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395: Wear and Tear

Author: Random_writer Word Count: 8351 Updated: 2025-06-09 14:45:00

Wear and Tear

3Frey's eyes were glued to the sled as he raced out into the open, but a familiar chime stopped him in his tracks. His gaze locked onto a familiar toy. 'Is that…Arte's?' he thought.

His hesitation cost him, alerting the goblins to his presence. Their shrill cries dragged him back to reality. Half of them turned tail and ran with the sled while the other half knocked arrows to their bows.

A few months prior…

Frey tossed and turned in his sleep, his blankets drenched in a cold sweat. "No," he muttered. The year-long war had ended but the bruise on his back, Ashtehar's parting gift to him, was still painfully fresh.

"You weren't strong enough, Frey," an accusing voice rang out in the darkness. "You were weak."

"Hopi, I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"

A soft chime cut through the nightmare. It was so clear and crisp, as if it had lifted the pillow off Freys' ears. Frey's eyes cracked open, and he found himself no longer trapped within his recurring nightmare.

Crickets hopped through the bright moonlight, singing a song to celebrate the summer night's pleasant warmth. A gust of wind reached through holes in the shack's walls and stroked Frey's sweaty forehead. He sat up and scanned for the source of the chime; Arte's toy.

It was a doll of a knight with a silver bell embedded in its chest. Black, button eyes stared from an expressionless, straw-filled face.

Arte's little hands reached out towards his toy, which had fallen through the crib's bars. His enormous eyes were wide with mixed emotions, teaming with silent tears.

Frey gently picked the toy off the ground. Arte reached out for his toy but Frey pulled it away from his tiny hand. Arte let out an unintelligible mutter, but his intent was clear. Frey smiled, held it within Arte's reach, then pulled away again.

The pleasant chime sounded. His soft smile widened. However, Arte was determined not to give up. He sucked up his tears and kept fighting.

"You're just as stubborn as our grandfather is," Frey remarked to himself.

The battle over the toy knight grew so intense that he barely noticed a shadow entering the room. "What are you doing?" a baggy-eyed Gwen asked, staring daggers at the little toy. Arte grew silent.

"We couldn't sleep." Frey explained.

"Not that," Gwen hissed. "You mentioned our grandfather. You swore you wouldn't do that anymore. We both did."

"He can't understand me," Frey reassured her.

"I-I don't like it," Gwen stammered. "We already got our lives tangled up like this because of him. Remember that little shelter we made out of things from his broken spatial ring? Remember how you had to sell off those weapons just to make enough coins so we could afford this place?"

Frey nodded: "I remember."

"Well I don't want to," Gwen insisted, glancing at the toy knight. "He doesn't need to know who his grandfather is. We don't have to listen to grandfather's stories anymore, or lie about living up to his overly-righteous values. Just forget him. He's gone."

Arte's face reddened as he began to cry.

Frey raised his voice over his nephew's crying. "Arte should know the danger he might face."

Gwen prodded a finger at Frey's chest: "He's my child, brother, not yours. I won't allow any of this stuff to haunt us anymore. Arte's going to be a normal kid and live a normal life. I'm tired of it all. I'm going to bed. Anything else you want to lecture me about?"

Frey sighed: "I'm sorry."

Gwen stopped in the doorway. "You always are so pessimistic and distrusting with everyone. Then when it's your family, suddenly you're so obsessed, it's like you'd rather die than see us suffer a scratch."

Frey chuckled. "That's what we were told to do, to look out for one another. You remember that promise, right?"

Gwen rolled her eyes: "I'm going to bed. Take care of him for me." She slammed the door in Frey's face and stormed back to bed.

Frey cursed and held the toy above Arte's crying face. "There there. Everything is going to be ok. Everything is going to be ok."

Its chime rang clear and crisp throughout the rest of the night…

The toy's chime was rustic, almost crying out for its owner. Frey snatched the toy off the ground, then swung his shield through the rain of arrows. He didn't just want to kill the goblins. They needed to die, all of them. A torrent of life essence condensed around his body. He charged into the thick of the group.

Faced with a hulking, huffing brute of a man, the goblins drew their blades and threw themselves at him.

Frey was alone after all, and each time he swung, there would be bound to be an opening; that was what they thought.

Frey rooted his feet to the ground, and pulled his pole axe back, and put all his weight into the swing. He watched the blade sail through the crowd; shattered blades, severing bodies, and sending whatever remained to the ground - either twitching or motionless.

He exhaled a large puff of fog, surprised that he had to struggle in order to keep his balance. He shook his head. 'I can't be this tired,' he thought. The fight wasn't over. The Lava Boar's horn still sat on the sled. He wiped the sweat from his face, and kept running after it.

Wolves pulled the sled through the forest while the surviving goblins let loose their arrows at the pursuing Frey. Harmless the arrows may be to Frey, since he had a shield to intercept them with, they slowed him down. The distance between them only grew.

'If only this stupid snow wasn't in my way,' Frey thought. His armor was made for flat dirt, not trudging through the snow. He was not a fast runner to begin with. The only thing he could do was condense more and more life essence around his legs, but that had its limits.

The goblins laughed at his misery. No matter how strong Frey was, he wasn't as quick as their mounts. It was only a matter of time till they lost him.

"No you don't," Frey yelled out. Desperate, he forced even more life essence around his legs. He winced, feeling both his stamina reserves draining away and his muscles burning. When he kicked off the ground, he flew into the air. His stomach dropped. He flailed about uncontrollably for a dozen paces before crashing to the ground. He cursed.

The goblins' laughter began to fade.

Frey leapt to his feet. Arte's toy knight slipped out of his pocket, its rustic chime grating against his ears. While he had run and fought, he shouldn't have been so out of breath. 'Something's wrong with me,' he thought, shaking his head. The only thing carrying him forward was the raw anger that chime invited into his heart. He shoved the toy back into his pocket.

'Alright, let's try this again,' he thought. He dusted himself off, bent both his legs, and leapt as far forward as he could. His head sailed over the treetops for a moment before he landed back down. He smiled, catching a glimpse of the fleeing sled. He leapt off his other foot, his momentum continuing to build up with each jump across the snow.

"Hello again!" Frey laughed aloud. The goblins looked back in horror as he landed on their sled, smiled, then brought his pole axe down with a resounding bang.

Everything went flying.

Frey woke up to a grumbling stomach, finding himself lying face down in the snow. He pulled himself to his knees. He could see vague outlines growing smaller, the retreating goblins. He rubbed his eyes and things began to clear. 'I must be getting out of shape,' he thought. 'Didn't I eat before I left? Why are goblins such a pain today?' He glanced to the side to find the remains of the sled.

Searching through the remains, his fingers were eventually burnt by the object he was looking for, the lava Boar's tusk. 'Finally, I can get this back to Elero.' He smiled and put the tusk into his spatial ring, but as he turned to leave, the toy in his pocket jingled. Arte was still missing.

'Those goblins couldn't have gotten far,' Frey thought. 'There are some caves nearby they're probably based in. I can come back…or maybe not. They failed their mission. They'll likely send out more goblins to get another horn. More humans.'

He took a deep breath, stretched, and continued marching onwards. "You'll have to wait a little longer for me, Elero. Olpi can take care of you in the meantime."

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Catalog (467)
1: Prologue 2: Pawn 3: Abuse 4: Rose Thorn 5: A Mother Worries 6: War Monk 7: Virility Mansion 8: Coming war 9: Cleaning books 10: Frey 11: Strength vs. Skill 12: A day in Jameson's Shoes 13: Investigation 14: Lava Boar (Part 1) 15: Lava Boar (part 2) 16: Lava Boar (part 3) 17: Analysis 18: The Past 19: Frey's Challenge 20: Life Essence Training 21: Unhappy Birthday 22: The Truth 23: Leaving 24: Numbskull and Goon 25: Emma 26: Double Date 27: Blacksmith 28: Double Date (Part 2) 29: Mummified Arm 30: Prophecy 31: A Single Cut 32: Inheritance 33: Blasphemy 34: The Rat 35: Twisted Bone 36: Old Addiction 37: Caught 38: Interrogation 39: Welcome to Squad Six 40: Friendly Spar With Squad Six 41: Throwing Knives 42: Calm Before the Storm 43: Manticore 44: Aftermath of The First Battle 45: Promotion 46: New Rivalry 47: Light and Healing Magic 48: Second Mission 49: Wade's Bad Call 50: Outnumbered and Isolated 151: Divine Intervention 152: Final Push 153: Reaper 154: Report 155: Light at the End of the Tunnel 156: Rest 157: Letter 158: Shopping (Part 1/2) 159: Shopping (Part 2/2) 160: Initiation 161: Group of Four 162: Amphiboards 163: The Paddle 164: Start! 165: Bullfrog 166: Noble 167: Underwater 168: Tongue 169: Distant Gaze 170: Trak 171: Doubt 172: Liar 173: Fang 174: Cerberus 175: Teamwork 176: Tired 177: Spear Throwing 178: Breakdown 179: Team 180: Payback 181: Civil Discussion 182: Chains and Anger 183: Mistakes 184: Slight tug 185: Growing pain 186: The Winning Plan 187: Corpse 188: Miss Vessa 189: Old Ways 190: Infectious Determination 191: Numbed Pain 192: Hues 193: Inexperienced (Part 1/2) 194: Inexperienced (Part 2/2) 195: Maddening Rage (Part 1) 196: Maddening Rage (Part 2) 197: The Other Half 198: Lich Talk 199: Demonic Weapon 200: Worst of the Worst 251: Piece of an Origin Story 252: Regret 253: Decisions Decisions 254: Sparring Session 255: Overwhelming Defeat 256: Discovery 257: Suspicion 258: The Broken Statue 259: Gossip 260: The Reach 261: Elero's Return 262: Mr. Lich's true identity 263: Breaking a Habit 264: The Notemaker 265: Beatings, Deadlines, and a Voice in Her Head 266: Unfinished Product 267: The "Jet" Property 268: Inspiration 269: Rough First Day 270: Frustrating Stagnation 271: Visitor 272: Price of Resurrection 273: Becoming Doevm 274: Room of Jars 275: Familiar Smile 276: Dark Magic and Shadows 277: Red and Blue 278: Punishment 279: Sneaking Out 280: The Old Puppet 281: Shattered 282: Assembling the Pieces 283: Timeline 284: Sticks and Stones 285: Initiative, Insults, and Interrogation 286: Thomas and Elero discover the power and the secret then they go and discover the ruins. Man how long can these titles be? I 287: Regret 288: Revamped Story and a Crowded Room 289: Attack 290: Changing Nightmare 291: Another Crack in the Seal 292: Physical descriptions are important 293: Backyard 294: Pale complexion 295: Costly Resurrection 296: Rabbid Rabbit Thomas 297: Cramped Coffin 298: Advanced Spellcraft 299: Gradual Return 300: Larque's Warning 51: Elven Techniques 52: Hopi's Rage 53: Bottled Slimes 54: Three Men of the Von Trike Household 55: Hooks and Vines 56: The Nest 57: Ancient Ruins 58: Legacy (Part 1) 59: Legacy (Part 2) 60: Easter Egg Hunt: Ghoul Edition 61: Regrouping 62: Carnage 63: Reckless and Stupid 64: Self Doubt 65: DID YOU WANT ME TO BE QUIET!? 66: Meeting With Marcus 67: New Men 68: Internal Battle 69: The Plan 70: "Honorable" Duel (Part 1) 71: "Honorable" Duel (Part 2) 72: You're Invited 73: Praise the Goddess 74: A Lich That Hates Magic 75: Ten Months Later 76: Doevm vs. Oliver 77: A Weird Lich 78: Final Battle (Part 1) 79: Final Battle (Part 2) 80: Final Battle (Part 3) 81: General 82: Aftermath 83: No Longer Human. No Longer Lich. 84: Blinded By Greed 85: The Spider 86: Back On Track! 87: Dark World 88: Return to the Virility Household 89: Old Man's Story 90: Meeting The Family 91: Dummy Brigade 92: Weak 93: New Weapons 94: First Mission 95: Sheltered Boy 96: No Graves 97: Severed Head 98: Specimen No. 12 99: Storm Brewing 100: Departure 201: Distrust 202: Spear and Shield 203: Winner 204: Karma 205: Training Complete 206: Ruined Church 207: The Scene of Slaughter 208: Giant's Rage 209: Bottled Emotions 210: Gregen's Blade 211: Inhumane 212: Just My Luck 213: The Demon's Prey 214: Fallen (Part 1/2) 215: Fallen (Part 2/2) 216: Losing Control 217: Nightmare 218: Lich 219: Final Secrets Revealed 220: Twisted Mind 221: Glossary, NOT A CHAPTER 222: Coming to A Close 223: Jackal's Deal 224: Swaying the Crowd 225: Away With You 226: New Recruit 227: Jar of Memories 228: Two Blue Flames 229: Cerlius 230: The Knight's Academy 231: Meeting (1/3) 232: Meeting (2/3) 233: Meeting (3/3) 234: Entering the Academy (1/4) 235: Entering the Academy (2/4) 236: Entering the Academy (3/4) 237: Entering the Academy (4/4) 238: Cerlius's First Day of School 239: Three Concepts of Magic 240: Picking up the Pieces 241: Third Concept 242: Fish Slap 243: My name is Cerlius! 244: Thomas's Natural Charisma 245: New Disciples 246: Consequences of Strength 247: Old Wheelchair 248: Judgement 249: Natural Evil Cannot Be Forgotten 250: Deal with a Demon 101: Scrap City (Part 1) 102: Scrap City (Part 2) 103: Curiosity Killed the Cat 104: Draken Capital 105: Flash of Light 106: Separation 107: Slow Recovery 108: Jackal Von Trike 109: Alexander Finlish 110: Place Your Bets 111: Catch 112: Kill Him 113: Fear 114: Depths of the Capital 115: Missing 116: Meeting of the Nobles 117: Creature (Part 1) 118: Creature (Part 2) 119: Creature (Part 3) 120: Later 121: Braces 122: Abandoned Food 123: Elero Mech 124: Masochist 125: Poisonous 126: Halfbreed 127: Jackal vs. Daniel (Part 1) 128: Jackal vs Daniel (Part 2) 129: March 130: Lord Brandon Von Trike 131: Raid (Part 1) 132: Raid (Part 2) 133: Raid (Part 3) 134: Raid (Part 4) 135: Raid (Part 5) 136: Raid (Part 6) 137: Sore Loser 138: Human Suffering 139: Broken (Part 1) 140: Broken (Part 2) 141: Dark Magician 142: The Plan 143: Unmoving 144: Action Reaction 145: Going Deeper 146: Unknown Voice 147: Gunshots 148: Illusion Spell 149: A Girl 150: Anger Management Issues 301: Alliance 302: Shattered Jar 303: Tricks up the Tyrant's Sleeve 304: Battlefield 305: Deep Scars 306: Pull 307: Tormentor 308: Heretic 309: Incoming Storm Cloud 310: Ominous Birth 311: To Take on an Army 312: Green Gemstone 313: Place of Origin 314: Birth of the Lich 315: You Either Die a Hero or... 316: Tired of Hiding 317: Demon King's Power 318: Different Magics 319: Guidance 320: Birth of a Berserker 321: Targets 322: The Survivors 323: Long Awaited Contact 324: The Final Cliffhanger (part 1/2) 325: The Final Cliffhanger (part 1.5/2) Yes, I know I f***ed up 326: Final Final Cliffhanger, an apology 327: Quiet Arrival 328: Wizard Kick 329: Dead Silence 330: Dwindling Defenses 331: Positions Everyone, for the Show Begins 332: Imminent demise 333: Dud Part 1/2 (but let's be real here it'll probably be out of 3 because I underestimate stuff) 334: Dud Part 2 (Thanks to Logician for the suggestion) 335: Dud Part 3 336: Refusal to Submit 337: Hungry for a Fight 338: Lich Unleashed Part 1 339: Lich Unleashed Part 2 340: Lich Unleashed Part 3 341: The Western Hallway: Part 1 342: The Western Hallway: Part 2 343: The Mess Hall: Part 1 344: The Forbidden One's Arrival 345: Two Kings, a Rook, a Queen, a Priest, and a Whole lot of Pawns 346: Exception to the Rule 347: Fellow Pawn 348: Divine Savior 349: The Aftermath 350: The Shadox's Lament 351: Elero's Operation 352: Fall Down Seven Times. Get Up Eight Times. 353: PMI: Passive Magical Income 354: Hurried Goodbye 355: Graduation 356: Undead Shambling Through the Streets 357: Can I come with you? 358: Graduation 359: Sparring Session 360: Liar Liar 361: Washed Up Demi 362: Just a corpse 363: Into the Ruin 364: A Hero's Hesitation 365: Losing Control 366: Paying the Price 367: To Rely on Oneself 368: Kin 369: Deal 370: Come With Me 371: When It's Painful, Cry, Then Get Back Up. 372: Thomas's Choice 373: Bloodtrail 374: Plan B 375: Fighting to Die 376: Past the Breaking Point 377: Captain Fisher 378: Prologue 379: Prologue (Part 2) 380: Prologue (Part 3) 381: Prologue (Part 4) 382: Prologue (Part 5) 383: Last Day in a Long Journey 384: Frowning Frey 385: Mercenaries 386: Distracted 387: Lord Jameson 388: Disarming Sincerity 389: Search For Arte 390: Friendly Fire 391: Anger and Gentleness of a Giant 392: Safe Haven 393: The legend of Arthur Botoman 394: Old Foe 395: Wear and Tear 396: Compliments to the Chef (Part 1) 397: Compliments to the Chef (Part 2) 398: My Only Family (Part 1) 399: My Only Family (Part 2) 400: Wake up! 401: Whispers Underground 402: Why a chef? 403: Hostage Situation 404: Radiant Burst 405: Left Alive? 406: The Slap 407: The Right Choice (Part 1/2) 408: The Right Choice (Part 2/2) 409: Report from the Capital 410: Owen's Warning 411: Patron 412: Goodbye Petal Town 413: Old Friend in the Bloodwood 414: Boiling Toad 415: Full Alert 416: Relying on Magic 417: Gutless Cur 418: Doevm's paranoia 419: A Letter From Elero 420: Takeoff 421: Destination: Polyglint Mines 422: Good Old Reverse Psychology 423: Got any better ideas? 424: Blending in 425: Sir Wilhelm 426: Passing on a Message 427: Let's Play a Game 428: Kilot's Infectious Laughter 429: Descent into the Darkest Darkness...which is Dark (Part 1/2) 430: Descent into the Darkest Darkness...which is Dark (Part 2/2) 431: EEEWWWWWWWWWWWW 432: Firing up the Forge 433: The Second Legacy 434: Hit the Books 435: Welcome to the Game, Doevm 436: The Players 437: The Hollow Stone 438: The Lich's Blessing 439: Stupid Frey 440: Dragon Hoard 441: The Source of the Mana and the Unconscious Ally 442: The Classic Old Dwarvish Bait 443: Chronomancy, an Assassin, and a Theory 444: The Assassin's Execution 445: Jumping at Shadows 446: Whole again 447: An Old Dwarf has his Tricks 448: Food, Shelter, and Privacy 449: Maker's Punishment 450: New Image 451: The Troop's Morale 452: Divide and Conquer 453: Custom Order Tool 454: The Beginning of the Last Crucade 455: Recurring Dream or Nightmare? 456: Instigating a Fight 457: The Arrogance of the Strong 458: The Hunt Begins 459: Edgy Tendencies and a Pure-Hearted Smile 460: Reward: Ascention 461: Multi-layered Trap 462: Percieved Threat 463: Rise of the False Hope 464: Questionable Alliance 465: A Reason to Fight 466: When an Unstoppable Force Meets an Unmovable Object 467: Lesson One Complete
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