Dear Li Salatur,
We offer our deepest condolences for the loss of our beloved guild member Jayce Vian.
He might have only been a Gold-ranked member, but this loss hits each of us all the same.
As for the purpose of this letter, we have unfortunate news. As Jayce died with an uncompleted Iron ranked quest, someone must pay the fee for an incomplete quest.
There is also the guild debt accumulated from training and the like that had never been payed off in full.
These guild dues pass to his closest familial contact, which he noted to be you.
The total owed amounts to 71 Silver Coins.
We have many payment options available, especially for those left behind due to a lost adventurer.
Please come by the guild hall so we may discuss this topic further.
Take Care.
-Ferus Nox, Dawn-Breaker Guild Master and Obsidian ranked Adventurer.
Dear Mr. Li Salatur,
Unfortunately, the team that accepted your Iron ranked quest have returned empty-handed.
Apparently the sword’s trace ended at the boundary between Soluna and the Monster Ground Ihuna Valley. They reported to have found nothing after a day of searching, and have since returned.
As your goal was only partially accomplished you were deemed entitled to 50% of your expenses returned (Guild Tax not included).
That amounts to 20 Silver Coins returned to you, which has been attached to this letter.
I am very sorry about the outcome of all this.
With all sincerity.
-Dana Normin, Dawn-Breaker Receptionist and Stone-ranked adventurer.
P.S. - I’m not really supposed to tell you this, but… I got drinks with Jayce a few times, he was a sweet guy, talked about you a lot.
That team you hired was slacking, I bet my all my years on it.
Class stereotyping is, of course, wrong, but who is more likely to not care about a fallen ally? A group of knights? Or a group of rogues?
And who’s less likely to care about an unclassed kid who needs help above the bare minimum?
I hope this helps.
*Attached is a small pouch of silver coins.
When was the last time Li had gotten out of bed? Had he eaten today?
Li groaned as he slowly recovered from the stupor of bad reality television.
The smell hit him a moment later, and he was forced to search for its source.
He looked around his bedroom.
It used to be so pretty, too.
Li couldn’t help but play with his opal bracelet as he recalled a memory.
***
Li should’ve known better when his door had looked different, known that Jay never did things by half measures.
It was now white, bordered with flowering vines. It looked homemade, it looked amateurish, it looked beautiful.
Jayce had laughed as Li gaped. Before prodding him to look inside.
Li took a shallow breath as he opened the door, an unyielding shard of doubt scratching his lungs.
When had he even…
The walls were a royal purple (Li’s favorite color, because of course he did.) and the vine motif stayed.
The vines extended from the bottom of his door and sprawled up and across the walls.
Fairy lights danced across the ceiling, also colored green, to match the vines.
“So… do you like it?”
It took a moment for Li’s brain to catch up to speed.
“Lily? It’s not that bad, is it?”
Jayce voice began to subtly waver as he wrung his hands, that got Li moving.
Li quickly tackled (not that Jay was affected.) his boyfriend with a disbelieving laugh.
“Mmph!”
Jayce was surprised but quickly returned the embrace, all too ready for free physical contact.
When Li’s laugh eventually died down, Li looked up at Jayce and beamed.
“Jeez, Jay, I… I love it.”
Jayce blushed a bit and squeezed a bit harder.
”Well, I’m glad my meager skill is up to par.”
Li furrowed his brows at that.
“You… didn’t get an art Skill just for this, did you?”
“Uhhh…” Jayce looked for some kinda exit, but Li’s arms prevented him from escaping without a struggle. “Not… just for this.”
“Jay.”
Jayce looked mildly embarrassed before a sly grin overtook him. Jayce leaned in and whispered into Li’s ear.
“Y’know, there’s a perfectly new bed that needs to be… broken in.”
Li mentally staggered at the whiplash of the topic shift.
“What, I… huh?”
Li could feel Jayce’s grin widen.
“I went for the merged skill, [Artistry], it says it works on all acts requiring creativity.
Jayce’s arms bulged as the Knight (not so) subtly flexed his muscles. The fucking cheater.
“What do you say we check its limits?”
“J-Jay!” Li half-shouted as Jayce scooped Li up and carried him to the brand-new King-sized bed (Jayce had insisted.)
***
Jayce had… He’d decorated it.
That had been the deal, Li gets to decorate Jayce’s room, and Jayce gets to do Li’s.
They hadn’t shared a room, Li was still getting used to the idea of sharing a bed with someone.
Sure they spent most of his time in each other’s room anyway, but to make it permanent had felt scary.
Stupid. Because now they’d never have the chance.
Now it was just Li’s room... like he’d always wanted.
Now the space was filled with take-out wrappers and soda cans and junk food.
The scent intensified as he sniffed his sheet.
His sheets were stained with sweat, his clothes were…
Ah, the smell was coming from him.
He hadn’t showered since the day Li had gotten the news.
He had tried, really he did. But by the time the water hit him he was already drowning in memories.
Lily! I need to shower!
Don't these towels look cute?
I swear to the gods if you used all the hot water again…
Y’know, I hear shower sex is fun~
He escaped the bathroom choking on nothing but fragments of a dead man.
Li shivered as he recalled it… before it faded away into the constant drone of emptiness that had filled his mind for the past 12 days.
Li had gotten fired from his job at the call center, so here he was… slowly wasting away.
3 days.
That’s the maximum they were willing to give Li to plan some sort of funeral and pull himself together.
Even then there was the implication that any time off would lead to a side-eye from his manager.
Then he asked for a advance on his next paycheck, as y’know… funeral.
“Li, I know this is a difficult time but I have a business to run!”
Li had stomached the emotions then, as he was on his own… all on his own.
But then, Harrison Nile had another topic to discuss.
“Also while you’re here I’ve been getting some complaints about your… attitude.”
“My…attitude?”
“Well nothing specific, but I have a… vision… for this place. And this moodiness you’ve shown isn’t jiving well, you get it, right?”
Li had always liked Harry for his laid-back style, he’d even laughed about the chill bro-style work zone the man liked to cultivate.
He hadn’t been laughing then.
Pro-tip; Fuck small business owners.
But it didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered anymore.
Li looked back down on his phone, scrolling through some vain, hot influencer’s Binstafram.
He tried not to think too hard about who it reminded him of.
This lavender-scented cream is infused with a special blend of 80 different mana-infused herbs from S-Rank dungeons, skillfully blended to rid you of even the most stubborn of blackheads!
Swipe.
Do you want a body like mine? Just follow this 19 step Alpha Male regimen used by Giants! It all starts with waking up at 5am and-
The body was nice… but Jayce had a better one. Swipe.
Don’t you miss him?
Swipe.
Guide to a better sex lif-
Wait what?
Don’t you miss him? The one the got away?
…Desperately.
What if you could have him back, and he wouldn’t leave this time?
What would you give?
Anything.
Check out the release of the Memory Wand! The sexy new addition to our latest golem! Check out this link and be one of the first to recreate the man of your dreams.
That was obviously impossible, golems can’t do that. You can’t slap memories into its head and call that a recreation.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
https://www.MavraCorp.com/Runic/Golems/PerfectBoyfriend
Mavra Corp;
Your gateway into a new world.
Come one, come all to the grand reveal…
----------------------------------------
It’s dumb.
Product added to cart!
It wouldn’t work.
Proceed to checkout?
It wouldn’t be him.
Enter payment method.
That Guild money could last you weeks, not to mention the debt.
Express Shipping? Delivers in up to 10 hours.
This won’t make you happy.
Confirm Purchase?
But who cares?
Thank you for shopping with us! We have sent a confirmation email to [email protected] with a link to track the delivery!
And track it he did. For the next 5 hours Li Salatur obsessively reloaded the link, waiting and hoping and doubting.
The only other alternative was thinking about the incident, they had called it. It had been one of the best days of Li’s life. 5 years ago today.
Li glanced at his phone’s clock.
4:35 pm. Hadn’t they been in the forest by then?
4:36… had they even-
Li’s throat tightened as his breathing became noticeably quicker. His arms started to tremble as an anxious fog seemed to zap him frozen.
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.
Ever so slowly the storm subsided. Of course it’d be better to let it all out.
Scream, cry, punch a pillow, all those nice, cathartic things.
Li was scared that if he pulled out the knife, he’d just never be able to stop the bleeding.
So he ignored it, and waited.
But he didn’t wait too long thankfully, classed couriers were paid handsomely for a reason.
His doorbell was rung not 15 minutes later.
The halls he’d once ran through with ease seemed to expand endlessly as he trudged through them.
The doorbell rang out again.
“Oi? Anyone home? Got a package for ya!” A voice came from behind the door. It reminded Li of those alley kids who pickpocketed the nicer-off adults, just a lot more intimidating and grown up.
To be fair, that was exactly who he was, even if the voice sounded deeper then it had when they last spoke.
His old mailman had gotten a promotion recently for evolving his class. Shame the courier people didn’t check that he actually had a courier class.
“Coming!” A voice croaked out… oh, it was his. Had it always sounded like that? When was the last time he’d talked to someone?
Li’s pulse began racing as he approached the door, which he promptly scolded himself before.
I know Aidan. He’s a friend.
Aidan had evolved his class, [Pickpocket], recently. It was no surprise that he’d gone through some physical changes, a deeper voice was just part of that.
But it scared him for some reason.
Maybe it was because the last time he’d had someone evolve their class they died afterw-
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.
Li steeled himself, and opened the door.
Li blinked at the figure leaning against the doorframe with a smug grin plastered over his face, package in hand.
Aidan looked different, which was expected when you evolve a class… but Aidan looked different:
It was enough of a shock to where Li forgot he was even anxious.
It was as if for that wonderful, shining moment… things were good again, and Jayce was alive.
“Well, well, well… Li Salatur, aren’t you gonna greet the guy you’ve left on read for the past 11 days and 4 hours?”
Aidan had never acclimated to middle class life, and it showed in his accent.
Talking to Aidan had always made his own street rat come out.
“Well, well, well… Aidan Goss, I didn’t know you cared, keeping count n’ all.”
That sure wiped the smug off his face, but the expression that replaced it wasn’t unkind.
“I don’t, it’s a matter of manners, s’all.” He replied, eyes filled with mirth as his energy was matched.
“Well, manners dictate that I compliment you on the class evolution, though I didn’t think a sneaky, lil’ pickpocket would need that much strength.”
And strength he had, considering the criminal hadn’t nearly the bulk he did now. Clearly no one told him to buy new shirts as his newly broadened shoulders made the shirt stretch over him in a way that looked a bit uncomfortable.
Despite the apparent discomfort, Aidan’s grin widened.
“Now look who cares, look I get I’m easy on the eyes but staring is a bit rude, ain’t it?”
There was a beat of silence before both Aidan’s smugness and Li’s stoicism broke and they laughed together.
Aidan grabbed Li’s hand and pulled him into a one-armed hug much more forceful then it had been last time they’d done it.
Gosh, even his hands had gotten bigger, why hadn’t this happened to Jayce? To be fair, Jayce had started out much bigger than Aidan.
They released soon after.
“Really though, I’m proud of you, you worked hard for that evolution… even if you valued your body over your Skills.” Li said, the laugher leaving him finally.
Aidan scoffed and holding out a hand palm-up, before either could blink Li’s phone was in the petty criminal’s hand and Li gasped.
“Yeah, it was a good evolution alright. But jokes aside.” Aidan holds out the phone for Li to take. “I’m glad I caught you, you worried me y’know, dropping off the planet like that. I thought I was gonna have to get the police involved, imagine that? Me? With the cops? I’m glad it didn’t come to that and you’re cool.”
Li snorted at the thought as he took his phone, Aidan would probably break in far before he’d think of going to the police.
Aidan put the package down, more carefully then Li remembered him doing for his neighbors.
Aidan sighed and the grin dropped off his face, and he put both his newly freed hands on Li’s shoulders.
“You… are fine, yeah? I don’t wanna get in yer business but you look and smell… not at your best.”
Li blushed as he realized that to someone like Aidan, who had to have high perception… wow, he probably smelled awful.
He tentatively glanced back up at Aidan who’s brows had begun to furrow in the time he’d been examining Li, but he didn’t seem disgusted, only worried.
“Aidan I…” The lies and excuses turned to ash in his mouth. If he couldn’t be honest with Aidan, who could he?
“Well, I’m… I’m not fine.”
Aidan’s frown deepened into something knowing.
“I think I know the answer… but still, you wanna talk ‘bout it?”
The offer startled Li a little, as he grabbed the arms on his shoulders unsure if to push him away or not.
Aidan’s eyes subconsciously flicked to Li’s bracelet, and the moment of delusion faded, it was a stark reminder of reality.
“Don’t you have a job?” Li asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Screw the job, you’re more important. Plus…” a small, mischievous smile touched Aidan’s lips “I didn’t get rid of [Pickpocket] for a reason… so?”
“Not right now…” Li took a breath. “But soon, I promise, I just… need time.”
Aidan nodded, eyes almost shining with affection.
That’s one thing that was always nice with Aidan. It never was embarrassing to be close with him like it is… was with J-Jay.
He could handle Aidan’s love, when there was nothing else.
Aidan’s arms slowly shifted to around Li’s back, once again embracing Li.
“I get it. Just… don’t be a stranger, I’m always here for you, Fruit-bat”.
Li tried hard to hide the rock of emotion forming in his throat. He’d never live down that stupid nickname… thank the gods.
“Thanks… Alley-cat.”
For much longer then Li thought Aiden could bare, they stood there in the day where anyone could see the thief acting very uncool.
Li was worried Aidan wouldn’t have stopped had he not said anything.
“Now, shoo, alley-cat, I’m not gonna be the reason you get yourself fired.” Li let go and made shooing motions with his hand. Aiden only rolled his eyes in response.
“Fine, fine… only because getting fired is a bad look, alright, it’s not like you can tell me what to do.” Aidan claimed, ruffling Li’s hair good-naturedly.
A moment later, Aidan began to turn around, but then quickly faced Li again.
“And Li? I was serious when I said always, come by anytime, I promise you’re not a bother. You’re the most important thing to me, not my image, not this job… you.
Aidan had spent years honing his reputation. This job was something he took a lot of pride in.
…Was Li that important? Comparatively?
“Ugh, stop thinking.” Aidan flicked Li in the forehead, it hurt more than it should’ve. How soon had he evolved if he hadn’t even been to his Control training? “Yes, I care about you more than looking cool, dumbass.”
Aidan picked back up the package and gently pressed it into Li’s hands.
“Whatever’s in here is heavy…expensive, you better not have blown all your money on something dumb. I won’t hold back on the teasing if you need money from me again.”
Li was confused before he was hit by the implication that Aidan would give him money if he needed it.
“It’s fine, Aidan. I won’t starve tonight.” Li replied, forgoing subtlety.
Aidan nodded, but his eyes looked a bit unconvinced.
“Good. Now I gotta run, and not because you told me to, call and I’ll be there Li.” Aidan said, sighing.
Li was right, Aidan definitely wouldn’t have left if Li hadn’t said anything. The pickpocket even looked vaguely disappointed.
“He must have really been worried.”
Li waved as Aidan left, close to tears at his friend’s caring nature.
Then the part-time courier disappeared.
Good evolution indeed.
“SHOW OFF!” Li yelled as wind rushed past him, laughter carried upon it.
Huffing, Li brought in the package. Aidan had been right, it was heavy.
On shaky legs Li half-threw the package onto the couch, arms seconds from giving out.
5 minutes later, when Li’s heart rate had returned to normal and his breaths weren’t so deep, he returned to the package with the box-cutter he kept by his bed.
Hey, he was an unclassed guy in a city meant for level 20’s, and… well, he was alone now.
Slowly, Li cut open the package…
.
.
.
With all the excitement of seeing Aidan, Li forgot just what he’d done. He forgot the prior obsessive tracking, and hasty purchase.
That being said, the reality of just what he’d bought crashed down upon him when a head appeared in the box.
“HOLY SHIT!”
Horror movies had taught Li the one lesson you needed to survive in life.
When creepy shit comes out of a regretful purchase, you don’t wait for it to haunt you.
So Li shoved the package in his closet and tried not to think about it.
What he did think about was his major lapse in judgement.
Fuck I’m insane. Why did I do that? A golem? I can’t believe I got a GOLEM! FROM A SHADY WEBSITE PROMISING TO COPY A REAL PERSON. That was practically begging to be possessed.
See, the talk with Aidan had pushed the storm back further than he could on his own.
It made everything less scary to have someone so strong embrace you, he’d learned that from personal experience.
Unfortunately, that just made the fall even scarier when they left.
So days later, ever so slowly, the storm came back.
It started with him going back to The Bachelorette. (Shut up, men are pretty.)
Then he slept in til 1pm… then he did it everyday.
He tried to keep up with texting Aidan, but he slowly stopped replying, finding all the responses to “how are you doing?” things that would immediately make Aidan show up at his door, or just break in depending on how bad.
Next he stopped eating, the allure of junk food overpowered by the depression.
A particularly nasty thought wondered why he hadn’t been like this as a child, would’ve saved him years of pain.
Then he woke up one day, and he couldn’t for the life of him remember what he’d done the day before.
That’s how he knew it had gotten too bad, but what could he do?
One would think that growing up with depression would prepare you for it’s eventual return, coping strategies and the like.
But all he knew from the past was that soon, he’d consider it.
He didn’t want to think about it again.
So Li gave himself a distraction. It wasn’t hard, he was slowly being convinced that way anyway.
“What if it works?”
“What if you could… have him back?”
“It’s your choice, but you do have to decide.”
“Golem, or it.”
An easy choice, even as down as Li was.
Welcome to your new Boyfriend.
He’s perfect.
To begin, press the button on the back of the Vessel’s neck while holding the mana crystal to it.
That will activate the GRA, he’ll handle the rest.
Li pulled out the head, a dark blue featureless attempt at a humanoid face, and the small golfball sized Crystal. Jayce had shown Li one before, but that had been less crystal and more pebble.
This was like a smooth stone, round and dense. Li attempted to sense the mana inside (It was a MANA crystal, after all) and was left with a severe headache.
Once that faded, he stopped messing around and pressed the crystal to the vessel’s(?) forehead while pressing the coin sized button on it’s neck.
The head slowly began to rise from its place in Li’s lap, as he scrambled away.
The stone was still in his hand, but it was being pulled like a magnet to the head, attraction quickly becoming too strong.
It flew out of his hand and crashed right into the head’s fore… head.
The crystal smashed with unnatural ease on impact, and the light of a small sun flowed out of it like water.
Li squinted as multiple small streams of neon-blue light flowed out of the impact sight and around the head in a dazzling light show.
After a few rotations the streams entered the head through the nose, ears, eyes, and mouth.
Li watched on, half blind, as the streams entering the head slowly dispersed around the vessel, coloring it the same eye-searing blue.
As the last motes of mana entered the head and then dispersed, Li took another glance at the manual.
Note: If you have purchased the Memory Wand addition, try stating physical characteristics (like height) before insertion as those details are easily misunderstood due to perspective.
“Hello. My name is… ah…”
Li flinched and looked upward to see the bright-blue head was now a whole body, and it was now looking at him, some shimmer of life in its eyes.
The golem stewed for a moment, emotions by it’s words but not showing up in its face or voice.
Li adverted eye contact and looked down to see that the golem had no feet, past the ankle the mana construct degraded into mana motes like the ones out of the crystal.
“Apologies, my databank indicates that sharing your name built rapport but I do not possess one at the moment.” The golem tried for a slight smile but it looked too wide and unnatural, lips pulling just past what should be possible. “What are your wishes for me?”
“…huh?” Li responded dimly, to which the golem let out a monotone chuckle. It must have some record of laughing at stupidity in its database.
“Let me rephrase that. What qualities would you want in your dream boyfriend, your perfect boyfriend.
“Oh… I…um.” Li stammered, still caught off guard by this resident of the uncanny valley.
Then he remembered that manual, and relaxed a tiny bit. At least it gave him a good starting point.
“Well... Shit, this is weird.” Li laughed, going for some awkward joke to break the silence but then remembering the golem doesn’t care about that. “Uh... I want him to be tall.”
As the golem’s eyes gleamed with recognition and the mana construct began swelling immensely, Li noticed his mistake.
It was then he had the thought that would ring in his head for the rest of the coming ordeal.
“I am a fucking idiot.”