Mark, Tobias, and Johan were going to have breakfast together. But just a moment before they entered the lunchroom, Johan was called away by some new urgent thing. So Mark and Tobias entered the lunchroom alone, waiting in a line next to the kitchen until eventually each of them received some pretty decent omelets and some bread.

  “How are you doing this? Where did you get the ingredients?” Mark asked.

  The girl serving the food looked at him with confusion. Then she noticed the scar on his face and realized he was one of the newly arrived Gamers.

  “The fortress was pretty well-appointed. We have a lot of chickens on one side of the place—and they make more eggs than back on Earth. And for the bread? The ingredients were already there, and a guy from the kitchen knew how to do it.“

  “Cool, thanks. It looks delicious,” Mark answered with a smile before looking away to search for a place to sit.

  “I finish in an hour. If you want, I can show you around the fortress,” the girl added, staring at him with a shy smile. “It’s very cool, it’s almost as if whoever lived here left in a hurry, not that long ago. And there’s a lot of wine, we can even have a drink, if you want…”

  That surprised Mark. It’s not like back on Earth he never had any luck with girls. But it was always him who had to try taking the initiative. Women showing interest like this was Arthur’s world—something you admired, or envied, from a distance. And the girl was pretty, with happy eyes and a few cute freckles.

  “Yeah. Of course,” Mark answered, also smiling. His heart was beating a little faster. “I would love it. Do I come here in an hour?”

  She looked at his eyes for a second, and then looked away, biting her lower lip. Very flirty and cute stuff.

  “Sure. I’ll see you…”

  “What the fuck is happening?” asked some guy coming out of the kitchen. He was covered in sweat, looking stressed. Probably one of the cooks. “Who’s holding the line? You! Asshole! Everybody’s waiting to eat, leave Lucia alone!”

  Mark looked behind him and realized that he was indeed holding the line. Not wanting to start any trouble, he started to walk away. Although first, he shared another smile with the girl and enjoyed the fluttering in his stomach.

  Life is good. Life is great, he thought, suddenly in the greatest of moods.

  “Fuck you, Mark! Have some respect for your fellow Gamers!”

  Then reality hit Mark like a wall of bricks. Eric the Zealot was shouting at him, grinning and making gestures for him to join him at his table. Tobias was already there, not looking very enthusiastic about it.

  “Hi, Eric,” Mark said, sitting next to the Gamer, “Where are the Vikings?”

  Eric was eating his sandwich omelet with great appetite. Unlike everybody else, he also had a couple of small sausages on his plate—and he ignored Mark and Tobias’s envious glances like a pro, not sharing even an ounce of them.

  “I left them in their rooms. They were tired and not very interested in seeing us test who can become a [Mage] and who can’t. Is it true that none of them had any ability for magic?”

  “Yeah. Only Tobias and Emily had the ability.”

  “And… does it really hurt as much as they say, if you’re not one of the chosen?”

  Mark realized that Eric intended to be the first to test the magic book, and he was worried about the pain that people without magic skills suffered when they tried to study the book.

  “It’s harder the second time,” Mark answered. “The first time it’s painful, but not worse than a heavy headache. And it’s gone pretty fast—less than a minute.”

  That seemed to relax Eric a little.

  “Oh. Cool,” he said.

  Then they started talking about other stuff. Eric was incredibly interested in their whole adventure recovering the magic book. And seeing his shining eyes, the enthusiasm he exuded, and the respect his soldiers had for him, Mark realized that he had misjudged the young man.

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  He was a good kid.

  Mark had expected their arrival would create some tension. He was an old friend of Johan, and Arthur was a natural leader. He had assumed Eric would consider them a threat to his position as the second in command of the fortress.

  But he had been wrong.

  Eric the Zealot loved having them with him. And if anything, he seemed to be a fanboy of Arthur.

  “It was amazing—seeing him arrive mounted on the horse of his enemies, pumping the bloodied sword into the air. I get fucking chills every time I remember. You think he’ll be there when we’re testing everybody for magical skills? My people have stopped searching for him—I told them to ignore Johan’s orders to find him, and to leave him alone; if he’s getting laid, he’s getting laid. Have some goddamn respect for the man, right?”

  Mark had seen the hide of one of the wolves Eric had killed a couple of days before, when they had taken the fortress.

  It was big.

  Bigger than anything that existed back on Earth. Standing on all fours, it probably reached up to the chest of a man of normal height.

  There had been six such beasts.

  And the second day after their resurrection, Eric and a handful of his men had climbed up the fortress, not knowing what was inside, and fought the animals using swords they had never used before. Apparently, the whole thing had ended with them holed up inside a small storage room near the training field, creating a killing zone for the furious animals.

  It was pretty impressive.

  Not on the same level as killing eighty Mongols outnumbering you five to one. But still decent. Certainly more than I expected.

  Tobias was toasting his sandwich with his basic fire skill—even after a couple of weeks, the Gamer still smiled every time he did something magical. Then he noticed Liam exiting the kitchen with a bag hanging from his shoulder.

  “Hey! Liam! Where have you been?”

  The teenager noticed them and approached. He seemed a little uncomfortable.

  “Hi, guys. Hi, Eric.”

  Mark was a little surprised. He didn’t know Liam and Eric knew each other.

  “Where have you been, man?” Mark asked. “Come on, sit with us and have some breakfast.”

  “Sorry, I can’t. I have things to do…”

  “What things?” Tobias asked, confused. “The magic testing? I don’t think anybody expects us to be there all the time. It will probably last the whole day.”

  “Not that. I’m leaving for a scouting mission. Right now.”

  “You’re doing what?” Mark asked.

  Liam was visibly uncomfortable.

  “Ah… Eric?” he said, asking for some help.

  Eric had to finish swallowing before he could answer.

  “Yeah. He’s joined my team of Zealots. The marines are organizing a forward patrolling system so we can have some early warning if any danger approaches the fortress.”

  Mark didn’t care.

  “What the fuck? You poached one of our guys?”

  “Eric did nothing,” Liam said. “I offered to join myself. Please, don’t get angry with him.”

  “But you don’t have to join him! We’re forming a special ops squad, with Arthur, Tobias, Emily, and me. You’re totally part of our team.”

  “Obviously,” Tobias agreed.

  Liam looked around, even more uncomfortable. People from the nearest tables had stopped eating to listen. The teenager lowered his voice.

  “Sorry. I loved to train and fight with you. It was amazing. I respect you all so much. But I cannot—I cannot see more people die. I prefer to go by myself, and risk only myself. And I’m a [Scout]. I’m going to do what my Class is for. Not fighting—exploring and warning my allies. Please, understand it. I cannot see more friends die…”

  Mark remembered Liam sitting alone in the cannon bay, back in the Glimpse of Valhalla. Thinking by himself. And the whole trip back to the fortress, he had kept to himself, barely speaking with anybody.

  I guess I should have seen it coming. He’s been distancing himself from us since the battle finished.

  He offered his hand. Liam seemed relieved when he took it.

  “I wish you the best,” Mark said. “If you ever need anything, or change your opinion…”

  Liam smiled.

  “Thanks. See you around.”

  He shook Tobias’s hand. Tobias seemed really sad, but he still made an effort to smile and say:

  “I already told you, but I wish I’d had your balls at your age. Make us proud.”

  Liam laughed. Smiled. And then he was gone, to be part of his first scouting mission outside the fortress.

  Eric watched him walk away. He had kept eating with great appetite while Mark and Tobias had their heartfelt goodbye.

  “Don’t worry—he’s in good hands. Today’s barely a mission. We’ll just show him and a couple of new kids the surroundings of the fortress.”

  Mark stole the last sausage from Eric’s plate. Eric smiled, rolling his eyes as if he were an adult dealing with a child.

  “Fuck you, Mark.”

  Mark was too busy stuffing the sausage in his mouth to answer.

  “Did you poach Gustav too?” Tobias asked.

  “I didn’t poach… okay, sure. You mean the other guy who came with you and the Vikings? He’s making his own fighting group. He doesn’t have too many people, though; I assume about ten.”

  “Is he taking them from your Zealots?”

  “Of course not! My people are loyal!” Then he seemed to realize how that sounded after having poached Liam from them. “You know, there’s nothing wrong with moving around the Gamer Battalion, of course. Finding out where you fit better. But in Gustav’s case, it’s all guys who didn’t want to join the Zealots. Most of them are on the older side, twenty-five and above.”

  The battalion already being divided in factions cannot be good news…, Mark thought.

  Eric finished his plate and got up.

  “Well, let’s become a fucking [Mage],” he said, walking toward the door. Everybody else was taking their plates to the kitchen, but he left his on the table. “Hogwarts, daddy’s coming.”

  The Magic Test was about to begin.

  Please God, don’t let him become a Mage, Mark thought. Fuck that dude.