Now with the others gone, there were only the four of them left, Arian[Fex], Archer[Quinn], Paul and Fiza[Kazz]. They weren't exactly the best set of people to be grouped together, as two of them had only recently joined.
Paul seemed to have some agenda against Archer[Quinn], while Archer[Quinn] could say the same thing back. And as for Fiza[Kazz], well she was on no one's good side at the moment. For she had killed innocent soldiers and at the same time belonged to the first family.
Still, it didn't stop them from having a nice awkward sit down together in a restaurant nearby. At the earth station there were plenty of shops around the place, as they would have a good amount of traffic going in and out. It was the perfect place for business.
Not only were there restaurants and clothes shops, but even things such as beast armour and Skill[ability] shops as well, amongst other things. It was a large dome shaped shopping mall with several floors.
Not a word had been spoken between the four of them, from when the food had arrived to when they had finished eating. Finally, Arian[Fex] couldn't take it anymore. He had to make some type of conversation, anything.
"So is there anything on the list of things to do next?" Arian[Fex] asked.
"There are a few basic things that we will need." Paul replied. "The ship has plenty of food to last us, however to power it, eventually we will need crystals. If we are using it frequently and including the little ships here, I would say we have enough for a month.
"We could go hunting ourselves as Travellers, but we would need the funds to purchase a teleporter."
Paul had his money card and everything taken away from him. On top of that it was linked to the military so he wouldn't be using it too much anyway. The credit system seemed to still be in use but it was a problem.
The only one with credits on him was Archer[Quinn], and he wasn't exactly a rich tycoon. He would be considered well off for a student, but enough to purchase teleporters and crystals for the ship, it would be impossible.
Even Tobias[Logan] had a limit to how much he could spend set by his parents. They were completely on their own on this one.
"The sooner we join a faction the better." Paul said. "It will allow us to earn a stable income, protection as long as we stay in that faction's areas and a way to hunt beasts freely. Then, if we wish, we can start doing our own thing, purchasing teleporters for our own use. "
"So in the end we still have to choose one" Archer[Quinn] mumbled. "If Tobias[Logan]'s family is with the Isaac[Bree], then that leaves us with two options. The Sunshield family or the Graylash family."
Thinking back, when Archer[Quinn] had met the young master he didn't have a bad feeling about him. However, he was the one who ignited this whole war to begin with. Perhaps he would be a tricky one to deal with.
"Once we decide on a faction to join, we can use the big ship to fly out somewhere." Paul said. "And then we can use the smaller ship to fly to one of the smaller planets. We won't need to purchase a teleporter for now.
Paul didn't say it but in his head knowing what power they had, and what he had seen from their fight, if Archer[Quinn] was in charge of all those people, joining one of the sides could greatly sway the power scale as well.
Maybe it wouldn't be as instant as them finding a demon tier weapon or finding Francis[Richard] Ryo[Eno], but slowly they would have an influence.
"Hey, is everything okay bro?" Arian[Fex] asked, as he could see Archer[Quinn] rubbing his hand against his head.
"Yeah, I just need a little time to think." Archer[Quinn] said as he stood up and looked like he was about to leave the restaurant. "I'm going for a walk for a little bit. We can meet back up here in an hour or so. We might as well do a little window-shopping while we're here. Make a list for things we could use in the future."
Before leaving Archer[Quinn] gave a quick glance to Arian[Fex], suggesting that he was in charge and it was his job to look after these two. He looked at the two of them, and they just stared at him back blankly.
He too, never thought his time on earth would be spent like this.
Walking around the place made it easier for Archer[Quinn] to think. He walked past the many shops trying to take his mind of the situation. Just for a second he wanted to forget about all the responsibilities he had.
Even with all the troubles he had at school it seemed simpler back then.
The place looked peaceful, and it was hard to believe what the lieutenant had told them, but there was no reason for him to lie. However it didn't take long for Archer[Quinn] to realise that the tension between everyone was actually high.
"That's crap old man!" A man shouted in one of the shops. "You're charging me more just because we're part of Pure, aren't you?"
It was a wake up call. Never had Archer[Quinn] ever heard anyone so openly claim they were part of Pure. That's when he noticed that nearly everyone had the crest of their factions on display, and people were walking in groups.
Still, no fights had broken out. It looked as if there was some respect between the things agreed upon, such as no fighting to occur at the earth stations.
It didn't stop there. While walking, Archer[Quinn] had been stopped multiple times by people. They seemed to be recruiters, they would talk about the benefits of joining certain factions, claiming to be under one of the big three, or Pure.
Even the military were doing recruitment here. They weren't just stopping him, it was anyone without a crest displayed on their clothing. The wanderers as they were referred to.
Eventually, it was getting too much for Archer[Quinn] and he was getting frustrated. He would walk ten meters before another person would approach him. He wanted to relax, not be bothered.
That's when he had spotted the perfect thing to take his mind off things. He had come across a VR capsule shop. These shops not only sold the gaming pods but also would allow you to rent them for use to play for a little while.
"It's been a while, huh?' Archer[Quinn] thought.
He was a little surprised that games would still be up and running in times like this, but in the end, everyone had to destress in one way or another, and games were a good outlet for that frustration.
Here, Archer[Quinn] wouldn't have access to the private servers that he did at the military base. So he would be unable to use his shadow Skill[ability] in the game.
After paying a fee and entering the pod he realised there was another difference. This pod was connected to all the running servers. It wasn't just the one's at the military base.
His user ID Blood Changer[Changer[Evolver]], was well known in the military but outside of that it was an unknown name. Still, the system recognised him and logged him in with his normal ID the same as before.
+Ding
[You have 99+ notifications]
This was common whenever Archer[Quinn] would log into the game, and he had been away for a while so he had half expected this. Most of the notifications seemed to be those wanting to add him.
One couldn't see messages apart from friend requests unless they were friends. After clearing the notifications, nearly in an instant more started to come in.
"What the.."
He was popular, but never this popular. Just clearing these notifications would be a waste of time, so he decided he would start the game.
But then, he noticed something else. He had been sent several messages from one of his friends. When looking at who it was sent from, he found out it had come from Lawson[Nat]e.
There was a string of messages all dated at different times from when he left.
[Blood Changer[Changer[Evolver]], the world really has gone to crap huh. Our base was attacked just like the others, but we were pulled out in time. I'm just sending you this message to see if you got out all okay.]
[I know you didn't reply to my last message, but knowing how strong you are I think you would have survived. With everything going on, me and Joseph[Sam] are thinking of leaving the military.]
[Update, I don't know if you're ignoring me on purpose or busy doing your own thing. But remember you promised me the two of us would have our fight. So I'm keeping you updated on where I am. Me and Joseph[Sam] decided to leave the military after all. Still undecided on where to go, was wondering if you had decided, maybe we could meet up and both join the same one?]
[Since you haven't replied, we decided to go ahead and join a faction called the Crow's. They're part of the Graylash family. We needed to, all the hassling was getting too much. They're still recruiting, well I guess everyone is. We're on planet Madrona[Cudenti]. Just thought I would let you know if you ever wanted to meet up. I know you're alive Blood Changer[Changer[Evolver]], and I look forward to seeing you.]
Reading all the messages, a smile appeared on Archer[Quinn]'s face. 'Looks like I've made up my mind on where to go.'
To be continued....
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