Riu had barely managed to make it back to his house. He was exhausted after making the contracts and the endless slimes attacking him didn't help. His levels went up a little bit not enough. Slimes weren't enough now.
He was able to get home after giving the portal the crystal and taking a cab. His foster mother, Kaira had freaked out when she saw him. Looking in the mirror he could see why.
There was dried blood on his clothes and face and his white hair was covered in dirt. He hurriedly took a shower and headed back down. This time Aiden was there as well.
"Geez what happened to you?" He said, "you made my mom nearly faint."
Riu shrugged. Seeing him made him angry.
"I'm flattered though. You and Ember fighting over me." He said, taking a bite out of a cookie.
Riu didn't say anything, what could he say?
"It was funny to hear her ranting about you." He laughed
Riu turned and walked back to his room. He couldn't deal with this guy right now. He has to get ready for tomorrow, he was going to Silvia's for training. It wasn't long when Kaira called him down for dinner.
It was a very awkward dinner. Jack and Aiden were busy talking about [Red Ren] as Aiden wanted to join after the exams. Finally Riu had the courage to ask. He always hated asking them for things or to do things. They gave him that look that just made him want to crawl somewhere and cry.
"May I go to a friend's house tomorrow?" He asked, mainly to Kaira as she was most likely to say yes.
"Ember?" Kaira and Embers mom, Laura,were close.
He shook his head, "Her names Silvia."
"Silvia Ren? Why would she want to hang out with you?" Aiden asked
"Ah, she wants to train." He mumbled
Right, Silvia Ren. Her father, Dennis Ren, is the founder and guild master of [Red Ren].
"If it's her then alright." Kaira said
"Thank you."
"Wait a minute-" Aiden began, but was silenced by Jack.
Mr and Mrs. Ren were like family to this family. Silvia and Aiden never really got along as they had much too different views. Luckily tomorrow was Saturday, so he could go straight over.
***
Silvia's house wasn't as close as Jack said, but it was noticable. He walked up to the câteau and knocked on the beautiful gold doors. It opened immediately, revealing a small woman in a maids outfit.
"Um, I'm here for-" He began to say, her glare unnerving him
"Yes, yes I know. follow me." She interrupted, leading the way further inside the mansion.
He followed her until they hit a big wooden door.
"They're in there." She said, bowing.
He knocked on the door and heard a muffled, "come on!"
He opened the door to find Lily and Silvia in a duel. Silvia used daggers, while Lily used a bow. Silvia was at a advantage at the moment.
"Hey." Marcus was watching from the wall, a long sword at his side.
"Hi. Can Lily use magic arrows?" He asked, if she used magic arrows she'd be at a advantage
"I believe so, why?" He asked
"Lily! Use the magic arrows to put up a barrier!" He yelled
She must've heard him cause one of her arrows suddenly pointed at the ground, after firing a large almost invisible shield was out around her.
"Hey! No fair!" Silvia cried
"Silvia, put mana into your daggers and attack the shield." He called out.
She raised both daggers and concentrated. Soon, ber daggers began to glow as she ran forward to attack. She had to fall back due to the arrows.
"Dodge or defend against the arrows, don't slow down." Riu told her.
She nodded and ran forward once again.
"You know an awful lot about this." Marcus said, looking at him suspiciously.
"I have, uh, experience." He said
"Mh." didn't sound like he believed him.
The fight ended with Silvia's victory.
"I didn't even know I could do that! I even got a new skill!" Silvia said excitedly
"I knew I could use magic arrows but not in that way. I'll need more practice." Lily mumbled
"Your a long ranged fighter, it's advantageous to keep distance between you and your opponent." Riu said to her.
She looked surprised but nodded her head.
"Oh Oh what about me?" Silvia's hand shot into the air.
"You'd do best on either increasingly your speed ir stealth. You fight with daggers, which is even more close range then a sword. To even land a hot you'd need to be fast and unpredictable." Riu explained
"What about you?" Marcus asked
"I fight with a spear, so only a part of my weapon is lethal. I have to keep a distance while going in." He said, trying to explain
Marcus nodded, "and me?"
"You have a single kr double edged sword?"
"Double."
"Then it's best to learn martial arts. That way you can learn more then just how to swing your sword. The speed, the forces, how you place your feet, the way you move, all of that is needed to perfectly use the sword." Riu said, remembering what a character had told him.
Silvia gave a big smile "I told you he was good!"
Riu got the impression she had to convince them to let him come. Marcus grabbed his sword and pointed the tip at him.
"Let's spar." He said
Riu nodded and followed him to center. He got his spear from his inventory. Marcus ran towards him, putting his arms together, probably for more strength. First mistake. Riu was able to dodge easily. He used the butt of his spear to launch himself in the air, jamming the tip if the blade in between his arm and yanked upwards.
This caught him off guard and he let one hand off of his sword. Before he could get his sense back, Riu used the end of his weapon to take his feet from under him, causing him to fall. Riu held the blade at his throat.
For a moment the two of the didn't move, just stayed there panting. Then Marcus got up and gave a nod of acknowledgement.
"That was a good fight." He said.
Riu always had the impression that Marcus was a hard worker, this proved it. If he hadn't put his hands so close together, it would have been harder to beat him.
There was definitely something wrong though, he just couldn't place it.
"Let's fight again!" Silvia said
For the rest of the day, they sparred against each other, going in teams against another team. Ganging up on another. It was good practice for the future. Throughout the training, Riu noticed how he leveled up. Leveling up through training was something you could do in the game as well.
After a while, they were called in for supper. They all say at a large table, with Silvia's parents at the end.
"How was training?" Mrs. Ren asked
"Actually fun and beneficial." Silvia replied
"Yeah, with someone else we were able to fight against a new weapon." Lily chimed in
"A new weapon?" Mr. Ren questioned
"Ah, I fight with a spear." He said
"I see. Hey now that I think about it, you look like that one kid Jack decided to foster." He said looking Riu over
"Yes, he is my foster father." Riu nodded
"Amazing. You must be very talented." He nodded
"If your a foster, doesn't that mean you'll leave?" Lily asked
"Lily!" Mrs. Ren Scolded
"Only if they feel like it." He shrugged, he could care less if he was sent away. It wasn't like that a week ago, but now he has nothing, or no one, to look forward to.
"I see."
They ate the rest of supper in silence. Just like during training, Riu had a weird feeling. As he thought over the battles they just had he realized what it was. He decided against saying anything that day, so he decided to leave without saying anything. The others approach him before he cod leave the building.
"Do you want to enter the tower with us tomorrow?" Silvia asked
"The tower?"
"Yeah. It'd be great experience." She said
It would be great experience.
"I can only go up to the third floor." He said
"That's fine." She nodded "We need an easy floor so we can test out teamwork."
Why test something like that? Riu hesitated, he finally decided to tell him.
"Hey Marcus."
"Yeah?"
"You should try double swords. They suit you better than just one." He said
Marcus said nothing, making him feel as if he said something he shouldn't have.
"I'll think about it." He muttered before leaving.
Silvia smiled, "great. Here's my number. I'll add you to our group chat." She handed him a small piece of paper and waved him out.
Riu stared at the paper while he walked. It was this easy nowadays to get a girl's number. He put the number into his phone and gave her a small text to let her know. He looked back up and sighed.
Teamwork. They wanted to test that out, but why? It's not like they're going to fight together all the time right? He decided to not think about it too much for the time being. Only time will tell what will happen. He got home not long after. He went straight to bed
He was having a peaceful dream. Someone was holding him, talking to him in a soft, gentle voice. He couldn't make out what exactly she was saying. She was blurry, but she definitely had white hair, just like his. Was this woman his mother? Than some man came in and took him. He was not as careful. The woman began to scream and scream, until her voice became a distant echo.
The man placed him on what he could guess was a hospital bed and took out a long syringe. His voice was also muffled. A shit of fear we t through him as the needle came closer. It had a strange liquid inside and made him feel sick.
Just before the syringe entered what should be his arm, he woke up to a text. Groggily, Riu picked up his phone to see that Ember and Silvia texted him. He happily tapped on the notification for Embers text.
~
Em: I heard you were training with Silvia
Riuu: Yeah, it wasn't much
Em: You realized how much of a bitch she is right?
~
Riu felt his anger start to rise
~
Riuu: You know Aiden is a bitch too.
Em: Seriously? This isn't the same
Riuu: Yes ember its the exact same thing. I don't like Aiden you don't like Silvia. Any diff?
Em: Ttyl.
~
Riu let a sharp exhale. What a hypocrite! He couldn't believe it. He decided what he was going to do. He was going to become best friends with Silvia, just to show Ember that he can make friends with whoever he likes, just like her.
He talked on Silvia's message.
~
Silv: Hey we're meeting at the tower at 12 can u make it?
Riuu: Yeah.
Silv:Great
~
He checked the time. It was half last eleven. He got up and got dressed. He could still feel that woman's touch and that man's harshness. Almost as if it really happened. . Riu shook his head. This wasn't the first time he had a realistic dream.
He left his room and made his way down the stairs. No one seemed to be home. That was better, at least he didn't have to ask permission to go. He ran over to the tower, where the others were waiting.
"Sorry, did I keep you waiting?" He asked, panting a bit.
"Nah, we just got here." Silvia said.
Riu noticed that Marcus had another sword on him.
"I decided to try it out." He said stiffly
Riu tried not smile as he nodded. Silvia smiled and led the way towards the teleporter.
"Third floor."
In an instant they made it there. Riu stumbled.
"I'll never get used to that." Lily grumbled, picking herself from the floor.
The third floor. This was the place Riu could level up some more. He followed behind the trio. This floors boss beast should be a Esper Cat. Esper cats a small cat like beasts, they have black fur and two long, thick whiskers on each side of their face.
They're especially hard to catch for a physical type player, since they're so small and fast.
"We had quite a time trying to catch those cats." Lily told him
"They're fast and smart. The best way to catch them is a ranged attack or brute force." He commented
"Well, we aren't catching the boss this time. You need to do that to be able to go up another floor. We'll help you though." Silvia said, looking back at them.
Riu nodded, he would have liked to do this alone but it couldn't hurt to be in a team once in a while.
"Mew." They all turned to see a small black cat staring at them.
Putting his spear in position, he activated Mana Vision and String of Fate. He was able to track the movement of the beast. The Esper cat hissed at him, sensing mana being used.
"What is that?" Silvia asked, pointing at the gray string hovering over them.
" A skill of mine. I can the Esper cat unable to move." Riu explained
He immediately sent the string forward, tying the Esper cats legs. He thrushes his spear into the small body.
"You make it look so easy." Lily said, gaping
"Are you really an F rank?" Marcus asked
He was right to be suspicious. He was three levels from being at the F rank max. He would be taking the rank up mission by Wednesday. He'll be an E rank.
"Let's keep going, the boss is still far away." Silvia said, marching forward.
The smaller Esper cats were easily taken care of. Riu only leveled up once by the time he got to the boss room.
"Here we are. Let's go." Silvia said, looking over the valley.
There was a large rock in the middle. Riu made his way forward, using the String of Fate cut the grass.
"That's the boss monster?" Marcus quietly asked
The boss is supposed to be bigger, but this Esper cat was the same size as all the others, only difference is the purple fur. This Esper is a legendary beast.
(Stupid humans.) She hissed, from the sounds of it, this legendary beast is very young, and very cocky.
She let out an ear splitting screech.
"Argh! What the hell!?" Marcus yelled, covering his ears
Riu ran forward, blood dripping from his left ear, towards the cat.
(You dare challenge me?) She hissed, slamming a paw on the rock, causing vines to shoot from the ground and towards him.
Strings of Fate was able to cut them as he continued forward. They grew back and attacked him again. He looked behind him to see that the others were on their own battles against elite Esper cats.
(You are the first human who thought to cut my vines. Fire is useless.) If a cat could smile, she would've.
Riu slammed his spear where she was, but only to find bare rock.
(Missed me human!) She crowed.
Riu was starting to feel frustrated. Fighting an Esper cat was already hard, but a legendary one was too out of his league. A idea came to his head.
"Let's not fight." He said, putting his hands up.
(No fighting? But that's no fun.) She huffed, throwing his paw out in front of her.
"We both know that eventually someone's going to come by and kill you. Or force you into a contract." Riu said
(Ha! Like I'd let them.) She laughed
"You won't have a choice." Riu said, exasperated.
She was silent, the threw another attack (You dare mock me? You think I'm weak?)
Nothing was getting through to her. suddenly a scream got him out of his thoughts, he looked over and saw a boulder going down on Marcus. It was fast.
"Look out!" He yelled
Marcus looked up but had no time to move.
"Oren!" He scream, touching his necklace.
Oren came out, no mist. She took one look at the situation and dove into action. She jumped up, wrapping her body around the boulder, than it hot the floor.
Riu, Silvia and Lily ran forward.
"Marcus!" Lily was digging around the slime and rocks
"Oren?" Riu asked quietly
The slime around the rock began to move and Oren popped back up again, holding Marcus.
"What?" He looked confused as she put him down.
Lily ran forward and hugged him tightly.
"Who's that?" Silvia asked looking at Oren, but Riu didn't hear her
He turned onto the small cat who was watching them.
"Did you do this?" He asked her
(Does that matter? Soon you all will die.) She was about to screech again, but Riu got there faster.
He didn't know why he was angry, or how he had been so fast but he didn't know how to think.
{Warning
You are using your rampage skill. Will you continue?}
He didn't even look at the window, instead he threw the cat.
(Ahhh!) She screamed as she flew away
"Riu!" Silvia scream was muffled
Everything was muffled. Riu was panting as he tried to calm down. Soon, the red faded from his vision and he was able to think again. He looked around and realized that Oren was holding him and Blue was on his head, humming.
The others looked frightened. The Esper cat stood shakily.
(Do you see now child? You would be dead now of he had not held back.) Oren spoke to her
He held back? It didn't feel like it.
(Wha-?) She didn't know what to say
"Riu?" Silvia came up tentatively
He looked at her, still confused "what happened?"
"What happened? Dude you went completely berserk! You had killing intent all around you and your eyes were fucking red!" Marcus said throwing his hands up.
"We have a lot of questions." Silvia said
"Can I explain later?"
"Sure." She nodded and looked at the scene.
Oren was talking to the cat, whom seemed sad.
The cat then came over to them
(I'm sorry.) She bowed her head
"What is it doing?" Lily asked, peeking from behind Marcus.
"It's okay." Riu knelt down and patted her head "you have a lot to learn before you can be a proper boss."
(I know. That's why,) She hesitated, looking at Oren (I want to make a contract.)
Riu nodded, he expected as much, infact he hoped for it. A legendary Esper cat was extremely rare. He activated his skill.
{You have made [1] new contract!
You have gained [1] skill from |Espi| }
"Espi. What a cute name." He said smiling at her
She purred, disappearing in a puff of purple mist.
(I'll see you later. Fir now I must tend to that child.) Oren said patting Riu's head (be careful of your emotions for now.) she too disappeared .
Blue stayed on his head, softly vibrating.
"Are you the cat?" He asked as he patted him.
"Well can we get answers now?" Marcus asked
"Sure." Riu said, picking up the crystal.
"Great cause I have no clue what just happened." Lily said
"I'll explain as much as I can. For now, can we just go back?"
"Yeah of course." Silvia grabbed his arm
"What are you doing?" He asked
"You went crazy just a few moments ago. That would take a lot of mana. I'll help you stand straight." She explained.
Lily came on the other side of him and grabbed his other arm. Marcus went behind them.
For the first time since DragonTale became real, Riu felt as though he finally belonged somewhere.