World Of Wonders

"Umm, excuse me, sir?"

Hawke's moment of setting his path forward was interrupted by an innocent voice that was heard from somewhere near him.

After making the declaration to himself, he had continued to lie there for a little bit of time, basking in the fresh sunlight and enjoying the feel of the earth beneath him.

He still couldn't get his head around how 'real' everything was, and so, he couldn't help but grudgingly accept that those who were responsible for his decades of hell as an NPC were also very, very capable in order to be able to accomplish something like this.

That was when he heard the voice, and opening his eyes, he got up in a swift motion, before seeing a girl flop to the ground in front of him.

By experience, he was always in control of his surroundings. Even when he had been relaxing, just now, he had constantly been checking the area around him, and no one had dared to approach after his gruesome display.

That was how he had been able to catch the guy whose body was slowly turning into particles of light, too- even if he couldn't use his eyes, he had been trained to excel in utilizing his other senses to get the best information possible about everything around him, and hence, he had been able to take out a lot of his frustration in one fell blow.

Alas, this was an ability that could only be obtained with years of training, and clearly, the one in front of him was not capable of it, as could be ascertained from the way she had panicked due to seeing him move so quickly.

Looking around, Hawke saw that he had gathered quite a large crowd of 'admirers'.

They were all staring and pointing at him while whispering between themselves, but suddenly, when Hawke grinned and waved, most hastily looked away.

Only a few allowed their gazes to linger on him before turning away to leave, and right away, he knew that these were the ones who were definitely not just run-of-the-mill players.

After all, only those who were confident in themselves could look back at one who had just made an entry into the game in this manner, so Hawke made the decision to remember their faces.

One person remained even though the group dispersed, though, and judging from where he stood, Hawke was able to guess that he must he one that his victim had been talking to before arriving to meet his unfortunate end.

He was holding a cardboard sign, and reading it, he received the answer to one of the questions he had gotten.

"Looking for an easy way to bypass the Beginner's Quest? Come place a friendly bet with me, and test your luck!"

Hawke had wondered why anyone would choose to do something as lazy as bet on the first actions of those arriving in this world when there must be so many things to explore and do.

True, there might be a few people wrong in the head, but it hadn't made sense.

Now, though, it was obvious: people would always flock to places where they might be able to forego working hard in order to obtain something by trusting the ephemeral Goddess of Luck.

By this time, the girl had managed to get up, and right away, Hawke was able to understand why she had dared to come forward when the others had mostly been hesitant.

She was young, perhaps only 13 or 14 years old, with a pear-shaped face, cute dimples, and an adorable double-bun hairdo.

In order to captivate audiences of all ages, World of Wonders had always had an option where those who were underage could also enter and experience the 'Journey of their Lives' in a censored and age-appropriate manner. This meant that all things which were labeled as 'a.d.u.l.t' would be pixelated, and so, the little girl must only have seen Hawke break apart the man's head into a bunch of pixels.

Wondering what she might want with him, he waited for her to speak, and sure enough, she continued in a hesitant tone.

"Umm, you see, that's my brother…he just managed to save up his allowance to enter the game, and he was only betting to get enough money for me, too, to finish the quest. I know that what he did was wrong…but would you mind giving back the portion of money that he dropped? He's still resurrecting, but he says he's sorry! Pretty please?"

The plea was accompanied by the perfect rendition of 'puppy eyes' possible.

Hawke looked at her for a moment before bending to pick up the cloth pouch near his feet, and with a kind smile, he stretched his hand forward.

The features of the girl suddenly flashed between the innocence they had just been showing and something else, and with a grin, she stepped forward.

As soon as she reached Hawke, she stretched her hand forward, and it looked like it was going to be a classic scene where someone who had seemed ruthless actually had a heart of gold, and was going to listen to the wishes of an innocent maiden.

Only…this wasn't a fairytale for that kind of a thing to happen, and Hawke was also not that kind of a person.

The moment before the girl's hand was about to touch the pouch of coins, Hawke moved faster than what he had shown since appearing in this world.

His palm that had been holding the pouch and was facing the sky tilted, still holding on to the payload, before snaking forward to the back of the girl, where his index and middle finger expertly entwined around the object they found there and twisted it to make it leave her hand.

With a yelp and an expression of panic, the little girl jumped back, but this was a second after Hawke was done.

With an incredulous expression on her face, she looked between the hand she had been holding behind her back and the one in front of her, who was playing with a small twig which had a handle at one end, and whose body had a few, faint lines of silver which were glowing.

"Give that back!", she screamed in a high-pitched voice, before realizing the situation she was in and clamping her hands around her mouth.

With a chuckle, Hawke pocketed both the pouch and the twig, which was a wand, before saying, "Tell me, how many naïve fools did that work on? So much cunning at such a young age! Did your parents teach it to you, as that must be how they climbed to the high-society positions they have?"

At first, there was anger, and then, it changed into disbelief, but Hawke had no interest in seeming inscrutable. So, he continued.

"Don't look so dumb- anyone who can save up their allowance to enter this game must have one whose amount is staggering, so of course, your parents must be rich. And look at you! From your clothes, you're clearly already a mage, so how did you expect me to believe that you needed money to finish the beginner's quest? I'll be keeping this wand as I'm deeply hurt that you were going to immobilize and probably kick me when I'm down after I handed over the pouch. I call it a fair trade! Ba bye!"

Saying so, Hawke merrily waved again and turned around before starting to head in the direction of the largest building nearby.

A second later, though, a screech was heard in reply.

"You…I won't let you get away with this! Papa said that if you can't win fair, then just win, and then make it look fair! I'm warning you- return the money and the wand, or I'll complain that you s.e.x.u.a.lly harassed me! You'll be banned and branded as a pedo! I swear-"

The little girl's scream stopped mid-sentence when Hawke turned around and fixed his gaze on her.

It was filled with so many things that it might take a lifetime to figure out what all of them were, but mainly, the intensity shone through, and also the unique will of the person who it belonged to, who would be ready to even die happily if it meant that they could achieve victory in the process.

With a gulp, the little girl could only look on, as sweat started to form on her forehead.

She expected a threat, but the reply surprised her.

"Go on."

Saying these two simple words, Hawke turned around and continued to walk in the direction he had chosen.

At first, the little girl was perplexed after recovering from the terror that she had felt due to his gaze. Normally, this terror might have dissuaded her, but the bull-headedness that was born from a childhood where she had always had everything she had ever wanted allowed her to shove it aside and go ahead.

Bringing up the player menu, she made the report.

With a sinister smile exactly like the one she had gotten before, when she had thought her plan to cast an Immobilization spell on Hawke and tie him up to prepare him to be beaten by her brother after he returned had been about to succeed, she waited for the report to be filed.

However, the response she got made her stare in the direction where Hawke was walking with an amazed look in her eyes.

She had just been told that she hadn't been touched even a little bit by anyone in the past few hours, so there was no basis to file her report.

But if so…how had he managed to steal her wand?

How could anyone be so dexterous?

How did…

As her mind started to fill up with questions, Hawke glanced back at her and smirked.

"Hehe, as if I would be dumb enough to touch you. I've seen enough claims of harassment to know what to expect! Now, then, what should I do next…"

His musing was suddenly interrupted by a voice which appeared in his head, and hearing it, Hawke froze, and listened while getting the sloppy grin of a child who had just entered the living room on Christmas to find a ton of presents waiting for him.

"Well done, Hawke. But if you're done having fun, shall we move on to the gift I prepared for you? People enter this game to win, or gain glory, or money, but your goal is so over and beyond that you will need something special to help you on your way. Oh, and also…I have another surprise, and trust me, this is the best one of them all. Come to this location."