Snippet #2070592

"Ah yes Yoshine-san, I'll of course be going to her wedding!"


"Say, you wanna come with me? Bring along someone too. Okay, great!"

"I know, right? Shame those Grade-A loins will be off the market. Send Taichi my condolences."






A young blonde man jovially sauntered down the street as he talked on his phone with his buddies, greeting neighbours as they passed. Old-Lady Hakida, who was watching him from her laundry stand, would often tease him about about some of his lewd comments. But in time, even she got used to it, it was his way of mixing in with his over-active colleagues at work and the young man never meant any harm. He was often respectful and would even come over to teach her some English in his free time, company that an old woman could occasionally use in this quiet neighbourhood especially when her children were often abroad.


"Hi Mrs. Hakida." The youngster waved back, pressing his thumb to the speaker as he noticed her squat figure amongst the drying white sheets, startling the discreet old woman who quickly darted back behind her laundry. Even at her age, she could tell he was a handsome man who was...or at least not bad-looking. 6' Tall, well-dressed and impeccably polite, despite his fractured use of the japanese language. Rich too, she guessed, anyone who lived in this area was usually well-off afterall. His house looked well furbished on the outside, with a roof top garden and back up generator, but she has never gone the inside before. No one has for three years. The only furniture she's ever seen was the door plague outside his house, it read in English "Lewis Caldecott".


--------------------------


Locking the doorknob, he let out an tired sign of relief and hung up the phone, leaning against the door till it shut. He stood there for a few moments, dangling his head and letting the briefcase slip from his hands to his feet. It took a long while.

...And then he looked back up.

His entire expression had changed. An emotional blank slate. No longer was there the mirthy smile that was there a few seconds ago, instead his lips were pursed in a rulered line. His eyes glazed over as they stared blankly at the halls devoid of furniture and his limbs automonously picked up the briefcase and dropped it on the shelf. Passing the doorway, he turned to look at a list of names tacked to the wall.

"Relationships with Other People" it read.

And put a tick besides the name "Hakida Omimura", then dropped the pen and walked off without any lingering sign of interest. The rest of the dwelling was dim with barely any light shining through, it's curtains were closed and dust settled anywhere untouched by humans. The coffee table, sofa, T.V -all covered in a thin layer of grey powder. The only semblance of life in there were the flickering monitors of a high-tech VRPU in a dark corner, to which Lewis soon parked himself in front.


Username: age_limit

Password: *******

"Welcome to the Realms of Destiny."


--------------------------


When sense of reality returned, he found himself set in an incredible scenery. Stretching far beyond his vision was a vast cityscape littered buildings of all sorts, streets intertwined between them paved with cobblestone. The open areas were patrolled by Knights and humans mingled freely with different races, even the air smelled crisper than usual.

And when he looked down at his hands, they were large, scarred and covered in short yellow hairs. His virtual avatar was a large, muscular tiger-like human, of a race called Beastmen, the females were called Nekos which meant cat in japanese. At six feet eleven inches tall, more or less, he wore clothes that looked like they belonged on a mountain bandit. An unmodest open vest and knee length trousers held up by a thick belt with a golden buckle, along with bandages that covered his wrist and ankles that provided support when performing tougher movements. There were two sets of stripes that ran down the side of his cheeks, as well as another two across his shoulders. His unruly hair was loosely tied back with a strip of cloth, which was long enough to reach behind his waist where his tail was. A long corona of yellow and brown.

When he looked up with two sets of bright green eyes, he saw at the left most corner of his vision. Character Name: War Tiger (Confirm?). In blue transparent words. Of course only he would see it, as it was a popup reminding him to confirm his character name. Which till now, he hasn't decided to, among other things.


Many players do an entrance move as soon as they "break-into" the New World, skillfully brandishing their weapons or casting customized-spells that displayed their aptitude with magick. Speaking of which, in front of him, a magician sent a wave of blue energy rippling across the ground from his staff.

War Tiger, however, just turned and walked to the right with padded feet -having made no special moves to show whatsoever.

"Check Mail. Code 2013." He recited monotonously, standing next to a mailbox. To which a furled parchment digitalized into existence inside the box's compartment, it was from the Arcaneum -one of the city's magick shops. It was also where he recieved his daily quests from. Many players had in-game occupations in this world which was constantly evolving, jobs provided a means of obtaining items and experience. Some also provided skills which were required complete the tasks given. It was an alternative way to make your way around the world, there were all sorts of tasks for people who did not feel like bounty hunting monsters. He was a Disenchanter.

---------------------

The letter read:

A Flask of Purest'h Water

One Lost'h Souls

Thrice'th Broken Wandss


I need'th thou tae bring'eth these'th thingss tae myself before'th sundown...'th, no time'th tae explaineth they are'th urgenth.

---------------------


After reading it, he crumpled the paper and chucked it in his pocket.


The open parts of the city were not hard to navigate after someone has been in there for sometime, he would first need to find a place where the water flowed clear and there was one nearby. It didn't take him long to reach the edge of town, ten minutes at most, where it was surrounded by a river. Unplugging a vial, he knelt down by the bridge and dipped it, along with his hands into the stream. Letting the clear water seep in. He would later take it to an Alchemist to be refined.


The second part, a Lost soul, however.



There were two, no, one more person left at the bridge. On the opposite bank. By the waters, frolicking, was a gryphon looking creature, it looked like it was tamed by the cat-like female sitting beside it. This was the first gryphon he has seen so far, they were usually rare and from what he knows are higher tier monsters. Then a Neko, someone as the same race with him.



"Do you ...know where I can find ...people dead?" He would say in a low-growly tone, looking straight at them. Though unwittingly, it sounded like he was asking for an assassin.

It wasn't hard approaching complete strangers. There were only two answers they could give, yes and no. If it's not one, it's the other. If even they do not know, there was a Mage earlier at the blacksmith's shop, their kind were usually thought to be more knowledgeable on these matters.