“Now to the Adventurer’s Guild.” I thought, heading back to the square, “And hopefully I can find a Quest to hunt down some high Level monsters so I can level up fast and use that bow I got yesterday.” Then noticing Mako’s Stats still in my peripherals, I sent her a message.

Mako Nomura

Hey, I know I just left, but I forgot we’re still in a Party.

Are you okay with me disbanding it?

Mako- Oh yeah, I forgot too, and it’s no problem.

I’ll probably be too busy forging the next few days anyway, so I won't be able to help you much.

Well as long as it’s okay with you.

I then went into the Party Menu and clicked the Disband option.

You have disbanded the Party.

Mako- Eyes, let’s stay in touch though.

Don’t worry about missing me too much, I’m coming back to the shop tomorrow.

Mako- Shut up, and I’ll see you tomorrow then.

Smiling, I closed the Menu and decided to use my Eyes Of A Seer as I walked. Appearing above each and every person I saw were all the different and unique Names of the Npcs—the majority of them being a shade of green, with a few that were white or lightish red in colour. I could also see the Names of some Players in the area, but unusually, their Names were only ever white in colour. Curious, I looked up some of their Names in the Highest Level Rankings, and saw that all of them were still Lv 1. “All their Levels are lower than mine, so why are their Names appearing in white? Is it trying to say that Players are always equal to each other? Or maybe the Players are measured differently than Npcs and it’s too soon to tell the difference.” Getting lost in my thoughts.

Wandering aimlessly for a bit, I found myself experimenting with my Seer Skills and learnt that the Eyes Of A Seer didn’t need to be actively switched on, and that they were always just on if I focused for them to be. When I used another pair of eyes, all I needed to do was focus on a specific person or persons, and I could see their Names above their heads—instead of having my vision cluttered with everyone’s Names I could see.

There wasn’t much to test with the Seer’s Eye Collection, but I did learn I could lessen the annoying passive shine of the Eyes of Goblinkind by focusing and repressing it; also that the difference in visual range of the Eyes of a Wood Elf and the other eyes in the collection was clearly noticeable and massive—with the Eyes of a Wood Elf far exceeding any of the other eyes.

Making my way to a quiet alley, I sat down and tried to meditate, hoping that Visions would activate and I could see more of the future; but after 10 minutes of trying, I gave up and assumed the Skill Level was too low to activate when I wanted it to. Then unexpectedly, a surge of power filled my eyes and in a bright golden flash, I found myself floating in a golden space with countless unclear images and memories—quickly moving all around me. Unable to see or grasp any of it, a momentary glimpse of an enormous giant hand touching my head, and a dark hooded woman approaching me could be seen, but before I could see more, I found myself back in the quiet alley—with my eyes emitting a golden light from them again.

“Woah, what was that giant hand? and who was that woman?” I asked myself, getting up from the ground, “I couldn’t see anything else, so maybe I have to get the Skill to a higher Level if I wanna see more of the future.” Leaving the alley, I headed back towards the town square, “I guess I should start heading back towards the Guild then.” And as I made my way there, I thought “I wonder what the others are doing?” Passing by a plump brown haired dwarven woman carrying a ton of food.

***

Heading into a small alleyway, the dwarven woman sat herself down and gently placed the 5 large bags of food beside her. Looking around and seeing no one nearby, she grabbed a whole cooked chicken out of her Inventory, and with another quick look around a purple coloured aura began to glow around her mouth. Seeing herself go unnoticed by the passing crowds, she quickly swallowed the whole chicken in one bite as her mouth widened and enlarged to an abnormal size; then as she began chewing and swallowing the chicken, the purple aura coursed through the entirety of her body and instantly made it slightly more plump.

Eating the whole chicken in less than 30 seconds, the dwarven woman moved on to pulling out other large bits of food from her Inventory, and just as easily and quickly ate them whole—getting plumper and plumper with each piece of food. When she finally ran out of food to eat from her Inventory, she picked out some of the foods in the bags she brought and stored them inside to fill it up again. She was then about to eat the leftovers that couldn't fit in her Inventory, but stopped herself when she saw a blonde elven girl—chasing a black coloured cat—coming towards her. Instinctively, she grabbed the bags and hugged them close as they quickly passed by; and when she saw that they left through the other side of alley, she happily continued to eating the leftover food.

***

“Wait! I really like you!” The elven girl shouted, chasing a black cat with the words Twin-tailed Cat above its head. Easily weaving through the people in the streets, the cat was creating distance with the girl, but being too determined to catch it, the girl bullied her way through the crowds of people. “I’m sorry!” She shouted back, not stopping to apologize to the people she bumped into. Looking back at the girl, the cat meowed before jumping onto a stack of boxes ahead, causing them all to purposely fall onto the girl. Though unfazed, the girl simply grabbed the shield on her back, and blocked and repelled all the boxes that fell on top of her. Smirking, she shouted to the cat “Oh now I’m really gonna catch you!”

Unrelenting, the girl chased the cat through hundreds of people on the streets, through tens of different alleyways, and through many more falling objects; until finally the cat reached a dead end. With the both of them heavily panting, and the cat cornered and nowhere to run, they stood there in a standoff. Relaxing first, the cat laid down and gave up running away, as it patiently waited for what the girl was going to do. Relaxing too, the girl slowly walked towards the cat, and said “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Carefully sitting herself down in front of the cat, “I was hoping we could be friends, so whaddya say, wanna come with me?” Petting the cat gently, it purred loudly in response, and the girl smiled and said “I’ll take that as a yes.” Placing her right hand on the cat’s head, a pink coloured magic began to swirl around its body, suddenly causing it to start physically changing.

Changing first, all the black fur on the cat started to become a light neon pink colour, except for its face, paws, and the 2 tails that stayed black—with the thin black tails getting pink tufts of hair at the ends of them. Its ears then elongated and shifted to point towards the back, and growing on the cat's forehead were little tiny baby horns nubs. And as the pink magic faded away, the cat was able to communicate with the girl, saying “Mistress, we are now bonded together, and I have become your chosen Incarnate.”

“I know, and look at how much cuter you got.” The girl said, smiling and picking up the cat in her arms, “But let’s not waste any more time, we gotta go Level ourselves up to catch up with Faust or he’ll never stop bragging about it, and on the way I’ll think of a name for you.”

“Whatever it’ll be, I’m sure I’ll love it, Mistress.” The cat said, snuggling in the girl’s arms.

“I’m already glad I chose you as my Incarnate.” The girl said, passing by an older man—with greying hair and a greying beard—who was gambling on the ground with a homeless little boy.

***

Shaking a cup with two dice inside, the boy said “Hey Mister, you lost 18 times in a row and like 20 Gold already, it's making me feel kinda bad for you, especially since I haven’t even cheated yet. So are you sure you wanna keep playing? ”

“Oh shuddup and play, and I pick odds.” The older man said, waiting for the roll.

Flipping the cup onto the makeshift table, the boy slowly lifted the cup to show to a 1 and a 3 on the dice. “Sorry Mister, but that's another loss.” The boy said, collecting the 1 Gold coin on the table.

Out of frustration, the older man threw 4 whole Gold onto the table, and he demanded “One more! This time for sure!”

“Wow, I’ve never seen someone as unlucky as you still want to keep gambling, you must really have a problem, Mister.” The boy said, picking up the dice and shaking them in the cup again.

“So I’ve been told, but I think my luck is about to change, and I pick odds again.” Emitting a green magic from his left hand, the older man flipped a gold coin into the air and a green magic aura surrounded it, as the coin then disappeared into thin air—the boy didn’t seem to have noticed anything.

Flipping the cup onto the table again and slowly lifting it up, the dice showed a 3 and a 4. “Wow, you won! Here’s your winnings, Mister!” The boy said, sounding genuinely happy for the older man.

But as the boy tried to hand the gold coins over, the older man got up and said “Keep it. You helped me learn what I could do, now stay off the streets, kid.”

“Really?" The boy said in disbelief, as the older man got up from the ground, "All this Gold I won from you today will feed me for months, so thank you Mister, and I'll try my best!” The older man then gave the boy a single wave as he left and looked for another place to gamble.

***

Somewhere nearby…

Finishing the last note of the song, a short haired man let the last note resonate in the space and allowed the strings of the instrument to settle before he asked, “So what’d you think? Wanna hire me?

“Oh I’ll definitely hire you, but I’ve never heard or seen a bard use an instrument like that before. Is it like some type of new modified harp or lyre or something? and how is it floating like that?” The owner asked, sitting at a table in front of the small stage.

“I wouldn’t say it's new, but I’m probably the only one in this world that has one.” The man said, grabbing the huge long wooden board—almost 2 meters in length—floating in front of him, and then carrying it on his back.

“Well whatever it is, it’s new and it’s fresh sounding, and I’m sure it’ll really add a new atmosphere to this place.” Gesturing to the little amount of people gambling at the tables right now, “So come back after sunset, we can discuss your payment after I see how the regulars receive you. “

“Sounds good, I’ll come back later then.” The man said, passing by an older looking man on the way to the door.

Walking through the streets for a bit, the man thought to himself “Now that I found a place to perform, maybe I should go test out my guzheng—” He stopped himself, backtracking a few steps to an alley he just passed, and looked down it to see an unusually modern scaffold—about 15 feet tall—next to the building wall.

Making his way down the alley, the man saw a beautifully half painted mural of hundreds of different Players looking towards the sky. Following where the Players were looking, the man saw a half finished painting of the Administrator Nulla floating above them. Currently trying to finish the painting, was a blue robed woman standing on the scaffolds—her face hidden by the robe’s hood—and strangely she was somehow painting the mural with an ordinary paintbrush without any paint. Wanting to compliment her, but not wanting to surprise her and cause a mistake, the man patiently waited for the hooded woman to finish.

After an hour of waiting, the hooded woman finally stopped and leaned back against the scaffold railing to get a farther view of the almost finished mural. Before the man could say anything to her, the railing she leaned on suddenly broke off, and she started to fall from the scaffold. The woman braced herself for the fall, but placing himself underneath her, the man caught her in his arms and said “I got you.” As the man held the woman in his arms, their eyes met and locked on to each other, and moments began to pass them by.

***

A white furred wolf ran through the forest, suddenly stopping itself as it came across a large sized bear. The wolf growled aggressively, slowly moving and circling around the bear; the bear then responded by standing on its hind legs and roared at the wolf trying to scare it off. Undeterred, the white wolf charged and leaped towards the bear, sinking its sharp teeth deep into the right shoulder of the bear. Roaring in pain, the bear grabbed the biting wolf and forcibly tossed it off its body. Quickly recovering from the toss, the wolf charged again; but with a single strong swipe of its large paw, the bear hit the wolf across the jaw and knocked it away from it again. The white wolf whimpered from the attack, as it then backed away and started to shift its body.

Reverting back into a human form, all the white fur quickly receded away, and exposed the chocolate brown skin of a naked white haired boy. He then quickly equipped his robe from his Inventory to cover himself up, as the bear began to charge towards him. Panicking, the boy rapidly cast and threw a barrage of spells at the bear: bolts of mana, fire, ice, earth, wind, and lighting. Unable to take the unrelenting barrage of spells, the damage was too much for the bear to handle, and its body collapsed onto the ground.

With the fight being over, the boy knelt down beside the dead bear, and placed his hands on its body. A white magical aura then appeared out of the boy’s body, and surrounded both the boy and the bear’s body. Fully surrounding both bodies, a huge white pulse coursed through the boy’s body, and a loud bone breaking sound could be heard, as the boy screamed out in pain. Pulsing frequently, the bones of the boy could be heard breaking each time, and with it his body began to shift and grow in size, rapidly growing white fur all over.

After about a minute of shifting and enduring the excruciating bone breaking pain, the boy had now turned into a fully sized white furred bear, as he then roared out loud and continued his way through the forest.

***

Wearing a ram horn helmet, a woman—with long beautiful light red hair—embedded her battle axe into the last hobgoblin’s head, and she ripped straight out as it fell limp to the ground. Breathing really heavily, the woman looked at her arms to see the red glowing tattoo-like marks on her skin beginning to fade away. She then looked around to find herself surrounded by bloodied corpses of about 30 goblins and hobgoblins—all mostly cut up and dismembered.

Then raising her hand, the horns on her helmet started to glow with a red colour, and a spear floated up off the ground and slowly moved to her hand. Putting both the spear and the battle axe on her back, she did the same for a short sword, a long sword, a mace, and a javelin—each weapon floating to her, and every weapon looking worn down from battle. She also put a hand axe and a mallet on each side of her waist. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, she bent down and picked up a half broken round shield, and continued to wander in the forest.

***

Awakening, a bronze skin dwarven man found himself half naked, bloodied, and beaten. Chained by his hands and feet to the wall, the Dwarf found himself in a locked stone room with no windows, and only a solid metal door as a way out; and in the middle of the room lay a single lockpick. As the Dwarf reached for the lockpick, the tug on his chains triggered a trap, and the room began releasing green gas from tiny holes in the walls. Remembering to use his Inventory, he opened it and pulled out an old key attached to a chain. Simply touching the key to his chains, they immediately magically unlocked themselves, and doing the same for the locked metal door, he opened and closed it shut behind him—escaping the room.

But now in a long narrow corridor, the Dwarf put the key back in his Inventory, as he could tell the whole corridor was trapped all the way through the end and didn’t need it. Acting calmly, his body changed into an ethereal form—the colour being a lightish teal—as he then walked down the corridor, passing through all the traps without triggering a single one. Reaching the end, his body returned to normal, and he opened the unlocked door.

Standing in front of him was a hooded man wearing a full set of black leather armour, who spoke in surprise “I have never seen anyone complete the test so fast without triggering a single trap, and you also easily passed the first test yesterday. I look forward to hearing about your work.” The man then walked towards the Dwarf, and held out his hand saying, “Welcome to the Underground.”

***

Pinned against the stone wall by a claymore through his chest, a bloodied man coughed out a huge amount of blood, and was barely able to speak. “W-Why...are you...doing this?” He asked, but the hooded armoured man impaling him never answered. “You’re...not...gonna...get...away—“ The bloodied man’s sentence was cut short as the blade of a short sword tore open his stomach, and caused all his insides to spew out onto the ground. It only took a few moments for the bloodied man to die, and when he did, a constant black magical smoke emitted from the body.

Moving towards the hooded man, the black magical smoke was all inhaled by him, until every last bit of it was gone from the bloodied dead body; and with it black coloured magic coursed through the hooded man's entire body. Then removing his face, he placed it on the bloodied man’s face, and he called out “Ripper.” As suddenly all the bloodied man’s skin was torn and ripped from his flesh, and was all pulled inside the face-like mask. When it was finished bringing all the skin inside it, the bloodied man’s face appeared on the mask. Placing the face back on himself, the hooded man’s face strangely looked exactly like the bloodied man from before he was injured.

Then pulling his claymore from the skinless and faceless body, he allowed the body to fall onto the bloodied and organ filled ground. Casually cleaning both of his blades of blood and sheathing them, the hooded man left the quiet and isolated alley and left the bloodied skinless corpse to be easily found by anyone.

***

Arriving, I looked up to see a huge sign that said ‘The Adventurer’s Guild’, and thought “You really can’t miss seeing it.”