Evaelona: The Trails of Advancement

Chapter 08: Gathering Allies

Normally, Wade would finish his breakfast before 7 am. Now, it's at 10 am. Anyhow, everything is messed up. And right now, it is nothing normal to Wade. Normally, he would vent his anger at someone when he ruins his own routine. But now, he is just going with the flow.

As Wade went to the dining area of the tavern, the whole group was together. Cormack, Shelly, Romilda & Neoya. All of them were waiting for Wade to come & tell them how what happened.

"Let me guess, you told them everything."

"How can I tell everything if you haven't told me anything?" Cormack said.

"Ok. Hold your horses. Let me talk to the others first."

Turning his attentions to the others, he said, "Due to some language problems, I could not converse with you. But now, I got the hang of it. My name is Wade Wilson. And it is a privilege to be among you all."

Excited, all of them gave their introduction & Cormack couldn't but join the fun. Then Wade suddenly screamed, "AHH!"

"What happened?" Romilda said.

"My eyes. I cannot see anything. Why?"

Then Wade remembered the task. He had to find glasses. Now, what will he do?

"What happened?", Romilda asked again.

"Ok, guys. First things first. On the previous night, I have achieved a kind of upgrade. But for it to work, I need glasses. Did Nathan...."

Wait. Wade doesn't know if Jonathan or Nathan built up Evaelona. Now, whose reference is he going to use?

Depending on luck, Wade said, "What I meant to say is that did Jonathan left anything like that here?"

"I think so. He had something called a wayfarer which he stored in the castle. I don't know if that is the glass you are looking for. I mean glass is something we drink in, right?"

"They are called eyeglasses. But good job on your part for knowing that a wayfarer is an eyeglass."

"Thanks. I guess."

"Now, you guys, don't just sit there. Help me!"

And all of them helped Wade to finish his breakfast which was not at all like dinner. Then they helped him on an armor. Very heavy, double-duty armor.

"Is this necessary?"

"Yes. Tradition &, formality. You are an adventurer now. So you need all these for protection," answered Neoya.

"Well, that's one way to put it."

Then all of them helped him to the castle. And on the whole road, Wade was starting to regretting to trade his eyesight for the knowledge.

The king was a bit worried when they reached the court. He was moving here & there a bit worried. And when he saw that Wade and the others were coming, he instantly changed his mood & greeted them warmly.

"Welcome back. Wade, have you given any thoughts on the post of the invention?"

"Yes, I have. But I need the wayfarer which Jonathan had left here in the castle."

"You mean the eyeglasses which all confuse with glass?"

"They are called glasses. Ok. Whatever. Yes."

Leonard called out a guard. It was the same man. Wade started to grow a bit suspicious. Who is that man?

Leonard ordered that man to take them to the dining hall. There they would find Martha. And she would hand them the wayfarer.

Wade would have loved the dining hall. A very delightful fragrance covering the whole room. The smell of delicious food all around. And all the people. But Wade can't see. And that is utterly upsetting for Wade.

With a few bumps, Wade finally reached Marhta Christine. And so to say, the last time Wade saw her, it left an impression in his mind. Such beauty cannot be found that easily. It's like one in a million.

"Hello. Your highness. Hope you are doing well this fine day."

Instead of an answer, all Wade heard was the sound of laughing. Laughing from Cormack & the others & the princess. Cormack said, "Man, you are talking facing the other side. Turn around."

Already Wade is embarrassed that he cannot see. And now he talked to someone facing the other side. Really.

Turning around, Wade in a helpless tone said, "I am sorry to disturb you today, your highness. But I require an urgent favor from you. Can you please help me?"

"State your favor."

"Jonathan had left a wayfarer here in the castle. King Leonard had said that you would know where it is."

"Yes. The eyeglasses which people mistakenly refer to as glass in here. Yes if you please follow me to my room."

Wade started to follow her with the help of the others. Now, maybe it was a person who he bumped with or it was a wall which he hit; whatever it was, Wade tripped & fell on the princess.

"Hey. Can't you see where you are going? Are you blind?"

"I am really sorry, Your Highness. But the fact is that I am really blind. That is why I need those glasses."

"You mean eyeglasses?"

"Yes. I will tell you everything. But I must have those."

After walking & dodging for almost thirty minutes, Wade finally got the Wayfarer. And without wasting any time, Wade put on the glasses. And after a couple of minutes, Wades' vision was restored.

"Finally. Thank you, Almighty. And thank you guys for helping me."

"Enough if that. All of us have been waiting for ages to hear what you have to say from the last night. Now, please tell us." Cormack was becoming impatient. He really wanted to know about everything. And that makes him a good listener too.

Turning to the princess, Wade said, "Your Highness,....."

"Please, call me Marhta. You know, I am starting to like you."

"Well, you are not the first. Well, Your Highness, I mean Martha, I would suggest that you too should listen to all that I have to say. I need all the help that I can get."

Before starting, Wade first made sure that no one except them was near the vicinity of the room. And the was huge. So Wade had to take some time to ensure that.

After making sure that no one was there, Wade began to tell them all that has happened to him. Everything including the AI Box, AI Nathan, the fact that there were two persons with the same face named Jonathan Devoe, the real person who they met & Nathan Joe, his elder brother who is trying to kill Wade after killing Jonathan, & the integrated HUB. And all of them listened very carefully with an expression of enthusiasm & fear mixed in their faces. Cormack's' jaws dropped hearing everything. Both Shelly & Romilda were looking at each other, completely confused. Neoya almost broke a chair & a table because of his rage & because he was confused. And Martha was just plain quiet. But her face was like Wades' when he first came into Evaelona.

Everyone coincidentally screamed, "What! Are you mad?"

"I know it is going to be hard to believe. But it is the truth. And I am going to show it to you." With that, he called out AI Nathan like before. And like before, he appeared. And this time, he appeared a bit faded. Wade knew why. But he found it best not to tell it to the others now.

"Wade, I see you have some guests. I should introduce myself. Hello. My name is AI Nathan. I am an Artificial Intelligence being created by Jonathan Devoe. And I have been deployed for the service of Wade for a short period of time."

And for a couple of hours, all of the people in the room tried to understand the story of Wade, Jonathan & Nathan. It was twisted enough for them to understand, let alone not understanding many of the words of Wades' world. So Wade also had to interpret AI Nathan for the whole lot to completely understand what Wade was here to do.

After everyone understood everything there was to, Wade then commanded AI Nathan to go to private mode. He learned about this when interacting with the HUB. Inside private mode, Wade asked AI Nathan,

"I know that I have only one more visitation left for you. Now is there any way for me to get more visitations from you? "

"I don't know. Maybe Jonathan did program something. And probably, Nathan may have overlooked it. Do you know those people who think that they can never get caught? Maybe he is one of them."

"Maybe. How long will it take for you to confirm?"

"Already on it and......... Done. It turns out that he left the process unaltered. For you to get extra calls for me, you will have to complete some side objectives within the city of Trada. The objectives with the calls will be shown along with other rewards."

"Alright, thank you. Now you can power down."

And like that Wade returned to the room. All of them were as before. Scared, confused & jaws dropped. And all of them didn't even know about the conservation between Wade and AI Nathan.

Acting as if Wade gave them some time to think about it, he said, "Well, what do you guys think?"

Before anyone could say anything, Cormack jumped up & said, "I'm in."

"Are you sure? I can't guarantee your life."

"Hah! I don't care. It's been a while since I have faced danger. And I laugh at the face of danger."

Wade looked at the others. They were still thinking about what to say. Wade tried to pursue them, "Come on you guys, this will be an adventure of a lifetime. Sure, there is the risk of dying. But who cares. I risked my life to avenge my friend who has been mercilessly killed. Sure, someone will think it is stupid. But he is literally out of the law's hand. And he will keep on doing all this until my world is under his reign. And he will turn it like Bart."

The shyest of them, Shelly stood up & said, "I will fight with you. Many of you don't know but my homeland is Bart. When the wretch Housden ascended the throne, he destroyed everything. And I will do anything to save it."

Neoya then stood up. He wasn't very happy about what he was doing. But he had no choice. He said, "Oh what the heck. I am going to die anyway. So might as well die with honor and in the most epic adventure in history."

Romilda, lastly, didn't say anything but just nodded her head indicating that she was in. Then Wade turned to Martha. Although he knew that she was going to decide to come, & she really wanted to, but she herself said, "I am sorry. As much as I want to join this quest, I can't. But don't worry. I will help you in every day I can with any knowledge or information that we require."

Now Wades' confidence level has risen above expected. He has now a group of very brave adventurers who excelled in different fields, are versatile & all of them are very close to each other. Like Marthas' beauty, it is difficult to find such a thing.

Now, Wade had to brief them on the tasks. And Martha had to go. She was summoned by Leonard. And she wished them luck before leaving.

While briefing on the task, Wade had some new tasks. And the ones which he completed yielded rewards. The HUB said:

Completed:

"I told you to get the glasses early. Now you roamed blind. But you finally got it. So a good job.                               Rewards: People will be more friendly with you. And trust with Leonard & Martha increased by 1%"

Wade thought it best not to say this. He then continued.

1. Earn the skills to fight Housden. For this, you must:

    # Improve swordsmanship from Cormack.

    # Improve magic from Shelly

    # Learn to fight from Neoya (Mind that I have programmed to download fighting but it got corrupted. You              know why)

    # Learn to conceal yourself from others from Romilda.

2. Find the next AI box. The destination also got corrupted. 

3. Get a map of Evaelona. It is of utmost importance as you go further.

4. In the invention, create a spare pair of wayfarers, & the necessary things you require for the quest. Note that you will not be able to make anymore once you leave Trada.

5. Use Romildas' help to get a full layout of the castle. This will be a practice for you when infiltrating the castle of Housden.

6. If you have gathered allies, tell them to prepare for the journey & tell them to be ready to teach you.

Well, you heard them. We will be conquering Bart. So, guys get to it. Cormack, you have to leave at the earliest & complete the map as soon as possible.

"Yes. I'll leave tomorrow."

"Neoya & Shelly, get ready on your own & when the time comes, I will come for learning."

Both of them nodded. "And Romilda, meet me tonight near the palace. We will start our training today."

"As you say so."

Everything was set in motion. Wade is now finally making real progress in Evaelona. In avenging Jonathans' death. Wade was feeling a type of relief within himself. He felt a feeling which very few people may have felt. The feeling of meaning something to someone. Now, he can say proudly that he was a true friend of Jonathan.

Before everyone went away, Wade asked Cormack to accompany him to the king so that he may gain access to the invention room.

"So you are taking the post of the invention?"

"Yes. I believe it will be a vital part of our journey. So I need to get in today."

"OK then. Let's go."

Walking down the halls again, Wade & Cormack came upon the point where the season clash was. The ceiling of the castle was not there to reflect the beauty of the season clash within the castle. It was like a natural mural. Wade stood there for a minute & soaked the beauty of the seasons. Wade may never return here again after the job was done.

Reaching the kings' court, Leonard was happy to see Wade. He had a smirk on his face which made Wade thinking that Martha said everything to her. Wade thought, "Maybe another ally or a problem."

The king then said, "I heard that you are planning a quest. My daughter was very interested in it."

Wade replied, "Yes. She agreed to help us in every way possible. I hope that it won't be a problem, Your Majesty."

"No, no. I like you, so I am also starting to trust you a bit. Just please don't break it."

"I promise, I won't. All of us won't."

After saying that, a sound came out of nowhere. It was in Wades' HUB. And in there, a notification appeared. It said,

Completed:

"You are becoming a favorite of the king. Keep this up & you may get something big.                                Reward: Trust of Leonard & Martha increased by 15%. Total trust: (!6/100)%"

Wade yelled in his mind, "Yes! Today is turning out to be an eventful day."

When he was looking at the notification, he was also conversing with the king. Wade said, "Sire, I have given thought on the post of the invention. And I have concluded taking up the post. I believe that I will be able to contribute to Evaelona & it will also help me on my quest."

"Of course. Of course. This time, Cormack will lead you to the room. He led Jonathan there the previous time."

And with Cormack, he went to the invention room. The room was located on the top floor of the castle. And the whole top floor was kept for the post of the invention. Wade was a bit happy about that.

Then bidding Cormack goodbye, Wade entered into the Invention room. And he decided to go further with keeping these intentions:

1. Avenging Jonathan.

2. Contributing & if required, Saving Evaelona.

3. Keeping the closest relations with as many people as he could.