Mike stood in the now empty throne room and could barely breathe. First he had to process what had happened in the last few minutes.
"Two... two people gone?"
He staggered and found himself on the floor again. Mike let himself fall onto his back and curled up slightly. The death of Ryolos and the unnecessary death of Trix would stay with him for a long time. Ice was completely lost in her thoughts too. She stood against the wall, leaning back, her hands trembling.
"Hey Ice, let us keep going for the two of them," Mike said as he sat up with tears in his eyes. He wiped them away and stood.
"Here. Ryolos was a brave warrior. He dropped his sword here."
Mike dared to take out the sword and held it out to Ice. But Ice did not even look at him. She was not really here anymore, lost somewhere else entirely. Mike wanted to speak again.
"So..."
But another guardian already burst into the room. He had black fur and gray white horns like the others. The guardian widened his eyes in shock when he saw the two humans. Then he showed his sharp teeth and leapt forward.
Mike raised his dagger and jumped as well. One of them would be hit. Mike cut the shadow tiger clean in half. It despawned in the air.
At least the surprise attack had something useful in it. Ice looked up at Mike, and he noticed it. He sat down beside her.
"Ice, hey? Do you hear me now?"
Ice looked at him for a while longer, then nodded. But they were interrupted again. Someone else entered the throne room. Mike was surprised when he saw no horns. It was a human.
He looked young, with long brown hair and green eyes. In his hand he held a hammer, and on his back was a large backpack that immediately stood out.
"Are you a blacksmith?"
The newcomer jumped when he suddenly heard a voice. He had not seen anyone and whispered toward the throne,
"Uhm, yes? Is the throne talking to me?"
He looked at the throne in confusion. Of course, he had not seen them right away. They were not exactly hidden, just standing behind the throne. Mike stepped out from behind it and waved.
"Hello."
The blacksmith yelped and fell backwards. The weight of the backpack pulled him down and kept him from standing back up. In a serious situation, he would have been... well, done for.
"So you are a blacksmith, right?" Mike asked as he watched him struggle. It looked funny, like a fish out of water. The blacksmith flailed helplessly, unable to lift himself with that enormous backpack.
The blacksmith finally spoke."Young warrior, help the blacksmith, yes?"
"Only if you forge something for me for free!" Mike emphasized the word "free" loudly, and the blacksmith nodded in panic.
Mike stepped behind him, lifted both the backpack and the man with ease, and set him upright again. The blacksmith staggered, then pulled himself together.
"Thank you, young sir," he said with a grateful gesture. "Good, then let me settle my debt. What shall I forge?"
Mike opened his inventory. He did not understand it himself. It seemed he gained about ten slots per day. He did not even need that many. At the moment, six of forty were filled. He did not complain, but the admin system was strange. As an admin, should he not be flying around instead of walking on solid ground?
Mike shook his head when he noticed how his thoughts drifted again.
"These here. What can you make out of them?"
He showed the blacksmith all the horns he had collected. They were a bit smaller now. He laid them on the ground and saw that he had many gray white ones and two golden ones.
Mike already knew what he wanted.
"A sword!"
The blacksmith grinned. "A sword from the horns of shadow tigers? Hm, very, very good. Okay, I'll make it."
Mike realized this was not a real player, but an NPC. Whether the game developers had placed him specifically for Mike was unclear, but Mike was grateful. He watched as the blacksmith set his backpack down carefully. Then the backpack opened on its own, and suddenly a small forge appeared in the throne room, complete with everything needed: an anvil, tools, and a small lava spot.
"How the… did you carry lava?" Mike whispered, quietly enough that no one else could hear. He just watched in awe, then turned his gaze from the new forge to Ice. She watched the spectacle as well, but did not smile.
The blacksmith leaned toward Mike and whispered, "Is everything okay with the girl?"
Mike looked at him and replied coldly, yet normally, "Probably not. But do your work. I want to pass through the jungle soon."
The blacksmith looked thoughtful. "Well, young warrior, you'll have to be patient. The jungle is very large. You must know, we are still at the very beginning."
Mike couldn't quite believe it. "At the beginning?" He had expected the jungle to be large, but not that they were still at the start.
"We have already traveled several nights, and every day we go many meters back!" The blacksmith laughed and then went silent. He prepared his hammer and tongs, placing the hammer on the table he had summoned. Then he grabbed a horn with the tongs and dipped it into the hot lava.
"Good luck," said the blacksmith with a smile, then went silent, concentrating.
Mike turned to Ice. "A blacksmith just walked in here, funny, right?" he asked, sitting down next to her.
"Mhm," Ice replied coldly.
Mike realized he could do nothing for her, no matter how hard he tried. She would now only be thinking of Trix's and Ryolos's deaths. So Mike said one sentence and stood up.
"Okay, it'll be fine."
"Hm, mhm," Ice nodded, looking at the spot where Trix had died.
Mike was about to go back to the blacksmith when the blacksmith spoke to him.
"Finished, sir!"
Mike had to have misheard. "Already finished?"