Author’s Note: Crossed 500 average views, so decided to do something…tougher than usual. Also updates may slow down with exams approaching, but will pick it up again when it’s over. Don’t worry, won’t be gone for long. This chapter is divided into four different parts with a common theme. Also, all four parts are taking place at different times in the story, so don’t be confused. The last part is actually a riddle, and it’s up to you to figure it out. Not too difficult, actually. So here goes….

Episode 7: Expectations

Iorveth’s POV

Alone in the dark, I open my eyes. The hunger grows. Not being fed, the stomach awakens. I close my open eyes and see. See the breath rise, from the lungs, to the hwe’st, to the nose and finally free. But for not for long. I pull it back again, into the nose, to the hwe’st, and finally back to lungs. Breathing in the súlë; the essence of Air, is what keeps me alive during the dark.

“HEY YOU! MANEATER! IT’S TIME FOR YOUR MATCH!”

The loud dhu’aine’s shout annoys my eyes open. I rise, and prepare myself.

Finally, it was time to feast.

They stare at me as I walk through the…Bloodworks, they called it. The blood of the fallen would seep down the cracks, and thus the name. How appropriate. Sometimes, even after all the…time, the dhu’aine did surprise me.

I walk into another room, and everyone starts waiting. They hope to know how I do it, hope to stop my bow. They do not understand the truth. I do not comprehend it fully either. But anyone can begin walking.. if they tried.

I rise when I feel the súlë changing, the ripples increasing. They have arrived for the Agar auth. How human of them to just to feel the lust by sitting here. Like crows, waiting for blood but unable to feed on it. Pathetic.

The súlë and I are in harmony.

The gate slowly rises, like a sword from a dead man’s gut.

I survey my opponent for the day. It is an orc, complete with plate mail and a broad axe in hand.

“IORVETH MAN-EATER! TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF YOUR LIFE!”

The orc then thumps his axe twice both times, as if that would make it true.

I let loose an arrow, as practice. The armor stops it.

The orc laughs, “WHY DON’T YOU TRY IT AGAIN?”

I smile to myself. It was time to end this childish game.

The súlë rises at my bidding. The entire world seems to stop for a breath. I shoot.

Surprisingly, he deflects the arrow with his axe. However, he couldn’t stop it entirely and is pushed back by the force. His axe too is cracked on one side.

As he recoils in shock, the second arrow pierces his armor, passes his heart and exits from behind. It doesn’t stop until it hits the wall and tries to go through. The arcane sphere glows briefly, making sure that the spectators aren’t hurt. The arrow falls lifelessly on the ground.

As he levels his death stare at me, the third arrow penetrates his throat and exits, causing the barrier to ripple once again.

I walk up to him.

“You were a good warrior. You actually stopped the first one.”

“But not good enough to stop the other two, huh?*Cough* I guess, this is the end for me. Do you like orc meat?”

“Never eaten one, so no.”

“Don’t worry, I taste good. I know why you do this. The calan gwad. But can you plea…”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. I wonder what he was going to say.

The screams began as soon as I started eating. They didn’t try to stop me anymore. At first they had tried to do so, but

after my severe retaliation every time must have made it clear that I was not to be disturbed while eating.

After I completed my lunch, I found myself chuckling.

The orc had lied. As I had expected, he was the nastiest piece of meat that I had ever eaten.

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Dr. Crane’s POV

I get out the cab and stand in front of the office. As usual, there is a huge crowd. It had become common since a month ago. I sighed to myself. I make my way to the parking lot entrance, which had become the official entry point for us employees these days. I made my way to the entrance lobby. A familiar man greets me before I can reach the elevator.

“Mr. Crane! Good morning to ya!” He raises his hand and waves them at me.

I wave back at the “old guy Harriman”. Everybody here called him that. Harriman had been working here for at least 10 years, or even longer. Some say that he had been working since the company itself had been founded, 80 years ago.

Well, all I knew was that he was here the day that I had joined.

>

Late. Late on the first day of the dream job. This was seriously embarrassing. Yesterday’s interview had gone so well, and it was barely a day before I had ruined it all. I burst into the double doors, nearly crashing into them.

I decide to stop for a while to catch my breath. A man walks up to me and hands me a bottle of water. I nod gratefully and take a few sips. Once rested, I decide to introduce myself.

“Edward Crane, sir. A new employee at the Advanced Research branch.” I offer him my hand. Politeness costs nothing, but the returns may be huge. Who knew, this guy could even be even my boss!

He laughs and refuses to shake my hand. “My name’s Harriman and I have working here for a long time. I was hired by Mr. Robert himself, you know, back when there wasn’t any company. We started out small, in a crowded basement, and look at us now. Beautiful skyscraper in the middle of the city! If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it at all! In the beginning -”

I hang onto his every word, nodding and smiling at the opportune moments. This man was surely a high ranking member of the company. I must leave a good impression instead of a blithering idiot who arrives late on the first day!

DAMN! SAY SOMETHING! Compliment his tie or something! But what if he doesn’t like it? And thinks I am trying to curry favor with him? Wait, the weather! No, he might think I’m complaining! Football? But if I mistakenly bash his favorite team then? Oh no! We have reached the elevator.

“-Advanced Research, right? That’s on the -7 floor. Good luck, Mr. Crane.”

>

I make my way down to my office, managing a smile and a good morning at those who recognized me. It was easier said than done, because I had started seeing a lot of new faces. Most of these people were the newly hired people to manage our fame and reputation. Personally, I hated them. Their clothes were too slick, hair too shiny and tongues always ahead to lick their bosses’ shoes. None of them were ever going to speak their mind.

I make my way down to my office. Few people were present here. Mostly all had gone up to the Monitor room, this being the big day and all. I chuckle and relax in my office.

I decide to open up a secured encrypted link to Arthur’s video feed. This way, even if I couldn’t talk to him, I’ll be able to watch his ass whooped in the Arena.

>

I make my way down to the -7 floor. As soon as the door opens, I can see the area is still under development.

Boxes of stuff lay scattered across, with various wires running through different machines. A few large mainframe computers are attached to the end of these wires. The air is comfortably cold, probably to prevent these machines from overheating.

“Hello? Is anyone here? I am a new employee, and today is my first day. My name is Edward and I was recently hired to work here...” The silence is unsettling. I continue speaking; half hoping that someone would respond. Had Harriman sent me to the wrong floor? The whole office seemed to be empty. I keep on moving, hoping to catch sight of someone. No such luck.

“Open the door to your right.” A thin voice seems to appear out of nowhere. Looking to my right, I spot a nearly invisible door that I hadn’t seen before. I make my way to the room.

Inside is a stark contrast to the rest of the office. Everything appears to be wood paneled instead of colorless white. The lighting is astonishing too. Fake windows are open, which allow the fake sunlight come in. I could see and hear the birds chirping outside. Probably holograms.

There is a fireplace too, on the wall opposite of the door. Animal heads are mounted too, which seem to be staring at me. Various bookshelves are arranged at the corners and the floor is covered with a satin blue rug.

Despite all this, it is strangely comforting. Like I have stepped into the past. However, it certainly doesn’t seem like a Research office.

There is a humongous desk in front of the fireplace, with a chair that’s facing away from me. I make my way to the desk, dreading the first meeting with my boss. The chair turns and I wince, coming face to face with –

- a twelve year old boy?

We stare at each other for a moment, each surprised by the other. Finally, the boy is the one to break the silence.

“You look like a goat. I hadn’t expected that."

>

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Kent’s POV

Don’t need to do it, they said. And it is exactly why I needed to see. The adventurers would be stronger than us in time, and that is why I need to know! What were they planning? What did they plan to do here?

The King too had taken this seriously. As long as these adventurers were here, they were to be guarded.

I decided to order all the guards to wear their full armor for the day. That should hopefully impress them.

I myself decided to patrol the Market area. And soon enough, there appeared – in a flash of light – the Adventurer!

He appeared to be completely unarmed. His clothes too, were ragged and unwholesome to look at. However, his face was angular and sharp. It seemed that he was quite intelligent. He was observing his surroundings carefully, not having moved a spot since the beginning.

Finally, he caught sight of me. My observation period was over. It looked like I needed to talk to him.

“Welcome to our world, Adventurer! It is indeed a high honor that the Goddess has allowed to travel through our beautiful realm. It is a beauty, is it not?” I ask, hoping that he will respond by talking about his own world in return.

He doesn’t oblige; and after a few pleasantries I invite him to show him across the city, just as the king had instructed. The man, I notice, is always guarded. His eyes dart about everywhere, always aware of his surroundings. I nod appreciatively.

I show him around the city, conversing with him along the way. Despite his sharp senses, his words are easy, dragging me into talking. I find myself laughing sometimes too.

The lower district seemed to evoke some emotion in the man. He traversed it carefully, not looking away from the people there. But I could see the pain in his eyes, as he looked upon the people here, coarse and uncivilized, fighting over scraps of food. I was ashamed myself. What could I tell him? That the king, despite his best efforts, could not stop this suffering? That there are people in the court who would rather line their own pockets with gold rather than help? In the end, I chose to say nothing.

After we had silently walked through the entire district, he spoke.

“Do you know many types of people are there, Kent? I’ll tell you. The good, the bad and the desperate. And these people, they all are desperate. Desperate to do anything in order to survive. And therefore, they are the most dangerous of all. Because sometimes, a man may make impossible choices; choices that you and I wouldn’t even consider, just for survival.”

I look into his eyes as he speaks. “Have you ever been desperate before, sir?”

“Me? Do I look desperate to you, Kent? Come on; let’s get this tour over with. I am feeling hungry already.”

I show him the last district, the Arena. I tell about him everything that goes on here, but he isn’t impressed. Perhaps they have bigger Arenas in his world.

We backtrack again to the temple, with me explaining the rest of the things on the way. After the temple visit, I could still notice a frown on his face. Perhaps it hadn’t gone well.

“So, did you get the blessing of the Goddess?”

“Can’t you tell?”

“No. Nobody can tell whose blessings you have without explicit permission of the one who gave you the blessing. As I was asking, is your initiation over? Will you be going outside now?”

“Not yet. The Goddess has decided to give me the task to know myself. I suppose that you wouldn’t have any idea about that would you?”

I simply told him that the expertise on these matters were scholars and philosophers, not of us warriors. However, while waiting I had remembered that I had promised to meet Anna today. After a moment’s consideration, I told him my problem. He was quite untroubled and even encouraged me. His easy manner and way was refreshing. A man free from all duties, free to do whatever he wanted. Perhaps all the adventurers were like this.

I decide to trust him and let him wander alone. He was already very different from my expectations.

*************************************************************

Alexei Luthor’s Encrypted Diary

TODAY’S EVENTS

6.30: woke up early in The morning.

6.45: brush teeth; Plan for jog cancelled due to urgent business call.

7.00: bathed; had breakfast; wore my suit and tie.

8.00: Took a cab to the office, gave the driver a day off.

8.45: signed the various papers; approved the game cover and Its advertisement posters.

9.20: began the First interview of the day with ck company, followed by gameinformer, exagames and vrmmo-rise.

1.00: sent everyone away; emailed Major newspapers about tomorrow’s front page.

1.20: took lunch break at a small café; decided to Step into small game shop as a part of our social marketing.

2.20: had a meeting With the executives about censor board rules. explained that vr laws are restricted to The state itself.

4.00: assembled everyone in the main room; signed the first copies of the Game to be shipped out.

4.40: whole office celebrated Beta day, started the final Release day countdown clock.

5.00: leave office, go home and unwind and relax. already expect long days from now on.

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