CH2.2

I sucked in a breath and let it out. This was even harder than killing the villagers. We weren't as close as we could have been; their cold shoulder after my sister came down with the yellow death told me all I needed to know. Lightning flashed around my arm as I called upon the spell.

"Help me get to Carcosa so I can save my sister, and I will learn everything you can teach me," I said.

Red snorted and sliced his blade down. My sister's body was bisected, and our family home shattered as the shockwave from a single slash passed through it. Wood exploded into splinters as the man sheathed his blade.

"A man shouldn't be forced to kill their sister even if it's only her body," Red said.

I rushed over but couldn't find her body in the debris. Her remains had been obliterated and mixed with the shattered shack I lived in all my life.

"I have nowhere to go back to," I said.

"This world needs a man strong enough to defend it from the raid bosses unleashed upon it. Even if it ceases to exist for us doesn't mean it no longer exists. You did good I felt your resolve, and that impressed me. I see what that weirdo saw in you, kid. So I'm going to make sure you have the strength needed to make your mark on the world." Red said.

I threw a punch, and the man caught it with a finger before flicking me. My head shot back, and I fell on my back and flipped. The speed of the attack had been too much for me to see. I saw the man appear beside me as I stared up at the foggy, sunless sky.

"I miss the sun," I said.

"Then go South a few hundred miles, and you'll see it. Apollo would never let a weakling like the King in Yellow block the son in his territory. But be ready for a hell of a fight there." Red said.

"If he's such a weakling, why haven't you killed him?" I asked.

"Times have changed; our age is over, and the restraints the raid bosses once had are nowhere to be seen," Red said.

As happy as Red was to say things like that, I couldn't help but think he was hiding the important information. No it was more like I didn't have the context to even try and ask the right questions. Black Rei was gone, and I had no idea if she would come back or not. She was hard to understand.

"Are you scared?" I asked.

Red shrugged, and that was the most frightening thing I had ever seen. My breaths started coming up shallow, and I didn't know how to stop them. The adventurer placed a hand on my shoulder before shaking me so hard my feet left the ground.

"I would win, but he would be back, and then what. With no one left to take on the raid boss, he would take over without a problem. My man, I'm the kind of guy that likes to teach a man to fish rather than give him one." Red said.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"You're going to kill him; let that be the final lesson before I go," Red said. 

Suddenly, I wasn't so sure that I wanted to be anywhere near Red and his teachings. Raid bosses required hundreds to millions of adventurers to defeat; what was I going to do by myself?

"I know you must think that you can't do it, but let me tell you a secret. You don't have a choice." Red said.

The village looked just as the villagers left it. I saw a pie still cooling on a windowsill, the same one rumored to be slowly killing old man Jo. Five-time widow Suzie had found 6 rich husbands but had the worst luck with each one of them. I heard the sound of barking not long after my teacher led me back to the place I wanted to leave behind. We were on the main road leading to Sabbath Church.

Remaining here wasn't doing my guilt any favors. I could have had a life with Yuna.

"Stay close; this village remains in the infection zone."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"My man, check your map by saying or thinking map," Red said.

I did so and saw every inch of the world I have ever explored. All of it was covered by a shade of yellow with tiny splashes of green or red. The areas where I had lived my entire life were fully filled in, while the rest appeared as a spider's web.

"I've hardly explored anything," I said.

"That's normal. Most NPCs don't go far from their villages their entire lives. It makes it easier to find any of you when we need to report the completion of active quests. You'll be thankful for that, too, if you ever do any real adventuring." Red said.

"You mean righting wrongs, slaying monsters, and rescuing people in trouble," I said.

"No, I mean searching out every secret spell, stat gain method, and classes. You have the lightning mage class. You have a few options for specialization. There is the nature elementalist, gale mage, or storm mage without doing any searching for a class that had real oomph to it."

"What's the difference between an Elementalist and a mage?" I asked.

"Good question. I love it when my students ask those. We'll use porn stars as metaphors." Suddenly, I was far less enthusiastic about learning. "A mage finds a girl he likes, and let's call her Gale, but he isn't a creep; he'll look her up online, maybe try some VR, and take care of his needs. Now an Elementalist, on the other hand, he has a taste for a girl like nature. He uses the background in the girl's VR to find out where the shoot happened. With a little luck, he'll find her address and find out where she lives, watches her go for a jog, find what coffee shop she frequents, and what kind of guys she likes. Then, after cleverly camouflaging himself to look like the girl, he accidentally bumps into her and starts a conversation. Then, she goes to order, and he does it for her, giving the whole game away." Red said.

"Are you speaking from experience?" I asked.