"The guy who hugs elves?" Ayden's brow furrowed before realizing that he had indeed hugged Pam in the auction. But another thing caught his interest. "Wait, what do you mean by forums?"
"You don't know about the ingame forums? They are a huge help in finding out information. Although most people want you to pay for it." The young man replied. Ayden figured he should look into this more later. "By the way, my name is Tank."
"Ah, I am Edge…." Ayden replied but got a strange look from Tank in return.
"If you don't want to tell me, it's fine." Tank replied, waving his hand. He did not think the most popular person on the forums right now was standing in front of him.
Ayden was slightly confused as he scratched his head. "No, my name is really Edge…."
"There is no…. Wait. What level are you?" Tank asked.
"Level 7." Ayden answered before saying: "Let's go into the city. I need to do a few things before I head log off."
"Ah, right… Hey, are you going to see that cute elf girl? You think she will hug me?" Tank asked, his eyes showing a bit of excitement.
"Do you want to get hit?" Ayden replied with his own question, his tone filled with a hint of anger as he paused his steps and cracked his knuckles.
"Ahahaha… A joke, a joke…. Why so serious?" Tank scratched his head. He just wanted to hug an elf too.
"So, are you really that Edge? The one who soloed a mini boss by yourself?" Tank asked, deciding to change the subject.
"Mm… Although it was a lot of luck." And the fact that he had a cheat all seeing eye.
"But still, there are not many who could have done such a thing. I started playing just today. I can't believe I already walked into one of the low level legends. It took forever to get my father to okay the use of a headset. I mean, I am eighteen! But that damn shitty old man keeps making me take business courses, not allowing me to have any fun. It was not until I told him I could do it in my sleep that he finally allowed me to get one." Tank continued ranting about how his father was a big time CEO and was grooming him to take his place, so his life was nothing but studying.
While Tank was complaining, Ayden couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. Tank had it all. A full family, wealth to get by without worry, and even had his life laid out before him. It was a stark difference compared to his current self.
"Must be nice…." Ayden mumbled out loud.
"How is it nice!? I have no time for anything!" Tank argued.
"Because you do not need to worry. You don't need to worry about whether you can put food on the table or worry about whether or not you can provide for your only family member. You have it so easy compared to many out there. But you want to complain. While it may be tiresome and boring to always be studying this and that but at least you got to finish school and have plans for your future. Even if you do not like it, it is at least better than going hungry with nothing." Ayden did not know why he was lecturing the young man, but he felt anger, knowing that someone who has everything dared to complain about as if he was the most troubled person in the world. He may be being petty in his way of thinking, but he couldn't stand it.
"Ah…. I guess you are right... Sorry." Tank went quiet. He never really thought to put himself in other shoes, and now that he was talking to someone who said everything out flatly like that, he couldn't help but take another look at himself.
"It's fine. I shouldn't have taken my own situation out on you. Everyone has a right to look at things in a different way. If I grew up as you did, I might even think the same way as you and think it was perfectly normal to think this way." Ayden scratched his head as he walked into the auction house. He went to a terminal where he set the visual setting on private so no one could see what he was doing while he searched the auction house.
'There are many injections which are about 500 credits. If I put mine at 1k a stack min and max buy out at 10k, then I can make some okay money off the injections. I should thank Pam as she keeps adding in materials for me to keep making more. I wonder if I should buy her a gift.' Ayden thought to himself as he finished setting up his auctions. This time he had made sure to do a min and max with a high max to hopefully get a higher price than just 1k per stack.
"Alright, I am done here. Here take this." Ayden opened trade with Tank and put in 100 credits. "It's not much, but it should do something. Sorry I don't have much myself."
"No. This is plenty. Thank you. I can get some cheap gear with this. Edge, can I add you to my friend list?" Tank asked as he accepted the trade.
"Sure. I got to get going. I will see you later." Ayden accepted the friend's request before running off, leaving Tank standing there in the auction house.
"I wonder where Edge lives…. Maybe I can get my father to sponsor him…. But that would need to wait until I can prove that this game is worth the investment. For now, I need to level up! I owe Edge a lot for these starter funds!" Tank quickly left the auction house and headed to the nearest player market to get some cheap armor.
Ayden arrived back at the house to see Pam sulking as he walked in. "What's wrong?"
"You're going to leave again, right?" Pam asked. Her mood was quite sour. She had been thinking about this stupid disciple of hers and realized she might actually like the twerp! He was so much younger than her, but she couldn't help but feel lonely when he was gone.
"Yeah, but only for a short while today. I will try to hurry back as soon as possible." Ayden replied.
Pam pursed her lips and nodded her head. "Then I will see you soon."