New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

947  Getting Caught

Alex walked over to Simo and Kary, introducing himself to the man, who didn't look much older than twenty-one. They proceeded aboard the aircraft, and a crew of four men loaded their luggage into the back of the plane, where David was still working.

The crew gave him strange looks as he worked tirelessly on the table, but he ignored them. He was expecting such gazes, given his skin was slowly turning deathly pale.

In time, he expected to look just as white as his death knight, and knew this would attract attention.

He hardly cared about it, though. People could look all they wanted.

His job wasn't to be the face of salvation. Only to save them.

There wasn't much to load, and so the crew quickly left the cargo area, leaving David isolated with his thoughts. The other passengers of the plane were up front, engaging in small talk, getting to know each other, for those who had never met.

Simo, or rather, Aapo, was bombarded with questions by the younger members of the team, whom he had met for the first time. His mind was in shock that children were brought for what had been advertised to be a dangerous mission.

He felt like this wasn't the most responsible thing to do, but he wasn't in a position to question the guild leaders. That became especially true when he learned that the three youngest people here were all officers in the guild.

He had seldom met the officers, and only knew of Kary and Alexander's characters, Phoenix and Astaroth. The only other person he knew on this plane, he hadn't seen a hair of, and that was David, or as he knew him, Khalor.

Aapo quickly realized that aside from himself and Killian, these were all upper echelons of Paragons. His nerves suddenly tensed, as some performance anxiety built up in his mind.

'If any of them are as strong as they are inside the game, why am I even useful to this expedition?' he wondered.

He kept his questions to himself, not wanting to step on anyone's feet or ruffle any feathers, while he did his best to answer all their questions. Luckily for him, they were all questions about his provenance, and how he chose his character's name.

In the meantime, Kary, Alex, and Killian sat at the front of the plane, nearest the pilot's cockpit, and started discussing seriously the implications of Killian's presence aboard.

"From my understanding, you want to be present mostly to film this encounter, so your players believe you when you say monsters are appearing," Alex started, putting the cards on the table.

"Yes. That is correct. Although I will help with the fighting, if necessary, I would much rather stay out of it and capture the entire encounter from a safe distance. I don't think it is my time to fight yet," Killian replied, clenching his fist.

He still didn't think he was strong enough to face monsters on this side of reality.

Truth be told, even though he called himself an awakened, Killian could barely hold that title. His talents in mana did not come from New Eden, and he had trouble assimilating his skills from the game because of it.

Yes, his swordsmanship and his archery skills may be top-notch, but they were a far cry away from being called masterful. Oftentimes, the choice to wield multiple weapons came with the cost of never mastering either.

As for his use of mana, well, that was an entire problem in itself.

Due to his upbringing, Killian had known how to harness mana for a long time, but he wasn't at liberty to discuss it with these people, even if they were friends. The issue lay in his ineptitude to wield the mana that didn't come from this world.

Contrary to what everyone around the world thought, the energy known as mana, or Qi, or whatever the locals called it around the world, had never been a myth, and it had never entirely vanished.

Certainly, it had diminished over the millennia of Earth's existence, but it had never extinguished entirely. Many organizations existed across the globe that had learned to harness it.

And his family was part of one of those organizations.

Killian raised his gaze over at Winston, who seemed carefree in this situation, and envy flashed in his eyes.

The child had never been through the training their family all went through, because of his illness, and it seemed to have been a blessing in disguise in this situation.

Even from here, Killian could feel the mana flowing through the kid, a stream of much purer energy than his own, and he sighed inwardly.

These thoughts flashing through his mind, Killian locked eyes with Alexander.

"I know it is unreasonable of me to ask to be present and not fight, but I think it is in everyone's best interest if we don't add a weak link in your battle plan."

Kary frowned at his words.

She could feel the mana inside him, and knew of his combat prowess. Wouldn't that alone make him an asset?

But Alex shook his head, like he knew something she didn't.

"I can understand why you would think like this, Killian. You never really awakened, after all," Alex said, his gaze locking into Killian's.

Killian felt a shiver run down his spine, feeling the pressure inside Alex's gaze. Then his mind registered the words he had just said, and his heart skipped a beat.

Even Kary was looking at Alex with a strange look.

"What do you mean he hasn't awakened? I can feel the mana inside him," she asked, confused.

"Yes, there is mana inside him. But it's not the same that we use. Can't you sense how weak it is? And how familiar?"

Kary, focusing her senses on Killian, quickly found out what he meant.

Her eyes went wide.

"It's almost the same as the Qi inside Gu Fang!" she whisper-shouted, trying to keep their conversation out of reach for the younger ones.

"You're from a hidden organization, aren't you?" Alex asked him.

Killian immediately became guarded, as this information was supposed to be a secret.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

"Cut the crap. We have met others before you. Does the Zhong Kui ring a bell? I'm sure you aren't from that one, since you aren't using qi. Which brings me to the question: which organization do you come from?"

Killian's eyes became cold as he started rising from his seat.

"I don't want to come anymore. I feel unwelcome."

But an immense wave of mana slammed into him, forcing him back down, as cold sweats started dripping all over his body.

"Sit down. You aren't going anywhere."

Sorry for the late chapter. A friend called me in for some help at work, and I didn't get time to write. Regardless, there will be a chapter at 6 PM today.

Galanar

Creator's Thought