Draconia Offline vol. 1

41.3. (Un)Bound - Part 3

"Your Majesty, be care---!"

Eager to master the shield, I put in my everything. However, the spell not only breaks its symbol, it goes berserk. The telekinetic wave throws me, Taranah, Liana and four guards away while shattering the mirrors on the wall.

I gasp but, fortunately, I land quite safely on my butt. I quickly look around but it doesn't seem we have any injuries except for a few bruises. Glass shards are all over the floor but we weren't standing near the mirrors.

"Li, are you okay?" I get up as soon as possible and hurry to my friend who is swearing loudly because she sat on her wings which is extremely uncomfortable for a Celestial.

"S-somehow," she wheezes and lets me help her back on her feet. "Damn, Aefener, now you're overdoing it."

"I'm really sorry," I apologise profoundly. "Everyone okay?"

Taranah gives me a thump up but it seems he hit his elbow. The guards are mostly without a scratch because they managed to brace themselves against the impact. I guess Fefnir chose only those more physically fit and sharp for the position.

"Let's call it a day," Liana shakes her head and tries to fix her robe. "Our Emperor is obviously too excited for casting right now."

*****

"Don't be grumpy," Erik pokes my forehead and squeezes next to me on the sofa.

I got home but I still have to process a few emails so I'm sitting with my laptop on, replying to our Celestial community in Thailand. I'm trying to give them some encouragement while thinking hard how to answer their question on how they should manage themselves without me being there.

"Every country would need their representative," I'm thinking aloud. "We can't possibly communicate with every group, it's too time-consuming and simply not effective. I'm afraid I need to appoint officials who would carry out our directives in my stead."

"How many Celestials are there anyway?" Erik gets curious.

"Well, Draconia Offline had over 15 million players world-wide," I say. "Celestials should make at least one tenth of that."

"What? Not a quarter?" Erik doesn't understand.

"Not that many gamers played as Celestials," I explain. "While it's surely attractive to be able to fly, a great majority of people are afraid of heights even in VR and get vertigo. In addition, a high percentage couldn't persuade their brain to control non-existent additional limbs to a functional level. A tail doesn't seem to be such a problem apparently."

"Hmm, so there aren't that many of your race," Erik ponders.

"Clawfangs were the most popular choice followed by the Dragonkin. The Earthborn were also not as numerous since their skill system is very difficult to comprehend," I say.

"Emi certainly has a lot of people to manage then."

"Yeah, I don't envy her that," I nod and have to slap Erik's hand because he's touching where he's not supposed to. "I'm still working if you can't see that."

"You shouldn't be, it's already half past eight," Erik purses his lips.

He's totally right about that, of course. But I have to finish it, they're waiting for my response. Erik wants to pet my wings while waiting but I have to reject him. I wouldn't be able to focus if I was getting his thoughts.

"Will you shower today?" he asks, standing up after he finally gave up his advances.

"Nope," I shake my head. It's a big advantage that Celestials don't sweat much because it's a bother to shower with my huge wings.