Chapter 6: Black Sphere Thingy

I squeeze her tight, then let her go. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

She looks into my eyes, almost as if she were looking for a lie in my words.

Before she can say anything, I speak up to the whole room, “Hey mom? Dad? Do you think you could give me and Rose some alone time? I need to talk to her about something.”

Elizabeth opens her mouth to argue, but before she can, Dad puts his hand on her shoulders. She deflates, as my Dad says “Of course Elle, let me know when you guys are done.”

The three of them leave the room, and I wait for their steps to disappear before turning to Rose. “That wasn’t the first time you killed someone, was it?”

She looks at me as if she were waiting for me to say more, but when I don’t say anything, she sags into herself. “No. It wasn’t my first time.”

“So you aren’t a virgin then? Darn.” At her confused stare, I give a small sigh. “Admittedly, that wasn’t funny. But you can’t blame a girl for trying.”

We both stay there in silence, before a small laugh escapes her lips.

She looks away as more laughter escapes. It turns into a sad, hurt laugh, and towards the end, she starts crying.

I pull her to me, and she doesn’t resist. She rests her head on my uninjured shoulder, sobbing loudly. When she starts to quiet down, I gently move her away to look at her, “Tell me what happened.”

“I-I don’t know where to start.”

I wipe a tear away from her cheek. “Well, generally, people start at the beginning, then they go through the middle till they reach the end.”

A small smile creeps onto her face, “That was terrible.” The smile disappears, “I guess it starts back then.” She laughs softly, but it’s not a real laugh. “I must have been five or six years old when my father got involved with some real bad people. Like, real bad.” She stops for a moment. “By the time I was eight, things changed, my father was becoming more important, and I was starting to understand exactly what it was that he did.” She looks up at me, meeting my gaze. “I was a stupid and entitled brat, so I went to where he was working one night. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind.

“When I found my father. He was in a room with someone and they were arguing- I don’t remember what it was about, but it doesn’t really matter now.” Rose stares at her hand. The next part is said so quietly that I have to lean forward to hear her. “The fight got worse, and he was hitting my dad, a gun was knocked to the floor. He was hurting my dad, so I- I-.” She takes a deep breath. “I became a murderer when I was a child.”

“Rose,” I say, bringing her back to me. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe here. Can I say something?”

She nods.

“You’re cute when you tell tragic backstories.”

She snorts in surprise. “I hate you.”

“That’s okay. You’re still cute.” I respond.

“If you weren’t in a hospital bed right now, I’d hit you.” She says it, but I can see the beginnings of a smile on her lips.

The room descends into silence. Her hand finds mine and holds tight, as if I were a lifeline preventing her from drowning.

“Does that mean I get a discount if I hire you as a bodyguard?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “You could never afford me.”

“Hah.”

“I’m surprised that I told you that.” Rose motions for me to move over and she lies down on top of the sheets next to me, her hand still holding mine. “You are easy to talk to.” Rose turns her head to look at me. “I’ve been wondering; you fought like an action star back there. Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

I look away from her eyes, up to the ceiling. “I’m pretty messed up in the head, and I wasn’t exactly the best kid in school. I got in fights with boys, a lot. My dad learned martial arts as a kid, and he thought that some discipline would help, so he brought me to a friend of his. I don’t know if it was the discipline, or the fact that people couldn’t even bloody my lip, but the fights stopped. By that point, it had become a habit to see my dad’s friend for lessons.” I shrug my shoulders.

A light knock on the door startles both of us, and Rose slips off the bed.

A doctor walks into the room. She smiles as she looks at me, “Good morning Elena! It’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?”

I smile back up at her, “I’m feeling pretty good doc, how are you feeling?”

A hint of amusement shows in her eyes as she picks up my chart. “I’m feeling okay. It has been a very long day.” She looks up from the chart to examine me with her eyes. “You’re a lucky girl you know? There’s close to no nerve damage. The bullet mostly hit muscle and bone.”

“I’ve always been lucky.” I wink at the doctor.

Rose snickers, then looks away.

The doctor just rolls her eyes, as she moves over to my arm to unplug the various machines they have plugged into me. “Everything seems to be in order then. You should be good to leave. Remember to drink lots of fluids and let your dad know if you have any weird sensations or pains.”

“Thanks doc.” I respond. I swing my legs off the bed, then feel a wave of dizziness. Rose is by my side in a second to steady me.

The doctor leads us out the door to where my mom and little sister are waiting.

“Your dad had to leave for an emergency.” Mom says, wringing her hands. “How are you feeling?”

“I get the feeling that a lot of people are going to be asking me that.” I squeeze Rose's shoulder, as she’s still supporting me. “I feel very supported right now.”

We start walking towards the exit, but Elizabeth runs ahead to stick her tongue out at me. “You should be feeling bad, making us all worry like that.”

I put my head into Rose’s shoulder. “Save me Rose, Elizabeth is making fun of me again.”

She laughs, the sadness in her eyes almost completely gone.

***

I’m out of the hospital pretty soon after that, having a doctor for a dad helps a lot when it comes to being discharged from the hospital.

A black car with tinted windows comes to pick up Rose, and my mom drives my little sister and I home.

I climb up the stairs, refusing the offer of help from my mom. It’s my shoulder that got injured, not my leg.

On the bed-stand lie the two gloves I had left behind. I glare at them, and then mentally chastise my brain for not remembering them.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

I pick the gloves up, and slide them onto my hands. A sigh of relief leaves me as the pain in my shoulder disappears, and the gloves work their healing magic, then I collapse into my bed and stare up at the ceiling.

My comfy sheets almost convince me to return to my dreams, but I shake my head and focus up.

“[Status]”

General Info: Elena S. Trudeau

Age:16 Lvl: 2

Class: N/A

Mana: N/A

Psi 220

Sponsor: Isis

Titles: Beta Tester, Crazy In A Good Way (Is that even possible?), Watched By The Gods, Chosen Of Isis

Special conditions: Most Definitely Not-Normal

Physical Condition: Healthy

Physicality: Athletic 86%

Brilliance: Graduate 97%

Equipment: Gloves(unique)

I have a sponsor now.

Does she give me money?

“Describe title [Chosen Of Isis]”

A blue screen pops into the air in front of me.

Isis has decided to sponsor you. Various benefits may pop up.

I love how clear and overly descriptive these messages are, never hard to understand, or incredibly irritating, or unclear, or incredibly irritating. Where’s my money, you two-bit goddess?

The screen does remind me of something else though.

“Oh holy system that definitely doesn’t annoy me, [give me from my inventory: the prize from the tutorial].” A metallic black sphere drops onto my stomach, making me exhale with a slight oof.

That was purposeful, wasn’t it? I glare at the ceiling before picking up the sphere and looking at it. It’s surprisingly light.

“Umm. [Identify Black Sphere Thingy?]”

Humble Abode Owner: Elena S Trudeau

Claim an area as your own to upgrade, change and enhance.

At least that tells me something.

I turn the sphere over, but it’s the same all around. Here goes nothing-

Actually, what does that phrase even mean? I am doing something, which isn’t nothing. So why-

I slap my cheeks to get back on track.

“[Activate Humble Abode]”

The sphere levitates out of my hand and starts spinning. It explodes into light, going through my house in a wave of energy.

Sounds of surprise from downstairs tell me that my mom and sister saw the light as well.

You are the third Beta Tester to unlock your Humble Abode. Due to this, you have been gifted a Game Shop inside your Humble Abode.

You have unlocked the in-game currency! Congratulations! From now on, whenever you defeat a creature, you gain gold usable in all in-game shops!

The shop system is still in alpha stages for your planet, most features may be inaccessible.

Humble Abode

Upgrades // Add Structure // Traps and Defences // Decorations

I blink as I read through all the messages begging for my attention, eventually ending up on the Humble Abode screen. Add Structure is grayed out, so I select it, hoping for an explanation.

Your Land is not large enough to support additional structures. You can expand your land by

A. Defeating the creatures in charge of other lands, or

B. Buying land.

I close the window, and move to the upgrades section. Two tabs pop up, one showing the shed, and the other being a tiny image of my family house. Under the house tab, images of all different kinds of houses are listed. I scroll through it for a moment, watching as the houses increase in size, complexity, and cost. There are all kinds of options, from mansions, to full-blown castles.

Once the houses get to a certain size, they become grayed-out for the same reason Add Structure is.

I close the window, mildly miffed that I can’t afford any of the upgrades. Imagining the look on my dad’s face when he comes home to a castle is a priceless thought.

I move over to Traps And Defences, then Decorations, but nothing stands out.

I close all the notifications, and think on the fact that I am only the third out of five million Beta Testers to unlock a Humble Abode.

I sit up in my bed, only now noticing the doorway standing where my window used to be. The frame of the doorway is a dark wood covered in purple vines. Instead of a door, there’s just a black void.

I’m pretty sure that wasn’t there earlier. Could this be the mysterious “shop”?

I jump out of my bed, and look at it curiously.

Whelp, nothing to it. Time to adventure!

I step into the void, and the world warps around me, colors flowing into each other as the world rearranges itself. It takes a second, but the colors finally return to normal.

In front of me is an empty marketplace. Elevator music plays in the background as I look at a bunch of shops with boarded up windows and Closed signs. Down the street a little bit, sits a singular shop with an Open sign.

With a small skip in my step, I walk towards the shop. It’s a normal looking shop that you might see walking down any street in my city.

I push the door open, causing bells to ring.

“Hello and welcome to The Information Store for planet Earth. My name is Taylor, I am from the planet Troi. How can I help you?”

A young woman greets me as I enter the building. Blue eyes, and teeth sharpened to a point smile at me as I walk into the mostly empty store. Long blue hair flows down her back in waves, while her clothes are a rather simple shirt and skirt. Her green skin has a lovely hue to it, and I have to say overall, she looks like a natural hostess.

“Hello Taylor.” I say, walking over to the counter she’s sitting behind. “Did you say planet Troi?”

“Yes I did! General information on the planet Troi is available for the low price of five gold.” She answers, her sharp smile never leaving her face.

I purse my lips, then give a guilty smile. “I don’t have any gold to buy anything. Is there some other way for me to get information?”

Her smile wanes at my lack of funds. “This is why no one wants to open up shop on a new world. No money to be made.” She sighs, deflating slightly as her business smile turns into a more natural, yet still polite expression. “Normally, I wouldn’t say anything, but since your reaction to me was a lot… calmer than the other two, I’ll give you a freebee; if you ask the right questions, I can answer them for free.”

I wonder what the other beta testers did. I mean, apart from her green skin and sharp teeth, she does look quite lovely. Maybe the other Beta Testers are bad with women? I know how gamers can be. “What did they do?”

She gives me a mild look of surprise, “I guess I can answer that. One was this big dude with a huge-ass sword. He pulled his sword out as soon as he saw me.”

Yeah, definitely doesn’t know how to talk to women. You have to wait until you know a girl -at least the third date- before you take out your big sword.

“The other one was just rude, kept calling me an NPC and asking what my code is.”

“Ugh. I feel you girl. We’ve all had to deal with guys that treat us like objects.” I say.

“I know, right?” Taylor leans against the desk, blowing her hair out of her eyes. “Guys never learn.” She gives a small shrug. “That was my entire interaction with them. Once they realized it costs gold to get info, they left the shop.”