Chapter 4: Sky

Before proceeding, he turned and saw that his abyss was not the only one.

“The reason no one around here cares that we’re fighting is because they can’t see us. I cast illusion magic on us before we started. It’s a support spell, so you should learn it too.” There’s probably a lot of things she didn’t tell me, but I’ll have to find out later.

Honestly, at this point, I should consider just getting a few slaves so I won’t get fricked again, but I have no idea how much they go for, and I don’t want to overspend anything. I’ve spent about 2000 of my 3000 yenoms, so I’m going to focus on earning money and getting a place to live.

“Hey Zure. Where do you live?” “Who needs to know?” “I do. I don’t have a place to live, and I’m starting to run short on funds.”

I’m not some creep, I really don't have anywhere to go. “I don’t know, you seem pretty weird….” She rubs her chin in a speculatory way, as though she had a goatee. “If I let you stay at my place, you have to let me be the party leader.” No way.

“No. I definitely can’t trust you with a responsibility like that. Plus, you just want the title of leader, don’t you?” Zure turns and whistles innocently again. Stupid whistling tropes.

“Hey. You like to fight, don’t you? How about you get to use me as a punching bag everyday as my payment?” Honestly, I’m questioning my character at this point. Am I some kind of masochist or something? She just easily kicked my ass. Damn writer. Oh wait.

I feel something malicious and sinister pouring off of her as she smiles at me. I gaze at her shadow, and for a moment it seems to smile at me too. Shit.

I may have gotten myself a place to live, but I've also just gotten myself an infinite supply of round trip hospital tickets.

Zure tells me to pull up my Cred and then click the parties button. I click invite on her name, and she accepts. Wat. “Who’s the highest level person in the world?” Oh boy. “Right now, the highest level person I’ve heard of is Rook, level 143.”

That means that Zure is pretty damn good; she’s level 31. And I’m level 2. “Have you lived in this town for a long time?” She’s actively pulling a sword out of her Cred screen, and answers, “My whole life, but I’ve regularly traveled to other regions for higher level battles.”

Oi. Why couldn’t I see my level before? Did I have to level up first? There’s so much unexplained shit here.

“If I told you I died in another world and was reincarnated here, would you believe me?” “Yep. I have a few friends who also claimed to be reincarnated. In fact, that Rook guy also claims to be reincarnated. So, what’s your special ability? Come on, tell me already.” This is a full 180 degree change from how she was earlier.

I suppose the other recyclee’s claimed that they were from another world, displayed special abilities, and then expected the generic hero storyline. Pathetic, but understandable. Who wouldn’t want the easy way out?

“I don’t see why I should have to tell you. If you can guess it correctly, I’ll confir-”

“Time Control!”

Gurk! Bullshit! Total crap. This. Is. Total. Crap.

“Screw this shit! How high is your intelligence! Tell me, you evil trickster!” I chase her around for a minute while trying to get her to tell me her INT. “Fifty Four.”

I thought I was pretty good, what with my INT being at 23, but 54 is over twice of mine. But hey. For a level two, I have some pretty high stats. Must’ve come from my old life.

I pull up the status screen and look at my stats. They now all have an addition sign next to them, and the top of the screen reads, |4 Points Available to Spend|.

I see. I get 4 points per level. “How many points do you get when you level up?” “Three. Why? Do you have some special reincarnated level system?” “No, I was just wondering if I did.”

I say all of this with a straight face. I don’t really want to reveal that I get four points per level, but I don’t know if she’s being truthful. I probably will buy a slave soon.

I decide to put 3 of my points onto speed and one on strength. I’ve always liked speed; it reflects my want of efficiency.

We walk through the town in silence after this, and the sun begins to set. My head involuntarily turns towards the mountains at this sight.

There are a few clouds in the sky, and become orange pink. The clouds nearest to the sun turn a blood-red, and to me, they seem to fuse with the mountains, giving off the appearance of lava.

I turn my head to see Zure also entranced by this sunset. “Hey Zeph. What’s your favorite color?” Color. Not too big on it, to be completely honest.

“If I had to choose, my favorite color is dark green. I couldn’t explain it, even if I wanted to. Perhaps it’s because green is a color of growth; it gives me the feeling that growth is possible, that there’s still time to do the things I want. Dark green reminds me of trees. Trees that extend so tall they seem limitless, stretching forever towards the sky.”

An image pops into my mind. I’m standing in a forest during twilight; not bright enough for a sunset, but also not bright enough to block out the stars.

Behind me is a boy with black hair, sitting on the porch of a house. He is holding a guitar, and is strumming a song.

Though I cannot hear the song, I feel what he is singing about. Everytime he stops singing, he too gazes upwards, to see the stars, at this point outshining the sun.

He continues strumming for a few seconds when the door opens, and another boy with black hair beckons him to come inside; it must be almost dinner time.

I walk closer as I watch the two walk inside. I try using Freeze in this place, and, to my surprise, time stops. The two are turned towards each other, and seem to be talking animatedly.

The boy who came from inside seems cheerful; I can tell from his eyes. The boy holding the guitar is smiling, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

As cheerful as he seems, his eyes tell me that he would rather still be playing his guitar, or reading a book.

Anything to escape this reality for a while.

I unfreeze time, and the two resume walking inside, but I can still see them through the glass on the door.

They turn the corner and leave, but the image of the boy remains in the glass.

But this time he isn’t smiling.

His face is now stained with tears as he mouths a single word.

Help.

“That was the first time I’ve ever seen you smile.” I am once again back in reality, and Zure is talking to me.

“But then you stopped smiling, and your face resumed being expressionless. But your eyes didn’t change. In fact, they still haven’t changed from how they looked when you stopped smiling.” “How could you tell if I my smile was real or not?”

Zure quietly looks at me wistfully. “Because I’m good at acting. But you don’t act. You wouldn’t smile unless there was a real reason to be happy.” Her words leave me speechless for a moment.

I know that her INT stat is high, but this isn’t just some ploy to get something; for once, she’s genuine.

I stop walking, and for a moment, she walks ahead before stopping. Zure looks back at me and smiles, then turns towards the sunset.

“I don’t have a favorite color. There are too many different shades to choose from. Plus, I wouldn’t want to hurt the other colors feelings.”

She winks at me then turns forward and begins walking again, and though I can’t see her face, I can see one thing.

Zure is no longer smiling, her face just as expressionless as mine.

I rejoin her side, and we walk in silence all the way to her apartment.

But this time, we walk closer together than we did before.

End of Chapter 4