BXBX NOVEL Chapter 14: Separated Paths
Chapter 14: Separated Paths
"415,000 gold," Amelia replied aloud, shutting the door behind her. "You\'ve said it a million times."
Karen Svensson, the enraged black-haired young woman, groaned as a response. She then cast balls of fire, blades of ice, and gusts of wind at rapid speed, striking a target 100 feet away from her. Her spells had no finesse and instead looked like out-of-control machine guns. "I\'M--SO--SICK--OF--HER!"
The white specialized walls were programmed to withstand the attack, but outside of the Damage Calculator room, such magical firepower would have demolished half of the Headquarters.
When the elemental witch ran out of mana and the smoke dissipated, a system window appeared above a dancing unscathed mannequin.
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Amazing!
Damage Rank: Silver A!
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"Yeah, that\'ll show Astrid," Amelia sneered, sitting on a black leather cushion in the spectator area. "So, what are you going to do about it? You\'re badmouthing our great and valorous Guild Master! She might be stupid and childish, but let\'s not forget that she could do that same amount of damage with just one punch."
Karen, wearing black sporty clothes, stomped out of the testing area to yell at her. "Are you being sympathetic to that bitch, Red?!"
Amelia\'s amber eyes shone with a fiery intensity. "Don\'t even joke about it, Karen."
A sonorous slurping sound made them turn to Faiza, the dark-skinned girl wearing a panda-themed hoodie, who was vigorously munching ramen next to them. She glanced back at both, blinking.
"Sorry, did I interrupt your bickering?" She shrugged while mixing her food with her chopsticks. "But Amelia is right. As long as Astrid is our leader, we can\'t do shit about it..." She then started mumbling: "We shouldn\'t have been there in the first place. I told you that yesterday... I lost money too, you know?"
Karen narrowed her eyes at her, grimacing. "Hey, give me a bite of that."
"No way!" Faiza hugged her bowl protectively. "You were the one that said, \'it\'s too early to eat ramen\'!"
"Come ooon! Just a little—" Karen got close enough to snatch the bowl, but was pushed by an aelephant-headed spirit that manifested out of Faiza\'s body.
"Do you see that?" Faiza pointed at a system window hovering above a coffee table. "That\'s the menu! Order yours and leave me alone!"
"Fine!" Karen stretched out her arms to her sides. "Someone doesn\'t know what sharing means, huh?! Red, since our Lord Marco is taking his sweet time, I\'m going to order some ramen. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
"I was going to, but..." Amelia sighed. "Just order black coffee for me, please."
Damn, Ghost. Who the hell does he think he is? Amelia thought, biting her lower lip. Just because Astrid supposedly \'cleared his name\', he thinks he can sit with us so casually? Seriously, Marissa, that was low, even for a prankster like you!
Amelia stared at the end of the room, where the dancing mannequin taunted her, ready to test her power. She wondered what rank she would get for stabbing or beheading it with her bare hand, as she did with Alan the night before.
\'Are you guys sisters?\' he had asked, while maintaining a dumb smile on his face. Makes me sick...
"That was fast!" Karen beamed at the sight of the male NPC entering to deliver the food.
Amelia did not glance at him. She was too busy observing her own hands. The feeling of taking Alan\'s many virtual lives was still palpable. She checked her nail polish and decided that the black color did not fit her anymore and changed them to red with the help of her User Interface. Red, like his blood...
"Here is your coffee, miss," the NPC spoke, but Amelia did not reply.
"Just leave it there, sweetheart," Karen said from her seat. "Someone is a little cranky today."
Amelia snickered. "Says the one that was popping a vein just minutes ago."
She then tapped the coffee mug to display a temperature slider, maxed it, and gulped it down immediately.
"Guys, don\'t you think that Ghost\'s \'coma story\' is bullshit?" she began.
"It\'s too convenient," Faiza pointed out, quietly.
"Exactly! So what do you think it\'s the real story?"
Faiza shrugged, hiding her gaze under her hoodie as if she was ready to take a nap. "Maybe he was working outside with the rest of the ship\'s staff."
Amelia frowned at her. "What makes you think that?"
"Aren\'t we just guessing?"
"Yeah, and you suck at it!" Karen interjected, pointing at Faiza\'s face with the chopsticks. "If one of the ship\'s engines exploded or something serious like that, why would they choose him to help them out? He\'s a teen, just like us. If he was some sort of hotshot engineer or something, he would\'ve boasted about it last night!"
"I didn\'t say that they woke him up to do some important stuff!" Faiza suddenly shouted. "Maybe they just needed a janitor or someone to rub the captain\'s shoulders!"
Karen vigorously shook her head. "Why are we talking as if \'working outside\' was the only valid theory?"
"What do you suggest, then?!"
"Don\'t ask me! I don\'t even know why we\'re talking about that piece of crap!"
"Astrid literally pissed off a third of the guild because of him," Amelia reminded Karen in a soft voice. "Don\'t you want to know why she would risk everything she has built for a guy like him?"
"Maybe they used to be \'fuck-friends\'! There! That\'s my theory! She defended him because he was her little pumpkin."
"Astrid with a guy like that?" Faiza loudly sneered. "Please! And you said that I sucked at guessing."
"Whatever, who cares! I don\'t care! You?!" Karen shouted, furiously mixing her noodles, until noticing Amelia\'s lost in thought expression. "Too bad you couldn\'t make him talk yesterday, even though you literally tortured him." Karen giggled, pointing at Amelia\'s bosom with her gaze. "Maybe he was into it, just to see those balloons of yours wiggle over and over again. Hu-hu."
"The guy kinda strikes me as a masochist after all..." Faiza added, embracing herself and shivering.
"\'Risk everything she has built for a guy like him\', eh?" Karen quoted after slurping noodles, smirking. "One can only hope—" The room\'s door opened, prompting Karen to quickly wipe her mouth with her sleeve. "There it is! Welcome in!"
Marco Souza entered at a calm pace, accompanied by his confidants. William The Stoic looked like a bodyguard, Matthew Bernstein crossed eyes with Amelia before nervously looking away, and Jason Foreman quietly giggled as if he had heard a joke inside his head.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting, ladies," Marco said, slightly bowing, putting his right hand against his chest. "But as you know, organizing all this resulted in quite a challenge."
"But you\'re bringing us good news, right?" Karen beamed at him. "Are we finally free of that harpy\'s claws?"
Marco smiled warmly at her for a brief moment, holding the information for a little longer. "Kathleen Maher is awaiting us at the Drinking Banshee, yes."
"AT LAST!" Karen cried, ecstatic, dashing towards him to hug him. "I knew you could do it!"
"I\'ve instructed the rest to go there as soon as they can," Marco continued. "As for you, my most trusted companions, she has sent for us a special transport. It\'ll arrive shortly."
"That\'s our boss!"
Seeing Karen keep embracing Marco made Amelia frown.
"It\'s so reassuring seeing you here, beautiful," William, the seven-foot-tall hulking man said, sitting beside her. "You made the right choice."
"As if I had plenty." She sighed. "I couldn\'t bear sharing the same roof as that bitch another day, so..."
"Jason, what are you doing here?" Faiza asked, looking at him through her hoodie\'s panda eyes that also acted as goggles. "Aren\'t you supposed to respawn in like half a day?"
Jason giggled while rubbing his hands constantly. "It takes more than a punch of the Golden Bitch to take down this chad."
"Or you got lucky thanks to your \'Flip Coin\' Passive Skill," Matthew whispered.
"Which only emphasizes how awesome I am!" Jason cried, before invading Marco\'s personal space. Even Karen stepped back too. "By the way, Boss, at what time is Kathleen picking us up?"
Marco winced as if Jason\'s breath had hit his nostrils. "Any moment now," he replied patiently. "Why? Afraid that Astrid will crash through the ceiling again?"
I could ask the same to you, Amelia thought, sneering, which did not go unnoticed by Marco.
"I seriously think we should go right now," Jason said, making Marco twitch one eye.
"Listen... I can\'t cancel Kathleen\'s ride. Why don\'t you relax a little and..." Marco went silent after Jason whispered something in his ear. Even Karen slightly frowned. "You didn\'t..."
"You aren\'t mad at me, are you?" Jason asked, hunching like a grounded kid, but Marco just chuckled.
"Not my way of doing things, but I can\'t blame you for being so... daring... William? Could you escort this fool to the Drinking Banshee? Don\'t make any stop and don\'t take your eyes off him until you arrive there."
"Sure thing, Boss," William said, and leaned towards Amelia before standing up: "Let\'s have a drink later, yes?" he whispered to her.
"Can\'t wait," she replied, without gazing at him.
"I-I\'ll go with you, guys," Matthew rushingly said after cautiously glancing at Amelia for the third time.
She groaned. Stop looking at me as if I\'m going to scorch you, kid! It always happens when you and Marissa have a fight. Did you have a fight? You, little...
"Will you wait for Kathleen\'s transport, Boss?" William asked as Jason and Matt crossed the exit.
"Yes." Marco smirked. "The rest of the guild needs to see ME leaving. That\'ll make the cogs in their heads work."
As the door closed, Amelia examined Marco\'s expression. There was a gleam in his gaze that Amelia had only seen a couple of times. Although he looks like in control of the situation, why do I perceive something else?
Marco crossed eyes with her, making her flinch.
"There\'s still a spot available for your sister," he said. "I hope she can join us."
"Thank you, Lord Marco, I appreciate it."
"Did you really convince the \'Snow Diamond\' to receive us?" Karen took the word, embracing him again. "Only you could pull it off. This is like a dream come true!"
"It was something that took months in the making," Marco said, chuckling. "Thanks for your confidence in me, Karen."
Noticing Amelia\'s lost in thought expression, Faiza got closer to whisper in her ear: "\'For how long is she going to continue hugging him?\' Is that what you\'re thinking?"
"You don\'t know me that well, Faiza," Amelia replied, rising from her seat to stroll towards the test area, where the dancing mannequin reset the score and waited. She stepped on the designated spot, then focused on the dummy. "Fire Crafting," Amelia intoned, getting surrounded by a fire whirl, hoping that the roaring of the flames could drown Karen\'s annoying voice.
The spell intensified, giving birth to a flaming serpent, which gradually turned into a 10-feet long dragon. Amelia reached out her hand aloft, commanding the monster to rise while channeling a fire breath.
Her mind superimposed Alan\'s stupid face on the dummy doll. Your entire existence doesn\'t matter to me. I couldn\'t care less if you were really in a coma, or working outside. The only good thing you\'ve done for us is give us the little push we needed...
She giggled and commanded the dragon to launch an incandescent fire beam. The explosion startled Karen and made Marco purse his lips. Amelia then sent the monster forward while transforming its entire body into a long metallic projectile. With the banging metallic sound of what now was a giant lance, the impact created a shock wave that blew the caster\'s hair away, along with the coffee mug and Karen\'s bowl of ramen off the coffee table.
"I\'ll go get my stuff," Amelia said, passing by her companions.
"Bitch..." Karen whispered, watching the test\'s results.
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Outstanding!
Damage Rank: Gold E!
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