I am a rock.

I’ve always been a rock.

I live on this mountain, peacefully living my life.

Dad was a rock. Mom was also a rock. My whole family is rocks. We have always been rocks.

I only wanted to live on the side of my mountain home and be a rock. It’s a peaceful existence. I get to feel the mountain wind, watch the clouds overhead, and bathe in the seasonal snow.

It’s a good existence. At least I believe so. My dad once said, “Son, there is nothing better than being what you are. Be happy.”

I took his words to heart.

Sometimes I think of other rocks living on other mountains. One day I may meet them, ask them about their lives, and learn of the greater world.

But for now, I am a happy little rock.

I felt a new presence coming up my mountain. I could feel it long before it could reach my home on the side of the mountain. It was a warrior, coming to claim my skin as its own. The latest warrior in a long line of them. Since I became of age, a trickle of warriors came to destroy me. Sometimes I would defeat them, sometimes they would defeat me.

I would however survive for the next challenger.

This warrior was no different in its goals. However, like all warriors that came before it, this warrior had a different set of equipment. It was interesting to face off with a different warrior each time. Helped ease off the boredom.

I still loved my mountain air. But a fight every now and then was good for the soul.

The warrior reached the top of the mountain where my home was. The warrior was clad in medium armor, with a sword and a shield. He shifted his equipment around a bit. I saw a talisman and a crossbow. He would likely not use the crossbow much, if at all. I had seen the design before. It dealt decent damage but did not have the reload to make it worthwhile. It also didn’t do enough damage to bleed past my outer protections.

The magic was unlikely to be that dangerous as well. Heavy armor conducts magical efficiency, effectively increasing the cost to cast spells. Offensive magic would be too expensive to deploy against me. Healing magic, however, still be low enough to be worth as a back-up heal.

The warrior stood against me. I stood unmoving. The warrior had a chance to back out and go home. The warrior started to approach my form. This triggered the mountain itself to bring forth its magic. The warrior stopped to look back. I stood, unmoving. The mountain air became like a wall of fog. The fog moved past the warrior to block him in.

The warrior was now stuck in here with me.

I got off the boulder that I had been sitting on. I could see the warrior start to shake a bit before his resolve kicked in and he settled down.

I slowly made my way towards the warrior. I didn’t make the first move. He made it. The man stabbed at my unprotected armor. I blocked his strike with my shield, causing him to bounce off. I pushed forward with the shield, knocking the man back a meter.

I decided to make an attacking move. I lifted my dragon claw above my head. The man intended to dodge it, but he dodged way too early. I pivoted in my attack and struck him. My attack nearly killed him. His response was to dodge away from me and back up to the far end of the arena where he pulled out a flask and took two swigs of it. No matter.

I approached him again, my shield out in front. My stamina would be slow to recover but I didn’t mind. I wanted to see how much stamina damage he could inflict on my rock-solid defenses before I made my next attacking move.