After his quick visit to the bank, Klaus was even more motivated to continue evolving in Rise Online. However, before he returned home to play, he wanted to visit Rhyzer Park.
When he arrived in front of the gigantic skyscraper of the Happy Life Hospital in downtown Manhattan, he stared at the building with more tenacity than any of the powerful creatures he had faced within Rise Online. This place brought up several horrible memories for him.
As soon as Klaus passed through the automatic entrance doors, two strong security guards approached. Klaus already knew these men, so he smiled briefly to greet them, as he always did.
"Good morning, Roberto. Good morning, Brian." He greeted them separately.
Roberto was a Mexican immigrant who was usually very animated and welcoming, but this time he was wearing a serious expression. For his part, Brian was the most experienced security guard in the hospital, and his muscular body and piercing gaze were intimidating.
"What are you doing here, Klaus?" Roberto questioned him, and Klaus immediately realized that something was wrong.
"I came to visit my brother as I always do. What happened?" Klaus was a little alarmed.
Brian had a headset in his left ear and was listening to directions. When he took his left hand off the headset, he said to Klaus:
"Your entrance has been blocked. Only Rhyzer Park's mother or father will be allowed to visit him from now on. These are superior orders. I'm sorry about that, Klaus."
Startling the two security guards, Klaus laughed wryly after the seconds of initial shock passed.
"That's very childish of the current director of the hospital, but that's okay, there's nothing I can do to counter that. However, if you ever see this director walking through this lobby, tell him, or her,that I won't forget this."
Then Klaus put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and left the Happy Life Hospital without saying another word. Internally, he was boiling with anger that he would not be able to see his brother again for some time. This made him feel powerless.
'That was a low blow, a very low blow.' Klaus thought to himself.
When he returned to his new apartment, Klaus took care of his human needs, put on some comfortable clothes, and after inserting the internet cable into his second-hand NeuroGear, he connected to Rise Online. He listened to the same messages he always heard when connecting, but this was the first time that both Klaus, and also Kaizen, felt that these messages were particularly motivating.
'I will keep playing and evolving, until I am strong enough to change these two worlds.' He thought.
The first thing Kaizen did upon entering the game, was to look around him. Impressively, the parts of the city that were destroyed and damaged by the attack of the hordes were already being restored. From one side of the City Library square to the other, men were walking carrying logs on their shoulders and people were plastering the cracked parts of the stone buildings.
In front of the Municipal Library was a large caravan of carts, and inside the carts were barrels and boxes, presumably containing food and other supplies to support the citizens who had been harmed by the attack. Some of the people in the caravan were unloading the carts, while other people were taking the boxes and barrels into the library.
Men and women of all ages were working together to rebuild the city, and as always the mood was one of hope and determination.
While watching all this, Kaizen noticed a woman with long black hair approaching him. She had a slender but muscular body, and her skin was dark brown.
"Do you need any help, stranger?" she asked Kaizen, looking at him closely from head to toe. "Maybe some new clothes?"
Kaizen looked down at himself and realized that he no longer had his comfortable cloak and his armor was in tatters. Nevertheless, he didn't want to waste time with an NPC only to get low-level clothing for free, so he denied it.
"No, thank you very much. I'm fine."
"It's fine." The NPC said, bowed her head and went to check with another man passing nearby.
Kaizen was impressed by how many people there were in that square, and was even more impressed to realize that most of them were gamers. Most of them were probably interested in two things: items and quests. Moreover, if there were so many people helping to rebuild the city, the nobility was probably paying for it, and it was this money that the gamblers were after.
Another thing that caught Kaizen's attention was the number of armed guards patrolling the square and the surrounding area. They wore full white armor and had swords and spears in their hands. Some of them also had bows and quivers full of arrows on their backs. Apparently, the nobility was also taking all necessary measures to prevent or contain a new attack.
Realizing that there was nothing more interesting to see there, Kaizen decided to leave for his home. As soon as he set foot inside the manor he bought, he saw a ghostly head poking through the wall on the other side of the entrance hall.
"You're finally back..." said Og'tharoz, feigning dismay as he looked away.
"Did you miss me?" Kaizen teased him as he stretched his shoulders. He was still feeling the weight of the debuff from being at full inventory.
"I didn't even realize you were gone. In fact, some monsters tried to break in yesterday." The demon pointed to a corner of the room where there was a pile of charred bones. "They couldn't get past me, but it's been a while since I've dealt with monsters. What happened out there?"
As he pulled some things out of his inventory and they materialized before him, Kaizen explained what had happened the day before to Og'tharoz, who listened intently.
"Ah... I thought Hel had finally come to Midgard, but I guess that's still going to take a few hundred years." Og'tharoz said after hearing the story, floating in the air like a ghost. "By the way, what are all those things you put on the floor?"
"They are furniture for the item store and the forge I plan to set up here on the second floor."
"Forge? You don't look like a blacksmith to me. You know, blacksmiths are always dirty and smell like burnt dog hair." Og'tharoz said and suddenly transfigured into a man exactly as he described. He became tall, red-haired and with the tips of his beard well burnt. Then he returned to his normal appearance of black hair and pale skin. "But you don't look like someone of that type to me..."
"Ow, you could do that before?"
"What do you think? I'm a demon, so I'm an expert in transfiguration."
"Right... Anyway, can you help me tidy things up here?"
"Why would I do that?"
"Because I know you're bored here. That's why you sold the second floor to me, isn't it?" Kaizen said with a smile.
Og'tharoz arched his eyebrows and then sighed. "Fine, I'll help you, but I'll only do it because I'm bored. Make no mistake, I have nothing to do with your store." Og'tharoz said, and with a wave of his hand, he lifted into the air all the items that were in the lobby. "Actually, it's better that I do this alone, without someone to get in my way, after all half of this house is still mine, isn't it? Go out and get yourself a drink or find a real blacksmith to fix that armor of yours."
Kaizen was not the least bit bothered by the demon's comments, because he understood the reasons for Og'tharoz doubting that he was also a blacksmith, as he would also doubt it if someone who looked like himself said this.
"All right, I'll do that. But if you need anything later, don't hesitate to ask me."
"I know, I know." Og'tharoz said and then began to pack up the items he had picked up.
Kaizen left the house and then immediately removed the Light Armor made by the dwarf Zahir, because the armor was indeed in a deplorable state due to the heavy attacks it had suffered during the battle against the hordes. Kaizen had dozens of things to do, but the first thing he did was open his inventory.
[Player Inventory.
- Dagger of Obsession (1x)
- Complete Set of Zahir Light Armor (1x).
- Broken dagger (1x).
- Old Bow (x1).
- Beginner's canteen (1x).
- Extended canteen (1x).
- Old Blue Leather Tunic (x1).
- Potato Bread (10x).
- Apple (5x).
- Banana (10x)
- Mango (2x)
- Ironstone Origin Lamp (1x).
- Common Pickaxe (2x)
- Book on Smithing Methods (1x).
- Butterfly Bear Sword (1x).
- Peacemaker Orb (1x).
- Guardian's helmet (1x).
- Magic Scroll (1x).
- Grimoire of Curses (1x).
- Summoning of Hellround (1x).
- Key to the Nielfheim Gates (1x).
- Icy Ore (2x).
- Blessing of Bastet (1x).
- Key to the Tower of the Magi (1x).]
[Current money: 13,170 gold coins.]
'Well, I guess I better start by checking out what these items are exactly in the order they are here.' Kaizen thought and went to the back of the property for more privacy. 'Magic Scroll... We'll see what that is.' He clicked to the right of the item to read its description.
[Item: Magic Scroll.
This scroll has the ability to evolve any magic the user chooses. This item can only be used once and after that, the scroll will be self destroyed.
(Note: this item does not work with skills above Rank B of difficulty to obtain)
Class: Epic
Item Level: 1 of 1
Attack: 0
Defense: 0
Required Fitness Level: 3]
...
Edited by: DrHitsuji
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