16.2 Ilya's Disciples
Like always, Harper was humming.
He claimed it was a cheap way to draw Aggro against ambush-type mobs, so (he claimed) it was just part of his duty as the tank. Maybe it was even true.
But Bel knew it was an excuse; after all, Harper was always humming, and occasionally, whistling, inside the Safe Zone as well as out in the field. That's how Bel knew it was a really an excuse.
But Harper was really good at it, so it wasn't like Bel minded. Harper said he was going to get an Instrument Skill once he got his third skill slot.
Even if he was bad though, Bel still wouldn't have minded. Because Harper was his important party mate.
Three days after the game had started, Bel had been in a funk, scared and alone. Sometimes he had sniffled, crying because he missed mom and he wanted to be sleeping in his own bed and not in the inn. And he had been running out of Col, so he wouldn't be able to afford the inn anymore.
Mom had always said that if he was a big boy he should pick himself up, so he'd picked himself up and gone out in the field to hunt mobs.
After that he'd met Harper. Adults were scary, but Harper hadn't told him to stay in the Safe Zone like most adults. Instead Harper had asked if he wanted to party up, since Harper was a tank, he needed somebody to be DPS for him.
After that they had been a party. Harper said "good night" to him every night before bedtime and "good morning" every morning when they left the inn. They ate together. Bel wondered if this was what it would had been like if dad hadn't left. That was a secret though.
Chuck held up his hand, as he stopped in place.
Harper stopped too, his whistle ending.
Bel stopped behind them, and he nervously dropped into a fighting stance as his hands came to rest on the handles of both daggers on his hips.
"See something?" Bel whispered.
Chuck replied after a moment. "Yeah." He replied, reaching over his shoulder to unhook his halberd and swing it around. "Get ready for battle."
"Let's go." Harper said, stepping forward as he drew the greatsword off his back. "Same drill as always?"
"Should be." Chuck replied. "Careful, this is about the area where [Lizard Berserkers] start appearing."
Chuck had been in the Beta test. Bel could tell that Chuck didn't like him because he was a kid, even if Chuck never said anything. But kids could see more than adults gave them credit for, so Bel could tell. Still, Chuck didn't talk down to him, so Bel tried to be as good a party member as any adult, so Chuck wouldn't have anything to complain about. Mom said that getting along with people even if you didn't like them was something a big boy would do, and since Chuck was trying to get along with Bel, Bel felt like he should also try and pretend.
They moved forward, Harper in the lead with Chuck and Bel at his sides. The [Drill] they used was to gang up on one mob at a time, with Harper drawing it off so Chuck and Bel could double-team it.
They scrambled through the woods, climbing up a slight slope. There was a pile of rubble in front of them, that looked like a stone house that had fallen apart.
And yeah, that was where the mobs came from.
Four popped out, heads poking out of the ruined house, making that same half-growl, half-chirping sound that all Kobolds make.
Three were [Armor Scavengers], the regular tank-types that appeared around here. They always had a random mix of equipment so their defenses were always a little different. It didn't really change the way the party handled them, though.
The last one was wearing a beat-up robe and holding a stick. He was smaller and thinner than the other three, and his icon said he was a [Worm Initiate].
"Think we should go for the Caster type?" Bel asked.
Chuck grunted. "The only spells in town are buffs, right? So I think it can only use Reinforcement. Between preventing buffs or decreasing the number of attackers, which would be better?"
Harper made a thoughtful hum sound before speaking. "We're better suited to peeling off the Scavengers one by one and dealing with them that way. Charging the caster might get us swarmed."
Chuck nodded sharply, before shouting. "Here they come!"
Harper roared, stepping forward and using a Sword Skill to attack one of the Armor Scavengers.
Chuck followed up, using his bigger weapon to do repeated damage. Bel darted forward, whipping out his daggers. He didn't want to fall behind.
"Oooh!" Harper shouted, swinging his sword up.
The [Worm Initiate] started chanting, waving his staff around.
Bel dodged the attack of a second Armor Scavenger, ducking under Harper's arm to launch forward with a double-slash, before pulling back out again.
The [Worm Initiate] finished chanting, and pointed his staff at Harper with a sound that was half shout and half croak.
"Geh!" Harper grunted, stumbling in place. He was moving awkwardly, his body stiff. He almost fell over before he managed to catch himself with a jerky movement.
"A debuff?" Chuck asked.
"Yeah, seems like it." Harper said, voice slightly slurred.
"Damn." Chuck said, eyes darting from party member to party member.
"Damn!" He repeated, as he used a skill.
A minute later, Bel figured out why. All three of the Armor Scavengers were ganging up on Harper.
And Harper was having a hard time dodging with his body under a partial paralysis like that.
The [Worm Initiate] was chanting again.
"Damn!" Chuck was screaming this time, as he frantically hacked at the kobolds. "Let's retreat!"
"Good... idea." Harper said, stumbling as he fell back, awkwardly walking as Chuck covered him.
The [Worm Initiate] finished chanting, and pointed his staff at Harper again.
And Harper stopped moving, grinding to a halt.
"Oh damn." Chuck moaned, eyes darting around, before they rested on Bel.
"Kid." Chuck said, eyes intense. "Get running."
"But Harper-" Bel protested.
"I said run!" Chuck screamed, eyes jerking forward as he swung his halberd, attacking an [Armor Scavenger] and interrupting it's attack on Harper. "Run you brat!"
"But-" Bel said again, uncertain.
"Do as I say!" Chuck shouted, turning back to engage the mobs. "Goddamit Harper, I called you an idiot for dragging a brat along, but I was an idiot for going along with it." He swung his halberd again, frantically trying to keep up. But he wasn't.
Harper's HP was in the red.
And the [Worm Initiate] was chanting again.
"Get out of here kid, we'll catch up!" Chuck was screaming at him. Telling such an obvious lie, was Chuck the kind of adult that thought kids couldn't tell?
But Bel swallowed, tears forming in his eyes, as he turned, and ran.
He turned, sight blurry, as he sprinted away, not wanting to see. Not wanting to hear.
But he slammed into something, and fell backwards.
He looked up.
The [Worm Initiate] was standing in front of him, standing above him as he lay sprawled on his back, and then it finished chanting, and raised it's staff and pointed at him -!
And Bel woke up.
Gasping for air while his heart pounded in his chest, fingers balled in his blanket with his hands clenched in fists, Bel woke up. His eyelids stretched wide as they darted around the room.
His room, that he shared with Huntar. Huntar was asleep in the bed next to him. Bel hadn't screamed this time.
They were safe. This was a [Safe Zone]. This was their dorm room in the [Boarding School] in [Elvengrad]. He wasn't back out in the field on the First Floor.
Two weeks after the [Official Launch], the player named [Berserker], called [Bel] for short, had Retired from the game.
He checked the clock in his menu. It was 5:45 in the morning. Still really early, but he didn't feel like going back to sleep.
Bel decided to go hang out in the cafeteria. The [Lunch Lady] was an NPC, so she was there 24 hours a day.
He was a little thirsty, so he thought it would be good to have some of the red juice that was always available. It tasted a little weird, like apples but not really, but he kind of liked it.
And… there were always lights on in the cafeteria. That was good, too.
Quietly, with his arms wrapped around himself, Bel slid out of bed and scampered away, head down as he refused to look into the shadows.
I I I
Hexadecimal knelt, eyes closed with head bowed, and with his hands clasped together in front of him.
"Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee, and for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially the enemies of the Church and those recommended to thee. Amen."
It was still a little weird, like he was cosplaying in bad taste. Maybe not just like, that was kind of exactly what he was doing.
Still, he raised his head, put his hands on his thighs, and pushed up so that he was standing.
"Thanks for teaching me." He said, quietly.
"It wasn't a problem." Kains replied, gently. "Go and be blessed, my son."
"Yeah, thanks." Hexi mumbled, feeling awkward again as his eyes drifted to the side, as he turned and walked away.
Kains was a good guy, and he was comforting without being pushy, and when he talked about redemption it seemed really genuine, somehow, so that was at least kind of cool.
But there was a fundamental misunderstanding about why Hexi was here, and at this point he was a little embarrassed to admit to it. Diabel had been gently encouraging, and it had kind of felt like his intestines were tying themselves in a knot.
Because he wasn't getting involved with the Church because he wanted to be redeemed of sin or whatever. He'd heard rumors while Scouting that Priests could store stuff in pages of the Bible, and that was the closest thing to a Bag of Holding that Hexi had heard of so far. Kains acted like Hexi was making an excuse when he asked about it, but Kains was also seriously teaching him, so Hexadecimal couldn't really resent him. Probably he was just quietly waiting for Hexi to slowly trust him more, to open up more. The heck of it was, that was working; Hexi didn't know how he felt about that, either.
Hexi sighed, slapping his cheeks with his hands, the material of his gloves making a muffled clapping sound against the fabric of his mask.
He jogged outside, grunting at the evening sun as he pushed out into the wide central plaza of the First Floor, coming out from the big Church that faced onto it. No, wait, it was technically a Cathedral now, wasn't it? Because Yulier was the Bishop? Hexadecimal didn't think girls were allowed to be Bishops, but he really didn't want to be the one to make that objection, so he just kept his mouth shut.
There wasn't a line for the Teleport Gate, and the Plaza was pretty much deserted, long shadows across the paving stones. Unless someone came to the Cathedral to visit the Monument of Life or meet with a priest, there really wasn't any reason to even visit the First Floor anymore. And since the Item Vendors that had been lining the plaza calling out to Players had kind of broken the mood the Church Aid Association was going for, all those NPCs had been shuffled out and the slots filled with empty placeholders. It was just as quiet outside the Cathedral as it was inside.
So coming off that sombre mood onto the bustle and shouting of Elvengrad was always kind of a trip. Main Street was always busy these days, all day every day, with Rear Liners and Mid Liners buying and selling mats and equipment, and then partying during the night. [The Wheel and Eel] that he was walking past right then was a particularly famous spot for trading mob drops.
Broadly speaking, Hexi ignored them. The highest-tier stuff they had on offer was second-hand goods that was obsoleted off the Front Line. He wasn't interested in buying back his own trash.
No, he was going somewhere because Shishou had called a meeting. He checked his minimap, ducking around a corner and going down a sidestreet as he walked towards the meeting place.
He glanced up at the sign, and immediately cringed.
[Meido Paradice!]
That's what the sign hanging over the door said, in misspelled English with an exclamation point and everything.
Hexadecimal sucked air in through his nose, and then stepped forward, pushing the door open and stepping across the threshold. A bell on the back of the door jingled.
"Welcome home, master!" Two girls on either side of the door chorused, as they bowed to him.
Hexi instinctively bowed back, lower, even though they were almost certainly NPCs instead of Players. Well, he certainly hoped that they were NPCs.
He opened his mouth.
"Would you like dinner?" One asked, coquettishly.
Hexi stumbled over his tongue as it cut him off, and tried to open his mouth again.
"Or a bath?" The other said, fluttering her eyelids at him.
"Or maybe..." They chorused, suggestively.
Hexadecimal darted back outside, the door slamming behind him. He breathed in, and then out.
He pushed the door open again and stepped back inside.
"Welcome home, Master!" They chorused again, exactly the same.
"I'm meeting someone." Hexi hurriedly said, before they could speak again. "Can you tell me where Shishou is?" He asked, feeling flustered. "Shishou is [The White Witch]." He corrected himself.
With matching smiles like professional idols, they both tilted their heads to the side at the exact same angle.
"This way please!" One said, bowing to him, before it turned and walked away.
Hexi bowed back, again reflexively, and then hurried three steps to catch up with her.
She led him around to the back, pushing aside a sliding Shoji door (which clashed really badly with the linoleum, pseudo-fluorescent lights, and cafe tables) and bowing as she gestured inside the room.
"Ah! Deshi!" Ilya said, waving from the head of the table.
"Sorry I'm late." Hexi mumbled, glancing around at the people gathered. He recognized Silica-kun, but the guy slouched in his chair on Ilya's right with the creepily intense gaze and the boy sitting his head down were both strangers to him. No, the creepily intense guy looked familiar now that he thought about it, but the kid was definitely a total stranger.
"It's no problem, you're right on time exactly!" Ilya said, smiling kindly as she patted the chair on her left side.
"Now I'm sure you already know Silica-chan", Ilya said, "but I don't believe you have been introduced to these other two." She stood, pushing her chair back with her hands.
The guy sitting next to her quickly followed her lead, pushing himself up quickly and standing with his back straight. It was quite the contrast to his slouched-over posture while sitting.
The other boy stood as well, although he was actually shorter standing than sitting in the chair.
"Everyone," Ilya said, "This is my wonderful apprentice, Hexideshi! You can call him Hexadecimal, and even though he's part of the [Paladins], please treat him well!"
What was that, Hexi thought to himself. "Good to meet you." He said, half-mumbling.
"And of course, I am pleased to introduce you to the newest recruit into the [Brotherhood of Saint Mark], this is our own Kuradeel-kun." Ilya said, as she gestured with her palm towards the creepy guy. "We expect great things of him, so please look after him."
"Much obliged." Kuradeel said, voice stiff, even though his lip twitched like he was suppressing a grin.
"A-ah." Hexadecimal agreed.
"And of course, the star of today's show, the reason we've gathered here today, the fine Rear Liner, [Berserker]. Please treat him well." Ilya said. Her smile somehow looked a little plastic to Hexi.
"You can just call me Bel." The kid said, eyes down.
"Tut tut!" Ilya said, clapping her hands together once. "When you have such a fine name like Berserker, it would be a shame if you didn't use it. Wouldn't it? Berserker-kun."
So this was that, huh.
There was a rumor going around on the Front Line.
Retired Players who didn't really participate in the game.
Rear Liners who only did the minimum needed to support themselves.
Mid Liners who slowly explored the already-conquered Floors.
And Front Liners, who were actively clearing the game.
To those four broad categories stacked by Floor, it was whispered that Diabel was trying to add a fifth category that was separate to them.
"So, Berserker-kun is a [Side Liner], huh?" Hexadecimal asked, glancing at the kid speculatively.
Science Liners, or Side Liners. Kibaou was pushing for the second one because his sense of humor was kind of terrible. Hexi was just going along with that at this point since he didn't really care either way.
"Um?" The kid asked, tilting his head to the side, looking confused.
"Yes, that's correct." Ilya cheerfully said.
The four layers of Player, divided by Floor, obviously applied to the people who actually went out and engaged mobs, but it was even obvious when looking at support and crafting Players. For example, considering two [Smiths] that Hexi knew, even though he went out into the field more frequently than she did, Grimlock was clearly a Mid Liner, while Lisbeth was clearly a Front Liner. So it wasn't like there was an absolute dividing line, but it was also true that jumping up a category was a big hurdle that a Player really had to struggle to clear.
But theoretically, that didn't have to apply to a certain category of Players: the people who developed [Spells]. Because while having a high Skill in the spells mattered to using them quickly and reliably, it was also true that [Magecraft Traits] didn't really improve. Someone that was [Level One] could theoretically be just as good at Magecraft as someone at [Level Ninety-Nine]. Or rather, it was actually plausible that a Rear or Mid Liner could develop [Spells] useful to the Front.
Creating that category of Player was Diabel's new secret project. Well, since it was the subject of Front-Liner gossip even Hexi had heard about it, but until it was officially published in the [Argo Guide] it wasn't like the Mid or Rear Liners would really know about it.
"I see." Hexadecimal said, as he finally sat down at the table.
Ilya smiled, and pushed a drink in front of him. Ah, it was a spare that she had already ordered for him.
She had an expectant look on her face.
Hexadecimal grunted, and materialized a drinking straw from his inventory.
Ilya pouted, but turned back to the conversation. "Well, that's essentially the case. Berserker-kun has been actively developing Spells while at the Boarding School, and I heard about him through a mutual acquaintance." Ilya said, nodding at Silica.
"Ah! Yes." Silica said, blinking as the floor was suddenly turned over to her. "I met Bel-kun, I mean, Berserker-kun, in the [Wheel and Eel] when he was recommended to me by the [Barbarians]." Silica had a weirdly professional smile while she said that.
"R-right!" Berserker said, looking uncomfortable. "Um, I wanted to know if there was anyone that could help me, since I'm working on a [Pure Eye] spell. And, um, since Silica-nee-chan has the [Mystic Eye of Charm], I was pointed to her."
Hexi grimaced under his mask. Was Ilya trying to steal a march on Diabel? Hexi wanted to complain to his Shishou about her putting him in the middle of that again, but he already knew it was useless.
"Um." Kuradeel said, looking surprisingly hesitant. And wow, he could really fade into the background, even with such an intense appearance.
"Ah, haven't I said?" Ilya said, touching her finger to her lip in a cute gesture. "Well, just like I put the [Mystic Eye of Whisper] into you, Kuradeel-kun, Silica has the [Mystic Eye of Charm], and Hexideshi is the senpai to both of you with his [Mystic Eye of Binding]."
Ilya clenched her fist in front of her in a guts pose. "All three get!"
"Uh, White Witch-sama," Berserker said, hesitating, "I've heard of Binding," and he glanced shyly at Hexi, before looking away, "But what are the eyes of Charm and Whisper?"
Ilya pouted, considering. "The simplest answer," she said slowly, "is that Binding interferes with the body, Charm interferes with the emotions, and Whisper interferes with the mind." She nodded, and then corrected herself. "Well, since they're still fundamentally actuated by your Magic Circuits just like any Spell Phenomena, splitting them up like that is overly reductionist, but it's a simple way to understand how they're different."
Hexadecimal traded glances with Silica. Fortunately the Sixth Ranger wasn't here, or they'd really go off on an incomprehensible jargon-filled tangent. Only Kirito even tried to keep up with that any more. They had to pull Ilya back on track before it was too late, though.
"So if my [Mystic Eye of Binding] allows me to, uh, interfere physically, then I can see how it allows me to puppet-control mobs who fail against the spell. How is [Mystic Eye of Charm] different?"
Silica magnificently picked up her prompt. "Well I've only had it for a few days," she said with a self-depreciating laugh, "but [Charm] is more like, I can change the mob's reaction state from [Enemy] to [Neutral] or even [Friendly]?"
Ilya chuckled delicately into her palm. "Traditionally the [Charm Eye] made the target fall in love with the caster. Ah, but Silica-chan, you use it with your Beast Element, isn't that right? I wonder what that means." Ilya trailed off suggestively.
"Mou." Silica whined slumping over in her chair. "Ilya-chan, you said you wouldn't tease me about that again."
Silica was just plain better at communication skills that Hexi was, but he was getting good enough that he could tell that Silica was actually bothered by that, at least a little bit. Ilya could get pretty rough when she teased people, and only the Sixth Ranger was capable of really counterattacking. The best Hexi could do was deflect or evade.
"I can see where that would be really useful for you." Hexi said. When she turned to look at him, Silica had a betrayed look in her eyes, and Hexi realized he really needed to complete the thought. "I mean, that means it's easy for you to tame mobs, right? To use as Familiars."
"That's right." Silica said, smiling up at him in relief.
"So then, uh, Kuradeel-san." Hexadecimal said. He had almost used kun, but somehow the look in those sunken eyes was too intense. "What can you do with the [Mystic Eye of Whisper]?"
There was a pause, and then Kuradeel spoke. "I'll demonstrate."
He frowned, closing his eyes as he concentrated, and then slowly opened them.
His irises were red. No, it was more like tiny magical shapes were shining red on top of his irises, making it look like his eyeballs were glowing. Hexadecimal knew a similar effect happened with his [Binding Eye], although his shined more of a flat yellow color.
redrum
Hexi blinked, cocking his head to the side. Had he heard something?
redrum
There it was again, like someone was whispering right behind his ear. Hexi turned to look behind him, an uneasy feeling rising out of his gut.
redrumredrumREDRUM
"Gah!" Hexi said, popping his Circuits open. The freaky chanting and the uneasy feeling both immediately ended, even though he hadn't even circulated prana.
"That was freaky." Hexadecimal admitted.
Kuradeel smiled like that had been a compliment. Well, Hexi supposed it was better to let him think that.
"As you can see," Ilya explained, "the [Whisper Eye] creates false sensory perception, primarily in the form of auditory hallucination."
"If it's just hearing things, then what was with that creepy feeling?" Hexi complained.
Ilya hummed. "Fundamentally the [Whisper Eye] becomes a form of hypnosis. That's what it's for. Because of Kuradeel's unique talent, however, he's especially gifted at the kind of hallucination that works like the special effects in a horror movie."
Kuradeel nodded proudly, even though Hexi was pretty sure that wasn't something to be proud of.
"So those are the three kinds of [Spell] that can be printed on the surface of an eyeball and automatically activated by circulating prana through them." Ilya summarized, clapping her hands together. "Although considered basic, they are highly-regarded for their efficiency and reliability, so please use them well."
"Now, you said something interesting earlier. Berserker-kun." Ilya said, turning to the kid among them. And what was up with that weird emphasis on his name?
"Um, right." He said, taking that as his cue. "So I've developed a spell that's a [Pure Eye], um, and it lets me see like, sound waves, I can look at things like a bat." His explanation was a little weird, but Hexi mostly followed it.
"That's not technically correct." Ilya said, shaking her head with a put-upon sigh, shaking her head in theatrical dismay.
"Please teach us, Ilya-shishou." Hexi loyally replied to her prompt.
"What you're doing is neither a [Pure Eye] nor even truly a [Mystic Eye]." Ilya lectured, not bothered at all as the kid shrunk in his seat. She was in full-blown lecture mode so she didn't even notice.
"In the first place, a [Mystic Eye] is a formal spell that is engraved on the iris, a magecraft circle that forms a film across the pupil that is projected outwards onto the object of your vision. Since you haven't engraved the spell onto your eyeball by surgically altering the appropriate Circuits, it isn't a [Mystic Eye] by definition, instead it is a vision-enhancing spell." Ilya nodded in agreement with herself.
"Ah!" Silica said, tilting her head to the side. "But because it's adding a new kind of vision instead of improving existing sight, it's [Alteration] instead of [Reinforcement], right?" She smiled encouragingly at Berserker.
"Um, right!" He replied with an uncertain smile.
"In the second place", Ilya continued heedlessly, "although they can be organically encouraged and developed, [Pure Eyes] are a phenomena that occur, not an effect that humans can directly cause. And finally and most importantly, something of that grade simply doesn't rise to the level of Pure Eye. It's just two points drawing a line, after all."
Despite himself Hexi was kind of curious about that. "What do you mean by that, Ilya-shishou?"
Ilya turned to him, smiling patiently. "A [Mystic Eye] is fundamentally something that is projected from one person onto a target. From A to B, it's a line. Whereas a [Pure Eye] is always... triangular, because it draws on karma, or possibly even destiny. Rather than projecting the effect onto the target, it's more like the [Pure Eye] takes a photograph, submits the photograph to Google Image Search, and returns the resulting information to the one who bears the [Pure Eye]."
Kuradeel opened his mouth, and then closed it, frowning.
"Yes, Kuradeel-kun?" Ilya gently asked.
"How's that different?" He finally asked. "I mean, how can you tell the difference. Like, uh," he was clearly struggling to articulate his question, "like let's say that you used a Pure Eye, to, I don't know, check the HP of a mob. Then a [Pure Eye] would pull the information off the server, I guess? While a Mystic Eye would look at the particular mob?" He frowned. "Since mobs are hosted server-side, I dunno that's any different."
Ilya nodded. "That's actually insightful, and works towards the fundamental way to test the difference between a [Pure Eye] and a psychic [Mystic Eye]." She pursed her lips, considering. "In order to defeat a Mystic Eye, you can shroud the target with a defense. But in order to fool a Pure Eye, you have to interfere with the bearer's connection to the World. Their karma, or destiny."
Hexadecimal nodded slowly, frowning as he digested that. "So it's much harder to fool a [Pure Eye] then a [Mystic Eye], is that it?" It sounded like a [Pure Eye] was some kind of, Super Observe command, while a Mystic Eye was 'just' a spell. More limited, but more powerful inside those limits, that kind of tradeoff.
Ilya tilted her head to the side, making an uncertain face. "Yes, but that's really just a side effect? For a magus it's more like, a [Pure Eye] is interesting, while a [Mystic Eye] is useful."
I I I
Front Liners were mean.
Bel stared down at the table in front of him, hands folded in his lap as he tried not to pout. He didn't want to look uncool in front of Silica.
He tried not to take it personal, but he had been really proud. He had been asked to show off his cool Spell to [The White Witch]! He'd been feeling really low, and working on his Spells made him feel better, and when he'd been asked to show off his Spell to Front Liners, he'd been really happy and proud.
But they didn't even ask to see it. Instead, The White Witch had just started lecturing him about how wrong he was. She didn't even see his Spell first, how would she know? It was his Spell. He had thought it up, even though listening to the NPC trainers was just as confusing and frustrating as listening to his math teacher in school. He had tried really hard, and she didn't even look before making fun of his Spell!
What did she know, anyway.
Bel felt like he was gonna cry. He didn't want to give her that.
"Um." He said, without looking up. "I gotta go, or I'll be late."
"Thank you for visiting us. Berserker-kun." The White Witch said, curtsying. Some [Titled Player]. Bel wanted to tell her that the Sixth Ranger wouldn't be mean like her, but he didn't want to pick a fight. Mom always said it was wrong to pick fights.
And why did she say his name like that, anyway?
"You're welcome." He mumbled, without looking up.
"Um, you want..." The weird guy with the mask looked like he was gonna offer to walk Bel home. Like Bel was a kid.
"No." He shook his head. "I'll be fine."
Silica smiled at him and waved goodbye. Bel nodded stiffly. She was still really cute, but she had just let him get picked on. He still wanted her to think he was cool, but Bel didn't really want anything to do with her. He wasn't sure.
He was weirdly grateful to the masked guy for asking, even if he had to say no, cause he didn't want to be around them no more.
"Later, I guess." Bel mumbled, turning and walking out. He held himself back from running, he didn't want to look like he was running away.
He didn't want to go back. If he went back then Huntar and Emily and Sasha would all ask about how it went, and he didn't even want to think about it, let alone talk about it. Maybe not ever, but definitely not right now.
The sun was just setting. It would be dark soon. He opened his menu, and typed up a message to Sasha, making excuses that he was still in the meeting. He didn't like to lie, but he had especially been given permission to go out late after dinner, he wanted to wait until after bed time to go back. If he told Sasha he didn't want to talk about it she would let him not talk about it, and she wouldn't ask. Sasha was like a good mom like that. But Huntar and Emily were just as excited as he was. Had been. He didn't want to talk to them.
He wished there were swings somewhere he could go sit on. Instead he wandered aimlessly, between the back alleys in the city. It was spooky, kind of, but he was in a Safe Zone so he would be okay.
"I-" He stopped himself. He didn't say it. If he started talking to Harper, then he'd cry. Bel didn't want to cry.
He sat down, drawing his knees up and wrapping his arms around them.
He thought about his cool spell, and playing with Huntar, and how they'd sneak off to learn Spells together, and compete with Emily over who had the coolest spells. He didn't think about Harper or Chuck. He thought about how Sasha always pushed them to eat lots even though it was VR and they didn't need to eat at all. He heard a long note in the background, real low and deep. He didn't think about how Harper always whistled even during dinner, and said "Good night" every night when he went to bed, and how Harper always said "Good Morning" and that made it so Chuck had to say "Good Morning" back even though he didn't want to. The note went slowly out.
Miserable, Bel tucked his chin tighter against his knees, wrapping his arms tighter. He could hear the note again, real funny like it was coming up his butt through the ground, not just through the air to his ears. He kind of wanted to turn on his Spell and see what it looked like, but he didn't want to at the same time. He didn't want to think.
He heard the note again. It wasn't any louder, it wasn't any closer, but it was more. Like, it was more in his mind. Even though he wasn't hearing it more, it was filling up his thoughts, pushing out stuff about other people that he didn't want to think about anyway.
It was good. Bel relaxed, his arms unclenching from around his knees, and his back relaxing as he sagged, since he wasn't holding his back real tight any more. He didn't have to think.
He heard the note again, it was really big in his mind. It wasn't any closer though, it still sounded, it still felt really far away.
Bel stood up. He wanted to get closer to the note. He didn't want to think about anything else but that.
Mechanically, he started to walk towards the note.
End
I I I
1) Ugh so long I haven't even been THAT busy, I just got out of the habit of writing. And it's not like I was particularly dealing with writer's block, I just broke the habit of writing regular.
2) Yeah, this is the kid from that anecdote Sasha told back in 14.3, I figured it would be a shame to waste that.
3) Front Liners play rough, huh?
4) Rather than mood whiplash precisely, I was trying to create a feeling of disconnect there. Where Ilya and her crew were talking but missing that essential point, and they were all pointing in completely a different direction than the kid. Or, fundamentally Ilya is still a jackass and the rest of her crew are too used to it? Like that maybe.
