Eliona's War 2: Veiled Healer

Chapter 9

Severance sat on a marble bench beneath the shade of an enormous tree. This tree was shaped like an umbrella and grew orange lantern-like fruits that made the area smell sweet and citrusy. He inhaled deeply, appreciated the pleasant scent, and absently watched the people passing by on the main road before him.

The little rest area reminded him of the gardens of Two Bridges, but the main difference was it wasn't sequestered away in a little courtyard. Instead, it was one of many benches lining the main road in Tomorrow's Edge.

The city of Tomorrow's Edge was like no other in Eliona. It had wealth and beauty overflowing, and everywhere he looked he saw colorful plants, flawless marble and glittering blue streets. Even the buildings were extravagant: elegant marble near the outskirts of the city, and further one got towards the city center, the taller and more stunning the architecture got. They rose into skyscrapers that shone like the streets, a myriad of colors reflecting off their crystalline surfaces.

Severance paid little attention to the majesty around him. His thoughts were elsewhere, and the cause of it pulsed brightly in his vision whenever he directed his attention towards it.

Time Remaining: 04:27:41

When he logged on today, he was informed that he had five hours to play instead of the usual four. He'd mentioned that to the first clan member he'd run into, which happened to be Maun, and the response he got was an amused laugh.

"Of course," Maun had told him, "Citizens get all the perks."

A perk, huh? Not that Severance was complaining. He'd always felt that four hours passed so quickly in Eliona, so another one wasn't a bad thing. And it made the previous logging in process make a little more sense—laying the courtyard for an hour before waking up to still have his usual four hours of playtime seemed slightly more reasonable in that sense. But only slightly.

Players weren't supposed to spend time comatose in a game before they got to play, he was pretty sure about that.

"Hey!"

A shout startled him out of his thoughts. He searched the nearby area before he spotted a familiar player jogging towards him.

Awesome Dude looked like an ordinary player for the most part, with brown spiky hair and brown eyes, but his giant grin with a gleaming golden tooth was the first sign that he was a bit well, unique.

"Hey, Sev!" He called out again, even though he was only a few meters away and saw that Severance was already looking his way.

Severance just smiled faintly, being well used to his friend's oddities. "Hey."

"How've you been, man? It's been so long!" Awesome Dude looked him up and down, before grinning.

"Yeah," Severance agreed. "Hey, what happened when—"

Awesome Dude suddenly coughed loudly, bringing his fist up to his mouth and sounding like he was about to hack up a lung.

"So," he loudly said once he finished, and Severance was starting at him like he'd just spontaneously grew a second head, "I brought some friends to help out!"

That was when Severance finally took notice of the other players that had come with Awesome Dude. Ah. They'd have to catch up later, then. It had been a few days since they met up, and yesterday hadn't worked out either, since Awesome Dude's clan had been keeping him pretty busy.

Severance tilted his head slightly as he regarded the players trailing behind his friend. "Just two?"

"Hmm?" Awesome Dude glanced back, as if to see what Severance was looking at. The light bulb going off in his mind was written all over his face as he realized what Severance was referring to. "Oh! Yeah! They were all I could find in such a short notice, but it should be fine."