The two of them were standing outside of the main foundry of Erickson Steel Which unfortunately was where Vye needed to remain while she filled in for Crosby She had already answered a slew of questions from some of the earlier workers who noticed CrosbyÆs absence and had finally believed she had fielded all questions when Nerrick arrived likely late to his shift
Truly disaster struck only when one let themselves blinded by hope
IÆm not traveling the world Vye repeated to herself dourly IÆm working as a temp A temp that was rapidly promoted to assistant to the CEO but still a temp IÆm going to leave soon and travel the world All this is just to give me some money to work with And to Level a bit so IÆm not devoured by a two headed otter
NerrickÆs grin refused to be damaged at all by her matter of fact retort DoesnÆt that seem hypocritical You work with metal What if your Prince Charming worked with metal You would doom yourself to sadness simply because you werenÆt willing to broaden your horizons
I think what you meant to say is willing to lower my standards Æ Vye yawned and stretched mindful to keep her stretch as innocuous as possible The last thing she wanted to do was given this gritty crustacean of a man any sort of excuse to approach her again
Please please please be a busy day She had prayed What she hadnÆt meant was busy for her Why couldnÆt there be a fire or something in a portion of the foundry she wasnÆt watching Then everyone would gather over there and she could just sit around and talk to Terrence who had just returned from the Donnyton branch
Vye had so many questions for Terence about Zone 32 It seemed like a completely different world from Zone 1 A world where anything was possible And to the South they had the sea
Ahhaha You always have jokes donÆt you Then Nerrick leaned forward But actually IÆm not here to flirt Actually
Really Vye thought tiredly She wondered if she could move fast enough to pop a chocolate into her mouth without the man noticing
there was something work related I came to you about Nerrick scratched his head Some of his aggressive confidence faded I know itÆs not I donÆt know against the rules but well there is a man walking around the foundry barefoot HeÆs sitting over at one of the mess tables right now but isnÆt that dangerous And no one recognizes him so
Ah yes Vye said seriously as she rubbed her chin Could this be a spy from another corporation IÆll need to investigate immediately Thank you for bringing this to my attention
Then as if she transformed into a cool autumn wind Vye fled from Nerrick so quickly that the man didnÆt even have a chance to say anything in response As she left Vye shook her head slightly Having to fill in for that airhead Clarry these past two days might have been boring but at least I had time to read up on news from other Zones But this job
It was just an excuse to move away from the foundry but Vye also thought someone wandering around without any foot covering within the area was rather strange As she was thinking that however a certain silhouette appeared in her vision sitting at one of the metal dining tables around the cafeteria
A rather tired looking young man who perhaps was the most powerful person on Earth sat at the table with his back slightly arched Baloo Erickson Randidly Ghosthound A man who single handedly cleared the first Danger Zone and gave up the reward of personal power in order to give the whole world a boost in experience A man who pioneered the technique of refining monster corpses to mix with metal to improve the performance of Erickson Steel
An engraver who was more talented than the ultimate AI that was the culmination of AmericaÆs brightest minds over the past ten years boosted by the presence of the System
What must he have seen Vye wondered as she approached I wonder if it’s true that heÆs gone to other worlds They say he learned his spear arts from a flaming tree and his Engraving came from runes he found buried in a low Level Dungeon They even say that he finished a Dungeon before he even had a Class
What kind of enemies have you been cursed by to accomplish so much What sort of sights have you been blessed with And meanwhile I
And when Vye arrived at the mess area and saw the black haired young man sitting at the table she chuckled self deprecatingly Then she carefully controlled her face into a neutral expression and produced a pair of steel toed boots from her interspatial ring Somehow Vye found it extremely difficult to imagine that the barefoot man in front of her was that legendary figure who had basically accomplished everything she dreamed of
His presence was altogether nonexistent He seemed just like anybody else Like a guy she might have gone to high school with
But would anyone else have the gumption to offer no further proof of his identity and smile easily at me in a place like Erickson Steel Some part of Vye asked But Vye ignored that voice It was somewhat easier for her to control her envy if she continued believing he was just a guy like everyone else
The System had changed so much World traveling couldnÆt be that special right
As she approached Vye drew up short Because suddenly RandidlyÆs back arched even further An expression of agony spread across his face Wide eyed Vye watched as his hands tightened and punched right through the metal of the table like it was paper
Several seconds passed and slowly his expression eased He carefully raised his hands inspecting the table with not a small amount of bitter amusement Coughing lightly Vye walked carefully forward toward him She held the pair of boots aloft Mr Ghosthound are you alright
Vye paused and considered him His eyes were somewhat dazed and it appeared as though he hadnÆt heard her Then she said helpfully did you stub your toe If you want you can borrow these boots for your stay here in Erickson Steel They will prevent something like this from happening again
Randidly Ghosthound paused in his pained slouch then looked slowly up at Vye Then he sighed deeply shaking his head I wish it was just a toe stub Hey you were the receptionist at Erickson Steel right I
Before he could continue Mark appeared nearby giving Vye a slight nod Randidly paused in his words his gaze shifting to the new arrival Vye almost rolled her eyes in response I get it you want my job Honestly you can have it IÆm starting to wonder if Erickson Steel is really where I belong
I suppose there isnÆt any point in putting it off Randidly said with a shake of the head He forced out a smile only looking a little worse for wear for whatever experience afflicted him Anyway thanks for your concern Hopefully we can talk later
And the boots Vye asked while holding them aloft
Randidly waved his hand and walked away with Mark They wonÆt be necessary
For several seconds Vye just watched the two of them walk away Then as the implications of what just happened sank in she quickly grew pale
DoesnÆt this mean Vye said slowly That I no longer have a reason not to go back to work
Randidly went into the storeroom where Mark had laid out the latest samples of the most recent Erickson Steel products and then was left alone with the assurance that Mark would be right outside
Grimacing Randidly waited until the man was gone before gracefully collapsing into a seat For the moment the metal samples would need to wait
Under the constant flow of energy from his Soulskill his Class did seem to slowly mend itself back together It wasnÆt the sort of damage that would weaken him directly by taking away Skills or Stats but it might create deviations in the weave of the Aether he was using to build himself Over time such defects would quickly lead to a weakened Class
As such Randidly had no intention of gaining a Level until he could give the Class a thorough once over And that would need to wait until the strange fractures from whatever had just occurred ceased spewing waves of agony like someone with food poisoning