Meisters
Chapter 2: The gift
[OFFLINE]
I walk through the hallways toward my locker. The final bell rung and the day is over. At the end of the hallway stands my locker tall like always. With quick screws of my wrist, the door clicks open and reveals my books neatly stashed on top of each other.
The whole morning Tsubaki had been apologizing for what she said over the phone. As soon as she got it that I was fine with it, she started to talk about Black*Star. She told me everything that happened inside of Meisters. They had met inside of the beginner city and Tsubaki told me how awesome the game was. How she felt the heat from the laughing sun and smelled newly baked bread along with exotic spices.
I didn't really get it what she meant with a "laughing sun"? Can suns laugh? That's highly laughable.
Then she talked about how Black*Star taught her all of the basics, how to slay monsters what they called "Kishins" in the game, how to equip weapons along with build a good skill tree.
I didn't understand a word of what she was saying and I ended up only sitting and nodding, pretending to listen to her while I studied and listened to the teacher's lectures. The game is ridiculous.
"Maka!" Tsubaki yells from the end of the hallway while she runs up to me. "You took off fast. I didn't even have the time to take all of my stuff."
Yeah. "Stuff."
"I saw you talking to Black*Star and I didn't feel like eavesdropping on your conversation. I would look stupid standing next to you without saying anything." I say while I put my books into my locker and takes out a few others to take with me to Tsubaki and mine study session.
"You wouldn't. You know you could have talked to us. You don't have to stand around and look like a zombie." Tsubaki says while she opens up her locker right beside mine. "I mean, you are my friend and I want you to meet more people. It is tragic how few friends you have. You do need more people in your life."
"I'm fine the way everything is." I'm telling her the truth. I have lived this kind of life so long I'm used to it. I don't feel the need to have people in my life.
"Come on, you can't deny the fact you live in an apartment by yourself and I'm the only friend you have."
"That's not true. I have Blair." I say while I close my locker.
"Yeah, because a cat is so much of a company." Tsubaki says and takes her bag out of her locker before she closes it. "Seriously, this Saturday you are going to Kim's party with me. It is ridiculous how seldom you are out. You and I are going to have a blast and you are going to make more friends. I'm going to introduce you to a ton of people and maybe, you will find a guy." Tsubaki winks at me. "You could use some manly company."
A guy. It isn't like the thought haven't crossed my mind; actually, I have thought it from time to time when I had finished a romance novel. Thought about having a boyfriend was very nice. Having someone to share everything with and cuddle up on the couch to watch TV. It is a very nice thought, but mixing the thought with Tsubaki's intention on really hooking me up with a guy, it feels weird. Very weird.
"I'm not interested in that kind of connection." I say while I turn around on my heel and heads toward the library where we always have our study session. "Let's drop it and start studying."
"Actually." Tsubaki smiles and I stop and turn toward her. "Black*Star wants us to play Meisters after school and I said yes. I'm so sorry, I forgot about our study session." A lie. One after another. I reminded her yesterday about the study session so she couldn't have forgotten it. She ditched me in order for her to spend time with Black*Star.
"Whatever. Have fun." I say and keep walking toward the library.
"I'm sorry!" Tsubaki yells after me but I only wave my hand while I keep walking toward the library.
Slowly I walk alone toward the library. As expected, the library is empty as usual and I take a seat by one of the tables. I open my textbooks and start reading. The librarians roll their carts and puts books in the shelves. The wheels of the cart shrieks loudly. Slowly my fists clenches and everything I hear is the screech of the wheel. This is a library; couldn't they invest on a new cart? The one they have now disturbs the readers, or, just me. No one ever spends their time in the library so there isn't really the need to get a new one since it only disturbs one person.
Sighing loudly, I pack my things back into my bag and heads out of the library. It is no use trying to study in this environment. I have a quiet apartment where I won't be disturbed. I can study there instead.
I walk out of the school. The only thing I hear is the sound of the motor from the cars and the laughter of teenagers having fun. The sun shines bright and it is the perfect day to be out and doing something fun, however, I don't feel the need to have fun. I mean, could it really be that fun just walking around and talking to someone? I would rather study and get A's on my reports. High school is just a small portion of my life, I won't die if I'm not having fun right now. I could start having fun when I have a great job, great salary and a great apartment.
I walk up the stairs of the colorful stairway, and surprisingly there is a package in front of my front door. A very large one with a letter attached to it. Kneeling down in front of the package, I see plenty of red stickers with the word "fragile" on. Carefully I pick it up and unlock my apartment. Immediately Blair meets me in the hallway while I clumsily close my front door.
"Not now." I grunt loudly. The package is so large and heavy! What can it be? "We have gotten mail Blair." I say while I take off my shoes with the help of my toes. I sigh with relief when I put down the package on the kitchen table and take the letter off of the package. The envelope quickly breaks open by my index finger and I take out the piece of paper and starts reading it.
"Dear Maka.
I'm sorry we haven't been able to call you lately. Work has been very hectic. We recently got the result of your latest test. We are so proud of you! You have been working so hard me and your father thought you deserved something extra. You are still a teenager and need your fun. I hope this can help you relax and take your mind off of school."
I raise my eyebrow. Help me relax? Well this is very generous of them. They haven't sent me something in ages. Since when was the last time my mother said she was proud over me? I don't even remember it. I guess it must be because this is a letter and not a phone call. Maybe she took her time making this package.
"A friend of mine told me about this and I thought you might like it. Her daughter enjoys it very much. You are both teenagers so I bet you will like it as well.
Love, Your mother."
I lay the note down beside the package. Quickly I walk inside of my kitchen and find a pair of scissors to open the package with. Carefully I break the tape and then open the box. I raise my eyebrow when I find a black box marked with green "Rift Head Gear" and beside it is the game Meisters.
I groan loudly while I out the things out of the box. My mom knows I don't like videogames. She knows I would enjoy a novel more than a damned game. She knows I'm very much not like every other teenager. I'm anti-social and I'm okay with it.
Cursing loudly I abandon the box and the game beside the opened box. I will clean it away later and ask my mother for the recite and I will send it back to her. I won't have any use of having that.
I walk over to the living room and starts setting up my textbooks and getting my laptop ready. I have a presentation to start making and I have to make sure it will be the best one I have ever made. I need to have high grades. If I want to get into a good college then I will need to have only A's and make myself as attractive as possible toward the collages.
"That's why the game is called a phenomenal." Tsubaki's voice echoes in my mind. "It sounds amazing."
I try to focus on my schoolwork but Tsubaki's voice keeps echoing inside of my head. Tsubaki talked about a laughing sun. How can a sun laugh exactly? Is it true you really can smell inside of the virtual game? Is it true that you can actually feel inside of Meisters?
My hand clenches the page I was about to turn.
Damn it. I know I am a scientifically student. If I don't know the answers, then I do whatever I can to find the answers, and in this case, to find out if what Tsubaki told me is true, then I have to enter the game.
"Stupid Tsubaki." I mutter lowly while I walk back to the package and grab the Rift Head Gear along with the game. The first thing I do is installing the game and read the manual on how to use the Rift Head Gear. It seems like all I have to do is plug it into the computer, lie down or sit somewhere comfortable and put on the head gear and when I want to stop playing, all I need to do is take the head gear off.
The game finishes installing and I plug the Rift Head Gear into the computer. I lie down on my couch and quite frankly, I'm a little bit nervous. What if the head gear fries my brain? But it hasn't happened to anyone else so why should it happen to me? If there were a slight possibility for that to happen, then the company would never have released the head gear.
Taking a deep breath, I put on the head gear and I'm thrown into the virtual world of gaming.
[ONLINE]
"Welcome to Meisters." A voice says from nowhere. "Choose your character." The voice says and I find myself standing in front of a mirror, the only thing is, I do not look like myself. I shriek in shock and quickly make my orange hair into my familiar blond and my brown eyes into my green ones. If I'm going to be in this game then I want to be able to recognize myself. I finish making my character and the voice comes back. "The world of Meisters is played classless. You choose what you want to be by putting your skill points in the abilities you wish to acquire. Remember, you cannot reset your skills once they are set. If you mess up your skill points, then your character is lost." The voice stops and the mirror in front of me decay into a glowing pile of sand on the ground.
They are right, these graphics are amazing.
"Enter your name in order to enter the world of Meisters." The voice says and in front of me pops an orange bar up along with a keyboard underneath it. Quickly I type my name and the bar decay as well as the mirror did. "You are now entering the world of Meisters." The dark voice says.
Suddenly, the floor underneath my feet breaks and I find myself falling freely. I let out a high pitch scream as I fall through a tube. The wind whips my face and the tube's walls turns into the blue glowing sand I saw the mirror become. My feet suddenly hit the ground and I can't manage to keep my balance. I fall down on my butt and rub my lower back. I just fell from a very high level, if this was reality I would have been a puddle of blood and flesh. Of course, this is not reality.
Slowly I get up on my feet and surprisingly, nothing hurts at all. All around me I hear laughter and the sound of a very soothing music. Sellers scream out their items while holding up some of their goods. I can smell salmon in the air from one of the seller's shops and herbs from another shop. Some people sit on a blanket on the ground and have stuff in front of them. They must be private sellers or other gamers trying to sell their things, right?
I see other players dressed in different kinds of clothing. I see males wearing shiny heavy armors with large claymores, I think, while some are wearing robes and witch hats. I see females wearing very exposed clothing. Some wears the same as men, large armors although theirs are more revealing. They are showing off cleavage and their belly along with some legs. If this is a fighting game, then how come they are showing off their skin? Isn't it safer to cover them up?
A thought strikes me and I look down at my own clothes. I'm wearing a cute green skirt with a white blouse with strings. Over it I'm wearing a green vest and brown boots. The whole look is very old-fashioned and it reminds me of the age of princesses and knights. The other players have swords or magic staffs on their back but when I reach to feel my back for any weapon, there is none. Am I supposed to get a weapon somewhere or what?
Silently I start to wander through the crowded city in search for… well, something. I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I'm smart. I should be able to figure it out.
"Ha. Ha. Ha." A heavy laughter sounds from above me. Slowly I lift the eyes and they are about to pop out. I fall down on my butt again while I stare up into the sky. There is the sun, the laughing sun. The sun has two large gory eyes with a large mouth. Instead of rays it has spikes sprouting out of it with fire dancing all around it.
"What the heck is this for kind of game?"
