New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



After finding an inn, with one of the most whimsical names most of them had ever seen, they signed in for rooms, almost booking the whole place for their group. The proprietor woman of the Welcoming Sprite Inn was an older Elven woman, with tired facial traits, but eyes as sharp as razors.

She didn't bat an eye at lodging the two Ash Elves, which elicited a raised eyebrow from Astaroth, who would have thought the older the Elves were, the more racist they would be. But the woman was unfazed.

"Seen your kind before. Behind bars and not. Your darker skin and flashier hair don't make you any less of an Elf in my eyes," was the response she gave to his questioning gaze.

Astaroth felt kind of relieved to be treated fairly, especially by the woman who would man their rooms for the duration of their stay. He felt like he could rest more easily, now that he knew this.

After setting themselves up for the night, they gathered in the dining area of the inn, ordering food for all of them before discussing their plan of action.

Phoenix was the first to speak.

"Since we got here, we have yet to encounter any monster or enemy of any kind. There is no timer, meaning there is no time limit to complete this stage. But we have yet to find any indication of what we need to do, either."

The party nodded their heads, agreeing with her statements.

"This doesn't feel like a stage that we can brute force through," Astaroth said, scratching his chin.

Another round of nodding around the table occurred.

"In any case, a more thorough investigation needs to be done. There is no guarantee we can stay here forever, either. And if we do, the lack of Exp gain is also an issue. The more time we stay here, stuck, the more we get behind on other players across the world."

A few worried faces popped up at the revelation that they might stay stuck here if they didn't find out how to pass the stage.

"I doubt we will stay stuck here. I have a feeling this stage will eject us if we don't complete it within a certain time frame. Even if we don't have a timer, it doesn't mean we don't have a time limit," Astaroth said, his eyes squinting.

This was also an outcome they couldn't discard, and Phoenix thought it might be the case. But for now, they lacked information to make an enlightened decision.

"We shall stay the night here and get up to investigate early tomorrow morning. Till then, you are free to do as you wish," Phoenix said, watching as the food was arriving from the kitchen.

The older patron woman brought each plate in an orderly fashion, her deftness surprising the more impressionable players. Once everyone was served, they dove into the food, which tasted like heaven, until they were full and content.

As each player went to their respective rooms, locking the doors behind themselves, most of them logged off, getting some things done during their day. Astaroth and Phoenix were no different.

Waking up in their beds, they rose from their long night of sleepless lack of motion before stretching.

"I hope this stage doesn't take too long. I'm okay with dungeons, but a multi-day commitment is a bit much," Alex said, getting rid of the helmet on his head.

"I'm more worried about how long this dungeon is going to take in its entirety. If stage three is already a long one, there is no way of knowing about the next stages. What if we landed ourselves in a week-long endeavour?"

Alex chuckled at the thought.

"Wouldn't that be fucking amazing? Hehe. A week of guaranteed peace from kingdom ruling. I call that a win!"

As he exclaimed that, Kary threw him a pillow.

"Shirking off responsibilities is very unattractive, I'll have you know, dummy."

Alexander giggled as he threw the pillow back at her before getting up. He went toward the shower attached to his hospital room, his body already feeling better.

The last few days in the private hospital, the doctors had watched in amazement, as his bones fixed themselves in record time, like some kind of magic was at work.

Alex had been back on his feet in three days and was almost ready to go back home. Of course, the doctors didn't want to let him leave so fast.

But a few talks with Jack had gotten them to back off. Alex was due to go home today if all went well in his last examination.

Turning on the shower to wash off the sweat his body had worked up under the hot bed sheets, he took the hospital gown off and shoved it into the basket.

A moment later, he was under the hot water, letting it wash off the murky thoughts that often clouded his mind when he stopped thinking about New Eden. He was so absorbed in them; he didn't hear Kary hop in behind him, startling him when she touched his back.

"Muh! Jesus! You scared me. You were so quiet."

Kary smirked at him before her traits softened.

"I wasn't that sneaky. You were just so absorbed in that beautiful head of yours. What's troubling you?"

Alex turned around to embrace her, before telling her what was on his mind. They talked for a while, under the hot water drizzling on their skin, before heading out and getting ready for their day.

Today was the day of the press conference, and both of them were febrile about it. Jack had insisted they put Alexander as the one that had acted against the rats since David wanted no part in this publicity.

He was the one that had proposed to throw Alex under the bus *Ahem* make him the face of this incident, and Jack's plans for the future. After a bit of consideration, Jack had agreed, as this made a few of his intentions easier to start with.

Of course, this had been decided behind Alex's back, and he was only told after the fact. It had made him angry that they took such a decision for him, but it was too late to change it.

Jack had announced the press conference and its subject as soon as he decided, trying to stay in front of the matter.

This was a part of what his mind had been in doubt about. And today was the day those dark thoughts went out the window.

"In a few hours, the entire city will know of me and my freaky abilities. I wonder how the people will react…" he muttered to himself, as he got dressed.

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