Sophie woke up and yawned. She looked out the windows at the pristine morning and the glowing sun. She opened the windows to breathe in some of the fresh mountain air. The breeze moved her tussled golden hair gently. The morning dew dripped from the glass panes on to her soft skin making her shiver as the coldness tickled her.

As the sun grew higher, trees, birds and people awoke to begin their new day.

"Sophie...eat your breakfast properly." Her father, Michael, complained.

"Dad! I am not a kid!" Sophie started too.

"But you sure eat like one. What's the hurry?" Her mother, Tanya, said.

"Hmm...I need the time to get dressed properly." Sophie said gracefully.

"Yeah...yeah it would sound so amazing if your toast did not look like it was being tortured to death in your mouth." Her brother John joined in as he took a chair and sat down on the dining table.

Sophie pouted.

"Ah but I can surely guess why she needs the extra time to get dressed." John added.

"John..don't you dare!" Sophie exclaimed

"O really...everyone knows it already dear!" Tanya giggled.

"Mom!" Sophie yelped.

"What are you guys talking about? How come I am the last to know always?" Michael looked confused.

"Cause dear, you are blind as a bat. Why does a girl need so much time to make herself look good?" Tanya asked.

"Hmm....oh..so it's a boy. You were going out with that boy called Enrique right?" Michael asked.

Sophie, John and Tanya stared blankly at him. Then they all shook their heads in unison.

"Dad, Enrique was the boy I went out with when I was 14!" Sophie said.

"I still wonder how your company can make profit, dear..." Tanya said.

"Hahaha...dad, good one!" John said.

"Oh..was it that long ago. He was good kid though." Michael shrugged.

"Dad...seriously..." Sophie shook her head.

Some time later,

"Sophie, hurry up!" Tanya shouted.

"Yes, I am just coming down." She appeared downstairs wearing short bluish tights and green jersey. She had put on white jacket on top. Her hair was tied behind.

She took her helmet out from the coat rack and walked outside to get her cycle. She placed her cycle on the car's cycle rack and then moved on to the passenger's seat.

"Alright Dad..let's go." And the car zoomed forward.

Due to her involvement in her father's business and due to the fact that the office and factory were closer to home, Sophie decided to commute to college from her parent's home instead of finding a closer rented place.

Her house was not that far off though, just about 15 kms to the college. Enough for a bus ride, though her Dad did drop her off if he had to go into the city like today. But Sophie did not take the bus back home. She cycled. Switzerland was a beautiful place and cycling up and down the slopes was her favorite thing to do.

A young woman's life for a day could make it's own book. Giggling, laughing, gossiping, sharing secrets, blushing, twirling your hair, love, lies, etc.

"See ya later Sophie!" "Au revoir" "Ciao" "Bye", her friends waved.

"Au revoir. Bye." She waved back.

Back home, she took a quick shower and changed into comfortable clothes.

"Mom! No dinner for me. I ate too much with my friends." She yelled.

She made her way to the gaming pod installed in her bedroom, on the 1st floor of their two storey house, and logged in to Long Island.

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Sphinx appeared in the middle of the forest when suddenly an intense feeling bombarded her senses. A horrifying fishy, rotting smell!

"What the..." She grimaced. "Did something die around here?"

Sphinx looked around but couldn't see anything. She even sniffed herself just to be sure.

"The smell seems to be coming from the sea?" She was shocked at her discovering this.

She loved the sea air with it's salty fresh feeling. This was one of the reasons she hunted here in the forest, rather than try to head to the capital. She turned and walked towards the sea.

In a few minutes, she reached the shore but what waited for her was an even more shocking feeling.

"A fish with a sail?!" She could not help exclaiming aloud. This scene was so weird. Not only was the fish on top of the water, it had what looked like a sail sticking above it.

Sphinx rubbed her eyes and looked again at this strange sight. It was only then that she noticed a smallish ship underneath it. Or rather the ship wasn't really that small, the humongous fish made it look smaller than it was, she realized.

But anyone would get mistaken when they first saw this sight. It was that bizarre.

"And the smell is coming from that." She wrinkled her nose. "How are the people able to even breathe?!"

This strange ship slowly slid in closer and made it's way to the island. Sphinx had never seen such a fish before. Beyond the disgusting smell, she was deeply interested and so she followed the ship.

'It seems to be getting even closer? Where is it heading?'

As she followed, the ship reached shore and dropped anchor in a small cove. But this relatively normal scene shocked her to her roots.

'That's a human, a monkey and a large green bird which looks so much like a parrot? That's it? No others?!'

She did not know much about sailing but still to sail a ship and kill this absurd beast singlehandedly...

'Either this guy is a powerful npc or there is something fishy going on.' She surmised. But this particular npc was wearing something that didn't look like anything the people of this island wore. 'Definitely not from this island.'

Her curiosity aroused, she could only approach this particular man, all the while hoping she didn't have to breathe the air for much longer.

As Sphinx approached, the guy stood up and stared at her. Like she was the last thing he expected. Like he was guilty. She almost thought that she had just witnessed some illegal smuggling or something.

'I better be careful.'

But as she walked in, the guy simply stared back. Rather it was the monkey and that parroty bird who were causing a ruckus for some reason.

"Hi there!" She said. But the guy simply stared. And then hit his head with his palm for some reason.

"Hello, um, who might you be?" Sphinx asked again.

This time the guy nodded and opened his mouth. But then he immediately closed it up again and started waving his hands.

'What is wrong with him?' She wondered but observed the guy make a bottle like shape with his hands.

"What! Who do you think you are? You pervert!" She yelled.

The guy seemed surprised and and then hurriedly started miming other shapes. He made the bottle shape again, and then started to read and turn pages!

"Oh! Do you mean a book? You want a book or do you want to go to a library?" She finally realized this guy was a complete klutz when it came to making shapes with his hands. What she thought was a bottle was actually his attempt at making a book.

The guy simply stared blankly at what she said. Sphinx repeated his hand signs and made a questioning look on her face. The guy did a thumbs up.

'Odd, it is almost like he is a player.' Sphinx thought so and not without reason. In the beginning everyone had to go through that difficult phase, even her, so sign language became popular among players. It also became a differentiative characteristic of a player as compared to an npc, especially in the initial stages.

Then someone had found how to learn language and no one had to suffer through this again.

Yet, here it was. She could only wonder about it.

'Maybe this guy is dumb.' Maybe he was really dumb but she was referring to the lack of ability to speak.

There were systems which could be equipped on to a gaming console and allowed a person to send out digitized voice. But the people themselves learned sign language in real life and were far more comfortable using it.

Fortunately, it was not new for her, as one of her real life friends had this same disability and often resorted to sign language even in the game.

She waved her hands asking him to follow.

And then this guy turned around and spoke to the animals.

"ababifhinnanfahh"

'What the ....he can speak!' But she also realized that what she was hearing was a load of gibberish. 'What's happening?'

The guy and the monkey jumped off the boat leaving the bird behind. He made a sign for her to lead. Sphinx was confused by this situation but decided to let it play a bit more.

On the way back, they entered the forest and found themselves face to face with a bison.

Khardoum's forest area was home to bisons. Looking the same as they did in real life, only larger by a couple of meters (O magic!). These bisons however had a system which decided strength and rank. Through the size of their horns. The larger the horns, usually the larger the bison and stronger.

Bisons ruled this forest. Their only predators were panthers but even they only hunted on the baby bisons. An adult had no natural predator. Being such a tyrannical being, it was naturally aggressive.

And while 'the guy' watched this beast with interest, Sphinx had already made her move. She quickly equipped a uniquely curved bow and shot an arrow aiming for its legs. The arrow travelled swiftly and struck true embedding deep in its calves. As the bison grunted in pain, she had already run off to another location and shot at another of its legs. The beast tried to dodge but the arrow was faster. It grunted loudly and sank to its knees.

She took a breath and focused. She whispered a tune and instantly wind started swirling around the arrow's tip. She released the arrow and it smashed into the bison penetrating it till only its feathered end was visible. The arrow must have hit something vital for the bison took one last breath and then fell down.

Sphinx sighed. Hunting in this forest, such encounters were nothing new to her. But the guy was gaping with his mouth open. And when she looked back, he clapped.

"absbabfasa!" He said some words but it came out as gibberish again, but this time she knew that he was complimenting her. She just waved nonchalantly and started collecting her arrows. Moving the bison was beyond her and other than the horns, she really didn't care about the beast. However an older bison, like the one she had killed just now, had really thick horns and dehorning them required specialized tools or superhuman strength. It was a task very much beyond her at this point.

She looked up and found the guy still staring at her. She waved again to follow. But then the guy pointed to the bison with a questioning gesture. She simply shrugged. The guy nodded.

Sphinx turned around to go on their way but the guy didn't follow. Rather, he started cutting branches.

'What is he doing?' She looked. Although this forest did not have anything like the Bloodlust of Ilmentia, it was still dangerous. Meeting a bison without its herd nearby was already a miracle. Soon it would attract a panther or two. Though she could handle any threat, but she still preferred not meeting them. She had died two times already in their hands.

It was a strange thing that humans had more success killing bisons than panthers while they could be killed more easily by panthers. While an angry bison could very easily kill a panther.

The guy soon cut off a few branches and tied them all together with something. And then lifted the bison on to the branches and tied it off. He walked off the the end of this thing and starting dragging the corpse along the forest floor.

'Wow!' Sphinx was both impressed and bewildered. 'Why would he waste his time on this?'

Their pace slowed down considerably. The guy heaved and hoed and pulled with all his might, while Sphinx lead the way. Luckily they met nothing. After about an hour they made their way out of the forest and onto the sand.

Sphinx took a moment to absorb the change in scenery. It always surprised her when the forest floor suddenly became a desert floor. She could never get used to the abrupt change even now. Not to mention the guy doing the hard work was much too surprised by this.

Like her, who had never seen a real desert, except on TV or other virtual reality games, the guy also stared at everything with round eyes. His eyes portraying feelings of amazement and shock to varying degrees.

Sphinx giggled looking at this expressions. The guy looked up and saw her staring. Perhaps for the first time, their eyes met as they looked at each other.

And then he shivered.

'What! Am I that scary?!' Sphinx pouted in anger. She swept around, her golden hair swinging along and started walking again. This time she did not look to see whether he was following, but she soon heard his grunting sounds as he pulled.

They soon came across a rough path and started following it. Just then,

Flytrap! You have been surrounded by animals who will attack.

Flytrap cooperation 100%.

Sphinx groaned but also murmured another tune while signaling the guy to run. A small wind magic blasted off her feet as she was launched several metres ahead, just as she detected lots of snakes and scorpions and all sorts of things attacking.

Sensitivity increases by 1.

This was the reason why Hebenu village, the starter village on this island, had an Age requirement of 15. The Flytrap as the system called it, happened when sand dwellers like snakes, scorpions and all kinds of lizards congregated and then jumped out of the sand to attack at the same time. Like the literal flytrap, you would be surrounded by dozens of these creatures who attacked you. What was worse was that these attacks could go on continuously for a long time, so even if you managed to kill a few, you would still not be any safer. Adding to that was the fact that these Flytraps could move. As the animals and insects moved so did their Flytrap, so you could never know when or where this may be triggered.

No one had ever survived a Flytrap. Not even the best players who came out the village. Even now, no one had the fighting ability to survive the Flytrap. Thankfully, players soon learned that it could be escaped. There is a time lag between the notification and the actual attack during which, if you were fast enough, you could escape the Flytrap zone. The creatures did not attack if you were not in the zone so even if you triggered it, you could still run away safely.

It was still dangerous as the creatures who attacked were all poisonous. The poisons caused all sorts of negative effects from stunning to bleeding to temporary blindness effectively stopping you from escaping once you were caught.

In a word, it was the hell of the desert.

Sphinx turned around as she landed and watched the guy getting attacked by hordes of poisonous things. She despaired but she could not do anything. She had seen too many getting buried under by these things.

'So he wasn't fast enough.' Was all she could think off.

But then something amazing but also shocking started happening in front of her eyes.

The guy equipped a metal staff whose ends suddenly lit up with fire. He then started swinging it around so fast burning the creatures which attacked. Everywhere his staff passed, the creatures would not only get burned, they would also die right then and there. As he twirled it around in exquisite motions, he established a kinda boundary. Nothing entered within!

His staff swung all around punishing the things as they attacked. A smile appeared on his lips but his eyes always remained focused. As the ferocity of the attacks increased, his movements became even more faster, even more refined. The two balls of fire moved around him like two guardian spirits allowing nothing to touch him. His appearance looked cool and frightening at the same time.

'Wow...so cool!' Sphinx was deeply impressed.

But there was an even more frightening thing right next to him. The monkey which had been following them moved as fast as a blast of wind, appearing here and there and smashing as many things it could find. Sphinx saw it move for a while and was surprised to see that it mainly targeted the snakes. If the guy was burning these things, the monkey was clawing these creatures with its nails and teeth and yet it killed almost the same number, if not more.

The attacks kept going on and on..

'Amazing...could they last the whole thing though?' Sphinx had never seen someone last this long, even in a group of five - six people. But no one had ever survived to make sure how long this Flytrap really lasted. It could last a really really long time for all she knew.

And yet, like knowing what she was thinking, the guy started laughing loudly. Laughter in any language sounds the same.

Then he did the most shocking thing she had seen so far. He lifted his leg and tapped strongly on the ground.

Instantly, the sand exploded and every single creature hiding within was blasted out into the air. The monkey was surprised for a moment but then immediately moved to attack, while the guy who had made it happen started exploding fire all around. The creatures were burned to death in hordes. So much fire made it seem like the creatures had entered a blazing volcano.

'What magic is this?!' Sphinx was horrified now. Whatever this guy did was far exceeding anything she had seen or heard. And she could be considered one of the experts owing to the fact that she was among the first few who reached the Age of 15 on this island.

'Could he really be a powerful npc and not a player like I thought?' What could explain such power!

With the killing spree these two demons went on, the number of attacks greatly reduced. For a moment it seemed like the Flytrap would end. But then the guy laughed and tapped his foot again. For some reason, he was having the time of his life.

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

The fight lasted almost half an hour. However for Sphinx it seemed much sooner, so absorbed was she in observing those two. And then, the attacks abruptly ended. There was only the mountain of corpses surrounding them, extending for a few metres in all directions. In fact, they were currently treading on the burnt dead remains of those creatures.

'Did he ever get bit? Did he even get poisoned once?' Sphinx couldn't be sure.

'Crazy!' She summarized these two in one word.

But then he looked at her and shivered again.

'Seriously this guy can kill like this and still be afraid of me! Could there be something more insulting!'

They soon reached Hebenu village. The guards who saw them could only see a pretty lady, who wore a veil, and a guy with a monkey, dragging a bison behind. Some of them were impressed, others laughed out in ridicule. But nevertheless, they recognized them as Goddess's children and allowed entry.

Sphinx led them to a store she knew and negotiated a price for the bison. A crowd had gathered near them all speaking ten to the dozen.

"Look at that...that's a bison! Did they drag the thing all the way from the forest?"

"Who are they?"

"That girl couldn't be a beginner, she is not wearing beginner clothes! Is she a player or a npc?"

"Definitely a player dude! I know her. She is one of the top players, Sphinx."

"Wow she looks sexy. I wonder how her face looks...if only she would remove her veil."

"Bro...someone with that sexy a figure has to have some flaws. Maybe that's why she hides her face."

"Idiot...how can that be..this is a game, not real life! I bet she is even more beautiful than she looks."

"Oh that she is. She has gotten this dress recently. I remember her when she was still wearing beginner clothes. She is absolutely beautiful!"

"Oh dear. And who is this boarhound with her. It looks like he was the one who dragged the bison here."

"Yeah..he should be strong."

"Oh how cool! Aw!"

"But he smells awful!"

"Wonder how much would they get for this?"

The guy just stood there blankly while the monkey played with its tail.

The deal made her a lot. She handed the guy half the coins giving a thumbs up. He nodded and accepted. And then they finally headed to the library completely ignoring the various glances and gazes on them.

'Tch. So troublesome.' Sphinx sighed. It was good that everyone recognized her as a top player and did not approach so easily. Before, it was far worse. The female to male ratio was always less in any game. Long Island was no different.

Once in the library, the guy started looking all around, going up and down and eventually found the kid's section. He quickly took out some books and started reading them.

'He is really trying to learn the language? So he is a player then.' Sphinx started thinking about all the things that had happened. 'Whoever he is, he must be a top player. And not from this island. Could he be?'

The first player to travel the seas, who many had hoped would be Raka, actually turned out to be someone else. But would Raka be far behind? But then why was he trying to learn the language?

'He arrived on his own ship!' Sphinx got really excited as she thought about it. 'Is he really...' She was hoping but she could only wait till he learned the language. She took another chair and whiled down the time flipping an almost silly book which she didn't even care to read.

Half an hour later, he moved to another floor to read. He spent another hour on this floor while Sphinx waited patiently. Then he turned to her.

"Hello" He spoke.

"Hi" Sphinx smiled.

"Um.. I am Raka." He said and smiled.

"I am Sphinx." She also smiled. "So have you learned the language?"

"Um...about 80% of it. I am learning the rest as we speak." Raka said.

There were so many questions whirling around in Sphinx's mind right now and she was just thinking how she should proceed when he started.

"Can we go outside and talk? I really need to get something to eat." He said.

"Ah..sure." Sphinx smiled sheepishly as she realized she was hungry as well.

Outside they went to another store where they bought a few fruits and things.

"Ah could I request that you show me around? I am not familiar with the place." Raka requested.

"Sure." Sphinx agreed. It gave her an excuse to talk about various things as well. She showed him around the various places, the battle school and the magic school and Raka compared them to how they were in Ilmentia.

Housing in Khardoum, especially desert housing was a whole lot of flat roofs and mud walls, though some still used stone and perhaps because of a forest nearby, wood. The battle school was different and they offered training in the spear. And they also offered training in the bow. The graduates actually had a choice between the spear and the bow.

The magic school however was the same. Human islands made great efforts to keep the standards of magic the same among them. It was achieved by allowing student exchanges and teacher exchanges and similar things.

"Um..so why did you need to learn language again?" Sphinx asked.

"Ah...because the languages are different. I first thought that the languages only differed between different races but I found that even among the human islands, the languages spoken are different. Unless you learn the corresponding language, the system will not let you communicate, atleast not with words. Keep it in mind, if you plan to visit other islands in the future." Raka replied.

"Hmm..I never realized that. How come they made such a complex system..." Sphinx wondered aloud.

"I guess it's keeping with reality. When you visit another country don't you have to learn their language? On the other hand, I am sure that there must be people who know other languages, you know like translators. Atleast in the bigger cities, I guess." Raka said.

"Hmm..makes sense. So was that really your ship? And whats up with that monkey?" She asked as she saw the monkey scratching his fur.

"Hahaha...yeah that's really my ship. She's called the Dawn Dream. Monkey is just monkey. That's what I call him too." Raka laughed. "Um, may I ask why do you have the veil on? I mean you look all mysterious and stuff but isn't it an inconvenience?"

"Not right now. You smell horrible!" Sphinx laughed. "Other than that I guess I don't really have a reason. Here I will take it off." She moved her hands and removed her veil. She looked back at him only to find him frozen like a statue, eyes wide, staring at her.

"Hey, don't stare like that. That's rude.." She blushed a little.

"Ah...m...mm....sorry." Raka simply shook his head but she could see that he had turned red like a tomato. Ofcourse, she didn't know what was going on in his head right now but the moment had suddenly turned awkward. Obviously no one wondered about the situation of the people around them who suddenly witnessed the unveiling of this beauty. Sphinx simply ignored them and Raka was too much in shock to care.

No one spoke for a bit when Sphinx decided to say something.

"Um so are you always that happy while fighting?" she started.

"Ah no..though the fight was fun. But I was happy because my Sensitivity stat increased almost 20 points." Raka smiled.

"Oh wow. I haven't seen anyone survive the Flytrap before you. So surviving it gives a boost to Sensitivity, eh." Sphinx said.

"Eh, by any chance do you know what this stat is or does?" Raka asked.

"Wait, don't you know already?" On the other hand Sphinx was shocked.

"Not really..." Raka sheepishly smiled.

"Where have you been living. Someone posted it on the forums already. It is the stat which increases sensitivity of your senses. All your senses, sight, hearing, smell, touch, etc. Ah just be careful that it also increases sensitivity to pain."

"Really?!" Raka was shocked. "So Endurance reduces it while Sensitivity increases it. What is up with that?!"

"Yeah I know." Sphinx nodded.

They talked for a long time as they walked all around.

"So wait, you are really heading to the island of the dwarves?" Sphinx stood still on the street.

"Yeah. That's my plan." Raka nodded.

"Um...um...would it be too much to ask, if you could take me as well? Though I may not be as helpful.." Sphinx asked. She was in doubt. Would he agree to that? They had just met and all things considered, they were strangers. Add to that, Raka was definitely more skillful and powerful of the two. She didn't know how much use she could be. But this was definitely a golden chance as they say. After all, how many players had yet sailed the seas. Just 2.

"Sure." But Raka agreed immediately.

"Um..don't you need to think a bit. Look at the skills I know or something?" She asked with a mixture of shock and worry.

"You are good. I saw your archery already. Other things can be slowly learned." Raka smiled. However inside him, there was currently a giant balloon being filled with air.

"Oh...ok then." Sphinx smiled as well. Her friends had moved on to the capital or other cities and hence she was planning to leave the village one time or another. And here she got a godsend chance to actually leave the island altogether. She glanced at Raka and quietly evaluated him. From all she had seen till now, he seemed like a nice guy albeit a bit of a klutz.

'I am sure it will be a fun trip...' She thought smiling.

After some time, they decided to go back to the ship.

"Ah...I need to buy some supplies first." Raka said.

Sphinx nodded and suddenly wondered.

"Um...how would we split the income and expenses?" She asked. Although she was a top player, she had not moved to any of the big cities so she was not rich. She was definitely worried on the kind of expenses a voyage would need.

"For now, I only need some food supplies. And I will earn some money on the way too. So I don't need any money now. For the future, we shall split it half and half. To tell you the truth, I also don't know very much on the kind of expenditures or income we will have." Raka sighed.

"Hmm...alright." Sphinx nodded and agreed. Part of the adventure is it's uncertainty.

Some time later, they finally left the village.

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Dusk! Colors of the sunset. Hues of red and orange covering the skies. A day had passed in the game. However it was just hours in real life.

Sphinx was surprised by how much had changed within those few hours.

As they stepped out of the forest, the ship came into view.

'It still looks silly. And it smells awful.'

"Raka, you are not planning on taking this smelly monster all the way to the island of the dwarves, are you? If you are then count me out. I think I will faint if I smell this much longer." Sphinx said.

"Hahaha...no. Actually I will sell it off at the fisherman's village a bit south of here." Raka replied.

"Hmm...that's good." Sphinx replied.

"Say Sphinx, would no one miss you if you went along with me? I mean you would have friends here, right?" Raka asked.

"Yeah. But all my friends have moved to the cities. Only I chose to stay. They have been asking me to join them." Sphinx looked at the horizon with a bit of sadness. And then she looked at Raka who immediately turned his head and pretended not to notice.

"Well, I guess they will be jealous once they find out where I am." Sphinx laughed.

"Ah...um. Maybe I shouldn't be asking this but do you have a boyfriend. Or perhaps someone you like...I mean in real life. Cause you know, I am not asking for me....just that they might become jealous knowing you are alone with a guy. Not that there is anything wrong with me or being with me. But you know..." Raka rambled on.

"Hmm...I don't have a boyfriend. But I do have someone I like in the real world. But he doesn't play this game. Don't think he will care much about what I do here." Sphinx laughed.

"Oh..." Raka smiled.

As they reached the ship, Nobby came flying by.

"Welcome back Captain! There is good wind today." Nobby said.

"It talks!" Sphinx jumped in surprise. "A talking parrot! Wow!"

"Ah fair maiden! I be Sir Squaky Nobbington Poppington Cackle the sixth. But from your lovely lips do address me as Sir Pop Cackle the sixth." Nobby said.

"Ah, Sphinx, this is Nobby. Nobby, this is Sphinx." Raka said.

"You do not believe, sir, of my greatness. But do not heed his words lovely maiden. The Cackle clan is highly honorable." Nobby said as he spread his wings.

Raka jumped on the ship. He leaned and offered his hand to Sphinx.

"Come on aboard." He smiled.

Sphinx held his hand. And then the parrot said,

"Ah...the welcoming of the lovely maiden to our humble abode in the setting sun sings of a lovely sunflower bowing down.....Aaaaaahh~!"

Just then,

You have been stunned. Effect lasts 5 seconds.

'What!!!' Sphinx was shocked. And then she saw Raka moving.

He jumped on her pushing her to the ground and kissed her lips.

TIK TOK TIK TOK TIK TOK

SLAP!

"You you you...I thought you were a nice guy. But all the while this is what you were planning! Did you think I am easy just cause I agreed to go with you. You scoundrel!" Sphinx said.

"But but...Nobby" Raka said.

"Screw you...ASSHOLE!" Sphinx added.

"But but..."

Sphinx turned around angrily and stomped away.

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Even later, Raka remembered that pink silhouette as it disappeared like the setting sun ushering in the darkness. He moved his hands over the tiller here and there completely devoid of any thought of going forward or staying in place.

"I walk a lonely road~ on the boulevard of broken dreams~" Raka sung to the night wind.

"Wonderful melancholy, Sir Raka. It even drives me to tears...ah the aching heart~"

"Nobby. Just stay still for a sec..." Raka said as he equipped his staff.