SL Chapter 7 An Invitation
The woman didn''t answer right away, but first tidied up the place, placing back the bottle that she had drawn the wine from into the cabinet behind the counter.
"There are many methods through which an awakening potion can be obtained. Each has its merits, difficulties and problems. What manner of difficulty do you want to choose?"
"Methods?" parroted a puzzled Eric.
"For example that boxing ring right at the edge of this cavern... If you manage to win five successive matches, you can request for an awakening potion, which will be handed to you promptly. And there are many methods akin to that, mostly of the unsavory means."
Fighting in a ring, with a creature at your level, with no weapons?! Just the thought turned Eric''s face beneath the hood pale.
"Isn''t there something safer?" He hedged.
"Safer. Unless you have money and connections, this is the best you are going to get. Spirit Lords lay down their very lives in every single altercation with one another. Don''t tell me that just because you become one, you won''t enter conflict, right?" Her crimson pupils bore into Eric.
Risking his life wasn''t out of the question. But it depended on circumstances. Fighting five battles, experiencing pain in every single fight just to get a potion. Maybe, that could happen if he got desperate enough. But for now, that wasn''t something he could entertain.
"I have a way that''s considerably easier, with the risk of death somewhere in between." After a few minutes of silence, she spoke.
"What is it?" He perked up.
"There is someone who is in need of bodyguards, with the duration lasting until after his Excellence Musana''s celebration. If chosen, the awakening potion will be provided, free of charge."
Eric became somewhat flabbergasted at that. The potion cost upwards of a million credits, yet someone was just going to be giving it away! There must have been something deeper to it.
"Things like this are somewhat common. Though, it also almost always entails that there will be some danger to the task. Perhaps the chance to forfeit your life." cautioned the woman.
"Any more information on the task?" He asked.
"Any more, requires my fee. Whether you are chosen among the multitude or not, I have to get paid."
"That''s unfair." Eric threw out the statement even as he took another sip from the glass.
"What? You want me to recommend that you be chosen? That''s not how it works. Besides, I have zero connections to the big shot. All I have is an invitation." She shook her head.
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"How much?"
"Half a million credits!" Eric almost leaped off the stool a that, only to control himself.
"That''s mighty expensive for just a trace of a chance!" He hissed.
"That''s how it is." She shrugged.
"Isn''t there something more guaranteed?" He asked after a few minutes in silence.
"There is. But the price or the ordeals you will have to go through in order to earn that potion aren''t things you can handle. Trust me on this. They are either on the same level as that battle cage, or worse."
Eric mulled over all that. Though he had been prepared to fork out an entire million credits, that had hinged upon a concrete chance! Parting with half of that for a trace of a chance would set him back if he wasn''t chosen! He had already resigned from his job! Not to mention the fact that he wasn''t eager at the idea of toiling more years away!
"Okay, you can give me the invitation." he relented, even though inwardly it pained him to choose this option.
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11/4/2071
Eric was pacing about in his tiny room, wandering about his clothing choices. An envelope, one in a purple color with golden etchings lay upon his bed. Apparently, the invitation had been written in ink, as if the person was old fashioned. But Eric was certain that that wasn''t the case. He had mulled over the thought that went through writing it, coming to the conclusion that the writer was somewhat untrusting of digital means. Could it mean that their enemy, or enemies for that matter, were capable of intersecting digital means?
Ultimately, he gave up on that problem, exchanging it with another. The venue where the invitation led was something that was also causing his current dilemma. Once again, he was going to have to wear the suit. It wasn''t because he lacked the means to buy better clothes. It was because of the inherent thought that anything less than the suit might be seen as an insult to the other party. After all, the venue was set to be in one of the floating structures above, a testament to the person''s elevated status.
With a sigh, the suit was once again donned upon his form before he made it out the door. A communication device was wrapped around his left wrist, one a step higher than the previous one, even giving him the capability of linking with every piece of technology possessed by Cassandra''s brain. He breathed in the noon breeze on reaching the street, though not without immediately wincing at the amalgam of scents, from food, to mechanical. Instead of choosing a direction, this time, he waited. He had already booked a transport to take him within the vicinity of his destination.
A craft descended from the skies, one which attracted the attention of every single person upon the street at this moment on time. Eric felt his face flush with heat, which made him feel like a deer in headlights, causing him to hurriedly duck into the craft the moment it landed, breathing in a sigh of relief when the entrance stitched itself back together. It was small, one of a single seater variety. It was autonomous, one of those used by those that could afford life on the structure above him.
"Greetings, Mr. Bosingwa Eric. I am your onboard navigational AI 421, also serving as your assistant. Would you like a cold beverage?"
A small holographic 3D face had just materialised right before him, made up of blue light.
"What kind of refreshments are we talking about?" He asked even as his eyes lingered upon the white curved seat he was occupying, which was very comfortable. Then, they moved towards the transparent hull surrounding him, which was allowing him to view his ascent. He could see the levels of the skyscrapers around him as the vehicle rose upwards, even passing through the massive advertisement holograms.
"There is water, wine, and bubbly fruit drinks." The AI answered.
"Plain water then." He answered. Though he appeared to be relaxed, there were butterflies fluttering within his stomach. Even taking water was pushing it a bit. Going to new places did that to him, not to mention the fact that his destination was one where people of his social and economic class rarely went to.
A glass of water was raised out of the compartment and Eric took it in his hands, raised it to his mouth, and took a sip before setting it down. Then, he watched through the hull as the vehicle, after rising to a certain height, started to make it out of the shadow of the structure above.
"Allow sunlight, from the rays to the heat, to reach me." He made a request, which was accepted promptly.
When the vehicle was finally illuminated by the morning sun, Eric felt as if he was being baptised. How long had he gone without actually feeling the sun upon his skin? He couldn''t really remember. He had always thought that the virtual and the sun simulations in the virtual wood and the ceiling of his workplace had managed to capture the essence of the real thing, but upon basking in this light, he felt that all his previous assumptions had been a massive joke. How could they capture this feeling? The one he was experiencing upon being illuminated by the rays of the real thing?
It was indescribable. It was as if he had been living in darkness for the past few years! He made an attempt to glimpse upon its glory, but had to avert his eyes due to how penetrative and invasive the light was.
After getting out of the shadow, the vehicle started rising along the structure, the cuboidal skyscraper. Actually, there were many that believed that the word ''skyscraper'' was apt for this kind of construct instead of those pale imitations that had their base upon the ground.
He couldn''t take in the entire structure because of how close to it he was, but just what he could see, made him suck in a gasp. This thing within his eyes could house very many buildings down below with room to spare! The edges of the surface he was currently seeing, were very far off to the point that he was certain that moving from one edge to the other in a vehicle would be the same as traveling a quarter of Kampala city!