Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

Finished 

After the trade, Amelia went silent. She didn’t respond to Mark’s final message; from here on, his fate was in his own hands. She had provided the tools; it was up to him to provide the will to survive. 

Looking around, Amelia realized there was absolutely nothing left to do while she waited for the island to process its upgrade. Aside from the towering World Tree in the center, the shallow pond, her crafting table, and the small pile of resources she’d extracted from the Aether Stones, the island was a barren stage. At the edge of her 100-square-meter world, all she could see was the endless, indifferent sea of clouds. She knew others were out there, drifting in the same mist, but their locations remained a mystery. 

Amelia’s introversion was a choice, not a social handicap. She wasn’t incapable of being around people, nor did she feel overwhelmed by them. She simply hated the noise. She despised crowded places, the frantic speed of city life, and the “mosquito buzz” of useless small talk. She much preferred the quiet, slow pace of a mountain peak or the heavy silence of being alone. 

She was the youngest of three, with two older brothers. While she shared a bond with them, they were all cut from the same cloth-specialists in avoiding the crowd. She remembered her second brother being bullied in high school because he looked like a typical nerd. He was, in a way, but he also had a hidden passion for kickboxing. After three months of school, when a bully tried to push him too far, the harassment stopped permanently. Her eldest brother was different; he possessed a natural, cold aura that deterred anyone from even thinking about bothering him.