Elysium

Level 5

MAREN

Five

The first thing we did was save our re-spawn point, as suggested by Agi. It was essential so that when we are killed, we wouldn’t have to go back to Chartreuse Fields. With a little negotiation with the mayor, the task was done and we are free to do what we want.

Aethan and I agreed to each buy a belt just like Drial’s. Then we could buy potions afterwards. A bag or pack would be convenient as well. Without one, the loot we’d be picking up would be lessened to twenty percent of the actual amount. So all this time, Drial had been richer by eighty percent compared to each of us.

It turns out the city was composed of a town square, surrounded on each side by streets – two leading to residential areas and two more for industrial and manufacturing. Aethan seemed interested enough about the manufacturing and wanted to visit it before buying his equipment. So we agreed to separate (because I wasn’t much of a sucker for production) then meet up near the city hall in two hours, just in time for all of us to eat dinner. Agi also wanted to go somewhere but he didn’t tell us where.

Then there were three.

After shopping, I had purchased for myself a high-quality backpack, a belt which contains five vitality potions plus two mana potions. That was all I could afford from what little Faith picked up on our journey. Drial was kind enough, believe it or not, to lend me enough money to buy the top-grade bag.

By this time, Seiko and I were already getting along quite well. She was shy and soft-spoken but witty when she was up for it. We had a lot of similarities; one being that we were perhaps the only women within a three-mile radius who didn’t drool over and eye Drial.

Fifteen minutes before the arranged meeting time, we started heading for the city hall. It was about six o’clock then but still bright enough to make out faces clearly even those in the distance.

Agi was already there. He had on a new suit plus some kind of a mask that hid the lower portion of his face. He definitely exuded an aura of an assassin.

“I see Aethan’s not here yet—“ I began but was cut off when Agi raised his hand to point toward the west. Aethan came running in our direction, looking very ecstatic.

“Enjoyed, didn’t you?” Seiko greeted him.

“Very much. So! What’s the plan now?”

“Dinner?” I offered.

“Yeah. Then we could start discuss quests after,” Aethan replied.

So dinner it was. It wasn’t very extravagant because none of us had much money by that time. We spent it all on equipment and potions.

“How much Fiels do you guys still have?” Aethan asked in an attempt to a conversation. Fiel is the currency in Elysium.

I was too indulged in my food and quite frankly, too indifferent at the time, so I waited for somebody else to speak up first. Perhaps we were all exhausted because it took a minute before somebody replied.

“I have ninety-eight,” Seiko answered. “Too little for me to buy anything else.”

“What? That’s all that’s left of your money? What did you buy?” he asked. I get his disbelief. Seiko had the most money before we started for the city because she already had a pack and was picking up loot in full. If anybody was richer, it would be Drial but he didn’t want to tell us how much he had so he doesn’t count.

“Aside from potions, I also bought scrolls. Clerics need more support magic than those we chose from the beginning of the game.”

“Ohhh,” Aethan and I responded at the same time.