Chapter 38 - Traveling In Style!
Bonus chapter ^_^v
Kasha approached. As usual, she had that wild vibe to her. She seemed to be ready to pounce angrily on Josh. "Alright, follow me." Josh couldn't help but stare at her perplexed. She clarified "You coming or not? <Disaster Zone D-23> you need a lift, right?"
"Later, everyone!" Josh followed her. "I'm surprised, didn't you dislike me?"
"Oh, I still dislike you. I'm just helping you reach the Disaster Zone faster so you can disappear in it faster" she winked.
"Oh wow!" Josh exclaimed with her looking inquisitively at him. "It's just my first time meeting a mythical tsundere in real life!"
She fiddled with her UW for a while, probably looking the definition up, before snorting at him. They simply walked for a while in silence, then they ran in silence. She was going so fast that Josh soon couldn't catch up. He could see her harbor a triumphant smile. She guided him all the way to the periphery of the City to what seemed like the suburbs.
Raising his eyes, Josh could see colorful flyings cars, flying buses, flying …was that a scooter?! It seemed lively. Josh couldn't help but glance everywhere wide-eyed. The center of the City was technologically advanced but besides robots, holograms, and VR, Josh hadn't seen much.
"Is this your first time seeing vehicles? I heard that you earthlings don't even have that. Talk about a bumpkin, eh? You seem surprised. They are not allowed to fly above the city, well besides <Arcadia>, mostly for security reasons." She explained.
That made sense. How easy would it be to suddenly go full speed and crash into some business? Any organization able to own a shop near the Tower was clearly influential. After all, a single room in the sewers had a cost of 100 Credits already. It would probably be an exponential cost for businesses. Actually, Josh was super lucky to have gotten that room, wasn't he?
"Alright, come." She raised her arm hollering at a bright orange car that stopped right in front of them. "Hop in. Alright, we'll be going to <Hangard C-S6>"
The interior was relatively spacious with enough room for the feet. Sitting on the seat felt like sinking into a soft bed of feathers. Except…why was everything orange?! It was so glaring and distasteful!
"Right away, ma'am! I am Armin if you need anything you can ask me. In the middle compartment are refreshments and snacks. In front of you is a HUB hidden in the separator. If you want I can even do an accent and act as a tour guide or shut up the whole way!"
Wow, that was so damn accommodating! This would be a relatively cool ride. Opening the HUB Josh saw what appeared to be a talk show, he could read in the background <Talk of the Metroplis>. A young lady was interviewing some hairless bald guy. He didn't even have eyebrows!
"So today I am receiving Bacchus himself! For people who don't know him, he is an eminent member of the A-Rank guild <Golden Lion>. Let's give him a round of applause!"
*Sound of clapping*
"It's an honor to be here!"
"As usual, question barrage! Is your real name Bacchus? Can you tell us about your peculiar class? What made you join <Golden Lion>?"
"Haha, yes that is the name on my birth certificate. Let's just say my parents own a winery and have always been huge wine producers and lovers. Because of this, I spent my life around wine since the moment I was little, not drinking it but making it. Then the first time I stepped in the Tower I was stupefied…"
"Interesting! How come?!"
"Well, I was offered the Class choice <Winemancer>"
"Winemancer?! What does that imply?!"
"Well, most mages would summon elements, I summon wine. I can fight with it too! That's also why I joined <Golden Lion> they are at the core a hostelry group so they were very interested in my abilities. From time to time I'll do a round to entertain the customers so make sure you visit!"
"Wow, please do a demonstration for us! Please!" As she said that she was bouncing up and down excitingly. Let's just say that there was something else bouncing, heavily. In fact, Josh was ready to bet half the audience had been waiting to watch that magical moment.
Before long the man started creating wine out of nowhere akin to a water mage and do tricks with it. "It only works with wine, not water and yes it is perfectly safe to drink. In fact, it has received a wonderful note from the FDA and the wine tasting association!"
That is when Kasha grumbled. "Look at that slut shaking their huge fake tits on screen. There is no way anyone so slender can have these massive knockers! God, she's annoying!"
"Don't worry, medium-size breasts are nice too. Men don't overly care about stuff like that. It's more about how you use them to…" Josh reassured her.
"Shut up!"
Armin the Taxi driver could be heard chuckling in the front. The rest of the ride was pretty boring. They were doing too many close up on the interviewer's wonderful bosom and stopped with the Tower info sadly. They quickly arrived to …nowhere?
"Just watch!" Kasha approached a little rectangular post with a scanner. Putting her UW in front she typed for a while before suddenly the ground opened! It reminded Josh of the movie scenes where a high-tech jet comes out of a hidden exit. Then a capsule rose up from the ground with a …flying car in it!
The vehicle was red and flamboyant. It had a stylish and lean design that was akin to the sports cars on Earth. Somehow it screamed $$$! It was a two-seater but seemed spacious enough.
"Hop-in!"
The interior was unlike the previous taxi. This one was Heaven! "What's with the massaging and heated seats?! What if someone falls asleep from…oh god that feels nice!"
"Haha, dummy. I'll just activate the auto-pilot." She pressed a button as she said that and they took flight.
Kasha was just snacking while relaxing in her seat. She then began blasting some EDM music. "Now that's more like it! Can you feel the bass? They say once you listen to this enough you'll even have bass-boosted heartbeats!" She was clearly having fun.
"What is that even supposed to mean?" Josh answered absentmindedly. Meanwhile, he was just observing the landscape go by. The view from the sky was liberating. There was a sense of freedom to it! That was a thing to add to his bucket list, to fly with his own abilities. It was bound to happen at some point if he kept climbing the Tower.
They were going really fast. Many times Josh thought they were going to crash, but at the last second their car would swerve. Meanwhile, Kasha was just laughing seeing how worried he was.
"See, this is what wealth looks like." She grinned.
"Hey, don't look down on me, I'm pretty rich myself! I have more than 20k Credits by now!"
"Pfft, chump change. Why do you think Ronan keeps betting with you? 20k is what he does in a day of work, what about you?"
"A day? I made my money betting, I can do it in an instant! How about we bet on something right now…"
"Hell no! By the way, how did you know about the instance thingy?"
"I guessed is all." Kasha simply looked at him in disbelief while murmuring. "Alright, keep your secrets."
The rest of the ride was peaceful. After a few hours, they could finally see the red fog. It was one thing to see it in a video, but another in real life. Slowly descending, they were soon stopped by a full platoon of men wearing gray outfits.
A captain hollered at them "Who are you! This area is off-limit! You are to go out of the vehicle calmly and surrender! We will…" It was at that moment that Kasha jumped out and punched him in the stomach. "Now, the next prick that asks me to surrender I will kick in the dick. Any volunteer?"
One of the soldiers nervously said, "These are the rules we truly can't do otherwise and…"
"Oh? You guys want to be the enemy of <Draconic>? We came especially because of a request from Metropolis D. *Click* Alright, I took your picture. I'll ask them to reimburse me for my travel fees, my time, and for emotional distress."
"Please don't!! We're sorry! Please do whatever you want!"
Wow, she sure was overbearing. They started walking toward the fog. Josh couldn't help but ask. "Are you always that harsh with people?"
"Haha of course not, that guy seemed like a prick. Plus he kept ogling my breasts." Then she turned to Josh that was staring directly at them while murmuring "Yep, not worth getting beaten over."
"You ass! Are you asking to be killed!" she raged!
"Hey, if you are lucky I will really die in there haha." Josh teased.
The guards in the back were making calls and anxiously awaiting help. Some were complaining about too many S-Ranks popping out of nowhere too. Josh wouldn't have to deal with it for now anyway. Arriving at the fog barrier, Josh carefully touched it.
[Welcome! Lots of Fun Inside!]
[Level 10 - 42]
[Participants 2]
[Would you like to enter?]
Kasha was that strong? Well, she had lots of head-start compared to Josh so it was to be expected.
"Change it to solo entry, Josh Malum!"
[Is this Better? Lots of Fun Inside!]
[Level 10]
[Solo]
[Would you like to enter?]
"Seriously, do you really want to do this? It could be dangerous." Kasha warned.
"Hehe, going to sleep at night can be dangerous too you know. What if you never wake up? There is never a guarantee in life, ever." Then Josh turned toward the red fog again "Enter!"
In a red glow, he disappeared. Now, what would he face?!
He wasn't even done teleporting that the smell already assaulted him, it was…