LIGHTNOVELONLINE 007
@Jasper slowed down.
There was a long silence between us, and there was nothing but the sound of my owner's agitated breaths.
I was completely still.
I wasn't good at talking, and if anything I didn't know what to say.
It felt so raw. It was like someone had taken a firm grapefruit, shaved the skin off, and pushed it into my hands. The bloody red pulp dripped in between my fingers and left an acidic taste in my mouth. The flesh was squishy and bleeding, and it was terrifying to hold someone else's exposed heart.
My hands trembled a little.
I wasn't used to receiving heavy feelings like this.
In some ways, I had been living in a fantasy. I never asked any questions. @Jasper purchased me and kept me as his pet, and I liked it so much that I didn't want to break the illusion. I was happy and I wanted everything to be real. I wanted to forget about a lot of things. Earth ruined so many peoples' lives, and I resented the fact that it cast a looming shadow over this corner of my individual paradise.
@Jasper was staring at me.
He seemed to be expecting some kind of response.
"Will you sign it?" He asked.
I stared back at him wordlessly.
My owner wanted permadeath1Permadeath: Permanent death. On Vetita, there were various forms of resurrection magic and necromancy (and furthermore respawning), so ordinary suicide was no guarantee that one's soul would be released from the game. "Permadeath" could be achieved through a variety of different methods, and the simplest approximation was to sign a contract that locked one's soul into an inanimate object.
I didn't want this.
Maybe it was selfish, but I didn't want my master to disappear.
Perhaps @Japser knew that if he died, I would have gone through great lengths to bring him back. I would have scoured all over Spawn to find his reincarnation, and even if he chose not to respawn, I might have gone to find a necromancer. My feelings were probably transparent through our telepathic link, and he needed to guarantee I wouldn't try anything ridiculous.
"Fiie." He repeated impatiently. "I will make you sign it."
His brow darkened and his voice carried a threatening tone at the lack of my response.
But I knew it was an empty threat.
I shapeshifted into a cat and slowly climbed into @Jasper's lap.
I felt so sad.
I curled up against my owner.
I wanted to cry, but cats don't shed tears.
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The morning skies were crimson.
Strong winds flitted across the bow of the Felicity, and the quarterdeck was silent at this early hour. Due to the yesterday's successful operation under the cover of darkness, the mercenaries had celebrated late into the night. They likewise collapsed unconscious in the slave ship's lower deck after drinking themselves merry.
Electricity did not exist in the world of Vetita, so you would think that people would go to bed early and rise at the crack of dawn in this quasi-medieval world. However, certain habits of modern life on Earth were incorrigible. Even though magical lamps were expensive and resource-inefficient, luxury amenities that mimicked Earthly appliances were prevalent. It cost a silly amount of magical energy to power a lightbulb, and oil lamps were unquestionably more economical, but exorbitant and extravagant behavior was widespread in this toxic world where men compared everything from dick sizes to glowing lamp posts.
The early morning hours were quiet.
I hadn't slept very much the previous night.
@Jasper eventually fell asleep after our "conversation". He was incredibly frustrated with me, but he didn't force anything. There's a certain degree of privilege to being a cat familiar, and I am glad I chose my species. Unlike dogs, who are generally expected to be affectionate and energetic, cats are aloof and unfriendly. Since @Jasper owned a cat back on Earth, he was clearly weak to my silent display of disobedience.
I don't think my master had the heart to punish me.
I told him telepathically that I would only sign the contract if he would grant me a wish.
I mainly said that so he wouldn't try to kill himself immediately.
But I have to think of a wish now.
I want to come up with something that would delay his death as long as possible. If I told him that I wished for him to take me to the World Rim, it would take nearly three months of travel by the fastest airship. I would be able to spend three more months with @Jasper, and maybe I would be able to change his mind in the span of that time.
It was a desperate and meaningless request.
Was that good enough?
Did I really understand him as well as I thought I did?
Could I convince him to stay?
I peered over the railing at the edge of the airship. Clouds drifted by below us, and we were high in the sky above the ground. The air was calm, but this world was vast and expansive. Although Vetita was home to griefers for two hundred years, a majority of the server was still empty. Once a player got far enough away from Spawn, it was possible to find stretches of pure nature unsoiled by human hands.
Colloquially, we called those places the Far Lands.
Everyone has dreamed of reaching those wild places at least once or twice.
It is a common naturalistic fantasy that many new players hold when joining this server, but most people give up on those aspirations when they realize that surviving in a hostile world filled with dangerous monsters isn't as easy as it sounds. It's virtually impossible for new players who lack skill levels, and even strong veteran players who have played for years hesitate before venturing into the wilderness where it is possible to lose everything in a blink of an eye.
However, maybe if we left the darkness of human civilization, @Jasper might find life meaningful again?
If we died, I would rather that we faced death together.
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