Further into Greed

Chapter 52

Sunday, January 19, 2014

11:43 pm

(Ivan's POV)

I fly around the camp looking for Alice. As I flew I realized how inconvenient it was for looking for people without phones or any form of communication. How did people in the past ever find each other? After what felt forever I finally see a familiar-looking blond head. I land softly on the ground right behind her. The second my feet touched the ground she turned around and squinted her eyes.

"Uhhh," She thought for a moment. She squinted her eyes even harder as she stared right at me. I stayed silent as I didn't know what was going on. "Michael?" She said in an uncertain tone as she opened her eyes back up. Her eyes looked like they remembered me, how did she get my name wrong though?

"It's Ivan." She squinted her eyes and leaned in close. I back up a little as she leaned back.

"Ohhh, hi." She said as she looked like they were trying her best to pay attention to me. Her eyes would occasionally flicker to something in the distance.

"Is now a bad time?"

"A bad time for what?"

"I was going to ask you for help, but it kind of looks like your busy." She leaned her eye back and groaned.

"I was supposed to do something but there wasn't enough Sake for me."

"Sake is the drink that heals here right?"

"Yeah." I look at her eyes. There was definitely something wrong with her eye.

"What's wrong with your eyes then?"

"My," she stopped herself. "Are my eyes that bad?"

"Yeah, I and Michael don't look anything alike. Have you seen Michael lately, he looks completely different. I don't know how you confused me and Michael." She shook her head.

"I haven't seen anything in a while. Not clearly anyway." She opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself. "What did you need help with anyway?"

"You have Geokinesis right?" She had a confused face.

"What's that?"

"You control dirt and stuff like that right?"

"Oh! Yeah, why?"

"I need making a hole for a lake."

"Why a lake."

"Plumbing purposes."

"Oh, I would help, but I'm busy," she said as she pointed to her eyes. So she would help if her eyes were normal.

"Can we make the sake?"

"I know how to make it, but my sister doesn't have any more of the ingredients. So she can't make it."

"So if you get the ingredients you could make it." She shrugged.

"Probably could."

"What do you need though."

"You're going to get the stuff aren't you."

"Yeah." She took a deep breath.

"Water, Rice, Spergillus Oryzae, Aspergillus Oryzae. That's about it." I nod.

"I'll be in my cabin if you need me. Just tell me when to bring you have the ingredients." I nod as I wave her goodbye and turn around.

"Before you go can you walk me to my cabin? I've been trying to find it for hours." I roll my eyes as I turn around.

"Fine."

I look around and try to get my surroundings. Once I got my surroundings I walked in a random direction. As I took my first step Alice grabbed my shirt and used my shirt to follow me.

"How bad is your eyesight."

"Pretty bad, this happens every month."

"Sounds terrible. You're farsighted I'm guessing?"

"Yeah."

"What do I look like to you?"

"Blurry." What else was I suspecting?

"So, the Sake can heal your eyes?"

"If I use it as eyedrops then yeah, it does."

"Doesn't Sake have alcohol?

"Yeah." We stayed silent for a moment. I shut my eyes as I imagine the feeling. I'm sure that isn't healthy. "My eye burns." She said after a while. I squeeze my eyes again as she said that.

"Wait why don't you get glasses?"

"No doctors."

"Isn't your sister a doctor?"

"No, definitely no. A huge no." I walk up to her cabin and stand in front of it. "Is this it?"

"Yep," I respond calmly. She let go of my shirt and walk towards the door.

"Bye, see you later."

"Bye." I turn around and walk away.

As I walk away as a box appears.

New quest!

Get Alice the ingredients

Rewards:

150 xp

$20

5 points

Alice will be able to make the Sake for you.

Failures:

Alice will be kind of mad at you

Accept

Yes

No

I click Yes and go on with my day.

11:59 pm

I walk into my Mansion and look around for Goldie. Please tell me she isn't at work. I look around the resting area and living room. There was no sign of her. I walk into my room and don't see her there. I make my way to the backyard and see her brushing Sombra's mane with a brush. Thank god. I walk outside and towards Sombra and Goldie. Goldie was humming silently with a tiny smile on her face as she softly stroked the fur around Sombra's neck. Sombra laid there silently, the Kirin glanced in my direction, I pull out a carrot stick as I get closer to Sombra. I walk up to Sombra and hold the carrot in front of Sombra's mouth. Sombra gently took the carrot from my hand and happily chomped on it. I turn to Goldie.

"Hey, Goldie do we have rice?" She stopped humming and looked up at me.

"We ran out a few days ago." I roll my eyes as I ask her my other question.

"Also, do we have Spergillus Oryzae or Aspergillus Oryzae?"

"I don't know what those are." I sigh as I turn around.

"Thanks anyway." She responded with a simple, "mmhmm," as I walked away.

"I wonder where I can get those though?" As I begin to walk away I quickly turn around. "Oh, Goldie can you teach me how to make those teleporting things?" She looked up at me. One of her tails suddenly stiffened as it dug straight into the floor.

"I'll teach you instead, come here." I walk over to her as she started making hieroglyphs. I take a mental note of it as she lifted her tail out of the ground.

"How do I connect the portals though?"

"You just have to-: She thought about it for a moment, "Think about it? It should come naturally."

"What happens if I don't want to connect it?"

"It's going to act as an extra pocket then." I scrunched my eyebrows together as I tried to understand it. I take out a pencil and stretch out my arm.

"Like that?" She nodded. I don't really need to use that part of it then. I wonder if it can absorb attacks? "Can it absorb fire and stuff like that?"

"Definitely. It's one of my favorite powers." The hieroglyphs on the ground suddenly started glowing. She made a fireball in her hand and threw it into the hieroglyphs. The fire suddenly faded into nothing. "Step back." I quickly step back as Goldie snapped her fingers. A ball of fire suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shot up into the air with what looked like the same amount of force used when Goldie first threw the ball. I look up at is disappeared in mid-air. The hieroglyphs stopped glowing.

"Oh." Did it just use the same force Goldie used to throw the and then used it again to throw it up into the air? "Goldie, can you activate it again?" She nodded as the hieroglyphs started glowing. I made a ball of ice and crouched down. I put the ball just a few inches above the hieroglyphs. I dropped the ball, the ball soon disappeared into nothing. "How many objects can it hold."

"I can hold ten objects but that's only because I don't use it much. I did use it more in the past but that was a long time ago."

"Uh-huh," I calmly respond as I took out a pen and slammed it into the hieroglyphs. I step back as Goldie snapped her fingers. The ball came out but barely went up into the air, the pen on the other hand went straight up into the air. It does use the same force used when it goes in! "Thanks," I say as I turn around and walk away.

"Before you go, can you get Salmon from the store?" I look over my shoulder.

"Sure," I say as I walk away. As I went up the stairs a box appeared.

Thanks to watching Goldie use a skill, you earned a new skill!

Lvl 13(45%) Isis's safety- When applied to a surface, it can either act as a portal to another place when connected to another set of hieroglyphs or can be used as a space that can be used to store objects when used with one set of hieroglyphs (the force used to insert the object into the space is also absorbed). Can hold up to 10 items. Cost- 15 mp peruse.

This reminds me of my Inventory, I wonder why the skill was named after the Goddess of Magic though. I suddenly catch myself in my own thoughts. Who was I talking about? Another box suddenly appeared.

(MAX) Knowledge of Egyptian Mythology- You know everything about Egyptian Mythology

I stare at the skill in awe. How? I didn't know anything about Egyptian Mythology before, why is the skill maxed? My head throbbed with pain as images flashed into my head. I groan out in pain as I saw flashes of sand, people dying, myself on a raft. I quickly take out a bottle of pain killers, before I could open the bottle the pain stopped. My head felt fine like nothing happened. I put the bottle away as I rubbed my temples.

"What the hell just happened?"

1:34 pm

I aimlessly walk around the city of Magebourne. I look around from store to store not really knowing where to look for Aspergillus Oryzae or Spergillus Oryzae. As I walk through the city I spotted a jewelry store. I felt myself being compelled I look away from it but my gaze would always come back to it. I debate on whether or not I should go to it. I should probably find the things I'm looking for first though. Before I could walk away I check my watch.

"Once thirty-five." I look back up at the store. A little break wouldn't help. I walk towards the store with a huge smile on my face. I felt excited as I entered the store. The store was like a normal jewelry store, except way bigger; the store had dozens upon dozens of aisles filled with cases. The room had a red carpet, the walls were a bland white. In the middle of the store was a white staircase. Hanging on the roof, right next to the staircase was a sign that read, "marriage rings on the second floor." Only five employees were walking around though. I walk to a nearby case and stare look into it. There were only necklaces in the case. I walked to another case only to find more necklaces. There were not bad looking, but they definitely didn't catch my attention. I walk from case to case until I see a necklace with a metal rose hanging off. The bud was red while the stem and leaves blended with the golden necklace it was connected to.

I thought the jewelry here would look better. I walk to the next case and was blown away by what I saw. Inside there was a ring that resembled an Eagle's head. The feathers of the eagle were silver while the beak was bright yellow. The eyes were bright orange. Beneath the head was the part of the ring that wrapped around the finger. The inside of the ring was plated with gold. How do they even make this? Right next to the ring was another ring that resembled a horse. The horse was black gold. The neck was wrapped around a red ball, the ball wasn't shiny but it didn't look like it could be anything other than metal. I leaned over the case and notice that the horse was wearing armor with hexagonal engravings on the back of its neck and head. There was a gold plated saddle going around the noses which then connected to the armor. Like the previous ring, the part the held the finger was plated gold. I really like this one. I don't think I will buy this one though.

I walk from case to case. There were all kinds of rings, some looked normal but most were in the shape of something. Sometimes they were human heads, some were animals, only a few of them had very intricate patterns on them. One ring that I really wanted was one where it had tiny etchings, the etchings created these tiny bumps, the bumps reminded me of what jewelry in the future would be like. In-between the etchings were bright red rubies. I check my watch. Ten minutes have passed since I entered the store. I should probably get going.

I notice a guy standing over a case as I walk by. I stop and turn to see what he was looking at. In the case was a ring that had a strip of a bright green stone. Below the strip was a strip of metal that had random specs of dull green into the metal. Next to the ring were the same exact rings except the green was replaced with different colors. I stared at it with a burning desire to steal it. There was something within me that wanted the ring around my finger at all costs. I walk over to the case and look at the ring. I grit my teeth as I saw that the ring was priced around Seven hundred forty-seven dollars. I groan as I walk away. I stop dead in my tracks as I heard the guy call over an employee. I walk over a random case and pretend like I was looking at the rings as I listen to his conversation.

"Is there anything you need sir?"

"Can I buy this ring?" I look in the corner of my eye, sure enough, it was the same ring I wanted. I move to a different case as he bought the ring. I waited patiently until he got the ring. Before he could walk out, I walk out of the store and wait by the front. I take out my phone and mindlessly start tapping my phone randomly. After a few minutes of waiting the guy finally walked out with a huge smile on his face. I saw no signs of him having the ring other than a slight bulge in his pocket.

I put my phone back into my Inventory and follow after him. I follow several feet behind him as he walked through the streets. How Am'I going to get that ring. Should I use Wind Arrow? Wind Cannon? I don't want to hurt that guy that much but I still want that ring. He turned a corner and into an alley. I create a brick of ice, I wait until he was approaching the middle of the alley. I take a deep breath as I stretch my arm out. I loosen my grip on the ice. I aim the ice and use Wind Cannon to fling the brick of ice into the ice of his head. The brick broke into pieces as it struck the back of its head. The guy fell forward and landed face-first onto the floor. I run forward and make a hammer made of ice. I crouch and go through his pockets. I found the ring along with his wallet in his pocket. I put the box in my Inventory and open his wallet. I smile as I saw three one hundred dollar bills. I take the money and toss the wallet onto his back. I stare at him as I turn around and speed walk away. I put the money in my Inventory and get as far away as possible.

I walk into a random store that was named in a language that I couldn't read or understand. All I knew about it was that the name could've been from Asia, Japan, or somewhere around that area. My nose was attacked by the smell of fish as I walked through the isles. As I wandered through the isles I noticed that some of the items were in the same language as the name of the store. I stop in a random aisle and take out the box. I open the box and eagerly put the ring onto my finger. I admired the ring on my finger. I smile as I look up from my ring and spot a bag named Aspergillus Oryzae. I quickly step forward and take the bag off the shelf.

They sell this here?

1:56 pm

I walk up to the train station and look at the schedule. I look for Texas but I couldn't find any trains that led to Texas. I look again, like the first time, there was no sign of Texas. How Am'I supposed to do Michael's quest now? I do have a car, but I don't have a license. I don't feel like driving there either. I jump as someone puts their hand on my shoulder. I look up only to see Dominique staring at the schedule.

"Hi," I say with a tinge of annoyance. It took him a while to respond.

"Hey." He took his hand off my shoulder and looked down at me. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get to Texas." Dominique's eyes widened.

"I was here to do the same thing." I look at the schedule.

"No trains are going to Texas though."

"Well, I hear that underneath Texas is just one big desert."

"Oh, wouldn't people still want to live there though? It just feels like it would be convenient to have a train station there." He shrugged.

"I heard from Jen that there is this one person who owns most of Texas, he doesn't want anything modern in Texas."

"That's stupid." He shook his head.

"It's stupid but they did something really fun with it."

"What did they do?"

"What do you think of when you think of Texas."

"Deserts." I think for a moment. "Cowboys?"

"Yeah, it's pretty much just one big place for people to pretend to be cowboys." I stay silent for a moment to think about it. Dominique still kept talking. "It's popular for some reason, I-" I interrupt him.

"So why are you here?"

"There's gonna be a race in Texas. Apparently, if you win, you get over One hundred thousand dollars!" He said excitedly.

"Coool."

"Actually I was about to call you about this. You wanna join me in the race? I and Jen were thinking about entering." My mind quickly flashed to that lake I was about to make. If I don't do that I'm going to die.

"How long is the race?

"At least ten days."

"Just ten?"

"Yeah. If it helps, it takes five hours to finish the race in a car."

"We're not using a car though right?"

"We're using horses, or anything similar."

"Do you even know how to ride a horse?"

"I can try." I sigh as I give my response."

"I'll joooin." I say with a bit of doubt. "When are we going?"

"Is tomorrow good?"

"You know what that's fine." At least I'll get a free ride from this."

"Alright, just meet me at my car shop by midnight." I nod as I wave goodbye and walk away.

2:10 pm

I fly in the air as I look for Alice's cabin. It took me a while to find it but once I did I floated down right in front of it and knock on the door. The door quickly opened, Alice was squinting with her eyes barely open.

"Ivan?"

"Yep."

"Did you already get the ingredients?"

"Yep." I say as I pull out a bag of Aspergillus Oryzae." She smiled as she snatched the bag out of my hand. She stepped to the side of the door.

"Come in." I walk into the cabin and close the door behind me. I pull out a bag of Spergillus Oryzae and hand it over to Alice.

"Where's the rice?" She asked. I quickly take out a bag of rice, she snatched it out of my hand within a second.

"Can you come back in like, an hour?" I sigh as I walk out the door.

"Sure."

2:16 pm

I walk up to the soon to be lake and see Jax and Qaid hard at work. I quickly walk up to them.

"Where were you this morning!" I shout to get their attention. Jax ignored me as Qaid turned to me.

"We were here since twelve, where were you?"

"I was trying to get someone help, an hour from now she's gonna help. What were you doing?"

"We were trying to think of ways to get people to help, the only problem was that we don't have the technology for it."

"What were your ideas?"

"We wanted to show a PowerPoint to the camp but, we don't have a computer or a protector, or any electricity."

"We can use a battery for electricity, I have a computer, we can probably do it."

"But do you have a PowerPoint ready," he said mockingly. I chuckle then roll my eyes.

"We can make one dumbass."

"So, should we do it? I don't think there's anything else we need."

"I guess we should. But would anyone show up?" He shrugged. "We can lie about what we're doing to make it more interesting?" Qaid thought about my idea, but Jax turned to us to respond.

"I don't think we should, if ya'll lied to me, I would be mad then leave."

"I guess that makes sense," Qaid responded. "We could promise something way out of our league to make it interesting?"

"Then we just make an excuse about why we can't do it?" I added on.

"I wasn't going to say that but sure."

"When are we going to start on the PowerPoint though?" Jax said.

"We can start tomorrow," Qaid said.

"I won't be at camp for a week." I interrupted.

"Can you give me your computer then?" Qaid said I take out my laptop and hand it over to him.

"There's no password right?" Jax asked. I shake my head.

"We'll get started on the PowerPoint, can you just get everything we need." I nod my head. Qaid stared down at the computer.

"Hopefully it doesn't get stolen."

3:16 pm

I knock on the door of Alice's cabin. The door opened with Alice not squinting.

"It worked?" I asked. Alice smiled as she ecstatically shook her head up and down.

"I still have the whole bottle left. I don't know what to do with it though."

"Can I buy it off you?"

"Uhh, you just wanna drink it all?"

"Right now?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't you just save it for later?" She shrugged.

"I could, but I really really! Like the taste. Plus, if I don't drink it right now, my sister is going to find out." I check my watch. I really don't want to work on the lake right now. I've been out all day, a little drink won't hurt.

"Sure." She stepped to the side as I walked in. She shut the door then quickly rushed over to her bed and lifted up the mattress. She took out a medium-sized bottle and opened it. She smiled as she put the bottle to her lips and took a large gulp. She took the bottle off her lips and sat on her bed. I walked over to her and sat on the ground. She handed the bottle over, I wipe the bottle with my shirt and take a quick sip. My tongue was washed over with a sweet, savory flavor. I stretch out my hand to give it back to Alice, before she could take it I quickly retraced my arm and put the bottle to my lips only to accidentally take two huge gulps. I lick my lips as I handed it back to Alice.

"Don't drink it all." She said annoyed. I lick my lips again in an attempt to get more of the flavor into my mouth. The taste wouldn't leave my mouth.

"How hard is it to make it?" She looked down on me.

"It wasn't hard, just took a while." She said before taking another sip.

"I thought it would take half a day."

"Without magic, it takes a few weeks."

"Really?" She handed the bottle over to me.

"Yeah, there's fermentation, then udder stuff." She said kind of slurred. As I wipe the bottle with my shirt, I notice that the bottle was almost empty. I suddenly had an idea to get more people to help with my project.

"You think you can make more?"

"If I had more ingredients."

"How about we sell it?"

"We barely have any left."

"Noo. I'm talking about if you make more."

"Hmm, I guess I can."

"You can keep all the money, but I need your help with something."

"Is this about the lake thing?" I shook my head.

"It's different," I say. "I just need you to sell as much as you can. When you do, can you give them flyers?"

"What kind of flyers."

"You know how I'm improving the camp right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I need more people to do more physical work." Before I could say more she interrupted me.

"I know where you're going. I'll help." She said.

"You also said that you need my help with something else."

"Oh yeah, I just need you to just, make a hole ten meters deep."

"Oh, okay." I stood up and stretched. My body felt light as I stretched. Alice stood up and wavered a bit. She stumbled forward and grabbed onto my shirt for balance. I don't think she can start right now.

"Just start tomorrow". I say. She nodded as I softly pushed her away and walk out the door.