End Online: Volume 2 (13 page)

A week passed and I had
finally collected my thoughts to be able to think rationally. It had happened,
and I should just forget about it.

When I logged on
however I returned to the dungeon where I logged off. I thought of calling Sir
Laurence for help, but something inside of me decided to call Lost instead.

Fortunately, he was nearby
and got to me in no time at all. Yet when he faced me and offered me his hand,
the turmoil inside of me started up again. I took his hand and, once I was
standing up, did not want to let go of it again. 

It did not take long
for us to escape the dungeon. Lost asked me to log out while he moved the
wolf up to the next floor for some reason he did not want me to know about. It
was definitely suspicious, but I couldn't find it inside of me to raise the
question.

Outside of the dungeon
we encountered the Swords of Light guild. They are absolutely terrifying.

I already knew the face
of the leader Chronix, he was one of the players chasing after Gladox, trying
to get to a higher level than him. 

Speaking of which,
during my week away I read that Gladox is already nearly level two hundred and
fifty. Surely there must be some secret to how fast he gains levels.

Chronix was just into extortion,
as it was well known to anyone who knew of him. The issue was he generally
targeted players a lot lower levelled than he was, killing anyone who refused
his demands or tried to escape.

Fortunately I was a
player with a high agility stat, so I should be able to get away from him. I am
a little worried I would hold Lost back, but we needed to run away from this
spot.

The signal I gave
to run was a bit sudden, but we all managed to get away from the Swords of
Light guild. At least, until we entered the forest that is.

Two of the guild
members were already there, people boasting speed much faster than mine. I
started to feel hopelessness about escaping from them but Lost had Fen pick me
up and escape with me. 

The wolf was
incredible. I could feel the wind pressure against my face as we flew through
the trees. Only, did the wolf have to pick me up with its jaws? For some reason
its breath was ice cold, causing me to feel frozen down to my bones.

The wolf dumped me face
first in the ground as soon as we arrived at Iceridge.

I had previously come
to the conclusion that the companion was lent to him by the person who
murdered me in the inn a while back. It would make sense, especially if its
affinity of ice originated from its owner. It was a frightening thought, but
next time I would be the one doing the ambushing.

That all changed
however when Lost called for me in a private message to come help him out with
something. It turned out had no clue how to pick out underwear for a girl.

A girl standing right
next to him he called Fen.

The same girl I
remembered from the inn that night.

***************************************************

Walking through the shops,
Fen was following closely behind me. Fortunately Lost had lent me an extra
coin bag he had to buy the girl some underwear, as I have little
money of my own. 

Sweat trickles down the
back of my neck, I can almost feel the eyes of this girls drilling holes into
my back. She was all smiles at first, but ever since leaving Lost she has been
giving off a freezing aura.

All of a sudden a hand
grabs my elbow and pulls me into a gap between two buildings. I get spun around
and two hands pin my shoulders against the wall.

With my heart feeling
like it's about to bounce right out of my chest. Fen is standing in front of
me. Her eyes seem to pierce right through my body, spikes of ice form in
the air around us.

"What... Do you
think... You are doing..." It is the same voice from that night. A quiet
voice, yet crystal clear.

I open and close my
mouth a few times, but no words would come out.

"I warned...
You... To stay away... You, will not be coming to the... Kingdom of...
Forste."

Her face is about two
inches from mine, her words piercing through me like nails. If she is trying to
be intimidating, she is succeeding.

The memory of the
unnatural pain I felt last time is coming back to me, causing my chest to
further constrict in fear.

"I am... All Lost
needs... Don't forget that..." The ice spikes embed themselves in the wall
around me. I hurriedly nod my head to her, letting her know I understand. 

'I-I really wanted to
travel with him more. B-but I guess there is no way.'

My thoughts reveal my
feelings, but my fear of this wolf outweighs them. I can almost feel her hand
stabbing into my chest again, it hurts so much. 

"I can... Buy my
own... Underwear... Go home..." I feel the coin bag Lost lent me being
removed, but I could not do anything to stop it. 

Fen then turns and walks
away with the dignity of a prideful wolf. With her gone, my legs finally give
way and I end up on the ground, shaking all over.

***************************************************
***************************************************

-Lost-

It is a relief for
Verde to take Fen to find underwear. I honestly have neither experience nor
confidence in dealing with such an issue. 

First on my list is
selling all of my loot. Racing around town, I manage to gain back the money I
spent on Fen's dress and the last scroll of shrinking to get her back into
town. But I also accumulated another fifty points of infamy in the process

Next, however, is what
I am especially interested in.

Travelling through the
eastern side of Iceridge, I arrive at the Auction House, more commonly referred
to as the AH.

The building looks like
some gothic styled cathedral from the 1400's. The architecture is amazing, I
remember learning about them in my history class back when I was at
school.

Inside, the walls have
intricate bronze carvings reaching all the way up to the ceiling, which hangs
colourful banners and candle lit chandeliers.  

I find an incredibly
friendly NPC at the information desk that happens to be more than happy to
assist me.

"Good afternoon!
What can I help you with today!" Seriously though, she seems like she is
on a sugar high. Either she must love her job, or she seriously loathes it.

"I have two items
I would like to put into the auction."

"No problem! Here
is the key to stall number thirty seven! Do you need an explanation on how it
works!?"

"Mmm. Yes,
please."

"It's really
simple! Once in the stall, all you need to do is place the item on the table!
Then you choose the starting bid and how long the auction goes for!"

"Items are listed
not just in our catalogue! But also on the official End Online website! All
auctions run across all servers too so you will never have a problem finding a
buyer! If the item is good that is!"

"You can also use
our stalls for placing bids! Any items you have bid on can also be viewed from
your main menu! You can even place more bids!"

"Fine, fine. I got
it. Thank you for the explanation."

This person is similar
to PeachStar in many ways, but mainly in the fact that she is giving me a
headache. Could the developers of this game consider developing a volume
control?

I did, however, feel a
great relief come over me when I did not gain any extra infamy points. This
place must be an exception to certain parts of the game

I leave the attendant
behind me and walk down the hall. Turning a key on the door labelled
'37'."

The stall is of a
reasonable size, a small round table in the centre and six chairs circling it
appear to be the only furniture in here.

'Looks like I could
bring in more people if I like. There are only six chairs but I'm sure more
people could come in here, there isn't a rule against it after all.'

Sitting down,
a menu opens in front of me, asking if I am buying or selling. Selecting
'Selling', I am prompted to put the items on the table in front of me.

Extracting both
the Old Bronyx Plate Armour and Meridium Boots of Haste, I place them
on the plain table in front of me.

The menu splits into
two windows, one for each item. Each window displays one of the items I am putting
up for sale, along with the bidding information.

Playing around with the
options, I set the time for both of them to be two weeks, plus a small
starting bid of twenty dollars. There are also choices to choose the
minimum bid increase, reserve price and such, but I leave them blank. 

I confirm the auction
and the items disappear with a flash of light. If I am to describe the
whole process in one word, it would be, "Convenient."

Returning the key to
the noisy attendant at the entrance to the AH, I exit the building. Considering
I will be leaving, there is only one place left to visit.

"Hiiiiii! Have you
got anymorrre apples for meee?!" PeachStar seems to get more irritating
every time I see her. Perhaps I should find another merchant to sell my apples.

"Hey, PeachStar.
Sorry, but I don't have any apples today."

"Awwww! I
reallllly wanted to eat some!"

"Well,"
muffling a sigh, I lean in and whisper in her ear, "How about I tell you
where to get all the apples from."

"WHAAAT!! Whyyy
would you do thaaat??" Her voice causes everyone to look over while I try
to massage my temples, my headache increasing.

"I will tell you
where they are, because I plan on leaving to the Kingdom of Forste shortly. I
thought you may like to go collect them yourself and we will split the money in
half between us."

"I would loooove
that! I could eat allll the apples I like!"

'You know, that really
isn't the point here. But if it's apples to eat you want...'

"I'm glad you
accept," A greedy smile lit my hidden face, thinking about earning money
without doing anything. "Do you have a map that I can put the location
down on?"

PeachStar pulls out a
map and I indicate the location of the cave. There are only wolves on the way
and inside so she should be capable of doing it herself. I do tell her not
to speak to anyone else about the cave. I am quite protective of my secret
little spot in the end.

Although, I am not
entirely confident in PeachStar's secret keeping. She is after all what I would
call... A loudmouth.

I would like to say
goodbye to Mouse before I leave, but he doesn't appear to be operating his
business today.

Leaving the bazaar, a
pair of pale arms wrap around me from behind.

The person quickly
releases me and skips around in front of me, delight filling their face.

It
 
is Fen. She gives me a coin purse with
some coins in it. It is clearly change from buying her undergarments, but why
did she have it?

"It's good to see
you Fen. Did you get what you needed?"

"Yep!... I
did." With a few quick nods of her head, coupled with her perforating
voice, most of the players were looking our way. 

All the woman in the
vicinity are giving surprised looks at Fen, while most of the men seem to
be glaring at me.

"Umm. What about
your shoes?" 

"Don't need
them... They will only... Slow me down." She is bouncing around full of
energy, but her movements are incredible, it's like she is simply gliding
through the air.

"Okay, okay. Where
is Verde?" 

She bites her lip
and looks away, mumbling that Verde left to go somewhere else.
Interestingly she keeps looking away from me, avoiding meeting my gaze.

"I am going to
call Verde, Fen. She is welcome to come with us if she wants."

"NO!... I am...
All you need..."

"Cut it out wolf!"
Using my hand, I let my anger get the better of me and karate chop her on top
of the head. It is mostly due to Fen raising her voice when I already have a
headache, but I still get mad. 

Fen looks down, a happy
expression secretly showing on her face. I vaguely remember the last time I got
angry at her, right after she left me to die via goblins. At that time, when I
yelled at her, she had her tail wagging in a playful mood.

'Don't tell me she
likes it when I get mad at her!?'

Come to think of it, I
have no clue what she even likes and doesn't. All I know about her is she
really does not like being dragged through small tunnels.

"Verde, are you
there. Are you coming to Forste?"

It takes her some time
to reply, and she sounds extremely nervous when she does.

"Oh, umm... I
terribly sorry. *hic* But I think I will stay here..."