Chapter 15: Separated Paths (Part 2)

Chapter 15: Separated Paths (Part 2) It's called a library, but there are no books here,

"So, there's an Engineer Class, eh," Alan muttered, consulting a System Screen. "What do they do?"

"Is that the Class you're interested in?" Tamara moved closer to him and read over his shoulder. "Look, it's divided into three subclasses. One specializes in empowering themselves by crafting their own custom weapons, one acts as a support, creating healing and boost devices for their team, and one that allows the User to build their own robotic minions to fight for them."

"All of them sound quite interesting," Alan said, tapping the screen until Marissa's loud groaning made him cringe.

"Are you seriously going to waste all day reading that?" Marissa moaned from her spot, lying upside down on an armchair. "This is your first day in Londorus! You should do fun stuff instead!"

"Technically, this is my second day here."

"True," Marissa smirked, "but now you're free to take a tour. What do you say?"

Tamara shook her head. "Um, Marissa..."

"You know what? I'd love to take a walk around the city," Alan said, looking expectantly at Tamara.

"Londorus is a Safe Zone, Tammie," Marissa insisted.

The young mage pursed her lips, as if mentally battling with herself. "F-Fine! But we have to be here before Astrid returns, okay? Remember that you'll have dinner with her tonight."

"Yay!" Marissa beamed, jumping out of her seat. "Where should we go first?"

"Before we go, can I copy this Engineer info to my User Interface?" Alan asked.

"You could borrow a book instead!" Tamara smiled at him. "There's the 'print' option on the top right corner of the screen. Tap it."

Alan did, and from a crack in the desk, a blue, leather book emerged. "Cool." Alan tapped the item and saved it inside his inventory.

"Let's go, then!" Marissa sang, marching to the exit, but Tamara pulled her by one arm.

"You're just tagging along because Astrid told you to stay, am I right?" Tamara hissed.

"I'm bored and grounded, yes, but I'd rather believe she indirectly told me to keep an eye on his guest wherever he goes," Marissa responded, chuckling.

Tamara puffed out her cheeks and let her go.

Reaching the front gate took them a couple of minutes, and ignoring the other guild members' gazes was easier with Marissa by his side. The young woman marched as if she was the real Guild Master, confident and prideful. Even Tamara seemed insignificant beside her. Alan glanced at the petite mage, who walked cautiously as if danger lurked at every corner.

When the front double doors opened, Alan was face to face with a lively city.

He walked through the front yard blindly, admiring the motorized vehicles passing at great speed, looking at the street vendors, watching people riding winged beasts. The Victorian buildings looked sturdy and elegant, and all the passersby were good-looking, wearing shiny and colorful clothes.

"This resembles a city from Earth, but at the same time, it's like something out of a fantasy!"

"Just watch your step, Five," Marissa said, pulling him by the collar of his jacket, as a sleek, black car halted in front of the HQ.

This thing almost ran me over!

"T-Thank you, Marissa."

She did not respond, as something at their backs caught her attention. Alan, along with guild members peering through the windows, followed with their gaze the group of four exiting the building.

Marco Souza was leading the group, hands in his black dragon leather coat pockets, holding the most arrogant smirk in all of The Novus. Two stunning, beautiful women walked by his side, looking more like supermodels than powerful mages.

Sporting a navy blue, cocktail dress, Karen Svensson cast a final condescending glance at the surrounding people. Wearing a front zipper, strapless black leather mini dress, Amelia Laflamme tossed her hair behind her shoulder, ignoring everything and everyone.

Lastly, Faiza Khalil followed them at the back, hiding her face inside her panda hoodie.

Inadvertently, Amelia noticed the three standing on the sidewalk, before getting into the car.

"I've been looking for you all over the place. Why weren't you answering my messages?" Amelia asked Marissa, as her companions entered the vehicle. She then stretched out a hand to her. "Doesn't matter. Come. It's time to go."

Marissa moved closer to the astonished Tamara instead and grabbed her hand tightly.

"Marissa, what are you doing? It's now or never," Amelia insisted, tensing her jaw, but her sister did not budge. The redhead's voice broke: "W-Why?"

"She made her choice, Amelia," Marco said loudly from his seat's window. "Let's go."

Amelia's expression suddenly turned severe. "Fine. Suit yourself, then." She then glared in Alan's direction.

What the hell was that? Alan thought while watching the car drive away.

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"As you can see, Londorus has been modeled after one of the greatest cities of the Old World," Tamara said proudly as they crossed a bridge, but Alan was too distracted by recent events to reply.

He didn't even notice the hundreds of gazes fixed on the single-digit number above his head. Several people tried to approach him, but Marissa scared them away with just a glare.

"Can we go to 'Jack Robins'?" she suddenly asked in a small voice. "I have a craving for a milkshake."

It's the first thing she's said since we left the guild's HQ. She's asking as if she were a child.

Alan caught Tamara's gaze and nodded.

"Sounds great!"

Minutes later, Alan thought they were entering a kids' store. What am I thinking? There are no kids on this spaceship. WE WERE the last kids on Earth.

The pastel colors dominated every wall of the establishment, as well as the NPC's uniforms, and the ice cream cups. He squinted as if the brightness hurt his eyes.

Pink. Everywhere you look.

"Here you go, Alan," Tamara said, handing him a chocolate ice cream cone, which he inspected before tasting it.

I've changed my mind... I love this place.

Turning around, he watched Marissa already gulping her dessert absentmindedly.

"Do you... want to talk about it?" he whispered to her, but the strawberry blonde responded by hitting his forehead with her index finger. "ARGH! W-what was that for?!"

"Shut up. It's kind of your fault, you know?"

"My fault? What are you talking about?!"

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"Hello, my dear space conquerors! Are you feeling Cosmic today?! Let me hear you, people of Iregorn!"

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What's that?

Alan looked around until he spotted a video screen at the back of the establishment. A pink-haired girl wearing a gleaming purple dress was addressing the camera. Her smile was wide and charming, her mannerisms mesmerizing, and her body captivating.

If space were a kingdom, she would be its queen...

"Hey, I know her. I watched one of her music videos yesterday. And I think she's also a commentator? I'm not sure. What's her name?"

"Miss Cosmica!" Tamara replied from her spot near the cash register. "She's awesome!"

The idol danced and sang alongside another young woman, wearing a matching dress. A banner at the bottom of the screen read: 'Live from Iregorn - Burning Love Summer Tour'.

"And the gal dancing with her is Consteline," Tamara continued, taking a seat.

Beside Alan, Marissa slurped her milkshake loudly, finished her drink, and started tapping on her User Interface.

"Neat names," Alan commented, glancing at the five-liter ice cream cup Tamara had brought. "Are you really going to eat all that?"

"Of course. Why?"

Seconds later, Alan received a System notification.

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Marissa Laflamme has sent you a Friend Request!

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Alan turned to Marissa, who continued tapping on her interface. Once he accepted, another request popped up in his field of vision.

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Marissa Laflamme wants to start a Party Chat.

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"Why are you not--?"

Marissa pinched his leg under the table, making him flinch. Confused, he glanced at Tamara, who was obscured by the ice cream cup. He reluctantly accepted.

(Don't say a thing out loud,) Marissa's voice echoed in Alan's head. (If you filter your thoughts, we can talk privately using this.)

"How--?" he began out loud, shut himself, and cleared his throat. Imagining himself talking inside his head, he asked, (Like this?)

(Yeah, that's it.)

(Woah! This is like telepathy! Awesome!)

(I'd call it handy.)

Alan glanced at Tamara again. (Why don't people talk like this all the time, then?)

(It's considered rude.)

(Figures. But aren't we being rude to Tamara, then?)

"Did you enjoy your ice cream?" Tamara suddenly asked. "Chocolate is a no-brainer."

(Yes!) He shook his head. "I mean, yes! I'm glad we came."

(You were asking if I wanted to 'talk about it', so here we go,) Marissa continued. (I just don't want Tamara to listen. I mean, she's a cool gal, and I trust her, but...)

(Okay, I'm all ears. Or brains. Get it?)

(Shut up.) Marissa took a deep breath. (If you ever wanted to take revenge on Marco and the rest of last night's 'welcoming party', you're out of luck.) She locked eyes with him. (Marco and his most loyal followers quit the guild today.)

"WHAT?!"

"What's wrong, Alan?" Marissa asked before Tamara could.

"I... saw someone identical to Miss Cosmica outside."

"She's performing live on Iregorn, Alan," Tamara said. "But I wouldn't be surprised. Since her debut, her look has become popular among the Novus' youth. No one rocked the pink-hair style as well as she does now."

"I see. It was a look-alike then..." He chuckled before returning to the Party Chat. (Marissa, there's something I need to know and Tamara seems reluctant to speak about it. What happened last night after Astrid showed up?)

(Tamara would say that ignorance is a blessing...)

(Hey! You were the one who started this private conversation and told me this was all my fault...)

(I said that, didn't I? Well, let's say that the reason all of these jerks quit was that they didn't like being punished by Astrid yesterday. And by 'punished' I mean OBLITERATED. It was glorious! It's pretty well known that Astrid is super ruthless, but last night she took it to the next level!)

(I thought you weren't there last night.)

(I wasn't, but Helen told me every single detail. She's the one who informed Astrid about Marco's private party and saved your level-five butt.) She giggled. (She even captured video of last night's highlights. For instance...)

Alan received a file through their private chat. By opening it, a video window popped up inside his line of vision. Alan watched in disbelief as Astrid disposed of Amelia Laflamme with shocking ease, impaling her in the stomach. It was reminiscent of how the very same redhead had taken away many of his virtual lives.

The video that Marissa had shared with him was quite graphic. He witnessed the exact moment Astrid pulled her arm out and Amelia collapsed lifelessly into the floor before ending.

Marissa slurped her milkshake loudly while explaining, (As you can see, Astrid saw Marco's actions as a betrayal. As the First Officer, he convinced a third of the guild to turn against you and Shooting Stars' principles, according to her.)

I knew it! I knew Astrid wasn't involved in all this!

Marissa continued, (Oh, I forgot to mention that Astrid told everyone the reason for your three-year absence.)

Alan broke out in a cold sweat.

(She... did?)

(Yeah, she told us all about your comatose state. That Cryosleep isn't perfect, and that it can induce a coma in one person out of 10,000, or something like that? Whatever. Since Marco wasn't going to back off nor apologize for what he did... Well...) She looked him in the eyes. (Hell broke loose shortly after. Astrid threatened to KILL them all as punishment, and High-Levelers don't like that 'word'. Can you wonder why?)

(If I remember right, you lose a portion of your gold when you die.)

(Correct. Half of your gold to be precise. Imagine what that means for a High-Level User.)

(Did she really fight out everyone who was involved?)

(Hard to believe? Here's another instance featuring Jason Foreman. Let me show you Astrid's reaction when she found out about the whole gold fiasco. You're going to love it!)

Alan received another file through their private chat. Upon opening it, a video window popped up inside his line of vision, showing Astrid punching a lanky guy and sending him crashing against the nearest wall. The video's sound suggested that the victim continued traveling outside of the HQ's grounds.

(Was that Jason? The monocle guy from earlier?)

(Yep. You know, now that I think about it, it surprises me that he survived that. Whatever. This is what happened next, you're gonna love it!)

In the second video, a spectacle of blue and red lights, initially mesmerizing, turned into a hellish show. It was impossible for the camera to keep track of all the chaos, but Alan discerned what seemed to be silhouettes attacking each other. But no... They're all attacking a single individual... Holy Space Jeezus.

The camera turned to its side, where Tamara could be seen reaching out her hand to the air.

(Please, tell me your shield will last!) a voice said, out of view.

(We're safe!) the recorded Tamara replied in a distressed voice. (It has to endure! He has suffered enough!)

The camera then looked down, focusing on a dormant Alan, resting in Tamara's lap.

Is this what I suddenly remembered hours ago? It must be. So Tamara and this other girl, Helen, I suppose, were protecting me while... that happened.

He continued watching the recorded battle unfolding a few feet away from them and swallowed.

(So... What we saw an hour ago outside HQ...)

(Amelia wanted me to join Marco's new guild.)

(And you rejected the offer. That's why she looked so hurt. You sisters won't be able to hang out anymore--)

(Hey! I was hurt, too!)

(You're right, sorry. But what's going to happen to Shooting Stars now? Wasn't Marco the First Officer?)

(Guilds are created, disbanded, and merged all the time, Five. Astrid will find someone who can fill the role in a heartbeat, trust me... Unless you want the job.) She smirked, causing Alan to fall silent for a moment. Consequently, he received a barrage of noises and unintelligible words through their chat. (Gosh, clear your thoughts, Five!)

(Where is he now?) he asked.

(Who? Marco? I thought you'd ask about my sister... Wait. Why are you asking that?)

(There's something I need to talk about with him.)

(You're not planning something stupid, are you?) she asked. Alan did not respond, but something in his eyes made Marissa chuckle. (Okay, then. There is someone I need to see, too. Hurry, mention that you're thirsty.)

(Just like that? Um, okay.)

"Tamara, don't you feel thirsty after eating all that ice cream?" Alan asked. He could finally see the petite girl after she had consumed half of the cup.

(Come on, Alan, another push.)

"Because I need a drink! You know what I mean?"

Tamara narrowed her eyes at both, especially at Marissa.

"If that's what you want, how about the Drinking Banshee?" Marissa suggested.

Tamara put the spoon down on the cup, exhaled, and responded in a deeper tone of voice: "COUNT ME IN."

Oh, god. What have we done?