“*Sigh*” Zeilan sighed as he watched the snowy scenery drift away. He was currently sitting inside a carriage with skis on the bottom that was being pulled by Delks. Inside the carriage was also Carro, Rook, and the newest addition to their crew, Lumin (the ice mage who was previously working with Glaide). They were all a part of a large caravan which was making its way across the snowy tundra to the next town.
“What’s wrong Zeilan? That’s the third time you’ve sighed.” Carro asked with a slight bit of concern in her voice.
“It’s just… I have to leave the snow!” Zeilan became a little more depressed once he caught sight of a plains without snow up ahead.
“I could always make some you know. It’ll slowly damage you though.” Lumin suggested.
“Nah, I’ll pass on that. Your spells really hurt after all…” After they stole all of Glaide’s items and killed him, only Lumin was left behind who suddenly asked if she could join them. Carro was strangely considerate and actually hired her to be a guard until they reached the next town. Once this was done, Carro requested a display of her abilities, and they found a group of bears covered in ice spikes to test her abilities on.
Despite the bears having a high resistance to ice spells, it turned out that Lumin’s abilities were stronger than that resistance as she even managed to freeze a few of them with her spells! The spells she displayed were also very spectacular, as she created mini-blizzards, caused blocks of ice to smash onto their heads, and even created a giant spire of ice that erupted from the ground! Zeilan noticed that a lot of the spells she used here, weren’t used against him when they were fighting earlier. When he asked her about this, she responded: “He was stingy and didn’t pay enough.”
After another half hour of riding the carriage, it suddenly stopped and everyone got out. A figure at the head of the caravan yelled out “We’ve reached dirt roads! Switch out the skis! We’ll be taking a break once we reach a clearing up ahead.” Each of the coachmen of the carriages got off and began to fiddle around with them, causing the skis to move up to the sides while wheels popped out from the bottom.
“Oooh, that’s some fancy stuff. I wonder how far their technology is developed anyway.” Zeilan wondered.
“Some players who have reached the capital report that they’re not much farther than the european medieval ages, but there are a few things that were pretty much made just for more convenience, like these carriages.” Carro explained. “A lot of things are easily achieved with magic though, so it’s not like they really needed to develop technology anyway.”
“How’d you find that stuff out?”
“I check the forums when i’m not logged in. Don’t you?”
“I do, but I mainly check out the progress on PvP and PvE. Like, did you know a few guys have found this new class called Runemage? There wasn’t even any announcement for it, so I guess it was a hidden class or something.”
“...” Rook snapped his fingers and returned everyone’s attention to the carriages which were now ready to move on. The carriages began moving again, and they continued travelling through the roads. With one last sigh Zeilan looked wistfully at the snow, then turned around and began fiddling with his menu. The rest of the journey continued in silence as each player began fiddling around with their items, and were all secretly thinking: Why isn’t there a fast-travel?
Eventually after a half-hour of sitting, the caravan once again came to a halt and everyone got out to see a large clearing with a pit fire in the center. Another group of people were already there, and the other merchants and players who were on the caravan were mingling with them already. As the four people stepped out of the carriage, Carro instantly ran over to talk to the merchants saying, “I smell some new customers!”
Lumin and Rook walked off to one side of the clearing and stood there talking to each other. At least, Zeilan assumed they were talking to each other since their fingers were moving slightly. This left Zeilan alone to explore on his own, so he began walking around the clearing, making sure to keep Carro in his sight.
Once Zeilan got close, he got a better look at the people here and saw that they seemed to be from a warmer climate as their clothes were thin and showed a lot of skin. With some snippets of conversation he heard, he figured out that these people came from a desert and were travelling around, exploring the world. The merchants began selling them thick coats, while they in turn paid with gems or strangely shaped weapons and items. There was a group of musicians in the back playing many different string instruments, and with a quick glance to the side he noticed that Rook was staring at the musicians with a strange longing.
Zeilan then neared the center of the clearing and saw that there was a group of the desert people dancing around the fire. His attention was instantly focused on the dance, and he found a spot to sit down and watch the dancers. Much of their dancing seemed to be focused around their waist, while their arms and legs flowed about freely. A few of the dancers were even holding weapons and slashing at each other, but the blades never actually reached. While Zeilan was enraptured by their movements, a *ding* sound caused him to look up to see a window.
[You have witnessed the Ra’zam people’s dance. +10 to STR, AGI, and DEX for the next 5 hours]
“Wow.” Zeilan quickly dismissed the window as he continued to watch the dance. As the dance continued, Zeilan’s foot eventually began tapping to the beat of the instruments, and he felt a strange urge to get up and join them. I’d probably just be a bother though. I don’t know their dance so I can’t join in can I? Since Zeilan was in deep thought, he was completely unaware that someone had taken a seat beside him. That’s why when that person spoke, Zeilan almost jumped into the air in surprise.
“Excuse me, sir adventurer. Are you interested in our people’s dance?” A woman with a tanned body and many ringed accessories asked.
“Uh… yeah.” Zeilan managed to reply after calming himself down.
“Would you like to join us then? I see that you’re itching to move.” She indicated Zeilan’s foot which was still tapping to the beat.
“I’d like to, but I don’t know your dance. Not to mention I still need a bit more practice…” Zeilan reluctantly refused. Trying to dance in this body is still a bit weird for me, not to mention I’ve forgotten a lot of the dance moves I’ve done over the years…
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“Oh, then you already have some experience. Come on, I’ll show you our dance!” The woman took Zeilan’s hand and dragged him into the circle of people dancing. At first Zeilan was hesitant but he was eventually effected by the atmosphere and also began to move. The woman who was teaching him the dance was very patient and slowly demonstrated the moves one by one.
Though Zeilan had a bit of trouble in the beginning, his previous years of practice began to kick in and he began to adapt to the moves. “You’re doing very well!” The woman smiled. “It usually takes the younger generation a few days, or even weeks to learn the steps properly.”
“What can I say? I’m a fast learner.” Zeilan grinned as he felt happy to be dancing again.
“Well then, would you like to try another one?”
“Heck yeah!”
As the two continued to dance, they were unaware of a jealous gaze being directed at them. “Who does she think she is? Zeilan is my guard, you can’t just take him away from me like that!” Carro was hiding behind a tree, watching the two with a frown.
“Feeling a little green-eyed?” Lumin smiled slightly as she approached Carro.
“Wha-, no! I’m just concerned because Zeilan isn’t doing his job properly!” Carro denied vehemently.
“She’s hugging him right now.”
“WHAT!?” Carro’s head whipped over and she saw the Ra’zam woman wrap her hands around Zeilan’s waist as she tried to show him how to move. She wore an enraged face as her nails dug into the tree. It was at this moment that Rook came by and saw Carro’s face. He exchanged looks with Lumin, and they had a silent conversation as they watched her with amusement.
(A/N: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))
Just as Rook was about to approach him, he was stopped by Lumin who had a slightly mischievous look on her face. Rook raised an eyebrow at her action, and she laughed softly. “Just sit back and watch the carnage.”
“Hey everyone. Sorry about that, I got a little caught up in the mood. Hahaha…” Zeilan apologized as he made his way back to the others.
“Caught up in the mood, hmm? It seemed like you were enjoying yourself quite a bit…” Carro pouted as she turned her back to him.
“...Yeah? It was pretty fun learning a new dance. I even officially got the [Dancing] skill, so that’s pretty awesome.”
“...” Hearing Zeilan’s happy tone, Carro turned around and studied his face. Unbelievable, he actually felt nothing from such a sexy girl dancing with him. Is this guy naturally dense or…? Of course, Carro had no idea that Zeilan was a girl in real life, so of course he wouldn’t feel anything from dancing with a woman. This didn’t stop her from being suspicious though, so she continually questioned him for a long time until she was convinced that Zeilan really was unaffected. Letting out a sigh, Carro then left the group and began talking with the other merchants and traders with a slightly deflated expression.
“So what was that all about?” Zeilan asked the other two.
Rook simply shook his head, while Lumin’s smile widened as she said, “You’ll understand sooner or later.” The two then left and walked off, leaving Zeilan alone again.
“I guess I’ll just go back and dance.” Zeilan shrugged his shoulders and made his way back to the group of dancers. This little party continued for another half hour, before the two groups returned to their carriages and set off on their own ways. Just as Zeilan was getting on his carriage, he was called out by the woman he was dancing with earlier. She waved and gave him a wink, to which Zeilan responded with a grin. When Carro saw this exchange, she pinched Zeilan’s arm (which actually hurt her more than him) out of spite.
The carriages were then moving again on the road, and Zeilan temporarily logged off. Not only was this done to ‘speed up’ the travel process, but Carro’s glare was really starting to bother him. The pod then opened up, and Helen was faced with a blonde-haired nurse. “Hey Marissa. Can you help me up?”
“Of course.” Marissa picked her up and placed her on the bed. “So how are you enjoying TWO so far? Reid says that it’s really fun, and he even made some new friends.”
“Reid’s made some friends online? That’s pretty cool! Who are they?”
“He made three friends, and two of them are girls. Heh, I’m not surprised since he’s always getting a fan or two, even just from walking around outside. The other is a guy. Anyway, the two girls are called… Carro and Lumin? I think that’s what they’re called at least. The guy’s name is-”
“Zeilan.” Helen finished the sentence for her.
“Yeah, why do you know that?” Marissa looked very surprised.
“Hahaha…. HAHAHAHAHA!!! That’s too funny! That’s way too funny! I thought he was just role-playing… HAHAHA!” Helen began rolling around on the bed as she could barely contain her laughter.
“Wha-? What are you talking about?”
“Hahaha… *phew*” Helen finally managed to calm down after half a minute. She then looked Marissa right in the eyes and said, “My name in-game is Zeilan.”
Marissa’s eyes widened in shock, and it took her a moment to regain her composure. “So… you’re playing a guy in TWO?”
“Yup. I know it’s a little weird, but it’s what I ended up doing.”
“Well, if that’s the case then I hope you’ll take good care of my little brother. Oh, but keep this conversation between us a secret okay? I wanted to join him in game to take care of him, but I have my job so I couldn’t look after him in game. He’d probably refuse my help anyway... But now that I know he has a good friend looking out for him I’m much more relieved.”
“Leave it to me!” Helen puffed out her chest. Maaan when I tell Simon about this he’s going to flip! I’ll keep it a secret that we’re playing opposite genders for now, for maximum shock value! Helen made an evil laugh inside her head as she imagined Reid’s reaction to meeting the siblings in game.
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A bit boring I suppose, but it's just a traveling chapter. Not everything needs to be exciting! Also, IT BEGINS.
Fun-fact: The number 7 is one of the most popular numbers in the world.