Pieces of Sonder

Freya pulled the hood on her shaman cloak closer. She hastily changed identities after several people stopped her to congratulate her on placing second in the first trial. She planned to sneak outside the city to meet Infamous Biscuit and the others before finding an inn to stay the night. However, everyone in Corrin now seemed to recognize her ‘Frey’ identity. 

In the end, she ended up changing her identity entirely. After making sure she lost any pursuers, she changed inside a bathroom to her regular clothes. Then she changed her name and sex with the Misidentify skill.

[Una Bluewater]

[Lvl 16 Shaman]

[390/390 HP] [135/135 MP]

She didn’t wholly feel her new name, but as long as she didn’t interact directly with anyone, the identity should hold. But just in case, she kept her face hidden under her shaman cloak. Even an hour after sunset, there were still many people out on the streets of Corrin.

“Number 245 looked better at the end than the guy that placed first. I’m betting on him.”

A man in the middle of a group of people was waving a silver coin in the air. Freya quickened her pace. She didn’t want the man betting on her shell number to be the one to see through her Misidentify. 

“Eh, I’m betting on 428. 245’s too small,” another man grumbled.

“Naw, I heard there’s even demonis betting on 245.”

Freya slowed her footsteps and tilted her head. There’s demoniclasts betting on me?

“Really?” a woman in the group said. She slapped the table, “They must see something. I’ll bet on him too! What about you, Fred?”

The third man in the group shook his head. “I’m not betting any money. Having to kill a demon in the second trial? You can’t tell which of them are fighters yet.”

“That’s true,” the woman said, slumping her shoulders. “Isn’t it weird to have this kind of trial so early? I thought most years they’d have a demon-killing trial in the later rounds.”

“I heard they’re trying to shorten the trials,” the man betting on Freya said. “There’s been a lot of demon activity in the west. I think they’re trying to finish this thing quickly this year.”

Freya heard similar speculations ever since the second trial was announced. Apparently, most years, the next trial would be some sort of strength test. Sometimes tracking or hand-to-hand combat tests would be used for the second trial, but they usually saved them for later. No one had ever seen participants pitted against demons for the second trial. 

I wonder if the game has something to do with this, Freya thought. She sighed and continued walking outside Corrin’s city limits. I’d bet money it’s involved somehow.

~~~

Freya took a shaky breath as she neared their agreed meeting spot. She canceled her Misidentify and waited a few minutes to see if any demoniclasts appeared. Her heart rate continued to increase. She’d prefer a fight with a demoniclast compared to facing Infamous Biscuit and the others. 

It shouldn’t be a big deal, but I’ve delayed this so long I’m getting nervous.

She had tried to explain her actions in the group chat, but it wasn’t the same as seeing everyone face to face. So far, she wasn’t regretting her decision to infiltrate the demoniclasts. However, the danger was still far from over.

Crickets chirped in the distance. Freya continued to their rendezvous point. Suddenly she heard the rustling of grass.

“Freya! It’s good to see you! Is this your disguise?”

Heilong ran up and inspected Freya’s shaman cloak.

“No, it’s more like my second disguise for getting out of the city,” Freya explained. She looked behind Heilong and saw a surprising amount of people.

She expected to see Infamous Biscuit and K13. Nightscythe’s presence wasn’t surprising, but she was pleasantly shocked to see two other figures. All of Freya’s worry about the meeting left, replaced with relief.

“Hamra-” Freya said, stepping towards the necromancer. “You’re okay? I was worried because it looked like you never read the message.”

Hamra cocked her head to the side, confused. By her side, Scrimmancer laughed.

“I don’t think she ever opened up the group message because I read it to her,” Scrimmancer explained. “Once I showed her how to set the notifications to silent, she’s never turned them back on.”

“They’re too loud,” Hamra said, rubbing her ear. 

“Set to silent?” Freya repeated. “There’s a way to turn off that ‘beep’ noise?”

All those times that notification beep almost gave me a heart attack, and there was a way to turn that off?

Freya almost glared at Infamous Biscuit for neglecting this information, but then she remembered why they were here. 

“Once we’re done here, can someone show me how to do that? I’d appreciate it when I’m trying to sleep,” Freya said, digging her shoe into the dirt.

Typically, for this type of game-related instruction, she always asked Infamous Biscuit. Heilong and K13 were helpful, but Infamous Biscuit knew her from the beginning. He had patiently explained everything to her, even when there was little to gain for him. Perhaps he wasn’t the best teacher, but she trusted him the most. 

“I can show you,” Infamous Biscuit said quietly. He sighed, “It will probably be good to keep them silent while you’re on this mission.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Freya lowered her gaze.

“Thanks. And I’m sorry for only telling you guys about all this now. Maybe if I had planned this with everyone, this might have come up earlier.”

Freya stared at the ground. Being able to set her notifications to silent was a minor detail. But she should have asked for more help with this endeavor. Not only could she have gained insight and ideas, but it was also a sign of trust.

A hand rested on Freya’s shoulder.

“Thank you for telling us now.”

Infamous Biscuit gave her a small smile and continued, “I don’t really think what you’re doing is a good idea, but I understand why you’re doing it. I think it will benefit all players to investigate the demoniclast. I wouldn’t have done it this way, but it might work.”