Before the Battle

'Oh come on! 36000 credits!?' Jacob was mortified while staring at a store selling phones and other devices, seeing the price tags from the window while a few shoppers inside bought what they needed without much issue.

Next to him, Ella was eating in a small sandwich shop, with no name and simply selling a long list of foods of different types.

'How can they even make that much food in a small place?' He asked himself. Nearby, Zeph started reading in the small library, with no windows to the outside. 

Seeing the prices, and his hopes of getting a new phone to play something now gone, Jacob thought of what else he could do. 

"I was told City I tends to overprice itself since it is quite prosperous," Jacob was startled by Rin's voice, failing to realize that he was standing next to him, quietly looking at the phones alongside him.

"Should you be training with Zeph or something? We are going on a mission after all," Jacob asked. Rin stayed quiet for a few moments before responding.

"I just want some quiet time, some peace." He sighed deeply, and a forced smile rose on his face.

"I nearly got you killed in the field because I did not want to fight, but your words made me fire at that man," He spoke, gritting his teeth.

"And you still did it, you got over your fear and saved me, be happy for that," Jacob reassured him. Rin sighed, taking in his advice and looking at his staff.

"That is why I trained with Zeph, I needed more confidence in it. I will try fighting much more with you guys in the next mission," He looked at Jacob with determination in his eyes, soon walking away to meet with Zeph again in the library. 

Jacob took another look at the city around him, all grey and barely filled with any form of color. The cold wind of the empty street caused him to shiver while the sun continued beating down on them. He felt curious but also weary of the place. 

While standing around, a thought came to his mind.

'Wonder what that glitch is doing,' Snapping his fingers, the screen appeared in front of him, his energy was at half from the training earlier.

[Soul thirst: 90/100]

'Damn, it goes down rather fast,' Looking at the rest of his stats, the glitch finally appeared.

[This place gives me the creeps, why would that fair lady want to live in a place like this?] 

"Much better than living in the city that is currently burning,"

[Heh, fair. Well much has gone on while watching you,]

"Yeah, have anything new for me or something?"

[Nothing, it's fun to see my friend fight with what I gave him so far. Though with this power I do have to warn you] Jacob was puzzled by its statement.

"What is it?"

[Your level right now is trash, so don't try taking abilities a level 8 or above will normally have, it will prove to be…Fatal. I can give a few quests to level up so it can happen, good luck!] The box disappeared. Jacob took one more look at his current level and abilities, they seemed to be good enough for now, but Jacob needed more.

"You look like an NPC standing there," Ella stood behind him, finished eating at the restaurant, carrying two milkshakes.

"Want one?" She extended a milkshake to Jacob. He quickly felt his thirst while staring at it and quickly grabbed the drink. 

"Knew you'd like one, the places here look stale but this is probably the tastiest milkshake I ever tried," Ella spoke, her insight was correct as the taste shocked Jacob, feeling at ease almost immediately.

The two silently drank together, quickly finishing up, satisfied with their drinks.

"Did not know this bodyguard mission with you would also have great perks," She laughed. She looked at the phone store next to him.

"Oh, you want a phone? Jealous of mine huh?" She slowly waved her phone in her hand with a smug smile.

"Hey I lost mine when they took me, and my console at home is probably destroyed,"

"Oh, sorry," Ella placed the phone back in her pocket with a remorseful expression. She looked around, realizing they were the only two people on the street. Above the day was still not over, giving them more time to spend.

"You know, I heard something about the libraries of City I have all forms of information, you think they have ones for games and stuff?" She asked, looking at the library behind Jacob.

"Maybe they have that stuff in there," She spoke. 

—---

The library was larger than the other buildings and had the same atmosphere as the street outside, silent and cold. In front of him were rows of tables and dozens of pillars that reached up to the ceiling, carrying tablets and books of different information. 

Sitting on a nearby table were Rin and Zeph, silently studying together. Ella quickly ran off from Jacob, hoping to find what she needed. 

Jacob stared off at the place, seeing the many pillars and other researchers who chose to study here rather than doing other things. 

'Reminds me of my finals days,' Jacob chuckled at the memory of it. He joined with the two, seeing what they were reading. Combat techniques and strategy. They seemed to not notice Jacob's presence, with Zeph teaching Rin on combat. 

'I do need to learn more stuff for fighting, at least it isn't math though,' He thought. 

With the other two, Jacob began reading with them, and Zeph quickly started teaching him as well.

After a few minutes, Ella joined them with a stack of tablets. 

"Studying defensive techniques?" He asked.

"No, just gacha team builds and guides. They have a large amount of this stuff here," She replied. Zeph simply shook his head before teaching the two for their next mission. All the while Ella silently played her phone next to them while staring at the tablets in front of her.