Chapter 017.001 (Side Story #001)

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‘ ‘ for thoughts.

“ “ for speech.

* * for actions.

Please point out any mistakes/inconsistencies you find and feel free to comment on anything regarding this FF.

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Warning: Contains gore and stuff.

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Asunder Online (and all its chapters) by fidelc123 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Jacob climbed out of his FuDi capsule and did a few stretches. He checked his refrigerator deciding what to have for dinner. There was some black bean soup leftover from lunch. Jacob chopped some garlic, ginger and onions. He then mixed it with lime juice, orange juice, sesame oil and freshly ground black pepper. He then marinated half a pound of squids in the mixture and went to take a shower.

After his shower, he reheated the black bean soup and arranged the tortillas. He then quickly seared the squid and prepared squid tacos, garnishing it with onions leftover from the marinade. Jacob then savored his simple meal. It was rare for him to just eat dinner and not simultaneously browse the internet.

Jacob: ‘I watched you cook this so many times that I have this recipe burnt in my mind. But it simply doesn’t compare to your cooking. I miss you mom. Dad always preferred the lamb shanks you made…but this will always be my favorite.’

He was reliving the happier moments of his childhood while having his dinner alone. He didn’t dwell on his past too much, but nevertheless he deeply missed his parents. Instead of returning to his FuDi capsule as quickly as possible, he decided to go for a walk.

Jacob quickly dressed himself in a t-shirt and sweatpants. He left his apartment and walked aimlessly. Soon he reached a nearby convenience store which was open 24x7. He collected a six pack of beers, a pack of cigarettes, a lighter and some candy. He usually didn’t smoke, or eat candy for that matter, but he felt like getting buzzed today. As he was about to approach the cashier, a disheveled dirty man barged in waving a gun.

Jacob: ‘Well Fuck me. One random act of violence coming right up.’

Junkie: “EVERYBODY DOWN ON THE GROUND.”

Junkie: *waving his gun at the cashier* “You. Give me all the cash you have RIGHT NOW!”

The cashier looked like he was in a hurry to comply. While the few patrons of the grocery store were covering, Jacob thought that it was best to not get involved and wait it out. Jacob crouched behind a shelf and was hoping that the junkie would go away to get his next fix after robbing the store, and best case scenario no one would get hurt.

He heard a gunshot, and heard a thud. He carefully peeked around the shelf he was hiding and saw a grisly scene. The junkie was lying on the floor, with a gunshot wound on his chest. Blood was pooling on the store. The cashier seemed to be in shock, still pointing the gun at the junkie’s dead body.

Jacob: ‘This is just great. The Universe doesn’t want me to smoke it seems. Well, fuck you universe! I decided to get smokes today, and I will have it!’

The other patrons of the grocery store screamed and rushed out of the store, which seemed to bring the Hispanic cashier back to his wits. He shakily placed the gun in a drawer and Jacob noticed that he was sweating profusely. Jacob carefully approached the cashier and said.

Jacob: “You should report this to 911. Will save you lot of trouble later on.”

Cashier: *in spanish* “I…didn’t mean to kill him. He was about to shoot me…I just defended myself.”

Jacob: *in spanish* “I know, amigo. I am no jura. Your papers are in order?”

(A/N: amigo is Spanish term for a male friend, and jura is slang for cops used by people of Mexican descent in California. I am not proficient in Spanish, though these terms are fairly common.)

Cashier: *in spanish* “Yes…”

Jacob: *in spanish* “That gun you used, its legal?”

Cashier: *in spanish* “Yes, in owner’s name.”

Jacob: *in spanish* “Good. Then give your phone, and bill the total these will you? I will call 911 in the meanwhile.”

The cashier shakily placed a cellphone, which was more in place at a museum, with what the latest smartphones were capable of. Jacob then placed his six-pack beer, pack of cigarettes and lighter on the counter. He didn’t feel like eating candy after the scene he had just witnessed.

The cashier seemed to take some comfort in his routine as he quickly billed Jacob. Jacob gave the man a 50$ bill and asked him to keep the change. He then quickly dialed 911 and reported the attempted robbery and shooting. Jacob then collected his purchase and left the premises before the cops arrived.

He didn’t want to involve himself as a witness and waste his time. The store had working CCTV feeds, and hopefully the recording system was in order. Jacob soon reached his apartment. He lit a cigarette and opened a can of beer, and started browsing the net on his computer. While he was aimlessly browsing the forums of Asunder Online, he decided to post in the IM group of his office friends.

Jacob: So guys whats up. Anything interesting in RL?

Adam: Nothing much really. So you aren’t playing AO?

Jacob: Nah, just chilling with a beer and a smoke. I will log in later though.

Dion: Woah dude… what happened?

Jacob: What do you mean what happened?

Adam: Well aren’t you some kind of fitness freak? I know you drink an occasional beer, but I didn’t know you smoke.

Jacob: I smoke… just not very often. Anyways where is Carlos?

Dion: I think his sister is crashing over this weekend at his place.

Adam: Jacob whats up in AO? RL as usual, sucks for me.

Jacob: Completed the spider extermination I told you guys about. The boss sure was annoying to deal with. My single target spells barely did 2% damage to him. Fight was kind of easy though… there were 19 other NCPs at the time. And three of them were priests!

Dion: Well, I think I just made a big breakthrough. Apparently, blacksmithing increases my faith!

Jacob: So you are a paladin of Vulcanus? Nice!

Dion: How did you know that??

Adam: Yeah… I thought you were some kind of monk?

Jacob: Dion, you mentioned earlier that you got a spell to light melee weapons on fire, and that you get faith for blacksmithing. Vulcanus is the god of fire and forge. So it is obvious that he is your patron deity.

Dion: So Adam, who is your patron deity, you know mine so…

Adam: Well, Minerva is my patron. So what about you Jacob?

Jacob: I don’t have a patron deity.

Adam: I know that. I meant your class or new skills!

Jacob: It is just a variation of monk, but with arcane magic instead of faith based spells. I finally got a couple of AoE spells and wanted to compare it with AoE spells that Carlos uses.

Dion: You finally got AoE spells? Nice! I will get one soon, hopefully… just need more Faith.

Adam: You will probably get a buff or something. Don’t paladins have trouble casting too many spells?

Dion: Nah. My patron is probably the coolest deity for a paladin! The few spells I got are offensive…and my patron grants me affinity to metal. The MP penalty for casting his divine spells in metal armor actually reduces, the higher my metal affinity is!

Adam: hey. No fair. You get to cast offensive spells AND have metal armor? OP!

Jacob: Not really. He doesn’t get heals like other paladins. A Paladin of Minerva is probably like a cockroach. Medium high armor and magic defense along with heals. Whereas Dion will probably be closer to an offensive oriented Knight with better equips due to his focus on blacksmithing.

Adam: Do you actually know this stuff or are you just pulling it out of your ass?

Jacob: You must have interacted with a few paladins of Minerva while grinding faith… Am I wrong?

Adam: Nope. You are right. It just seems kind of odd, that you know more about the pantheon in general than both of us, who are divine spellcasters.

Jacobs: I spent the first four weeks ingame reading about gods and magic instead of killing cute innocent rabbits like you plebs. We will meet at work tomorrow anyways, and I need my fix of AO. Cya guys.

Adam: Guess I will log in too. Bye.

Dion: Well me too. Cya tomorrow guys.

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A/N: This is a lot shorter than my regular chapters, but this is a side story I originally wasn’t going to upload, as I still feel that there is something lacking... but if readers like you enjoy it, I will continue with them.

Side stories like this will be used to progress character development and some other stuff. Still, character development won’t be too rapid.

How did you like this side story? Is it lacking in some aspect? Should I continue with these interludes, or drop them?

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