Devoid

Chapter 2: Respite

Ever-present as the abyss was, he only peered over the edge.

As I move towards the city, I first have to pass through the dirty village on the outskirts. The first thing that I see are people. But not human people. I see all sorts of mixed breed people. This village seems to be mostly filled with animal-type people, but there are a few demon and elf type as well.

The people in the village notice me and subtly turn away, as though my presence created uneasiness. “Am I unwelcome?”, I call out.

The only response I get is from the breeze. I walk up to what seems to be a merman carrying a large backpack. “Am I unwelcome in this town?” “Filltthhyy huummaann! Sssttaayy awaaayyyy!”

I just stand there and gaze upon his eyes, pondering my choices. Should I ask why? Do I threaten him? Or do I just continue staring through him?

I decide upon the last choice and just stand there. Still standing. Still staring.

“Whhhhyy woooonn’t thiiisss ooonnee leeaavve?” “Do I have a reason to?” This guy seems surprised by my actions. “You aren’t derogatory towards us?” The hell was with that accent.

“Were you trying to intimidate me with your weird speech patterns and words?” The merman looks away, slightly embarrassed. “ …. Yes.”

This elicits, from me, one of longest sighs in memory. “So what’s the deal between …. your kind and mine? What’re the mixed people called?” Upon hearing my words, the merman seems surprised. “Yeah yeah yeah, I’m new around here. Just assume I don’t know much about this world.”

At this statement, the merman perks up. “You’ve come to the right guy. I’ve got info from all over. I’m the merman traveller, Mann!” “I’m Zephyrus. Just call me Zeph.”

He seems pleased as we shake hands with strong grips. He begins with, “The information will cost you 2 yenom.”

You have got to be fucking kidding me. I thought something was off when Joe said this place was called Aerth, but yenom? That’s just money spelled backwards. I walk away for a moment, take out my wallet, and find that it holds fifty 1 yenom bills, twenty-five 5 yenom bills, ten 10 yenom bills, eight 25 yenom bills, five 50 yenom bills, three 100 yenom bills, two 500 yenom bills, and one 1000 yenom bill, for a neat total of 3,025 yenoms. (Mathcheck Please)

“How much does a hotel room cost here?” “Hotel?”, inquires Mann. Oh yeah, they probably know them as inns. “I mean a room at an inn.” At this he understands, and replies “30 yenoms a day for a room with a bed and basic necessities.”

Back on earth, a basic hotel room went for around 60 dollars, so that means yenoms are probably worth around half the value of american dollars. Convenient. If a room is 30 here, then the cost of his info would be approximately four dollars.

I hand him a 5 yenom bill and have him teach me everything he knows about this world. Some of the info he had were things I learned from Joe, but I picked up a few useful tidbits.

The mixed races are called Fractals, like fractions of people. In this world, social status was, of course, based on money and career. The way to find jobs was to go to a job finding spot in the city, which he said usually had a large sign above it in the city. Most people hunted monsters for a living.

Joe. You told me that wasn’t efficient. Were you lying to me? There were quite a few people in debt, and interestingly enough, if the debt was high enough, they could sell themselves as a slave to clear their debt. He also told me that the average person’s income for a month, was, interestingly enough, around 3,000 yenoms. Nice one Joe.

“Oh yeah!” He whipped his pack off of his shoulders, slung it to the ground, and fumbled around inside of it for a few moments before taking out a funny looking metal bar.

“And this! This is a Rod of Expectations, which measures one’s potential strength. It will emit a pitch based noise based on the person’s potential power! Higher pitch means higher power! At the cheap cost of 5 yenoms!”

Okay okay okay, how is that possible? I decide to play along anyways and hand him 5 yenoms. I take hold of the rod and expect a high sound or something, but instead hear nothing. Waste of 5 yenoms. “Eh. No sound. Sorry buddy, you must be pretty damn weak!”

He guffaws heavily for a quick minute. I guess that’s to be expected. It’s not like I chose some overpowered ability or something….

I see that Mann is wearing gloves. “Can you use it also to prove that it works?” I should verify this before going. “Sure thing.” He slips off his gloves and holds the rod for a few seconds, and then a medium-low pitch is emitted. “Well, I guess I must be pretty weak then.” He returns the rod to his pack and slings it back on. “Bye Zeph! Have good travels!”

Even though everyone around has seen our exchange, some still seem wary of me. I then decide to make my exit towards the town, as my info seems adequate enough, and there doesn’t seem to be a language barrier.

What both Zeph and Mann failed to realize is that humans and humanoids can only hear a certain sound range. The higher the pitch, the higher the frequency. And when the frequency becomes too high, people fail to hear the sound. This phenomenon occurred on that day.

A few mountains over, a man walked into a shop. He asked the shopkeeper for a Rod of Expectations; the rod emitted a low pitched sound when the shopkeeper handed it to him, but when the man held the rod, there was not a sound to be heard.

He gave an odd smile that seemed to say he knew what was happening. The shopkeeper smiled at the man amusingly, unknowing of what had transpired.

The name of this man was Gale.

I walked towards the city and decided on finding a job first thing. Fighting monsters sounds interesting, but I should probably check the actual job board or something before making a decision.

I enter the city limits and immediately encounter a checkpoint with a few guards. Behind me, I hear a distinct voice saying “What ho Zeph!” I turn to see Mann waving a hand at me. “Watch.”

I stand there as I watch put a finger to his solar plexus and draw out what seems to be a locket with no chain. Is this supposed to be like an ID system? I too put my finger to my stomach and imagine a locket coming out. When nothing happens, I motion to Mann. “How does that locket thing work?”

He tells me that it’s the ID card of this world, named the Cred (I guess it’s supposed to be like accredit. Joe. When will the shit names end?) and is completely unforgeable.

The object depends from person. He seems slightly embarrassed as he tells me that the object is whatever you treasure the most. At this conundrum, I try hard to think of what my most precious item is.

Out of nowhere, a guitar pick ejects from my stomach. So this is my most valued item…. I was expecting something like a picture or a letter, something with sentimental worth. I imagine myself with a guitar in my hands, picking away, and then I feel a spark within me.

Somewhere within me, a feeling of relief breaks forth. The feeling of coming home after a gruelling day of working, studying, running, then sitting down, playing your guitar, and letting it all out.

Before I know it, a wistful smile has appeared on my face. This is my first memory of my old life. I grip the guitar pick, the desire to find myself burning stronger than ever.

“Zeeeeepppphhhhh…. Zepphhh…. Aerth to Zeph!” I snap back to reality to see Mann waving his hands in front of me. “Why were you smiling?” I doubt he would understand my situation, so I respond with “Nothing, just a memory. So how does this work?”

He elaborates that you tap it and imagine a screen popping up, displaying all your stats, class, and level. I facepalm obviously and loudly. God damn it Joe. You literally just told me that there was nothing like that. Next I’m gonna find out that there’s some weird kind of inventory system. “And here’s the inventory button….”

I quit. I fucking quit. Joe has betrayed my trust. I bet he knows literally everything about me and refused to tell me just so he could watch me suffer while trying to figure it out.

“Fucking Joe. What an asshat.” Mann is bewildered by my behavior and backs away a few steps. “Who’s Joe?” “A dickhead. What else is there?” He is clearly weirded out by what is transpiring. He quickly explains that all of the functions are opened by the tap of a button, even the main. You just have to swipe up on the Cred to open it all up. If you have any crimes, they’re displayed on the Cred too. Why does this sound so familiar.

It displays all of my stats, abilities, equipment, parties and my…. relationship status.

At this point, I’m convinced that Joe only has 22 pairs of chromosomes. He is definitely a 12 year old.

I show the guard the guitar pick and slide up on it. It doesn’t show much. Both Mann and I are cleared to enter the town, called Yerk Now. I’m not surprised anymore. “Hey Mann. What year is it? “It’s the 2019th year after the Origin Spawn.” Is the Origin Spawn Jesus’ birth or something?

He departs to three large buildings, aptly named the Triplet Towers, used for world trade. It will never end. I leave for the career center. On my way I see mostly humans, but there are a few Fractals following humans like puppies.

There are also some humans following other humans as if led by a chain, but there are far more Fractal slaves. What do these people have, monster fetishes?

I reach a large rainbow colored building with a unicorn shaped sign saying, Career Center!!!, as if the unicorn couldn’t be any happier about spreading jobs. I go inside and expect to see a brightly lit room, a large board with jobs posted on it and a few helpers, but I arrive to a lot of men, women intermittently mixed in.

Rough looking men, with large weapons and rugged faces, looking as though their jaws and noses had been broken on multiple occasions. The women looked basically like the men, but less brawny, and more, uh, swift and thin, if I had to pick a word, though a few women were just as muscly as the men

. There were tables spread around the edges of the room. I walk up to the counter near the front, and ask the guy up front for some help finding a job.

“What job are you interested in, Sir?” “Humor me.” He then lists off the available jobs, which happen to be, at the moment, just one thing. Slaying jobs. I’m unsurprised even though Joe told me that there were assortments of jobs, so I begin to expect generic fantasy elements from this point on. He tells me to go to table 12 and wait for another assistant for help.

I arrive at table 12 to see a group of 7 men carrying weapons cornering a petite, blue haired woman. They’re blocking my seat, but I don’t feel like asking them to move.

I decided to name my time freeze move Freeze. Sophisticated, I know. I use Freeze and sit down in my chair and then unFreeze time. The man is tough talking the lady and says, “Well Zure, Whadda- Hey! When did you get there?” I look at him for a moment, then say “Just now. I’m expecting an assistant for work soon.”

He seems to be pretty brutish and stupid, but looks can be deceiving. I’d rather not assume weakness from someone I know nothing about. “How did you get there?” His men turn their sights and act tough, slightly glaring at me, a few of them cracking their knuckles.

“I walked over and sat down. Why are you acting tough? Trying to intimidate me into submission?”

I’ve had enough of people’s antics today. All of that crap Joe told me was crap, and my memory about the guitar pick made me fired up, though I’ve cooled down a bit by now.

“Look. I walked over and sat down. Is it really that hard to understand?” These guys might be stupider than I thought. “Smart guy, eh? I think he should be taught a lesson.” The men begin to crack their knuckles more readily and seem to be ready for a fight.

They form a barrier around the table as I get up, so I’m enclosed in. They all move towards me at once.

I decided to name my time slowing skill Chill. I Chill time a moment before they reach me and analyze the situation. Three of men are trying to grab me, two are standing by, and two are readying their fists to strike. Muda.

I step out of the way of the three grabbers so they all crash into each other, and then climb on the shoulders of the guy who seems to be the leader, standing by. It’s not wrong to have some fun with this.

“Where’d they go~?” I inquire this teasingly as though looking for the guys. He swings upwards, and I Chill time and hop down while kicking him in the face. “Arrggh!!” As I unChill time, he clutches his nose, now bleeding profusely. While this is happening, the two punchers backed off and drew their weapons, as did the three fallen guys.

They draw their weapons, but I put the Freeze on time and pluck their weapons from their hands and carefully put them on the table behind me. When time resumes, they try to swing at me, only to find they are using air. Shock registers on all of their faces.

All of this movement under Freeze and Chill are going to tire me out if I don’t finish this quickly. I use Chill once more, take the hammer that one of the men were holding, and use it to whack all of their nuts.

Well, it sucks to suck, right? As they lie on the ground clutching their dicks while crying in agony, I bundle up their weapons with one of the guys shirts and put them on the seat. If I can find a weaponsmith or a shop that will buy these things, I could make some quick cash.

From a 3rd person perspective

As Zure was getting surrounded by the group of seven, she realized that she had no way out. She had very little experience with the real world, being a sheltered rich girl for most of her life. She expected everyone to treat her with respect and kindness; a grave mistake.

She was slowly backing against the table behind her when the leader of the thugs looked surprised, as was she. Behind her at the table was a young man, above average stature with medium cut black hair, hanging down in no particular manner. He seemed to be nothing special, but no one there had any idea how he had gotten to the table in the first place.

After seeing the man and the thugs exchange words, she quickly backed off from the group, all the while seeing the guy stand up, surrounded by the thugs very much how she had been. She now had no thoughts expect for to save herself and ran away. Despite her fear, she turned around before exiting the room, to see the man standing on the leader’s shoulders.

She was bewildered at this action, only to see him in the next moment teleport down in front of the leader, whose nose was now gushing blood. He then teleports once again and the weapons the men were holding are now on the table. Zure watches as the man moves at hypersonic speed, effectively shutting off all means of the thugs having children in the future.

He rips off the shirt of one man, then ties the weapons together and says something about cash. As Zure stood here watching the encounter, she also realized, that to get ahead in this world, she would need allies; and she thought she had just found the first one.

Resume Zeph’s Perspective

The woman who was being cornered by the men returns a few moments after I bundle up the weapons. She approaches me with serious eyes. “How did you do that?” Really now. “Why do I have to tell you?” She seems slightly irritated.

“I’ll have you know my daddy is the police chief! He could lock you away if I told him to!” Who’s this supposed to be? A generic tsundere love interest? She’s actually quite pretty, but seems self-absorbed and conceited. “And? Anything else you want to complain about?”

She was probably expecting some sort of backing-off from me, but I’m not in the mood. She just stands there and puffs out her cheeks with a slight hmph. Definitely a generic love interest. Though I’m not interested.

“Look, I’m not interested in making friends, okay? Just go away already, I’m expecting the job attendant any minute now.” She seems even more taken aback than before, if that was possible. If I had to say, the look was somewhere between shock and hurt.

Pshhhh. Make friends elsewhere. “I’m not looking for friends! I just want to know how you got so strong!” Tiring. She is SO tiring.

I use Freeze and walk behind her. As time resumes, I whisper a few words in her ear. “I don’t care if you’re the leader of the new world, much less the daughter of the police chief. But I’ll give you some advice; If you are willing to fight, you must also be willing to break your bones, sweat out blood, and endure pain. To deal pain, one must first know it inside and out.”

I have no idea where these words come from, but I hope they sound cool. They sounded pretty cool to me.

She whips around and responds, “I’m willing.” I take a step back and analyze her. She has dark blue hair, is carrying a sword at her waist, and seems to be wearing some odd kind of armor, as are other people in this joint.

“Hmm. You might say you are, but I know you aren’t. Although, I could use another guide to learn more things.” Naive as she is, she should be well-educated, especially if her dad is the sheriff.

She once again hmphs, crosses her arms and turns away. I swear I just saw steam come out of her ears. “Oh yeah, also, I’m not interested in having a relationship. Just getting that out of the way now. So don’t even try using womanly wile to get anything special out of me.”

She then turns beet red and exclaims, “Wh-Wha-What do you mean?” Big sigh. Nevermind the job finding; I’ll figure it out later. “What’s your name?” “My name is Zure, daughter of the po-” “Yeah, I know you’re the daughter of the police chief. My name is Zephyrus. Just call me Zeph. I don’t like small talk. I don’t want to be friends. I just want you to be my guide for a little bit. Okay?” She still seems taken aback by my words, be she seems to accept how I am, for now at least.

I turn my mind away from job finding and think about this world for a moment. Primitive weapons? In an advanced society? Damn Joe; either he deliberately made it this way, or it’s just lazy writing for plot device. Oh wait.

Zure and I left the Career Center.

End Of Chapter 2