Equinox spent a good couple of minutes, at the very minimum, plucking and pulling at the threads of information seamlessly woven into the fabric of his consciousness.
Most of it, he could quickly tell, was obscured like an iceberg’s bulk under calm waves. The superficial understanding he discerned, however, was still interesting despite that.
As the Gem of Illusion was reaped from an Illusion Meadow Fox, it was no surprise—well, maybe a little—that the abilities it granted—at least, after slotting in a full set of mana-based Essence Condensates—leaned towards concealment and misdirection – something akin to what the verdant-furred vulpine displayed during combat.
The exact specifics about how to employ such means of concealment and misdirection, on the other hand, were more… up in the air and hidden amongst the clouds, for now.
Without basic instruction in the use of mana, most of the instinctual information, though understandable, were wholly unapplicable anytime in the near future.
It was a shame, really. Simply imagining fading from sight before assassinating foes from their blind spots caused a spark of excitement to ignite in his heart; an emotion, no matter how off-putting , he cherished, considering how… humdrum his life had become, over the last few years.
Equinox examined the two remaining panels suspended in his line of sight after wrapping up his internal examination of the newly bestowed information.
Shaking his head after a moment, he pulled his hand away from the Exoene Lodestone before resting it back against the crystal’s cool surface to reset the hovering panels; deciding there was no need to be hasty and slot in his sole Fragment right now.
After all, there must be a reason why two tertiary apertures were a thing.
Equinox | Mid G-rank
Physique: 6
Strength: 1[+] | Dexterity: 1[+] | Perception: 1[+]
―
5-point Foundation
Parietal Lobe (Primary): Gem of Illusion | Mana | G+ 🔒.
Glabella (Secondary): -
Prominens (Secondary): -
Chest (Tertiary): Fragment Detected☜
Dantian (Tertiary): Fragment Detected☜
―
Traits: None
Bloodline: None
Equinox spent a moment to mentally prod at the new addition but didn’t get a reaction. Deciding to leave it alone, he focused on his Physique statistic, happy to see it had risen from 5 to 6.
Now he had firsthand confirmation that slotting in GSFs into the unobtrusive apertures was the way to go to reach peak G-rank.
Sparing a moment to observe his body’s internal situation, he confirmed the aperture near the crown of his head was gone like it had never existed in the first place. If not for the minute warmth pulsating out from that rough location and the four other hollows spread across his body, he would have thought it had been a figment of his imagination.
He spent several long moments basking in said warmth, still amazed by its existence. Frankly, he had no idea what it was, but felt like there wasn’t a need to worry about it. After all, NAoC was just a game.
A lanky man—likely another player, judging from his attire—scuttled away from the Exoene Lodestone, disappearing out of Equinox’s peripherals only for an armoured woman to come clanking in and take his place; focusing him back on the here and now.
Without further fanfare, Equinox assigned a single point to Dexterity. On his way over to the Hall of Ascension, he had been deliberating over which statistic to increase. From the fights he had engaged in, one moment stood out above all the rest – that is, when he managed to deflect the stabbing thrust from the Ironbeak Chicken through a stroke of surprising dexterity.
While, yes, he was a relatively dextrous person in reality, it wasn’t to such an extent where he could deflect a strike while still being partially blinded as well as while wielding a weapon that, for all intents and purposes, was pretty much brand new in his hands.
The only reasonable conclusion he could come up with after thinking about it was that, the single point in Dexterity had a more drastic effect than he could ever have expected.
Since it had already proven to be beneficial, it was only logical to increase said statistic, as a consequence.
As gentle fire coursed through his veins, Equinox skimmed over the panel. Seeing that his Dexterity statistic had increased to two, as desired, he hesitated for a moment, thinking whether to increase any of his other statistics, but discarded the thought; preferring to take a wait and see approach.
Once the fire went out, he pulled away from the Exoene Lodestone and stepped away. Seeing Wyntir wasn’t done yet, he stayed within an arm’s length of her but made sure to create space if someone, for some bizarre reason, decided to take over his vacated spot – even though there was more than enough space available elsewhere.
Stuffing one of his hands into his pockets, he looked around absent-mindedly, most of his attention focused on the corner of his vision and examining the Minimap.
Due to its current size, most of the greyish fog marring its surface had been banished, replaced with little colourful symbols a topographic features of trodden paths and earlier establishments, mostly bypassed.
Hmm… commercial shopfronts scattered throughout the Southeast, martial grounds stretched across the West, the Temple of Mantras due Northeast-
Equinox’s thoughts broke off when he saw Wyntir finally start to move.
With a step back and a graceful pirouette, the partial silverette fully turned away from the Exoene Lodestone, satisfied upturn to her lips; one that quickly turned upside down when she saw Equinox waiting for her.
“Sorry for making you wait.” She offered with an apologetic grimace. “I did not think you would have finished so fast.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He said, single shoulder brought up in a light-hearted shrug.
Pulling his hand out of his pocket, he linked both extremities behind his neck and strolled towards the Hall of Ascension’s open doors. “What took you so long, actually?”
“I was thinking about which statistic to assign my additional point to.” She explained, after catching up and walking next to him. “Making Strength, Dexterity, and Perception equal across the board would not be the best idea.”
“Probably not.” He agreed, head dipping reflexively as he walked between the pair of guards standing as still as statues, cool, night air causing a pleasant shiver to go down his spine. “So…?”
Wyntir peered around guardedly before sidling up next to Equinox, words intermingling with the breeze as she went up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips close to his right ear.
“I added it to Strength.” She whispered, goosebumps erupting along his nape as her moist breath gusted against his earlobe. “With my smaller stature, I thought it would be a worthy investment, ne?”
“Stop that,” Equinox griped, half-heartedly swiping at Wyntir, only for the young woman to dodge away effortlessly, “And yeah, that makes sense. I added mine to Dex, in case you were wondering.”
Dancing ahead, the partial silverette spun back around and started walking backwards, hands clasped behind her back and modest chest thrust forwards; soft laughter filling the air like the gentle chiming of bells and bringing a slight smile to his lips.
“Thank you for telling me~.” She stated with a singsong voice. “Perhaps we should retire to a tavern or an inn? We can take a break and wait for the night to pass in the real world.”
According to the paperbound manual that came handy with the New Age of Champions’ neuro gear, the logout procedure for the game was markedly different from any either of the pair had played in the past.
Though it could be started through a simple voice or mental command, the process could only be initiated within designated safe areas; such as rooms players could pay to inhabit located within temporary lodgings, or by owning an abode of their own.
He nodded after a brief moment of thought. “Might as well. Got any places in mind?”
Bounding back to him in a few steps, she hooked her arm in his before tugging at him, leading the way down the gravel thoroughfare. “I saw this charming little tavern back in the Southeast…”
The moon was high in the sparkling night sky by the time the pair meandered their way to the charming little tavern cozily nestled at the end of one of the many dirt paths winding away from the gravel thoroughfare stretching between the Hall of Ascension and the School of Invocations.
With a dense grove of Pyrite Trees stretching from side to side and around its back, Equinox had no doubts that any patrons taking shelter within its quaint wooden walls would be protected from the Sun and find warmth amidst a downpour.
His eyes flicked up to the tavern’s name carved above its entryway as he drew closer, outlined by leaf-like embellishments and backlit by flickering torchlight spilling out from the establishment’s interior.
“Leafy Delights. Really?” Equinox asked dryly, eyebrows arching in bemused disbelief. “It’s a bit… on the nose, isn’t it?”
Wyntir smiled a little, but didn’t look up. “Perhaps. It is rather cute though, is it not?”
“I’m not saying it ain’t. Just, a little bit too on the nose, is all.”
Remaining silent at that, Wyntir approached the half-opened doors and pushed it open; a warm gust intermingling with the chilly night air while soft chatter from patrons within ratcheted up a notch and became comprehensible.
Before entering the tavern, the partial silverette tossed a look at him over her shoulder and gestured him to hurry along. “We can discuss whether it is too on the nose or not once we have logged out.”
He trailed close after her as she breezed into the Leafy Delights, recognising a dismissal when he heard one.
His ears twitched after stepping over the establishment’s threshold, only then registering the wistful notes from a woodwinds instrument, one that had previously been masked under the din created by patrons; both drunk, and not.
Pausing for a moment, he scanned the lively area, looking for the source, but failed to find it, prompting him to continue moving and vacate the narrow entryway.
Winding his way through closely packed tables, both occupied and not, he joined Wyntir at the scuffed yet clean wooden bar counter stretching from wall to wall at the far end of the floor.
Though it hadn’t taken him long to reach her, the young woman had already started to quietly converse with the rotund, genial-looking middle-aged woman bustling about behind the counter by the time he did.
“…are any rooms available for my partner and I, madam?” Wyntir asked politely.
“Sure there are, lass. Tha guards came round ere a day ago telling us folk that some o’ ye foreign folk were gonna need free room n’ board for a week o’ so.” The stout woman slowly looked Wyntir up and down before her squinted gaze swivelled to Equinox. “Would ye like a room fer yerself, or one to share with ye lad?”
Owing to the illumination cast by the blazing fireplace off to the right, the blush liberally dusting Wyntir’s cheeks was barely perceptible even with her complexion as pale as driven snow. “I would prefer a room with two beds, please.”
Equinox blinked, surprised. Nevertheless, he didn’t speak up, not having an issue with the arrangement.
The rotund woman nodded to herself and reached under the counter. A moment later, her arm re-emerged, large brass key grasped in a hand as burly as a bear’s paw.
She held out the key in question. “Ere ye go, lass. Yer room is up on tha second floor, third door on ye right.”
Wyntir took the key, softly thanking the proprietress as she did. Without a further word, she rushed away, moving alongside the bar counter and towards the steps leading up, placed exactly opposite the smoke-spewing fireplace.
Just as Equinox was about to follow after her, he was stopped in his tracks by a heavy, meaty hand clapping down on his shoulder without any warning. Calmly turning to face the rotund woman, he asked, “Can I help you, madam?”
She meaningfully looked between him and Wyntir’s vanishing form. “Treat yer lass right, ye ‘ear me? And fer tha Gods’ sake, don’t be wakin’ up customers with too much noise, ye ‘ear?”
Equinox rubbed at the back of his neck self-consciously, warmth rising to his cheeks as he got what the proprietress was implying instantly. Instead of refuting any such insinuations, as per usual, he nodded in understanding; feeling like there was no point in clarifying his and Wyntir’s relationship to an NPC.
Heartily clapping his shoulder once more, the rotund woman let go and shooed him off, bustling away to attend to a half-sober customer seated at a spot further down along the counter’s length.
He paused for a moment, quashing down any traces of embarrassment, then jogged after Wyntir. Once he reached the steps leading upstairs, he took them two at a time, swiftly reaching the second floor – just in time to see the end of Wyntir’s silver-streaked, single-tailed, long braid disappear into the third oaken door down the right, warmly lit hallway.
Heading over to the cracked open door, he slipped inside and closed it behind him, taking in the room as he did. Like Wyntir had asked for, the relatively large room had two beds pressed up against opposite walls, a small bank of windows stretching between the two and giving any occupants a view of a moonlit clearing outside, one surrounded on all sides by faintly shimmering Pyrite Trees.
Wyntir squeezed past Equinox as he took the room in, locking the room’s sole door with a resounding click as tumblers rotated into place.
“Shall we log out then?” She asked, drawing his attention while gracefully taking a seat on the bed pressed up against the room’s left wall.
“Yeah, let’s go.” He confirmed, moving to the bed on the right and sitting down on it, scooting back until he was leaning against the wall, leather satchel carelessly ripped off and left to lie on the bed in the process. “Seeya on the other side.”
Without any further fanfare, Equinox mumbled. “«Log out».”
And then, his world was consumed in darkness…
…Only for the white-stained timber ceiling of the Shimotsuki’s entertainment room to swim back into clear focus an instant later. A crick in Lucian’s neck made itself known even as the soft whirring from air conditioners operating at full blast entered his ears.
As Iona stirred to life next to him, the brunet rolled to the side and off the warm beanbag before pushing up onto his feet and starting to stretch; an involuntary groan of relief leaving his mouth as a satisfying series of cracks and crunches erupted from his frame.
