Preparations

Greetings,

I hope this message finds you well. I extend to you, and your organization, an offer of partnership. If you wish to discuss more in detail, you can locate our offices at 217 Cherrytree Street. The card will act as security clearance. Hopefully, we can reach an amenable agreement and a fruitful partnership.

Sincerely,

Vivian Renox, CEO of Renox Solutions

“Looks like that’s everything,” John reported once the text stopped filling in, “not a lot to go on.”

“It’s still a lead,” Aeolia said. “Where’s Cherrytree Street?”

“Near the university,” John answered after checking his phone’s map. “Wait, you’re not thinking about heading over there now?”

“What if I am?” Aeolia hotly retorted. “Whoever this ‘Vivian’ is, she contacted my brother and our guild right before we…”

She paused to collect her breath. “Before we were ambushed. She, or someone under her, was in contact with my brother. Even if they aren’t connected to it, maybe my brother said something to them.”

John could see Aeolia was trying to grasp onto anything that could lead to finding those that had killed her people, but he had to shake his head.

“I don’t think they really had any conversations,” John stated solemnly. “From what I saw in the card’s memory, your brother seemed a little confused that he got the card and only mentioned that magic theory thing.”

“Then how did they send the card?” Aeolia countered, gesturing to the business card still connected to the screen. “Only way I can think beyond Zeph telling them how to send something to him via the Auction was that they somehow tracked his location from their chats.”

John frowned, eyes glancing over to the screen. “Maybe they did have more chats, but if they could track your brother back to your base, why send the card? Why not just pay a visit, or send a message over the computer? There’s something, I don’t know, more here. Either way, I don’t think rushing over there is a good idea.”

Aeolia levelled a heated glare at John. “And why is that?”

“The ambush happened sometime earlier today or last night, right?” John asked, keeping his tone calm.

“Last night,” Aeolia responded after a few seconds of silence. “We spent the whole day sweeping through a few leftover Barriers that had been overtaken by a horde of giant rats. Can’t let them fester or they’ll try to get into other Barriers and make a mess of things. When we went to the final Barrier, that’s where we were ambushed.”

Aeolia paused, taking a few deep breaths before continuing, “We were attacked by a large number of those Vine Hounds, along with some kind of fog that kept visibility low. I ended up with Zeph in a corner. I took a hard hit and passed out. Zeph must have hidden me because when I woke up, he was dead... everyone was dead.”

By the end of her recounting, tears were beginning to stream down her cheeks, though she was quick to wipe them away.

“Then I followed the Tracer Crystal, and you know the rest,” she added, pointedly avoiding John’s eyes.

“I know I’m not someone with a lot of experience,” John carefully said, “but I think you could use a good rest. That healing Evocation I used only gave you back fifteen percent of your health. I don’t think rushing after clues, even if it’s to a safe location, is a good move.”

Aeolia looked like she was about to issue a retort, then her face scrunched as she processed John’s remarks.

After a moment of thought, she sighed and rubbed the slight circles under her eyes. “You’ve got a point,” Aeolia admitted, “going in banged up isn’t a smart move.”

John chose not to comment that that was, in fact, what led to the very conversation they were having. After all, if she hadn’t flown in through that window, John wasn’t sure if he would have found a way to fight off those hounds.

“And,” Aeolia continued, unaware of John’s thoughts, “just being honest here, but you’re not the best backup for going into a dangerous situation.”

“Hey,” John interjected, despite the truth of her statement, “unfair.”

“What?” Aeolia said with a slight smirk. “Can’t take what you can dish out?”

“I can,” John responded defensively, heat coloring his face, “just didn’t need to hear it so bluntly.”

Aeolia laughed goodnaturedly. “Honestly, you’re not that far off from being competent. With how fast you’ve developed over today…”

She trailed off, her eyes lighting up as an idea came to her.

“I wonder what you can get with a little combat training?” she pondered aloud, locking eyes with John. “You up for trying that?”

“I mean, yeah,” John said hesitantly. “Can’t say I don’t want to test out a Barrier, but I’m not in the best state either. I’m still dealing with the aftereffects of Observing the wall and I’ve only got about half my Mana. I think I’ll be back to full in about an hour and a half.”

“Thought we agreed that being in top shape was the best idea,” Aeolia teased, a slight smile on her lips. “We can get your Auction account set up while we wait.”

“Right,” John replied, pulling the tiny business card off his screen. The screen flickered as he did, turning back into the registration page. A more detailed glance at the page revealed that the only thing John had to input was a username; the two other options were all on/off toggles.

“‘Direct Monetary Pocket Space Access’, John read aloud one of the options, turning his head towards Aeolia with a smile, “guess that means I won’t need to put my money into a bank account. Or well, I think that makes me my own bank.”

The other item, Direct Delivery, merely dealt with where purchased items were sent, either to a set location or straight to John wherever he was. He selected the ‘Send to Buyer’ option and moved on to the final part of the registration: his alias.

Normally, John chose a name that was reflective of the chosen game or service. A fantasy name for a medieval-style game, a space-age one for a Sci-Fi setting, but choosing a name in that fashion seemed off given the new world he found himself in.

‘Who knows,’ John thought wryly, ‘I might end up meeting someone with a name close to the one I chose and that could get awkward.’

With fantastical names off the table and using his own a stupid move, he could only think of one thing. His powers had given him a class, and given the nature of his abilities, it made sense to use it here.

“‘The_Gamer’, huh,” Aeolia commented as John finished the input and submitted it, “I guess that works.”

“Figure it suits me,” John replied with a smile as the Auction’s web page changed to one not too dissimilar from the various online marketplaces he’d seen: a search bar, a series of highlighted items for purchase and shopping cart icon were all visible.

“Since it looks like you’re going to pass your regeneration time browsing the Auction,” Aeolia said, hopping down from his desk, gliding to the floor behind John and growing to her maximum size, “mind if I use your shower?”

Aeolia’s simple request shorted out John’s brain for a moment as an unbidden image came to the forefront of his mind. Thankfully, he was facing away from her so his slack-jawed countenance was hidden.

“S-sure, go ahead,” John managed to say after a moment, twisting around to address Aeolia. “It’s just down the hall to the left. Um, towels should be in the closet next to it. My mom shouldn't be home for at least another few hours so the coast should stay clear.”

Aeolia hummed in acknowledgement and strode out of the room, leaving his door open. Once John heard the door to the bathroom open then close, he let out a held breath.

“Okay,” he said, “don’t panic. It’s just a girl using your shower. The shower you jerked off in eight hours ago.”

John shifted in his seat as the image of a bathing Aeolia popped back into his mind, his Libido stat rearing its head, in more than one way. The sound of the water beginning to flow only worsened the problem.

“Focus on something else, John,” he uttered to himself as he shook his head. “Let’s see what’s for sale.”

Navigating the Auction’s site, he clicked a tab labelled ‘Newest Offers’.

“Let’s see what we’ve got here,” John said as he zeroed in on the first item on the page, “‘twenty four meters of Galvanocopper wire’ for…”

John’s jaw dropped when he read the price, “One thousand dollars!? Aeolia wasn’t kidding when she said things would cost a lot. Let’s see if the page goes into detail about the stuff.”

John clicked on the image of a spool of fluorescent orange metal wire.

“Galvanocopper,” John read from the product page, “a readily malleable material especially useful for all your arcano tech needs. Highly conductive and receptive to most electrical magic. Interesting. Guess that this is something magical tech would need to use.”

John’s eyes drifted over the page, settling on the ‘other users also looked up’ portion on the side. Most of the suggested items were magical tools, with prices in excess of ten thousand dollars. The sole item under that exorbitant price was a pair of welding goggles that boasted at least 10 times magnification.

“Wait,” John exclaimed, drawing up his Inventory page, “almost forgot about that random reward Gaia gave me.”

Selecting the item, John summoned the Tinker’s Goggles to his hands. The brass encasements of the sparkling clean lenses were cool to the touch and John’s fingers brushed up against one of the small lenses attached via a thin arm to the side of one of them. Experimentally, he pulled on it, bringing it closer to the main lens it was connected to. A brown leather strap completed the device.

“Four Attributes,” John said aloud, staring at the Observe screen. “Okay, let’s see what they are about.”

Arcane Reveal: Brings magical energies and auras into view.

Minor Regeneration: These materials can be restored by syphoning mana from its holder, at a maximum rate of 1% durability per hour at the cost of 10% of Mana Regeneration.

Magnification: This item’s smaller lenses offer a zoom of up to twelve times.

Variable Tint: The Resonation Glass lenses can adjust to light levels, maintaining the ocular comfort and safety of the wearer.

“Nice bit of utility,” John remarked after reviewing the Attributes. “At the very least, repairing it will be automatic. Have to remember to check how repairing items is done with Craftsmanship. And let’s check that Evocation, looks promising.”