The Soul Keeper

Chapter 4: An Unavoidable Offer

"What?" I stared at him. My mind went blank for a second.

"I said-"

"I know what you said!" I waved my hands around as I searched for the right words. "What I mean is, what even made you ask that?"

"Well, it's really close to the training hall and you won't have to walk to campus every day." He shrugged. "With all the travel time gone, you'll have some more free time to spend with us too!"

I stared at him blankly. What on earth was he even talking about? I couldn't possibly accept his offer. "Erik-"

He cut me off. "Don't answer now. Meet my family and the workers here first." Before I could say anything, he grinned. "The others are here." He gestured me to be silent as the door swung open.

Samantha, followed by Alina and Joshua came in. "Hey guys!" Alina shouted as soon as she saw us. I flinched; she really was loud. I glanced at Erik who was already back to being his cheerful self. He smiled and waved them to come inside. Moments later, they were all cracking jokes and laughing.

Vincent joined soon after, apologising and claiming he was in the restroom. Of course, Erik's smile was enough for me to understand, that was a lie.

"So, she beat you up because she was annoyed at something?" Samantha asked. I nodded. "That's just cruel though! Shouldn't that be like... against the law or something?"

I shrugged. It didn't matter. "It's not as unusual as you think. Besides, I wasn't at by best, normally I wouldn't get beaten up so badly." I wasn't trying to boast – I was better than this. I was distracted yesterday, mostly due to Mother's words.

"Still..." Eric suddenly chimed in. "To us who don't live the same way, it feels cruel and wrong." He seemed somewhat lost in thought as he said that.

"I can understand that." I shrugged. "I don't understand most of the things you guys see as normal either." I wanted to say more, but I stopped myself. I didn't want to hurt them, though moments later I found out my worries were unfounded as they laughed my words off.

"Now." Erik suddenly spoke with a much more serious tone. "I have something very important to tell all of you." He stood up and pointed in the direction of his gaming setup. "Do you guys remember the new game that'll be coming out tomorrow?"

Everyone nodded as I stared in confusion. I never had the time to immerse myself in games, so I never really followed the market or news about the subject.

"Well, I'm going to ask dad to include everyone here in the early access trials." Erik proudly said. He looked me in eye as he continued. "That includes you Kai." I flinched. I didn't have the time to dedicate to a game – let alone to an unfinished title. I motioned to tell him that, but he cut me off immediately.

"You're unable to practice your martial arts for at least a few days, right?" Hesitantly, I nodded. It wouldn't do to damage my body further. "Alright, today's Friday. That means you have at least two free days. I know you want to study, but you can rest for a couple of days before the exam period begins."

I hesitated. He wasn't wrong, I already knew most of the subjects and I really only needed to go over my notes maybe a couple more times for the exams. I didn't have anything to do in the next two days. "I don't have any gaming equipment or anything though," I said, gesturing at the gaming rig at the corner of the room.

Erik grinned. "You don't need anything like that for the game I'm talking about." He stood up and approached his desk. After rummaging through the drawers for a few minutes, he took out a brochure. As he handed it over to me, Vincent jumped at the chance to boast about the game.

"See, this game is the product of a new technology 'OTHERWORLD' came up with. It's supposed to feel like you're actually in another world. Nothing like today's dive systems where there still are load times and clunky movements. It's supposed feel just as real as real life. It's even said that without the UI and HUD elements, you wouldn't even know if you're in the game or not." He grinned; his excitement was clear.

His words were hard to believe though – a world as real as our real lives, made with technology by humans just like us... Was that really possible? If Erik wasn't nodding vigorously, I'd think this was just a marketing speech.

"It sounds amazing," I said after a moment's hesitation. I couldn't help but be curious – it did sound amazing. But I also felt a little uneasy. Couldn't something like that be used for malicious purposes as well?

"Yes, it does!" Alina shouted. She seemed really excited too. I wondered for a moment – how long had they been waiting for this?

"How does this work without any equipment?" I asked after Samantha told Alina to quiet down a little.

"We'll be using a new type of dive device. Dad calls it 'PORTAL'. He'll provide us with it, so you don't need to worry about that." Erik grinned again. His eyes shone with a mischievous light. They were telling me 'you don't have an out from this'.

"I'm really glad that you want to include me, but I can't afford to-"

"It's a gift, Kai." He cut me off again. "And you don't get to refuse it. Speaking of which, it's time for dinner, let's go." He grabbed my arm and pulled me up. I flinched as my bruises ached a little. I tried to protest – again – but my voice was drowned out by Alina's loud shouts. After a short moment, I gave up. Perhaps his family would be a little more understanding. Or perhaps they wouldn't even want me to hang out with their son.

Erik dragged me to a large dining hall, with Vincent and the others in tow. The room was decorated just as lavishly as the rest of the house. A large, long table took up most of the empty space. It was filled with exquisite meals.

A tall, middle-aged man stood by a painting which spanned an entire wall. It depicted a battle scene – blood and corpses everywhere. Why would anyone put something like that in a dining hall?

"Hi dad." Erik said with a cheerful voice as he approached the man, dragging me along. "I brought my friends over again; hope you don't mind."

The man chuckled. He turned to face us. I flinched when I saw his face. He looked like an older version of Erik. He lacked his son's blonde, wavy hair, and bright blue eyes. He was dressed formally, yet he seemed quite relaxed. He looked at our group as we approached him. His voice was soft and kind as he spoke. "No, not at all. Welcome again Vincent, Joshua, Samantha and Alina." He hesitated as his gaze stopped on me. "I don't think I know this young man."

As he stepped closer, my body tensed up. It felt as if he were weighing my worth rather than looking at a friend of his son. "What's your name?" He asked after a short moment that felt like ages.

"Kai Friseal, sir." Why was the air so tense?

"He's the guy I was telling you about, dad." Erik said as we approached the table.

"Oh, so you're a martial artist?" The middle-aged man asked calmly. I nodded while still feeling the need to add. "I'm still in training."

"I see, good luck in your endeavours, you seem like you can pull off anything you put your mind in to."

I flinched. "Thank you, sir." I wasn't used to receiving praise. Though, this didn't quite feel like praise anyways. I couldn't quite wrap my head around this guy's speech. He was... weird. Perhaps being weird was a side effect of being super rich, I thought to myself as I carefully lowered myself into the expensive, clearly handmade chair. I was terrified of breaking something.

"In that case," He said as his dark eyes focused on me. I gulped as he continued. "I have an offer for you."