The crowd that gathered soon passed. Some who were familiar with Aria and Frida stepped forward to help them, but Aaron assured he could handle it. He himself carried his weak mother back inside the house.
"Who were those people..?", Frida asked, her voice too weak. She looked up at her son with helpless and worried eyes. "They said you stole from them."
Aaron himself was a little confused, but he decided to lay his mother back on the bed first. "They are just gangs trying to take money from us", he lied. Honestly, Aaron himself was unsure because his last memories before the hit to the head was still blurry.
"Don't lie!", Aria shouted from behind him. Her voice shaky- she was about to cry. "They are the ones who-"
"Aria!", Aaron shouted, making his sister choke on her words. "Take care of mother. I will deal with this".
With that, Aaron stood up. He turned around towards his sister, who's eyes were reddened. Tears streaked down her pretty face. He wanted to comfort her, but no words came out of his mouth.
He stepped closer to her, patting her head. He then walked past her, making his way outside.
Many things flooded through his mind right now. And he needed some space away from them to think about it.
"You seem to care about them a lot", a voice came from behind him, prompting Aaron to turn around. "Even though they arent your real family". The language was a reminder than he was not from this world.
"Don't remind me", Aaron said, feeling helpless. "Who are you? And how did you find me?"
The man in the hood took a moment. He stared deeply at Aaron before speaking, "My name is Nick. Or in this world, it's Nolan". He said, his voice tugged bergen clarity and unfocus. "And I came to find you because of a quest".
"A Quest?", Aaron asked in puzzlement. "Your Quest was to find me? What about heading to Tingen?"
"Where is Tingen?", Nalanda asked, tilting his head in confusion. The more he spoke, the more the light behind his eyes seem to come clear.
But that only confused Aaron even further. How could someone in a situation like him not know Tingen? That's where the story begins!
"Is Tingen where your Quest goes?", Nolan asks.
"Yes. Since that's where the story begins", Aaron clarified. "My Pathway wants me there for some reason".
"Story? Pathway? You mean Monster that the system is saying?", Nolan repeated, sounding more and more lost.
"No, Reader. Why would it be mons-", Aaron paused. A suspicion began to form in Aaron's mind. "Nolan, do you know which book we are in?"
"We are inside a book?!", Nolan asked back. Shock was evident in his voice, as was the clarity of his eyes. He pulled his hood back, revealing the messy long black hair. "Which book is it? I don't know this book! Why am I in a book I don't even know about?!"
This confirmed Aaron's suspicion. Nolan, was in fact, from his world who didn't read the books. And from what it said, he is not from the same Reader Pathway as Aaron, but likely Monster Pathway. It made Aaron wonder if all this had something to do with the [Anchor] message he got from the system.
"Lets calm down first. Tell me what are the things you remember after coming to this world?", Aaron asked.
"Is that really what you wanna ask now?", Nolan retorted. "Staying here isn't saf-", he suddenly paused. His eyes went wide. "Protect!", he shouted out.
Bang!
Pang!
A sound of gun fire followed by a clash. Aaron was surprised. He turned to face the sound, and was met with a magical sight.
A translucent turquoise dome shrouded the dome. On it, a bullet embedded itself before it went down. If it wasn't for the dome, the bullet would have hit Nolan in the head. The dome shattered soon after like glass.
Nolan's terrified eyes fell on the man on the ground he had beaten up. While the others left, this one was knocked out. And now that he came to his senses-
"You son of a bitch!", Nolan cried out in Loenese. His image blurred before appearing before the man. With the same momentum, he kicked the man right in the face, knocking his head back.
The goon was launched from the ground around two feet back. The last thing the man saw before his vision went black again, was three of his teeth flying off.
Aaron was surprised by what had just happened. These were not something a human can do. And certainly not something just a monster pathway beyonder could do.
Aaron watched as Nolan fell on his knees. His body shaking from what just happened. He could have died just now. Only reason he didn't was because he got lucky.
Thrown into this unknown world and almost dying was not something anyone could have handled. Aaron himself didn't know what to tell them.
"We should leave", Nolan said, his voice still shaky.
"Huh?"
"They will be here soon", Nolan continued, as he slowly got back om his feet.
This snapped Aaron back to his senses. Nolan was right. The Howlers gang would send more goons here. He needed to get somewhere safe. Most of all, to keep his family safe.
And even after he gets to this place, he would need to find a way to protect himself, while also investigating exactly what happened that started this mess.
'Okay let's think', he pinched the bridge of his nose. 'What is it that i need right now. First, I need a safe place to keep mother and Aria safe'. His thoughts froze as an unsettling feeling filled his heart. But he brushed it away soon after. He needed to focus. 'Somewhere he could also get some kind of help...'.
Soon, an idea formed in his mind. He walked upto Nolan and knelt next to the unconscious man. He searched his body. Along with the gun and 12 extra bullet, Aaron also found a wallet. Browsing through it, he discovered this goon carried around 5 soli and 10 copper pents. It was an amount Aaron could barely afford if he worked for a whole month with barley any expense.
He gulped, before pocketing the wallet. "L-let's get to the main road. We need to get a carriage", Aaron said. He gut up and was about to walk back to his mom when Nolan held him by the shoulder.
"You are too slow", Nolan rebuked. "I will get your mom. You get us a carriage".
Aaron was taken aback. Nolan looked weaker than Aaron himself. He couldn't see the stats but he was sure physically he was stronger than Nolan.
"How will you contact me after I get the carriage?", Aaron asked. He decided not to press Nolan about what he said.
Nolan thought for a moment, before staring into the air. His fingers moved, as if he was tapping on invisible buttons.
[Friend Request: Nolan]
[Accept/Decline]
The notification popped up in front of Aaron. Aaron read the message before staring at Nolan. Without thinking further, he pressed [Accept].
[New Friend added to Friend List: Nolan]
[Text:1 gold per text]
[Call: 10 gold per minute]
That's convenient.
Aaron thought. He looked up at Nolan, only to see him heading towards the door. His actions seemed mechanical, as if he was trying to meet a schedule. Even more shocking, Aaron could have sworn he saw some illusory swords circling around Nolan before they fused with his body.
"I really need to talk to him properly", Aaron noted to himself before running towards the main road.
Back inside the room, Nolan also got a notification.
[Quest: Meet the Reader]
[Completed]
[Reward: 500 gold+ random egg]
[Random Egg moved to Inventory]
[Hatching time: 24 hrs]
An image appeared after the notifications. A silhouette of an egg placed inside an large jar like apparatus.
Nolan was curious. He wanted to look for it. But something in his head was constantly telling him to hurry. It felt off, unable to indulge in his own curiosity because of these instincts. It was a foreign feeling.
"Excuse me..?", the weak voice came from beside him. Nolan turned away from the screen and glanced at the two ladies staring at him wirh concern.
They probably think I am crazy...
Clicking his tongue, Nolan muttered, "we should get going". He leaned towards Frida, before Effortlessly lifting her up from the bed.
"Aria, follow me", Nolan instructed before rushing out of the house with Frida in his arms.
...
At the busy mainroad near the borders of East Borrough, many carriages were waiting for their customers.
As soon as Nolan arrived, he used the system to to call Aaron.
[Calling...]
[-10 coins]
[Call connected]
"Can you hear me?", a clear deep voice entered Nolan's mind. He recognised the voice. Aaron. It was the first time he was using this call function. But it was working like telepathy.
"I can hear you", Nolan replied. On instinct, he didn't voice out his words.
"This is so trippy", Aaron chuckled. "Wait I see you! Turn to your Left"
Hearing Aaron's instruction, Nolan made it to the carriage. Aaron was surprised at how easily he was carrying his mother. Aria tagged along right next to him.
Nolan carefully sat down Frida on the carriage seating. Since it was a 4 wheeler, the seating was much more comfortable. Aaron and Frida took one side of the couch, along side their mother. Nolan took the other side.
Once the carriage set off, Nolan relaxed back on the seat. He pulled the scarf down, finally revealing his face. His skin was fair, which matched his messy black hair surprisingly well. His features were soft, giving Aaron thr impression he was still in his teens.
"4 wheel carriage? Aren't they expensive?", Aria asked, her voice too soft they two boys could barely catch on. A two wheeler was already too expensive for their family to afford. But this was too extravagant for her.
"Its fine. I am paying", Nolan lied, before Aaron could speak up. Of course, that earned a scrutinizing glance from Aria. She stared at Nolan's shabby clothes. The look in her eyes told Nolan this girl didn't trust him.
But lucky enough, Aria didn't speak up. She didn't know what to say.