We both looked at the lackey for some time before I said, " Thank you, for saving me." she looked at me and said, " Thank you too". after which an awkward silence followed.
she then asked me, " so what will happen now?"
I turned and looked at her, she was short and had black hair her face looked kinda childish to me she was wearing a cocktail dress and was barefoot. next to her was a single high heel. at last, now I knew what she had thrown. I told her, " I don't know. maybe the Cytax have something for this kind of situation?"
She stood up and went to her screen next to the entrance. the lackey on tho other side tried to grab her but couldn't get past the invisible wall.
She fiddled with it and said, "there are options for the plot setting like who to allow and who not, and there is some kind of shop for the wilds. then there are the training instruction sections, but there is only one entry. Oh, and these must be the goals for the day. But nothing to help us against those three." I slowly stood up and felt an incredible pain from my ribs, a small yelp escaped my mouth.
at this, she turned around and looked at me, " let me have a look at this I don't look like it but I'm a nurse."
she came closer and put her fingers on my chest and asked, " does this hurt". It did hurt like hell. before I could say anything she said, " ok it doesn't look like it's broken, only bruised. You shouldn't move around too much for the time being."
I looked at her thinking that this was a fast diagnose of my wound. Still, a bit bewildered I told her, " Thanks again, ... uhhmm. what's your name? My name is Jacob by the way." she giggled at this and then said, " my name is Stephanie but everyone calls me Steph. So mister Jacob, what should we do next?"
I pondered for a moment then I said, " The Cytax gave us goals for the day what are they?"
at this, Stephanie raised an eyebrow at me then said in a surprised tone, " You want to complete the goals from our kidnappers?"
"I at least want to know what the goals are. right now we don't know much about our situation. we had that message that said something about the earth being destroyed or so. if it's true we better try to complete those goals. if the cytax lied to us then we are screwed either way. so I don't see anything wrong with looking at them and trying to complete them. if they don't harm us." I told her without taking a single breath.
Steph stared at me with wide eyes, the told me, " your right I will look them up right now." Steph walked up to the screen and then said, "today's goals are, using Æther to buy something for the wilds and to cultivate a protective aura of at least one point. Oh, that is what the training instruction is for. So, I will read them right now, step one take a Æther pill and feel the Æther moving in your body, step two move the Æther to your skin and will it to protect you from harm. step three repeat till all the Æther from your body is gone. that is all. Sounds easy enough."
I looked at her and thought that I need to return to my plot so I could start working on those goals. while I was thinking Steph walked over to me and handed me a single pill while saying, "Here this is a Æther pill, so you can start on this training." " Thanks, I will return it as soon as possible," I told her and took the pill and dropped it into my mouth and swallowed it. before anything even happened she asked, " how do you feel anything strange?" at this I realized what she just did.
" did you just use me as a guinea pig?" I asked her, she just shyly averted her eyes. " Oh, you are a sly one. still, everything looks fine." then without warning, I put my hand to my neck and started sounds as if I was suffocating and then dropped down on my back, at first it looked like Steph was about to do something but then she said, "oh cut it out, I have seen enough people suffocate that I know when one is faking it."
A bit sad that my prank didn't work I lifted my body back up and looked at her, she had her arms crossed before her then she asked, " so how does it feel?"
" ahh, the Æther feels strange I can't really describe it, I know where it is in my body but not how to describe it, it is like describing color to someone blind. It's just there." I told her honestly. "so can you try then try to move the Æther to your skin?" she asked me.
"I will try," I said before I focused to move the Æther inside of me, but it didn't go well till I realized that the Æther was kind of pulsing inside of me. then I could pull the Æther with each pulse away from my center where it had started to collect when the first Æther reached my skin I tried to hold it there but it slowly returned to the center. I thought about the instruction Steph had read out and realized that I needed to will it to do something. So I moved the Æther once more to my skin, and when the first reached my skin I willed it to protect me from harm, I felt how a part of the part of Æther I had moved turned into something else. It felt as if that part had a purpose. then I looked up at and saw that Steph was at the screen doing something and the lackey had left. I called out to her with, " hey Steph I completed the second part." when she heard my voice she let out a surprised scream and then turned to me with an angry look. then she took a deep breath and said, " Good, and how is it? took you almost an hour just for this step."
I was surprised it was that long but then said, " it feels like, how to best describe it. oh, I now. It feels like there is a ghost surrounding you that is protecting you. you don't directly feel it, it is more like knowing it is there."
" the best description you could think of is a ghost. really," she asked me. I stood up and didn't feel my ribs more specifically they didn't hurt anymore. I touched to be sure and there was really no pain.
Steph looked at me and asked, "something wrong".
" The pain, it's gone," I told her and continued with, " completely gone."
she looked at me and then she threw something into her mouth before she said, " so can you give me some tips." and smiled at me.