Allisium

Chapter 10

It was funny how quickly your eyes got used to the ash gray of Initium. Our gaze was now lost in the immensity of the colors of a room whose floor, pure white, blinded us from how shiny it was. The furniture was gilt and the crystal chandeliers that hung from the ceiling sparkled with splendor. It could be said that that room exuded good taste and had a certain baroque air, to the Palace of Versailles. A place that I was able to visit in the virtual Earth of Allsium thanks to the instantaneous and cheapness of the trip. In reality it would have been impossible to do so.

"Damn, what a hurt!" Greek yelled. It was the only thing I could understand of all that he was saying out loud in Italian.

Zen was treating him with normal medicine. There was no way I was going to spend the four priests that the system had given us when we became illegal. A single one of them would have immediately healed Greek's wound, but he himself was not going to waste it. Let alone being in our hotel room, as injuries on property healed much faster.

At least killing that rich kid had done something.

The hall was large, but the rooms were not far behind; we had a single for each member. One of the peculiarities of the properties acquired in Allsium was that they adapted to the number of people in the group. We left the contract in the safe in the room, something that useless blonde never did. We couldn't imagine why he hadn't dropped her off at the hotel before heading out to hunt newbies, maybe he was feeling too confident or just being a complete idiot. With the contract in the safe, the property could never be stolen, although it could be sold or, in the event of the death of the entire group, it would simply disappear.

The hotel building was big, but the space inside was even bigger. Hotels and properties had their own rules, it was like their own storage system that took up no more physical space than the block of flats that you could see from the outside. These were intelligent homes that adapted to their owners at all times. In addition, they served as a box to accumulate unlimited objects. Even the same property placed the clothes in the closets or in the most suitable place when they were bought. Properties usually had no furniture, but being a hotel room we had everything we needed without spending a single credit.

The beds were huge and their mattresses were soft and of a high quality. I took a nap and got up refreshed, with no trace of pain in my arm, not even a small bullet scar. We were in the colorful paradise of Initium, far from all danger and from those ashy tones that we liked so little.

"Have you left Dagon alone?" I asked Zen while he was still tending to Greek's wound. In just a few hours it would be like new.

"Yes, but don't worry," Zen replied, concentrating on the leg, "I've got it under control." See that fifty inch television screen?

I got closer and, to my surprise, I saw that a cave appeared on TV that sounded very familiar to me. It was our meeting place in Initium, there must still be the body that Dagon had abandoned to work in real life.

Anyone who entered there could rob him or, worse still, kill him.

"Is that the cave?" I asked, not quite believing it. How can it be?

"Well, with a drone," Zen replied, still busy with Greek's leg. I was going to tell you later, but since you asked...

"Don't tell me you spent our remaining money on a bloody drone, fusilli head ," Greek exclaimed. Oh, don't push!

"Not exactly like that," replied the Japanese. Shut up and stop moving, mobster. I spent the money that was in the safe. And not everything, there's been a good bit left over “he smiled”. They were covered, so I thought it was appropriate to spend five thousand on the drone.

I didn't keep the accounts, but the trip had cost us a lot of effort, money, and too much suffering for Zen to spend five thousand credits on a simple drone. You could earn a thousand credits a month by working eight hours a day or more. Five thousand credits was a lot of dough, and on top of that he said it so calmly.

"Have you gone crazy, sushi face?" Greek snapped. Oh, don't push!

"Don't move, maccheroni ," he replied. Guys, I know it's a lot, but having money and being able to do it, I think it was necessary. The drone can save our lives on more than one occasion, and we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for it, I assure you. By now you'd still be hanging around in the woods or you'd have gotten a couple of bullets between your eyes. He made the shooting gesture with his hand. The drone will allow us to spy, control the territory and access places that we could not see in any other way. It's a pretty good version and it's bulletproof so don't complain and leave it to me. I'm the one who keeps the accounts, right? Well, I say we can afford it. And don't talk anymore.

"Okay," I said letting it be. The important thing was that we were alive, after all. How much money do we have now?

"Well, I've spent five thousand, but between what we had and what was in the safe… I'd say there's another five thousand more left." That will make things much easier, especially for initiation.

“Five thousand? said Greek, "that would settle a few debts in real life."

"This money won't come out of Allsium, ravioli , " Zen replied. I remind you that there are four of us, and that Dagon”san has put as much money and effort into this as we have.

"He put in about the same thing as us," Greek said.

I'm talking about legal money.

“All money is legal, hikikomori .

"It doesn't matter now," I intervened, looking at the cave. The thing is that Dagon is alone in the cave while he works in reality. We should go get him right away.

"Don't worry, he'll come to us as soon as he connects," Zen said. Just like you did when you came to town.

The Japanese had been in charge of making the property ours while Greek and I had a hard time. I wasn't sure how to feel about that, because Zen had used us to get to the hotel without arousing suspicion, knowing that all of that clan leader's henchmen were busy hunting us down.

In any case, he had saved our lives and we couldn't hold anything against him. Not even Greek did.

The Italian had hidden blows, like the one from the pistol he had hidden and with which he killed the leader of that clan, but the Japanese was not far behind. He proved to be more intelligent than we thought, to the point that he had even fooled us.

“According to my calculations, Dagon”san should be online soon. You know how he likes to take things easy,' he said. We will monitor with the drone and we will be attentive to what happens in the cave. Don't worry, before leaving him I took it upon myself to put on some camouflage.

There were four grasses and three tree branches at the entrance, it was so simple that it was embarrassing to see it.

Greek and I raised an eyebrow and Zen was quick to explain.

“Let's see, it's in the middle of nowhere,” he said, trying to defend himself, “it's highly unlikely that anyone will find the cave. In addition, not everyone in illegality is a trigger”happy, like our friend the gangster. The only thing that could happen is that they rob him, and he has nothing of value on him.” He shrugged as if he was absolutely right. If he gets hurt he'll heal up in no time here, so take it easy guys. You have no idea how illegal travelers behave. You should know that there is an unspoken law that respects those who have left their bodies in virtuality while they return to reality. If any adventurer comes across the virtual body of a person who is not connected to Allsium, in ninety percent of the cases they will only be robbed.

I didn't stay very calm, but we couldn't do anything else either. After all, Zen was the expert on Allsium's illegality, if anyone could be an expert on that.

"Dagon is not going to believe what happened to us while he was working," I commented.

"When he comes, the first thing we have to do is inform him and talk about the Guild Fountain," Zen pointed out. We can access it from the hotel hall.

The Way of the Wizard could be learned on the first planet of lawlessness, a crucial time for those who decided to obtain the powers of a wizard. Some abilities that would allow us to have a more comfortable life in case we needed to defend ourselves against the attack of wild beasts or from ambushes like the one we had suffered as soon as we arrived at Initium. The Path of the Wizard, however, had so many alternatives that it was one of the most complex.

We had talked a lot about what was the best mage path, but most of them were pretty comprehensive and helpful. There were some more powerful than others, such as Thunder; other more useful ones, like the Flame or the Frost; there were also rare ones, such as Seismic or Air, and some almost unexplored, that we didn't even know existed. In any case, they were only the tip of the iceberg of the ways that the great Path of the Wizard offered, information that was not even found in the deepest Internet.

The point was that Zen was destined to be a magician and knowing the Japanese, he would do whatever he wanted.

“Hey guys,” a familiar voice said, “I'm back. Where are you going?

"Look, he's here," I said. Accept the invitation, Dagon.