Chapter 22 — ID? Point Card?
Enopy walked a bit more, checking out a variety of items. He found a few substantial ones.
"That's enough," Enopy said as he looked down the aisle. He noticed the increasing number of strange items, so he turned around and walked through the small crowd of people.
"I should go to my house, then I'll go to the fourth circle. I need cultivation resources and fragrance cores—they should be more expensive than the first circle," Enopy thought as he walked toward the tunnel connected to the second tunnel.
"Stop! Show us your point card!" a buff, dark-skinned man in armor said.
"Aye, you know we're supposed to call it an ID," a skinnier, white-skinned man said as he tapped the man's arm lightly.
"Why!? We use the point card to earn points and spend them to survive. The name 'ID' should die off!" the buff man refuted with a shout as he flung his arms around.
Enopy stood there and let them squabble and bicker.
They soon stopped arguing and returned to their jobs.
"Point card," the buff guy said as he held out his hand with an expectant look.
Enopy placed the card in the man's hand and waited for the verification of his identity.
He didn't have to wait long. The man pulled out a device and scanned the card with it. Soon, a beep was heard, and Enopy was let in.
"Haha, how ironic. The scanner looked like market scanners from Earth," Enopy laughed and mumbled as he walked into the second circle.
On each side, there were a variety of white buildings split by a path that led straight to the tunnel.
"Same as the other circles," Enopy thought as he looked around.
Not long later, he reached another tunnel, and guards stood waiting for his point card.
"Point card," a white man with an aloof expression said.
This time, the partner kept his mouth shut and maintained the same aloof expression.
Enopy turned his sight back to the tall man and placed his point card in his hand.
Minutes later, he was given his card back and allowed to pass.
"Looks like you're a resident in Circle Three," the man said as he glanced at Enopy.
"Yeah," Enopy replied quickly as he walked through.
"I should look in the ring now; I need to get to my house," he thought, then looked in his space ring.
"Barren. Absolutely barren," thoughts flew into Enopy's mind that he could not hold back.
There was a sheet of paper that lay on the pitch-black floor of the space ring.
Enopy picked it up and saw three rings—one around the other—and the number 427 in the middle.
"I really hate this guy. How the fuck does he expect me to get there?" Enopy cursed out Kai in his mind as he saw a man leaving his home and heading toward him.
"Hello, can you direct me to this location?"
The man was muscular and tall; he wore a sleeveless kimono.
"Brave one," the man said in a deep voice as he looked down at Enopy with a dark expression. He stared Enopy in the eye as if trying to intimidate him.
Enopy showed no evident reaction as he returned the man's gaze.
Soon, the man blinked and said, "I can't explain all the directions. I'll point you in a direction. Ask somebody over there, alright?"
"Sure," Enopy replied.
"Go straight and take a left. Ask someone over there for more directions," the man said quickly.
"Thanks," Enopy ended the conversation and walked in the given direction.
It took him no time before he felt the need for directions again, but he knew he would not be that lucky—he saw no human in sight.
"They're probably in seclusion," he quickly thought of an answer for the lack of humans in the area.
"What to do…?" Enopy mumbled with a calm tone.
He walked over to the tunnel.
"What?" the tall man instantly greeted him.
"I need directions to my house," Enopy quickly stated his needs.
"Oh, ok, let me see your card," the man reached out his hand. His tone changed, and a grin appeared on his face.
Enopy could sense something was off.
"Hh, you have insufficient fees. You already spent your new resident points," the man said as he let out a slight cackle.
Enopy processed this information and planned to wait for someone to give him directions.
"And don't think about staying here. Most people are in seclusion," the man instantly slapped that idea out of Enopy's head.
"But there are battling stages here, so feel free to go and get points," the man said as the grin on his face stretched closer to his ears.
Enopy looked at the man calmly, snatched his card back, and walked away. He knew where the battle stages were—it was the loudest place in all circles, so he was able to get there with no problems.
Soon, a huge crowd appeared in his sight, and a series of cheers entered his ears.
He pushed and shoved through the crowd of people.
He soon reached the front of the crowd and allowed the noises that entered his ears to become discernible.
"Yeah! Go Eckon, kill him!"
"Don't let him get a hit on you!"
"Take him out with swift moves!"
"Send him to his mama!"
Voices resounded throughout the area, energizing Eckon.
"So cool," an old, hairy, fat man next to Enopy said. "I can't believe I'm able to watch the rising star of this generation—the undefeated Eckon."
Enopy shook his head as he walked toward another battle stage.
Most were empty and crowd-less, but there were people waiting to fight in the ring.
Enopy went into a ring. A big man sat on one side of the ring—he seemed to be the strongest there.
Enopy Rizen vs. Dontavius Ex, Battle Stage 5, a female robotic voice resounded throughout the area as a white membrane covered the battle stage.
A grin appeared on Dontavius's face as he opened his eyes and said, "You're about to die." He tried to taunt Enopy.
Enopy kept his blank expression as he thought, "He reminds me of Tivly... oh right, what happened to them? Well, if Kaito and the rest had to run nonstop, Tivly and Tel definitely did not survive."
Enopy let his mind wander as Dontavius stood up and dashed toward him.
Dontavius was bulky, black-skinned, riddled with scars, long black hair, straight eyebrows, red eyes, male, 6'2".