Projekt Anima(OUTDATED VERSION!)

Chapter 6: Revenge of the Ace

Slater

"I can't believe I slept through all of it!" Slater cried, irritated.

"Your tranquilizers were enough," Raiden said, stretching his aching shoulders. "You've taken a quite strong blow yourself."

Slater looked at him, not knowing whether to be angry or grateful, or both. "Aren't you mad or anything? That you did the rest of the quest yourself?"

Raiden remained expressionless. "Not at all."

The more he witnessed the aloof demeanor of the guy, the more he's starting to be irked by it. He initially thought Raiden was kinda cool, but he hadn't guessed that he was about to go overboard of it more than usual.

"N-Not at all?" he echoed, then looked at him. "Hey, you must be saying this because you got almost all of the good stuff while I'm sleeping, right? I just got 90 exp and some crap items, ya know."

"That's one reason." he said, trudging faster. "Still, you got past level 10 too, right? We can now travel to the next town, and I can leave you by then, as promised."

"Oh...right." Slater had been so concerned about too many things that he had momentarily forgot about his promise. He had helped the guy, and he had also helped him in return. It was more than enough to him already. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have one trusty companion. It would definitely benefit them both to level-up faster, and complete more quests. He couldn't imagine why the guy was so bent on finishing things all on himself. Not that it was bad though, but so far in this virtual world he realized that connections were power, and the less you had, the more vulnerable you are. One extra comrade could mean everything at a time of crisis.

"Let's go," Raiden said, sounding a little impatient. "We need to get to the next town before we hit daybreak."

"Wait!" Slater said, holding him back.

Raiden turned to him. "What now?"

"Can't you tell? We just depleted our energy. If we travel right now, we won't have any strength to fight off shadowhounds."

"Shadowhounds?" Raiden echoed.

"Yes, shadowhounds. They are strong, and come in packs." Slater explained, extending his hand to show how large one is. "They appear at night, and devour any foolish player to wander around."

"So?"

"So?!" he looked at him, exasperated. "If we ever come across those monsters, we won't have enough strength to fend them off. Monsters at night are about five times dangerous than monsters at day, dude. I'm telling you, we don't have enough energy left. We must head back to the first town for the meantime and rest. Then we can continue travelling tomorrow."

Raiden remained silent for a moment. For a second, Slater thought his companion would do another crazy decision, but the guy finally spoke. "Fine. Let's head back."

~~~~~~~~~~

The virtual sun had almost started to set by the time they had reached the path back to the town. Everything was starting to darken, with the virtual sky painted by a vibrant hue of carnation and lavender. The afternoon air gushed past them, rippling through their clothes. The gust continued to ripple through the fields of grass and some nearby trees. The path, covered by long and menacing shadows, was barren of players.

"We're almost close," Slater said, leaning by a tree to catch his breath. "If we would have pursued to the next town, we would have been in big trouble."

Raiden ignored him and went on. "Hey, wait! You can't leave me here dude!" Not wishing to be left alone in the shadows, he continued to follow Raiden. But as he did so, another ruffle came from behind.