“What is this place?” Zav said out loud, to nobody in particular.

  [System]

  Welcome to [Everlight]

  Area: Thawgarden

  [Thawgarden] huh… He wondered where Cian was? Hell, he should have asked him his character's name before jumping right into the game himself.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  He just had to try to find him out in the world. Or, perhaps, he could simply play the game and talk to him later. He shrugged; he would have to figure out the details later.

  Zav tugged on his leather coat and found it to be flimsy. It was the beginning armor for the species he chose at character select. A sudden chill from the surrounding snow gave him pause. He had to buy something warmer. And fast. Luckily, he [Spawned] close to a town, and sauntered towards it without much hassle.

  As he passed two [NPC] guards, he found that this small snow village was bustling with both new and veteran looking [Players]. [Players] with shining armor, holding enormous weapons wreathed in magical flame. It filled him with excitement. He too, with enough effort, could be like them.

  Then someone shoved him to the side.

  “Watch it, scrub,” a taller human man said, resting his hand on the hilt of a large claymore that dangled against his back. It was silverish and gleaming, matching his armor, except at the edge of the blade, which seemed to pulsate with a dark energy.

  “Piss off,” Zav replied, flipping him the bird. It had always been his way. He wouldn’t let someone disrespect him like that in real life, and he wouldn’t do so in a game, either.

  The warrior stepped forward, grinning. “Looks like someone needs to teach this little punk a lesson.” He leaned down and patted him on the head. “Come on, little gnome… let’s have a duel. What do you say?”

  Zav waved him off, but as he tried to walk away, the warrior stepped in his path, drawing his claymore and letting the tip rest on the ground a few steps from his feet. He turned the blade ever-so-slightly so that the darkened edge with its black sorcery faced him.

  “It wasn’t a request,” the warrior said in a dark tone. “Or do I simply need to kill every [NPC] here? To not allow anyone to do any quests?”

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  There was a grumbling from those who watched nearby.

  “Don’t be an asshole,” someone cried.

  Then others hushed them. “Do you know who that is?” a few seemed to say in unison. “Vorgarn Deathless, [GM] of the Deathless Dryads.”

  The crowd turned on him in a split second.

  “Just fight him,” one demanded.

  Then a woman added, “Yeah, don’t be a coward. If you pick a fight, don’t involve us in it.”

  Zav, never one to turn down a challenge, looked up at the bully and smiled.

  “Fine,” Zav said. “A duel then?”

  “Not so fast,” Vorgarn replied. “Since you’re so cocky, how’s about a wager?”

  Zav pulled out his pockets, showing them to be empty.

  “Just started,” he said. “Broke as a pauper.”

  Vorgarn scratched at his chin. “You’ve got a weapon, don’t ya’? Clothes? How about this? I wager 1,000 gold coins versus your pathetic equipment. Come on, you’d be crazy not to take that offer, considering all your stuff is worth less than 10 silver.”

  Zav merely shrugged. “Deal.”

  [System]

  [Vorgarn Radig] Challenged you to a duel.

  Do you accept? Y/N

  No turning back now. Not after he had made such a scene. A crowd had formed around them, and a shimmer of light had and formed to block others from joining the space between him and Vorgarn. Zav reached out and accepted the duel.

  ***

  “Spare a few coins?” Zav asked, shivering in his underwear.

  Those around him chuckled and continued onwards, leaving him in the cold. No armor, no weapon… not even boots to walk in. Truthfully, he never expected to win, but he hadn’t even struck Vorgarn one time—and not for lack of trying. The man moved so effortlessly in that huge armor, and each time Zav had struck out, with melee or ranged, he merely glanced the attack away, as if Zav were just some annoying gnat.

  Vorgarn Radig… Someday he would make the man pay.

  As Zav was contemplating logging out for the night, he heard a voice rise out from the cacophony of snickers and jeers to say, “That was really stupid, you know?”

  [System]

  Buff gained: [Warming Ichor]

  Zav turned and was struck by the sight of a beautiful pale elven woman with long black hair. She held a sort of chalice in her hands with some red material inside. It was thick, almost rocklike in its rigor, but as she swung her hand, palm down, above it, the material became watery, slouching in the chalice before the entire thing suddenly dissipated in the air.

  “As I said… Stupid. Ridiculous even. And here I thought I would come over to speak to the fool of the hour, but now I’m thinking… does that make me foolish as well? And If I’m foolish, who’s the true fool between us?”

  Zav put on his best smile, staring up at her with an… advantageous view of her blossoming chest.

  “Does there need to be a hierarchy?” he asked. “Perhaps we can be fools together? Foolish fools, but equal in that foolishness.”

  She considered his words and then smiled.

  Perhaps this day wasn’t to be a total loss after all.