Chapter 17: 2.1

Kid opened his eyes and saw...nothing.  Nothing other than a small message, anyways.

Welcome to Layer 2!  Level 25 is required to reach the next layer.  359:23:59:56

He dismissed the message and saw the timer shrink and fly off to the edge of his vision.  Once that was done he noticed that he still couldn't see anything else.  He closed his eyes and opened them again and saw no difference.  He might have been less worried if he didn't know that his eyes should have been able to easily see in dark areas.  He heard a step behind him and someone bumped into him before grunting slightly.

"Huh?  Ah, sorry about this.  Give me a second, here," Randy's voice came from right behind him.

Within a few seconds the darkness dissipated and he could see that he was in a stone room with a door on the wall across from him only about 5 meters away.  A few moments later light started to permeate throughout the room in a similar way as it did in the temple, where he couldn't tell exactly where the light was coming from.  Within about 5 seconds he no longer had to rely on his night vision.  He decided to try and sate his curiosity by asking Randy how the light worked.

"Hey, quick question.  I noticed at the temple, too, but where exactly is the light coming from?  I can't even see...any...shadow?  Uh..."

As he finished asking his question he noticed that Randy was staring at him with wide eyes.  As he watched Randy's face he saw his eyes get wider and wider to an almost impossibly yet comically large size.  He kind of wanted to laugh at how ridiculous Randy looked but he was also getting nervous because he wasn't sure if Randy had noticed something that he should be looking at for.

"Well, damn, Kid!  You weren't lying about wanting to hide some shit.  Like, how in all the hells did you manage to pick so much controversial crap all at once?"

"Uh...what?"

"Right.  Sorry.  I meant to only take a quick peek at your status so I would know how much needed to be hidden and get the right thing for it and I might have ended up looking through a bit more of it than I intended.  Still...that's pretty ridiculous that you managed to pick something that combined two of the most hated species and get one of the most forbidden skills along with that.  That's not even mentioning having the bloodline skills you got that's going to act like a whole other bomb on the political side.  I honestly can't be sure if you could have become a more dangerous and controversial existence if you had tried."

"Uh..."

"*Sigh* No worries.  I'm a man of my word.  I'll still help you out.  I was just surprised now that I can see your status.  Let me warn you, though.  From now on be very very very careful who you let know anything about what you have in there.  That includes any gods.  There are some that would not be happy with some of that.  Let's go.  I want to shove you in a hole and hide you as quickly as possible until that utter bullshit of a status you have is hidden."

"Right.  So it's actually worse than I thought.  Good to know."

He followed Randy through the door and into a stone hall that stretched in both directions before turning to point in the same direction he was currently facing.  There were a few doors on either side of the hallway that looked the same as the simple wooden door they had just walked through.  Randy walked as if he knew exactly where he was going and after several turns Kid could no longer remember their path.

Randy finally stopped and went through a door that seemed the same as any other they had passed.  Kid followed him through as well and found himself in a large room that had no decorations or anything on the walls but otherwise seemed like a little used living room.  There were two couches surrounding a simple coffee table with some kind of crystal ball on its center.  Off to the right side was a countertop with what looked like a coffee machine and a tea set on it.  There were two doors on the left wall and two more on the far wall.  From one of the doors to the left came some kind of noise that started making him feel a little uncomfortable, like he's invaded someone's home or something.

Randy closed the door behind them and strode with quick steps up to the further of the two doors on the left.  He paused for a second and took a deep breath before he began to pound on the door with so much force that Kid was worried he might break it down.

"Hey!  Get out here already, you stupid horny robot!  I told you we were coming today, so why can't you hold yourself back for once?!"

After Randy finished shouting the sounds from earlier stopped.  A few moments later there were a lot of shuffling sounds and some clinks and clangs that made Kid wonder what exactly was going on.  In some ways he was incredibly curious but ultimately he was too worried about all the possible answers and made the decision that he would never ask just to be sure.  Shortly after all of that the door opened and a woman's voice announced began to berate Randy from just out of Kid's sight.

"Dammit all, you frigid ancient dwarf!  I was just at a good point!  You said you would be here around noon, anyways.  If I'm going to be watching over some brat for you the least you could do is let me finish in peace!"

"You should have done that yesterday or any time before now.  I told you we would be here around noon at the latest.  Now get out here and greet him."

"Fine."

Out of the door came a rather tall person with beautifully proportionate womanly features.  She, or maybe it, was an automata looking type species like the one guy that had been part of his initial group that had ended up changing into some other species.  She wore a dress that looked like it was made of steel and silver threads that somehow didn't reflect as much light as he thought it should.  She stood about 160 centimeters tall, and the parts not covered by the dress looked like they were made of various metals and woods in a tastefully artistic way with the shoulder-length hair seeming to be made of gold.  Her eyes looked like glowing crystals had been shoved inside miniature cue balls.  The joints on her hands were ball joints as far as he could see but he couldn't even begin to imagine exactly how they were held together.  Her glowing eyes quickly shifted over to him and held his gaze as he stared at her.  Although she had no 'skin' he could still see a frown form on her face.

"What?!"

"Sorry.  I just thought you were kind of pretty.  I was also wondering if you were the same species as the guy in my first group..."

"Huh?"  Her frown seemed to start switching over to a smile and he saw Randy open his mouth in silent protest over something.  "Someone else finally decided to be an automata, huh?  Did you happen to remember their name?  Think you could arrange a meeting?  I'd love to meet them."

"Umm.  Sorry.  We had a...uh...bitch for a mentor and she made him change species.  So...he's not one anymore."

"What?!  What the actual fuck?!"

"Alright," Randy finally interjected.  "If you'd paid any attention to anything I told you then you'd know that the group he's talking about was those guys that got traumatized by Nightwind.  He's the only one that got out of that, so there's no use yelling at or blaming him.  Commend him instead for going against-"

"Ya ya.  I might be angry but I'm not stupid.  I'm not going to start blaming him for anything.  Seriously, fuck Nightwind!  Anally!  Finally, someone else shows up and they have to get their fucking fingers into my happiness even more.  Whatever.  Hi, I'm Terishithinia.  You can just call me Terisa like everyone else does."

"Right.  Uh, hi.  I'm Kid."

"...That's it?  Just Kid?  You chose a pretty simple and boring name, huh?"

"Umm...not exactly?  I...uh...don't have one, technically."

"Don't have one?  Don't have what?"

"A name.  I'm just calling myself Kid since Randy seemed to like calling me that and it matches with me liking to use a revolver."

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"...You're a strange one, huh?  So, tell me Kid, why is it that I need to watch over you.  You seem a little more mature than you look, which isn't surprising since you probably changed your age, and definitely more calm and more mature than I was expecting."

He looked over at Randy with a questioning gaze and Randy nodded back.  He took that to mean that he could trust Terisa.

"Well, you know.  My status is kind of ridiculous.  I might have made some early choices that makes my life a bit difficult for now."

"Uh huh.  Like your forbidden magic?"

"Well...to be fair...I didn't actually choose to get that magic, it just kind of came with my race and stuff."

"Hm?  You look like a half-elf...did you pick something different?  What else looks like a half-elf...hm..."

"Um.  Isn't my status viewable now?"

"Huh?  Oh, Randy didn't tell you, did he?  As long as your on this side of that door, so all these rooms are included as well, you can't be appraised or anything.  This place is considered sacred and our god respects the privacy of those who want it when they come.  Is your status really that ridiculous?"

"Let me put it this way," Randy answered for him.  "Our god already has a personal interest in him less than a month after arriving in Aeon and when I saw his status for the first time a bit ago I almost forgot how to speak myself."

"Really?  Okay...now I'm starting to be actually interested.  Saying I was pretty instead of weird or something at the beginning was definitely some plus points.  Alright, I'm in.  Let's take a quick step outside if the area is clear, though.  I want to see his status myself."

"Just be careful.  I don't want to have to avoid crowds of raging people just because someone happened to appraise him when you weren't watching."

"Oh, please.  I'm better than that.  Come on, Kid.  Let's take a quick look."

Terisa grabbed him be the hand and dragged him back out into the corridor and turned to look at him.  Her eyes glowed a little brighter and the rest of her body seemed to freeze up as if she were a statue.  Several moments passed but she made no move to either go back into the room or ask a question.  Randy finally showed back up and grabbed his shoulders to pull him back into the room where they both stood and watched Terisa as she finally started to move once again.  She opened her mouth as if she were about to say something but Randy moved so quick that Kid could only see a blur and pulled Terisa back into the room before slamming the door shut.

"What!  The!  Fuck!  Are you a former resident who just wanted to piss off all of Aeon or something?"

"No.  Is it really that bad?"

"Is it that...Kid, people hate me for my species and some have even tried to kill me for it.  With you, it'll be a wonder to find more people that DON'T try to kill you for your species!  Blood demon?  Etherai?!  Dragon blood?!!  Seriously!  It's like you're trying to piss off as many people as possible just by existing.  I like it!  We are going to be the bestest of friends, mark my words.  This is going to be so much fun!"

He turned to Randy as Terisa continued rambling on.

"Uh...is she okay?"

"Ya.  Like I said, she's a little strange but she's still a decent enough sort and can be trusted.  Ah.  Just don't let her coerce you or seduce you into a fling or anything.  Trust me, it's not worth it."

"Right.  I won't even ask any further."

"Good man.  Now, I'm going to try and get some sleep before I head out since I have a long trip ahead of me.  I'll go ahead and use the couch so you can take the other bedroom.  Go ahead and treat it like yours for now.  You'll probably be mostly trapped here for the next month so you might as well try and get as comfortable as you can.  Terisa will make sure you stay safe and teach about whatever you need to know.  Probably happily."

"You bet I will," Terisa suddenly interjected from the side.  "Don't worry too much.  I'll make sure you don't get too bored.  There's more to do around here than it looks like."

"Ya.  What she said.  Anyways, I'm pretty sure you're tired as well since you're usually asleep at this time so go ahead and use the room as if it were yours and I'll see you again in like a month.  Oh, before I forget."

Would you like to add Randy to your friend list?  Yes/No

He looked at it for a second and then chose 'Yes' before turning back to Randy to ask about it but Randy was a step ahead and started talking before he could ask anything.

"Terisa can teach you about it later.  It's just in case something happens or something.  Better safe than sorry.  Now, go ahead and get situated.  Get some sleep.  Terisa is probably going to be dragging you around like crazy after you wake up so it'll be better if you're well rested."

Randy flopped onto one of the couches and turned away, indicating that the conversation was over.  Kid sighed and went towards the door that Terisa hadn't come out of while slipping his backpack off his shoulders.  As his hand touched the doorknob he heard Terisa call out to him.

"Hey.  The rooms are soundproofed against each other so you can make whatever sounds you want, okay?  Also, I don't exactly sleep.  Whenever you're up again just give my door a little knock to let me know you're up.  If there's something you think you'll need by then, though, you should probably tell me now so I can go get it.  Don't worry about the money for now."

"Oh, okay.  Um...maybe some meat?  Rare and bloody?  I mean...I don't want to sound...it's just...because my species-"

"Ya ya.  No worries.  I understand."

"Oh.  Also.  Maybe some paper or a notebook or something?  I don't have the best memory ever so it might be nice to be able to write important things down."

"Cool.  Bloody meat and paper.  You go on and have some good dreams and I'll try to make sure you have it when you wake back up."

"Okay.  Thanks."

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