Blood

"Hello. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi. How are you today?"

"Hope you're having a great day today."

"How are you? My name's Hiro."

Every single one of them…ears covered completely. I slouched all the way back to the hotel and took a seat at a table, watching Xylvia across from me completely devour a two-course meal.

"How'd it go?" Xylvia paused in between bites to ask me.

"You were right," I sighed. "Every single one of them covered their ears. Even the ones who look like they'd tear me in half."

"Hey, it's not like they're afraid of you. Once again, it's just become common for us Felinians. I mean, you did greet them nicely right?"

"I hope so…"

The reason why I went around introducing myself to a lot of people was because I wanted to get some good publicity going around about me. My goal was to let everyone know that I was an aspiring adventurer, however all I got in response was a bunch of laughter and concerned looks. All I feel like I did was make a fool out of myself.

"I guess adventurers really aren't a thing in this world," I sighed, burying my head into my arms resting on the table. "I'll probably have to work part time if I want to be able to afford all the equipment I need. Hey Xylvia, what kind of jobs are good around here?"

"I'm assuming you looked over at the posters on the walls?" Xylvia guessed.

She was right. Before I went around asking people about adventuring and trying to find any good connections, I took a brief look at the posters that were scattered across the walls. I couldn't read any of them, but I did remember what the money sign for this world looked like after catching a glimpse of the ticket Xylvia was given from the discount meal she got yesterday. It looked like two lines slanted to the right with squiggles on the top and bottom.

I don't know what the jobs are though, or even what the pay is.

"I don't even know where the places are or if it's a pub or some manual labor." I explained to Xylvia.

"Well, this one's pretty simple," Xylvia said through her bites of food. "Your pay is decided by your status. There's Hire, Rookie, Climber, and Worthy. You'll be given the position 'Hire' on your first day of the job. After a couple of days, you'll advance to Rookie, where your pay will rise a little. Then, after about a couple of rows, you'll be at climber. Four rows later, Worthy. Payment usually starts at around ten Hexes for every section that passes."

"What is the currency," I asked her. "And how long is a Section? What's the difference between payments? Is it significant, or barely noticeable? Is ten Jules good? Average? Bad?"

The amount of questions I had flooded out of my brain while giving Xylvia's probably the most painful headache. I couldn't help it though. I was being taught so much only to question much more.

"Currency is weighed on five types of minerals," Xylvia continued. "The first one is called Tiles. Pretty common to find even in this mineral deprived city. They're a blackish rock with 0-15 flares to them and can break pretty easily, with enough force of course. They're mostly used to purchase relic items like cheap toys and fake jewelry along with small snacks."

"If they break easily, wouldn't it be easy for someone to just break one in half and then have two?" I asked.

"Nope, because they look like this."

Xylvia pulled out a black coin from her pocket that had a symbol engraved on it. I guessed that it probably stood for Tile.

"It'd be easy to tell. Anyways, the next one is called Hex. They're made of a white, bony substance and have a thin layer of a chalky substance. It's always annoying trying to pay with them since the powder can sometimes fly all over the place, but they're more valuable since they're almost impossible to break and have an oddly flashier material that puts them at 20-25 flares. You can't find them here anymore, so only members of the army go off looking for them since they have the gear to retreat from the Corrupted outside. They look like this."

Xylvia then pulled out a chalky white coin with a different symbol on it that probably said Hex. It was about the same size as a Tile.

"Next is a Tracer. These are extremely rare to find here in this city. We've pretty much extracted as much as we could from inside the barrier point, which wasn't even much to begin with. Tracers are made of a smooth rocky material that's black, but they also have multiple colors that look like they're glowing. These are worth a hell of a lot. They're impossible to break and stand at 85-120 flares. Also, I happen to be one of the lucky ones to have gotten my hands on one."

She pulled out a coin that looked smooth to the touch with a slight colorful glisten to it. The coin was slightly smaller than the other two, but it definitely looked much more appealing.

"Gleam gave this to me when we first met," Xylvia said to me, twirling the coin around her fingertips. "It's something that I mostly use as jewelry than as money. See, it's got a necklace tied onto it. Her alchemy magic is leagues above what anyone down here can do. Well, that is to be expected from a goddess I guess. I wish I could wear it more, but I'm afraid of someone stealing it from me."

They way she talked so passionately about Gleam kinda made her look like a child doting on their mother.

"You guys must've been together for a while," I chuckled. "You know, you and Gleam."

"Well yeah. I had no where else to go really. She was basically my father."

"Why do you say father?"

"Because I had a mother, a very loving mother as well who always took care of me, made me beautiful things, and sang me lullaby's before I fell asleep every night. But, my father was never around. He just…was never there."

Xylvia stopped eating. She just sat there with her head hung low, looking at her plate like it was shattered into millions of pieces. I probably shouldn't pry any further.

"You don't have to tell me any more," I said to her. "The last thing I would want is for you to feel sad."

"Hmm…ok," she nodded her head. "Thanks… Anyways, the last two coins don't really matter."

"Why's that?"

"Because the fourth one, Gemstone, is something that you probably can't even find on this continent. From the legends that I've heard, there's an abundance of them in oceans and deep caves. And then the fifth one, Mythium, isn't even really a currency, but more like a status."

"What makes it a status?"

"It's a gold coin that can never be dirtied no matter how much grime you soak it into. "The symbol is of a Dragon's fang, an Elf's ear, and. A Felinian's tail. That coin is the symbol of this city, as well as throughout the world. It's the symbol of god. Gleam's symbol."

So that coin is what grants her the status as the goddess of this world? How'd she wind up with it? Was she the only one to ever have it, or have other had it before her? Did she win it through an election, or was she just born with it from this Council thingy?

So many questions kept pouring into my head, but suddenly left as soon as I realized how deep I was going with this. It's probably something I shouldn't pry into anyways. This is stuff that gods should be worrying about, not some common person like me.

"Anyways, I should probably be looking for some kind of job," I resumed. "You know anything good around here?"

"Well, Zig picked me up whenever I needed some minerals," Xylvia said, back to chomping on her food. "He might be willing to pick you up as well if he has a spot. If he does, he'll probably start you off on 4 Hex a Section."

"What's a section?"

"In one cycle, there are 10 sections. At section 1-3, we call this the Rising Light part of the cycle. Section 4, we call that Awakening. Section 5-6 would be Middle Light. Sections 7-9 would be Dying Light. And finally, Section 10 would be Nightfall. Hire's usually only work about three sections a cycle for two days a row, but once you're at Worthy like me, you'll be getting at least 7 Sections a cycle for four cycles every Row with a pay of 8-12 Hex a Section. And yes, that's a really good pay. Even yours is somewhat decent. At least enough for you to stay here in this Stay-In for as long as you need. Oh, and a Row is ten Cycles long."

Well that's good to know.

"We should probably get you to the pub and introduce you to the staff," Xylvia said through her last bites of food. "I'm fairly certain that Zig will hire you without a doubt."

Xylvia rudely left the plates on the table instead of taking them to the plate dispenser and dragged me back out onto the road of the city. I know I said it many times already, but I just can't get over how beautiful the city looks . The colorful sky, the wonderful neon lights scattered across the buildings, and even the people brought another layer of how vibrant and alive this place is.

It's kinda hard to imagine that there's a Corruption virus going around.

"OUTTA THE WAY!"

A sudden demanding scream came from behind. I turned to see a woman carrying what looked to be a bag slung over her shoulder. She had a hood, but I could see her messy brown hair and bright green eyes from where I was. She also looked to have a breast plate on and a sword sling to her side.

*Shing!*

I felt something coming. I could here a whizzing sound from somewhere, but I couldn't pinpoint where. The woman ran right past me, but she wasn't the cause.

*WHIZ!*

*WHAP!*

It was an arrow, heading straight for the woman. I took a glance behind me, seeing that she already had her sword pulled out to swat it away. However…

"Thank you." She mouthed to me before continuing to take off once again.

I looked over at my hand to see the arrow firmly clenched in it.

"You damn fool," said a voice ahead of me. "You dare get in our ways again, we'll have your head planted on a stake!"

I paid no attention to whoever said that. I could only stare at the arrow. I don't understand. It's…been years. How could I still…even now…?

*DOOM!*

It suddenly grew dark. No, not just dark…it was completely pitch black. Everything, except for a faint light that came from behind me. That light was hanging above a door, swinging slowly left and right while making an eerie creaking noise.

This door was wrong. Everything about it was wrong. The metal was rusted, the window was completely hollow and nothing could be seen through it, and the lock was completely busted.

*CLANK*

The door's handle suddenly jerked down, an ominous freak followed behind it as it slowly peaked open. Behind it was a man on his knees. No, where's his knees? His…torso?

He suddenly reached out to me, his face beaten in and bloodied with no sign of human emotion to be seen. All I could see were tears pouring down his face. The exhaustion behind his breath, followed by his wobbling movements. He looked to have given up.

*Thump.*

He fell to the ground, barely making any noise. His lower half was completely gone, a smear of entrails left a trail from where he had come from.

Why…why now? I thought I had finally forgotten…

*RATTLE RATTLE!*

The sound of chains echoed from deep within the room. A hook was suddenly thrown straight toward the dead man, slicing through his skin and into his neck. He was dragged back into the room, where god know what was happening.

"I just…need to shut that door… If I shut that door…it'll all…go…away…"

I shuffled my feet closer and closer to the door, inches away from pushing it close.

"It'll all…go…away…"

*CHU!*

A light suddenly switched on from behind me. I turned to see…a chair covered in blood.

"Don't you remember…? The sound that an arrow makes…whenever it's released from the string?"

*WHIZ!*

I hear it again…

*WHIZ!*

I remember…

*WHIZ!*

What it…sounds like…

*WHIZ!*

What it…feels like…*

*WHIZ!*

How…badly it hurts…

"…"

"HIRO!"

"I'm done playing games with you kid."

*WHIZ!*

*SNATCH!*

"…Enough…"

I was back in reality. A man in a suit of armor shot at me with a bow and arrow. Xylvia tried to get the guards to leave, even going as far as to unsheathe her claws. And there was a crowd of people here, probably wanting to see a public execution.

As for me…I was just sick and tired of this damn sound.

"Enough…of this fucking noise." I snarled through my teeth.

My grip tightened on the arrows that were in both my hands. They both slowly began to snap in half.

*ZZZZ!*

The man in armor pulled back another arrow.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?!" Xylvia screamed at the man in armor.

The man didn't listen, but I could see something very off about him. His eyes…were completely dead.

"He's…been Corrupted," Xylvia muttered. "HIRO, GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

*WHIZ!*

I jerked my head to the left, barely avoiding the arrow he shot. He went to pull another one, but I didn't give him the chamce. He was way too close to me for to be able to fire another shot quick enough. I shoulder tackled him to the ground. The arrow he half pulled shot upwards and landed back down to the ground. I held the two arrows in my hand right close to the man's eyes, the tips coming so close that his eyelashes would touch them if he blinked.

No…I can't do this.

I quickly dropped the arrows and picked myself back up. A few deep breaths in, I was finally calm. I wasn't there anymore, that world is gone. Everything is fine. Everything is normal. Just…breathe.

*SHINK!*

The sound of metal scraping came from behind me. It was the armored man…with a sword. I was ready to dodge, but…

*SLASH!* *PSSSSHHH!*

…but I was met with a geyser of blood.

Xylvia slashed the guys neck, her claws ripping straight through his jugular veins. The spray of blood hit my face a little before being directed at the cold ground. The stench of blood spread straight into my nose, and flowed throughout my body. This stench of rotten iron and vomit was the most putrid thing I've ever smelled.

"*RETCH!* *BLEGH!*"

No matter how many times I smelled that stench, I could never stop vomiting from it.