Origin ARS (Origin A.R.S. Book 2) Page 16

  “Thank you for your business, sir.” said the woman. Her tone was civil, but Scott still sensed hostility. He wondered for a moment if she worked off of commission. Did she get a cut of the profits? Otherwise, she would be another type of person he disliked. She would be the sort of sales clerk or office worker who acted like the company’s money was their money to a degree far beyond what was necessary. Like an overly aggressive bill collector who took it personally when you owed the company money.

  A new window appeared in front of him. He snorted loudly at the blatant nature of the request that he had received.

  <<< * >>>

  Geri Heinzel, manager of the Meaden branch of Regal Alice, has sent you a request to verify that you are satisfied with the transaction.

  Has the transaction been completed to your satisfaction? [Yes | No]

  Do you have any comments to share regarding this transaction? [Yes | No]

  <<< * >>>

  Scott looked at the message and then back at the green haired woman. Geri was obviously hoping that he would be satisfied so that he would opt to lessen the damage that his survey would do to her career options.

  He thought about it for a moment, then clicked ‘yes’ to both questions. He was asked if he would like to type his response or speak it aloud. He chose to type it out. A new message screen popped up with an alpha-numeric keypad next to it.

  <<< * >>>

  There was an issue that occurred during my negotiations with the manager at the Meaden Branch of Regal Alice. It was only a misunderstanding. The manager went above and beyond her duty to satisfy my needs. Due to the previous issue, she promised me a permanent 30% sales rate when I sell my items at the Meaden branch of the store.

  How generous!

  <<< * >>>

  Scott hit submit and the comment was accepted. It was not long before the manager received confirmation of the contract’s acceptance.

  Geri also received a new message stating that a VIP customer had left a comment on one of her contracts. She read the message then blinked. Her left eye lid began to twitch spastically. “P-permanent thirty-percent...”

  “Yep, permanent thirty-percent. So, generous.” replied Scott. She could either accept it as true or try to claim that he had lied. Either way she would have to explain the situation, and that might not work out well for her.

  Geri began to cry a little. She imagined her beautiful profits soaring away.

  Scott, on the other hand, did not care. He turned to leave. Doing so led to the start of a strange new event. He bumped into someone who he had not noticed before.

  “Ouch! Hey...” cried out a feminine voice.

  “What? Who?” asked Scott intelligently. Where did this girl come from? She was far too close!

  “Oh no, look what you did! My ice cream...” said the girl. She was wearing a low cut dress, and somehow an ice cream cone had firmly planted itself within her cleavage.

  Scott blinked at her then looked down at the odd sight. He still did not really know what was going on. Was she saying that he had bumped into her and did that? He had only turned around, how could he have done that? More to the point, wasn’t it a little cold to be wearing such skimpy clothing while eating ice cream?

  “Look what I did? I didn’t do anything.” said Scott.

  The red haired girl frowned at him then gestured toward her chest once more. “See, this is what you did!”

  “How did I do that? I would have had to have been right on top of you and I’ve been standing in one place for a while now.” Scott spoke in slow, measured, tones. He wanted to make sure she understood that he took no responsibility for something like that. She would have had to have been right behind him and incredibly close.

  “That’s how it is? You ruin my ice cream and molest my innocent breasts, but won’t take responsibility?” asked the girl with an edge in her tone. Strangely, she had not bothered to remove the ice cream from her cleavage, yet. Wasn’t that cold?

  “Take responsibility? For what, you standing too close to me?” Scott had no idea what had gotten her so riled up. If anything she had obviously run into him.

  She placed her hands on her hips and pouted. It would normally be a devastating psychological tactic. “What kind of man are you? You did this and refuse to take any responsibility?”

  “I’m the kind of man who has no responsibility to take... and isn’t that cold?” said Scott.

  “No responsibility! I was innocently walking along when you turned quickly and molested me with my ice cream cone! I should let the world know.” said the girl. She looked up at him with wide, expressive, eyes and a petulant expression.

  “Molested you? What the hell are you talk-" began Scott.

  “Help! I’m being molested by an ice cream pervert!” shouted the girl. She clutched her hands to her chest and began to tremble slightly.

  People started to gather, many wondering what was going on. Scott glared hatefully at the red haired creature. Was she stupid, or was she plotting something? “What are you doing...?”

  “Replace the ice cream that you made me lose and I’ll let it go.” she said in a sugary sweet tone.

  “Whatever, just stop shouting. How much was it?” How much could ice cream cost? He hated being extorted like this, but what could he do? If he tried to walk away she would just keep shouting like an idiot. Someone might even choose to believe her.

  “Oh no, you have to buy it for me. Come on, let’s go.” She reached over and grabbed his arm. Scott tried to pull away out of reflex but she took a deep breath then opened her mouth like she was going to shout again.

  “Fine... let’s just get this over with.” What the hell was wrong with this girl?

  She turned to the crowd. “It’s ok, only a misunderstanding. He’s just clumsy.”

  Various people in the small crowd began to mutter about people shouting. A few other people murmured about wanting ice cream while eyeing a certain artfully displayed ice cream cone. Either way, the situation was resolved.

  “Anyway, since you’re treating me to ice cream we should exchange names.” said the girl. Her attitude was absurdly cheerful if you considered how she had been acting previously.

  “Can’t I just buy you ice cream and never talk to you again?” asked Scott. He suspected that his request was too much to ask for, and soon received her answer.

  “Rude, and no. My name’s Sharde. What’s your name?” she asked. She smiled at him sweetly then batted her eyelashes in a caricature of flirtation.

  “Scott.” he said simply. He saw no reason to drag this out. The sooner they were done, the better.

  Sharde plucked the cone from between her breasts then pouted at it. “What a waste. Do you want it?”

  She took a deep breath then thrust her chest upward and outward before showing the cone to Scott. He snorted at her. “I don’t know where those things have been.”

  “Cheeky, boy.” She laughed at his casual insult for a moment then tossed the cone aside. Her deliberate disregard for it was quite telling. Scott suspected that this meeting had nothing to do with ice cream, but he would go along with it to see what she wanted. Sharde had gone through a lot of trouble to get his attention. He wanted to find out why.

  Scott shook his head at her then started walking. “Let’s get that ice cream so you can go do whatever it is that you do with yourself.”

  “Ooh, so eager.” She quickly reached his side and tried to slip her arm through his. He resisted her efforts several times before she managed to get through his guard. They walked down the street silently, arm in arm. Their current destination was the general store down the road. It was the closest place to buy ice cream in town.

  Helping Sharde acquire replacement ice cream turned out to take longer than Scott had anticipated. Upon arrival, he discovered that the general store was sold out of the particular flavor that she wanted. Unfortunately, that also meant that she was not satisfied.

  Scott did not really give a damn about her lack of s
atisfaction, but she threated to start shouting and spreading false allegations if he did not help her track down the flavor that she wanted. As it turned out, there were four stores that sold ice cream in town. Strangely, they were all out of vanilla.

  “How the hell do you run out of vanilla ice cream?” asked Scott. It was like one of the two most common flavors of ice cream in existence! He had seen dozens of buckets of ice cream for sale at various stores while walking through town. Now none of them had even a spoonful of vanilla to sell.

  “We had several tough looking guys come in and buy it all. They must really like vanilla. There were a few dozen tubs of the stuff.” said the shop keeper.

  Sharde pouted at Scott in a cute manner. “Aw, looks like you won’t be able to make proper reparations...”

  “Yeah, this is not suspicious at all.” remarked the sorcerer. Several buff looking guys had bought up ice cream at one other store, too. He had asked the store owner at the last place. He would not be surprised if those guys had bought all of the vanilla ice cream in town.

  “You’ll have to pick something else.” said Scott.

  “No, absolutely not. It must be vanilla.” said Sharde.

  “Pick something else.” said Scott.

  She strode over and stood directly in front of him. She leaned forward and looked up at him. “No.”

  “Yes, get chocolate or something.” insisted Scott.

  She leaned forward more. “Nope, must be vanilla.”

  Scott leaned in slightly and said, “They don’ t have any.”

  Sharde stood up on her tip-toes and tilted her head back. Her lips parted gently and she closed her eyes. Scott leaned back and stared at her. What was she doing?

  She started to pucker her lips a little, but no kiss was forth coming. Slowly she opened one eye and looked at him. “Something wrong?”

  “What... exactly are you doing?” he asked while leaning away from her.

  “Oh, we weren’t doing the arguing till we kiss thing? I kind of thought that was what we were doing... So.” Sharde looked at him with a curious and confused, but innocent expression.

  “Uh... No. We don’t even know each other...” said Scott.

  Sharde pouted at him then sighed softly. “Well, that sucks. I’ve never kissed anyone but my sister.”

  “You... Kiss your sister?” asked Scott.

  “Yeah, on the cheek and stuff. I’ve never kissed a boy before.”

  “Is that so...” said Scott. While that was fascinating and all, he did not know why she was telling him that. For that matter, what was with this entire contrived outing?

  “Yes. It’s sad, isn’t it? I have this sexy body and sweet disposition, but no one to kiss.” Sharde gently placed two fingers against her lips then looked away from him, her cheeks darkening to a light shade of pink.

  “My heart breaks for you.” said Scott flatly. She had not lied. She was incredibly attractive, and he had to admit that she was interesting if weird. Yet, he just did not feel right kissing her. He knew nothing about her. Also, it might make a certain someone else upset.

  “Does it?” She smiled at him. Her demeanor changed completely. She was once again excited and perky. Sharde looked up at him expectantly, her lips softly parted.

  Scott stared at her for a moment in confusion. While he tried to figure out what to do about the situation, he realized something strange. He had not really noticed it before due to wanting to finish their current business. Sharde looked surprisingly similar to Rhea. Sure, the ice cream nut was human but the two girls had similar features. If they were not different races he would have wondered if they were sisters.

  “You stare at me with such an intense expression. My innocent maiden heart might not be able to stand it.” She batted her eye lashes cutely then puckered her lips a little.

  “Sorry, you just reminded me of someone... That’s all.” The facts that they had a similar appearance and were both romantically aggressive were key factors.

  “Really? Who might that be?” Sharde looked at him with a strange expression. It seemed to be formed half from curiosity and half from hope.

  “Uh, my partner Rhea.” said Scott.

  “Partner?” asked Sharde with a curious expression.

  “Yeah, we’re in an adventuring party together. You sort of reminded me of her, for some reason.”

  She grabbed his hands and squeezed them excitedly. Her expression became one of great joy. “Do I really?”

  “Yeah, a little...” Scott tried to step back, to get away from the girl. Sharde stepped with him and kept their distance minimal.

  She squeezed his hands a little and smiled brightly at him. “Is this girl, this Rhea, important to you? A girlfriend perhaps?”

  “Well, yeah. I don’t really know what we are, but she’s important to Me.” he said. He knew that much was true at least. He did enjoy spending time with Rhea, and liked to have her around.

  Scott was decidedly uncomfortable with her questions, however. He was about to tell her that, but she spoke up.

  “Good. Be sure to tell her that some time, OK?” She reached into her pocket and seemed to grasp something.

  “What?” he asked, surprised.

  Suddenly, she whipped her hand out of her pocket and threw something onto the floor. Smoke filled the room. Scott started to cough and his eyes began to water. The poor clerk had similar issues.

  They ran out of the store and tried to catch their breath. As they did so, Scott heard a soft feminine giggle followed by a tender whisper. “Don’t forget that you owe me ice cream, Scott.”

  He looked around but saw no one. It was as though she had vanished. He felt a hard slap against his backside before a loud laugh permeated the air.

  His eyes widened in surprise. “Seriously? What the hell!”

  The strange girl did not answer. Either she was being silent or she had truly left. Scott was more than a little unnerved by her ability to operate invisibly. How had she slapped his ass without him even seeing her? Who, what, was that girl?

  The smoke cleared away. He looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. She was gone. Only the pain in his ass was left behind as proof that she had ever been there in the first place.

  Chapter 11: Fairy Business

  The first rays of dawn were a signal to the world that a new day would soon begin. Those rays of light brought new possibilities and the hope of a brighter future. However, for one person it brought all of that plus the loud and excitable noise of a newly awakened companion.

  “Scott! Scott! Wake Up!” exclaimed Ero.

  The sorcerer grumbled a little then slowly opened his eyes. “Wha...?”

  “It’s morning!” piped the voice of the tiny girl.

  Scott blinked then rolled over toward the sound that was interrupting his pleasant slumber. He saw Ero sitting cross-legged on top of a pillow, still just as naked as she had always been. His eyes widened and a bright smile crossed his face.

  The blond fairy smiled at him sweetly for a moment then jumped up with a tiny, but impressive bounce. “I’m all better! See? Do you see?” She started to spin and twirl in place to emphasize how much better she had become.

  <<< * >>>

  You have completed a battle with your new guardian. However, she was defeated in battle and weakened as a result. Please take better care of your companions in the future!

  You now have expanded capacity to use the power of Ero, the Sacred Water Fairy. When deployed she will appear in your party menu and you will be able to see her status.

  You will have to expend your own ability points to increase her powers and you will need to transfer your own experience points to increase her level. Ero, the Sacred Water Fairy will appear in your skill menu as an optional upgrade.

  Ero can be called to battle, dismissed from battle, and called to battle at full power for a single major effort. Due to her low level, she may only use her greater powers once every four days. She will also be weak and unable to be called to
battle at all for up to twenty-four hours.

  <<< * >>>

  Scott blinked at the image screen then looked at the happy naked girl. “Neat.”

  She would not gain experience from battle, but he could share his experience and ability points to increase her power. That could be useful in many ways. He could use the experience transference to avoid gaining too many levels at a rapid pace. He had worried a little that he would leave Rhea too far behind.

  Ero fluttered around him happily and asked a series of rapid-fire questions. “What’s neat? Am I neat? What do you mean? Is neat a good thing? Will I like it?”

  “I found out how to make you stronger.” Scott smiled at the excitable fairy. She was far too innocent for her own good. Everything was amazing to her and she enjoyed being out in the world, that much was obvious.

  “Yay!” She jumped up and down on the pillow while clapping her hands several times in the process. The effect was adorable and disturbing for the man. She was so small... so bouncy.

  Scott could not help it. He started to laugh. He had wanted to sleep-in longer since he was more or less forced to take time off while his equipment was repaired. Still, the happy girl’s joy was infectious. “I’m glad you are alright. You had me worried.”

  “I did?” She leaned forward and looked at him with wide, innocent, eyes.

  He leveled a sincere and heartfelt gaze upon the girl. “Yeah, when you took that arrow I feared the worst.”

  Ero’s tiny chest began to rise and fall rapidly. She looked up at Scott in elation and surprise. Suddenly she launched herself forward and hugged Scott’s face. She started to shake and cry while she held him tightly. “Oh, you were worried about me? Oh, I’m so happy!”

  Scott flailed his arms and legs around a little as the diminutive naked mythological creature shut off his air supply. He tried to tell her to get off but it came out heavily mumbled.