Flora finished her spell training. Then she crafted the coins she had promised to the clan members with a Riverstones logo on the back. Haidan distributed them and added another 50 coins, 50 Six-Changing-Finger-Positions Rubber-Training-Gloves, and 20 training boxes to the clan store. At last, she finished three more boxes for the training hut with Death and Blood rune-schemes.
After a short nap, she ventured to Talpica. Aidan guided her to a district with highrises. The buildings rose straight in the sky like tree trunks, and then the construction branched out like the crown of a tree with elemental domes instead of foliage. The fire domes glowed bright, and the water domes reflected the light. The spiky, green wood-structures seemed muted in comparison. Between the branches, rollercoaster tracks connected major domes.
"These are the biggest Christmas trees I've ever seen!" Flora exclaimed, craning her neck to look up the impossible buildings.
"We are in the center of Talpica. The Cradle auction house, the subsidiary of the Central Bank, and significant factions entertain branches here." Aidan explained to Flora while he guided her to the Mercenary Guild, which contained the Testing Center.
Turnstiles barred the entry to the building. Flora imitated the other people and swiped her badge across the loggy to gain entrance.
With a popping sound, a tiny figure appeared next to Flora's face.
Flora shrieked and jumped in shock.
<Bless and Condemn>!
"Don't block the turnstile. It's just your guide." A young man with a witch's hat admonished her while the people around him laughed.
Flora blushed and mumbled an apology. She followed the stream of people deeper into the building but ducked into the first alcove she found. The fluttering creature followed her.
"Hello, Flowing Flowers. I'm Friedhilde, your ferrying fairy!" The small woman chirped. Carried by translucent wings, she circled Flora's head. "I will guide you through the Sweeping Blow quest. Would you like to begin?"
"I don't know, dear. I heard warnings about following fairies. Can you give me some assurance that I will make it back into the real world, or at least into the real virtual world?"
The fairy chuckled, and it sounded like a chime ringing in the wind.
"My contract doesn't allow to ferry you away. Unfortunately, you'll get only the boring standard test."
"Now, I'm at the same time relieved and disappointed." Flora smiled and winked at the little creature.
Laughing, the fairy backflipped in the air.
"Follow me!" Friedhilde chirped before dashing away. Flora darted after her, with Aito and Aidan on her back.
"We'll start with the most tedious part first, taking the survey." The fairy said, stopping inside a wooden chamber with a runic control panel. She channeled mana into one rune, and the door closed behind them.
Flora expected it to work like an elevator and had to fight for her balance as it accelerated horizontally. The cabin catapulted into the outside, accompanied by Flora's shriek and Friedhilde's laughter. Abruptly, the cabin rose, and Flora could see the sinking ground through holes in the walls.
"I'm going to be sick!" Flora gasped and concentrated on her breathing to fight nausea, which caused another giggling fit in the fairy.
The cabin came to a hard stop in front of a water dome, barely bigger than the cabin.
YOU ARE READING
Auntie toasts the VRMMORPG
Science FictionAfter Flora Fluss burns down the kitchen, her son insists she is too old to live alone. She's got two choices. Either move into a retirement home or spend the rest of her life within a virtual reality game governed by society's most advanced artific...
