The World Of Infinity - Ultimate Setup

Ch. 8 Party

        Hael told the girl all he knew about the mysterious object and while it didn't really amount to much, Carmel still listened carefully and then after getting the hang of it, she too, decided to throw it. Both agreed on that being the most profitable decision.

As Carmel pondered the die in her hands Hael was in deep thoughts, that had strayed far from the path they had started on... 

In the first place he didn't think he could make any acquaintances in game and was already prepared to go solo the whole ride but he knew that it would bring trouble later on. Clans that is. Or teams or schools whatever you wanted to call them. Its common knowledge that as a group you are stronger than what you would be alone and clans would be an inevitable part of this game. Eventually some of them would grow to challenge him... And individuals like Carmel most likely already could. 

Thats why Hael now started forging an idea. He would create his own clan. A hidden one... for now. He would personally recruit only people who had a strong sense of "justice" like himself. Only problem was that how many people like that there were? He had been alone for half a decade... Still now would be the prime time to create one, since undoubtedly only a few had collected enough currency to do so at this point... Him being one of these people.

Hael woke up from his thoughts as Carmel declared,

"Okey! Im throwing it! Here goes everything", similar to Hael, and cutely threw the dice on her desk. Just like before golden digits started appearing on top of it. The went back and fourth, keeping the two watching in excitement. After a short while of gradually brightening light, the numbers grew impossible to watch and the light forced Carmels eyes to close. Yet again, at that exact moment the final number was chosen. It was... 95.

High score for sure!... right?

Carmel turned to Hael her cheeks burning red,

"is...is it good?"

Hael smiled slightly flustered and nodded,

"yeah its really good."

"Yayyy!"

Carmel shouted and started apparently answering her pop ups, which ge couldn't see. Twisting his hands in silence for a moment Hael opened his mouth to speak, but it ended up as a dud and he closed it again. Carmel was faster. She joyfully asked,

"Hael big brother, would you be willing to take me with you into adventures? I feel really safe being with you after all... and you could, like to help me to learn how to use my abilities? We could form a party or something..."

Hael was stunned. It was the first time in about four years someone invited him into something, besides he really didn't mind the company of a person like her... In the end she even scored higher than himself, even if she was almost a decade younger, talent like that would not be wasted in the hands of human! 

And so, Hael made his first friend since ascending into the solitude.

"Still... a big brother huh...", he though and a slight shade of red could be seen on his cheeks.

Since it was already dark the two decided to go eat something downstairs of the inn and then rest for the night. The plan went as follows,  tomorrow morning they would go on an expedition inside the realm together for a while. No time limits or solid destinations had been set. Only objective, learn about the world. Neither of them had nothing else coming up so the plan was solid with that. 

While Hael already had been pretty fixated on exploring alone despite the secret plan of creating a clan, he found it hard to decline the little girls wish. In fact for some reason he almost felt the need to make sure she would be okay before letting her go exploring on her own.

"I we been waiting for 18 years I can take a few more days...", he thought with a distant smile on his face.

Before leaving the room Hael remembered the sheds he had asked Carmel to attach. Obviously he didn't think she would actually been able to do it, but to his surprise the scabbards were neatly attached to his back leaving both hilts both over his left shoulder and lined towards his right leg. To say the least they looked very cool. As thanks were in order Hael wanted to know the secret of how she managed, but no answer besides a small chuckle could be heard.

...

"You know, lover boy, while you are not human, I think you are pretty cute..." A strong female voice rang inside the tavern.

"Ah..ahah... My, thank you master." Hael replied to the owner of the inn, slightly embarrassed.

"I think we could go for a round in the upstairs, what do you say?!" She went on with even louder shout that drew in the faces of each and every one of the 5 customers that were currently in tow.

Hael who was rapidly shoveling rice into his belly was about to spit out the whole load, but before he could have any other reaction, Carmel stepped in.

"Hey! Anna you better not bully big brother out of here! If you act like that he's going to think... badly..." Her voice faded into a whisper, "of me too..."

"I would never think badly of you," Hael mumbled with a mouthful of chicken this time, and as a reward received a smack on top of his head by the boss Anna who continued,

"Well if its Char-tan I cant really put up against that... But big brother-san you better keep her safe then. Id hate to see two of you wandering around the graveyard...

Hael, still munching down, smiled and slapped the table and his chest, 

"You may bhee shhure ovv hat! I rehuse ho dhai vephore fhe ih fhave!"

"While I didn't really catch any of that Im glad you are motivated... Now tell me what kinds of stuff have you seen so far! We were informed by the great lords, that a new set of immigrants were coming, but in the end we know nothing of you! How did you get here?"

Anna boss continued visibly exited.

"But please do eat your mouth empty before that..." 

After finally having finished their meals, a set of waitress were surrounding them and sun had already set beyond the horizon. It turned out stories from what Hael and Carmel decided to call "the old world memories", had become quite successful among these folk. Apparently here their lives were quite ordinary, so hearing bits of the hardships of Hael for example was a real treat to him... And it opened the doors to each of the rooms of the waitresses... But Carmel didn't allow that. She had vanished at some point and retuned to declare that Haels bed had been set on the floor in her room. Apparently they had lots and lots of planning to do. 

Slightly confused and disappointed, yet excited and curious Hael decided to follow her orders. In the end... Last time he slept was well over 40 hours ago. He was dead tired.