"This is your room for now," Mars said, swinging open the door to what used to be her gaming room.
Aya stepped in to look at the room now cleared of Mars' gaming pod and tables. The room arse now, only having a thick spare mattress id on the carpeted floor and one of Mars's free tables.
The short curtains rustled in the wind as Mars fot to shut the window, Mars walked iuring to Aya and wide space.
"It's not much but once we put the rest of your things around I'm sure it'll be-"
Mars didn't finish her sentence as Aya leaped to hug her. Mars stumbled from the shirl's weight, pausing for a moment before hesitantly ing an arm around Aya.
"Thank you for doing this," Aya said early, she pulled back to observe Mars whose face had grown red from the hug.
"I said I was going to do it," Mars mumbled, She patted Aya's head fondly with a sigh. "Silly girl,"
They spent the evening putting Aya's things in order all around the room. In an hour, it looked as close to home as Aya could hope before they moved out.
"Don't get too fortable, we'll be moving soon after all," Mars reminded her, watg Aya set up her VR Gear and PacBook.
"It's alright, I just have some things to che in the game and then I'll sleep,"
"You better, I'm going to py a little too but I'll be here to help you log out so you get some rest," Mars said.
"Hey! I thought you said you wouldn't help me if I choked!" Aya whined.
"Making sure you sleep is different from you choking," Mars grihe dark haired girl left the room allowing Aya some space to process her thoughts.
"I'm really gd, if Lydia and Fido do mao get in they'll find nothing in my apartment," Aya said ying down otress she thought about Fido and how remorseless the man had been.
He had abandoned her at eighteen, leavio fend for herself with a woman who would rather see her dead than taken care of. He hadn't even paid her disted rent which led Aya to work double to cover two months of overdue rent.
His smiling face disgusted her, the way the man had spoken about her through her door and the way he thought she wouldn't see through his facade strengthehe notion that Fido was someoo be careful around.
"He holy makes me siy stomach," Aya said with a grimace, she id down otress with a frown. If Fido really did kill her grandmother roof did she have? So far, all she had were suspis of his foul deed but one way or another Aya was determio get to the bottom of it.
Disfrew within her chest, the spiracy thied. Aya hought her family would have su intricate web of deceit, was Lydia even her aunt at this point? Or was the woman simply a pnt much like Fido had been?
Who was her only liviive ahey looking for her too?
----------
Before starting the game Aya checked her phoo find the missed call notification. Her mind fshed back to earlier in the day when she had dismissed Ats' call in a fit of panic.
"Oh crap, after bugging him to call," she said to herself.
She dialed the number, putting the phoo her ear and hoping it would ect to the busy president of Nue Corp.
"Aya?" Ats' voice said oher end of the line prompting Aya to release the breath she had been holding.
Over the phone, she heard the soft whirring of tires letting her know he was on the road.
"Hi! Sorry, you caught me at a bad time earlier today," she said with a nervous ugh.
"I'd expect, I hope this isn't a bad time for you. Professional gamer and all that,"
"Wait, how did you know I rofessional gamer?" Aya asked.
"It seemed like the logical step for you, though I've seen some of those PVP matches and I must say it's brutal out there isn't it?" Ats said.
Aya heard the in his voice, she shook her head despite knowing he couldn't see her.
"Oh no, no, I don't py PVP matches, they're way off limits for me, I don't want to get hurt or something," she said.
Ats made a sound over the phone, agreeing with her assertions.
"Good, I've seen matches with one pyer in particur, gelo or something like that. He seems like quite the maniac,"
Aya ughed, prompting Ats to give a chuckle of his own.
"I've seen his highlight reels too, he's exactly ut me off PVP permaly, I would hate to enter him at all!"
The two eheir versation until Ats had to end the call due to overtime work.
"I promise to call again soon," Ats said, "hopefully with better timing."
"I look forward to that, we should go out again. Those donuts were really good,"
"They were, bye Aya,"
"Bye Ats,"
----------
Yvlena appeared within the desote halls of the Rose Manor within the mysterious room taining the dollhouse. She marked it for ter aed the room turning around the er to find aaircase leading upstairs.
"Let's see," She said, pg her foot on the first step. The game notified her with a simir warning as before.
[Unstable Infrastructure, Your Character Risks Possible Injury]
[Repair Staircase To Proceed To The Upper Level?
Wood x300]
[Yes/No]
"Now it needs 300 pieces of wood, I suppose I should busy myself with rest these two floors, I'll ask Risel or Laurent where I find a silk for the rag and if they know anything about the previous Harvest Guardian the room might have beloo,"
She ran doweps and out the doors to be met with a flurry of birds.
Large bck birds circled her fields, g loudly as they dug up her seeds and ruihe nd she had worked so hard to till.
"Ack! My crops," Yvlena yelled, running forward and swinging her arms to scare the birds away. They paid her no mind and tio swiftly nd and peck at her pnts.
[Sprite cast Sting (01 MP)]
One of the birds went down dissolving into fkes of light as all her previous enemies had done in the past.
[Yvlena Acquired
EXP: 975/1300
***
Chum x1
***
Moon Points: x5]
"Oh," Yvlena said in disappoi as she let her summons finish up the pesky birds. "They're so weak!" she rushed over to the patch of nd where she had pnted her wild seeds.
Not only had the birds eaten some of the newer seeds, they had pulled some pnts up at the root and messed up the freshly tilled patch.
"Looks like I'm starting over," She said, already taking out her hoe tanize more squares for her seeds. "I could probably craft a scarecrow or something, I hought birds of all things would attack my crops!"
"Keep a for more birds, I'll be back," Yvlena said to her summons. Sprite gave a small salute as Rabbit Knight skewered a bird mid air with his trusty rapier.
----------
"Oh Yvlena," Risel said in a solemn tohe elf was reading a rge alchemical tome and hadn't bothered to look up at Yvlena, her pointed ears drooped.
Soon Risel put the book down and teo the apothecary shelves prompting Yvlena to know something was wrong.
[Ylect of Risel's urgent quest has dampened her mood]
"Oh no, the Verdant Woods," Yvlena whispered to herself. She'd been so busy with the manor that she had fotten to do her friend's quest.
Risel was one of the most important NPCs to Yvlena and she hated to see her friend so down. Yvlena sighed, making up her mind to iigate the Verdant Woods among other things.
She walked up to the ter and pced her hands on it, leaning forward with a smile.
"Hi Risel, I've gotten my alchemy to level three I think I'm ready for more potions, do you have anything that could help me through the Verdant Woods?" Yvlena asked.
Risel's ears perked up, the blonde elf spun around with her mouth open upon hearing Yvlena's iion to ehe Verdant woods.
[Affinity with Risel Increased+2]
"Y-Yes, I meaions you have should be good for now but you're always wele to buy more! You get an alchemy kit too and enhahem some more!" Risel said beaming.
Yvlena smiled back at her, it warmed her heart to see the only other elf she had met so far smiling.
Risel pulled up her shop menu allowing Yvlena to look through the items now avaible to her. Some of the recipes previously walled off from her due to her lower alchemy level now fshed with a noticeable light.
"Poison," Yvlena gasped. After another moment of searg, she found a on antidote. She purchased the two of them and then got the alchemy kit as Risel suggested.
"Oh Yvlena you have no idea what this means to me, the possibility of seeing my brain!" Risel said.
"You t on me Risel, I just have some questions," Yvlena said.
"Ask away,”
“The Verdant Woods have been submerged in the Miasma for a very long time, haven't they? More than the Bloom Forest's Depths?”
Risel nodded.
“The Miasma from the Depths was still pretty young, nowhere he level of the Verdant Woods, I worry what you might enter there actually,” Risel said.
'She’s right, the creatures there might be even more corrupted and I know I'll have to fight some lesser Miasmitities like that car and ander Addison,’ Yvlena thought.
“That would mean I'll have to be careful,”
“Yvlena the Verdant Woods have several yers of Miasma, the deeper you go the worse it gets, if you 't ma all at once you always e back!” Risel said. Worry shone in the elf girl's green eyes.
“Don't worry Risel, as the Harvest Guardian it's my duty to clear the Miasma in the first pce,” Yvlena said bravely, she puffed out her chest the way she imagined a hero would.
Risel giggled.
“Be careful, I'll know if you clear the first yer, I see it from here after all,” Risel said.
“My question is, do you know where I find a silk rag?”
Risel put a fio her mouth in thought.
“Now that's an odd item! Only the aristocracy of Bloom Haven would have something like that, you get spider silk from the Verdant Woods or the caves to the East, but you will have to get a Loom from one of the tailors withiisan District,” Risel expined.
Yvlena nodded.
If the silk rag was a symbol of Bloom Haven's aristocracy then one of the previous Harvest Guardians must have been one as well.
“Risel, did you know any of the Harvest Guardians besides Rael? Ohat might have been a noble perhaps?”
“Yes, she was from a destitute noble family here in Bloom Haven, but it's so fuzzy to me and I 't remember her name!” Risel said, rubbiemple. “The library might have something,”
“Thank you Risel, I'll be sure to stop by again if I need anything,” Yvlena said.
“I'll be expeg you!” Risel called as Yvlehrough the door of the apothecary.