As we arrived near the capital, our mount slowed down its speed and walked towards the capital in a slow crawl that is still fast due to how big each of its steps is from its size.
As we went near the gate, the two guards nodded at us and helped us unhook the giant Monster Naga away from our dear little Verdant Hill Pig while more guards went to help us bring the Boss Monster inside the capital to sell.
"Oh, you guys hunted a Boss Monster Naga," asked a player who went up towards them wearing fancy armor and a normal sword.
"Yep," I said while jumping off our mount while Shiro followed from behind.
"How much do you think it would sell once all the scales and bones are taken care of?" asked the curious player.
"A few hundred gold coins," I said as we watched more people that we hired from the capital unscaling and deboning the giant Monster Naga and we paid them a few gold coins due to how hard it is to take out the scales and bones.
"Well I gotta go now, I still have a quest to do," said the player as he walked towards the distance while more players gathered around the giant Monster Naga and looked at it in wonder.
After a few hours of boredom, the scales, meat, bones, fangs, eyes, poison bladder, and more was finally put into separate piles, and just in time as a person wearing dark green robes that cover most of his body walked towards us holding a sack of gold coins.
"I'll buy all of it for 200 gold coins," said the man with a hiss.
"Oh come on, you're the guild leader of Slippery Shadows, you have more than that right?" I asked the man.
"350 gold coins," said the man after a pause while another player went towards us wearing the same dark green robes as the man but with different markings as the player holds a smaller sack of gold coins.
"Nice," I said as they gave me both of the sacks while a group of people also wearing the same dark green robes with slightly different designs went to carry the piles of items and went back inside the capital towards the giant building in the far distance that was the Slipper Shadow's Guild Base.
"Well goodbye now," I said towards the guild leader who nodded, and in an instant, he slipped into the shadows and disappeared without a trace.
"Yawn, you wanna log out now?" I asked Shiro beside me.
"Mmm," said Shiro as we both log out of the game at the same time and got out of our IVR pods while greeting Ai along the way.
And as I looked out of the window, I saw that it was already late at night and just in time because we heard our mother calling us downstairs.
"Aki! Shiro! It's time to eat!" shouted our mother.
"Coming!" we both shouted as we rushed downstairs towards the dining room that has a giant feast prepared for specifically me because…
"Aki, are you ready for school tomorrow?" asked my father as depression overcame my face and they chuckled in response to the change in my mood.
"Don't be so sad, it will be fun there from what I heard" said my mother as we got on our seats.
"Sigh, well I'm not weak anymore so maybe it would be fun," I said with a reluctant smile while my father chuckled.
"That's the spirit, now go eat now, we don't want you to be weak and frail again," said my father as he scooped up a bowl of rice for me and filled it to the brim.
"Oh honey, what if he can't finish it?" asked my mother.
"I'll eat his leftover," said my father as she chuckled.
After a few minutes, we talked with each other about Hope Academy and Shiro saying he want to join the same academy his big brother is in next year.
"Burp," said my father as he patted his stomach along with Shiro who has a bloated stomach beside me.
"Nii-chan, carry me back to my room please," said Shiro who leaned his head over to my shoulders.
"Hehe, you shouldn't eat so much next time," I said while patting Shiro's head.
"Remember to take care while carrying him upstairs," said my mother who started to pick up the dishes from the table.
"I will," I said while I crouch down on the ground so I could piggyback Shiro.
"Ha" I shouted as I felt Shiro plopping down on my back and with one swift movement, I stood up with no difficulty really with my body somehow getting stronger as my soul gets stronger but I still took the time to act that Shiro is hard to carry even though he's as light as a thick book to me.
While acting that I was having a hard time, I carried him upstairs and back to his room which is full of plushies of random animals or fictional characters while I lay him down on his bed.
"Was the food great?" I asked while kissing him on his forehead.
"Yeah! I couldn't stop eating" said Shiro who patted at his bloated stomach.
"Well have fun now," I said while handing him his Gtech Glasses that was lying down on the table beside us.
After that, I went back downstairs and towards the bathroom to brush my teeth.
Once I was inside the bathroom, I pick up my toothbrush and put down some toothpaste on it, and started to brush my teeth while looking at myself in the mirror.
Oh school, why must you come so early, it felt like no time has passed at all but months have already passed since I started playing New World and it has been a blast, but it seems like the past has caught up with the blast and now I am lying in the grueling cast of this fast time frame.
Sigh, tomorrow will probably suck, I thought while rinsing my mouth and gargled some water and spit it out to the sink.
With my daily brushing finished, I head back upstairs and to my room and relaxed for a few hours by watching some Metube to offset the depression of school that was on the horizon already, but there is nothing I could do about it because what's done has been done, I can't pick a new school right now because everything has already been set in stone.
As I looked at the moon outside my window, I sighed and took off my Gtech Glasses from my face, and turned off the lights inside the room.
And with a deep breath, I closed my eyes and dozed off into dreamland.
(A Few Hours Later)
Inside a random house located somewhere unknown, a boy was seen sleeping peacefully inside a cozy room.
With a tug and pluck, he moved around his bead constantly changing his position that shows that he must be having a vivid dream or perhaps a nightmare as his eyes were still rapidly moving that indicating that he was in the state of REM sleep or rapid eye movement that proves the fact he was sleeping.
And as the sun's rays of light hit the boy's face, his eyes opened wide in shock as emotions flooded his eyes while a droplet of tear slid down his face.
"H- huh?" said the boy in confusion as he looked around his room with confused eyes.
(Akihiko Tanaka POV)
As the rays of light hit Aki's face, he felt a new sensation happening towards his soul that made him open his eyes wide in pain while clutching his chest.
"W- what?" said Aki as he profusely sweated from his head while he felt his soul rapidly changing and he didn't know why.
"S- shit! A- am I dying!?" said Aki as tons of bugs suddenly crawled to his room and in an instant, he healed and killed them in the same time frame and felt their souls going inside him but that didn't lessen the strange feeling but after a while, he calmed down and just lied down on his bed and waited for the feeling to go away.
After a while, Aki was now back to a calm state while his eyes were deep in thought.
'What happened?' was the only thought in Aki's eyes as he tried to look at his soul but his mastery over his powers were still not that great so he can't visibly see the change, but he knew something has changed fundamentally with his soul and he didn't know what it was, and that scared him because he might revert back to his weak self.
So with him trying to hold his calm, he waited for a few minutes and saw that everything seems to be fine so he decided to not focus on what happened a few minutes ago and instead focus on school so, with a big sigh, he picked up his towel and prepared to take a shower and eat some breakfast his mother prepared for his family.
AN: This is 1540 words, you're welcome.
Sigh, it seems like I will have to start writing the next arc, the arc of self loathing because I hate my grandeur ideas of abyssal difficulty.
The Sword of Damocles hangs above each and everyone one of you with its ever present threat of despair, so send me some power stones with your power of friendship and save the thousands perhaps even millions to come who will read this masterpiece immortalized in the tunnels of time.
(March 24, 2022 – 120th day of writing)