with no information as to why. It just said "Reid. Come to Crest. We need to meet and discuss some things." Frost blinked in confusion for a few moments as he tried to understand the message in front of him. How could Deke possibly send him a message? He had to know his character's name and had to have the game himself. When the hell did that happen? Still, standing around wondering about it wasn't going to give him any answers. He might as well just ask his master why he was in the game world when he arrived in Crest. He couldn't just ignore his master after all.

It took him fifteen minutes to seek out a Traversal Building in the city, which was approximately the equivalent to the mail system in that world. They had to have some way of communication with the outside world and it would take to long to go from one city to another for a few messages. Normal NPC's couldn't use windspeak and rarely had other convenient equipment such as bags that connected to another dimension for more storage. The Traversal Guild could also transport people, but it was generally considered to not be worth the twenty gold it would cost for them to transport a single person. Frost didn't care about the gold he had and he didn't have any use for the equipment he could buy. The upgrade to his equipment would be minimal and he would probably find better gear fighting boss monsters anyway.

Frost asked the Traversal mage to send him to Crest, the larger of the two huge cities on Frael Island, a massive piece of land on the Western side of the continent divided from the rest of the land by Sandshark Bay. The Island was roughly a half-moon shape sheltering the calm waters of the bay. When the war that decimated the populations of the continent occurred many years ago, Frael Island was affected a great deal less than the mainland. In fact, its two main cities, Crest and Bastion remained relatively untouched and still stood strong.

The travel time took fifteen minutes, but it was a dazzling view of the land as he soared above the ground below, speeding past forests, rivers, and plains. Finally, he passed over the bay and floated down onto the platform on the roof of the Traversal Guild building. Sadly, the building was at the edge of the city and he had already begun descending by the time he reached it. He was unable to get a very good view of the city with tall buildings and walls blocking his sight. He nodded to the man waiting at the platform and then headed towards the stone stairs leading down into the building. He passed through different areas of the guild building devoted to different forms of travel for both passengers and cargo.

To his surprise, Deke was waiting outside the building, an amused smirk on his face. The man looked to be in his late twenties, muscular and tall. Frost tried to stop himself from laughing and failed, letting out a snort as he turned his head away.

"What's so funny?"

"There's no way you were ever that tall," he grinned.

"What!? I was this tall when I was in my prime."

"Okay, I'll humor you. Anyway, why are you playing DWO? Also, since when do old people play games?" The two of them didn't have the traditional master and student relationship that most people would expect. Over time and through martial arts, they had become close friends who respected one another. They were close enough friends that they could laugh at and insult one another in a joking manner and neither of them would take offense. Still, when they were training, both of them were completely serious and focused.

Deke reigned in his smile to an impassive face as he looked seriously at Reid. "I heard from your parents that you're trying to win some tournament in this game."

Frost's smile also dropped from his face as he too became serious. "What, are you going to tell me that winning isn't everything and I should be learning martial arts only for self defense?"

Deke raised an eyebrow questioningly before responding. "No, I'm going to help you win. From what I understand, you are far behind everyone else in level, so you're going to need to do some serious training. What have you been doing this whole time?"

At this, Frost grinned again and gave Deke a bond crystal, saying "It will be easier if I show you. After Deke crushed it in his hands, Frost sent a party request which Deke accepted. He changed his settings so that party members could look at his stats other than just his health and Shadow Energy and then told Deke to go ahead. The look on his face brought immense satisfaction to Frost, who was quite proud of how powerful he was becoming.

"Ah,you chose the Hero's Burden trait, didn't you? Well, there goes my plan to seriously level you up. No training montage for you."

"You were planning to teach me how to be good at video games?"

"Kid, I was playing games since before your parents were born. I can't do martial arts all the time, you know."

"Well, I did have something I was hoping you could help me with, but I was going to wait until I was back in the real world." Frost reverently pulled out his spear, Candle, and held it out towards his master. "Please teach me how to use this spear. I remember most of the basics, but I'm going to use this as my main weapon."

Deke looked into his eyes and saw the sincerity in them. "This is important to you, I take it?"

"Yes."

"Good. You never really had much talent for a sword anyway. I'd be willing to bet that with a spear, you'll be a real monster. Let's stop wasting time and get started with training."

"Too stiff!" Deke yelled at him from a safe location on the beach a few miles from Crest. You need to relax your body until the moment you strike or else your attack will be clumsy and predictable! You can't swing a spear around like it's a staff! The balance is different and you aren't properly utilizing the blade on the end. That spear can be used to slash or thrust and you're hitting things with it like some kind of neanderthal. It's a versatile weapon and if you use it properly, you should be able to win any even battle."

Frost grit his teeth as he concentrated on the enemy in front of him. 'Even a giant crab boss monster fifteen levels above me?' Frost dodged and counterattacked a giant sweeping claw, barely scratching the thing's chitinous body. The creature had four claws; two of the claws were almost as big as Frost was while the other two were smaller, just big enough to crush his head if they go a grip on it. He deflected the two smaller claws, dancing in and out of striking range, attempting to get the feel of the spear in his hands. It was a familiar weapon, but he lacked enough experience to use the weapon effectively in combat. Sure, he could swing it around and use it like a staff, but then he wouldn't be using proper spear techniques or wielding the bladed end correctly.

Frost hopped backwards again, barely avoiding one of the large claws as the beast tried to bludgeon him with it. He frowned as he tried to get within its guard and was pushed back by the other claws. "If you can't fight this thing by yourself, then how do you expect to fight a boss monster?" Deke was yelling at him from the sidelines, giving him encouragement. Sort of.

Frost was losing to the crab monster since Deke restricted him from using any abilities to fight it. He was only allowed to use the spear, Candle, and his own basic ability to fight. He had to admit that the training methods Deke used were effective, which wasn't all that surprising considering how well they knew each other and how long Deke had been training him. When Frost failed at something, Deke would yell at him and tell him how to do it correctly. When he succeeded, he would only give minor complements so that Frost didn't become overconfident. Deke had discovered that Frost responded well to those training tactics and had continued to use them for years.

"I'm pretty sure this is a boss monster. The sand is slowing me down and it has too many arms. I can't get around it to flank it and the spear isn't doing a good job of piercing it's thick armor."

"Get used to it. Bosses tend to have slowing effects and sometimes have infnite mob summoning as well. Imagine how tough this guy would be if you had adds to deal with as well. Also, the spear is fine, it's your lack of technique that's the problem." Frost had no response for that, continuining to fight the creature in relative silence until his stamina was too low and Deke told him to retreat. The two sprinted away from the beach and watched as the crab scuttled back into the water, unwilling to follow them very far. Frost fell onto his back, panting as he tried to catch his breath, having used all of his stamina. He closed his eyes and let the soft ocean breeze ruffle his hair, making him wonder at how amazing ths world really was. It was still hard to believe that a virtual world could look and feel so real that he could almost lose himself there and become a part of it.

Deke let him recover for a while before he said anything. "Frost, you know I was joking about you falling behind with your lower level, but you really are falling behind without even realizing it."

"How so?" Even though he was a lower level, he should still be stronger or on par with most players.

"Did you feel weak when you started plating DWO?"

Frost looked curiously at his master but decided that there was probably a reason for the question. "No. Not really."

"Do you feel like you are a lot stronger than when you started?" Deke asked.

"Hmm. Maybe a little."

"As I thought. You're holding yourself back."

"I'm definitely faster and stronger than I was before. How am I holding myself back?"

"Your strength is ten times the starting value and you feel only a little bit stronger than before? Doesn't that seem a bit weird?"

"Diminishing returns? I assumed there was a limit to how much an increase in a stat could affect the character."

"No. The problem is your head. You're far too familiar with your own body, your real body, to know that you can break the limits set by your mind."

Frost pondered for a moment before speaking. "Oh, I get it. You mean that I know my limits too well in real life so I restrict myself in the game to follow those limits."

"Exactly."

"Alright. What do we do about that?"

Deke grinned, "I'm glad you asked."

A feeling of dread washed over Frost as he looked at the smile on Deke's face. "Shit."

"It looks like you're getting that training after all."