A New World, an immersive game experience

Eldrian returned, not at all happy with the expenditure. He now had the most expensive clothes he had ever bought safely stored in his inventory. And they weren't just expensive in-game.

If Eldrian were to convert the cost with the simplified exchange rate of 1 gold equaled 100 dollars, then the entire outfit was an expensive 700 dollars' worth. And actually, the exchange rate was slightly above 100 dollars per 1 gold atm. 

Thinking of this certainly did not help Eldrian's mood, though he soldiered on upon concluding that it was a necessary evil. 'I should probably at least look the part if I am going to become a noble.'

This thought however did not help him calm down, instead, he felt that he didn't want to appear like a noble. He worried that he would get sucked into all the nonsense that he far too often saw nobles being sucked into. 

"Where are your clothes?" Vivian asked as she came down, having caught a quick nap to refresh her for the rest of the day. 

"Inventory," Eldrian grumbled.

In return, Vivian smiled as she could easily tell what he was upset about. "How much?"

"Six gold and eighty-seven silver. It's ridiculous!" Eldrian grumbled, happy to complain. 

"You didn't haggle?"

"Haggle?"

Hearing Eldrian's confusion Vivian burst out laughing, unable to stop for nearly an entire minute. "You honestly paid full price?"

"Of course, you pay what things are listed as," Eldrian replied, all too used to the modern shopping experience where haggling was almost non-existent. Especially to a shut-in as he obviously was, excluding how much he exercised. 

Hearing his reply Vivian had another fit of laughter, after which she finally explain to Eldrian that he could have easily brought the total cost down to at least below five gold. 

It might not sound like much, but in Eldrian's mind it just repeatedly went like,  'You just wasted 200 dollars, you idiot!'

This resulted in Eldrian being quite grumpy for the rest of the morning, even magic talk didn't quite get him out of his funk. However, when Vivian appeared before him in her dark cobalt blue dress with some bright cyan highlights, Eldrian forgot all about it. 

"You-you look amazing!" He said, shocked at how well it went with her auburn hair. 

"Thanks,' Vivian said with a smile while twirling. 

The twirl however didn't impress Eldrian or anything like that, instead, it revealed one of her larger scars. Standing up and moving closer, Eldrian traced his finger over the edge of the scar just slightly visible behind her dress. 

"You didn't?"

"No, I had them heal most of the smaller scars. But, this one, I nearly died." Vivian replied, turning to Eldrian and staring into his eyes. "I can still remember drowning in my own blood as the pain slowly started disappearing."

Eldrian just stood there, not knowing what to do. After a moment, he embraced her as she started crying. Recalling the moment where she was kept alive by the bone piercing her side, and forced to watch her friends fall one by one to the flaming reanimate. 

Eldrian waited for her to have her cry, to let the pain out. And when she seemed to stabilize, he stroked her back and apologized. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

At first, Vivian had wanted to say he didn't need to apologize. However, she felt a weight lift from her heart hearing it. Nodding into Eldrian's chest, she cried a bit more. 

Parting, she apologized. "I'm sorry, I-"

"No need, I understand. War... It isn't a pleasant experience." Eldrian said, slowly tracing another of her scars, this one on her cheek. "Let's do our best to never have to experience things like that again."

Nodding, Vivian swallowed the pain still in her chest and put it to use as determination to grow stronger. 

"Ah, I ruined my makeup... And your shirt."

"It's just a shirt," Eldrian said, though extremely happy he hadn't changed yet. Ruining a three gold worth shirt would have been terrible. Though, even if that had been the case he would have said the same thing. 

...

"Are you ready?" Eldrian asked, walking arm in arm with Vivian into the courtyard of the lord's manor. Ceph had decided to stay home with the maids, having made it clear he didn't want any of the focus he was certain to attract if he went. 

Unlike normal, the manor was decorated with plenty of magical lights and servents moved between the guests that filled the garden, offering various drinks and appetizers. 

"Yes," Vivian nodded, happy that here no one knew her. No one knew them. Thus, they escaped most of the early focus as the quests arrived. Other than some curious glances.

After a few hours, as the sun started to set, the festivities were slowly moved inside the grand hall. 

Of course, it was large enough to house thousands of centaurs and even allow them to dance. It was a gala after all. 

Observing from the side, the two humans watched in awe at how gracefully the four-legged people could dance. It was quite the sight to behold. 

"Eldrian, and? Who is your lady friend?" Pelaros asked as he appeared behind the two.

"Ah, Pelaros, this is Vivian." Eldrian replied while wondering how he knew his true name and asking this in slight confusion.

"Oh, that. I asked Ayden, seems you two are quite close."

"Is he here?" Eldrian asked. 

"No, unfortunately, he couldn't make it. But it is great to see you, and all dressed up. You look like a true noble."

Eldrian just smiled hearing this, knowing that it was meant as a compliment but unable to accept it as one. 

"Sorry, but I have to continue making the rounds. Please, do enjoy."

After Pelaros left, he changed into his centaur form as he greeted some other quests. What had been his pants smoothly transitioning into an Akro.

"Who was that?" Vivian asked.

"The city lord," Eldrian replied, and Vivian simply nodded like it was obvious it would be someone high in power. After all, Eldrian wasn't normal by any means. 

"You're not surprised?"

"No." Vivian replied and seeing Eldrian wanting an explanation she continued, "Last night you came home with a greatmage, but more than that she was also a royal. And her bloodline is quite pure, so she must be closely related to the king."

"How do you know that?" Eldrian asked, he didn't even know much about Myropsis outside of her love for magic. 

"We talked," Vivian said with a playful smile. "Are you ever going to ask me to dance?" She asked to not have him continue that thread of conversation. 

"Dance? I don't know any noble dances."

"Then, what do you know?" Vivian asked with a playful and infectious smile. 

"Let me show you," Eldrian said, taking her hand and quickly taking the lead. The music, of course, was completely wrong for a random, mixed, dance style. It was similar to swing dance, and that might be the aptest name for it in the situation. 

Taking the lead, Eldrian would throw Vivian out, pull her back in, twirl her, and then suddenly dip her. The first few times Vivian would hurriedly try to regain her balance, but as the song continued and the two became accustomed to one another's rhythm, she simply started going with the flow and Eldrian's lead. 

Soon, they became the center of attention. 

AN: A big thanks to everyone who continually supports this novel on WN.