Chapter 10: // Sine
"We did it Kindle, that was just amazing how you summoned Neptune, he is one of the 9 planetary summons, the most powerful in the game!" shouted Iris, running over to give Kindle a big hug. "We showed him a thing or two didn't we. Well, actually you did most of the work but, oh Kindle you were great!" Kindle couldn't respond. For one thing, Cemetery had knocked the wind out of him. And for another, he had that same feeling that something bad had happened as he had earlier in the morning. He just stared at the ground. "Hello, Kindle! I was just gaining respect for you, don't ignore me!" Kindle wanted to say something to Iris. He wanted to thank her for helping him beat Cemetery, but he knew that danger was coming, and didn't want Iris to be a part of it. Iris stared at Kindle a bit longer. "I'm just really tired out from the battle" said Kindle. It was true. He felt like he had just run about 20 miles. "Well I guess I'll see you later" Iris murmured, and gated out of the area. Soon after, Kindle did the same.
The root town was back to normal, with bustling people. He himself had become a rumor amongst the players. He heard bits and pieces of people talking.
"That guy wasn't really the game master, it was his evil twin"
"Some guy defeated him by sucking his blood"
"I heard it was data drain"
"Whoa, do you think it could be that the dot hackers are in "Journey for Power"?"
"It wasn't them, it was some little kid"
"Did you even see him, you liar!"
Kindle had heard enough and walked away. He hoped that Saiwroth would have some urgent news for him, so he sat down on a nearby bench. He examined his cell phone. He already had four out of the ten buttons filled in. So he was almost halfway to having the maximum amount of party members. He wanted to erase Cemetery's name, but had no way of knowing how. At the top he noticed his name and information. Player: Kindle
Class: waveblade
Level: 17
He was at level 17! But how, he had only defeated two white tiger fangs before. Maybe his data drain grew his level. He saw his stats as well. He had a very high evasion and speed, but his attack and defense seemed mediocre. "Hey, you! Red jacket man!" Kindle turned around. It was Vivel. He was holding his hat down on his head to keep it from falling off. Kindle got a better look at Vivel now. In the back of his head he had blue hair coming down, not a mullet but kind of shaggy. He wore a blue hoodie and baggy blue pants. At first he seemed like a male wishbringer. Kindle looked in to Vivel's eyes and saw fear, though. He saw a scared little boy trying to fit in, or did he see himself? "I am really sorry to bother you but I just want to say that you didn't need to fight Cemetery, he was my friend." Vivel said in a pleading manner. Kindle felt bad for him. "He shouldn't have treated you so cruelly" Kindle replied. "That is not a friend."
"Well I am new to this game, actually to all video games. My mom bought me this and said it was really rare, and maybe I could meet some friends to talk to, since my Dad just died and.. Oh I'm sorry. Please don't make fun of me!!" Vivel spat out. He straightened out the hat on his head so the pointy part was out of his eyes. "Cemetery made me pay him, but he was going to be my friend, that's the only reason that I play." Kindle felt for Vivel. It wasn't easy living with just your mom and having no friends. He wanted to complain to Vivel about his life too, but decided to try and make him feel better. Vivel was pale all over, and needed a friend to brighten him up. Kindle patted Vivel on the back. How about we be friends, free of charge." Vivel smiled. "I will make it up to you, Kindle, right?"
"Yeah" said Kindle. "I guess we exchanged member addresses."
"I'll travel with you when I can!" beamed Vivel, and ran away real excited. Kindle decided that he had better log out and find out what was troubling him. Jonathan was standing right there. "Done for now?" he asked. "Is anything wrong" said Leer ruffling his hair. "Nope" said Jonathan. "But I decided to have one of my father's assistants install an upgrade to your computer so you can play at home."
"Thanks" said Leer. "Now I can finish this crazy quest!" But "Journey for Power" was growing on him. He was excited to log in again. "Your mom called for you" Jonathan said. "She was worried about you coming over so early and wanted you to come home soon. It is 10 o'clock in the morning only. "I guess I'll walk home now." Said Leer. "My game saved, right?"
"It automatically saves when you log out" said Jonathan. "I can get someone to give you a ride"
"That's ok," said Leer walking down the stairs, I like running" With that he was out the door.
Upon his return, he raced up the steps to see his computer all set up and ready for play. His helmet was even plugged in and set. He was about to turn on the computer when his mom entered. "No way, young man. You don't play games all day in the middle of Summer. Now before you set one more glance on the computer you go outside and mow our lawn. It is like a jungle!"
**********************************************
Two hours later Leer slammed the door behind him and ran up to his room for safety. He had gotten a rock stuck in his lawn mower and it shot out, shattering his neighbor's window and hitting her in the head. Before his mom could yell at him, he put on his game helmet and powered up his computer. He entered his username and password, and came back to the game. Instead of going to root town, a mail box icon appeared and signaled he had three new mails. Kindle decided to read his messages, maybe they would have something to do with that bad feeling he had. He looked at the first one
From: Cemetery
You only won our fight because you ganged up on me with that girl. Had I been you fighting alone like a man, I would have wiped the floor with you. And while not finishing me off was your way of showing mercy, it was just making my suffering last longer.
Kindle figured that Cemetery would have that attitude, he read his next one
From : Iris
Sorry, Kindle but my boyfriend won't let me use the computer for a while because he wants to spend more time with me.
Nothing unusual. Kindle hoped that his final letter would be more exciting.
From: Saiwroth
This is urgent. Quall's body is being infected at a very fast rate; his legs are now completely slaves to that data bug. You must defeat Sine, the first of the triangle of death, to give him a chance of recovery immediately!!
"We did it Kindle, that was just amazing how you summoned Neptune, he is one of the 9 planetary summons, the most powerful in the game!" shouted Iris, running over to give Kindle a big hug. "We showed him a thing or two didn't we. Well, actually you did most of the work but, oh Kindle you were great!" Kindle couldn't respond. For one thing, Cemetery had knocked the wind out of him. And for another, he had that same feeling that something bad had happened as he had earlier in the morning. He just stared at the ground. "Hello, Kindle! I was just gaining respect for you, don't ignore me!" Kindle wanted to say something to Iris. He wanted to thank her for helping him beat Cemetery, but he knew that danger was coming, and didn't want Iris to be a part of it. Iris stared at Kindle a bit longer. "I'm just really tired out from the battle" said Kindle. It was true. He felt like he had just run about 20 miles. "Well I guess I'll see you later" Iris murmured, and gated out of the area. Soon after, Kindle did the same.
The root town was back to normal, with bustling people. He himself had become a rumor amongst the players. He heard bits and pieces of people talking.
"That guy wasn't really the game master, it was his evil twin"
"Some guy defeated him by sucking his blood"
"I heard it was data drain"
"Whoa, do you think it could be that the dot hackers are in "Journey for Power"?"
"It wasn't them, it was some little kid"
"Did you even see him, you liar!"
Kindle had heard enough and walked away. He hoped that Saiwroth would have some urgent news for him, so he sat down on a nearby bench. He examined his cell phone. He already had four out of the ten buttons filled in. So he was almost halfway to having the maximum amount of party members. He wanted to erase Cemetery's name, but had no way of knowing how. At the top he noticed his name and information. Player: Kindle
Class: waveblade
Level: 17
He was at level 17! But how, he had only defeated two white tiger fangs before. Maybe his data drain grew his level. He saw his stats as well. He had a very high evasion and speed, but his attack and defense seemed mediocre. "Hey, you! Red jacket man!" Kindle turned around. It was Vivel. He was holding his hat down on his head to keep it from falling off. Kindle got a better look at Vivel now. In the back of his head he had blue hair coming down, not a mullet but kind of shaggy. He wore a blue hoodie and baggy blue pants. At first he seemed like a male wishbringer. Kindle looked in to Vivel's eyes and saw fear, though. He saw a scared little boy trying to fit in, or did he see himself? "I am really sorry to bother you but I just want to say that you didn't need to fight Cemetery, he was my friend." Vivel said in a pleading manner. Kindle felt bad for him. "He shouldn't have treated you so cruelly" Kindle replied. "That is not a friend."
"Well I am new to this game, actually to all video games. My mom bought me this and said it was really rare, and maybe I could meet some friends to talk to, since my Dad just died and.. Oh I'm sorry. Please don't make fun of me!!" Vivel spat out. He straightened out the hat on his head so the pointy part was out of his eyes. "Cemetery made me pay him, but he was going to be my friend, that's the only reason that I play." Kindle felt for Vivel. It wasn't easy living with just your mom and having no friends. He wanted to complain to Vivel about his life too, but decided to try and make him feel better. Vivel was pale all over, and needed a friend to brighten him up. Kindle patted Vivel on the back. How about we be friends, free of charge." Vivel smiled. "I will make it up to you, Kindle, right?"
"Yeah" said Kindle. "I guess we exchanged member addresses."
"I'll travel with you when I can!" beamed Vivel, and ran away real excited. Kindle decided that he had better log out and find out what was troubling him. Jonathan was standing right there. "Done for now?" he asked. "Is anything wrong" said Leer ruffling his hair. "Nope" said Jonathan. "But I decided to have one of my father's assistants install an upgrade to your computer so you can play at home."
"Thanks" said Leer. "Now I can finish this crazy quest!" But "Journey for Power" was growing on him. He was excited to log in again. "Your mom called for you" Jonathan said. "She was worried about you coming over so early and wanted you to come home soon. It is 10 o'clock in the morning only. "I guess I'll walk home now." Said Leer. "My game saved, right?"
"It automatically saves when you log out" said Jonathan. "I can get someone to give you a ride"
"That's ok," said Leer walking down the stairs, I like running" With that he was out the door.
Upon his return, he raced up the steps to see his computer all set up and ready for play. His helmet was even plugged in and set. He was about to turn on the computer when his mom entered. "No way, young man. You don't play games all day in the middle of Summer. Now before you set one more glance on the computer you go outside and mow our lawn. It is like a jungle!"
**********************************************
Two hours later Leer slammed the door behind him and ran up to his room for safety. He had gotten a rock stuck in his lawn mower and it shot out, shattering his neighbor's window and hitting her in the head. Before his mom could yell at him, he put on his game helmet and powered up his computer. He entered his username and password, and came back to the game. Instead of going to root town, a mail box icon appeared and signaled he had three new mails. Kindle decided to read his messages, maybe they would have something to do with that bad feeling he had. He looked at the first one
From: Cemetery
You only won our fight because you ganged up on me with that girl. Had I been you fighting alone like a man, I would have wiped the floor with you. And while not finishing me off was your way of showing mercy, it was just making my suffering last longer.
Kindle figured that Cemetery would have that attitude, he read his next one
From : Iris
Sorry, Kindle but my boyfriend won't let me use the computer for a while because he wants to spend more time with me.
Nothing unusual. Kindle hoped that his final letter would be more exciting.
From: Saiwroth
This is urgent. Quall's body is being infected at a very fast rate; his legs are now completely slaves to that data bug. You must defeat Sine, the first of the triangle of death, to give him a chance of recovery immediately!!