Virtual Reality : Dystopian Tales Online

015.1 | The Foster's Manor

Leon never thought that a time will come where he would gape in awe from someone's wealth. He had already considered his family very wealthy. Well, his house is ridiculously grand for a family with less than ten members. They also owned a couple of hospitals and some establishments. He could be considered be a prince if you phrase it differently.

Fortunately, his family possesses good education so no one is fighting for riches. He did not grow conceited too. He wasn't a wastrel and quite noble as compared to his other brothers.

However, it seems like the idea of wealth has been refreshed the moment he stepped up on the upper echelon of the wealthy district. He used the navigation to reach the house of Adrian when he noticed that he had been traversing a very long road of metal fence. When he sought the driver if they are lost, the driver said they're going to the right direction.

Then, what is with this long road ahead?

"Young Master, from the navigation, it says this is the property of the Fosters. What you are observing now is their... backyard."

Leon: ...

It steered them at least ten minutes to reach the massive gates of the Foster's house. Leon peered over unto the car's window and examined the more than three meters gothic gate with the words FOSTER FAMILY arched on the top. Looking ahead, he could only just see a vast lawn and an outline of a building in a very far distance. That must be the main house.

No, this is only Adrian's house. He remembered that the main family of Fosters lived on the other side of the world. He had never been there and had not seen it. But many magazines tried to estimate the whole area and said to cover at least three large mountains.

Seeing just one of the branch family already made him amazed. What's more from the main side?

One of the people sufficiently guarding the gates asked for their name and agenda. Leon had the driver to handle everything, so all he did is to wait on his chair. It's on this time when he recognized someone cycling passing the car. Looking over, he perceived the familiar face of Aries.

Leon scrolled the window pane down further and called Aries. The older person shifted his gears and parked near the window. There is visible perspiration coming from the person. He obviously exhausted himself cycling all over the distance.

"Is it already fine for you to move around?" Leon asked.

"The doctor says it's fine. I must do some exercise to stimulate the new muscles around so I decided to do some cycling to go here," Aries smirked. He wiped his sweat using his sleeve and looked at the road he's from.

"Who would have thought that I will be cycling this far? That guy should have given us the heads up," He complained.

Leon could only sympathize and asked if he wanted to just hitch the ride. Aries looked beyond the lawn and thought that he doesn't want to look like a soaked chick in front of Adrian so he agreed with the youth. The bicycle is placed on the back of the car, and he joined in beside Leon.

The guards had already been told about the visitors, so they easily obtained their entrance upon recognizing their identities. The so-called backyard of the Foster's is composed of a mini forest and ornamental gardens. Leon and Aries did not get bored watching the breathtaking scenery along the way.

"That is a mini forest, right?" Aries pointed at a certain area with a click on his tongue. "It's already extravagant to have a meter square of a botanical garden and here they are foraging a forest."

"Well, they are born from farmers. The heavens bless them, so they could enjoy such luxury."

The Foster's ancestors are farmers. It could be stated the reason why humanity continued to strive during the post-apocalyptic event is from the Foster's advance farming techniques. However, there are some techniques that they keep as the family secret, the over all operation is done free of charge.

Everyone could get food in exchange of labor.

Monetary compensation is only provided a thousand years when the federation had stabilized the situation. Nobody complained when the Foster's received a huge farm land tax free. The family wasn't stingy since they continuously supplied the market with fresh goods away from contamination.

At the present time, the main family business is still agriculture. There are many researchers working under the Fosters with the objective of altering the status of environment. The toxicity value of the normal soil is still high so they are studying of ways on how to discard it. They are also evaluating ways on how to improve plant growth.

However, the previous generation did not all become farmers. The middle child of the main branch studied engineering instead. That person had become a business man that owned one of the most prestigious game companies and created the most sought game of all times.

He is Adrian's father.

Leon tended the gardens with enthusiasm. The numbers occupying his sight once again showed a marvelous dance of perfection. Even though this is not the world he grew up, the semblance still made him fascinated. To him, there is nothing more perfect than nature.

Following these thoughts, Leon suddenly asked, "Do you believe when Clo-, when Adrian said those words at the conference?"

Aries jerked his head to look at Leon then to the driver on the front seat. He replied, "You didn't believe him?"

"I do," Leon affirmed. "But it is because of my ability. How about you? You don't have any ways to prove that he is right. Will you believe in him blindly?"

Aries thought Leon had a point. However, he wasn't stupid. Even if Adrian is someone that he admired, if he lies, he won't back him up. That would be his bottom line. Fortunately, Adrian is not the person who likes to joke around. If he says that it is true, then it is equally true.

He chuckled lightly and decided to divulge a little secret. Aries said, "If anyone could stop Adrian, it wasn't Frass. It is me."

Leon is surprised. "You're so confident."

"Why wouldn't I be confident?" Aries clicked his tongue while swaying his head sideways. "You weren't on the first server, so you could not quite understand. Did you guys implicitly assume that Clover topped the game of all servers?"

His words intrigued Leon. When they entered the game, Clover is already ranked the top player of the game and it continued until the recent server. They automatically somehow assumed that he also owned the throne of the first server. Leon analyzed the situation further and thought that they must have overlooked something.

If Clover is not the top player of the first server, then-

Leon's eyes widened as he looked at Aries with a new light. Allen in the past told them that a creature from the first server ceased to exist upon the opening of the second server. There is also the passive skill of blessing owned only by the first string players. Whenever the old time players talks about the first server, they are always ridden with nostalgia.

This person beside him is the only humanoid who owned the dragon slayer title.

Then Clover is a part dragon...

Does it mean they were initially mortal enemies?

Aries knows Leon has a good train and thought so he just nodded to whatever Leon had discovered. He and Adrian are enemies before they became friends. They are the type where they want to finish each other when they cross paths. As you would expect, Aries is consistently been a war lord so he never gives any chance for Adrian to stand.

They were conversing quite nicely they didn't notice they arrived on the front they didn't notice they arrived on the front door of the building. A butler came forward to open the door for them. Aries joyfully accepted the service and expressed thanks. Leon also did the same. They followed the butler and entered the large place.

It would be absurd to say that Adrian's house is a house. Aries wanted to change it to manor or a castle. He tried looking up when he was still outside but could not still see the edges of the roof. Looking left and looking right, he could not clearly grasp the ends.

It is almost the same with their guild.

The outside scenery is already excellent. The inside of the manor is considerably better. There are large glass chandelier, a lot of stairs, paintings, ornamental plants, servants... Aries almost become dizzy in one glance. Leon is relatively alright since he received the least intense treatment inside his house.

Still, he could only gulp upon seeing how grand the house is.

The butler escorted them towards a large guest hall. Aries sniffed around and smelled something good. Leon recognized the scent and just silently looked around to see where it came from. In a corner where there are tables and chairs is a group of people chatting. They are the twins, Lexa, Alexander, Damian, and Jase.

"Young Masters, this way," the butler lead them to the group.

Marlene and Marcus are listening to the older players chat when they noticed the incoming people. They directly left their drinks and food and approached the two. Aries received the first blunt of their jump hugs while Leon only patted them on their heads.

"Shin isn't here yet?" Leon asked as he looked around. That guy seems to have been late again.

"Don't worry, it's still early," Allen said. He is sitting on the chair luxuriously as if he is a king sitting in a throne. He drank the tea with grace and bit a piece of some cake. "Don't worry, let's enjoy these material things."

Marlene laughed upon seeing his actions. She snitched him towards her older brothers, "He has been acting like a royalty. He said that we should sometimes indulge to the sins of greed."

"Am I not correct?" Alexander didn't seem timid. He even raised the tea as if he is presenting the drink of life. "It is not everyday to receive such good food."

He looked at the butler beside Aries and Leon, and solemnly said, "Everything is all great! I've never had this kind of hospitality before!"

The butler seems to accept his gratitude and bowed lightly. "It is my responsibility to serve our young master's friends. If there is anything else, just call me right away."

Aries wasn't as shameful as Alexander and sat properly on the adjacent chair. A female made went ahead on serving him some tea and a plate of dessert. Aries thanked her well then called the butler.

"When will Adrian come?"

"Young Master Adrian will come down later after his morning medication. I hope our guests could wait for a while."

"There's no hurry. Just let him rest properly before coming down."

They had chatted a few words with the butler for a while before he left. The group sat to eat snacks and chatted about the wonder of the house. Marlene is the one who talked the most. She shared about her more than a week experience inside the manor.

"Everyone is so kind," she started. "They are all soft spoken and treated us with care. Most of the time, they would offer us food and drinks. Once we've eaten, they will ask if we want to watch a movie or play some games."

Marcus didn't like talking, but he nodded to show his affirmation.

"The rooms are also enormous. The one where we sleep is as grand as our house! But that is only the bedroom. There are also the walk-in closet, the bathroom, the study room... I almost got lost when I was looking for the bathroom when I woke up to pee one night."

Marcus nodded again with enthusiasm. Of the two, he is the one who got lost the most.

"It was such a large residents with many kind people. Yet..." Marlene suddenly quietened down. "It's too big that it almost looks so empty."

For such a large house, it is possible for people to not meet for days despite living in the same house. Even though she has Marcus beside her, she still felt lonely. What's more with Adrian who had only live by himself for many long years? Is he also feeling lonely?

"Do you think your older brother is lonely?" Aries chuckled. He caressed the head of Marcus like a father praising his child. "Clover is so busy he has no time attending game events. Do you think that he is still lonely?"

"He won't be that lonely," Damian added. "You all said that there are many kind people in this house. With them, do you think that Adrian would be alone?"

They appeased the twins from worrying about the state of the house however they all know that it's just all sugarcoated words. It is true that such a good house is something anyone could not easily obtain, but it is due to this difficulty that there are only few people residing it.

With walls painted with gold and decorated with diamonds - such cold luster could not satisfy the carnal desires of man.

Adrian, is indeed, pretty much alone in this place.

"Are you sure they are here? Why is it so silent?"

A familiar voice suddenly resounded from the doorway. Everyone subconsciously look over to see the origin of the voice. The butler is leading the way with a pleasant expression. He would always look back to see if the youth is following behind him.

Adrian walked out from the shadow of his butler to see the crowd clearly. His appearance is lazy, wearing some loose clothing with light colors. His hair wasn't styled that messily nestled on his head. The eyes that were the colors of the deepest universe looked at them with intensity that made their breathe hitch.

His clothes are ordinary but the noble feeling he is exuding is clearly evident. It makes people entranced - not wanting to look away afraid that they will miss the sight.

His entirety resembled an immortal.