The Manaverse

Outside the Medical Tent

Granite City

"Smooth save there, Jut man." A familiar voice caught Jut off guard. "Pulling out the gift card when you're in trouble. You've learned a lot, I see." Jut turned around quickly with his eyebrows raised.

"Diggy! Is that you, man?"

"Of course, Bro. Who else?" Diggy said before reaching out a hand.

Just like riding a bike, there was no way Jut could forget. Instantly, the pair launched into their bro handshake. As their ritual ended, Jut grabbed Diggy by the shoulder and pulled his best friend into a hug.

"I am glad you made it here safely, Digs," Jut said after he pulled away. "Did the whole fam make it?"

"They did..." Diggy's countenance turned dark for only a moment before he returned to his normal expression. It seemed hard for him to do.

Jut cocked his eyebrow at his friend. "Not happy about it?"

Diggy let out a sigh. "I am...it's just, well, they kicked me out about three hours after you left."

Jut felt a chill pass down his spine and guilt begin to build inside him. "Was it because you allowed me to stay? That's my bad bro."

Diggy gently sucker-punched Jut in the stomach.

"Don't even feel bad about it. You didn't put us in any danger. Besides, my mom used you as a reason. She was planning to kick me out either way." Diggy frowned. "Everyone else sided with me, but they backed down when she threatened to kick out anyone who continued to support me." The mood was tense for a long moment after he said that, but Diggy smiled and the air instantly felt lighter. "Besides. They are all here and safe. And, because mom kicked me out I don't have to deal with her anymore. She's the casino's problem now."

Jut hesitated. He wanted to argue that they were still his family. Yet, Diggy was more of a brother to him than his real brother was so he understood the sentiment. Chosen family is always a stronger bond than blood relations. Before Jut could figure out what to say, Diggy changed the subject and began walking away from the medical tent. Jut followed.

"So, you bangin' that hottie nurse? Are you letting her play doctor in more ways than one?" Diggy made a lewd gesture, matching his tone.

Jut laughed and punched Diggy's shoulder. "Yeah right, dude. That e-girl wouldn't give me a kink exam in a million years. She's just very nice and excellent at her job." He dismissed the idea entirely. As attractive as Isabelle was, he didn't believe he would have a chance with her.

As Diggy responded, so did Alex.

"Man, I know you're dense sometimes, but it's reaching gold status here."

Did we even experience the same event?

Jut theatrically rolled his eyes and thought his words as he said them, dismissing the chat log. "Come on. If she wasn't pleasant with her patients, they would avoid treatment. I'm sure she acts that way with all of the people she heals."

"I don't know. I watched as she dragged you away. That's how I found you. That healer is known for being sweet and good at healing while she treats your injuries, but she's pretty disinterested past that. She never scolds anyone about their wounds, either. She normally thanks them for their service. But, when she saw you, half the square cleared out of her path immediately." Diggy retorted.

"Well, we did arrive at the Safe Zone together, along with a few thousand people." Jut hurriedly added the last part to not give the wrong impression. "So, I am sure that's all it was."

Diggy took a breath to respond again, his stubborn look showing. Jut gave his friend something else to talk about instead.

"There is something way more important we need to discuss anyway." Jut said seriously. His tone shifted to curious."What skills did you get?" He asked eagerly, nearly bouncing.

Diggy instantly dropped the topic, his face also lighting up in nerdy joy. "Dude! Sense Magic Mineral and Rush."

"Awesome. They sound straight forward. You can sense magical metals if they are nearby and you can perform a powerful charge attack where you ram the enemy?" Jut guessed.

"Got'em in one. How about you?" Diggy stuck his hand up.

Jut gave him a high five as he explained his skills.

"Those sound dope as shit." Diggy praised after Jut was done.

Jut hoped steering Diggy away from the Isabelle conversation would stick. However, true to Best Friend fashion, he jumped back to the topic right away.

"You are going to ask that beautiful woman out, right?" Diggy crossed his arms and gave Jut a serious look.

"Like I said, man. Isabelle is one of those full time e-girls. There's no way a dude like me can score a girl like that." Jut knew what he had to say to divert the topic perfectly. He had been hesitant because he hated being too optimistic. It usually ended with someone getting hurt. "Besides. I already have a date for that Hunter event thing. You got an invite too, didn't you? You gotta be a hunter."

"Oh, yeah. I did. Wait a second...a date? With whom?" It was comical to Jut when his news finally dawned on Diggy. His friend's face brightened up dramatically.

"You remember Kit, that Prime Streamer business woman who came into the store all the time?" Jut answered.

"How could I forget? Ms. Doughnuts and three coffees. I saw her just after I got here. How did you manage that? Isn't she an e-girl too?" Diggy teased.

"I asked her if I could make up for the missed drinks night and she agreed. And no, she isn't. She was only a part time game streamer who used an avatar." Jut said.

"I don't get how that's different?" Diggy asked

Together, they wandered away, chatting and telling their stories of what happened since they last saw each other. Neither noticed the brunette in scrubs who stopped trying to catch up to them and returned to the medical tent, dejected.

Slatewell Safe Zone

Granite City

The next morning, Isabelle let out a soft sigh as she placed another few sets of rations on a small stack at the food station near her medical tent. She was nearly out of Mana from a recent healing session, so she was using her recharge time to assist Derrick in passing out breakfast.

It had become the cycle of Isabelle's life. She woke up, reported to the medical tent, then proceeded to use her healing spell on those whose injuries required multiple rounds of treatment. After her Mana pool bottomed out, she would triage those waiting to be seen. If she managed to get through the line, or the line had been seen to by others who were working at the station, she would spend her time assisting Derrick or Wendy depending on who was stationed nearby on ration duty. Once her Mana was full again, she would return to the medical tent.

"That's a big sigh for such a little lady." Derrick said. "Wanna unload whatever it is your carrying?"

Isabelle shot a look at the next ration set she was picking up, even though she knew what he actually meant.

"It's nothing. I..." Isabelle trailed off. She didn't really want to talk about it. How could she explain that she was too late...again?

Derrick passed out another set then turned to her when it appeared the line had died for a moment.

"'Nothing' doesn't lose focus, sigh a million times, or forget one sock." Derrick chuckled when Isabelle pulled the offending foot behind her other one. "Did you lose another patient this morning?"

"Almost, but no. She pulled through. Thankfully, she was brought in quickly." Isabelle said, not explaining further. She knew Derrick would eventually get her to spill what was on her mind, but he was going to have to work for it.

"Which team brought in the new group of refugees?" A feminine voice cut in.

A blonde woman with a bob cut, round glasses, and a hotel staff outfit of red and black was standing behind Derrick, also passing out rations. Wendy was petite and short. Standing next to Derrick was a contrast that always made Isabelle smirk.

"I don't know their name, if they've chosen one. It was Jut and Brick's party." Isabelle answered, looking away so her blush wouldn't be seen.

"They didn't put a name down when they registered as a group a few days ago. That will have to change after tonight." Wendy said absently as they handed out another set.

"Jut? Wait. I think I know that name. Don't tell me....I'll remember..." Derrick asked, putting his hand to his chin thoughtfully. After a few short seconds of thinking, he asked "What does he look like?"

"Well, Brick is a former soldier. He's blonde and like six feet tall, at least." Isabelle said, intentionally describing the wrong person.

Derrick gave her a skeptical look. Before he could correct her and ask about Jut again, Isabelle asked Wendy something.

"What happens tonight? That Hunter's Rally, right?"

Wendy smiled brightly. "Yeah. A few hours after that, some of the quests Mr. Slatewell has will be completed. I've been told that only parties with formal names will qualify for new gathering quests after that." Wendy gave Isabelle a wicked smile and turned to Derrick. "And, Jut is that guy with the strawberry blonde hair who Isabelle is always badgering."

Derrick's eyes widened and he grinned back. "Does he have green eyes and is about this tall?" He held his hand up to his neck.

"Yeah. That guy. He's pretty average looking, but Isabelle always asks me to see how wounded he is when he turns in quest items." Wendy teased, poking at Isabelle.

Derrick nodded. He turned and passed out a couple more ration sets to a mother and her child before speaking.

"Kye...I mean, Jut can be pretty oblivious sometimes, but he is one of the best guys who frequented my bar before the Initialization of the System." Derrick gave Isabelle a soft smile before passing out a few more meals and turning back again. "If he said something to make you mad, he probably needs to be told so he can apologize. It's likely he hasn't even realized he did something wrong."

"He didn't. It's... not a big deal." Isabelle shrugged. "Besides, I don't badger him. He just saved a lot of us on our way here, so I just want to pay him back." Isabelle explained, restocking Derrick and Wendy's ration stacks.

"That's not how it looks to us on the outside, babe." Wendy said with a laugh. "Just admit you're... hey!" She squealed when Derrick nudged her.

"Keep a good eye on him. He can be a bit reckless with his own health sometimes. Thank you for taking care of him. He doesn't do it for himself like he should." Derrick said. He gave Wendy a scowl so she wouldn't start talking again.

"Pfft. Tell me about it. He was so badly injured when we got here, I could hardly heal him at all. Then I couldn't find him to give him subsequent treatments." Isabelle scoffed. "He was a regular of yours, right? He did seem to know you pretty well."

Derrick nodded. "I've known him and Diggy for at least five years. He has helped me with a few events I've put on. I even hosted a party Diggy threw for him when he did something really exciting in that game of theirs. What's it called? Pride? Primal?"

"You can't mean Prime." Isabelle mainly streamed Prime between making videos with her sister for their adult site before the initialization. She didn't recognize the name Jut at all. Maybe he played on a different server?

Derrick snapped his fingers. "Prime. That's it. He was like the number one supportive aviator or something like that."

Isabelle's eyes widen in shock. "There's no way he was the Support Avatar, JKZ."

Derrick nodded. "Yeah. That's exactly right. I could never keep up with their nerd speak. How did you know?"

Isabelle had to force her mouth to close. It had dropped in astonishment. "JKZ was the fifth best player ever and the only support player to reach the top twenty. Not to mention, he was the best player who chose the Support role, like ever. He disappeared around ten months ago and has only been seen occasionally since. Why did he never tell me that? He knows I was a Prime streamer." Isabelle felt a little disappointed.

Derrick only shrugged. "I doubt he believed what he achieved was very good. He considered it a hobby anyway. It's also possible he doesn't think you'd be impressed. Few people were the night of the event they held. Diggy sure made a big deal out of it though."

Isabelle frowned but kept working. Their conversation ended shortly after that and when an hour had passed, she returned to the medical tent. It was time for her to take another shift of healing now that her Mana was replenished.

The only time her thoughts didn't stray back to the conversation was when the System made an announcement.