War Grounds

Bertran, Jack, Patrick, and Harvy were glued to their battle stations, each of them busy with their agenda while Sophia was on Sol's area. The girl was focused on the message that she had just received from Radil Gentrix.

In the Open World, Papa Bear was fighting three Level 10 Ash-Fur Wolves to grind some experience while waiting for his brother's courier. He was near the foot of the northern side of Ur's Smokey Mountain and currently at Level 8.

Meanwhile, Macca was already on his way to Quagmire City to join CancerIsLife in the Shrine Portal as Cowden City, the spawn point for Goblins ruled by Black Osiris don't have its own. As for SwitchFoot, he joined random parties in Level 10 Dungeons of Breedford City while waiting for the teleportation array in Alistor to be activated.

The four members focused on the grinding of experience while waiting for the time that they would be united in one place. As for Sophia, Radil's reply made her smile.

"Finally, you've been ignoring this topic for quite some time already. Bugger! You're the one who told me to get close to Al; then, you left me hanging in this mission. Jeez. You can't still log in?" Sophia replied.

"Hehe. You know that my schedule is loaded lately with my secret missions. Al would definitely be a part of the bigger picture. Thank you for reaching out to him! Yup, 666666's weapon can ban players for seven days after death. Anyway, have you already told Al about my existence?" Radil quickly replied.

"Bugger. Why did the game developers allow that feature? Sol was about to reveal it to him today. It's about time." Sophia closed the interface of her phone after tapping on the 'send' button. She glanced a look at the four figures that were delved into the game that her father has developed - War Grounds.

...

"This is yummy!" Al's face was full of delight as he took a bite of the Honey Glazed Duck Legs. "Bigger news?" He immediately repeated what Sol has just previously said after swallowing the tender and juicy piece of duck meat.

"Yup, the bigger news, Al. To start things off, consider this first segment as your appetizer, but you need to answer this question first. Why did you start playing War Grounds?" Sol smiled.

"Because my dad helped in creating that game. Hehe. Silly me, I thought that I could create more moments with him even if he's gone by focusing on War Grounds while using his name as an IGN." Al's face and voice were solemn as he placed the knife and fork back on the white plate. His eyes were full of longing as he stared on the passersby through the glass window pane.

Sol somehow continued to smile despite the sad story where people would usually feel sorry for the bereaved. He's been studying Al Gentrix all this time. Everything was a facade until that moment. A bomb was about to be dropped. "It's not a silly idea, Al. I think that you're a sweet boy for doing that. Your father must be proud of you. Anyway, would you mind to tell me the cause of his death?"

"Thanks, Sol. I'm sorry that this conversation suddenly got personal." Al apologized as Sol's question hit a soft spot in his heart.

"Don't worry, Al. This is not a professional talk anyway. Consider this one as a casual chat between two friends. I'm here to help." Sol reassured Al as the flow of their topic was indeed becoming personal.

"Thank you." Al felt a little bit of discomfort. Talking about the death of your loved ones was no easy task, after all.

Sensing the hesitation from Al, Sol knew that if he wanted to gain the boy's trust and get more personal information, he has to pay the price - a personal experience for a personal experience. "Take your time, Al. There's no rush. Allow me to ease the trouble by sharing about my father. I bet that Sophia has already told you his story. Correct?"

"Uhmm, your sister is a secretive one, but she told me his name, Martin Hestias, right?" Al replied as the tension in his face somewhat lessened.

"Yeah, girls are full of secrets, Al. It's the mountain that we must surpass if we're to pursue them." Sol winked. "Yup, Martin Hestias is his name. Would you believe me if I tell you that he's the one who discovered and designed War Grounds from scratch?"

"If that's a joke, I would have believed you." Al teased, thinking that Sol was joking because of his funny tone.

"It's not a joke, Al. Check this out." Sol pulled out his phone from his pocket and made a few taps on its screen before showing Al a picture of a bedridden man around his 50s. The man in the picture looked like Sophia with his short brown hair and oblong face. "This is my father, Al. Martin Hestias. He and your father, Udil Gentrix, are best friends."

Al's face was that of someone who has not yet realized the main point of the story nor the punchline of the joke. His brows and forehead were creased. Sol immediately swiped the screen to the right showing another picture. This time it was an image of a still-healthy figure of Sol's father sharing a bottle of beer with another familiar figure - Al's father - Udil Gentrix.

Al's eyes enlarged as he grabbed the phone from Sol's hand and zoomed on the picture of his father. Udil looked younger in the image and seemed to be around his 30s with his suave beard and sideburns. Al surmised that this was before he was born.

"You're indeed telling the truth, but what are you trying to imply with this, Sol? My father died in a car accident. It was almost two years ago." Al suddenly felt a foreboding.

"Yup, and did you not wonder why it was around the date of release of War Grounds?" Sol's question was the switch to the darkroom that existed in Al's heart since his father's death. Things suddenly started to make sense slowly.

"My father is really a good player in car racing games. I mean, it can help you improve in real life, right? I've always got the feeling that something fishy happened when he was involved in that car accident. All this time! I've kept on ignoring that kick in my gut because I don't know where to start. Sol. Tell me that my father's death has something to do with War Grounds." Al's tone was rising, even if he was whispering. Thankfully, he had already considered not to disturb the other customers.

Sol solemnly nodded. "War Grounds is more than a game, Al."