Yaooan and Randiantsi stood outside of the cave. It had a wide entrance that gave an ominous feeling. Even without being able to see a few meters inside, the sensation of the place was of intense danger.
“I don’t think we should go any further…” Randiantsi said as they both looked into the dark abyss in front of them.
“Yea, I think you are right. If I had more control over my power I’m sure this would not be an issue.” Yaooan responded.
“Same here.” Randiantsi agreed. They both then backed up away from the entrance and decided to head towards the ocean instead.
“I hear the ocean is a good place to grind for EXP. There’s like a billion fish just eager to die with a single blast, or a throw of a needle!” Randiantsi said as she tossed her needle into the ocean and pulled out a fish.
Yaooan clapped, “Wow impressive. I see that you did some practice while I was in class.” Yaooan said to Randiantsi.
“Don’t you have school tomorrow, why aren’t you asleep?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan as they were both shooting fish in the shallows.
“I have very bad dreams at night, so I prefer to stay awake. Doing this seems better than watching videos all night anyways.” Yaooan responded.
They both continued to grind, and were stacking up on fish and fish bones. “That doesn’t sound very healthy, we can talk about it if you’d like.” Randiantsi said to Yaooan.
“Nah, just hanging out makes me feel better, my place is like crazy quiet, it deafening.” Yaooan said, leaving out the part about the sound of fighting being the only noise she hears, because that is a huge indicator of where she lives.
Randiantsi then stopped. “Hey, Vani. I know we just met, and that we met just in this game. But you’re my friend , if you need to talk or just to hang out, I’m here.” Randiantsi addressed Yaooan.
“Same here Randiantsi, you’re my friend tooi.” Yaooan responded. She then received a message from Rider. “Geez Rider, do you not get a hint!” Yaooan said out loud.
“Oh what’s wrong?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“It’s Rider again, he’s like super annoying right now.” Yaooan responded. “He just said that he couldn’t stop thinking about what happened today and wants to make it up tomorrow.”
“I’m guessing he means in person right?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“Yeah in person, same place where I first logged in…” Yaooan told Randiantsi with audible annoyance in her voice.
“Dang, you must be breathtaking in person.” Randiantsi said as she shuffled through her bag.
“Trust me, I am not. I think he just wants to be liked by everyone.” Yaooan says as she was also preparing her bag for the return trip.
“Well, let’s sell these and get some mad cash!” Randiantsi said with her usual cheery voice. They both were completely filled to the brim with fish in their bags. They proceeded towards the Center Hub.
Once they arrived they took the route leading them to the SHopping District, and then into the Fish Market. They slammed the bags full of fish on the cashier’s desk.
“There you are, tons of fish for your enjoyment!” Randiantsi said to the NPC.
“Well let’s see what we have here.” He leaned over to examine the fish. “It’s impressive how little damage you both caused to these fish.” The Shop NPC was impressed by the haul. “Hmm, for this amount and this quality, I will give you 200 Rare Crystals.” He quoted them.
“200 Rare Crystals! What are you trying to do!? Cheat us!” Randiantsi said to the NPC.
“What are you doing? 200 Rare Crystals is an insane amount.” Yaooan whispered to Randiantsi.
“Yeah, but I bet he will give us an extra 5 Rare Crystals if we haggle him a bit.” Randiantsi responded to Yaooan also in a whisper.
“Fine, 210 Rare Crystals, but I am not going any higher than that! I have a shop to run.” The NPC said to Randiantsi.
“Sure, we will take it. But I got my eyes on you man.” Randiantsi said to the NPC as she gestured her two fingers from her eyes to his eyes.
They both walked away with an extreme haul.
“Here, that’s 105 for you, and 105 for me. Now we can go out and try some of that fancy food I hear this place has.” Randiantsi said to Yaooan as she transferred money to her.
“Why would we eat food here? It’s not like it’ll affect us in our actual bodies.” Yaooan asked Randiantsi.
Randiantsi turned around quickly and pointed at Yaooan. “That’s where you are wrong, we are able to taste while we are in this world, since all of our senses can be simulated within our brains. Which includes taste.” Randiantsi pointed at her own tongue.
“SO we can actually taste the food in Rutanu?” Yaooan asked.
“Yeah, as much as we can see in Rutanu, hear Rutanu, feel Rutanu and so on. We can taste it!” Randiantsi said, gesturing wide.
Yaooan picked up some grass to see if everything had been programmed with taste. She placed a bit into her mouth, and immediately spit it out. “Bleh! That was horrible! Oh that tastes like rotted fish carcass.” Yaooan said, scraping her tongue.
“How do you know what that tastes like?” Randiantsi laughed.
“Hurry up! Let’s find somewhere to replace this taste.” Yaooan said looking through the map. “There, it’s not far. Looks like they have Soba.” Yaooan said heading in that direction with her tongue still poking out.
Yaooan and Randiantsi entered the place and saw a crowd of people surrounding a table in the restaurant.
“What do you think is happening there, Randiantst?” Yaooan asked and then proceeded to order Yaki Soba.
“Beats me, I have as much of a clue as you.” Randiantsi responded.
They both kept looking at what was causing such a ruckus. Yaooan then caught a glimpse of his face.
Yaooan was stunned. She shook Randiantsi’s shoulder. “It’s Yuski! He’s in the restaurant with us!” Yaooan said to Randiantsi, she was awestruck.
“Yuski? Whose that?” Randiantsi responded as she received her Soba.
Yaooan was about to reply, but then the crowd of people opened up. Following this Yuski began to walk towards the two girls.
“Oh dear, how could you have not heard of me?” Yuski said to Randiantsi.
“I just haven’t, are you some sort of NPC?” Randiantsi responded to him with a bit of soap in her mouth.
“Haha! Funny. You’re a funny one. How about you watch me in action? It’s a shame that not everyone has gotten the pleasure to see me fight.” Yuski then handed Randiantsi a Legendary Ticket to the Fighting Arena. “This is a front row seat to my fights tomorrow. Please come and watch.” Yuski added.
“I’m not going to watch alone, I’m in a party with Vani here.” Randiantsi said to Yuski, grabbing Yaooan’s shoulder.
“Oh, my apologies. Then there are two. And Waiter, please allow me to pay for their meals.” Yuski went on saying.
“We have that taken care of, thank you!” Randiantsi said to Yuski.
“Ha, feisty I see. Well please come, Vani and…” Yuski was trying to get Randiantsi’s name.
“Randiantsi.” Randiantsi responded.
“Wow, we are already finishing each other’s sentences. Well, Vani and Randiantsi, I’ll see you tomorrow at the Stadium. Bye bye.” He said as he left the eatery. Yuski was followed outside by the hordes of people trying to be his pupils.
“Well that’s cool, you just got personally invited to watch Yuski’s match, up close and personal.” Yaooan said to Randiantsi. “Looks like you got yourself a new crush.”
“I’m sure he hands these out like candy.” Randiantsi said before she called out to another guy at the other side of the restaurant. “Hey you! How much are you willing to pay for front row seats to watch Yuski fight?” She asked the random person.
“Hypothetically right? I would say I’d probably cough up maybe 5 Ultra Rare Coins for that.” He replied.
“Well, do you have that much?” She then asked again before being stopped by Yaooan.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Yaooan asked Randiantsi, before she just went and sold the tickets.
“You heard him, he would be willing to pay 5 Ultra Rare Coins. That’s like 50 times what we made today for essentially nothing.” Randiantsi responded back to Yaooan. “Besides, why would I want to go see him run around and beat up other players? I’d rather just do that myself.” Randiantsi explained to Yaooan.
“You know what, I can see your point. It feels kinda rude, but we really didn’t ask for them. He just gave it to us anyway.” Yaooan thought about it, and then agreed with Randiantsi.
“So I have here, two premium, high grade, pristine front row tickets to Yuski’s match tomorrow. I’m willing to sell them to this guy, unless someone is willing to let’s say… pay 8 Ultra Rare Coins for them?” Randiantsi said out loud to the newly arrived group who went to check out the seat that Yuski sat in.
“8 URCs, that’s a steal! Of course I’m willing to give that up,” A guy said in the crowd.
“Well, then it’s 9 URCs from me!” Another guy called out.
“Hero Worship at it’s finest.” Randiantsi laughed to Yaooan.
After Yaooan and Randiantsi finished their meals, they left the restaurant with a delicious taste in their mouths and a pocket of 23 URCs.
“Well, this was a productive night. I am going to head to sleep. I’m sure my mom will be able to tell if I got less than 2 hours of sleep. So I will be off.” Randiantsi said to Yaooan, as she prepared to log off. “Feel free to dig into the party funds, 23 URCs is a lot of cash dollars.” Randiantsi said as she logged off.
Yaooan also decided to log off for the night. She was tired enough to feel like she could sleep immediately without having to lie awake with her own mind. So she disconnected the device from her neck and placed it next to her bed.
“Hmm, 3 hours until classes. I also have detention later, Damn… and did I have homework?” Yaooan thought, and before she knew it, she was asleep.
Yaooan fell into a deep sleep, and she heard crying next to a burning house. She walked closer and noticed that it was herself as a tiny child.
“Aww, what’s wrong little girl?” Yaooan asked the dream version of herself. The little girl pointed at the black figures that were trapped underneath the rubble. Yaooan tried to help, but she was unable to move the debris. The rest of the building then began to collapse. The falling material fell on her as her alarm woke her up.
“Ugh, I hate that dream…” Yaooan said annoyed. She got up slightly groggy, and dragged herself through her morning routine. “I have to set an alarm for myself to stop playing next time. I feel like dirt right now.” Yaooan thought to herself as she cleaned her teeth and made some breakfast for herself.
She had videos on as she ate. “Vlagora still is struggling to keep up with the progress of Marian North. We just keep Winning!” Was the message from the news networks.
“Yeah, whoa, everyone’s winning in Marian North.” Yaooan mockingly said to herself. She then continued to eat and finished her meal.
Yaooan left her home and saw another cute object on the ground. She wanted to pick it up, but chose to leave it on the floor. Considering she didn’t want another cute object destroyed.
“Oh wow Yaooan, you look way worse than yesterday. Did you get hit by a train!?” YauYue said, mocking Yaooan.
“She should get hit by a train, at least that way she will come out looking more attractive.” Paiyi added.They then went on laughing leaving Yaooan in the background.
Yaooan pointed her finger at the girls. “I bet the world would be slightly better if I only was able to.”
Yaooan thought to herself. She then shook her head. “No, I can’t be thinking like that, they are probably going through stuff in their lives and just are taking it out on me…” Yaooan thought some more. She then continued to school.
“Student 1076. Let me see what weird object you’re trying to sneak into my school this time.” The same gate guard from yesterday said to Yaooan.
“Don’t worry Sir, I didn’t bring anything weird today. Though, tomorrow who knows?” Yaooan said, trying to lighten her mood from the lack of sleep.
“Just get going.” He said to Yaooan before gesturing for her to continue forward.
As she entered the hall her home room was in, she noticed Student 1145 waiting for her. He noticed Yaooan as well and waved at her with a smile.
“Hey 1076! Did you get my messages from yesterday?” Student 1145 asked Yaooan.
“Yes I did. And I gave the items away.” She said walking passed him in the direction of the home room.
“I’m sorry.” He said to Yaooan before she entered the room. “I don’t want to be a stranger to you, can I please have a chance to make things right?” He asked Yaooan.
Yaooan stopped and thought about it. “Ah, whatever…” She thought to herself. “Same place as yesterday, though I am going to be late because I have a half detention period to serve thanks to you.” Yaooan said to Student 1145 before entering the classroom.
Student 1145 celebrated with a small fist pump.
Home room class went as they normally do. Starting off with Yaooan fighting to concentrate on the syllabus for the day, followed by the teacher targeting Yaooan, then forcing her to wait outside the classroom, all the while the other students were literally sleeping in class without any repercussions. Same thing, day in and day out.
Yaooan went to Royal Etiquette, which was basically just a class about how to treat the Royal Family. And learning about all of their accomplishments over the years. Yaooan could swear that half of the stuff is made up, but she wouldn’t say that out loud.
Following which she promptly went to Anthropology, where she was just learning about the speciation of Humans. From the Proto Humans to Cataran Zuiming. From Ren Genera to Ren Xi Prime. The Tree of Humans Species had Ren Xi at the base splitting off to Ren Xi, Ren Shaole, and Ren Zuiperi. Then continuing from the Ren Xi branch was the Ren Neo, and an asterisk next to the left of the Ren Neo branch indicating a theoretically branch from the Ren Neo. However the statement that the asterisk targeted said. “No bones from this line have been found, however ample eyewitness testimony exists.”
Natural Mathematics came next which is Science and Math mixed into one study. Since the study of both fields is based on discovery of what exists and can be interpreted through equations that can then be used to simulate reality.
Yaooan concluded that with sufficient equations the universe could be discovered in the palm of your hand.
Yaooan then had to sit through a historical recreation class which is basically just the Royal Etiquette Class except with everyone else included. Simple theatrics really. Following this class Yaooan headed right to detention.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more bored in my entire life!” Yaooan thought to herself as she wanted to bang her head against the desk. She laid her head down on the top to start her daydream.
“Student 1076! This is a punishment, not nap time. Do school work or just sit erect and quiet.” The detention guard yelled at Yaooan.
“Dang sheesh. Guess I’ll get some Anthropology homework done.” Yaooan thought to herself as she brought out school work from her bag. “I wonder what Titanus and those other guys are doing now? They are probably out torturing another soul.” Yaooan though as she was looking at the heritage tree of the Ren Neo.
Detention continued on for Yaooan until the first half signal rang. Yaooan grabbed her stuff and immediately headed towards the door.
“Hey! Where do you think you are going?” The detention guard asked Yaooan, holding his hand out, to block her way out.
Yaooan pulled out her note from the Vice Dean, showing that she was only supposed to serve a half period, not the full detention. The Guard snatched the note from Yaooan’s hand and scanned it with his device. He then handed it back to Yaooan.
“You’re free to go.” The guard said, lowering his arm.
“Thank you Sir.” Yaooan responded, lifting her bag back onto her shoulders. She then proceeded to head to Area 9 and the Music Rooms.
She ran across the Courtyard, through the cafeteria and into the Area 9 Building.
“Hold on, where are you rushing to?” The Patroller asked Yaooan, stopping her.
“Oh come on…” Yaooan thought to herself. “I’m on my way to the Music Rooms from Detention, I want to use the most down time as possible before the second half of the school day, Sir.” Yaooan tried to explain to the Patroller.
“Sounds like a likely excuse, let me see your note.” He commanded Yaooan.
She handed him the note that was signed by the Guard in Detention.
“Your story checks out. Don’t run in my halls next time.” He handed the note back to her, and Yaooan briskly walked to the Music Rooms.
She entered the room and found everyone with their devices plugged in. She then sat in the corner next to the door and proceeded to also start playing. As she entered the game she found a message from Rider, and another one from Randiantsi. Obviously Yaooan read Randiantsi’s message first.
“Whenever you get on, come on the Fields! I just bought a vehicle with the money we ‘earned’ yesterday.” Randiantsi sent Yaooan.
Yaooan then read Rider’s message. “Hey Vani! Thank you for giving me a second chance today, when you get on please come to the stadium. I have a little show I want to present to you.” Is what Rider’s message read.
“I’m going to meet with Randiantsi first, then we can both head to the stadium.” Yaooan thought to herself as she geared up and headed towards the fields.
“I’m almost at the fields, Randiantsi.” Yaooan sent her. Yaooan then got an immediate reply.
“Oh, just head to the stadium, looks like we got another invite from Yuski to watch him fight. I’m not going in until you are here though.” Randiantsi responded.
“Hmmm, that worked out.” Yaooan thought. And then she received another message from Randiantsi.
“You can summon the Vehicle from the party list. Just bring up the menu and summon it. That’ll definitely guarantee that you get here as fast as possible.” Randiantsi’s message read.
Yaooan then pulled up her menu and noticed it had a new vehicle icon. “Well, there it is. She really bought a vehicle.” Yaooan thought before clicking on the icon. Then a vehicle emerged in front of her. It began as digital white in colour, then it gained a material.
The vehicle had wide wings about 4 times the length of Yaooan’s arm width. A bright Blue and Red Colour throughout the vehicle with an egg shaped seating area with enough room for two people. There also looked to be two ornaments sticking up from the front of the vehicle.
“This thing is enormous!” Yaooan thought to herself, as she entered the seating area of the machine. She then proceeded to move forward. “Oh no, how do I use this thing?” Yaooan pondered as the vehicle continued to move at higher and higher speeds.
She then messed around with the joystick and the vehicle took off into the air. Yaooan was now gliding overhead and saw the wide expanse of Rutanu. Yaooan saw a dark mountainous area in the distance with red clouds surrounding its peak. “Well that looks dangerous.” Yaooan thought before trying to steer her vehicle while it was gliding.
“Okay, the Stadium is right there, so this should be as easy as riding a Walker.” She said thinking out loud. She then pressed her feet on a pedal and the vehicle halted its forward momentum. It remained there only for a second then began dropping out of the sky.
“Oh no, this is bad!” Yaooan yelled before taking her foot off the pedal.The vehicle then stopped dropping and began to hover in place. “Well, let me just steer downward, and I will just let Randiantsi handle the rest.” Yaooan thought as she lifted her feet completely off the floor of the vehicle to ensure she was not touching anything but the joysticks.
Randiantsi spotted Yaooan flying overhead. She also noticed that Yaooan kept circling around her. “What are you doing Vani?!” Randiantsi yelled up to Yaooan.
“I don’t know how to land this thing.” Yaooan responded. She tried to steer the vehicle to the ground with no luck.
Randiantsi then threw her needles up at the vehicle and pulled it down from the air. She placed a modified shield, that had a comfort lining the interior, around Yaooan to protect her from the impact.
The vehicle crashed into the ground, then disappeared. Yaooan’s shield ball rolled towards Randiantsi. Once it was arms length away from her it opened up. Yaooan came out of the ball dizzy.
“Wow, you’ve got a lot stronger, Randiantsi.” Yaooan looked at her while still feeling a little dizzy.
“Yeah, there is a training center just past the Forest. It cost like 10 SRCs for a Class, so I just spent the day there.” Randiantsi responded.
“Wow, that’s awesome! What…” Yaooan was saying to Randiantsi before Randiantsi interrupted her.
“It would’ve been awesome if Yuski didn’t show up in the middle of my training. I told him I sold his tickets, since he asked me if I was excited to see him fight.” Randiantsi said to Yaooan gesturing Yuski’s motions. “He then sent a quest into my menu which said ‘Go to the Stadium and watch a Pro Match. ’First off, I didn’t know he could even do that. And second off, it’s like a Tier 3 Mission. That’s like a trillion experiences.” Randiantsi kept trying to go on.
“Ha, I think he has something he is trying to prove to you, Randiantsi.” Yaooan then started pushing Randiantsi into the Stadium where the quest activated. The Quest transported them both into the second row of the Stadium seating.
Yuski was fighting random players once again, and was easily winning his matches. Yaooan messaged Rider. “I’m in the Stadium now, what was it you wanted to show me?” Yaooan sent.
“Hey! You actually replied. Well my match is coming up next, so I’ll show you then.” He replied before closing the chat.
“Wait… what?” Yaooan thought to herself and then saw that Rider was walking out onto the fighting arena.
Yuski looked up after winning the last match, bowing to his fans. They erupted in screams. He then saw Randiantsi in the second row. He pointed at her and mouthed out the words: “This match is for you.”.
Randiantsi had a disgusted look on her face as she brought her knees up to her face as she sat.
“This is going to be bad.” Yaooan thought, as she was watching Rider walk out. He was waving his hands to the crowd.
“A 1v1? What? Are you crazy?” Yuski asked Rider.
“Maybe. But I have something to prove. I am not just fighting for myself!” Rider said, pulling out his Sickle.
“I’m not going easy on you this round, so I hope you thought this through.” Yuski responded.
“I won’t be going easy on you either.” Rider said in return.
Yaooan felt second hand embarrassment hearing this exchange.
The fight began and Rider ran at Yuski with a tornado Sickle move. Yuski easily dodged it. Rider tried to quickly turn around for another strike but Yuski spit acid on Rider’s leg. Rider fell as his tendons melted off.
“You can’t rush like that without a secondary plan, like what if I dodged. Then what would have been your next move?” Yuski said to Rider. Yuski landed a short distance away with grace.
Rider, now injured, tried another of his signature moves, he called the Sickle Boomerang. He throws his sickle around the arena covering the perimeter with its motion.
Yuski blows a gust of air at the ground in front of Rider causing a cloud of dust to cover his vision. Yuski proceeded to easily grab the sickle out of the air and directed it back at Rider.
Rider was trying to move the dust out of his vision so that he could see Yuski. At the last second Rider noticed his own sickle and was cut in half by it.
“What happens now?” Yaooan asked Randiantsi seeing that Rider has now been cut down.
“He’ll return, but with half of his total experience. And considering how high level your friend was, that is going to be a big cut. Haha, get it? Because it’s literal, he was actually cut in half.” Randaintsi responded, snickering at her own joke.
“Well, that sucks.” Yaooan replied. “What were you thinking, Rider?” Yaooan thought to herself. Rider’s body vanished from the Stadium.
The crowd cheered for Yuski as he bowed once again. Yuski looked up at Randiantsi and pointed at her again.
“A perfect victory, nearly as perfect as I am! He would have done better if he sat still.” Yuski said to the crowd.
The quest in Randiantsi’s Menu lit up, and was listed as complete. Yaooan received a fourth of the experience from being present for the quest.
“Looks like we are done here.” Randiantsi said to Yaooan as they both got up from their seats. Yuski thanked his fans and said that he had to go somewhere really quickly. The matches in the Stadium then changed from Ranked to Exhibitions.
“Hey, hold up.” Yuski said, rushing behind Randiantsi. “So what do you think? I’m I not incredible?” Yuski asked Randiantsi with a nervous smile on his face.
“You’re good, but I’m not impressed. I bet me and Vani here could take you on and win.” Randiantsi said, taunting Yuski.
Yuski slumped down. “I can’t fight against someone as cute and tsundere-like as you.” Yuski said, grabbing Randiantsi’s hands.
“How about you join my party? Then we can train together and I wouldn’t have to worry about eliminating you.” Yuski asked Randiantsii.
Randiantsi looked at Yaooan, then back at Yuski. She pulled away her hands. “Nah, I’m good, you’re not really my type anyways.” Randiantsi said, turning towards Yaooan.
“What is your type? Trust me, I can become anything I want to be.” Yuski responded back to Randiantsi.
The crowd then came out of the Stadium after finding out where Yuski was.
“Ahem, I mean. Guess I’ll just see you some other time you two.” Yuski immediately changed his composure in front of the crowd. He then headed back into the stadium.
Yaooan and Randiantsi looked at the crowd and Yuski, until they rounded the corner. Randiantsi pulled out her vehicle. “Come on Vani, let’s ride!” Randiantsi addressed Yaooan. Yaooan got into the vehicle and sat behind Randiantsi.
“Ah, can you please take the front?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“Oh, yeah, sure. I hope you are ready because I am a terrible driver.” Yaooan replied switching places with Randiantsi. Yaooan replied switching places with Randiantsi. “Wow, you really got Yuski under your spell, guess he thinks your avatar is super cute.” Yaooan said, as she started the vehicle. It slowly went into the air, since Yaooan can not handle it at high speeds.
“Yeah, that’s weird right?” Randiantsi responded back to Yaooan. “I bet he is super ugly in person.” Randiants said, poking fun at Yuski.
“Eh, I’m not really sure. My appearance took my facial features automatically, so I just assumed everyone else did too.” Yaooan said, still slowly gliding around with Randiantsi grabbing her waist.
“Same here, mine took my appearance too. But I assumed that could be changed. Well, I’m glad that you look like your avatar, because yours is very good looking.” Randiantsi responded back to Yaooan.
Yaooan blushed a bit, not really knowing how to reply. “I’m sure you’re just being nice. I don’t look quite as good in person.”
“You said that before, but I’m not sure I believe you.” Randiantsi quickly responded after Yaooan. Yaooan finally started making the vehicle move forward.
They flew right over the forest and into the valley. Below there were old wood pieces and an assortment of debris laid throughout the ground.
“Oh! Land here, this is my territory!” Randiantsi said, as she pointed down below.
Yaooan then tried to land, but just like before, it took her forever to do so. Randiantsi jumped out of the vehicle and pulled it out of the air once again.
“You know if we keep doing that, we’re going to have to repair it eventually.” Yaooan said emerging from her ball.
“Meh, I’m sure we have enough for any repairs.” Randiantsi said, before spreading her hands wide showing Yaooan the area. “So, what do you think?!” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
Yaooan kicked some rocks that were on the ground. “This place looks like a dump.” Yaooan said, looking around at all the destroyed trees and stones.
“Yeah, it looked better before I started training… but hey.” Randiantsi started saying before sitting atop a boulder. “It’s our dump!” Randiantsi finished, as she pointed around at the area.
“Sure!” Yaooan laughed along with Randiantsi, as she shot a laser from her fingers to carve their names into the stone. “There! Now our names are on it”
“Oh cool!” Randiantsi hopped down to admire Yaooan’s writing. “You write in Marian Script. So that must mean you at least grew up in Marian, right?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“Well, since you called the place Marian, I can assume you don’t live in either of the countries.” Yaooan said walking to Randiantsi. “It’s been the Marian North and South since the Marian Civil War about 10 years ago.”
Randiantsi responded surprised. “Oh! Really? I didn’t know that conflict split the country. Well dang, I guess I should have been paying more attention in school.” Randiantsi then checked the time. “Speaking of school, isn’t it almost time for you to get to your classes?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
Yaooan checked the time. “Yeah it is! Thank you, Randiantsi. I’ll be back later today. I’ll meet back up with you here, right?” Yaooan asked Randiantsi.
“The best place in the world! Vandiantsi… maybe I’ll work on the name a bit more.” Randiantsi responded back to Yaooan.
“Sure! I’ll see you later!” Yaooan said, before logging off. She looked around the room to see Student 1145 still plugged in.
Yaooan thought about leaving him there as pay back, but didn’t have the heart to do so. SO she shook him to get him to notice the time. He disconnected his device shortly after and dropped to his knees.
“I lost 4 days of progress in just one match!” He cried to Yaooan as he went to grab her legs.
“Get off me, and get up! We need to head to class. It was your own fault for challenging him, in a ranked duel no less. What did you think was going to happen?” Yaooan said, lifting him to his feet.
“I thought the power of friendship was going to lead me to victory.” Student 1145 responded to Yaooan.
“You watch too many movies, 1145.” Yaooan said, brushing her legs.
“Anhou.” Student 1145 said, as he got up.
“What?” Yaooan responded.
“My name is Anhou.” Anhou said, gathering his stuff.
“Oh, I’m Student 1076.” Yaooan responded as they both were heading out of Area 9.
“So, I guess we aren’t at the level to use our real names with each other yet?” Anhou asked Yaooan.
“Not quite. But you made a good first step towards that today.” Yaooan said, not to come across as overly mean to Anhou.
A smile appeared on his face. “Did I realy?!” He exclaimed with joy.
“Meh…” Yaooan shrugged. “I mean you’re like the only person I talk to in this whole school, so that counts for something.” Yaooan responded.
“Nice! So how about after school I treat you to a meal?” Anhou asked Yaooan.
“Ah, no. You’re pushing it.” Yaooan said back to him.
“Sorry.” Anhou said before walking silently.
They left Area 9 and had to go in separate directions towards their respective classes.
“See you tomorrow at Home Room period, or in Rutanu, whichever comes first.” Anhou said before heading to class.
Yaooan nodded her head. “Sure.” She then proceeded into hers.
In her Mythology Class, the topic that was being taught was one she enjoyed the most out of all stories. It was about the Fates.
The Fates were said to be 3 Omnipotent beings who guide the motion of all events in the world. One Fate represents Pain, One represents Happiness, and the other represents Success. Yaooan beliefs were in the Fates, and she pleaded with them each day, to ask for favour from Success and Happiness, and gave offerings to Pain so that she would be satisfied with the attention of the day. But the only one so far that interacts with Yaooan has been Pain. Maybe her offerings aren’t enough.
The Fates are said to have emerged once Fathera, the creator of creation, left his position to live among the created. The Fates emerged from the void, and set the laws of the Universe in place. These laws ensured that all beings, including the former Fathera obeyed them.
Over time new Creators emerged from the Created Universe of Father’s Design, and they battled with the Fates for control of Reality. Eventually the Creators lost and were relegated to being the Creators of other Universes, never to have the Power that Fathera had. They no longer had the Power to Create freely, or in the Universes they emerged from.
The Fates can not create anything, but they have dominion over everything that was created.
Yaooan was so fascinated by this. She knew in the back of her head that this just sounds like a myth. A myth that was created to explain why things happen in the world, including the good and the bad. But this cognitive dissonance was not enough to prevent the belief. The Marian North Society primes their citizens towards these beliefs, since they must accept that the Queen is a Physical Representation of the Creator.
Yaooan listened and in no time the class period ended. The rest of her night classes continued as usual.
Yaooan walked home. Anhou wasn’t waiting for her this time. So she continued home alone. She again purchased some snacks from the store on the corner, and walked up the stairs into her home.
She kicked her shoes off and removed her skirt. She then proceeded to lay in her living room to relax and decompress after what felt like a week’s worth of work in only a single day.
Yaooan ate some of her snacks, thinking about eating an actual meal one of these days. “Dang, Randiantsi doesn’t live in Marian North. That sucks. So I may never get to meet her.” Yaooan thought to herself recalling the events of the day.
“Hmm, today was actually pretty fun.” Yaooan laughed at her thoughts as she got up and turned on some videos.
“The Queen issued a holiday for all those who participated in yesterday’s…” The video began to say before Yaooan changed it.
“This Summer looks to be calm for the rest of…” Yaooan changed it from that video too.
“… Tournament to christen the success of the first week of…” Yaooan then prepared to change the video until it said “Rutanu’s Launch.”
“Yeah, I am thoroughly enjoying the interactions of the players from the last 13 days. I had a feeling that this would be a big hit, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we would already have a player base so large. So to celebrate I am going to give each player who signs up before tomorrow an egg that will be hatching into a companion in about a week’s worth of play time. As well as hosting a tournament that will take place in Vesatanis, the Capital City of Vlagora.” The creator of the game said.
“So what kind of prizes are at stake?” The interviewer asked the founder of Rutanu.
“Well obviously, it’s going to be a lot of money. As well as other exclusive features made just for them.” The founder said and then continued. “Trust me, it’s more money than I think a single person would ever need. And I am doing it to decrease my tax bracket now… But that shouldn’t stop anyone from participating. So I’ll see you at the end of this week, Players. Slay the Game!” The video ended and Yaooan jumped up.
“Oh wow! That is such a short notice, I wonder did Randiantsi see this news.” Yaooan said before going into her bag to pull out her device. “Eh, on second thought. I should clean up a bit before logging on.” Yaooan thought looking around at the mess she caused from jumping up too quickly.
Yaooan cleaned up her living room and washed up quickly before immediately logging into Rutanu.
Yaooan checked her messages. “Do you see how many people are online now, this is insane, what is going on?” The message said, from Randiantsi.
“Did you see the video about the tournament 1076? We could go to Vlagora together for the tournament!” Rider messaged.
“I’m getting flooded by party requests Vani, whenever you log on can you please help me delete them.” The second Randiantsi message read.
“Well looks like the World just got a whole lot more crowded.” Yaooan said before summoning up the vehicle. She then proceeded to head over to their territory. Yaooan looked below and saw that the main hub was crowded, the second new hub was also crowded and that another was being built. “Hordes Field must be a nightmare right now…”
Yaooan landed in the Valley that Randiantsi has massively improved since the last time Yaooan was here.
“Hey Randiantsi, are you around?” Yaooan called out. Randiantsi then jumped down from atop an overlooking mountain, using her needles to swing below.
“Oh thank the Fates it’s you, what took you so long Vani, I’ve been protecting our land from new players for like the past hour. Where did they all come from?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“Well the creator of Rutanu just announced a tournament that’s going to be happening in Vlagora in about a week. I’m guessing people are taking this chance to try and win some money.” Yaooan responded to Rutanu.
“Dang really? I guess Yuski is going to have a field day cleaning up these new players then.” Randiantsi said jokingly to Yaooan.
“So what do you think?” Yaooan asked.
“About what? The tournament? I’ve never been interested in those things. Where in Vlagora is it supposed to be?” Randiantsi said, picking up some debris.
“Ah, Vesatanis, the Capital City.” Yaooan said remember the location.
“Oh really! Are you going to go to it?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan, seemingly excited now.
“I suppose that I can go with Rider there, but I don’t see why I would if you…” Yaooan was saying before being interrupted by Randiantsi.
“Yes! I’ll be there, I literally live in Vesatanis, so this is a perfect chance for us to hang out in reality.” Randiantsi said, excited about the prospect.
“Oh cool you live in Vesatanis, I heard that technology there is the only one close to comparable to Marian North’s.” Yaooan asked Randiantsi.
Randiantsi facial expression was slightly confused. “Ah, I’m pretty sure Vesatanis has the top technology in the world…” Randiantsi responded.
“Must be Countries trying to make themselves seem like the best I suppose.” Yaooan said also moving some debris.
“Besides, you all still have to go to actual classes, I just get a link and interact with the educator.” Randiantsi replied to Yaooan.
“How does that even work?” Yaooan asked.
“Beats me, well it really doesn’t, but I don’t like talking about school, let’s expand our territory before these New Players start claiming everything.” Randiantsi said, making a fist.
After some time of Randiantsi and Yaooan’s expansion of the Land known as Vandiantsi to extend to more remote territories, a group of new players began to encroach on Yaooan’s and Randiantsi’s domain. This encroachment will be the 5th wave today.
“This is crazy, I would have expected that most people were asleep already.” Yaooan said shooting another player with her finger beam.
“Damn! You’re right! This is going to get a whole lot worse tomorrow during daylight!”. Randiantsi replied, slicing apart a party with her threads.
“We should either build a fortress or gain new party members.” Yaooan said resting a bit after the end of that wave.
“I am 100 Percent down for building a fortress, especially considering these new players just joined for money.” Randiantsi said landing close to Yaooan.
Yaooan looked around and figured that the best thing they could do would be to build a pyramid around their base since anyone can jump over a wall.
“How about I carve out the stones of the surrounding mountains into blocks and you can carry them with your threads into place.” Yaooan recommended.
“Whoa, that’s a lot of weight for me. And that’s a lot of power coming from you, you think you can handle it?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“Yeah, as of now I’ve been using a tiny percent of my actual ability, I think it’s about time I crank it up a notch.” Yaooan replied.
“Oh yea, I completely forgot that your ability isn’t lasers, it’s some sort of blast.” Randiantsi said reminded of Yaooan’s skill. “Well go on, let’s see what you can do!”
Yaooan took a stance and cleared her mind. “Okay, destroy the mountains into blocks…” Yaooan chanted in her own head. Then she threw out her hands. But nothing happened.
“Ah… what was that?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“Nothing it seems, I guess I did something wrong…” Yaooan then looked at her hands and just casually sent her hand out. Then a giant hole appeared in the mountain.
Randiantsi and Yaooan both looked at the damage and were left speechless. They looked at each other and back at the hole.
“I didn’t even see anything. What did you do!!” Randiantsi said excitedly.
“I just sent my hand out like this and pictured a hole shooting from my hand.” Then another hole appeared in the mountain as Yaooan finished saying that.
Another astonished look appeared on Randiantsi face. “Oh you are very dangerous now! Maybe you could win the tournament.” Randiantsi said, looking at Yaooan’s hands.
“Okay, let’s scrap the pyramid thing. Let’s claim a cave! Randiantsi said pointing at the cave they were trying to go into the first day they met. “You could just go in there and clear the entire area.”
“Yeah, but then I would also blast off the roof of the cave…” Yaooan responded.
“Oh dang, that is a good point again…” Randiantsi said. “Well I’m all out of ideas. Maybe we should move further inward.”
Yaooan looked around their territory and didn’t just want to abandon it, so she directed her blast at the ground and began shooting.
Randiantsi watched as she was confused by Yaooan’s actions.
Once Yaooan finished there was a 100 meter deep 50 meter wide trench in front of the territory.
“There, now we have a huge hole in the front, flanked by two mountains to our right and left, the only people who can get over that are high level players who would have no interest in our land, and of course people with vehicles.” Yaooan said drinking a restoration drink.
“It’s simple and effective I suppose. Nice idea Vani!” Randiantsi said, looking at her work. “Now you rest a bit. I am going to look on the map to see if I can hire some NPCs to patrol this area.”
Randiantsi said, opening up her menu. Yaooan kept a look out during Randiantsi’s search.
“Oh check this out Vani, we can hire this NPC for 1RC a day. That’s insanely cheap. We could fill up this entire area with these guys.” Randiantsi said, showing the unit to Yaooan.
“Yeah, I’m sure it would be just free loot for anyone who does happen to get across.” Yaooan said, turning back towards the trench.
“Wow there’s actually a lot we can do.” Randiantsi continued to look. “Oh so this is how Yuski was able to give me a quest.” Randiantsi said aloud towards Yaooan. “He just went through the NPC abilities tab and selected ‘Request a Quest’. Cost Crystals and Experience, but maybe we can do something with that later.” Randiatsi suggested to Yaooan.
“How long are you planning to stay awake tonight Randiantsi?” Yaooan asked.
“I don’t know, until my mom walks in I guess.” Randiantsi said, as she was still looking through her menus. “What about you Vani, how long are you staying awake?”
“Eh, I’ll stay on as long as you are on, I don’t have a bedtime.” Yaooan said laughing to Randiantsi.
“Dang lucky.” Randiantsi responded jokingly..
“Yeah, until you know the reason why I don’t have one…” Yaooan thought to herself.
“So what do you suggest we get? Like, 100 Armoured guards, 100 Stealth Warriors or 100 Calvary Knights.” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“How much is all of that going to cost?” Yaooan replied back.
“Does it matter?” Randiantsi questioned Yaooan.
“Eh, no not really. Get the Stealth Warriors, I want the people who do make it across to think that they are safe, then get ambushed by them.” Yaooan said to Randiantsi.
“Then that is what you will get.” Randiantsi then pressed the option. They both looked around and didn’t see anything.
“Ah, so what happened?” Yaooan asked.
“Hmm, let me press it again.” Randiantsi pressed the option again, and once more, nothing happened.
“Are they taking money away from us each time you press?” Yaooan asked.
“Yes they are. Well that’s not cool at all!” Randiantsi said out loud.
Yaooan went over to Randiantsi to see what was up. “Let me take a look at your menu.” Yaooan said scooting up next to Randiantsi. They both looked around to see if they missed something. Yaooan then noticed a number counting down on the bottom of her page. “Ah, what’s this mean?” Yaooan asked.
“Oh that’s new, I wonder what that means too.” Randiantsi looked at the numbers.
“Pretty sure that’s the March time it takes for them to get to our location.” Yaooan looked at Randiantsi.
“Well guess we have 300 Stealth guys coming in about 40 minutes.” Randiantsi informed Yaooan.
“That may be a bit of overkill wouldn’t you say?” Yaooan asked Randiantsi.
“Then the best thing for us to do is make them cover more territory. Let’s expand Vandiantsi!” Randiantsi said, jumping next to Yaooan.
“Still haven’t come up with a name huh?” Yaooan said in response to Randiantsi proposal.
“Nah, I’m cool with the name, it has equal parts me and you in it.” Randiantsi explained.
“Fine, Vandiantsi it is.” Yaooan responded.
Yaooan and Randiantsi set out into the wider wilderness behind Vandiantsi. They trusted that the guards who would show up would protect the area they were assigned once they arrived. Yaooan and Randiantsi laughed as they hopped on stones trying to see which would give the most commanding appearance. In the short amount of time of exploration, they have doubled the amount of land that they had previously explored in the past few days.
“The beasts this far out are not as tough as I figured they would have been.” Randiantsi said after cutting down a Cereph.
“Yea, it must be from the excessive amount of experience we gain from defending our lands, and not to mention that day with the fish.” Yaooan said, picking up its remains.
“Yeah, do you think Rutanu has Raids?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“What is a Raid?” Yaooan responded.
“You know, it’s in a game where the bosses become so difficult they recommend you having a team to attack them. And these bosses usually drop like crazy rare items.” Randiantsi informed Yaooan.
“Hmm, earlier when I was going to meet you at the Stadium, I flew extremely high in the air and saw a dark fiery mountain in the distance. Maybe that’s where the raid is.” Yaooan told Randiantsi.
“Oh, we should check it out.” Randiantsi said, bringing out their vehicle. “No reason to keep cutting down small fries, let’s go after the big boss!” She said, presenting Yaooan her seat. “Can you please drive?” Randiantsi asked Yaooan.
“Yeah, sure.” Yaooan then got in front of Randiantsi and took off into the air towards the area with the fire mountain.
“Wow, that place looks frightening!” Randiantsi said, looking at the black and red clouds surrounding the mountain.
“So does this fit the description of what you would call a Raid?” Yaooan asked, approaching the mountain.
“Whatever it is… it has an immense amount of Energy coming from it.” Randiantsi said to Yaooan, as they began to circle down towards it.
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