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Chapter 20: The solo player?

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  Interlude from the surface. Through the eyes of a programmer.

  A woman stands by a ring, running her olive fingers across the smooth, stone surface, drinking in its detail with azure eyes. A dark-blue cloak drapes across her plump form, patterned in a myriad of symbols and runes. Her other hand rests atop her sheathed rapier, hidden beneath her cloak.

  The crunch of snow sounds behind her as someone approaches. "Ah! Ghost, there you are!" A thin man appears behind her, dressed in red silk, adorned with gold trims and silver trinkets. An unholy abomination of an Afro cascades from his skull, its obtuse weight resting upon his shoulders and completely redefining his silhouette. Peering at the slim man, her eyes flicker, an unspoken command summoning a bright blue terminal for only her to see.

  


  Level 15

  Danger: Docile | Negligible

  Name: Cymfonee Othi Schepredas

  Race: Hybrid (Elf 50%, Human 25%, Dwarf 25%)

  Class: [Merchant | Specialisation: Cross-world trade negotiations]

  Titles: [Snow Merchant], [Afro King]

  Stats:

  Vitality - 13 | MP - 2 | Stamina - 6 | Strength - 8

  Basic Skills:

  [Handiwork LV 3], [Salesman LV 9]

  Magic Skills:

  [Haste LV 2], [Inspect LV 10]

  Unique Skills:

  null

  

  Age: 26 yr, 150 d

  Oh, this guy. I mean he's nice and all, but... "Hey Cyn! It's been a while!" The man chuckles, wrapping his slender arms around Ghost in a polite hug, which she awkwardly reciprocates. Ack! Physical contact, my nemesis! "I take it you're here for the Reverence Festival again this year?" "Of course! It would be a shame for me to miss even one. Our world just doesn't do ramen the same you know." "Ah yes, ramen. I'm sure that's the reason for your perfect punctuality for this event." He says facetiously. "Though they are indeed tremendously tight-lipped on their recipes. It's been the bane of my existence trying to pry even a sandwich recipe from the stingy fools. Say, do you think the Abstract will show up this year too?" Why does everyone always ask me? Do they know? "I guess? Not like I know them personally or anything."

  Cyn's eyes glimmer for a moment, losing focus as if reading something in front of his eyes. "I see your rune-smithing has improved a level. Must be all those training manuals I'm sure you've purchased from my store." "Oh come now, you know better than to pry into a lady's private information." I know it's hypocritical of me to say that... But still! At least I'm subtle about reading someone's life history to recall their name!

  "Hohohoho, you got me!" Cyn takes a step back, raising his hands in mock surrender. "I'm heading over to the Fallen Stump Inn with a group of nobles and merchants. You're welcome to join us. I'm sure they'd appreciate the company of a master rune-smith like yourself. Your old pal Inyu'min will be there too!" "Haha, no thanks. I'll be heading through early this time. Maybe some other time." "Ah, too bad. Rain check it is then. See you at the festival!" Ah, finally. He's leaving. Sweet solitude once again. Ghost waves the man goodbye, turning her gaze back to the ring.

  Let's see if this works. Ghost runs a finger across the surface, leaving behind a glowing trail of nonsense symbols and rune-ish scribbles. That should be convincing enough. System, execute script portalact.

  


  $ ./scripts/portalact

  [INFO] Initialising...

  [INFO] Analysing portal frame...

  [INFO] Parsing portal frame data...

  [WARN] Portal is on cooldown. Repeated use may cause overheating.

  [INFO] Interfacing with portal frame...

  [INFO] Interfacing with portal frame again because once is apparently not enough for these fucking things...

  [INFO] Inputting coordinates to destination Magnus_Mundus...

  [INFO] Activating (remember to not stand in the frame this time dumbass)...

  Process exited with code 0

  I don't remember adding so much sass to my logs... The frame vibrates, blue light spreading across the runes littering its surface. The notches light up in sequence, each causing the ring to tremble even more. I'm sure the shaking is fine. And the red hot stone around it surely won't be an issue. The thousand year old mystery portal won't break. I think. The frame wobbles, the final notch lighting up before all of them sink mechanically into the device with a clunk and begin firing beams of light into the centre, which coagulate and form a flat, blue disk, gently undulating in place with a soft spiral-like pattern. Hey, it worked! First try too, must be my lucky day! That, or something's terribly wrong with my code... Always ends up being one of the two.

  At the sight of an open portal, a small crowd gathers. "Hey, it's opened early!" "Did that girl open it? How?" "Don't you know? That's Ghost! She's like a master rune-smith or something." Why do people know me? So much for a low profile... From behind, a dark figure shoots past, its form devoid of consistent shape as if watching the 3D embodiment of television static. "It's the Abstract!" "I need an autograph!" "Omigodimyourbiggestfan!" The figure places a hand on the portal, disappearing into a puff of light as dozens of overeager fans dash by to follow. Freaks. The lot of them. At least I don't have to deal with them directly.

  Stepping up to the portal, Ghost gives herself one final inspection before taking the final step.

  


  


  Level 11

  Name: Ghost ~

  Race: Human

  Class: [Rune-smith], [Fencer]

  Titles: [Master Rune-smith]

  Stats:

  Vitality - 7 | MP - 87 | Stamina - 18 | Strength - 8

  Basic Skills:

  [Calligraphy LV 10], [Cartography LV 7], [Fencing (basic) LV 10], [Fencing (intermediate) LV 8], [Handiwork LV 8]

  Magic Skills:

  [Enchanting (basic) LV 10], [Enchanting (intermediate) LV 10], [Enchanting (expert) LV 2], [Haste LV 6], [Inspect LV 5], [Rune Arts (basic) LV 10], [Rune Arts (intermediate) LV 10], [Rune Arts (expert) LV 10], [Rune Arts (master) LV 5]

  Unique Skills:

  null

  
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