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Chapter 06: Chasing Her
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The moment he got out of the room wearing a scowl, the three people in the living room returned their look of displeasure on Siva.
“What are you looking at?” He snarled and equipped his mask and cloak.
“What are you acting so high and mighty for?” The girl stood from her seat and returned fire with her own set of burning words. “What, your presentation was poor that you did not make it as a member? Or are your item so poor like you that your client back down?”
At some point, although it did not hit the target, but the things she said were so close to the target that it added a few notches on the degrees of his hate.
And as a reflex, as the other three stood up to support the arrogant words of the girl, Siva wasn’t able to stop himself and “treated” the three as enemies. And almost with pure reflex, the white mask he wore became black with red linings. His clothes changed into white polo and black slacks and the Dragunov materialized in its full appearance that emphasized the material’s make.
The three’s eyes were frozen in surprise as they all saw the same messages in their visions.
[You are inside the Killing Zone. Your defenses are down by 70%.]
And as if being a pure gentleman, the guy on the right stood to protect the girl as Siva reached for the throat to grab. So instead, he grabbed the man’s collar and was about to hit him when the he noticed a blinking icon on his vision that made him stop.
“Tsk. Stay out of my way.” Siva said and pushed off the guy towards the girl and glanced over the knife’s edge on his right side. “Hmp.”
Siva turned around and re-equipped the ragged cloak.
“This ain’t over yet!” The guy shouted behind Siva and corrected his bearing with her help.
He did not even mind the glare that felt like stabbing his back. The cloak hid away his anger, the mask bade the cover to protect the people from his Ability because he can't guarantee that he won't forgive anyone who will stand in his way.
***
Siva put on his communicator as soon as he stepped out of the ‘VIP Inn’ building into the pub. When he saw the name of the person calling, he smiled as to feel the pangs of anger fading away in his chest.
Truth be told, he was already losing hope after hearing Augustus’s words upstairs.
Also, as much as he hated to admit it, this time around, he would be needing the help of the people with the person who’s calling him right now.
“How’s the investigation?” he voiced out and sat down into a chair near the right lower corner of the pub, away from the crowds where a drinking party was happening.
On the semi-transparent H-panel that materialized in his vision, the moving image of Samara and her purple themed witch garb made an earful smile.
In the background was a forest with the entrance of what seemed to be an ancient temple can be seen and in there were three other people doing this and that.
“Pretty much 80% is already cleared. There’s a whole pack of information in here, I tell ya, and it’s really so good that it was exciting! I believe this is a big catch!”
“Glad to help. Listen, I…”
“Oh! Oh! Oh! Is this Re… I mean Siva? Hey Siva! You won’t believe what we just discovered!”
“Hey, settle down a bit. He’s a busy guy, we don’t even know if we’re intruding in on him or not.”
“Ah, uhm… H-Hi… S-Siva..”
From behind Samara, the energetic Hawkeye climbed off her left shoulder while her older brother, Volt, gave her a scolding beside the blushing Agatha.
“It seems that you guys are doing fine.” He said, trying to recover from being interrupted. “Well, what did you discover?”
Answering his inquiry was Volt who made an “Ehem,” before stepping forward beside Samara. “It seems that this temple is some sort of tomb. According to what we have deciphered so far, the person buried here was a late advisor of the dead Kingdom of Hagya, at which, we traced back to around 1000 years ago.”
“Are there treasures?” Siva asked curiously. Perhaps it was the influence of the talk he had with Augustus that his mind came to thought of wanting treasures more.
“No. There are traces that the tomb was already raided by other people not long ago. It seems that we’re not the first people to come here. Although what we both thought is a hidden message is still yet to be deciphered so we’re kind of stuck.”
“Ah, I see. What a pity. I was looking forward to seeing treasures with this discovery.”
Volt took a moment to exchange glances with Samara and Agatha while Hawkeye, as a free spirit unbound by the restraints of ethics, blurted out the words that Volt wasn’t brave enough to say.
“You seem to be off with your usual ‘I don’t care self, Siva, did something happened with your mission?”
In the background of “Ehem” and the blushing and the concerned eyes of Agatha and Samara, Siva let out a sigh and took the words aat heart and reflected. Perhaps it was true, he was agitated. Hawkeye wasn’t just a kid who knows how to say what she wants, she was also a friend who can point out what was wrong so it can be corrected to prevent trouble.
He was thankful by that and so he reflected with a sigh and a smile.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Yeah. Something did happen.” After he said that, he glanced over the partying patrons of the bar.
The noise of the chats, the partying music, the dancing patrons, the bearded men, the smiling women, the beers and laughter, the bar gave off a fleeting feeling of the warm and lively atmosphere of the game RPG: Terroa should be.
Alternate Reality, the phrase caught Siva’s mind. If he was a normal guy with a normal life, he would have found this scene very nostalgic. It reminded him of that early 21st century movie about a pirate searching for the greatest adventure in the sea.
When he was younger, his dad used to make him watch those movies with him in their living room. Although they had their own Theatre Room in their house, his dad insisted that it was better to watch the movie in the sala with the whole family close together.
He somehow remembered that this scene in front of him somehow resembled that scene in Tortuga.
And when he had enough warmth, his usual cold tone and indifferent attitude came back. This, somehow, bid the four in the H-panel sigh in relief.
“Well?”
Siva brought back his gaze into the video link. It was not really a question but rather a prompt. Volt also, in a way, understands his circumstances and how he had to keep it a secret from them.
He trusted that Volt would understand and so far, Volt had yet to fail Siva’s expectations of his maturity. His broad mind is really worthy of leading this small group of adventurers into becoming famous explorers hire by tourism companies.
As so, Siva took the prompt and although it properly placed and does not need to be fixed, he still pushed off the right side of his domino like an eyeglass.
Him as well, he perfectly knew what these four people wants with him.
“I… am planning to go after a certain treasure in a far away land. Truthfully, it’s a high-difficulty quest. Are you free? I don’t mean to intrude to your… I mean…”
Still, ethics wise, Rex is yet to conquer embarrassment in the fact that he was asking for help. In his staggering words, Samara cut him down to the chase.
“When are we going?” She said with a smile.
“Huh? I mean… What about the investigation?”
“It can wait. We’re explorers, not researchers. We can always leave our mark here to claim that we’ve already discovered this place so other players won’t be able to steal it from us.”
“I see.”
“Besides,” Volt lent an open palm, “Agatha’s been a real bee asking about you every time.”
“Hey! That’s not true!” Agatha blared out. “Hey don’t believe him. I only ask once a day.”
After her defense, the three laughed out to the red faced Agatha who hid behind Samara with all her might.
“So?” Samara prompted and Siva sighed again and bid a last glance to the lively crowd of the bar.
“We leave for Kali two days from now. Can you get to Walled City of Maria by then?”
“We’re going now.” Volt assured him proudly.
“Then I’ll see you guys in two days.”
***
In the room where the core members of the TOS are all gathered, Loni was the one with the most angered face of them all.
“Damn it, Thorn, why are we keeping still in here? We just lost Cramer and his MOD! Not to mention he also got Thor’s Hammer!”
“Relax, settle down, Loni.”
“Fuma! How can you tell me to relax? We lost an asset to our guild, he became stronger, and who knows just how much this guy could affect our future plans!”
“That’s why you have to relax and think this through.”
Finally speaking after the silence, with all the agitated members of the guild core, Thorn stood up from his seat and walked off to the wall with a large balcony, facing the West Pacific Ocean.
Below them was the Clover Fields, with its green grass and waving dots of flowers, the tower that stood in the cape bade a glistening glow in the sky.
Loni sat down on her chair and Thorn turned to face the members of the TOS core.
“What happened in the War of the Two Powers is what he already discussed would happen. Casualties are but a norm, Loni, you should learn how to accept that.”
“But Thorn! We’re talking about Cramer and him! We can’t just let him slide off with it! No matter what sort of angle we look at, his presence in that battlefield is an anomaly! He shouldn’t even be there!”
“That’s why I want you seat down and relax. Nothing is going to be solved by you shouting and screaming. I already said this before, casualties are an unavoidable fact in war. Besides, Cramer doesn’t mind it.”
Being spoken to, the subject of the talk had his arms crossed and closed eyed, listening quietly to them.
“Cramer, why don’t you say something?” Loni urged.
“Loni,” Fuma spoke up with a serious tone. “there are times when men would just stay quiet in order to fill their hearts with resolve to accept their defeat. A girl can’t possible understand its feeli—Gwah!”
Not a second had passed when he said that, Fuma got a nosebleed from the tea cup Loni threw at his face.
“Stop jabbering nonsense! What I find irritating in this is Cramer’s smile. Gundamn it, Cramer! Say something in here!”
All eyes, even the staggering Fuma on his seat, were directed at Cramer as the pointed out fact became a wide visible curve on his face.
“Heh. That was an awesome fight.” Cramer said and did not even gave a mind to his bickering guild mates.
“Well, there you have it, Loni.” Thorn spoke. “I guess I didn’t have to point out that what happened to Cramer is all his own doing. I warned you all not to mess with him because of his ability. Still, with Cramer’s nature, you can’t possibly blame him from enjoying what we, the TOS Guild, are actually fighting for. Isn’t that right, Cramer?”
“Yeah. I accepted my defeat. He’s really strong. But it doesn’t mean that it’s the end of my career. I did lost my Legendary MOD and one of my prized possessions, but it doesn’t mean that I am utterly defeated without a chance to come back.”
At that, Loni bit her lips and sat down cross armed on her chair, silently glaring at the edge of the table.
“Now that we’ve settled that. I will go to the point of this meeting. Hubert.”
Taking the prompt and the signal, Hubert summoned a panel and flicked it off towards the members of the round table. In the holographic panel, a picture of 3 girls were happily chatting while seated in a bench.
After a few seconds, one of the 3 Swordmages in the room, an Apollo Race player named Maki, was the first to react in excitement.
“Wow. Except for Kathleen Brew, the other two are all hot babes in my taste. Who are they?”
He pointed the question towards Hubert who then took the prompt to start the briefing of their next mission.
“The one with the silver forelocks, as far as our effort to investigate her origins were, is the rumored ‘Fairy of the Lake’ in the Walled City of Salemburg. Apparently, she was also rumored to be an NPC until the girl on the far left took her away with her with Kathleen Brew in Xargoal-6,”
“Wait, does that mean she’s a player?” Asked Maki, the eyes of a womanizer shining brightly with the glow of anticipation. This made Loni click her tongue.
“Yes.” Replied Hubert that made Maki clap his hands in delight. “The name of that black haired player is FlowerLord who apparently became famous after the War of the Two Powers. Cramer?”
“I know her. We fought together against The Destroyer but before I was defeated I threw her off towards the Flaying Wyvern I saw that has the media flag on it.”
“Coincidentally, that’s how Kathleen Brew and her met.” After Hubert explained casually, Thorn took his seat that made the people look at him.
“—which brings us to the matter of this meeting.”
“What do you mean?” Loni asked in honest confusion.
“The silver forelocked player with Kathleen Brew and FlowerLord is called Scion, thanks to the [Sense] MOD that revealed her name. And, as soon as possible, I want you all to temporarily abandon all your activities regarding The Destroyer and the post-war negotiations, and try to catch up to them as soon as possible.”
At this part, Loni was so confused that she forgot to hold her tone when she asked in an irritated manner.
“What’s so special with Scion, anyway?”
To that, however, instead of Thorn, it felt like Hubert’s reply was kind of rebuking as his tone and manner of speech was so like the quiet him, it dealt a blow on Loni’s unshakable pride and instincts.
“That’s because, Loni, just two days ago, the three of them were caught up in one of the petty crimes in the neutral grounds of Xargoal-6. It wasn’t really a big deal until she revealed her ability to cast high tier spells in excessive succession.”
Loni blinked. “Excessive… succession?”
“Wait,” Fuma blurted out briskly. “Could it be—”
On his prompt, Hubert finally gave the blow.
“I believe she’s a Unique Ability holder. Just like The Destroyer, as far as our investigations went, they are hot in his trail and is aiming to get revenge on him.”
“Catch up to them.” Thorn repeated this. “Try to recruit them to join our guild, including Kathleen. Learn how she got the Unique Ability so we could finally stand a chance against the Dark Group and defend the freedom of the players all over Terroa.”
While they are all nodding and agreeing in the mission they received, Maki on the other hand had a smile that was different from the excited others.
The only person in the room who saw that smile was Loni and she only felt disgust on the fiendish fetish this abomination had.