After recognizing Alan, a couple of guilders  decided to leave. “This place is haunted by a ‘ghost’ now,” one of them said loud enough for him to listen.

It’s called a library, but there are no books here, Alan thought, glancing back at the people leaving, and at the white room with small individual cubicles.

“So, there’s an Engineer Class, eh,” Alan muttered, while consulting a System Screen. “What do they do?”

“Is that the Class you’re interested in?” Tamara got close to him and read over his shoulder. “Look, it’s divided into three subclasses. One that specializes in empowering themselves by crafting their own custom weapons, one that acts as a support, creating healing and boost devices for their team, and the one that allows the User to build their own robotic minions to fight for them.”

“All of them sound quite interesting,” Alan said, tapping the screen until Marissa’s loud groaning made him cringe.

“Are you seriously going to waste all day reading that?” Marissa said from her spot, lying upside down on an armchair. “This is your first day in Londorus! You should do fun stuff insteaaad!”

“Practically, this is my second day here.”

“True,” Marissa smirked, “but you’re now free to take a tour. What do you say?”

Tamara shook her head. “Um, Marissa…”

“You know what? I’d love to take a walk around the city,” Alan said, looking expectantly at Tamara.

“Londorus is a Safe Zone, Tammie,” Marissa insisted.

The young mage pursed her lips, as if she was mentally fighting with herself. “F-Fine! But we have to be here before Astrid returns, okay? Remember that you’ll have dinner with her tonight.”

“Yay!” Marissa beamed, jumping out of her seat. “Where should we go first?”

“Before we go, can I copy this Engineer info to my User Interface?” Alan asked.

“You could borrow a book instead!” Tamara smiled at him. “There's the ‘print’ option on the top right corner of the screen. Tap it.”

Alan did, and from a crack on the desk, a blue, leather book was delivered. “Cool.” Alan tapped the item and saved it inside his inventory.

“Let’s go, then!” Marissa sang, marching to the exit, but Tamara pulled her from one arm.

“You’re just tagging along because Astrid told you to stay, am I right?” Tamara whispered in her ear.

“I’m bored and grounded, yes, but I’d rather believe that she indirectly told me to keep an eye on his guest wherever he goes,” Marissa responded, chuckling.

Tamara puffed out her cheeks and let her go.

Reaching the front gate took them a couple of minutes, and ignoring the other guild member’s gazes was easier with Marissa by his side. The lanky young woman marched as if she was the real Guild Master, confident and prideful. Even Tamara looks insignificant beside her. Alan glanced at the petite witch, who walked cautiously as if danger hid at any corner.

When the front double doors opened, Alan was face to face with a lively city.

He walked through the front yard blindly, admiring the motorized vehicles passing at great speed, looking at the street vendors, watching the people riding winged beasts. The Victorian buildings looked sturdy and elegant, and all the passersby were good-looking, wearing shiny and colorful clothes.

“This resembles a city from Earth, but at the same time, is like something out of a fantasy!”

“Just watch your step, Five,” Marissa said, pulling him from the collar of his jacket, as a black, slick car halted in front of the HQ.

This thing almost runs over me!

“T-Thank, you, Marissa.”

She did not respond, as something at their backs got her attention. Alan, and guilders looking through the windows, followed with their gaze the group of four exiting the building.

Marco Souza was leading the group, hands inside his black dragon leather coat, holding the most arrogant smirk in all The Novus. Two stunning, beautiful women walked by his side, looking more like super models than powerful witches.

Sporting a navy blue, cocktail dress, Karen Svensson dedicated a last condescending look at the surrounding people. Wearing a front zipper, strapless black leather mini dress, Amelia Laflamme tossed her hair behind her shoulder, ignoring everything and everyone.

Lastly, Faiza Khalil followed them at the back, hiding her face inside her panda hoodie.

Inadvertently, Amelia noticed the three standing on the sidewalk, before getting into the car.

“I’ve been looking for you all over the place. Why weren’t you answering my messages?” Amelia asked Marissa, as her companions entered the vehicle. She then stretched out a hand to her. “Doesn’t matter. Come. It’s time to go.”

Marissa got closer to the astounded Tamara instead, and grabbed her hand tightly.

“Marissa, what are you doing? It’s now or never.” Amelia insisted, tensing her jaw, but her sister would not move an inch. The redhead’s voice broke: “W-Why?”

“She made her choice, Amelia,” Marco said aloud from his seat’s window. “Let’s go.”

Amelia’s expression suddenly turned severe. “Fine. Suit yourself, then.” She then glared in Alan’s direction.

What the hell was that? Alan thought while watching the car take off.

• - 9.2 -

 

“As you can see, Londorus has been modeled after one of the greatest cities of the Old World,” Tamara was saying proudly as they crossed a bridge, but Alan was too busy thinking about what had happened to reply. 

He did not even notice the hundreds of gazes staring at the one-digit number above his head. More than one tried to approach him and ask him about it, but Marissa would scare them away just by glaring.

“Can we go to ‘Jack Robins’?” she suddenly said in a tiny voice. “I have a craving for a milkshake.”

It’s the first thing she’d said since we left the guild’s HQ. She’s asking as if she was a child.

Alan caught Tamara’s gaze and nodded.

“Sounds great!”

 

Minutes later, Alan thought they were entering a kids’ store. What am I thinking? There are no kids in this spaceship. WE WERE the last kids on Earth.

The pastel colors invaded every wall of the establishment, as well as the NPC’s uniform, and the ice cream cups. He squinted as if his eyes hurt.

Pink. Everywhere you see.

“Here you go, Alan,” Tamara said, bringing him a chocolate ice cream cone, which he inspected before tasting it.

I’ve changed my mind… I love this place.

Turning around, he watched Marissa already eating her dessert absently.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” he whispered at her, but the strawberry blonde responded by hitting him in the forehead with her index finger again. “ARGH! W-what was that for?!”

“Shut up. It kinda is your fault, you know?”

“My fault? What are you talking about?!”

“Hello, my dear space conquerors! Are you feeling Cosmic today?! Let me hear you, people of Iregorn!”

What’s that?

Alan looked at his surroundings until finding a video screen at the back of the establishment. A pink-haired girl wearing a gleaming purple dress was addressing the camera. Her smile was wide and cute, her mannerisms were mesmerizing, and her body captivating.

If space was a kingdom, she would be its queen…

“Hey, I know her. I watched one of her music videos yesterday. And I think she’s also a commentator? I’m not sure. What’s her name?”

“Miss Cosmica!” Tamara replied from her place near the cash register. “She’s awesome!”

The Idol danced and sang accompanied by another young woman, wearing a matching dress. A banner on the bottom of the screen read: ‘Live from Iregorn - Burning Love Summer Tour’.

“And the gal dancing with her is Consteline,” Tamara continued, taking a seat.

By Alan’s side, Marissa slurped her milkshake in a louder way, finished her drink, and started tapping on her User Interface.

“Neat names,” Alan commented, before looking at the five-liter ice cream cup Tamara had brought. “Are you really going to eat all that?”

“Of course. Why?”

Seconds later, Alan got a System notification.

 

Marissa Laflamme has sent you a Friend Request!

 

Huh? 

Alan turned to Marissa, but she kept tapping her window. Once he accepted, a different request popped up in his field of vision.

 

Marissa Laflamme wants to start a Party Chat.

 

“Why are you not--?”

Marissa pinched his leg under the table, making him flinch. Baffled, he glanced at Tamara, but the ice cream cup blocked her from view. He reluctantly accepted.

“Don’t say a thing out loud,” Marissa’s voice was heard inside Alan’s head. “If you filter your thoughts, we can privately talk using this.”

“How--?” he said using his normal voice, shut himself, and cleared his throat. He imagined himself talking inside his head. “Like this?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Woah! This is like telepathy! Awesooome!”

“I'd call it handy.”

Alan looked in Tamara’s direction once again. “Why do people not talk like this all the time, then?”

“It’s considered rude.”

“Figures. But we’re being rude to Tamara, then.”

“Did you enjoy your ice cream?” Tamara suddenly asked. “Chocolate is a no-brainer.”

“Yes!” He shook his head. “I mean, yes! I’m glad that we came.”

“You were asking if I wanted to ‘talk about it’, so here we go,” Marissa continued. “I just don’t want Tamara listening. I mean, she’s a cool gal, and I trust her, but…”

“Okay, I’m all ears. Or brains. Get it?”

“Shut up.” Marissa took a deep breath. “If you ever wanted to take revenge on Marco and the rest of last night’s ‘welcoming party’, you’re out of luck.” She crossed eyes with him. “Marco and his most loyal followers quitted the guild today.”

“WHAT?!”

"What’s wrong, Alan?" Marissa asked before Tamara could.

"I… saw someone identical to Miss Cosmica outside.”

"She's performing live on Iregorn, Alan," Tamara said. "But I wouldn't be surprised. Since her debut, her look has become popular among the Novus’ youth. No one rocked the pink-hair style as well as she does now."

“I see. It was a look-alike then…” He chuckled, before returning to the Party Chat. “Marissa, there’s something I need to know and Tamara seems reluctant to speak about it. What happened last night after Astrid showed up?”

“Tamara would say that ignorance is a blessing…”

“You were the one who started this private conversation and told me this was all my fault…”

“I said that, didn’t I? Well, let’s say that the reason all of these assholes quitted was because they didn’t like being punished by Astrid yesterday. And by ‘punished’ I mean OBLITERATED. It was glorious! It’s pretty well known that Astrid is super ruthless, but last night she took it to the next level!”

“I thought you weren’t there last night.”

“I wasn’t, but Helen told me every single detail. She’s the one that informed Astrid about Marco’s private party and saved your level-five ass.” She giggled. “She even captured video of last night’s highlights. For instance, here’s Astrid after finding out what Jason did…”

Alan received a file through their private chat. By opening it, a video window popped up inside his line of vision, showing a blonde punching a lanky guy and sending him crashing against the nearest wall. The video’s sound implied that the victim continued traveling outside of the HQ’s grounds.

“Was that Jason? The monocle guy from earlier?”

“Yep. You know, now that I think about it, it surprises me that he survived that. Whatever. This is what happened next, you’re gonna love it!”

In the second video, a spectacle of blue and red lights, at first mesmerizing, turned into a hell show. It was impossible for the camera to keep track of all the chaos, but Alan discerned what seemed to be silhouettes attacking each other. Although… Nah, it can’t be. For a moment I believed watching that all of them were attacking the same person.

The camera turned to its side, where Tamara could be seen reaching out her hand to the air.

“Please, tell me your shield will last!” a voice said, out of view.

“We’re safe!” Tamara replied in a distressed voice. “It has to endure! He has suffered enough!”

The camera then looked down, focusing on a dormant Alan, resting in Tamara’s lap.

Is this what I suddenly remembered hours ago? It must be. So Tamara and this other girl, Helen, I suppose, were protecting me while… that happened.

He continued watching the recorded battle unfolding a few feet away from them, and swallowed.

“Tamara, configure the arena’s settings,” Astrid could be heard shouting. “Leave ‘Quick Spawning’ as it is, but turn ‘Death Gold Penalty’ to ON!”

“A little context here, please?”

“It speaks for itself, but fine, I guess,” Marissa said, finishing her milkshake. “Oh, before that, I forgot to mention that Astrid told everyone the reason for your three-year absence.”

Alan sweated cold.

“She… did?”

“Yeah, she told us all about your comatose state. That the Cryosleep is not perfect, and that it can induce coma in one person out of 100,000, or something like that? Whatever. Since Marco wasn’t going to back off nor apologize for what he did… Well…” She looked him in the eyes. “Hell broke loose shortly after. Astrid threatened to KILL them all as punishment, and High-Levelers don’t like that ‘word’. Can you wonder why?”

“If I remember right, you lose a portion of your gold when you die.”

“Correct. Half or your gold to be precise. Imagine what that means for a High Level User.”

"So… What we saw an hour ago outside HQ…"

"Yes. Amelia wanted me to join Marco's new guild."

"And you rejected the offer. That's why she looked so hurt. You sisters won’t be able to hang out anymo--"

"Hey! I was hurt, too!"

"You’re right, sorry. But what's going to happen to Shooting Stars now? Wasn't Marco the First Officer?"

"Guilds are created, disbanded, and merged all the time, Five. Astrid will find someone that can fill the role in a heartbeat, trust me… Unless you want the job." She smirked, making Alan get silent for a bit. Consequently, she received a series of noises and unintelligible words. “Gosh, clear your thoughts, Five!”

“Where is he now?” he asked.

“Who? Marco? I thought you’d ask about my sister… Wait. Why are you asking that?”

“There’s something I need to talk about with him.”

“You’re not planning something stupid, are you?” she asked. Alan did not respond, but something in his eyes made Marissa chuckle. “Okay, then. There is someone I need to see, too. Hurry, mention that you’re thirsty.”

“Just like that? Um, Okay.”

“Tamara, don’t you feel thirsty after eating all that ice cream?” Alan asked. He could finally see the petite girl after she had consumed half of the cup.

“Come on, Alan, another push.”

“Because I need a drink! You know what I mean?”

Tamara narrowed her eyes at both, especially at Marissa.

“If that’s what you want, how about the Drinking Banshee?” Marissa suggested.

Tamara left the spoon on the cup, exhaled, and responded in a deeper tone of voice: “Count with me.”

Oh, god. What have we done?