I wanted to kill him.

  I wondered what it would be like to be a PK. That got me thinking about if it would be considered murder. Most of the players that died in the game also died in real life. That meant by killing someone here, I would also be killing them in the real world. I didn’t know how closely the developers could watch monitor the game. I decided it would be better not to chance it.

  Jonnie hadn’t shut up the entire trip. It was like he could still talk whether he was breathing in or out. His stories were wild and extravagant. I wondered how much of it was just storytelling and how much he had actually done. I was leaning towards mostly the former.

  The shock rocks were at the top of the peaks. During storms lightning would strike the tops of the peaks and charge the stones. These charged stones could be melted down in a forge and converted into electric based material. Most of the rock would be destroyed, the forty two chucks I was after would be enough to make half a dagger blade.

  Climbing up the peaks wasn’t too difficult for me. Jonnie on the other hand, wasn’t cut out for climbing. The hem of his robe kept getting caught on everything. He constantly had to shake out his sleeves to grab the next hold. I found myself spending more time waiting for him to catch up than I was spending on actually climbing.

  “Can’t you just take that thing off?” I asked while I waited for him to catch up yet again.

  “I’ll need some music if you want me to strip for you.” He winked at me

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  “Uh!” I picked up a rock and thought about throwing it at him. I set it back down. "You’re slowing me down!”

  He pulled himself up next to me. We were only halfway up the peak. The sun was already starting to go down. We might have enough daylight left to make it to the top, but we were going to have to make the trek back to town in the dark.

  “You’ve got a point.’ He wheezed. He grabbed the front of his robe and pulled it off.

  I had been expecting his arms to be covered in runes. Every rune on his body was blue, but that wasn’t what shocked me. It was the tattoos on the back of his shoulders and the scars that crisscrossed his body.

  “Sexy huh?” He wadded up his robe and threw it at me. "Put that in your bag.”

  I stuffed the robe into my bag. "Those tats?”

  “They’re runes.” He ran his fingers over the runes. "I’m an Ice Mage.”

  “No that’s not...” I started. "Wait, you’re an Ice Mage?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “At a lightning branch?”

  “Mount Terra is out of the way.” He shrugged. "I wanted some alone time.”

  I eyed him. Jonnie wasn’t a loner. He was someone that wanted to be in the middle of things. "You’re running.”

  “I didn’t say…” His voice trailed off. "Look, can we just enjoy the day?”

  “I didn’t mean to pry.” I stood up. "How much further up?”

  He looked up. "All the way.”

  The look in his eyes told me that he wanted to talk, but that it was painful for him to talk about. He had a story to tell, but right now wasn’t the time. I could wait until he was ready to tell it.

  I touched him on the shoulder. "”Let’s see how fast you can climb now.”

  He grinned. "I’m going to beat you to the top!”

  I smiled as I watched him climb. I hoped he would.

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