20 Serious Matters (1/2)

Per usual it did not take Riyku long to make way to Racheal's doorstep. Knocking on the door seemed to be the first thing he did, before ringing the doorbell. He wondered why he didn't do that earlier, but it really did not matter much. Hearing the door unlock the male would relax his shoulders a bit. He had been worried that something may have happened to Racheal, not from the ordeal with Brad, but the ordeal with Bell. Still, it seemed his worry was for naught since Racheal was beaming a bright smile at him. ”What did you do?” She questioned through the grin on her face, to which Riyku would shrug playfully. ”I have no idea what you are talking about. Might I come in?” Riyku would inquire to which Racheal would move aside to let him in. Riyku would make his way to the couch where he sat and Racheal wasn't too far from him. Sitting down beside him she would give him a gleeful glance. ”So, what happened?” Riyku inquired to which Racheal chuckled and nudged his shoulder. ”I know you did something, but fine I'll let it go for now. I am being given several weeks worth of a vacation due to Brad's harassment. Not only that, but the vacation starts tomorrow and for about a week of that vacation I am being sent on a cruise to relax and unwind.” Racheal would explain with joy. ”That's good. You can now relax.” Riyku would state afterward, though the glance in his eyes was not really all there. It was as if he were trying to read into the future.

”Is something wrong?” Racheal inquired having seen the expression he made. ”I wouldn't say that. I am just glad everything is going to be fine now. ”Riyku would look at her with a warm smile to which Racheal chuckled softly. ”Me too. I am sad to say that you can not come with me for a multitude of reasons.” Riyku would shake his head to her remark. ”It is quite fine. I doubt you would get much sleep with me around.” His playful tongue slipped for a moment which caused her to blush gently. ”Yeah... I doubt I would. I'll be sure to tune in onto your matches during the Games. Since I won't be able to watch from the stands of course.” Racheal stated to which Riyku nodded softly. It wasn't like he forgot or anything. The games were right around the corner after all. ”Though, I am sure there is nothing to worry about with how strong you are. After all, you took down some kind of rampaging monster the other day.” It seemed Racheal had been viewing the events that transpired.

'So she did hijack the footage. How sly of her. Still, she did save me. I wonder... what is she after?' Riyku had been in thought which caused Racheal to call out to him. His eyes perked back up to her in which she asked, ”Everything alright?” Riyku would nod softly. ”Yeah. Just thinking on that incident. I am not even sure where that monster even came from.” Riyku would shrug to which Racheal would doot on it for a moment before shaking her head. ”Neither can I. Probably one of the forestries nearby. After all, the kingdom is surrounded by forestry. Paths to neighboring towns are part of the forestry as well.” Riyku actually did not know of this, in truth he knew little to anything on what was outside of this town or even what other factions were like. Of course, from a first-person perspective. He did get hints on what they were like and what other towns of this kingdom were like through information exchanges between people in the lower district.

”Sooo... Do you plan on staying the night?” Racheal inquired to which Riyku shook his head. ”No. I had other plans already for this evening. Although, the offer itself is always tempting as ever.” Riyku stated with a playful tongue. He would lean forward to brush his lips against her ear and seemed to have whispered something rather bashful since her face had tinted slightly pink. ”Alright, I can wait.” Racheal would moan out to which Riyku smiled and stood up before leaning over to place a kiss against her forehead. ”Now. I must be off. I only came by to check in on you.” Riyku stated to which Racheal frowned softly for a moment, before smiling gently at him. It was then she realized she was right, ”Hey! I was right. You did do something today!” She exclaimed to which Riyku nodded to finally affirm her claim. ”I did.” Though, he seemed to already be making his way towards the door. ”Enjoy your vacation, Rache.” Riyku was pretty much out the door when he called back to her. A soft moan escaped her lips with a warm smile, ”Always protecting others. Always helping others. You truly are a selfless man, Riyku.” She whispered softly before deciding it was time to get ready, and began to pack up essentials for the trip.

Riyku was now heading towards the Mansion. The pathway had led him through the shopping district onto what could be known as a highway since it was just a straight long strip. Though, it was odd. Even if the night had fallen there were few too little cars. In fact, there was no one around. The eerie silence had not been noted until he realized he had been walking in a straight line for longer than he had anticipated. Narrowing his eyes for a moment he would activate his senses to further his range of 'feeling' presences. His eyes would narrow even more when he felt that there was not a single soul around. It was then a text box appeared upon his UI.

'Instance Dungeon detected. Now entering Dungeon.'

”Instance Dungeon?” The male muttered as the illumination of the world around him began to twist and turn. It was like the world was spinning rapidly in several directions; although, he did not feel the slightest bit dizzy. When all was said and done, the world around him appeared bleak and barren. The night sky was crimson lite, the ground beneath his feet was soiled with black, and the buildings off in the distance in ruin. If he had not traveled this same road several times, he would never have guessed that he was still in the same place. The homes around him were as much in ruin as the buildings in the distance, and there was no evidence of what had caused it. Crossing his arms over his chest, his expression became serious. ”What is this place?” He would tap his finger upon his arm in thought. ”Clearly, I am still in the same town as before; however, it's almost like this place has been wrecked to nothing.” Riyku would state aloud.

Once again the male would expand his senses to try and find anything or anyone within a good amount of distance; however, nothing had shown up. Exalting a heavy breath the male would return his senses to normal and figured he would try to at least find a way to return back. The thought of walking in the opposite direction crossed his mind; however, he remembered that the message said 'Now entering dungeon.' Which meant that if there was no door behind him, then there was no way of leaving through the way he came in. There was also no means of which he knew he could leave for that matter. ”Well, Guess I'll just proceed onward.” The male would uncross his arms and stuff his hands into his pockets. He would proceed onward down the road.

It indeed was a simple path, straight all the way with broken fences and ruined homes along the sides. Every now and again he would see a totaled vehicle. Though the moment he came across his original destination his eyes grew wide. The place where the mansion usually was appeared to be more like some kind of demonic castle. The gates were closed and locked tight by a hefty lock, but on the other side of the gates there had been several creatures. To even call them demons wasn't right; since the creatures, all appeared in the form of monsters. Riyku would approach the gate after gawking at it to which he looked at the lock. The moment he reached out for a text box appeared before him:

'The gate is locked. Would you like to use a key?'

The options were yes and no. Though he knew he did not have any sort of key let alone a key for this hefty lock. After a moment of debating on hitting no, he said to hell with it and hit yes.

'You do not possess the proper key. Would you like to attempt to pick the lock? (5/5 tries remaining)'

Yet again there was another option of yes and no. Though he did not expect to be allowed to pick the lock. The man had thought of just hopping over the gate or even breaking it down, but if he could infiltrate the cast unnoticed and unaware he would do so that way. Hitting the yes button he was given the tools needed through means similar to Weapon Summon and Weapon Return. He would proceed to pick the lock and with skill and luck combined he seemed to hear a 'click' and the hefty thing fell to the floor.

'Skill acquired. Locking Picking Lv.9'

'You've gained 30exp.'

The male would look at the text upon his UI. Something new had appeared and it wasn't the fact he gained a skill either even if that was a new skill in a way. It was the fact that the number of experience points given was on display. For now, he would push that thought aside and push open the gate which gave of a screeching sound. Cautiously the male made his way into the courtyard; though interestingly enough none of the monsters had seemed to pay attention to him. In fact, most just walked past him without a care in the world. It was odd, but he did not question it. When he approached the front door, he noticed that the place was far larger than it should have been. In addition to that, this demonic looking castle still retained some similarities to its mansion counterpart. Upon pushing open the doors another text box appeared before him.

'Upon entering you may not leave until you clear the first floor. Will you still proceed onward?'

Of course, the choice options of yes and no were there, but what did it mean he had to clear the first floor? This was rather confusing now. Attempting to expand his senses to see who or what was around this odd building as well as inside, he would granted with little information. The monsters walking about around the courtyard had been the only presence he felt. Deciding to push the no option the doors were shut on him and he would step back. A soft sigh would escape his lips as he looked around, for a way to leave this so-called instance dungeon. ”Seraphina.” The male would see if he could get her to help him, but from the silent treatment, she may have been out cold. It was then that out of the corner of his eyes he saw some kind of floating white orb that had been a few steps from him. ”This wasn't there before...” The male had made note of this, before approaching the orb. As he reached out to it, it would give off a bright shine, not enough to blind one but enough to make him feel a gentle warmth from it. Shortly afterward, a text box would appear not on his UI, but in front of him with several choices.

The male would glance over the four options; although the final option to leave had been blanked out. As he reached for it he was given a noise of denial. As if it were telling him that he could not leave. Kissing his teeth the male would select the save option. It seemed familiar after all. Once he selected that option a new tab seemed to open up over the previous one.

Save-

1: May 28th, 2796 Wednesday. Location: Strife University

2: August 29th, 2796 Thursday. Location: Underworld, Town of War.

3:

4:

5:

When he saw this screen he would remember the first time he 'Saved' which had been back in class several months ago. Though the Location thing was a new feature... and it even told him where he was. ”Underworld, Town of War?” The male was somewhat puzzled by this location. ”Isn't this an instance dungeon, what does it mean Underworld, Town of War?” The male muttered before looking around once again. The more he took in the scenery the more he realized that his place did appear to be in ruin as if it was a town hazed over by war. A true Underworld. A soft sigh would escape his lips as he pushed upon the x button to close out the save tab before looking over several the last two options available to him. In truth, he had hoped that the load option would appear, but it did not. Just to make sure, he would use his voice command, ”System Load Menu.” Though when he tried to call out to it, nothing would happen. So he tried again and nothing, one final time and nothing. This time he would try to navigate through his system menu manually, but upon reaching the menu for Save and Load, only Save was available. The Load tab was completely taken out of the occasion. ”You have to be joking...” The male muttered before closing out his menu in frustration and looking back at the two options before him. Upon thinking about how everything played out presently, it would seem that the 'rest' option was going to be to restore his SP, MP, and EN. Though one out of one probably meant he could only use it once.

So, he would push that option aside and would proceed to select shop. Upon doing so would open out a well-placed tab before him. There were several tabs on the top and several tabs on the left side of the selection. The tab 'All' and 'All' were highlighted. On the left side had the text 'Type' and on the top had the text 'Items'. Indeed the selections before him were items of various sorts from weapons and armor to healing potions and accessories. His eyes looked to the left side where the tabs were 'Rarity', 'Condition', 'Enhanced', 'Enchanted' and 'Level'. The topside had been 'Weapons', 'Armor', 'Accessories', and 'Misc'.

If he selected based on what item he was searching for and what type he would be able to pinpoint the location no? Well, he did just that. Selecting Item, Weapon would open a list of different weapons in a sub-tab. He had not expected the diversity of search to run that deep, but to make things simple he selected sword. Which seemed to have lite up the sub-tab 'Sword'. He would then proceed to select a Type. Selecting, Rarity would open a sub-menu just like it did for Weapons. The sub-menu would go from 'F to A'. The store did not seem to contain S rated weapons it would seem. So he just selected 'A' for now which would light it up. He would then select the filter button which proceeded to 'blink' the screen in and out of view for a split second to show his filtered choices. ”Well, that is interesting.” The male muttered to himself while glancing over the selection of A-rated swords. Some of the swords seemed to have different conditions such as 'Excellent' 'Sharp' 'Lethal' and 'Crude'. There were other conditions he had never before seen like 'Magical' and 'Distorted' as well as 'Possessed'.

To match this select the prices also varied, those with 'Excellent' or special conditions seemed to be quite pricy compared to the 'Crude' condition. In addition to that, the price seemed to be that of different currency that read 'Souls'. The male wasn't too awestruck. The fact that the currency was similar to the place he was in, did not mean much to him; however, he noticed another text button that read 'exchange'. Clicking on it opened a small sub-menu over the shop menu which held the text.

'Points into Souls: 100:1.'