Ch 17- On the Road again

Glacé continued blindly running in one direction for a while. At one moment he suddenly hit his brakes and skidded to a quick stop then jerked his head to look at Mole. "Are we going the right way?". Mole dumbly stared at the compass that was almost the same size as his body and looked back up at Glacé innocently. 'Maybe having Mole navigate isn't a good idea….'

"Bai!". The lazy fox who was comfortably lounging on Glacés back shot up. "What?!"

"You change shape and take the compass from Mole, you'll be the navigator, we need to head northeast. See this needle here? Watch where the needle points and make sure it stays on the NE don't let me go off track. Think you can manage it?".

Bai nodded excitedly and changed into a little boy then held Glacés mane as he took the compass from Mole and haphazardly guided Glacé.

-

"Maybe it's not an issue with the game at all?". Art was currently sitting in a meeting room surrounded by the best of the developer and analytical statistics teams; assessing the six players' responses to the game based on their emotional quotients. Basically, every other player but Glacé was incredibly comfortable, each running and doing quests and exploring the world.

"I can't help but feel maybe the data sorted him wrong". The lead developer turned to the head of the Analysis team "what are the odds that he was the main brain misclassified his race?". The other team leader scratched his head "theoretically zero. There's no way the main brain would make such a low-level error unless it did so intentionally. But the main brain wouldn't do anything like that it's just a perfect data machine that's constantly following it's projected path, such things as intentional errors…. I've never heard it of being capable of doing anything like it".

As the two discussed back and forth they missed Art's mindful expression, he knocked his knuckles against the table lightly. "I have personally followed and observed this player and found him quite…. Interesting. After observing I felt he didn't really conform to the assigned race so I looked into all the files about the race that we based their design on and realized that he actually fits the race stereotype almost too perfectly. In the mythology evidence provided by the main brain unicorns are Simple-minded in their likes and dislikes, pure until they find their mate, expressive, temperamental, evasive, fickle, proud, and typically soft-hearted. Although I do think this player covers many of the traits I think the ones he matches most predominately; are he is fickle and very expressive. His fluctuations and mood swings probably aren't an outcome based on dissatisfaction with the game, it is probably just him overthinking things he comes across. He also live streams and I noticed that when he streams his emotions tend to fluctuate extensively. I think it's safe to assume we can't say this player doesn't like the game based on his statistics. I think we can say our trial test is a huge success and that our launch in a week will be a big success. Does anyone have any points or questions they'd like to raise?".

'Why do I feel like the boss only focused on the negative parts of his race?' the developer who worked most with the race programming thought blankly but dared not speak up. Art flatly looked around the room and upon seeing no response elegantly stood up, rebuttoned his sleek suit, and neatly left the conference room; heading back to his office. Art stood by his desk and stood still for a moment before turning his expressionless face toward his virtual cabin and giving a soft sigh thought 'Is this all worth it?' He stared blankly and decided not to think too hard about it. He slowly walked step by step and lightly got into the virtual cabin sighing into Lichen.

At this moment Glacé and party were standing before an endless stretch of water. Glacé stared ahead expressionlessly before slowly shifting his face to Bai, who sheepishly hid the compass behind his back. Glacé stared at him hard before holding his forehead and sighing.

"I said to make sure we stay on the NE!!! So tell me, why is the Estian sea in front of us?!!". Upon reaching the sea Glacé transformed into human form and pulled out his world map and glanced over Bai's shoulder to see that the direction they were currently facing was southeast.

After connecting the dots Glacé realized the water before them should be the Estian sea…. Which was very far away from their intended path. After he gave the navigation over to Bai he flew to the sky and dashed as fast as he could, he only landed on the ground when he figured they should probably be getting close to the human city. Glacé stared at the sea and pulled on his long, silky, lavender hair in frustration and defeat. "Fuck!" He couldn't help cursing and stomping his legs "Agh! Well since we're already in the area, let's follow the coast and go to the port town Lesha. We can probably collect information there and either take a boat or take some side jobs to earn money".

"Okay!" Both Mole and Bai showed excited expressions 'a human settlement!' Both had never seen one before and were a bit giddy in anticipation, Tera on the other hand didn't care and was content snuggling up against Glacé all day. She had already been thinking about how their wedding would look and how many kids they'd have; young kit already held grand delusions of being Glacé's partner for life thus being by his side made her most happy.

Glacé looked at his happy companions and gave a slight smile as he gently touched each on the head; before speaking solemnly. "Bai, Tera I need you both to hide under my cloak and not come out no matter what. While we're here I'll see if we can find suitable amulets for you to hide your presence but until we have them, you cannot be seen, got it?".

The two kits nodded in understanding, Glacé grinned and opened his inventory pulling out the cloak Elewynn gifted him. He used one hand to essentially throw the cloak out into the air and let it fall as he swiftly wrapped it around his body ' I bet I look pretty cool' Glacé thought smugly to himself.

After everyone was in place they followed the coast and after walking for half a day they finally saw a shadow of the port city. Glacé stopped and pulled out his map and he looked a bit lost. 'Why is the city… so big?' On the map Yuki gave him the port of Lesha is essentially a four-block town with a huge dock. However the outline they can see from a distance… well let's just say they can't see any part where the supposed 'small town' ends. 'Maybe this isn't Lesha?' Glacé felt doubtful about his navigation skills as he slowed his pace toward the city ahead. As he walked, he discovered a stone and gravel path and moved to walk along it, carriages would pass him by from time to time and offer him a ride which Glacé always refused for safety reasons. Soon enough we saw wide, glittering gates in the distance.

*Ding* 'You have discovered "Lesha" your map has been updated'

'Hm, it really was Lesha. Does that mean the map just isn't to scale?' Feeling more confident in his abilities and comfortable in his heart Glacé opened his map and the smile on the edge of his lips froze. The map really "updated". On the map, Glacé stared at the "kingdom of Lesha" tag hovering above the city before him and felt his mouth grow dry. Lesha's territory had to have expanded by at least 20 times, looking at the large spread-out kingdom on his map Glacé felt betrayed he narrowed his eyes and opened his "Social" tab.

*ding ding di-* at this moment Glacé dialed Yuki's communication code and heard a nonchalant "hello?" From the other end.

Glacé had his fists clenched as he tentatively asked "Yuki, how old is this map you gave me?".

"Mm, I think it's been kept within the sanctuary for almost… 800 years or so?".

Glacé sharply took a breath, "so you mean to say it's likely inaccurate?".

"Hmm probably?".

Glacé wanted to choke somebody but restrained himself severely "got it, thanks". He swiftly ended the communication and repetitively kicked a nearby tree, his beautiful face red in anger and full of murderous intent. Meanwhile, Yuki on the other end heard Glacé's exasperated voice and stared blankly as he heard the call cut off and then gave a hearty laugh. 'Ah this young one is as fun as always Yuki smiled in a good mood and went back to work.

"Ha! And here I thought he was being nice. Fuck me! This game just wants me to take the high road right?! Well fucking fine then! I'll become a God damn God in this world, you all just wait and see!". Glacé ranted incessantly while Mole, Bai, and Tera uneasily watched his actions while hiding behind a nearby bush.

It took Glacé almost 30 minutes before he finally stopped huffing and puffing, and he felt exhausted he wearily looked to his companions and waved at them to come back over. Then he slowly trudged along with them into the kingdom of Lesha. With his cloak on and hood up Glacé inconspicuously roamed the outskirts of the grand kingdom. He finally stopped a passerby "excuse me, could you please point me to the nearest resting place?".

The man looked at him with a funny expression before speaking "do you mean a tavern? Or an inn?". Although Yuki taught world basics in the tutorial Glacé didn't know the difference between the two options and hesitated for a moment before he heard Mole whisper "Tavern!". So instantly Glacé replied, "The nearest tavern please".

The man pointed a rough finger to the right and said in a bland tone "it's right there, the one with mugs on the sign".

"Thank you". Glacé replied and made his way to the tavern, upon pushing open the door a pungent smell smacked him right in the face. He frowned and his eyebrows which had finally smoothed out, instantly tightened once more. He looked around the dingy, damp, dark room and frowned even harder 'so dirty' Glacé felt appalled.

'Who the hell would want to rest in a place like this?!' Glacé observed his surroundings and realized something 'this must be a bar' he saw many burly men drinking from tin cups or flasks and talking incoherently. He had no desire to unwind in such a filthy place and slowly made his way to the barkeep and knocked on the Woden bar top. "Excuse me, sir, could you point me to the nearest Inn?".

The barkeep stared at Glacé and opened his mouth to reply when two customers rudely butt in.

"Ha shit, Kale get a load of this fruit cake! Please sir can you help me?" The man changed his tone and mocked Glacés accent and behavior and smacked the bar top hard, spitting out saliva from laughing too hard.

"A softie like you should leave here quick, or you may just get eaten alive, we don't serve no "noble lords" round these parts".

Glacés lips twitched in irritation "is that so? Then tell me where the inn is". Glacé spoke bluntly and stared at the drunken man next to him.

"Hmm go down this street, and upon seeing the next fork take a right and the Inn will have a bed in the wooden sign. You can't miss it, now since I so generously gave directions, shouldn't you thank me for my services?".

The man winked at Glacé who sneered and threw a silver coin at him and spoke with disdain "but of course. Us noble sons mustn't rip off, poor bastards such as yourself, your drinks for the next week are all on me". He left those words as scurried out of the tavern heading towards the nearby inn; decisively ignoring the cursing the man he left behind was yelling at him.