The trip back to the City outskirts was an adventure unto itself. This time, I didn’t seek to distance myself from others as I sought to practice what I had recently learned.
When I had woken from my impromptu post war nap, I felt like the hammered edges of my psyche had somehow become more consolidated and protective. Now I actively sought out any nearby Travelers to determine how much I had grown from that harrowing experience.
The first of my test victims came into sight as they were rummaging amongst the brush with swords poking through the low plant life.
“Hiyo!” I called out to them.
Instantly, they got into a protective stance with a somewhat armored half-elf male with silver hair and two others of a more canine persuasion. All three looked to be boys in their early teen years. They were almost guaranteed to be Travelers based on their appearance. It was unfortunate that I had no way to know their true age, as knowing such might offer better insights into breaking the ice of awkward communication.
As I neared them, I held my hands up in an open gesture, signaling that all I had was my staff.
The half elf called out to me as I continued my approach. “What brings you out this far?” His tone spoke to true curiosity even as his stance still yelled ‘I am wary of you!’
I guess seeing someone who appeared as comfortable among the wilds as I did, and determining that I came from deeper past the blurred safety line along the outskirts of the city, they were justifiably wary of me.
As such, I decided that getting closer without spooking them was likely out of the picture. So, instead of stepping nearer to them, I chose a close by tree to lazily lounge against. “Oh, I just came back from investigating some interesting sounds deeper in the woods.”
Intentionally meeting the eyes of their group leader, I added. “Did you know that there is a massive field of freshly dead goblins just about a 15-minute walk that way?”
I pointed in the direction I had come from.
Their looks of extreme doubt and concern puzzled me as I was sure that the sound of the explosions which rocked the battlefield should have been heard from this far away. Had the two eccentric elders put up a sound barrier of sorts, or was my sense of awareness of how sound traveled badly skewed?
“Believe me or not, I figured you might be able to get some kind of commendation if you turned in news of the event to the Traveler’s Adventure guild. But in all honesty its none of my business and I prefer to stay less known.” With my flippant explanation of the situation, I decided that getting close enough to this group of scared ‘rabbits’ to directly read their emotions, was not in the making.
Stepping around them without drawing any closer, I then continued on my way back.
It wasn’t much longer than 10 minutes before I came across another group, digging about the ground as they harvested various herbs.
“Hey!” One of them called out to me before I even had a chance to call them. “It’s the apothecaries apprentice, Andrew!”
Huh, maybe this was one of the groups I had helped out before in finding herbs. Feeling somewhat gratified for being able to cash in on past good deeds, I met their greeting and drew near to their far more relaxed party. As I approached, I surprisingly saw another figure I hadn’t expected to meet again after that shared ride back from the falls.
‘Ugh!’ My teeth clenched behind my hopefully still friendly smile.
It was the feline girl Traveler who had been tightly pressed against me for much of the ride back in the shared carriage many weeks ago. To this day, I was unsure if it had been fully intentional or somewhat accidental. All I particularly remember was her very close contact and teasing tail giving me uncomfortable feelings of arousal in response to the visual and physical stimulus.
In reality, such an incident would have likely resulted in criminal charges for me and maybe a slap on the wrist for her. That unsettling ride was particularly agonal due to my mental age struggling to calm my raging teenage hormones. Feeling those emotions which she evoked within me at the time had left me lost and floundering for a more tempered and mature response.
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I mentally cursed the need for the developers to age digress us to such a troublesome period of growth with rampaging hormones and physical development, regardless of our mental maturity and chronological age in the real world. However, given the situation, I felt the old saying, it is better to not look a gift horse in the mouth, was quite suitable. To me it meant, don’t look for the flaws in a gift freely given.
This would be an optimal situation to try out the effects of my new sensory skills due to their familiarity.
As I came within about three meters of them, I began feeling the fuzzy awareness of emotion. As I drew closer, highlighted among their group was the sensation of hope and expectation. Maybe they were wanting my help with something?
“What herbs are you guys looking for?” I looked to see where they were digging and to cast a stray glance at the cat girl. Finally, I had casually approached close enough to bring her aura into my sphere of more detailed awareness.
A rush of emotion swept over me which nearly made me rock back, as one would expect to in reaction to a physical attack. Gritting my teeth again in what I hoped would pass as a smile, I held my ground and acted oblivious to the different emotions within the group vying for my attention. It was a struggle to retain a stoic and open face while parsing out what they were each feeling.
They didn’t appear to have any set hierarchy within the group, but two of the young men certainly put off feelings of jealous protections towards the cat girl. The third young man who was digging away at the ground for herbs seemed oblivious to the subtle display of angsty teen hormones.
Cat girl was a whole other can of emotional worms. On her face was a look of pure vapid innocence. However, beneath that masked surface, her feelings gave off far more different vibes. I felt the rush of excitement and anticipation for the attention of the two young men. I couldn’t be sure due to the complexity of her more transitory emotions, but it felt like she had a hungry desire to intensify their animosity towards each other in order to watch the sparks fly.
That was not the most troublesome part though.
As she recognized who I was, her feelings seemed to change and now latch onto me, like an opportunistic parasite seeing a particularly juicy host to feed off of.
My lips curled a little in reflexive disgust.
Any memorable, amorous, or mixed feelings I had in recollecting our first encounter turned sour in my mouth and cold at my waist. This required me to look at her in an entirely new light as well as re-evaluate why I allowed her such liberties with me upon our first meet. There was nothing innocent, shy, or alluring about her now as I ‘saw’ behind the curtain.
To think I’d experience such in this world too. . .
In reality, I’ve met a few amazing women which to this day, I keep kicking myself for not being able to convince myself to step out of my comfort zone and take a chance with them. It is truly very difficult to walk the path of dating when you have so much to lose and when the world looks so bleak.
It also doesn’t help, when there are women and men, much like the cat girl, who possess a beautiful or charming smile and countenance, yet they contain carefully hidden poison inside, that too often, isn’t fully revealed until they lure you in and strip you of all visible means of escape.
Feelings of revulsion threatened to reveal themselves as I took all of this in. From this revelation, I did my absolute best to minimize any further interaction with the group. Quickly aiding them with their request for finding a certain herb, I made excuses to be on my way, during which I pointedly ignored the existence of the young feline. Confusion and more than a little disgruntlement were the biggest emotions I felt at my back as I quickly departed.
I could almost feel her licking her lips at my departing figure, and a shudder ran down my shoulders as I hastened my pace away. . .
I met a few other groups along the way with more generic and expected interactions. There was a plethora of emotions, but most were what you might expect from adults suffering from the hormones of a second adolescence.
Upon returning to the apothecary shop, I was met by a very anxious master who wanted to know where I had been and what I had experienced. Apparently, she had used the skilled sleuth services of her little teleporting squirrel Tirene. At some point, near the creek and cabin, I had simply disappeared for several hours. After much fruitless searching, the adorable creature had given up on finding me and returned to her friend to inform Victoria of what happened.
I got a bit of chittered berating, which was only pacified by several good throws of her ball in the back garden. As I entertained her, I recounted my adventure with my teacher who was rapt with interest.
Concern lit her features many times, especially when I confirmed their words in saying they were deities, but then a pondering and pensive look too over as she considered my words more carefully. Pulling out the note which they left for me, I showed it to her.
As she looked it over, her eyebrows climbed progressively higher on her face. Finally, she handed it back to me, and yet I was met with silence, as if she didn’t know what to say. Only after opening and closing her mouth several times as if trying to find words, did she speak.
“Andrew. I am terribly glad that you have come back in one piece.” She paused again as if carefully measuring what to say.
“It is good that you met Inaaya the goddess of time rather than many of the other deities out there. As she is an original denizen from your plane of existence, I believe that it should be alright, but. . .”
She held my gaze severely as she continued. “You. Must. Never. Assume. . . future encounters with deities or even devils will be this cordial or free of subterfuge.”
I could feel my core tremble with a light cascade of warmth and chills in reaction to the conviction in her own words.
She said many other things, mostly reaffirming her prior statements, but eventually I was allowed to return to my room after a hearty meal. My mind was awhirl with many troubling thoughts as I faded off to sleep that night.
.
.
.
The days following that encounter, I spent much of my time split between my routine responsibilities for my two masters, as well as a few additions.
Making frequent trips to the central market, I spent a lot of time testing out the limits and restrictions of my new ability to sense the emotions of others.
Travelers continued by far, to be more readable than most of the natural citizens over the age of 14. New arrival Travelers especially were frequently awash with various emotions, primarily centered around feelings of teen angst, amazement, hope, and general awkwardness. It was quite funny to see several of the would be blow-hards shiver inside with feelings of impostor syndrome even as they sought to establish themselves as the latest top dog to arrive. I could somewhat empathize with their plight, even as I disproved of their methods in seeking to overcome it.
Humility and being open-minded to learn isn’t a bad way of life when approaching something as vastly new as this Virtual reality. It blew all past games I had experienced before out of the water, and demanded far more life-like responsibilities and sense of accountability to get anywhere at a good pace.
One of my newly adopted responsibilities which Victoria had shown great concern over, was my joining of the city patrol for some of their many rounds outside of the city. There was far too little in terms of violent encounters within the confines of the city, which allowed me to inure myself to the violent and too often debilitating emotions of other people or creatures.
Outside beyond the general outskirts, our patrols would encounter or drive off packs of wolves, small groups of goblins, and deal with the rare hybrid monster. None of those were what concerned my master. It was who was in charge of the Patrol and who I frequently encountered which disturbed her.