Thoughts and Old Friends
Getting to the lake was easier than Darien thought it would be. He had Devi auto walk there while looking on Rune Union's news page. There had only been one interruption when Devi was attacked by a group of wolves guarding a chest.
The lake was massive and covered almost the entire mini map. All around it were massive trees that would put the Red Woods to shame, their branches and leaves much bigger than any monster he had fought or seen so far. The music that accompanied the view was a soft flute and violin duet, a calm and peaceful tune.
"This beats the old environments by far..." Darien whistled and turned up his speakers. He explored around, going around and under large roots with the occasional giant boar impeding his path. The beasts were about the size of a horse and had large amounts of health points. Each fight with these boars felt like a mini boss, he had gone through most of his potion supply with just a few fights. With the herbology skill Darien found herbs that he hadn't heard of or seen even on the forums yet. "Gonna make a mental note to post about these before I pass out.... Speaking of wich." He turned to look at the clock and saw he had about seven hours before he had to start getting ready for the next shift.
"Alright I'll stop here for now." He positioned Devi away from any boar spawns to avoid any battles when he logged in next, then shut down the game. He posted on the forum about the name of the herbs he found and asked if anyone had run into them yet or know what they could be for as the descriptions were just a bunch of question marks. This feature was something added with the new version of the game,, you now had to use items and ingredients before getting their description but with herbs that was more dangerous for obvious reasons. With that done, Darien checked the water and was relieved when it turned on and heated correctly. The steam built up in the small bathroom as he washed away the worries of the day. His thoughts traveled to the past, his family and friends from school. "Or lack of really..." He muttered to himself as the hot water cascaded over his face. He could recall only two friends from his school years that stuck around him through anything. "Wonder what they are doing now." One was a girl with long and frizzy brown hair with caramel skin. Her eyes would shimmer and shine a greenish hue especially when she was upset or just emotional about something. She always suggested the best stories to read and they shared a love for fantasy. Another face was a young boy with glasses and short hair that was always a different color than his normal ginger appearance. He had kept in touch by email with both of them for some time after school but couldn't remember when the last time he even saw their email addresses.
The water began to run cold as he shut the valve and dried off. "I'll just check and see." He loaded up his email while finding some clean clothes to change into. "Guess it's laundry day when I get home tomorrow." He found their email addresses and saw that it had been over a year and a half since he last sent either of them a message. He quickly typed up a, "Hey how ya doin?" Kinda email before shutting off his computer and flopping on the bed.
It wasn't until the sound of shouting and slamming objects reached his room did he realize he slept a little longer than he intended. The couple in the apartment next to him always had shouting matches every other night but he was mostly awake by that time and could always tune them out. Groaning he reached for his clock and made sure he still had time before his shift. "An hour n a half...good." He mumbled and dragged his feet to the kitchen to start his coffee pot and microwave a quick bite to eat. "Should make myself a real meal sometime." He noted then began getting his work attire on. Clipping his name tag on, Darien had enough time to eat, have a cup of coffee and check some things online before heading out.
"Hey Darien it's Kate! Been a while huh? Was actually wondering yesterday what you might be up to and boom! Got a message from you today, must be fate right? LOL
Anyway how have you been? Doing anything new or still gaming and reading novels? I ended up moving back with my mom due to her health. Any book or game recommendations? Would love to hear back from you!"
Darien smiled as he read the email and sat back with a wistful sigh. "Sounds like she's doing okay for herself.... kinda." He jotted a reply mentioning his work, Rune Union, and his lack of reading lately other than forums online. "Speaking of wich, I'll check the forums when I go on break." Grabbing his phone and keys Darien did a final check of his apartment before locking up and heading across the street as rain began to fall on the streets.