Pieces of Sonder

Three books with plain brown covers sat on Dr. Iki’s desk. Beside them were an assortment of items, including a grey strip of fabric, a piece of bone, and an abacus. Freya immediately recognized the books as skill books. 

{Bird Song Messenger}

{Sound Amplification}

{Mimic Speech}

“I can’t seem to find what language these books are in, but another person I requested to bring me a bird song recording said they are valuable,” Dr. Iki explained, adjusting her yellow headband. She looked down at the books longingly. 

Heilong moved to look closer at the items. Freya looked at K13 and Dr. Iki, then pulled Infamous Biscuit down to whisper in his ear, “Do players in the game automatically get things translated for them? Even spoken and written words?”

He thought for a moment, “I don’t know. I thought everyone here spoke the same language.”

Freya shook her head. She should have realized it earlier, but it seemed so natural. To Freya, everyone spoke her language fluently, but that couldn’t be the case. The people of Naihei and Vansyl rarely interacted. There was no reason for everyone here to speak Freya’s native language. Even people in eastern Vansyl spoke a different dialect than in the west.

Also, before she picked up that playing card and became a ‘player,’ she couldn’t read skill books. But now she could. 

Putting that thought aside, Freya examined the items on Dr. Iki’s desk.

Heilong and Infamous Biscuit quickly made their choices, choosing the Mimic Speech and Bird Song Messenger skill books, respectively. Freya didn’t see the use of any of the skill books and had no need for a piece of bone or abacus, so she chose the strip of grey fabric.

Plus, its description sounded interesting.

[Headband of Dulani]

[Item Class: Unique]

[Originally carried but never worn by the explorer Dulani. He believed it brought good luck.]

“Ah, that headband was given to me by another researcher here at the institute. He said it brings good luck, but it’s such a dull color I never thought of wearing it,” Dr. Iki said, shaking her head at the strip of grey fabric. 

Freya didn’t care about the color. Having a little extra luck sounded good.

They thanked Dr. Iki for the rewards. Freya tied the headband around her forehead as they walked out of the office. 

“Do you guys want to explore Kai Nai while we’re here? I still have some time before I need to log out,” Infamous Biscuit said. He turned to K13, “You’re welcome to join us. Actually, we are looking for a tank for our team…”

“I already asked,” Freya said, noticing K13’s discomfort. Still, she wished he’d stick around. Not just for his role as a tank, but she was also genuinely concerned for him. The terrible sadness during the loneswell’s Evocation still weighed in her mind.

“Oh, that’s too bad. You’re pretty good at the position,” Infamous Biscuit said.

K13 looked at the ground and kept walking. Freya slowed them down a bit as she looked at the oil paintings along the hallway. However, she couldn’t fully focus on them now. Something in the air told her that K13 had more to say. Pretending to study a picture of a bird with long pink feathers, she stalled for time. But she couldn’t delay them forever.

Eventually, they came back to the main hall of the institute. The deadened noise of page turns and footsteps almost covered up a small voice.

“But I’m not a good tank for working with a party.”

Freya looked at K13, not sure if she heard right.

“Why do you think that?” Infamous Biscuit asked. He kept walking at the same pace and didn’t stare at K13.

“I’m not good at giving commands and directing things, I don’t- I don’t like talking very much.”

“A tank doesn’t always have to direct the fight. Sometimes backliners have a better view of the fight anyway.”

“But also my berserker class. It’s not good for working with a team.”

Infamous Biscuit shrugged, “There are some people that think berserker’s don’t work well with others, but I don’t think that’s true. Once we become familiar with each other’s fighting styles, I think we can work well together.”

K13 kept his eyes trained on the ground.

Infamous Biscuit glanced down at him briefly and then suggested, “You can try a trial period with us. Let’s say one week. If we don’t like how things are working out, we can part ways. Even if we decide not to work together, it will be a good chance for all of us to level up. We can’t go into high-level dungeons without a tank, and solo players always have to go into dungeons lower than their level. Together we can level up, at least for a little while.”

Infamous Biscuit kept a carefree tone to his voice, but Freya could almost see him tip-toeing around K13. 

Once they got outside the Insitute, they stopped in the shade of the building columns. 

“So, what do you say? We can just try a one-week trial,” Infamous Biscuit said, looking out at the crowd of people on the streets of Kai Nai.

“We’d love to have you,” Freya added.

K13 shuffled his feet. Finally, he looked up towards them, “Okay, one week.”