The first day is… studious. Kumail was expecting a fight, some weight training, or even a running session, but Asaria, on the contrary, chains him to a desk with a stack of files for him to learn and understand all the intricacies of the Infinito Mundo.
For three days, he ingests the information as if he is stuffing himself, remembering the names of the main players, the organizers, the techniques used and the modes of combat offered.
Without a break, without a moment to relax, but he understands, given the stakes. He barely has time to eat and sleep… He has only his eyes to cry on and the attention of Pune, Lili and Maddy to comfort him when Asaria's back is turned.
Every day, Asaria asks him a question, and the brunette turns into a demon at the slightest mistake. After a week, he smiles, proud of himself. She blurted out a "mmph!" approval.
Finally ! Now that he knows the ins and outs of the other world ... Practice!
Well ... That's what he was hoping for.
The knowledge acquired, it is now necessary to forge the soul.
Good… Meditation!
Standing at dawn and lying down in the dark night. The rest of the time in meditation. He didn't know you could have blisters on your buttocks.
Frankly, with all that he has lived, felt, endured ... Just the fact that he still has his senses is proof of his cold and hard as a stone mind. No. Like a block of steel.
Mind of steel.
So wasting time on that? Not very smart ... They should be working on his skills, his mastery of the Nexus, simulate fights ... In short, nothing to do with what he has been doing in the last two weeks ... It is ...
_ ... Can you be silent for five minutes? Coldly throws Asaria into meditation.
_ What? React Kumail. I said nothing !
_ I've been hearing your moans for a while now.
_ But I did not speak! Kumail protests.
_ No need. You think so loudly that you will be heard from the opposite wing of the residence.
_ Pff. Whatever.
_ "It's no use, a waste of time, a waste of time, fights, fights, fights, bla bla bla".
The young man's face flushed, and even though it was dark in the training room, Asaria could clearly see him.
_ Hmm ... Pff ... Bu ... But ... whatever!
_ Go, get some sleep. We will resume tomorrow.
_ ...
_ No need to hide your joy, you suck even for that anyway. Everything is to do again with you. What took hold of me to take such an incompetent… Anyway, see you!
_ Hey but you ...
_ By the way, stay in your room. Approach mine or those of the girls and I will castrate you, for life.
_ Why would I approach you bunch of ...!
_ Good night.
Asaria doesn't give him time to answer, she's already gone.
"But what! She deserves that! In addition she believes herself…! Aaah! "
He gets angry alone in the dark, frustrated.
Considering the state in which she left him, inevitably, he is not sleepy.
"You might as well take a walk. Why would I listen to him, anyway? What a bitch ... "
He begins his walk with the wing he is in and walks calmly.
Since his arrival, his travels have been limited to his bedroom, which has its own bathroom, and the training room, in which he also eats.
As he walks around, he realizes he hadn't yet realized how much Asaria lives in a world of her own.
The portraits, the porcelain, the tapestries ... it feels like a museum or a luxury art exhibition.
But where could she come from?
Kumail, who doesn't know anything about nobility and different social status other than his personal situation, finds it difficult to understand the opulence in which Asaria lives. Especially since she doesn't seem to have a family. Besides her maids, she is alone ... so why does she need all these things for ?
It's strange, he who is generally of a dead rat's enthusiasm towards others, he cannot help but take an interest in the young woman. Well, there is no arguing: she is an intriguing person. But ... the more he finds out about her, the more interesting she becomes.
Drowned into the matrix of his thoughts, he forgets to look in front of him. His bare little toe understood at that moment that he was no match for a solid bronze statue.
It was huge and in the moonlight, the young man saw that it represented an elderly man, bearded, dressed as one of the founders. But from what he remembered, his face was not in the classes he had been taught. An illustrious stranger. Who was surely at the origin of the indecent opulence of the place. Someone approach! He is hiding behind the huge statue. And finds himself face to buttocks.
Here, they even thought of making him a flabby butt as desired.
The crazy thought that he was having an uncontrolled fart crosses his mind and he holds back from laughing like the teenager he is.
He is in despair all alone, seriously ...
He hesitates for a long minute to dance from one foot to the other in the dark, but finally gives in. He is hiding behind a pillar. He doesn't dare get any closer. But from where he is, he cannot distinguish more than a silhouette.
Frustrated, he comes out of his hiding place and takes a few steps. At the same time, the clouds dissipate and the moon comes to light up the courtyard and dispel the darkness.
Kumail freezes, as if petrified. Asaria is training. He should have known, but where does this energy come from after the day they have spent?
Movements as fluid and calm as water, mingled with a will as fiery and lively as flames. A piercing gaze, a serene expression, all glistening with sweat glistening in the moonlight.
He remains uncovered, marvelling, too absorbed to worry about the consequences ...
Suddenly his air grew thinner, his t-shirt pressed against her throat. He is pulled back by a firm grip to behind the pillars without being able to defend himself, then he is thrown against a wall.
Ready to do battle, he lifts his head to fall on Lisa's long and surprisingly muscular legs ...
"What are you doing here at this hour ... Obcy?"
Kumail freezes, as if petrified. Asaria is training. He should have known, but where does this energy come from after the day they have spent?
Movements as fluid and calm as water, mingled with a will as fiery and lively as flames. A piercing gaze, a serene expression, all glistening with sweat glistening in the moonlight.
He remains uncovered, marveling, too absorbed to worry about the consequences ...
Suddenly her air grew thinner, her t-shirt pressed against her throat. He is pulled back by a firm grip to behind the pillars without being able to defend himself, then he is thrown against a wall.
Ready to do battle, he lifts his head to fall on Lisa's long and surprisingly muscular legs ...
"What are you doing here at this hour ... Obcy?"
Hearing this, Kumail freezes. He didn't expect to hear that word here, to be humiliated by an employee in a house where he was invited. Her blood boils, her black gaze crosses that, filled with contempt, of the blonde woman. Lively as a snake, she slams him to the ground with a supple movement of her foot, and keeps her head against the marble. Kumail doesn't respond. His old habits take over and he ends up extinguishing his hatred and demeans himself.
"You don't belong here," Lisa retorts, her foot pressing down on his throat just enough to embarrass him, humiliate him, but not enough to suffocate him.
If he listened to people like Lisa or high school assholes, his place was in the middle of the trash. And Kumail wanted to exist. And certainly not end up on the ground because he would have let himself be. He had learned the lesson.
He grabs Lisa's foot and plunges his fiery gaze into hers.
_ Fuck you with your place!
He swings Lisa's foot, knocking her off balance and unsettling her.
He won't stoop, ever again.
The woman's face flushes, Kumail can see it, she doesn't intend to moderate this time.
_ W ... You ...
_ Lisa!
Asaria stepped in and saved Kumail from a blow that would certainly have knocked him out.
_ As ... Mistress.
_ That's enough, go.
_ Well. Forgive the interruption. We leave you.
Lisa grabs Kumail by the collar.
_ Leave Kumail here.
_ Sorry ?
_ You heard me Leave Kumail with me.
_ But Mistress, it would be dangerous to leave this indi ...
Kumail sighs, exasperated, but Asaria goes on, in a tone that doesn't suffer any response.
_ Lisa. Leave us. And in the future, watch your behaviour towards Kumail. He's our guest. The Vasilissa family has much better values than that. Do you intend to betray them?
_ If that day should happen I will take my life before it taints you, said she seriously on her knees.
She greets with a hunched "Madame", then walks away, leaving the two teenagers alone.
They looked at each other for a moment without speaking. The atmosphere was thick, there was so much to say and yet… Talking would certainly have ruined everything. A mark of recognition flashed through Kumail's eyes, as Asaria's were reflecting some kind of respect. Unlike Asaria, this is a first for the young man. Except in the virtual world, he never retaliated, nor burned with the will to defend himself.
Now that Kumail thought about it, it was the first time they had found themselves alone, without having to study, to concentrate. Just the two of them, under the moon ...
Asaria looks down. Her eyes lock without her thinking about Kumail's brown hands. They are surrounded by high walls here. They are young, innocent, life offers them all that it can to people like them. But, soon enough, those hands will be stained in blood… The blood of some young and innocent people…
Then they will no longer be Kumail and Asaria. They will be just two survivors, two pawns, from a game of death.
The hand is shaking. Asaria jumped slightly, and found the young man's golden eyes again. A smile takes place on his face without her being able to control it.
He is somehow scared, intimidated by her presence. As much as she is, deep down. Looking deeply, while losing herself in his eyes, she keeps the thought that… right now, they're not fighting, yet… Right… They aren't, they just… they just them, innocent and young, sharing this stolen moment under the moonlight…
A breath… Something, think, please. Kumail still doesn't control his anarchic brain. Yet he's willing to take the shot despite knowing his clumsiness…
_ Tell me, who's the ... Too late. Asaria takes the lead.
_ Didn't I tell you to stay and rest?
The familiar failure for Kumail… Really, he still has a long way to go.
_ Yes.
_ So what ?
"I wasn't sleepy," he said with a shifty gaze.
One glance at him was enough to see that he was on the knees. But Asaria is not showing off ...
_ Yeah right... she sighs.
_ And you ? What were you doing on your own outside?
_ Nothing that concerns you.
_ Tch ...
Silence returns.
Kumail regrets coming. He doesn't like that tension.
Asaria looks away. The words want to come out, but her throat tightens. She's not used to it either despite what she would like to believe.
Kumail has yet a lot to learn about the Infinito Mundo. She on the other hand ... She doesn't know a thing about humility.
_ And um… you. What are you doing here all alone ? Says she timidly, looking at her feet.
He finds her adorable. It's hard for her to let go of her pride.
He remembers the warm and loving Asaria at the cafeteria. Her voice seems to cut through the heavy silence.
_ Nothing, just… walking.
_ Hum…
The night seems to advance and engulfs them, silence returns, but this time, accompanying by a complicit mood-tension felt and shared between them.
They look at each other, unable to take their eyes off the other. The gleam in their eyes becomes more important than anything around them.
Kumail feels his insides twist and his chest heat up at the same time. Asaria's voice almost sounds hoarse when she speaks again.
_ I'm sorry… for… what happened, in, the cafeteria.
_ There's nothing for you to feel sorry about. You had nothing to do with it.
Her gaze becomes questioning.
_ Like I told you before, I know you weren't in it. So you owe me nothing, and most of all, no compunction you need to keep. If you done nothing wrong, there's no reason to feel like you did. You're smart so I think you'll be okay… said he in a soft voice.
He's going to leave, he has to tell her…
Make her understand. He stops at her level, and looks at her. Her hazel eyes are wide open, enhancing the brand she wears. She waits, almost fascinated.
« I'm the one who owes now. »
...
The next day, at breakfast, everything seems similar, a normal morning. Except for the fact that the two night owls can't seem to escape the other's gaze… Kumail kept thinking about his last sentence, proud of himself. All this under the interested gaze of the girls, and Lisa's moralizing.
_ Sir, would you ... try Pune before being pulled by his mechanical arm.
_ Shhh! Stops Maddy.
Pune tilts its head in question.
_ Do not disturb them! She whispers. This is an unexpected opportunity, for Madam and K ...
She doesn't finish her sentence, feeling a movement out of the corner of her eye, she turns to Pune. This one goes back and forth with his head between Maddy's face and his arm by which she holds him. Definitely not a robot like the others …
_ Oops… Sorry. Could you please stay with us for now Pune? She said releasing his arm.
_ I don't understand, why should I ?
_ Stay or I unplug you, retorts Lili.
_ Lili ! Pune is also a guest! Be more respectful, insists Maddy.
_ Yeah yeah whatever. Please stay with us, Mr. Pune, otherwise I will have to tear off the threads one by one. Better ?
_ Impossible, I swear… Pune, I guess you can't read human feelings?
_ Not all, of them indeed, Lady Maddy.
_ "Lady"? Pff.
Lili's giggle makes Maddy smile.
_ I perceive the most expressive such as joy, anger or even grief, continues the AI. I learned to read my master's over time, but for others this exercise is still quite difficult to complete at the moment, I'm sorry ...
_ There is nothing to be sorry about, it's already very good that you can read those of your master, reassures the young brunette.
_ Thank you Lady Maddy. Although it is difficult for me to define the feelings that my master is feeling right now…
_ Hmm ... She said with a smile on her face. Have you ever seen him in the company of people… who were physically close to him?
_ Never, responds immediately Pune.
_ That's why. Two peoples who like each other share strong feelings, which they can only have in each other's presence. Their behaviour, their expressions, even the hormones secreted and emitted are different.
_ I see… Why, in what interest should we start this process?
_ Well ... In any case, it's the instinct to re ...
_ The point is to end up in bed dude, Lili says.
Faced with Pune's questioning gaze, she resumes.
_ Well, not necessarily in bed though. It all depends on individual tastes.
_ I can not understand.
_ Really ? To share a bed, forni ...
_ What Lili is trying to say, Maddy resumes softly, is that living things have to reproduce in order to perpetuate their genes, and that means mating ... And this whole mess is determined by taste. And it turns out that your master and my mistress are to each other's taste.
_ So if you hear screams coming from a room they're in and it's not pain, don't come in.
_ Certainly, we should not stop the process of creating life, answers Pune. Information recorded. The master must be able to access coitus to meet his long-term goals.
At this thought, the girls laugh without Pune understanding why.
Maddy takes one last look of hope and leads the other two a little further (despite Lili's protests) to give them some space.
_ I would like to come back to what we talked about the other day. Your attacker, Asaria said softly to Kumail while twisting her teacup between her fingers.
He attacked you randomly, but it was because of the inner workings of the game.
_ What ?
_ The Infinito Mundo is real, but it's still a game that follows rules. There is three. Inter-spheres, Intra-spheres and Inter-world. They specify that a participant can travel freely to the lower level Spheres, but not to the upper Spheres. Intra-Spheres forces us to fight. They are randomly cast in stages, which means you can face off against a veteran as you start out in the Sphere in question. Inter-World ... Pass me the jam please?
Kumail snaps out, and gives her the bright red pot. He himself had forgotten to finish his bread.
_ Thank you. The inter-world allows us as players to come to "this" world to gain experience. It's low, but some don't hesitate. This is called the "predator mode". It's just hunting, they can do it there or here, but people stopped doing it in the Infinito Mundo.
_ Why is that ?
_ Some out of patriotism, they have been in the game for so long that the inhabitants of Infinito Mundo are "their people", and this world is an enemy. But for most of them is because it's so much easier to tackle someone from here. We are much less on our guard outside the game. But to be able to do this, we must activate a special mode that removes all the protections of the Nexus. The more you do this, the more terrible the effects on the wearer. This is the consequence. Whoever attacked you took a risk, through combat, and because this mode is dangerous. If the Nexus protects all fighters from death, it cannot do so if this mode is activated too often.
But Kumail didn't sound more affected by the news than that.
_ It's super cowardly. Glad there are consequences, he blurted out.
_ Do you think it's so easy to choose to stay in the nails? Asaria asks as she finishes her breakfast.
_ I do not know. But what I do know, it's that I would never use that "predatory mode ». You don't attack people out of the game.
Without answering, Asaria stands up.
_ Follow me.
She starts to walk, and Kumail follows her. After all, she is his instructor.
_ Lisa prepares the meal as usual. We won't be long.
"Good ma'am," replies the housekeeper, bending slightly.
_ Where are we going ? Kumail asks as they walk along corridors without stopping.
_ You'll see.