"Oh, here you're, Kalaini." A man wearing a long black robe also entered this room.
He was looking for Kalaini, so didn't even bother to greet Lucas or Kali together. He was very small, about 1 m. 52 cm tall. His eyes were closed, so you couldn't even tell if he was seeing anything, but he seemed fine.
"I've been looking for you, what're you doing here?" He asked her.
"Just teaching newcomers about this world." She replied.
"I don't think it's the right time for them to know everything yet, just look at how they look now." He touched his beard.
"Heeey, what do you mean by that, old man?" Lucas interrupted him.
Lucas felt like he was looking down on them just because they'd just come here from another world, 'how arrogant', he thought, looking at him.
"Child, it's too early for you to know everything." He lowered his head and started talking to Kalaini again.
"I need to talk to you in private."
'In private? Why can't he talk here?' Lucas thought to himself again.
"You can talk here, old man, not that we know anything." Lucas grinned.
The old man looked him up and down, "I see the pills are still in your head."
That puzzled Lucas again, 'why does everyone keep talking about them?' It was already bugging him, not that taking them was a bad decision.
"What're those pills?" He asked the old man.
"It's something unique in this world, you're the second person I've met in the 2000 years I've lived here who's had them." The old man spoke slowly.
Again there was no reaction on his face. His eyes were closed and his mouth was covered by his moustache and beard.
"Kalaini, please follow me." He turned to her again.
"Yes, Master." She followed him without hesitation.
'Wow, she must really respect that old dwarf.' Lucas thought to himself again.
"Lucas, are you alright?" Kali asked him in her gentle voice.
He wasn't okay, the guilt of Kali being hurt by this person still haunted him. He should have listened to her and intervened when she told him, but he was a stubborn person who didn't like to listen to others sometimes.
"Kali, I'm sorry for what happened to you and I'm sorry for bringing you into this world with me." He bowed his head
Lucas's palms were getting sweaty, he was nervous. He couldn't look her in the eye after all he'd done and said, it haunted him and made him shudder.
"It's okay Lucas, I was the one who asked you out anyway." Kali sighed, trying to make him feel better now.
"Kali, I'm really sorry, nothing can change that fact." He interrupted himself.
"Lucas, apologising now won't bring us back, we need to figure out how to get out of here."
"But you heard them, look how long they've been stuck here, the same fate awaits us." He sighed.
Lucas dropped his hands as a sign of giving up, but that sad personality triggered Kali, she wasn't going to let that happen.
"Listen, just because they're stuck here doesn't mean we've to be stuck here too. We've to try and find the wizard who brought us here, we've to find a way. Lucas, if we give up now, what happens to us?"
She took a deep breath. Kali said it all in one breath, she felt tired from talking and Lucas unimpressive personality wasn't motivating at all.
"You're right, Kali, but how?" His tone was low.
"We've to find a way." Kali looked around to see if no one was listening to them. "Listen, I've had a quick look around this village and they all look strange here." She whispered.
"What do you mean strange?!" He spoke up.
"Shhhh, they can hear us." She whispered again. "Lucas, the only way we're going to get out of here's if we find more information about this village and its inhabitants, but you've to be nicer!" She pointed out to Lucas for his rude behaviour.
"About that..." He tried to interrupt, but was interrupted again by Kali.
"I don't even want to hear that... How is your body?" She quickly changed the subject.
His was healing, but it was still covered with small burn scars. It hurt when he moved suddenly, a strange sharp pain haunting him when he did, but Kali didn't need to know that. He didn't want to look any more pathetic in front of her.
"It's fine, it heals faster." He faked a smile.
Kali looked at him strangely, she doubted his smile, but she didn't want to bother him with any more questions.
"Kali, why are you back in your human form?" Lucas whispered.
"After that mysterious man attacked me, the system took away my power." She sighed and continued, "But Kalaini said I'll get it back once I'm fully healed."
'Fully healed?" ran quickly through Lucas' mind.
"What do you mean, Kali?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows.
This information surprised him. "Does it mean that we can return to our form and get the power back when we're healed?" he touched his burnt hand.
"Kalaini said that when we're fully healed we'll return to our normal bodies" She looked towards the door to see if no one was listening again.
"But why are you covered in feathers?" Again he interrupted her.
"Oh, they help the dragons heal faster, Master Wen told me that's just the ones with dragon power." She smiled.
"So you'll turn back into a dragon when you're fully healed?" He didn't even bother to ask who was that person Kali was talking about.
"Yes."
"That's so cool, Kali!" Lucas exclaimed with excitement, forgetting that Kali never wanted to be a dragon.
She gave him a cold look, indicating that it was his fault she was like this.
"Lucas, I've a question for you: If you'd a choice, why did you choose a human form?"
"What choice?" He leaned back a little.
"You know, when you appeared in this dark dimension and chose your form, why didn't you choose a dragon or an elf?"
This was a whole new piece of information for him, because when he opened his eyes, he was already in this place. He didn't even have the chance to choose who he wanted to be. Kali's question surprised him, but then he remembered that he was the one who'd to choose her avatar
He couldn't even bring up that subject again because Kali would scold him.
"Oh, I only chose a human form because I thought it would be better for me." He lied.
He couldn't tell her the exact truth lest he become more guilty, but when the time came, he'd tell her the truth.
"Do you know how to control the system?" Kali spoke.
'That damn stupid robot.' He grinned through his teeth, remembering how ridiculous it had been when he first arrived here.
"No, it doesn't even listen to me, does it listen to you?" He turned his question to her.
"No, apparently I'm just a comrade, not a main character." She sighed again.
Lucas was surprised again, 'what does she mean by a character?'
"Kali, what do you mean?"
"Kalaini said that people come here in pairs, and if you lose your mate, you can't participate in any game without him, you're stuck until you find an avatar with a lower number than yours."
"Kali, does that mean you and I can't leave this place without each other?" Lucas felt a cold shiver run down his spine, sweat trickled down his forehead and his face looked pale.
"Yes, you and I are stuck until the end."