"Oi, watch it, mate," the guy said, staring at Dion.
Dion turned to his back and saw a guy with black dreadlocks on his head. He had brown eyes fixed on him.
"I mean no offense, dude, but this ain't where they should be," Dion said, referring to the littered books on the floor.
"Why don't you bend down and pick 'em up then? I run this gaff, so I do what I want!" the guy said, his tone deep and high, exuding authority.
"You own the room? And you do as you please?" Dion's voice backfired at him, a bit irritated by the guy's demeanor.
"Gotcha!" the guy said in a normal tone. "I knew you'd fall for it! Just winding you up!"
The guy's face and composure shifted immediately; he was just merely acting initially.
"You're the new bloke, yeah? Got the message from The Box." he said, pointing at the screen directly on top of the door.
Without pausing, he stood up and continued, "I'm Alfred. Welcome to my patch,... our patch, I mean." gesturing to the room.
He offered a hand for a fist bump. Dion was hesitant at first, but then thought, "What more harm will it cause?" and accepted. "Dion," he said.
"Well, let me give you the tour, Dion. That's my kip, my shelf, your kip, and... that's the lot," Alfred said with a smile.
"Quite a big place. Mind keeping your filthy books off my space?" Dion asked.
"Oh, these? They're not legit, just a bloody illusion. Never thought any sane person would fall for that," Alfred said, pointing at the books on the ground.
At the same moment, he snapped his fingers and all the books disappeared except the one he was reading.
"I reckon we're all sorted then, yeah?" Alfred said, smiling at Dion.
"For the meantime," Dion snapped, turning to his bed, hoping to make everything look natural. He didn't want a scenario where he would just jump to making an assassination without camouflaging and understanding the environment around. Failure to do so would be fatal enough.
He sat down on the bed, while Alfred sat down on his, still reading.
"Yo, Viza," Dion said out loud.
"You chatting to me?" Alfred asked, as he heard Dion say something.
"Not at all," Dion replied.
"I reckon I might've heard you say something..." Alfred continued talking, but Dion's mind was on the menu that appeared before him:
[Activating Mind Communication]
[...]
[Done]
Immediately, the menu appeared, and the surrounding sounds went silent as if they were muted.
"Now you can communicate with me using your mind," Viza said.
"Better. You were meant to offer some help, right?" Dion asked.
"I do as programmed," Viza replied.
"Whatever. Where can I find Captain Xalvador?" Dion asked.
"To perform anything, you have to access your stats first," Viza said.
"Why the heck do I have to do that?" Dion asked, a bit annoyed.
After sensing Viza's determination not to do anything without him accessing his stats, he decided to go for it. "Fine, access my stats," he said finally.
[....]
Dion could hear Alfred still mumbling some words, but he wasn't interested in hearing what he was saying.
[Name: Dion]
[Occupation: Extinguisher]
[Division: Southern Division, Sixth Hell]
[Rank: Sergeant]
[Badge: None]
[Lust Point: 0]
[Current Strength: 40%]
[Speed: 60]
[Weapon Handling: 67]
[....]
Below them were numerous tabs, consisting of:
[Skills]
[Tasks]
[...]
[Contact Mistress: Unavailable]
The only thing he saw on the menu that amused him a bit was the "Contact Mistress" tab. "With that, I can contact Hellestra. So she's actually smart!" he said.
[Current Lust point is at 0. Complete daily tasks to obtain rewards and points," Viza suggested.
"Okay, I've heard you. Where can I now find Xalvador?" Dion asked, hoping for answers.
[Searching]
[......]
"I can't find his heat signature anywhere close. He's not within the base," Viza said.
"Fuck it!" Dion cursed.
"I'm off to look for help from outside," he said.
Dion sighed and turned to Alfred, who was busy ranting.
"...you're not quite chatty, are you?" was the last thing he heard Alfred say.
Luckily for him, it was the right time to respond, to start familiarizing himself before asking for help, instead of asking questions straight up.
"Not really. I'm not in a very good mood now, feeling a little stressed out," Dion said.
"Yeah, happens all the bleeding time. You'll get the hang of it soon enough," Alfred said.
"I hope so. But why do they call you Shadow Seeker?" he asked.
Alfred sighed before replying, "Aye, so you've heard. It's a moniker bestowed upon me by blokes who dodged the past. They reckon knowledge is like a shadow, elusive. He who chases it, chases shadows, hence the handle Shadow Seeker."
Dion nodded, thinking, 'What a waste of a name,' before saying, "So you're saying you're quite knowledgeable about the things around here, huh?"
"Not a lot, just a couple." Alfred said.
"Do you know where some of the ranks are located?" Dion asked tactically.
"Yeah, the big ones," he replied.
"Do you happen to know where I can locate... Captain Xalvador?" Dion asked.
"Captain? Nah, he's a General now, General Xalvador!" Alfred replied.
"He's a General now? Damn it!"