Corwin Benedict
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The Game Of The Gods Chapter 7
🕑 Added 2025-02-07 21:44:21 +0000 UTC“Do you have any other questions?” Taylor asks.
“Do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend?” I ask.
She nearly falls off her chair, and blushes.
“Because if you do, just tell them you have a high level partner that will kick their asses out of this world if they disrespect you. They’re gamers, they’ll respect levels more than anything else.” I continue.
Taylor laughs, unable to stop herself as she clutches at the counter to keep herself from falling. “Oh, gods above. You’re a treat.” She finally calms down, giving me a genuine smile. “Seriously, what other questions do you have?”
I pause, my hand playing with a loose strand of hair. “When will other people start opening up business in the shop?”
Taylor’s business smile returns as she recites information with a practiced tone. “I can’t give a concrete answer to that. Starting a business in another world is risky. There’s less competition, but most of the time, the Beta players either die off, or don’t make enough money to sustain your shop. There are some cases, rare ones, where all the Beta Players die before they unlock the shop. Then you’re screwed until the Beta ends.” She pauses, her gazed focusing on me, “Even I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for-oh,” She frowns, “can’t tell you that unless you pay. Anyways, one or two shopkeepers should appear in the next month, but this won’t be a full-fledged shop for at least a year, conditional on how the Beta Players do during their trials.”
“I see,” I say, crossing my arms as I roll back and forth on my feet.
“Do you have any other questions?” Taylor asks, adjusting her hair slightly.
“Yeah, just one. Do you have time to talk later? It’s been… strange, being unable to talk about this with anyone.”
She looks away, her hand moving to the back of her neck. “Umm… I can’t leave my shop, since I don’t have the kind of money to hire workers. B-but, if you want to come visit me sometime, it would be nice to have someone to talk to.”
“Great. It’s a date.” I stretch, “Also, remind me to bring a chair next time.” My spine pops and I relax with a sigh. “See you later.” I wave goodbye, and she gives a small wave back.
It’s a quick walk back to the door I came through to enter the Shop. A giant Exit sign sits above the doorway, and I enter it without a thought.
My room is as I left it. My king size bed with covers unmade, my dresser across from it, and a little sister facing away from me, holding one of my dresses up to her shoulders.
An evil grin slowly finds its way to my lips. “Hello, little Sunshine. Fancy finding you here.”
Elizabeth jumps, dropping my dress to the floor. “Hey Elena! I was just, uh, making sure there weren’t any rips in your beautiful dress.”
Elizabeth’s eyes skip over the door I’d just walked out of, clearly not seeing it.
“Well? Did you find any, Elizabeth?” I ask as I walk towards her, my smile as innocent as I can make it.
She gulps, “Any what?” A second later, she realizes what she said and covers her mouth with her hand. “I mean no, I didn’t find any.”
I hold my smile for a second longer before breaking into laughter. “You should see your face. Haha, I can’t…” A relieved sigh escapes Elizabeth’s mouth as she relaxes. “Little Sunshine, if you want to try on my dress, just ask. Was there any other reason you were up here?”
She starts to shake her head, then pauses as she remembers something. “Oh! That’s right, moma wanted me to come up to check on you. Dinner should be done soon, and she’s worried about your shoulder.”
“Tell mom I’ll be down soon, and that I’m feeling fine.”
She nods, and turns to leave the room.
“Elizabeth.” I say.
She stops, turning to look at me with confusion.
I point to the dress on the floor.
She gives me a guilty look, then hurries to pick it up and hang it in the closet.
“Thanks Sunshine. You can go now.”
She quickly scampers out of my room and I hear her hurrying down the stairs to our mom.
A notification pops up, asking for my attention.
<Blue Window>
Humble Abode is finished claiming your land. Your land consists of
House (upgrades available)
Front Yard (small structures now available)
Back Yard (small structures now available)
Tool Shed (upgrades available)
<Blue Window>
I dismiss the notification, and head to my door to go downstairs. A small notification pops up over the door, barely visible.
<Blue WIndow>
Door (upgradeable)
<Blue Window>
Well that’s useful. As I make my way downstairs, I see more screens pop up over various parts of the house, but as soon as I ignore them, they disappear.
Downstairs in the kitchen, mom sits at the table, reading a book, while Elizabeth stirs a large pot of soup.
I push mom’s feet off of my chair and sit down across from her.
“Your shoulder must be feeling better.” Mom says, her piercing gaze looking over the top of her book.
“What do you mean?” I ask sweetly, my hand moving towards the shoulder that had been healed by my gloves.
She points her foot at me, “You just pushed my feet with your injured arm.”
I push her leg away from me with a frown. “It’s been feeling a lot better, I guess those doctors really work miracles.”
Mom’s eyes narrow at me, before making a non-committal sound and returning to her book.
I ignore her suspicions for now and rest my head in my arms. With some careful breath work, I enter a state of meditation.
The colors of my chakras are as beautiful as ever, and I wonder at the fact that something so insubstantial can create color.
I follow the flow of my psi, watching as it circulates, until my gaze settles on the chakra of my third eye. I simply observe it for a while, watching the currents of psi twist and turn through it.
If speeding up the current allows me to open my third eye, what would slowing it down do? I gather my mental energy-
“Elena. Food is ready.”
I open my eyes, my consciousness slowly returning to the real world. I look up, my head still resting against my arms.
Mom places a bowl of soup in front o me.
“Thank you mom.” I say with a distracted smile.
I sit up, grab a spoon and start eating.
Dinner passes quickly as everyone is in their own world. Mom with her book, and Elizabeth with her phone.
I finish up and head back up to my room.
I close the door, and move over to my bed. I sit cross-legged on it, dropping back into meditation.
I study my chakras for a moment, then gathering my mental energy, I slow the chakra of my third eye. I feel the mental pressure build up as my psi pushes to resume its normal pace. It takes some concentration, but I manage to hold the psi to that speed.
Carefully, I open my eyes. Nothing looks different in the room. Careful to keep my mind focused, I turn to look for my hand mirror.
My head doesn’t turn, until a couple of seconds later, I realize that my head is turning, just incredibly slowly.
I focus on my surroundings, and in the corner of my room, I see a small fly mid-air, it’s wings flapping slowly.
Time is slowing down.
I spend a few more moments experiencing the situation, before I start to feel frustrated with my own slowness and deactivate the spell.
<Blue Window>
You have learned to manipulate your perception of time. You have unlocked the skill [Take Your Time]
<Blue Window>
“[Define Take Your Time]” I say.
<Blue Window>
[Take Your Time] allows you to perceive time at a significantly reduced rate.
<Blue WIndow>
“No shit sherlock.” I mutter.
After all the excitement of the evening, I decide it’s time to call it a day.
“It has definitely been a day.” I collapse into my bed, and wait for sleep to call me.
***
My alarm wakes me up at the crack of dawn for school. I make my way through my morning routine before heading downstairs.
I meet my father there, reading an article on his laptop.
I hum to myself as I make myself some pancakes for breakfast.
“You seem to be in a good mood.” My father says, looking up at me as I put a plate of pancakes in front of him.
“I am always in a good mood.” I say, giving him a cheeky smile.
I pour a generous helping of maple syrup onto my own pancakes and sit across from him.
He takes a bite, and responds with a mouth half-full of pancake. “The humming is new.” He swallows, then nods to the arm I’m eating with. “I see your arm is feeling better. You’re not overdoing those pain meds, are you?”
I shake my head, my mind going to the full bottle in my room. “No, it honestly hasn’t been hurting that much.”
He hums as he takes another bite. “Even if you can’t feel it, be careful about overusing the arm. You don’t want to reopen the stitching.”
I swallow my last bite, then stand up and give my dad a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be careful dad.” I say, picking up my backpack.
I give him a small wave as I leave the door and place my earbuds in my ear. This time, my gloves are on my hands. I don’t want any more surprise attacks.
I reach the school out of breath. Taking a deep gulp of my water bottle, I rest my hands on my knees.
“You good?” A familiar voice asks from behind me.
I smile, and turn around to to face Rose. Sky blue seems to be the color of choice today, as shown by the color of her sweater and skirt.
I wave my hand. “I’m fine, just wanted to push myself a little today.” I stand up, my hand moving up to my ponytail. I adjust it slightly, unable to meet Rose’s eyes.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Of course.”
“Are you sure you should be running after, you know, your injury?” She asks. The worry in her voice makes my stomach do a small flip of happiness. It’s nice to know she cares.
I grin at her, “I was shot in the arm, not the leg. Well, technically, the shoulder. But I’m sure running is fine.”
Her face flashes with a look of guilt before she hides it.
I walk over to her and hook my arm in hers. “Really, it’s fine.” I give her a smile. “Come on, let’s hurry to homeroom. Personally, my favorite seats are by the window, but I remember you liked to sit in the back. If we get there quick enough, we can do both.”
Her arm relaxes in mine. “That sounds nice.”
“Let’s go then.” I say, gently pulling her to the classroom.
